23

obscurity than another; and last, though not least, the light, yet solid and substantial, the elegant, yet unassuming, appearance of the building; it must be confessed that the architect, in composing the designs for this structure, has profited much by his experience in the erection of Covent Garden Market. In point of grandeur and architectural effect, Hungerford Market certainly surpasses that of Covent Garden; and, even were I bent on being critical, there is no part of the former, as it regards the building, that I could find fault with, unless it might be, that the stairs at the extremities of the porticoes appear to me too narrow, and that, from the flues of the taverns being in the external walls, I think heat must be lost, and there must be a risk of the chimneys not drawing so well as they otherwise might do. I also object to the fire-places in the bars being close to the entrance doors.

Hungerford

Market

possesses important advantages, from the convenience, cleanliness, and salubrity arising from its situation on the banks of the river. From the removal of old London

causeway in front of the market, and the addition of a supplemental floating causeway, which is about to be formed, boats can at any tide convey a supply of fish to it by the river; which, from the cheapness of water carriage, has already lowered the price of this commodity fifty per cent to consumers in the western parts of the town.

*

From the central situation of Hungerford Market, and its contiguity to the river, no place can be more appropriate for a vegetable market; and it is particularly convenient for growers of garden commodities in the vicinity of the Thames.

The Hungerford Market Company intend to procure country killed meat, to set aside the necessity (as far as that market is concerned) of cattle being driven through the streets and killed in town.

On the east side of the fish-market, and connected with the wharf, is a large plot of ground extending to Villiers Street, on which a hay-market is held on three days of the week, which is found a great convenience to the public, from the extreme remoteness of all other hay-markets, since that in the street so named has been abolished by law.

The great extent and conveniences of the market generally; the proper distinction between the fish-market and that allotted for other commodities which require to be kept dry; the direct communication for carts and carriages from the wharf, through Villiers Street, to the upper parts of the market and the Strand; and the extensive vaults and warehouses for the reception of goods, render Hungerford Market a complete place for conducting the important business of storing, and exposing for sale, provisions for a vast public.

Bayswater, March 6. 1834.

J. ROBERTSON.

* So completely had the dealers in fish, of the Billingsgate Market, monopolised the supply of that article to the whole of the metropolis, that the price of fish of good quality differed little throughout the year, however abundant might be the supply. The fish withheld, in order to keep up the price, were either thrown into the Thames, or kept for some days, and then brought to market. In the last case, many of them were in an unwholesome state; and to such an extent was this practice carried, that at last an officer was appointed by the lord mayor to examine into the wholesomeness of the fish exposed for sale. This officer (according to a statement which appeared in the Times, in March, 1834), condemned, in the year 1833, no fewer than 190,748 fish; besides upwards of 500 bushels of oysters and other shell-fish. Among the fish condemned in 1832 were 2150 salmon; and, in 1833, 38,300 soles, 1963 cod, and 676 turbot! Were Hungerford Market to be productive of no other good than affording a place for the exposure of this quantity of fish for sale in a fresh state, it would have been worth erecting; but when we consider that not only this quantity, but that which would otherwise have been thrown away, of which nothing could have been publicly known, will be brought into the market, independently of the great additional quantity which will be caught in the seas, and exposed to sale in consequence of the increased demand, it must be evident that the benefit to the public will be immense.

ART. III. Notice of a very common Error in designing and building Ornamental Chimney Tops. By E. B. LAMB, Esq. Architect.

Sir,

IN your Encyclopædia of Architecture, you have very properly pointed out the difference between the bold and free style of the master, and the tame servile manner of the mere imitator. Nothing is more common in architecture than to copy without understanding the original; and this is always more evident when copyists either add to, or take something from, the object imitated. I could refer to innumerable instances of this; but I shall content myself at present with a very simple one. Builders, in common with others, seem now agreed that it is very desirable to render chimney tops ornamental; more especially in cottages, villas, and other suburban dwellings. In constructing these ornamental chimney tops, however, they generally contrive either to curtail them of their fair proportions, or to omit some member; so as, instead of pleasing, to raise up in the mind of the architect, or amateur, who knows what they ought to be, only feelings of regret and disappointment.

I shall give you an example of this from a villa in the Elizabethan style, just completed, not above a mile from town; premising, that I have not the least idea, either of the name of the architect, or of the builder. I confine my remarks entirely to the chimney tops.

Fig. 24. is a view of a stack exactly as it is, and fig. 25. a view of the stack as, I think, it ought to have appeared. You will

observe, in fig. 24., that the shafts (a) are short and inelegant, and that the plinth and base mouldings, which I have shown in fig. 25., at b, are entirely omitted. Instead of this, in fig.24. there are two panels, shown at c, and a sort of cornice, or row of blockings,'

Indeed, the price of fish, in a short time, will probably not exceed one third, or even one fourth, of what it was in 1832. By the breaking down of this monopoly, another lesson will be added to those already lately given to dealers and tradesmen; viz., that the system of insuring, by small profits, extensive sales, is the only one adapted to the present advanced state of society

under, which are evidently formed for the sake of ornament; since, so far from being of any use, the our panels, by diminishwing the thickness of the wall, must have a tendency to render the flues more easily penetrated by the cold, and, consequently, to injure their draught. The form I have shown would not have required a greater expense of labour and material than has been incurred by building this cornice, and sinking these panels. Allow me also to point out the bad arrangement and scattered appearance of the cap in fig. 24. the neck (e), under the cap, is much too long for the body of the shaft.

With sincere good wishes for the success of the Architectural Magazine,

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

9, Little James Street, Bedford Row, Dec. 29. 1833.

E. B. LAMB.

WE Consider the above short communication as particularly valuable in a practical point of view; since it is only by pointing out little matters of this sort, one at a time, that the Architectural Magazine can have an influence in improving the taste of established architects and builders. The rising generation, on the contrary, require to be taught to think; and this can only be effected by scientific disquisitions.- Cond.

ART. IV. On the Ventilation of Living Rooms, Domestic Offices, &c. By JOHN MILNE, Esq., Architect.

No subject of equal importance has been so little attended to as ventilation. From the pigsty to the cottage, and from the cottage to the palace, we find the means of producing it either entirely neglected or mismanaged.

In some instances, no doubt, this essential has been attended to. The subject was scientifically considered by Tredgold, in his Principles of Warming and Ventilating; and, accordingly, many persons have been induced to endeavour to ventilate their dwellings; but the methods employed are exceedingly defective.

It is conceived by projectors in this way, that whatever is a good ventilator to-day will be such to-morrow; whether the wind blows in this direction or in that, in at the door or down the chimney; whether it be winter or summer; whether the apartment be warm or cold. A passage at the top, or else at the bottom, of the house, for the exit of vitiated air, is all they think of doing for it.

On the contrary, it should be borne in mind, that ventilation depends upon two exciting causes; and that, whether these are in an active state or not, ventilation is necessary.

The first of these causes is the force and direction of the wind, without reference to temperature. The second is the difference of temperature within and without the house to be ventilated.

When the wind blows hard, it forces its way into the house by every chink, and thereby forces out the air within it: but when the direction of the wind is against the door, the blast beats in whenever that passage is opened; and, according as the weather is mild or violent without, it is sufferable or otherwise within. An opening in the roof tends very much to increase the disagreeableness of this sort of ventilation, and to insure the visiter a severe cold, if not an attack of inflammation.

The second cause of ventilation is the greater temperature within than without the house; and, according as the difference is great or small, ventilation is quick or sluggish.

Almost everybody knows that warm air is lighter than cold air; and we, by experiment, find that any given volume of air decreases in weight part by every additional degree of heat. Hence, warming an apartment occasions the mass of air which it contains to become buoyant, and it would soon escape, were there an opening to allow its exit.

Now, an opening in the roof must be made, in order to permit the escape of vitiated air, and it ought to be such a one as to permit a sufficient exit of air in summer, when the difference of temperature within and without the house is small, and consequently when the ventilating current is sluggish; and it must also be just large enough to permit the escape of the same quantity of air in winter, when the difference of temperature within and without the house is great, and consequently when the ventilating current is quick: conditions which are evidently impossible, unless the ventilator can be made to open its throat in summer, and shut it in winter, just as much as is necessary.

I shall now describe a ventilator having these properties. In fig. 26., let a b be a square crib, frame, or box, placed on the roof, having two doors, c and d, hung on centres at e and f

If we can open and shut these doors according to the degree of ventilation required, our object is attained.

In order to effect this, let the end gb of the crib project