18J7.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



1-19 



improvements in this useful and iniieed indispensable art, in England, we are 

 indebted to Wallingford, Huygeiis, Harrison, Graham, Hooke, Cumming, 

 Mudge, Ellicott, Sutherland, Earnshaw, Arnold, VuUiaray, Dent, Frodshaiu, 

 Parkinson, French, Kater, and others. 



Mineralogy and Geology. 



Mineralogy, geology, and mining may be said to form an important 

 branch in the profession of a civil engiueer. Without some knowledge of 

 these, the engineer will, in many cases, find himself unable to carry on his 

 operations with that degree of cerlainly and economy, which is necessary 

 to ensure success, and independently of their value in this respect, there 

 are few deparlmeuts of knowledge which have contributed more lo the ad- 

 vancement, comfort, and civilization of mankind ; whdst on the other hand, 

 DO class has contributed more to the advancement of them than the civil 

 engineer, so that each department is essentially allied to and dependent 

 upon the other. Geology enables the engineer to obtain a proper know- 

 ledge of the various strata through which he has to carry bis operations; 

 if for a cutting or embankment of a railway, it is essential lo know the 

 slopes at which the earth or rock will stand, Ihe value and applicability of 

 the materials excavated for his bridges, culverts, and viaducts, and llieir 

 capacity for water, &c., in order lo form a correct estimate for working 

 through them, whether for his cuttings or his tunnels. If for a canal, the 

 same will apply, with the addition of the knowledge of the sources from 

 whence his supply of water can be obtained : this latter will also apply to 

 waterworks, in which the knowledge of the various qualities of water ap- 

 plicable to the economy of mankind is so essential. In Ihe construction 

 and maintenance of harbours, it is most important to have a thorough know- 

 ledge of the geological strata, and of the nature of the coasts where the 

 harbour is to be situated, in order to render it easily accessible to vessels, 

 whether for commerce or refuge, for its construction in the most economical 

 manner, or for its maintenance, in older that the alluvial matter held in 

 mechanical suspension by the adjacent waters shall not fill it up when 

 made. In the management and improvement of rivers for drainage and 

 navigation, in order that they may carry ofl' the superfluous waters from 

 the low lands and marshes, and at Ihe same time maintain the chan- 

 nels in the most efficient state for navigation. In the formation of em- 

 bankments against the ocean, in order that nature herself may be rendered 

 subservient, as far as is practicable, in afl'ording Ihe requisite protection ; 

 in these as in the operations of smelting the minerals of the precious or the 

 more useful metals, geology and mineralogy are of essential service to the 

 engineer and deserve bis peculiar attention. 



Mining. 



Mining appears to have been known and practised in Great Britain from 

 the earliest periods of our history, for the Carthageuiaus are said to have 

 conveyed tin to Tyre, from Cornwall ; but iu those early days the opera- 

 lions must have been rude, and merely confined to the surface. This in- 

 Taluable art made little progress until Ihe knowledge of chemistry, and the 

 invention of machinery, enabled mankind to extract from the bowels of the 

 earth Nature's rich treasures, to investigate their diflerent properties, and 

 to apply them to the purposes of life ; the steam engine, which enabled the 

 miner to extract the water and enlarge the field of his operations has been 

 of invaluable service when the ore was raised from the mine, as also aiding 

 in its reduction and the exiraction of the meial in its most refined state. 

 Some of the Cornish mines have been extended to a deplii of more than 

 220 fathoms below the surface. As regards coal-mines, they also have 

 been worked to an extraordinary extent, as in the case of the Cumberland 

 coal-fields, which have been wrought above a mile beneath the sea. The 

 total quantity brought to the surface and consumed annually amounts to 

 between 30 000,000 and 40,000,000 of tons. Without the steam engine 

 these operations would be entirely paralysed, and must cease. The total 

 annual value of the Urilish mineral produce is said to aiiiuunt to about 

 20,000,000/. In Ibis valuable department we are much indebted lo llie 

 establishment of Ihe Museum of Economic Geology, which will be the 

 means of extending the knowledge and use of iniuerals. as well as the best 

 mode of obtaining them. Neither must we forget the valuable services of 

 Sir H. De la Beche, JMurchison, Sedgewick, Greenough, Buckland, Hor- 

 ner, Lyell, John Taylor, Griffiths, Buddie, Sopwiih, philips. Wood, At- 

 kinson, Bald, and others, who have contributed so largely lo Ihe advance- 

 meat of this important brunch of science. 



Ventilation. 



Connected with mining may be mentioned the important subject of venti- 

 lation, the value of which is now so universally appreciated, not only for 

 mines but for public and dwelling houses. The art consists in conveying 

 volumes of fresh air through apartments, so that the air shall be always as 

 Dearly as practicable in the proper state for respiraliou ; but in ellecting 

 this, it is desirable that Ihe temperature shall not be reduced too low, other- 

 wise inconvenience may be produced in other respects ; whilst ventilation, 

 therefore, is of great importance, the artificial warming of apartments is of 

 equal consequence, and to combine both ellectually is the great desidera- 

 tum. Heat is the great medium for producing circulation, as in the ex- 

 ample of colleries and mines, and on extraordinary occasions mechanical 

 power may be applied. The common fire-place is the most wasteful of 

 fuel, but possesses many advantages; and, although the stove may produce 

 a more equable temperature, a proper combination of both seems best 

 adapted to unite the advantage of a thorough circulation of air with the 

 required degree of temperature ; w arm water and steam conveyed through 



pipes have been employed in many cases ; those systems are however the 

 best whereby a large body of air is raised to about 100° by passing be- 

 tween cases filled with hot water, and is enabled to flow freely into the 

 apartments, expelling at the same time a corresponding bulk of vitiated 

 air ; thus rendering ventilation an integral portion of the system of warm- 

 ing ; by such a plan, warm water may also be supplied to any part of the 

 building for domestic purposes. When staves are used, they should be 

 upon the principle of slow combustion, and be so contrived as to avoid 

 producing any disagreeable odour ; for this reason porcelain is much em- 

 ployed, and it is essential lo have a thorough circulation of pure air where 

 stoves are employed. Upon this important subject, much information has 

 been elicited by the late Parliamentary Reports, and by Ihe labours of 

 Sylvester, Tredgold, Arnott, Reid, Hood, Price, C, Manby, Perkins, 

 Haden, Stephenson, and others. 



Engineering Architectihe. 



The pursuits of the engineer are intimately connected with architecture, 

 not merely as regards construclion, but in taste also; and, although it is 

 not necessary that he should be so thoroughly conversant with all the de- 

 tails of ornament, as to be able to practise as an architect, still he should 

 be so far acquainted with them as to be able to carry out the leading 

 principles with efl'ect, whenever it becomes absolutely necessary in tne 

 course of his practice. The works of the engineer, associated as they are 

 for the most part with the great operations of nature, should be designed 

 and constructed so as to harmonise with them. They must strike by their 

 general mass and proportion rather than by trifling details or minutiie of 

 ornament, which as a matter of taste, would be misplaced and unneces- 

 sary, and wasteful as regards expenditure; consistently, therefore, with 

 their first grand object of fitness for their purpose, they should be simple, 

 and in the few instances where ornament may be necessary, it should har- 

 monise with the structure and be sparingly used. 



In architectural masonry, the ancients have left us admirable models 

 which cannot be loo much studied, and may be generally followed with 

 great efTect and advantage) but the adaptation of timber and iron to 

 modern architecture requires a diflerent treatment. The massive propor- 

 tions and dimensions which suited well the character of stone are no longer 

 necessary, and would be misplaced when applied to the more solid and 

 tenacious properties of iron ; here equal strength is obtained with much 

 smaller dimensions, which, at first sight, from their lightness and apparent 

 weakness (until the eye becomes accustomed to them), produce a feelin;^ 

 of insecurity which can only be overcome by time ; but this feeling soon 

 vanishes, and the great convenience, economy, aud security introduced by 

 the employment of wrought and cast iron, has caused it to be generally 

 adopted whenever practicable. In order, however, to ensure success, 

 great care must be taken in the selection of proper materials for its difler- 

 eut applications, and much depends upon the mode in which it is manu- 

 factured ; the right understanding of this and of the difli'erent processes of 

 converting the ore into the several slates of cast and malleable iron .ind 

 steel, all of which possess very diflerent properties, and require dilferent 

 proportions and dimensions in their application, demands no ordinary skill 

 aud experience. 



The application of heated air for the purpose of reducing iron from the 

 ore (commonly called the "hot blast" system, invented by Neilson, io 

 lb2G), has produced a considerable revolution in the character of the 

 melat, as well as in the economy of manufacturing it, and the comparative 

 raeriis of hot and cold blast iron is still a subject of controversy, which 

 requires to be duly considered in its application to conslnictiou. Cast 

 iron, from ihe rigidity and brittleness of its texture, is not so well adapted 

 to resist concussion, or any sudden strain, as wrought or malleable iron, 

 and when employed, it is necessary to make greater allowance to meet it ; 

 hence the employment of malleable iron has become more general, and 

 has, in many cases, superseded the use of the former, as while it contri- 

 bules equal strength wilh less vieighl, it gives warning previous to frac- 

 ture, and enables a remedy to be applied, which cast iron does not. For 

 these reasons it is now almost universally employed for all purposes where 

 it is required to resist tension and sudden irregular strains, and to combine 

 strength and lightness; whilst cast iron is only used to resist compression, 

 aud to counteract by its mass and rigidity any tendency to movement or 

 alteration of form. By thus carefully studying the dilferent properties of 

 both materials, we soon acquire a knowledge of the best mode of adapting 

 them to their diflerent purposes, and giving to them those architectural 

 forms best suiled to their respective qualities and the objects for which 

 they are employed. One of the great advantages of wood consists in the 

 first economy aud the facility of converting it to the several purposes 

 where it can be employed, aud hence, until the properties of iron and the 

 mode of working it became better understood, wood alone was used iu 

 conjunction with stone and brick, both for engiueering aud architectural 

 purposes; and, notwithstanding it has been altogether superseded for many 

 purposes by iron, nevertheless it still possesses advantages in the construc- 

 lion of bridges, roofs, and other works where the first outlay of iron or 

 stone would be too great. Enough, I trust, has been said, to show the 

 intimate connexion of the professions of the civil engineer and architect, 

 aud, without the one usurping the province of the other, it is much to be 

 desired thai a harmonious uuderstiiudiiig should be cultivated between 

 tlieni, as it must tend to their mutual advantage, aud nothing can contri- 

 bute to tins desirable object more than the meetings of this Institution, to 

 which it is gralityiug to find so luuny architects have attached them- 

 selves. 



