Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/744

 602 The Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal. [Mar., By direct experiments with two ther- mometers placed on the ground about noon, in a hot da3 r at the end of March, I ascertained that in the enclosure the temperature was 99°, while on the ground, in the sun outside, it ranged to 120°, after half an hour's exposure. The places of the same instruments were then changed, and noted after another half hour's interval, with the same re- sults." "As a further hint to any one at- tempting a 'tatty,' or a 'chick,' I will give my experience with the latter at Aden. When my regiment was there, in 1851, I had bamboo 'tatties' put up around a small verandah, which shut out much glare. In order to increase this grateful shade I had the bamboo strips painted dark green, but to my surprise the glare was then found to be intolerable ; the color of the bambo*, so much the hue of the sandy dried-up earth all round, afforded relief, while the dark green color was such a con- trast to it that there seemed to be no protection at all." From this, he evidently attributes the increase of glare or light, to the color of the paint, in which, I think, he is mis- taken, as there-is no scientific reason for it. That there was a decided increase of glare, while using the painted "tatty," instead of one of the natural color of bamboo, there is little doubt ; but he is probably wrong as to the cause of this phenomenon. My opinion is, that it was due to the nature of the paint, and not the color. That is, on account of the constituents »f the paint, there was a certain bril- liancy given to the surface of the bam- boo, which, from the fact that every cui'ved or irregular surface is composed of an infinite number of planes, present- ed a series of reflectors (you may say) thereby causing a quantity of light to be diffused through the roora, which was not the case with the natural, dull colored surface of the bamboo. This easily follows, from the well-known law in Physics, that the amount of light re- flected from a surface increases with the degree of its polish. Had the Major tried a dark green paint, without any ingredient to pro- duce in it the property of reflecting in- cident rays, I think the result would not have differed from that yielded by the natural dull - colored bamboo. While on this subject, I remember often having heard the following ques- tion discussed : " Why is a blue or green window-blind, or shade, better for the eye than one of another color ?" Now, there is really no scientific ground for this assumption, neither is either any better, than any other color, nor does either cause less injury to the organ of ■ vision ; but, to borrow the words of a certain Physicist : " The reason that a blue or green window-shade seems more grateful to the eye than one of other color is, probably, because almost every thing in nature — the sky, grass, foliage of trees, &c. — presents one of these colors, which accustoms the eye to them, thence the pleasant sensation produced by a blind of said color." Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. Editor's Note. — Many bamboos have a highly-polished light-reflecting exte- rior ; and they are often set on fire from their own motion, in violent winds, on account of their silicious surfaces strik- ing sparks with each other, as flints, the inner fibre, exposed in cracks, or breaks, readily igniting; but bamboos differ much in surface and hue. For the rest, green, blue and black are retiring, or light-absorbing, in the order named : they must, therefore, be better for ob- jects habitually near the eye, than red, orange and yellow, which are intensify - ingly advancing, or light reflecting. Correction. — In our January num- ber, we were led into an error in naming Mr. Thomas as the architect of Booth's Theatre, New York, Messrs. Renwick & Sands being the party entitled to the credit.