1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



223 



most serious consideration, and devoted deep study to their desio;ns, 

 and as lie could find very few able to instruct liini, and was not called 

 upon to ask any one's advice, lie used liis own best discretion in the 

 matter. We have no hesitation again and again in saying, we think 

 he was perfectly riglit, and we firmly believe tliat the public, and pos- 

 terity will think with us. 



ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS, ROYAL ACADEMY. 



(ConcliiJcdfrom p. 184.) 



No. 1 144 is an interior of a different class, namely, that of a design 

 for a Chapel at Nunhead Cemetery, in which Mr. AUom treats us with 

 a ri/acciamento of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, preserving and refining 

 the original idea, enriching yet simplifying it by rendering the whole 

 more of a piece and more uniform in taste. To say this will, no doubt, 

 seem verv bad taste on our part, to those who have been taught to 

 consider the interior of that church as Wren's chef-d'oeuvre, and so 

 perfect a piece of architecture that the very notion of improving upon 

 it, or altering it in any way except for the worse, must strike them as 

 preposterous. Still it may fairly enough be suspected that Walbrook 

 church has now fewer and less enthusiastic admirers than formerly, 

 and that many others besides ourselves feel it falls short of the high 

 reputation which has been established for it. Should the species of 

 plagiarism which Mr. AUom has here ventured upon, not incur re- 

 proach — his design will nevertheless scandalize those tender con- 

 sciences which will be shocked at its paganism. They will therefore 

 rejoice to learn that neither this, nor No. 1240 has been accepted for 

 the Nunhead Cemetery. 



The last-mentioned design, which is by Mr. R. Brandon, is shown 

 in a model, and therefore in such a manner as to convey an adequate 

 and most satisfactory idea of the peculiar character arising chiefly out 

 of plan and richness of columniation, which are such as to occasion 

 great variety and apparent intricacy, and striking effect both of [)er- 

 spective and light and shade, notwithstanding that the general ar- 

 rangement may be termed simple, at the same time such that clearly 

 to describe it with the pen would be rather difficult. For its unusually 

 picturesque quality — this design is by no means indebted to positive 

 decoration, it being very unostentatious and sober in its style, which 

 is a very plain Roman or Italian Doric. The body of the structure or 

 Chapel' itself is comparatively small — no doubt large enough for its 

 actual purpose, but the whole exterior would form an architectural ob- 

 ject of considerable magnitude. Whether the merits of this model as 

 a design were appreciated by the Directors of the London Cemetery 

 Company, is questionable, but at all events they have given the pre- 

 ference 'to separate chapels (1195 and 120G, T. Little), one to be 

 erected on the consecrated, the other on the unconsecrated ground at 

 Nunhead, both of them in the "Decorated English" style, and of far 

 better quality than the average of our modern " ecclesiulogicul" 

 architecture; nevertheless we would rather behold Mr. Brandon's idea 

 realized as being a greater novelty in design. 



Among the designs for mansions and villas there are comparatively 

 few in the Italian style.and those for the most part rather mediocre, — 

 hardly deserving to be so termed, could any other epithet be found for 

 them. Of Ultra-Italian, however, we have an egregious instance in 

 No. 1204, which though it professes to be a design for a " Villa," ex- 

 ceeds in ponderousness and mass such piles as Caprarola and Blen- 

 heim. Mr. Batson's ideas are all upon a very Titanic scale : such was 

 his "Street Architecture" last year — with which he then made his 

 debut among the exhibitors, — but his present subject is still more 

 extravagant — in fact a piece of mere architectural rodomontade and 

 bombast, yet not manifesting much invention or originality. No. 

 122S "The Belvedere, proposed for a Residence in the Isle of Wight," 

 E. B. Lamb, manifests a happy medium between the hyperbolical 

 Italianism of the preceding, and the prosaic quality of most of the 

 other specimens of modern villa architecture. Among them is one 

 which we hope is not of recent date, for it must be a most strangely 

 perverse taste wWch could at the present day adopt as Italian such a 

 mongrel jumble of uncouth and amorphous features as is No. 1057, 

 with its Venetian windows of most absurd and detestable shape, — 

 namely, with little square holes over the lateral openings and their 

 entablatures. In the Catalogue, this precious sample of design is de- 

 scribed only as a "View of a Nobleman's residence near Hampton," 

 therefore it is not very clear whether the name attached to it be that 

 of the architect, although it is not very likely that any one else would 

 have been so smitten with the building as to delineate it secundem 

 ariem— it being, apparently, put into perspective from an elevation. 



For mansions or residences on a larger scale than the term "villa" 

 generally implies among us English, the Tudor style seems to be most 

 in request ; and Mr. Hard wick gives us a good specimen of it in No. 

 1145, "The Hall at Barnstable, as proposed to be rebuilt by Robert 

 Chichester, Esq.," with some intermixture of our English renaissance, 

 but chaste and sober in its ensemble. No. 1170, " Knebworth, Herts., 

 the ancient seat of the Lyttons," attracts notice if only as being now 

 the property of that distingiu' litterateur Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, 

 who intends, it seems, to alter his mansion according to the present 

 design by H. E. Kendall, jun. ; but there being no sketch of the house 

 in its present state, we are unable to judge of what kind or to what 

 extent the suggested alterations are, — whether this drawing shows a 

 complete renovation of the exterior, or whether any portions of the 

 original design are retained. We must also be satisfied with perceiv- 

 ing that the style and general character are rich and imposing, the 

 drawing being so placed as not to favour critical examination. No. 

 1225, "Manley Hall, Staffordshire, the seat of John Shawe Manlev, 

 Esq.," (T. P. Wood,) is another Tudor mansion of considerable extent, 

 sober in style and decoration, but rendered more than usually striking 

 owing to the line of front being broken and brought forward in the 

 centre, and to there being great variety in the outline of the eleva- 

 tion; consequently it tells well in perspective, although here shown so 

 much foreshortened that some portions of the general elevation are 

 concealed. The name of the architect is quite a new one to us, 

 therefore, we cannot say what else he has done, as nothing, however, 

 is said to the contrary we presume that this drawing is not an unex- 

 ecuted design, but a representation of an erected building. Still we 

 will not be positive that such is the case ; for in regard to architec- 

 tural works of this class scarcely ever do we receive any information, 

 or does any intelligence reach us ; wherefore we take this opportunity 

 of reminding our professional readers that communications relative to 

 such subjects will always be highly acceptable to us ; for though the 

 buildings themselves are private property, it does not therefore fol- 

 low that secrcsy should be preserved in regard to them. 



Designs lor Churches and Chapels are numerous, and all of them 

 are Norrnaii or Gothic, with the single exception of No. 1099, "St. 

 Mary's church, now erecting at St. Peter's and St. Paul's colleges, 

 Prior Park," J.J. Scoles, giving a sectional perspective of the interior, 

 which is in the Italian style, and of the Corinthian order. As a draw- 

 ing this is very poor, and even in point of design not very much 

 belter — certainly not at all calculated to find favour in the eyes of the 

 architect's Catholic brother artist, Mr. Pugin. Among the other 

 designs for churches there are none remarkably prominent for any 

 peculiar merit; the average quality shows improvement, but what is 

 good in them appears to be borrowed, and confined too much to the 

 same ideas; the two interiors. No. 107G of the Church now building 

 at Notting Hill, and No. 1149 of that building at Turbiton, Surrey, by 

 Messrs. Stevens and Alexander, are among those most deserving of 

 particular notice, being very tastefully yet soberly decorated, and 

 altogether free from side galleries, which totally destroy the effect of 

 ailes, and derogate from the character of a Gothic interior. 



We now take leave of this year's exhibition, hoping that the next 

 will prove more satisfactory — and as far as it depends upon the Aca- 

 demy they have certainly the power of rendering it so, by merely re- 

 ceiving no more drawings than can be properly hung. Were that done, 

 such as were worth looking at would not be thrust out of sight, and 

 the absence of such as are not, would not at all lessen the attraction of 

 the Architectural Room. 



Aerated Sea Water. — Long since the inhabitants of the sea-coast have 



employed salt water either as a purgative or as a laxative. Several physicians, and cspe- 

 tially Russtfll, have written on the advantages which might be derived from its internal 

 use. But the exneriments have been fe\V in number, and entirely limited to localities 

 situated near the coast, because the sea water could not be preserved and trans- 

 ported without undergoing alteration. M. Pasquier has, by overcoming this difficulty 

 rendered great service to tlierapeutics. Being moreover convinced that the disagreeable 

 taiite of the sea water was the principal cause which prevented its general use, he has en- 

 deavoured to disguise and destroy it, without in the least altering its chemical composi. 

 tion. For that purpose lie takes his sea water from a certain depth, and at several miles 

 distant from the coast; he th.'u filters it, in order to remove ait tlie animal and vegetable 

 substances which it holds in suspension, and which are the cause of its rapid decomposi- 

 tion ; and lastly he charges it with carbonic acid gas, in order to destroy the disagreeable 

 taste. One hundred bottles thus prepared by M. Pasquier ivere placed at the disposal of 

 the Commission ; they had been kept from four to six months, and we found that they 

 had undergone no change whatsoever. Being requested to verify the exactitude of the 

 facts stated by M. Pasquier, I have employed sea water prepared by him in the Hopital de 

 la Cbarite, and I have been able to confirm — 1st, that it is a powerful laxative: that a bottle 

 of sea water acts more strongly than a 32-grm bottleofSeidlitz water ; IJd, that the patients 

 took it without repugnance, and found it agreeable to taste ; 3d, that no accidents, no 

 inconveniences, have resulted from its employment. We consequently believe that the 

 puriljed and aerated sea water prepared by M. Pasquier may be employed with advantage 

 in all cases where saline laxatives are recommended. We have moreover observed that 

 it has a special and favourable action on individuals atfected with 9crof«loua diseases,— - 

 " Chemical Gazette." 



20* 



