1841.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



tliero may l)e considered as 48°. With that supposition, the distance sunk 

 for eacli degree of Fahrenlieit would be as below : — 



In the rock pit 32 yards. 



Havdock coal pit 20 ,, 



Broad Oak pit S.V/l ,„ . 



■ ,. . ^32-j „ =mean. 



Pendleton pit (shaft). . 23-2 1 



23-7 ^23-2 „ =mean. 

 22-8 J 

 Ditto (in workings) 27-1 1.,..^ „ =mean. 



The mean from the whole being 27 yards for eacli degree of temperatme. 



The President remarked, that Mr. Ilodgkinson's results gave the rate of 

 increase of temperature greater near the surface, and then decreasing, which 

 did not agree with the results of other observers : this, he conceived, arose 

 from nearly the same cause as that already remarked upon when Mr. Fox's 

 report was under consideration. Mr. llodgkiuson commenced to reckon his 

 descents or depths, not from the surface, but from the plane of invariable 

 temperature, which in these latitudes was not far from CO feet. — Prof Forbes 

 illustrated simply by a diagram how this caused the rate of increase at first 

 to be too high, and then to diminisli. He then alluded to the frozen soil of 

 Siberia, gave a description of it, and said, that it had been sunk through to a 

 depth of 382 feet without being penetrated — that is, without reaching a 

 temperature of 32°, although the temperature of the surface was not below 

 18°. In this case, the rate of increase was rapid. 



" On the Tpiuperatui'c and Conducting Power of different Strata" Prof. 

 Forbes's Report. 



In this report, he wished to give the results of the observations made at 

 Edinburgh during the year 1839, upon thermometers sinik at depths of 3, 6, 

 12, and 24 French feet into trap rock, pure loose sand, and sandstone. The 

 details for the years 1837 and 1838 were already laid l}efore the British As- 

 sociation at Birmingham. In order to render the report of the results for 

 1839 intelligible, Prof. Forlies went over nearly the same explanatory matter 

 as that whicli is already published in the report referred to. He then ex- 

 hibited the curves derived from the three years' observations, remarked upon 

 their wonderful agreement, and gave, in a tabular form, the results for the 

 three years, which were as follows : 



Values of .\ (.\ being the constant in the formvda given in the report 

 referred to). 

 In trap. lu sand. In sandstone. 



For 1837 1164 11 76 1076 



1838 1173 1-217 1-114 



1839 1-086 1-182 1-049 



Values of B (the other constant). 



In trap. In sand. In sandstone. 



For 1837 •0543 -0440 -0310 



1838 -0641 -0517 -0345 



1839 -0516 -0498 -0.305 



Variation reduced to 0-01° Centigrade. 



In trap. In sand. In sandstone. 

 For 1837 58.1 feet 72-2 feet 27-3 feet. 



1838 49-3 61-8 91 



1839 59-2 63-5 100 



Velocity of propagation for one foot of depth. 



In trap. In sand. In sandstone. 



For 1837 75 days 71 days 4-9 



1838 6-8 .' 6-8 36 



1839 7-8 7-2 46 



" Obaerimtions on the Tides in the Harbour of Otasffow, and the velocity of 

 the Tidal Wave, in the estuary of the river Clyde, between Glasgow and Port 

 Glasgow." By WilUam Bald. 



Mr. Bald stated that he had been for a considerable time past engaged in 

 making observations on the rise and fall of the tides in the harbour of Glas- 

 gow. The first series of observations was commenced on the 2Gtii of April 

 1839, and extended to the 1st of October 1 839, and contain 158 observations 

 of the rise and fall of the tides. The first portion of these observations were 

 only made during the day, and did not extend to the night tides. These 158 

 observations assigned the mean rise and fall of tide in the harbour of Glas- 

 gow, to be 6 ft. 7 in. 20d.* The number of tide observations made from the 

 1st of October 1839 to the 27th August, amounts to more than 1,200. These 

 also had been tabulated and divided into months, but such of the tides as 

 have been much disturbed by floods Mr. Bald had rejected. By reference to 

 the table exhibited for October 1839, the first Une stated from the 1st of 

 October to the 7th of October, number of tides 13 ; mean rise and fall of 

 these 13 tides was stated to he 6 feet 5 inches ; the mean low water of these 

 13 tides below top of South Quay wall in the harbour of Glasgow, was 15 ft. 

 81 in., the mean high water below top of South Quay wall, 9ft. 3 Jin. ; and 

 the mean half-tide level below top of South Quay wall, 12 ft. 6 in. The 

 table showed the number of tides for new moon, first quarter, full moon, and 



• Smeaton, in his report on the River Clyde, dated the 3rd September 1755, 

 states the neap tides as_only being sensible at Glasgow Bridge. 



last quarter ; the total number of tides for each month, the mean rise and 

 fall of tide per month, the mean low water below top of South Quay wall, 

 mean high water Ijelow top of South Quay wall, and mean half-tide level 

 below top of South Quay wall per month. The mean rise and fall of these 

 1213 tides assigns an average of 6 ft. 8 in. 98d. : and the first series of 158 

 tides assign a mean rise ami fall of 6 ft. 7 in. 20d. It also appeared from 

 other tables and observations, that the tidal wave runs from Port Glasgow to 

 Bowling, at a rate or velocity of 14-56 miles per hour ; from Bowling Bay to 

 Clyde Bank, at a rate of only (i-H2 miles per hour ; but from Clyde Bank to 

 Glasgow Harbour at a rate of 10-85 miles per hour. The diminished velocity 

 between Bowling Bay and Clyde Bank arises from the channel of the river 

 being more crooked in that part than any other portion, thereby showing the 

 great necessity of straightening and improving it. 



ROYAL INSTITUTF: of BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 

 Monday, Dec. 7. 



The first meeting of the Session was held this evening, the President Earl 

 De Grey, in the chair. His Lordship in taking a short view of the arrange- 

 ments proposed for the opening session, congratulated the members upon the 

 prospects before them, and upon the increasing prosperity of the Association. 



-V paper was read upon some of the characteristics of the " Gothique 

 flamboyant," from the pen of Professor Willis, honorary member. The pe- 

 culiarity to which the Professor chiefly referred, was the complicated manner 

 in which the mouldings and members are made to cross and interpenetrate 

 in the French Gothic. The system is not unknown in the English perpendi- 

 cular style, but with us it is confined to such cases as arise simply from the 

 juxtaposition of the component parts of the architecture, whereas in the Go- 

 thique flamboyant, new members are unsparingly laid one over another with 

 the express object of producing the most intricate combinations. Some 

 curious exam|)les were exhibited from the Cathedral of Xevers, and other 

 continental buildings. 



Dec. 21. — Charles Barry, Esq., in the Chair. 



M. Duban, of Paris, and Signor Raffaele PoUti, of Girgenti, were elected 

 honorai-y and corresponding members. — The former of these gentlemen is the 

 architect of the New Ecole des Beaux .\rts, at Paris, and is greatly lUstin- 

 guisbed by his knowledge of the French national architecture of the sixteenth 

 century. — Signor Politi is the author of a work on the .\ntiquities of Agri- 

 gentnm, and is well known and highly respected by all English artists who 

 have visited the shores of Sicily in the prosecution of their studies. 



A paper was read on Gothic Vaulting, by Mr. Ferrey, Fellow, exemphfied 

 by a description of St. Katharine's Chapel, at Ahbotshury, in Dorsetshire, a 

 building of the reign of Edward IV., very peculiar both in its design and con- 

 struction, and especially remarkable for its great solidity, which seems to have 

 been dictated by the elevated situation of the building, and its exposure to 

 violent sea storms. The roof, which is a wagon headed vault is of solid ma- 

 sonry, every part affording a like degree of strength, contrary to the ordinary 

 mode of Gothic vaulting, where the ribs alone yield support, the panels being 

 rebated or borne on the back of them. Upon this vaulting is laid a body of 

 rubble, shaped to the angle of the external roof, and upon the rubble the 

 outer covering, consisting of regular masonry, each stone having a level bed, 

 and being therefore secured in a manner totally different from stone tihng. 

 The details of this roof, and of several other Gothic vaults with which Mr. 

 Ferrey compared or contrasted it, taking occasion to introduce many general 

 remarks, were exhibited in numerous drawings, and an attempt to follow the 

 subject, independently of these illustrations, would be an injustice to an ex- 

 cellent practical paper. 



ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY. 



Ordinary .Meeting: I7th Nov., 1840. — Michael Meredith, Esq., in 

 the Chair. 



The Chairman expressed his regret at being obliged to inform the meeting 

 that Mr. PhUlips, who was to have read a paper this evening, had very unex- 

 pectedly been called from I^ondon, and was, in consequence, unable to fulfil 

 his engagement with the Society, and having apologized for Mr. Philip's 

 absence, stated that he had, by special request, brought up, for the inspection 

 of the meeting, drawings to the same scale, from actaal measurement, of 

 three churches built by Sir Christopher Wren, viz., St. Bennett Finck, 

 Threadneedle Street ; St. Bartholomew, Bartholomew Lane, Bank ; and St. 

 James's, Garlick Hill, Doctor's Commons. Also two sketches, being designs 

 for the new painted window, Bishopsgate Church. 



Mr. Meredith made some observations on the system of competition, whicli 

 were well worthy of consideration, and in so doing introduced to the atten- 

 tion of the meeting the designs for the new painted window in Bishopsgate 

 Church, and he finished this portion of his subject by some interesting re- 

 marks on the design and effect of painted windows in general. 



Mr. Meredith also made some observations on the great talent exhibited 

 by Sir Christopher Wren in the designs of the churches introduced tbit, 

 evening, and offered a summary comparison between the churches erected by 

 Sir Christopher Wren in general, and those erected by other architects in 

 and about London. 



