June 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
211 
avenue, is 72 feet, which is also the width of the north 
and south transepts; and the height of all three from 
the iloor to the springing or base of the arch, is G8 feet; 
the height from the flooring to the crown or top of the 
| arch being 104 feet, just the height of the transept at 
| the old building. The length of the north and south 
! transepts is 336 feet respectively. The length of the 
central transept is 384 feet; its width 120 feet; its 
height from the floor to the top of the louvre, or 
, ventilator, 108 feet; from the floor to the springing of 
the arch 108 feet; and from the garden front to the 
, top of the louvre, 208 feet, or 0 feet higher than the 
Monument. 
1 “The floor consists of boarding one inch-and-a-half 
thick, laid as in the old building, with half-inch openings 
I between them, and resting on joists, placed two feet 
apart, seven inches by two-aud-a-half inches thick. 
These joists are carried on sleepers and props eight 
feet apart. The girders which support the galleries and 
the roof-work, and carry the brick arches over the 
basement floor, are of cast-iron, and are 24 feet in 
length. The connexions between the girders and 
columns are applied in the same manner as in the 
building of 1851. The principle of connexion was 
originally condemned by some men of standing in the 
scientific' world; but experience has proved it to be 
sound and admirable in every respect. The mode of 
connexion is not merely that of resting the girders on 
the columns in order to support the roofs and galleries, 
but the top and bottom of each girder are firmly 
secured to each of the columns, so that the girder 
preserves the perpendicularity of the column, and 
secures lateral stiffness to the entire edifice. Throughout 
the building the visitor will notice, at certain intervals, 
diagonally placed, rods connected at the crossing, and 
uniting column with column. These are the diagonal 
bracings, or the rods provided to resist the action of the 
wind : they are strong enough to bear any strain that can 
be brought to bear against them, and are fitted with 
screwed connexions and couplings, so that they can be 
adjusted with the greatest accuracy. The roof, from end 
to end, is on the Paxton ridge-and-furrow system, and the 
glass employed in the roof is one-thirteenth of an inch in 
thickness (21 oz. per foot). The discharge of the rain¬ 
water is effected by gutters, from which the water is 
conveyed down the inside of the columns, at the base of 
which are the necessary outlets leading to the main 
drains of the building. The first gallery is gained from 
the ground-floor by means of a flight of stairs about 23 
feet high; eight such flights being distributed over the 
building. This gallery is 24 feet wide, and devoted-to 
the exhibition of articles of industry. The upper 
gallery is 8 feet wide, extending, like the other, round 
the building; it is gained from the lower gallery, by 
spiral stair-cases, of which there are ten: each stair- 
j case being divided into two flights, and each flight 
being 20 feet high. Round this upper gallery, at the 
very summit of the nave and transepts, as well as round 
! the ground-floor of the building, are placed louvres, or 
ventilators, made of galvanized iron. By the opening 
or closing of these louvres—a service readily performed— 
tire temperature of the Crystal Palace is so regulated 
| that on the hottest day of summer, the dry parching 
I heat mounts to the roof to bo dismissed, whilst a pure 
I and invigorating supply is introduced at the floor in its 
I place, giving new life to the thirsty plant and fresh 
j vigour to man. The cooluess thus obtained within the 
j Palace will be sought in vain on such a summer’s day 
i outside the edifice. 
j “ The total length of columns employed in the con¬ 
struction of the main buildings and wings would extend, 
if laid in a straight line, to a distance of sixteen miles 
and a quarter. The total weight of iron used in the 
j main building and wings amounts to 9,641. tons, 17 
cwts., 1 quarter. The superficial quantity of glass used 
is 25 acres; and, if the panes were laid side by side, they 
would extend to a distance of 48 miles; if end to end, to 
the almost incredible length of 242 miles. To complete 
our statistics, we have further to add that the quantity 
of bolts and rivets distributed over the main structure 
and wings weighs 175 tons, 1 cwt., I quarter; that the 
nails hammered into the Palace increase its weight by 
103 tons, 0 cwt., and that the amount of brick-work in j 
the main building and wings is 15,391, cubic yards. 
“Prom the end of the south wing to tlie Crystal 
Palace Railway-station, as above indicated, is a colon¬ 
nade 720 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 18 feet high. It 
possesses a superficial area of 15,500 feet, and the 
quantity of iron employed in this covered passage is 60 
tons; of glass 30,000 superficial feet- 
“ The simple plan of heating by hot water is that 
which Sir Joseph Paxton has adopted for the Crystal 
Palace. But simple as the method undoubtedly is, its 
adaptation to the purposes of the Palace has cost infinite 
labour and anxious consideration : for, hitherto, it has 
remained an unsolved problem how far, and in what 
quantity, water could be made to travel through pipes— 
flowing and returning by means of the propulsion of 
heat from the boilers. At Chatsworth, the seat of the 
Duke of Devonshire, the principle has been carried out 
on a large scale, and the experiment there tried has 
yielded data and proof: but in the present building, a 
greater extent of piping has been attached to the boilers 
than was ever before known or even contemplated. In 
order to give the visitor some idea of the magnitude of 
the operation in question, it will be sufficient to state 
that the pipes for the conveyance of the hot water, laid 
under the floor of the main building, and around the 
wings, would, if placed in a straight line, and taken at 
an average circumference of 12 inches, stretch to a 
distance of more than 50 miles, and that the water in 
flowing from and returning to the boilers, travels one 
mile and three-quarters. But even with these extra¬ 
ordinary results obtained, the question as to the distance 
to which water can be propelled by means of heat is far 
from being definitely settled. Indeed, Sir Joseph Paxton 
and Mr. Henderson have invented an ingenious con¬ 
trivance, by means of which, should it ever be required, 
a much larger heating surface may be called forth at any 
time in any particular portion of the building. 
“ The general arrangement of the Heating Apparatus 
maybe described as follows:—Nearly twenty-four feet 
below the surface of the flooring of the main building, 
and leading out of “ Sir Joseph Paxton’s tunnel” (the 
name given to the roadway in the basement story, 
extending the whole length of the buildiug on the side 
nearest the Gardens), are placed, at certain intervals, 
boiler-houses, each containing two boilers capable of 
holding 11,000 gallons of water. The boilers are 
twenty-two in number, and are set in pairs. In 
addition to these, a boiler is placed at the north end of 
the building, on account of the increased heat there 
required for the tropical plants. There are also two 
boilers set in the lower stories of each wing, and two 
small boilers are appropriated to the water in the 
fountain basins at each end of the building, which 
contain Victoria Regias and other aquatic plants of 
tropical climes. Four pipes are immediately connected 
with each boiler; two of such pipes convey the water 
from the boiler, and the other two bring it back ; they 
are called the main pipes, and are nine inches in 
diameter. 
“ Of the two pipes that convey the water from the 
boiler, one crosses the building transversely—from the 
warden-front to the opposite side. Connected with this 
pipe, at certain distances, and in allotted numbers, are 
smaller pipes, five inches in diameter, laid horizontally, 
and immediately beneath the flooring of the building. 
I 
