i84e. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



377 



laws of pularization is only one of others which we may expect from the 

 sarae philosopher." 



The following interests othei's besides students of the College 

 for Civil Engineers, and in the present dearth of employment at 

 home will meet with attention from many of our readers ; and the 

 more so, as it comes from one wlio has a practical knowledge of 

 what he says : — 



*' It is scarcely necessary to urge on you the desirableness of a practical 

 education, such as jou will receive at this College. I have said enough to 

 show you that it is indispensable in this country, if you wish to outstrip the 

 competiliou which now, happily for the world, prevails in all departments 

 of industry. If it be requisite here, it is far more necessary to the aspirio^^ 

 colonist abroad. The held open for well-educated men in the colonies is 

 so great, that I doubt not there will be many of you who will try their for- 

 tunes ill foreign lands. I myself, having been born in a colony, and all my 

 relations having spent their lives and acquired their fortunes in colonies, I 

 naturally know somewhat of the life and of the prospects of intelligent 

 emigrants. This I can assure you, that I have never known an instance of 

 failure, where a man went out with a well-grounded scientific knowledge, 

 and with a power of applying it in a special direction. I have many friends 

 in the colonies, who have gone out with no other recommendation than 

 that — a very high one certainly — of being proficient in some one of the 

 sciences. I recall to my mind at the present moment names of men who I 

 am proud to call my friends — men who are now all in the enjoyment of 

 lucrative posts abroad, from having gone out, some with a knowledje of 

 geology, others of chemistry, and others of natural history. It is true that 

 scientific men are rare in our colonies ; and it is because practical scientific 

 education is rare, — the more the chance for you who avail yourselves of 

 your youth and your advantages. Look at the treasures opened in Australia 

 by the discovery of coal and of valuable mineral ores. What a grand field 

 for the mineralogist, the metallurgist, the geologist, chemist, and practical 

 engineer! When we hear of men who have lately made large fortunes in 

 the course of three years, by a happy development of formerly-neglected 

 mineral wealth, is there not here encouragement to those who have a sound 

 knowledge of the applied sciences to devote their lives to the development 

 of our colonial industry ? But iu attempts to do so, ihere will be, of course, 

 difficulties to overcome, such as cannot occur in this land, where all kinds 

 of professional talent is available. It is for this that we give a general 

 practical education such as we do. Are you to be a farmer in the colonies ? 

 Then learn before you go to understand the principles of machinery, so as 

 to make and repair your implements; learn how to survey; how by geo- 

 logy and chemistry to choose your land; how to cullivate it when pro- 

 cured — learn to think how the resources of the country are to be econo- 

 mised. Recollect, that in boiling down whole flocks of sheep for th=ir 

 tallow only, in imitation of your brother farmers, you might at the same 

 time make the most admirable and nutritious portable meat and soups for 

 armies and navies — a process, if carried out, which is, I am sure, destined 

 to become one of the most valuable, though yet untried manufactures of 

 Australia — and why untried ? Because there is no science to guide them 

 in a manufactory involving a knowledge of animal chemistry, as well as 

 of a wise adaptation of machinery, and an acquaintance with what has 

 been done in the same way in other countries. And if you go out as a 

 surveyor, how invaluable to gain the geological knowledge which you may 

 also here acquire ; how indescribably useful your chemical power of detect- 

 ing and assaying valuable ores and minerals ! Are you destined for the 

 army abroad ? The best way of getting staff-appointmenls or lucrative 

 employment, is to have the power of making yourself useful with your 

 scientific knowledge. I again say, that in this service in our colonies I 

 have never known an instance where a really deserving scientific man 

 failed in being speedily advanced to a useful and honourable position. 



But do not think that in these days fortunes or honours are easily ac- 

 quired. It is not mediocrity in your pursuits that will enable you to out- 

 run the masses struggling to push forward. The age is au age of action ; 

 and if you are to succeed in future life, you must now brace and prepare 

 yourself for the struggle. If you fall asleep now while you are young, 

 in vigour, and able to prepare yourself for future life, the world will not 

 know when you awake, and it will be a long and a sad struggle for you to 

 overtake those who were active when you were passive. Recollect, that 

 it is only by study, downright hard study, that you can acquire that mental 

 strength and vigour that will enable you to overcome the increasing diffi- 

 culties of progress iu life." 



History of Architecture from the Earliest Times; its Present Con- 

 dition in Europe and the United States. By Mrs. L. C. Tuthill. 

 Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1848. 



As there are some remarks on this work in the Fasciculus of 

 " Candidas," we shall not trouble our readers much further as to 

 its critical merits. It was intended for a popular work in the 

 United States, but, unhappily, it gives little definite information 

 as to the buildings there, and is ten years behind hand as to those 

 of Europe, the " Architectural Magazine " having been the chief 

 authority. 



It seems from the remarks of the authoress that Gothic and 

 Elizabethan are now tlie fashion, instead of Greek, but there are 

 few favourable American examples of any style given by the 

 authoress, though there are many American buildings of great 

 merit. We sh;ill try and glean what we can as to buildings in the 

 United States of which any particulars are given by the writer. 



At Boston among the novelties are named — 



" Trinity Church, m Summer-street, a Gothic edifice, of granite, built 

 in 1829. 



The Tremont Hottse is a large and beautiful building, of granite, with a 

 fine Doric portico in front. J. Rogers, architect. 



Two beautiful Gothic churches, of freestone, were built in 1317. Billings, 

 architect." 



At New York — 



'* The Church in JVashington-square, belonging to a congregation of the 

 Dutch Reformed denomination, is said to be one of the most perfect Gothic 

 structures iu the United States. Le Fevre, architect. 



Trinity Church was commenced in 1841, on the site of the old church in 

 Broadway, and completed in 1846. It is built of a beautiful fine-grained 

 freestone, in the Perpendicular Gothic style. It is 192 feet long, and 84 

 wide. Its graceful, symmetrical spire is 264 feet high. It is hy many con- 

 sidered the finest specimen of ecclesiastical architecture iu this country, 

 Mr. Upjohn, architect. 



Grace Church, on Broadway, is built in the form of a cross, in the Gothic 

 style, and is of white marble. The windows are of stained glass, and tlie 

 edifice cost 145,000 dollars (£30,000). It was completed in 1813. Mr. 

 Renwick, architect. 



The Custom House, in Wall-street, is a beautiful Doric building, 177 feet 

 long, and 59 feet wide. The architects were Ithiel Town and Alexander J. 

 Davis. 



The Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, at Brooklyn, New York, is one 

 of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in this country. A citizen of 

 Brooklyn, with a munificence above commendation, has erected this noble 

 edifice,' at a cost of about 150,000 dollars (j630,000). Lefevre, architect." 



At Philadelphia— 



The United States Banti, now the United States Custom House for the 

 port of Philadelphia, is one of the most beautiful buildings in this country. 

 It is closely copied from a perfect model, the Parthenon. Its length is 16 1 

 feet; its breadth 87 feet. The fine massive Doric columns of the portico 

 stand upon a platform of white marble, the ascent to which is by a high 

 flight of marble steps. Thus lifted up away from the street it has a very 

 imposing appearance. The banking-room is 81 feet long and 48 feet wide. 



The new Bank of Pennsylvania is copied from the Ionic Temple of the 

 Muses, upon the Ilissus ; it is built of marble, and is a large and handsome 

 edifice. 



The Girard College. — The main building, which is the subject of this 

 description, is composed in the Corinthian order of Grecian architecture : it 

 covers a space of 181 feet by 239J feet, and consists of au octastyle perip- 

 teral superstructure, resting upon a basement of 8 feet in height, composed 

 entirely of steps extending around the whole edifice ; by which a pyramidical 

 appearance is given to the substruction, and a means of approach afi'urded to 

 the porticoes from every side. The dimensions of the stylobate (or platform 

 on which the columns stand) are 159 feet on the fronts, by 217 feet on the 

 flanks ; and the cell, or body of the building, measures 111 feet, by 169 feet. 

 The whole height, from the ground to the apex of the roof, is 100 feet. 



The columns are 34 in number ; the diameter of the shaft at the top of 

 the base is 6 feet, and at the bottom of the capital, 5 feet ; the height of the 

 capitals, including the abacus, is 9 feet, and the width, from the extreme 

 corners of the abacus, 10 feet; the whole height of the column, including 

 capital and base, is 55 feet. The entablature is 16 feet 3 inches high, and 

 the greatest projection of the cornice, from the face of the frieze, is 4 f t . 

 9 in. ; the elevation of the pediment is 20 ft. 5 in., being one-ninth of the 

 span. The capitals of the columns are proportioned from those of the 

 monument of Lysicrates at Athens : they are of American marble, and were 

 wrought upon the grounds of the college. 



The building is three stories in height, each of which is 25 feet from floor 

 to floor : there are four rooms of 50 feet square in each story. Those of the 

 first and second story are vaulted with groin arches, and those of the third 

 story with domes supported on pendentives, which spring from the corners 

 of the rooms at the floor, and assume the form of a circle on the horizontal 

 section, at the height of 19 feet. These rooms are lighted by means of sky- 

 lights of 16 feet in diameter. All the domes are terminated below the plane 

 of the roof, and the skylights project but one foot above it, so as not to in- 

 terfere with the character of the architecture. 



The roof is covered with marble tiles, so nicely overlapping each other as 

 to defy the most beating storms. 



Beside the main edifice, there are four other buildings belonging to the 

 institution, each 52 feet wide, 125 feet long, and four stories high. Thomas 

 U. Walter, architect." 



At Washington, among other buildings, are — 



" The President's House, of Potomac freestone. It has two fronts with 

 porticoes, and is 180 feet in length by 85 feet in width. 



2he Patent Office is still unfinished ; it is designed, when completed, to 



49 



