1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



377 



subdivided into so many lesser squares of uniform size; whereas, had 

 Hie hinder part of the portico been made to recede within the build- 

 ing — either wholly or to the extent of the three or the five centre inter- 

 columns — then the effect of passing through two outer rows of columns 

 would have been more striking; — there would have been sufficient 

 space within, and also far greater variety in the general composition. 

 As it is, we suspect that, however good it may be in itself, such dis- 

 play of columniation will be upon the whole rather prejudicial than 

 otherwise, inasmuch as all the rest is likely to fall very short of the ar- 

 chitectural pretension made in regard to columns. The omission of the 

 lour centre columns of the second range might therefore be rather an 

 improvement than the contrary, for at any rate then some space 

 would be gained — perhaps some monotony also avoided, while the two 

 remaining columns would give all the greater expression of solidity 

 to the angles where the octastyle advances before the other colon- 

 nades. 



Should there be nothing else that will contrast strangely with the 

 columnar pomp here affected, one thing there will be which cannot 

 fail materially to impair whatever dignity is thereby aimed at. The 

 door, it will be observed, is placed between two engaged columns 

 at the same distance from each other as the rest, and must therefore 

 be of exceedingly insignificant size in proportion to the scale of the 

 order, the width of the opening not much if at all exceeding the di- 

 ameter of one of the columns ; low it must also be in the same de- 

 gree, and will, besides, look quite squeezed in between the columns : 

 truly a most splendid and august portal for that of a national mu- 

 seum ! ' With such a door, and with windows also, the general cha- 

 racter of the design will be any thing but classical or imposing, in 

 spite of the show made by columns. Columns, however, constitute 

 the alpha and omega of Sir Robert Smirke's architectural ideas, and 

 capability of design — we had nearly made a mistake and said, his 

 powers of invention, but invention he neither has nor pretends to 

 have. Whether he intends on this occasion to stretch a point, and 

 give us — not any thing new, but some variation of his usual Ionic, 

 some richer example of that style in regard to the capitals, and some- 

 thing less mean and dowdyish than his entablatures hitherto have 

 been, we know not ; yet unless such be the case, even his colonnades — 

 letting alone all the rest — will form but a very sorry "set out." 



It is possible that, having only the plan to go by, we mav have mis- 

 conceived some matters, and may in consequence have expressed our- 

 selves more unfavourably than we might have done could we have in- 

 spected the model. If thai would at all refute the injurious surmises 

 now spreading abroad, the withholding it from the public is no less 

 foolish than it is, at the best, ungracious. However, the public voice 

 may even yet prove too strong for Sir Robert Smirke and his sup- 

 porters—and his admirers, too, if he really has any now, which we 

 very much question. 



Lengthy — some may say tedious — as our remarks have been, we 

 could very easily have extended them, because we have only animad- 

 verted upon it as it is, without pointing out what might have been 

 introduced into it. Still one circumstance remains to be noticed, 

 more especially as it does not show itself in the wood-cut plan; which 

 is, that in addition to the main building, there will be two subordinate 

 wings or ranges of building for the official residences; and these 

 cannot fail greatly to interfere with the general effect — to detract 

 from and neutralize the display made by the facade itself, unless 

 they were to be altogether shut out from view by screen walls, 

 adorned architecturally — perhaps, with Doric colonnades, thereby 

 continuing such porticos along the sides or ends of the front court, 

 and yet with some variation of character. 



' So tar from showing any improvement in respect both to the entrance 

 itself, and to commodiousness of space, the portico of the Museum threatens 

 to be considerably inferior to that of the Post Office, and hardly better than 

 that oi the College of Physicians. 



A CONTOUR— GRAPHIMETER. 



Sir — In the accounts published in your valuable journal oi tin- 

 meeting of the British Association at Cork, I observed a statement 

 respecting the progress made in the contouring of maps by Captain 

 Larconi. I have addressed myself to you in order to give publicity 

 to my claims for the application of a method of contours in delineating 

 another kind of object. It was some years ago my attention was 

 directed to the subject, and since then I have fallen, I think, on the 

 rationale of the correspondence between the representation of an 

 object by contours, and the drawing of the same in the ordinary way. 

 In all drawings, the outline being of course first made out, we next 

 proceed to give the appearances of solidity, or roundness, or flatness, 

 to the figure. Now this may be done in two ways very different from 

 each other, one by means of shadow and shading laid on smoothlv, 

 and of various depths in the proper places, but another by employing 

 lines only of a form suited to the shape of the model. We find the 

 latter method employed in academical drawings and line engravings, 

 where round limbs are faithfully imitated with circular sweeps of the 

 chalk or graver, and objects bounded by plane faces, as walls, &c, are 

 lined and parallel; and whilst other lines are generally necessary over 

 these to shadow the parts, still they also partake of the form of the 

 surface, and this I conceive mainly concurs in assisting the spectator 

 to form a judgment, of the shape of the object the artist intends to 

 portray. 



It is easy then to see that a good drawing may be made without 

 shading, and consisting only of lines, properly shaped of course, and 

 more or less close according to the varying inclination of the surface. 

 Any one who examines a clever pencil drawing will see ample illus- 

 tration of this in many parts of it. But the best proof in favour of 

 this method is the well-known medallion printing, where the drawing 

 is so true to nature that the surface of the figure appears to rise above 

 the ground. Now the machine used in this beautiful art is liable to 

 create considerable distortion, and cannot bemused if a bust or solid 

 object is made the subject of trial. In 1839, wdiile on service at 

 Malta, I constructed a new machine acting on a modified principle, by 

 the use of which all distortion was avoided, and I proved its efficiency 

 satisfactorily to myself by copying some small casts. I had long felt 

 the want of some such instrument, for I had had repeated oppor- 

 tunities of collecting casts both of remarkable living individuals and 

 other subjects; but the limited space allowed to an officer on board a 

 man-of-war precluded any attempt to form a collection of them, and 

 therefore a machine to copy and measure these in every dimension, 

 back as well as front, was a great desideratum, inasmuch as it flat- 

 tened, as it were, solid objects, and enabled them to be so packed 

 that a hundred casts might be put into a portfolio. Now the machine 

 to which I allude is contrived to give all the outlines of successive 

 planes of parallel section, or contours as they have been aptly called ; 

 and here I beg to remark the coincidence between the contours of 

 Captain Larcom and my section drawings, not that Captain L. may 

 well deserve all due praise for his important applications of the prin- 

 ciple, but that it may not be forgotten that the same had been devised 

 and put in practice by me in 1839. I have said that the machine 

 measures as it draws — I mean that any measurement in any direction 

 may be readily taken from the drawing. Now this is important to 

 those who wish to copy subjects in illustration of national or indi- 

 vidual peculiarities of countenance or form of skull in tribes of men 

 or species of animals. It therefore commends itself strongly to those 

 who cultivate physiognomy or phrenology in the practical way of 

 comparative measurement. I proposed it once to an eminent phre- 

 nologist, who stated that such an instrument was indeed very much 

 wanted, but he thought the photogenic process would in time supply 

 that want. From this opinion I have reason to differ, as I believe 

 none but linear drawings will ever give the necessary basis of 

 measurement. 



The annexed engraving is a representation of the instrument. 

 A B C is the drawer or part moveable by the hand ; it is so constructed 



51* 



