82 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



been so, the protoxide of iron would have been thereby converted into the 

 Eesqui'oxide ; and, moreover, all the organic matter would have been de- 

 stroyed. The red appearance on the outside of the vessel indicated its 

 bavin-' liecn haktd at a common wood or other fire, the influence of v\ bich 

 beinf; in contact only with the outer surface, bad confined its chemical ac- 

 tion to tliat parr. 



Description and Drairiiig of ii Sluice made by Mr. James Macdo:«ald. 

 The sluices commonly in use are raised from the bottom, thereby causing 

 a rnsb of water, which injures the puddle of the pond, or aqueduct, and 

 are raided ntid shut witii (i.liicuUy. Tho?c of a better roustruction are ex- 

 pensive, and can only be made by skilful persons. This sluice can be 

 jnade by any rarpenler, never disturbs the puddle, and may be made of 

 any size and strength by increasing its proportions. The coarsest undress- 

 ed timber may be used, except the edges of the planks and their ends, 

 where they fit into the frame. A .strong frame of woid is built into the 

 sides of the water way, tapering from the bottom, where it is narrowest, to 

 the top. Planks are let in, one above anotlier, to the recjuired lieigbl ; and 

 if it be wished to increase or diminish the height of water in the pond, it 

 is only necessary to put in, or to reiii.ne a plank at the top ; the water thus 

 always escaping from the top of the sluice in place of from the bottom. 



Feb. 8. — George Tait, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. 



The following communications were made : — 



Description of Four Portable Jpparalus for Inhaling the Vapour of Sul- 

 phuric Ether ; with some remarks on its effects, so far as they have been 

 observed in this early stage of its application, as an anodyne to relieve the 

 pain of surgical operations. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 

 Feb. 8. — Bellamy, Esq., in the Chair. 



A paper on " the Interior forms of Buildinrjs with reference to the Laws 

 of Sound," by Mr. Scott Russell, was read. — Mr. Russell, in commencing 

 his remarks, said, in excuse for interfering with what might be considered 

 not his province, that although extreme division of labour might, and did, 

 carry science forward, yet, by confining particular departments to classes, it 

 induced narrow views. He thought much good resulted from the professors 

 of different sciences mixing together and interchanging opinions. It was 

 difficult to excel in more than one, still there were many examples of those 

 who had done so, — as Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and others. If 

 in anything extra-professional aid was needed by architects, it was in the 

 arrangement of buildings with reference to the transmission of sound, 

 where all were avowedly at fault. All architects admitted that nothing was 

 more difficult. Mathematicians, when applied to, gave widely different forms 

 as the best. Even an ear-trumpet was no better made by the most profound 

 mathematician than by the merest rule of thumb; and if it were so difficult 

 to arrange an instrument by which sound might, with every advantage, be 

 conveyed to one individual, how much more so must it be to arrange a room 

 so that every one in it might he.ir what was said. The problem was to en- 

 able 1 or 1,(J00 to hear equally well. The waves of sound were generally 

 thought to be like the waves of water: he had been led to investigate the 

 latter, and, in so doing, had arrived at some conclusions not generally enter- 

 tained. He proposed to divide the subject into five parts. The first prin- 

 ciple to be mentioned was this, that sound travels in straight lines: light 

 and sound are the same in this respect. Sound does not easily go round a 

 corner ; and this should be remembered in arranging buildings. The question 

 was how to make the greatest number hear and see well. In the theatre of 

 the Royal Institution in Albemarle-street this had been successfully worked 

 out : he thought that from every seat in it the lecturer could be most dis- 

 tinctly seen and heard. This was arranged by Count Rumford and Sir Hum- 

 phrey Davy. The human voice, the lecturer remarked, could be beard JOO 

 feet with ease ; and he believed that a building might be arranged to seat 

 20,000 persons where all would hear : the fact that Wesley, preaching in a 

 natural amphitheatre of bills, was heard by that number of persons, justified 

 bia opinion. lie had noticed that a reader in the choir of Canterbury ca- 

 thedral could be heard 200 feet off distinctly, and afterwards making the 

 experiment himself with a friend, had found that he could be beard that 

 distance when he spoke in a clear whisper. 



Mr. Russell then proceeded to explain a curve which he had discovered, 

 and recommended for the seclional arrangement of the scats, and the mode 

 of obtaining it, but which we find it difficult to convey without diagrams. 

 It was first necessary to fix the position of the speaker, and to decide how- 

 much of the voice and sight of the speaker each auditor should have ; he 

 thought an area IS inches high and 3 feet broad sufficient. Drawing then a 

 series of radial lines from the month of the lecturer to points decided by 

 these dimensions, a curve was obtained for the rise of the seats, which was 

 found in practice of good effect. 



The second principle he would allude to was the spontaneous oscillation 

 of air in a chamber, which was the source of much trouble, but might be 

 turned to good account. A long chamber of air, if caused to oscillate, 

 continued to do so, and would produce a tone depending on the length, as in 

 an organ-pipe. Thus a gallery, (i4 feet long, would produce the note C ; 

 and if 32 feet long, it would lie an octave higher. Every chamber, in short, 

 has a voice. A speaker should find out the key-note of the room, and speak 



in it if possible. This fact opened the question whether wc could improve 

 rooms for hearing by attention to the dimensions and proportions. Length, 

 breadth, and height should be in harmonious proportions, or the sounds 

 produced would jar. There was a more intimate connection between music 

 and architecture than is now generally admitted. Simple multiples for the 

 proportions were desirable; as, for example, -18 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 

 I(i feet high, and so on. Incongruous sounds, he said, neutralise each other, 

 and produce dead points, or points where the speaker could not be heard. 

 Care was necessary in this respect. Harmonious arrangement of an apart- 

 ment n.iglit sometimes be obtained by means of pilasters, or partition with 

 doors. The choirs of our cathedrals usually approximated to simple multi- 

 ples in their proportions, and bore cut bis view, be thought, by their eiTects. 

 Incongruous forms made the worst apartments for hearing. The lecturer 

 was then proceeding to speak of the third division of his subject, reflection 

 of sound, but was invited to postpone the consideration of it till the next 

 meeting. 



Feb. 22. — S. Angell, Esq., V.F., in the Chair. 



The following Keport of the Council on the Design and Essays sub 

 mitted for medals was read : — 



Report of the Council to the General Meeting of the Members on the 

 Designs offered in competition for the Royal Medal of the Institute, for 

 the Suaue Medallion, and on the Essays submitted for the Medals of the 

 Institute for the year 181C : — 



The Council have to report that for the Royal .Medal, the subject beinga 

 building suitable for the purposes of the Royal Institute of Briti.'^h Archi- 

 tects, eleven designs ha\e been reteued. Ihey deem it proper in tlie first 

 instance to advert to the printed conditions prepared for the guidance of 

 the competitors, and which were issued in Mayjasl. 



Her QIajesty the Queen liuving boea graciously pleased to grant t<> tbe Institute an 

 aDDUul medal for tbe promotion of architecture, it has been resolved, that it shall be 

 applied to the encouragement of the junior members of the profession by a competition 

 in designs, composed in a stylw calculated to promote the study of Grecian, Roman, and 

 Italian architecture, and further, that the designs shall be judged of, not only with re- 

 ference to their merits as works of art, hut like^vise as to the knowledge of construction 

 they may exhibit. 



In order to secure, as far as possible, uniformity in tbe conditions under nhicli the 

 designs are submitted in competition for the Royal Medal, it has betrn determined that 

 the age of the competitor shall be limited to twenty-five years, and that with tliis limita- 

 tion the compttition shall he open to the profession in general. 



The successful competitor will be further intitled to draw upon the Treasurer of the 

 Institute for the sum of ^^0 after his arrival in Rome in the pursuit of his professional 

 studies, at any period within five years from the time of the medal having been awarded 

 to him, upon sending to the Institute a satisfactory study of some existing building, 

 either ancient cr modern. 



The Royal gold niedal for the year 1S4*1, wilt be awarded to the best design for a build. 

 ing suitable to the purposes of the Royal Institute of British Architects ; comprising a 

 room for general meetings and lectures, with seats for ^^0 persons, aiTanged with a view 

 to the reading of papers, the exhibition of drawings and diagrams explanatory thereof, 

 and for facility of discussion ; a council room for twenty-five members; a library for 

 10,000 volumes, with suitable depositories for drawings, prints, medals, &c. ; a gallery 

 for models, casts, fragmeuts, &c. ; an exhibition room for architectural subjects, and 

 suitable residences for a secretaiy and a curator. 



The cost of the building non to exceed ^20,0U0. 



The design to comprise not less than one plan of each story, — two elevations, two sec- 

 tions, and a perspective view. 



The scale of the drawings to be one eighth of au inch to the foot, and to be tinted with 

 Indian ink or sepia only. 



The Council will nut consider themselves called upon to adjudge the medal, unless the 

 designs and drawings be of sutficient merit to desen'e that distinction. 



In detailing thus minutely the accommodation to be provided in tbe 

 building, to render it suitable for the purposes specified, and by fixing a 

 limit to the proposed expenditure, it was obviously intended by the Insti- 

 tute to impress the candidates with a feeling that in forming their designs 

 they were expected to trrat the subject practically, and direct their efforts 

 to the production of a desigu adapted to the requirements of an existing 

 working lustitutiou. 



Tliey observe, with much regret, that the well considered and clearly 

 expressed conditionsof the Institute have been almost entirely disregarded, 

 and that in consequence of the uncalled for magnitude of tlie rooms, halls, 

 staircases, and other approaches, together with the lavish and injudicious 

 introduction of columnar and other extraneous decoration, (in some 

 instances actually unfitting the rooms for the purposes demanded), not 

 more than one of the designs, possessing the slightest pretension to consi- 

 deration as an architectural composition, could be properly executed for 

 less than double the sum Sjiicifiid. 



When the Council reflect on the enormous amount of injury occasioned 

 to the public and to tbe profession, from competitors so frequently tlisre- 

 garding the conditions given with respect to the proposed expense of au 

 intended structure, and consequently presenting designs of much higher 

 pretension than could be produced with an honest and couscieulious ad- 

 herence thereto. And when they likewise reflect on the strong reproba- 

 tion the Institute has had occasion more than once to express on this most 

 irregular and improper practice, they feel that it would ill become the 

 Council to recoiuiueud to their fellow-members of the Institute to counte- 

 nance such dereliction from honourable professional practice, even in a 

 competition like the present one, while the public interests are not directly 

 affected. The fact being so apparent, entirely precludes the Council from 

 recommending to the members of the Institute the awarding of the Royal 

 Medal to either of the designs presented this year. 



They regret to be compelled, on grounds which they consider too im- 

 portant to be disregarded, to come to this decision, especially on the first 



