96 YEAR-BOOK OF FACTS. 



of certain portions of the stone used in building the Houses of Par- 

 liament has been made patent to the country. 



In May last, in the House of Commons, Mr. Wise asked the First 

 Commissioner of Works whether any Report had recently been made 

 on the condition of the Stonework of the Houses of Parliament, and 

 what had been done with the 72S07. voted last session for the 

 purpose of Indurating the external stonework. Mr. Wise said the 

 Commission reported that the Bolsover stone combined the requisites 

 of durability, economy of conversion, beauty of colour, and other 

 qualities; but the contract entered into for the supply of the material 

 was cancelled, and a new quarry opened belonging to the late Duke 

 of Leeds, the stone obtained from which was, iii the estimation of 

 experienced builders, of an inferior description. He referred to 

 Mr. C. H. Smith's charge, that proper supervision had not been 

 exercised over the delivery of the stone ; and the question was, who 

 was responsible for so serious a neglect ? The consequence of this 

 was, that they now found inferior material had been used, and large 

 sums, in addition to the enormous outlay already incurred, would be 

 required to preserve these buildings from a decay which ought to 

 have been foreseen and guarded against. At the bottom of that 

 state of affairs lay, he believed, the modern system of contracts, 

 which gave great profit to the few and inflicted great injury on the 

 many. For some time he had noticed a rapid, constant, and 

 increasing disruption of the surface of the stone, especially on the 

 terrace front. The decomposition was not confined to the plain face 

 of the stone, but extended to the siils, bases, capitals, plinths, and 

 the stonework above and below all these. He should be glad to 

 know from the Chief Commissioner of Works what remedy he pro- 

 posed to adopt for this state of things. 



Mr. W. Cowper, in course of reply, said that what was supposed 

 to be the best stone that England could produce, had been found not 

 to combine those exact proportions of carbonate of lime and car- 

 bonate of magnesia, which were expected to make it indestructible. 

 On the contrary, the action of the weather upon it had been such, 

 that on the river front, not merely on the carved portions, but on 

 many of the plain surfaces where the water dripped, the decay 

 was advancing most rapidly. The only thing which could now be 

 done was to find some composition which would render the stone 

 impervious to moisture, and would, in fact have the same effect upon 

 it as paint had upon wood and iron. There were several patented 

 compositions which professed to attain that object, and two of them, 

 — one patented by Mr. Kansome, and the other by Mr. Snrelmi y, 

 — were now being tried upon the river front. As far as ordinary 

 investigation could form a guide, the; seemed to promise very fairly; 



but he had thought it desirable to a.-k Mr. Faraday and .Sir 11. 

 Murchison to examine and report upon tli.se experiments, ;md he 

 trusted that their labours would be more su ccessfu l than wire those 



of tie- Commission which sat sixteen years ago, to which the hon. 

 gentleman referred, lie did not think it right to expend any of the 

 money which had last year been voted by Parliament, until il had 



