1810.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



2.31 



wliicb were formed by my templets unite closely without rcquiriiif!; 

 the slightest alteratiou. By this bridge on "the liartlepool Railway," 

 I clearly show that a bridge was executed from the pri'.icii)les laid 

 down i^ii my Treatise on Masonry and Stone Cutting before any 

 othi:r work, was puhi.ished on the subject, and that the templets 

 shown in ray "Guide to Railway Masonry," plate -2 G, No. 1, No. 2, 

 No. 3, and No. 4, are decidedly my own discovery or invention. The 

 finding of the angle of the twist is due to Mr. Fox, and I have already 

 said the discovery of the point of convergence in which the cliords of 

 the curve of the joints of the arch stones in the face of tlie arch meet 

 each other is due to M\: Buck ; but I liere tell him that although the 

 finding of this point is very useful in drawing an elevation, it is not 

 absolutelv necessary in the construction of the oblique arch ; and I 

 ao-ain maintain that, from the want of proper definitions of the terms 

 used by him, he has written very obscurely of the principles on which 

 he professes to treat, even in describing the common-place things con- 

 tained in chapter 3. As a farther proof of the correctness of my prin- 

 ciples, I insert the following letter wdiicU was spontaneously addressed 

 to me bv Jlr. Welch, C.E., and Bridge Surveyor for the County of 

 Northumberland : — 



" Elswick Villas, Newcastle, April IS, 18 10. 

 " To Peter Nicholson, Esq. 



" Sir, — Having now seen my design of the Oblique Bridge over the 

 River Tees, on the line of the Great North of England Railway, suc- 

 cessfully carried into eft'ect, I am enabled to speak with certainty upon 

 the correctness of your published principles for the construction of 

 Oblique Arches. My bridge consists of four arches, built at an angle 

 of .jO'', the chord of the right section of each arch is 45'9G feet, and 

 that of the oblique section is GO feet. I may also state that I consider 

 your work on the oblique arch the most practically useful of any that 

 I have seen ; and as the structure whicli is near to Croft fully warrants 

 the highest opinion of it, I beg, as a member of the profession, for 

 which you have done much, to (hank you for the great pains yon have 

 taken in working out so clearly the principle of the Oblique Arch. 

 " I am. Sir, your most obedient servant, 



" Henry Welch, Civil Engineer." 



I think, Sir, I may safely place this testimony of a praclical man, 

 against Mr. Buck's assertion that I was not familiar with the subject 

 upon which I had written 1 



I will now notice one very distinguishing feature between Mr. 

 Buck's work and mine, although based upon the same principles : — 

 Mr. Buck's work is only intended for the use of those who may hap- 

 pen to have been trained in a proper course of mathematical study, 

 and which, I believe, is not the case with a tithe of the young men for 

 whose use, chiefly, Mr. B. has written his book. On the other hand, 

 mine is intended as a purely practical work, and as such, I have shown 

 in it, how every useful length, distance, or angle of an oblique arch 

 may be found, principally by common arithmetic, from the doctrine of 

 similar triangles. 



Since the above was written, I have seen an article signed " W. H. B." 

 in the "Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal" for May, 1840, pur- 

 porting to be " a few remarks on the construction of oblique arches, 

 and some recent works on that subject, but which is, in fact, a mere 

 echo of Mr. Buck's letter, and an ill-natured review of my book, writ- 

 ten by some tyro, who understands lamentably little of the subject 

 upon which he professes to write. W. H. B. says, in speaking of my 

 book, " there is a problem ' to find the ciu'ved bevels for cutting the 

 quoin heads of an oblique arch,' the reader being unable to learn, from 

 the heading of the problem, whether it relates to square or, spiral 

 joints, naturally proceeds to wade through it, with the hope that it 

 may afibrd some means of ascertaining this fact, but here he soon 

 becomes lost in a labyrinth." Now, sir, I assert that W. H. B must 

 either have been very inattentive, or very stupid, not to have ob- 

 served to what species of joints the problem referred, since every 

 ])age in which I treat of the oblique arch has the words " On ifie 

 Oblique Arch with Spiral Joinls," placed in capitals over it. W. H. B. 

 next says, "you are told to divide the arc ABC into as many equal 

 jiarts as the ring-stones are in number, and through the points of 

 division draw bk, ci, dj, &c., perpendicular to the curve ADE." 

 Again, he says, "you are told to join am, bm, cm, &c., but where the 

 point m is to be placed Mr. Nicholson has quite forgotten to say." 

 Here I acknowledge an error in point of reference ; where I say divide 

 the arc ABC, it should have been divide the arc ADE, which every 

 impartial reader would have seen was a mere error in the type, as I 

 immediately mention the arc ADE again, and I have also omitted to 

 say, " draw GM perpendicular to GL." To show W. H. B. how diffi- 

 cult it is to keep clear of errors in printing, I will point out, in the two 

 last sentences which I have quoted from him, no fewer than five blun- 

 ders — bk is an error, there is not a k in the page in my book to which 

 he refers; it ought to have been bh. Neither is there an m in the 



page, which he has mentioned four times. W. H. B. should at all 

 events transcribe correctly from a work which he professes to criticise 

 so profoundly, or he will assuredly lead both himself and others into 

 "a labyrinth!" 



I now state again to Mr. Buck, that neither himself, nor any other 

 writer upon the oblique arch, has shown tlie templets by wdiich the 

 arch-stones are wrought by niy method, and that I am the in- 

 ventor of all those templets ; and 1 further distinctly tell him, that liad 

 Jic nut piraltd liis'prinaplen from my work on stone cutting, his "Essay," 

 in all probability, mould never have bun in existence. I will also tell 

 him that, however fine the theory of the principles of any scientific 

 work may be, those principles will be literally useless, if not properly 

 adapted to the capacity of tie person who has to execute the roork .' That 

 I have always considered as the grand object to be attained, and I 

 think I may say, without vanity, after having received testimonials 

 both piililicli/ and privately, that I have not been altogether unsuccess- 

 ful. Tlie draughtsman will find my work on the oblique arch to be as 

 useful and as simple in the delineation of his plans as any work on the 

 subject in existence. 



Now, Sir, in conclusion, let me state to Mr. Buck, that this may be 

 the last time that I may have an opportunity of addressing him ; for 

 I am now an old man, and, in the ordinary course of nature, may be 

 considered as standing upon the brink of the grave, and am, therefore, 

 unable to undertake the exertion of further controversy with him. 

 What I have done for the working man will be a theme for posterity, 

 w hen neither Mr. Buck nor myself will have the power of hearing it. 

 I pray that this may not be deemed the boast of an old man — as such 

 it is not intended^iut I have thought it my duty to say so much in 

 justice to my own character, with which Mr. Buck has taken such 

 unwarrantable liberties. I could not have rested satisfied without 

 giving vent to my feelings at the ingratitude which Mr. Buck has 

 shown. But, Sir, I have now done with him, and 



" PALMAM QUI meruit, FERAT ! ' 



Newcastle-on-T>jne, May 23, 1840. 



Peter Nicholson. 



SrR — In my paper on Oblique Bridges in reply to B. H. B., which 

 is published "in your Journal for this month, I have inadvertently in- 

 serted a few words which are incorrect, anil ought to be expunged. 

 At the second line from the bottom of the first column of the lilSth 

 page, the following sentence commences: — "this triangle must be 

 supposed to exist in the thickness of the arch, and to be parallel to a 

 tuni;cnt plane at the point sought, m^d therefore," &.C. The words in 

 italics I ought not to have inserted, and I shall be obliged by your 

 giving notice to this effect in your next number. 



Your most obedient servant, 



Manchester, June 8, 1840. Geo. W. Buck. 



/Uilhiuarian Discoveries in Frmire. — " A discovery 1ms recently been made 

 at BcMi^on, near Mothe-Saint-Heray, in the Two Sevrps, of a tumulus, wliicli 

 promises to throw yreat light on the civilization of the ancient Cells. A fjal- 

 lerv and vast grotto lias been opened. It is formed of nine stonesiii erect 

 positions, covered by a slab t»enty-si.K feet three inches in length. The in- 

 terior is completely filled with bones. The he:;d of each skeleton touches the 

 walls of the grotto, and by the sides of each vases of baked earth, containing 

 provisions for the use of the deceased in the other world, the wahala or para- 

 dise promised to the biave. Nuts and acorns are found in these vases in 

 [lerfect pre.-.ervation. I'here have also been found two hatchets ancl t« u 

 knives made of tlint, several smaller sharp instruments, the use of whicli is 

 not known, tno collars, or necklaces, one of shells and the other ut biked 

 earth, several bears" tusks, the bones of a dog, and a plate, upon which llieie 

 are fragments of a rude design. Four of these vases are perfect : two of them 

 very iiiuch resemble Mom er-pots ; a third lias the form of a soup-tureen ; anil 

 the fourth, though much the smallest, is the most curious, as it is the cup of 

 a Druid. The tumulus is tsvo hundred paces in circHmference, and between 

 eighteen and twenty feet high. Its formation may be placed at 2.0UO years 

 ago. The vases and utensils attest the infancy of the arts, and the nascent 

 civilization of a barbarous people." — Quotidienue. 



Jiiciciil Monuments.— A discovery has been made in a cellar in Paris, at the 

 corner of the Rue Mauconseil, in the Rue Saint-Denis, of nine figures in 

 stone, llic size of life, having the heads and garments coloured and gilt. They 

 arc the figures of saints and kings, and one of them wears a helmet. Tliev 

 apparently bekng to the earliest times of the revival of art ; and have, in all 

 probability, been buried where they were found, to escape the ravages of some 

 outbreak of iconoclasni. It is probable that they belonged to ihe ancient 

 cdiLircli of the Pelerins lie Siiinl-Jaetjues, H bicli stood near the site of their dis- 

 covery. 



