136 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



out by Llovd is distinctly seen to be free from any continuous heights, and 

 from anotlier elevation at Gorgona, on the Chagres, the line, which runs 

 about five miles to the westward of the latter town, is again seen to be un- 

 interrupted but by small isolated hills. The road from Gorgona to Panama, 

 good in the dry season, is muddy after the rains, though always practicable, 

 and an omnibus might be driven along it by merely clearing away the trees. 

 This road passes over the head waters of streams flowing into the two oceans, 

 and such is the level, that the traveller cannot perceive any division between 

 them. The level nature of the ground thus established, Mr. Wheelwright is 

 of opinion that, whatever ulterior plan may be decided upon, a road should 

 first be constructed as near the level line as possible, both with a view to 

 future labours, which such a road would great facilitate, and for the purpose 

 of an immediate intercourse between the two oceans. This road should 

 commence at the junction of the Trinidad with Chagres, to which place the 

 steamers would ascend without stopping at Chagres : thus no risk from 

 climate would be incurred, and the whole detention on the Isthmus would 

 not exceed a few hours — goods could be transported with celerity and easily 

 at a trifling expense. Excellent timber, and a most useful liana are abundant, 

 as are also provisions, which are cheap : labour is likewise cheap, and coal, 

 when wanted, is found in great abundance, and of good quality, extending 

 across the Isthmus from Coca del Toro to St. David. 



RAILWAYS. 



Rbsolutions ordered by the House of Commons to be Printed, 

 March 4, 1844. 



Ordered, 1. That in each case where bills are now pending to authorize the 

 construction of new lines of railway, competing with one another, such bills 

 be respectively referred to one committee. 



2. That the committees for the consideration of such bills be specially 

 constituted. 



3. That bills now pending to authorize the construction of new lines of 

 railway, which will compete with existing railways, be in like manner referred 

 to committees specially constituted. 



4. That such committees be composed of five members, to be nominated 

 by the Committee of Selection, who shall sign a declaration that their con- 

 Btituents have no local interest, and that they themselves have no personal 

 interest, in the bill or bills referred to them, and that they will not vote on 

 any question which may arise without having duly heard and attended to the 

 evidence relating thereto ; and that three shall be a quorum. 



5. That a select committee be appointed to consider which of the pending 

 railway bills shall be deemed competing bills, according to the foregoing 

 resolutions. 



6. That such select committee be composed of five members, of whom 

 three shall be a quorum, and that the committee have power to send for 

 persons, papers, and records. 



7. That such of the standing orders as relate to the composition of the 

 committees on private bills and the orders consequent thereon, be suspended, 

 so far as regards competing railway bills pending in the course of the present 

 session. 



J. H.1LEY, 01. Dom. Com. 



CARRINGTON BRIDGE, NOTTINGHAM. 



Sir, — In your last paper, No. 84, page 90, there are some observations on 

 this bridge referring to the flatness of the arch in the cast iron ribs, which 

 have a versed sine of 5 ft. in a span of 70 = 1 in 14 ; the arch is stated, by the 

 writer, to be the flattest he is aware of. 



I beg, therefore, to inquire of you, or such of your readers as may be able 

 to answer the question, what is the span and versed sine of the cast iron 

 bridge over the river at Boston, Lincolnsliire. It is now upwards of 30 years 

 since I saw it, but (judging only from memory of the latter, and from the 

 drawing given in your Journal of the former) I think Boston bridge must be 

 the flatter of the two, but I believe it it not so large a span. But of Boston 

 bridge some of the ribs were fractured when I saw it, and when I fancy it 

 had not been long erected. 



I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 



A Subscriber. 



March 2, 1844. 



STEAM NAVIGATION. 



Mr. Blake, the master builder at Portsmouth Dock-yard, is ordered by the 

 Admiralty to prepare plans for constructing another 50-gun frigate, of the 

 same tonnage (2,000) and dimensions as that already ordered to be laid down 

 here. They are to be named the Leander and Shannon. 

 . The Prometheus steamer, Lieutenant Pasco, arrived at Devonport on the 



11th March, from her voyage with the Penelope. She was disabled in one of 

 her boilers before she reached Madeira, where she remained six days. Soon 

 after she left Madeira for this port her other boiler became damaged. On 

 the 17th March she arrived at Portsmouth. She will proceed to Woolwich 

 to be repaired. 



The Vulture first class steam-frigate was nndooked at Sheerness on the 

 13th March, and now remains in the basin. 



The Dadalus, 42, a frigate of the old school, same dimensions as the 

 Penelope, was ordered from Sheerness to Woolwich to be cut down to a flush- 

 deck corvette, to mount 18 32-pounders, of 56cwt. 



The Penelope, 22, Captain W. Jones, left Lisbon on the 5th March for the 

 coast of Africa. Every letter received from her ofiicers and crew brings fresh 

 complaints of the miserable discomforts experienced by them, and pronounces 

 her an utter failure as a first-rate steam frigate. 



The coating of the bottom of the Shannon frigate, at Sheerness, with the 

 marine glue is just completed. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



March 4. — William Tite, Esq., V.P., in the chair. 



A paper was read " On. the Architectural Nomenclature of the Middle Ages," 

 by the Rev. R. Willis. This paper is a portion of a work on which Professor 

 M' illis has been for some time engaged, and in which he proposes to ascer- 

 tain the architectural terms of the middle ages, and to trace the origin of 

 many technical words in use at the present day. The Itinerary of William 

 of Worcester contains many examples of such terms as were in use in the 

 fifteenth century, especially in a detailed description of the churches of St. 

 Stephen and St. Mary Redcliff, at Bristol — but although this document has 

 long been in print, nobody hitherto appears to have thought of comparing 

 the descriptions with the existing buildings — a process to which they have 

 been submitted by Professor Willis with satisfactory results, the coincidence 

 being found perfect. By this means, the names of several mouldings have 

 been fixed beyond a doubt. With regard to the terms applied to the members 

 of classical architecture in the present day, few are found of classical origin 

 in any language in Europe, the architects and writers of the Renaissance 

 having generally applied the terms in common use, with the exception of 

 Albert!, who affected to call everything by a new name, and invented for 

 himself a Latin nomenclature which has never been adopted. Of the Vitru- 

 vian terms, few have been retained, since his early translators, being for the 

 most part practical men, and writing for practical men, having naturally made 

 use of their own mediaeval words, applying them to the classical mouldings. 

 In fact, the names of mouldings to be picked out of Vitruvius, who has not 

 written expressly on the subject, are neither complete nor very intelligible, 

 and a distinction is to be made between the names he applies to mouldings 

 derived from their form, and those which are due to their place or mode of 

 combination. These terms Professor Willis calls the sectional uml functional 

 names, and much obscurity has rested upon the words used by Vitruvius 

 from inattention to this point. The nomenclature in use in England at the 

 present day is of a very mixed character, and has arisen from the different 

 media, Italian, French, or Dutch, through which a knowledge of the great 

 masters reached us during the seventeenth century. 



March 18. — E. B. Lamb, Esq., in the Chair. 



The following papers were read — 



1. " Some observations connected with Hampton Court Bridge, and the 

 adjacent parts of the River Thames," by C. Parker, Esq., Fellow. It 

 appears, that as late as the year 1750 there was no communication between 

 Hampton Court and the opposite bank, except by a ferry ; for we learn, by 

 an act of parliament about that date, that J. Clark, who possessed the manor 

 of East Moulsey (from the reign of Charles II.) was empowered to erect a 

 bridge across the river, from East Moulsey to Hampton Court. The bridge 

 was erected from the designs of S. Stephens, by B. Ludgator, and was 

 opened in December, 1753. That bridge, however, did remain up long; for 

 having been built too slight to stand, or to resist the concussion of the 

 passing craft, it was subsequently taken down. On its removal, the present 

 bridge was erected, and although it has been repaired several times, the ori- 

 ginal form of its construction is still preserved. It is built of oak, supported 

 by ten piers of the same material ; the length is about 350 feet, and the 

 breadth 18 feet. In 1841, it appeared that material alterations had been 

 made in the current of the river, by the construction of Moulsey Lock, 

 about the year 1817, and subsequently (about 1833) the construction of two 

 wooden embankments, projecting from the north bank of the river, by 

 which the width of the stream was reduced one-half. These obstructions 

 had caused such an alteration in the direction of the current and the rapidity 

 of the stream, as to occasion, not only a disruption of the banks and the 

 bed of the river, but likewise much injury to the bridge itself, from the craft 

 being frequently driven with violence against the piers. Extensive repairs 

 were in consequence found necessary. The main piles were strengthened 



