338 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[October, 



each.) T.ie entt of the single wire above water, and that of the 

 short length attached to the zinc plates, are led to a battery, which 

 for firing charges in 13 fathoms water, should have a power equivalent 

 to 6 cylinders of Daniell's battery; this I found to be the minimum : 

 on completing the circuit, the charge is fired by the transmission of 

 ihe electic fluid down the single wire, igniting the piece of fine pla- 

 tinum fixed across the priming wires within the bursting powder, and 

 returning by the water, which over the wreck of the "Royal George," 

 completes a portion of the circuit equalling SO feet. 



This method has now been so frequently tried and without a single 

 failure, that it may be considered as certain and secure, and I consider 

 it superior to that of the double wires, on account of the greater lia- 

 bility of the latter to break, or to be brought improperly in contact, 

 by the shrinking and contraction of the rope after imbibing moisture; 

 the saving of wire, is also a great object, and the single wire may be 

 conveniently coiled on a common log reel, and held in the hand while 

 being passed over the side of a vessel when used on a wreck. 



This system may be used for charges contained in vessels of tin, 

 iron, copper, or any other conducting metal ; but when wooden casks 

 are used, it will be necessary to attach a certain surface of metal to 

 the cask. 



I annex a sketch of the mode of connecting the single wire with 

 the priming wires, &c. 



I remain, Sir, 



Your very obedient servant, 



G. R. HOTCHIKSON, 

 Lieutenant Roval Engineers. 



Portsmouth, 10rt September, 1843. 



Ukferexce. 



A & B, two single insulated wires; 



the ends are led to the poles of 

 a voltaic battery in a boat or 

 lighter. 

 C, 3 zinc plates, 10 in. by " in. 



A, a single insulated wire con- 

 ducted 



B, a single wire. 



The ends of the two wires, A & 

 B are led to the poles of a vol- 

 taic battery in a hoat or lighter. 

 Z, 3 zinc plates, each in in. by 

 7 in. 



C, S gallon tin can, holding about 

 51 lb. of powder. 



P P', priming wires of bursting 

 charge. 



c, point of contact of priming 

 wire P' with surface of tin cart. 



v c, water condueter, 80 feet. 



S. W. surface of water, 13} fa- 

 thoms above the bottom. 



MUSEUM OF THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG. 



On it being first of all rumoured that Klenze had been commissioned 

 by the Emperor Nicholas to prepare designs for a Museum at St. 

 Petersburg, the natural supposition was, that the building was to be an 

 entirely new and distinct one, as was the case with the Glyptothek, 

 and the Pinakothek at Munich, the reputation of which most probably 

 led to the architect's being employed by the Russian sovereign. It 

 now turns out, however, that the structure will not add to the number 

 of the architectural monuments of St. Petersburg, as it is only a re- 

 building and extension of the Hermitage Palace, in which the " Raf- 

 faelle Gallery," so called from its being a fac-simile imitation of the 

 Loggie of the Vatican, is retained. Still, if description may be trusted, 

 it is verv greatly superior to what has been removed to make way for 

 it; and though only an appendage to the Imperial Palace, it is in itself 

 much larger than many palaces, the general plan funning a parallelo- 

 gram of 520 by 3s0 ft., English measure, which is not very far short 

 of the area of the whole of the quadrangle and buildings of the upper 

 ward of Windsor Castle. The largest of the inner courts is 215 by 

 130 feet ; the general height of the facade 74 ft., and that of the pa- 

 vilions at the angles, 1015 ft. In regard to the character of its details, 

 the style of design is Greek, and it would seem the design itself is in 

 some respects similar to the architect's idea for the Pantechnikon, at 

 Athens, published in his "Entwiirfe." Of the actual composition, 

 however, it is impossible to speak from the verbal description given 

 of it; for let the last be ever so correct as far as it goes, so many cir- 

 cumstances indispensably requisite to be understood, are passed over 

 in it, that it is more tantalizing than satisfactory, leaving altogether 

 doubtful some very material points. The socle, which is of reddish 

 granite, is 11 feet high, and must therefore be of colossal proportions, 

 and produce a most imposing effect, it it be really what the term 

 applied to it imports — a solid substructure, in appearance at least, 

 without windows of any sort. Nothing being said to the contrary, we 

 are left to suppose that such is really the case; but it would have 

 been far more satisfactory to have been distinctly assured of it, since 

 it makes a most prodigious difference indeed whether it be so or not. 

 i lolossal must also be the effect of a mass, nearly the entire height of 

 the Reform Club House, but with only two ranges of windows, reared 

 on such a basement. This part of the structure is of greyish stone, 

 with si'iue intermixture of reddish granite for the details, yet to what 

 extent the latter is applied is not said; hardly at all, we should think, 

 can it have been employed for any of the more delicate and enriched 

 parts, and enrichment does not appear to have been at all spared, for 

 we are told of arabesque panels, sculptured friezes, statues, some sup- 

 ported on consoles, others within niches, hermes-pillars, &c. &c. in 

 short, the description makes magnificent promise to the ear; but 

 whether the structure itself would keep such promise to the eye, is 

 what we will not pledge for. Description is equally favourable to the 

 interior, but equally perplexing also, being by far too indefinite ; a vast 

 ileal of magnificence is spoken of — variegated marble columns, inlaid 

 pavements of Grecian design, and other matters of that kind, but it is 

 all shapeless. Almost the only part which we can figure to ourselves 

 at all intelligibly is the grand staircase, 130 ft. long, by 50 in breadth, 

 with its twenty marble Corinthian columns, and three successive flights 

 of marble steps (22 feet wide), ascending in a direct line. At any 

 rate, in such a staircase there must be an air of extraordinary pomp. 

 The rooms on the lower floor are intended for the reception of sculp- 

 ture, vases, and miscellaneous antiquities; those above for a picture- 

 gallery, distributed into a series of rooms, some very spacious, and 

 lighted from above, as in the Munich Pinakothek, for larger pictures; 

 others as cabinets, for smaller pictures, besides various loggies and 

 corridors. The contents of the museum will be so arranged, that the 

 apartments will have more the air of being decorated with them, as in 

 a private palace, than of being the exhibition-rooms of a public mu- 

 seum, which sometimes give the idea of a bazaar, at others, of a 

 charnel-house of art, stored with works, immortal, perhaps, in fame, 

 but perishable, and even perished ; interesting, but utterly illegible 

 inscriptions, limbless statues, featureless busts, and pictures touched 

 and retouched by time, till they have become only so many grim 

 blackened canvasses, and melancholy memento- mori's. Although the 

 building was not begun until the spring of IS 12, the Museum of the 

 Hermitage is expected to be completed by the end of the present 

 summer, notwithstanding its great extent and the prodigious solidity 

 of its constructions. In some places such an edifice would have been 

 the work of a quarter of a century. — Art Union. 



