28 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Jan. 



A, water tue-iron. B, cistern for water, at a convenient height aliove A. 

 axy, wrought-iron pipe, connecting the lower part of the cistern, 13, with 

 the lower part of the tue-iron, A. d, another pipe, connected with the upper 

 part nf A, and passing either through the bottom of the cistern B, or by one 

 side, and over the top with a bend. Water poured into C will descend by 

 the pipe, a x y, into the tue-iron, A, driving the air before it up the pipe, d, 

 and if sufficient water be supplied till it stands at the height shown by the 

 line in the cistern, the whole of the pipes and tue-iron will be full of water. 



In actual working, the nose, p, is covered with burning coal ; the water 

 soon attains a boiling temperature, and steam being formed, a portion of the 

 water is driven out of the tue-iron up the pipe d, into the cistern B, when a 

 fresh supply descends \>y axy, to be in its turn heated and driven out as 



If distilled water could always be supplied to the cistern B, and that kept 

 clean, tlie tue-iron would have a fair chance nf doing its duty to the end ; 

 but as it is not so, and as there is a great probability that other substances 

 get into the cistern, and ultimately find a settlement in the tue-iron, some 

 contrivance was desirable for preventing the accidental, or perhaps, in some 

 instances, wilful choking of the tue-iron. The means adopted for this pur- 

 pose will be readily understood by again referring to the two figures. In- 

 stead of the water descending by tlic curved pipe a x y, it is conveyed by 

 the straight pipe a b, into the cast-iron box C, which is fixed considerably 

 below the tue-iron, and n.ust first be filled before any can rise up tlie pipe c, 

 into the tue-iron. Should any sand or ashes get into the cistern B, it will 

 settle in the box C, and not in the tue-iron. which will be supplied with 

 water containing no heavy particles. A mnd-hole door n, is provided, by 

 which the box may be cleaned out at any time when the work is not going 

 on. This additional apparatus, if attended to, will ensure a satisfactory 

 working and add a considerable period to the existence of the water tue- 

 iron. The box C, 1 have made, is of the capacity of one cubic foot to each 

 fire, and I would recommend that the mud-hole door be opened every two or 

 three weeks according to circumstances. 



ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, ALNWICK. 



Sir, — In your notice on new chnrcbes in the last number of the Journal, 

 you have made some remarks on the seats in the chancel of St. Paul's 

 Church, Alnwick, and on the Duke of Northumberland, which I am sure 

 you v>ould not have done had you written from actual observation and 

 knowledge of the case. I therefore beg leave to lay before you the facts. 

 You are correct in denying the name of stalls to the seats in the chancel ; 

 they are not stalls, neither are they pews— but open seats, two" row.s on 

 each side, and the end of one row on the south side prepared so that the 

 duke caa wheel his chair into it. In the aisles of the chancel are seats 

 fitted up and reserved for the hovs of bis grace's school. 



The castle not being in the district of St. Paul's, the family, with few 

 exceptions, never go there. And I may say (from having been well ac- 

 quainted with iheVeelings under which the duke has acted throughout 

 thismunificept work), that the only privilege be desired, was to be able, 

 when he did go to that cliurch, to get to his place— seat I cannot call it— as 

 quietly and unobtrusively as was possible, considering the aSIictioa he 

 labours under. 



I am, Sir, 



Your obedient servant, 



21, Savile-row, Dec. 4, 1846. A.. Salvin. 



»,• The explanation given by Mr. Salvia is perfectly satisfactory as far 

 as it refers to the Duke of Northumberland, and we readily believe that 

 his munificence has been characterised by its usual unobtrtisiveness, and 

 that the architect has executed bis task with his usual ability. Kut 

 we cannot regret having insisted that a church is not the place for mun- 

 dane distinctions, and ousht riot to contain privileged seals for privileged 

 worshippers. The remark is intended to be perfectly general, and this 

 protest against a specific application of it is an admission of its abstract 

 correctness. 



The question respecting the propriety of setting apart a large portion of 

 the church for liturgical purposes has been learnedly discussed on both 

 sides. It is not wiihin our province to consider it except with reference to 

 architecture; we certainly believe that the architecture of a church may be 

 faultless where the distinction of nave and chancel is not maintained, and 

 that the services may be conveniently performed in such a building iu 

 Btrictest conformity with the rubric. The Temple Chucrh in London is 

 an eminent instance. Where there are distinct chancels, it may also be 

 objected that no oue portion of the laity ought to be admitted in preference 

 to the rest— the exception made in favour of singing men and choristers 

 has no more valid excuse than the paid attendance and musical ability of 

 this portion of the congregation. Besides, tlie rubric expressly directs that 

 the whole '• people,'' not a selected few, are to engage in this service. 



Arcbilects who view the question in this common-sense way incur a 

 certain amount of vituperation, to which the slightest exercise of moral 

 courage would render them perfectly inditferent. It is certainly to be 

 regretted that the coulroversy has not been uutlvirUatii-elij settled. On one 

 point concected with it there' can, however, be no dispute. If, in a new 



church, a chancel be built at all, it ought to be set apart exclusively and 

 strictly for its professed purpose. To build a chancel, and then sulTer the 

 laity to occupy it, or to erect stalls (as at St. Giles's, Camberwell,) which 

 are merely superior seuts to be had for paying, — is an idle, ostentatious 

 retention of forms, after their signilicaace and purpose have ceased. 



BURNETTIZING TIMBER. 



Sir, — In looking over your Journal for December, I meet in the " Notes 

 of the Month" vjilh an account on " Burnettizing Timber and Marine 

 Worm," which statement 1 beg you to correct, it being replete with 

 errors. I am the person by whom the experiments were made for Sir Wil- 

 liam Burnett ; having given the subject of marine worm attention for many 

 years past. Your correspondent is totally unacquainted with the subject 

 he handles, and asserts the specimens were "duly immersed in bis (Sir 

 William's) solution ;' — they were not immersed in the solution known to 

 the public as Sir William Burnett's far-famed solution. When the pieces 

 of wood (about six in number) arrived from him, I received them under- 

 standing them to be pieces immersed in order to try the effect of o prepara- 

 tion — which preparation is very dltTerent to the former, which stains the 

 %vood considerably ; but in tliis iastauce the wood was not in the leaist dis- 

 coloured. The far-famed I am perfectly acquainted with, seeing the use 

 of it every day. 



Sbeerness, Naval Yard, James Mitchell, 



Dec. 12, 1840. Civil Engineer. 



"„• The paragraph was taken from the Naval Intelligence in the daily 

 papers. ^^ ith all due deference to Mr. Mitchell, we should have beea 

 much better pleased if he had stated what preparation had been used by 

 Sir W. Burnett for the six pieces of wood, which it is not denied had failed, 

 and we should be glad if Mr. Mitchell would state whether Burnettized 

 timber, or any other prepared timber, had generally withstood the ravages 

 of the marine worm at Slieerness. 



SETTING OUT RAIL'ttAY CURVES. 



Sir,— I have seen, in your Journal for December, Mr. Tail's notice of 

 my letter to you, inserted" in your October number, and I have read his 

 description of an instrument invented by him for setting out railway 

 curves. 



The objection which appears to his instrument seems to be obvions: it 

 clearly is that the principle is liable to much perplexity and error, because 

 it is founded on a system of what surveyors call " building" — that is, 

 making the accuracy of the whole work depend upon the nicest accuracy 

 of a great number of minute parts, consisting of arithmetical calculations 

 iu trigonometi-y, accurate measurement o." small distances, exactness of 

 instruments, straightuess and uprightness of boxing rods, &c. Sec. This 

 machinery appears to me to be too complex for practice. 



It is objected by Mr. Tail to my proposal, that it may be possible a sur- 

 veyor may not be able to see the two extreme points of a curve. In an- 

 swer to tliis, I need only say that surveyors, employed to set out curves, 

 would always be iu possession of means to find out, without any great 

 trouble, and without trigonometrical calculations by means of arithmetic — 

 but merely by the aid of a common theodolite — the direction of the chord 

 line : having once determined this, he must be a poor surveyor who does 

 not see bis way clear in laying down a curve, the radius of which is given. 

 The method follows from the system of chords mentioned in my former 

 letter, and is obvious to any tyro in geometry. 



The system suggested by me deduces particulars from generals ; in other 

 words, it proceeds upon the plau of ascertaining fundamental or general 

 point.s, and producing the minor points by means of them. The plan of 

 INIr. rait proceeds by " building" a great number of minnte triangles, one 

 upon another; which is not, amongst surveyors, accounted orthodox. 

 Your's, 



Oswestry, Dec. 5, 1840. An Engini;er oct of Employment. 



ENGINEERING LITER.ATURE. 

 >5iu — In your reply to Correspondents in the December number, I no- 

 ticed your answer to a six years subscriber, respecting the best published 

 account of the details of the Steam Engine; and, notwithstanding you 

 referred him to the treatise of the Artizan Club, yet your opinion was, 

 " that a satisfactory work on the Steam Engine remains among the de- 

 siderata of Engineering Literature." I am so much gratified that you 

 have given expression and publicity to an idea which I believe very 

 many persons have long thought most desirable, that I cannot forbear 

 asking if it would not be possible to form a society for the purpose of 

 publishing some valuable works on the " Steam Engine and Engineering 



