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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Aprii., 



REVIEWS. 



Companion to the Improved Log- Book for Steam-Vessels. By 

 Peter Bobbie, Engineer, &c. London, 1849. 



Mr. Borrie's ohject in publishinfj tliis work is to induce owners 

 of steam-vessels to adopt .1 uniform method of Iveepinsr a correct 

 account of tlie liourly performance of the enjrines of their vessels, 

 and of tlie expenditure of fuel, tallow, &c. The log proposed by 

 liim appears to he well adapted for the purpose he has in view, hut 

 we think its utility might be extended if every sea-going steam- 

 vessel were furnished with an "Indicator" and "Counter;" and 

 that it be the duty of the principal engineer to attach daily an in- 

 dicator-card to tlie log; and the reading of the counter be given 

 hourly, instead of tlie number of strokes per minute, in the log. 

 If the counter be kept under lock-and-key, it could not be tam- 

 pered with, and the commander of the vessel might at any time 

 check the engineer's log. The columns in Mr. Borrie's log of the 

 dimensions of the pro]ieller or paddle-wheels may be omitted, as 

 thiise dimensions are of course constant, and known to the owners 

 as well as any other part of the engines or vessel. The book con- 

 *uins likewise instructions to engineers on the duties they have to 

 attend to in ins])ectiug and managing the several parts of a steam- 

 engine, the lioilers, and propellers, all of which will be found to be 

 extremely useful. 



Digest of Evidence taken before a Committee of the House of Com- 

 mons appointed to inquire into the Agricultural Customs of England 

 and Wales in respect of Tenant Right. By Willi a Ji Shaw and 

 Heney Cobbett. London: Joseph Rogerson, 18t9. 



Engineering in connection with Farming is daily becoming a 

 most important branch of the profession : not only does the drain- 

 age of the land form an essential department of the engineer's 

 duty, but also the adaptation of machinery to the wants of the 

 farmei ; the formation of roads, the construction of suitable build- 

 ings, and many other departments of the farm. It is therefore 

 necessary that the engineer should be well acquainted with what is 

 tenant-right, in order that he may advise both the landlord and 

 tenant how far they will be justified in going to the expense of 

 im])rovements and alterations of farming pro])erty. 



The tenant farmer is greatly indelited to ]Mr. Shaw for the very 

 al)le manner in which he has at all times most perseveringly advo- 

 (^ated his rights, and we hope by continued exertions the important 

 question will be finally adjusted during the present session of par- 

 liament. 



Mr. Shaw and his coadjutor Iiave favoured us in the digest of 

 evidence before us with a very good insight into tlie mode of farm- 

 ing in different parts of Pingland, — and which is of the more value, 

 as it is the evidence of many of the leading farmers, land-owners, 

 and valuers of England and Scotland. 



Reference Rook to the Incorporated Railway Companies of the 

 United Kingdom. By Henry Glynn. London: Weale, 1849. 



Our indefatigable correspondent, Mr. Henry Glynn, has here 

 produced a work of great labour, showing in a brief form all the 

 l)articulars of each railway — whether of interest to engineers or 

 sharelndders. It contains some information not to be found else- 

 where. 



Plan of the Parish of Clapliam in the County of Surrey, 1849. By 

 Messrs. A. & R. Bland, Surveyors. 



This survey appears to have been very accurately made, and laid 

 down with great care. A few more publications like this will show 

 to government that the civil surveyors are quite equal to under- 

 t.ike tlie survey of the metropolis, without calling in the aid of 

 the military, as was lately done by the Commissioners of Sewers, 

 —a proceeding which, we contend, was must unconstitutional. 



The Patent Gutta-Percha Company's Pattern-Book of Ornaments. 

 Here we have another material brought to the aid of the archi- 

 tect, and which, from the specimens before us, apjiears to be ad- 

 iiiirably adapted for ornamental work of ceilings, cornices, picture- 

 frames, and other purposes to which plaster and papier-mache have 

 hitherto been applied. The gutta-percha ornaments appear to be 

 got up sharper than those of paper. The designs set forth in the 



pattern-book before us are well selected, and possess considerable 

 freedom in the outline; and we lio])e the company will not be 

 induced to follow the too prevailing taste of the day, in adopting 

 French ornaments. 



Remarks on the Improvement of Tidal Rirrrs, illustrated by Refer- 

 ence to works ejcecuted on the Tuy, Ribhle, Forth, Lune, and other 

 rivers. By David Stevenson, C.E. Second Edition. London : 

 AVeale, 1819. 



Mr. Stevenson has in this book entered upon a subject of great 

 professional interest, and we mean therefore to call the attention 

 of our readers to it in a future number. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



Feb. 19. — Sydney Smirke, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



A paper was read by Mr. C. Barry, jiin., descriptive of "a nwde of Con- 

 struclinrj Malleable Iron Fire-Proof Flooriny^'' recently patented by Mr. 

 Beardiuore. 



Mr. Babry described the experiments made by Mr. Beardraore, the result 

 of which was the form of construction patented by him. This consists of a 

 mere beam of sheet-iron of a reversed T form having top and bottom 

 flanges ; the latter being connected with plates of the same material, on 

 which is laid concrete or other incompressible material, which keeps the 

 beams iu their vertical position, and thereby brings into action their full 

 power to resist compression. The advantages of the materials employed are 

 their perfect fire-proof character, their non-liability to disintegration on ex- 

 posure to fierce flame, and the fact of their cohesion not being destroyed by 

 sudden coaling; while the mode of construction is less expensive than the 

 usual combination of brick arches and cast-iron girders, and occupies much 

 less space between the ceiling and the floor line. 



Some remarks were made by Mr. T. H. Wyatt "on the Church of 

 St. Andrew, at Greensted, Essex," lately restored by biiuiell' and Mr. Brai- 

 don. 



The interest attached to this little church arises from the material em- 

 ployed in its construction, from its undoubted antiquity, and from the strong 

 evidence that exists of its having been originally built for the reception of 

 the corpse of St. Edmund on its return from London to Bury St. Edmunds 

 in the year 1013. The inclosing walls of the nave are formed of rough half 

 oak trees, averaging about 12 inches by 6 inches, and about feet high, in- 

 cluding the sills and plates : from all appearances this is the original struc- 

 ture. The east end timbers were donhtless removed to make way for the red 

 brick chancel erected about the beginning of Henry the Eighth's reign; and 

 thus there remains no evidence as to whether the original form of the church 

 was a parallelogram — or if an apse was at the eastern termination, as was so 

 prevalent in the early churches. At the western end is a tower, also of tim- 

 her, erected at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and in which is a 

 hell bearing the following inscription: "William Sand made mee, 1G18." 

 Mr. Wyatt described fully the construction of the roof and other parts; and 

 in conclusion stated, in regard to the restoration, that those portions which 

 from their completely decayed state had necessarily been removed had been 

 replaced timber for timber. 



March 5. — T. Bellamy, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



A paper was read " On the probable Form and Design of the Temple of 

 Solomon at Jerusalem." By E. I'Anson, Jun. 



Mr. I'Anson alluded to the numerous and unsatisfactory conclusions of the 

 various authors who have written on this subject or attempteil to make de- 

 signs for the restoration of the building in question ; and also to the circum- 

 stance of its still occupying the attention of the curious, — -as no less than 

 eighteen works on the subject have been recently advertised in a German 

 catalogue. He describes its restoration as partaking more of a Tyro-Egyp- 

 tian style of architecture than of that of Greece, — as has been suggested 

 hy the late Mr. Wilkins, in his Preface to "The Antiquities of Magna 

 Giiecia." 



In the discussion which ensued it was suggested that the discoveries at 

 Nineveh might eventually throw much light on the subject, and assist in 

 explaining the description of the temple given in Kings and Chronicles. In 

 sn|iport of an opinion expressed that the architecture of the Egyptians was 

 known in Syria, it was mentioned that the monument cut in the rock of the 

 Narh El Kelb, on the coast beyond Tyre, was of the best style of Egyptian 

 art and of a period anterior to the time of Solomon ; and tlui hitherto 

 there had not been discovered in Syria any monument of Greek art of that 

 period to support the theory of the Grecian Doric temple having formed the 

 model for that at Jerusalem. 



