184.3.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



153 



feet per second which constitutes the terminal velocity of the falling 

 body. In the present case, D being equal to 76 feet and the weight 



30001b., we have =-\/3000 =: — x 55 = 19 feet nearly in a second, 



or somewhat less than 13 miles an hour. It is unnecessary to point 

 out the insufficiency of this retardation to effectuate the safe descent 

 of human beings. It will serve to give some idea of the force and 

 necessary consequence of such a precipitation,, merely to suggest the 

 shock that would be experienced by an individual if he were to be 

 launched unprotectedly against a solid wall from the top of a vehicle 

 travelling continuously at the rate of 12 miles an hour. In this respect 

 therefore, the suspending plane of Mr. Henson's machine is particu- 

 larly deficient. It has been calculated, and no doubt upon good grounds, 

 that the least rate of descent which consists with human safety is 3 

 miles an hour ; and though if we could always command the conditions 

 of the descent so as to alight upon our legs, we might be able to sustain 

 a greater concussion without peril, yet, as a general principle, and 

 more particularly v. ith reference to the circumstances of the case before 

 us, we shall not be too exigent in requiring a power of retarding the 

 descent within double these limits. Now the resistance upon a square 

 foot of plane surface in motion through the air at the rate of G miles 

 an hour, is "17(3 of a pound ; and the whole weight to be sustained 

 being 3U00 lb., we shall have an apportionment of surface to weight 

 in the ratio of about G feet to the pound ; amounting in the aggregate 

 to au area of 18,000 square feet, or 4 times the actual size of Mr. 

 Henson's plane. The correctness of this estimate may be readily veri- 

 fied by reference to Dr. Hutton's formula before adduced, by which it 

 will be seen, that such is the rate at which such a plane so loaded 

 would make its descent through the air. 



But for the continuation of these investigations we must refer the 

 reader to our next number. 



THE CAUSES WHICH HAVE ENNOBLED ARCHITECTURE. 



By Frederick Lush, Associate of the Institute of British 

 Architects. 



A.N art which depends upon the cultivated powers of the human 

 mind must be necessarily slow in arriving at perfection. As it had its 

 origin in some simple want, its primary object is to satisfy the neces- 

 saries and promote the happiness of man, in whatever condition he 

 may be placed. The end of architecture, like all other works of im- 

 agination and taste, is to give pleasure; but it will fail doing so, when 

 this principle is lost sight of. On this account the expression of use 

 and fitness has been considered by all writers on art, as the chief ele- 

 ment of beauty : and we expect to find that the buildings of different 

 nations will be indicative, not only of their peculiar habits and cus- 

 toms, but also of the country in which their several styles originated. 

 There is no occasion to speculate on the influence which scenery and 

 climate exert upon the mind, and how they consequently operate 

 upon all the productions of man. The difference of opinion and de- 

 gree in which the sentiment of the beautiful has unfolded itself in 

 various parts of the globe, plainly shows that the temperature and 

 circumstances of one clime are more congenial for the practice of this 

 noble art than another. Nature scattered her beauties on the soil of 

 the Greeks with a liberal hand, and as they were quick to discern and 

 appreciate them, they were wrought by the sculptor on their temples 

 and monuments. The embellishments with which they were thus 

 supplied, were in harmony with surrounding objects; and we cease to 

 wonder at the fascinating works which emanated from this favoured 

 people, when we see that the finest models in nature were ever pre- 

 sent to their imagination. Among these resources, none gave them, 

 perhaps, 'greater power of conceiving what was beautiful, than the 

 various passions, attitudes and proportions, which they had the op- 

 portunity of studying during the exercises of their athlelae. Here 

 was exhibited to their astonished gaze the wonderful structure of the 

 human frame ; and it is when contemplating the character which man 



sustains in the varied scenes of life, when watching the many ways 

 in which his hands are employed for advancing the good of his fellow- 

 creatures, or, when he breathes and speaks to us out of the marble 

 or canvass, that we recall to our memory the fine soliloquy of Hamlet : 

 " What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason, how infinite in 

 faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable ! in action, 

 how like an angel ! in apprehension, how like a god ! the beauty of 

 the world, the paragon of animals!" Who can deny then, that an 

 anatomical knowledge of the human figure is the best education for 

 the eye, and the basis of all grace and propriety in invention and 

 design ? The student needs to be reminded that his art will never be 

 ennobled by only copying the orders of Vitruvius or Falladio. If the 

 works of nature had not been their guide, the ancients had never at- 

 tained to such perfection in architecture. 



One of the most striking features in ancient art is grandeur. It 

 was an object with the builders of antiquity to give great permanence 

 to their works: a wish which sprung out of their natural love of 

 glory and desire to appear great and enterprising in the eyes of pos- 

 terity. An instance of the extravagance to which this passion carried 

 them, is recorded in the tower of Babylon. Such a failure, however, 

 occurring among men who were unguided by precedents aud blinded 

 to the consequence of their rash and presumptuous undertakings, 

 would have the most beneficial results, and lead them to view the art 

 of building for eternity, on more sound and philosophical principles. 

 Curiosity has ever been busy in inquiring into the causes of things; 

 and the most useful discoveries have arisen upon the errors of former 

 ages. Michael Angelo had never, perhaps, raised a dome so trium- 

 phantly, if the attempt had not been made by others with less success 

 before his time. 



But although this sense of immortality is the first step towards a 

 grand style, it depends likewise upon the goodness of the materials 

 that are introduced, as it is these which give to buildings, whatever 

 may be the purposes for which they are intended, all their character 

 of strength and durability. Now, on these latter points, much of the 

 fame of an architect rests, and for want of attention to them, we owe 

 the ruin of many modern edifices: I allude to the one at Fonthili as 

 an example most familiar to the reader. Every one remarks the 

 great contrast between the size and dimensions of timber, for in- 

 stance, used in buildings of a bygone age, with those of the present 

 day : and the ditt'erence in their duration is equally great. The sys- 

 tem of contract, which has been so prevalent of late years, and the 

 heavy duty on materials of every kind, have operated powerfully in 

 the change ; and although in some cases the exorbitant proportions of 

 strength observed in old houses seem to indicate an ignorance of the 

 principles of construction, yet as they long outlast our feebler erec- 

 tions, and require force to raze them, we can scarcely blame what ap- 

 pears in some of their parts a want of geometrical skill. The ar- 

 chitectural merits of our ancestors must be judged by the circum- 

 stances of the age in which they lived. They had doubtless been 

 more sparing, and displayed more science in the use of their timbers, 

 had they been less abundant; or had they been compelled, by the 

 restraint of taxes, to make them answer their several ends with the 

 least possible expenditure. 



With regard to stone, we have no cause to complain of its defi- 

 ciencies, or think lightly of the resources of our British quarries, 

 although we have not the granite of Egypt or the marble of Pente- 

 licus. Yet when we look on the dilapidated state of many of our 

 edifices — when we think of the ruinous appearance of some of the 

 colleges in ,the beautiful city of Oxford, the nurseries of so much 

 profound learning and eminent piety, we have reason to lament the 

 corrosive nature of the stones with which they have been constructed. 

 In these latter, their rapid decay is owing to the broad surfaces of 

 the laminae or cleaving grain being presented to the action of the 

 weather; and we see the result of placing them in a position con- 

 trary to that in which they lay in the quarry. One remedy for this 

 evil would be the establishment of a society for testing the capabili- 

 ties of stone and its fitness for durability, prevous to its being em- 

 ployed on public and national edifices. 



