1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



257 



ceptable to the o'eneral visitor of the Museum, as there is none to be found 

 in the publislied synopsis. 



These structures are in general found at the tops of hills, or if on the plain 

 at the Iiighest part, probably because they should be visible at a distance; 

 stones placed upright, and standing at regular distances, are sometimes placed 

 around them. The cromlech (the name by which tliey have been for ages 

 known) consists of one large stone placed on three sujiporters ; this is done 

 probably because it is easier to place a superincumbent weight on three than 

 on four or five, because in the latter case all the sup])orters of tlie weight 

 must be brought to bear eijually on all, and this is not requisite when there 

 are but three; accordingly, the covering stones are never found horizontal, 

 the weight subsiding wliere the lowest support is found. These monuments 

 are also frequently called quoits, from the ui)per stone resembling the ancient 

 discus. What nation or religion they belonged to it is difficult to say ; they 

 are met with in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, and the islands of the 

 JVIediterranean, but more especially in the Celtic kingdoms of the North of 

 Europe, If they can be attributed to the Druidical priests, they must have 

 been among the earliest of their works, as the simplicity both of the plan and 

 form declare them to have been the work of men far less advanced in know- 

 ledge of architectiu'e than the founders of the gigantic structures of Stone- 

 henge. The Irish historians say, that Jeguinas, King of Ireland, the author 

 of idolatry in that country, died in the year of the world 3034, in the plain of 

 Magh SteadciiM, while sacrificing there to " (.'rom Creaich." It is not likely 

 tiiat they could have been used as altars, for sacrifice, as it is difficult to get 

 atop of them, and more difficult to make a fire large enough to burn a victim 

 without scorching the oihciating priest ; Cruni Quoit Cromlech is so shaped 

 that no one could stand on it to tend the fire or oversee the victim. As, 

 therefore, they 'are not likely to have been designed for altars, they were pro- 

 bably erected for sej)ulchral monuments, as the sarcopliagus of tlie Greeks, 

 and tlie altar-tombs of the present day, are but a more|regular cromlech. In 

 general they are situated in llie neighbourhood of barrows, and some of them, 

 by the way in wliich the stones are placed, closing in the sides, are called 

 '* Kist-va-en," and would serve, as was the first and common usage of man- 

 kind, to defend the body therein deposited from exposure to the weather or 

 the attacks of beasts of prey. Rowland derives the name from the Hebrew 

 *' Corem Cruaich," a devoted or consecrated stone. According to Wormius 

 they were sometimes called " ara'," or altars. He supposes they were first 

 altars and afterwards tombs; and there Is on account of one in Denmark, in 

 which King Harold was interred. The great similarity which prevails in the 

 manner of their erection, seems to prove that the use to which they were 

 devoted must have been the same both in Britain and in Denmark. In 

 Wales they are known by the name of " Calne Arthin," Arthur's Quoits ; and 

 by some antiquaries, the name is supposed to be derived from the Arraoric 

 " crum," crooked, or having a top stone. 



Chun quoit, or cromlech, one of tlie models in this room, stands about 

 500 yards to the south-west of Chun Castle, in the parish of I\Iovah, Corn- 

 wall ; the covering stone is l^^ feet long, and 11 wide ; it is supported on 

 three stones pitciied on an edge, which, with the fourth one, form a pretty 

 regular kist-en-vaen ; the top of the ([uoit is convex, and the monument is 

 suiTounded with a low barrow, or heap of funeral stones. Layon Quoit, 

 another of which the perfect representation is here shown, is near Penzance ; 

 the area described by the supporters of this is 70 feet, but it does not stand, 

 as is generally the case, east and west, but north and south, as does also a si- 

 milar monument in Denmark, mentioned as the tomb of Ileraldus by Wor- 

 mius ; to this of Layon there is no kist-va-en, nor any area marked out by 

 side stones ; the quoit which is more than 47 feet in girth, is 19 long, and its 

 thickness in the middle of the eastern edge is Hi inches, and at each end not 

 quite so much, but at the western edge it is two feet ; the chief supporters 

 do not stand at right angels, with the front line, as in the others, having been 

 forced from its position by the weight of the superincumbent quoit ; its 

 height is such tliat a man on horseback can stand under it, Some years since 

 It was dug under to t!ie depth of eight feet, and a cavity was found in the ori- 

 ginal earth in the shape of a grave, which had been rifled of its contents ; it 

 stands on a bank not more than two feet higher than the soil. At the soulli 

 end are many upright siones, among which human bones, and those of 

 horses and deer liave been found, and a rod made of clay baked red ; those 

 stones might have been the Kibla, the sacred place of assembly for sacrificing^- 

 to the manes of the dead. 



The means b}' which these immense masses have been placed on the sup- 

 porting stones it is difficult to conjecture; a people, the perfection of whose 

 architecture is shown in such rude structures as those, cannot be supposed to 

 have been acquainted with mechanical power sufficient to have effected it ; 

 the plan which Mr. Rowland, in his Mima Antiqna, conjectures to have been 

 made use of to place the transverse stones at Stonehenge was probably the 

 way in which it was done. The powers of the lever and the plane beinc 

 some of the first things understood by ijiankind, it is easy to conceive that 

 they were made use of to erect these prodigious monuments ; where a small 

 mound was found it was shaped into an inclined plane, or a small agger or 

 mount of solid earth was found, flatted and levelled at the top, up the sloping 

 sides of wliich the stone intended to be placed as the covering of th** crom- 

 lech was moved by the help of levers and rollers, and when adjusted on the 

 upright stones previously erected, the earth of the mount or artificial agger 

 being cut away, the fabric was complete. It must Iiave been by this means 

 that the rocking .stones poised so nicely that the smallest touch puts them in 

 motion, which are found in Cornwall and in Anglesea, were in all probability 

 adjusted. The other two models in this room are one of a cromlech at Duf- 

 fuin, in South Wales, and one which haa a very perfect ami double kist-va-en 

 iu Angleseu; near Flas Newydd. 



In the courtyard of the iNIuseum is an object which excites much attention 

 from the visitors, and of whicli no further account is to be obtained than that 

 it was presented by the late Lord Egrcinont. It is an ancient vessel or 

 canoe, which was discovered near Petworth, in Sussex, at the village of 

 North Stoke, on the left bank of the river Aran, three miles from Arundel, 

 near Soutli Downs, in a meadow where the river takes a turn towards a 

 creek that runs into it. This vessel was found embedded in the mud ; one 

 part was completely buried, the other part was visiblt; about two feet under 

 water ; from time immemorial it was considered as part of the stump of an old 

 tree, and allowed to remain there ; it was used as a support for one end of a 

 flat wooden bridge, connecting two meadows, such as are commonly em- 

 ployed in those situations ; tlius situated it afforded no impediment to the flow 

 of water which passed in front ; about 'JO years ago a farmer who rented the 

 land cut away part of it to give an easier flow to the water, and a bridge 

 having been built higher up, it was ihougJit proper to remove this piece of 

 old tree, as it was supposed to be: the labourers employed finding it much 

 larger than they had reckoned on, attached eleven horses to it, b}' an iron 

 chain, and with great difficulty drew it to land. Its real form and character 

 were then discoverable, viz., one half of the stem of a large oak cut into the 

 shape of a boat. The toughness of its substance is shown ; that, although 

 but 4j inches in thickness at tlie bottom of the vessel, when its 

 stem, to which the chain was fixed, was drawn up the sloping bank, 

 and elevated four feet, while the opposite end was in the water, 

 with its load of mud, it was drawn entire to the flat surface, — 

 The length of tliis vessel is 35 feet 4 inches ; the depth 1 foot 10 inches ; 

 the width in tiie middle is 4 feet 6 inches; the thickness in the bottom, 4-2 

 inches ; the sides 5 inches to I7 ; of tlie stem, 1 foot ii inches ; of the stern, 

 'J feet "2 inches. There are three bars left at the bottom, at different distances, 

 which served to strengthen tlie whole, and gave a firm footing to those who 

 worked it ; there is no appearance of its having had a rudder, but tliere is a 

 notch which might have been for an oar to guide it. The extreme simplicity , 

 of its construction indicates its having been the j)roduct of an early and rude 

 condition of man ; it is undoubtedly of much greater antiquity than the vessel 

 found some few years ago in the bed of the Hother, as it has the appearance 

 of having been hollowed out by fire. The ancient forest of Anderida, within 

 whose precincts it was discovered, was famed for the luxuriant growth of its 

 oaks. From a combination of circumstances, it may safely be regarded as a 

 relic of the aboriginal Britons, wrought before, or soon after, the arrival of 

 the B.omans. We are told by Ca-sar and Tacitus that the vessels with which 

 the ancient inhabitants of our island passed into Gaul were formed of wicker, 

 and covered witli skins, or fabricated by a single tree hollowed out by fire. 

 This vessel probably lay on the bank of the creek ready for use, and being- 

 swamped by a sudden flood of the river, might have been accidentally lost to 

 view, for it was found turned in the direction such a flow of water wouhl 

 have given it: remaining thus unseen for montlis, it might have been for- 

 gotten by the owner, and nothing but accident would have revived the know- 

 ledge of it. Several vessels resembling this have been found m morasses in 

 Scotland — one at Loch Kernos in 1736, seven feet long, with a seat at one 

 end and a paddle in it; another at Kilblain, eight feet three inches long; and 

 in 1720, several of the same kind were dug up in the marshes of the Med- 

 way ; and one so well preserved as to be used as a boat some time after- 

 wards ; at Moreton Lake, iu Lancashire, eight were found, each made of a 

 single tree, and shaped like the American canoes, but this we have described 

 by far exceeds all the others in its dimensions. Although with regard to its 

 antiquity, there are perhaps no certain means of judging, yet its blackened 

 condition and fibrous texture, resembling that of wood found buried in bogs, 

 prove that it must have for many years been immersed in water. 



I'pon the walls of the room which contain these antiquities there are three 

 paintings which have been lately jdaced — views of Stonehenge, and the 

 cromlech at Dnfluin, Soutli Wales. They are exceedingly well executed, and 

 give, as far as pictures can, a true representation of that gigantic Druidical, 

 pile, but to those who may not have an opportunity of seeing the originals, 

 nothing brings to the mind so clear a notion of their real appearance, and 

 what tiiey are, as the models we have described. 



The Elgin marbles, broken and scattered as they appear, render to the 

 public in general but a faint idea of the beauty and magnificence of the fabric 

 of which they formed a part, and consequently they are stared on with won- 

 dering admiration, that such vast sums have been expended, and such spo- 

 liation should have been made, for wliat appears as only so many defaced and 

 broken stones. To the antiquary and the artist and the connoisseur they are 

 invaluable ; but it may be doubted if the taste of the public has been much 

 improved by their inspection. If a model of the Parthenon, upon such a 

 scale as that in the I'niversity library at Oxford, or larger, were placed in 

 the saloon, the beauty and magnificence of that celebrated temple would 

 strike tlie most unlearned ; the shattered fragments and headless statues 

 would no longer be objects of false enthusiasm or ignorant contempt, and tiie 

 eye having the exact representation of the original before it, the imagination, 

 by speedily restoring the whule of the now mutilated parts, would fully ap- 

 preciate their value. 



AVERY'S ROTATOKV STEAM-ENGINE. 



The wonderful simplicity of this engine led us to feel an interest in itfrom 

 the first; and those made upon its plan, with various improvements, by ^Ir. 

 Iluthven of this city, have been noticed more than once in our columns. 

 Our last notice was about a year ago, Rlr. Ruthven had one then working 

 •aud hiiij it Still) iu hisj workshop, turuiug severul lathes, moving a tilt-haui- 



