93 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Feb. 24, 



VALVES AND ECCENTRICS FOR WORKING STEAM 

 EXPANSIVELY. 



(WUh Engravings, Figs, llo 7 Plate '3.) 



Sir — Enclosed I send you a description and sketches of an elegant 

 apparatus for cutting off the steam at any required part of the strulie ; 

 which (judging from the clumsy manner in which that object is often 

 done) I believe to be not generally known. 



The accompanying sketches (Plate 3, Figs. 1 to 7,) are taken from 

 the engine used for mechanically ventilating the Reform Club House, 

 in Pall Mall, made by Messrs. Easton and Amos, Engineers, South- 

 wark, and is, I believe, their invention, and has been found to answer 

 the purpose well. H is a curious fact that the same valves have been 

 patented twice since they were introduced at the Reform Club House 

 in 1840. In the Mechanic's Magazine, July 15, 1843, there are ab- 

 stracts of the patents referred to, — 1st. Robert Wilson, engineer, of 

 Manchester, specification enrolled June 22, 1843. — 2nd, James Morris, 

 merchant, of Cateaton-street, London, specification enrolled June 22, 

 1843; so that these patents were both sealed and enrolled on the same 

 day for the identical invention, and that invention having been in 

 public use at least two years previous. I hope this will show you the 

 value, if well executed, of your new plan of giving abstracts of all 

 patents connected with the professions of the engineer and architect. 

 I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, 



George Spencer, 

 Engineer's Draughisman. 

 5, Himgerford Street, Strand. 



Description of the Valves and Eccentrics. 



Fig, 1, is a Section through the Passages, Cylinder, Valves, and 

 Valve Box. — Fig. 2,Froiit Elevation of Cylinder Face. — Fig. 3, Plan 

 of Valve, — Fig. 4, Valve Cover. — Fig. 0, Plan of Non-Shifting Ec- 

 centric. — Fig. 7, The Shifting Eccentric. — Fig. 12, Section showing 

 both Eccentrics together. 



The valve A is similar in construction to the ordinary slide valves, 

 except that there are two steam ways passing through the valve; this 

 valve is made to slide on the cylinder face by means of the non-shift- 

 ing eccentric C, and never varies in the distance it travels. The valve 

 cover B is made to cover the two steam ways exactly, and slides on 

 the top of the valve A, and is worked by t!ie shifting eccentric D. 

 The eccentrics C and D are bolted together by a bolt passing through 

 one of the square holes E in C, figs. .5, 0, and 7, and through the cir- 

 cular slot g g,\nV> ; bands T pass round both eccentrics, to which the 

 rods acting on the weigh-shaft levers are attached. The object gained 

 by this arrangement is to give a uniform sliding motion to the valve 

 A, while the slide cover B, and its eccentric D, are so contrived that 

 its travelling distance may be varied as required. This adjustment is 

 managed in the following manner: — on the non-shifting eccentric C, 

 a boss g is cast, on which the shifting eccentric D fits, and may be 

 moved round and bolted in any required position as before mentioned; 

 now if the point ;s of D be brought to the point x of C, the eccentric 

 will not cause any motion to the valve cover B, but if the point x of 

 D be brought to the point a: 1 of C, then the valve cover B will have a 

 rectilinear motion equal to the diameter of the cifcle of which the 

 distance from x to .r 1 is the radius, or any intermediate length of 

 motion may be given to the valve cover by altering the position of the 

 shifting eccentric — and thus the steam may be cut off easily at any re- 

 quired part of the stroke. 



NOTES OF THE WEEK, 



The Director of the Sileaian Railway has invented tjie following means to 

 enalde passengers, in case of distress, to communicate with the engine driver. 

 A circular hole, closed ly a fiai), is made in the lop of each carriage roof, and 

 which can be opened by means of a string, so that the passengers can pass 

 tlivough the hole a signal of distress, which the engine driver can see, and 

 instantly stop the train. An instance of the utility of this arrangement re- 

 cently occurred on the line, a noise like the bubbling of boiling water being 

 heard behind one of the carriages ; after waiting for some lime, a civil en- 

 gineer in the carriage passed through the roof the distress flag, and the train 

 being stopped, it was found that one of the axles had got red hot, no doubt 

 for want of grease. Of course the danger was immediately checked. M'e do 

 not, however, place too great a value on the contrivance, as it would be a 

 great source of annoyance in the hands of silly old women. 



A description of the interesting, but little known, objects of antiquity in 

 the Sagre Grotle Valicaue, or Hypogeum of St. Peter's, has at last been pub- 

 lished by direction uf the Papal Governmeut, from the pens of Sard and Set- 

 clini, illustrated with 42 coin'et -plates, 



An elegant building has been erected at the Hermitage, on Mount Vesuvius, 

 called the Vesuvian Meteorological Observatory. 



A plan for the improvement and restoration of the C'ampagna Vicana, 

 has been well received by the King of Naples. 



A new grotto has been discoM'red at Monte di Ciima, near Naples, by the 

 seaside. It is esteemed by some to be the true Sybil's grotto. 



The first artesian well has been begun at Naples in the garden of the Roy^l 

 Palace. 



Great exertions are being made for the maintenance of the Flemish language 

 and literature in Belgium. 



The Government of Hamburgh have signed a contract with an Anglo-Ham- 

 burgher company for lighting the city with gas. 



Nine statues, representing the nine Muses, have recently been brought to 

 the Hotel do Ville. at Paris. They are for the decoration of the fjrand festival 

 gallery. More than 200 sculptural artizans are employed in finishing that 

 magnificent gallery. 



The town of Breteuil is about to erect, in gratitude to M. Laffitte, a foun- 

 tain, surmounted by his bust. The amount voted is £80. In 1829, M, laffitte 

 gave to the town a hall and market-house, which cost £1,600. 



The ruins of a Gallo-Roman town, of great extent, have been found in a 

 large forest near St. Saulge, in the Nivernais. It possessed a temple, forum, 

 many streets, and every day vases, pottery, and objects of sculpture, are dis- 

 covered. 



The Minister of the Interior, in France, has given orders for the opening 

 of a part of the Museum of the Hotel de Cluny on the 15th inst. 



The bronze statue of Admiral Duquesne has been placed on a provisional 

 pedestal, alongside of the statues of the other marine commanders in the 

 midst of the Cpurt of the Louvre. It is only placed there for public exhibi- 

 tion, being destined for Dieppe. This is a very good way of exhibiting public 

 statues, and should be imitated here. 



The Minister of the Interior, in France, has presented to the town of 

 L'Orieut a picture representing a naval exploit of Captain Dusaulfhoy. 



Father Ungaretti, employed on the catalogue of Egyptian antiquities at 

 Rome, has been struck with a paralytic stroke. 



A panorama is being exhibited in Germany of Hamburgh before and after 

 the fire. 



The City Picture Gallery, at Mentz has finally been located in the saloon 

 of the Palace. 



News has been received of Mr. Fellowes' operations in Lycia. The expedi- 

 tion is in excellent health, and a great many good things have been obtained. 

 Among them is a monument representing a mythological being driving a 

 car, in which is a triple-headed monster, being a lion at one end, with a goat 

 rising from its back, and a scorpion or serpent at the other end. Mr. Fel- 

 lowes has named it the Chimajra tonili, and to prepare it for shipment he has 

 caused it to be sawed in two, Tiic HUJea is lu beyin embarking the objects 

 of art by the end of the month. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 

 February 19. — T. L. Donaldson, Esq., V.P., in the chair. 



A paper was read by Frederick Catherwood, Esq., Architect, Hon. 

 and Corresponding Member, on the " Antiquities of Central America." 



The Mexican Indians, besides a perfect knowledge of stone cutting, and 

 laying, were well acquainted with various kinds of mortar, stuccoes, wd 

 cements, and large masses of excellent concrete arc found in many of their 

 buildings. They were, in fact, so far as the mechanical part ffcnt, accom- 

 plished masons. In another department of art which requires more know- 

 ledge and science than the budding of pyramids and temples, they were in 

 no wise inferior to the Egyptians — to the preparation, mixing, and use of 

 pigments. Their painting is indeed superior both to their architecture and 

 sculpture, and they went even beyond the Egyptians in the blending of 

 colours ; approaching more nearly to the paintings found at Pompeii and 

 Ilerculaneum. 



In one of the rooms of a large building at Chichen Itza are paintings cover- 

 ing the entire walls from the floor to the ceiling. (For a plan of Chichen 

 Itza see Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, Vol, VI. p. 133.) The apart- 

 ment may be 30 ft. long, 12 ft. wide, and 15 ft. high. The figures are not 

 more than Gin. to 8 in. in height, but most interesting subjects are represented, 

 abounding with life, animation, and nature. In one place are seen warriors 

 preparing for battle, in another the fight is at its height, castles are attacked, 

 defended, and taken, and various military executions follow. This forms one 

 section of the wall. In another are seen labours of husbandry, planting, 

 sowing, and reaping, and the cultivation of fruit and flowers. Then follow 

 domestic scenes, and others apparently of a mythological nature ; indeed, 

 almost everything requisite to give us an intimate ncquaintance with Indian 



