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.
