IS6 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



[May, 



THE ARTS AND MANUFACTUBES OF FRANCE. 

 The Scotfis/t Guardian gives an account of a meeting lately held by the 

 PhilosophicRl Society at Glasgow, when a variety of specimens were exhibited 

 of French Art and Manufactures, purchased by Government at the last Ex- 

 position in Paris for the School of Design in London. The first noticed was 

 a drawing or pattern for a rug, being a specimen of the manner in which 

 French designs are executed for the manufacture of these articles. It might 

 be about twelve inches long by about six or eight in breadth, and consisted 

 of a series of figures of flowers, drawn and coloured with exquisite skill, 

 finished with the minuteness and nicety of miniature painting, and showing 

 an amount of labour which would be poorly compensated to the artist 

 for fourteen guineas, the price at which the pattern was purchased. 

 There were a number of specimens of pottery, and glass manufacture, 

 and jars and vases cast in metal, remarkable for their classic elegance of 

 form and beauty of design. Amongst these were the following : — A 

 valuable bronze vase with an allegorical design, representing two groups of 

 figures, the most prominent of which were Justice and I'eace on one side, and 

 Patience and Hope on the other, all the figures being produced with admir- 

 able sculpturesque effect. A jar in common Beauvais ware — the coarsest 

 potter's clay, in fact — showed in a remarkable manner the value of Art in 

 moulding forms of perfect grace and symmetry out of the most ordinary and 

 inexpensive materials. One of tliese elegant jars might cost sixpence, and 

 we believe that in France, as we have no doubt will soon be the case in this 

 country also, they are much sought after for household purposes. A vase 

 cast in argent-platina, of singularly fine proportions ; the chasing elaborated 

 with the minuteness of insect-work ; produced in the atelier of M. Rudorf ; 

 cost forty guineas, being considered a perfect specimen of the art, and without 

 its equal as yet in British manufacture. Glass-china vase, from the work 

 called Choisi ie Roi ; value, \<il. In this specimen the classical proportions 

 of the other vases were produced in a material of exquisite delicacy, combin- 

 ing the purity of crystal with the pearly whiteness and transparency of the 

 finest porcelain, and affording a ground susceptible to the minutest shades of 

 the pencil. Vases of this description are painted by the hands of ladies ; and 

 and the present specimen bore testimony to the industry and taste with 

 which the paintings are executed. Two Terra Cottas moulded in common 

 tile-clay, and intended for holding flowers ; — both very pretty examples of 

 the same union of taste and economy already noticed. Four speci- 

 mens of enamelled ware, another cheap and beautiful invention, appli- 

 cable to a variety of purposes, such as plates, dishes, and other articles made 

 of earthenware. The figures are moulded in intaglio instead of has relief, 

 and the mould may be wrought by any man who can make bricks and tiles, 

 and with equal ease and expedition. When the cast is hardened, it is covered 

 ■with a coat of enamel or varnish in the usual way ; and the lowest lines or 

 hollows of the intar/lio being designed to throw up the shaded parts of the 

 picture, they receive the thickest coating of varnish, while the more elevated 

 lines take on the least; and the mixture of light and shade thus produced is 

 so well managed as to give the picture all the prominence to the eye of las 

 relief. Amongst the more finished and valuable specimens of porcelain ma- 

 nufacture was the Adelaide Vase, painted in enamel, in imitation of Middle- 

 Age Art, the painting, as in a former instance, being done with the pencil. 

 There was also a slab of lava, enamelled and painted in a beautiful 

 manner; slabs of this seemingly impracticable material are now used 

 in Paris for the purpose of painting on their enamelled surface the names of 

 the streets. They are thus rendered impervious to atmospheric influence, 

 and are considered indestructible. Amongst the other casts in metal were 

 part of a bronze architrave of the door of the church of the Madeleine at 

 Paris, and casts of ornamented outer plates of locks, in iron and in brass, 

 cleverly designed and moulded ; besides a variety of bronze figures, &c. Some 

 ingenious specimens were also shown of carving in leather, in imitation of 

 casting ; and specimens of those ornamental flooring used in the houses in 

 France, where they have no carpets. But the French are rapidly acquiring a 

 taste for this domestic luxury, and have fairly commenced the manufacture 

 of carpetting, which promises soon to become an item of great importance in 

 the trade of the country. Considerable attention was paid to a specimen of 

 their carpetting exhibited in the room, and which exceeded ours as much in 

 the beauty of the pattern, as it fell short of the British manufacture in the 

 fineness of the fabric. In like manner, the white damask table-cloth was 

 unknown in France eight years ago, but is now both manufactured and used 

 in the country ; and a specimen exhibited on the present occasion evinced 

 still greater progress than in the case of the carpet manufacture. But how- 

 ever deficient tiie French may be in the production of these articles, as com- 

 pared with our own manufactures, the profuse display of gorgeous damask 

 silk, from the factories of Tours and Lyons, must have challenged universal 

 admiration by the superiority of their fabric and designs. Some of the 

 richest effects were brought out in these manufactures by using glass thread, 

 which is prepared so fine as to be capable of being tied in knots without 

 breaking, and woven in every respect like ordinary thread. But the fabric 

 which excited the strongest interest, both on account of its beauty and its 

 novelty and ingenuity, was a large square of wool mosaic, or India-rubber 

 cloth, a manufacture peculiar to France and some parts of Germany. The 

 pattern was perhaps the most perfect in respect of design of any work of Art 

 in the exhibition. The flowers and leaves were copies from nature, and were 

 much admired for their botanical accuracy. Even the least prominent of the 

 plants represented in the compgsitios, sugh as the fronds gr leaves cf ferns, 



were delineated with so much fidelity as to enable botanists to distinguish 

 the diflferent species, and give them their specific names ! The triumph of 

 Art in this instance is the more remarkable, that after the design passed from 

 the hands of the pattern-drawer, it was wrought into the fabric by one of 

 the most complicated processes that can well be imagined. The pattern is 

 in fact produced in the fabric by the ends of threads standing out trans- 

 versely from the foundation of India-rubber cloth, and not as is usually the 

 case by the threads jbeing interwoven longitudinally. The cloth is sold at 

 5^. a yard. 



PROCEBDZNGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



THE ROYAL .SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS. 

 March 10, 1845. — Alexander Bryson, Esq., V. P., in the Chair. 

 The following communications were made: — 



" Oti the Registry of the Hoiirhj Variations of the Ihermomeier, ly means 

 of Photographic papers." — By Mungo Ponton, Esq., F.R.S.E. The author 

 after explaining the difficulties attending the registry of the hourly variations 

 of the thermometer, showed how this object might be obtained by means of 

 photographic paper. He pointed out the manner in which the stem of the 

 thermometer must be ground, so as to produce a distinct shadow of the filled 

 portion of the bone capable of forming an image on the paper ; also the mode 

 of preparing the sensitive paper applicable to this purpose. The paper being 

 put round a cylinder to be moved by a clock, exhibits at the end of every 

 twenty-four hours a series of images of the stem of the thermometer, showing 

 the position of the mercury during each half hour. These images are pro- 

 duced by artificial light. The instrument was exhibited. 



The author also described the mode of preparing paper for portraiture. 

 The materials used are nitrate of silver dissolved in pure acetic acid, with 

 gallic acid dissolved in the oils of cassia and cloves, while sulphate of iron 

 and gum arable are used for developing the pictures. This process he stated 

 to be more rapid than the calotype of Mr. Talbot, of which it is a modifica- 

 tion. 



" On the Employment of Oxygen as a means of maintaining respiration in 

 Diving Belk, and in restoring snspended animation." — By George Wilson, 

 M.D., F.R.S.E. The object of this paper was to direct the attention of prac- 

 tical men to improvement* recently introduced in the preparation of oxygen, 

 which seemed to the author to admit of its employment for the purposes re- 

 ferred to in the title of his communication. The simple addition of a 5th or 

 10th of its weight of oxide of copper, of manganese, or of iron, to the chlorate 

 of potass, is found to cause the evolution of the oxygen of that salt, when 

 heat is applied, with such rapidity, that a hundred cubic inches per njinute 

 may be procured with even a small apparatus. Dr. Wilson suggested that a 

 mixture of chlorate and metallic oxide should be kept ready made at our dif- 

 ferent hospitals and other institutions, such as the Humane Society's Receiv- 

 ing Rooms, along with suitable gasholders, and the necessary apparatus for 

 inflating the lungs, so that, in cases of suspended animation, oxygen instead 

 of common air might be thrown into the respiratory organs. There is good 

 reason to believe that oxgyen would be much more etBcacious than common 

 air in causing resuscitation, and the rapidity with which it can be procured by 

 the new process, appears to bring it quite within reach of the medical man. 

 The same mixture admits of application to the maintenance of respiration in 

 confined apartments, such as the chamber of a diving-bell, if accompanied by 

 suitable arrangements for withdrawing the carbonic acid generated by the 

 respiration of those within. Dr. Wilson is at present engaged in researches 

 as to the best shape and size of the generating and receiving vessels to be 

 employed for the evolution and preservation of the gas in hospitals and other 

 institutions. The result of these inquiries will be laid before the public as 

 soon as they are completed. 



" Experiments on Barkers Mill (first series). — By Mr. James White- 

 law, Engineer, Paisley. The result of this first series of experiments on 

 Barker's Mill — ascertained by applying Prouy's Brake — is 75 per cent, of the 

 water power employed — the fall being 8 feet, and the diameter of the mill 

 15.6 inches. This is stated to be fully three per cent, above the best over- 

 shot water-wheels, which have never given out more than 72 per cent* It 

 was stated that a second series of experiments had been received from Mr. 

 Whitelaw, which will be read at next meeting, giving a stiU higher result. 



(Second series.] — In these additional experiments, Mr. Whitelaw states 

 that a result of 79'6 per cent, has been brought out, the per centage of the 

 best form of overshot wheel being from 72 to 74. 



" Description of an Improved Cart, tending to give greater strength and 

 durability, and to remove vibration from jolting." — By Mr. /Eneas Levack, 

 Cart-wright, Thurso. The improvements consist, 1st, in introducing more 

 iron and less wood into the framing of the cart, securing greater strength 

 and less liability to decay, while the weight is not increased ; and 2d, in a 

 peculiar method of fixing the axle to the cart frame, so as to allow free play, 

 and prevent accidents from sudden strokes or shocks from the wheels from 

 being communicated to the body of the cart, and thus render it less liable to 

 vibration and jolting. M. Levack accompanied Ms description with awell" 

 executed model of his proposed improTements. 



