1840] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



173 



t'ons, where sucli can Ije appropriately introduced. The models are all 

 finished and polished in the hest possible manner. 



The Moild Jiooms.— These are a lofty part of one of the Ijuildings, and are 

 well worthy of a visit. In one of them we were fairly lost, amidst many 

 lumdrcds of bevelled, cog, and other mil! wheels, of all possiblE sizes, (few 

 alike) and piled up to tlie very roof. Many of these are, we learned, for the 

 purpose of supplying foreign orders. Here, too, are a variety of engiue-bed 

 plates, paddle-wheel centres, patterns for water and other wheels, &c. &c. all 

 made with matliematical accuracy. 



In auotlier room were an immense nujubcr of models of great guns, as 

 adopted, in outward fashion, by the Englisb, the French, the Dutch, and 

 others. Tlie models of beams for marine engines, of all sizes, were here 

 piled ; also of Ionic fluted pillars for tlieir frames. The models from which 

 the beams, &c., of the Royal William, and many others, were cast, are 

 here ileposited, as are tliose of tlie larger engines in the yard below. The 

 collection of patterns of all descriptions is indeed great and excellent, and 

 must have cost an immense smn of money. 



T/if Engines now in course of completion. — The following engines are now 

 in hand at the works, and the three largest nearly completed : 



I pair of 540 liorse power for the " President." 



1 do. 420 ditto the " United States." 



1 do. 4.50 ditto a French man-of-war steam frigate. 



1 do. 300 ditto It. M. S. " Medina." 



1 do. 50 ditto the " Calcutta Steam-tng."* 



1 do. 45 ditto a Government tender.f 



1 single engine of GO-horse power, for Australia. 



1 do. 50 ditto for a French house. 



Tlie President's Engines. — These are the most remarkable for their size, 

 and are really a stupendous piece of workmanship. They are already fixed 

 up, and strike the visitor with astonishment. Tlie castings, and all the work- 

 manship arc of the first description, and the architectural design of the frame- 

 work, or pillars, is highly ornamental, without any sacrifice to the requisite 

 strength. As probably the most suitable to attain this desideratum, the 

 Gothic style has been adopted. The massy clustered pillars arc surmounted 

 by the pointed and moulded arch to correspond. The diagonal stays and 

 their open work are in keeping ; and such is the height aud imposing effect 

 of the whole, that visitors generally remarked that it strikingly reseudded a 

 handsome Gothic chapel. The beams are beautiful castings, as are the cylin- 

 ders, and both of immense size and weight. The polished iron aud brass 

 work is superb, and the whole furnishes a gratifying proof of at once the en- 

 terprise and the ingenuity of the men of England. The following are some 

 interesting statistics of this stupendous piece of machinciy ; 



Diameter of cylinder 80 inches. 



Stroke of engine 7 feet 6 inches. 



Weight of cylinders 11 tons. 



Valve-cases, from 6 to G^ tons. 



Beams (4 in number), upwards of . . 5 tons each. 



Condensers, about 10 tons. 



Gothic pillars, four pairs, each 11 tons, 7 cwt. 



Diagonal stays, 4 in number, each. ... 4 tons. 



Main, or paddle shaft 9 tons. 



Two eduction pipes, each 18 cwt. 



Boilers, each 30 tons. 



Bed-plates, (two,) each in one casting 15 tons. 

 The whole engines aud boilers, with the water, will weigh about 510 tons. 

 The hoisting-tackle used in setting up these engines is well worthy of no- 

 tice. On the principals, or lower beams of the roof, which are of extraordinaiy 

 strength, railways are fixed, upon which traversed scaffolds, railed round, and 

 each carrying a powerful winch. On these scaffolds are also railways, at 

 right angles with those on the beams, so that, by moving the scaffolds and 

 the winches, any spot in the building may be attained directly perpendicular 

 to the article to be hoisted, whicli, by other movements, can be lowered to 

 any given site. 



The Engines of the " United State.t."- — These are precisely similar in con- 

 struction to those of the President, differing only in being a little smaller. No 

 detailed notice of them is therefore required. The cylinders are 734 inches 

 in diameter, and the power is the same as that of the Great Western, — 

 namely, 420. They are erected in the same shed, or building, containing 

 those of the President, and have been equally admired. 



The " Medina's" Engines. — These are of 300-horse power, and though dif- 

 ferent in the style of the casting, are also got up in the best manner. 



The whole three pairs of engines will be ready simultaneously for ship- 

 ment ; but, unluckily, the want of want of proper shears to hoist in the ma- 

 chinery and boilers, (there being but one pair at the Canning Dock, and a 

 crane at the Trafalgar,) one or other of the vessels will have to wait her 

 turn. 



The pair of 45-horse power engines, for the Admiralty, are also in a for- 

 ward state ; as are most of the others before enumerated. 



Such is a sketch of the works at Messrs. Fawcett and Co.'s estabUshment. 

 We do not remember to have enjoyed a greater treat than in \'isiting it, and 

 it was with considerable reluctance, that having other engagements, we could 



* Now building in India, 

 t To run, it is said, between Dover and Calais. 



not prolong our stay on the premises, and examine some other departments. 

 The whole is a world of mechanism within itself; and though it send forth 

 huge and deadly weapons of wai, it also produces maritime machinery calcu- 

 lated to extend civilisation, and to promote the amicable commercial inter- 

 course, and mutual wealth and happiness, of nations scarcely known to each 

 other but by name. 



This firm have upwards of 700 workmen. The President will be the largest 

 steam-packet in the world. Messrs. Fawcett and Co. have been applied to 

 by the Bristol Steam Packet Company to make them engines of 600 horses' 

 power each, but their present engagements do not permit of their accepting 

 the order. 



DESIGNS FOR LAYING OUT THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS. 

 INNER CIRCLE, REGENT'S PARK. 



The Council of the Royal Botanic Society being desirous of giving eveiy 

 opportunity of securing the most efficient assistance in laying out their Gar- 

 dens in the Inner Circle of the Regent's Park, announced some time ago their 

 intention of giving a premium of fifty guineas for the best design submitted 

 to them. During the last month the designs were exhibited for inspection in 

 the rooms of the Society, in Pall Mall, where they have been visited by many 

 persons connected with the Society, and by artists. It is probable that the 

 rooms will remain open for a few days longer, previous to the decision of the 

 Committee, until which time any of our readers would doubtless be able to 

 obtain access to them. 



The instructions drawn up for the guidance of candidates in some degree, 

 limited them both as to the nature of the jilans, aud the kind of drawings 

 they were recommended to send in. The instructions directed that a large 

 portion of the ground should be devoted to a geographic arrangement of the 

 plants in twelve separate eompartmin's ; the gardens should be provided for 

 the special study of jdants, as regards medicine, agriculture, arts and manu- 

 factures, scientific arrangements, and experiments ; that proper conservatories 

 and buildings should be provided. The plans were restricted to a scale of 

 fifty feet to an inch, and it was stated that sections and detailed plans were 

 not required. The number of designs sent in is above twenty, from many 

 men of eminence and respectability, principally architects, but tlie exhibition 

 as a whole does not show that talent which might be expected. 



1, is merely a plan of the grounds in their present state. 



2, by H. P.', Spring Terrace, Wandsworth, is distinguished by two principal 

 features, a nascent yearning for some hot water apparatus which is in futuro, 

 and a parade of Owen Jones's AUiambra, the Alpha and Omega of the inven- 

 tor's arti^tical knowledge, from this be has sucked the inspiration of a couit 

 in the Jloorisli style, and of a flight of stejis decorated with azulejos. These 

 our readers know' are painted tiles, and unless he could resuscitate tlie Anda- 

 hisian artists, we fear that they would be little better than the antiquated 

 Dutch tiles, long since consigned to the chimney corner. The design, if it 

 may be so called, is to form an endless walk in tlie gardens, so that you would 

 never pass over the same path again. 



3, by John Aitox, of Mr. Pearson's Nursery, Hampstead-road, is merely 

 a gardener's aiTangement of the plants. 



4 and 5, by M.vrtin Joseph Stutely, Architect, Gower-street, Bedford- 

 square — 5, is' the ground plan, and 4 an isometrieal perspective view. This 

 ilesign is an adaiitation to the present state of the grounds, and consequently 

 meagre. The buildings, mostly Italian, are poor. One excellent feature is a 

 large conservatory on the north side, standing on a raised terrace, which 

 commands a vicw'over the Lake in the Park, and up the Vale towards llamp- 

 stead, bringing that fine scenery as it were into the Society's domain. A 

 large raised seat affords a view of Primrose Hill. 



G, JoHM B.vixBRiDGE, flowcr gardcucr to Lord Wenlock, Escrick Park, 

 near Y'oik— a botanical arrangement ; the walks in a fantastic style; and an 

 imitation of the various mountains on the face of the globe. 



7, Alfred Bartholomew, architect, Warwick House, Gray's Inn. There 

 is a want of effect in this design, but the arrangement suggested for the 

 plants is ingenious. The ground is divided by imaginary lines into gores, 

 each appropriated to the plants of some geographical region, and these gores 

 again subdivided bv concentric circles so as farther to distribute in each re- 

 gion the plants into the several classes of arts and manufactures, agriculture 

 and science. In the centre is an angular conservatory. The explanations 

 attached to the designs aflTords many useful remarks. Mr. Bartholoinew 

 suggests that the capitals of the columns of the conservatones might be 

 taken from botanical subjects, and made in clay or artificial stone. A canal 

 supplies water all round the garden. ,„ , ^ , , t-, ■ j ■ 



8 W BiLLiNTON, architect and civil engineer, Wakefield. This design is 

 mainly a geographical arrangement, without much attempt at pietoral effect ; 

 it seems doubtful also whether the grouping of the bmldings would be good. 

 The book of explanation shows an intimate acquaintance with practical horti- 

 culture, and contains many good suggestions, particulariy with regard to 

 maintaining an equable temperature in the large conservatory by double domes. 



9 John Bi'RGES WvTsox, architect, 39, Manchester-street, Manchester- 

 square This design is illustrated in the margin by sketches of the buildings, 

 niany of which are pleasing, the plan however is not eftcctive except with 

 respect to a lake, apparently imitated from a former design of Mr. Henry 

 Laxton ;* from whom he seems to have derived other idea s. The reasons 



' See a plan of the Royal Botanic Gardens, in the Journal, vol. 1, p. 359. 



2 A 



