372 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[NOVKMBER, 



must be borne in minil, tliat no mure is attempted than to show a 

 principle; — all illustration being consequent upon, and not connected 

 with it : — the present attempt beine; solely to establish a claim to criti- 

 cism, and not to dilate upon what it would be premature to consider, 

 when attitude itself is merely subsidiary. 



Space prevents further pursuance of a subject which would lead us 

 away from attitude, to proportion, the questionable nature of which it 

 •was designed to sketcli. Not wishing however to intrude fnrtlier be- 

 fore the reader, the conclusion is reserved. However humbly these 

 liints are delivered, or however feebly they may have been conceived, 

 the writer knows that nature is adequate to the profoumlest investi- 

 gations, supplying as she does to every art the truest and the wisest 

 rules, and that the more closely we adhere to her unchangeable maxims, 

 the more dignified do we rise as artists, and as lovers of truth. He 

 Isnows also tliat unless an art be cajiable of charming the senses, or of 

 enriching, or of delighting the imagination, and can support its claims 

 to such power, it is only a mockery of commendation to say that its 

 compositions are governed by the most exact rules, and hence it is 

 only a mockery to criticize: — " ars enim, cum a natiird pro/ecla sil, 

 nisi naturam moveat «c deleckt, nihil sajte egrissi vicklur:" — Cic.de 

 oratore. 



'Frederick East. 



Ocfohcr, 1941, 



ENGINEERING WORKS OF THE ANCIENTS, No. 10. 



The present paper, which will be devoted to the Latin authors, will 

 conclude this series, which, although far from being complete, is ex- 

 tensive enough to show that much may be done to illustrate the anti- 

 quities of engineering. C. J. Cecsar is the first author who comes 

 before us, and in him we find nothing except an allusion (o the mining 

 skill of the Gauls, and an account, in Book 4, ch. IS, of the bridge he 

 threw over the Rhine. In Salliist we find absolutely nothing. From 

 Livy the gleanings are but few, an allusion to the works of the Tar- 

 quins in the first book; in the ninth book a statement that Appius 

 Claudius Censor executed the Claudian aqueduct and Appian wav ; 

 in book I3i), a similar mention of C. Flaminius; in the 100th book, 

 which is lost, there was an account of the drainage of the Pontine 

 Biarshes. Qnintus Curtius, in his -Ith Book, ch. 2, has a long account 

 of the siege of Tyre, and in Book 5, ch. 2, a description of Babylon. 

 From Paterculus we liave not been able to gain any thing, and Vitru- 

 vius we have left to the architects. 



PLINY. 



Pliny the Elder, who died A.D. 79, is to us one of the most inte- 

 resting writers, fur including in his work every department of the 

 organic and inorganic world, we could scarcely fail to discover some- 

 thing of his value. We had occasion, however, last month to refer, 

 in the review of Mr. Aikiu's work, to some of Pliny's remarks on 

 briclts, so that we are precluded from now giving them ; the mining 

 portion, we have also felt it necessary to exclude 



BUILDINGS IN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRIES. 



Pliny Book 2, ch. 82, recommends several modes of construction as 

 calculated to resist the effects cf earthquakes; he says that in some 

 cases deep wells are advantageous, as they allow the dangerous gases 

 to escape ; that in some towns where there are many underground 

 sewers, earthquakes are less felt; and that building on piles is ex- 

 tremely effective, as was to be observed in Naples, where the most 

 solid part of the town is that which has sufl'ered must. Brick walls, 

 lie also thinks, are less injured than others. 



TU.SCANS — ISTUMUS, &C. 



In the 3rd Book, ch. l(j, our author says that the Tuscans were the 

 first to begin the canal system of the Po, by improving the .Sagis. In 

 Book 4, ch. 4, it is mentioned that King Demetrius, and the Emperors 

 Julius Caesar, Caius and Domitins Nero tried to cut a canal through 

 the isthnuis of Corinth but failed. In Book 31, ch. 3, is given a long 

 treatise on wells, and chap. G, on conduits. 



INVENTORS. 



Euryalus and Ilyperbius, two brethren at Athens, caused the first 

 brick and tile kilns, yea and houses thereof to be made in Greece. 

 Gellius is of opiiuon that Doxius, the son of Ccelus, invented the first 

 bouses that were made of earth and clay, taking his patterns from 

 swallows and martens' nests. Cingra the son uf Agriupa, first devised 

 tiling and slating houses, as also found out the brass mines, both in the 

 island of Cyprus, he also invented pincers, hammers, levers, and the 

 anvil. Danaus sank the first wells in Greece at Argos. Cadmus 

 at Thebes found out stone quarries first. Thraso was the first builder 

 of town walls, towers and fortresses, according to some, but according 



to others the Cyclojis and Tyrinthians. Lydus, the Scythi.m, or Dclas 

 the Phrygian, taught the art of casting and melting brass, and of tem- 

 pering it, and the Chalypes or the Cyclops invented the forge and 

 furnace for brass. Erichtlionius or^Eacus discovered the silver mines 

 of Attica, and Cadmus, the Phenician, the gold mines of Mount Pan- 

 giEus, and the mode of working and melting that metal, although by 

 some it is attributed to Thoas and jEaclis in I'ancliaia, or to Sol the 

 son of Ocean. Midacritus was the first who brought lead (query tin) 

 from the island Cassiteris. The iron-smith's forge was first invented 

 by the Cyclops. Cora;bus, an Athenian, taught the art of casting 

 earthen vessels in moulds. The weaver's spindle was invented by 

 Closter, son of Arachne ; the potter's wheel by Anacliarsis the 

 Scythian, or Hyperbios the Corinthian; carpentry, and carpenter's 

 tools, as the saw, chipaxe, plane, hatchet, plumb-line, augre, gimlet, as 

 also glue byDedalus; and the rule and square, the level, the lathe 

 and the key by Theodore the Samian. Pyrodes, son ofCilix, found 

 out the way of striking fire from flnits, and Prometheus the means of 

 keeping it in a wick of thejtrnla or giant fennel stalk. Instruments 

 of warfare and vessels of war owed their origin to many liands, but to 

 the Syrians is attributed the catapult, to the Phenicians tlie balista, 

 and to Epeus at Troy the ram. (Book 7, chap. 50.; 



METALS. 



In the 33rd book Pliny begins his discourse on metals, minerals and 

 mining, this is continued in the 34th. 



CEMENTS, BRICKS, &C. 



It is in the 35th book that our author discusses the subject of 

 pottery. He says that a means had been found out to make a strong 

 kind of mortar or cement with the broken sherds of potters, if the 

 same be gro\ind into powder and tempered with lime, this is called 

 Signina, and durable pavements are made in the same way. Puzzo- 

 lana is next described, and other earths used for hydraulic cements as 

 those of Cyzicum, Cassandria, Gnidos, Aulis, the Nile, &c. After- 

 wards came the several kinds of mud walls, pisee work, rubble, &c., 

 and the several forms of bricks. 



The 35th Book is descriptive of stones, marbles, &c., where it is 

 said that Ethiopian and Indian sand was used in cutting marble. This 

 Book also treats upon limes, mortars and pavements. 



In thus concluding our labours on this subject, we trust that we may 

 indulge a hope that we have not laboured in vain; it was our en- 

 deavour to show that engineering was no art or science of to-day, but 

 one of the remotest antiquity, long practised and long honoured, and 

 if in so doing we have in degree vindicated the claims of the engi- 

 neering profession to distinction, we shall consider onr exertions fully 

 repaid. We may say with truth, that however trifling the result, 

 they have cost us much research, long time, and the perusal of many 

 volumes, which, as they rarely come under the student's inspection, 

 so has he little time to devote to their perusal. ' 



A NEW SAFETY VALVE. 



Sir — If you consider the following worthy of insertion, you would 

 much oblige by giving it a corner in your valuable Journal. It being 

 well known that a compound bar of steel and brass will, on account of 

 their diirerent rates of expansion, assume a curved form on the appli- 

 cation of heat, which property I propose to ap|)ly to a new safety- 

 valve by the following means: — I would place such a compound bar 

 in a curved form into a cylinder open at each end, having four arms 

 radiating to its centre through which passes a rod fixed to the cylinder, 

 and which carries at the other end a circular plate moving steam 

 tight, of a fixed plate perforated with two or three holes for the es- 

 cape uf steam. Then the bar being set, so that the apertures in the 

 fixed plate shall be covered at the proper working pressure of the 

 steam, then if the temper.iture should by any means be raised, tlie 

 bar will inniieuiately cause the rod to turn and open the va\\ e. 



There are many mechanical details that are not mentioned, wishing 

 only to set forth the principle. 



I am. Sir, 



ISIh Oct. &c. Sec. 



Funnel. 



f'ininn. — -'The Auslridn governmenl.'' says a letter from Viiuiia of the 

 IGih of September, •• has foimed die gigantic plan oi builiiuig at die eastern 

 extremity . f this capital, on ground nhiih is wholly unprial.iclivc, a new 

 town, capable ol contaiiiiiu; 50.0LO inhabianla, and which is to be nrovided 

 at llip outset vilh all ilie re,,iiisilc ureal public buildings, such as churchis, 

 residence ot the jjovernur, court of justice, exthange. iheaircs. museum, &c. 

 This town is to be called •' l-'erdinaml lailt." 'llic jilans are already made 

 by the t'lievalier l'"orster. arcbiloct ol the Cdurt, \ilio beluri Iiettibmits ibem 

 lo the gnveninient. intends to communicate diem to the principal academies 

 of tile line arts in Europe, with a reijucsi lo give llieir opiuion." 



