1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



55 



and supply them with the necessary machinery : and moreover, there is not 

 nor will there ever be now, a sufficient demand to employ all those first-rate 

 works that have been established for many years, and whose name is a per- 

 fect guarantee for a good article. Again, owing to the slow but gradual 

 development of the system of constructing manufactories on the continent, 

 conducted by skilful Englishmen, there is every reason to believe that when 

 the system arrives at a state of maturity, the foreign consumption of English 

 machinery, especially locomotives, will be almost entirely annihilated. It is 

 true, however, that there is a body of men, managers of large works, re- 

 ceiving no despicable salaries, and to a casual observer their occupation pre- 

 sents fair means of remuneration ; but then what man is there accustomed to 

 the usual comforts of life who would sink the better part of his early life in 

 a workshop, as would be necessary to fulfil creditably such a situation ? No. 

 Such offices are chiefly held by men who, originally of the better class of 

 mechanics, have gradually raised themselves above the level of their brethren 

 by the exhibition of no ordinary talents, and have thus become entitled to 

 the appointments as being the fittest parties from the nature of their previous 

 education and intercourse with men whose habits and discipline they are best 

 able to appreciate and to govern. With these few useful premises we now 

 proceed to show the requisite functions to qualify a man to act successfully 

 as an engineer. Let it be ascertained, as early as possible, that the person 

 in question intends becoming an engineer, for having determined this im- 

 portant point, no time will be lost in acquiring any information foreign to 

 the purpose. Latin and Greek must be entirely eschewed, and in the earlier 

 portion of the student's career, let him obtain a tolerably clear knowledge of 

 geography, history, arithmetic, English, French and German, the rudiments 

 of ornamental drawing, sketching, the first three books of Euclid and Al- 

 gebra. The consideration of the above will possibly occupy the student's 

 attention up to the age of fourteen. From fourteen to sixteen finish Euclid; 

 take up practical geometry and the higher parts of algebra— read plane tri- 

 gonometry, conic sections, mechanics, hydrostatics, and hydrodynamics, the 

 differential and integral calculus, and in order to connect more firmly to- 

 gether the links of this mathematical chain, work numerous problems 

 involving each and all of the several branches. The elements of geology and 

 chemistry, and such other parts in detail as bear more immediately upon 

 civil engineering have great claims on the pupil, whilst a strict attention 

 should be given to mechanical drawing, sketching, linear, and isometrical 

 perspective, with the theory of shadows. During this period, likewise, the 

 student should make a practical investigation of surveying, and learn to use, 

 with ease aad accuracy, the level and theodolite, to make himself acquainted 

 with the general principles of architecture ; and, in order to prepare his mind 

 more fully for the reception of its future tenant, peruse some standard ele- 

 mentary work on engineering. 



Having completed his sixteenth year, and assidiously devoted all his energy 

 to the investigation of the foregoing subjects, let the embryo engineer be 

 now placed in some first-rate manufactory, where there is a great variety of 

 work executed, for a space of not less than three years. We repeat, first-rate 

 manufactory, for as his standard of judgment of mechanical productions will 

 be formed in a great measure by the quality of work passing under his notice 

 during this time, it is proper he should connect himself with one of the 

 highest repute. Here he will lay up an ample store of solid information 

 regarding land, marine, snd locomotive engines, mill-wright work, and, in 

 fact, machinery in general. But this information, we can assure him, is not 

 to be purchased in the character of an on-looker. He must keep the same 

 hours as his fellow workmen (pro tempore stante) ; he must exchange his ordi- 

 nary attire for the fustian suit, the drawing room and easy chair for the 

 workshop and the vice, and go through the various gradations of the service 

 till he is found competent to undertake some responsible situation over the 

 workmen. And it is a well known fact, that it is impossible for a man to 

 pass a correct and conscientious opinion with regard to the execution of any 

 mechanical work, unless the individual in question has himself gone through 

 a regular system of practical application. It is true the beginner, unused to 

 the rough habits of a workshop, and unaccustomed to associate with such 

 characters of men as he finds there, will have to contend with many incon- 

 veniences and annoyances, but then he must make up his mind to wield the 

 hammer, chisel, and file, with a firm determination to overcome all diffi- 

 culties. "We admit it requires a strong and persevering resolution, and many 

 are they, beginning with a good heart but meeting with impediments at the 

 commencement, have shrunk from the prosecution of a course of training, 

 which, pursued to completion, would have amply repaid them the extra ex- 

 ertion due to its attainment. Locomotive building claims especial care for 

 its subsequent utility, and let it be a leading principle throughout the entire 

 course, to ascertain correctly and set a due value upon the proportionate 

 strength' and properties of materials in general, that the engineer may be 



1 By proportionate strength we mean the relative strength the severa 

 parts uf any piece of mechanism should bear to one another.— Tredgold, Bar- 

 low, See. 



able to adapt with confidence such invaluable knowledge when he ma 

 afier find it available. For the requisite strength is alike conducive i 

 metry of figure and economy of material— an intimate acquaintance with 

 the relative functions of the various descriptions of water wheels' is indis- 

 pensable to the engineer, on account of the great utility and economy of such 

 power in countries and districts where water abounds, and where it would be 

 both inconvenient and expensive to erect steam engines and their concomi- 

 tant paraphernalia. The foundry must likewise have its due share of im- 

 portance, and the student should contrive to obtain an introduction to some 

 large iron works. Here he could devote a short period to analyzing the 

 processes of smelting, puddling, casting and forging, and thus render himself 

 capable of passing a good judgment on the quality of m illeable anil cast iron, 

 when coming under his notice for engineering purpose < occasions. 



Although mining engineering is reckoned a distinct branch, and requires Ion" 

 experience underground as a viewer to sustain any responsible situation, still 

 a short time passed in investigating colliery work in some well regulated 

 coal pit, would make the pupil acquainted with much valuable inforn 

 concerning pumping engines, and the general routine of the mechanical 

 department, as would be of material service to him. Durin- I 

 the manufactory, practice in drawing should be kept up by periodical visits 

 to the drawing office, and he should endeavour, on all occasions, to procure 

 for himself copies or tracings of any useful piece of mechanism, and thus, bv 

 carrying the principle out in time, amass a series of practical illustrations of 

 invaluable use in after life. Lastly, in order to render the former part of his 

 education ultimately serviceable, the pupil should, during the evenings after 

 work hours, peruse attentively such works as treat more immediately on 

 subjects forming the constituent elements of his profession, and for the pur- 

 pose of blending amusement with instruction, we could suggest reading at his 

 more leisure hours, and thus keep pace with the constant improvements, the 

 best periodicals that treat practically and theoretically of civil and mechani- 

 cal engineering. Having completed the first grand epoch in the probationary 

 regime, the pupil may easily refresh himself with the pleasing intelligence. 

 that the remainder of his duties are comparatively easy to the ordeal he has 

 already passed through. The next step is to place himself under the di- 

 rection of an eminent civil engineer, who has railways and other works con- 

 nected with this department of engineering under his superintendence in 

 course of construction. In this new state of things, the pupil should strive 

 hard to obtain some inferior, but by all means active and responsible, station, 

 for there never is that care and attention bestowed on any object that is 

 simply dependent on our own caprice. The pupil should, therefore, consider 

 it a matter of paramount importance to endeavour sedulously to create a 

 high confidence in his own and his superior's mind, that may lead, as soon 

 as possible, to his entrustment with some minor office, the creditable discharge 

 of which depends entirely on his own exertions. For confidence, let it be 

 understood, is the capability of expressing a decided and correct opinion with 

 regard to any question that may arise, and which can only be given in cases 

 where a. thorough comprehension by experience of the details of the point at 

 issue is positively entertained. With civil engineering commences a new era, 

 Railway making, with its surveying, levelling, cutting and embanking, bridge 

 building, drainage and other works, will serve to keep the mind contil 

 employed, in order to become well versed in all its minutiae, The building of 

 harbours, docks and light houses, the formation of canals, will severally 

 claim a proportionate degree of careful consideration. Common road-making, 

 warming and ventilating, general principles of carpentry and masonry, with 

 a train of minor but no less useful qualifications, will in due order require 

 each its own peculiar study : lastly a real concise method of making esti- 

 mates and getting up specifications for contract works, will be found of 

 utility ; the former can only be obtained by ascertaining on all occasions the 

 prices of every description of materials for engineering purposes in the 

 rent localities, the latter by continual reference to specifications of works 

 already executed. Here, then, is a broad field open to the successful practice 

 of acquired knowledge, whilst design and construction present favoui 

 opportunities for the display of any talents or ingenuity the young civj 

 may be fortunate enough to possess. To acquire a sound knowledge of the 

 strength and properties of wood, s'.onc. and iron, should be considei 

 matter of the utmost importance, and a few months could lie profitably passed 

 in an architect's office of good repute. We have mentioned the preceding 

 qualifications en masse, but they should be carefully and discriminate]}' 

 adjusted to the age, ability, and progress of the student. Let the different 

 subjects be presented to his notice in their most elementary shapes at the 

 onset, that the rudiments of one and all may be indelibly fixed on the mind ; 

 for then the intellectual faculties having mastered the approaches, will grasp 

 with a firmer hold upon maturer development the more complicated facts. 

 And it should not be lost sight of, that the amount of information acquired, 

 depends almost entirely upon the youth's own assiduity, as he will not find 

 persons continually at his elbow . as in the schoolroom, either urging him on 

 or threatening him with punishment for neglect of duty. He must see 



- Smeaton's experiments. 



