Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/444

 422 eee very good: allat Rome. It is the Farnese Palace by which he is usually judged; but it is to be remembered that the upper portion, including the cornice and the court-yard, were erected after his death by Michael Angelo; and the river front was designed later still by Giacomo della Porta. ‘The general effect of the palace is, no doubt, due to San Gallo: itis massive and grand. We cannot, however, but think that the windows are brought much too near the angles of the wall, giving an idea of weakness in that par- ticular, whilst the vertical spaces between the windows are too great. ‘The cornice forms a noble finish to the building; and we confess to liking the river front by Giacomo della Porta better than the portions by San Gallo or Michael Angelo. The works of Antonio and his uncles, in architecture, however open to criticism, were so numerous and important that they deserve all honourable mention, and, if not distin- guished by the highest sense of artistic beauty, are still commendable for their massive solidity, excellent and ingenious construction, good proportion, and a judicious modera- tion in the use of ornament, whilst the per- sonal influence they exercised on the art and artists of their time was in every way whole- some and good, and they have left behind them characters honourable to them, both as men and artists, leaving such worthy disciples in the art as Jacopo Sansovino, Simone Mosca, Antonio Labacco, Nanno di Baccio Bigio, Battista Picconi (il Gobbo), brother of the younger Antonio da San Gallo, and Francesco, the son of Giuliano da San Gallo, one of the Academicians in Vasari’s time, a sculptor of no mean merit, and the successor of Baccio d’Agnolo as architect to the Cathedral at Florence. <6 THE BERLIN COMPETITION. A CORRESPONDENT of the Scotsman, writing about the competition for the erection of the new Houses of Parliament at Berlin, says:—‘‘ There are one hundred and two from all parts of Europe and America—even Paris has not excluded itself, though it cannot be said to shine, any more than America. Of the Continental contributors most are men of Berlin and Vienna, and then follows Eng- land, who has gone in for the prize with a will, occupying more than one large hall, and that the best. It is quite true, as I heard oneof the committee men remarking, ‘The English exhibitors have no need to complain of their treatment.’ But they deserve it. It is acknowledged that their work is of a very superior order, and it makes, besides, the most im- posing impression. The figures of the Germans are, almost without an exception, in the Classical and Renaissance styles, while England is about as ex- clusively Gothic. If an Englishman does gain a prize, that Englishman will be Gilbert Scott, whose design is grand and noble, and the effect delicious. Some other English names are Spanten, Sang, and Green. I can offer no judgment on the practicality of any of the designsI saw. It seemed to me, how- ever, that not one of all the hundred and two could be translated into brick and mortar as it there stood. The principal architects both of Vienna (Hansten and Tenstel) and Berlin were unrepresented, as Adler, Lucal, Hitzig—the two last being of the number of the judges.” ——_—_—__ SCHOOLS OF ART. Crorpox.—The annual soirée of the Croydon School of Art took place yesterday (Thursday) wweek, Arthur Helps, Esq., in the chair. <A testi- monial of esteem and respect (consisting of a writing table, clock, and volume of Milton’s works) was pre- sented by Mr. Henry Moore, in the name of his fellow students, to Mr. Wigzell, the head master of the school. The works executed by the students during the past year were thrown open to public exhibition in the new Public Hall on Friday and Saturday last. : Marpstone.—The following students of the Maidstone School of Art have obtained Government prizes of drawings sent up to South Kensington :— Ellen Hargrave, Eliza Goodwin, Bertha Case, Jane Day, Frederick Elphick, Frederick Ruck, W. T. Shrubsole, James Waters, John Bartholomew, and Frederick G. Green. THE BUILDING NEWS. PRESERVING WOOD. HE following are the conclusions arrived at by Herman Haupt, C.E., after an elaborate in- vestigation as to the best means of preserving wood from decay, which we extract from Van Nostrand’s Magazine :— 1. That so long as the cells of wood are occupied by air and moisture, no preservative solutions can be introduced, and the expulsion of air and water must be the first step in any effective process for preserving timber from decay. 2. That water can be expelled by a long-con- tinued application of heat, but air only by expansion in a vacuum, and the combination of heat and vacuum will secure the most rapid expansion both of water and air. 3. The preservative fluid must be introduced while the cells are empty, consequently the process must be carried on in vacuo. 4, That no pressure, however great, applied ex- ternally to the surface of timber, can force any fluid into the interior so long as air or water is contained in the cells. When air alone is present there may be penetration to a limited extent, superficially, but water is practically incompressible. If, however, the pressure is applied at one end only of a log, as in the Boucherie process, a fluid may be forced through and exude from the other end. An apparatus to fulfil the conditions which, from the preceding discussion, appear to be essential to success, must be founded on a process similar to distillation in vacuo, It must consist of at least two vessels—one a receiver corresponding to a re- tort, in which the material can be placed, and sub- jected to the action of heat; the other a condenser, in which all escaping vapours can be condensed, and the vacuum maintained during the process in both vessels. The condenser may be of much smaller capacity than the receiver; they should communicate by pipes furnished with stopcocks, and both be supplied with thermometers, vacuum gauges, and pumps. As an illustration, suppose wood is to be impreg- nated with dead oil or any other fluid. The receiver must be filled with the wood to be operated on, the door closed air-tight, and the air expelled from both the receiver and condenser. The expulsion of the air may be effected in various ways. 1. Steam may be admitted at one end to drive out the air at the other end; the subsequent conden- sation of the steam should leave a vacuum,*but, in the experiments of the writer, this plan has been only partially successful. 2. The air may be exhausted by an air-pump, but a perfect yacuum cannot in this way be secured. 3. The vessels may be filled with water, and the water removed by a pump below the level of the bottom into which the water flows. This should remove all the air excepting that which escapes from the cells. 4. As the atmosphere supports a column of water 33ft. high, pipes may lead to a tank at a_ level about 40ft. lower, where the location is favourable, and thus by filling the vessels with water and open- ing cocks to allow the water to flow by gravity into the tank, a very perfect vacuum could be produced. This arrangement would be particularly favourable for maintaining a vacuum in the condenser: a pipe in the condenser could throw jets of water in spray from numerous fine perforations, and the water would consequently flow into the tank 40ft. lower, maintaining a constant vacuum without the aid of pumps. ‘This object can be accomplished in almost any locality by placing the condenser at the top of a building or on trestle work. Assuming thata vacuum has been created and provision made for maintaining it during the whole process, the next step will consist in the application of heat, which may be done most conveniently by steam-pipes introduced in the receiver. The length of time during which the timber must be subjected to the baking process will depend upon the dimensions of the logs, and can only be determined by experiment. It is obvious, however, that the circumstances are favourable to the most rapid evaporation pos- sible; the temperature can be regulated at pleasure, and the removal of pressure by vacuum will give a very low boiling point. As the vapours pass over they will be immediately condensed. Should the vacuum become vitiated by the escape of air from the cells, it may be improved by the use of an air-pump. The condition of the vacuum will be indicated by the gauges. When suflicient time has been allowed for the wood to dry thoroughly, cocks must be opened con- May 24, 1872. necting the bottom of the receiver with a tank of dead oil at a lower level. As a vacuum exists in the receiver, the atmospheric pressure will force up the oil, and the timber will be immersed in the fluid. When the immersion has continued a sufficient length of time, which also must be determined by careful. experiment, cocks may be opened at the top of the receiver to admit air. The oil not absorbed will immediately flow back to the tank from which it was taken, the air pressing upon the ex- terior of the cells, which are partially filled with oil, while a vacuum exists in the in- terior, will force the oil before it, and thus coat in its progress the interior of the cells. It is probable that in this way a sufficient amount of dead oil may be introduced into the cells to prevent fermentation anddecomposition, while still far below the point of saturation, and the process may prove rapid and economical. Instead of admitting air in the manner proposed to expel the oil from the receiver, it is possible that better results may be obtained by allowing the oil to remain until it becomes heated by the steam coils, and the vapour collecting at the top expels the oil and penetrates the pores. Too much oil might be introduced by this mode of treatment, and it is probable that the introduction of air, followed, perhaps, by a second bath of oil to close the cells superficially and exclude moisture, would give the best results. All these and other questions that may arise can be promptly settled by experiment, and in no other way. This process of drying in vacuo would be well adapted to the rapid desiccation of fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, &c., with a view to preservation. The writer does not claim that he has solved the im- portant problem of preserving timber from decay. Before he could satisfy himself or others, a series of continued experiments with suitable apparatus would be required; but it will not be considered egotistical to assume that, in several months of experiment, something has been learned. He is satisfied, at least, that none of the ordinary processes will preserve wood economically, and there is, in his opinion, no surer avenue to success in any investigation than the study of failures and their cause. He has witnessed too many failures to be sure of anything until it has been proven, but believes that in the processes indi- cated there are strong reasons to expect success. —___—_—_—__—_. ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION. T the usual fortnightly meeting of this Associa- tion on Friday evening last, the President, Mr. Rowland Plumbe, F.R.I.B.A., in the chair, Messrs. E. H. Crutchley and G. Sherring were elected members. Mr. J. S. Qummrer, hon. sec., read a letter from the President of the Class of Construction and Practice, expressing the concurrence of the members of the Class with the suggestion made at the last business meeting of the Association that a Committee of past- Presidents of the Class should be appointed to inquire into the working of the Class. Mr. Quilter, there- fore, begged to move ‘“That the following gentlemen be a Committee to consider the best method of fur- thering the interests of the Class of Construction— viz., Messrs. Rowland Plumbe, Lacy W. Ridge, Gilbert R. Redgrave, L. C. Riddett, and T. E. Mun- dey, with power to add to their number.” Mr. Pownaxu seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted. Tt was announced that the Water-Colour Class had been commenced, although there was still room for one or two more members. The only other class which seemed to have a chance of being formed this session was the Surveying Class, for which several applications to join had been received. Only one name had been received for the proposed class for the study of geology. It was further announced that Mr. G. H. West, A.R.LB.A., who was to have read a paper “On Modern French Architecture,” was at present in Paris, and had failed to transmit his paper, How- ever, that circumstance was not altogether to be regretted, as very important business was to come before the meeting—viz., the consideration of the reports proposed to be presented to the approaching Architectural Conference by the Committees ap- pointed by last year’s Architectural Conference to inquire into the subjects of ‘ Professional Practice and Charges,” ‘“‘Competitions,” and the ‘“Employ- ment of Surveyors.” As, however, these reports were not finally adopted and revised, they could not then be made public, and the reporters were there- fore requested to retire when the discussion on the reports came on. We are informed, however, that the reports will be issued in a day or two.