98 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



ROYAL INSTITUTE Of AKCUITECTS OF IRELAND. 



ADDRESS TO SIR RICHARD MORRISON. 



In a recent mmiber of the Afail we noticed with pride and satisfaction the 

 honour so desenedly conferred ou our eminent countryman. Sir I'.ichard 

 Morrison, by the representati\e of our most gracious Sovereign. It is no 

 small addition to our pleasure to lay before our readers, in tliis day's publi- 

 cation, the honoural)Ie testimony of the satisfaction which that ait of royal 

 munificence has given to a body of gentlemen wl'.o. of all others, arc best 

 qualified to appreciate the value of the distinction, and to estimate the merits 

 of the individual who has been thus selected for the rewards of her .Majesty's 

 favours. 



But it is not alone as a favour to Sir RIcliard Morrison that this honour is 

 to be considered. It is an honour conferred, in his person, on the no!)!e art 

 which, with such credit to himself, and benefit to the public, he has success- 

 fully cultivated. The honour due to Sir Richard for his individual merits, 

 was due also to the profession of which he is and has been a distinguished 

 member, and wliich lie has been mainly instrumental in raising to its proper 

 station of dignity and usefulness in this country, by concentiating its genius 

 and its energy in the association from which this address emanates. It has 

 ever been the policy and the practice of the illustrious house, of which her 

 Majesty is no degenerate descendant, to encourage tlie tine arts by such 

 honours on their professors as the State can confer; and, whilst we refer 

 with pleasure to the distinctions conveyed, in their professional capacity, on 

 a Reynolds and Chautrey, it gives us no less pride to find our countrymen — a 

 Shee and a .VIorrison — equally honoured by the distinguishing approval of the 

 Sovereign. 



In this instance, at least, justice to the individual has been "justice to 

 Ireland," honour to Sir Ricliarii Morrison, an honour to his profession. 



The address was presented to Sir Richanl on the oth ult., at his residence 

 in Mount Street, by a distinguished deputation from the body, and read by 

 Johu I'apworth, Esij., the honorary secretary, after the following brief, but 

 well conceived prefatory observations: — 



" Sir Richard Morrison, the duty wliich devolves upon me this day, as 

 secretary to ti.e Royal Institute of the .\rchitects of Irelaud, I feel to be one 

 of an extremely important and interesting nature, whether we consider it 

 with reference ;o our own profession, or to the fine arts in Ireland. I am 

 highly honoured to he the medium througli which the sentiments of our 

 institution are to be conveyed to you, on the occasion of that honourable 

 distinction which has been conferred on you. I am aware my associates 

 around me paiticijiate in the feelings of pleasure wiiich I entertain at this 

 moment. It is unnecessary for me. Sir, to dwell upo:i the circumstance 

 which has brought us together this day, as it is fully expressed in the address 

 which I shall now have the honour to read." — Duiltn Mail. 



SOCIETY OF ARTS FOR SCOTLAND. 

 January 25. — Dr. Fyfe, President, in the Chair. 



Professor Fcrbes gave, at the request of the President and Council, an ex- 

 position of The Doc/rine of I he Polarizalwn of Heat, Ou this evening he 

 proposed to give an account of the instrumental measurement of temperature. 

 This introduction was illustrated by examples of the various instruments in 

 use, from the air thermometer of Sanctorius, to the dehcatethermomultipliers of 

 Kobili and Melloni. In the course of this historical account, he adverted to 

 a recent ingenious improvement of the common flint thermometer, by M. 

 ViUtz, and which, he believed was not yet published : this improvement con- 

 sists in sinking the tube to the depth of two-thirds of its diameter into the 

 material of tlie scale ; by which arrangement the parallax in one direction is 

 compensated by the refraction in another, so that, in all positions of the eye, 

 the degree read off is the same. 



A description of J Self [nking Press was read, illustrated by drawings and 

 working model, by Mr. John Napier, which was remitted to a committee ; 

 and afterwards a short notice of tlie completion of the printing of the whole 

 Bible in relief for the use of the blind, by Jolin Alston, Esq., Rosemount 

 (Glasgow); for which he was congratulated by the Society. 



February 8. — Shirrei-f L'.\my, V. P., in the Chair. 



The President read an interesting account of a series of extensive experi- 

 ments 0)1 the Eiaporoling Power of various kinds of Coal, (including the 

 anthracite), as obtained by combustion in furnaces. The general result of 

 these experiments seemed to be that the practical heating power of all coals 

 is almost exactly in proportion to the quantity of fixed carbon ; there appeai-- 

 ing to be no heat whatever procured from the volatile matter of the coal. 

 This circumstance Dr. Fyfe accounted for by supposing that the hydrogen and 

 volatilized carbon alistract, in passing to the gaseous stale, as much heat as 

 they develop during conibusticn. 



Mr. Sang drew the attention of the Society to an erroneous deduction 

 drawn by the late Capt. Henry Katcr, from his experiments on thefe.rure of 

 bars. Capt. Kater iiad observed that the elongation of the distance between 

 two marks ou the surface of a bar when the bar is supported at the middle, 



is hardly half of tlie co.itractioii caused by supwjrtiug the same bar at the 

 two cads the mere reduction on account of curvature having been allowed 

 for in both cases;. And he had thence concluded that the neutral plane is 

 not, as is usually supposed, in the middle of the thickness of the bar, but 

 only at one-third of that thickness from the convex side. Mr. Sang showed 

 that this result would imply that bodies resist distention with eight 

 times the energy with which they resist compression : and he pointed out that 

 the disparity observed by Capt. Kater is due to the difference of curvatiu-e in 

 the two states of the bar, and that that disp.irity agrees with the deduction 

 of the ordinary theory of flexure. He also pointed out some errors in Capt. 

 Katcr's methods of computation and experimenting which seemed to hiin to 

 destroy all confidence in auy of tliat philosopher's experimental results. 



Royal Victoria Gallery, Manchfster. — A long discussion has taken place at 

 this institution upon Mr. Palmer's plan for the improvement of the Mersey 

 and Invell Navigation. In this discussion Mr. Radford, Mr. Hawkshaw, Mr. 

 Buck and other eminent engineers took part ; it is, however, reported at too 

 great length to .allow us to notice it this mouth. We are glad to see so 

 much interest taken in engineering in that part of the country, and we should 

 like to see Institutes at Manchester and Newcastle. The architects have 

 already an Institute at .Manchester, and the engineers sh.ould not be outdone. 



Royal Scotch Academy. (From an Edinburgh Correspondent.) — This exhi- 

 bition is now open, and it is an admirable one; the progress which is being 

 made in art in this country is very satisfactory. There are few architectural 

 designs, which is not to be wondered at, as the accommodation for drawings 

 is miserable, every thing being s.acrificed for oil paintings, the veriest daub in 

 oil having a better jilace than a chef d'a!uvre in water colour. We are even 

 worse oft" in this respect than you are in London, inasmuch as th.e little room 

 given to our architecture and w.ater colours is further curtailed by the intro- 

 duction of the sculpture ! the sjiecimens of which, vrith the exception of the 

 works, by members or associates of our .\caderay. are in most instances 

 below criticism. Our Associations or " .\rt Unions " are reported to have 

 larger funds this year than last, so that S or 9000 pounds will probably be 

 spent in art this year. The last sum must be nearer the truth if general report 

 may be depended on. 



EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIMENT. 



An experiment was tried on Saturday, 20lh ult., of one of the 

 inventions to which we alluded last autumn, which a friend on whom 

 we have reliance had an opportunity of witnessing. The trial took 

 place in tlie grounds of Mr. Boyd, in the county of Essex, a few miles 

 from town, in tlie presence of Sir Robert Pee!, Sir George Murray, Sir 

 Henry Hardinge, Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Ingestrie, Colonel Gurwood, 

 Captain Britten, Captain Webster, and some other gentlemen, who all 

 appeared very much astonished at what they saw. Bv the kindness 

 of the inventor our informant occupied a position that enabled him to 

 command a view of all that took place. A boat 2-t feet long and 7 

 broad was placed in a large sheet of \\ater, the boat had been the day 

 before filled in with solid timber, four-and-a-lialf feet in depth, crossed 

 in every direction, and clamped together with eight inch spike nails. 

 This filling in was made under the inspection of Captain Britten, who 

 stated tlie fact to the distinguished gentlemen we have mentioned, and 

 also that the inventor never went near the workmen employed, that 

 no suspicion miglit be entertained of any combustible materials being 

 lodged in the hold of the vessel. Several of the gentlemen were on 

 Saturday rowed in a punt to the vessel, and examined fur theniselve.«, 

 so that every doubt might be removed as to the cause of destruction 

 being external, and not from tlie springing of any mine. When the 

 diiferent parties had taken up their positions, on a signal from the in- 

 ventor, the boat \v:is set in motion, and struck just abaft her starboard 

 bow, and instantaneously scattered into a thousand fragments. At the 

 moment of collision the water parted, and presented to the eye of our 

 informant the appearance of a huge bowl, while upon its troubled sur- 

 face he noticed a coruscation precisely resembling forked lightning. 

 A column of water was lifted up in the air like a huge fountain, from 

 which were projecteil upwards for many hundred feet the shattered 

 fragments of the vessel, wliich fell many of them several hundred yards' 

 distance in tlie adjacent fields. Our informant examined maiiy piece.s, 

 and found the huge nails snapped like carrots; the mast looked like a 

 tree riven by lightning, and never before, as he assures us, his he wit- 

 nessed so sudden and complete a destruction, thoogh he has seen shell 

 and rocket practice on the largest scale. Such seemed to be the un- 

 animous opinion of all present. How this mighty effect was produced 

 vvas of course not disclosed to so numerous a party, but two nival offi- 

 cers present were perfectly aware of the mode of operation, mid the 



