112 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[April, 



Buist gives some account of the native presses, of vvliich there are above a 

 dozen in Humbay alone ; with details as to tlie expense of quarrying and 

 freight. anil ihe pnibalile price and consumption in India; and is of opinion 

 that the stone might even be advantageously carried to England. He 

 concludes Willi recommending the Indian government to direct a few Ions 

 to be brought to BotuUay for the purpose of making the experiment on a 

 larger scale, by the first vessel in their service which may chance to be in 

 the neighbourhood of the rock. 



COPPER MINES IN ARABIA. 



A paper from Mr. Carter was read at the Aniatic Sicir.tij, " On ihe Cnp- 

 jier-miiies in the islnnd of Mnsseera, on the coast of Arabia," which he had 

 been induced to search ftir in consequence of receiving information that the 

 Persians had formerly wrought copper mines in tlie island. He had made 

 several attempts to tind the mines, but without success; the natives denied 

 all knowledge of tlicir existence ; and he was about to relinquish Ihe 

 search, when, landing one morning in thi' month of February, 184G, on the 

 westernmost part of the island, he accidentally fell iu with some patches of 

 blue carbonate of copper, — a speiimen of which was laid upon the table. 

 Mr. Carter, now conlident of success, at once proceeded to search Ihe 

 neighbourhood. He soon fell in with some old smelting places ; and iiii- 

 inediately after found the vein itself, wilh the mineral m situ. After de- 

 scribing the nature of Ihe mine, which appears to have been little worked, 

 Mr. Carter stales that he afterwards found copper in other places ; and 

 that the inhabitants, linding concealment no longer possible, discovered to 

 him, of their own accord, olher veins and smelting places, which they said 

 had been bnilt by the Feringhees. Mr. Carter states, that the inhabitants, 

 though at first fiercely opposed to the landing of the surveying party, were 

 soon conciliated ; and that the utmost goodwill subsequently prevailed 

 among them during the whole time the vessel remained in the neighbour- 

 hood. They are very steady and industrious; and their habits are in de- 

 cided contrast with those of the Bedowins on the main land ; and he is 

 quite satisfied that any attempts to work Ihe mines would meet with every 

 assistauce in the power of the natives to allord. 



TYRE AND SIDON. 



A paper by Capt. Newbold was read at the Royal Asiatic Society, " On the 

 mountainous country between the coasts of Tyre and Sidon and the river Jor- 

 dan," a pdrl of Palestine hitherto almost a complete blank in our maps. 

 Captain Newbold proceeded iu 184') from Tyre to Bauias, and returned 

 from Hasbeia and the castle of Shukif to Sidon. He thus traversed the 

 country in two directions; and brought back with inm a copious list of 

 geographical names in the original orthogiaphy, most of which are wanting 

 in Mr. Smith's valuable catalogue. The country is divided inlo the dis- 

 tricts of Esh-Shukif and Beshareh ; it comprehends an area of 408 square 

 miles, being about 20 miles from north to south, and 18 from east lo west. 

 The shore district is the celebrated Phoenician Plain; it rarely exceeds 

 two miles in width ; and in many parts the mountains come down close to 

 the sea in bolil precipices. The maritime tracts are undulating, and vary 

 in elevation from a few feet to 100 yards. The inland portion is about 

 200 feet high ; reaching in some places lo near 4500 feet, and separated 

 by very narrow valleys, which are extremely deep and precipitous. Two 

 rivers, the Litani (the ancient Leontes), and the Lohrani, pass through it 

 to the sea ; and a number of small rivulets, running to the Jordan, drain it 

 towards the west. The principal rock is the marine limestone of Lebanon, 

 penetrated by extensive dykes of basalt, accompanying lines of fracture, 

 which appear to be connected with the fearful earthquakes of which the 

 country has so frequently been the theatre. The crater of an extinct vol- 

 cano, with its steep and rugged sides of lava, and evident traces of former 

 action, were seen by Messrs. Robinson and .Smith, and described in their 

 work. Much of the country is cultivated ; wheat-fields are numerous ; 

 and the vine flourishes in the volcanic soil : cotton also grows, but the 

 staple productions are wheat, millet, beans, tobacco, and lentils. The 

 population amounts to 1.5,000,— about thirty to the square mile ; and is 

 composed of Greeks, Druses, and Arabs. Captain Newbold examined the 

 cavities iu the coast which have been taken for the dye pots of the Tynans, 

 and found them to be nothing more than natural rock basins, excavated by 

 the action of the tide. He says they occur all along the coast of Syria, 

 from Gaza to the Orontes. The old city of Tyre is buried under the sands ; 

 and forms an inexhaustible quarry whence materials are drawn to build 

 and enlarge the cities in the vicinity. Captain Newbold saw a beautiful 

 marble torso of Minerva, as large as life, recently found among llie ruins, 

 and now in the possession of a native of Tyre. He communicated the cir- 

 cumstance to our consul at Beyrut, wilh the hope of preserving it from 

 further injury. Some interesting accounts of remarkable spots in the in- 

 terior, which were visited by Captain Newbold, concluded the paper.' 



OF THE SUCCESSIVE PHASES OF GEOLOGIC.A.L SCIENCE. 

 Abstract of lecture delivered at Ihe Royal Jnslilulion, March 5th, by Prof. 

 Anst^d. — The lecturer stated that he proposed to give something of a 

 psychological view of geological history, — tracing the successive ideas that 

 seem to have chiefly contributed towards the advancement of the science, — 

 and pointing out how far these ideas involved truth, and how far errors of 

 exaggeration, although they were useful as suggesting new views and obser- 

 vations. After reviewing the philosophy of the ancients and the cos- 

 mogony of the Middle Ages — which latter he dLScribed as without the true 

 aspect of philosophic investigation — the lecturer referred to the discoveries 

 of Werner as being the first which distinctly created geological science. He 

 stated that these discoveries induced three important assunipiions : — first, 

 that the whole crust of the earth had been deposited mechanically from 

 water; secondly, that the newer deposits were generally horizontal; thirdly, 

 that there was an invariable order of superposition of similar mineral types. 

 The idea thus involved was that of " the universality of formations," and & 

 perception of order in the arrangement of the materials of which the earth's 

 crust is made up ; and the idea was described as useful and suggestive, 

 although the conclusions were in many important respects unsound. While 

 Werner was thus laying the foundation of geology by observations and 

 speculations on mineral structure, William Smith, the father of English 

 geology, had obtained an insight into an important fact concerning the dis- 

 tribution of fossil bodies ; and at the same time Dr. Ilutton, in bis " Theory 

 of the Earth," had recognised a succession of worlds and a history of the 

 n.iture of the succession by the agency of causes not dilTerent from those 

 still in action. The idea involved in the discoveries of Smith was, ihat 

 " fossils are characteristic of formations:" while Hutton first appreciated the 

 importance of existing causes. The next step in geological discovery was 

 described as the result of Cuvier's investigations in pa]a;)ulology, and the 

 estaljlishment of the law of the adaptation of structure to habit in all ani. 

 mals. This law, however, is combined with another, also of great import- 

 ance — that there is in all nature a permanence of typical peculiarities. Mo- 

 dified and Drought to bear on fossils in this way, the " law of universal 

 adaptation" was described as the suggestive idea in this step of geological 

 progress ; — while the law afterwards made out concerning the representation 

 of species in time as well as space was mentioned as affording important 

 accessory aid in applying palteontology to the determination of geological 

 problems. — After referring to the subject of geological classification, and 

 describing it as the result of the working out of these various laws, the 

 lecturer briefly stated the actual results of observation in descriptive geo- 

 logy, and the nature of the most remarkable speculations in physical geologv ; 

 — hut the latter were rather indicated in allusions to the desiderata in that 

 department than dwelt upon or described directly. Among these desiderata 

 he particularly referred to the condition of knowledge with regard to meta- 

 morpbic rocks, — and their relations with rocks of distinctly igneous origin, 

 on the one hand, and the fossiliferuus stratified rocks on the other. He 

 stated that much yet remains to be done in connecting the present with the 

 immediately antecedent condition; but expressed grounds for belief that 

 investigations actually in progress may lead to some satisfactory and fixed 

 conclusions. The making comparative observations on a large scale was 

 mentioned as an important means of advancing geological science: and in 

 conclusion. Prof, \nsted spoke of the necessity of distinguishing in all 

 cases the true objects of geology — ^and stated bis firm conviction that geo- 

 logy would soon occupy a very important place as an iuductive science, lead- 

 ing to great practical results. 



RAISING AND SH.VPING METAL BY STAMPING AND PRESSURE. 



Abstract of lecture delivered at the TJoya/ /n.«//7K/ion, March 19, by Mr. 

 Carpmael. — The lecturer's purpose was to show h'ow objects of extreme 

 perfection of workmanship and of great use in daily life are produced by 

 simple manipulation. Having adverted to the old process of stamping sheet 

 metal, and remarked that this process generally required that the article 

 stamped should have a flange or rim, and that the process was inapplicable 

 to any ornamental work whicii required undercutting in the sculptured part, 

 Mr. Carpmael proceeded to describe the improvement lately introduced by 

 spinning (i.e. burnishing to form), which is performed by fixing the object 

 in a lathe and pressing its surface with a blunt tool ; and explained bow, by 

 means of a divided mandril, undercut fcrius could be obtained. He then 

 pointed out that this burnishing to form could be alternated with casting, 

 and that the flange was rendered unnecessary in the casting process — the 

 metal being driven through a conical mould much on the principle on which 

 pipes, &c. are drawn: the ditiference being that in the process which he was 

 describing, the object was forced through the gradually-contracting aperture 

 by the blow of a heavy weight falling on its lower surface. Mr. Carpmael 

 presented an example in a tea-pot, made of tinned iron plate by the joint 

 process of casting and burnishing to form. This article, which is of the 

 best fabric, is sold (wholesale) for Is. 8d. Mr. Carpmael also exhibited the 

 machines by which tin is shaped into boxes and bottles for holding colours, 

 perfumes, &c., by squeezing a small ingot of this ductile metal by a power- 

 ful pressure. 



