84 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



modes of building, down (o tie pfrciiliarly syinm'^trioal structural idiom of 

 Katfaclle. Tliey would tlien be abb' to set- how from one master to another what 

 immense progress was made, and wherein was tlie secret by which the 

 pecuHiir beauties of eacli were achieved. They saw by the admira'ile history 

 whicli had just been read, how Vipnola became an architect from being a 

 painter ; how be was a master of perspective t>ecause he was a modeller, 

 ijcing a painter, be could aroaUamale things which had not hitherto 

 been iucurporateii, and thus lie aehieveil a wonderful degree of progress in 

 his arrbiiecltire. lie would reniaik casually as an instance of what he meant, 

 that Vi,4Uiila was tlie first to elTect a comlunation between the arch and the 

 coluuiii, and he united tlu-m io a manner yltogetber original, incorporating 

 the keyslune of the arch with tl\e pilaster, so as to form one and the same 

 sirUL-tuie. They all as eood architects took care that it was so in fact ; but 

 they unlit admit the high merit of ibe man, who first made such a junction 

 one of the beauties of architectural decoration. With regard to tlie great 

 end of all proportion — magnitude — he apprehended Vignola attained that 

 excellence by very extraordinary means. It was done simply by the small- 

 ness of his apertures. Indeed, the real magnitude was not nearly so 

 surprising as its apparent dimensions, and thus they had here revealed one of 

 the great secrets of arthiteciuie, how by the contrivance of proportions great 

 magnitude mialit he obtained. The ett'ecls of the study of Vignola upon 

 l'>eiii-b architeciure was ap|)areot ; the French confessed him to be their 

 architectural saint, ju>t as Palladio was our saint; and they had as great a 

 number of beautiful translations of Vignola as we had of Palladio. 

 'I he vote of thanks was then pa.-sed by acclamation. 



METEOROLOGY. 



Silt — Your readers will agree with me that an importance, hardly 

 to be estimated, attaches to the laws regulating the atmosphere 

 which sup|)lies us with the means of existence, surrounds us at all 

 times, permeates our frame, and which conveys on wings unseen 

 disease and death. Yet how few direct attention to the study of 

 the phenomena of meteorology. Through the energetic exertions 

 of James Glaisher, Esq., F.Il.S., of the Royal Observatory, returns 

 of observations, more or less elaborate, are obtained from between 

 30 and iO stations in Great Britain. Observers remark, for the 

 most part tliree times in 2t- hours, the state of the barometer — tlie 

 thermometer — the clouds and the wind, and register the quantity 

 of rain daily. Mr. Glaisher receives by the electric telegraph the 

 state of the atmosphere, and the direction of the wind, from various 

 stations along the principal lines of railway at 9 a.m. daily ; and 

 from thestr data I have no doubt but that, in time, some valuable 

 laws will be deduced in addition to those which he has already 

 established. 



I am anxious that scientific men should direct their attention to 

 the subject of meteorology ; and that amateurs who have time at 

 tlieir disposal should record observations in their own localities. 

 If I thought it would interest your readers, I should be happy to 

 describe such instruments as are adapted to the purpose ; for, un- 

 less these are good and wortliy of reliance, the time of the 

 observer will be wasted and his observations useless. 



1 subjoin a table of certain meteorological results, from observa- 

 tions taken in various parts of England : the comparison of these 

 will not, I apprehend, be without interest. 



I am, &c. 



John Drew. 



Soulhamiituii, Feb. lltk, 1830. 



Si/DOjilical View of the Meleorology of various places in Enylandjfor 1849. 

 (Deduced from tl;e UeRJstrar- General's Reports.) 



Mean Pressure Teinperuture Number Degree of 



ot »lrj' Ai'-, Hfean of the of Days on Amount HuiiiMity, 



reduf.d to ilie Tempe- L).^\v- on which Col- conipli-te 



Level ralure. Puiut. Rain Fell. lected. Saturatinn 



of Iha Si.a. beii.^ 1. 



Guernsey .. 2H 750 62-3 4.'r.5 167 3li-5 -Blli 



Kulniculli .. &1*;H — K-^-S .14 5 — 



ExeliT 20742 60-2 417 1.1 211-1 '808 



Oreenwiih .. 2;i-«l2 4'.1« 4:('2 \jS 'iiS -802 



Aylesbury . . 29-li22 40 2 42 3 l.i7 27- -/ni 



SoiiLhauiptim tjS .lll-G 41i-7 1»9 33' -e.fi 



Derby 29 732 47 4 42-8 193 28 5 -037 



Liverpool 29-(i7U 49 41-9 — 30 5 827 



Slouynurst .. iWllHG 46-2 41-5 21G 49-2 •iOill 



Neivcustle .. 29-613 47-1 42-7 UH 3(i 4 8.f7 



[We sliall feel obliged if Mr. Drew will favour us with a descrip- 

 tion of siu-h instruments as are adapted for the purpose, and we 

 shall be happy to make our .Journul the medium of such observa- 

 tions ;.s Mr. Drew suggests.] 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS 



APPOINTED 



TO INQUIRE INTO THE APPLICATION OF IRON 

 TO RAILWAY STRUCTURES. 



The Commissioners of Railways showed a vigilant anxiety for 

 public safety and for the advancement of science, and greatly 

 promoted both, when in August, IKti, they obtained the appoint- 

 ment of a Commission "for the purpose of inquiring into the 

 conditions to be observed by Engineers in the ajqilication of Iron 

 in Structures exposed to violent concussions and vibration." 



The rosult of the labours of this Commission are now before us; 

 and it is not too much to affirm that the present Roport is almost, 

 if not altogether, the most valuable public document extant relating 

 to the science of engineering. For some time past the note of 

 preparation for this work has been heard: we have had accounts of 

 cabinet ministers being attracted by the magnitude and importance 

 of the experiments, to e.xamine them. More recently. Professor 

 ^nilis has delighted a learned audience at Cambridge by the fa- 

 cility and simplicity with which he contrived to explain the most 

 difficult subject on which he has been engaged as a member of the 

 Commission; and the memoirs read by Professor Stidces, before the 

 same academic body, have shown that the highest powers of mathe- 

 matical analysis have been brought to operate upon and generalise 

 results of experiments — to analyse and classify them — to group 

 facts which were barren while isolated — to expand them, and gi^e 

 them the vitality — so to speak — of general principles. 



The right method of pursuing investigations of this kind is this 

 combination of theory and fact. The "practical man" is afraid 

 of theory, and demands that all the rules for his guidance shall be 

 deduced immediately from precedent alone. To this demand the 

 simple reply is, that — desirable as it might be to comply with it — 

 complianca is impossible. The requirements of actual railway 

 construction are many and various — the means of experimenting 

 few and restricted; so that, setting aside the question of exptvise, 

 it would obviously be impracticable, in a reasonable duration of 

 time, to furnish from observation a code of direct precedents for 

 all the purposes of the engineer. 



On the other hand, where experiments are undertaken for the 

 judicious purpose of aiding theory, they should be carried out on 

 such a scale as to leave no suspicion that they are mere toy-expe- 

 riments — amusing illustrations of science made easy; and with 

 this reflection, we cannot but observe with regret, that in several 

 places in the work before us apologies are made on account of the 

 limited means at the disposal of the Commission. From the im- 

 portance of the inquiry, and the gravity of the events in which it 

 originated, the public had a right to demand that the researches 

 should not be impeded by ill-timed parsimony. Compare the scale 

 of experiments on Railway Bridges with those on Government Ship- 

 building! or, to make a more direct comparison — contrast the scale 

 of the government experiments on Girders with those relating to 

 the Tubular Bridges! It would be curious to calculate how many 

 times the weight of metal in the magnificent model-tube experi- 

 mented upon by Mr. Fairbairn at Millwall exceeded that of all the 

 iron together employed in the researches of the Commission. 



One advantage has, howe\cr, sprung from the restrictions com- 

 plained of: they have served to show the immeasurable value of 

 accurate scientific knowledge, and its power of extracting truth 

 under difficult circumstances. The edict had gone forth: there 

 must be no expenditure of public money on large castings of iron — 

 Jiat crperiinentiim in corporc vili. But, notwithstanding, the Com- 

 mission have succeeded in producing a body of sound invaluable 

 information, as copious and accurate .as was expected at their 

 hands by those who anticipated that every facility would be 

 afforded to them in the prosecution of their task. Unlearned 

 investigators are apt to deduce from restricted experiments rules 

 which will not bear the test of extended observation. In the 

 present case, the happy combination of science and experimental 

 skill displayed by Professors ^\'illis and Stokes has averted this 

 danger. However, it is important not only to deserve confidence, 

 but to readily obtain it; and it is, therefore, much to be regretted 

 that, if merely to satisfy the scruples of those who can only take 

 facts just as they find them, more experiments on a large scale 

 were not undertaken. 



The Report and accompanying documents are comprised in a 

 thick folio volume, of the well known blue-book form: a second 

 volume consists of plans and plates. The Report itself extends 

 over comparatively i\.'v,- pages. The other papers are principally 

 as follows: — Appendix A. Experiments on Imp-:ict upon Beams, and 

 on the tensile, compressive and transverse strength of Iron; .-Vppeii- 



