208 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[June, 



Pffamlnthn >■'/ tJn Royal CfoU Meld to Mr. Barru, 7J.J.— The preseotation of the 

 Royal Gold Mediil to Mr. Barry, at the Institute of British Architects, took place on the 

 2*^th ult , in presence of a very numerous meeting of the fellows and aasociates, and over 

 which Earl de Grey presided. His lordship having expressed the satisfaction he felt in 

 being called to the chair, and returned thanks for the honour done him, said it was the 

 third year in which the priz^ had been distributed, and he thought it would be admitted 

 by all that the council of the Institute had shown the greatest possible Impartiality 

 (Che«rs.) The present year brou|{ht them great satisfaction, in that the honour was con- 

 ferred upon one of their own body. His lordship then addressed himself to Mr. Barry, 

 and, having made some allusions to the difficulties which had been encountered by Sir C. 

 Wren In building St. Pau!*8 Cathedral, said he was sorry that the august assembly which 

 had tht most to do with the erection of the new Houses of Parliament had in it a vast 

 number of men who asked questions, made sugg^-stions, and made criticisms, while at 

 the same time they did not know what was wanted, or what they wanted themselves. 

 (Cheers.) The noble chairman then presented the medal to Mr. Barry, amidst long- 

 continued cheers from those present.— Mr. Barry, in expressing his thanksforthe honour 

 done him, said he felt sensibly alive to the defects of the great work upon which he was 

 employed. He received the mark of approbation conferred upon hin as a pledge of the 

 opinion of the Institute that so far as he had been permitted to carry out his design, it 

 had not been entirely unsuccessful. (Loud cheers.) He should always consider the 

 honour done to him as one of the proudest memorials of his professional career. 



Pe-mrdsy da., for Sciaitiji; Purposcs.—The following is an account, in detail, of the 

 manner in which the lOOOl. voted annually for rewards, experimeuts, and other expenses, 

 (or scientific purposes during the last two years, has been expeuded :— 1847, 18-IS— 

 Salary of Mr. J. W. Hay, as chemical lecturer at Portsmouth Dockyard, between Jan. 1 

 and June 30, 1847. 3ri. iOa.; payment to Dr. Andrew Ure, for making an analysis of 

 coal from Vancouver's Island, h)l. Ids.; entertainment of Mr. P. P. Smith, patentee of 

 the screw propeller, on board the /'airt/, tender to her Majesty's yacht }l2torij, and Albert, 

 l^l. 'Js.; compensation to Lieutenant Julius Roberts, Royal Marine Artillery, for his ser- 

 vices and expenses while improving the method of pivoting guns, from the year 1845 to 

 1848, 250L; total, 3l3i. 95. 1848, 1H49-Payment to Mr. A, G. Carle, for rock apparatus, 

 &c., supplied tor trial at Harwich, for the purpose of effecting communication with 

 stranded vessels, 31/83.; gratuity to Mr. J. T. Townson, for his services in preparing 

 tables for great circle sailing, HM.; payment to Mr. John Pridau, metallurgic chemist, 

 for various analyses of copper sheathing, &c., for the committee on metals, 171. Is ; pay- 

 ment to Mr. Charles Brooke, for his invention and establishment at the Royal Observa- 

 tory, of the apparatus for the self-registration of magnetical and meteorological pheoo- 

 meiia, /iOOi. ; gratuity to Commander H. B. Weston, of the Hon. East I lia Company's 

 service, for discovering a method of finding the longitude by cbronomet> i at sunrise and 

 sunset, with tables, lOOL; total, 748/.. [)s. 1849-'50— Allowance to Commander A. B. 

 Beecher, to defray the expenses incurred by him in the editorship of the Xautkal 

 M't^j'izine, 5(1!.; allowance to Mr. James Gordon, to enabi« him to publish a work, in- 

 tituled, • The Lunar and Tide Tables,' 501. * total, W'l. 



Parochial Rc(/isters.—'iir. W. Downing Bruce, F.S.A., of the Middle Temple, has 

 addressed a letter to Mr. M. Milnes, M P., on the necessity of a general Record Office 

 being erected. The state of the registers at the present time is m^^t deplorable ; and 

 there can be no question but that this subject requires the immediate attention of the 

 legislature. 



Finings for iliG Arcik Exped'it'uyn.~'E.xcc-i>i\x\% iron bulkheads for coal holes or side 

 bunkers (an improvement), Downton's pumps worked on lower deck, and Sylvester's 

 healing apparatus being extended 10 feet before foremost cabins on lower deck, all is'as the 

 Enterprise was. All the scuttles, or deck lights screw in and out for ventilation fore and 

 aft : and Sylvester's stove having a current of air direct by a tube from upper deck will 

 carry off much of the damp or condensed vapoar, the ill effncts of which were experienced 

 in the last voyage. Of boats each ship has— 1st, a life boat 30 feet long and 9 feet beam, 

 built by White of Cowes; 2nd, one diagonal cutter, 2'» feel long, 7 ft. 2 in. beam, fitted 

 With trunks and windlass for laying out or weighing an anchor. Then four of 25 feet 

 cH'iker-built gig cutters, or combination boats, pulling six oars, each .single banked. 

 One as f^et whale boat of four oars as captain's gig; and one 12 feet dingy, and one 

 7 feet pun% the last aljout iOlb. weight, and' would convt-y saleiy two men at a time ; 

 in addition, they have one large and one small india rubber or Macintosh boat inflated 

 by bell-*ws. Total of boats, 9 of wood and 3 of air-tight indii rubber Macintosh. The 

 sledges are similar to those constructed for last expedition, but wider shoeing on the sole 

 of the runners; the flat sledges are 6 inches wider and 2 feet longer than tiie last were, 

 with a high curve in forepart. There is a gulta percha oblong trough fitted on the top of 

 the travelling sledge, that is supported by 4 small iron uprights, passing through upper 

 part of the sledge. Thi? trough serves to hold the articles stowed or being strapped to 

 the sledge, and will from its buoyancy make a tolerable boat, being only about 181b. 

 weight, yet wiJl support 6cwt. in the water. They have a large yet light cooking appa- 

 ratus, capable for baking for all hands, or healing washing waier for the men, with a 

 small proportion of fuel; they have also very compact light cooking apparatus heated by 

 spirits of wine, and prepared cloth for tents, with bamboo poles for ditto. AH the ships 

 have been furnished with several new instruments, one of which is the Bearing Plate, 

 the invention of Captain Johnson, R.N., F.R.S. They are f»r the purpose of ascertaining 

 with greater certainty the ship's course in dark wcnth4:r, and are particularly useful on 

 board all steiira vessels. The Lordsof the Admiralty hud them made by their instrument- 

 maker (Mr. West, of the Strand) who also furnished some compasses and theodolites 

 niade of copper, to avoid any magnetic influence, and witliothor improvements by Captain 

 Johnson, which are calculated to be of the greatest possible advantage to the expedition. 

 The equipment for the travelling parties of the expedition has been arranged entirely by 

 Lieutenant M'CIintock. U comprises 18 tents, each to hold seven persons, 18 mackintosh 

 floorcloths, bamboo tent poles, hair rop«); tin travelling kettles with spirit lamps and spun 

 glass wicks; 14 large sludges upon runners; 12 small flat sledges f,r soft service ; tin cans 

 of two and four gallons each, ilie bung covered with a cap, which also serves as a gill 

 measure, and secured with a padlock; pocket chronometers, pocket sextants, telescopes, 

 end compasses; 40 gallons of spirits of win^; two wolf skin blankets for each lent; one 

 thick blanket bag for each person to sleep in ; eight gutta percha sledge tops, to adapt 

 the sledges to crossing narrow spaces of water as rafts or boats, and thus avoid the neces- 

 sity of unloading and using a boat; six of Lieutenant Halkct's inflated boats; and 30 

 bnlloons to each ship. 



ImproveYMtUs in Ek'rtri/: Telegraph Battenfis.~ln most of the electr'c telegraph esta- 

 blishments, are batteries formed of zinc, copper, and sand, mustened wjih dilute sulphu- 

 ric acid— this sand being strongly pressed between the metallic plates. These b-ilteries, 

 however much an improvement over those formerly empb yed, possess the great disad- 

 vantage of diminishing in force, requiring the frequent application of the dilu eacid, and 

 a complete removal once in every four or six wteks. M. W. Kisenlohr, the superinten- 

 dent of the elec'ric telegraphs in the Grand Duchy of Baden, has for some time past 

 endeavoured to find out sora-? method of rpn4ering the battery more constant in its 

 action, and at the same time less liable to the carelessness of the workmen, who some- 

 times put too much acid, and at other times leave the battery quite dry, thus produciu" 

 a great int-rniption in the working of the telegraph. Alu^r various eiperinjeuts on tlie 

 Pubiect, M. ICisenlohr found that the employment of a solution of bitartrate of potash in 

 Bcidulafcd water for the zinc couples of a Daniell's battery, and of a moderately con. 

 centrated solution of sulphate of copper for the copper element, fully and effectually 

 answered the desired obiect. This battery was found to possess a rtmarkable constancy, 

 ,M. E. Watermann, in i.peaking of this new battery in the last number of the Bihliot}ieque 

 Uniocrsalc of Geneva, states that he has made use of Daniell's battery of ten couples, 

 charged on M. Eisenlohr'a system, but placing the zinc couples in acidulaied water, and 

 the copper in a solution of bitartrate of potash, and tliat the battery, which remained in 

 action for three weeks, without any interruption, exhibited the uioat perfect constancy. 



The Great Harlmir of P'f-ge nt JIol^/h^ad.—The want of a gn&i harbour of refuge 

 on this exposed coast has long been felt; and when it is borne in mind that the greater 

 portion of the vast fleets destined for Liverpool must pass near Holyhead, the national 

 importance of such an undertaking cannot be exaggerated. Plans by Mr. Walker and 

 Captain Beechy, R.N., were rejected, and one on a more important scale by Mr. Rendel, 

 who bus carried out several great public works, was adopted by the .Admiralty early in 

 1846. Tiieestlmate is 700,000^.. of which the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company 

 have agreed to find yOO.OOOL The works were soon commenced, but have gone on rather 

 slowly, and 10 or 15 years will probably elapse before they are completed. A visit to tlie 

 scene of this great undertaking is one of the chief attractions of Holyhead. Xaiure has 

 given Mr. Rendel valuable aid. There is a point called Penrhyn, about Ij mile to the 

 north-west of the present harbour, whence an indented rocky coast runs south east. 

 Considerably within this, at Soldier's Point, a gigantic breakwater it in progress, the 

 stone for which is procured from a quarry in the mountain, one mile inland, to which a 

 railway of prodigious guage, for stone trucks, worked by locomotives, up a very steep 

 incline, has been formed. The breakwater will terminate at Platter's Buoy, and a pier 

 of 7500 feet will be carried frara Ynys Gybi, with its head resting on the Outer Platter. 

 The arena inclosed within this half-mjon will be 316 acres ; the lengtli across will be 

 3-miIe. There will be a jetty in the centre, and ample depth of water (none less thaa 64 

 fathoms) at all states of the tide. 



Steam Hnvhxge On Jiivers and Cayials.—Xn experiment has lately been tried, with 

 complete success, on the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, of a somewhat novel steam-tuj 

 fir hauling vessels instead of horse-jwwer. It consists of a continuous flexible rail, or 

 bar of iron, running the whjle length of the canal, and made fast at each terminus. 

 Above the deck of the tug are fixed a pair of nller-, between which this flexible iron 

 band is placed, and as they are made to revolve by the steam engine on board, the grip 

 which they take propels the boat. On the trial in question, after hauling various small 

 craft of from 70 to 80 tons burden, she took in tow a Greek brig, laden with corn to the 

 amount of 850 tons, which she towed againsta bead-wind to the dock entrance, at a good 

 walking pace. She hauled the common canal boats at a rate of 6 miles an hour, the 

 6pe<d being but little affected when going against tide. The cost of hauling in the r^evern 

 is a heavy itera in the transit of good>, and this invention is calculated to diminish the ex- 

 pense 59 per cent., the consumption of coal being only 251b. per hour. 



Effiuvui Trap.—We have seen a patent eflluvia trap of Mr. Marsden's, which well 

 answers the purpose. I. is coistructed in the shape of a drum, with four receivers, 

 caused to revolve by the weight of the water falling into one of them. It is impossible 

 for this trap to get choked up, or for any effluvia to escape. 



LIST or NB^V PATENTS 



GRANTED IN ENGLAND FROM ApRIL 23, TO MaY 23, 1850. 



Sijc Months allowed for Enrolment^ unless otherwise ej^pressed. 



Pierre Armand Lecomlo de Fontainemoreau, of South-street, Finsbury, for a new and 

 improved mode of conducting consuming, and dxsengagin; smoke from its deleterioni 

 components. (A communication.)— April 23. 



Ernest Werner Siemens, of Berlin, Prussia, electric engineer, for improvements in elec- 

 tric telegraphs.— April 23. 



Joseph Jean Baranowski of London, gentleman, for improvements in machinery for 

 counting, numbering, and labelling. — April 23. 



William Gilbert Elliott, of Ellsworth, Northampton, gentleman, for improvements in 

 the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and pipes, and other articles from plastic materials, (A 

 communicalion.) — April -"T. 



Charles May, of Ipswich, engineer, and Rtbert Leggett. of the same place, foreman of 

 mechanics to Messrs. Ransome and May, of the same place, for improvements in ma- 

 chinery for thrashing and grinding com, for cutting straw, and other similar substances; 

 also improvements in applying steam-power to give motion to such classes of machinery; 

 and also improvemenis in machines for depositing seed.— April 3'3. 



George Michiels, of London, gentleman, for iraprovem^nts in treating coal and in the 

 manufacture of gas, and also in apparatus for burning gas. (A communication. — 

 April 30. 



Evan Protheroe, of Austin-friars, London, merchant, for improvements in the manufac- 

 ture of oxide of zinc, and in making paints from oxide of zinc. (A communicalion.) — 

 April 30. 



Robert Dalglish, of Glasgow, merchant and calico printer, for certain improvements in 

 printing, and in the application of colours to silk, cotton, linen, woollen, and other textile 

 fabrics. — May 7. 



Gu^tave Eugene Michael Gerard, of Paris. France, for improvements in dissolving 

 caoutchouc (Indian-rubber) and gutta percha.— May 7, 



George Hurwood, of Ipswich, Suffolk, engineer, for improvements in grinding corn 

 and other substances. — May 7. 



Jospph Gibbs, of Devonshire-street, Portland-place, Middlesex, civil engineer, for im- 

 provemonts in artificial stone, mortar, and cements, and in the modes of raanufactuiin^ 

 the same. — May 7. 



John Talham and David Cheetham, of Rochdale, Lancaster, machine makers, for cer- 

 tain improvements in machinery or apparatus and operations connected with the manu- 

 facture of cotton, wool, silk, and other fibrous substances and fabrics, and in the applica- 

 tion of certain materials to the manufacture of textile fabrics. — May 7. 



George Robbins, of Forrest Lodge, Southampton, gentleman, for improvements in the 

 construct! )n of railway carriages.—May 7. 



John Youil, of Ardwich, Manchester, brewer, for certain improvements in machinery 

 or apparatus for washing, cleansing, filling, and corking bottles and other vessels. — 

 May 8. 



William Edward Newton, of Chancery-lane, civil engineer, for improvements in warm- 

 ing and ventilating buildings. (A communication.) — May 2*2. 



Robert Cotjjreave, of Eccleston, Chester, farmer, tor certain Improvements in ma- 

 chinery or apparatus to be u-^ed in draining land. — May 22. 



Henry Columbus Heurry, of Manchester, civil engineer, for certain improvements in the 

 method of lubricating machinery, — May 22. 



William Palmer, of Cottage-grove, Bow-road, Middlesex, gentleman, for Improvements 

 in the manufacture of candles and candle-wicks, and in the machinery applicable to 

 sueii mattere. — May 22, 



Jules Frederick Uaiilard Dumeste, of Paris, for certain improvements in reflectors for 

 luminaries. — May 22. 



Simon Pincoffs, of Manchester, Lancaster, merchant, for certain improvements in the 

 ageing process in calico printing and dyeing, which improvements are also applicable to 

 other processes In calico printing and dyeing, — May 23. 



