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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[March 



INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 



Feb. 1. — Joshua Field, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



The President, in taking the Chair for the first time since his election, 

 addressed the memhers at considerable lengtli, dwelling chiefly on the inti- 

 mate connection between the civil and mechanical engineers, their depend- 

 ence upon each other, and the importance of maintaining that union between 

 the two branches of the profession that had ever been one of the main 

 objects of the Institution. He showed, that originally engineering was con- 

 fined to the constructive or mechanical branches; raising heavy weights, 

 building mills, draining mines, and all the primitive wants of mankind ; 

 by degrees, as civilisation extended, the exigencies of the world became 

 greater ; luxuries were required, that could only be supplied by greater ex- 

 ercise of talent and skill ; manufactories were multiplied, manual labour 

 could no longer suffice, the steam-engine was generally employed, and the 

 consequence of this increase of production was, that the roads required to 

 be amended, rivers and canals to be cut, for carrying this abundance of mer- 

 chandise and passengers, whilst docks and harbours required extending, for 

 the reception of the shipping for the increasing export trade. These wants 

 called into being another class of men, who, with great mechanical skill, 

 combined more than ordinary theoretical knowledge and business habits, to 

 enable them to combine and use the powers of all other classes. These men 

 were termed civil engineers, in contradistinction to military engineers, whose 

 education and experience fitted them solely for the art of war ; and by these 

 men. Great Britain had been placed first in the list of the civilizers of man- 

 kind. Mr. Field, as the first president elected from among the mechanical 

 engineers, dilated, at length, upon the immense strides made within the last 

 century in the production of the mechanic arts and in public works, under 

 the combined efforts of the two classes alluded to. lie then entered more 

 minutely upon tlie subject of steam navigation, to which he had principally 

 devoted his personal attention, and gave most interesting details of the sub- 

 ject, ending by apologising for occupying so much of the time of the meet- 

 ing by saying, that be must be permitted to feel more than ordinary pride in 

 being elected the president, when be looked around bim, and saw that the 

 association of six young engineers, who, in 1818, met occasionally to chat 

 over mechanical subjects, had extended, in the course of twenty-nine years, 

 into a society consisting of upwards of 600 members, and comprising within 

 it almost all the engineers of eminence in Great Britain. — The address was 

 vehemently applauded, and the president was requested to allow it to be 

 printed in the minutes of proceedings. 



The discussion was then renewed upon Mr. Ransome's paper, " On the 

 Manvfacture of Artificial Stone." 



The Dean of Westminster, Sir Henry De la Beche, Mr. John Phillips, 

 Dr. Garrod, Mr. Barry, and other visitors, took part in the discussion with 

 the principal members of the Institution. The remarks turned chiefly upon 

 the chemical and physical properties of the material, and the cost of its 

 production in the moulded form as compared to that of carved stone. In 

 its chemical properties it was shown to be at least equal in purity to the 

 production of Nature ; for, on the statements of the eminent chemists who 

 had subjected it to severe tests, it was proved to be totally insoluble in boiling 

 water, however Ion;? immersed, and also to be capable of resisting the action 

 of mineral acids. In this respect it differed from glass, which always yielded 

 a portion of its alkali to the action of water. It was further stated, that it 

 had perfectly resisted the action of frost, vases filled with water having been 

 repeatedly frozen without their sustaining any injury. Satisfactory state- 

 ments were adduced as to its strength and other physical properties, and 

 some very interesting remarks were made on the subject, comparing the 

 substance produced artificially with certain sandstones found in this country, 

 which, by the action of compression and heat, bad attained a degree of hard- 

 ness equal to quartz. The experiments of Hall and Watt on the production 

 of artificial stones were also alluded to as bearing upon the question. Ex- 

 periments made on the strength of the artilicial stone proved it to be superior 

 to those natural stones with which it had been tested — viz.: Caen, Bath, 

 York, or Portland stone. Nnmerous specimens were exhibited to the meet- 

 ing, showing its universal applicability to constructive and decorative pur- 

 poses ; fractured pieces were shown of every variety of texture, from the 

 porous sandstone to the most compact granite. The price of the material 

 was stated to be such as to render it available for all useful and ornamental 

 purposes. 



Feb. 8. — Joshua Field, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



The paper read was " An account of the recent Improvements in the 

 Drainage and Sewarje of Bristol." By Mr. James Green. 



From this account it appears, that for many years past, great reformation 

 had been requisite in the sewage of several parts of the city of Bristol, and 

 more especially in the localities adjacent to the course of the River Froome, 

 whose channel had become a large cesspool, spreading miasma and disease 

 all around. This river formerly emptied itself into the River Avon, in the 

 city ; and then all that was brought down by the stream was carried away 

 by the tide ; but, when to form the floating harbour, the old course of the 

 Avon was dammed across by lock-gates, and a new cut was made for carrying 

 oflT the contents of the sewers emptying themselves into the Froome, a nuis- 

 ance of the most serious character was created, and the bed of the river 

 became permanently affected. Mr. Mylne, some years since, constructed a 

 lateral culvert from the embouchure of the Froome, debouching in the new 

 cut ; this did partial good ; but still the general state of the river remained 



unimproved ; and, in deference to the universal demand for sanitary reform, 

 the authorities of Bristol employed Mr. Green to devise and execute plans 

 for the improvement of the sewage of the part of the city most demanding 

 it. He laid out comprehensive plans, but the estimate of their cost exceeded 

 the funds at the disposal of the council ; so he modified them, and the result 

 had proved most successful. The proceedings were to bring the channel of 

 the river into an uniform width, by building side walls, with gutters in the 

 upper slopes, conveying the sewage into the stream, obliterating the shoal, 

 and cleaning up the bed, thus bringing it to an uniform inclination ; remov- 

 ing the obstructions caused by the pier of the Castle Mill-street-bridge ; 

 lowering the height, and extending the length of the Wear at the castle 

 moat, with new flood-gates, &c. ; deepening the bed of the upper part of the 

 stream, and thus making convenient arrangements for cleaning out and flush- 

 ing the channel, and passing off the products through Mylue's culvert into 

 the new cut, whence it was conveyed away by the tide. The Dock com- 

 pany's culvert was also cleansed and repaired at the same time, and brought 

 again into operation. Many difficulties attended these proceedings, but they 

 were skilfully combated, and the result has been most complete success ; and 

 it is to be hoped, that the further ameliorations of which the general sewage 

 of the city is susceptible, may be equally successful under the control of Mr. 

 Green, who has so ably conducted them upon a modified scale. For, as the 

 actual expenditure was not more than f 4,537, as stated in the paper, and 

 such beneficial effects have been obtained, there can be no reason why any 

 proper measure of sanitary reform should not be carried into effect. 



In the discussion which ensued, several very able men took part, bearing 

 testimony to tlie satisfactory nature of the improvements made by Mr. 

 Green at Bristol. The conversation then turned upon the employment of 

 the contents of sewers for agricultural purposes. The system proposed by 

 the various companies were detailed and canvassed. The lands which had 

 been rendered fertile by the application of liquid manure, near Edinburgh, 

 and near Mansfield, were quoted as examples of the efficacy of the system ; 

 but, on the other hand, it was shown that these were not fair examples, as 

 the localities were peculiar ; the cost of the establishing was much larger 

 than could usually be borne ; and that, in general, if the distribution of the 

 contents of the sewers was to be made by pipes and pumping, the returns 

 would never repay the outlay. 



Feb. 13. — The discussion upon Mr. Green's paper, was renewed, and con- 

 tinued throughout the evening, to the exclusion of all other business. The 

 main object of the paper appeared, unfortunately, to be lost sight of by the 

 speakers, in their anxiety to bring forward, or to defend, the positions as- 

 sumed by various companies, which had been formed at different periods for 

 using the products of the sewers for agricultural purposes, hut which, in the 

 former part of the discussion, had been somewhat impugned upon commersial 

 grounds. The statements made at this meeting were only repetitions of 

 what has been repeatedly printed in reports, and in evidence before the 

 sanitary commissions ; and the whole evening may have been said to have 

 been wasted, in spite of the attempts of some of the members to bring the 

 discussion to the real question of the best modes of laying out a system of 

 sewage for large towns, the forms of the sewers, based upon the laws go- 

 verning the conveyance of fluids — which, it had been stated in some of the 

 " blue books," were not understood by civil engineers, a statement which 

 was shown by some of the speakers to be not consonant with facts ; for that, 

 if the selected, rather than collected, evidence given before the Health of 

 Towns Commission were analysed, it would he seen that the exploded 

 dogmas of the older writers on hydraulics had been received and adopted, 

 rather than the formulfe of modern writers, or the actual practice of civil 

 engineers of eminence, whose experience on such subjects was necessarily 

 great. It was true, that liitherto, in consequence of the absorbing topic of 

 railways, eminent engineers had not efevoted themselves to the subject of 

 sewage to the extent they might have done ; but, when the time arrived for 

 their doing so advantageously, or the exercise of their skill was demanded by 

 the government, or by private enterprise, they would be found quite prepared 

 to devote themselves to the work. 



SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON. 



Jan. 19. — William Fothergill Cooke, Esq., in the Chair 

 The Secretary read a paper by Dr. Harding, " On some ancient Greek 

 Vases, excavated by him from Tombs near IIe.v.7mili, in the Isthmus of 

 Corinth^' 



" In the autumn of 1840, having obtained by private influence, an order 

 from the prime minister, permitting me to excavate for antiquities, I pro- 

 ceeded (observes Dr. Harding) to Corinth, and hearing that the peasants 

 frequently found ancient tombs, containing vases, under the village of 

 Hexamili, I proceeded thither with a party of labourers. Hexamili lies 

 between Corinth and its ancient port of Chincre, within three miles of 

 the spot where the Isthmian games were celebrated. The ground about 

 Hexamili is, for the most part, rudely cultivated, and grows good crops of 

 wheat ; ancient quarries also abound. The plan adopted in searching for 

 tombs is that of boring the ground with augers, seven feet long, till the in- 

 strument meets with some obstacle to its further progress, when it is with- 

 drawn, and the ground is again pierced in other directions, to ascertain the 

 size and nature of the obstruction ; this is also tested by the sound of the 

 instrument striking against it. When a tomb is discovered, and this is 

 generally at a depth of about four feet, the earth is excavated in the usual 



