1845.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



27 



stoppfd by buildiiif; in two gravel buttresses 12 feet wide, from the weak 

 point down to the bottom of tbe slope. 



Other tlips have occurred in the cuttings and embankments, the greater 

 number ot which were treated in the following manner (Figs. 3 and 4.) 

 Parallel trenches were cut completely through the slip from 



Fig. 3. 



unterlorts 

 unterforts. F 



T. Top of slope 



toiting, introduced into a slip. 

 1 footing. R, Level ol rails. 



S. Back of slip. 



Fig. 4. 



top to bottom, finishing in the 

 solid earth behind, care being 

 taken to cut footings in the soil 

 perpendicular to the face of the 

 blope. The opening thus pre- 

 pared, was filled with gravel 

 rammed in tight, and in some 

 cases with gravel and clay mixed, 

 a rubble or bush drain being 

 previously laid in from the back 

 to the front. The thickness of 

 this gravel buttress (G) was from 

 Section of Gravel counterfort, and footing, introduced into a Slip. 



6 feet to 12 feet, according to the sizn of the slip, and the same circum- 

 stance regulated the distance between the buttresses, which were united and 

 mutually supported at the foot by a retaining wall or footing of gravel (Fi 

 running the whole length of the slip ; the top of the slip was pounded tight, 

 and the lace trimmed olT. This plan has been perfectly eft'ective, at once 

 supporting and draining the slip, while it was a far less expensive method than 

 removing the slip and trimming back the slope, and avoided ths necessity of 

 so many obslructious to the tratfic of the railway, which would have occurred 

 in removing the spoil along the main line. 



Water in these and most other cases appeared to be the ultimate cause of 

 all the slips ; the drainage, therefore, of the slopes, as recommended by the 

 author, in both cuttings and embankments, is a consideration of the utmost 

 importance, and where, as in the system above-named, it can be united with 

 a means of opposing weight to weight, it may fairly be presumed that the 

 cure is permanent and complete. 



(To be continued.) 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



Dec. 2. — J. B. Papworth, Esq., V. P., in the chair. 



This was the opening meeting of the session. B. Green, Esq., of New- 

 castle-upon-Tyne, was elected a fellow ; and prizes ( books ) were presented 

 to Messrs. Baker and Deane, students to the Institute, for the best Architec- 

 tural compositions, and for the best series of sketches, on subjects proposed 

 by the council. 



Some beautiful drawings were exhibited illustrative of the painted decora- 

 tions in the church of S. Francesco di Assisi, and a description was read 

 communicated by C. H. Wilson, Esq., with some observations on the poly- 

 chromatic decorations of the early Italian churches in general. The church 

 at Assisi was the work of Jacopo I'Alemanno, father of the more celebrated 

 Arnolfo da Lupo, and is remarkable as one of the most perfect e.\amples of 

 an architectural monument of that age, completed by the painter. The en- 

 lire church, withinside, is covered with color, the work partly of Greek ar- 

 tists, and partly that of Cimabue, Giotto, Giottino, and Guinta Pisano, and 

 their assistants, constituting it a most precious monument of the art of those 

 early times. The importance and merit of these works by Cimabue, have been 

 recognized by all the writers on art. The fervour of Italian art, had given 

 vitality to the inanimate forms of the Greeks, and the figures introduced are 

 greatly superior in style, although the arabesque decorations with which 

 they are combined, are altogether liyzantine in character, and decidedly infe- 

 rior totho^e of earlier ilate in St. Mark's, at Venice. In the ornaments of 

 Giotto and his school in the Scovigni, and Chapel of St. George, at Padua, in 

 those of Spinello Aretino, in St Miniato, at Florence, and elsewhere, and in 

 the works of Fra Beato Angelico, we have indieationi of a more refined taste 

 and of progress. 



Dec. 10.— J. B. Papworth, Esq., V. P., in the chair. 



.lames Walker, Esq., F.R.S., Prcsii^nt of the Institute of Civil Engineera, 

 was elected an Honorary Member. 



A model and drawings were exhibited of thcmode adopted by Mr. Murray 

 in moving tlje lighthouse at Sunderland. 



A paper was r(;ad by Mr. J. J. Scoles, Fellow, '0»t /Ae .Vonumenls existing 

 t'l the I'allei/ nf Je/w.tophat iienr Jemsiitem.' These monuments might pos- 

 sess little interest if viewed merely with regard to their dimensions or archi- 

 lectural merits, but as they are almost the only buildings of any antiquity 

 remaining in or about Jerusalem, and as tradition has invested 'them with 

 the names of Absalom and Zachariah, it becomes an object of some interest 

 to the archcEologist to ascertain, if jiobsible, the pei-iod at which they were 

 really executed. In style, they are strangly mixed, the Greek orders being 

 blended with the Egyptian character and form. Ihc most remarkable, " the 

 I'llkr of Absalom," exhibits engaged columns of the Ionic order, Doric 

 frieze, an Egyptian cavctto cornice, and a high conical roof, the whole being 

 excavated and detached from the sidid rock. " The Tomb of Zaehariah " is 

 of the same general character, but less decorated, and surmounted by a pyra- 

 mid. There are several other tombs, but their features are less peculiar. 

 One excavation, however, exhibits a pediment decorated with foliage of 

 Greek character. On reviewing the architectural details, Mr. Scoles was of 

 opinion that they are to be referred to the period of the Roman dominion in 

 Syria and Egypt. The pyramidal form was very frequently used by the 

 Romans in monumental structures. 



ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS, 



On Tuesday, December 10, being the anniversary of the foundation of this 

 national institutiou, the usual meeting was held in the evening, for the pur- 

 pose of distributing the premiuius to t!ie students for the works performed 

 by them within the walls of the academy during the past year. The present 

 is the distribution of what is called " the intermediate year," the grand dis- 

 tribution, which includes premiums fur original composition, being " biennial." 

 About 9 o'clock the Piesident (Sir M. A. Shee), accompanied by the princi- 

 pal members of the Royal Academy, entered the large exhibilion-roo,ii ; hav- 

 ing assumed the chair, he, in a few prefatory remarks, complimented the 

 btudents generally on the exertions they had made, and the ability they had 

 evinced in the competition. At the same time, he regretted to say, that in 

 some classes a proper zeal had not been manifested. In the class of painting 

 there were hut two competitors ; in that of modelling from the antique, but 

 two also ; while in the class of die-sinking there was no candidate at all. He 

 exhorted the students to exert themselves in the competition in the inter- 

 mediate year, as well as in the more important award of prizes which took 

 place every two years. They should recollect that mediocrity in art was no- 

 thing. There was no medium in the fine arts between admiration and con- 

 tempt ; and the well-known sentiment of the poet on this subject was founded 

 in truth and observation of nature ; — 



" Of all vain fools, with coxcomb talents curst, 

 " Bad poets and bad painters are the worst." 



The premiums were then distributed in the following manner ; — 



To Mr. W. Gale, for the best copy in the school of painting, a silver medal 

 and the lectures of Professors Barry, Opie, and Fuseli. 



To Mr. Healing, for the next best copy, a silver medal. 



To Mr. W. Gale (the gentleman mentioned above), a silver medal for the 

 best drawing from the living model. 



To Mr. k. Gatley, a silver medal for the best model from the life. 



To Mr. G. Lowe, a silver medal, for the best architectural drawing of St. 

 Mary's, Woolnoth. 



To Mr. W. Dean, a silver medal, for the second best drawing of the same. 



To Mr. Healy, a silver medal, for the best chalk drawing from the antique. 



To Mr. Roan, a silver medal, for the second best drawing. 



To Mr. A. Brown, a silver medal, for the best model from the antique. 



After the distribution the President addressed a few words to the students, 

 again urging them to continued exertion in their art. To them, the rising 

 generation of artists, he observed, the country looked for the maintenance 

 of its character in the world of art. It could not now (he continued) be 

 said that opportunity was wanting to stimulate and encourage the exertions 

 of the artists of this country. The Royal Commission of the Fine Arts was 

 about to complete what it had so well begun, and it was not to be supposed 

 but that the artists of Britain would respond to the advances of the Govern- 

 ment, and by their works reflect credit on themselves and honour on their 

 country. 



The meeting then separated. 



In consequence of the grcit merit of the copies in the painting school and 

 of the architectural drawings, two medals instead of one were awarded in 

 each of these classes. — Stanthrd. 



