1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



313 



sequently merits tlie visit of the student and professional man ; and 

 the descriptive account of Mr. Sopwith is one of the best guides he 

 can have on the occasion. Mr. Sopwith has devoted much atleution 

 to this subject, and his shilling manual is a most readable and in- 

 structive book. The Museum is open to the public gratuitously 

 every day, excepting Sunday, from 10 o'clock till 4, from November 

 to February, and until 5 o'clock during the rest of the year. 



" The Museum of Economic Geology, as now arranged, comprises an 

 entrance hall or lobby, an apartment on the ground floor 46 feet long, and 

 18J feet wide, and a gallery on the first floor 103 feet long, varying in width 

 from 17 to 25 feet. The department of the Office of Mining Records com- 

 prises a Record Office 26 feet by 25 feet, in which are tables for drawing 

 plans, and a gallery on the second floor 103 feet long, containing mining 

 implements, and models of mines and mineral districts, and of various 

 engines, machines, &c, used for working and draining mines. In addition 

 to these are a laboratory, conducted Mr. Richard Phillips, F.R.S., the curator 

 of the museum ; a workshop in which models are constructed, under the 

 immediate direction of Mr. Jordan ; and a small library or private room for 

 the use of the director. To these apartments additions will doubtless be 

 made from time to time commensurate with the national usefulness of the 

 establishment, and the more so, as, owing to the extensive opportunities 

 afforded by ordnance geological surveys, and the great liberality of numerous 

 owners of mineral property, and other public-spirited friends of science, a 

 large proportion of the valuable contents of this museum have been, and 

 will assuredly continue to be, received without, any expense beyond the mere 

 carriage of the specimens. It is gratifying also to know that the present 

 administration cordially approve and support the arrangements of this 

 museum, which was commenced by their predecessors, and by their atten- 

 tion to its interest, evince their regard for those foundations of our national 

 wealth, a knowledge of which, as Sir John Sinclair has justly said, is of more 

 importance to this country than all the mines of Mexico and Peru." 



Launch of the Great Britain. 

 Mr. Davis has got up a lithograph on this subject from the able pen- 

 cil of Mr. Thomas Allom, which possesses merits not only of artistic 

 treatment, but of accurate delineation. The view was taken imme- 

 diately after the launch, and the fidelity of it is evident, as also in 

 the case of the adjacent scenery and minor details. It is certainly one 

 of the best representations of the Great Britain which has yet 

 appeared ; and equally an ornament to the office as to the drawing- 

 room. We extract the following account of the details of the vessel 

 and engines, which are appended to the engraving, and we under- 

 stand are authentic. 



Keel laid Dec. 19, 1839 ; floated July 19, 1843. feet in. 



Length extreme, from figure-head to taffrail .. .. .. 322 



Do. on upper and forecastle decks . . . . . . . . 308 



Do. between perpendiculars . . . . . . . . . . 286 



Extreme breadth .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 6 



Depth at midships .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32 6 



She is divided into four compartments by means of iron bulkheads, | in 

 thick, viz., 1st, forecastle ; 2nd, fore saloon j 3d, boiler and engine-room ■ 

 4th, after saloons. ! 



ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. 



Promenade saloon forward . . length 67 width 21 9 height 7 9 



Do. do. aft .. „ 110 „ 22 „ 8 



Dining saloon forward .. .. „ 61 „ 21 9 „ 7 9 



Do. do. aft .. .. „ 98 6 „ 30 „ 8 3 



26 state bedrooms with one bed, and 113 with two beds. 

 Tonnage, builder's measurement, 3,446 tons. 

 Draught of water when loaded, 16 feet. 



Do. without cargo, 12 feet. 



Do. without engines, 9 feet. 

 Displacement of water when drawing 16 feet, 2970 tons. 



ENGINES AND BOILERS. 



Nominal power, 1,000 horses. 



4 cylinders 6 feet stroke, diameter 88 inches. 



Slide valves, diameter, 20 inches. 



Air-pumps (2), 54 inches. 



Steam pipes, 18 inches. 



Condensers (2) formed of wrought iron plates £ in. thick, 12 feet long, 



S feet wide, 5 feet deep, and contents 510 cubic feet. 

 Bed plates for cylinders (2), length, 27 feet. 



Do. do. weight, each, 16 tons. 



Main shaft wrought iron, length, 15 feet 9 inches. 



Do. at centre, for driving wheel, 2 feet 3 inches. 



Do. for eccentric hearing and cranks, 2 feet 1 inch. 



Do. weight in rough from the forge, near 17 tons. 

 Framing to carry same is of hard wood, 12 in. thick, cased with wrought 

 iron plates, -£- inch thick. 



Boilers having 24 fires, 12 fore and 12 aft, each feet by 2 feet— length, 



34 feet, width 32 feet, height 21 feet 6 inchei. 



Total surface of fire bar, 288 feet super 

 Chimney 8 feet diameter, height 34 feet. 

 Screw propeller, 16 feet 6 inches diameter. 



EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING AT SEA. 



A paper from the commander of the Vigie, with an account of the effects of 

 electricity in a recent voyage, was read at one of the recent meetings of the 

 Academy of Sciences. It states that the mainmast was three times struck 

 with the electric fluid very severely, but that no damage was occasioned to 

 the vessel, in consequence of its being provided with paratonnerres. A 

 sailor was sent up to see what effect the electric fluid had on the paraton- 

 nerre, and as soon as he reached it, he experienced such shocks as nearly 

 caused him to fall down, and he felt the same every time he placed his hand 

 on the base of the paratonnerre. It had become a magnet. The same effect 

 had been produced on every piece of iron in the vessel. The compasses too 

 had their needles disarranged, and would no longer serve to guide the ship. 

 Eight or ten days after, the Vigie met another vessel, and obtained one of 

 her compasses, but the magnetic action communicated itself to this one, and 

 the instrument became useless. 



THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 



SECOND REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE FINE ARTS. 

 To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. 



We, the Commissioners, appointed by your Majesty for the purpose 

 of inquiring whether advantage might not be taken of the rebuilding 

 of your Majesty's Palace at Westminster, wherein your Majesty's 

 Parliament is wont to assemble, for the purpose of promoting and 

 encouraging the fine arts in your Majesty's united kingdom, and in 

 what manner an object of so much importance might be most effec- 

 tually promoted, humbly report to your Majesty, that having, in fur- 

 therance of the objects proposed by us in our first report, and sanc- 

 tioned by your Majesty, invited a competion in cartoons, we have now 

 humbly to state to your Majesty that the competition referred to has 

 taken place, and that we are satisfied with the evidence of ability 

 afforded, not only by the works of the successful candidates, but those 

 of many others. 



Having satisfied ourselves respecting the attainments of many British 

 artists in the practice of cartoon-drawing, and respecting their capacity 

 to attain excellence in those qualities which are essential in historical 

 painting, we now propose, in pursuance of the plan before announced 

 by us, to invite artists to exhibit specimens in fresco-painting of a 

 moderate size, which, by being portable, will enable all candidates for 

 employment in that method of painting to send in works exhibiting their 

 qualifications therein as painters and colourists, and which, taken 

 together with the larger compositions in drawing which they have 

 exhibited or may exhibit, and with other existing evidences of their 

 talents, may enable us to proceed to the selection of artists for the 

 decoration in fresco of certain portions of the Palace. Neverthe- 

 less, as paintings executed in other methods may be free from a 

 shining surface, and may therefore be deemed by some artists to be 

 fit for the decoration of walls, we have invited such artists to exhibit 

 specimens of the methods in question, and shall regard such methods 

 as open for consideration. 



With respect to sculpture, we have announced that various statues 

 will be required for the decoration of the Palace, and we have invited 

 artists to exhibit models, in order to assist us in the selection of sculp- 

 tors to be employed. 



With regard to decorative art of various kinds — namely, glass- 

 staining, arabesque-painting, wood-carving, oramental metal-work, 

 and ornamental pavements, we have, in like manner, issued notices 

 inviting artists and others to send in specimens, in order to assist us 

 in the selection of persons to be employed. 



We have further humbly to state to your Majesty, that the claims 

 of candidates for employment in oil painting, and other departments 

 of the art besides historical painting, will be considered hereafter, and 

 that the order in which the several branches of art and decoration ap- 

 plicable to the embellishment of the Palace have been considered by 

 ns, has been, and must continue to be, determined by the time requisite 

 for the preparation of the works, the study required by the artists in 

 modes of execution which are new to them, and by t lie progress oj 

 particular portions of the building. 



