396 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL. 



[OOTOBKR, 



church furniture emanates from Mr. Van Voorst's establislitnent, edited 

 by the Cambridge Camden Society, and he has also in progress a 

 series of decorated windows, and a manual of Gothic mouldings, all 

 important, necessary and useful works. We are glad to find such at- 

 tention paid to the details of art, it is indicative of an improving 

 constitution, for sticking bits of Gothic on the outside of ;i barn-church 

 no more constitutes architecture th;in does a naked stereotype Ionic 

 portico, on which the artistical merits of others rest. A style whether 

 Greek or Gothic must be studied and treated catholically, and it is 

 only when that is done we have either architects or architecture. 



Weak's Quarterly Papers on Enguieenng. Part V, London: Weale 



The principal papers in the part are those descriptive of the Roof 

 of the New Houses of Parliament, and of the Ironbridge over the 

 Neva. There is also a translation of M. Arago's Report on the 

 Atmospheric Railway, describing M. Hallette's system, and an account 

 by Mr. Hughes, C.E., of the Bangor Slate Quarries. The plates are 

 the chief features of interest in these papers, so as to leave us little 

 room for comment or extract. In the account of the roofs we find the 

 following remarks : — 



Of the superiority of iron over wood in the construction of roofs for build- 

 ings, the architects of the present day are becoming fully convinced, and the 

 splendid example now set before them by Charles Barry, Esq., should at 

 least induce all who have hitherto been inditferent to the ailvantages of this 

 material in the essential quahfications of lightness, strength, durability, and 

 safety in cases of fire, to examine the subject with all the attention it de- 

 serves, and the result may be looked for in the more rapid progress of the 

 substitution of iron for wood in constructing the principals of roofs, espe- 

 cially when of large span. Not to the roofs only, but to flooring joists or 

 girders, the metal material is happily adaptable also, wherever resistance to 

 fire, and great strength, with small section, are primary objects in their con- 

 struction. Of these valuable properties, the architect of this edifice has 

 wisely and very fully availed himself, and he has, moreover, been, by this se- 

 lection, enabled to offer facihties for carrying into complete effect the most 

 complicated details of construction in flues, &e., required for the proposed 

 tystera of ventilation for the extensive pile of building under his care. 



But beyond the use of iron in forming the principals of bis roofs, Mr. 

 Barry has ventured to a further step, of which those unacquainted with the 

 experience that he is cognizant of might not fully understand the wisdom, 

 but which is thoroughly approved by all practical and scientific persons who 

 have examined the subject minutely. We refer to the coverings of the roofs 

 with cast iron plates of a thin section, and galvanized by a process now ad- 

 mitted to present the best yet discovered means of protecting iron work ex- 

 posed to the air and weather from their otherwise injurious effects. 



Upon the many substantial advantages thus attained, we are induced to 

 state briefly the impressions we have received from an attentive examination, 

 we might say, most interesting study, of the roofs delineated and detailed in 

 the eight accompanying plates. 1 he cast iron plates being cast of sufficient 

 size to span the distance between each adjoining pair of principals, dispense 

 with the necessity for any kind of boarding whatever, thus saving not only a 

 great expense, but also diminishing the chances of damage by tire, which 

 would, by destroying this boarding, leave the slates without sufficient sup- 

 port, thus making the whole roof liable to l)e broken in by their derange- 

 ment ; or, in the case of lead covering, the fire from the boarding communi- 

 cated to the lead, would speedily reduce it to a Uquid state, and create the 

 most disastrous or fatal consequences. Again the cast iron plates allow the 

 formation of ornamental rolls on the exterior, and parallel with the rafters, 

 at the same time having vertical joints beneath these rolls, which, together 

 with the horizontal joints, are so contrived as to be perfectly impervious to 

 the admission of water. The architect being thus enabled to communicate 

 an architectural character to the very roof, which cannot fail to be highly es- 

 teemed when seen in connection with the striking features of the masonry be- 

 low, when the edifice is completed. And these rolls, it must be remembered, 

 which in slate covering would be impracticable, and in lead liable to consi- 

 derable distortion and injury, are when formed in iron, and cast as parts of 

 the plates themselves, not liable to injury by any ordinary means or circum- 

 stances, and will always retain their form, position, and imperviousness to 

 wet and weather. To whatever purpose the spaces or rooms within the roofs 

 may he applied, — and these spaces must, from the high pitch of the roofs, 

 he very valuable for many purposes, — it is evident that uniformity of tempe- 

 rature will be highly desirable; and this will be attained, it is believed, to a 

 much greater degree by an iron covering than by one of lead, slate, or any 

 other material. The corners of each plate being iiimly secured by screws 

 and snugs to the rafters on which they lie, a greater degree of lateral strength 

 and stiffness is attained than can be had with any other kind of covering : in 

 fact, the whole roof, principals, and covering, become one piece of framework, 

 well knit and secured together at all points by metal connexions, so that 

 the longitudinal tic-rods, which are introduced at the intermediate points, 

 are very much lighter than would otherwise have been advisable, and yet are 

 abundantly sufficient for their purpose. Mujii greater facdities are likewise 

 offered by this description of covering for the attachment of ornamental 

 dormer windows, which tlie architect has introduced for the purpose of light- 



ing the rooms within the roofs, and which could not in any other materia 

 have been so neatly, durably, or safely constructed and attached to the cover- 

 ing. In point of durability merely, if lead be allowed a comparison with 

 iron thus prepared and adopted, the latter must be pronounced the better 

 material. As to weight, little or no difference can be stated ; and regarding 

 their comparative expense, it is believed, allowing fairly for all circumstances, 

 the preference must be awarded to iron. Slate, of course, cannot sustain a 

 comparison of durability, has little advantage in lightness, and not nuich in 

 point of expense. But the many valuable peculiarities belonging to iron for 

 the purposes required, and at some of which peculiarities we have above 

 glanced, should be held thoroughly decisive as to its employment in the 

 erection of an edilicc of which nut only the architect in the present age, but 

 the nation for many centuries, should be justified in feeling proud. 



In the account of the Great Iron Bridge for the Neva, it is said — 



This bridge has seven arches, and bids fair to be a most elegant structure. 

 It is to be erected as a permanent one across the river, at the best end of the 

 town, near the official residences of the court and government. 



Span and Rise of Arches, which are seven in number. 



Total width between centre and centre of outside ribs, 66 feet 8 inches. 

 The total estimated weight of the seven arches, exclusive of the roadway 

 and raUing, is : — 6928.^ tons cast iron, and 342y% tons wrought iron. 



Exempla Ornamentoncm. London : Bogue. Part I. 



This is a new work on illuminated ornaments from the establish- 

 ment of Mr. Jobbins, and which promises to be most useful, embracing 

 in a cheap form richly illuminated designs from costly missals and 

 ancient manuscripts, in a style of luxury unknown to the last century. 

 These are capable ol adaptation for title pages, borders, head and tail 

 pieces, initial letters, monograms, and heraldic devices. By the ar- 

 chitect employed in church architecture,ur on Elizabethan buildings, 

 the work will be found useful in connection with designs for stained 

 windows, inscriptions, commandment tables, decorated ceilings, and 

 other ornaments of similar character. 



To those who know Mr. Jobbins's last work of this kind, the Poly- 

 graphia Curiosa, the Book of Initial Letters, no recommendation of 

 its merits is necessary. 



Listructwn for the Use of the Seyssel Asphaltic Mastic " Claridgt's 



Patent." 



Among the many useful practical publications on the building art, 

 this is one that deserves the notice of the profession and builders re- 

 siding in the country, because it contains full instructions for using the 

 asphalte or Seyssel rock, and every particular connected with its ap- 

 plication, written so clear that an ordinary plasterer cannot but under- 

 stand it. It contains drawings of the various utensils, and several 

 wood engravings of the various applications of the material. 



PROGRESS OF DECORATIVE ART.' 



The intellectual supremacy of man appears in few things more con- 

 spicuous than in his appreciation of the sublime and beautiful, while 

 in that mysterious sympathy wiiich obtains between his moral percep- 

 tions and certain objects in the external world, we find, perhaps, one 

 of the most striking evidences of his divine origin. He who walks 

 through the secluded valley, listening with delighted ear to the mur- 

 muring of the silver streamlet, quickly becomes conscious of a pleasing 

 affinity between its fairy music and the tenor of his own thoughts and 

 feelings. He who in a proper spirit wanders amid the silence and 

 solitude of the everlasting hills, and gazes from their hoary summits 

 on the blue concave of heaven, or it may be on the green earth as it 

 stretches out far, far beneath him, cannot fail to imbibe largely of the 

 poetry of nature, and to feel a glowing consciousness of communion 



I [ » The Laws of Hsrmoiiious Colouring adapted to Interior Decorations, &c., to which 

 is now added an Attempt to Define .l^sUietical Taste. Fifth iMlition. London : W. S. 

 On- and Co. Edinburgh ; Fraser and Co. 



The Natund Principles and Analoey of the Harmony of Form. 



Proportion, or tile Geometric Principle of Beauty Analysed. By D. R. Hay, Decorative 

 Painter 10 the Queen, Edinburgh. Win. Blackwood ami Sons, Eoinburgh, and JL', Pail 

 Mall, Loadon. 



