86 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



resoiling together, not each separate operation, must be taken at the lowest 

 price of 3</. and SArf. Setting the above low price and the greater price of 

 Td. for the barrow-TCork against each other, and taking into consideration the 

 comparative small cubic quantity of each in comparison with the bulk or 

 body of the cutting, I do not think that the medium price of 6d. will be 

 materially influenced. Furthermore, the effect of the gradually increasing 

 " face," or depth of the hill from the balance level of cutting and embank- 

 ment to the summit acting in favour of the operations of the excavator, will 

 also much tend to equalize the two prices. 



In conclusion I will glance at what you have already done in yom- Journal 

 on the subject of earthwork, which I think will more fnlly shew the value to 

 the public and profession of the preceding tables, and the correctness of your 

 views in the review of "A Practical Inquiry into the Laws of Excavation and 

 Embankment, by a Resident iVssistant Engineer," in tbe C. E. i( A. Journal, 

 vol. iii, 1840, p. 391, to which I most respectfully call the attention of your 

 readers; as also to vol. iv., p. 417, where the performance of the American 

 horse-scoop is noticed, and the quantity removed an average distance of 34-^ 

 ieet per scoop per day, is stated to be 40 yards, and the cost i-^d. to 5-Jd. per 

 cubic yard, rating the hire of scoop and driver at 12*'. 5irf. per day, each scoop 

 contains ttt "^ * Quhic yard ; also to page 59, vol. v. for 1842, where Professor 

 Vignoles in his oth lecture, on earth work, states that " the causes that 

 have thrown the railways of the Continent into the hands of the English 

 contractors to be the ' finical exactness with which they (the French) calcu. 

 late the expense of removing the first 100 yards, then the next 25 yards, and 

 so on increasing until they get to 300 yards, beyond which the price is enor- 

 mous." This will form the subject of my next communication, and for the 

 present 1 subscribe myself, with sincere thanks for your former kindness, to 



be, 



Yours obediently, 

 St. .inn's, Newcastle.-upon-Tyne. 0. T. 



ON .ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM. 



Sm — A knight, who has just entered your lists with his vizor down, 

 having enpassant permitted me to hear a little harsh voice, which it may be 

 can sound agreeably, I have thought it quite as well to whisper a few words 

 in his ear ; not because, under the notion that he disesteems me, I would 

 descend to parley, but because from his appearance and " at/itude," 1 &m 

 quite sure I should be addressing one to whom the affectation of contempt 

 is more natural and becoming than would be the reality of that feeling. 



Changing then my position, I had thought that no one, who presumes to 

 love abstract speculation, would deny, that however deficient my papers may 

 be, however in their direct tendency they may bow to the very able paper of 

 H. S., vet, that upon that most debcate tissue of thought — the philosophy of 

 taste (out of which emanates so much that is refining to us as students), I 

 had not disgraced my subject, and that in an attempt to establish the poetry 

 of an art which I love, I could have done no less than discuss those elements 

 from which our emotions arise. My reasons for commencing the " Hints on 

 Architectural Criticism," were upon the showing that critics very often 

 debased, by their weak and capricious opinion, the art they professed to 

 extol, and that, as a consequence, that art was held inferior to the art of the 

 sculptor and the painter, and so in order to elevate our art, I found that the 

 philosophy of our claims to the rank of a fine art should be clearly made out, 

 otherwise we should be in the same position as we were. 



It is upon these grounds that I have tried to show how those arts which 

 are not descriptive may maintain an influence over the emotions. 



If J. L. will tell me that he is indiffeient to my attempt, I must I suppose 

 believe him, but I cannot help thinking that as a lover of art he must know, 

 (whatever he admits) that the more we can establish the philosophy of our 

 claims to a rank disputed by many, and the more our inferior critics see and 

 feel the foundation of our claims, the more honourable will be the defence 

 of our art. 



I only ask, Sir, of J. L., disgnised as he is, not to show his dislike in the 

 ignorant and common way of sneering at what (he says) he does not under- 

 stand, but to dispute in the manner of a gentleman for that truth which, as 

 a gentleman myself, is all 1 wish to estabbsh. 



I am, Sir, 



Yours very obediently, 

 Feb. 9th. 1842. Frederick East. 



ON STAIRCASES. 



To the Penny Cyclopaedia we are this month indebted for an inte- 

 resting architectural article, upon the subject of staircases, which not 

 only contains very far more information than is to he met with in 

 any other work of the kind, but a great deal of excellent original 

 comment. Hitherto encyclopaedia articles of this class have usually 

 been very meagre and unsatisfactory, and have consisted of little more 

 than compilation and repetition, vf ithout any attempt to supply pre- 



vious deficiencies. The Penny Cyclopaedia, on the contrary, displays 

 unusual carefulness of execution in its architectural department, and in 

 the articles of architectural biography, in proof of which we have only 

 to refer to Ohlmulltr, Oritl, Portico, Pulpit, Rodriguez, Roman Arch' 

 ieclure. Rotunda, Rustication, iSaloon, Sansorino, Scagliola, Scomozzi, 

 Skylight, and Socnt. Very few of these have till now obtained any 

 notice at all, unless a brief definition of their meanings deserves to be 

 so called ; nor is it always that even that is to be found. In this 

 respect, therefore, the Penny Cyclopaedia manifests a very great 

 improvement upon all its predecessors. Nevertheless there might be 

 some additions and enlargements ; and we would suggest to the pro- 

 prietors of the work, that, on its completion, all the architectural 

 articles (including the biographical ones,) should be collected and re- 

 printed in a separate form : and when we say reprinted, we do not 

 mean verbatim, but that they should be revised and extended, and 

 illustrated with additional drawings. Were this done, we should have 

 what is still a desideratum — a good architectural dictionary; in which 

 opinion most of our readers will, we think, concur with ourselves, 

 after perusing the annexed extracts from the Penny Cyclopaedia. 



"It was not till about the time of Elizabeth that staircases began to 

 be planned more eommodiously in this country, and made a decorative 

 feature in tbe interior of a mansion. But though tliey were greatly 

 improved, tbe flights being made wider, and the steps parallel to each 

 other, with intermediate landings or resting-places between the several 

 flights, and although considerable decoration was bestowed upon them, 

 the walls being panelled, and the parapet of the stairs formed either 

 by richly-carved balusters, or open fretwork, frequently with heraldic 

 figures of animals on the pedestals at the angles of the different flights 

 — the staircase itself was usually enclosed within a comparatively 

 small area, so as to admit of no general view of the whole of it, there 

 being very little open space, or rfell, as it is termed ; sometines none 

 at all. The staircases at Aldermaston, Berks, Crewe Hall, Cheshire, 

 and Knowle, Kent, may be taken as examples of the kind. At a later 

 period staircases in mansions of a superior class were made dispropor- 

 tionably spacious, being upon a scale as to size with which the 

 apartments themselves were not at all in keeping. 



"The planning of a staircase is generally considered one of the most 

 diflScult matters in internal arcliitecture, and it is certainly one that 

 requires great consideration. Yet there is no particular difficulty, 

 except where, as is generally the case in moderate- sized houses, the 

 architect is cramped lor room ; more especially if, while restricted in 

 that respect, the ascent from one floor to another is greater than 

 usual. The number of stairs and the space required for the conve- 

 nient arrangement of them, are easily estimated when the height of 

 the ascent from one floor to another is given, and the dimensions are 

 determined for the risers and treads. Stairs are technically described 

 as consisting of Risers and Treads, the former being the fronts or 

 heights of the steps, and the other their flat surfaces or breadths. 

 Stairs are further distinguished as being Fiyers, those which ascend 

 straightforward ; and IVinders, which having their treads triangular, 

 coming quite to a point at their ends nest balusters, aftbrd no footing 

 there, and ought consequently to be avoided whenever it is at all prac- 

 ticable to do so. A Flight is a consecutive series of stairs in the same 

 direction, or between one Quarter-space or Ha!/-space (Palier de 

 repos) and another, which last are short intermediate landings, serving 

 to lessen the fatigue of a continuous ascent, by subdividing it into 

 shorter flights. For the area containing, or rather constituting, the 

 staircase itself, we have no distinct term in addition to the general 

 one, similar to the French Cage, the Italian Gabbia, and the German 

 Trepptnhaui. 



" We proceed to notice the most convenient proportions of the stairs 

 themselves, as to height and breadth, for their length. As to the 

 breadth of the flights, that is comparatively arbitrary : it should never 

 be much less than four feet, so as to allow two persons to pass, except 

 in back-staircases; hut it may be as much more as the space will per- 

 mit, or the effect aimed at in the design may require. The best 

 general and what may be considered standard proportions, are ti inches 

 for the risers, and 12 inches for the treads; though from Gi to 7 inches 

 may be allowed for the former, and only 10 for the latter, in secondary 

 staircases. In those of a very superior kind, on the contrary, the risers 

 do not exceed 5 or even 4 inches (less height than which last would 

 be more fatiguing than convenient), and their treads are then made 

 from 14 to 1(5 inches. The height, therefore, to the landing of the 

 floor to be reached being given, it is easy to calculate either how 

 many risers of a certain number of inches wiU be required, or what 

 must be the dimensions of the risers and treads, in order to ascend 

 within the space allowed. Supposing the first-mentioned height to 

 be 14 feet, and the risers G inches, two risers will he equivalent to one 

 foot of ascent, and consequently twenty-eight risers will be required, 

 or twenty-seven treads, the upper landing being the tread to the last 



