122 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[April. 



purpose, and that my remarks, Uiougli "cxceeiiingly pleasant, are also 

 confoundedly caustic, original willial, and full of matter." This is 

 certainly encouraging, and holds out to me the hope that the continual 

 drippings of my pen may in time make imprf ssion somewhere, and 

 wear away some of the prejudices against which they are directed. 

 Inveterate errors — errors, moreover of a Ttspictabtt kind, and sanc- 

 tioned hy what passes with the world for paramount authority in all 

 such matters — are not to be exploded in a day, but are rather to be 

 vvoni away by constant tiling. The great thing to be accomplished, if 

 we would advance architecture, is to diffuse a taste for it among the 

 public. For this no stone should be left unturned ; nevertheless, it is 

 precisely the very point which is never taken into consideration at 

 all. And why ? because none, be they either individuals or societies, 

 feel their o»u immediate interests concerned in it. It is all very well 

 to string together a parcel of pompous words and jdirases about en- 

 couragement of art. But it is all moonshine — all gaumion! for it has 

 not even the poor merit of sincerity, being no less hollow that it is 

 shallow. 



V'll. Professor Hosking does not hit the right nail on th<^ head, 

 when he lays so nnuh stress upon the importance of practical know- 

 ledge. Al any rate, as far as architecture is concerned, it is nut there 

 that our deficiency is most apparent. Not a few buildings might be 

 enumerated which, though perfectly irreproachable in respect to con- 

 struction, are altogether unsatisfactory, absolute nullities and naught, if 

 we consider them as productions of art — and were we not to allow 

 them to be such, their authors would be ready to Cardigan us. There 

 are people, nay, professional ones, who affect to hold all that belongs i 

 to taste — to the asthetical part of architecture, as matter of indifference. 

 Possibly they may be sincere — the greater probability is that they are 

 not; but if they are both sincere and consistent, with what utter scorn 

 must they look upon — as what arrant rubbish must they regard, nearly 

 all that has been written upon architecture, -.vhether by Vitruvianists 

 or Palladianists, by Greeks or Anti-Greeks, by Goths or Anti-Goths. 

 How must they in their hearts despise all the vvordy strife and conten- 

 tious babblings and g ibblings with which some square miles of paper 

 have been covered ! 



CHEETHAM CHURCH, &c. 



Sir — It is to be hoped that the example set by your correspondent 

 who has furr.ished the account of the church at Cheelham will bo fol- 

 lowed by others ; for similar descriptions of buildings lately erected or 

 in progress in different parts of the country, would prove valuable 

 information, if only as directing inquiry to what is deserving notice. 

 And since architects themselves are, it seems, very backward in com- 

 municating intelligence of the kind, all the more desirable is it that it 

 should be volunteered by other parties, istill, though the description 

 here mentioned is sufficiently full and satisfactorv upon the whole, the 

 writer has omitted to state the dimensions of the building, to which 

 he might have helped us by some sort of calculation in round numbers, 

 though he might not be able to tell the precise admeasurements. 

 Neither would it have been amiss had he informed us at what time 

 the church was began and completed, for both dates and dimensions 

 are rather important items in all architectural descriptions, (juite as 

 much so as that of cost, which last, however, seems to be invariably 

 the uppermost consideration of all with Mister John Bull. 



While I thank the writer for his communication, I must say there 

 is one expression which I think he had better have left out, for I can 

 really perceive no modesty whatever in his affecting to call himself 

 "an incompetent person," at the very same time tliat he adds "archi- 

 tect " to his name ; for unless it plainly appears to the coutrary, it 

 may be presumed that a professional man is tolerably competent to 

 draw up an architectural descriptiou. 



H.'s strictures on the " Banks," &c., at Liverpool, contain so much 

 sound criticism, and are written with such spirit and ability, that I 

 sincerely hope you will be able to prevail upon him to extend his ob- 

 servations to other buildings in that town. If he choose to do so, he 

 might probably be able to make some communication relative to the 

 intended "Assize Courts," and "St. George's Hall," both which 

 almost seem to be abandoned, at least for the present. It is, there- 

 fore, desirable to know why so much fuss should have been made at 

 all, if nothing is to come of it. 



Vou will think that I am going to review nearly all the articles in 

 your last number, still, J must be allowed to say a word en jiassaiU to 

 Mr. East, and without expressing my opinion on his paper generally, 

 jbscrve that it would have been not at all less to the purpose, had it 

 pecitied a few of Camjibeirs works, and instanced in them those 

 ,«eculiarities w liich he notices. He might, too, at the same time, have 



enlightened such blockheads as Candidus and mvself, by pointing out 

 in what buildings or designs of Palladio's we are to 'discover that 

 "grand simplicity and rich excellence"— mum /tnca/js .'—which he 

 claims for him. I have spent lialf a dav in looking over a set of his 

 works, yet, hang me if I can find out any' thing of the kind in anv one 

 of them. Mr. East will, perhaps, say that then I fairly deserve to be 



hanged without benefit of clergy. I'am, therefore, resolved to hang 



no, I don't mean to hang myself, but to suspend— my pen for the 



present, 



I remain, &c. &c., 



JoBN Croker. 



ON THE CURVATURE OF THE ARCHES OF THE 

 BRIDGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY. 



SiK — In looking over some old plans, I fell in with my solution u 

 the curvature of the arches of the bridge of the Holy Trinity at 

 Florence, as far back as January, 182G. I was induced to attempt 

 jhis solution in consequence of a paper published in the Quaterly 

 journal of Science, edited at the Royal Institution, by Samuel Ware, 

 £sq., April, 1S"23, Vol. 15, at the same time having a bridge to erect 

 ver the College River, where the situation required a bridge of 

 s milar construction. 



" ON THE CtraVATURE OF THE ARCHES OF THE BRIDGE OF THE HOLY 

 TRINITY AT FLORENCE. I3V SAMUEL WARE, ESQ. 



"To determine the curvature of the arches of the Most Holy 

 Trinity, erected over the Arno at Florence, by Baitolommeo Ammanati, 

 is a problem which still occupies the attention of antiquaries, mathe- 

 maticians and architects. Some account of the interest this question 

 has excited will be found in Ferroni's tract, entitled ' Delia vera curva 

 degli archi del Ponte a S. Trinita di Firenze ; discorso geometrico- 

 storico,' inserted in the 11th vol. of the 'Transactions of the Societa 

 Italiana delle Scienze. 



" When it is observed that the curvature of these arches affords the 

 flattest roadway and the greatest waterway, with the smallest quantity 

 of material, of any stone bridge ever constructed ; and taking into 

 consideration that cast iron is ten times stronger than marble, and 

 twelve times stronger than common stone in compression, and that the 

 vault of this bridge is less in depth from intrados to the extrados than 

 any iron bridge hitherto built, with relation to the radius of cun-ature 

 atthe vertex, we shall not wonder that the inquiry should be con- 

 tinued until a satisfactory solution be obtained." 



The annexed construction gives every ordinate to an extreme exact- 

 ness when executed with accuracy, as shown by the figures in the 

 annexed diagram. Also the chord of the smaller arch of 45' 16' A" 



