1847.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ^ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



227 



On the other hand, a most detailed study of the architectonic forms of 

 all times and ages, had brought Schiiikel to the idea, that the intuition of 

 true principles of art-style had never started so clearly, harmonically, and 

 fairly as with the Greeks — for whom and with whom our departed friend 

 had f'oruied a connection of the mo<t intimate sympathy. And thus, in 

 another of his fragments, he says — " The real study, especially an assidu- 

 ous exercise of imagination on the terrain of classic ait, will aloue bring 

 harmony in the general culture of men, belonging to these latter days.". 

 But it was in many other respects that Grecian antiquity attracted him so 

 forcibly. It was one of the most vivid ideas of Schinkel, to think that 

 " the highest and most general signification (\ie-deutung) of fine art was 

 the ethic education and ennobling of men by the beautiful." But this, 

 certainly, has never and nowhere come into practice so extensively — no- 

 where been so extensively resorted to — as wherever Hellenic existence 

 has taken root in the world. And thence Schinkel, speaking of Her- 

 culaneum and Pompeii, says — *' In this buried little town, not even the 

 meanest person's house was without art ; every oue was so far cultivated, as 

 to surround himself with art-culture, J from which thought, ideas, precept 

 spoke to him — and thence was developed an immense treasure and great 

 delicacy of thought and sentiment, which, perhaps, constitutes the very 

 principle of culture {cuttitr zustandex)." — Nay it may be said, thatSchin- 

 kel's whole life and his tendency in art, were so much identified with the 

 noblest ideas which Hellenic civilisation presented — as well as its vari- 

 ous forms of pure and beauteous humanity, that both cannot be better 

 expressed than by the Greek term, Kullokagathea, which means the in- 

 nermost (natural) combination of the beautiful and good. 



Notwithstanding this enthusiasm for Grecian art, Schinkel, in his capa- 

 city of practical architect, was far from imitating it servilely and in con- 

 tradiction to the wants of our times, which is evinced in many of his 

 splendid buildings. Alike, this made him not uu-susceptible of the par- 

 ticular grandeur and the wonderful mystery of Gothic architecture, as his 

 restoration of Cologne Cathedral, several of his oil paintings — nay, even 

 some of his exquisite designs of churches, fully demonstrate. 



It cannot be doubted, in fine, that to a mind like that of Schinkel, the 

 immense disparity of the public taste in our times, and those of Grecian 

 antiquity, should have escaped. He says — " There are few persons who 

 can elevate themselves in the contemplation of artworks, especially build- 

 ings, to the standard of general culture or general civilisation. In the 

 main, they find only that beautiful and praiseworthy, which is desirable in 

 their own individual circumstances; — the common, the everyday work, 

 with a certain degree of completion and nicety, is all they ever require. 

 The novel, grand, and uncommon hardly ever pleases the great mass; and 

 if it does not suit their most obvious convenience, it will meet with much 

 opposition and obloquy." Unhappy he — who, has the genius and ten- 

 dency for art, is obliged to serve such paltry purposes; into which, how- 

 ever, nearly the whole of our architectural and structural endeavours are 

 now resolving. 



J. L Y. 



t We think tliat some of these sayings ought to be inscribed in brass and marble on 

 some of our public buildings. — [Waagen.] 



I The compounds of the German word, " Cult'ir," are very difficult to be rendered in 

 Eoglish. — [Transl.] 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 

 June 14. — Ambrose Poynter, Esq. V.P. in the chair. 

 A communication was read from A., H. Layard, Esq., relative to further 

 Discoveries matte bij him at Nimroud ; particularly as to the fact of the em- 

 ployment of colour by the ancient Assyrians in the embellishment of their 

 architecture and sculpture ; describing the mode of construction adopted, and 

 stating that it had been satisfactorily ascertained that the buildings recently 

 brought to light are of various epochs; and expressing an opinion that some 

 of those at Nimroud are of much more remote antiquity than those at Khor- 

 sabed — and probably of the age of Ninus or Semiramis. 



" On tie Geometric System applied by the Mediceval Architects to tlie pro- 

 portions of their Ecclesiastical Structures." By R. D. Chantrell, Esq. 



The chief object of the paper was to prove that In all the mediaeval struc- 

 tures a general principle of the most perfect and beautiful proportion per- 

 vades the design, and may be recognized by the scientific observer. This 

 system must be adopted by the modern architect in order to produce the 

 same successful results. That some general principle of composition had 

 been adopted by the mediaeval architects is an opinion that has been enter- 

 tained by various individuals for many years past ; and attempts have been 

 made by Kerrick, Essex, Browne, and others to develope it. Their endeavours 

 ■ have been attended with various degrees of success ; but according to the 

 author of the paper no one but himself has succeeded in discovering the true 

 principle capable of uniform application. Mr. Chantrell exhibited a number 

 of plans and other diagrams in elucidation of his theory ; and without which 

 it would be impracticable to convey an adequate idea of the system. 



Models of a Bew kind of brick invented by Mr. Merrell, of Woodbridge, 

 were exhibited and explaineil. The bricks are so shaped as to form internal 

 channels for the passage of air — and consequently produce a thorough venti- 

 lation of the wall. 



INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 



June 1. — Sir J. Renme, President, in the Chair. 



"An Account of the iron bari/ue .TosEruiNE, of Liverpool." By Capt. 

 Masters, who commanded her in the voyages she has made. 



The paper read was a plain and somewhat dry specification of the con- 

 struction of the vessel, which will, however, when' printed in externo in the 

 minutes of proceedings, be extremely useful. The main dimensions of the 

 barque Josephine are — Length, over all, 99 ft. 3 in. ; extreme breadth, 24 ft. 

 6 in. ; depth of hold, 9 ft. 9 in. ; register tonnage, 1 68 tons ; by old measure- 

 ment, 221 tons. She was of a peculiar build, differing from almost any other 

 merchant-ship, being intended for service in the Mexican trade, and calcu- 

 lated to cross the bar of Tampico, and other impediments. She was entirely 

 of iron, even to the bulwarks ; and as she lay low in the water, drawing 9 ft. 

 aft, and S ft. 8 in. forward, her ports were hung on hinges forward, so that 

 they should act as valves, and allow the water to escape from the deck, and 

 yet shut of themselves when she heeled over deep on her side. Her general 

 rate of sailing was from 11 J to 12 knots per hour; she was very buoyant and 

 very dry, rising well to the sea. There was great capacity for stowing the 

 cargo, owing to the absence of large projecting timbers. She was somewhat 

 damp forward and aft, but was very dry in the main hold. There was not 

 found to be any difference in the health of the crew from that of wooden 

 vessels; she was a little cooler than other ships, owing to her being so deep 

 in the water, and the thin material did not retain the heat like wood. 



Iron ships have generally been found to get very foul : the Josephine was, 

 however, paid with various compositions as experiments. That which suc- 

 ceeded best was — 1 barrel of varnish, 2J cwts. of best tallow, 401b. black 

 lead, 7 lb. brimstone, and 70 lb. arsenic. This being applied hot, the iron 

 having been previously warmed and paid with boiled linseed oil, appeared to 

 have prevented foulness, as after her voyages there was iittle weed or grass, 

 and scarcely any barnacles ; but very slight oxidation took place, and that 

 only where the composition had been rubbed off. 



They were as much annoyed by rats as in a timber ship, nor could they be 

 destroyed by any of the means adopted. The principal feature of the paper 

 was that which treated of the local attraction of the compass, which can 

 scarcely be noticed in an abridged form. It appeared that the ship was 

 on an even keel, and perfectly upright, the compass acted correctly ; but in 

 proportion to the listing over, so was the derangement of the magnet, the 

 local attraction being changed by the side frames and deck-beams falling into 

 new positions. This caused great variation in the ship's course, and "it led 

 to a conjecture whether this may not have been the cause of the loss of the 

 Great Britain — as if her compasses were acted upon aa much as those of the 

 Josephine, a deviation of 6^ miles from her course might easily have occurred. 

 Capt. Masters suggested the hanging the binnacles complete in gimbles like 

 the compass, in order to their always remaining vertical, and also in adjust- 

 ing the compasses that they should be tried in every position, a table of 

 variation being made out for every degree of listing over. The paper was 

 illustrated by drawings of the vessel and of her rigging, which possessed pe- 

 culiarities, and also by several tables for the correction of the compasses. 



June 8. — The following papers were read: — " On the Expamive Action of 

 Steam." By Mr. J. M. Heppel, Grad. Inst. C.E. 



The object of the paper was to deduce a more exact formula than those 

 now in use for the dynamical effect developed by steam in expanding from 

 one pressure to another. The usual method of computing this effect neglects 

 the influence of the variation of temperature, which always accompanies 

 change of density, and which has been shown to modify considerably the 

 corresponding pressure. M. de Pambour, however, has, by combining Guy 

 Lussac's formula for the relation between temperature and density under uni- 

 form pressure, with that of Boyle for the relation between density and pres- 

 sure under uniform temperature, deduced a formula containing the density, 

 pressure, and temperature, from which any two being given, the third may be 

 deduced. 



What was further done in Mr. Heppel's paper, was to combine this formula 

 with one by Mr. Scott Russell, expressing the relation between the pressure 

 and temperature, and by this means to eliminate the latter, and obtain a 

 formula containing only the pressure and density. From this formula another 

 was easily obtained, showing the total dynamical action developed during ex- 

 pansion from one pressure to another, and the results were given in a tabular 

 form, exhibiting — 



1. The pressure in lbs. per square inch. 



2. The relative volume, or ratio of the volume of steam, to that of the 

 water which produced it. 



3. The dynamical effect before expansion, or the number of lbs. raised one 

 inch by the evaporation of each cubic inch of water, 



4. The dynamical effect during expansion, or the number of lbs. raised one 

 inch by the steam produced from one cubic inch of water in expanding from 

 a pressure of 100 lb. per square inch to the particular corresponding pressure. 

 The dynamical effect in expanding from any one pressure to any other, must 



31* 



