1845.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



263 



of classical Jomcslic decoration, such as is found in the buildings of Pomiieii 

 —a style totally distinct frcm tliat of the baths of Titus, whicli suggested 

 to Raiihacl, and his school, the ricli arabesque and ornaments in painting and 

 in relief, whith [ircvailcd in the IGth century, and which have been chiefly 

 foUoweil in the other t»o rooms. 



Wc quitted the Pavilion with mingled feelings of pleasure and agreeable 

 surprise, rejoiced to witness so gratifying a testimony to the taste of the ex- 

 alted personages by whose daily visits it will be honoured, and astonished to 

 view the triumph (for so we may call it) which has been already achieved by 

 our fellow-countrymen in this novel and almost untried branch of the 

 fina arts. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 

 June 23— \V. The, Esq., V.P., in the C hair. 



A paper was read by C. Parkkk, " On the Pruporlions of the Beams used bij 

 Ancient and Modern tArchiteets." The paper commenced by comparing the 

 Strength of the square and the strongest beam that could be cut out of a 

 round tree, and contrasting the proportions with the usual forms which an- 

 cient and modern architects adopt in beams, the former malving the breadth, 

 and the latter the depth, the element of strength. It then traced the views 

 that diilerent uatioiis have held and practised in their constructive operations. 

 It stated that the Egyptians preferred the square form of ijearing beam, 

 which proporiiun was used in .Solomon's pi ace, and thai the Greeks and 

 Romans used tlie rectangle placed horizontally. It then remarked tliat in 

 all the timber buildings erected lieforo and after the Norman conquest, the 

 breadth of a beam was placed to resist an opposing force, and so continued 

 to be used in the rebuilding of London after the fire in ICGG. Prior to this 

 date, the system of double framing was introduced on the Continent, and 

 changing the proportion of limbers, made the depth preferred to the breadth^ 

 which view is now thought correct. The diversity of opinions thus shown, 

 induced the following experiments, whicli were made with iron, from the 

 difficulty of obtaining specimens in wood of equal strength. The object w s 

 to ascertain the effect of increasing two, three, or more times the bread'.h ot 

 a team— also of increasing the like numljcr of times the depth of a beam, and 

 the comparative strength of two separate and one compact beam of equal 

 weights. The result shuwed that every addition made to tlie breadth, was 

 attended by a decrease of the bearing power in the ratio of | to ^ as the case 

 might be, whilst a contiary effect attended tlic enlargement of the depth ; 

 also that two separate beams were much weaker than one compact beam. 



A paper was likewise read desoriptive e>{" A Heries oS drawingsof Duildings in 

 Soutliern India," m^dc some time since under the direction of General Monteiih. 

 The drawings comprised someelaborate view s of the Pagodas,and the Palace and 

 Choultry of Ticmail-Raig at Madura, a city on the Coroman.lel coast, and 

 erected about the year 1G23 ; likewise of the Great Temple of Shivven, on the 

 sacred Island of Kamisseram, between the Coromandel coast and the island 

 of Ceylon, and but little known to Europeans. This temple and its appur- 

 tenances almost entirely covers an area of 830 feet by 625 feet. Tlie building 

 is of different periods, a small shrine or temple having existed on the island 

 from a remote period, but the chief additions were made by the Rajah of 

 Eamnad, about 150 years since. 



July 7. — W. F. PococK, Esq., in the Chair. 



Mr. E. I'Anson read a paper " On tlw Mosaic Pavement in the Cathedral of 

 Sienna." Mr. I'Anson, Jun., prefaced his communication by tracing the 

 general history of decoration in mosaic, up to the period of the revival of the 

 arts— he then called attention to the mosaic pavement at Sienna, which re- 

 presents the ages of man in seven different stages, as follows : — 



1. Infantia — a child playing in a garden of roses. 



2. Pueritia — a stripling holding a quoit in his hand. 



3. Adolescentia— (the figure almost totally obliterated). 



4. Juventus— a figure holding a falcon on the lelt hand and a bent bow in 



the right hand. 



5. Virilitas — a figure with a pondering mien, holding a closed book." 



6. Scncctus — a slim figure, robed, supported by a staff, and holding a rosary 



in tlie left hand. 



7. Decrepitus— an old man leaning on crutches and tottering over an open 



grave. 

 Mr. I'Anson then alluded to Shak.speare's description of the seven ages, and 

 observed that it was evident that the same feeling influenced the artist of this 

 mosaic and our bard. This work was attributed to Beccafumi, w ho flourished 

 at the beginning of the sixteenth century (having been born in 1484, and died 

 1549) — an epoch prior to that of .Shakspeare. It is, therefore, probable that 

 the idea was current at that time, and however much Sliakspeare may to us 



live made the thought his own by the manner in which he has treated it, it 

 is clearly not an original thought wiih him. The paper closed with a de- 

 scription of some mosaic fragments of Roman work, found about sixteen feet 

 below the surface, in excavating for the new buildings at Freeman's-place, 

 C( rnhlll, a specimen of which was shown. 



" On the Setting up of Stones, Pillars, Sfc., as Memorials to commemorate 

 events," by Mr. Si0i.ES, I'ellow. — The practice of setting up single stones foe 

 the purpose of recording events, has prevailed in most countries from the 

 earliest periods on record, as we learn both from sacred and profane authors. 

 Numerous instances of the application of rude stones, either as memorials of 

 events, or as sepulcral monuments, having been adduced, Mr. Scoles pro- 

 ceeded to comment on the use if isolated columns of any of the orders of 

 arcbitectiu-c for such purposes. lie mentioned that the Romans, who were» 

 perhaps, the first people to erect columns to record their triumphs or com- 

 memorate events, had, in all [irobability, borrowed the i'rfra from the Egyp- 

 tian obelisks. The refined taste of the Greeks, however, would not allow 

 them to perpetrate the absurdity of applying so important a feature in con- 

 struction as the column for such a purpose. The column, when used and 

 proportioned to support a superincumbent weight, becomes an object of de- 

 corated construction, bui w hen enlarged to colossal proportions, and standing 

 isolated, rather looks like tlie remains of some gigantic (emple. The column 

 known as Pompey's pillar, proves that the Romans did not confine this 

 absurd application to tluir own country. With respect to this monument, 

 it has been discovered that its shaft was originally an obelisk, thus trans- 

 formed by the addition of a «hite marble capital and base, and by being 

 placed on a pedestal. Mr. Scoles, in conclusion, expressed a hope that we 

 should see the day, when those, to whom the control, as respects the erec- 

 tion of public testimonials, may be intrusted, will cease to prescribe the ever- 

 recurring idea of a column as the subject to which the competing architect* 

 are to confine their designs. 



•July 21.— J. B. P.U'WORTii, Esq., V. P., in the Chair. 

 The Duke of Rerradifalco, who was present for the first time since his elec- 

 tion as an honorary and corresponding member, was introduced by Prof. 

 Donaldson, and admitted by the chairman. 



The prizes awarded by the Institute during the session were presented as 

 follows :— To Mr. S. I. Niclioll, student, the medal of the Institute, for his 

 essay "On the Nature and Uses of Slate as a Building Material ;" to Mr. 

 \V. \V. Deane, student, for an architectural design, " Wilkins's Vitruvius ;" 

 to Mr. G. Judge, student, for the best sketches on subjects given monthly by 

 the council, '• Erilton's Public Buildings of London ," to Mr. Judge was also 

 awarded the prize for the best notes of the proceedings of the Institute duriog 

 the session. 



A paper was read " On an antique Portico at\Damascus," communicated by 

 W. R. H.uiiLTON, Esq. This monument was first discovered by Mr. Hamilton 

 in 1802. From the circumstances under which it was seen, his notice of it 

 was necessarily very scanty, but Sir Gardiner Wilkinson has lately been able 

 to survey it more efricfently, and to supply the measurements from which this 

 paper and the drawings which accompanied it were compiled. The portico 

 consists of six Corinthian columns, about forty-two feet in height. The ex- 

 ternal columns are complicated with a double pilaster, and the middle inter- 

 columiiiation is broken into an arch, the entablature, which is highly en- 

 riclied, going over as an archivolt. This monument is evidently of the same 

 class and period as those of Baalbec and Palmyra. 



A i-aper was read descriptive of the Temples of Agrigentum, by S. Angell, 

 Esq, in the course of which he took the opportunity of paying a just comphment 

 to the Duke of Serradifaico, for the interest he had taken in the antiquities 

 of Sicily, and the knowledge and munificence he had displayed in his great 

 work on that subject, the fifth and concluding volume of which he had that 

 evening presented to the Institute. 



This evening's meeting closed the session. 



REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS. 



(Und« tl>i8 head w. propose Riving abstracl^ of ">f .^P^""'^?.' '°°» "f '",'^5 ""'' i"?; 

 portaat patents a» they are .nroUe.l. If any "''''.Uonal mformation be ^q"n^=^ as to „„y 

 paitnt, the same may be obtained by apolyiuB to Mr. LAXTON at the umce oi nils 

 JOURNAL.) 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORM OF TILES FOR DRAININS, &C. 



James Smith, late of Deanston, now of Queen-square, London, Civil En- 

 gineer, aud William Gaediner Jolly, of Drymen, county of Stirling, Scot- 

 land, for •' Certain Improvements in the Form of Tiles for Draining, in Im- 

 plemMts for Manufaeluring thereof and in the Modes of Manufacture.— 

 Granted August 29, 18H ; Enrolled Feb. 1815. . 



This invention consists, Firstly, for constructing draia tiles witu in 



