1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



85 



but Joes not often produce a satisfactory polish. Most of the primary lime- 

 stones are met with in exposeil riil(,'es of surface rock, alternating with or 

 emhedJeil between rocks of the shite formation, anil the strata generally po.s- 

 sess a vertical or strongly inclined direelion. In the nortlicrn portion of the 

 county of Donegal it is, however, very frequently met with in successive 

 horizontal heds and easily quarried. In the counties of Donegal and Galway 

 primary limestone of a coarsely crystalline texture is abundant, polishes very 

 well, and varies in colour considerably. Most of the limestones of the country 

 which arc of a fine grain are highly crystalline, are susceptible of a polish 

 and produce a hght grey and bluish-grey colour. Of the light coloured 

 limestones Ihc pure white is most esteemed ; it Is met with in Connemara, and 

 in several localities is exceedingly compact and hard ; it is found in narrow, 

 vertical or highly inclined seams between the slate rocks, and contains veins 

 parallel with tlic vertical face of the seams, which prevent any cubical masses 

 beyond a small size from being obtained— its great hardnees in conversion, 

 and the difliculty of quarrying it renders its use very limited. 



iriiilc miirlih- occurs in the western portion of the county Donegal, and 

 diflers much from that of Conremara ; it is coarsely granular, of compara- 

 tively easy conversion, can be obtained in cubical blocks and in great qu,-m- 

 itics ; its very coarsely granular texture, however, is prejudicial to it for 

 many purposes. Some of this marble has been employed in sculpture, ami 

 has apiiearcd in the exhibition of the Hibernian Academy. In comparison 

 with the white marbles of Italy, and that from Carrara, which is tlie kind 

 chiefly imporlwl into Ireland, the white marbles of Ireland are certainly in- 

 ferior for sculpture and the ordinary uses to which white marble is applied ; 

 where, however, it can be boldly used in these localities where the expense (jf 

 carriage would be much avoided, there is no doubt that it may be frequently 

 employed with much advantage for many jiurposes. 



At Cheevy, near Dungannon, very delicate cream-cohured marble is ob- 

 tained ; very compact in texture, receives a hi);h degree of polish, and blocks 

 of gieat lengih can be procured. The coarsely crystalline and fossiliferous 

 limestone at Ardbraccan produces light-coloured marble of easy conversion. 

 Of the variegated marbles] of Ireland, the sienna of the best quality Is, per- 

 haps, the most beautiful. It is met with in the King's County in several 

 places. The best I am familiar with is a veined or mottled sienna, obiaiiied 

 near the Seven Churches. .Some of it has been wrouglit into chimney-pieces 

 and other ornamental purposes at the marble words at Killaloe ; it is sus- 

 ceptible of a high polish, and exhibits many bright and distinct colours. 

 Marble of the same character also prevails, difl'ering in colour, havinga dove- 

 coloured ground veined or mottled with the sienna colour. In the county 

 Armagli a sienna, or rather Irownhh-red marhle, is met with, containing 

 great numbers of fossil shells, with which it is strongly marked; several 

 varieties of colour from a very light reddish brown to a rather dark red are 

 also met with, and more or less marked with shells. At Pallaskenry, in the 

 county Limerick, a dark red and mottled marble is abundant, and has 

 been much used. A red-coloured marble, of a compact tut slaty texture, 

 occurs in the county Cork, extending from the city in a narrow seam, as far 

 as Ballincollig barracks, a distance of several miles ; it is bard to work, and 

 dull in colour, but was at one time extensively used. The serpejiliiie or green 

 marhle of Connemara is, some of it, very beautiful ; generally, however, it is 

 of a dull green colour — the injudicious mode of raising it by blasting with 

 gunpowder, has much injured most of what has been raised, and considerably 

 prejudiced the sale of it. Blocks of considerable size, from which large tlabs 

 can be obtained, can be raised, and many are found lying on the surlace of 

 the ground near where the rock is met. 'Ihe diflirully of conveying it over 

 bad roads, and the too high price asked for it by the proprietors, in com- 

 parison with what green continental marble can be obtained for, are impedi- 

 ments against its more extended use. Black and white marble, and that of a 

 mottled character, occurs in several localities ; itis quarried near Cork, in the 

 counties of Waterford, Longford and Kerry, and sume of the varieties are beau- 

 tiful. That obtained near Mitchelstown is well marked, and receives a high 

 polish. The limestone obtained near the Seven Churches in the King'.s 

 County, when polished, produces a gotd marble of an even grey colour, it 

 is strongly mottled with very numerous fossil organic remains, which, in the 

 opinion of many pcr':ons, gives it a very pleasing appearance. It is easily 

 worked and raised from the quarries in their beds. It may be remarked that 

 this marble in a polished stale has tieen used in the construction of the door- 

 way of one of the principal ruins at the Seven Churches. .Some of the stones 

 retain their polish to this lime ; others exhibit decay, and thereby the variable 

 quality of the different beds. I have only to add, that the foregoing obser- 

 vations are to be considered as a slight description of the varieties of llie Irish 

 marbles, and are maile more particularly to introduce the various specimens 

 to the notice of tlie Geolo..;ical .Society. 



Cornish E.\oine3.— An order has been received at the llayle Copper-house 

 Foundry (Sandys, Came, and Vivian), for two 40-inc)i cylinder engines for tlie Kew Wuler 

 Works, to be completed in six weeks, besides sundry macliines for ttiose works. 



PATENT REVOLVING GRANARY. 



The revolving granary was invented by a Krench engineer, M. Vallery. It 

 consists of a large wooden cylinder, pierced with boles, and lined with me- 

 tallic cloth, and which turns horizontally on its axle ; it is divided into dif- 

 ferent ptirls round a hollow tube, which is the centre of the system ; the ap- 

 paratus must only be filled four-fifths, so that there may be room for the 

 corn to turn over, during the revolving of the machine ; a fan ventilator, 

 placed at one of the ends, draws the air from the cylinder, and forces the ex- 

 terior air to pass through tlie cum, and to go out by the central tube. This 

 granary possesses all that is necessary for the economical preservation of 

 corn tor an unlimited lime, without the loss of any of the nutritious parts ; 

 and it can also be used for any description of grain ; it protects the grain 

 against the devastation caused by insects without employing any deleterious 

 gas or inpirious matter ; and it prevents fcrmentatii n even when the corn is 

 boused in a wet state. Tlicse advantages are attainable without incurring a 

 great expense for buildings, and require very little manual labour. 



M. Vallery 's system has received in France the approbation of all compe- 

 tent judges. The Acadeviie des Sciences, in a report made by Messrs. Biot, 

 Baron Sylvestre, Baron Dupin, Baron Seguier, after numerous experiments, 

 formally declareil, '• That M. Vallery's revolving granaries rid the corn 

 from the insects contained in at the time of housing, and elTectually protects 

 it from all future ravages, opposing an efi'ectual bar to the ingress of fresh 

 insects which would introduce themselves into it— that this system prevents 

 fermentation by the airing to which the corn is subjected— that it will moisten 

 corn which has become too dry, by the facility the ventilation aflbrds, of 

 passing through the corn a current of air impregnated with steam;— and, 

 lastly, that the corn can be warehoused in a much smaller space ; — that, con- 

 sequently, this granary, furmcd on the two principles of airing the corn, and 

 of shifting it, possesses all the necessary qualities, as well for the preserva- 

 tion of the corn, as for the expulsion of the insects," 



The patentees intend to construct granaries of various sizes ; from 10 to 

 100 quarters, observing, that each granary, being divided into eight com- 

 partments, may contain, if required, eight ditferent kinds of grain. The price 

 of each granary is £,\ per quarter, according to its capacity, thus, it will bo 

 £50 for a granary of 50 quarters. 



RUINS AT NINEVEH. 



There is so much interest attached to the recent discoveries of the French 

 Consul, amongst the ruins of Is'ineveh, tbat we think the following particu- 

 lars, supplied to the Malta Times, by one who appears to have a personal 

 acquaintance with the antiquities recovered, worth adding to the few which 

 we gave last week. With the early history of the discovery our readers were 

 long since made acquainted, in letters from M. Botta himself, and they have 

 from time to time been informed of the progress of his researches. We shall 

 therefore come at once to results. Fifteen chambers, some above 100 feet 

 in length, and evidently forming part of a magnificent palace, have been 

 opened. Their walls are entirely covered with inscriptions and sculptures. 

 The latter are, almost without exception, historical, and illustrate events of 

 the highest interest, sieges, naval manoeuvres, triumphs, single combats, &c. 

 The inscriptions, are in a cuneiform character, and are of such great length 

 that all the arrow-headed inscriptions before known, if united together, 

 would not equal them. The character used closely resembles that found in 

 the middle column of the inscriptions of Persepolis, Ilamadan, (Ecbatana), 

 and Bisutun, and in the earlier inscriptions of Van. Each wall bears two 

 rows of sculptures, one placed above the other, and the inscriptions, contain- 

 ing generally about twenty lines, are graven between. Frequently, however, 

 they also occur on the garments of figures, or on towns and other objects 

 found in the bas-reliefs. There cannot be a doubt, therefore, that they con- 

 tain a description of the events recorded, and the naiues of the principal 

 actors in them — in fact, that they are a portion of the liistorical records of a 

 kingdom. We have alludeil to the variety of the subjects described by the 

 sculptures, but the spirit and beauty of their execution form the widest field 

 for astonishment and conjecture. To those who have been accustomed to 

 look upon the Greeks as the true perfectors and the only masters of the imi- 

 tative arts, they will furnish new matter for inquiry and rellection. I shall, 

 I think, be hereafter able to show, that, even if they cannot be referred to a 

 period much antecedent to the earlier stages of Greek art, they have, never- 

 theless, no connexion with it, and are perfectly original both in design and 

 execution. Whilst probably conteniiioraneous with many of the most an- 

 cient sculptures of Egypt, they are immeasurably superior to the stiff and 

 ill-proportioned figures of the monuments of the Pharoahs. They discover 

 a knowledge of the anatomy of the human frame, a remarkable perception 

 of character, and wonderful spirit in the outlines and general execution. In 

 fact, the great gulf which separates barbarian from civilized art has been 

 passed. Although the ornaments, rohcs, and various implements of war are 

 finished with an extraordinary jirecision and minuteness, they in no way 

 detract from the effect of the whole, nor do they add heaviness to the figures. 



