1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



331 



nearly the qiiaiility uf carbonic acid as the wax camlle ; for thougli 

 tallow contains only 79 per cent, of carbon, instead of 81.75, yet it 

 consumes so much faster, as thereby to compensate fully for this dif- 

 ference. 



13, Charlotte Slncf, Bedford Square. 



STONE FOR THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 



Report (addrtssid to the Commissioners of Hir .Majisti/'s JVoods, 

 Forests, Land Revenues, Works, and Ihiildings), as the Result of 

 an Inqiiir;/, undertaken under the authority of the Lords Commissioners 

 of Hir Majesty's Treasury, by Chahi.es Barry, Esq., H. T. De La 

 Beche, Esq., F.R.S. and F.G..S., William Smith, Esq., D.C.L. and 

 F.G.S., and Mr. Chari.es H. S.mith, with reference to the Selection of 

 Stone for Building the JVew Houses of Parliament. 



My Lord .and Gentlemen. — In conformity with your instructions 

 we have the honoin- to report, that in the months of August, Septem- 

 ber, and October last we made a tour of inspection to various stone 

 cpiarries in the kingdom, and visited numerous public buildings, with 

 a view to the selection of a proper stone to be employed in the erec- 

 tion of the new Houses of Parliament. We have also, in further 

 compliance with your instructions, procured a fair average specimen 

 of the workable stone from each of the quarries which we have 

 visited, and have deposite<l cubes, prepared from such specimens, as 

 well as from others which have been fin-vvarded to us, in the Museum 

 of Econondc Geology. 



From the number of quarries which w'e have visited, we consider 

 that we have been enabled to obtain a competent knowledge of the 

 varied character of each of the several classes of building stone in the 

 Kingdom which are likely to be suited to the object in view, although 

 we are well aware that there are many other freestone quarries in 

 various parts of the country which we have not examined, where 

 stone of different varieties, in some cases, perhaps, not inferior to 

 those which have been Ijrought under our immediate inspection, may 

 be obtained. From many of such last-mentioned quarries we have 

 received specimen blocks, and the requisite information concerning 

 them, since the completion of our tour. We have not considered it 

 necessary to extend our incjuiry to granites, porphyries, and other 

 stone of similar character, on account of the enormous exjiense of 

 converting it to building purposes in decorative edifices, and from a 

 conviction that an ecpially durable and more eligible material could 

 be obtained for the object in view from among the limestones or sand- 

 stones of the Kingdom. We have, nevertheless, to acknowledge the 

 receipt of several specimens of granite, among which are some from 

 the estates of the Marquis of Breadalbane, near Oban, in the west of 

 Scotland, accompanied by a munificent otfer on the part of bis Lord- 

 ship that, should the granite from that locality be considered tit and 

 available for the jiroposed new Houses of Parliament, he would be 

 w illing to make a free gift to the nation of his interest in any quantity 

 that might be required for the purpose. 



In order to render more complete the inquiry upon which we have 

 been engaged, we liave availed ourselves of the valuable assistance of 

 Professors Daniell and Wheatstone, of King's College, London, in 

 determining the physical properties of a large proportion of the 

 specimens which we have obtained. 



The details of the information collected in the course of our inquiry 

 will be found at the end of this report, arranged in a series of tables, 

 (A), (B), (C), and (D), for the purpose of more easy reference and 

 comparison. 



Table (A) exhibits an alphabetical enumeration of all the quarries 

 which have been brought under our consideration; tlie names and 

 residences of the parties interested in them; the mineral character 

 and component parts of the stone, its colour, structure, and ordinary 

 weight; a description of the workable and other beds ; the- price of 

 stone at the quarry ; the cost of its carriage to the pool of London ; 

 tlie cost of labour upon it, witli reference to that upon Portland stone, 

 in London ; an enumerati(jn of the public works wherein the stone is 

 either known, or reported to have been, employed; and such general 

 remarks as are applicable to the peculiar circumstances of each 

 quarry. 



With respect to the cost prices enumerated in this table, it should 

 be stated that they have been fnrnisheil by the several parties inte- 

 rested, without reference to b large su|iply, which if reipiired would 

 no doubt occasion new and more economical arrangements to be made, 

 so that the stone would probably be supplied upon more reasonable 

 terms. 



Table (B) exliibits a list of the public buildings that we have 

 visited, detailing the time of their erection, the stone of whicli they 



are constructed, and their present condition ; arranged alphabetically, 

 according to the class of stones employed in them. 



Tables (C) and (D) contain the results of the analyses and experi- 

 ments of Professors Daniel and Wheatstone, a description of the mode 

 in which they have been conducted, and their observations upon the 

 subject. 



In proof of the necessity and importance of the inquiry upon which 

 we have been engaged, the lamentable effects of decomposition ob- 

 servable in the greater part of tlie limestone employed at Oxford, in 

 the magnesian limestone of the minster, churches, and other public 

 buildings at York, and in the sandstones of which the churches and 

 other public buildings in Derby and Newcastle are constructed, atlbrd, 

 among numerous other examples, incontestible and striking evidence. 

 The unequal state of preservation of many buildings, often produced 

 by the varied quality of the stone from the same quarry employed in 

 their construction, shows the propriety of a minute exanunation of 

 the quarries themselves, in order to acquire a proper knowledge of 

 the particular beds from wdien<-e the different varieties have been ob- 

 tained. An inspection of cjuarries is also desirable for the purpose of 

 ascertaining their power of supply, the probable extent of any given 

 bed, and many other matters of practical im))ortance. 



It frecjuently happens that the best stone in quarries is often ne- 

 glected, or only in part worked, from the cost of bareing and removing 

 tliose beds with which it may be associated ; and, in consequence, the 

 inferior material is in such cases supplied, especially when a great 

 order is required to be fulfilled in a short space of time, and at lui 

 insufficient price, which is often the case with respect to works under- 

 taken by contract. 



As the supply of stone in particular localities would often appear 

 to be due to accidental circumstances, such as the cost of quarr}'ing, 

 the degree of facility in transport, and the prejudice that generally 

 exists in favour of a material wdiich has been long in use ; and as the 

 means of transport have of late years been greatly increased, it be- 

 comes essential to ascertain whether better materials than those which 

 have been employed in any given place may not be obtained from 

 other although more distant localities, upon equally advantageous 

 terms. The decomposition of stones employed for building purposes 

 appears to be elt'ected by chemical and mechanical causes, according 

 to the conditions under which such stones were placed. With refe- 

 rence to sandstones, such as are usually employetl for building pur- 

 poses, and which are generally composed of either quartz or siliceous 

 grains cemented by siliceous, argillaceous, calcareous, or other matter, 

 their decomposition is effected according to the nature of the cemented 

 substance, the grains being comparatively indestructible. With re- 

 spect to limestones composed of carbonate of lime, or the carbonates 

 of lime and magnesia, either nearly pure or mixed with variable pro- 

 portions of foreign matter, their decomposition depends, other things 

 being equal, upon the mode in which their component parts are ag- 

 gregated, those which are must crystalline being found to be the most 

 durable, while those which partake least of that character suffer most 

 from exposure to atmospheric influences. 



The varieties of limestones termed oolites, being composed of ovi- 

 form bodies cemented by calcareous matter of a varied character, will, 

 of necessity, suffer unequal decomposition, unless such oviform bodies 

 and the cement be equally coherent. Tliose limestones which are 

 usually termed "slielly," from being chiefly formed of either broken 

 or perfect fossil shells cemented by calcareous matter, suffer decom- 

 position in an unequal manner in consequence of the shells, which, 

 being for the most part crystalline, offer the greatest amount of resis- 

 tance to the decomposing effects of the atmosphere. 



Sandstones, from the mode of their formation, are very frequently 

 laminated, more especially when micaceous, the plates of mica being 

 generally deposited in planes parallel to their beds. Hence, if such 

 stone be placed in liuildings at a right angle to its natural bed, it will 

 decompose in flakes according to the thickness of the laminae ; 

 whereas, if it be placed upon its natural bed, the amount of decom- 

 position will be comparatively immaterial. 



Limestones, from the general mode of their formation, are not liable 

 to the kind of lamination observable in sandstones; nevertheless, 

 varieties exist, especially those usually termed shelly, which have a 

 coarse laminated structure, generally parallel to the planes of their 

 beds, and therefore the same precaution in placing such stone in build- 

 ings upon its natural bed, is as necessary as with the sandstones above 

 noticed. 



The effects of the chemical and mechanical causes of the decom- 

 position of stone in buildings, are greatly modified according as such 

 buildings may be situated in town or country. The state of the at- 

 mosphere in populous smoky tovyiis produces a greater amount of de- 

 composition in buildings so situated, all other conditions being equal, 

 than in those placed in an open country, where many of the aeriform 



