Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/333

 f woo ; oe ~ Aprit 19, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 315 MODERN ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE. ee Westminster Gazette, in an article on this subject, says that the excessive individualism which is now the prevailing characteristic of mo- ~ dern English architecture is the pernicious element to which is mostly traceable the present condition of architectural art amongst us. It operates through- out every step of the architect's career: in that which dictates an entrance into the profession, which guides his studies, which ultimately deter- mines his status and position, and which makes his future practice one of almost sole dependence upon his individual capacity, whence his position becomes one of isolation and rivalry. There is, perhaps, no art in which combination of different and special faculties is ‘so much called for as architecture. Regarded as a fine art in the highest sense of the word, entitled to rank in its range of appeal to the mind with poetry and the other fine arts, it is some- thing very much beyond the “decorative construc- tion” of which we have heard so much (though there is a truth in this), and it may well be called “the poetry ‘of building,” demanding, as such, just those high gifts which are the most rare—the ex- quisite sense of grace and proportion of character, dignity, and grandeur, with some of which, in their needed kind and degree, the architect must clothe his work, to make it a true work of fine art. Other lesser artistic faculties, with large mathematical, optical, and practical executive knowledge, are also demanded in every important work of true archi- tecture. But how rarely can one mind be an epitome of all these! Yet this is just the assumption of our present fortuitous mode of art culture, by which little guarantee can be afforded that the ablest minds ever find their way into the profession at all, much less that they find scope for perfected development, or reach the position they should occupy. Combi- nation of varied and special gifts there is little or none. And just so long as architecture is regarded only as a private profession, to be entered upon mainly for a living, and to be pursued in competi- tion and rivalry, will these defects remain inherent, and be attended with the scattered and ineffective results. In seeking a remedy, the first thing that sugests itself seems imperatively to be the releasing the pursuit of architectural art somewhat from these private and, in a sense, commercial channels, and the erecting it on a basis of common and national inte- rest. In view of existing conditions, the analogy of other learned professions seems to furnish valu- able precedent, and to suggest just themachinery re- quired to supply the needs and compass the ends which we have seen are so poorly fulfilled under our present system. These professions all have their curriculum of study, their degrees, step by step, as the guarantee of ability to practice, and of the status and class of merit conveyed thereby. The application of a like system to art matters would seem to promise all that we want. —_—__———${__ JASPER AND BLOODSTONE. eae one of the many varieties of quartz—is very compact, and is found of various colours —dark green, red, brown, yellow, grayish, and sometimes bluish and black. It is very hard, and takes a fine polish. Occasionally it is found banded. or in stripes of different colours, when it is termed ribbon-jasper ; the stripes are usually red and green alternating. Jasper alone is infusible before the blowpipe, -but it will melt with the addition of car- Donate of soda. trap rock, but more frequently in pebbles in the beds of rivers. The yellow jasper is found near the Bay of ‘Smyrna, in Greece, and other places; the red in the plains of Argos; the variety known as ribbon- jasper comes from Siberia and Saxony; and another kind, termed Egyptian jasper, is found on the banks of the Nile. This latter is of a fine brown on the exterior, and clouded with brown of various shades, frequently spotted with black, the markings in this variety occasionally resembling natural objects. A specimen in the British Museum is thought to ex- hibit a likeness of the poet Chaucer. The yellow variety is used in the Florentine mosaic-work called pietra dura. The ancients were well acquainted with this stone, and prized it most highly. Onomakritos, 500 years before the Christian era, speaks of the ‘‘ grass green Jasper, which rejoices the eye of man, and is looked on with pleasure by the immortals.” The emeralds spoken of by Roman and Greek authors were most probably green jasper, as we hear of pillars of temples cut out of one piece. Pliny, who describes no less than ten kinds of jasper, relates that it was worn by the natives of the East as an amulet or charm. This stone was much used for cameos; It is sometimes found imbedded in + many specimens are extant, having several layers, and the objects represented are cut deep or shallow, so as to bring the colours into contrast: for instance, in some specimens may be seen the head of a war- rior in red jasper, the helmet green and the breast- plate yellow. In the collection of the Vatican are two marvellous vases of this substance; one of red jasper with white stripes, the other of black jasper with yellow stripes. This stone is cut on copper wheels with fine sand and emery, and polished on wooden or metal wheels with pumice and Tripoli. The jasper, according to the Authorised Version of the Scriptures, was the twelfth stone in the breast-plate of the High Priest ; and as the Hebrew name is ‘“‘yashpeh,” which is strikingly similar to jasper,and almost all the transla- tions agree, there can be little doubt as to its identity. Galen, among other sage advice, relates that if a jasper be hung about the neck, it will strengthen the stomach. The bloodstone is another jasper-variety of quartz, of a dark green colour, and having those minute blood-red specks disseminated throughout, which give its name. The word heliotrope, from »voc, the sun, and TpoTn, a turning, is derived from the notion that, when immersed in water, it changed the image of the sun into blood-red. Pliny relates that the sun could be viewed in it as in a mirror, and that it made visible its eclipses. It is found in large quantities in India, Bokhara, Siberia, and Tartary, and also in the Isle of Rum in the Hebrides, oc- curring generally in masses of considerable size. It is translucent, and susceptible of abeautiful polish; its commercial value, as inthe case of other stones, varies with the quality of the specimen. The bloodstone is used for the same purposes as agate and onyx. There is a tradition that at the Crucifixion the blood which followed the spear thrust fell upon a dark green jasper lying at the foot of the cross, and from this cireumstance sprang the variety. In the Middle Ages the red specks alluded to were supposed to represent the blood of Christ ; and this stone was thought to possess the same medicinal and magical virtues as the jasper.—American Watehmaker and Jeweller. ———— PRACTICAL RECIPES. Frye Green Bronze.—First boil the work in a strong solution of potash to get off all the old lacquer and grease; next wash in clear water ; after that let the work stand a day or two in a weak solution of nitric acid, then take out, wash, and dry; then coat the article with some good black lead. Polish until you have a good black, glossy surface; then put on yellow lacquer, which, upon a black surface, gives a green bronze. Usrerut Cement. —The following cement is found to be excellent for use in cases where it is desirable to join or close vessels for containing the vapour of acids, or highly corrosive substances. Beat and sift finely dry pipe-clay; add painters’ drying oil, and mix, in a mortar, to a moulding consistency. Use this lute in cylinders, flattened, and applied to the joinings. The points to which it is applied must be perfectly clean and dry. Jormmnc Rupper.—Rubber is easily joined and made as strong as an original fabric, by softening before a fire and laying the edges carefully together, without dust, dirt, or moisture between. The edges so joined must be freshly cut in the beginning. Tubing can be united by joining the edges arourd a glass cylinder, which has previously been rolled with paper. After the glass is withdrawn the paper is easily removed. Sift flour or ashes through the tube to prevent the sides from adhering from acci- dental contact. Liquiw Buack-Leap Porise.—A recent English invention consists of black lead, such as is used for polishing stoves and for other uses, combined with turpentine, water, and sugar or saccharine matter, and the proportions which have been found to an- swer well are, to each pound by weight of black lead, one gill of turpentine, one gill of water, and one ounce of sugar; but these proportions may be varied, and in some cases all the ingredients are not necessary. Exastic Varnish For LreatHer.—Take two parts by weight of resin, and one of indiarubber, and heat them in an earthenware vessel till they are fused together; after which they should be stirred till they are quite cold; a little boiled linseed oil may be added while the materials are hot. To Improve Giiprne.—Mix a gill of water with two ounces of purified nitre, one ounce of alum, one ounce ef common salt; lay this over gilt articles with a brush, and the colour will be much improved. DISTRICT SURVEYORS’ CHARGES. T the last meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the Finance Committee submitted a report by the solicitor as to the practice of district surveyors in dealing with privies, &c., as separate structures from the dwelling to which they belong, and recommended that the substance of such report be sent to each of the district surveyors.—In proposing the adoption of the report, Mr. Richardson referred to the last recommendation, and explained that in the case of a Mr. Flight a question had arisen as to whether the district surveyor was entitled to make a separate charge for surveyor’s fees on a closet which was in a dangerous condition, and which happened. to be a separate building from the dwelling-house. It appeared to haye been the practice of the district surveyors to make separate charges on such build- ings, but in this matter the attention of the Board. had been called to it, and the opinion of the solicitor had been taken. That opinion was to the effect that the district surveyors were not entitled to make a charge on the closet, inasmuch as it was not really a separate tenement any more than a coal-cellar or a coachhouse, which really must be considered as part of the curtilage. The question, however, was of some importance, and the solicitor thought it ought to be settled. Under the circumstances, the Finance Committee thought it advisable that a copy of the solicitor’s report should be sent to the district sur yeyors, and the district surveyors would probably communicate their opinion to the Board.—Mr. Low- man Taylor did not agree to sending copies of the solicitor’s report to the district surveyors asking for their views on the subject. It was for the Board to come to their own conclusion whether the charges were right or not. The solicitor said they were not right, and under these circumstances the Board ought not to support the district surveyors in the charge.—Mr. Newton quite agreed with Mr. Low- man Taylor that the document ought not to be sent to the district surveyors for their opinion on the matter; but if sent at all, it should be sent with an instruction as to their future conduct. Mr. Richard~ son had said that the Board had no power over the district surveyors under the Building Act, and if that was so, the Board ought not, as they had hitherto done, to have given the district surveyors the ad- vantage of consulting the legal department of the Board in cases of disputed fees. He knew a case in which a gentleman had improved his property by erecting fifteen separate closets to fifteen houses, and upon each the district surveyor charged a surveying fee of 15s. If it was the practice to regard these closets as separate tenements, there seemed to be no doubt now that the practice was illegal, and the Board ought to take some steps to protect the pub- lic from being muleted in charges to which they were not liable-—Mr. Elt said he had long been connected with the Building Act, and it was the usual practice to regard detached closets, stables, &c., as separate tenements, liable to a separate surveying fee. The solicitor in his report had not settled the question, but had expressed an opinion only, recommending that the point should be legally settled. He (Mr. Elt) thought the better course in Mr. Flight’s case would be to take steps to enforce payment, and let Mr. Flight resist it before the magistrates, so that the point might belegally settled.—Dr. Brewer, M.P., remarked that if the Building Act had been tortured in the way represented into an authorising of such fees as were charged in the present case, he was quite sure such a claim would not hold for a moment in a court of law. He thought the Board had better at once declare that the charges ought not to be made.— Mr. Richardson, in reply, reminded the Board that this matter arose not under the Building Act, but under the Dangerous Structures Act, under which the Board had authority over the surveyors. Under the Building Act, with which the Board had nothing to do, the district surveyor made his charge, and if it-was not paid, he summoned the debtor before the magistrate. In this ease, which referred to the other Act, the Finance Committee thought it advisable that the district surveyor should know that the soli- citor thought that such fees as were charged in Mr. Flight’s case were not legal, as he was distinctly of opinion that a closet was not a separate tenement- If it was desirable to have the question settled at law, it should not be raised, he thought, on a trumpery case like this, but by having a case pro- perly settled and argued by counsel before a superior court.—The report was then adopted, and on the motion of Mr. Richardson, the general question o£ district surveyors’ fees arising out of the report was referred to the Building Act Committee. —— §. Maithew’s Church, Wookey, near Wells, was yeopened on Monday, having during the last twelve months undergone restoration.