Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/222

568 the theory on which he had proceeded to act, with singular applicability ; tho first successful experiment procured him from a piece of common chalk, broken to powder, a hard stony mass, which dissolved in muriatic acid with violent effervescence sometimes the fruit of his labour was covered with crystals visible to the naked eye proving fusion, and re-formation as a limestone mineral. The results of'these experiments, as applicable to the formation of the earth, were reduced to a table, in which, by a presumption that the pressure of water had, been the agent of nature, the author considers that 1700 feet of sea, with the assistance of 'heat, is sufficient for the formation of limestone that by 3000 feet a complete marble may be formed, &c.; it may be remarked that a fragment of marble, manufactured by Sir James Hall in the course of his experiments, so far deceived the workman employed to give it a polish, that, acting under the presumption that the fragment had been dug up in Scotland, he remarked, that if it were but a little whiter, the mine where it was found might be very valuable.

In 1808, Sir James Hall represented the burgh of St Michael's in Cornwall; but after the dissolution of parliament in 1812, he did not again offer himself as a candidate. In 1813, he published his well known "Origin, Principles, and History of Gothic Architecture," in one volume quarto, accompanied with plates and illustrations. It contained an enlargement and correction of the contents of a paper on the same subject, delivered before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in the year 1797. This elegant volume is the most popular and esteemed work on the subject of which it treats, both in the particular theory it espouses, and the interest of its details. The origin and formation of Gothic architecture had given birth to many theories, accounting for it on the imitative principles which guide the formation of all architecture, some ingenious, but none satisfactory. Warburton pointed out the similarity of Gothic aisles, to avenues of growing trees. Milner adopted the theory propounded in Bentham's History of Ely Cathedral, that the pointed arch was formed by the interlacing of two semicircular arches ; and Murphy referred the whole formation of Gothic architecture to an imitation of the form of the pyramid. Sir James Hall perceived that no form could be appropriately assumed in Gothic architecture which might not be constructed in wicker-ware ; and considered that the earliest stone buildings of this peculiar form were imitations of the natural forms assumed in constructions of boughs and twigs. "It happened," he says, in giving a lively account of the circumstance which hinted such a theory, "that the peasants of the country through which I was travelling were employed in collecting and bringing home the long rods or poles, which they make use of to support their vines, and these were to be seen in every village, standing in bundles, or waving partly loose in carts. It occurred to me that a rustic dwelling might be constructed of such rods, bearing a resemblance to works of Gothic architecture, and from which the peculiar forms of that style might have been derived. This conjecture was at first employed to account for the main parts of the structure, and for its general appearance only; but after a diligent investigation, carried on at intervals, with the assistance of friends, both in the collection of materials, and the solution of difficulties, I have been enabled to reduce even the most intricate forms of this elaborate style to the same simple origin; and to account for every feature belonging to it, from an imitation of wicker work, modified according to the principles just laid down, as applicable to architecture of every sort." Sir James, who was never fond of trusting to the power of theory without practice, erected with twigs and boughs a very beautiful Gothic edifice, from which he drew conclusions strikingly illustrative of his theory. But it must be allowed, that he has carried it in some re-