1S46.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



89 



of the Ilissus, it would hfi found (hat Ihis part of the statue was markfd 

 and ^^■ora by the constant dripping of water, and it was llieretbre clear 

 that this part of the figure could not have been sheltered by the projection 

 of the cornice. The liissiis was only a fragment, still from the attitude it 

 could at once be seen that the heail nuist have been higher and raore for- 

 ward than the shoulder; and as the shoulder must luive been, at the very 

 least on a line with the cornice, the head must have projected considerably 

 beyond it. His reasoning was confirmed by the drawings of Carrey, who 

 had represented the sculpture as intersecting the line of the cornice. The 

 case of the Jlissus was by no means a solitary one, as, for instance, the 

 horse's head and the fragment of the head of the IMiuerva of the western 

 pediment, and Carrey represented the same state of thing as existing in 

 numerous instances throughout the temple. Mr. Lucas said he was tiiere- 

 fore by no means prepared to assent to any change iu this respect, but firmly 

 maintained his original opinion. 



He had made preparations for shortly visiting and minutely examining 

 the temple. He felt very much indebted to the Institute for the sugges- 

 tions which had been e.\preised there, and for the manner in which his ex- 

 planation had been received. His great and anxious desire was to render 

 the model as perfect as possible, and he earnestly assured the members 

 that he was desirous of hearing every objection that could possibly be 

 brought against it, as by these means errors would be corrected and 

 doubtful points as far as possible explained. For his own part, he pro- 

 mised that no effort should be wanting towards the fulliliuent of these im- 

 portant objects. 



The PRtsiDENT expressed in warm terms the obligation of the society to 

 Mr. Lucas and Mr. Donaldson for the information which they had afford- 

 ed. He would observe respecting the railings of (he Opisthodonius, that 

 as that part of the temple served as the treasury, and contained the votive 

 offerings which were of immense value, it seemed necessary that it should 

 be guanled by railings, and he thought they might properly be represented 

 in the model. He invited Mr. Lucas to examine some models of the Par- 

 thenon in his own possession, which had been made by a gentleman who 

 had measured every square inch of the ground. A great benefit arising 

 from the exhibition of Mr. Lucas's models would be the enlightenment of 

 public taste, and the illustration it would aiford to those not conversant 

 with architecture, of the form of the Parthenon. He was convinced that 

 many who visited the Uritish Museum, had an impression that the Elgin 

 Marbles were hung round the interior walls of a room resembling that iu 

 •which the remains are now deposited. The new model would serve to 

 correct this error. The President concluded by expressing in very happy 

 terms the thanks of the meeting for the papers which bad just been read. 



Mr. Donaldson said that he must make one remark before the meeting 

 separated. He trusted that the Institute would render every assistance to 

 Mr. Lucas in the investigation which he was about to commence, and 

 would use its inSuence with the Trustees of the British Museum, that 

 they might liberally offer to Mr. Lucas every possible facility and assistance 

 in the prosecution of his undertaking. 



Feb. 23, Mr. Tite, V. P., in the Chair. 

 Mr. Penrose read a paper on the entasis and other carved lines observed 

 in the architecture of the Parthenon, but as the paper of Mr. Lucas, on a 

 somewhat similar subject occupies a large part of our present number, we 

 must defer the report of Mr. l^enrose's paper till next month. 



ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS. 

 January 2G. — The Prj;sident in the chair. 

 The following communications were made : — 



In place of Mr. Lawson's Paper on Hurricanes, which was postponed till 

 next meeting, the Secretary gave an Account of Mr. Jacob Owen's (of Ire- 

 land) Paper on the Results of Experiments on the relative Strength of diffe- 

 rent forms of Retaining Walls. 



2. Accoimts of some Eieperimcnts on Electro mid Galvano Culture. By 

 \ViLLiAM Fraser, Esq., Aberdeen.; In this Paper, Mr. Fraser gave an 

 account of the results of numerous experiments he had made on the effects 

 of electricity and galvanism on the growth of seeds and vegetables. In one 

 set of experiments, he had passed a current of electricitv through the seeds 

 before sowing, and in others, he passed the galvanic current through the 

 earth i.i which the seeds were sown, and he also applied it to the plants. 

 He experimented in various ways, but with no benefit to vegetation, either 

 from electricity or galvanism ; for, although the seeds through which he 

 had passed a current of electricity previously to sowing, sprung up quicker 

 than those not subjected to that process, just as seeds do which have been 

 previously steeped m water, yet, after a while no perceptible difference could 

 be seen betwixt the plants from electrified seed and those from seed not 

 subjected to that process. Mr. Fraser, in conclusion, suggests the form of 

 an apparatus by which he thinks, it could be clearly seen whether galvanism 

 produces any benificial effect upon plants. 



3. Description of a Drawing of a Horizontal Condensing Pump, for 

 honzonlal condensing Steam Engines. Bv Mr. M-illiam D. Meiklejohv. 

 In this condensing pump, Mr. Meiklejohn states that the condensation will 

 take place much more rapidly, and that there would be a very considerable 

 saving in the first cost of the condenser. 



• wl'u^^"," •^"*»'''«'« ./<»• Railway Bridges. By Mr. James Miller, 

 Watchmaker, Perth. Mr. Miller submits, that in small bridges for railways 



there is too great a rigidity, when built of stone or brick, and that they are 

 liable to he destroyed by their want of elasticity, and their not yielding to 

 the vibration of the train ; and he suggests tliat they should lie made of 



strong rings of iron, upon which longitudinal iron bars should be rivetted 



somewhat in the form of a cooper's chauffer. They could be made at a 

 distance, in pieces, and carried to the spot, and there bolted together. 

 February 9.— George M'ilson', M.D., F.R.S.E., in the chair. 

 The following communications were made : — 



1. Description of a New Clod; impelled ly a combination of Gravitation 

 and Electro-Magnalism. Invented by Mr. Alexander Bryson, Chrono- 

 meter, Watch, and Clock Maker, Edinburgh. In this clock the common 

 pendulum is used. It is kept vibrating, in equal arcs, by a small falling bar, 

 or detent, which is raised every second by the attraction induced in a soft 

 electro-magnet. The magnetism is excited by constant batteries placed in 

 the bottom of the clock-case, which may be kept in action for any desirable 

 period, and when changed it is not necessary to stop the clock ; as before 

 the spent battery is out of action, the otlier, which is newly charged, is in 

 full operation. The wheel work, showing minutes and seconds, is moved by 

 the gravitating bar or detent immediately on its being attracted by tlie elec- 

 tro-magnet. When this clock is made to show minutes and seconds only, 

 as in observatory clocks, it consists of two wheels only, and when it is made 

 to show hours, three wheels are necessary. The contact-breaker is sus- 

 pended on knife-edges immediately aliove the pendulum bob, having a gold 

 concentric arc, on which press two very slight gold springs. In tliis arc is 

 inserted a piece of ivory, which breaks the current, and permits the falUng 

 bar or detent to fall on the pendulum so as to keep up its viliration. By 

 the method of coincidences it was stated, the pendulum was found to keep 

 its motion witli the utmost steadiness, as compared with a compensation 

 mercurial pendulum beating seconds. 



2. On the Causes of Hurricanes in the TTest Indies, with illnstrative 

 Diagrams. Ey Robert Lawson, Esq., Assistant-Surgeon, -1 7th Regiment. 

 Communicated by Alexander Bryson, Esq. In this paper .Mr. Lawson gives 

 further instances, both from personal and recorded experience, of hurricanes 

 in the West Indies, exhibiting phenomena not conformable to the laws of 

 Hare, Espy, Reid, or Redfield ; and while adopting as true many points 

 insisted on by these eminent observers, endeavours to prove the dependence 

 of those mighty convulsions on the moon's influence, which seem to have 

 escaped all observers in this field of inquiry except the indefatigable Howard. 



3. Description, illustrated with Drawings, of an Improved Method of 

 Manufacturing Pyro.vilic Spirit fH'ood Naphtha of CommerceJ, Pyro- 

 ligneous Acid, and other products, from the destructive distillation of Wood. 

 By Captain George Dacres Patersox. This communication contained a 

 description of the manufacture of Pyroxile Spirit and Pyrolignite of Lime, 

 with various improvements, the principal of which consisted in a new menner 

 of stifling the charcoal, so as to free it from the noxious gases, and in the 

 distillation, which is conducted on the principle of distillation in vacuo. 

 The arrangements were stated to effect great saving in fuel and labour. The 

 vacuum is formed by steam, and by a simple arrangement the condensed 

 vapour is entirely drained off from the;still prior, to the supply of liquor 

 being forced up from the charging Back. A simple apparatus was described 

 for guiding the workmen as to the different strength of the liquor ; and a 

 plan of a rectifier, by which the essential oil is more easily separated from 

 the spirit, was also given, by which means, and others farther described, the 

 Pyroxile Spirit, it was stated, could be procured in great purity. 



SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON, 

 January 28.— W. F. Cooke, Esq., in the Chair. 



The first paper read was by Mr. Claudet, on " some principles and practi- 

 cal facts in the art of Photograp/iy," ami contained a series of vary inte- 

 resting scientific researches, and communicated several important discoveries 

 in this new and curious field of research. It was a sequel to a communica- 

 tion read by Mr. Nott on a previous evening, in which he had endeavoured 

 to establish that the rays which make the photographic picture are different 

 from those which produce light, and this he thought he had proved by means 

 of pictures formed with a polarized ray reflected from parallel plates. Mr. 

 Claudet contends that the rays of hght are the agent. He had made many 

 experiments on forming pictures by reflection, but had not been able to dis- 

 cover any essential difference betwixt then* and such as are formed by the 

 direct ray. — His next series of experiments regarded the photographic quali- 

 ties of light of different colours; blue proved to be the most powerful photo- 

 graphic agent, yellow the weakest. One of the most beautiful experiments 

 by which this was proved, consisted in throwing the prismatic spectrum on 

 paper and on the silver plate, the colours being marked on the paper and the 

 effect remaining on the photographic plate — be thus showed that the photo- 

 graphic prism presents effects very different from the apparent intensity of 

 the prismatic spectra. A remarkable specimen was shown of a silver plate, 

 on which the rays of light had brought out a powerful picture without the 

 action of mercury. — ,\nother series of experiments made was on the photo- 

 graphic action of the rays of the moon, which had formed a powerful picture 

 by five minutes exposure ; he hoped to be able to obtain a very accurate 

 Daguerreotype of the moon's surface, drawn by herself, on a silver plate. 



Considerable [discussion followed, ami the announcement in the paper 



as received with much approbation. 



12 



