302 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[October, 



"^ sure, it is not at all liattered, for being a facsimile of the original 

 drawing, which is a sort of bird's-eye view ; it is shown as no building 

 is ever seen, and is moreover delineated in the drycst and stiftest style. 

 How greatly the designs are disfigured by that 'exceedingly ])rp]'ios- 

 terous mode of representation is rendered evident l5y the one form- 

 ing No. 2, in plate 7, where it is quite distorted in 'i'hurpe's bird's- 

 eye perspective of it, for when put into proper perspective as has 

 been done by Mr. Richardson in the following plate, it becomes so 

 superior as hardly to appear to be the same thing. Yet, although as 

 so shown, it is one of the best subjects in the book, by no means 

 would it be diffiiailt to render it a far belter one, equally picturesque 

 in composition, but more elegant, and more consistently rich through- 

 out in its details. 



The work is very handsomely got up, and the coloured elevidiou of 

 one of the sides of the gilt room at Holland House, makes a splendid 

 appearance, though gorgeous as it is, the effect is hardly equal to 

 the expensiveness of such mode of decoration. Among tlie subjects 

 to be given in the course of the work are Burleigh, Wollaton,' and 

 Blickling, which if suitably illustrated will be welcome enough. 



A Practical Treatise on Bridge Buidtiiig. By E. Crest, Esq., Arch., 

 C.E. F.S.A., &c. Part II. London : John Williams. 



The appearance of the Second Part fully maintains the liigli cha- 

 racter promised by the first. The work exhibits many valuable 

 (Samples of bridge building; among which are 7 ))lates of the Strand 

 Bridge constructed by ( jeorge Rennie. Four plates of Skew bridges, 

 on the Jlidland Counties Railway, which will be accompanied, wlien 

 the work is conqdeted, by a Treatise on Skew arches, by Mr. Wood- 

 house, the Engineer of the Railway. Three plates of bridges over 

 the Ouse, near York, on the Great North of England Railway^ Messrs. 

 J. & B. Green, Engineers, besides several other well executed en- 

 gravings. 



A Practical Treatise on the Construction arid Formation of Railways. 

 By Jas. Day. London : John Weale, 1839. 



This small volume contains a great deal of useful matter condensed 

 in a narrow compass, and will be found very servicable to the stu- 

 dent; throughout the work are distributed some serviceable tables, 

 which will be of assistance to the engineer or contractor. 



A Practical Treatise on the constritction of Oblique Arches. By John 

 Hart, Mason. Second Edition, with Additions. London: John 

 Weale, 1839. 



We gave our commendations to this work on its first appearance, 

 and we now with pleasure direct the attention of the Profession, 

 Masons, and Bricklayers, to the equally practical contents of the pre- 

 sent Edition. 



Theory, Practice, and .Architecture of Bridges. Part III & IV. Lon- 

 don : Jolin Weale, 1839. 



In our former notices of the two first parts of this excellent work, 

 we spoke in most favourable terms of the manner in which it was 

 got up, and of the utility of its contents ; we also promised in our 

 last review to notice the practical papers; but we regret that an 

 overpress of matter precludes us at present from fulfilling our pro- 

 mise, — we will, however, endeavour to do so in the next Journal, by 

 which time we hope to see another Part out. In the mean time, we 

 recommend to a/l, to possess themselves of the work while the pub- 

 lisher is in the humour to sell it at the present low price. 



Sir John Rennie is about to publish a work on Harbours. 



Repton's Landscape Gardening and Landscape .^rcltilcclim: A new 

 Edition. By J. C. Loudon, F.L.S., &c. No. I. II. HI. Loudon, 

 Longman & Co. 



Repton's works are so well known to the Architect, and to every 

 lover of landscape sceneiT, that it renders it quite unnecessary for 

 US to give, at ))resent, aiiy lengthened notice of the appearance of 

 a new edition, which is now being republished \mder the able auspices 

 of Mr. Loudon, who stands very justly pre-eminent in his profession 

 as a Landscape Architect. The high price of the former edition of 

 Repton's works, prev«nted them being largely distributed, — but we 

 hope, now that Mr. Loudon has undertaken to issue the work at about 

 a sixteenth the price of the former edition, it will liave a far more 

 extended sale. We shall not allow many more numbers to be pub- 

 Jished, without giving an extended notice of their contents. 



LETTER FROM MR. GODWIN JUN. ON NECESSITY OF 

 INVESTIGATIONS IN ACOUSTICS. 

 Sir — The report recently made to the Commissioners of Her 

 Majesty's Treasury by Messrs. Barry, De La Beche, W. Smith, and 

 Charles Henry Smith, on the sandstones, limestones, and oolites of 

 Britain, (and to which you drew attention in the last number of the 

 Journal,) forms with the numerous tables and results of experiments 

 by Messrs. Dauiell and Wheatsfone appended to it, one of the most 

 valuable contributions to architectural science that lias been made in 

 modern limes. One hundred and three quarries are described, 

 ninety-six Ijuildings in England referred to, many chemical analyses 

 of the stones given, and a great number of experiments related, 

 shewing among other points, the cohesive power of each stone, and 

 the amount of disintegration apparent when subjected to Brard's 

 process. It offers in consequence materials for deductions of great 

 practical importance beyond those maile or required to be made, in 

 the body of the rejiort, and will lead, I hope, to the publication of a 

 comprehensive treatise on the subject by competent hands. 



This being the case then, it must I think, seem desirable to all, that 

 goveinment should continue the good work they have so well begun, 

 and that this report shoulil be but the commencement of a valuable 

 series; and I would venture to suggest touching the next step to be 

 taken, the importance of appointing a committee to incpiire into the 

 most desirable forms of buildings and the best mode of construction, 

 in a phonocamptic point of view, to investigate the science of sound 

 and to deduce principles to be hereafter applied in the erection of 

 buildings. On this subject, which is of the most vital importance to 

 the excellence of the new houses of parliament, we are confessedly 

 entirely ignorant, (and I speak not of architects alone,} we do not 

 know so much as would enable one to say with certainty before a 

 building be finished, whether or not it will be well adajited for orato- 

 ric;d purposes. Even in churches and other edifices where the voice 

 is to issue imariably from one spot, many circumstances at present 

 beyond our reach because not fully understood, may have the effect, 

 and every day do have the effect of preventing persons in certain po- 

 sitions from hearing; but in an apartment where, as in the House of 

 Commons, individuals will arise from all parts indifferently to ad- 

 dress the meeting, the difficulties become much more numerous, the 

 probability of failure in some one respect or another, is necessarily 

 much greater. .Sincerely therefore do I hope that a commission will 

 be immediately appointed to collect information on the subject, and 

 conduct a series of experiments on a large scale, without which, 

 nothing effectual can be looked for. Independently too, of the im- 

 mediate occasion for this inquiry, the mass of facts that would be 

 collected and the truths obtained, would be a great boon to the pro- 

 fession at large, and could not fail to produce most advantageous 

 results. 



I ough.t perhaps to apologize for troubling you with this communi- 

 cation ; but must offer in extenuation, that having bestowed some 

 little attention myself upon the subject, and gained a knowledge of 

 difficulties which at present meet the inquirer at every step, I am 

 strongly desirous that some sufficient proceedings should be taken to 

 procure more satisfactory data for reasoning than do now exist. 

 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



George Goodwin, Jun. 

 Bromptoii, Sept. 18, 1839. 



BLOWING UP THE WRECK OF THE ROYAL GEORGE AT 

 SPITHEAD. 



Colonel Pasley commenced his submarine explosive operation 

 against this immense wreck, on the 29th August, when he fired no 

 fewer than five charges of gunpowder against her water-logged tim- 

 bers — we believe with great effect. One of these charges consisted 

 of ISO lb., the other four of 451b. of powder each. 'I'lie effect of 

 these discharges at the bottom of the water, the depth being 14 

 fathoms, was very remarkable, resembling the smart shock of an earth- 

 quake. To those who stood on the deck of the lighters anchored 

 near the point of explosion, the sensation was not unlike that of a 

 galvanic shock, ami these huge vessels were violently shaken. No 

 column nor dome of water was, hovvever, thrown up, as had been 

 expected by those who had witnessed Colonel Pasley's experiments 

 in the Thames and Medway. The water over the explosion remained 

 quite tranquil for several seconds after the shock had been felt, and 

 the sound heard, when it suddenly burst forth in a circle of bubbles 

 and whirlpools, gradually extending on all sides, till it became about 

 4U or 50 fe.^l in diameter. This circle of agitation was at first whitfe 

 u ith foam ; but ended by becoming of a deep blue, or almost black 

 colour, probably IVom the mud at the bottom being stirred upt Several 



