86 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



The extreme beauty and elegance of the various objects introduced among 

 the groups are next to be admired. The shapes of the vases, of the drinking- 

 cups, the sword-scabbards adorned with lions, and the shields decorated with 

 animals and flowers, — the chairs, tables, and other articles of domestic use, 

 — the ornaments of the head, the bracelets and earrings, are all designed 

 with the most consummate taste, and rival the productions of the most cul- 

 tivated period of Greek art. There are undoubtedly faults in the general 

 execution, such as a frequent contempt for the relative proportions of the 

 figures ; and it is evident that a variety of hands may be^traced in the work- 

 manship. — 4tlien<enm, 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



THE ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS. 

 January 13, 1845. — The President in the Chair. 

 The following commnnications were made : — 



1. Description of a Plan for the construction of a spacious flarlour of 

 Refuge in the Frith of Forth, or in such locality as may be recommended on 

 the east coast of Scotland, as the means of diminishing the loss of British 

 ships in future, and preserving the lives and property of shipwrecked per- 

 sons. By Captain John Donaldson Boswall, R.A. A Model, constructed 

 to show the peculiar Plan of the Breakwaters, and the action of the Flowing 

 and Ebbing Tides, was exhibited. — Captain Boswall's method is a restoration 

 of the ancient Romau and Carthaginian mole. The breakwaters are to be 

 built of solid masonry, but are to be pierced, at regular intervals, with small 

 openings, on a level with the bottom of the harbour, so as to allow the flow- 

 ing and ebbing tides to sweep through these openings, and thus to cleanse 

 away any sediment or deposit which, where solid breakwaters are used, is 

 found to accumulate, and in the end to render the harbour shallow and in- 

 efficient. This model was beautifully constructed by our ingenious towns- 

 man Mr. Howell, and unseen mechanism underneath raised and depressed 

 the water, so as to give it all the effect of the flowing and ebbing tide. 



2. On a New Method of rendering Baily's Compensation Pendulum free 

 from Hygrometric influence. By Robert Brtson, F.R.S.E. The process 

 was exhibited. — It is well kuown that simple pendulum rods of every mate- 

 rial are lengthened by heat and shortened by cold. Wood is found to be 

 less affected by temperature than metal, and has therefore latterly come 

 much into use. But wood is liable, on the other band, to be affected by the 

 hygrometric state of the air, that is, the pendulum rod is swelled and elon- 

 gated by damp, and contracted or shortened by dryness. Mr. Bryson's ob- 

 ject in this improvement is so to treat the wooden rod that it shall be little, 

 if at all, affected by the damp or dry state of the air ; the late Mr. Baily 

 having compensated, by the leaden bob of a particular length, against the 

 effect of heat and cnld. Mr. Bryson, then, places bis wooden rod, fitted 

 ■with Its springs, &c., within a metallic tube, which is pierced with small 

 holes, and he makes this to turn constantly bke a roasting spit over a num- 

 ber of small jets of gas, — which process has the effect of completely dissi- 

 pating the moisture which exists in the wood, and while in this state the rod 

 is suddenly withdrawn from the tube and plunged over head into another 

 upright tube filled with copal varnish, and there allowed to lie for 24 hours. 

 The varnish thus penetrates every pore of the wood, and coats it also on the 

 surface and on both ends, so that it is rendered perfectly proof against by- 

 grnmctric influence. 



3. On. admitting the Bach Light in a Poriaile Diorama, upon different 

 parts of a picture at different times; and on using light from oil, &c. By 

 George Tait, Esq. — This was a beautiful and ingenious addition to the 

 effects capable of being produced by Mr. Tait's very elegant invention oi the 

 Portable Diorama, whereby the light can be shut oft", or introduced to dif- 

 ferent parts of a picture, and is very effective, especially in night views. 



January 27. — Alexander Bryson, Esq., M.G.S., in the Chair. 

 The following communications were made : — 



1. Account of the Public Works at Hartlepool ; — particularly the Coffer- 

 dam, by which the water of the sea was shut out from above 200 acres of 

 slake, during the excavation of the tide-harbour, the docks, and the building 

 of the quay walls. By Mr. James Milne, engineer, Newcastle-on-Tyne. — 

 A model and drawings to scale were exhibited. — This was a valuable detailed 

 account of the public works carried on at Hartlepool ; and particularly of 

 the manner in which the great cofterdam was constructed, and the driving 

 of the piles was facilitated, and contained practical remarks on the best 

 angle at which the piles, both seaward and landward, ought to be driven. — 

 The model and drawings were beautifully executed to scale, and were much 

 admired. 



2. Description of a proposed Valve for the Atmospheric Railway, with a 

 Drawing. By Mr. James Beattie, Montrose. — This was a very ingenious 

 suggestion for a continuous Valve for the Atmospheric Railway. A semi- 

 circular hollow being cast on the top of the exhaustion pipe aliove the slit — 

 a hollow jiipe or tube of leather, filled with oil or other substance, is laid in 

 it, the oil keeping the tube always lubricated— and on the approach of the 

 railway train the leathern tube is lifted by a pulley or roller attached to the 

 first carriage, and, as the carriage moves onwards, tlie leather tube falls 

 again into its semieircniar hollow, and covers the slit. The tube is lifted 

 only to the extent of perhaps two or three feet at a time. 



3. Description of An Atmospheric Railway. By Mr. James Miller. 

 His idea for the Atmospheric Railway, is, in place of a valve, to have the 

 exhaustion-pipe cut longitudinally, so that it may be opened by pressure, and 

 close tight of itself when the pressure is removed. Two wings are east upon 

 the tube, in such a way as to be acted on by the weight of the first carriage ; 

 the tube is thus opened, so as to allow the communication with the piston 

 to pass through ; and as the carriage moves on, and tlie pressure is removed, 

 the tube closes of itself again, so as to be air-tight. — He also proposes a 

 Conical Pivot for locomotive carriage axles, knowmg from experience that 

 such a form is much stronger than where formed with an abrupt shoulder. 



Fel. 10.— David Stevenson, Esq., F.R.S.E., V. P., in the Chair. 

 The following communications were made : — 



1. (Part I.) "Remarks on the Trade Winds, and other currents in the 

 Atmosphere, at Barbadoes ; with an attempt to deveiope the Causes of Hur- 

 ricanes in the West Indies." By Robert Lawson, Esq., Assistant-Surgeon, 

 47th Regiment. 



The author endeavours to establish, by a long series of observations, the 

 causes which produced so great variations in the direction and force of the 

 trade winds, confining his attention more particularly to Barbadoes. These 

 changes have hitherto been referred to the heating influence of the sun on 

 the atmosphere within the tropics, little attention being bestowed on the 

 eflfects of aqueous dift'usion, and the influence of the sun and moon*s attrac- 

 tion. — By the anomalous directions of the wind during the month of June 

 1841, being quite at variance with the received opinions as to the cause of 

 the trade winds, and from subsequent observations, Mr. J.awson refers the 

 causes of these currents to other influences than the mere increase of tempe- 

 rature in the atmosphere within the tropics. — The results of these observa- 

 tions will form the second part of this interesting communication, alike 

 valuable to the philosopher and the navigator. 



2. " All account of Mr. Fairbairn's Observations on the use of Cast-Iron 

 in the Construction of Warehouses, i^-c. ; with the Results of Mr. Eaton 

 Hodghinson s Experiments on the best form of Cast-Iron Beams and Pillars, 

 with Illustrations, was given by James Tod., Esq., Sec. 



In the course of his observations, Mr. Tod called the attention of the So- 

 ciety to the great importance, to the security both of life and property, of 

 this subject being better understood by practical men, such as architects, 

 builders, founders, &c. 



First, in regard to cast-iron pillars, he showed that Mr. Hodgkinson has, 

 by elaborate experiments (for which he had received the Gold Medal of the 

 Royal Society of London), established many interesting facts in regard to the 

 relative strengths of different shapes of pillars. In particular, taking three 

 pillars, in every respect [alike, excepting that the first had both its ends 

 rounded ; the second, one end rounded and the other end flat ; and the third, 

 both ends flat — he found that their relative strengths were in the ratio of 

 one, two and three, the pillar having both ends perfectly flat being the 

 strongest, k flat disc ou the end of the pdlar gives a small additional 

 strength. Second, in regard to cast iron beams, Mr. Hodgkinson found 

 (Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, Vols. IV. 

 and v., new series) — that the strongest form is secured by having two flanges 

 an upper and under one, connected by an upright feather. The beam to rest 

 on its lower flanges, in which the greatest breadth and thickness of metal is 

 to be placed ; the upright feather is to be made much thinner, and also the 

 top flange ; and the top and bottom flanges are both to be broadest in the 

 middle, tapering away by a parabolic curve towards the e.xtremities to less 

 than half the breadth which it has at the centre. 



Mr. Tod exhibited a model beam, which he had got constructed on this 

 principle, so as to show more clearly the strongest form ; and he remarked 

 that not only was it common to find beams cast upon a wrong principle, 

 having the thickness of metal in the wrong place, but when these beams are 

 put into buildings, that they were placed with their broad flange uppermost, 

 in which position Mr. Hodgkinson's experiments prove that they have hardly 

 one-third of the strengtli (in reahty being only as 323 to 1000) to what the 

 same beam would have had if the broad flange had been placed undermost. 

 He also exhibited enlarged drawings of the pillars upon which Mr. Hodgkin- 

 son experimented, showing the places where these broke respectively when 

 loaded to the breaking point. 



( 



ROYAL INSTITUTION. 

 January 24. — W. R. Hamilton, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 

 ON THE BUSINESS OF THE ^HNT. By Professor Brande. 

 Prof. Brande took a review of the chemical and mechanical history of a 

 mass of gold, from its importation into this country to its issue to the public 

 in the form of coin. Gold is imported from South America, Africa (in the 

 form of gold-dust), and from the Ural Mountains in Russia. The supply 

 from this last-named source Mr. Murchison has shown to be continually in- 

 creasing. This gold is sent to the Mint by the Bank. The Bank, however, 

 first melts and also assays (or analyzes) it by its own assayer. The gold is 

 sent in ingots — massive oblong pieces — each weighing 151b. These, from 

 the process just referred to, are of known purity and quality. When received 

 at the Mint from the Bank, the ingots are weighed in the presence of re- 



