10 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCIIITECrS JOURNAL. 



[Janvaby, 



of (lesicfn will be found to exist. In place of the rows of sin<rle 

 piles driven at a (listaiice from a <lani to which struts and braces 

 are usually carried back, here are introduced buttresses or counter- 

 forts, consistiuji; of cbise-driven rows of whole timber sheot-pilinjj, 

 IB feet in depth, which sprinjf immediately from tlie back row of 

 the main pile slieetiiifr, and occur at intervals of 2,5 feet thnuijihout 

 the work, 'i'lie counterforts are strengthened by tiers of walings, 

 correspomlint; witli tliose in the inner row of the dam, and con- 

 nected with them by stronff wr(Hight-iron angle-plates or knees, 

 as well as by horizontal diagonal struts of whide timber, abutting 

 in cast-iron do\e-tailed sockets. IJy this arrangement, those por- 

 tions of the dam included between the counterforts derive the full 

 benefit of the strength of the latter, so that the whole structure 

 may be said to stand virtually on a base equal to 32 feet, or the 

 width of the dam plus the depth of the counterfort. 



It is almost impossible to overrate the success which has at- 

 tended tliis form of construction, for nothing can be more satis- 

 factory than the manner in whicli the cofferdam has resisted the 

 daily pressure of the water for tlie fourteen months since its con- 

 struction, as well as the violence of several severe storms to which 

 it has been exposed during that period. In order, however, to test 

 its stability with the greatest degree of accuracy, the following 

 arrangement was adopted: — Opposite to every fourth counterfort, 

 at some distance from it, was driven a single i)ile, supporting a 

 horizontal arm or index, fixed at the level of high-water si)ring 

 tides; and of which, the extremity, graduated to parts of an inch, 

 rested against the counterfort without being attached to it, so 

 that any motion of the latter might be observed and measured on 

 the graduated scale. The result of these observations was such as 

 to inspire perfect confidence in the stability of the work; for 

 under the pressure of high-water spring tides, the deflection at 

 that level does not exceed half-an-inch. So great is the resisting 

 jiowerof the dam, that even in severe storms the blows of the waves 

 against it are scarcely to be felt. 



November 'iGth, 1849. Adam S.mitii. 



FRENCH EXPOSITION IN LONDON. 



If there were any doubt before as to the public mind being 

 decidedly in favour of exhibitions of arts and manufactures, there 

 can be none now. Events of late have given abundant evidence of 

 tliis determined inclination; and the French Exposition in George- 

 street, Hanover-square, very well finishes the year lbt-9, and is 

 a good step in the progress towards 1S5I. 



We have very lately shown the reasons why a great exhibition 

 there is of less urgeny than in France, and we will only remind 

 our readers tliat in France, or in Prussia, the public being 

 less mechanical, there is a greater attraction in such an exhibition; 

 and manufacturers elsewhere being less advanced, it was the more 

 needful they should be brought forward in such a way, and receive 

 every encouragement from the government and the public. 

 Even Portugal h:is her exhibition of arts and manufictures; and 

 throughout Europe, every energy of the government is strained to 

 foster the slightest branches of industry. In England, our very 

 jirosperity makes us heedless, perhaps neglectful; and the most 

 glorious inventions are unrewarded by the goverimient, and their 

 authors left to tlie mercies of pirates and lawyers for the chance of 

 a subsistence from their labours. M"ith the riches of manufactur- 

 ing genius displayed in our great streets, there was no more call on 

 our governnient to set up an exhibition, than to form a national 

 workshop for supplying the population with wooden shoes. 



For the want of such an institution some excuse may be 

 pleaded; but there can be none that Watt, Trevithick, Wedge- 

 wood, Cartwright, and Stephenson, went down to the grave without 

 sliaring in the honioirs at the disposal of the executive. \\'ith a 

 public triumph awarded to industry in 1S51, an occasion may per- 

 iiaps be taken to consider the claims of inventors. Some share 

 in public honours and rewards may perhaps be given to them; 

 some relief from the heavy patent-tax be awarded; some more 

 rational tribunal tlian one composed of lawyers be instituted 

 for their protection; and some facility be granted for the opera- 

 tions of capital in tlicir behalf. Statues for the dead a grateful 

 posterity may bestow; but bread for the living is not too much to 

 ask of the present generation. 



The institution of a National Exhibition of Arts and Manufac- 

 tures by the French in the time of tlie great revidution, is suf- 

 ficiently known; but it is not so easy to trace the progress of like 



institutions among ourselves. The establishment of the Society 

 of .■Xrts, above a hundred years ago, led to systematic, though 

 restricted, exertions for the development of industry in this 

 country; but their encouragement of inventions and discoveries, 

 no less than their museum of models, was on too small a scale to 

 efl^ect any great good, and in later times it was very partial in its 

 operation. .Vltliough .se))arate exhibitions of individual inventions 

 had lieen from time to time set up in London, we believe the first 

 practical attem)it to organise an exhibition of the industrial arts 

 was al>out the year l(^3i, by Mr. Charles Payne. Tliis exhibition 

 was held in the (dd King's .Mews, before that building was pulled 

 down to make way for the National Gallery. After a very 

 limited existence, the exhibition resulted in the establishment, 

 by Mr. Charles Payne, of tlie Royal Adelaide Gallery for the 

 Advancement of Science; and afterwards, of the Polytechnic Insti- 

 tution, which was organised on a still larger scale, and has been 

 more successful in its operation. 



Elsewhere, one who had rendered such considerable service to 

 he public would not have been forgotten in the disposal of patron- 

 age; and Mr. Payne is, besides, the author of useful inventions for 

 preserving meat and preparing timber, with which it is almost 

 needless to say he has been left to struggle on without a help from 

 public departments, and with all the discouragement incident in 

 this country to those who prosecute useful undertakings. Cer- 

 tainly it was no mean service to establish a museum of economical 

 productions, with working models of new machines, a course of 

 lectures on mechanical inventions, and a laboratory and school of 

 chemistry. The Polytechnic Institution, we have no hesitation 

 in saying, has had a large share in bringing about the present 

 favourable state of public feeling, and in the establishment of 

 many valuable institutions. 



The movement for free museums, twelve years ago, led to better 

 arrangements at Woolwich and the other dockyards, as museums 

 of the mechanical arts. The establishment, at the same time, of 

 schools of design throughout the country, w as a successful measure 

 for the promotion of decorated manufactures. These schools have 

 likewise held their yearly exhibitions of drawings and designs. 



When the Royal Botanic Gardens were formed in the Regent's 

 Park, a museum and exhibitions of economic botany were pro- 

 posed; but little more has been done than to give the impulse to 

 the government gardens at Kew, where a good beginning has been 

 made of a museum. The Museum of Economic Geology is more 

 advanced, but there is still an opening for a Museum of Economic 

 Zoology. The Botanical and Zoological Gardens are open freely 

 to students of the Royal Academy and Schools of Design; but who- 

 ever looks at our designs and compares them with those of the 

 French as shown in Paris, or in London, will see how much we are 

 behind in the study of natural history to what the French are. 

 Indeed, the main strength of their designs is in their intimate ac- 

 quaintance with nature; whereas, our students are still copying 

 from drawings or casts from the antique. 



The operations of the Mechanical Section of the British Associa- 

 tion, and of the exhibitions and model yards of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Association, have resulted in yearly exhibitions, on a 

 limited scale, of economical productions, which have made known 

 the resources of many localities. The branch agricultural associa- 

 tions have extended the influence of such exhibitions. 



The exhibitions by the Society of Arts, in the last few years, of • 

 objects of ornamental manufacture, should not be left out of sight 

 in this enumeration. 



Provincial exhibitions, as that at Birmingham and those for the 

 benefit of mechanics' institutions have, some of them, been on a 

 considerable scale. 



Thus, besides the influence of the press, in urging the example 

 of France, Flanders, Dutchland, and the Mechanics' Fairs of the 

 United States, the public mind has been gradually prepared for a 

 great national e.vhibition, and all the elements of it have been 

 slowly organised. One reason for which we have given this sketch 

 is to show that, so far from the exhibition of 1851 being a rash or 

 doubtful venture, it has every element of success, and that 

 nothing is wanted but a careful and honest administration. It is 

 new, as a whole, but not in its parts; it has been rehearsed piece- 

 meal, and is ready for the stage. The first Paris Exposition, 

 restricted as was its organisation, was an experiment much more 

 dirticult, and much more doubtful. 



In all our colonies, exhibitions similar to those already described 

 exert a like influence, and are equally promotive of effective ar- 

 rangements. 



If, therefore, we look at the machinery we have now in opera- 

 tion, we may feel confident that all will work well; and we have iu 



