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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Januahy, 



trades, but we still want a class of works to answer the purpose of 

 the Manuels Rorets; indeed, had not other occupations prevented 

 ns, we shouhl lonfr since liavo carried out the design we had formed 

 of publisliinf;^ such a soi-ies. 



Chambers's Elementary works go almost as low down as I'innock's 

 in the class for whom tliey provide, and are nearly as extensive in 

 tlieir rang-o of subjects. Altlioush they have made many brandies 

 of knowledere popular, they are rather to be ranked as compilations 

 than as original works. 



M'e have hinted we prefer, as far as possible, works of an oripnal 

 character, rather than simple abstracts of other writings; and do 

 prefer such, because a work of education should be expressly 

 written for the class which it is intended to benefit. The writer, 

 too, must write more with the mind of a student than an author — 

 he must begin as a beginner, and not as a master: and yet that is 

 seldom to be found in any of these elementary works which we 

 have seen. They are rather abridged works of reference, of 

 the class of Maunder's 'Treasuries of Knowledge,' than finished 

 introductions to study. The fear of being tedious, the shame of 

 being tautological, the love of praise, and perhaps the vanity of 

 frippery and fine writing, dazzle and delude the author — and the 

 student is lost sight of. Then, too, one who has learned quickly 

 and well is often a bad master, — to him the manner of teaching and 

 learning is indifferent, for he could learn any way: hut not so with 

 the student. Indeed, too much care cannot be taken in this, 

 which is the right way; whereas now, half the care is thrown away 

 because it is bestowed in the wrong way. 



Mr. Weale's series certainly does not sin under the head of 

 originality, for many of its parts are already standards in their 

 respective branches; and, as with the Penny Cyclopedia, we shall 

 see that a cheap and popular work may well be a good one, and 

 a step in the cause of science. 



We have said so much of elementary works generally, that we 

 have left ourselves but little room for Mr. Weale's individual con- 

 tribution, which is a very useful one. A cheap dictionary of terms 

 was much wanted, for the field of engineering exertion is now so 

 wide, and the two kindred pursuits of architecture and engineering 

 have so many points of contact, that to most people, and particu- 

 larly the public, such a guide was indispensable. The author has 

 many peculiar opportunities for such a compilation, and he has 

 fully availed himself of them, so as to embrace much interesting 

 and valuable matter. If he has been occasionally discursive, he 

 has claimed the privilege befoi'ehand, and has therefore the right 

 to be so. There are many things to bo found which are else- 

 whei-e only to be met with in expensive works. 



A Visit to the United Service Institution. By Lieut. D. B. Shaw, 

 K.S.F. London : Parker and Co., Whitehall. 1850. 



This little brochure should be read after the visitor has once gone 

 over this interesting museum, and, as admission is so easily pro- 

 cured, revisit with this work in his hand, and examine more care- 

 fully the various subjects he treats upon. The author appears to 

 make one of the jiarty visiting the Institution, and points out 

 everything of interest, doing away with the monotony of a cata- 

 logue, as he explains the most rare and curious specimens that are 

 in the museum : the description of the uses of the different arms 

 employed in ancient warfare is most interesting, and those of the 

 South Seas and adjacent countries, together with those of India 

 and China, show that he has made himself familiar with his sub- 

 ject. His descripti<in of the Naval and Military Model rooms are 

 invaluable to the student destined for the profession of arms, as ho 

 points out many useful hints that might otherwise be overlooked. 

 The specimens of Natural History are given to the visitor in order 

 to bring under his notice those animals and reptiles with which 

 some anecdote is attached. The Anti(juities and Ethnological col- 

 lection has been most masterly handled, and the anecdotes con- 

 nected with the different subjects most amusing. The Library, 

 which appears to be the sanctum of the members, seems replete 

 with every work connected with the services. 



The author's object has been to arouse the lethargic Bpirit which 

 appears to pervade tlie services, and, as he truly states that this is 

 tlie only Institution belonging to them, he calls upon those officers 

 who compose her Majesty s service, to rally round it as a standard, 

 and give it that sujjport it ought so deservedly get from the pro- 

 fession. 



SIR ISAMBERT MARC BRUNEL. 



We have to record the death of this celebrated engineer, which 

 melancholy event took place on the 12th ult. For the following 

 memoir we are indebted to the Times : — 



Sir I. Bhinel by birth was a Frenchman, but his life and genius 

 were almost wholly devoted to the invention and construction of 

 works of the greatest public utility in this countrv. He was 

 born at Hacqueville, in Normandy, now in the Department de 

 I'Eure, in the year 1769; a year since remarkable for having given 

 birth to many eminent men. His family has for many centuries 

 held, and now hold, tlie estate on which he was born; and the name 

 of Brunei is found constantly mentioned in the ancient archives of 

 the province. He was educated for the church, with the prospect 

 of succeeding to a living, and was accordingly sent at an early age 

 to the seminary of St. Nicain, at Rouen. But he soon evinced so 

 strong a predilection for the physical sciences, and so great a genius 

 for mathematics, that the superiors of the establishment re- 

 commended he should be educated for some other profession than 

 that of the church. His father strongly objected to his adopting 

 the pi-ofession of an engineer, as one more likely to prove beneficifu 

 to others than himself, and he therefore determined that he should 

 be educated for the naval service, in which he thought his son's 

 proficiency in mathematics might lay the foundation of his advance- 

 ment in that profession. At the proper age he entered the royal 

 navy, being indebted for his appointment to the Mareschal de 

 Castries, then the Minister of Marine. On one occasion he sur- 

 prised his captain by producing a sextant and quadrant of his own 

 construction, and which he used for making observations. He made 

 several voyages to the ^V^est Indies, and returned home in 1792. 

 At this time the French Revolution was at its height. As Mr. 

 Brunei entertained Royalist opinions, which he was not very care- 

 ful to suppress, his life was more than once in danger, and he was, 

 like many others at that time, forced to seek safety in flight. He 

 emigrated to the United States, where necessity, fortunately, com- 

 pelled him to follow the natural bent of his mind, and to adopt the 

 profession of a civil engineer. He was first engaged to survey a 

 large tract of land near Lake Erie. He was employed in building 

 the Bowery Theatre, in New York, which not many years ago was 

 burnt down. He furnished plans for canals, and for various ma- 

 chines connected with a cannon foundry then being established in 

 the state of New York. About the year 1799 he had matured his 

 plans for making ship blocks by machinery. The United States was 

 not then the field for so inventive a genius as Brunei's. He deter- 

 mined upon visiting England and offering his services andjjlansfor 

 this purpose to the British Government. Lord Spencer, then, we 

 believe, First Lord of the Admiralty, became his friend and patron. 

 He became a frequent giiest at Spencer-house, and never failed to 

 speak warmly of the assistance and encouragement he derived from 

 the friendship of Lord and Lady Spencer. From this time he con- 

 tinued to reside in England, and refused to entertain many propo- 

 sitions made to him to leave England and settle abroad under the 

 auspices of other governments. After much opposition to his 

 plans, for a very powerful interest was arrayed against him, not 

 lessened in that day by his being a Frenchman, he was employed to 

 execute them in Portsmouth dockyard. To perfect his designs 

 and to erect the machinery was the arduous labour of many years. 

 ^Vith a true discrimination, he selected Mr. Henry Maudslay to 

 assist in the execution of the work, and thus, possibly, was laid 

 the foundation of one of the most extensive engineering establish- 

 ments in the kingdom, and in which, perhaps, a degree of science 

 and skill has been combined and applied to mechanical invention 

 and improvement scarcely exceeded by any other in the world. 

 The block machinery was finished in 1806, and has continued ever 

 since in full operation, supplying our fleet with blocks of a very 

 superior description to those previously in use, and at a large an- 

 nual saving to the public. It was estimated at the time that the 

 saving, in the first year, amounted to 24.,000/. per annum; and 

 about two-thirds of that sum were awarded to Mr. Brunei. It is 

 needless to describe the originality and beauty of this well-known 

 machinery. Even after the lapse of -10 years, notwithstanding the 

 marvellously rapid strides we have made in the improvement and 

 construction of machines of all kinds, it remains as effective as it 

 was when first erected, and unaltered. It is still an object of ad- 

 miration to all persons interested in mechanics. A few years after- 

 wards he was employed by government to erect saw-mills, upon a 

 new principle, in the dockyardsof Chatham and Woolwich. Several 

 other inventions were the offspring of his singularly fertile mind 

 about this time, — the circular saw, for cutting veneers of valuable 

 woods; and the beautiful little machine for winding cotton thread 



