a5-2 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Septemb er, 



attended, in the first instnnce, to all the mitigating circumstances ; then 

 we say he owes it to himself — to his character, to say so in the most 

 direct and explicit manner, and so as to leave no room for its being 

 imagined, — to afford no op|)ortunity for its being said that he has nei- 

 ther the courage or else the ability to defend his assertions, nor the 

 generosity to confess his errors and exaggerations. If he was at all 

 sincere in professing to have been " actuvited by no otlier feeling than 

 that of advancing tlie cause of truth over thai of error," it certainly 

 behoves him now to admit lliat he had l)een somewhat too hasty 

 in forming his estimate of modern English talent from (he speci- 

 mens which somehow or other obtruded themselves upon his notice, 

 and caused him quite to overlook others of a far superior quality. 

 Neither would it be altogether amiss were he to alFord us the means 

 of judging of his own taste and ability in design, by letting us see 

 something that he himself has executed. 



We have been led on to say so mucli more concerning Mr. Pugin 

 than W'e at first intended to do, that we must now defer our remarks 

 on Mr. Habershon's work, till our next number. All, therefore, that 

 we have to add is, that we consider him to have greatly the better of 

 tlie argument over the author of the contrasts, in every respect, and 

 shows himself to be well informed in otlier matters, besides those con- 

 nected with his profession. He makes a terrilily hard hit at the 

 vaunted unity of the Roman Catholic chnrcli, whichonce presented to 

 Euroi)e the singular S|ieetacle of rival anti-popes, both of course equally 

 infallible, uniting in cordially anathematizing each other. As to 

 schism among the people, that is ett'ectually prevented by the repres- 

 sion of all private opinion on matters of religion ; and Mr. Habershon 

 has expressed this so pointedly an<l convincingly, that wc will give his 

 own words : 



"Order reigns at Warsaw," was the cruel irony of a minister in 

 the Chamber of Deputies, after the extermination of the capital of 

 Poland by the Russians. The Church of Rome in her extermination 

 of the Albigenses, in her St. Bartholomew massacre, iu lier dragonades 

 wider Louis XIV., in the still darker acts of her inquisition, has en- 

 deavoured to destroy all mho have (land Iu lliiiik — and then, drawing 

 tighter her gags, and closing firmer her dungeons, lest a soiuid shoulil 

 escape, she repeats courageously : " See the divisions of the Protest- 

 ants and the unity of the Catholics.' " 



Specimens in Eccentric Circular Turning, with practical instructions 

 for producing corresponding pieces in the art. Illustrated by Copptr 



Plate Engravings and Cuts. By John Holt Ibbetson, Esq.' T/iird 



Edition. London : Longman and Co. 



Mr. IiiBETSON is an amateur mechanic and turner, and from the ap- 

 pearance of the work before us, he has paid \'ery considerable atten- 

 tion to his favorite art of turning. The engraving at the commence- 

 ment of the volume, and explanation of a compound eccentric chuck 

 invented and made by himself for the purpose of turning, displays 

 considerable ingenuity in its construction, and the various engravings 

 tlu'oughout the work, show its endless application. 



We are sure all turners, whether they be amateurs or other- 

 wise, will derive considerable pleasure and instruction from a perusal 

 of this work, which will suggest to them, many new applications of 

 thier art. 



Boileau's Traverse Tables. 



We have examined these tables, which appear to be in every 

 respect worthy of the confidence of those who employ the metliod of 

 surveying, to which they are applicable. 



The author has appended several useful tables to the w'ork, among 

 which, are tables for converting cliains into yards and feet, and m-e 

 versa, and he also shows how his traverse tables may be applied in 

 setting out railway curves ; but from our own experience in these 

 matters, we are of opinion, that the practical application of the authors 

 method is by no means easy, on account of the natural obstacles which 

 every where present themselves to the proceedings of the engineer. 



»4 Beries of Litlographed Draicings of the London and nirmingham 

 Railway 67/ John C. Bourne, with Topographical and Discriplire 

 Accounts, by John Britton, F.S.A. Parts III. & IV. containing 18 

 Drawings. 



This is a splendid specimen of railway art, and is a work which 

 does credit to the artist, and communicates an interest to the railway. 

 The two parts now before us complete the work, and are given with 

 the letter-press to the wdiole ; the lithograph drawings are beautifully 



executed, and are faithful representations. It is in fact a work which 

 to the engineer is a splendid memorial of cotemporaneous skill, while 

 by the nobleman and the admirer of the fine arts, it deserves preserva- 

 tion as a uni<ine specimen of art, and illustrative of one of the must 

 striking enterprises of this wonder-working age. 



An Essay on the Boilers of Steam Engines, by R. Armstrong, C. E. 



London, John Weale. 



We feel much pleasure to see the re-appearance of this very use- 

 ful, excellent, and practical work, we shall not fail to notice it fully next 

 month. 



Mr. Richardson's work on Elizabethan Architecture will be noticed 

 in the next Journal. 



A second part of the Practical Treatise on Bridge Building, by 

 Edward Cresv, Architect, &c., is just published. 



PROGEEDIWGS OP SCIEWTinC SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



Afay IG. — J. G. Children, Esq. V.P., in the chair. 



A pajier was read, entitled 



* Oil. the i'i:>ibiliti/ of certain rnyn beyond Hip ordniary red rays of the 

 Solar Spi-c/rnm.* By J. S. Coopeu, Esq., in a tetter to M. Faraday, Esq. 



The author states his having observed au extension of tlie red iiortioii of 

 the solar specinim, obtained in the ordinary way, licyoiiil llic space it occu- 

 pies when seen by the naked eye, by viewing it tliroiigh a piece of deej) blue 

 coball glass. He finds that the part of the sjieclnnii thus rendered percepti- 

 ble to the right is crossed by two or more very broad lines or hands ; and ob- 

 serves that the space occnjiied by the most pow'crful calorific rays, coincides 

 with the situation of the red ra}S thus rendered ^^sihle by transmission 

 through a ijlnc medium. The author expresses a regret that he lias not had 

 sufticient leisure to piusne the investigation of these pheiionieiia. 



May 30. — The Maninis of Northampton, I'.R.S. in the chair. 



Profs. C. Hansteen, JI. Melloiii, L. A. J. Quetelet, and F. Savart, were 

 elected Foreign Members; Edward I). Davenport, Esq., James O. Ilalliwell, 

 Esq., G. W. Mackniurdo, Esq., and the Venerable Charles Thorp, D.I)., were 

 elected Fellows. 



The papers read were : — 



' Fifth letter on Voltaic Combinations ; with some account of the effects of 

 a large Constant Buttery ;' addressed to M. Faraday, Esq. By J. F. Daniell, 

 Esq. 



The author, ])iirsning the train of reasoning detailed in his preceding letters, 

 enters into the fiirtlier investigation of the variable conditions in a voltaic 

 coinbiiiatioii on v.hich its efticieney depends : and the determination of the 

 proper proportions of its elements for the economical ajiplication of its power 

 to useful puiijoses. lie finds that the action of the liattery is by no nieans 

 proportioned to the surfaces of the conducting liemisplieres, hut approximates 

 to the simple ratio of their diameters ; and hence concludes that the circu- 

 lating force of both simple and comjiound voltaic circuits increases with the 

 surface of the conducting jilates surroiuuiing the active centres. On tliese 

 lirinciples he constructed a constant batteiy consisting of seventy cells in a 

 single series, which gave, lietwecn cliarcoal |ioiiits, separated to a ibstance of 

 three-quarters of an inch, a fiaine of consideralile volume, forming a con- 

 tiiinous arch, and emitting radiant heat and light of the greatest intensity. 

 The latter, indeed, )a-oved highly injurious to the eyes of the spectators, in 

 which, although they were protected by grey glasses of double thickness, a 

 state of very active iiifiammation was induced. The whole of the face of the 

 author became scorched and infianicd, as if it had been exjioscd for many 

 hours to a bright inidsnniiner's sun. The rays, \\'heu reflected from an im- 

 perfect parabolic metallic mirror in a lantern, and collected into a focus by a 

 glass lens, readily burned a hole iu a pajier at a distance of many feet from 

 their source. The heat was quite intolerable to the hand held near the lan- 

 tern. Paper steeped in nitrate of silver, and afterwards dried, was speedily 

 turned hrowii by this light : and when a piece of fine wirc-ganze was held 

 licfore it, the jiattern of the hitter ajipeared in white lines, corresponding to 

 the ]iarts which it protected. The jihenoinenon of the transfer of the char- 

 coal from one elcitrode to the other, first oliscned by Dr. Hare, was abim- 

 dandy apparent ; taking ]>lace from the zincode (or positive pole) to the 

 idnlinnde (or negative pole). The arch of flame between the electrodes was 

 attracted or repelled by the poles of a magnet, according as the one or the 

 other pole was held above or below it ; and the repulsion was at times so 

 great as to extinguish the flame. When the flame was drawn from the pole 

 of the magnet itself, included in the circuit, it rotated in a beautiful manner. 

 The heating power of this baltcry was so great as to fuse, with the utmost 

 readiness, a bar of jdatiniim, one-eighth of an inch square: and the most iii- 

 fiisii)le metals, such as jinre rhodium, iridiimi, titanium, the native alloy of 

 iriilinm and osminni, and the n.itive ore of platinum, placed in a cavity scooped 

 out of hard carbon, freely melted in considerable quantities. In conclusion, 

 the author briefly describes the results of some experiments on the evolution 



