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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[January, 



THE FINE ARTS.— THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 



On Saturday, the 10th ult., there was a very numerous meeting of the 

 members of the Academy, in Trafalgar-square. 



Sir Martin Archer Shee was in the chair ; and there were present Sir R. 

 Westmacolt, Sir W. Ross, A. Cooper, R. Cooke, H. P.Briggs, W. Etty, C. L. 

 Eastlake, P. llarduicke, D. Maclise, W. Mulready, T. Unwin, W. Wyon, W. 

 Collins, E. Landseer, C. R. Leslie, J. M. \V. Turner. C. R. Cockerell, J. J. 

 Clialon, W. T, Witherington, D. Roberts, E. H. Bailey, and A. E. Chalon, 

 members of the Academy. 



At nine o'clock the President commenced the business of the evening, by 

 stating the objects the Academy had in view, by giving those annual rewards 

 to the students who gave tangible proofs of talent, vigilance, and applica- 

 tion in the various classes of drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture ; 

 and he then went into a detail of the merits displayed in the respective 

 classes, to all of which, except that of models from the life subject, the 

 medals were cheerfully given by the Council ; and the reason for not giving 

 a medal in that class, arose from there only being one candidate, and there- 

 fore there could be no competition. The merits of the chalk drawings made 

 from the living models, and from the antique statues, were mentioned in 

 terms of high commendation by the President, who observed emphatically, 

 that the style of drawing these difficult objects had considerably improved 

 within the last two or three years, which he stated arose from the alterations 

 made, deviating from the late method, and which had been judiciously made 

 by the present keeper of the Academy. To the copies in oil from Guido's 

 picture of " Fortune," the President gave high and deserved commendation, 

 as well as to the architectural plans, elevations, and sections of the beautiful 

 Church of Walbrook. 



The prizes were then distributed in the following order, viz. : — 



To Mr. James Clarke Hook, for the best copy made in the school of paint- 

 ing, the silver medal, with the lectures of the Professors Barry, Opie, and 

 Fuseli. 



To Mr. Alfred Rankley, for the next best copy made in the painting 

 scbool, the silver medal. 



To Mr. J. C. Hook, for the best drawing from the living models, the silver 

 inedal. 



To Mr. John Clayton, for the best drawings of the ground plan, sections, 

 &c, of St. Stephen's Church, Walbrook, the silver medal. 



To Mr. James Harwood, for the best drawings from the antique, the silver 

 medal. 



To Mr. Alfred Gafley, for the best model from an antique statue, the silver 

 medal. 



After the delivery of the prizes, the President concluded the public busi- 

 ness of the evening with an address from the chair, which was replete with 

 the soundest practical observations upon the state, condition, and prospects 

 of the arts in this country. We regret that our limits do not allow us to 

 give a full report of this able and eloquent discourse ; but amongst the points 

 he touched upon with energy and feeling were, that unworthy and ground- 

 less prejudice that still remains in the minds of a few of the noble and 

 wealthy classes in England, which would place foreign modern arts far above 

 that of Great Britain, even at the present day. This morbid desire to set up 

 every country above their own in matters of an intellectual nature, was far 

 more commonly entertained some years since in England than it has been of 

 late; we have done our part in demolishing this unnatural, this monstrous 

 doctrine, and it has been damaged irretrievably. After the President had 

 clearly and with much energy pointed out the gross absurdities and contra- 

 dictions of the few anti-national connoisseurs who still exist, he properly no- 

 ticed another unnatural practice which militates against the arts of the 

 United Kingdom — namely, the vituperation poured forth plena flumhw by the 

 minor press, generally, against the native artists and their works. The Pre- 

 sident went into many topics professionally interesting, and, on concluding 

 Ins address, was warmly applauded. 



The general assembly then proceeded to appoint officers for the ensuing 

 year, when Sir Martin Archer Shee was unanimously elected President. 



Council, New List.— Messrs. Charles Barry, George Jones, Alfred E. Cha- 

 lon, and Thomas Phillips. 



Old List.— Messrs. Philip Hardwick, David Roberts, John James Chalon, 

 and William Mulready. 



Visitors in the Living Model Academy, New List.— Messrs. Edward H. 

 Bailey, Alfred E. Chalon, Richard Cook, and William Frederick Wither- 

 ington. 



Old List.— Messrs. Charles Robert Leslie, William Mulready, Thomas 

 Uwins, and W. Wyon. 



Visitors in the School of Painting. New List.— Messrs. Henry P. Briggs, 

 Charles L. Eastlake, Charles Robert Leslie, and Thomas Uwins. 



Old List.— Messrs. W. Collins, W. Etty, Edwin Landseer, and David 

 Roberts. 



Auditors re-elected— Messrs. William Mulready and J. M. W. Turner, and 

 Sir R. Westmacott. 



THERMOGRAPHY. 



Art of Copying Engravings, or any Printed Characters from Paper on Metal 

 Plates; and on the Recent Discovery of Moser, relative to the Formation 

 of Images in the Dart. By Mr. Robert Hunt. Read at the Meeting of 

 the Cornwall Polytechnic Society, on the 8th Nov. of which excellent 

 Society Mr. Hunt is the secretary. 



The Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, for the 18th of July, 

 1842, contains a communication made by M. Regnault, from M. Moser, of 

 Konigsberg, " Sur la formation des images Daguerriennes ;" in which he 

 announces the fact, that " when two bodies are sufficiently near, they impress 

 their images upon each other." The Journal of the 29th of August contains a 

 second communication from M. Moser, in which the results of his researches 

 are summed up in 26 paragraphs. From these I select the following, which 

 alone are to be considered on the present, occasion : — " All bodies radiate 

 light, even in complete darkness. — This light does not appear to be allied to 

 phosphorescence, for there is no difference perceived whether the bodies have 

 been long in the dark, or whether they have been just exposed to daylight, 

 or even to direct solar light. — Two bodies constantly impress their images on 

 each other, even in complete darkness. However, for the image to be appre- 

 ciable, it is necessary, because of the divergence of the rays, that the distance 

 of the bodies should not be very considerable. — To render the image visible, 

 the vapour of water, mercury, iodine, &c. may be used. — There exists latent 

 light as well as latent heat." 



The announcement at the last meeting of the British Association of these 

 discoveries, naturally excited a more than ordinary degree of interest. A 

 discovery of this kind, changing, as it does, the features, not only of the 

 theories of light adopted by philosophers, but also the commonly received 

 opinions of mankind, was more calculated to awaken attention than anything 

 which has been brought before the public since the publication of Daguerre's 

 beautiful photographic process. Having instituted a series of experiments, 

 the results of which appear to prove that these phenomena are not produced 

 by latent light, I am desirous of recording them. 



I would not be understood as denying the absorption of light by bodies; 

 of this I think we have abundant proof, and it is a matter well deserving 

 attention. If we pluck a Nasturtium when the sun is shining brightly on 

 the flower, and carry it into a dark room, we shall still be enabled to see it 

 by the light which it emits. The human hand will sometimes exhibit the 

 same phenomenon, and many other instances might be adduced in proof of 

 the absorption of light ; and I believe, indeed, of the principle that light is 

 latent in bodies. I have only to show that the conclusions of M. Moser have 

 been formed somewhat hastily, being led, no doubt, by the striking similarity 

 which exists between the effects produced on the Daguerreotype plates under 

 the influence of light, and by the juxtaposition of bodies in the dark, to con- 

 sider them as the work of the same element. 



1. Dr. Draper, in the Philosophical Magazine for September 1840, mentions 

 a fact which has been long known, that " if a piece of very cold clear glass, 

 or what is better, a cold polished metallic reflector, has a little object, such 

 as a piece of metal, laid on it, and the surface be breathed over once, the 

 object being then carefully removed, as often as you breathe again on the 

 surface, a spectral figure of it may be seen, and this singular phenomenon 

 may be exhibited for many days after the first trial is made." Several other 

 similar experiments are mentioned, all of them going to show that some mys- 

 terious molecular change has taken place on the metallic surface, which 

 occasions it to condense vapours unequally. 



2. On repeating this simple experiment, I find that it is necessary for the 

 production of a good effect, to use dissimilar metals ; for instance, a piece of 

 gold or platina on a plate of copper or of silver, will make a very decided 

 image, whereas, copper or silver on their respective plates give hut a very 

 faint one, and bodies which are bad conductors of heat placed on good con- 

 ductors, make decidedly the strongest impressions when thus treated. 



3. I placed upon a well polished copper plate, a sovereign, a shilling, a 

 large silver medal, and a penny. The plate was gently warmed by passing a 

 spirit lamp along its under surface : wdien cold, the plate was exposed to the 

 vapour of mercury ; each piece had made its impression, but those made by 

 the gold and the large medal were most distinct ; not only was the disc 

 marked, but the lettering on each was copied. 



4. A bronzp medal was supporled upon slips of wood, placed on the copper, 

 one-eighth of an inch above the plate. After mercurialization, the space the 

 medal covered was well marked, and for a considerable distance around the 

 mercury was unequally deposited, giving a shaded border to the image. 



5. The above coins and medals were all placed on the plate, and it was 

 made too hut to be handled, and allowed to cool without their being re- 

 moved ; impressions were made on the plate in the following order of inten- 

 sity, gold, silver, bronze, copper. The mass of the metal was found to 

 influence materially the result ; a large piece of copper making a better image 

 than a small piece of silver. When.this plate was [exposed, to vapour, the 



