1843-] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



203 



THE XANTHIAN MARBLES IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Amongst the valuable, though to the public taste not the most at- 

 tractive, additions to the contents of the British Museum, are the 

 marbles brought from Lycia, and which have been placed temporarily 

 in the two rooms leading to the Elgin marbles. These treasures not 

 being as yet entered in the synopsis, or presenting to an ordinary ob- 

 server no striking or remarkable feature, have not yet attracted that 

 notice which their importance demands. Still they have not been al- 

 together unnoticed by the crowds of holyday folk who have thronged 

 to the Museum during the last few days, and who seem unanimously 

 to regard them as "very ancient" and "very curious." 



These marbles, which were discovered by Mr. Fellowes, while tra- 

 velling in Asia Minor, in 1838, are said to be the most remarkable 

 and important accession received by any European museum for many 

 years, and have been obtained and brought to England in conse- 

 quence of the greatest enterprise and self-denial on the part of the 

 gentleman by whom they were discovered, and in consequence of 

 whose representations respecting them they have been lodged in the 

 British Museum. The marbles already secured to the British nation 

 are but a small portion of those that abound in the interesting country 

 from which they have been brought; they are, however, very valu- 

 able, and some idea of their quantity may be obtained when we 

 mention that they were brought to England in 78 large and heavy 

 packages. 



The Xanthian, or Fellowes marbles, as it has been proposed to have 

 them called, illustrate the mythology, the modes of warfare, and a 

 variety of interesting features in the manners and customs of the 

 ancient inhabitants of Asia Minor, who were originally settlers from 

 Crete. 



As might be expected, these sculptures do not, as works of art, 

 rank with the Elgin marbles, but they are highly interesting as illus- 

 trating the state of sculpture in a much earlier age. They are sup- 

 posed to include some of the earliest efforts of Greek art which have 

 come down to our times. 



The principal objects in the collection are those which Mr. Fel- 

 lowes describes as the bas-reliefs representing the legend of the 

 daughters of King Pandarus being carried away by the harpies, which 

 were around the high square monument, which was called the harpy 

 tomb. The marbles belonging to this tomb are placed in the centre 

 of the grand central saloon, arranged as they were before being taken 

 down. Near them is placed a model of the tomb, which was sup- 

 ported by a shaft 17 feet high, and weighing SO tons, standing on a 

 plinth G feet high. The tomb itself was 3 feet 3 inches in height, 

 surmounted by a cover which weighed from 15 to 20 tons. The cen- 

 tral saloon also contains some very beautiful frieze work, representing 

 in bas-relief a bear hunt: all the figures, the horses and horsemen, the 

 dogs, and the unfortunate bear itself, are very spirited and bold, but 

 not highly finished specimens of art. Some of the figures on the 

 harpy tomb, and those placed on the under ledge of the same large 

 framework, bear a considerable resemblance to the figures on the 

 monuments of Egypt; we may mention particularly the gods seated 

 on chairs, one smelling a lily, and another giving a helmet to a war- 

 rior. In the anti-room there are several very rich friezes. One 

 represents a sacrifice ; the fire is burning on the altar, and a number of 

 persons are approaching with various offerings, both animal and 

 vegetable, and in cases the offering may be readily distinguished. 

 The siege of the walled town forms in itself an interesting subject ; 

 the walls are defended by warriors armed with stones, which are also 

 the weapons in general use among all the combatants; on the walls 

 are a number of females, whose countenances indicate great distress, 

 as they well may, for the artist has introduced an escalade, which is 

 sufficiently indicative of the danger of the inhabitants. The friezes 

 and the pediments in this room contain some figures, which for vigour 

 of design, if not for beauty of execution, may vie with the Elgin 

 marbles. Mr. Fellowes, in his account of the transmission of these 

 marbles to England, remarks that the frieze so accurately illustrates 

 the description given by Herodotus of the capture of the early city, 

 that he could almost fancy that the neighbouring historian had written 

 his history from it, commemorating an event which happened about a 

 century before his era. We understand that a room is to be pre- 

 pared expressly to receive this valuable addition to the antique sculp- 

 tures with which our great national collection is enriched. — Times. 



DREDGING AND DREDGING-MACHINES. 



Sir — As to working a machine a-head by the engine, although, as 

 you remark in your foot note to my communication on this subject, in 

 the last number, it is one of the most obvious applications of the en- 

 gine power, yet it is not equally so under all circumstances. Where 

 a machine is used to keep a harbour dock or navigation clean, the ap- 

 plication is most obvious and advantageous, as the traverse of the 

 machine may be quite uniform ; but where the natural bottom has to 

 be dredged out, the advantage is not so great. Indeed, in such a case, 

 it is impossible to apply a constant power to the bow chain in trench 

 cutting, (or the lateral chains in radius cutting,) else the machine 

 would be broken by natural interruptions, such as stones and roots of 

 trees occurring. But if the engine power be applied to a crab-winch, 

 and the chain be brought with about three turns round the winding 

 barrel, so as to give it just sufficient friction to drag the machine 

 under the ordinary resistance to the buckets, and of course allowing 

 the end of the chain to coil upon the deck, an intermittent motion 

 may be had. If, however, a man attend to this crab-winch while the 

 machine is at work, and on the given signal from the captain, throws 

 a slack of chain on the winding barrel to cause it to slip, and so stop 

 the advancement of the machine, this motion may be rendered quite 

 as manageable as if performed entirely by manual labour. It would, 

 of course, be an object to dispense with the attendance of a mau at 

 the crab-winch or with the winch also, and to wind the chain on a 

 barrel at the engine, but then no friction straps or the like could pro- 

 duce such a motion as that given by the man letting the chain slip or 

 lose hold entirely, as required. A fast and loose gearing would 

 scarcely do, but, with friction cones, it would certainly approximate 

 to a hand motion, sufficient for ordinary cutting. 



In my communication last month, I did not say what motive power 

 I would apply to the lateral chains therein proposed, but the above 

 remarks apply equally to them as to a bow chain. Where the motion 

 of the machine (i. e. the progressive motion of the machine or boat to 

 the stuff) may be uniform, the application of engine power would be 

 an additional saving, as they would only require an occasional in- 

 spection, but in the case where the motion must be intermitted, the 

 method of "radius cutting" reduces the labour of winding so much, 

 that if a man attend to the chains he can also wind them. In a small 

 machine, about 50 feet long, one lateral chain on each side may be 

 sufficient. 



As the reduction of the number of hands required to work dredging 

 machines must be an object with every engineer whose works require 

 the use of them, in as much as it is creditable to raise the stuff at the 

 least expense which local and other circumstances will permit, many 

 ingenious arrangements might be thought of. In those machines in 

 which the bucket ladder is placed in the centre of the boat, there are 

 levers at hand, by which the captain, while taking the soundings in 

 the well, can raise and lower the ladder. In the same manner, when 

 engine power is applied to the crab winchs, rods might be brought 

 from their fast and loose motions, so as all to be at one point. Always 

 adapting the machine to the nature of its work, I am not aware of 

 any works where the machines are divided and adapted to different 

 sorts of work, which has made me keep this point in view in my pre- 

 ceding remarks. 



If each machine be adapted both for light and heavy work, there 

 must be a waste of power ; but more on this again. 



W. C, C.e. 

 30, Hope Street, Glasgow, 

 26th April, 1843. 



Paris.— The monster elephant which has for 30 years guarded the Plac 

 de la Bastile, in memory of Napoleon's Egyptian exploits, is about to be cast 

 in bronze, for the decoration of a grand fountain to be erected in the Place 

 du Trone. The giant animal is already caged, for the purpose, within a sys- 

 tem of boardings forming a vast workshop, and at once exciting and baffling 

 the curiosity of the Parisian street hunters. The papers also state, that the 

 commission for erecting the tomb of the Emperor Napoleon has come to a 

 decision that the baldachin of the altar at the lnvalides, with its gilded co- 

 lumns, shall be suppressed ; that the equestrian statue of the Empeior shall 

 be erected on the Esplanade, and not in the tour Royale, as designed by the 

 architect, and that the figure of the Emperor shall be in his historical dress, 

 and not in the Roman costume. The Minister of the Interior has given com- 

 missions for twelve statues, to be placed in the niches of the prineipaliacade of 

 the new buildings at the Hotel de Ville. The following are the subjects :— 

 Frochot, Voyerd'Argenson, Etienne Robert, Vincent de Paule, L'Abbe de 

 1'Epee. Robin, Jean Aubry, Hardouin-Mans.ird, Guillaume Bude, Mathicii 

 Mole, Michel Lallier, and La Vacquerie. 



