10 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Jan, 



sufEcient has been said in the general remarks to require no further 

 notice, except to point out the mischief which is done in choice of 

 this as well as of other articles by the selection of patterns which, 

 however good when looked at on a small scale, are obtrusive when 

 formii)g a mass. 



Hangings and coverings of sofas and chairs require great manage- 

 ment. If the wish is to contrast them with the wood, purple or blue 

 stuffs are of course used with yellow woods, and green stuffs with red 

 woods. Bright red colours, as scarlet, &c., must never be used vv-ith 

 mahogany, as they lower the tone of the wood, making it look like 

 oak or walnut. Where gorgeousness or splendour is desired, the 

 lines of orange, as gold or giraffe, do very well for window curtains, 

 chair seats, &c. In silk, bright blue is very pleasing, and black is also 

 effective in that material; with regard to worsted, however, although 

 blue and its various shades are equally useful, black is very apt to be 

 sooty and heavy. 



As a room is never too light, and as the light may be diminished by 

 blinds or Venetians, and as at night-time artificial light is used, hang- 

 ings should be of a clear and not dark colour, so as to reflect light 

 instead of absorbing it. When used in masses the deep shades of all 

 colours should be avoided, as absorbing too much light; red and pur- 

 ple as nnfavourable to pink or lilac; orange, as before mentioned, 

 from being too intense. Yellow, only, and bright blue and green, are 

 really effective; yellow, as being gay and suiting mahogany, though not 

 gilding, blue ; as favourable to gilding, not injurious to mahogany, 

 agreeing better with yellow or orange woods, although unfavourable 

 to pink in day-light ; green, as being advantageous to pink, and to 

 mahogany and gilding. 



Carpets have great influence in decoration, for in daylight they 

 receive the rays of light more directly than any other part of the fur- 

 niture and decoration. On this part of the subject Mr. Hay has many 

 iiseful notes ; he recommends that in carpets green should always pre- 

 ponderate, as it is most pleasing in daylight, and also relieves other 

 colours, and harmonizes with them in its various hues, more generally 

 than any other colour does. Its bright and vivid hues are easily neu- 

 tralized, and seldom produce crudity or harshness of eftect, while its 

 rich and deep tones, especially when neutralized towards a tertiary 

 hue, citron or olive, harmonizes with and give value to all denomina- 

 tions of warm colours. Thus far Mr. Hay ; he further says that its 

 cooler hues and shades ought to be used with more caution, for they 

 are apt to appear blackish and heavy, although the blue predominates 

 an them to the same extent that it does in tha hues of purple called 

 indigo, yet they have not the same clearness. In carpets, bright yel- 

 low, red, or scarlet should not preponderate, as they are apt to catch 

 the eye, and so spoil every thing else which it afterwards looks at ; 

 black and white must be used with equal caution, and, indeed, at pre- 

 sent their indiscriminate introduction is one of (he greatest defects of 

 the modern manufacture. In the finer specimens of Persia and Tur- 

 key we find the deep tones of indigo and brown predominating, while 

 the bright hues and tints only appear to point out and heighten the 

 effect of the pattern. Below indigo, raarrone or brown, the deepest 

 shades used in this manufacture should never go, and the highest tints 

 are recommended to be mellowed down with some warm colour. 

 White, when introduced, should in like manner be toned down by a 

 gradation of the lightest tints, so as to avoid the appearance of being 

 spotty and broken. When employed as the groundwork, white should 

 be reduced in intensity, and where red and yellow prevail, it should 

 be raised to a cream colour. When, however, the tone is cool, blue 

 or green being the prevailing colour, the authority which we have 

 already so frequently quoted, recommends that the white should be 

 tinged of a gray or purple, or any other cool tint or shade. Of course 

 when white is used as a contrasting colour and not as a medium, it 

 should be tinged of a warm hue. Orange, when used in a carpet as 

 the key colour, requires that the blue should be subdued either in 

 quantity or intensity, and neutralized by the introduction of a small 

 portion of orange. When orange is so used, russet, citron, and brown 

 should be employed as the medial hues, occasionally relieved by tlie 

 deepest tones of iudigo. Here black and white are particularly out 



of place. Russet is particularly useful in all arrangements which are 

 adapted for carpet patterns, and so is indigo from its strong contrast 

 to bright yellow, while it dyes well, being clear and free from sootiness. 

 Mr. Hay points out, as a particular error in the designing of carpets 

 the introduction of deep and pale colours, which may have been well 

 chosen with regard to their hues, but not as to their particular degrees 

 of strength or tint. Thus a pale tint of blue is often introduced as an 

 equivalent to the brightest orange, and sometimes a small portion of 

 lilac or pink as a balancing colour to a quantity of the most intense 

 yellow. 



What has been said as to hangings, &c., bears upon the subject of 

 wood furniture, for covers and seats must be made to accord with the 

 wood. In contrast, green stuffs must be used with red woods, as ma- 

 hogany, &c., and purple or blue with yellow woods; in melodizing 

 the woods a contrary course must be pursued. In this kind of ar- 

 rangement particular care must be taken that the tones are brought to 

 a corresponding degree of intensity, for which m\ich skill is required. 

 With regard to mahogany, with which the decorator has so frequently 

 to deal, it may be regarded as a russet or red, and we have already 

 cautioned him not to use bright red colours with it, as crimson, &c., 

 nor orange or purple reds, as scarlet, &c., for the brightness of these 

 colours subdues the colour of the wood, and makes it look no better 

 than oak or walnut. Oak may be considered as a citron. 



With regard to pictures, I have, when speaking of picture galleries, 

 sufticiently shown wliat grounds to use with them; as to frames, some- 

 thing further may be said. Gilt frames are preferred with large oil 

 paintings, and also with dark engravings, and lithographed portraits 

 when a sufficient white space is left around them. Bronze frames do 

 well with oils representing scenes lighted by artificial light. By using 

 coloured frames, pictures are very much modified in appearance. 

 Black weakens the shades, and bright tints suffer more than half tints, 

 while for lithographs the red of the ink is rather raised than lowered. 

 Gray does not weaken the bright tints and half tints, but then it does 

 not raise them so much as white, while it gives them a reddish cast. 

 Gray has the singular property of giving a perspective harmony which 

 is possessed neither by black nor white, and orange has an effect di- 

 rectly opposite. Red reduces the red tones and gives a greenish hue. 

 Green weakens browns, but heightens other tones, and is agreeable on 

 the whole. Blue has the strongest effect with lithographs, giving 

 them a bistre or sepia colour. 



For bronzes those of a dark green colour require a red ground, and 

 when light coloured and new, a bluish ground. 



REMARKS ON SHIPS OF WOOD AND IRON. 



Remarks on the relative advantages of the employment of wood 

 and iron in the construction of ships have appeared at different times, 

 in Journals devoted to inquiries relating to subjects of this nature, but 

 a spirit of partizanship has been commonly displayed by the respective 

 advocates of wood and iron in favour of their own views. In an en- 

 deavour to avoid this charge, it will be expedient to advert in the 

 first instance, to the different modes in which wood can be employed 

 in ship building, especially as the advocates of iron are in the habit 

 of referring to the defects of ships built of timber, which are capable 

 of being obviated by a different system of construction. 



The relative merits of wood and iron for this purpose will, I appre- 

 hend, come more fairly before the public by an exposition of some of 

 the plans that may be adopted in the construction of ships of wood ; 

 and it appears to me that three well marked systems may be distin- 

 guished. 1st. 'i he common plan of timbers, whether framed or single, 

 separated by spaces from each other, whose principal connection with 

 each other, arises from an external and internal series of planking. 2nd. 

 The plan used in her Majesty's dock yards, of timbers wedged up solid, 

 and covered by an external planking, (timbers placed close together 

 I conceive would be found to be a better raetliod.J 3rd. A plan of 

 constructing vessels of any si^e by two or more connected series of 



