l-js 



Tin-; en IL KNC.TXEr.R and AUCHriECTS .JOIUNAL. 



[April, 



William lilsworlli, of I'leslui), was tiiUon liy liim liom m\ ciigiuo be- 

 longing lo Messrs. Ilonoiksi's, Milli'r ami C'o. uf llial, town, working 

 with aliciiit thai rate of consuiniition. Tliis pngino is perliaps a lair 

 av(MMg(^ of (lio bosi rnginos in Lancashire, or such a one as niighl with 

 propriety be eom))arcil to the average of those in Cornwall, whose 

 duty is reported, in any (|nestion relating to the advantage and eco- 

 nomy of the expansive system. I do not know the particular dimen- 

 sions of this engine, but Mr. 10 informeil me that it was then working 

 at an I'ft'eetive indicated power of above 15U horses, which was 

 about double its nominal power, as, indeed, appears evident from '.m 

 inspection of the figure, which is measured by Macnaught's scale of 

 -~; of an ineli for each fb. pressure per sr^uare inch, the vacuum ave- 

 raging 1 1-99, and the steam U-80, making a total gross pressure of 

 nearly 111 lbs. jier square inch. The temperature of the i:old con- 

 densing water was 7b', and that of the hot well was 1 1,"3 ', at ihe time 

 of the experiment. 



I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 



R. AnMSTKOiNti. 



Maiickskr, lil/i Marc/i, 1840. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN BIRiMINGHAM, 



With .\.v E.ngravinu Plate ix. 



CFrom a Correspondent.) 



Among many improvements which have lately taken place with 

 reference to the public buildings of the town of Birniingham, are its 

 magniticcntRoniati temple as a town hall, the grammer school, a splen- 

 did building in the Gothic style, the new churclies, ca])acions market 

 hall, railway stations, and several banking houses, all possessing ar- 

 chitectural endiellishments of no mean character, to these we may add 

 Warwick jiouse, the Ilrajjcry and Furnishing establishmeni of Mr. W. 

 Holliday, pist on the eve of completion, U-iim the designs of Mr. \V. 

 Tliomas,/\rchite( t. Thisbuihlirgfrom its ceutralsituatioiiinNcw-strect 

 its height, its extent of frontage, beauty of design and richness of de- 

 tail may be justly <'iititlcd one of the omamenis of th.il improving 

 town. 



The annexed view is a perspective representation of the front as seen 

 from the opjiosite side of the street. The design is in a style more 

 than usually hixnriant, and the building occupies a fruntage of 54l't 

 (jiii. in width ami .■'■"It in height; the whole pile covering an area of 

 .'<, 777ft. By reference to Ihe engraving it wiil be seen that llic shop 

 front is divided into three compartments, bv rusticated and einpan- 

 nelled ellongated Doric pedestals or pilasters of stone supporting 

 cou|)led lions on each, the si/e of life; tliey carry the enricheil entab- 

 lature of the shop fnmt, the part over the lions breaks forward and 

 is likewise in stone with enriched modillions. The saslies are of 

 massive brass, gla/.^d with plate glass, the s<piares are in one 

 lieighl in single ])lates, the dimensions of wliich in the centre division 

 are 1 1ft. 2in. by lift. 'Jin. and to the side division lift. -Jin. The uji- 

 per part of the building above Hie sliop front is also divided into three 

 divisions consisting 6f a centre and two wings, :it the angles of the 

 latter are aiit;r or tinted pilasters, and in the centre division are two 

 three quarter llulcd columns of the composite order, the lieight of two 

 stories, (the example from the baths of Diocletian at Rome,) sup- 

 porting an enriidied entablature. Above is a very richly decorated 

 attic with enrii'hed panelled pilasters semi circular headed windovis, 

 ornamented with carved masks, and shells, the whole surniounled 

 by an open scroll |)ara|)et over Ihe wings, and carved panels in relief, 

 representing foliated (irillins, masks, ami foliage in the centre, with 

 pedestals and acroteria. The interior of the building is tilted up with 

 ii corresponding degree of richness. It is 10 J feet in depth and di- 

 vided into three sho])s, the centre is the principal department, titted 

 up in a splendid manner. It is divided into compartments by marbled 

 Corinthian columns and pilasters supporting enriched entablature and 

 ceiling, at the extreme end there are similar columns and pilasters 

 witbacentie plate of looking glass, 10ft. lin. high by 3ft. (.in. To 

 the left is the furnishing dejurtment and to the right is the French 

 de|)artiuent, connected withwliieh is a cloak room furnished with a 

 looking glass, Sft. by (d't. and a painted glass window Oft. ."Jin. by Sft. 

 representing Traile, ('(.mmcree, &c. The fixtures are of riga oak. 

 The back jjartof the binldingis lighted bylantherns, glazed with plate, 

 glass, the bisemiMil isoccupieil uiUi war '('ouscs, and in the n|iper jiart 

 of the building are the dwellings for llf proprietor and tlic numerous 

 establishment. 



THE PATENT WATER ELEVATOR. 



Sii; — 1 had a few ilays since an opportunity of examining a model of 

 Hall's Patent Water Eli'vator, which appears calculated to overcome any 

 dillicully in raising water to any recpiired height at a very trifling cost ; 

 with the prin<-iple (d' it you are no doubt well acquainted, and 1 should 

 not have troubled you iviththis letter but for a remark which a friend 

 made on my naming the machine to biin, he inmiediately recollected 

 having seen some years since at Windsor Castle (as far as his mi'inory 

 serves liim) what was then called "the Rope Pnmp," the only dilfer- 

 ence being that atWindsor a rope was used inste.id of a strap, from this 

 it will ap|)ear that Mr. Hall is not entitled to any credit as an inventor, 

 but merely for bringing before the public that w liich was probably only 

 known to few individuals — In such a case is Mr. Hall's patent good ? 

 ( h can any one use the rope without infringing on his patent '. 



I am, Mr. Editor, 



Your faithful Friend, 



An Ourhnal Subscriber. 

 Leeds, March, 18, 1840. 



:^*,^ We are decidedly of opinion that the use of the rope would 

 not be an infringement of the |iafent. We are not very favorable to 

 either the belt or the rope, as an economical mode of raising water. 

 Editor. 



DR. LARDNER'S LECTURES ON RAILWAYS. 



Sir — No doubt many of your readers have heard of the Lectures 

 lately delivered at Liverpool and Manchester, by Dr. Lardner, "on the 

 resistance to railway trains, the eflects of gradients, and the general 

 economy of steam jiower," — he might have added a detailed statement 

 of the proibiind ignorance of engineers on these []oints. Among other 

 subjects he ii Iroduced lliat of coniial wheels, and endeavoured to show 

 that all engineers had fallen into an egregious error in supposing that 

 the cone was of any service in enabling a carriage to move in a curve- 

 linear direction, he said "ne^er was there a more consuimnate me- 

 chanical bbuider, the cone couUl do literary nothing; for they had left 

 out of view Ihe fact that the parallelism of the axles was preserved, 

 and until they cease to Le parallel the cone could do nothing. If a 

 model carriage were constructed, with the wheels on one side small 

 and on the other large, and the axles parallel, that carriage w'ould not 

 make so great a mechanical bhmder as the engineers had done, iS:c." 



Now, with all due deference, I must beg to dissent from the Doctor 

 in his practical deductions; and [shall endeavour to show that the 

 cone is practically the instrument by which carriages traverse curves. 

 We know that if two wheels of unequal diameters be placed upon an 

 axle and maile to revolve, that the whole will describe a circle having 

 for its centre lli.it point where two lines drawn through the extremities 

 of the diameters of the two wheels intersect thus. 



r is the centre round uhich the pair of wheels n and // would revolve; 

 and if there be another pair of wheels having the same relative pro- 

 portions and their axle pointing to the same centre, and suppose these 

 two pair of wheels to be connected by means of a carriage body, wliicli 

 would only slightly interfere with the conveyance of the axle, it is 

 evident that the tendency of the wheels to move in the curve would 

 exercise a force to preserve the comlition necessaiyto do so; now my 

 own inq)ressi<'us have aUvavs been that the tangential motion of the 

 carriage would at first bring the outer wheel upon a diameter so much 

 greater than the inner one, that its greater progression would exert a 

 force sullii'ient to cause a deviation from parallelism in the axle which 

 would suit the curve, the outer wheel will notslip unless tjie resistance 

 to the axle assuming a convergence suitable to the curve, be about a i 

 of Ihe insistent weight, which calling the weight of the carriage .") tons 

 would be -"^'"—Tii ,11). on each journal lu- wheel. The curves used on 



