86 



INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 



POETICAL PREDICTION OF THE 

 CRYSTAL PALACE. 



It is a curious fact that the 

 Crystal Palace realized the concep- 

 tions of one of the eaiiiest poetical 

 dreams in the language ; and one 

 would almost believe that when 

 Chaucer, four centuries and a half 

 ago, delineated the following scene 

 in the " House of Fame," his pen, 

 which, as Spenser said of it, was 

 dipped in the "pure well of English 

 undefiled," drew its inspiration from 

 the prophetic as well as the poetic 

 faculty "the vision and the faculty 

 divine :" 



" I dreamt I was 

 Within .1 temple made of glass, 

 In which there were more images, 

 Of gold standing in sundry stages, 

 In more rich tabernacles, 

 And with jewels more pinnacles, 

 And more curious portraitures, 

 And quaint manner of figures 

 Of gold work than I saw ever. 



***** 



" Then saw I stand on either side 

 Straight down to the doors wide 

 from the dais many a pillar 

 Of metal that shone out full clear. 



***** 



" Then gan I look about and see 



That there came ent'ring in the hall, 



A right great company withal, 



And that of sundry regions 



Of all kinds of conditions, 



That dwell in earth beneath the moon, 



Poor and rich. 



***** 



" Such a great congregation 

 Of folks as I saw roam about, 

 Rome within and some without, 

 Was never seen or shall be more .'" 



THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 



The Ciystal Palace and the Great 

 Exhibition will render the year 

 1851 for ever memorable, and per- 

 petuate the honoured name of his 

 lloyal Highness Prince Albert as 

 the projector of the most extensive 

 and varied collection of the pro- 

 ducts of nature, art, and manufac- 

 turing industry ever witnessed in 

 the world. To Sir J. Paxton be- 

 longs the honour of designing the 



spacious structure of glass and iron ; 

 and to Messrs. Fox and Henderson 

 that of its erection. The general 

 plan was that of a parallelogram, 

 1848 feet long, and 408 feet wide. 

 The total area roofed over was 

 772,784 square feet, equal to about 

 19 acres ; 217,100 square feet of ad- 

 ditional area was obtained by cross 

 galleries. There were about 200 

 miles of sash bars and 896,000 

 square feet of glass required for the 

 roof ; 700 tons of wrought iron and 

 3800 tons of cast iron were used in 

 the construction of the building. 

 The Exhibition was opened by the 

 Queen on the 1st of May, in pre- 

 sence of 25,000 spectators, whilst 

 650,000, it was estimated, crowded 

 the surrounding parks. The total 

 number of visits to the Exhi- 

 bition was 6,039,195, the daily 

 average being 42,831, and the 

 greatest number in any one day, 

 109,915 persons. The receipts 

 amounted to 506.100, and the ex- 

 penditure to 292,794, leaving a 

 surplus of 213,305 to be applied 

 to the promotion of industrial art. 

 The value of the articles exhibited 

 was 2,000,000. The total number 

 of exhibitors was 13,937 ; of whom 

 7381 belonged to Great Britain and 

 her colonies, and 6556 to foreign 

 countries. 



THE THAMES TUNNEL. 



The engineer of this great work, 

 Mr., now Sir Mark Isambard 

 Brunei, completed his design in 

 1823 ; and amongst those who then 

 regarded it as practicable were the 

 late Duke of Wellington and the 

 late Dr. "Wollaston. The works 

 were commenced in 1825, and the 

 tunnel itself in 1826 ; and by 

 March, 1827, it had advanced about 

 one-third of the whole length. All 

 proceeded well till May 18, when 

 the river burst into the tunnel 

 with such velocity and volume, as 

 to fill it in fifteen minutes ; but, 

 although the men were at 'work, no 



