1841.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



11 



for themselves beforehand, instead of allowing the competitors to have 

 been guided as to it, by their own judgment. Had that been done the 

 maiority of them, we conceive, vvould have made their central area 

 covered in, — nnless deterred, perhaps, by the apprehension that it 

 would be rejected as a new-fangled idea — an impertinent attempt to 

 improve upon the former edifice. 



The comments in the "Companion" on the Reform Club-house, 

 will be best understood by referring to the ground-plan of that build- 

 ing, given in our last number; from which it will be apparent that by 

 insulating the columns in the coffee-room, and placing them at some 

 distance from the piers to wdiich they are now attached, four colon- 

 nades or screens might have been formed with the same number of 

 columns as at present. This would certainly have been attended with 

 greater richness of effect, nor can we suppose that it escaped the 

 architect himself; but it may possibly have been objected by the 

 members themselves as tending to divide oft' the room too much, and 

 to diminish its apparent spaciousness and extent. Yet — supposing 

 this last notion to have been entertained, we consider it an erroneous 

 one ; for the appearance of extent would have been rather increased 

 than at all diminished, by having a vista through a succession of spaces, 

 one beyond the other — which would certainly have been more novel 

 in character than the plan now adopted. 



Of the new Church at Lee, Blackheath, which forms the subject of 

 one of the cuts, a tolerably full account is here given, and it is spoken 

 of as being greatly above the average quality of modern churches. 

 Two circumstances are \mdoubtedly very much in its favour; one is 

 that it has no side galleries ; the other, that all the windows are filled 

 with stained glass, "whereby a very unusual degree of richness and so- 

 lemnity is imparted to the wliole interior, so very ditt"erent from that raw 

 and garish, and we might almost say, 'worldly,' every-day light which 

 prevails in the generality of our chuiches. These windows have been 

 executed by Mr. Wailes of Newcastle, an artist who has here given 

 proof of his study of ancient examples of the kind, particularly in the 

 east window or windows, whicli have none of the gaudy, theatrical 

 glare that is so offensive to good taste in many modern specimens of 

 painted glass." Another specimen of superior design, here exhibited 

 in an outline wood- cut, is the Catholic Chapel at Bury Lancashire, by 

 Mr. J. Harper of York. The west front, which is the only part shown 

 in the cut, displays exceedingly good taste, the design being composed 

 of few features, but those well treated, and made the most of, so that 

 there is, with much simplicity, a more than ordinary degree of rich- 

 ness, and boldness also. The octagon tower springing out above the 

 gable, may be styled a novelty, although we believe that precedent 

 may be found for it. 



The Derby Arboretum, where Jlr. E. B. Lamb was employed as the 

 architect, and Mr. Loudon to lay out the grounds, is here noticed with 

 deserved commendation, and as an instance of beneficially applied 

 public spirit, on the part of its liberal founder Mr. Joseph Strutt, who 

 seems to have very different notions of munificence from the late Sir 

 John Soane. We hope that Mr. Strutt's noble example will not be 

 lost upon others; for we are of opinion that public gardens and pro- 

 menades of the kind are calculated to have a beneficial moral influence 

 on the population of our towns. With this remark we take our leave 

 of this new volume of the " Companion," which requires no farther 

 recommendation from us than what we have already bestowed on its 

 predecessors. 



Schinkel : Werkeder Hiiheren Baiikiinsl. Ente Lei f trim g. Potsdam, 

 1840. 



It is somewhat premature to express any decided oinnion as to this 

 new and more costly series of designs by Schinkel, as this first Leifer- 

 ung of the work contains only a portion of those for King Otho's 

 Palace at Athens, nor does it comprise any letter-press. Still we are 

 fain to make some remarks ad interim, both in respect to the general 

 character of the publication, and the subject of the plates that have 

 already appeared. It announces itself at first sight as an architectural 

 Prachtiotrk, and may therefore recommend itself all the more to some 

 by its expansive size ; but to many, we conceive, not only its size, but 

 its shape will be objectionable, the form like that of the author's 

 former series being an oblong folio, and this wdien opened extends to 

 six feet I whereas had the upright form been adopted it would have 

 opened only four feet. As regards the substance of the work, this is 

 a matter of perfect indifference, yet it is a circumstance of consider- 

 able importance as regards its usefulness, because volumes of such 

 ungainly dimensions and proportions are anything but convenient for 

 reference, however well they may be adapted for occasional display ; 

 and at all events there was no occasion to enhance the inconvenience 



of size, by adopting the oblong shape, which last renders the work 

 almost unfit for binding. 



Whether many of the subjects are such as absolutely to demand 

 plates of so large a size, we cannot at present tell. Probably there 

 may be some interiors on a very large scale, but the subjects' in the 

 Ld/erutig before us, might have been just as well shown in plates of 

 half the dimensions. For instance, the first plate exhibits a general 

 elevation of the design for the palace on the Acropolis at Athens, and 

 a section of the rock itself; but the buildings are on so small a scale that 

 the whole of them do not occapy a space exceeding 20 inches in length 

 by 4 in height, consequently a plate of half the size would have been 

 ample enough. Besides, as the whole consists not of one uniform com- 

 position but of distinct ranges of building united together, the separate 

 parts of the group might have been shown more advantageously on a 

 much larger scale in one plate, by placing them one over the other, as 

 is done in in the plate of the two sections. Unlike those in the ' Enl- 

 iDiir/e,' the elevation and the two sections are here shaded, and the 

 former is coloured also ; which we certainly do not think is any im- 

 provement upon the first work, for besides that the scale of the draw- 

 ings is so small that shadowing renders their details indistinct S 

 the elevation alluded to — which gives that of the remains of the 

 Parthenon as seen before a part of the palace, consists of so many 

 planes that pictorial effect is entirely out of the question, the wdiole 

 having too much the appearance of a jumble. Neither is the 

 colouring well executed in itself, being poor and washy, while the 

 shadows are almost of a violet hue. Another circumstance which 

 produces a more singular than agreeable effect, is that instead of 

 being projected at an angle of 45 degrees, the horizontal shadows 

 are so exceedingly broad that those of the cornices, notwithstanding 

 that the latter have very little [jrojection, extend to the lower facia of 

 tlie architraves ; which at first gives the idea of an unusually projecting 

 roof. Colouring should, in our opinion, have been reserved for the 

 perspective views and interiors. 'There is a larger outline elevation of 

 one portion of the design, namely, of the I'acade of the Chapel at the 

 south-west angle of the Palace, which enables us to judge of its style 

 and details. It consists of a Corinthian monoprostyle, tetrastyle, pro- 

 jecting from the wider and loftier body of the Chapel, which like the 

 portico itself is crowned by a pediment, and both pediments are en- 

 riched with sculpture. As there is only a lofty doorway within the 

 prostyle, and the parts on either side of the latter are unbroken by 

 windows, there is sufficient repose, and the advancing portico serves 

 to give play to the composition. Yet if so far we are well satisfied 

 with this elevation, there are other circumstances in it which are 

 decidedly objectionable, the principal one of which is that though it is 

 placed upon a lofty stylobate or platform, the ascent to the portico is 

 by a narrow flight of steps in front, not exceeding the width of the 

 centre intercolumn and the pillars forming it. Even in perspective 

 the effect must be rather poor, and as shown in elevation it is cpiite 

 disagreeable. Though their mouldings are sculptured, the cornices 

 of the two entablatures are meagre in their profiles, — not at all distin- 

 guishable from Ionic; neither are the capitals marked by much of 

 Corinthian luxuriance. We must confess that we are a good deal 

 disappointed in the design generally, as here shown ; for it does not 

 realize the expectations we had formed of it, from what has been said 

 on the subject of it by tjuast, and the reviewer of his book, in the 35th 

 Number of the Foreign Quarterly. 



The combitition (if Coals and the prevention of Smoke chemically and 



practically considered. By C. W. Williams. Part the First. 



Liverpool, Thos. Bean. London, J. Weale. 



The object of this treatise is to show, on chemical principles, what 

 errors are usually committed in the mode of burning coal in the fur- 

 naces of steam-boilers, and by wdiat means the combustion of that fuel 

 may be rendered the most perfect possible, and the formation of 

 smoke effectually prevented. The style of the work is far from con- 

 cise, yet, as the views therein set forth are based on sound principles, 

 and their application (if found to be practicable, as asserted by the 

 author) must be attended with great benefit, particularly to steam 

 navigation, we confidently recommend it to the notice of steam engi- 

 neers and others, to whom economy of fuel, and consequently the 

 perfect combustion of coal, on the large scale of the furnace, is an 

 object, being assured that the information gained will compensate for 

 the labour of the perusal, although we think it might, with great ad- 

 vantage, have been condensed into one half of its present volume, if 

 not less. 



The author insists, with good reason, on the importance of attending 

 to the chemical constitution of the fuel, and to the processes ndiich 

 go on, and the combinations which take place in the furnace during 



