08 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[F 



KBRUART, 



UNION WORKHOUSES. 



Sir — On my road from W'oolwicli to London, the other day, I was much 

 struck witli the CNtensivc a])]iearance of tlie loiig-talked-of new work- 

 Jioube for tliis union, which was to he t)ie ^' lari/i^st ami bfi^t housp^' under 

 tlie comniibsinn. I walkeil over the whole estabhslnuerit, and certainly it is 

 the largest antl best built house I have seen under the Poor Law Commission- 

 ers — the main building being iipwards of A'iO feet in length, by about 4.'i feet 

 in depth — in height three floors (witli basement under about half), ami the 

 ground floor well kept up, standing in an enclosed square acre (of lower 

 buildings ami work-sheds) about, .jOO feet x 400 feet, witli an old looking 

 buililiug in front (north), for board-room ami offices ; large range of buildings 

 at ));uk (south), for hospital, infirmary, fever wards, &c. ; and work-sheds, 

 wash-imusc, laundry, &e., at ends; U]>ou the whole, presenting rather an 

 imposing aiiitcarauce — also an imjiroved one — in comjtarison with the beg- 

 garly looking things erected by the Union generally. Mr. Browne, of (Ireeii- 

 wieli, is the architect, as in all the other houses (or some parties for him) 

 fretted away the interior of this otherwise noble establishment with a great 

 number of little, low, nari-ow rooms, called wards, which, were it not for a 

 gallery on each floor, running the whole length of the building (near 420 

 feet), would be exceedingly inconvenient and unhealthy too — uotwitlistand- 

 ing the great care that has been bestowed in the arrangement of the ventila- 

 fi(ui, the supply of water, and the drainage, to tlie whole establishment, 

 which jppears to me to have been very earefidly studied and well executed — 

 as well as the water-closets and other internal arrangements generally. Upon 

 the suggestion and under theablesviperintemlaneeof Mr. J.eakc, the Guardian 

 Clerk of the Works, unto whom — one of the Guardians of the Hoard informed 

 me — they were nnich indebted for his constant attention, great building tact 

 and skill, and the full exercise of his first-rate mechanical and constructive 

 capacities in their service : he is evidently a ntan very superiorly calculated 

 to conduct large masses of work, as well as their detailed arrangement, and 

 appears to be ipiife at home in this department of the business. The ground 

 is on an inclination, with gravel bottom and good water ; hut the site stands 

 awkwardly v\itb the road, seeing the hack of the f]'ont Ijuilding befoi'e you 

 see its front elevation, which might have been easily remedied, notwithstaml- 

 ing the depth of the ground ; however, considering the house is built for 

 about ll.'iO inmates, at an expense of less than a;'24,000. It reflects infinite 

 credit both on Mr. Urownevvho has had nnich ti'ouble and 0]}position to con- 

 tend with ; Wr. .fay of Lomlon \\'all, who has done himself credit in the exe- 

 cution; the Board of Guardians for fhcii' spirit in giving an impetus to the 

 large bouse yet to be built, and all parties concerned in the erection of those 

 truly National Establishments. I would have given you a detailed account 

 hut time presses on me, so beg the insertion of this brief notice. 



M. N. 0. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Thf. first meeting of this society for the session was held on M'cdnesday 

 evening, the Gth Movcmbcr. 



Rev. I'rofessor Buckland, D.D., President, in the chair. 



The following conmiunications were read : 



/t nottcp of Shovern nf Aalwn which fell on hoard the Ho.ihiiri/h, off the 

 Cape fie Verd ixlandx, in Fehvtianj last, hij the Rev. W. B. Clarke. 



On Tuesday, Fchrnary 4th, the latitude of the ship at noon was 14 deg. 

 ?i\ min. norfli, longitude 2.i deg. 10 min. west. The sky was overcast, and 

 the weather thick and insuflVrably ojipressive, though the thermometer was 

 only 72. At 3 ]i. ni. the wiml suddenly hdled into a calm, then rose from 

 he south-west, ,iceonii>anied by rain, and the air appeared to he filled with 

 dust, vvhieh affected the eyes of the passengers and crew. At noon, on the 

 ."ith of February, the latitude of the Iloahim/h was 12 deg. .30 min. north, 

 longitude 2 1 deg. 1.'! min. west ; the thermometer stood at 72, and the baro- 

 nu'fcr at 30 — the height which it had maintained during the voyage from 

 England. The volcanic island of Fogo, one of the Cape do Verds, was about 

 forty-five miles distant. The weather was clear and fine, hut the sails were 

 found to be covered with an impalpable reddish-brown powder, which Mr. 

 Clarke states resembled maiiy of the varieties of ashes ejected from Vesuvius, 

 and evidently was not sand Idowu from the African deserts. The author also 

 mentions the following instances of similar ))henomcna, chiefly on the autho- 

 rity of the officers of the Ro.iharyh. In .lune, 1822, the sliip Kinyston, of 

 Bristol, bound to Jamaica, while passing near Fogo, had her sails covered 

 with a similar browiMsh jiowder, which, it is said, smelt strongly of sulphur. 

 In the latitude of the Canaries, and longituilc S,') deg. west, showers of ashes 

 h.ave been noticed two or three times. At liondiay, dust, on one occasion, 

 fell on the decks of the vessels to the depth of an inch, and it was supposed 

 to have been blown from Arabia. In January, 1838, dust was noticed by the 

 crew of a ship navigating the (;hina Sea, and' at a considerable distance from 

 the liashee islands, one of which had been previously seen in eruption. In 

 1S12 ashes fell on the deck of a jiacket bound to the Brazils, and when lOOO 

 miles from laud. 



./ letter from Mr. Caldcloin/h, dated Santiago de Chili, Febriiari/ ISth, 

 1839, containing the ileclaration of the master and part of the crew of the 

 Chilian brig, Thilij, of the discovery during the evening of the 12th of Fe- 

 bruary, of three volcanic islands about thirty leagues to the east of Juan Fer- 

 nandez. The island which was first noticed, appeared, at the time of its dis- 

 covery, to he rising out of the sea. It afterwards divided into two pyramids, 

 which erundded away, but their base remained above the level of a violent 

 surge, and in the course of the same evening, the height of the islaml was, 

 for a time, again considerably increased. The other two volcanic islets bore 

 further southwards. During the night the crew of the Thili/ noticed, at in- 

 tervals, a light in the same direction. 



A letter addressed to Mr. Lyell, by Mr. Buddie, of Newcastle, On Depren- 

 sioris produced on the Surface of the Ground hy the Ejccavaliom of Hedn of 

 Coal, 



The effects described in this jiaper are stated to depend on the fiuir fol- 

 lowing conditions: — 



1. The depth of the seam of coal below the surface. 



2. The thickness of the seam. 



3. The nature of the strata between the seam of coal and the surface. 



4. Whether the jiiUars of coal are wholly or partially removed. 



If the depth from the surface does not exceed thirty fathoms, and s.ind- 

 stone forms the greater part of the mass overlying the seam, the sulisidence 

 is nearly, if not cpiite, equal to the thickness of the coal removed ; hut if 

 " metal stone" or shale constitute the bulk of the beds, the hollow pmdneed 

 by the settUng of strata is less. This rule, depending on the nature of the 

 intervening mass, is said to be maintained at all depths. Of the proportional 

 effect i)rodnced on the surface, .Mr. Buddie Ims not been able to obtain any 

 accurate information — the amuunt depending on the four conditions enmne- 

 rafed above; hut the depth of the depression de])ends less on the thickness 

 of the seam than on its entire removal. In the Newcastle jiits, where large 

 l)illars of coal are left in the first instance, and when these are subsequently 

 removed, blocks or "stooks" of cousidera))le strength are suffered to remain, 

 for the purpose of protecting the colliers from the exfoliation of the roof, the 

 sinking of the superincundjeut mass is retanled, and several years sometimes 

 elapse before the excavation is completely closed, or the overlying strata are 

 finally settled down. In the Yorkshire system, by which all the coal, with 

 the exception of small temporary pillars, is removed in the first instance, the 

 roof being sujiijorted hy wooden i>resses and stone pillars, the overlying strata 

 sultside immediately after the coal is removed. 



If is only where water occurs on the surface, or a railway traverses a coal- 

 field, that the amount of depression can be accurately ascertained. In one 

 instance, the removal of a bed of coal six feet thick, one-fourth having been left 

 in " stooks," the depth being 100 fathoms, and the overlying strata princi- 

 pally sandstone, a pond of water accumulated to the depth of rather more 

 than three feet, by the settling of the strata. In another instance, where a 

 railway crossed a district from beneath which three beds of coal had been 

 successively renmved, it had been found necessary to restore the level of the 

 railway three times. The aggregate thickness of the seams of coal was nearly 

 fifteen feet, and the dejith of the lowest 107 fathoms, of the highest seventy- 

 three, and the mass of the overlying strata consisted of shale. The extent of 

 each settlement w.is not measured, but the total was 5 feet inches, and this 

 comparatively small amount Mr. Buddie explains hy the railway passing near 

 one end of the excavated tract. A still higher seam is now in progress of 

 being worked, and it affords an excellent opportunity for ascert.aiuing the 

 cftcets i)roduced by the pressure of the superincumbent mass. Innumerable 

 vertical cracks pass througli the seam, as well as the pavement and roof, or 

 the beds immediately above and below it, but they are perfectly cUise except 

 around the margin of the settlement. Along this line the seam is splintered, 

 the pavement and roof are fissured and bent down, and the cracks are fre- 

 quently open. Within the area of the settlement, the pavement, on the con- 

 trary, is as smooth as if it had not been disturbed, the cracks are close, and 

 the coal is not splintered, but rendered tougher, or, in the language of the 

 colliers, more " woody." This effect Mr. Buddie ascribes to the escape of 

 gas by the cracks, ami the same changes are sometimes produced by other 

 causes, when the coal is said to be winded. 



KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON. 



Bepartment of Civil Engineering and Science applied to the Arts and 

 Manufactures. 



Regul.\tions in respect to Certific.vtks. 



1. The certificates of the second and third years will be of two forms — 

 ordinary certificates, and certificates of honour. 



2. No certificate, whether ordinary or of honour, will he granted, which, 

 among the signatures affixed to it. does not include those of the professors 

 of mathematics, mechanics, an<i chendstry. 



3. A certificate of the second year will he necessary to obtaining one in 

 the third. 



4. Any student to whom a certificate shall have been refused at the Mid- 

 summer cxanunation of any year, may apply for it at the examination of the 

 following Christmas. 



