1850.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



309 



The civil and domestic architecture of the Romans will be 

 described in the next Lecture, beginning with the roads and aque- 

 ducts, and proceeding with the Fora, Basilica, Amphitheatres, 

 Thernia?, and other characteristic buildings. 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 



Vitruviiis — Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon. — Architectural Autiquities 

 of Rome, Taylor and Cresy. — Les Edifices Antiques do Rome, Desgodetz.— De Roman- 

 orum Maenitlcentia, Piranesi — Le Cinque Ordini, Vigrnola. — Monument! e Fabbriehe 

 Antiche, Cipriani. — Antiquities de la France, Clerisseau. Ruins of Baalbec and Palmyra, 

 Wood.— Pompeiftna, Sir William Gell. — Encyclopedie Methodlque — Architettura, Serlio. 

 — Arcbitettura, Palladlo. 



LIGHTHOUSE. 



A LIGHTHOUSE of a somewhat peculiar construction has just been 

 completed at the extensive worlcs of Messrs. Fox, Henderson 

 and Co., Smethwick, the following description of which may not 

 be uninteresting to our readers: — The structure consists of a cast- 

 iron tower, or hollow column, of a conical form, 70 feet high from 

 high water to the top of the lantern; 12 ft. 6 in. diameter at the 

 base, and 10 feet diameter at the top. It is composed of fifteen 

 horizontal tiers of segmental plates, each tier 5 feet high, and so 

 divided that no one plate exceeds 7 feet in breadth. The plates 

 are provided with flanges, strengthened with brackets, and having 

 bolt-holes with bosses opposite eacli other for bolting together. 

 The thickness of the plates varies from l| to if inch. Round the 

 bottom tier of plates there is a large flange, through wliich a 

 number of long holding-down bolts pass to secure it to the foun- 

 dation. In the second tier of plates there is a strong cast-iron 

 door, accurately fitted, leading to the staircase, which winds 

 round a central column. Equally distributed throughout the 

 tower are six windows, to give light to the staircase. Tliey are of 

 a circular form, and the frames are made of cast-iron, secured to 

 the plates, and glazed with plates of glass fths of an inch thick. 

 The entrance-door at the foot of the tower is Oft. Sin. high, and 

 3 ft. 6 in. in width. The hinges are of brass, and fixed to the 

 door and frame with countersunk headed tap-screws. The gallery 

 platform at the summit of the tower, for the support of the lan- 

 tern, consists of cast-iron radial plates, |ths of an inch thick, 

 truly-pointed, fitted, and bolted together. The projectional por- 

 tion of the platform rests upon eight cast-iron brackets, filled and 

 fixed to the upper tier of seKnieiital plates of the tower. The 

 gallery platform is provided outside with a railing of wrought 

 iron, 3ft. Sin. in height, consisting of baluster-rods, fitted to a 

 rail at the top and bottom. Tlie top of tlie spiral staircase is pro- 

 vided with a deal-boarded inclosure and a deal door, forming a 

 bulk-head, to prevent any draught entering tlie lantern. The 

 lantern is 10 feet in diameter over all, and 11 ft. 6 in. high from 

 the floor of the gallery to the underside of the roof. The lower 

 part, or plinth, is 5 ft. 6 in. high, and constructed entirely of cast- 

 iron plates lined with wood. One-Iialf of the lantern consists of 

 cast-iron plates, lined with wood, and tlie other half is glazed with 

 flat plate-glass fixed in gun-metal sash-frames, and fastened with 

 putty and metal pins. The roof is composed of double plates of 

 sheet copper. A copper ventilator and a dart weathercock is 

 fixed to the top of the lantern, and a lightning-conductor, tipped 

 with gold, has been added. The whole of the cast and wrought- 

 iron is painted in oil colour, with the exception of the bolts and 

 nuts, which are thoroughly coated with coal-tar. The lantern is 

 provided with a reciprocal light illuminating 120^ of the horizon, 

 consisting of fourteen Argand lamps and fourteen plated reflectors 

 of the most approved construction. The lantern is reached by 

 ninety-eight steps of cast-iron. The lighthouse, on being com- 

 pleted, was, according to agreement, erected on the premises, and 

 all the parts connected, and it is at present standing in its com- 

 plete state on a rising ground near the canal. On two occasions 

 the lantern has been lighted, and produced a wonderful eff'ect — 

 surpassing e.vpectatiun — and at night was seen at an immense dis- 

 tance. The drawings, &c., were supplied by Mr. Cowper, the 

 eminent engineer at the London Works. The liffhthouse is for 

 the East India Company, and its destination iMiddleton Point, 

 Saugor Island, India. — Birmingham Gazette. 



New York. — A new bank, called the Pacific Bank, has been 

 built in Broadway. The well-known hotel, the Astor Hotel, is 

 being repaired and enlarged. At no period was there ever such 

 activity in building in New York, or such quantities of building 

 materials brought into the city. 



ON DEDUCTIONS FROM METEOROLOGICAL 

 OBSERVATIONS. 



On Deductions from Meteorological Observations. By John Drew, 

 Esq., F.R.A.S., Member of the Council of the British Meteoro- 

 logical Society. 



'I HE efforts of the British Meteorological Society are directed, 

 for the present, to the attainment of mean monthly values of atmo- 

 spheric phenomena for various localities. My last paper directed 

 attention to the absolute necessity of referring all observations to 

 acknowledged standards; and pointed out the means by which 

 observers in districts widely dispersed, might be certain that the 

 indications of their instruments were in accordance with truth. 

 Presuming that the possessors of trustworthy instruments are 

 competent to record their observations accurately and faithfully, 

 it is my intention, in continuing the subject, to devote the present 

 essay to the explanation of certain legitimate deductions from 

 thermometric and barometric registrations. 



To be able to compare the observations recorded in various 

 quarters in a manner the most immediate and direct, it is of 

 importance that the daily registration should be conducted by 

 each observer on precisely the same plan; so that on the transmis- 

 sion of the series to head quarters, a comparison of column witli 

 column may be made at a glance. To facilitate this essential object, 

 the Council of the British Meteorological Society, at its meeting 

 in July, agreed upon a form of registration which has since been 

 printed, and %vhich may be obtained from Mr. Glashier, the Hono- 

 rary Secretary, by all those who are anxious to co-opei-ate in the 

 objects of the Society. Each sheet is ruled for one month; and 

 the following copy of the heading will show the extent of the 

 demand on an observer's industry : — 



Sums of tlie observations diiring the month 



Means .. .. ., ., 



Index errors .. 



Correciioii for Diurnai Range 



Means corrected 



