]12 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[April, 



efficiency of the steam is rendered one and a half times greater by 

 Being so used as to be expanded into 5 times its original volume. 

 This result is perfectly independent of the pressure of the steam em- 

 ployed ; but if steam of a considerable pressure be not employed, the 

 evlinders will require to be of inconvenient dimensions. The idea 

 entertained bv some persons, that the cause of the economy in the 

 Cornish and other engines which use high pressure steam expansively, 

 lies in the inconsiderable dift'erence in temperature between steam of 

 the pressure of one atmosphere and steam of the pressure of several 

 atmospheres, is perfectly fallacious. Temperature is not in all cases 

 a measure of the comparative quantities of beat resident in bodies. 

 Two cubic feet of steam of the pressure of one atmosphere will, if 

 impressed sufficiently, become about one cubic foot of steam of the 

 pressure of two atmospheres ; and whatever may be the temperature 

 of the steam in the two states, the quantity of heat existent in it will 

 be in each case the same. 



In common rotative engines, which operate without expansion, the 

 ordinarv consumption of coal is 10 lb. per horse power per hour. But 

 the hoise power is usually found to be about 52,U0U lb. raised one 

 foot high in the minute, which is equivalent to 2i5-208 millions raised 

 one foot high by a bushel or 84 lb. of coal. Some good engines, how- 

 ever, operate with an effective pressure upon the piston of 13i lb. per 

 square inch=.GO,000 raised one foot high for a horse power ; and a few 

 3scend as high as 6G,000 per horse powei, without employing high 

 pressure steam. The engines consume about 8 lb. of coal per nominal 

 horse power, or 4 lb of coal per horse power of Watt. The consump- 



132-3 „ , ,, 

 lion of coal in this engine is 132-3 lb. per hour -^^^ — 2-5 lb. per 



horse power per hour. 



We recommend this engine to the notice of all who are interested 

 hi steam machinery. By the use of the Graigola coal, smoke is alto- 

 gether avoided, and this species of coal is moreover extremely lasting 

 and economical. The engine is elegantly finished ; its parts are skil- 

 fully and tastefully arranged, and the details of its construction 

 manifest the supervision of the skilful mechanic. In the economy 

 with which it performs its work this engine stands in the first rank ; 

 and it certainly works with a smoothness, efficiency, and equability, it 

 would be difficult to surpass. As a specimen of workmanship, as well 

 as an achievement of engineering skill, it is destined to confer much 

 honour upon the Messrs. Rennie. 



METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. 



Whoever has, in any degree, reflected ou the architectural movemect, 

 ■which was such a prominent feature in the Georgian era, and is equally so at 

 the present day, must have felt strongly the necessity of some general plan, 

 and of a central controlling body. Whether we look at what has been 

 effected, or what is left undone — whether we regard the useful or the orna- 

 mental, tlie imperfection of t!ie present measures has been evident, and the 

 Rowing disposition towards remedying this defect. Who thinks of the old 

 city, and looks at the new one which has now risen, witliout regretting that 

 so many spots where improvement is urgently called for, should have been 

 left untouched ? The men of the present day have thrown off the dulness 

 and puerility which infested England in the time of the second and third 

 Georges, and it is plain that we have taken steps to redeem our metropolis 

 from their neglect. Such a period of repose was perhaps wanted after the 

 ■violence of the civil wars, and the dissoluteness which prevailed under the 

 second Charles. It might he in the social body, as in the human system, 

 that irregular excitement must be succeeded by as great a collapse ; and never 

 perhaps was the depth of the bathos so extremely felt in this country as 

 ■when equally in arms, in literature, and in art, with few, and those not first- 

 Tate, exceptions, we had nothing but mediocrity. Nor was the passive en- 

 durance of dulness the sole evil there was — a power of warfare active 

 against whatever of beautiful and great our ancestors had left, music was made 

 not only an exile but an alien, painting defunct here was exercised only at 

 the hands of foreigners, and the whitewash brush, which so mercilessly at- 

 tacked the arts of design in our buildings, was wieldedJnot,less energetically 



in the world of letters. The age of pigtails and milk .and water was not con- 

 tented with self-disfiguration, the same artist who had spoiled his own liead, 

 clapped periwigs on the heads of the Romans ; and both the country and the 

 theatre witnessed caricatures not only of the proprieties of particular ages, 

 but of human nature itself. The puritans destroyed, the cavaliers disguised, 

 and the Hanoverian dulness finished whatever the presumption of the restora- 

 tion had left untouched. The dawning of the present movement, the 

 glimpses of better days, which were seen even in the worst, and the processes 

 by which even evil features were made to work good, would take too long a 

 history to sketch now — we must be contented with the result. We have a 

 metropolis which, both in historical remembrances and existing monuments, 

 has all the elements of grandeur and beauty which the most magnificent 

 could desire ; our only caic must be what to restore, what to destroy, what 

 to build anew. A uniform process is all that is required to unite the dis- 

 persed materials ; the expense is no part of tlie question, for in these days the 

 want has but to be felt to be suppUed. People are aware that though money 

 m.ay be trifled ■with, health may not, and expediency sinks in the consi- 

 deration. 



When, therefore, the question of metropolitan improvement has reached 

 that state when men's minds are prepared for its consideration, the formation 

 of a society for its furtherance cannot fail to be a successful means of accom- 

 plisliing the object. The difficulties which might have arisen from such a 

 plan, emanating from selfish purposes, are well met in the prospectus of the 

 present society, which declares that the society is not formed to originate 

 plans, or to advocate particular views, but to discuss their merits and to draw 

 the attention of the legislature to the subject. Supported as the Metropo- 

 litan Improvement Society akeady is, by many of those who have individually 

 laboured with honour for the same purposes, it must have a moral weight 

 which will powerfully contribute towards its success. The main objects 

 which are to be kept in view are, first, the means of checking the mortality 

 now reigning in over-crowded and ill-drained neighbourhoods ; second, 

 affording facilities for commercial intercourse; third, the suggestion of 

 proper sites for churches, schools, and other public institutions, and for parks 

 and public walks ; and fourth, decoration or architectural embellishment. 

 The means of consuming smoke is also noticed as a subject for inquiry, and 

 generally all plans and suggestions which have a tendency to forward the 

 general objects of the society. The consideration how the funds for this 

 purpose can be best provided is of coMse a necessary part of the plan, but 

 little difficulty is to be anticipated on that score, as tax of two-pence or 

 three-pence in the povnid will amply provide for all wants, and can meet with 

 but few opponents. To our readers this society cannot be too strongly re- 

 commended, for independently of the smallness of the subscription, the self- 

 interest they have in promoting its objects must be a sufficient stimulus for 

 securing their adhesion ; as, too, the society proposes to discuss any building 

 or drainage bills, or others affecting the metropolis, it will become a powerful 

 centre of attraction to all earnest for their own welfare and that of their 

 profession. 



To the originators of this society a great debt of gratitude is due, for its 

 beneficial influence must be felt not only here, but in every great city in the 

 English empire and the world. 



Improved Papier Mache'.— The endless variety of architectural orna- 

 ments to which this material is now adopted, is well deserring the notice of 

 the architect and every man of taste. Upon a recent visit to Mr. Bielefeld's 

 manufactory in Wellington Street, Strand, we were much surprised to find 

 the numerous and beautiful forms into which this material is now moulded ; 

 foliage, either Gothic, Grecian, Roman, Elizabethan, or Renaissance, is here 

 developed in an endless variety of ornaments for mouldings, cornices, panels, 

 ceilings picture frames, &c., from the most minute mouldings to the largest 

 size, from patera; of an inch diameter to the centre flower of C6 inches 

 diameter. Capitals of the Ionic order, and Corinthian, from the examples of 

 Jupiter Stator, monument of Lysicrates, the Tivoli and Temple of the Winds, 

 besides numerous capitals of the Gothic, Elizabethan, and other styles. The 

 frames for pictures and chimney glasses are of the most elaborate workman- 

 ship ; one that we saw in the Show Room, C feet by 4 feet, was adorned 

 with foliage of the most beautiful description, with Cupids in alto-relievo, 

 copied from a fine specimen of old oak carving. M'e might continue on de- 

 taiUng the numerous works coUected in this store-house of ornament, and 

 fill our Journal ; we therefore must recommend the architect to visit the 

 show-rooms and judge for himself. 



