ART. II. Notice of a remarkable Corinthian Capital in the Vatican. By G. WIGHTWICK, Esq., Architect. It was my chief occupation, while a student at Rome, to glean whatever architectural rarities I could find in the gallery of the Vatican; and I have now by me many drawings, from exquisite examples of the antique, for the first time (I believe) geometrically delineated to accurate measurement. They consist of vases, altars, candelabra, two very curious marble chairs, and a remarkable Corinthian capital, the plan and elevation of which (fig. 184.) are herewith forwarded for your publication, should you coincide in my opinion of its worth. You will observe that its chief peculiarity consists in the square abacus, and the omission of the volutes. The horns curve inward, as usual; but, instead of the one diagonal, they exhibit two square faces, parallel with the right angle of the abacus. The lip of the vase shows itself with considerable prominence, and the central rosette rests upon it, entirely protected above by the abacus, and beautifully relieved by shadows on each side. It has often struck me that the curved abacus of the Corinthian was particularly unsuited to very small circular porticoes, owing to the too strongly marked opposition between the convexity of the entablature and the concavity of the abacus. This defect is obviously avoided by the square abacus of my example, which gives also a simplicity to the capital, and recommends it as peculiarly fitted to porticoes (whether circular or square) where a foliated capital is desired, without the orthodox but expensive accompaniments of a fluted shaft and modillion cornice. I have had it accurately modelled, and cleverly executed in Portland stone, by Messrs. Andrews and Greenham of Plymouth; and the fact of its having been much admired by all who have seen it, is the motive for this communication. Such of your travelling readers as may chance to come near Plymouth, may see this curious example practically illustrated in the residence of H. Collins Splatt, Esq., at Brixton. Plymouth, September, 1834. ART. III. A Method of securing Outside Shutters for Shop Windows. By Mr. SAUL. HAVING been applied to for a plan for securing outside shop front shutters, the following is the method I have given, which may be of interest to the readers of the Architectural Magazine, as it differs from any that I have seen published. The window is 8 ft. wide and 7 ft. high. There are fourteen shutters, and only one bolt is required in securing the whole; this bolt is fixed on the seventh shutter, but it might be fixed on any of the others except the first or last. Each shutter has attached to the corner plate a stud (a a, in fig. 185.), which slides back into the groove in the window sill at bb; so that, when the shutter to which the bolt is affixed is put up, it secures the whole, as the others are prevented from moving back to c c. The window sill (d) has got a brass plate fixed upon its upper surface, to prevent the studs from breaking out. The bottom rail of the window is represented by e e; and the window shutters (ff) are raised up, to show more clearly the studs and the grooves in which they slide. When the stud enters at c, and is thence moved to b, the shutter comes close up to the style g, so that it cannot be taken out until it is moved backwards the width of the stud. The upper ends of the shutters slide in a groove the whole way. Sulyard Street, Lancaster, July 28. 1834. ART. IV. An Account of the Origin and Progress of heating Hothouses and other Buildings by the Application and Circulation of Hot Water, instead of by Fuel or Steam. By GEORGE COTTAM, Esq. F.H.S. Z.S., Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. (Continued from p. 176.) We shall now proceed to give a chronological detail of every discovery that has taken place in regard to heating through the medium of hot water introduced into metal pipes, commencing with the apparatus of M. Bonnemain, who appears to have been the earliest practiser of the useful and efficient method adverted to. The following quotation, referring to M. Bonnemain, is translated from the Dictionnaire Technologique of 1827: "The Egyptians were, from time immemorial, in possession of a method of hatching chickens, without the help of hens, by means of furnaces of a particular construction, known by the name of mamals. The inhabitants of the village of Berne, at certain seasons of the year, also employed furnaces heated by means of lamps, in hatching chickens for sale: but their process, the result of long practice, and favoured by the climate of their country, does not generally succeed in other countries; and therefore, after making numerous experiments, in order to obtain similar results, all those who were engaged in the pursuit have abandoned it, owing to the uncertainty of success resulting from their essays. M. Reaumur has also published many ingenious observations on artificial incubation; but M. Bonnemain, a French physician, is the only person who, after studying with great care all the circumstances which promote the natural incubation, has been able to hatch eggs in a constant manner, and even more certainly than is in general found to take place with the fowls in our poultry yards." M. Bonnemain's apparatus consists, first, of a calorifere, intended to cause the hot water to circulate; secondly, of a regulator, adapted to maintain an equal degree of temperature; and, thirdly, of a stove, kept constantly heated to the degree proper for incubation, whereto is also attached a cage for the purpose of keeping the chickens warm for the first few days after being hatched. We shall now proceed to describe these three parts successively. The calorifère is so constructed as to transmit the heat of the fire to all parts of the stove, by means of tubes, through which the hot water circulates. In figs. 187. to 191., it is delineated in plan, section, and elevation. It is composed of a copper cylindrical fireplace (A), containing a grate (B) which separates it from the ash-pit. The fireplace is every where surrounded by the water in the cylindrical boiler (c), which boiler has likewise fire tubes, through which the flame, smoke, and heated air from the fire are made to circulate; and, in consequence, the greater portion of heat is communicated to the water before it escapes through the chimney. An adjutage, or connecting joint (d) affixed upon the top of the boiler, as displayed in fig. 186., forms a communication from the interior of the boiler with the vertical tube d g, which is united with the horizontal tube e f, whereto is soldered a long transverse tube, or adjustment; into which an equal number of tubes, as 6, 8, 10, &c., are fitted. This row of tubes is introduced through the partition wall into the stove, through which it passes in a gently inclining position, and, passing out on the opposite |