Full text of "The Crystal palace, its architectural history and constructive marvels"

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(FKAX KLJN INSTITUTE.)

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE LIBRARY

PHILADELPHIA

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rUEl-AUING FOK PUBLICATION I)Y

JAMES GILBERT, 49 PATERNOSTER ROW,
(uniform with the present volume),

€^t CiiriD£iitit£i niiii l^mikn

PETER BERLYX, ESQ.

'^lluslratrii lii| ?ruri;il iMiiiJirrii fngraniiigs.

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT,

2^lJ^; /nllnming ^Japs,

hesckiptfV'E of
the architectural and constructm? marvels of

OF ART, SCIENCE, AND MANUFACTURE,

ARE, BY PERMISSION, MOST HUMBLY DEDICATED,

AS A SLIGHT TRIBUTE

OF THE ADMIRATION AND GRATITUDE

WHICH, IN COMMON WITH THE WHOLE CIVILIZED WORLD,

ARE AMPLY SHARED IN BY

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S

MOST DEVOTED, FAITHFUL, AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

THE PUBLISHER.

I S ^^

CnEttittH.

Introductory Remarks .......

Committee for all Matters relating to the Building .

Labours of the Building Committee .....

The Competition Designs .......

Buildings used for Previous Exhibitions in France, Germany, and England

Description of the Building Committee's Design

Opposition to this Design ......

The Tenders . . . . . . • •

History of Mr. Paxton's Design ......

General Description of the Building . . . . •

Tee Paxton's Gutters .......

The Sash-bars ....-.•••

The Ridges ,......•■

The Glass ......■••

The Box Gutters ........

The Roof Girders ........

The Iron Drilling Machine ......

The Punching Machine .......

The Adzing and Planing Machine . • . . .

The Columns and Connecting-pieces .....

The Base-pieces ......-•

The Cast-iron Girders ....■••

The Galleries ........

Testing the Cast-iron Girders ......

Roof of Transept ........

The Facework .......■•

• The Diagonal Bracing .......

PAGE.

6
15
21
24.
24
37
33
40
44
4.6
4-6
47
47
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
55
58
59
60

CO.VTENTS.

PAGE.

TiiF. Staikcases ... ..... (iiJ

The Fu)or anu Foundations ....... C'2

FiR.ST Operations on tub Grovm) .0.3

Setting-oi't the Gkocnu ...... "^

Fixing the Base-pi.ates . . . Go
Henderson's Derrick Crane . .67

Raising and Fixing the Columns and Girders . . . 08

Hoisting the Roop Trusses ....... 09

Provision tor Expansion of Girders . . 70
Gl.v7,ing the Roof . . .71

Stage for Repairing the Glass, etc. . . . . 73

Hoisting the Ribs tor I'ransept Root .73

Glazing the Tran.sept Roof . . . . 76

The Painting ......... 70

The Uand-r.vil Machine . . . . 7S

General View of the Works ...... 79

Paying the Workjif.n . . . SO

General Statistics ..... ... 82

The Parti-coloured Painting . . . S3

The Water Supply ......... ^7

The Stability of the Biilding . . 87

Testing the Galleries ........ 88

General Advantages of the Building . . 89

Conclusion .......... 89

Appendix : —

List ot Competitors for the Building . . . i

List A. — Competitors Entitled to Favourable Mention . . vi

List B. — Competitors Entitled to Further Higher Honorary Distinction viii
The Two Competition Designs Specially Mentioned by the Building

Committee . . ix

Memorandum on the Site ........ xi

Report or the Rotal Commissioners, Presented to her ^Iajesty on the

Opening of the Biilding ... .... xvii

Eint nf ^llnotrntinnj

Transvekse Section of the Building, showing the Interior completed —

froniispiece.
Plan of the Building for the French Exposition in 1849 .
View of the Principal Entrance of the same
Interior View of the "Palace" .....

Interior View of the Cattle-shed ....

View of Kroll's Wintergarten at Berlin

Plan of Kroll's Wintergarten ....

View of the Birmingham Exposition Building
Ground-plan of the Design of the Building Committee .
Exterior View of the same .....

Common Mode of Glazing Roofs ....

Method by Eidge and Furrow .....

Cutters of Mr. Paxton's Sash-bar Machine

The Victoria Regia House, Chatsworth

Interior of the same ......

Ground-plan of the Building for the Exhibition

View of one 24-rEET suuare Bay of Roof partly completed

Portion of the Lower Storey of the Principal Elevations

View of the Interior of the Transept

View of Glass Roof from the Le^vd Flat

Geneeai View of the Building from the South-West

The External Railing ......

Section of the Paxton's Gutter, with the Strong Sash-bar
The Circular Planing Machine .....

Portion of the same showing Detail

Sectisns of the Paxton's Gutter, showing different Stages in the Machine

The Gdttee-cutting Machine .....

Machine for finishing Ends of Gutters and Ridges .

Machine for Cutting out Sash-bars

The Sash-bar Drilling Machine ....

Portion of the same, Enlarged ....

Section of the Ridges, etc. ....

. Diagram of 4;8-feet Girder .....

. facing

facing

. facing

24.

34*

facing

. facing

facing

IE Machine

43'

M8T OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Diagram of 72-feet Girder ....

Tup. Iron Drilling Machine .....

The Plncuing Machine and Shears

The Adzing-cutters ......

The Adzing and Planing Machine

Section of a Column ......

A Base-i'IEce .......

View of the Interior fkum the level of Galleries .
Frame and IIydraulic Press for testing the Girders
Interior View of the Central Avenue towards the West
LouvRB Frame .......

View of Staircase ......

Fi.xiNG Cast-iron Drain-pipe .

View of Crane and Proving-press

He.vderson's Derrick Craise .

Portions of the same ....

Fixing the Girders ....

General View of the Works in Progress
Hoisting the 73-feet Trusses
Glazing-waggon for Flat Hoof
A Pair of Ribs prepared for raising

HOLSTING THE RiliS FOR THE TRANSEPT RoOF

Stage for Glazing Transept Roof
The Sash-bar Painting Machine .
Portion of the same in Detail
The Hand-rail Cutting Machine .
Portion of the same ....

The Brass Tickets for Workmen

The Interior of the Pay-office

The Men taking their Wages

The AVorkmen waiting to be Paid .

View of the Building from the North Bank of the Serpentin

Testing an Experimental Bay of the Gallery Floor

View of the Boiler-house, etc.

View of South Front of the Building

Appendix : —
Exterior View of Mons. Horeau's Design for the Building
Interior of the same .......

View of Exterior fkom one end of Messrs. Turners' Design for
the Building ........

Transverse Section and View of the Interior of the sami:

facing
facing

facing

50
50
51
52
52
54
55
56
58
CO
61
62
66
67
67
68
69
70
72
74
76
76
77
77
78

facing

/5^ 0 much has already been said and written, both wisely and well,

upon the marvellous edifice which has just been reared with such
magical rapidity to enshrine the results of the skill and industry
of all nations, that it would appear an almost hopeless task to present the
subject in any new point of view to the reader.

If, therefore, the authors cannot lay claim to novelty or originality in the
execution of the pleasurable work which they have undertaken, they are
not without hopes that, from their having been connected with this gigantic
undertaking during the greater part of its progress, they will be enabled to
trace in a more detailed and consecutive manner than has yet been
attempted the histoiy of the design and execution of the building up to the
period of its completion.

A great deal has been lately said upon the want of distinctive character
in almost all the buildings of the present day ; and it is certainly a striking
fact that in scarcely any of our important modern structures does the
exterior appearance in any way lead the spectator to form an idea of the
purposes or arrangement of the interior, the former being apparently
governed by fancy, or the fashion for some particular style, while the
latter only, is accommodated to the peculiar requirements of the case.
Thus we have porticos which do not shelter from the weather, or in which
no one is allowed to w\alk ; Venetian palaces appear piled upon a sub-
structure of plate-glass ; baronial castles prove to be model prisons ; and
richly-decorated mansions, from the time of " Good Queen Bess," or fanciful
Italian villas, are made to serve for the accommodation of paupers.

The ancients appear to have been more careful in this respect, so that
the form and external arrangement afforded in most cases a ready key to
the purposes of their structures. Their temples, their fora, theatres and am-
phitheatres, baths, and other public edifices, seem each to have been stamped
with their own characteristic features, at the same time without in any
way producing a monotonous uniformity among the different examples of
the same class of buildinsr.

2 THE CUYSTAL I'AI.ACE.

Now, if this criterion of excellence be applied to the remarkable building
recently erected in Hyde Park, it will be found that the constructive arrange-
ment of the interior is plainly expressed without, and it must be conceded
that it possesses at least those elements of beauty arising from consistency
and simplicity which, in combination with its vast size, give it also that of
grandeur. That it is faultless it would be needless to assert, or to imagine
that, from its example, a new style of architecture will originate ; but that
it is admirably suited to its purpose, that it is a remarkable specimen of
the constructive skill of this country, and that it will certainly form one of
the most interesting objects of the Great Exhibition by which it has been
called into being, if not the most interesting of all, must, we think, be ad-
mitted by all candid observers.

Although the building in its present form was designed, as well as
carried out, in a singularly short space of time, this could jiot have been
accomplished but for the great amount of thought and labour which had
been previously bestowed upon the subject. In order, therefore, to trace
the whole of the progress of the design, it will be necessary briefly to advert
to the early labours bestowed upon the project.

On the 5th of January, 1S50, the Royal Commission for carrying out
this great scheme was gazetted ; its first and second meetings, which were
respectively held on the 11th and IStli of the same month, were entirely
devoted to preliminary arrangements, and determining the mode of con-
ducting its proceedings.

Among the most urgent matters calling for the attention of the Commis-
sioners, the subject of the building early presented itself, as it was of the
utmost importance that the longest possible time should be allowed for its
erection ; and, accordingly, at the third meeting, held on the 24th of
January, the following noblemen and gentlemen were appointed to act as a

((^iiiniiiittrf far nil 3tlntttr!j rrlntiiig tu tljr $iiil^iiig.

His Grace the Duke of Bucclelcii, K.G., F.R.H.
The Right Hon. the Earl of Ellesmere, F.S.A.
Chaules Bauuv, Esq., R.A., F.R.S.
William Cuuitt, Esq., F.R.S., Fr. of I.C.E.
Robert Stephenson, Esq., M.P., F.R.S.
C. R. Cockerell, Esq., R.A.
I. K. Brunel, 'EiSii, F.R.S.
Thomas L. Donaldson, Esq., M.I.B.A.

From which list it will be seen that some of the very highest professional
tident in the country was enlisted on behalf of the undertaking.

THE CKVSTAL PALACE, d

jCnliniu's nf tljt Skil^ing CaiuniittrL

Mf^^ HE first point to be ascertained by tliis Committee was where to find
//C^5 an eligible site ; for although they were not able at that early stage of
^^^ their labours to determine the exact amount of space that would be
required, they appear to have been of opinion that, from the general data
before them, about sixteen acres would be necessary — an amount which has
been subsequently considerably exceeded, but which was already an enor-
mous area to be covered by one building; and in dealing with it the
Committee must have felt that a very heavy amount of responsibility rested
upon them, as appears, indeed, from their recommendation to the Royal
Commission given below.

After about a month of attentive deliberation, the Committee made a
report upon this part of their labours.

With regard to the site, it had appeared to the Committee that —
firstly, the north-eastern portion of Hyde Park ; secondly, the long-
space between her Majesty's private road and the Kensington road, in the
southern part of Hyde Park; and thirdly, the north-western portion of
Regent's Park, were the only available spaces about the metropolis which
would afford the necessary accommodation ; and it was believed that the
order in which they were named represented also their relative eligibility.
As regarded the first, the Committee had been informed by the Chief
Commissioner of her Majesty's Woods and Forests that considerable
objections would arise to its occupation for such a purpose, and that no
such objections would be raised to the use of the second ; and the Com-
mittee, therefore, recommended the adoption of this site, which, amongst
other advantages, is remarkable for the facility of access afforded by the
existing roads.

As regarded the extent of the building, the Committee were not yet in
possession of sufficient data to enable them to determine this accurately,
but, from such information as they had before them, they thought that it
might be assumed, for the present, that about sixteen acres of covered space
would be required.

And finally, as regarded the mode of proceeding to determine the
general interior arrangements or ground-plan of the building, a subject to
which they had given much consideration, they resolved, " That, in their
opinion, it was desirable to seek, by public competition, for suggestions as
to the general arrangements of the ground-plan of the building."

It was deemed by the Committee that the peculiar object for which the
building was required, namely, the encouragement of the widest and most
liberal competition in all the branches of arts and manufactures — the cir-
cumstance of the cost of the erection being defrayed by the public — the

B 2

* TfiK cKvsr.u, I'Ai.Acr-;.

peculiar clwvnctor of tlie huiUling, for tlio dt'sisi^ning of whidi were especially
required judgment and contrivance iu the detail of arrangement, and expe-
rience in the management of large crowds, and for the construction of
which the mechanical skill and knowledge of the application and of the
economical use of materials now so generally possessed by builders and
practical men were necessary — all seemed, in the opinion of the Committee,
to be reasons for recommending that the designs for the general arrange-
ments should, as far as practicable, be the result of public competition, and
that the actual construction should be so to the fullest extent. The Com-
mittee were, moreover, of opinion that the general design or arrangement
of such a building was one of those subjects, perhaps few in number, on
which many good ideas may be elicited by a general contribution of plans ;
and that a mode might be adopted of obtaining such plans, and collecting
nseful suggestions from them, which should not eventually lead to any loss
of time, or be attended with those delays which too frequently render
ordinary competition inconvenient.

Great oljections were made in some quarters to the proposed site in
Hyde Park ; but as they were not raised on really public grounds, they
were gradually overcome by the interest which the public at large mani-
fested in the success of the undertaking.

In consequence of the latter recommendation in the Report which was
adopted by the Royal Commissioners, the following document was pub-
lished by them on March 13th, 1850, copies of which appear to have found
their way into almost every corner of Europe : —

" The Committee appointed by the Royal Commission to advise on ' all
matters relating to the building,' having received the sanction of the Com-
mission, are desirous of obtaining from all parties who are disposed to assist
them suggestions for the general arrangement of the buildings and pre-
mises required for this Exhibition. Upon the general form of the building
in plan, the distribution of its parts, the mode of access, and the internal
arrangements and contrivances, will depend the convenience and general
fitness of such a building ; and it is upon these points that the Committee
seek information and suggestions, and wish to encourage the most extended
competition in the preparation of plans. The Committee do not propose
to offer any pecuniary reward for such plans — they rely upon the desire
which men of all countries will feel to forward the objects of the proposed.
Exhibition. The Committee think it probable that, when the plans are
received, they may not be limited to the selection of any one plan, but may
derive useful ideas from many ; and that the best plan may be determined
upon by the help of this general assistance. As the credit of any such plan
will be due solely to the contributors, the Committee propose to make a
report, in which they will acknowledge by name those whose plans had
been wholly or partially adopted, or who had afforded the most useful

THE CUYSTAL PALACE. 5

■suggestions; and the Committee hope to be able to offer such other
honorary distinction to the successful contributors as the circumstances
may appear to warrant. In order to guide the contributors in the pre-
paration of such plans and designs, and to facilitate the examination and
the comparison of them when received, the Committee have enumerated
concisely the principal ' desidei'ata' for such a building, and have laid down
certain rules and conditions to which they earnestly request the contributors
to conform, as the Committee will be under the necessity of abiding strictly
by the regulation of not acknowledging any plans which may be sent in a
form inconsistent ^^-ith these rules. Copies of the engraved plan of the
ground referred to may be had on application to the secretaries of the
Commission, at the New Palace at Westminster."

An engraved plan of the site which had been fixed upon, together with
the subjoined regulations, which all competitors would be expected to ob-
serve, were subsequently issued to all applicants : —

" 1. The communications from contributors must consist of a single
sheet of paper, not larger than the accompanying engraving, with a simple
ground-plan upon a scale of 1*1000 of the full size, with such elevations
and sections only of the building, and on the same sheet, as may be neces-
sary to elucidate the system proposed — such elevations and sections not
being intended to convey more than a general idea of the building, and not
entering into details of construction or of architectural decoration — to be
accompanied by a short, clear-written explanation of the system recom-
mended, on a separate sheet. Any contributor wishing to send two
designs must send separate and distinct communications, each conforming
to the above conditions. No communications made inconsistent with these
conditions, or any plan prepared upon a different scale from that pre-
scribed, can be received. The plans, tfcc, must be sent on or before the bth
of April next, addressed to the Secretaries of the Exhibition, New Palace
at Westminster, London. It is suggested that the most convenient mode
of preparing the plan, elevation, and section, would be to draw them upon
one of the engraved copies of the plan of the grovmd which accompany
these instructions. — 2. The building is to be erected on the space marked
A B C D, and must not extend beyond the boundaries of the shaded
portion. The groups of trees shown on the plan must be preserved. The
principal public approaches are by the roads E F and G H. The road
K L will be available only for foot-passengers. There will be no objec-
tion to the formation of cross-roads between the two last, G H and K L,
if the design of the building requires it. — 3. The roofed portion of the
building is to cover a space of 700,000 square feet, or about 65,000 square
metres ; and the whole building must not occi;py, including open spaces,
an area of more than 900,000 square feet, or about 84,000 square metres.
The building generally will be of one storey only. — 4. No space viill be

THE CRYSTAL I'ALACE.

required for cattle, or for slirubs or flowers. — 5. It may be assumed, so far
as it affects the ground-plan, that the light will be obtained entirely from
the roof, and the building will be constructed of fire-proof materials.

" The general requirements are — simplicity of arrangement ; economy
of space ; capability of extending or curtailing the building without destroy-
ing its symmetry as a whole, or interfering with the general arrangement,
it being impossible to detei'mine the exact extent of roof required until a
late period of construction. Adaptation for the erection of separate por-
tions of the building at different periods. Conveniences of ingress and
egress, with facilities of access to all parts of the Exhibition, either from the
exterior or interior. INIeans of classification of the various objects of
different departments. Wall-space for the display of articles requiring it.
Means of affording private access and accommojdation for exhibitors, with
counting-houses, if required. Committee-rooms, council-rooms, public re-
freshment-rooms, and all other public and private accommodation. (This
portion of the building may be in two or more storeys if required.)
Internal arrangements, by which, under proper regulations, large crowds of
visitors may circulate freely, and have convenient access to all parts of the
Exhibition, and iminterrupted means of examining the various objects
exhibited."

(Tijt tCum|irtitinn Drslgns.

HOUGH the time allowed for the preparation of drawings was but
short, being only about one month, no less than 233 designs were
sent in, many of them of an elaborate architectural character. Of
these, thirty-eight, or one-sixth of the whole, were received from the dif-
ferent foreign countries of Europe (France, twenty -seven ; Belgium, two ;
Holland, three; Hanover, one; Naples, one; Switzerland, two; Ivhine Prussia,
one ; Hamburgh, one) ; 1*^8, or more than half the entire number, from Lon-
don and its vicinity, where the interest excited was naturally more im-
mediate ; fifty-one from the provincial towns of England ; six from Scotland,
and three from Ireland. Seven were scut anonymously. The small
number contributed by the sister kingdoms seems rather remarkable.

The greater part of these designs were, of course, contributed by mem-
bers of the architectural and engineering professions, but some were the
productions of amateurs, and one among them purported to be the suggestion
of a lady. Here, tlien, was matter enough not only to assist, but even, from
its great variety, to perplex the Committee, since at once every possible
variety of style in decoration, material in construction, and system in
arrangement, were strenuously recommended l)y the authors of the re-
spective designs as the great ultimatum sought for.

THl', CUVSIAL I'AI.At'E. 7

To Mr. Digby Wyatt, whose services were to a great extent withdrawn
from the Executive Committee, iu order that his professional knowledge of
the subject might be placed at the disposal of the Building Committee, was
intrusted the ai'duons task of examining and classifying these incongruous
materials, and of eliminating from them such general principles of arrange-
ment as seemed most worthy of i\\e attentive consideration of the Committee.
The result of this gentleman's minute examination was embodied in a
Report, upon the basis of the recommendations contained in whicli the sub-
sequent utilitarian portions of the design of the Building Committee would
appear to have been founded.

After holding about fifteen protracted sittings, the C(jmmittee presented
the fc)llowing Report to the Royal Commission on the 0th of May : —

'' 3Hnt[ it jilrnst tjaiir l\ni|nl l^igjiiirss,

" Jij/ Lords and Gentlemen,

" We have the honour to report that we have examined the numerous
plans so liberally contributed by native and foreign architects in accordance
with the public invitation.

"Exhausting in their numerous projects and suggestions almost every
conceivable variety of building, the authors of those designs have materially
assisted us in arriving at the conclusions which we have now the honour
to report.

" We have been aided iu our analysis of this subject by a great amount of
thought and elaboration thus brought to bear upon it from various points
of view.

" We have, however, arrived at the unanimous conclusion, that able and
admirable as many of these designs appeared to be, there Avas yet no single
one so accordant with the pecidiar objects in view, either in tlie principle or
detail of its arrangements, as to warrant us in recommending it for adoption.

" In some of the least successful of the designs submitted, we find indi-
cated errors and difficulties to be avoided, whilst in the abler and more
practicable of them, there are valuable conceptions and suggestions which
have greatly assisted us in framing the .plan we have now the honour to
lay before you. In preparing this design we have been governed mainly
by three considerations :—

" 1. The provisional nature of the building.

" 2. The advisability of constructing it as far as possible in such a form as
to be -available, with the least sacrifice of labour and material, for other
purposes, as soon as its original one shall have been fulfilled, thus insuring
a minimum ultimate cost.

"8. Extreme simplicity, demanded l)y the short time in whicli the work
must be completed.

8 THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

" For the arrangements of the phin we rely for effect on honesty of con-
struction, vastness of dimension, and fitness of each ])art to its end.

"The principal points of excellence wc have endeavoured to attain are —

" 1. Economy of construction.

"2. Facilities for the reception, classification, and display of goods.

"3. Facilities for the circulation of visitors.

"4. Arrangement for grand points of view.

" 5. Centralisation of supervision.

" G. Some striking feature to exemplify the present state of the science of
construction in this country.

"The first of these, economy, is attained by doing away with any internal
walls (all divisions being made by the necessary stalls), by reducing the
whole construction, with the exception of the dome, to cast iron columns,
supporting the lightest form of iron roof in long unbroken lines, and by
the whole of the work being done in the simplest manner, and adapted in
all respects to serve hereafter for other purposes.

" The second, facilities for the reception, classification, and display of
goods. The main central entrance for the reception of objects for exhibition
will probably be that most ajiproachable from the public road. All cases
accompanying goods will be examined, registered, catalogued, &c., in the
offices of the Executive ; the packing-cases will then be put upon a truck
running on a line of rails laid down temporarily, and conveyed to the
centre turn-table, from Avhich they may be carried by a line of rails at
right angles to the first, to the end of the transverse gallery, in which they
may be destined to be placed.

" The most important condition to insure successful classijkation is, that
those to whom the duty of arrangement may be confided should be ham-
pered by no fixed limits of space, such as would have been the case had
the building been divided into a number of halls, sections, or chambers.
The plan submitted fulfils this condition perfectly ; as objects can be
arranged just as they arc received, and moved, if necessary, from gallery
to gallery with great facility.

" The successful display of the goods would be best insured by leaving,
under certain general restrictions, the fitting up of each stall to the Exhi-
bitor or his Agent, floor-space only being allotted to each ; and stands,
frames, brackets, shelves, &c., being pat up by a contractor's carpenter, at a
fixed tariff.

"The best light is provided, and the most economical wall-space is pro-
posed to be furnished by connecting pillar to pillar transversely, on the
extreme north and south sides of the building, by rods, from which
draperies, &c., can be suspended.

" The third, facilities for the circilation of visitors, is thus attained.
The visitor, on arrival at the central hall, proceeds at choice to any one

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. V

of the four sections. He will, most probably, desire either to follow the
whole course of the section selected, or will wish to go at once to some
particular class or object. He will be enabled to do either the one or the
other, without interfering with the general current, by means of gates or
other arrangements, which shall insure the current of visitors passing in
one direction. If he desire to proceed rapidly from one end of the build-
ing to the other, and finds the great central gangway at all blocked up,
he will, no doubt, be able to get on by either the north or south corridors,
fifteen feet wide. Numerous doors of egress in these latter afford ready
means of exit for a large number of persons. Seats are provided in the
middle of the great central gangway for those who may desire to rest.

" The fourth, arraxgement for grand points of view. The view from
or to the centre of the building will, from its extent, be necessarily impo-
sing. The seats and main avenues are arranged so that, on the occasion of
the distribution of the prizes, an immense number of persons may be
accommodated. Most interesting views might be obtained from galleries
constructed at either end of the building and around the dome, for the
admission of the public to which some small charge might be made.

"The fifth, centralisation of supervision. All the business of the
Exhibition will be carried on in one spot, and be readily under control.
The Royal Commission, the principal Committees, Clerks, Accountants,
Police, &c., would be together, and in so large an establishment it would
be absolutely necessary, or much time would be wasted in walking from
one point to another. Passages running behind the money -takers' boxes,
with glazed doors into them, would enable each accountant to detect
anything improper that might be going on, and to exchange and balance
checks, money, &c,, at any moment. Telegraphic communication with each
of the four pay-places will permit orders to be given, cash accounts, &c.,
to be issued and returned, from and to the head-accountant's office, as olten
as may be necessary.

" Four Committee-rooms, one for a Jury in each section, have been provided
at the extreme east aud west ends. The duties of such Committees being
deliberative, and not executive, it is not necessary that they should be
accommodated in the Central Establishment, where they would be more
liable to be disturbed than at the extremity of the building.

" A policeman stationed in each gallery would, from his elevated position,
be enabled to observe much which might escape detection if he mingled
only with the crowd.

" The sixth, some striivIng feature to exemplify the present state op
THE science of CONSTRUCTION IN THIS COUNTRY. Ill Order that the buildmg,
in which England invites the whole world to display their richest produc-
tions, may afford, at least in one point, a grandeur not incommensurate
with the occasion, we propose, by a dome of light sheet irun 200 feet

10 THK CHYHTAL I'AI.ACK.

ill diameter, to protluce an effect at once striking ami adiuiraljle. From
calculations wliicli have been made of the cost of bo grand a Hall, \\c
have reason to expect that it may be executed for a sum not greatly
exceeding the cost of the siini)lest form of roof likely to be adopted to
cover the same urea.

" It is to be boi'ne in mind that a considerable amount of any such dif-
ference may be recovered, should this portion of the building be converted
hereafter to other purposes, which is more than probable. This vast dome
it is proposed to light mainly from one circle of light in its centre, and thus
the sculpture will be pleasingly and suitably lit.

"Six out of the eight openings in the cylinder of the dome would be well
adapted for the exhibition of stained glass windows of great extent, while
the two remaining arches will open to the main central gallery. The lower
part of some of the voids will admit the eye to turf and shrubs, and produce
a great freshness of effect.

" The immense continuity of the Central Avenue will be broken and re-
lieved by a variation in the roof opposite the openings to the second and
third sets of refreshment-rooms, and windows for the reception of Stained
Glass may be placed at the ends of each transverse gallery, thus terminating
the vista for each.

" It now only remains to cx})lain the course of action we would recommend
for adoption as soon as the principles of the plan, &c., shall be positively
decided.

" We consider this to be an occasion upon which the greatest amount of
intellectual and commercial ingenuity and ability should be called out ; and
that a generous rivalry among those best fitted to execute the princip.il por-
tions of this vast structure may lead to results which no amount of detailed
study that we could possibly give to this matter would supply.

" We would therefore recommend that every advantage should be taken
of the accumulated and experimental knowledge and resources of intelligent
and enterprising contractors, and that every opportunity should be afforded
to them of distinguisiiixg tiiesiselves. Wc would therefore recommend
as the best means of enlisting their services the following course of action :

" Adopting the approved design as a basis, we would proceed immediately
to prepare such working-drawings and specifications as may l)e necessaiy,
and to issue invitations for tenders to execute Works in accordance with
them, requesting from competitors, in addition, such suggestions and modi-
fications, accompanied with estimates of cost, as might possil)ly become the
means of effecting a considerable reduction upon the general expense.

"W. Cdutt, Chairman:'

The following Report of the Committee on the competition plans sub-
mitted, and which was so unfavourably received by the public, and more

THE cnYSTAL PALACE. 11

particiilarly by the profession, was presented to the Royal Commission on
the 16th of May: —

'' d?cia\\ it ^ilrnsr pnt l\nt}nl Ingljiiriis,

"J/y Lords and Gentlemen,

" Your Committee beg leave to report, that the invitation issued by the
Commissioners, requesting information and suggestions for the general
arrangement of the Building and premises required for the Exhibition of
1851, has been responded to in the most ample and satisfactory manner,
both as respects the variety of useful ideas presented to their consideration,
and the liberality A^ath which many experienced and skilful men of foreign
countries, no less than of our own, have contributed their valuable time to
this great imdertaking, thereby evincing their entire sympathy both with
the great cause of Arts and Industry in which her Majesty's Commissioners
have embarked, and with the arduous labours of the Directors of the
undertaking.

"The Designs and Specifications transmitted to the Committee amount
to the surprising number of 233, offering an aggregate of professional
sacrifice of very considerable importance; for, not confining themselves
to suggestions only, which were in-sdted by the Programme, a large pro-
portion of them are remarkable for elaboration of thought and elegance
of execution.

'• Penetrated with admiration and respect for these gratuitous and valuable
contributions, imexampled, they believe, in the history of competition,
your Committee have devoted the most careful attention to the collection of
these projects, and hasten to offer those acknowledgments which are
due to their merits, and to the generous motives which have led to
their execution ; and they trust that the public may shortly be witnesses
of the effect of this very noble emulation of the skill of all countries, by
the public exhibition of these designs, offering the opportunity, in the true
spirit of the whole undertaking, of mutual improvement, respect, and
friendship amongst the cultivators of the liberal arts in the several countries
of Em'ope.

"It is remarkable that, while many of these contributions may be at-
tributed to the laudable motive of professional reputation and advance-
ment on the part of practitioners not yet sufficiently known to the public,
a great number are from Gentlemen whose position in the confidence of
their respective Governments or in the Piepublic of Arts and Letters is of the
highest eminence, and who can have been actuated by no such personal
motives. Already entitled to respect and admiration, they could have little
to gain, while they have something to lose, in the competition for glory.
The kind and frank communication, therefore, of their tlioughts and expe-

TUE CKYSTAL PALACE.

rience towards this great work is to be the more biglily commended.
Every possible mode of accomplishing the object in view has been displayed
by the respective contributors as regards economy of structure and distri-
bution, and these qualities are uliited with various degrees of architectural
symmetry and features in many designs. Our illustrious continental
neighbours have especially distinguished themselves by compositions of the
utmost taste and learning, wortjiy of enduring execution — examitlos of wliat
might be done in the architectural illustration of the subject, when viewed
in its highest aspect, and, at all events, exhibiting features of grandeur,
arrangement, and grace which your Committee have not failed to ap-
preciate.

" Amongst these several classes of design, the practical character of our own
countrymen, as might have been expected, has been remarkably illustrated
in some very striking and simple methods suited to the temporary purposes
of the Building, due attention having been paid to the pecuniary means
allotted to this part of the undertaking. The principle of suspension has
been applied in a single tent of iron sheeting, covering an area averaging
2,200 feet by 400 feet by a lengthened ridge, or in separate tents on isolated
supports. Others display the solution of this problem by_the chapter-house
principle, and a few by the umbrella or circular locomotive-engine-house
system of railway-stations, either with a central column or groups of
columns sustaining domes or roofs to the extent of four hundred feet
diameter.

" Grandeur and simplicity of distribution are carried out with great archi-
tectural effect in other compositions, and the general arrangement by
columnar supports has been also variously and elegantly develoi)ed. The
system of iron roofing, with all the architectural powers of which that
material is susceptible, has been adopted by some with signal enterprise,
ingenuity, and power.

" In another class of design the authors have viewed with enthusiasm
the great occasion and object of the proposed Exhibition, and have
waived all considerations of expense. They have indulged their imagina-
tions, and employed the resources of their genius and learning, in the
composition of arrangements which present the utmost grandeur and
beauty of architecture, suited to a permanent Palace of Science and Art.
These, as aildressed to the architectural Student, are of the highcift value,
reminding him of all the conditions of his art — the Egyptian hypostyle, the
Roman thernue, or of the Arabian or Saracenic inventions. And thtiugh
their expense has placed them beyond reach, they cannot fail to inspire
and elevate the treatment of the reality. They at all events confer great
obligations on the lovers of the Fine Arts, for the authors have evidently felt
that, if one of the results to be expected from the itrojKised Exhibition may
be to prove that the simi)lest object of ingenuity and skill should not be

THE CKYSTAL PALACE. 13

devoid of some of the attractions of taste, the Buikling itself ought to be an
ilhistration of that important principle,

" The Committee, however, have been unable to select any one design as
combining all the requisites which various considerations render essential.
But the judgment and taste evinced by a large number of the contributors
have enabled the Committee to arrive more promptly at their conclusions,
and they have freely availed themselves of most valuable suggestions in
directing the preparation of a fresh design for the proposed buifding.

" They have consequently been most earnest in the desire to fulfil the
just expectations of the various competitors, and feel assm-ed that your
Royal Highness and the Commission will be of opinion that the most un-
reserved and handsome acknowledgments are due to those able men of
science and art Avho have in so disinterested a manner submitted such
admirable projects for the consideration and assistance of the Committee.
They beg, therefore, to submit, as their opinion, that the foUovring gentlemen
are entitled to honourable and favourable mention, on account of archi-
tectural merit, ingenious construction or disposition, or for graceful arrange-
ment of plan.

" And they cannot conclude without calling attention to the designs,
accompanied by models, of jM. Hector Horeau, Architect of Paris, and of
Messrs. Turner, of Dublin, as evincing most daring and ingenious disposition
and construction.*

" W. CuBiTT, Chairman^

Some of the strongest objections to this Report are very fairly urged in
a letter which appeared in the Builder of the 15th of June, a part of which
is subjoined : —

" Part II. of the Report contains what I suppose is to be taken as the
best exposition of the merits of contributors that the Committee can give,
which commences by stating, in a tone of commendation, that, ' not con-
fining themselves to suggestioxs only, which were invited by the pro-
gramme, a large proportion of them are remarkable for elaboration of
thought and elegance of execution.' This, I would contend, is clearly a
breach of the specified conditions, viz., that suggestions only were to be
given — that the plan or drawing sent in was to be a mere outline sketch,
upon a single sheet ; and the Committee even recommended that it would
be most convenient merely to trace it upon the common paper on which
the ' plan of site ' was supplied to the public, a space being left upon the
sheet for sketching any sections or elevations that might be necessary to
illustrate the design; and that a written description, limited also to 'a
single sheet,' was all the exposition of their ideas that authors would be

* A complete list of the names of all the competitors, tosether with those selected by the
Committee, will be found in the Appendix ; also a description and views of the two designs
specially referred to.

14 THE CHYSTAL PALACK.

allowed to give. The Report goes on to state, that 'our illustrious conti-
nental neighbours have especially distinguished themselves [in designing a
temporary building for an exhibition] by compositions of the utmost taste
and learning, worthy of enduring execution — examples of what might be
done in the architectural illustration of the subject [the conditions
strictly enjoined contributors not to enter into architectural detail] wlien
viewed in its highest aspect, and, at all events, exhibiting features of
grandeur, arrangement, and grace which your Committee have not failed to
appreciate.' It then places in contradistinction to these no doubt admir-
able but out-of-place productions of architectural genius, the ' practical
character of the designs of our own countrymen," which it states, * as might
have been expected, has been remarkably illustrated in some very striking
and simple methods, suited to the temporary purposes of the building, due
attention having been paid by them to the pecuniary means allotted to this
part of the undertaking.' Yet, notwithstanding this comparison, clearly
and indisputably in favour of our own countrymen, as regards the object
sought and the conditions stipulated by the Committee, we find by the
selected list of those authors who are to receive ' the highest honorary dis-
tinction' the Commissioners can award, that the Committee can only discover,
out of VJo English and 38 foreign contributors, tucee Englishmen entitled
to reward, the remaining fifteen out of the eighteen selected being
foreigners ; or, as regards the whole numbers, in proportion of 1 to 65 of
' our own countrymen,' the authors of the * striking and simple,' so
admirably 'suited to the temporary purpose of the building,' and 1 to
about 2^- of foreigners, who, in designing for a temporary building, to be
simple, cheap, and readily constructed, have so overshot the mark as to
produce ' compositions ' commendable only for the ' utmost taste and
learning, and worthy of enduring execution.' Surely something must be
wrong here, either the Report or the selected list — possibly both.

" In conclusion, I cannot help avowing the opinion that a wrong, though
I believe unintentionally, has been done to many of the 233 who so readily
and ' generously' responded to the call for their ideas ; more particularly as
I know, from personal inspection, that at least one of the plans altogether
omitted from the Report contains five of the leading features of the
approved design."

But to judge of this matter fairly, it must be mentioned that, although
the number of foreign competitors was small, the majority of them were
men already well known for their talents and professional skill; in all
cases their designs evinced considerable study of the subject (both archi-
tecturally and in a practical point of view), and manifested a desire to exhibit
to English professional men the proficiency of their continental brethren.
On the other hand, many of the designs from the competitors at home were
much slighter suggestions presented in a less elaborate form. Under these

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. ]5

circumstances, it is not to be wondered at that those eminent men of the
technical professions who, on this occasion, came forward with practical sug-
gestions for the assistance of the Committee, and designs calculated ratlier
to assist with thouyhts than to charm by the graces of elegant drawing or
symmetrical disposition, should seem to have been found wanting in this
first trial with all the world. It should further be borne in mind, that the
nature of competitions is not so well understood in some foreign countries,
where they are of less frequent occurrence, than with us. It must at the
same time be admitted that the practice of disregarding and exceeding the
instructions in competitions is too much a matter of general complaint in
England to be brought forward as a new grievance against our continental
brethren.

After the publication of the above Report, the competition designs were
all exhibited in the rooms of the Institution of Civil Engineers, in Great
George-street, which were liberally placed at the disposal of the Committee
for this purpose ; and of those who Adsited this interesting exhibition,
many, no doubt, must have sympathised with those feelings which dictated
the decision of the Committee. From an attentive examination of these
designs, presenting the subject in such exceedingly varied forms, one of the
peculiar difficulties of the case becomes apparent, namely, the total absence
of any precedent to guide or afford suggestions to the designer ; for the
small number of buildings erected or adapted for a similar purpose have
been on so limited a scale that their example could not afford much
assistance in designing a structure to meet all the requirements of the
present case. This building differed from all previous ones in being
intended to accommodate the products of all nations, instead of being
confined to those of one only ; in which case the arrangement would have
been more certain and more readily pro\dded for.

tS a comparison of some of these earlier buildings with the first
. . . . .

erected in London for a similar purpose cannot fail to be interesting,
a short notice of them may not be deemed out of place. The most
important amongst them are those temporary structures which have been
erected in Paris for the periodical Industrial Expositions, with reference to
the last of which we cannot do better than quote, from Mr. Digby Wyatt's
instructive and masterly Report, that part where the building is treated of : —
" The vast edifice which has been erected to contain the specimens of
manufacture selected for exhibition in the year 184:9 is situated on the same
site as that occupied by a similar building in the year 1844. The Ciirre

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

<le ]\Iarigny, on wliicli it has been placed, is a large oblong piece of ground,
abutting on the nuiin avenue of the Cham])s Elysees, and as a site offers
every possible advantage, being of a gravelly soil, already efficiently drained,
and standing on the line of a continually moving series of public convey-
ances. The Champs Elyseea, though at some considerable distance from the
great centre of Parisian population, are still so universal a place of resort,
that they may be fairly assumed to be "in the way" of even the poorest
classes of the community. The elevation may be admirably seen from all
the approaches to the building, and it has the advantage of being in imme-
diate proximity to the residence of the President of the Republic.

C5
CO

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TlIK CUY8TAr, l\\r,AL'E.

VIEW OF THE rP.ISOir-AL, ENTRANCE,

" The whole plot of the present ouiiuing (exclusive of the agricnltnral
department) covers a vast parallelogram of 20G metres by 100 (about 675
by 328 feet English), round the outline of which nms a gallery about 90
feet wide, divided into two avenues by a double range of pilasters. In the
centre of each avenue is a set of stalls, placed back to back, for the exhi-
bition of merchandise ; and both between the central pilasters, and ro'und,
and upon the walls, other objects are placed, so that on traversing either
of the four gangways (each about ten feet wide) the jDublic have upon
their right and left hands objects for inspection. In the part of the
building appropriated to large machinery, of course this system cannot be
carried out with the same regularity. The vast parallelogram, inclosed by
a somewhat similar gallery in the year 1844, was left as one magnificent
hall, within which were placed the most important objects ; in the presei.t
building we find it divided by two transverse galleries, similarly arranged
to those we have described, forming three court-yards ; the central one
being about 140 feet square, and^the two lateral ones 80 feet by 140. The
central court-yard is open to the sky; in the middle rises an elegavit
fountain placed on a platform of turf, and around are disposed sheds for
the exhibition of flowers and horticultural ornaments and implements.
One of the lateral courts (inclosed) receives a large collection of objects
in metal-work, cast-iron, &c., and the other co)itaius an immense reservoir,
in which all the drainage from the roofs is collected, so as to form a supply
of water immediately serviceable in case of fire. In addition to this great
building, which corresponds with that previously erected, there is this year
constructed a vast shed for the exhibition of agricultui'al produce and
stock. It extends to a length rather greater than the width of the great
parallelogram, and is about 100 feet (Englisli) wide. Its construction is

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

riuler tlian that of the 'Palace,' but it is not on that account less effective.
It a])pears to have been originally contemplated to fill the whole of this
gigantic hall with cattle, &c., and to place the agricultural implements in
a long narrow gallery intervening between it and the main building; but
as the stock of animals forwarded for exhibition has not proved so large
as was anticipated, it has been half-filled with semi-agricultural machines,
and the whole of the long narrow gallery alluded to crammed with stoves,
and miscellaneous domestic mechanism.

"The whole of the building is constructed of wood, the roofs being
covered with zinc : of the latter material 400,000 kilogrammes, equal to
nearly 4,000 tons, are stated to have been used ; and of the former, nearly
45,000 i»ieces of timber.

" It is hoped that the accompanying plan and views will convey a tolerably
good idea both of the exterior and interior arrangements of the Exhibition.
They will serve to show, at least, that a somewhat unnecessary expendi-
ture has been gone into, and to manifest the possibility of constructing
a much more simple building, possessing all the advantages of this one,
at a far less cost.

" Both externally and internally there is a good deal of tasteless and
unprofitable ornament; all the pilasters are papered and painted in a
species of graining to imitate light oak, and even the ceiling is covered
over with the same work. Large 'carton pierre' trusses apparently
support the timbers, and a painted bronze bas-relief fills the tympanum
of the pediment, at the principal entrance. The architecture of the whole
is 'mesquin,' although the gigantic scale of the building necessarily
elevates the general effect into something of impressiveness; not, how-
ever, to nearly the extent wliich the same outlay might have produced."

INTF.nior. VIKW OF TIIF. " lALACF..

miii'

'///:'■

TUli CUVSTAL PALACE.

r.)

IXTKIUOU UF THE CATTLE-SllKU.

Mr. Wyatt further states that the total cost of this buikUug was about
450,000 francs, or about 18,000/., which, however, he considers was an
unnecessarily large outlay. He mentions, also, that the building erected on
the previous occasion, in 18-i4, was in some respects more suitable for the
purpose, especially from its greater simplicity of arrangement, a remark it
will be well to bear in mind in considering the various designs for the
building in Hyde Park. The accompanying plates will enable the reader
readily to follow all the details of the description.

The permanent building erected by the King of Bavaria at Munich,
likewise for periodical Exhibitions, is on a much smaller scale than those
in Paris, and must be regarded rather as having afforded an opportunity for
that manifestation of architectural display in public buildings for which its
Royal projector was so well known, than as being peculiarly fitted for its
pui'pose. It is divided internally into various halls for the different classes
of objects ; but as the proportion of these must necessarily vary at every
Exhibition, such an arrangement cannot be deemed the most suitable for
the purpose.

At Berlin, where several Industrial Exhibitions have taken place, no
distinct building has been provided, but some already existing one has been
temporarily adapted and fitted up for the purpose ; thus, on the last occa-
sion, Kroll's WiNTERGARTEN, a large establishment for public amusement,
which has been recently destroyed by fire, w'as made use of. The large
central saloon, with the smaller ones flanking it, foi'ming, in fact, one space
310 feet long, and 82 feet broad at the w'idest point, afforded a very good
opportunity for the arrangement of the objects to be exhibited, some of
which were placed in the gallery of the large saloon.

2<)

IIIE CKV.STAl, lAI.ACK.

M,AN OK KI'.OM, 8 WlNTEHdAHTKN, l!i:ilMN.

"--l-i

1. Llcctric Telcgrajili.

2. ChemiciJ Products.

3. Porcelain and Bronzps.
■}•. Macliiiierj.

5. llarclwarc.

(i. Zinc AVorks.

7. Plate and Jewellery.

b. Lithography.

9. Watches, &c.

10. Cutlery.

11. Scientific lustrunicuis.
1~. Bookbinding.

13. Embroidery.

li. Ornamental Blinds.

15. Silks aud Velvets.

IG. Furs.

17. Pianofortes.

18. Carriages.

19. Furniture.
2U. Lamps, &c.

21. Turned Articles.

22. Woollen Fabrics.

23. Leather Articles.
2i. Hats & Felt Articles.

25. Machinery.

26. Carriages.

On a previous occasion a part of the Royal Arsenal building was appro-
priated, and the Exhibition embraced two storeys.

In our own country, exhibitions of manufactures have taken place in
several of the most important towns, generally in spaces only temporarily
adapted; but in 1849 the first building in this country intended solely for
the purpose of an exhibition of manufactures was erected at Birmingham,
on the occasion of the meetincr of the British Association in that town.

Vii:w OK TiiK i;ii;Mi:>(;i[.\>i F.xi'usinoN lu ii.nrsc;.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 21

The building alluded to included a space extending to 10,000 square
feet, and a corridor, giving additional accommodation of 800 square feet,
connected the temporary exhibition-room wdth Bingley-house, within the
grounds of v/hich the building was erected ; and including the rooms of
the old mansion, the total area covered by the Exhibition was equal to
12,800 feet, or only about one-seventeentb of the area covered by the last
building erected in the Champs Elysees. The cost of this building was
about 1,300/. It was opened to the public on the 3rd of September, 1849.

In most of the buildings alluded to above, the principal defect seemed to
be that a definite and fixed subdivision of space was made for a classification
of objects which was necessarily uncertain. This appears to have deter-
mined the Committee in the arrangement of the plan which they presented
in a general form to the Royal Commission at the same time with the
Report already quoted ; and although the design was slightly modified
during the progress of the working-drawings subsequently made, this is,
perhaps, the best place for introducing a description of it.

It has been already mentioned that at the time the Committee received
the competition designs, they obtained the assistance of Mr. Digby Wyatt,
the secretary to the ExecutiA^e Committee, to aid them in the preparation
of drawings, although Mr. Scott Russell officially filled the post of secre-
tary to the Building Committee. At a somewhat later stage of the Com-
mittee's proceedings, when the general design for the proposed building
had been approved by the Royal Commission, and it became necessary to
prepare working drawings for the same with extraordinary despatch, Mr.
Charles Heard Wild, as engineer, and Mr. Owen Jones, as architect, were
appointed to co-operate with Mr. Wyatt in carrying out this object.

|lMrri|itinE nf tjjc ^nilMng CBmmitlrfH Dr0igii.

^HE site to have been occupied by the building designed by the
p Committee was the same as that on which the building has been
*^^^ actually erected, namely between Rotten-row and the drive in Hyde
Park, but the area proposed to be covered was somewhat larger, the length
of the building being about 2,200 feet, and the greatest width nearly 450
feet. The central space was occupied by an immense rotunda 200 feet in
diameter, the cupola rising to a height of more than 160 feet, and exceed-
ing the span of that of St. Peter's at Rome by 61 feet, and of St. Paul's in
London by 88 feet. The dome for covering this rotunda consisted of
wrought-iron ribs, supporting a covering of corrugated iron, the whole
resting on a wall or drum of brickwork, about 60 feet high ; a large
opening in the centre was to be glazed for the admission of light.

— ^ THK CKVSTAL TALACE.

This large open area was intended for the exhibition of gi'oups of
sculpture, fountains, and other ohjeets recjuiring great space in order to be
seen to advantage; at the same time the cupola would have presented a
striking instance of the constructive skill of this country.

The remaining area of the building was divided into avenues 48 feet
wide, by iron columns 24 feet apart, this dimension having been determined
on as that most likely to work in well for the division of the counters and
passages. One of the 48-feet avenues on the main axis of the building was
spanned by semicircular ribs of wrought iron supporting the roof, which
rose here to a greater height than the rest of the building ; the other
avenues were covered with roofing very similar to that commonly seen in
railway-sheds, the whole being rendered as light as possible, and constructed
. in iron covered with slating; the light being in all cases admitted by a
range of sky-lights at the apex of the roof, which Avas also adapted for
ventilation. The height of the main avenue was 52 feet, and of the others
36 feet, from the floor throughout. A corridor of communication 15 feet
wide was carried round the whole of the building, interrupted only by the
open courts ; this, with the main avenue, afforded the visitor to the Exhi-
bition (he means of reaching any particular point without threading a raaz3
of small passages. The inclosing walls were to be of brick, relieved exter-
nally by panels in two colours; but there were to be no internal division
walls except those necessary to surround the various courts wliich were
left on accoimt of the trees.

The executive offices were grouped on either side of the principal
entrance, which was placed iinmediately opposite Prince's Gate ; and at
this, as well as at the entrances at either end and on the north front, large
arched recesses were introduced which served as vestibules, and formed at
the same time prominent and striking features to relieve the necessarily
monotonows aspect of the buiMing. Along the whole of the principal front
and at the ends of the building a pent or overhanging roof projected about
15 feet, to enable visitors in bad weather to be set downa luider cover,
and the exit-doors, of which there were altogether 24, were further
protected by porches.

The water was to be conveyed from the roof through the columns whieh
supported it, and which were for this purpose connected with the necessnry
drain-pipes, &c.

Very ample accommodation was provided for refreshments in the open
courts which were necessarily left for the preservation of the trees, par-
ticularly in that at the western end of the building, Avhere there was pro-
posed to be placed a large establishment, comprising two storeys, with
somewhat the arrangement of the French cafes, including a fine saloon on
the first floor, upwards of thirty feet wide and nearly one hundred feet
long; separate spaces were also provided for the accommodation of

ro^^E

O 03 Ph

r-1 O CO -^

THE CKVSTAL PALACE. 23

exhibitors. This was the only part of the building, with the exception of
the executive offices, which was to have an upper storey.

xA.n objection might, perhaps, be raised to this part of the building, that
it was too commodious, and that there might be some danger of its being
converted into a lounge, while it was occupying too much of the space
intended for the Exhibition, for a secondary, though certainly necessary
purpose ; it was, however, considered by the Committee, that of the vast
number of visitors that might be expected to be in the building at one
time, so many would avail themselves of the accommodation provided as to
render a less amount imdesirable. The principal courts were surrounded
by a covered way, where refreshments were also to be served at long
counters, in the manner of the railway-stations.

All these arrangements will readily be understood by a reference to the
plan of the design we have been describing, which plan, together with a
view taken from the south-east angle of the building, will place before the
reader the result of the labours of the Committee. The materials proposed
for the construction of this building were fire-proof throughout, with the
exception of the floor and its supporting timbers.

The above design, at least in all its leading features, for some of the
details were subsequently added, was laid before the Eoyal Commission, at
the same time with the Report already quoted, and was by them approved,
and the Committee proceeded to prepare the necessary working-drawings
and specifications for the execution of the work. These proceedings of the
Committee occupied until the 24:th of June, when large lithographed copies
of the most important of the drawings, together with printed copies of the
specifications and other details, were issued from the offices of the
Executive, contractors having been some time previously invited by public
advertisement to send in tenders for the execution of either a part or the
whole of the work. The tenders were to be on two systems, one on the
supposition that the Eoyal Commission were to become the hona fide pur-
chasers of the building ; the other, that the contractors were to erect and
maintain the building during the time of the Exhibition, after which they
were to remove it and take back the materials at their own risk, receiving
a proportionably diminished sum.

It has been considered necessary to describe thus minutely the labours
of the Committee and the design in which they resulted, in order to show
how far it paved the way for that which was subsequently adopted, and
to give them that credit which they undoubtedly deserve for devoting
so much of their valuable time for the furtherance of a great public
undertaking.

TilK CRYSTAL

d'^pjinijitimi tn tljis lOrsign.

^dh^HE design of the Building Committee, when published to the world,
l*& ^^^^ ^^ '^'' anything but public approbation ; some of the objectors
V>__/^ called in question the practicability of the execution of the enor-
mous dome, at least within the time assigned ; others complained that the
outlaj' would be unnecessarily large for a purpose avowedly temporary, and
expressed their fears that so costly a structure once erected, there would be
the less probability of its subsequent removal ; but the objection which
appeared to have most weight with the public at large was, the great
amount of solid brick construction in the walls, &c., which, it was urged,
woidd require a longer time than could be allowed for their erection, and
that the carting of the materials would cause serious injury in the Park
and the surrounding neighbourhood. This strong current of objection
seemed to bid fair to overwhelm the much-abused design. To increase
the difficulties which seemed to gather round the progress of this noble
undertaking, an exceedingly vexatious and factious agittition was got up in
opposition to the proposed site in Hyde Park, and petitions and counter-
petitions were presented to both Houses of Parliament, and much of the
time of the Legislature was wasted in fruitless discussion on the subject.
The Building Committee thought it desirable, under these circumstances, to
lay before the public their reasons for recommending the site in the Park,
and therefore issued a memorandum of the grounds on which it had been
selected.* The result was, that the opposition was defeated in the Legislature,
and finally crushed by the force of public opinion.

^ N the mean time the competing contractors had been obliged to
( r^% strain every nerve to get their tenders ready by the 10th of July,
^<j) when, altogether, nineteen were sent in, but eight only were for
undertaking the whole of the work ; the amounts of these are stated to
have ranged between 150,000?. ami 120,000?., and this for the use only of
the materials for the building. But, at the same time, in accordance with
the recommendation and invitation contained in the last part of the
Report already quoted, ^Messrs. Fox, Henderson and Co. presented a tender
upon a design entirely different in construction and appearance, though
resembling that of the Committee in the general arrangement of the plan.
This design was by Mr. Joseph Paxton, and resembled in its general

♦ Tliis " iiicmoranduiri" will hv found in tlic Appeudix.

:iiiiisiiii

iii

ll '•^^ -^

■^-- -aril

/[ .^T

>• -4

■^^^
^ ^*

11' ^ #,

/ •_

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

form the building as it is now executed, with the exception of the transept
and semicircular roof, which were subsequently added, and were suggested
by IMr. Barry.

The result of the tenders appears to have been unfavourable to the Com-
mittee's design ; and in their Report to the Royal Commission on the siib-
ject, made a few days afterwards, they proposed to omit the great dome
and some portions of the design which were not essential, by which they
considered that the cost of its execution might be reduced below 100,000/. ;
at the same time, they made special mention of Mr. Paxton's design, which,
hov.'ever, they considered would jirove more expensive.

Mr. Paxton's design had been brought before the public before this
period ; for, considering that his best road to success would be to get
a favourable verdict from that many-headed jnry, he published a view
and description of it in the Illustrated Neius, and, through the influence
of Mr. Stephenson, he got his plans laid before the Royal Commission, in
consequence of which he obtained an interview with his Royal Highness
the President. The encouragement given him by the attention bestowed
upon his design by the Royal Commission, and the favourable opinion
of the public, had determined him to procure a tender for the execution
of the work, to be sent in with those upon the Committee's design. This
he was enabled to do by the great energy and i3romptitude of the con-
tractors, Messrs. Fox and Henderson, to whom he applied at the eleventh
hour. The difficulties that had to be overcome, owing to the shortness of
the time remaining for the estimates to be made up, can scarcely be better
laid before the reader than they have been by an able writer in " Household
Words :" —

'' It was now Saturday, and only a few days more were allowed for
receiving tenders. Yet before an approximate estimate of expense could
be formed, the great glass-manufactiu'ers and iron-masters of the north had
to be consulted. This happened to be dies mirabilis the third ; for it was
the identical Saturday on which the Sunday postal question had reached
its crisis, and there was to be no delivery the next day ! But in a country
of electric telegraphs, and of indomitable energy, time and difficulties are
annihilated ; and it is not the least of the marvels wrought in connexion
with the great edifice that, by aid of railway-parcels and the electric
telegraph, not only did all the gentlemen summoned out of Warwickshire
and Staffordshire appear on Monday morning at Messrs. Fox and Hender-
son's office, in Spring Gardens, Loudon, to contribute their several estimates
to the tender for the whole, but within a week the contractors had pre-
pared every detailed working-drawing, and had calculated the cost of every
pound of ii'on, of every inch of wood, and of every pane of glass.

" There is no one circumstance in the history of the manufacturing
enterprise of the English nation which places in so strong a light as this

26 TlIK CUY8TAL I'ALACE.

its boundless resources in materials, to say nothing of the arithmetical skill
in computing at what cost and in how short a time those materials could
be converted to a special purpose. \Miat was done in those few days ?
Two parlies in London, relying on the accuracy and good faith of certain
iron-masters, glass- workers in the provinces, and of one master-carpenter in
London, bound themselves for a certain sum of money, and in the course of
some four months, to cover eighteen acres of ground with a building
upwards of a third of a mile long, and some four hundred and tifty feet
broad. In order to do this, the glass-maker promised to supply, in the
required time, nine hundred thousand square feet of glass (weighing more
than four hundred tons), in separate panes, and these the largest that ever
were made of sheet glass ; each being forty-nine inches long. The iron-
master passed his word in like manner to cast in due time three thousand
three hundred iron columns, varying from fourteen feet and a half to
twenty feet in length : thirty-four miles of guttering-tube, to join every
individual column together under the ground ; two thousand two hundred
and twenty -four girders (but some of these are of wrought iron) ; besides
eleven hundred and twenty-eight bearers for supporting galleries. The
carpenter undertook to get ready within the specified period two htmdred
and five miles of sash-bar, flooring for an area of thirty-three millions of
cubic feet, besides enormous quantities of wooden walling, louvre-work, and
partition.**

" It is not till we reflect on the vast sums of money involved in transac-
tions of this magnitude that we can form even a slight notion of the great,
almost ruinous loss, a trifling arithmetical error would have occasioned, and
of the boundless confidence the parties must have had in their resources and
in the correctness of their computations. Nevertheless, it was one great
merit in Mr. Paxton's original details of measurement that they were con-
trived to facilitate calculation.

" There was little time for consideration, or for setting right a single
mistake, were it ever so disastrous. On the prescribed day the tender was
presented, with whatever imperfections it might have had, duly and
irredeemably sealed. But after-checkings have divulged no material
error."

The Royal Commission appear from the first to have been favourably
impressed with INIr. Paxton's design, partly, no doubt, because its adoption
would at once silence the great bricks-and-mortar objection to the occupa-
tion of the site in Hyde Park ; and the result was that, on the 16th of July,
Messrs. Fox and Henderson's tender of 79,800/. for ]\rr. Paxton's design
was verbally accepted, and, as soon as the necessary arrangements could be
made, the contract was formally concluded.

* Tlie fijjurcs quoted are not (|uite correct, hs will be seen hcreiifler.

THE CHYSTAL PALACE. iJ <

IMstiirii nf jVj, ]Mm'B Hrnigii.

S Mr. Paxton himself has stated, the design for a building of such
magnitude could not have been produced in so short a space of
time without the aid of the experience he had gained in construct-
ing other great buildings of a somewhat similar character ; the progress of
this experience Mr. Paxton has described in the lecture he delivered to the
Society of Arts on the 13th of November, 1850, from which we have made
the following extracts ; and we hope to be excused by the reader for their
cojiiousness, on the ground that no man can so well relate his own doings
as the actor himself: —

"The Great Industrial Building now in the course of erection, and which
forms the subject of the present paper, was not the production of a momentary
consideration of the subject. Its peculiar construction, in cast-iron and
glass, together with the manner of forming the vast roof, is the result of
much experience in the erection of buildings of a similar kind, although
on a smaller scale, which has gradually developed itself through a series of
years. It may not, therefore, be uninteresting to give a brief account of the
reasons which led me to investigate the subject of glass roofs and glass
structures generally, and which have resulted in the Exhibition Building.

" In 1828, when I first turned my attention to the building and improve-
ment of glass structures, the various forcing-houses at Chatsworth, as at
other places, were formed of coarse thick glass and heavy woodwork, which
rendered the roofs dark and gloomy, and, on this account, very ill suited
for the purposes they were intended to answer. My first object was to
remove this evil, and, in order to accomplish it, I lightened the rafters and
sash-bars, by bevelling off their sides ; and some houses which were after-
wards built in this manner proved very satisfactory. I also at this time
contrived a light sash- bar, having a groove for the reception of the glass;
this groove completely obviated a disadvantage connected with the old
mode of glazing, namely, the putty becoming continually displaced by sun,
frost, and rain, after the sashes had been made for a short time, and the wet
by this means finding its way betwixt the glass and the wood, and pro-
ducing a continual drip in rainy weather.

" About this period the desire for metallic roofs began to extend in every
direction ; and as such structures had a light and graceful appearance, it
became a question of importance as to the propriety of using metal sashes
and rafters, instead of wooden ones, for horticultural purposes. After care-
fully observing the effects of those built by various persons, it became
apparent to me that the expansion and contraction of metal would always
militate against its general adoption, as at no season of the year could the
sashes and rafters be made to fit.

" The extra expense, also, of erecting metallic-roofed houses was a con-

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

sideration. In 1833 I contemplak^d building a new range of hot-Louses;
and being desirous of knowing how much they would cost, if erected of
metal, a plan of the range was prepared and sent to Birmingham, and
another to Sheffield, with a desire to be furnished with estimates for that
purpose. The estimate from Birmingham was 1,800^'.; and the other,
from Sheffield, was 1,850/. These appeared to me such enormous sums,
that I at once set about calculating how much the range would cost if built
of wood under my own inspection ; and the result was, that I Avas able to
complete the whole range, including masonry (which was omitted in the
metal estimates), for less than 500/.

" Besides the extra cost of metallic roofs, we must add the extreme heat
of such houses in hot weather, and their coldness in times of frost ; the
liability to breakage of glass from expansiod and contraction of the metal ;
the very limited duration of the smaller portions, as sash-bars, from cor-
rosion, by exposure to the alternations of heat, cold, and moisture,
inseparable from gardening operations, and which could only be prevented
by making use of the expensive material, copper ; and the difficulty, when
compared with wood, of repairing anj'^ damages, as a wooden roof could at
any time be set to rights by a common carpenter. These different items
formed in my mind so many objections to its use, and the same disadvan-
tages soon became generally apparent.

" It was now thought advisable by some parties that, in order to obviate
the many disadvantages in the use of metal, the rafters and frame-work of
the sashes ought to be made of wood, and the sash-bars of metal. This
plan certainly presented more advantages than the other, yet it was quite
obvious that materials so incongruous could never give satisfaction ; and
accordingly, in a few years, as I had anticipated, the rage for these
structures gradually subsided, and the use of wood again became resorted
to by most persons, as the best material for horticultural purposes.

"In the construction of glass-
houses requiring much light,
there always appeared to me
one important objection, which
no person seemed to have taken
up or obviated; it was this. In
plain lean-to or shed roofs,
the morning and evening sun,
which is on many accounts of
the greatest importance in forc-
ing fruits, jH-esented its direct
rays at a low angle, and, conse-
quently, very obliquely to the
glass. At those periods most of

C 5

''Hv^.■*

«. OMMON MODE OF GLAZING R0OF8.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

the rays of light and heat were ohstructed by the position of the ghass and
heavy rafters, so that a considerabh; portion of time was lost both morning
and evening ; it conseqxiently became evident that a system by which the
glass wonld be more at right angles to the morning and evening rays of
the sun would obviate the difficulty, and remove the obstruction to rays of
ligVit entering the house at an early and late hour of the day.

^n;\\, '■■ This led me to the

^^^*>^^-

V7.JS^

Hyt-

->'^'U

'AAA

adoption of the ridge-and-
furrow principle for glass
roofs, which places the
glass in such a position
that the rays of light in
the mornings and evenings
enter the house without
' '' obstruction, and present

METHOD BY RiDGE-AND-FL Riiow. thcmsclves more perpen-

dicularly to the glass at those times when they are the least powerful;
whereas at mid-day, when they are most powerful, they present them-
selves more obliquely to the glass. Having had this principle fixed in
my mind, and being convinced of its importance, I constructed a pine-
house in 1833 as an experiment, which still exists imimpaired, and has
been found fully to answer the purpose.

" In 1834 I resolved to try a further experiment on a larger scale, on
the ridge-and-fiu-row principle, in the construction of a green-house of
considerable dimensions, which also remains and answers admirably. For
this building I made a still lighter sash-bar than any I had previously
used ; on which account the house, when completed (although possessing
all the advantages of wood), was as light as if constructed of metal. The
whole length of this structure is 97J feet, and its breadth 26 feet ; the
height at the back is 1(3 feet 9 inches, and in the front 12 feet 3 inches. A
span so large as 26 feet could not be safely covered with a roof constructed
in the ordinary way, unless the sash-bars were stronger, and the assistance
of heavy rafters and numerous supports was afforded. The house presents
a neat and light appearance, and consists of 15 bays, and pediments in
front, supported by 16 slender reeded cast-iron columns. Whilst it makes
an admirable green-h'ouse, it is also an economical building ; for, at the
period of its construction, notwithstanding the hea\'y tax on glass (since
removed), it only cost at the rate of twopence and a fraction per cubic foot.
At the present time, considering the change in the price of material, and the
removal of the glass-tax, it could be constructed at a considerably smaller
amount.

"Having in contemplation the erection of the Great Conservatory in its
present form, it was determined, in 1S36, to erect a new curvilinear hot-

30 THE CRYSTAL I'ALACE.

house 60 feet in length and 20 feet in width, with the eni])tif;d roof on the
ridge-and-furrow principle, to he constructed entirely of wood, for the
purpose of exhibiting how roofs of this kind could be supported. The
plan adopted was this : the curved rafters were composed of several boards
securely nailed together on templets of wood cut to the exact curve ; by
this means a strength and firmness were obtained sufficient to support an
enormous weight.

" In 1S37 the foundations of the Great Conservatory were commenced ;
and in constructing so great a building it was found desirable to contrive
some means for abridging the great amount of manual labour that would be
required in making the immense number of sash-bars requisite for the pur-
pose. Accordingly, I visited all the great workshops in Loudon, Man-
chester, and Birmingham, to see if anything had been invented that would
afford the facilities I required. The only apparatus met with was a
grooviug-machine, which I had at once connected with a steam-engine at
Chatsworth, and which was subsequently so improved as to make the
sash-bar complete.

"For this apparatus
the Society of Arts, in
April, 1841, awarded
— -.w me a medal; and this
machine is the type
from which all the sash-

CUTTERS OF MR. PAXTOn's SASH-BAR MACHINE. ]^^^ machines fouud in

use throughout the country at the present time are takeu. As the Con-
servatory was erected under my own immediate superintendence, I am
able to speak accurately as to the advantages of the machine : it has,
in regard to that building alone, saved in expenses 1,400/. The length
of each of the bars of the Conservatory is 48 inches ; only one inch shorter
than those of the Exhibition Building. The machine was first used in its
present form in August, 1838 ; and its original cost, including table,
wheels, and everything complete, was 20/. The motive power is from a
steam-engine employed on the premises for other purposes ; and any well-
seasoned timber may be used. The attendants required are only a man and
a boy, and the exi)ense of the power required for it when in use is com-
paratively trifling. The sash-bars may be made of any form, by changing
the character of the saws.

" There is one particular feature in working tlie machine, namely, the
bar is presented to the saws below the centre of motion, instead of above it
(as is usual) ; and to the sides of the saw which are ascending from the
table, instead of those which are descending. These arrangements were
necessary to suit the direction of the teeth to the grain of the wood ; for
when the bars were presented to the saws in the usual way, the wood was

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 31

crushed instead of being cut and cleaned. It is essential that the machine
should revolve 1,200 times in a minute to finish the work in a proper
manner.

" The glass and glazing of the Chatsworth Conservatory caused me
considerable thought _and anxiety, as I was very desirous to do away
altogether with the mimerous overlaps connected with the old system of
glazing with short lengths. This old method, even under the best of
management, is certain, in the course of a few years, to render unsightly
any structure, however well built.

" In the course of my inquiries, I heard that Messrs. Chance and Co., of
Birmingham, had just introduced from the Continent the manufactm-e
of sheet glass. Accordingly, I went to see them make this new article,
and found they were able to manufacture it three feet in length. I was
advised to use this glass in two lengths, with one overlap ; but to this I
could not assent, as I observed, that since they had so far advanced as to
be able to produce sheets three feet in length, I saw no reason why they
could not accomplish another foot ; and, if this could not be done, I would
decline giving the order, as, at that time, sheet glass was altogether an
experiment for horticiJtural purposes. These gentlemen, however, shortly
afterwards informed me that they had one person who could make it the
desired length, and, if I would give the order, they would furnish me
with all I required.

" It may just be remarked here", that the glass for the Exhibition
Building is forty-nine inches long — a size which no country except
England is able to furnish in any large quantity, even at the present day.

" In 1840 the Chatsworth Conservatory was completed and planted.
The whole length of this building is 277 feet ; its breadth, 123 feet over
the walls ; and the height, from the floor to the highest part, 67 feet.

" Notwithstanding the success which attended the erection of these
buildings, it became to me a question of importance how far an extensive
structure might be covered in \^ith.Jlat ridge-and-furro\v roofs; that is, the
ridge-and-valley rafters placed on a level, instead of at an inclination, as in
the green-house, or curvilinear, as in the Great Conservatory. I therefore
prepared some plans for an erection of the kind for the Earl of Burlington,
somewhere about ten years ago ; but, on account of the lamented death of
the Countess, the design of erection was abandoned. However, from that
time I felt assured, not only that it could be done satisfactorily, but that
the most appropriate manner to form and support level glass roofs, to a
great extent, was that adopted this year for the New Victoria House at
Chatsworth, which may be considered a miniature type of the Great
Industrial Building.

" Before describing this house, however, it may be well to notice two

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

instances in wliicli the flat roofs had been previously tried, and in both
cases wiih the most perfect success.

" The first of these was a conservatory attached to a villa in Darley
Dale, only a short distance from Chatsworth. This building is divided
into five bays, -with a glass door in the centre, and glass pilasters sei^irating
the bays ; the ridge-and-furrow roof covers an opening of seventeen feet in
the clear. The ventilation is simultaneously effected by a lever connected
with a rod. which is attached to all the ventilators. . . .

" The second instance is this,
^7^^: In the spring of 1S4S, plans

were prepared for the erection
of an ornamental glass struc-
ture, to cover the conserva-
tory wall at Chatsworth. This
wall was previously a plain
fined structure, devoted to the
growth of rare and choice
THE viCTOmA KEGiA HOUSE, CHATSWORTH. pi^uts. The ncw crectiou is

331 feet in length, and 7 feet in width. It is divided into ten bays,
with an ornamental centre projecting beyond the general line of the
building. Each bay is subdivided by smaller bays, which are separated
by glass pilasters; the glass sashes are so arranged that they can be
removed in summer, and the whole thrown open to the gardens, whilst in
winter the building affords an extensive promenade under cover. The
ground on which this structure is built has a fall of 25 feet 6 inches in
its whole length ; consequently, there is a proportionate fall at each bay,
which gives great variety, and obviates the monotony that would be
exhibited in a building of such length and dimensions placed on a uniform
level. The lower side of each bay is finished by a glass pilaster, three
feet in width, and surmounted by a vase on the wall behind. The roof is
on the ridge-and-furrow principle, with the rafters on a very slight
inclination ; and the ventilation is effected in a similar but more perfect
manner than that already described as in use at the conservatory at
Darley Dale.

" The new Victoria Regia House, which presents a light and novel ap-
pearance, is 60 feet 6 inches in length, and 4G feet d inches in breadth.
Although, when compared with the Great Industrial Building, the Victoria
House is a very diminutive structure, yot the principles on which it is con-
structed are the same, and may be carried oiit to an almost unlimited extent.
The form of the roof, the general elevation, the supports, and the mode
of construction, are all quite simple, and yet fully answer the purposes for
which they were intended.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

INTEUIOR OF VICTOIUA REGIA HOUSE.

" The Victoria House
>

however, was so built as to
retain as much moisture and
heat as possible, and yet to
afford a strong and bright
light at all seasons ; whilst,
on the contrary, the Indus-
trial Building, being in-
tended to accommodate a daily assemblage of many thousands of individuals,
and a vast number of natural and mechanical productions, many of which
would be destroyed by moisture and heat, is constructed so as fully to
answer that end."

This, then, was the experience wliich enabled Mr. Paxton to conceive
his design for the " Crystal Palace," a description of which as it has subse-
quently been carried out we must now proceed with.

(^cnrml lOrsrriptinn nf tjic IkilMng.

HE plan forms a parallelogram, 1,84S feet long and 408 feet wide,
besides a projection on the north side, 48 feet wide and 936 feet
long. A main avenue, 72 feet wide and 66 feet high, occupies the
centre through the whole length of the building. Planking this on either
side are smaller aveimes alternately 24 feet and 48 feet wide ; the two first
on either side of the centre are 43 feet, and the remainder 23 feet high.
About the centre of the entire length, at a point determined by the posi-
tion of a row of large trees, which it was resolved to inclose, these avenues
are crossed by a transept of the same width as the main avenue, or 72 feet,
and 108 feet high ; two other groups of trees on the ground give occasion
for open courts, which are inclosed within the building. The area thus
inclosed and roofed over amounts to no less than 772,784 square feet, or
about 19 acres ;** the building is, therefore, about four times the size of St.
Peter's at Rome, and more than six times that of St. Paul's, London.
Three entrances lead to this vast interior, one in the centre of the principal
or south front, and one at either end of the building. The number of these
is necessarily small, in order to facilitate the arrangements for the money-
taking, and to avoid having too large a stafif of officers ; on the other hand,
it was equally desirable to afford the most ample opportunities of egress
for visitors, and accordingly fifteen exit dooi's are placed at frequent
intervals.

It will be well to mention here that the horizontal measure of 24 feet,

* The surface covered by tlie Basilica of St. Peter's at Rome amounts to 223,900 square feet,
the Cathedral at Milan occupies 124,100, and St. Paul's, London, 114,900 square feet.

3 - 5 °
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^ < o

-: ;4 h4

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pm ^

•<J « O Q

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 35

wluch we have seen as the unit in the pU\n of the Buikling Committee, is
also preserved in the present plan ; every horizontal dimension of which is
either a certain number of times or divisions of twenty-four feet.

The avenues into which the plan is divided are formed by hollow cast-iron
columns twenty-four feet apart, which rise in one, two, and three storeys res-
pectively, to support the roof at the different heights given above ; in the
lower storey these columns are nineteen feet high, and in the two upper ones
seventeen feet. Between the different lengths of the columns short pieces are
introduced, called " connecting-pieces," from the office they perform ; these
are three feet long, and are so contrived that they serve to support girders in
horizontal tiers, dividing the greatest height into three storeys as already
mentioned. The girders, of which some are of cast and some of wrought
iron, are all of the same depth, namely, three feet, with the exception of four,
to be specially named hereafter, and by this arrangement the same hori-
zontal lines are preserved throughout the whole of the building. They are
also all similar in appearance, forming a kind of lattice-work, by which
construction they do not look too heavy for the slight supports ; and large
solid masses are avoided, practically showing how great strength may
be combined with elegance and lightness. The first or lower tier of these
girders, in parts of the building more than one storey in height, forms the
support for the floor of the galleries, which are twenty-four feet wide, and
extend the whole length of the building in four parallel lines, intercepted
only by the transept, round the ends of which they are continued. Numerous
cross galleries connect each pair of longitudinal lines on either side of the
centre avenue, which remains uninterrupted from end to end, and can only
be crossed on the gallery-floor at the extremities.

These galleries are reached by eight double staircases, of easy ascent
and ample width, which are placed between the lines of gallery so as to
communicate equally readily with either, and are so distributed as to give
two to each quarter of the building ; in the eastern or foreign half two
supplementary staircases of smaller dimensions have been added.

In those parts of the building more than two storeys in height, the
second horizontal tier of girders does not support a gallery, but serves only
to give stiffness to the columns. The upper tier of girders, in all cases,
supports the roof, which is one of the most peculiar features in the struc-
ture. In its general form the roof is flat ; but it is made up of a series of
ridges and furrows, the rise and fall of which is but small, and is thus
arranged : the roof-girders or trusses being twenty-four feet apart, and lying
in the transverse direction of the building, the space between them is
spanned by light beams or rafters, which are cambered or bent upwards,
and are hollowed out in a groove on the top to form a gutter. The
rafters are placed eight feet apart, their ends resting on the roof-girders, and
lying, therefore, in the opposite direction to them, that is, in the direction

D 2

THK CRYSTAL PALACE.

of the lengtli of the huilding ; these rafters are commonly called the
Paxton's Gutters. Between the rafters so described, rid<jes are supported

VIKW or ONE 24-FEET SQUARE HAY OK ItOOF PARTLY COMPLETED.

by light sash-bars sloping up to them, at an inclination of two-and-a-half to
one, and the rafter itself forms the bottom of the furrow. The advantage of
this form of roofing is the facility it affords for the escape of the water,
which runs from the surface of the roof into the Paxton's gutters ; from them
it is discharged into the main gutters resting on the roof-girders, by which
it is conducted to the hollow columns, and passes down through them into
the drains. A drop of water falling on the most distant jwint from the dis-
charge would only have to traverse a distance of forty-eight feet ; but in most
cases the length to be passed over before reaching the down pipe would be
considerably less.** The covering of the roof is glass, fixed between the
sash-bars, which are grooved to receive it ; and in order to carry off the
moisture arising from condensation on the inner surface of the glass, the
rafters have a small groove on each side, which makes the Paxton's gutter
complete, and from which the moisture is also discharged into the main
gutters. The essential portions of the roof may therefore be considered as a
network of gutters ; one set, the main gutters, lying in a transverse direction,
and the others resting on them, and lying in the direction of the length of
the building ; by which arrangement any amoiuit of surface can always be
covered by roofing of a small span. The principle is precisely the same as
that of subdividing large fields of arable land into strips or " lands" with
furrows between them, in order to facilitate the surface-drainage.

The outer inclosure, on the ground-floor, is formed by dividing each

* It is perhaps necessary to niciitiop here, tliat the leakajrc of the roof wliich was at first much
complained of was owinfT to incomplete construction, and not to :iny defect in the principle, or in
tlie manner in which it \\as been carried out.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

24:-feet bay between the columns into three 8-feet bays by half columns ot"
wood, between which is placed boarding, held in its place by iron clips and
bolts ; a plinth, four feet high, is formed immediately above the floor by
frames, filled with what are commonly called louvre-blades, which are hung
on pivots, and of which a large number can be moved simultaneously for the
admission of air; similar ventilating- frames, three feet deep, are introduced
at the top of each storey round the entire circuit of the building, and by this
means a ventilating-surface of no less than 40,800 square feet is obtained,
or rather more than one acre.

PORTION OF TUE LOWEil Sl'OKEY OF THE PUINOIPAL ELEVATIONS.

Externally some light arches are inserted, and open panels form the in-
closure for the upper louvre-frames. The details we have been describing
may be readily traced in the engraving of a portion of the lower storey as
seen from the outside. The exit doors occupy one of the 8-feet bays opening
about six feet wide. The inclosure to the upper storeys closely resembles
those of the ground-floor, but glazed sashes are substituted for the close
boarding, and the plinth is omitted. Each storey is crowned externally with
a cornice and cresting ornament, and over the columns posts are carried up,
to which flagstaffs will be fixed.

To return to the interior. The whole of the floor is boarded ; that below
is laid with an interval of half an inch between the boards, to allow the
passage of dust from the millions of feet by which it will be trod ; the gallery
floor, on the contrary, has iron tongues between the boards to prevent the
dust from coming through on the heads of the visitors below.

The roof of the transept, which we have described as crossing the build-
ing about the centre of its length, differs from that of the other parts, its
general form being semicircular instead of flat, and rising above the rest

38 THE CRYSTAL TALACE.

of the building so as to show the whole of \he semicircle externally.
This roof is supported by arched timber ribs place<l twenty-four feet apart,
or one over every column, which forms a socket, into which the foot of the
rib is fitted and secured by iron straps. Between the ribs, timbers are fixed
which carry minor ribs at a distance of eight feet apart, and upon these the
ridge-and-furrow roofing is constructed in the manner that has been
described for the flat roofing, but following the curve of the arched ribs.
At the springing or foot of the arch on either side of the transept there is
a range of louvre-frames to assist in the ventilation of the building, aud on
the top of the arch externally a narrow passage is formed to give access to
the different parts of this roof. On the inner side of the arch diagonal tie-
rods are introduced between the main ribs, which, while they serve to
increase the strength of the construction by tying together all the parts
from end to end, produce an agreeable play of lines forming a kind of net-
work over the whole of the surface.

The ends of the transept are closed in with fan-like tracery, reminding
the spectator of the magnificent wheel windows of our Gothic cathedrals ;
this elegant feature is not visible in our interior view, but will be seen in
some of the exteriors.

There is, perhaps, no part of this interesting building in which the great
size and singular lightness, almost airiness, of the construction are so
strikingly displayed as in the traksept, inclosing as it does a row of fine
old elm-trees, as if to protect them in their venerable age from the smoke
of the thousands of chimneys that have been gradually forming a destruc-
tive circle around them. *

The only portion of solid untransparent roofing in the whole of this build-
ing is formed on either side of the arched roof just described, where there
is a lead flat twenty-four feet wide. This was partly required for a
platform to serve for carrying on the works for the arched roof, and was
also exceedingly useful in giving access to the other roofs on either side ; it
likewise afforded the opportunity of giving some additional strength at the
springing of the arched ribs to resist any possible tendency they might
have to spread outwards.

As the weight of such lead roofing considerably exceeds that of the glass
ridge-and-furrow covering, it was necessary at the point where it crosses
the wide span of the main avenue to introduce some stronger roof-girders
than those used elsewhere ; of these there are two on either side of the
transept, the inner one of wliieh has also to sustain two of the large arched
ribs with their superincumbent roofing, and its strength is therefore in-
creased in proportion to the additional load placed upon it. The extra-
strong roof-girders are six feet deep, or twice that of the others ; but their
general construction is similar, the diagonal ties forming a kind of lattice-
work, and thus kecpfiig up the same character. These, like all the roof-

View of the Interior of the Transept.

THE CRYSTAL I'ALAOK. 39

girders of large span, are constructed principally of wronght-irou. Those
who visited the building during its erection, and were among the fortunate
few who were enabled to ascend to the " lead-flat," must have been very
much struck with the singular appearance presented by the great expanse
of acres of glass stretching in long lines of " ridge-and-furrow" roofing on
each side of the centre, while the eye, penetrating the transparent covering,
became lost in endeavouring to follow the apparently intricate lines of the
interior. Such a view might fairly be said to justify the title of " Crystal
Palace," by which this building is so commonly known ; and it would
require no great stretch of imagination to believe that it had been reared
by fairy hands, as a votive offering at the world's jubilee of labour.

But we must descend again to the interior, to point out the arrangement
of the offices for the staff of the Executive. The principal of these are
naturally placed in the centre, on either side of the principal entrance,
where they occupy in two storeys the space underneath the gallery, which
is continued uninterrupted over them. The entrances at the end are
also flanked by offices of less extent. The outer iuclosure of these spaces
is formed with glazed sashes, similar to those which are placed on the
exterior of the building, and boarded partitions divide the interior. The
rooms are arranged to be heated and lighted by gas when required, and
ample means of ventilation are provided.

The simplicity of the construction renders it very easy to extend or
contract the accommodation much more readily than would be possible
under ordinary circumstances.

It now remains to notice the arrangements provided for refreshments,
which are introduced in connexion with the open courts left on account of
the groups of trees. These happen to occur towards the ends of the
building, and on the north side of the main avenue ; the space at the north end
of the transept, next to the inclosed trees, is also appropriated for this
purpose. The roofing over these parts is a continuation of that over the
rest of the building ; and the partitions necessary for inclosing the different
spaces are formed chiefly with glazed sashes, avoiding as much as possible
any solid construction, which would appear out of character. The open
courts are inclosed with sashes and doors, rendered necessary by the uncer-
tain nature of our climate.

A small detached building which has not been mentioned serves for the
boiler-house, and is placed near the west end of the building. As it had
been determined to afford the means of exhibiting some of the machinery
inactnal motion, it was necessary to erect boilers to supply the steam to the
different machines, as it would clearly be inadmissible for each to generate
steam for its own use in the building. The house to contain the boilers is
ninety -six feet long and twenty -four feet wide, and is placed as near as prac-
ticable to the machinery-department : but at the same time it is ({uite detached

THE CUYSTAL I'ALAC'E.

from the main building to avoid risk from the fires. In appearance it
resembles the one-storey portion of the main building, but it is constructed
entirely of fire-proof materials. It contains five boilers, each to supply
steam for twenty-horse power, which is distributed by a pipe to the
diflFerent machinery.

An ornamental cast-iron railing designed by ]\Ir Owen Jones incloses

^^ the building, being placed at
I L I I L j^LL i^jL a i, l i t Wu ^ distance of about eight feet

from it along the principal
fronts, but carried much fur-
ther off at the ends, so as to
inclose a considerable space,
which will thus be available
"or exhibiting any large ob-
jects that will bear exposure
to the weather, if there should
nut be sufficient room in the
interior of the building.
Gates are placed opposite all
the entrances and exits, and these are so arranged that when closed they
are uniform in appearance with the rest of the railing.

Having thus given a general sketch of the arrangement and appearance
of the building, we shall proceed to describe somewhat more minutely the
various details of the construction, of which the essential parts are few in
number compared with the great repetition of each individually. To assist
in this nudtiplied reproduction of the same form, some exceedingly ingenious
machinery has been employed, which will therefore be described in con-
nexion with the parts it has been used to form ; and thus these will be traced
through their various stages, from the raw material to their finished state
as portions of the building. The greater part of this machinery has been
used in shaping out those parts which are of wood, and particularly the
different portions of the roof, with which we will therefore commence.

EXTERNAL RAILING.

/S\ T has been mentioned that the rafters which span the space between
>— ^ the roof-girders serve, at the same time, as gutters, for Mliicli pur-

pose they are hollowed out on the upper face, besides having smaller
grooves at the sides to take the condensation-water. The bottom of the
gutter is of a circular form, which is universally considered the best for
conveying liquids with the least amount of friction, and therefore the least

:i!l!il;i:a^^^^^

V'\

'is J'-'

'»'"lli;i:

'iill'iil

11 iiii'l

I'M'

"■''f'*'||ii»''|p

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

liable to obstruction from an accnniulatlon of
dirt. A section of the gutter, as iinislied, is
shown. To bring it into this form, after the
timbers had been sawn into the requisite
general dimensions they were brought under
the action of the planing-machine, where they
were planed on the four sides. This machine
SECTION or THE p\xton's gutter, is patented by W. Furness, of Liverpool, and
WITH THE STRONG s.vsH-BVR. ' ^^,jjg workcd at thc Chclsca Wharf Saw-mills.

Tlie operation was effected by
cutters {'^() attached to the ends
of an arm revolving with great
rapidity in a horizontal plane ;
the timbers to be planed were
wedged up into a frame (6) tra-
versing on rails, and as this was
passed under the revolving cut-
ters the upper surface was re-
niDved by them, at the same
time the timbers were held
down npon the frame by a
large iron disc (c) pressing upon
their upper surface. The disc,
together with the revolving arm
carrying the cutters, was capable
of being adjusted vertically to
tho exact dimensions of the tim-
ber. The traversing-frame was
slowly propelled by the machi-
nery, and three widths of timber
were operated upon at one time.
On leaving the planing-machine
these quarter baulks were passed on to the
gutter-cutting, machine. Four different
cutters were required to form the section,
as shown above ; they were placed one
behind the other, so that the piece of
timber, which was presented to their ac-
tion above the centre of motion, passed
over ea'^h of them in succession. The
first set, which revolved in a vertical plane,
roughly hollowed out the larger groove to
the section shown in Fig. 1 ; the two next
were counterparts, and formed the same

THE CinCULAR TLANIXG- MACIIISE.

rOUTlON OF rLANING-MAClllNE, WITH
THE EEVULVIJJG ARM AM) CUTTERS.

THE (.'ItVSTAl- rAI.ACE.

section in oppobite ilirections ; they were set at aii iiieliuatiuu to the upright
of about 45 degrees, the one to the right, the other to the left ; and each
holloNved out one of tlie small side grooves, and one side of the larger
gutter, leaving the section of the timber respectively of the forms shown
in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 4 shows the form of its section after it had passed
both; the fourth set of cutters again revolved vertically, and gave the
glitter its finished form, as shown above. As the timber passed over the
cutters it was supported at the ends on revolving rollers, and was held in
its place by guiding grooves, being pressed gradually forwards against the
cutters.

a 3

h a : \. ^' ■ ■

►^

SECTION'S OF THE DIFFERENT STAGES UF THE l'A\ ION S C.LTTEKH.

THE GUTTER-CUTTIXG MACHINE,

In this manner forty -two lengths of solid gutter, each twenty -four feet and a
fraction long, were completed in a day of ten hours ; and as the machine
was worked double time, a length of more than 2,000 feet was turned out
daily ready for use : this, it has been calculated, would have required the
labour of about three hundred men to be employed for the same length of
time. The absolute necessity for such rapid production will be evident when
it is knowTi that no less than 110,000 feet, or about twenty miles length, of
such gutters were required — very nearly the distance from Buckingham
Palace to Windsor Castle.

Finished as described above, the Paxton's gutters arrived at the building,
where the first operation they imderwent was that of cutting them to the
exact length requisite. Tiiis was a nice riperation, as the smallest deviation
would have caused a difficulty in fitting them into their i>lace, and to
j)erform it a framework was constructed by w hich the ^solid gutter could

TUK CKYSTAL PALACE.

be bent to tl^^e same curve it wxmld have wlieu fixed ; a precaution that
waj necessary in order that the ends might be cut off quite vertically
so as to fit together when in their place. At one end of this frame-work
was jjlaced a circular saw, twenty inches diameter, hung with a pulley and
balance weight, so as to be moved up and down by means of a lever. The
gutter being fixed in the frame by means of hinged guage-plates, one end
was cut by the circular saw being brought down upon it ; and at the same
time another operation was performed : two cutters, placed in the centre of
the circular saw, were so arranged that when brought down upon the end
cif the solid gutter they cut out a semi-circular notch, so that when the ends

of two gutters were afterwards
placed together there was a cir-
cular hole left, through which
the water passed down into the
main gutter. When these ope-
rations were completed at one
end of the gutter, the gnage-
plates were taken off, and the
timber was swung round on a
pivot or crutch in the centre, and
the same process gone through
as before ; the whole scarcely
occupying two minutes. We. shall presently have to return to this piece
of machinery, as it was also used in finishing the ridge rafters.

The solid gutter was now transferred to the hands of the carpenter, w^ho
fixed at each end, on the under-side, a small cast-iron shoe ; and two struts,
nine inches long, were placed so as to divide the whole length into three
equal parts — the struts spread out at the top in order to present a large sur-
face of pressure against the under-side of the gutter ; and tenons projected
upwards, which were fitted into mortices cut into the timber. The lower
end of the struts were formed so as to give them a firm hold upon a wrought-
iron rod, thirteen-sixteenths of an inch diameter, which was passed under
them and through the shoes, where it was screwed up with nuts ; and the
struts pressing up against the timber produced the requisite bend or camber.
Twenty-seven notches, to receive the sashbars, were marked with a templet
and cut out on each edge of the upper-side of the gutter ; and a small cast-
iron plate having been fitted on the under-side at each end, the Paxton's
gutter was complete and ready for fixing. The under-trussing of the rafters
increased their strength considerably, so that a weight of one-and-a-half tons
was required to break one which was experimented upon.

MACHINE FOR FINISHING ENDS OF GUTTERS
AND ItlDGES.

THE CUVSTAL l-ALAt'E.

\[\}t Jnsji-liars.

^^^YT) E will next consider the sash-bars which support the ridge of

^ the roof and receive the jrlass. The total leni-'th which was

-x required of these amounts to about two hundred miles ; it will,

therefore, be easily understood that mechanical contrivance for cutting

them out became an absolute necessity ; this iSIr. Paxton appears to have

discovered in his works at rimtsworth. n> lio nvMitinn? in hi? loftnro.

MACHINE FOU CUTTING OIT SASH-BAItS.

The sash-bars are one inch thick and one-and-a-half inches deep, and are
grooved on each side, besides having all the four edges bevelled or cham-
fered; all which was done in one passage through the machine. The j^lank
which was to form the sash-bars was passed in at one end of the machine,
between pressure-rollers ; it then passed between cutters placed both above
and below' it, which made about twelve hundred revolutions per minute,
and hollowed out the different grooves; and, lastly, it pjissed between
circular saws which divided it into separate sa^h- bars, after which they had
only to be cut into their proper lengths.* The exact length of each sash-bar
when finished is four feet one inch.

In this state the skylight bars were sent to the building, where they
underwent several finishing operations, necessary to make the ends fit down
into the notches prepared in the ridges and gutters. Thirty of the liars

* About three hundred jiianks were passed throMgli the machine in a work-ng-day often hours,
allowing the necessary sioppiii;es for !ilmr|n-niiig the cullers; and if only three widths of s;ish-bHr
were produced out of eacli plank, ihe 4iiaiitily linislied per ilicni would amount to alx)ut two miles
and three quarters. This inacliinery, as will as llial for grooving and intiulding the ridges, was
Worked at the rhoeuLx tiaw-iuills, Cuiuberlaud-basin, Kegeut's I'ark, belonging to Mr. Birch.

TflE CRYSTAL PALACE.

were first ])laeed together in a horizontal traversing-frame on a saw-table,
on each side of which circular saws were fixed at the distance of the required
length of the sash-bar ; the frame was then moved forward against the saws,
so that both ends of the whole set of bars were cut off simultaneouply, and
at the same time a cut was made at one end half-way through the bar, in
order to form the shoulder against the gutter. They were then removed
to another bench, where the end of the bar was bevelled and the shoulder
formed by means of a small instrument having a handle with two projecting
jaws fitting into the ends of the glass grooves of the bars ; between these
there was a small blade which, being pressed down, cut out the shoulder
which had been sawn through in the other direction, and another blade was
placed at tlie proper angle to remove the bevelled piece at the end of the bar.

THE SASH-BAR DRILUXG-MACHINE.

One more process made tlie sash-bars complete for fixing — this was the
drilling a hole at each end to nail them down on the gutter and ridge ; and
this was also done by machinery, to insure all the holes being drilled at the
same angle. On one side of a horizontal bench were placed a set of four-
inch driving pulleys (a a), with as many horizontal drills projecting
towards the other side of the bench ; a wooden traversing-plate (c) opposite
each drill, and working towards it, received one end of the sash-bar, while
the other rested in an inclined position against a wooden rail (6) placed
longitudinally abtve the pulleys, having as many sinkings thereon as there
were drills The traversing-plate being then pushed forward, the sash-bar
was perforated by the drill ; the plate was then drawn back, and the same
operation repeated with the other end of the bar, which left it ready for
fixino:.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

The action of the traversiiig-plate (c) is shown more distinctly in tlie

second engraving.** One out of every
nine of the sash-bars of the roof is
stronger tlian tlie rest, to serve for
fixing the ridge previous to glazing.
These extra-strong bars are two
inches wide and one inch and a half
deep, and were formed by the same
machinery already described, by an
adjustment of the different cutters

PORTION or SASil CAR DIU I.I.I NC-MACIIl N F.. aud SaWS.

HE total length of these required was about sixteen miles. They
are cut out of timber three inches square, in section, and are of the
form shown in the diagram, with a groove on each side to receive
the glass. This was also done by machinery which,
^^ with about five-horse power, turned out one hundred

%'\ t>-li_:____' lengths of twenty-four feet in a day of ten hours,
allowing the time for the necessary stoppages. After
.SECTION or RIDGE a:«d they had been delivered at the building, these ridge-
pieces were cut to the exact lengths hy means of
the same apparatus used for the solid gutters which has already been
described. At each end of the ridge-piece two holes were also drilled to
receive dowells to connect it with the adjoining length. By no other than
mechanical means could the immense number of holes thus drilled have
been placed so exactly that those in the opposite ends of any two ridge-
pieces should correspond precisely.

The different essential component parts of the roof having thus been
described, we propose to take the different members of the construction in
succession downwards.

Cjlt (Ioln03.

UT first it may be mentioned here that the glass used throughout

S^'^-'^ the building is sheet, on an average about one-sixteenth of an inch

^^-^^ thick, and weighing one pound per foot superficial. This gives

an aggregate weight of about four hundred tons for the whole of the work.

♦ This piece of machinery is only novel in its application, as it is similar lo that used by brush-
makors for drilling a number of small holes in close and regular arrangement.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 47

tlie greater part of which was supplied by Messrs. Chance and Co., of Bir-
mingham. Each square is forty-nine inches long and ten wide, the greatest
length of sheet glass that has ever been made in this country. The manu-
facture of this kind of glass is of comparatively recent introduction into
England, though practised for some time on the Continent ; and the rapid
progress made by the manufacturers alluded to must be in a great measure
attributed to the wise removal of the final burden on the article, made by
the late Sir Robert Peel. That lamented statesman, with his usual fore-
sight, doubtless contemplated that great social benefits would follow from
that enactment ; and it is, perhaps, not too much to say that, but for Sir
Robert's enlightened measure, this " huge pile of transparency" would
never have been reared.

(t]^t %u (Ipntttrs.

/^5^T has been mentioned that the triple gutters deliver the water into
r^M) main gutters running in the transverse direction of the building ;
^^y these are formed of w^ood, with a bottom piece, into which are
grooved two upright sides, they are firmly bolted down upon the upper
flange of the roof-girders, and wliere these are quite horizontal the fall in
the gutter is given by a false bottom laid to a slope. Of these gutters there
is a length of aboiit five-and-a-half miles in the building, which, added to
the aggregate length of the PaxtOn's gutters, makes a total of about twenty-
five-and-a-half miles of gutter.

HESE are of cast-iron, where not more than twenty-four feet long,
and the rest of wrought-iron. The cast-iron ones are precisely the
same in appearance as those used for the galleries, but lighter in
metal ; a separate description of them is not, therefore, necessary. The
weight of each of these girders is twelve cwt., and each was proved to nine
tons previously to being used ; but it is calculated that the greatest weight
they may have to bear will not exceed five tons : the total niunber required
was about 470.

The wrought-iron girders, or trusses, are partly forty-eight and partly
seventy -two feet long, to span the avenues of those respective widths ;
the principle of the construction is the same in each. The top rail (if
it may be so called) of the truss is formed with two pieces of L iron
placed back to back 1 V, and the bottom rail with two flat bars || , the
total depth being three feet ; at the ends these bars are riveted on to cast-
iron standards, and the intermediate distance is di^^ded into eight-feet
lengths by other cast-iron standards, to which the bars are also riveted.

TIIR crtYSTAL PALACE.

and thns a framework of rectangles is formed. In the trasses forty-eight
feet span there are, therefore, six such divisions in the length, and nine in
those of seventy-two feet span. These are tlien divided in the direction of

/.f<

^^-^

"^-\

^^^

^-^^

niAGRAM OF 48-FEET GIRDER.

ONE of the diagonals by a flat bar passing between and riveted to those
forming the top and bottom rails. This completes the constructional part
of the truss ; but to render the appearance more uniform with that of the
cast-iron girders, a flat bar of wood (shown by the dotted lines) is made to
form the other diagonal of the rectangles.

The trusses for a span of seventy-two feet are cambered or bent upwards
about ten inches, which both adds to their strength and improves the ap-
pearance. The form and arrangement of these roof-trusses may be clearly
traced in several of the views of the interior which are presented to the
reader. The weight, when completed, of each of the trusses of seventy-two
feet span is about thirty-five cwt., and of those of forty-eight feet span about
thirteen cwt.

It has been already mentioned that four of the roof-trusses vary from
the rest on account of the greater load they have to sustain. The depth of
these exceptional trusses is six feet, and tlieir length seventy -two feet, or
the width of the main avenue, which they bridge over. The principle of
their construction is similar to that employed in the lighter trusses ; but
the arrangement of the parts is somewhat modified. The top rail consists
of two pieces of L iron, placed, as before, back to back ; but they are
further connected on the top by a flat piece Tf. The lower rail is formed
by two flat bars placed upright 1 1 , and these are riveted at the ends to
standards of cast-iron, which, however, are considerably heavier in con-
struction than those before described ; and they have also in the centre, at {a)
two slots, or sinkings, into which the ends of two of the diagonal bars are

riveted. The whole length is
then divided into three equal
parts, each 24 feet long, by
strong CAST-iron standards at
(U) the ends of wliich are
riveted between the rails, and
these spaces are again subdivided into three eight-feet lengths by wrought-
iron standards at (o r). The top of each standard is next connected with the
foot of the next but one to it by diagonal flat bars, which, together with
the short pieces fastened into the slots at (a), complete the figure of the
whole, forming a kind of trellis- work, two diamonds in depth. In the
diagram only half the length of the girder is shown.

The dimensions of the different bars of iron in this piece of construction

36.

« 1

) «

(

DIAGRAM OF ONE-HALF OF 72-FEET GIRDER.

THE CUYSTAL PALACE.

are proportional to the amount of strain they have to bear. The two
heavier out of the four trusses just described weighed when completed
eight tons each, and the other two, which are of rather lighter construction,
six tons each.

The riveting together of the wrought-iron trusses was performed on
horizontal supports, on which the curve that they were to be made to was
marked out. The bars having been previously cut to the requisite lengths,
and punched and drilled with holes for the rivets, were laid out on the
stages in the proper forms with the cast-iron standards, which were tempo-
rarily kept in place by bolts passed through some of the rivet-holes. The
whole framework was then riveted up with red-hot rivets supplied from
small portable furnaces, several sets of men being employed upon each
truss, by which means as many as sixteen were completed in one day.
The whole of the trusses, three hundred and seventy -two in number, required
for the building were put together on the ground, and several ingenious
mechanical contrivances were made use of to facilitate and hasten the work.
To form some idea of the amount of labour that had to be performed, it
may be mentioned that each of tl)£ trusses forty-eight feet in length, or the
smallest, is held together by more than fifty rivets, requiring moi'e than
twace that number of holes to be made in bars of iron varying in thickness
from a quarter of an inch upwards. About 25,000 rivets were thus required
for the whole of the work.

3rnii UriUing 3Jlnrliiiir.

HE holes for the rivets were made partly by drilling and partly by
punching. In the machine used for the former the bar to be bored
was laid upon a flat surface forming part of the solid cast-iron stand
of the machinery ; the drilling-point worked vertically, and could be moved
in that direction to suit the different thicknesses of iron brought under its
operation. It was suspended at one end of a lever, with a counterpoise at
the other. This lever was also connected by a rod and crank, with another
near the ground, one end of which was formed into a tread to be worked by
the foot. The workman, when he had arranged the iron in the right position
under the drill, pressed his foot upon the tread ; thus raising the counter-
poise end of the upper lever, and pressing* the point of the drill, which was
of a spear -head form, down upon the iron. Underneath the iron to be
drilled was placed a piece of wood to protect the point of the drill when it
had passed through the iron. It was also necessary to moisten the iron
during the operation, in order to keep the drill-point cool. Three men
were required to attend to this work, which was not so rapid as the other
method of making the holes by punching.

THE CKYSTAI, TALACR.

THF. DI'.ILI.ING-MACHINE.

€jlt :|^ttnrliiug 3Jiflt!linB.

HE enormous power exerted by this piece of machinery renders it
P necessary that the stand containing the pimch, &c., shoidd be ex-
ceedingly solid, and it is formed accordingly by a heavy»mass of

cast-iron, in which there are two indentations, as seen by the engraving.

In the lower of these the punching operation is performed, and in the

THE riN( II1N(.-5!ACI1I>E AND SHEAKS.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 51

upper there are shears fur cutting off the ends of the bars when required.
The motion is communicated to each of those by means of a cogged wheel
at the back ; but both the punch and the sliears work in a vertical direction,
slowly moving up and down with irresistible force. There is no siidden
blow or jerk, which makes the effect the more striking, as the unpractised
eye has no means of discovering the amount of the force which is being put
in operation. It is, however, so great that, although the punching of a hole
scarcely occupies two or three seconds, the iron becomes quite hot from
the effect of the pressure. In using this machine, the workman arranges
the iron bar on a solid rest, placing it so that when the punch descends it
makes the hole in the position required. As soon as the punch has passed
through the bar, the action of the machinery is reversed, and the instru-
ment ascends again ; during which time the bar is re-arranged, and the
operation is thus continually repeated. This piece of machinery also
requires three men to work it, if the bars to be punched are of considerable
length, so as to require the ends to be held up ; otherwise, one alone is
sufficient ; and in the course of a ten-hours day about three thousand holes
can be punched out — the number, of course, vai'ying according to the
thickness of the bars.

Neither of the mechanical contrivances just described are novel inven-
tions, though they are thus, perhaps, brought for the first time under the
notice of many of our readers, to whom they may be so far rendered
interesting from their being connected with the execution of the building
of the day.

T the Chelsea Saw-mills, where the reader has already seen the
Paxton's gutters shaped out, another interesting piece of machinery
was in use for these works, for the purpose of finishing planks
to a certain size and thickness, called the adzing and planing machine.
An adze is a tool used by carpenters to remove any unevenness in the sur-
face of a board in a particular spot. In this piece of machinery two
cutters are fixed to a revolving arm, under
which the plank is made to pass ; and as it does
so the cutters remove a certain thickness from
the whole of the surface. The arrangement
of these cutters is very plainly shown in the
annexed engraving. On the under-side of the
same bench to which this apparatus is fixed,
three planes are set, each at an angle of abo.-.t
THE ADZiNG-cuTTERS. 5 degrees, by which the under-side of the plank

E 2

52 THK CRYSTAL I'ALACE.

is lirouglit to an even face, while the iipi>er surface is operated on by the
adzing-cutters, and in tliis manner the phink is reduced to an even thick-
ness throughout. As it passes on it is brought between two circular saws,
whioli are adjusted to the widtli which it is desired to give to the plank.

THE ADZING AND PLANING »IACHINE.

It is dragged forward towards the planes and cutters by means of an end-
less chain, composed of open links; which chain passes over a wheel
provided with projecting pegs, so arranged as to fit into the links. The
plank is kept down upon the planes, and otherwise held in position, by
pressure-rollers.

Cljc (CdIuiiiiib nnb (Tnimrrting ^.^irrrs.

HE columns in the building perform three important offices. They
support the roof and the galleries, and serve as pipes to convey
the rain-water from the roofs. Their form, which is beautiful, both
mechanically and artistically, was suggested by Mr. Barry ; it is a ring,
eight inches in diameter externally, the thickness varying in the different
columns, according to the weights they have to support respectively.
Four flat faces, about three inches wide, are added on
the outside of this ring, so that when the column is in
its place, they face nearly north, south, east, and west
The column may therefore be considered as a hollow
tube, of the section just described, and of the same form
at each end, having at its extremities horizontally pro-
jecting rings called snugs, through which the bolts are
passed, to fasten the columns to the connecting-pieces and base-pieces.
That the hollow form adopted for the cohmms is that best suited to obtain
the "jreatest streni'th with the least amount of material has been abun-

THE CRYSTAL I'ALACE. 53

dantly shown by experiments, as even two straws placed in an upright
position will bear a very considerable weight ; it is that also seen in the
structure of the bones ot" animals. Of these columns there are 3,300 in the
whole building.

Those portions of the height of the columns which correspond with the
depth and position of the girders form separate lengths, which are called
connecting-pieces, as they unite the lengths of columns of the different
storeys. These connecting-pieces have the same sectional form as the
columns themselves, and, like them, are the same at each end, where there
are projections cast on, which serve to support the girders, and which are
provided with holes through which the bolts pass to connect them with the
columns. These holes alternate with the projections to receive the girders,
which projections are so formed that they clip others cast on to the ends ot
the girders, which will be hereafter described. In the centre of each pro-
jection there is formed a small notch which receives the key or wedge for
tixing the girders.

The meeting faces of the columns and connecting-pieces were all turned
in a lathe, in order that, when set up, they might fit so precisely as not to
require any packing to adjust them in an upright position; and only in the
cases of those columns which serve as water-pipes is any such packing
introduced. In those a piece of canvass, with white lead, is put into the
joint. An enormous amount of additional labour was involved by this
proceeding, as no less than twelve hundred of siich faces had to be operated
on; but this did not deter the enterprising contractors, who were fully
alive to the importance of the object to be attained. When fixed, the
projecting " snugs," with the bolts passing through them, were covered by
ornamental caps and bases of cast-iron, fixed after the rest of the work was
completed.

€iiB ^EHB ]ymn.

HE lower storey of columns in every case stands upon base-pieces
of which the upright portion is a continuation of the column, with
^^^ " snugs " at the top, to correspond with those of the column, and
standing on a horizontal bed-plate, from which " shoulders" rise to strengthen
the upright portion. These bed-plates vary in size from three feet by two feet
to one foot six inches by one foot, in proportion to the weight which the several
superincumbent columns have to sustain. The longest dimension of the
bed-plate is in the transverse direction of the building, in which the greatest
overturning strain might be expected to act upon the columns. From the
vertical portion of the base-pieces, sockets six inches in diameter project, in
the direction of the length of the building, into which are fitted the cast-

THE CUY8TAL TALACK,

BASE-PIECE.

iron drain-pipes, which convey away the
water brought down by the columns from
the roof. The height of the base-pieces
varies to suit the different levels at which
the floor is supported above the ground.
These levels had therefore to be determined
in every individual instance previous to the
castings being made. It was done, however,
with such precision that, when they came
to be used, they were all found to be of
the exact length required for their situa-
tion. Of these base-pieces, 1,074 were re-
quired for the building.

(rnst-irnn dTnrhrs.

T has been mentioned that the columns supported girders at three
vw^ different heights, dividing the greatest altitude of the building
•^y into three storeys ; and that the lower tier of girders, where the
building consisted of more than one storey, served to support a gallery.

These gallery girders are all twenty-four feet long and three feet deep, the
upper and lower "flanges" or rails having a J formed section with standards at
the ends of similar section. The rectangular space between them is then
divided into three equal parts, by uprights having a -|- form of section,
and the three smaller spaces thus obtained have diagonal " struts " in each
direction. The girder thus described forms a double truss, in which the
diagonal braces are subjected both to the strain of compression and tension.
At the top and bottom of the end-standards small projections are cast on,
by which the connecting-pieces hold the girders ; and at each end of the
flat portion of the top and bottom rails small sinkings are cast, by means of
which the girder is keyed up to its position. The flat portion of the upper
and lower "flanges" of the girder is swelled out in width from the ends
towards the centre, in order to increase the quantity of metal in that part
where the strain is greatest.

The descrii)tion just given of the gallery girders will apply to all the
cast-iron girders throughout the building, of which there are 2,150; the
only difference between them being, that those for the roofs lir other inter-
nal portions, where no gallery is to be supported, are cast with a less
amount of metal. The form of girder just described, which is unusual, was
the result of several experiments jwrformed under the superintendence of
Messrs. W. Cubitt, C. H. Wild, 0. Fox, and other gentlemen, previous to the
commencement of the building; and the thickness of metal for the different

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 55

partd of these, as well aa for all the other caat-iron work in the huilding,
was minutely calculated and determined by Mr. 0. H. Wild and Mr. C.
Fox, under the supervision of Mr. Cubitt, the President of the Institution of
Civil Engineers, to whom the Royal Commission had intrusted the respon-
sible duty of the chief superintendence of the whole of the work.

€1r dpnllrrirs.

0 proceed to the gallery itself, supported by the girders just
described. The timbers supporting the floor are so arranged that
the weight of each bay of twenty-four feet square is distributed
equally to the four girders inclosing it, and in such a manner as to bear
upon them at the points immediately over the vertical standards.

In the transverse direction of the building two pairs of joists, eight feet
apart in each bay, are formed into trusses by tie-rods, 1| inches diameter,
passed through a cast-iron shoe at each end, and pressing up two " struts,"
which are made to bear against the under-side of binding-timbers running
longitudinally, or crossing the joists, and immediately under them. The cast-
iron shoes for the trusses are bolted down to the girders, and serve at the
same time to receive the standard supports of the gallery railing. The
ends of the binding -timbers are secured by bolts and oak suspension-pieces
to the other two girders inclosing the square. Joists about two feet six
inches apart bear from girder to girder parallel to the trusses, and resting
on the binding-timbers. On these is laid the floor, 1^ inches thick,
grooved and iron-tongued. A light cast-iron railing, forming a kind of
trellis-work, is fixed between the columns, and is capped with a round
mahogany hand-rail. From the view at page 60 the arrangement of the
galleries will be readily understood.

tetmg tji? Cnst-irnE Shim,

ROM the very important office which the girders perform through-
out the building, but more particularly those supporting the
galleries, it was of the utmost importance that, previously to their
being fixed in their places, the soundness of the casting should be proved ;
for it could hardly be expected thai so large a number of girders could be
produced without some of them being defective. The ordinary means of
testing girders, by loading them with weights, would have occupied far too
much time; and therefore an ingenious apparatus was devised by Mr. C. H.
^^ ild for this purpose, by the use of which the testing of a girder occupied
but a few minutes.

THE CUYSTAL I'ALACE.

KliAMK AXD UVDltAULIC PRESS FOR TESTING THE GIRDERS.

It consisted of a very strong cast-iron frame rather longer than the
girder, the bottom of which was formed by two fixed beams placed eight
inches apart, and sup^iorted a i'ow inches above the gronnd. At each end
of these a cast-iron standard was firmly bolted between them and rose to a
height rather greater than the depth of the girder to be tested ; on the
inner faces of these standards two " shoulders" were formed, which received
the projections cast on the ends of the girder, as before mentioned. Between
the fixed beams below, at two points dividing the whole length into three
equal parts, were placed strong cylinders, with rising pistons connected
with a forcing-pump, together with which they formed a Bramah's hydraulic
press, A girder being placed in tliis frame, in an inverted position, the
force applied by means of the pistons rising from the cylinders acted upon
it precisely at those points, and in the same manner, as the load from the
gallery or the roof would do when afterwards fixed in its place.

Tiie essential parts of the Bramah's press may be thus briefly described.
It consists of two cylinders, the diameter of one being considerably larger
than that of the other. The smaller cylinder is fitted with a solid plunger
or piston, by means of which water may be forced from it into the larger ;
this being also fitted with a rising piston, the force is communicated by it to
the weight which it is desired to raise. The power obtained by means of
this apparatus arises from the distributive power of fluids and the practical
incompressibility of water, and it is proportioned to the difference of the
diameters of the two cylinders ; so that if a pressnre of one pound per
square inch be applied on the surface of the piston in the smaller cylinder,
and the piston in the larger cylinder present a surface ten times greater,
the power is multiplied by that number ; whilst, in addition, the lever
power used in applying the pressure to the smaller piston is obtaine<l. The

THE OUYSTAL I'ALAC'K.

cylinders arc fitted with valves, so arranged as to prevent the return of
the water from the larger to the smaller, while the apparatus is in action,
and thus the power is accumulated in the former.

In the instance before us, the two 3-inch cylinders already alluded to in
the proving-frame took the place of the larger cylinder of the ordinary
apparatus ; and they were connected with the forcing-pump by a strong
metal tube. When a girder had been fixed in the frame for proving, the
force-pump was worked till the pistons underneath the girder carried it off
its lower bearings and pressed it upwards against the " shoulders," by which
it was firmly held, and the pressure was then continued until the amoimt
previously fixed upon as necessary for proof had been obtained. This was
ascertained by means of a self-adjusting apparatus attached to the hydraulic
press.

An iron cylinder 1| inches diameter was placed in communication with
the pipe connecting the pump and the press, so that the pressure obtained
in it was, in proportion to its diameter, the same as that in the large
cylinder; and it was fitted with a piston-rod, working in a vertical direction.
This piston-rod was connected with a lever, from the end of which a scale-
pan was suspended, at a distance from the fulcrum ten times greater than
that of the point of attachment of the piston from the same. The weight
of the scale-pan and lever were balanced by a large mass of iron at the
other end. In the scale-pan a certain weight was placed, proportioned to
the proof desired to be obtained ; and the action of the pump was continued
until the water, rising in the iron cylinder just described, forced up the
lever, and with it the weight attached ; and thus indicated that the pressure
to which it was desired to subject the girder had been reached. The
weight to be placed in the scale-pan was thus determined : the diameter of
the lever cylinder being 1^ inches, and that of each of those in the proving-
frame three inches, the pistons or " rams " in the latter presented together
eight times the surface of that in the lever cylinder ; which being multiplied
by the difference of length of the two parts of the lever, determines the
weight for the scale-pan to be one-eightieth of that to which it was desired
to prove the girder.

The ordinary gallery girders were tested with a pressure equivalent to a
weight of fifteen tons ; but it was calculated that, when fixed, the greatest
weight they would have to sustain would be seven-and-a-half tons. In one
instance, for the sake of experiment, the pressure was continued beyond
the proof weight of fifteen tons, to see what amount of strain the girders
would bear without fracture, and it was found that a strain of thirty tons
produced no injurious effect; but the girder broke with an additional
weight of half a ton.

58 THK CUY8TAL lALAfE.

ivnnf nf CrnnBrpt.

^^T^TT) E will now return to describe that portion of tlie roof which
^^^ varies in form and arrangement from the rest, namely, the sojni-
circular covering of the transept. This is supported by arched
ribs, placed twenty-four feet apart, and constructed of ^Nlomcl timber, in three
thicknesses ; the centre-piece four inches thick, with a 2-inch piece on each
side of it. They are formed in lengths of about nine feet, placed so as to break
joint ; that is, the joints of the outer pieces fall upon the centre of the inner
one. The thicknesses are fastened together by bolts passing through them
about two feet six inches apart, besides being nailed at other points. On the
inner circumference of the rib thus constructed there is then placed a piece
of timber moulded to correspond with the form of the columns ; and on the
outer circumference two boards, each one inch thick, are bent round and
attached to the rib with strong nails. On both the outer and inner cir-
cumference a flat bar of iron is secured by bolts passing through the whole
depth of the rib, which, thm finished, measures eighteen inches in depth by
eight inches in thickness. The ends of the ribs are fitted into sockets, formed
by the upward continuation of the columns, to which they are attached by
iron straps.

The ribs, which are supported by the trusses over the main avenue, have
their ends bolted down upon a piece of timber secured on the upper portion
of the truss ; and they are further fixed in their places by oak brackets,
forming a spreading foot on each side upon the same piece of timber.

Between these large ribs horizontal tind)ers, called "purlins," are fixed about
nine feet apart, by means of cast-iron shoes, bolted both to them and to the
ribs. These serve to support the minor or intermediate ribs, occurring at
distances of eight feet apart ; which consist of a single square piece of timber,
having the two thicknesses of 1-inch board bent round their outer circum-
ference, as on the main ribs. The boards form the gutters or furrows
between which rise the ridges, in the same manner as in that portion of the
roof which is horizontal.

The ridges, in this case, instead of being cut out of solid pieces, are
formed in three thicknesses, bent round to the requisite curve, and so
retained by small bolts tying them down to the " purlins." The sash-bars
which receive the glass form, as elsewhere, the sloping rafters or supports
of the ridge.

The space below the first "purlin" or plate at the springing of the arch,
down to the level of the lead-flat beneath it, is fitted with louvre-frames for
ventilation. The diagonal bracing between the main ribs has been already

^^^iiiiiitii

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 59

alluded to. Each set consists of four wrouglit-iron rods three quai'ters of
an inch in diameter, having eyes at one end, by means of which they are
secured with bolts, passing through the thickness of the ribs ; in the centre
they meet in a cast-iron ring, on the inner side of which the ends are
screwed up with nuts.

The semicircular ends of the transept are filled iu with tracery, formed
by radiating timbers, strutted apart with short pieces placed in concentric
rings. The circular heads of the openings are formed by iron castings
screwed into their places, and the eye from which the radiating lines of
the tracery proceed is also formed by solid iron castings bolted together.
On the outer face the ribs of the tracery are moulded, and on the inner side
glazed sashes are fixed, filling in the openings.

The lead-flat, twenty-four feet wide, extending the whole length of the
transept, on either side of the semicircular roof, is constructed in a similar
manner to the floor of the galleries, by under-trussing two pairs of joists in
each bay. In the width of the lead-flat roof a horizontal truss is formed by
flat bars of iron fixed in the directioii of the diagonal of the 24:-feet square
bays, to resist any possible thrust or tendency of the ends of the ribs to open
outwards at the springing.

(Till? /ntmnrk.

HE external inclosures of the building, on the levels of the different
p storeys, require but little description in detail beyond that already

given. The sash-ban; dividing the sashes of the upper tiers are
grooved for glass similarly to those used in the roof, and were cut out
by the same machinery. The glass was put in after they were framed
together, so that it was necessary to arrange the ends of the bars that it
could be slipped in at one end. As the bars of these sashes were of slight
dimensions and considerable length, they were strengthened by wrought-
iron rods passed through the sash-frame and the bars, and screwed up at
the ends, causing the whole to work together. The sashes are held
in their position by small cast-iron clips, which are bolted on to the
columns; and as the surface presented to the wind by the upright
sides of the building is of such considerable extent, wooden bridges
are fixed against the sashes on the inside, by small cast-iron shoes
bolted to the columns ; and at the internal angles, where the wind would
exert its greatest force, these bridges are further strengthened by wrought-
iron rods half an inch iu diameter, pressing against the back of them, which
is grooved for the purpose, and screwed up at each end in the cast-iron
shoes. In this manner a connected chain of resistance to any ex-ternal
pressure is established round the whole circuit of the building.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

The luuvrc-fraiiios, which form
part of the face-work in all the dif-
ferent storeys, consist of a deal frame
in which bent louvre-blades are hung
on pivots at each end. These blades
are of galvanised iron of an § form.
On the back of each blade is fixed a
loop of thin iron, to which a rack is
fitted ; and by these means all the
blades in each frame are moved si-
multaneously. A considerable num-
ber of these racks may also be connected, so that a large area of ventilation
may be regulated at once.

THE LOLVRE-FRAME.

(Tilt Iiingnnnl i'rnriiig.

^^ ROM the total absence in this building of any internal division-

n^%'» walls, which in ordinary structures considerably add to their
^-^ stability, it was thought desirable to introduce into the construc-
tion something to compensate for this deficiency. At several points in the
length of the building, where a continuous connexion could be established
transversely, the squares formed by the columns and girders on the difi"erent
storeys have their four corners connected by diagonal rods, seven-eighths
of an inch in diameter, having eyes at the ends, by which they are secured
to the bolts xjonneciing the different parts of the columns. In the centre of
the square the four rods meet in a cast-iron ring, and are screwed up with
nuts ; ornamental faces are fitted into the rings, so that this addition to the
construction is by no means detrimental to the general effect.

In a similar manner this diagonal bracing is introduced iu a horizontal
direction immediately under the floor of some portions of the galleries ; of
these there are twenty-two sets, and of those placed vertically there are,
altbgetlier, 220 sets in the building, and the manner of their hitroduction
will be readily understood from the views of the interior.

iTljr ftflirrnsrs.

HE double staircases, of which it has been mentioned there are
Ij eight in the building, consist each of four flights, about eight feet

wide ; two parallel ones, leading from the ground-floor to a
lauding, at the half-height, and the other two branching in opposite direc-
tions from the landing to the two galleries. The treads of the 6tei>8 are

TlIK CRYSTAI, T AI.ACE.

made of a species of mahogany called sabicu, which is much harder than
oak, and therefore peculiarly suited to the purpose for which it is here
employed. The risers, or faces of the steps, are of deal. The stairs are
supported by cast-iron girders, following the slope, the lower ones being
fixed at the foot to stout timbers under the flooring, and the upper ends
bolted to the cast-iron columns which support the landing. These columns
are of the same pattern as the rest throughout the building, but only five
inches in diameter. They are supported on concrete, and eight of them
are required for each staircase. The floor of the landing is carried by
lesser cast-iron girders, with flooring-joists.

The girders carrying the upper flights spring from the landing girders,
and have their upper ends bolted on to the main girders supporting the

VIEW OF STAIRCASE.

galleries, which are varied in pattern for this purpose. The railing of the
staircase is formed in separate cast-iron standards, one to each step, which
are bolted on to the top flange of the girders ; and the foot of the standard
is so continued that the ends of the treads are fitted into it, and are thus
supported. The pattern of these standards is assimilated to that of the
gallery railing.

The hand-rail is formed of Honduras mahogany, with carved ends. On
each side of the upper flight, which occupies the centre of a 2'i-feet space,
connecting-galleries about eight feet wide are carried, establishing a commu-
nication between the two lines of gallery without descending to the level of
the landing and then re-ascending. The landing is sufficiently high above
the ground-floor to give ample headway for passing underneath it ; so that
the space occupied by the staircases on the ground-floor is but small.

TIIK CRYSTAL PALACE.

d^ljt /Innr null /uttiilintmiis.

T Qow only roinains to meution briefly the construction of the floor
of the building, and the foundations for the base-pieces. Tlie sub-
stratum of the site consists of gravel of an excellent quality, and
sufficiently dense to have sustained, perhaps without any preparation, the
load brought upon it by the bases of the columns. A thickness of concrete,
proportioned in all cases to the amount of the weight to be borne by the
superincumbent columns, and of such a size as to be two feet in each direc-
tion larger than the bed-plates, was placed upon the gravel, and tlie upper
surface was finished with a bed of fine mortar to receive the bed-plates.
In this manner it was calculated that in no case would a greater weight
than two-and-a-half tons be burne by each foot superficial of the gravel —
previous experiments having shown that a considerably larger weight
could be placed upon it without any injurious effect.

The timbers supporting the joists for the floor are also placed upon
small blocks of concrete, about one foot cube, at a distance of eight feet
apart. On these are fixed the flooring-joists, and a deal floor an inch
and a half thick is laid on them, as has been already mentioned, with
intervals of about half an inch between the boards.

FIXING CAST-IRON DUAIN-rU'E.

In order to carry off the water brought down from the roof by every
alternate longitudinal row of columns, 6-inch cast-iron pipes are fitted into
the sockets described in the base-pieces, and are carried in the lines of those
columns through the whole length of the building, with discharges into the

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

liirger drains at the centre and at each end ; the natural slope of the ground
gives a sufficient tall to the pipes.

Having thus described in detail all the different portions of the con-
struction of the building, we must proceed to give some account of its
actual erection, which will enable us to mention many very ingenious
mecUaaical contrivances which were employed in the course of its progress.

(Tijc /irst (Dprriitintts m lljc dprnnn^.

ROM the great extent of the area required for the building, it was
not to be expected that any site would be found of the necessary
size, perfectly level. On the ground occupied by the building
there is a difference of level between the two extreme ends of about eight
feet. In consequence of this fall of the natural surface from west to east,
and in order to avoid having a considerable flight of steps at one end of
the building to compensate for it, it was determined to arrange the floor
with an inclination following nearly that of the ground, such fall being at
the rate of one inch in twenty-four feet. All the lines of tlie building
which would be called horizontal in fact follow this line of the floor, and
those which are supposed to be upright are placed at right angles to the
floor, and therefore slightly inclined from the perpendicular towards the
east. The deviation, however, is so exceedingly small as to be perfectly
imperceptible even to those who are aware of the fact ; and no one who
was not previoiisly informed of it would be able to detect it.

It has been mentioned that Messrs. Fox and Henderson's tender for the
building was verbally accepted on the 16th of July, 1850, and on the 30th
of that month they obtained possession of the site from the Commissioners
of Woods and Forests.

The first proceeding was to inclose the whole area (including a consider-
able space at each end more than would be covered by the building) with a
hoarding about eight feet high, put together in a very simple manner, so
that the boards were afterwards available for the flooring. The supports
for the hoarding consisted of pieces of timber fixed in the ground in pairs,
at intervals of the length of the boards, leaving a narrow space between
them, into which the boards were dropped, and thus held in their place
without any nails. Temporary offices were then erected in a convenient
portion of the site, and were covered with a roofing which was a specimen
of that to be used in the building itself. Considerable ranges of carpenters'
sheds were also put up, and even stables for twenty or thirty horses, which
were required in the progress of the works.

G4 THE CRYSTAL PAl-ACK.

Irttiiig nnt tljf ct'^rnniili.

^^^l) HE first thing to be done towards the building itself was to sot out
Tx^'' ficcurately all the points where the column? would stand, as well as
K^^ the general outline of the building. It will be readily understood
that this was an exceedingly important part of the work, as upon its
accuracy depended the fitting together of the various parts that had after-
wards to be put in place.

This part of the work was executed with great precision by Mr. W. G.
Brounger. He commenced by determining the four extreme angles of the
building, and the centre lines of the main avenues. These formed fixed
points from which were determined the whole of the centres for the
columns.

Our readers will recollect that the dimension of twenty-four feet occurs
horizontally throughout the building, either in multiples or sub-multiples.
In order to measure off the different distances, rods of American pine were
made, into which, near the ends, pieces of metal were fixed, having
corresponding notches at the exact distance of twenty-four feet apart. By
these means the lengths were measured off with great accuracy, as the
wood used is not liable to alteration in the length of its fibre ; and by
means of the metal notches the rods were sure to be placed correctly
together. It was necessary to make these sockets or notches of metal, from
the great amount of work the rods had to perform.

In determining the length of the rods, the standard of the Astronomical
Society was used ; and this was referred to in all important measurements
for the castings and other parts of the building, to insure their precise
eventual agreement in length. This will hardly be considered to have
been unnecessary when it is remembered that, from the great length of the
building, a very minute error in any of the jiarts would have been so
multiplied as sensibly to throw out the ends.

To those who are unacquainted with the fact, it may be well to mention
that the standard of length referred to is obtained from a pendulum, which
oscillates seconds, in the latitude of London, in a vacuum, at the level of
the sea, at a certain fixed temperature. The length of this pendulum is
then divided into a certain registered number of feet and inches.

The rods above described were carried along the centre lines of the
columns, and the position of each column was marked by a small stake
driven into the ground ; and in order still more accurately to fix the centre,
a long nail was driven into the head of the stake. In this manner the
position of every column throughout the building was determined.

The level at which the floor was to be fixed was the next point deter-

THE CRYSTAL rALACE. 65

mined by the ordinary method of levelling, and stakes, with a J piece at
the top, called boning-sticks, were fixed in different parts of the building ;
by the aid of which the tops of the base-pieces for the columns were all
afterwards fixed in one plane of the required slope.

filling tliB foWM ^Mvi

^ss^f^^ HE next proceeding was to excavate the holes for the concrete, on
(/C^!; which the base-pieces were to stand. To do this, the stakes mark-
\^_^ ing the centres of the columns had to be removed, and it was
therefore necessary to adopt some method of finding those centres again
with precision. For this purpose a large carpenter's square, as it is called,
was made. This instrument forms a right-angled triangle, and in this
instance was used in the following manner : — The centre of its longest side,
or hypothenuse, w\as marked by a line, which, if continued, would pass through
the right angle of the triangle, and at an equal distance along each of the
other sides of the triangle from the right angle an upright saw-cut or notch
was made. The square was then placed horizontally, so that the line
marked on the hypothenuse coincided with that of the centres of a row of
columns, and so that the right-angled corner of the square toiiched the nail
marking the exact site of a column. Two small stakes were then driven
under the notches in the short arms of the square, and nails were driven
into them throiigh the notches. It will be seen that by these means the
site of the first stake could easily be again ascertained after its removal.
The holes for the concrete were then dug of an oval form and of the various
sizes and depths required, and the concrete filled in to the proper height.
The gravel used for the concrete was raised in a pit at one end of the
ground.

Next to the setting out of (he positions of the columns, perhaps the
operation of fixing the base-pieces was that in which the greatest accuracy
was required ; for as there were in some parts three storeys of columns to
be fixed over them, any inaccuracy as to their level or position would be
very much increased at the top of the building. To fix the base-pieces
over the centres that had been determined for the columns, another car-
penter's square was made use of, like that already described, but having
the right-angled corner cut out to the form of the section of a column.
This square being placed with the notches in its short sides over the two
stakes already described, the upright portion of the base-piece was fitted
into the notch at the angle ; and as the reader will at once see, if he has
followed us in the description of the various processes, its correct position
was thus exactly found.

In order to determine the level of the top of the base-pieces, boning-
sticks were placed in the lines of the columns, and when the base-piece

THE CRYSTAL T'AI.ACK.

had been approximately fixed, a piece of wood was placed on it edgewaj-s,
the top of which was to range with the top of the boning-sticks. This waa
easily arranged by looking along them ; and the workmen drove down the
base-piece with a wooden mallet till the desired level was obtained.

From what has been previously stated, it may be gathered that the base-
pieces had to be fixed truly upright in one direction, but slightly inclined
in the other; and to effect this a plumb-rule was made, on which the
deviation from the perpendicular line was marked ; and this, when applied
to those faces of the base-pieces which were to incline, served to show when
the proper inclination was arrived at, whilst an ordinary plumb-rule applied
to the other upright faces tested their vertical position.

The first column was raised on the ground on the 2Gth of September,
but little more than two months after the tender had been accepted. In the
meantime, many of the different castings had already arrived on the ground,
and a considerable advance had been made in the carpenter's work for the
gutters and other parts. The semi-circular ribs for the transept roof were
also being put together, and stacked in such a manner as not to stand in
the wav of the other works.

■■??-- . - -

VIKW OF CRAM-: AND I'UOVINO-PRESS,

^^ e may mention here that every casting, as it came on to the ground, was
weighed and registered, and every girder proved, as already described ; in
doing which considerable assistance was derived from one of Mr. Hender-
son's patent Derrick cranes, which was erected near the proving-apparatus.
By its means a girder was raised from the waggon in which it arrived,
placed on the weighing-machine, weighed, removed to the proving-press,
tested, raised again, and deposited on the ground in a stack, in less than
fom* minutes.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

iBnkrsan's Drrrirk ixm.

/^^ BRIEF description of this useful engine may not be out of place
^^f^-) liere. It consists of an upriglit mast (e), steadied when the crane
^€i>ty is in use by two sloping stays (f f). These stays are fixed into hori-
zontal timbers (g) on the ground, connected with the foundation-plate (h)
on which the mast turns. At the foot of the mast is fixed a combination
of wheels and working handles for raising the weight, technically called a

crab. A beam (a) working at the

(Fig. 1.)

Henderson's derrick crane.

(Fig. 2.)

bottom in a socket (b, Fig. 3) fixed
to the foot of the mast, but hanging
out from it in a sloping direction, is
called the derrick, and forms the
principal peculiarity of the crane, as
it can be raised more to the upright
line, or lowered to slope more out-
wards, as may be desired, by means
of the chain (c). The advantage of
this is obvious ; for a weight may
thus be raised from or deposited at
any point within a circle of a certain
radius, depending on the length of
the derrick ; whereas, in an ordinary
crane, the weight can only be placed
at points upon the circumference of
that circle. The whole engine re-
volves on a pivot (h, Fig. 2) at the
(Fig. 3.)

PART OF HENDERSON'S DERRICK CRANE.

PART OF Henderson's derrick crake.
F 2

TIIK CRYSTAI- lALACE,

foot of the mast. Cranes of ilut^ description are niado varying in )iowcr
from one to forty tons , and with derricks ranging from twenty to sixty
feet radius.

ilnining nnb /ixing tlir iCnlniimjg niili (Pirbrrs.

jQi'^^r^ ANY of the persons who visited tlic huihling during the progress
fX^yt^ of its erection were heard to inquire " wlierc was tlic scafiolding ;"
^^ and otliers even imagined that the skeleton framework they saw

was, in fact, only the scafifohling for the huilding, and not parts of its actual
construction. This leads us to point out one of tlie most interesting peculi-
arities of the structure ; namely, that it formed, as it were, the scaffolding
for its own erection. In order to raise the columns upon the base-pieces,
two poles were placed upright, connected by a horizontal piece, forming
Avhat is called shear-legs ; the whole being steadied in its position by ropes
from the summit fixed to the ground in various directions. A rope with
pulleys fixed to the horizontal piece served to hoist the column, and sustain
it in a vertical position until the bolts were passed through the projecting
rings at the bottom of the column and the corresponding ones at the

top of the base-piece, and screwed up.
When two columns had been thus fixed,
a connecting-piece was attached to each
end of a girder, and the whole raised
by the same apparatus, and fixed on
the top of the columns ; bolts being
passed through the holes in the pro-
jections of the connecting -pieces, cor-
responding with those on the top of
the columns. The shear-legs were then
moved on twenty-four feet to jierform the
same duties to another pair of columns ;
and two sides of a 2J:-feet bay were thus
formed. To complete the square, two
more girders were raised in a similar

FIXING TUK OIRDEilS. l f: l l t xi .•

manner, ami tixeu between tlxc conneeting-
pieces over the culumns. Tiie square bay then became a firm structure,
requiring no further support; and by repeating these ojierations all the
smaller avenues of the building were erected, of the dilTcrcnt heights of
one, two, or three storeys. Tlie greatest number of columns tlius fixed in
one week was 310.

THE (niYSTAL VALACE. G'J

^*fc^ HE wrouglit-irou roof-trusses over tlie 48-feet avenues were
(1^5 raised in a similar manner to the columns and girders ; and in all
^^^ cases horses were employed to run out the end of the fall-rope,
which was passed through a pulley or catch-block at the foot of the shear-
legs, in order to change its direction from vertical to horizontal.

For raising the roof-trusses of seventy-two feet span over the main
avenue a somewhat different method was employed. A single mast or
derrick, more than seventy feet high, was placed in the centre of the
avenue, and steadied in an upright position by guide-ropes spreading from
the top in various directions. Near its summit the hoisting-tackle was
firmly lashed on. The trusses to bo hoisted were brought from the places
where they had been put together, and placed across the main avenue at
the points where they were to be fixed. Two ends of a stout chain were
passed round the upper portion of the truss, at points dividing its length
into about three equal parts. To this chain the hoisting-tackle was
attached, guide-ropes being further fastened to each end of the truss to
steady it in its ascent. In order to stiffen the truss horizontally, struts
were attached at the centi-e projecting on each side, and held in their place
by tie-rods attached to the upper part of the truss, and forming a triangle
on each side. Before the truss, therefore, could bend in. a horizontal
direction, the attachment of these tie-rods must have given way. Six
horses d ew out the end of the fall-rope, and in the course of a very few
minutes the truss was hoisted to its giddy height, and each end slipped in
between the projections made in the connecting-pieces to receive it.

The animated scene presented by these operations was highly interesting
from the number of men employed, both on the ground and for fixing the
trusses in their position aloft, and from the rapid progress so many hands made.
Each gang of men was managed by a foreman, who was obliged to issue
his orders through a speaking-trumpet, to enable his voice to be heard in
the din caused by the other works going on around. Besides the two
large gangs of men engaged in the hoisting of the trusses, other smaller
gangs were at work at different points getting up the columns and girders.
In one part, the roofing of which was completed as early as practicable, a
crowd of carpenters were preparing the Paxtons gutters and other portions
of the work. In another place, as soon as a sufficient space could be roofed
over and a temporary floo'r laid, various parts of the machinery we have
already described were fitted up and worked by portable steam-engines.
Of these there were three in different parts : one drove the machinery for
finishing the sash-bars, gutters, ridges, &c. ; another worked the drilling,
punching, and other machinery connected with the iron-work ; and a third
was used for wurkin^- circular isaws.

THR CKY8TAL PALACE.

Of the number of trusses that were hoisted as ahove described, in only
one instance (and that tlie first) was the result otherwise than perfectly
successful. The first truss was raised by its ends, instead of from the
centre ; but that method was afterwards abandoned, from the difficulty of
maintaining the truss in an upright position during its ascent ; which was
important, as, if it turned on its side, its lateral strength was not sufficient
to prevent it from bending, which would have destroyed the joints of the
work.

One of the tall masts was worked on each side of the transept, from
the centre to the ends of the building, being maintained constantly in an
upright position, while traversing from point to point, by alternate slacken-
ing and hauling up of the ropes which steadied it ; and it was curious to
witness the motion of these tall giants, as they slowly progressed from one

point to another, in the perform-
ance of their important office.
Stout planks were laid alongthe
ground, upon which the foot
of the mast was forced for-
ward by crowbars and levers ;
the planks served also to dis-
tribute the weight, which would
otherwise have sunk the end
into the ground. As many as
seven trusses were hoisted in
' >ue day by each derrick, which
had therefore to travel a dis-
tance of 1G8 feet.

So careful were the men,
under the direction of the
manager (to whom was in-
trusted the active superintend-
ence of the whole erection of
the building), that no accident
of inijiortance occurred in these
r- , difficult operations.

H01.-5ll.NU lllE <J-1-EEX XKLSStS. '

^.^ruuisinii for i!;X{inii5iuii uf diUrhrs.

/^S) N connexion with the fixing of the girders, it may be desirable to
^^Si mention the provision that was made for the expansion and con-

ZL) traction of the iron, which in so great a length as that of the
building might have otherwise produced results prejudicial to its stability

THE CKYSTAL I'ALACK. 71

Between the projections cast on to the connecting-pieces and those pro-
jecting from the ends of the girders which they were made to clip, sufficient
space was left for the introduction of oak keys, by driving in which the
girder was fixed in its place, whilst the compressibility of the wood left
sufficient play for the expansion of the metal. In describing the girders, it
was mentioned that in the upper and lower flat flanges small sinkings were
cast near the ends. Corresponding with these sinkings, a notch was left
in the projection which came out from the connecting-piece ; and when the
girder was put into its place, iron wedges were driven in between the notch
and the sinking, by which means any lateral motion of the girder was pre-
vented. It was a great advantage to have the means of fixing the girders
of so simple a nature, as any arrangement presenting the least complication,
or requiring great nicety, would have materially retarded the progress of
the work.

The wrought-iron trusses were held by the connecting-pieces in a similar
manner to the cast-iron girders ; but, as an additional security, bolts were
passed through holes provided in the standards at the ends, and through
the connecting-pieces, where they were screwed up with nuts.

The raising and fixing of the extra-strong roof-trusses crossing the main
avenue near the side of the transept required particvdar care, from their
great weight ; the heaviest being, as we have before mentioned, no less than
eight tons. These trusses were the first that wei'e fixed across the central
avenue, and about 150 men were engaged in the hoisting of each one.
They are secured to the columns by four strong bolts passing through the
end-standards.

In order to provide additional support for the great weight brought
upon the last-mentioned trusses by the transept roof, extra columns were
introduced underneath them. These were built up in storeys corresponding
with those of the other columns, with which they were connected, at the
levels of the girders, by bolts and straps. A cast-iron shoe, fixed on the
top of the columns, provided a bearing for the ends of the truss. The
columns just described project slightly into the main avenue from the line
of the other columns ; and this is the only instance in the interior of the
building of the iron columns occurring at a less distance than twenty-four
feet apart.

(EMajiEg tlp^ llnnf.

^^v^^VT) E have now traced the erection of the building up to the level of
^^^^ the roof, in which it will be readily conceived the operation of
OC/ glazing was one of extreme difficulty, there being no scaffolding
to aid the workmen in conducting their operations. When the glazing was
first commenced a light scaftbhling was suspended from the rafters : but

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

this was Ibiuul to be too tedious and troublesome a method of proceeding
for BO large an extent of rooting. It was, moreover, of great imiwrtauce
that some means should be devised for completing this part of the con-
struction independently of the weather ; a matter of some moment, when
it is remembered that the work had to be done in the winter, when in our
climate such operations are liable to be very much impeded by heavy rain.
The arrangemeiits made to meet this difficulty, as well as some others for
carrying on the works, are very clearly described in a paper by Rlr. Digby
Wyatt, read at the Institution of Civil Engineers, on the 14th January,
1851, from which we quote some passages, by permission, for the benefit of
our readers.

With reference to the means employed for glazing the roof he says :
" To effect this i)urpose, a travelling stage was devised by Mr. Fox, which
superseded the necessity of any scaffblding for glazing, and by means of
seventy-six of these machines nearly the whole of the work has been
executed. Tlie stage was about eight feet square, and rested on four small
wheels travelling in the Paxton's gutters. It thus embraced a width of one
bay of eight feet of the roof, with one ridge and two sloping sides. Each
bay in width required, therefore, a separate stage."

. " Each stage was occupied liy two

workmen, and was covered by
an awning of canvass stretched
over hooi)s, to protect them in bad
weather, and was further provided
with a box on each side to contain
a supply of glass. The sash-bars
and other materials were piled
upon the stage itself, the centre of
the })latform being left open for
GLAZING-WAGGON, FoK FLAT ROOF. ^j^^ convenience of hoisting up

materials, for which purpose there was a small iron arm with a single
block ])ulley."

" Whilst working, the men sat at one end of the platform (the ridge
having been previously fixed in position by means of the extra-strong sash-
bars), and they fixed the glass in front of them, pushing the stage backwards
as they completed each pane. On coming to the strong sash-bars previ-
ously fixed, they temporarily removed them to allow the stage to pass. In
this manner each stage travelled, uninterru2)tcdly, from the transept to the
east and west ends of the building, and the glaziers were enabled to follow
up the previously -fixed work very closely. The average amount of glazing
ilone by one man per day was fifty-eight squares, or about 20() superficial
feet; and the largest amount done by any one man in a working-day was
108 sfpiares, or 3')7 superficial feet."

THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Tlie mode of fixing the squares of glass was this : a sasli-bav having been
nailed down between the ridge and the gutter, the workman inserted one
long edge of a square of glass into the groove in the sash-bar, he then
placed a loose bar against the other long edge of the glass and brought the
whole down to bear upon the ridge and gutter, the second sash-bar fitting
into the notches prepared for it ; the glass was then pressed up a little, in
order to insert its upper edge into the groove in the ridge, and the work-
man then filled in the grooves on the outside of the glass with putty, the
lower edge of the glass having been also bedded on putty where it bears
on the edge of the gutter. The ends of each sash-bar were fixed with a
nail driven into the holes previously drilled.

Itagt far llrjiniring dT^lnsi

(f^^ S it might naturally be expected that out of the thousands of panes
^^■l* ^^ glass employed, particularly in the flat roof of the building,
^^ZU::y many would be broken in the course of the works, subsequently
to their being fixed, it was necessary that a ready means should be devised
for repairing any such damage, as the glazing- waggons used for the first
execution of the work would not be available for that piirpose. A light
stage was therefore constructed, travelling with wooden wheels upon the
ridges instead of in the gutters ; and from this the men were able to perform
their work withoiit walking along the narrow gutters, whicli would have been
attended with much risk. Tliis stage was also used for fixing the canvass
on the outside of the roofing, where it is nailed along the ridges, and
allowed to bag down slightly between them. The object of the canvass,
which covers externally the whole of the roof except the transept, is two-
fold : it preserves the glass from damage, and also protects the objects
exhibited from the direct rays of the sun, which woiild, of course, in many
instances, be very prejudicial; for the latter purpose the upright sashes on
the south side are also covered with canvass on the inside.

l^nisiing \\}t lUlis for tonsrpt llnnf.

(^> NE of the most interesting operations which attracted the attention
of the numeroiis visitors to the works was the raising the ribs for
the semicircular roof of the transept, the description of which we
give from Mr. Wyatt's paper : —

" The operation about which most anxiety had been felt was the hoisting

Tllli CKVSTAL r.AI.ACK.

of the arched ribb of the transept. These ribs were constructed on the
gronnd liorizontiilly, and wlien completed with all their bolts, two of them
were reared on end, and maintained in a vertical position, at a distance of
twenty-four feet from each other, by guy-ropes. As the ribs singly pos-
sessed little lateral stiffness, they were framed together in pairs with the
purlins, intermediate small ribs and diagonal tie-rods, forming a complete

A I'AIIl OF HIBS PI{KrAlU;i> TOR ItAISlNG.

bay of the roof twenty-fuur feet long ; two complete sets of temporary ties
were also introduced to provide for the strains incident to the variations in
position of the ribs during the hoisting. The feet of the ribs were bolted
on to a stout piece of timber, and the lower purlins strutted up from the
same." In this state the framework is shown in the engraving.

" The whole framework was then moved on rollers to the centre of the
sfjuare formed by the intersection of the transept and the main avenue,
where it was afterwards hoisted. All the ribs were landed over this square,
and were afterwards moved on a tramway formed of a half baulk of timber
constructed over the columns on either side of the transej^t, at a height of
about four feet above the lead-flat. The hoisting-tackle consisted of four
crabs, each one being placed on the side of the transept opposite to the part
of the ril)S to be lifted by it, so that the men at the crabs might watch the
effect of their exertions with greater convenience."

'• Tiie hoisting-shears were placed on the lead-flat immediately over the
deep trusses of seventy-two feet span^ each set C(jusistod of three stout
scaffold-poles, lashed together at tlie tnj), and footrd on ])lanks laid acrojs
the flat, and secured by the necessary guy -ropes. The hoisting-rope
j)assed from each of the crabs across the transept horizontally, to a leading

Hoisting the Ribs for the Transept Roof.

THl!; CUVSTAL PALACE, 75

block attached to the foot of the opposite angle column of the square ; it
then passed up to a treble block fastened to the shears on the flat, and from
thence do\ATi to a double block secured by chains to the bottom part of
the ribs."

" There was a peculiar difficulty to be overcome in this operation,
which arose from the circumstance that the width of the framework was
greater than that of the transept, the extreme width of the framework to
be hoisted being seventy-four feet, and the clear width apart of the trusses
above which it had to be hoisted being only seventy-one feet four inches.
It was therefore necessary to raise one side to a height of thirty-five feet
before raising the other, so as to diminish the horizontal width of the whole,
the diameter of the semicircle being maintained at this angle ; the whole
was then hoisted, until the highest end could clear the tramway."

This accounts for the slanting position in which the ribs are shown in the
view given.

" The foot of the ribs on one side was then passed over the tramway
sufficiently to allow the other side to clear the opposite truss; after which
the whole was hoisted to the full height, and rested on rollers of hard
wood placed between the sills attached to the framework and the tramway,
by means of which it was moved to its permanent position. There it was
again raised by another set of shears, while the sill and tramway were
removed from imder it ; and the ribs were then lowered into the sockets
prepared for them, formed by the continuation of the columns above the
level of the lead-flat."

"Each successive pair of ribs was fixed at a distance of twenty- four
feet, or one bay from the preceding one ; and the purlins, &c., were fixed
in the intervening space without any scaffolding from the ground, by
means of jointed ladders, which were adjusted to the form of the roof."

The first pair of ribs was hoisted December 4th, and the eighth pair
on December 12th. The operation, which was one of great excitement
and considerable anxiety, was personally superintended by the contractors,
aided by their most able foremen and assistants ; and a crowd of visitors,
including many of the illustrious promoters of the undertaking, watched
with intense interest the steady ascent of the apparently unwieldy piece of
construction, and every spectator seemed astonished at the mechanical
regularity with which the whole operation proceeded. It took about one
hour to raise a pair from the ground to the level of the lead-flat, and the
whole was done without any accident whatever. About sixty men were
employed in the hijisting, there being eleven men to each crab, and the
remainder on the lead-flats.

Tilt: CKYSTAL I'ALACK,

(T^lniiiig t|jr tr'rniiBrpt ilniif.

^k^N HI^ semicircular form of tlie transc])t roof reiulorcd it necessary to
jfj^Jv adopt adifterent mode of operation for glazing it to that used in the
K^ horizontal portion. A stage, thirty-two feet long and about three
feet wide, with a pnjtecting rail at the side, was constructed, so that it
rested upon rollers, travelling on the ridges. It was slung hy ro]»(H from
the crown of the arched roof, and could be raised and lowered at pleasure.
Tt accommodated eight workmen, witli the necessary ([uantity of materials
in sash-bars and glass ; and they thus performed, with ease and rapidity, an
operation which before the fitting-np of the stage ap]ieared at least
extremely difficult, and to the uninitiated ne.\t to impossible.

STAGE FOR GLAZING THE IIOOF OF TRANSEPT.

The men commenced fixing the glass at the bottom or springing of the
arch, and as they completed their work the stage was raised at intervals by
labourers stationed on the lead-flat. A portion of the glazing at the crown
of the arch was effected by men working on a light scaffold, suspended
within from the temporary ties mentioneil as having been attached to the
ribs ; whilst those upon the stage worked ui)wards till they joined the
portion done from the top.

(Kljt ^c^niiiiing.

/^4D PORTION of the work which necessarily occuj)ied a very largo
/^- '4'* ^"^"^"i^t *^f ^'^"^'^ ^^"^^ ^^^ painting, which was necessary for the
VH/:i/ preservation of all the parts, as well as for their appearance ; and
when it is considered that every ])ortiun required to be gone over four
times, it must be evident that it was highly ilesirable to adopt some means

TIIK CliYSTAL l'AI,ACE.

for focilitating tlio operation. It wns found that tlie sask-bars of tlie roof,
being in short lengths and of small dimensions, conld readily be operated
upon by some mechanical contrivance.

THE SASH-EAR rAlNTIKG-MACHINE.

A wooden trough ^vas made sufficiently long to receive the sash-bars,
and this was filled with paint ; a number of the bars were then put into it,
and upon being taken out separately, they were passed througn a frame
into which a set of brushes uere fixed in such a manner as to clear off all
the unnecessary paint. Two small brushes, placed
where the bar first entered the frame, cleared out
the grooves. One woi-kmau pushed the bar in at
one end of the frame, which was about two feet
six inches long, and another drew it out at the
other end, where a trough was placed to receive
any droppings of paint. The bars were then
stacked upright, until they were sufficiently dry
for the next coat. The first coat only was put on
by this apparatus, the second being done in the
ordinary manner, and the last not till after the work was all fixed in its
place. By means of this apparatus a ^^■orkman could perform at least ten
times the amovmt of work done in the ordinary way.

The finishing the painting of the various parts of the roof internally,
after they had been put together, was very ingeniously managed, so that
while the workmen were able to work with ease to themselves, the scaf-
folding on which they stood reijuired no supports from the ground, where
they woxild have been much in the way of other operations ; loops of

THE FRAME-WORK WITH
BRUSHES.

■78

THE CRYSTAL lALAC'E.

wroiiglit-lron were hooked on to the roof-trusses, and by means of these a
perfect cloiul of scaffold-boards was siispended, enabling bet\A'een 400 and
500 men to be at work at one time. The roof of the main avenue, parti-
cularly, presented a verj'^ singular appearance, as nearly one half of the
entire length was thus covered at one time, and a crowd of painters were
at work over the heads of many, perhaps unconscious exhibitors, who were
arranging their goods undisturbed below.

€"ljt l^noli-rnil 3iiflr!]iiif.

NE of the mechanical contrivances which were put up on the
ground during the works, for saving labour and increasing the
rapidity of production, remains to be mentioned ; it was contrived
for turning out the rounded mahogany hand-rail for the gallery railing as
well as that for the staircases.

The mahogany being supplied in slabs of the requisite thickness, these
were first cut up by circular saws into pieces of a square section, and the
angles of these were then bevelled off by the same means; the lengths were
afterwards transferred to the hand-rail cutting machine to be rounded.

THE HAND-RAIL CUTTING MACHINE.

PART OF HAND-RAIT- MACHINE.

The principal portion of the
machine consists of a hollow
cast-iron cylinder, round which
a strap may be passed to drive
it. At one end of this cylinder
four cutters are fixed, so that a
piece of wood passing between
them and through the cylinder,
as it revolves, is rounded off to
a true circular form of section,
and is turned out so smoothly

THE CRVSTAL PALACE. 79

finished as to require scarcely any further work upon it before fixing. In
ailvance of the cutters pressure-rollers are placed, furnished with teeth ; and
these, as they are turned round by a cranked liandle, seize upon a piece of
mahogany and force it forward against the cutters, which form, as it were,
the jaws of the hollow cylinder, which thus seems to be constantly swallow-
ing lengths of rough mahogany, which escape from it finished. The
wooden rail is passed up to the cutters along a groove, the end of which is
shown in the small engraving ; and opposite each end of the revolving
cylinder springs are fixed, which prevent the rail from shifting its position.
Tlie hand-rail was all turned out in 21-feet lengths, of which about thirty
were completed in tlie day.

^^^T> E have mentioned that the actual commencement of the building

' r^j/^'ij was made by fixing one of the columns on the 26th of September ;

0?Z>^ and, within a few weeks, more than a thousand men were at work,
though, from the great extent of the ground they were spread over, it was
difficult to estimate their number, which was, however, made apparent by
the rapidity with which the building began to grow. The place presented
an animated and interesting scene, which attracted a great number of
visitors ; and crowds of the fair sex were not deterred by the rough state
of the ground from endeavouring to satisfy their proverbial thirst for know-
ledge. In one part of the ground might be seen the putting together of
the wrought-iron roof-girders to the deafening tune of more than a hun-
dred hammers ; in another place gutters were being put together by the
mile, for which some hundred or two of sawyers were cutting up ship-loads
of timber. Three portable steam-engines in various parts were driving
the different machinery already described, which, however, was mostly
grouped in one place near the transept. The central avenue formed, of
course, the great thoroughfare, where teams of horses were constantly
passing, dragging the slender columns, or imwieldy-looking girders, to
their places, while other teams were engaged in running them up to their
final position. Over-head, too, the glaziers' Avaggons, dotted about the roof,
seemed to be running on some new aerial railways ; in every direction that
the eye turned the busy scene extended.

For carrying on these extensive works an immense number of men were
necessarily employed on the spot, besides those occupied in preparing the
various parts at different places. The greatest number of men on the
ground in any one week was 2.260 ; and the season of tlie year frequently
rendered it necessary for the workmen to continue their labours after dark,

TIIR ritYSTAL PALACE.

which theyili<l partly l)y tlio liglit of Imi^c bonfires of sliavings and odd
scraps of wood. The effect of tl>csc great tircri, which were generally
liglited in some part of the main avenue, was exceedingly grand. The
light of the tiill flames was reflected from the glass of the roof far away into
the darkness which concealed all the other parts; whilst occasionally a
lantern carried by a workman engaged in fixing the upper columns, or
some part of the roof, glimmered like some new star.

On one occasion, when the greatest efforts were being made to push on
the i)rogres.s of the works, no less than twelve large bonfires lighted the
men at their miduiglil toil; and had the building been formed of com-
bustil)le materials, a passing observer would have imagined that the whole
was in flames.

^.^nijiiig \l}t ll^nrknirii.

j0^^ HE process of distributing their wages among so large a number of
1^^ men, on every recurring Saturday evening, was one which could
K^ only be effected within a reasonable time by some systematic arrange-
ment ; and to such perfection was this brought in the course of the works,
that the whole number of 2,000 men or upwards were sometimes juid in
little more than an hour ; though at first it occupied a considerably longer
time.

The mode in which this was effected was as follows : — When a workman
was engaged his name was entered in a book against a certain numb(>r,

THE BRASS TICKETS AND MONEV-l!OX.

which was stamped on several brass tickets, three of which were given to
each workman before leaving the ground in the evening.

Every man had to enter the premises three times in the course of the
day ; namely, the first thing in the morning, after returning from breakfast,
and after returning from dinner. On each occasion he waa required to
deposit at the gate one of these tickets, which were afterwards sorted by
the clerks, and entered in the time-book. In this way, if a man failed to
come to his work, his ticket would be missing, and the time during which
he was absent would not be entered ; a corresixjuding amount being de-
ducted from his week's wages.

On the Saturday, each man's time was made up from the book ; and his

THE CKYS TAL PALACE. ,

wages calculated accordingly, and the amount entered against his name.
The money due to each man was tlien counted out and placed in a small
tin box, with a ticket, on which was written the man's name and number,
and the amount of wages paid to him.

THE INTERIOR OF THE PAY-OFFICE.

All this was done in the time-keeper's office, which was conveniently
placed near the entrance to the works. When all the preliminary arrange-
ments had been completed, the workmen's bell was rung, and they assem-
bled (a motley and sometimes clamorous crowd) round the pay-office,
which was provided with two small openings through which the pay-
ments were made.

THE MES TAKING THEIR WAGES AT THE PAY-OFFICE.

Two men stationed outside the office then called over the numbers of
the workmen, who presented themselves, in the order in which they were
called, at the pay-windows, where each man took the small box passed out
to him with the money, and left the box in passing out at the gate. If
any man considered the amount of wages paid to him not correct, he
presented the ticket given to him with the wages at the office on the
Monday morning following, when the matter was arranged by the
time-keeper.

THK fUYSTAI, PALACE.

Any piTsnii ac'|naiiiteJ with
the irregular liahitd uf vast num-
l)ers of our workmen, who will
often be absent from their work
a quarter of a day, and at other
times a whole day, thus varying
the amoimt of wages due at the
end of tlic week to almost every
man, will at once see that, with-
out a well-arranged system, sucli
as that described, the pajTnent
of so largo a body of men would
have occupied as many days as
it really did hours. The en-
gravings annexed, in illustration
of this part of our subject, will
convey to the reader some idea of
the scene we have endeavoured
to descril)e, though it must fall
lar short of the picturesque
reality.

(f^^riirrnl ftntistirs.

/^S) T is with great pleasure
fl^% that we are able to men-
^•^Z) lion that, notwithstanding
the difficult character of some
of the work, and the extreme
rnpidity with which it was car-
ried on, very few accidents of
importance occurred ; a circum-
stance which must be ascribed
to the groat care taken by the
Contractors for the safety of the
men while engaged in their
work : and in the cases where
the accidents that occurred were
of a serious or fatal kind, their
origin was mostly to be traced
to a neglect of those precautions
which the men were constantly
urged and ordered to take.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 83

A few statistics of the quantities of different parts of the work not
ah'eady mentioned will complete this portion of our subject. The whole
amount of iron-work in the building is stated at about 400J tons ; and about
1,200 loads of timber were required for the wood-work. There are 2,94:1
trussed gutters in the roof, and 1,495 glazed sashes were required to inclose
the sides of the building. As many as 316 iron girders were cast in one
week, and 442 lengths of the Paxton's gutters were cut out by the ma-
chinery in the same time. No less than 18,392 squares of glass, containing
62,508 feet siiperficial, or about one-and-a-half acres, were also fixed in
one week.

It may be further mentioned that the weight of the different parts
forming the flat ridge-and-furrow roofing amounts to three-and-a-quarter
pounds per foot superficial, on the whole surface ; the weight of the arched
roof of the transept, including the ribs, amounts to five-and-three-quarter
pounds per superficial foot ; and the timbers and boards of the gallery floor
weigh eight-and-a-half poimds to the sup3rficial foot : from these data the
actual weight on the different girders may be calculated.

The light iron-work, with the exception of some of the gallery railing,
was cast at the works of the contractors near Birmingham ; and the re-
mainder, including the columns, girdei's, &c., was distributed between their
own foundry, and those of the Messrs. Cochrane, of ^Yood Side, and Mr.
Jobson, of Holly Hall, both near Dudley. The wrought-iron was supplied
by Messrs. Fothergill, and the timber by Messrs. Dowson and Co.

/^^^^ HE coloured decoration introduced in finishing the painting of the
j(|^fe building is a subject which has been much discussed, and many
^^^ suggestions have been made by persons generally received as
authorities on the subject. The system adopted was proposed by Mr,
Owen Jones, under whose active superintendence it has been carried out.
That gentleman explained his reasons for its adoption, and the effect which
he expected it to produce, in a lectiire at the Institute of Britishw^rchi-
tects, on the 16th of December, 1850, some portions of which are sub-
mitted to our readers : —

" It is not necessary for me to describe the building, the painting of
which we are now about to discuss, as it is well known to most of you by its
marvellous dimensions, the simplicity of its construction, and the advantage
which has been taken of the power which the repetition of simple forms
will give in producing grandeur of effect ; and I wish now to show that
this grandeur may be still further enhanced by a system of colouring which,
by marking distinctly every Hue in the building, will increase the height,
the length, and the bulk.

84 THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

"The very nature of the material of which tliis building i? mainly
constructed, viz., iron, requires that it sliould be painted. On what prin-
ciple shall we do this ? Should we be justified in adopting a simple tint of
white or stone colour, the usual method of painting iron ? Now, it must
be borne in mind that this building will be covered on the soutii side, and
over the whole of the roof, with canvass, so that there can be but little light
and shade. The myriads of similar lines, therefore, of which the building
is composed, falling one before the other, would lose all distinctness, and
form, in fact, one dull cloud overhanging the Exhibition.

" A line of columns (as it may be seen even now at the building) would
present the effect of a white wall, and it would be impossible, in the
distance, to distinguish one column from anotlicr. This mode of painting
would have the further disadvantage of rendering the building totally
xmconnected with the various objects it is to contain.

" May the building be painted of a dark colour, like the roofs of some
of onr railway-stations? This, equally with the white method, would
present one mass of indistinctness ; the relief of the cast-iron would dis-
appear, and each column and girder would present to the eye but a flat
silhouette.

" Let us now consider the building as painted with some pale neutral
tint, dull green or buff. In doing this we should be perfectly safe, as,
provided the colours were not too pale so as to be indistinct, or too dark so
as sensibly to affect the eye, we could hardly make a mistake. Yet how
tame and monotonous would be the result ! It would be necessary that
this tint, whichever we might choose, should be of a very subdued neutral
character, in order to avoid the difficulty well know^n to mounters of
drawings and painters of picture-galleries, viz., that in proportion as you
incline to any particular shade of colour, so in that exact proportion you
injure or destroy those objects it is intended to relieve which may have
similar colour. To this, then, we should be reduced — a dull monotonous
colour without character. How unworthy this would be of the great
occasion 1 How little would it impress the public I How little would it
teach the artist ! It would be to cut instead of patiently to unravel the knot.

" We are now brought to the consideration of the only other well-defined
system which presents itself, namely, parti-colouring. This, I conceive, if
successfully worked out, would bring the building and its contents into
perfect harmony, and it would fitly carry out one of the objects for which
this Exhibition was formed, namely, that of promoting the union of the fine-
arts with manufactures. It would be an experiment on an immense scale,
which, if successful, would tend to dispel the prejudices of those whose eyes
are yet unformed to colour, to develope the imperfect appreciations of others,
and to save this country from the reproach which foreign visitors, more
educated in this particular than ourselves, would not fail to make were the

Tllli (UlVSlAI, I'AI.AC'li. 85

building otherwise painted; it would everywhere bring out the construction
of the building, which, as I said before, would also appear higher, longer,
and more solid."

Mr. Jones then adduced the practice of the ancient and mediaeval artists,
and explained the kind of colours they generally adopted, mentioning that in
the best periods of art the primary colours were chiefly or exclusively used.
" In the decoration of the Exhibition building I therefore propose to use
the colours blue, red, and yellow, in such relative quantities as to neutralise
or destroy each other ; thus no one colour ^^'ill be dominant or fatiguing
to the eye, and all the objects exhibited will assist, and be assisted by, the
colours of the building itself.

" In house-decoration we occasionally find a run on one colour ; thus we
have a green room, a pink room, and a red room ; but it would obviously
be unwise to adopt any one colour for this building, whose contents will be
of all imaginable hues from white to black. Discarding, on the other hand,
the perfect neutral white as unfit for the occasion, we naturally adopt the
colours blue, red, and yellow, in or near the neutral proportions of eight,
five, and three ; but to avoid any harsh antagonism of the primary colours
when in contact, or any iindesired complementary secondaries arising from
the immediate proximity of the primaries, I propose, in all cases, to inter-
pose a line of white between them, which will soften them and give them
their true value.

"As one of the objects of decorating a building is to increase the effec
of light and shade, the best means of using blue, red, and yellow i^ to
place blue, which retires, on the concave surfaces ; yellow, which advances,
on the convex ; and red, the colour of the middle distance, on the hori-
zontal planes ; and the neutral white on the vertical planes.

" Following out this principle on the building in question, we have red
for the under-side of the girders, yellow on the round portions of the
columns, and blue in the hollow parts of the capitals.

" Now, it is necessary not only to put the several colours in the right
places, but also to use them in their due proportions to each other.

" Mr. Field, in his admirable works on colour, has shown by direct
experiment that w^hite light consists of blue, red, and yellow, neutralising
each other in the proportions of eight, five, and three. It will readily be
seen, that the nearer we can arrive at this state of neutrality the more
harmonious and light-giving will a building become ; and an examination
of the most perfect specimens of harmonious colouring of the ancients will
show that this proportion has generally obtained among them ; that is to
say, broadly, there has been as much blue as the yellow and red p ut
together, the light and the shade balancing each other.

" Of course, we cannot in decorating buildings always command the
exact proportions of coloured surface which we require ; but the balance of

THE CHYSTAL rALACE,

colours can always be obtained by a change in the colours themselvca.
Thus, if the surfaces to be coloured should give too much yellow, we
should make the red more crimson and the blue more purple ; that is, we
should take the yellow out of them. So, if we had too much blue, we
should make the yellow more orange, and the red more scarlet.

"A practised eye will as readily do this as a musician can tune a
musical instrument ; it is here that science abandons the artist, who must
trust to his own perceptions, cultivated by renewed trials and repeated
failures."

In concluding, Jlr. Jones said, with reference to some specimens of the
proposed decoration which had been executed, " I would ask you to banish
from your minds the glare of light by which this decoration is now seen —
to forget the rough foreground, where men are engaged in every variety of
occupation for the completion of this great building ; and I would ask you
to fill it in imagination with the gorgeous products of every clime. I would
ask you to picture to yourselves in the foreground the brilliant primaries,
blue, red, and yellow — the rich secondaries, purj>le, amber, and green,
moulded in forms of every conceivable diversity ; and, lastly, against
them the darker tertiaries fading into neutral perspective.

"The conception of such an effect, difficult even to the artist accustomed
to abstract his attention from present interruptions and to calculate future
harmonies, is impossible to the uninstructed spectator, who, from the
experimental decoration of a single column, draws a premature and, neces-
sarily, a fallacious inference as to the collective effect of the whole.

"From my brothei* architects I hope for a more patient, a more
comprehensive, and a fairer appreciation ; for myself, I have a confident
hope, grounded on the experience of years devoted to this particular
branch of art, that the principles and plans I have had the honour to
propose to the Royal Commission, for the decoration of this magnificent
structure, will be found, when complete, not to disappoint the public ex-
pectations, or to prove wholly unworthy of the great occasion."

In this lecture, Mr. Owen Jones asked his hearers, and the public
generally, to suspend their final judgment u})on his system of colouring
imtil the whole should be completed, and the building filled with the
objects to be exhibited, as he considered that many of the objections which
were raised to his proi)osition resulted from a want of consideration of the
ultimate eff'ect to be produced by the whole, when completed and occupied ;
and 60 far as this eff'ect has been realised, we believe it has inclined the
public opinion more in favour of the coloured decoration than originally,
when it was undoubtedly very strongly commented upon in various
quarters. Without venturing to express any opinion ourselves, we may
trust that Mr. Owen Jones's fondest hopes will be fully realised.

TUE CRYSTAL I'ALACt;. 87

(Tin? IDntrr fu|i|ili(.

^itk^ HE supply uf water neceriiary both fur the protection of tliis eiiur-
7/^gi moiis building from fire, and for the use of fouutains and machiuery
v:::^^ to be exhibited, is furnished at a very liberal rate by the Chelsea
Waterworks' Company. It is brought into the building by a 9-inch
main pipe, at about the centre of its length, branching out into three 6-incji
pipes, which extend throughout the whole length of the building. Short
pipes branch off from these, terminating in fire-C(jcks, placed at such
distances that a circle of 120-feet radius from any one of them will touch
a similar circle described round the adjacent ones ; by which means the
whole extent of the building may be brought under the action of hose
attached to each of the fire-cocks. The water is supi)lied at a pressure
equal to a column of about seventy feet, so as to work the fountains that will
be exhibited, and to play efficiently from hose in case of any accident by
fire. The quantity which the Company have undertaken to supply is
300,000 gallons a day.

€lie Itfliiilitij nf tlii: i'liiiMng.

^e^^N HE subject of the strength and stability of the building is one on
j(/^5 which considerable anxiety has been felt, both by the public at
\::z^ large and by those professional bodies more capable of forming a
correct judgment upon it. In the prolonged discussion which followed the
reading of Mr. Wyatt's paper at the Institution of Civil Engineers, many
points of objection were raised which seemed at first sight of a very serious
nature ; but, in most cases, the answers that Vv'ere given to them were per-
fectly satisfactory. The two greatest difficulties raised were, firstly, the
enormous surface presented by the exterior to the pressure of the wind,
with apparently but a slight power of resistance ; and, secondly, the con-
struction of tlie galleries, which, it was thought, would not be able to resist
the vibratory motion likely to be produced by great numbers of people
walking upon them. The results of several calculations were adduced on
the occasion alluded to in'support of the objections on the first point ; but
perhaps the best answer that could be given to them was the circumstance
mentioned by Mr. Fox — that on the 5th of that month (January) the pres-
sure of the wind, which blew a perfect gale, was not only much above the
avenig'e, but very nearly reached the greatest amount Icnown within a con-
siderable period in Loudon — about 2olbs. per square foot ; and that as the
building, although in an incomplete state, had resisted that pressure without
receiving any injury, it was tair to conclude that, when finished, it would

TIIK CUYMTAL I'AI.ACli.

be able to sustain the greatest force wliicli tlie wiiul could be reasonably
expected to exert upon it.

The question of the strength of the galleries was one of even greater
importance than the otlier, as, in case of any failure in that part of the
building, human life must almost inevitably have been sacrificed to a great
extent. It was therefore deemed necessary to ascertain, as far as was
practicable, by experiment, that their strength was abundantly sufficient;
and in IMr. Wyatt's paper, as printed, the following description of the
experiments instituted for this purpose will be found.

/^Sp) N the interval between the reading of this paper and its going to
r^% press a series of experiments have been tried to ascertain the action
^^^^ of these galleries under the strain of a moving load. A complete
bay, twenty-four feet square, was constructed, raised slightly from the
ground, consisting of the four cast-iron girders, with the connecting-pieces
at the angles, and on this the timbers and boards of the flooring. Eows of
planks the full width of the platform led up to it and down from it, so that a*
body of men as wide as the gallery might be able to march up and down
in close rank.

" The area of the platform was first covered over with labourers i^acked
as closely together as possible ; but no action of walking, running, or
jumping that 300 men could perform did any injury whatever to it, and
the greatest deflection of the girders did not exceed a quarter of an
inch. Soldiers of the corps of Royal Snjipers and INIiners were then
substituted for the contractors' men ; and although the perfect regularity of
their step in marking time sharply appeared a remarkably severe test, a
minute examination of the construction after the completion of the experi-
ments showed that no damage whatever had been done by their evolutions.

" But as the Commissioners were deeply impressed with the necessity of
thoroughly convincing the public, who should visit the Exhibition, that
they might feel perfectly secure in every part of the building, it was
deemed desirable to apply a still further test to tl;e actual galleries as they
stand ; as it might perhaj)s be said that the single bay which had been
experimented upon was not similarly circumstanced to those forming parts
of the building.

" For this purpose a very ingenious ai){)aratus was devised by the late
Mr. Field, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, for testing
the stability of the galleries in uku, and on being applied over the greater
part of the building not a single bolt or girder gave way under its action.
This apparatus consisted of eight square wooden frames divided into thirty-

iQ.iii2

Testing the Gallery Floor.

View of the Boiler House.

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 89

six compartments, each just capable of containing and allowing to rotiite a
G8-poimder shot. The surfaces of the balls placed in each of these com-
partments came in contact with the gallery floor, the frames themselves
being attached to one another and running along the floor by means of
castors fixed at the angles ; the whole apparatus being drawn along by a
number of men. Two hundred and eighty-eight 68-pound shot confined
in a limited area were thus set rolling over more than half the extent of
the galleries ; when, not the slightest mishap having occurred, the experi-
ment was considered decisive, and a persistence in it deemed unnecessary."

The pressure obtained in this experiment amounted to about a hundred
pounds per square foot, and it had been ascertained that the greatest pressure
caused by packing men together as closely as possible was equal to about
ninety-five pounds per square foot ; so that the testing force applied was
considered amply sufficient, as a considerable portion of the surface of the
gallery will be occupied by light articles exhibited in the cases and stalls
which are placed along the centre of the gallery, where a great weight
would have most effect.

This ingenious method of proving the strength of the galleries in situ,
without endangering those engaged in the experiment, is admirable ; and
the result of the proof will no doubt allay all fear in the mind of the public
as to the safety of this portion of the building.

d^rErrnl Jlknntngrs nf Wjt IkilMng.

T is always much easier to point out the defects of any work than its
yfs excellences; whilst we may, therefore, safely leave the former, as
"^y regards our present subject, to be discovered and enlarged upon by
those who may be perhaps more competent than ourselves, we will
attempt to point out what we conceive to be some of the advantages
obtained in the present building.

One of the principal of these, considering throughout the purpose of the
structure, is, perhaps, the uninterrupted view of the interior which the
spectator may obtain from any point of the building — a matter of great
importance to the general grandeur of its effect. From the galleries more
particularly, which will be less obstructed by large objects, the eye of the
spectator will be able to range from end to end of the vast edifice ; while
the transparency of the material used for the roof allows every object to be
brilliantly illuminated. The slender lines of the supports, though they
serve to sustain a protecting covering, scarcely interrupt the view of the
objects protected, and the absence of any fixed divisions or partitions
enables all the articles exhibited to be so arranged as to ^uit the peculiar
requirements of each particul^Sr -Jlase';'. vtlifl'^-.the ani]jl^ spa^^ ^'l/^iiw^ea ""^lio

!'0 THE CilYSTAL l-AI.ACK.

supports has admitted of the formation of hiryo opon avciuiud for the free
passage of visitors, who may tlius reach as readily the remotest corners of
the buihling as those situated near the entrances ; and whenever the visitor
may find himself fatigued by the labour of sight-seeing, he will be sure to
find himself near one of the numerous exit-doovs, whereby he may imme-
diately free himself from the crowd of spectators.

From the simplicity of the details of the construction, and their constant
recnrrence, it will be seen that so long as the ends of the building were
left incomplete, its size could easily be limited or expanded, so as to include
that precise amount of space which, up to the last moment when the point
could be kept open, appeared most likely to be required. This simplicity
of arrangement will also be found very advantageous in case the building
is removed after the termination of its present temporary purpose ; as the
parts may be easily separated without much injury, and as readily re-
erected, either as a whole, or even in many separate buildings, having the
same arrangement of parts, without the same general form or apjiearance.

It has been calculated that the passages remaining in the building, after
deducting the space appropriated to the objects exhibited, will hold more
than 100,000 persons ; though it is not to be ex})ecte(l that half that number
will be collected there at one time. The ventilutiini and supply of fresh air
for so vast a throng was therefore a matter of the first importance ; and the
means already described for accomplishing this great object are so ample,
that any inconvenience from oppressive heat or foul air can hardly be
expected. The canvass with which the roof is covered will not only serve
to modify the heat of the sun in the interior, but it is expected that if it be
watered by the hose of engines, it may even reduce the temperature witliin to
considerably below that of the external air. From his experience in glass-
houses for horticultural purposes, Mr, Paxton speaks confidently on this
point.

The arrangement of the construction of the building resting on isolated
instead of continuous supports, will enable all traces of it to be readily
effaced from the site if it is removed ; and, on the other hand, if it remains,
it is evidently peculiarly suited to form a vast winter-garden and public
promenade.

(TDnrlnsinn.

EFORE taking leave of the reader who may have patiently
followed us thus far, a few words may be necessary on the general
arrangement uf the articles to be exhibited in the building whose
outline and details >ve have been endeavouring to trace. The first classifica-
tion is geographical. All the western half of the building is given to England,
and the t?steri% w hicji as, rather. tV lalfg^t lof. J,he two, to foreign countries;

THE CUYSTAL PALACE. 91

the space assigned to each country being distinctly detined, so as to avoid
the possibility of any disputes. As far as it was possible, the space for
each country is so arranged as to have a frontage towards the main central
avenue, and in most cases occupies a strip the whole width of the building ;
the visitor, therefore, passing up and down the length, will not miss out
any country.

In the central avenue, and immediately on either side of it, are placed the
most remarkable specimens of objects coming under the class of fine-arts,
or otherwise sufficiently remarkable to entitle them to such a prominent
place. Behind these, in the side avenues, will be found the various speci-
mens of manufactured articles ; and along the outside longitudinal avenues
are placed, on tlie south side, those belonging to the class of raw products
(a portion being devoted to agricultural implements), and the projecting
portion of the building ou the north side forms the hall of machinery,
wdiich is separated by a partition of glazed sashes from the rest of the
building. Many of the articles will be grouped in courts, an arrangement
which the construction particularly leads to ; and these will probably form
some of the greatest attractions in the Exhibition, each being, as it were,
complete in itself, and the inclosures preventing the eye from being dis-
tracted by distant objects. To enter further into the detail of this part of
the subject would be foreign to the purpose of this work, the building itself
being our text.

We have now, we believe, completed the pleasant task we proposed to our-
selves at the outset, and we hope that in doing so we may have been able to
render interesting to our general readers this description of operations,
usually occupying the attention of the technical professions only. With this
intention, we have avoided as far as possible the use of technical terms,
which would be a dead letter to the uninitiated, at the risk, perhaps, of
being considered inaccui'ate by those acquainted with all the details of the
subject.

So many men whose eminent talent is well known and appreciated by
the public have been engaged in perfecting the designs and carrying out
the erection of this vast structure, that the critic should be one of no mean
reputation who would venture to raise even a small voice of individual
criticism on its merits. We have considered it, therefore, to be our part
rather to record the opinions of others on any points where a discussion has
been raised than to trouble the reader with any personal views, which
would, perhaps, have only appeared impertinent.

The nature and extent of the difficulties which have been successfully
surmounted in carrying out this great work can only be i'uUy appreciated
by those intimately acquainted with all its structural details and with its
rapid progress ; and its completion in so short a period must be regarded
as a striking instance of the productive power and spirit of commercial

•J2

THE CRYSTAL I'ALACE.

enterprise of this country, while the fact of its being defrayed by the volun-
tary contributions of the people will illustrate in an interesting manner to
our continental visitors that principle of self-government which forms the
basis of all our institutions, and the spirit of private enterprise which
characterises most of our great undertakings.

The illustrative engravings with which we have endeavoured to render
more interesting the descriptive details, necessarily somewhat dry to the
general reader, are only intended to convey general ideas, without attempt-
ing that minute accuracy which would be required in a more technical
work ; and with reference to some of them we take this opportunity of
acknowledging the assistance our artists have derived from views already
published elsewhere, others having been exclusively drawn for the
present work.

We have much pleasure in presenting our readers, in the Appendix,
with views and descriptions of two of the most striking designs sent in the
first competition for the building, the materials for which have been kindly
afforded us by their respective authors ; and we may reniind the reader
that these two designs were specially mentioned by the Building Committee
in their Report already quoted. In the same place some interesting docu-
ments connected witli the building will also be found, which we were unable
to insert in the text.

■^A

VIEW Ul" SULTII lll'JM' Ul' Tin; LiLILOl.NG.

APPENDIX.

LIST OF COMPETITORS FOR THE BUILDING PROPOSED TO BE ERECTED

IN HYDE PARK.

Mons. Aeollas, Architecte, 33, Eue Lafayette, a Paris.

Messrs. Aickin and Capes, 1, Clareuce-street, Islington.

W. Albon, Esq., 32, Abingdon-street, Westminster.

C. B. Allen, Architect, 9, G-reat College-street, Westminster.

F. C. Anderson, Esq., 9, Holies-street, Cavendisk-square.

ArchiteMon (W. Bard well, 4, Great Queen-street, Westminster).

Henry Ashton, Esq., 50a, Lower Brooke-street.

Jolin S. Austin, Architect, Bedford.

William Austin, Esq., High-street, East Dereham, Norfolk.

C. Badger, Esq., Architect, 40, Eue Blanche, Paris.

H. Baly, Esq., 14, Buckingham-street, Adelphi.

Alfred Beaumont, Architect, 5, Warwick Chambers, Beak-street.

Eichard Bell, Architect, Pope's Head Chambers, Cornhill.

W. Bell, Esq., Clift Cottage, Coronation-road, Bristol.

Thomas Bellamy, Esq., 8, Charlotte-street, Bedford-square.

Mons. Felix Belleflamme, Brussels.

J. S. Benest, Esq., 21, Eutland-street, Hampstead-road.

J. H. Bertram, M. Inst. C. E., Eeading.

John Black, Esq., 33, Ernest-street, Eegent's Park.

E. Blatchley, Esq., Jun., 362, Oxford-street.

Mons. Alphonse Botrel, Architecte, 121, Eue Poissonniere, Paris.

A. W. Boulnois, Esq., Bazaar, King-street, Baker-street.
W. Boyle, Esq., 5, Little George-street, Westminster.
E. Brandon, Architect, 11, Beaufort-buildings, Strand.

E. Broad, Esq., Horseley Works, Tipton.

B. Broadbridge, Architect, 35, Ladbroke-square, Notting-hill.

F. Brown, Esq., Francis-street, Torrington-square.
E. Brown, Esq., 41, Lord-street, Liverpool.

J. B. Bunning, Esq., GuUdhall.

George A. Burn, Architect, George-place, Hammersmith.

II. p. Burt, Esq., 238, Blaekfriars-road.

John G. Grace, I'^sq., ll, Wifrniovc-stroet.

E. I. C, Alnwick.

Mons. J. Cailloux. 25, Marclie St. IIonor<5, Paris.

A. F. Campbell, Esq., lot, Pall Mall, Eeform Club.

Henrj Case. Esq.. 10, Hauover Villas, Kensington Park.

James Catt, Esq., Blackheatli Park.

Mons. J. Charpentier, Arcliitecte, 15, Hue Larochefouoalt, Paris.

J. Clarinjfbull, Esq., 95, Herbert-street, New jN'ortb-road.

Mons. Henri van Cleemputte, Laon, France.

Mons. J. P. Cluysenaar, Areliitecte, BruxMles.

J. Colshurst, Esq., 36, Jcrmyn-street, St. James's.

John Colson, Architect, Winchester.

Mons. J. W. Conrad, Chief Engineer, La Haye, Holland.

C. E. Coote, Esq., Clifton.

W. R. Corson, Architect, 3, Albion-place, Leeds.

H. Courtney, Esq., 39, Awylne-road, Canonbury-square, Islingfnn.

Davnd Cowan, Esq., 9, Hungerford-strcet, Strand.

Mons. Cremont, 10, Place des Yosges, Paris.

W. Cruikshauk, Esq., 2i, Duke-street.

Mons. E. Damas de Culture, 20, Rue Mazayran, Paris.

G. J. Darley, Esq., C.E., 7, Kildare-street, Dublin.

Mons. A. Delaage, 6, Place de I'Oratoire du Louvre. Paris.

W. Dennis, Esq., Church-street, Hackney.

Charles Downes, Esq.. 29. Coleshill-street, Eaton-square.

Francis Drake, Esq., 11, Calthorpe-street, Gray's-inn-road.

Henry Duesbury, Architect, Kensington Gore.

Mons. Duflocq. 96, Rue Rochechouart, Paris.

Mons. Dupuy, 9, Rue Duplesses, Versailles.

Mons. Dusillion, Architecte, Thoune Suisse, Faubourg St. Germain, Paris.

Mons. A. Durand, Moulins, France.

O. C. Edwards, Esq., Gloucester.

J. Eldudge, Esq., 16, Somerset-place, New Road, Commercial-rd. East.

J. Elliott, Architect, 28, Portland-terrace, Southampton.

M. G. Fetar van Elven, Architecte, Amsterdam.

D. Erskine, Esq., 58, Clerk-street, Edinburgh.

W. J. Everitt, Esq., 1, Garden-street, Stepney-green.

Mons. Theodore Faure, 2, Little Argyle-street, Regent-street.

Mons. F. Desaint F(?lix, and E. E. White, Architects, Ipswich.

Mons. Henri Fevre, Architecte, 41, Rue de Vaugirard, a Paris.

F. Finlay, Esq., 26, Duke-street, Westminster.

Charles Folkard, Esq., C.E., 56, King-street, Whitehall.

David Colin Forl)es, Esq., Stirling.

James Forrest, Esq., C.E., 25, Great George-street.

W. Frcebody, Esq., 9, Duke-streot, Westminster.

S. C. Fripp, Architect, Bristol.

L. Fiirges, Architecte, Crcfeld.

C. E. G.. Warwick.

A. Garrard. Esq., Surve5^or.

Mons. Gaulle, 81, Eue Fran^aise, a Calais.

Arthur Gearing, Esq., 2, Eanelagli-street, Leamington Spa.

William Geggie, Esq., Knaresbro'.

J. Gibsou, Esq., Great Western Railway, Paddington.

Eobert Gilingbara, Esq., 31, Clarence-road, Kentish To\^n.

Mons. Godeboeuf, Architecte, 12, Place Breda, a Paris.

C. W. Gooch, Esq., 42, Connaught-terraee, Edgeware-road.

John Gould, Esq., Tottenham Park, Wiltshire.

Eichard Greene, Esq., F.S.A., Sec. to Lichfield Architectural Society.

Edmund W. Grubb, Esq., jS"ewnham, Gloucestershire.

Eobert S. Grubb, Esq., Ne wham-on- Severn, Gloucestershire.

T. E. Guppy, Esq., jN^aples.

J. C. Haddan, Esq., 29, Bloomsbury-square.

Thomas Eoberts Hannaford, Architect, 21, Trigon-terrace, Kennington.

O. Hansard, Architect, 2, Kensington-gardens-terrace, Hyde Park.

Eobert Hardy, Carpenter, 32, North Conduit-street, Bethnal-green.

John Tliornhill Harrison, Esq., East Bolden, near Gateshead.

J. P. Harrison, Esq., 11. Chancery-lane.

Thomas Haw, Esq., 27, Prospect-terrace, Globe-road, Mile-end.

Thomas Hayea, Esq., 7, St. George's-terrace, Hyde Park.

Samuel Heilton, Esq., 54, Eed Cross-street, City.

Mons. J. Henard, 98, Rue St. Lazarre, Paris.

James Hendrcy, Esq., 4, Pancras-lane, Cheapside.

J. Hewitt, Esq., Oxford.

W. S. Hollands, Esq., 37, King V\llliam-street.

Mons. Hector Horeau, 70, Eue Richelieu, Paris.

George Horton, Esq., 6, Green-street, Grosvenor-square.

Albert P. Howell, Architect, 2, Holywell-street, Westminster.

Mons. C. Huchon, 28, Eue Meslay, Paris.

Benjamin Hurwitz, Esq., 1, Brydges-street, Strapd.

John Imray, Esq., Engineer, 12, Howley-street, Lambeth.

A. Jackson, Esq., Barkhart House, Orpington, Kent.

Mons. Ch. Schoech Jaquet, 238, Eue dc la Vertasse, Geneva.

Charles Jayne, Architect, 7, Chancery-lane.

Adam Jizkowski, Architect to the Government, Warsaw.

Joseph Jopling, Esq., Felton Villa, Finchley-road.

H. J. Kaye, Esq., 63, Sloane-street, Knightsbridge.

G. P. Kennedy andE. Kennedy, Esqrs., Sussex Chambers, Duke-street,

St. James's.
J. T. Knowles, Esq., 1, Eaymond-buildings, Gray's Inn.
Herr Friedrich Krahe, Brunswick.
Louis Kuhne, Brunswick.

A Lady with great diiBdence submits this plan.
M. Laves, Architect to the King of Hanover, Hanover.
Mons. A. G. Ledrut, Claremont.

APPENDIX.

S. W. Leonard, Assistant-Curator Micrological Sociot^-, 11. Upper Stam-
ford-street, Waterloo-road.
W. B. Lewis, Esq., llainbow-hill, Worcester.
E. Lol)b, Esq., 8, Goulden-terrace, Barnsbury-road, Islington.
Locke Brothers, Now Peckham.

Ilenry Lockwood, F.S.A., and William Mawson, Arcliitects, Bradford.
Henry Lote, Esq., 51, Brompton-row.

E.. Lovely, Esq., C.E., 1, Victoria-terrace, Queen*s-road, Nottingham.
George Mackenzie, Esq., 3, Claremont-row, Barnsbury-road, Islington.
Messrs. Magni and Thummeloup, 26, Boulevard du Temple, Paris.
R. Mallet, Esq., Victoria Foundry, Dublin.

Mansell and Elliott, Architects, Halkin-street West, Belgrave-square.
H. M. Marcliaut, Esq., 18, Great George-street.
P. J. Margary, Esq., Dawlish, Devonshire.
W. P. Marshall, Esq., Temple-buildings, New-street, Birmingham.

D. Mickle, Esq., 37, Queen-square, Bloomsbury.
Joseph Mitchell, Architect, St. James's-street, ShefBeld.
J. Montheath, Esq., 10, Stanley-street, Paddington.
James Moon, Architect, 1, Miliman-street, Bedford-row.
Captain W. S. Moorsom, 17|, Great George-street.

G. Morgan, Architect, 6, Charles-street, Westminster.

J. H. Muller, Gaes, Holland.

Charles C. Nelson, Esq., 30, Hyde-park-gardens, London.

Mons. C. Freddrie Nepveu, 13, Place d'Armes, Versailles.

W. Nethersole, Esq., C.E., 73, Oakley-square, St. Pancras.

I. W. Newberry, Esq., Hook Norton, Chipping Norton, O.xon.

Francis B. Newman, Architect, 14, Heathcote-street, Mecklenburgh-sq.

C. H. Newton, Esq., 92, Camden-road Villas, llegent's Park.

Mons. Paliard, 23, Eue d'Enghein, Paris.

E. Paraire, Architect, 16, Woodstock-street, Bond-street.

Mons. Henri le Patre, 47, Grande Rue de la Chapclle, St. Denis, Paris.
Thomas Peacock, Esq., High-street, Kensington.
J. D. Pemberton, Esq., lloyal Agricultural College, Cirencester.
G. Perry, Architect, 42, Newington-place, Kennington.
Mons. Casimir Pctiaux, Paris.

William Eadley, Chemical Engineer, Eegent-street, Lambeth.
W. Eailton, Esq., 12, Eegent-street.
W. Baukin, Esq., Stirling.

W. Eced. Esq., Cannon Cottage Hill, Southampton.
Messrs. Eeid and Butcher, Architects and Surveyors, 38, Eed Lion-
square, London.
Stanley Eeilly, Architect, 3, LTpper Kennington-green, Kennington.
George Banks Eennie, Esq., Whitehall-place.
Harry Ealph Eicardo, Esq., Beaulieu Lodge, Norwood, Surrey.
W. Eiddle, Esq., East Temple Chambers, Whitefriars, Fleet-street.
H. S. Eidley, Architect. 31, Vincent-square, Westminster.
J. B. Eoberts, Architect, Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

APPENDIX. V

R. Roberts, Esq., Globe "Works, Manchester.

Andrew Jolin Robertson, Esq., C.E., Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

William Robertson, Esq., 12, Gordon-street, Cit^'-road.

A. Rosengarten, Architect, Hamburg.

Alex. ]M. Ross, Esq., 3, Parliament-street, Westminster.

Rough Draught, 42, Stamford-atreet.

Henry Rouse, Esq.

H. H. Russell, Esq., C.E., M.R.S.A.

W. Russell, Esq., 3, Frederick-street, Harapstead-road.

E. Ryde, Esq., 14, Upper Belgrave-place, Eaton-square.

George Sanderson, Esq., 136, Solly-street, Sheffield.

Charles Sanderson, Esq., Friar-street, Reading.

Robert Sandeman, Architect, Greenside, Edinburgh.

H. Savage, Esq., 22, Beaumont-street. ]Mary-le-bone.

W. Scurry, Esq., 7, Denbigh-place, Pimlico.

Sed quis ciistodiet Custodes.

J. P. Seddon, Esq., Gray's-iun-road.

J. R. Sewell, Esq., Carrington, near Nottingham.

Mons. A. Slater, Architeete, Eleve de Mons. I'Architecte Cluysenaar.

E. Smallwood, Architect, 86, Park-street, Camden Town.

F. Smallman Smith, Esq., 18, Brunswick-st., Barnsbury-road, Islington.

C. H. Smith, Esq , 29, Clipstone-street.

J. M. Smith, Esq., 1, Chapel-place, Dake-street, Westminster.
W. J. Smith, Esq., 18, Bond-street, Commercial-road, Lambeth.

G. CampbeU Smith, Esq., Banff.

Messrs. Soyer and Warrener, Reform Club.

Paul Sprenger, Esq., Architect to the Government, Vienna.

Herr Friederich Stammann, Hamburg.

Francis Sternitz, Esq., 10, Berner-street, Commercial-road East.

W. Stewart, Esq., Seacombe, Cheshire.

M. J. Stutely, Architect, 4, Doughty-street, Mecklenburgh-square.

H. Suckling, Esq., 1, Conduit-street, Regent-street.

George Tate, Esq., Bawtry, Yorkshire.

J. Taylor, Architect, 22, Parhament-street.

T. Taylor, Architect, 33, Clarendon-street, Oakley-square.

J. H. Taunton, Esq., 2, Gordon-place, Kensington.

D. W. Thomas, Esq., 20, St. Petersburg-place, Bayswater.
R. M. Thompson, Esq., 46, Leicester-square.

P. Thompson, Architect, 1, Osnaburgh-place, New-road.
F. Thompson, Esq., 15, Trafalgar-square, Peckham.
James Thrupp, Architect, 2, Park-place, Bath.
H. W. Todd and W. Allingham, 91, Newman-street, Oxford-street.
Richard Turner and Thomas Turner, Hammersmith Works, Dublin.
Henry Turner, Esq., Low Heaton, Haugh, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
F. Tyerman, Jun., Architect, 14, Parliament-street.
Mons. Yeron, 2, Quai des Armes, Paris.

John Walker, Esq., Crooked-lane Chambers, King William-street,

VI APPENDIX.

George "Wall is. Artist, and Ilenry Sumners, Architect, 14, College-
place, Camden Town.
J. N. "Warren, Esq., C.E., 18, Adam-street, Adelphi.
J. E. Watson, Esq., 74, Grey-street, Newcastlc-on-Tyne.
Henry Wliitcombe, Esq., Slough.

George Wightwick, Architect, 3, Athena;um-terrace, Plymouth.
George "NVilkie, Esq., C.E., 8, Powell-street "West, King's-square.
George "Wilkinson, Esq., Horsham.
S. J. "U^ilkinson, Esq., 7, Jeffry's-square, St. Mary Axe.
James "W^illiams, Esq., 18, "Westgate-buildings, Bath.
George "Wilson, Esq., Knaresbro', Yorkshire.
Kalph "Wilson, Architect, 16, Bridge-street, "Westminster.
James G. "Wilson, Esq., 18, Great George-street, "Westminster.
Ricliard "\r\''inder, Esq., Fenchurch-strect.
E. A. "V\"ithall, Architect, 80, Cheapside.
"W. H. "Wontner, Architect, St. Anu's-road, North Brixton.
Frederick Wood, Esq., 6, Frankhn-road, Queen's-road, East Chelsea.
Thomas Worthington, Architect, 54, King-street, Manchester.
James Wylson, Architect, 112, Fyfe-place, Glasgow.

LIST A.

ENTITLED TO FAVOURABLE AND HONOUBADLE MENTION.

C. B. Allen, Architect, Great College-street, AVestniinster.

W. AUingham (and Todd), 91, Newman-street, Oxford-street.

Architekton (W. Bard well, 4, Great Queen-street, Westminster).

H. Ashton, 50 a, Lower Brooke -street.

C. Badger, Architect, Eue Blanche, Paris.

B. P. Baly (four designs).

R. Bell, Architect, Pope's Head Chambers, Cornhill.

Thomas Bellamy, Architect, Charlotte-street, Bedford-square.

J. H. Bertram, C. E., Reading.

A. Botrel, Architect, 121, Eue Poissonniere, Paris.

E. Brandon, Architect, Little Beaufort-buildings, Strand.

F. Brown, Francis-street, Torriugton-square.

J. B. Buuniug, Architect, Guildhall, City of London.

G. A. Burn, Architect, George-place, Hammersmith.
J. Cailloux, Architect, 25, Marche St. Honore, Paris.
H. Case, 19, Hanover "Villas, Kensington Park.

J. Charpcntier, Architect, 15, Eue Larochcfoucalt, Paris.

Henri Van Clcemputte, Architect, Laon, France.

J. P. Cluysenaar, Architect of King of the Belgians, Brussels.

J. W. Courad, Cliiof Eiigiiieer, La Haye, Holland.

H. Courtney, Esq., 39, Alvvyue-road, Caiionbury-square, Islington.

Mons. Cremont, Architect, 10, Place des Vosges, Paris.

W. Cruikshank, 24, Duke-street.

A. Delaage, Architect, 6, Place de I'Oratoire du Louvre, Paris.

C. Downes, Coleshill-street, Eaton-square.

A. Durand, Moulins, France.

Mons. Dusillion, Architect, Thoune Suisse, Faubourg St. Germain, Paris.

M. Gr. Fetar Van Elven, Architect, Amsterdam.

H. Fevre, Architect, 41, Eue de Vaugirard, a Paris.

S. C. Fripp, Architect, Bristol.

Mons. Gaulle, 81, E.ue Fran^aise, Calais.

A. Gearing, 2, Ranelagh-street, Leamington Spa.

Eugene Godeboeuf, 12, Place Breda, Paris.

J. T. Harrison, East Bolden, near Gateshead.

T. Hayes, 7. St. George's-terrace, Hyde-park.

J. Henard, Architect, 98, Rue St. Lazarre, Paris.

H. Horeau, 70, Rue Eichelieu, Paris.

C. Huchon, 28, Eue Meslay, Paris.

J. Imray, C. E., Howley-street, Lambeth.

Ch. Schoech Jaquet, 238, Rue de la Vertasse, Geneva.

Louis Kuhne, Brunswick.

J. T. Knowles, Architect, 1, Raymond-buildings, Gray's Inn.

M. Laves, Architect of the King, Hanover.

A. G. Ledrut, Clermont, France.

W. B. Lewis, Rainbow-hill, Worcester.

C C. Nelson, 30, Hyde-park-gardens, London.

C. F. Nepveu, 13, Place d'Armes, Versailles.

Mons. Paliard, Rue d'Enghein, Paris.

H. le Patre, Architect, 47, Grande Rue de la Chapelle, St. Penis,

Paris.
Casimir Petiaux, Paris.

H. S. Ridley, Architect, 31, Vincent-squai'e, "Westminster.
J. B. Roberts, Architect, Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
A. Rosengarten, Architect, Hamburg.
H. Rouse, Esq.

W. Russell, 3, Frederick-street, Hampstead-road.
H. Savage, 22, Beaumont-street, Marylebone.
J. P. Seddon, Esq., Gray's-iuu-road.
A. Slater, Architect, Eleve de Mons. Cluysenaar.
F. Smallman Smith, 18, Brunswick-street, Barnsbury-road, Islingtoui
C. H. Smith, Clipstone-straet, London.
Paul Sprenger, Architect, Vienna.

H. Sumners, Architect, 14, College-place, Camden Town.
Richard and Thomas Turner, Hammersmith "Works, Dublin.
F. Tyerman, Jun., Architect, 14, Parliament-street.
Mons. Veron, 2, Quai des Ormes, Paris.

H 2

VI 11 APPENDIX.

J. Watson, 74, Grey-street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

W. H. AVoutner, Architect, St. Aau's-road, North Brixton.

T. Worthington, Architect, King-street, Manchester.

LIST B.

ENTITLED TO FUETHEU HIGIIER nONOEAEY DISTINCTION.

C. Badger, Architect, E-ue Blanche, Paris.

Thomas Bellamy, Architect, Charlotte-street, Bedford-square.

J. H. Bertram, C. E., Reading.

A. Botrel, Architect, 121, Hue Poissonniere, Paris.

J. Cailloux, Architect, 25, Marcho St. Honore, Paris.

Heuri Van Cleemputte, Architect, Laon, France.

Mons. Cremout, Architect, 10, Place des Vosgcs, Paris.

A. Delaage, Architect, 6, Place de I'Oratoire du Louvre, Paris.

M. G. F^tar Van Elven, Architect, Amsterdam.

J. Henard, Architect, 98, Eue St. Lazarre, Paris.

H. norcaUj 70, Hue llichelieu, Paris.

C. Huchon, 28, Eue Meslay, Paris.

A. G. Ledrut, Clermont, France.

n. le Patre, Architect, 4k, Grande Rue de la Chapelle, St. Denis, Paris.

Casimir Petiaux, Paris.

Paul Sprenger, Architect, Vicuna.

Richard and Thomas Tui-ner, Hammersmith Works, Dublin.

Mons. Vcron, 2, Quai des Ormes, Paris.

APPENDIX.

• TWO OF THE COMPETITION DESIGNS.

The following descriptions and plates of two of the designs sent in
competition for the Building, and specially mentioned by the Committee
in tlieir Report, are given from information obligingly furnished to \;s by
their respective authors.

DESIGN BY M. HECTOE HOREAU, AKCHITECT, OF PAEIS.

This was one of the most striking of all that were submitted to tlie Com-
mission ; it formed one immense hall, or sbed, more than 2000 feet long, by
about 270 feet wide throughout, with several small detached buildings on the
north side, for refreshments, &c.

The interior of the main building was divided into five avenues, the centre
one about ninety feet wide, those next adjoining rather more than fifty feet,
and the outside ones about forty feet wide. Iron columns, about twenty-
three feet apart, formed these avenues and supported arched ribs for the
roof. One end of the building was semicircular, the other forming an orna-
mental fa9ade, and about the centre of the length a transept was formed.

M.. Horeau says : " SimpUcity, grandeur, ready means of construction,
and of increasing or diminishing the accommodation, and of removal if
required, forming altogether a specimen of the most recent improvements
introduced into the art of building — these are the principal objects which it
has been sought to attain. The whole of the construction is of iron, without
a single piece of wood, the foundation being executed in brick ; the fa9ade
to be in metal, porcelain, and glass, the floor of asphalte, the roof to be
principally covered with ornamental thick glass, in large dimensions, or
ground glass with patterns.

" Of the trusses or arched ribs suppoi'ting the roof there were to be but
three varieties, each in three pieces, with which the whole of the budding
could be erected. This subdivision of the roof-trusses would have facilitated
the conversion of the building for other purposes ; for, taken singly, or in
various combinations, they would have formed many kinds of buildings for
ordinary purposes. The attached buildings placed on the north side would
have shown several modes of effecting this. The ornamental spandrils of the
roof-trusses would be formed in stamped-work out of copper, and gilt.

" The fa9ade shows at a glance the purpose of the building, as well as its

X APPENDIX.

interior disposition, in which the different widths of avenues woukl afford
space for objects of all varietiesof dimensions. The fa9ade itself was to be formed
with tracery or trellis-work of cast-iron, the lower part being covered with
sheet-iron ; the cornice and ornamental panels of porcelain ; the medallions
in coloured stone-ware ; the doors and inclosures of metal, silvered and
gilt ; the ornamental details to be either cast or stamped ; the scrolls iu
the panels being in coloured glass or mosaic.

" The pediment is crowned with a group of figures representing the Genius
of Industry crowning the Arts and Sciences ; in the cornice are placed the
names of all the principal cities of the world, and the names of eminent men
in panels. In the medallions are represented allegorical figures of the diffe-
rent branches of science and industry. At the angles of the building are
placed trophies, the base of which would serve as guard-houses."

The engravings will serve to show the general effect of this design in its
interior and exterior.

DESIGN BY MESSRS. B. AND T. TUBNEE, OF DUBLIN.

In this design also the interior was arranged as one uninterrupted space,
about 1,910 feet long, and 408 wide, the roof in one span rising about 120 feet
above the floor ; the supports, consisting of semicircular ribs, forming the
interior into three avenues, the centre one 200 feet wide and the full height,
the side ones 101 feet wide and about sixty feet high. In the centre of the
length a transept was proposed, and the square area at the meeting of that
with the central avenue was to be covered with a glass dome.

The ends of the building, as well as those of the transept, were to be filled
in with tracery in the upper part, a colonnade below protecting the entrances.
Galleries, if necessary, were to be placed iu the side avenues. The construction
of this building was proposed to be principally of wrought iron, which would
have given to the circular ribs and other parts a great lightness of effect ; but,
on the other hand, the dilBculties of producing and putting together such an
enormous amount of wrought-iron work in so short a space of time as that
required was considered an almost insuperable objection to the design. Large
portions of the roof were to be covered with glass, so as to admit an abun-
dance of light into the interior.

The accompanying views of the exterior and interior of this design, from
the simplicity of the arrangement, consisting of a repetition of similar parts,
require but Uttle description for their elucidation.

APPENDIX,

MEMORANDUM ON THE SITE.

Return to an Order of the Honourable the Souse of Commons, dated
1st July, 1850 ; for

COPY of a Letter addressed by the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 to the Lords of
the Treasuryj^ inclosing Memorandum as to the Site of the Exhibition Building in Hyde Park.

Palace of Wesfminsier, Isi Jvly, 1850.
Sir, — I am directed by her Majesty's Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 to transmit to
you herewith, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury, a
memorandum of the grounds on wliich the present site has been selected for the Exhibition, and of
the proceedings that have been taken in consequence of that selection. — I have, &c.

(Signed) Stafford H. Nortiicote.

The Right Honourable W. G. Hayter, M.P., &c. Stc. &c.

Memorandum of the grounds on which the site lias been selected for the Exliibition of 1851, and
of the proceedings which have been taken in consequence of that selection, prepared for the
information of the Lords of the Treasury by the Royal Commissioners for promoting the
Exhibition.

1. It is within the knowledge of the Lords of the Treasury, that from the time of the earliest
announcement of the proposed Exhibition it has always been intended that it should take place in
the Metropolis. Not only was such an intention matter of notoriety at the time that the question
of issuing a Royal Commission was under consideration, but the Commission itself, when issued
form;dly recited that it was proposed " To establish an Eularged Exhibition of the Works of
Industry of all Nations, to be holden in London, in the year 1851 ;" and it was to further the
holding of sucli an exhibition that the present Commissioners were speci;dly appointed,

2. Considering the importance of the undertaking, and the circumstances attending its promul-
gation, the selection of the Metropolis as its intended locality appears to liave been both natural
and proper. It will be borne in mind that the exhibitions which have from time to time been held
in foreign countries have generally, and, as the Commissioners believe, invariably, been held in the
capitals of the respective countries. lu the prcseot case it was peculiarly important that an
undertaking which required the constant superintendence of a body of Commissioners, whose

XII APPENDIX.

occupations for the most part confine them to London, should he carried on within their immedinta
cognisance, and not removed to a distant situation.

3. It beinof thus distinctly evident that the Exhibition ought to take place in London, it is
further obvious that the actual site which may be selected for it should be within the precincts of,
or in the closest vicinity to, the most central and accessible parts of the Metropolis itself. It need
hardly be pointed out that it would be objectionable to impose upon persons who may have come
to Ijondon from a great distance the necessity of an additional journey to visit the Exhibition ; a
consideration which has already been urged upon the Commissioners by the representatives of
several of the most important proviuciiJ towns, who are apprehensive of the inconvenience to which
artizans in particular might thus be subjected. Moreover, the removal of the Exhibition to any
distance sufliciiMit to diminish the number of visitors would not only militate against its essential
cbaniptcr of general accessibility, but mJLjht most seriously affect the receipts upon which its self-
supporting character must depend, a point upon which it appears that much stress has been laid.

4. Although llyde Park, and even tlie particular space now in question, had been already men-
tioned before the issue of the Commission, and indeed so far back as October, 1849, as a probable
site for the Exhibition, it is unnecessury to assure the Lords of the Treasurj' that the Commis-
sioners approached the question of tlie site after their appointment without having in any degree
prejudged the merits of particular localities. On the Hth of Februarj-, their attention havintr
been directed to the importance of determining the site by the Committee then recently appointed
fur all matters relating to the building, they deputed two Commissioners, namely. Lord Granville
and Jlr. Labouchere, to wait upon the Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and to confer
with him upon the subject. The result of this conference is set forth in the Report presented by
the Building Committee at the next meeting of the Commissioners (Feb. 21), of which the follow-
ing is the ])ortion wliich relates to the question of the site : —

" With respect to the site, it has appeared to your Committee that, firstly, the north-eastern
jiortion of Hyde I'ark ; secondly, the long space between her Majesty's private road and the Ken-
sington-road, in the southern part of llyde Park ; and, thirdly, the north-western portion of Regent's
Park, are the only available spaces about the Metropolis which would afford the necessarj- accom-
modation ; and it is believed that the order in which they have been named represents also their
relative eligibility. As regards tlie first, the Committee are informed by the Chief Commissioner
of her Majesty's Woods and Forests, that considerable objeetious would arise to its occupation for
such a purpose, and that no such objections would be raised to the use of the second; the Com-
mittee, therelbre, recommend the adoption of this site, which, amongst other advantages, is
remarkable for the facility of access atforded by the existing roads. Upon this occasion a letter
was received from the WVstminster Committee, stating that the local Commissioners for West-
minster had visited the site in Hyde Park, and a site suggested in the Regent's Park, and that they
were of opinion that the site in Hyde Park was the preferable one."

The recommendati(Mi of tlie Building Committeehaving been agreed to, a form of advertisement,
refpiesting plans and suggestions for the bu'lding, was, at the next meeting (2Slh February),
submitted for apjirobation, and was ordered to be immediately issued in the English, French, and
German languages. To this advertisement was appended a ground-plan of the site in llyde Park
for the giiidance of those to whom tlic advertisement was addressed. The details of this plan were
discussed in the presence of the Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and were settled in
conformity with his lordship's wishes.

5. In consequence of the advertisement thus issued, no less than 21-S plans and suggestions,
many of them the productions of foreign artists, were sent in to the Commissioners. A large
number of these were of a very elaborate character, and bore evident marks of considerable appli-
cation and ability.

6. Soon after the site had been selected, some other important arrangements having also by this
time been made, the Commissioners prepared and published a statement (21 Februarj') explanatory
of the nature and objr-els of the Exhibition, which was widely circulated in this countn.-, was
forwarded to our consuls abroad and to the forei-jn consuls in Etigland, and was ofricially trans'
mitted by the Secretary of State to all Foreign Governments, and to all the Governors of the
British Colonies, as well as to India. In this .statement it was announpcd that " Her Majesty had

APPENDIX. XIU

been graciously pleased to grant a site for the purpose (of the Exhibition) on the south side of
ll.Nde J'ark, lying between the Kensington Drive and the ride commonly called Rotten Row."

7. The site liaviug been thus deliberately chosen and formally announced, all subsequent pro-
ceedings connected witi\ the building have been taken with direct reference to it. The plans have
been pit-pared with a view to its peculiarities, and the form of the building and its internal as well
as its cxleruul arraugenients have been determined by them. The amount of space available for
the display of articles has been calculated upon the data afforded by the site, and from a calculation
of this aiuouct the Comini<sioneis have been able to assign to each foreign country a definite
space for the arrangement of its own productions. All the necessary working-drawings and speci-
fications have been prepared with very great labour and at considerable expense, and have now
been issued in a form whicli wiU insure to the Commissioners the certainty of obtaining, within a
few days, bond fide tenders for the execution of a design presenting every facility for construction
within the time prescribed. Tiie mech:inical difficulties have been surmounted, and all the pre-
liminary arrangements, even to the extent of provision for an effective drainage and a sufficient
water supply, have been entered into. The whole of these preparations have reference to this
particular site only, and are inapplicable or unsuitable to any other.

8. i'rora what has been already stated, it will be seen that the present site was not selected
without consideration, and tliat tiie proceedings which have been taken with respect to it were not
commenced until the Commissioners had good ground for believing that there would be no objection
to its occupation. Tlie attention, however, which has lately been directed to the point, has caused
them anxiously to reconsider the whole subject, and renders it now necessary for them to enter
into somewhat more of detail as to the grounds upon which they have come to the conclusion
which they have- formed, that this is the only site in or about the Metropolis which is at once
suitable and practically available for the purposes of the Exhibition.

9. Of the other sites which have been suggested, the following are the only ones deserving of
particular consideration : —

(«) The North-eastern portion of Hyde Park.

(b) The ISJorth-we.steru portion of Regent's Park.

{e) Wormwood Scrubbs.

10. The north-eastern portion of Hyde Park would, in the opinion of many members of the
Building Committee, be a very eligible situation ; but, as has been already mentioned, an objection
was taken to this locality on the part of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, on the ground
that the buildiug would interfere with some important thoroughfares in that part of the park,
and on account of other considerations of public importance ; and the idea was abandoned in
consequence.

11. The site suggested in the Regent's Park has been found, since it was visited by the Building
Committee, not to be available, as the leasts under which the houses in the neighbourhood are

' held contain a clear and stringent provision that no new building of any kind shall be erected
witiiin the limits of the park.

12. With regard to the ground in the neighbourhood of Battersea proposed to be purchased by
the Government, and to be converted into a park to be called Battersea Park, the Lords of the
Treasury are of course aware that only a small proportion of the whole area has as yet been
purchased; and the Commissioners found on inquiry that this proportion consists of numerous
small detached pieces, utterly insufficient to accommodate a building of the contemplated size, and
separated from each other by intervening plots of ground, many of them in a state of high culti-
vation, and belonging to a great number of different proprietors, with whom it would be absolutely
impossible to effect arrangements within any time which would afford the slightest chance of the
Commissioners being put in possession of a site in time to complete their building by the spring of
nest year. It should be added that the site of this district is very low, a great portion of it being
some feet under high-water mark, and that the nature of the soil presents serious objections to its
use as a building-ground.

XIV APPENDIX.

13. Victoria Park is situated in an inconvenient and not very accessible part of the town. It
would, moreover, be impassible to erect in it a building of the required size without most seriously
interfering with the plantations and ornamental water which have been recently laid out there ;
thus inflicting on the classes for whose recreation that park has been opened an inconvenience
infinitely more serious than could be caused to tlie frequenters of the very much larger area of
Hyde I'ark by the proposed occupation of a comparatively small portion of it.

l-t. Lastly, as regards Wormwood Scrubbs, besides that the distance is a very serious objection'
the rights of the commoners in that locality would prevent its appropriation ; and the Commis-
sioners are advised tliat it would be impossible to erect the building there without risk, as any
single commoner would have it in his power to interrupt the proceedings, and to cause them to be
discontinued at any stage of the work, however advanced. Similar objections apply to Wands-
worth and some other commons in the neighbourhood of London, which have been occasionally
mentioned as possible sites.

1-i a. As regards IVimrosc Hill and the Isle of Dogs, the want of level space on the former,
and the objectionable situation and dampness of the latter, render them so obviously unsuitable as
to make any particular observations unnecessary.

15. But even could the objections to any of these sites be removed, or could another and an
unobjectionable site be pointed out, the Commissioners feel bound to state, from their experience
of the time, thought, and labour necessarily consumed in the investigation, arrangement, and
preparation of the great mass of detail requisite to enable them to carry out this extensive work,
that they are fully convinced of the impossibility of now adapting their plans to any other site,
with any reasonable prospect of being able to complete the work within the time to which they
stand pledged in the face of the world; and they could only regard a change of site, particularly if
it should iuvolve a ciiange of plan, as tantamount to the postponement of the Exhibition till
another year. And the Commissioners cannot shut their eyes to the fact, that a postponement of
the Exhibition would, under the circumstances, certainly lead to its entire abandonment.

16. In order to give the Lords of the Treasury some idea of the consequences of aa abandonment
of this scheme, the Commissioners would in the first place direct their attention to the large
amount of money already subscribed towards its completion (wliich is at present nearly G4,000/.),
to the number of local committees (now about 210) which liave been called into existence
throughout the country, to the funds now being raised by subscriptions out of their wages among
the working-ela.sses in all parts of the country towards enabling them to visit an Exhibition to
which they are anxiously looking forward, and the abaudouraent of which would be a great
disappointment to numbers, and still more to the extensive preparations which are now making for
the supply of articles for exhibition. It is within the knowledge of the Commissioners that several
individuals in this country have incurred several thousand pounds' expense in such preparations,
besides the anxiety which tiiey have occasioned.

17. But the evils which would result from postponement, so far as this country is concerned, are
as nothing when compared with those wliicii would arise in the ease of foreign nations and the
colonies. The plan of the Exhibition has been widely circulated for severiil months, and the
following States have already signified, through their respective Governments, that they hav
appointed Committees or Commissioners, consisting of the most distinguished individuals in those
countries, to co-operate with the lloyal Commissiuuers in this country : —

llussia.

Hanover,

The United States,

Sweden,

Oldenburg,

Turkey,

Norway,

Mecklenburg,

Sardinia,

Denmark,

Hausc Towns,

Venezuela,

Prussia,

France,

Switzerland,

Saxony,

Holland,

Nassau,

Austria,

Belgium,

Anhalt, Dessau, &c.

Bavaria,

Spain,

Besides wliicb it may be mentioned tliat special Commissioners liave been sent to this country by
Trance, Kussia, and one or tvvo other States ; and that in ino-^t cases the Governments have under-

APPENDIX. XV

taken the colleetiou and the transmission to this country, at their own expense, of the articles
intended for exhibition, for which, of course, their preparations are now made.

IS. In all the countries wliich have been mentioned active preparations for the Exhibition are
now going on, and in some considerable expense is known to have been incurred. The Russian
Government has announced that the goods intended for exhibition will be shipped from that
country in tlie autumn of this year, and questions pointing to a similar arrangement have recently
beerj put by the Government of Denmark. The Austrian Government have given notice, that the
Great Exliibition which was to have been held at Vienna in the year 1851 has been postponed till
the j'car ISo'Z, in order not to clash with tlie Exhibition in London. All these circumstances tend
to show that the postponement of the Exhibition would be seriously inconvenient to many,
countries, and would probably occiision considerable and natural irritation at what would appear
like national vacillation, besides the certainty of rendering these countries unwilling to run the
risk of a second disappointment, and of deterring them from continuing their preparations for a
later period.

19. Tliese inconveniences would be felt also by the British Colonies. Committees have been
announced as formed in Malta, Ceylon, Nova Scotia, Barbadoes, Guiana, and several of the West
India Islands, and it is probable that others have been appointed elsewhere. In India most exten-
sive preparations are being made, and the East India Company have incurred very great expense
by their exertions to contribute to the Exhibition.

30. After what has been said, it is unnecessary that the Commissioners should enlarge any
further upon the consequences to be apprehended from the postponement which would be occasioned
by an alteration of the site of building. They ^ill proceed to oifer a few remarks upon some of
the objections which have been taken to that at present proposed.

21. An idea appears to prevail in some quarters that the occupation of the Park is intended to
be of a permanent, and not, as has been repeatedly announced, of a merely temporary character,
and the Commissioners are given to understand that by proposing to construct a building into
which a good deal of brickwork is to enter, they have shown an intention at variance witli their
professions. Upon this point they have to remark, in the first place, that, althougli the eminent
architects and engineers whom they have consulted, and to whom they have uniformly given
instructions to prepare plans suitable to a temporary structure, have agreed to recommend the use
of brick and other durable materials, they have left it perfectly open to contractors to send in their
tenders for the execution of the work in any material or materials whatsoever, and have notified
their readiness to entertain such tenders, on tlie single condition of their being " accompanied by
working-drawings and specifications, and fully priced bills of quantities." It is probable that some
such tenders will be made, and if made they ^ ill be impartially considered ; but the Commissioners
must protest against the supposition that it is necessarily more judicious to construct a temporary
building of perishable than of enduring materials. The first requisite of the building is, that it
should be suitable for its purpose, capable of protecting the valuable goods deposited in it from
injury of every kind — as, for instance, from the weather, from the effects of the dampness of the
soil, from the danger of fire, and so forth, and that it should be strong enough to avert all risk of
accidental damage. Its next requisite is, that it should be economical, and in estimating its cost
regard must be had not only to the expense of erection, but to the facility of removal and the
value of the materials when removed, as a building may easily be conceived to be cheaper which
should cost 100,000^. to erect, but of which the materials could afterwards be sold for 50,000/.,
than another would be which cost but 80,000/. in the first instance, but of which the materials
should become so far deteriorated as to produce only 20,000/. when taken down. It is the opinion
of those who have devised the plans in the present case, that a building constructed of durable
materials will in the end be cheaper than one constructed of such as are more perishable ; particu-
larly as a considerable portion of the building, namely, the iron roofing, will be of a kind which is
generally used in the construction of railway-stations, and will probably be disposed of for that
purpose after the close of the Exhibition, as its temporary application to the purposes of the
Exhibition ■will be of no detriment to its being so. An opportunity of testing the correctness of
this opinion will be given when tlie tenders are received, as, in addition to the customary form, it
has been required that they slioidd also be sent upon the understanding that the materials shall

XVI APPENDIX.

remain the pnperty of the contractor, and shall in fact only be hired for the purposes of the
Exhibition. Tlie third requisite of the building is, tli^t it should be at !e;ist seemly, though it
may not be necessary that it should be highly ornamental. The Comrai-siouers trust that it will
fulfil this condition, while they would at the same time point out that no expense is to be incurred
for merely ornamcnfal purposes, unless it should be thought desirable to select a dome for covering
in the large space which must necessarily be left in the centre of the building to suit the internal
arrangements. A cheaper mode of coveriug m this space will probably be resorted to, and the
Commissioners have directed that a special estimate of the cost of the dome should be laid before
them when the tenders are complete, in order that they may judge of the propriety of sanctioning
its erection.

Having olTered this short explanation, they can only repeat once more the assurances they have
already given, that the building is not intended to be permanent, and that it will be entirely
removed, in accordauce with the conditions prescribed by tiio Lords of the Treasurj' on yielding
up the site, witiiin seve:» months after the closing of the Exhibition, which cannot be deferred
after the 1st of November, and will probably take place at an earlier, period in the autumn of
next year.

22. Another ground of apprehension is stated to be, lest the Park should be injured by the
erection of the building, and the injury should continue after the structure is removed. This
apprehension is, however, groundless ; a small clump of ten trees has been allowed to be removed,
in compensation for which, it is proposed by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests to plant
another clump elsewiicre. It is not intended to cut down any more tlnn that clump. As regards
the surface ef the ground to be occupied, it wiU not only not be injured, but will ultimately be
materially improved by being drained and freshly sown with grass-seed. It will be a strict con-
dition with the contractors for the building that they shall, on its removal, restore the ground to its
present c<indition.

23. Some dissatisfaction has been expressed at the prospect of a furnace being erected to heat
the boiler and drive the steam-apparatus. It is however, intended to construct such furnace on
the principle of consuming its own smoke, or to burn coke instead of coal, should that, upon the
whole, appear the best mode of preventing annoyance. Care will also be taken not to erect any
chimney of an unsigiitly character.

2i. As regards the amount of traflic which will be occasioned by the transport of materials and
goods to the site, the Commissioners have been furnished by the Building Committee with an
approximate estimate that it will not in the whole exceed the ordinar\- amount of three weeks'
general traffic of a single railway-station, and as this traffic will be spread over a period of more th^n
six months, it is manifest that its amount has been enormously exaggerated by public estimation.

25. The Queen's Hide, though in the immediate vicinity of the site, will not be in any degree
interfered with, except that it may be advisable to rail off a strip not exceeding ten feet, or one-
sixth of the whole in width, for foot-passengers, in order to prevent the inconvenience of crowding
the spare oiwn to riding parties. By tiiis arrangement the riders will be secHre^l from annoyance.

25 a. It has been said tliat the elTect of the erection of the building will be to drive the inha-
bitants of L mdon out of their Parks. Tlie Commissioners think it right to draw the attention of
the Lords of the Treasury to tlie following statistics : —

The area of Hyde Park is 3S7 acres.

„ Kensington Gardens 290 „

llcgent's Turk 403 „

„ St. James's I'ark 83 „

„ Gi"een Park 71 „

„ Victoria Park 1(10 „

„ Greenwich Park 174 „

making a total of 1,568 acres, while only twenty acres arc proposed to be taken or the purposes of
this Exhibition.

20. In conclusion, the Commissioners think it desirable to call attention to the fact, that the
three last Exhibitions of this nature which have taken place in Paris have b en held on a site (the
Champs Elys6es) very closely corresponding to our own Ilyde Park in many respects, and parti-

APPENDIX, XVU

cnlarly resembling it in being tbe most fashionable and the most frequented promenade in Paris-
more frequented, indeed, than the particular spot selected on the present occasion has ever been, or
is likely to be ; and yet it does not appear that the Parisians have had occasion to complain of those
annoyances which are now apprehended by some persons in this country. And the Commissioners
are informed, that the Exhibition in Vienna was held in the Prado, the principal public place in
that city ; and that the Exhibition in Berlin was held in the Thiergart-en, which is not only the
principal public place within the city, but is remarkable as being the only open Park of any sort
within several miles.

27. In the foregoing observations the Commissioners have thought it right to confine themselves
strictly to a discussion of the practical difficulties which would attend a change of site. They
cannot, liowever, but express their decided opinion, that the renouncement of the selection of the
most beautiful park in London for the scene of the Exhibition may be looked upon as indicating a
diminution of interest in the undertaking, and would materially detract from that appearance of
hospitality on the part of England which has been one great cause for the very favourable recep-
tion which this proposal has everywhere secured.

They must add, that the possibility that the bringing the Exhibition into Hyde Park should be
considered as an interference with the enjoyment of that Park by the public has never entered their
minds. They have, on the contrary, always intended it as a means of recreative and intellectual
enjoyment for the greatest portion of her Majesty's subjects : and they have hitherto had reason to
believe that it has been so regarded by the country in general.

EEPORT OF THE EOYAL COMMISSIONERS.

PBESENTED TO HEB MAJESTY ON THE OPENING OF THE BUILDING.

The following Report, together with her Majesty's Answer, on the occasion
of the inauguration of the building, cannot fail to be interesting as a brief
record of the proceedings connected with this noble undertaking up to that
period : —

" May it please your Majesty, — We, the Commissioners appointed by your Majesty's royal
warrant of the 3rd of January, 1850, for the promotion of the Exhibiriun of the Works of
Industry of all Nations, and subsequently incorporated by your Majesty's Royal Charter of the
15th of August in the same year, humbly beg leave, on the occasion of yoar Majestj-'s auspicious
visit at the opening of the Exhibition, to lay before you a brief statement of our proceedings to
the present time.

" By virtue of the authority graciously committed to us by your Majesty, we liave made diligent
inquiry into the matters which your Majesty was pleased to refer to us, namely, info the best mode
of introducing the productions of your Majesty's colonies and of foreign countries into this
kingdom, the selection of the most suitable site for the Exhibition, the general conduct of the
undertaking, and the proper method of determining the nature of the prizes and of securing the
most impartial distribution of them.

" In the prosecution of these inquiries, and in the discharge of the duties assigned to us by your
Majesty's Royal Charter of Incorporation, we have held constant meetings of our nliole body, and
have, moreover, referred numerous questions connected witli a great variety of subjects to com-
mittees, composed partly of our own members and partly of individuals distinguished in tlie several
departments of science and the arts, who have cordially responded to our applications for their
assistance at a great sacrifice of their valuable time. ' '

XVm APPENDIX.

"Among the earliest questions brought before us was tlie important one as to the terras upon
wliich articles offered for exhibition should be admitted into the building. We considered that it
was a main characteristic of the national undertaking in which we were engaged that it should
depend wholly upon the voluntary contributions of the people of this country- for its success ; and
we therefore decided, without hesitation, that no charge whatever should be mude on the admis-
sion of such goods. We considered, also, that the office of selecting the articles to be sent should
be intrusted in tlie first instance to local committees, to be established in every foreign country,
and in various districts of your Majesty's dominions ; a general power of control being resened
to the Commission.

" We have now the gratification of stating that our anticipations of support in this course have
in all respects been fully realised. Tour Majesty's most gracious donation to the funds of the
Exhibition was the signal for voluntary contributions from all, even the humblest, classes of your
subjects, and the funds which have thus been placed at our disposal amount at present to about
65,000/. Local committees, from which we have uniformly received the most zealous co-operation,
were formed in all parts of the United Kingdom, in many of your Majesty's colonies, and in the
territories of the Hon. East India Company. The most energetic support has also been received
from the Governments of nearly all the countries of the world, in most of which Commissions
have been appointed for the special purpose of promoting the objects of an Exhibition justly
characterised in your Majesty's royal warrant as an Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all
Nations.

" We have also to acknowledge the great readiness with which persons of all classes have come
forward as exhibitors. And here again it becomes our duty to return oar humble thanks to your
Majesty for the most gracious manner in which your Majesty has condescended to associate your-
self with your subjects by yourself contributing some most valuable and interesting articles to the
Exhibition.

" The number of exhibitors whose prodactions it has been found possible to accommodate is about
15,000, of whom nearly one-half are British. The remainder represent the productions of more
than forty foreign countries, comprising almost the whole of the civilised nations of the globe. In
arranging the space to be allotted to each, we have taken into consideration both the nature of its
productions and the facilities of access to tliis country afforded by its geographical position. Your
Majesty vrill find the productions of your Majesty's dominions arranged in the western portion of
the building, and those of foreign countries in the eastern. The Exhibition is divided into the
four great classes of— .1, Raw Materials ; 2, Machinery ; 3, Manufactures ; and 4, Sculpture and
the Fine Arts. A further division has been made according to the geographical position of the
countries represented ; those which lie within the warmer latitudes being placed near the centre of
the building,and the colder countries at the extremities.

" Your Majesty having been graciously pleased to grant a site in this your royal Park for the
purposes of the Exliibition, the first column of the structure now honoured by your Majesty's
presence was fixed on the 26th of September last. Within the short period, therefore, of seven
months, owing, to the energy of the contractors and the active industry of the workmen employed
by them, a building has been erected, entirely novel in its construction, covering a space of more
than eighteen acres, measuring 1,S51 feet in length, and 456 feet in extreme breadth, capable of
containing 40,000 visitors, and affording a frontage for the exliibition of goods to the extent of
more than ten miles. For the original suggestion of the principle of this structure the Commis-
sioners are indebted to Mr. Joseph Paxton, to whom they feel their acknowledgments to be justly
due for this interesting feature of their undertaking.

" With regard to the distribution of rewards to deserving exhibitors, we have decided that they
should be given in the form of medals, not with reference to mexely individual competition, but as
rewards for excellence in whatever shape it may present itself. The selection of the persons to
be so rewarded has been intrusted to juries equally composed of British subjects and of foreigners,
the former having been selected by the Commission from the recommendations made by the local
committees, and the latter by the Governments of the foreign nations the productions of which
are exhibited. The names of these jurors, comprising, as the)- do, many of European celebrity,
afford the best guarantee of the impartiality with which the rewards will be assigned.

APPENDIX. XIX

" It affords much gratification tliat, notwitlistanding the magnitude of tliis undertaking, and tlie
great distances from which many of the articles now exhibited liave had to be collected, the day on
winch your Majesty has been graciously pleased to be present at the inauguration of the Exhibi-
tion is the same day that was originally named for its opening, thus alfording a proof of what
may, under God's blessing, be accomplished by goodwill and cordial co-operation among nations,
aided by the means that modern science has placed at our command.

" Having thus briefly laid before your Majesty the results of our labours, it now only remains
for us to convey to your Majesty our dutiful and loyal acknowledgments of the support and
encouragement which we have derived throughout this extensive and laborious task from the
gracious favour and countenance of your Majesty. It is our heartfelt prayer that this under-
taking, which has for its end the promotion of all branches of human industry and the strengthen-
ing of the bonds of peace and friendship among all nations of the earth, may, by tlie blessing of
Divine Providence, conduce to the welfare of your Majesty's people, and he long remembered
among the brightest circumstances of your Majesty's peaceful and happy reign."

Her Majesty returned the following gracious answer : —

" I receive with the greatest satisfaction the address which you have presented to me on the
opening of this Exhibition.

" I have observed with a warm and increasing interest the progress of your proceedings in the
execution of the duties intrusted to you by the Eoyal Commission, and it aifords me sincere
gratification to witness the successful result of your judicious and unremitting exertions in the
splendid spectacle by which I am this day surrounded.

" I cordially concur with you in the prayer, that by God's blessing this undertaking may conduce
to the welfare of my people and to the common interest of the human race, by encouraging the
arts of peace and industry, strengthening the bonds of union among the nations of the earth, and
promoting a friendly and honourable rivalry in the useful exercise of those faculties which have
been conferred by a beneficent Providence for the good and the happiness of mankind."

THE END.

SALISBURY, PRINTER, PKIMROSE-HILL, SALISBDEY-SQUARE, FLEET-STREET.

EnBATCM. — In pai^i- 47 ( line 7 from top), tor "yinat hur.leiis" rr;»J -nseiil biirJi-iis.'

THE FOLLOWING INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT

NEW BOOKS AND MAPS

ABE PUBLISHED BY

JAMES GILBERT, 49, PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON,

Wholesale and Retail Bookseller, Publisher, and Newsvendor-

NOW READY, in 200 pages, demy ISrao, with Illustrations, price, in fancy binding, only Is. Gd.,
or post free, Zs., the SECOND EDITION,

DEDICATED TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT,

GILBERT'S

POPULAR NARRATIVE OF THE ORIGIN, HISTORY, PROGRESS, & PROSPECTS

OF THE

GREAT INDUSTRLVL EXHIBITION,

1851 :

Wii)^ n §nh tn tjiB kkn Iliilrs nn^ Jlrrnngmtnts.

By peter BERLYN, Esq.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

ATHEN^UM.

' " A well- written volume. A useful record of the history and progressive development of the marking
incident of our aije and nation. Mr. Berl.yn was, we believe, officially employed by the Executive Com-
mittee in the earlier stages of tlieir labours ; his statements, therefore, ai-e on good authority and may
be relied on. The nan-ative is sufficiently fuU in its details for the general public now and hereafter."

EXAMINER.

" This is a clever book, full of timely and interesting matter, and with sufficient merit as a record of
the origin and history of the Great Exliibition to outlive the mere curiosity of the hour. Mr. Berlyn
has had official opportunities of becoming well acquainted with the subject, and has not neglected
thtm. He puts his materials together with spirit and intelligence, and mdulges a hopeful strain of
anticipation and prophecy very properly befitting his theme."

LITEKART GAZETTE.

" Within a small compass we have here gathered together all that is interesting in connexion with
the great undertaking of the present year — an undertaking which must form a most important
chapter in the world's history. We are bound to say that the work has been j udiciously done, and the
result is a very satisfactory review of all that has been effected in the way of Industrial Exhibitions up
to the present time.''

p.c.cu., 1,11111,. MOKNING CHKONICLE.

"Gilbert's Pophlab Narrative of the Exhibition.— With this title a small work has just been
published, written by Mr. Peter Berlyn, from autlientic and official sources, tracmg the origin,
history, and progress, and pointing to tlie prospects, of the Great E.xhibition. The author has care-
fully avoided ail speculation and gossip on the suliject, and has applied himself with very considerable
ability to the statement and elucidation of all those facts, derived from authentic records, which bear
upon the prop'ess of this most important national movement. Many interesting facts are stated in
connexion with the previous expositions which have taken place on the Continent and in this country,
and the difficulties mth which, upon its first announcement, the present undertaking had to contend,
and the means by which the Executive were enabled to overcome them, are clearly and consecutively
stated. The work also contains some valuable statistical and other information connected with the
building, and copies of the most recent of the regulations issued by the Executive. We would cordi-
ally recommend this very interesting work." pyposttor

" The volume before us has fair claim to its title of a Narrative of the Exhibition. It commences
with an account of such British and foreign exhibitions as may be supposed to have led to the idea of
the great international show of industry to be held in the present year. The work also contains a
complete account of how the world's industrial products have come to be housed in tlie present build-
ing ; gives all the iniles and orders of the Commissioners and Executive Committee ; special instruc-
tions to colonial and foreign exhibitors and Custom-house authorities; names of authorised agents for
foreign countries ; Custom-house agents recommended by the Royal Commissioners ; and such other
inform,ition as renders it a really useful volume of practical information to all exhibitors and visitors
at the Exhibition." gpjj_

" Within the compass of an elegant pocket-volume the author of the present narrative has contrived
to funiish his readers with a very copious history of the origin, progress, and prospects of the Great

WOBKS PrBtlSHED BY JAMES GILBEHT,

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS-<cot»TlNCBD.)

Exhibition. Thmu^hout the work he has written with nn especial rejjnrd at once to simpli<'itT and
perspicuitv. so that we rest siitistii.l his labmirs will pii>M' eminently suc-essl'ul, tlie Intok WiiiK
ine^mtesliblv thf narrativ,- of the Great Industrial Ex]H)sitic)n. Uexinninj; with all tlie preliminary
particulars," whicli are absolutely essentiil (or the comprehension of the entire scheme of the Prince
Consort, the narrative describes very lucidly the pMwth of tlie first crude idea to its present trippintic
dimensions. The share taken in the prject bv the .Society of Arts is duly celelirated, .and the influ-
ence ot the successive expositions of French industry especially notified. The volume is altogether a
very clever and most co.nplete work." ^^^^^^ dispatch.

" Works upon the above subject will become hitjlily popular from the very necessity of the case;
ami consequently t hat which the public must cliicrty look for amid-t all the tomoetition that will
ensue will be «)fre<-tness and compactness combined with economy. Mr. Peter Berlyn's book com-
bines every re<piisite infonnation rejfardin'.: the Exliil)ition from first to last. Its clever compilation,
tast<.'ful form, quantity anil variety of information, and the dependance that may Ik,' placed upon it
for c'orrwtness, ix)inbine with its early appe:irance to render it one of the most valu.able hand-books
that aiv likely to be ^eneraUy used." ^^^ jorBSAl.

*' A very iisefiil and sound history of the rise and i)n>v:i'c.ss of the Great International Exhibition
of 1S.">1, in whicli the first movements towards it aiv <-an-fully and ably detjiiletl; and a very good
analysis is piven of all preceding industrial exhibitions, at home and abi-oad, as well s» a large
amount of information connected with the construction of the building itself, and abstrju-ts of official
documents ciiniMcted with the entiiv movement. The .author hiis done justice to the ett'orts which
have been iiiaile to interest the Eii;;lish manufacturer, and stimuUate liim in his artistic endeavours;
and we tec! ImjuikI to a( Unowle.l;,'e bLs court ous notice of the exertions made by ' The Art Journal '
in helpui); forward its consummation in IMJl."

LEADER.

" For those who wish ttfknow all about the rise and progress of the Grpat Exhibition and its Crystal
Palace this nejit liaiid-liook Ls the very thing. Mr. Herlyn has performed his task with laudable industry.
He has drawn togetlier and arranged a lari;e amount of scattered information reg:irding the ExhibV
tion in a pleasant form. As an elegant and trastwortliy liand-book, the narrative deserves to be

P01'"'a^-'' OBSERVER.

" This neat volume (rives a history of previous Exhibitions— some on small, some on large scales—
that have taken phu-e in divers parts of Kurope of late ye.ars. It then points out the precise origin of
tlie Exhibition of all Nations, sliowing the share his Il<iyal Higlnu-ss Prince Alb.rt had in it ; its his-
Uivy anil prugre-ss are thus minutely detailed, and i!s piiispi;>ts are furesh;Kio«e<l without exaggeration.
We cordially recommend it as a piH-ket-i-ompaninn nicessary to all those who liave not as yet mastered
the chief facts connected witli the erection of the Palace of industry."

JOHS BCLt.

"An able and complete hLstory of the scheme, which we have all to ao-ept as un fait accompli,
and a useful guide to the transparent mazes of the Crystiil Palace."

WEEKLY NEWS.

"Of the worVs already published, and professing to treat of this gigantic undertaking in its nat|onaI,
social, scientific, and artistic liglit, we have not met with fine m> completely pervaded by a spirit of
universality as this book of Mr. Berlyn's. In matters of detail and relation" his n.irrative is explicit
and lucid ; where he luus tombed on the history of an art or a manufacture he is mrnet in his data ;
and in tnu-ing the Exhibition to its true source he lias displayed a biglily phllo.snphieal insight into
the spirit of the age. Within tlie pages of his liook will be found a faitJit'ul nrord ot the most im-
portant meetings of the Royal Commissioners. a.s %vell as those convened by the corporations of
cities, by societies, or by private individuals, for the furtherance of the gre.at work in ban i. To
these is appeiidetl a verbatim n^port of the speeches deliven>d at these meetings by the distinguished
men who were invited to preside over them ; and the enlighUned, liberal, and hnpiliil spirit wliiih
pervades their addresses forms a cheerful t-oiitrast to the ominous predictions of cirtain polltiial .and
theolii^.'iial fanatics, .\l1er a full diseussinn of what niav be ti nnid the l,ii.iiii,.i.i imrtlon nt th«- suhjei t,

Mr. Itirlyn i-los.s his ixei lUiit little 1 k with a I rlit 'l lit «l..ip.,nt and conipnliiiisive (iinvidiratiini

of the 111 luticial ivsulLs which are liUtly til aienie tnun this i;iv.it naliiin:il iindi rtaklnj;, nut only to
ours«lvi s but mankinil in general, i'lii" i nlire ahsoiue ot iiartiality oi- pnju iiee thruugliuut the liook,
and the very inti it stint; inlonn.ition n.nt:iinrd in it for a. I inatlei-s ilirtetly or indirectly cfinnecteil
with the Exhibiliiin, indnec u-- to n cuiniTiina the author to publish editions of it in the French and
German languages. li\ this means he would be conieiTing a txKm on our country's guests.''

LADY'S NEWSPAPER.

" Mr. Peter Berlyn has produced a well arrangnl, clear, ami concise h.and book to this wonder of
the world, in which he traces its origin, progress, and prospects, in a pleasing and interesting maiiiKr.
This must have been a most diflieult task, as the materials out of which he has Ibmied liLs naiTative
are so widely scattered that it requires some one who perfi ctiy and profoundly uiulerstandsthe subjwt
(as we M-c con\inced Mr. Herlyn does) to colUct and arrange tliem in so satisfactory a manner. The
ladies also will hail this work w.tli pleasure, because, though contiiiiing every intbmiation on the
subject, it is at the same time lij;lit, interesting, and infinil.ly .superior to the dry and prosy style
usually :u1opte<l in similar works. It is t'ist« fully il:ustrated, has an elegant fancy binding, a'lid
lurms a guide-book eitlur ;or Uie library or the iHH-ket."

NOTES AND Ql'EBIES.

" A volume carefully compiled from authentic souives of infonnation upon the several points set
forth in its ample title page."

GARDENER AND lAR.MLRS JOfBNAL.

" We I'o not go out of our province as hoi tu uitiir.il journalists in noticing a work recently issued
by Mr. (iill>eit. of P.atenioKt*r-row. Our frieiuls in the pi-oviiices will do well to study befoivhand as
many of the probable incidents of their trip as possible ; and, though inminurable prints and
tabular d. scriptions of tlie Exliibition Building have bien Issued, we have not had anything Iwfore
like a coniiictid hi-torj- of the great project itself. The work before iis is called • A Popular Narra-
tive of the Origin, History, Progress, and Pn.sp.Hts of the Grtaf Exhibition of l,s.jl ;' and we think
the author, .Mr. Herlyn, lues tr. aled his subject in perfect accordance with the litle. Moiv than this it
is quite uiine< e.ssaiy to say as to the iiierit.s of the work ; but we may just iiotii'e that the ' gi-tting-up'
h:i8 evidently Invn intruste.1 f*. canful hands. The binding is neat aiiU tistetul, and, besides a ground-
plan, a perspective view of the building is given."

MINING JOrRNAL.

" This volume, which uno.stentatiously titats on the highly interesting subjects indicated in the title,
is based on rewrds of unimpeaeliab.e value. All sp.culation has bet ii wisily avoided, and us pages

PATEKNOSTER-KOW, LONDOW.

OPINIOXS OF THE PRESS— (continued.)

present an utivamished history of one of the most extraordinary unJertakinp:s of which the history
of the world can boast ; extraordinary in the fact of the people of this little Island challen|?inK the
people of the universe to meet on its shores with specimens of their several productions of industry ;
and extraoidinary in the magnitude, decidedly novel, and inconceivaI)ly rapid erection of the building
for their recei>tion. The history of every simil ir exhiliition is trac -d back to its som-ce ; those of
Manchester, Birmingham, London, and France are minutely recorded ; the growing interest which
followed every sulisequent exiiositinn statistically describee!, and every detail connected with the
Royal Commission, the arrangements, the building, future rules, tlu-oughout a space of 2)0 pages,
and finisliing with a list of the local committees, conveys a vivid and correct picture of this vast
national undertaking." chbrch and state gazette.

'' A. work that was wanted. It puts the public in full possession of every iota of intelligence in
connexion with the Great Exhibition worth having, and has some very sensible remarks on the pros-
pects of home exhibitors, especially at the forthcoming display. It is indispensable to all interested
m the subject.-' gcakdian.

" ' A Popular Narrative of the Great Exhibition' was really needed, explaining its whole history
from its lirst conception in the Prince Consort's brain, an I Mr. Berlyii's book has amply supplied the
need. It is a very smart volume, and the writer is duly impressed with the grandeur of his theme."

LEIGH hunt's journal.

" We can hardly speak too highly of this elegant and useful volume. Mr. Berlyn has done his part
admirably, and the publisher has seconded him in the l)usiness department no less satisfactorily. All
the floating and iliseonnicted accounts that have hitherto been brought before the public from time to
time are here cdUected and arran^tH] in a very popular an 1 lucid manner, ^vhile a nia<s of fresh infor-
mation, entirely new and authentic, renders this Uuok the only comjilete compendium of the Exhibi-
tion in all its bearings. The liistory of its orisiu is written with a grai>liic power and a narrative
vigour very surprising on such a subject. You are carried along with as muMi interest as if reading a
work of fiction. The contents fully justify the ample title, and in that fact lies more ot eulogy than
columns of praise could say." ^^^ evening express.

" A neatly-printrd volume on the History of the Exliibition; containing a careful digest of all the
documents which the Commissioners have issued."

THE tablet.

" Mr. Berlyn 's book is an elegant volume by way of a guide to the Crystal Palace. It contains a
well-condensed summary on everything connected witli the subject of the Exhibition.''

MORNING ADVERTISER.

" A gaily-boarded volume, nattily emblazoned on the outside with colours, with a tinted frontis-
piece of the Glass House from the same familiar aspect. It is dedicated to Prince Albert, and con-
tains an elaborate introduction, in which the by-past expositions of Paris, Birmingham, Manchester,
Dublin, &c. are duly noticed. It is as a wiiole a neat mode of preserving all the ' prmted gossip,' as
Well as weightier re"ports of Commissioners, relating to the preparations of the shell of the Exhibition."

mark-lane express.
" A most interesting record of the history and opinions as to the probable results of the World's
Fair, to be held in the Crystal Pa ace, Hyde Park. Toe author has condensed into a most readable
work every transaction wliich has given rise to this exhibition of the choice products of the world."

THE BUILDER.

" This book gives, in a concise and agi-eeable manner, a narrative of the progress of the scheme
towanls fruition, and an account of the building. Tiie account is put together pleasantly, and makes
a pretty book." christian times.

" A valuable and elegant introduction to the Great Industrial Exhibition. It contains much useful
information, lucidly and caa-efully arranged."

northern star.

" Sir. Berlyn's book is all it professes to be. It contains an ample and popular narrative of the
"circumstances connected with the conception and ultimate realisation o; the idea ; and incidentally
throws much light upon the progress and effects of similar exhibitions abroad. The author deserves
the greatest ere it tor the lively, interesting, and accurate mannec in which he has recorded all
the feading events connected with the Exhibition. In doing this we art' happy to perceive also that
he has the manliness to do justice to those who first introduced the idea of such Exhibitions into this
country, and who had to struggle with all the ditiiculties which usually dog the footsteps of inno-
vators and inventors. The first exhibitions had to encounter prejudice and apathy, and the funds
for caiTying them out were comparatively small, and ditficult to be procured ; they had not the
prestige of princely and titlcl names, to give them acceptance with the vulgai- herd, who eagerly
copy the fa.shion set by the great. They were the production of a pure love of art, and science, and
industry, and a desire to promote the improvement of public t;iste and skill. One of the first pi-o-
moters 'of the plan of National Expositions, similar to those on the Continent," was Mr. George
Wallis, formerly master of the Manchester School of Design; of whose exertions Jlr. Berlyn makes
honourable mention. It is exceedingly interesting to ha\e presented at one view tlu gradual expan-
sion of the original idea, tiirough a succession ot varied phases, to its ultimate development as an
Exhibition of tlie Industry of all Nations. It appears (dear that Prince Albert is entitLd to tha
merit of giving it this cosmopolitan character ; other exhibitions have always been either local, pro-
vincial, orntitiona'.. Tlie idea of niakiug that of 1851 universal is due to the Prince Consort alor.e.
The ci- cumstances undir « luch Jlr. Paxton conceived the idea of tiie structure which now attracts
the admiration ( .f every beho.d r, in Hyde Park, read more like a sketcli of the imagination than a
sober reality; and the almost increilible rapidity with which the plan has been translated into a
great fact is one of the proudest testimonies that can be borne to the indu^t'ial resources, skill and
enterprise of this comitry. Of all tiie maivels that will be exhibited at tli- World's Fair next Jlay,
none will be so marvellous as the stnietuie in which they are collected ; ami we confi lentiy coinmen 1
Mr. Berlyn's boo'K as an agi'eeable companion and guide to every visitor, as well as a record of tlie
gi-owth of the Exhibition, well deser\ing of preser\ution on account of its intrinsic meats and his-
oiica >ame. Manchester examiner and times.

" Mr. Berlyn (whom many of our readers \vill reuieuibcr as an active and earnest promoter of the
nterests of our Atheii^uni. in liL^ ehara.^^tLr of In morary secret ii y to that institution), having held an
otlicial situation in connexion with t.ie Royal Coiinn.ssion for cirrying out the business detail of the
int.'nded Exhibition, finds means to iires;nt us with an extremely a^lV an 1 imtru.-t m volume. His
nai'rative is cleverly written, and alfiirds ample information of the origin and progivss of a move-

WOBES PUBLISHED BT JAMBS OTIBBBT,

OPIXIOXS OF THE PRESS-<co!rrnn:n).)
nipnt wh- '■ ' -■ "'--'- - --'liivd a world-wide fame. The p^ual adranre of public opinion and
feeling ill ' • of art, anil to the mi>iv peneral cultivation of a love fur the Meal and

the beau; . '•■. are carefully traced, and we have every rvason to believe that tredit

is justly iT. -- :-- but earnest workers in the cause."

I.EEIH sre«cr»T.
*• .K. popularnarratire of the origin, history, proprtss, and prospects of the Great Exhibition, with a
guide to the future rules and arrangement-, by Peter Berlyn. has just been pubUshe<l by Gilbert,
of Paternoster-row. It is a very able and usetiil volume, beautifully got up, and at a cheap rate."

LEEDS TIXES.

" Mr. Beriyn's book suriplies a desideratum. It is the first attempt, so fitr as we know, to give a
consecMtive narrative '~'f the circumstances which have given birth to the great design, whose realisa-
tion is tL> illu-strate the hist, iry <••{ the present year. He has done his work well. The narratiTe is
entin v !, r-.i -! !r n. .; ;t!.- ntie and omcial Siiurcts, to which Mr. Berlyn. from his connexion with
th- " opportunities of acoess. The author r^-srirds the Exhibition, not as a

su : t as the natvQ-al result of certain industrial ideas and tendencies which

ha^ :-.: themselves durinjr several years: and this view leads him to trace the

histio .•!' viiri'iL* {•ri. T i xh-.Mtions on a minor scale in thU cuuntry. such as the polytechnic exhibi-
tions in different towns, and the exhibitions of art and manufactures which have talien place, m.-iny
years, in Mandie«tei% Birminirham, and the metropolis. The procevdinj^s more imme«lLitely connected
with the great Woria's Exhibition now in preparation are tlien related from the commenwment, and
in a manner at om-e concise and c>>mplete. Fmally, we have a tull account of the rules and regula-
tions determined on tor the conduit of tliis remark.-ib'.e undertaking. The volume contains several
excellent illastranons, is tastefully bound, and in a portable form."

LIVERPOOL corWEa.

" This is an exceedingly interesting and useful book. It has been got op as a hand-book for the
risitors to the Great Exhibition, but its obje<-t is more to give a condensed aco.unt of the history of
the event than to serve as a guiJe within the building. The writer, who treats his subjevt most clearly
and ably, enters into a brier" narrative of aU that has V-en hitherto done, in thU and other countries, to
foster national taste in connexion with these public displays. In our own countrvhe eoes on. at length,
into an investigation of what m.-iy be termed the initiatorv eihibiti^jn lately helJ at Birmingham, and
which, in its result*, far exceedeif the expectations of its founders. He ais.:> givrf a concise historv of
the proceedings relative to the ' Palace of GLtss," from the time that its erection was a dreamy id^
ontfl it rose in its gigantic transparency to astonish the world."

LIVERPOOL ALBlOX.

" This is a book for the times and to the pun:» >se. Its title-page tells with what object it has been
written, and is well borne out by its contents. Wht-n we optn it wc find a concise and taithAil account
of the causes and progress of the world's eathering which is just upon us. In preparing his volume
the author has taken care to avoid all ' culling of simpltrs,' and to give only such information as may
be depended upon, and which possesses more than ephemrral interest. It abounds also, in practical
sagg«tions and philoso^iical observations. We nili only say further that the publisher, although he
does not puff the work Dj talking of ^ting it away, certainly o.^mes as near as possible to that point
in the price wtucfa he has fixed upon it. We can sai'ely recommtnd it.''

BtRXniGHAM JOrXXAL.

" A rleverlv-written and capefnlly-oondensed little volume, containing all that has been done, and
much that should l>e i-' -i'ti ^-i^>ecting the great event of the year The author culls with great
judgment from the *'. ' -;^i at various meetinp held thniushout the country : the regula-

tions issued by the E\ .ittee are also introduced. .\lto^ther, a more Lt>rap!ete record,

within the same am-. it would be impossible to find; it confers gi eat credit upon the

writtrr, who in addition i: i.%:iis.iicly an enthusiast in the work about which he writes so welL"

LXICESTEKSanE XERcraT.
" This volume shotildbe in the hands of all who take an interest in the great event of thi- /inmu
mirabilUtl^l. What it promises in the title-page it performs in th.^e which follow. ]• •'.

accurate and dceply-inter\:sting record of the causes and progress of the preparation for i
of the natjor.s of the earth which we ar« abr'Ut to witness, and chronicles all the ortici.v i

on the subject which is worth presening. The practical soggestioiis and obeervations t. • 1- : u:. 1 in
it are greatly to the cre-iit of the writer. We must also give our praise to the publisher, Mr. Gilbert,
for the manner in wliich he has brought it out, and the low price at which he offers it to the buyer."

LIVERPOOL TIXES.

" Of coarse we are already deluged with hand-books, guide-books, &c., to the Exhibition. Such
little works, properly compile, will not only be interestmg. but absolutely serviceable, to the cotmti7
visitor. We nave had o«-eans s«.nt to us, varying in pritv as in truthfuhiess and English grammar.
The best we have seen is a ' Popular Narrative of the Exliibiti-.n,' by Peter Berlvn, published by
Gilbert, of Paternoster-row ; a book distinguished not only by correctness and labour ,*but also by very
considerable literair merit."

i^^>i»««^<u»cu>«~j u.»u. LLSCOLXSaiXE TIMES.

" What the flower-garden is to the bees, attracting them to gather honey from its sweets, the Grand
Exhibition has been to many a candidate anxious to take his'piace in the ranks of authorship. The
bi«k before us is one of the proofs of its stimulating: powers. It fully and ably accomplL>>R- ;ill
whidi the titie-page le*ds us to expect, setting i.^nh the ciuses ainl prr,grvss of that wondrous u--:*.il
of industry at which tlie world is to mt-et in Britannia's Crystal Palace. The information whv h it
contains maj be relied npon as derived from the best sources :' the practical suggestions ■>>-- > '
and the obaerrations are penned in a highly philosophical spirit. \^ e can sateij recomrr
to our readers, and we are quite certain that everybody who buys it will be satisfied tl.
has been well laid out. We speak not from our own authority only, but have our vcrd - v

the opinion of persons competent to pronounce upon the merits of the volume before us."

IXVER.N-ESS COtRIER.

" This little voltmie has a merit which belongs to but few books published in tiu pnsent age. It is
wanted. There has no doubt been a great deal written on the subject of ^ --.as well as a

rreat deal spoken : bat till now we have had only scattered and almost . ;'>rmation on

Uie one hand,or mere catchpenny pamph'rts .n the other. Mr. Ber; i-. t!;.it he is

honest; that his work fulfils the]' ~ ioge- Officially cc:' h

the great scbeme which he describ - . uiiar *«^Hti»» for t

to look for materials, and been ri. relatiTe usefiilness ..

opportonities he hasdiligently aviuji'i ii>iii.-<ii. .Lii'j uie result is to be seen m tm. t .,-..-aui i>>'K i^^u'i-e
us. Simple and popular in style, it is comprehensive and instructive in its contents; we therefore
recommend it."

PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON.

Beautifully printed in 8vo, price only Ts. 6rf., or postage free, 8*. 6rf., Illustrated by Eiyhty very
spleiidid Pictures, engraved by George Measom,

DEDICATED TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT,

GILBERT'S DESCEIPTION

OF THE

CRYSTAL PALACE,

Sts irrljikrtttrnl lustflrij nni (CnnstrttrtinB 3)lnrnrl9.

By peter BERLYN 8s CHARLES FOWLER, Jun., Esqrs.

Tlie Engravings will depict the various peculiarities and novelties of this wonderful Building
as well as the Machinery, &c., used in its construction. The combined efforts of the Proprietor,
as well as the Authors and Artists, are to produce a work worthy to be purchased and preserved
by every visitor to the Great Exhibition.

GILBERT'S
VISITOR'S ILLUSTRATED MAP OF LONDON,

DRAWN ON A NEW PRINCIFX.X:,

HAVING IX VIEW THE DEPICTING OF THE PRINCIPAL ROADS AND STREETS
OF THE METROPOLIS,

With Illustrations of its most Important Buildings and Sights,

Engraved on their exact Localities.

This novel Map wiU be found an interesting, intellectual, and practical guide to all Visitors
who may wish to proceed readily to the more Important Sights and Attractions of London. The
price, in sheet, coloured, with Letter-press Keys and References, is Is. 6d. ; or in Case for the
pocket, 2s. ; postage free, 3s.

GILBERT'S
GUIDE TO THE STREETS OE LONDON,

AS A COMPANION TO THE " VISITOR'S ILLUSTRATED MAP."
WITH FIVE THOUSAND REFERENCES;

Frontispiece and Tables of Cab Fares; the Rules and Laws relative to Metropolitan Con-
veyances ; and Explanations in four Languages — to enable the Visitor to find his own way
throughout the length and breadth of the Metropolis. — Price 6d ; or postage free. Is.

WOBKS PUBLISHED BY JAMES OILBERT,

Vikc Ijf. G</., or is. hiiiiHtl ; postage free, («/. extra,

GILBERT'S GUIDE TO LONDON,

WITH MAP, &c.

This original work, wliicli lias lontf been in full prcpar.ition for publication, is especially in-
tended as a useful and indispensable pocket conipanion to every visitor to tiic Metropolis during
the Great Exhibition of 1851.

*^* Separate Editions of the book issued in the French and German Languages, price 6d.
each extra.

" Contains nuich useful information for residents as well as visitors. It lias also a good Map,
and is very moderate in price." — English Churchman.

" A very useful companion throughout the streets and sights of London." — Jjadgs Neips.

" The distinguishing excellences of this guide are, that it is cheap, and that it is written
especially for the benefit of the visitors to Loudon during the Great Exhibition." — Standard of
Freedom.

"A publication prompted by the Great Exhibition: it is a plain and business-like affair, giving
a good deal of information upon various subjects connected with the comfort of visitors, as well as
directions for siglit-seeing." — Spectator.

" This liand-book contains the most complete information connected with the localities, customs,
public buildings, amusements, and resources of the capital city of this kingdom; and for travellers
or foreigners we say it is an indispensable work, if they desire to possess an accurate knowledge
of London during their visit to the Great Exhibition." — Jlari-la/ie Express.

" Unquestionably the most useful little work of its sort we have met witli. It abounds with
accurate, ample, and valuable information respecting London and its suburbs. We know of no
more interesting or cheaper publication." — Catholic Standard.

Price, on a large sheet, only 6d. ; in case, \s. Gd. ; or on roller, varnished, Zs. 6d.,

GILBERT'S KEY TO LONDON,

ON ONE ZiARGE SHEET ;

Containing particulars of its Palaces, Public Buildings, Religious Edifices, Ilospitals, Inns of
Court, Parks, Gardens, Bridges, Museums, Literary Institutions, Theatres, Public Amusements,
Exhibitions, Cab Fares, Railway Stations, Ambassadors, Bankers, Uotcls, Docks, Arcades, Private
Galleries, Curiosities, Churches and Chapels, Cab, Omnibus, and Coach Rules and Laws, Omnibus
Boutes, Environs, Post-offices, Steamers, Foreign Money Tables, &c.

Price, coloured and mounted in cloth case for the pocket, only \s.; or paper case, Ctd. ; in sheet, id.

GILBERT'S MAP OF LONDON,

BEAUTirUXiXiY ENGRAVED ON STEEL,

AMTU A KEY TO THE STREETS AKD PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

PATEKNOSTEB-KOW, LONDON.

THE GREAT EXHIBITION IH" 1851.

Just Published, size of the Engraving IS inches tig lU, priulcd on paper, size 21 inches bg 14^,

GILBERT'S NEW PICTORIAL VIEW

OF THE

CRYSTAL PALACE,

GKHAT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION, 1851.

Witli several Hundred Scenic and Characteristic Figures, beautifully and accurately
Drawn from the OflScial Documents,

BY JOSEPH PAXTON, ESQ., F.L.S.

With Statistical Details in English, French, rt.nd German.

The exciting interest which the Exhibition creates throughout the world, has prompted the
production of this carefully-executed, large, and beautiful Illustration of the Exhibition Building.
It is got up in first-rate style, printed on the best paper, and published at the low price of
Sixpence ; or coloured, One Shilling. The special object of its combined beauty and cheapness
is not only to command sale in the United Kingdom, but to induce our Merchants, Manufacturers,
and all interested in this glorious Institution to send this lUustration of the Building to every
part of the world. It may also be had in a neat gilt frame and glazed, price only 5s. ; or stretched
on a frame and varnished, price 3s. Either of these two can also be had packed in a deal box for
transit by railway, or other conveyance, at Is. extra ; or the 6d. and Is. 6d. editions packed on
roller, for transit by post free, at 8d. each extra.

GILBERT'S EXHIBITION LETTER-PAPER,

4to post size, of superior quality, with a beautiful lUustration of the Building printed in tints.
Price 2s. per quire, or 34s. per ream.

GILBERT'S EXHIBITION NOTE-PAPER,

8vo post, of superior quality, with a beautiful Illustration of the Building. Price Is. 6d. per quire,

or 21s. per ream.

GILBERT'S EXHIBITION CARD,

With a View of the Building. Price One Penny. Size, 4^ inches by 3.

GILBERT'S LARGE EXHIBITION CARD,

With a View of the Building. Price Twopence. Size, 7 inches by 4^.

WOBKS FUBLI8HED BY JAMES GILBEBT,

Juil PuUulud, in Thirl y-Sijc Sheett, of different Subject*, at ike extremcli) low price affixtd,

JEUBAliD'S

COLOURED PICTURES

GROUPS AND BOUQUETS OP

FLOWEES, FRUITS, BIEDS, LANDSCAPES,

Sec. &c.

These beautiful Pictures are on folio-sized drawing-paper, and produced in the first-rate style,
being most br^iutiful and successful imitations of Original Drawings. They are admirably adapted
for framing; would also form a tasteful ornament to Ladits' Portfolios, or as patterns for Drawing
in colours.

Sheet 1, price only 2s. — Fruit : Peaches, Purple
Grapes, Green Grapes.
Flowers: Moss Rose, Campanula (Canterbury-
bell), Wallflower, Convolvulus.

Sheet 2, price Is. 6d. — Poppy, Ranunculus,
Preonia. Hollyhock, Convolvulas, Ana-
gallis. Rosebud.

Sheet 3, price Is. 6d. — White Rose, Red Rose,
Anemone, Single Dahlia, Cineraria, Nas-
tertium, Auricula, Veronica.

Sheet 4, price Is. 6d. — Passion Flower, Rose,
Tulip, Geranium, Pinks, Convolyulus.

Sheet 5,pnce Is. Gd. — Anemone, Petunia, Moun-
tain Aster, lieartsease, Viola Tricolor,
Anagallis.

Sheet 6, price Is. 6d. — White Lilies, Tiger
Lily, Tulip, White Fuscliia.

Sheet 7, price 2s. — Fruit : Peach, Apple, Pine-
apple, Purple Grapes, Green Grapes, Egg
Plum, Red Currants, White Currants.
Flowers : Rose, Convolvulus.

Sheet 8, price 2s. — Fruit : Peach, Apple, Pear,
Plums, Red Grapes, Green Grapes.
Flowers : Lilium Lancifolium, Picotee, Fuscliia,
Scarlet Geranium, Marigold Sonicera.

Sheet 9, price Is. Cd. — Ipomoea Horsfallii, Ipo-
moca Rubro-cserulea.

Sheet 10, price Is. 6d. — Uibiscus Splendens.

Sheet 11, price Is. 6d. — Ipomoea.

Sheet 12, price Is. 6d. — lellow Hibiscus.

Sheet 13, price 2s.— Fruit: Peaches, Plums,
Red Grapes, O'liite Currants.
Flowers : Convolvulus Major, White Rose,
Heartsease, Fumaria Anagallis.

Sheet l-t, price Is. 6d. — Noisette Rose.

Sheet 15, price Is. Gd. — Orange Lily, Gera-
nium, White Piuk, Mule Pink, Petunia,
China Aster, Yellow Mallow, Anagallis,
Malvi, Primula, Mouse-ear, Tropjcolum.

Sheet 10, price Is. Cd. — Anemones, Tulip, Jon-
quil, Aster, Marigold, Semi-double Rose,
Yellow Rose, Convolvulus Mi nor,] Auricula,
Nastertiuni, White Rose.

Sheet 17, price 2s. — Fruit : Melon, Pomegranate.
Flowers: Tulip, Honeysuckle, Lily of the
Valley.

Sheet 18, price Is. 6d. — Pinks, Carnations.

Sheet 19, price Is. Gd. — A pair of Bullfinches,
Nest, Eggs, and Flowers.

Sheet 20, price Is. Gd. — A pair of Greenfinches,
Ne.st, Eggs, and Flowers.

Sheet 21, price Is. Gd. — A pair of Goldfinches,
Nest, Eggs, and Flowers.

Sheet 22, price Is. 6d. — A pair of Titmouse on
the Stump of a Tree.

Sheet 23, price Is. Gd. — A pair of Redstarts,
with Nest, Eggs, and Flowers.

Sheet 21-, price Is. 6d. — A pair of Chafiluclies,
with Nest, Eggs, and Flowers.

Sheet 25, price Is. Gd. — A View of the Castle
of Chillon, Lake of Geneva.

Sheet 26, price Is. Gd. — A View of Tintern
Abbey.

Sheet 27, price Is. 6d. — View of CaerpUilli
Castle and Vale.

Sheet 28, price Is. Gd. — View of Snowdon from
the Valley of Dolydellan.

Sheet 29, price Is. Cd. — View of Llangollen,
Castle Dinas-Bran.

Sheet 30, price Is. Cd. — View ol Fountain, St.
Mary-le-Wigford, Lincoln.

It must be distinctly observed that the whole of the ubovc arc in full colours, and most successful
imitations of original drawings, the price of each sheet being also fixed at extremely low prices.
A variety of other sheets are in active preparation.

PATEBNOSTEE-EOW, LONDON.

STEREOTTFED EDITION.

The 53rd Thousand, price only Is. sewed, or Is. 6d. bound (postage free, 4d. extra).
With a very useful steel-plate Genealogical Chart of the Sovereigns of England,

OUTLINES OP ENGLISH HISTORY,

WITH INTEBESTIXG

BY HENRY INGE, M.A.

*,* In consequence of the rapidly extended sale and approval of this Work, every page of the
present Edition has heen carefully enlarged and much improved. By a judicious enlargement
of the width and length of the page, one-third more letter-press is introduced without any increase
of price.

" In the system of Education sufficient regard is not always paid to impressing on the pupil's
mind the leading points in a hranch of stndy. His memory is confused with a too great variety of
details. This manual of Mr. luce's is well calculated to counteract this defective method, by afford-
ing a well-digested outline, which should be carefully committed to memory, and afterwards filled
up by means of oral instruction or reference to larger works. Lively chapters of liistorical memo-
randa, and brief sketches of manners and customs, are appropriately introduced. We can
cordially recommend this well-digested manual." — Sharpens Magazine,

"A neat and accurate compendium, and written with perspicuity. The events of each reign are
arranged under different heads, so as to give at a glance a comprehensive view of the whole." —
Alhenaum.

" A new edition, with improvements. It is a little ' Rapin' in its way, a history condensed into
a nutshell ; and we feel assured will, with its companion works, form the future text-books ol the
young of botli sexes. Works intended for the mental culture of the young are sure to meet our
approval when properly deserving it ; and in the present instance we feel inclined to extend the
usual limit of our remarks in favour of the lucid and well-arranged books which Mr. Ince has
issued for the rising generation. We could not forbear a smile, on glancing over their contents, at
the recollection of the sundry fat quartos and huge folios through which in boyhood we were
obliged to wade for the acquirement of a less amount of information than is here presented within
the space of one hundred pages." — The Mirror.

" Well-digested and useful outlines of our History, and deserves to be a standard educational
work." — Eclectic Review.

" Superior to anything of the kind ; here is a clear and comprehensive outline of the wliole
History of England. We cordially recommend it." — Wesley Banner.

" The leading points are clearly traced, and adapted for easy transmission to the mind." — Mark-
lane Express.

10 W0BE8 PUBLISHED BY JAUES GILBBBT,

CRITICISMS OH OCTLIXES OF EMGUSH UlSTOUV — (cOHtiilued.)

" A valuable addition to those books specially designed for education." — Bell's ilesscM^er.

" These ' Outlines' are particularly well done." — Banker's ilagazine.

" A good compendium ; it contains the essence of very many volumes, serving not only as helps
for the education of youth, but as refreshers to the memory to those who are old." — Sunday School
Magazine.

"This book is not undeser\-ing of the popularity it has obtained : it is full of information, and
contains the substance of more knowledge of the social progress, manners, and customs of our
ancestors than many works of far larger pretensions." — The third rerietc of /he Alheiurum.

" A groat deal of information in a small compass, and the author has availed himself of the
latest authorities. We prefer the form of Outlines to Catecliisms. It contributes to the formation
of more logical views, both by the teacher aud scholar. Catecliisms are the school-lxwks of
parrots." — Sjicctaior.

" Both the plan and style are perspicuous ; it is admirably adapted for what it is intended." —
The Times.

" Ck>ntains a vast amount of interesting and useful knowledge, and admirably adapted as helps
to parents and teachers of youth." — TaiCs Magazine.

" A well-digested little book." — Literary Gazette.

" A very useful book for the instruction of youth, being a complete resumSot the whole History
ot England." — Metropolitan.

" Well adapted for the education of the young." — AV» Monthly Magazine.

" The brief statements of the principal events of each Sovereign's reign are neat and succinct." —
The Economist.

" An improved edition of Mr. luce's very useful book." — The Rambler.

" luce's ' Outlines' is a very excellent book to put into the learner's hands : it is clear aud well-
arranged." — Author's Instil ute Circular.

In \8mo, price \s., Is. 6<i. bound {postage free, Ad. crtra),
THE SIXTH EDITION OF

OUTLINES OF FRENCH HISTORY,

WITH NOTICES OF

THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ARTS, ETC., OF THE DIFFERENT PERIODS.

BY HENRY IXCE, M.A.

" It affords a very pleasing view of the whole History of France. The author being gifted
with a philosophical mind and a classical taste, the subjects, though treated in a detached, are far
from being treated in a drj- and unentertaining manner." — The Times.

" It is embellished with some capital engravings, and abounds in the narration of those romantic
events which form the groundwork of so many delightful works." — The Mirror,

" Mr. Ince is not of those men who speak much without saying anytliing ; he says much in a
few words." — French Pajter.

" A very useful educational work." — LUerary Gazette.

PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON. 11

Price If. sewed, or \s. hi. hound {postage free, 4:d. extra), the Eleventh Thouaund of

OUTLINES

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.

!35i| Ititi]. 3ntt, 3B.a.

*^* This Edition has been very mueli esteuiled :md improved ; by an enlargement of the size of
the page, and careful arrangement of the type, a very great quantity of highly valuable information
has been added.

" The ' Outlines of General Knowledge' embrace a great variety of facts connected with the
natural sciences. Even the names of all the divisions into which the moderns have classified know-
ledge fill no inconsiderable space. Add to them the names and height of mountains, aud names and
length of rivers, the names of constellations, the names of the chemical elements, the amount of
population of the different kingdoms of the world, the amount of their respective taxation per head,
&c. &:c., and the mere nomenclature seems calculated to fill a tolerably large book. All this, and
more than this, is collected in Mr. Ince's ' Outlines,' and those not accustomed to the art of the
author will wonder how one small head could carry all he has brought together." — The Ec(monml.

""Well-digested 'Outlines,' which should be committed to everybody's memory." — Sharpens
Magazine.

" A capital book, deserving especial attention." — Family Friend,

" Contains for its size a remarkable quantity of interesting and well-arranged information. It
would make a valuable present to Sunday Schools and lending libraries." — Aiheiumim,

" A vast amount of condensed information." — The Rambler.

"Contains a considerable amount of information of a very valuable kind, on a variety of
subjects, that in ordinary routine of education are too much overlooked, an acquaintance with
which is every day becoming more and more indispensable. They are germs which cannot faO to
vegetate in the mind, to fructify in the head, and eventually to produce a fourfold reward to liiju
who labours in the acquisition of them." — Sunday School Magazine.

" Calculated to instruct anyone of common intelligence on every known topic of importance,
and to start him with a mind stored with the accumulated learning of 6000 years." — The Mirror.

"A valuable Uttle publication, full of information in a small compass, creating an appetite for
deeper investigation." — Bellas Life.

12 WOBKS PUBLISHED BY JAMES OILBEBT,

A NEW SERIES OF PENNY MAPS.

Now publukiny in Monthly Parts, price only ^\d., or SJrf. coloured [each Part to contain four Maps),

P H I L I P S'

PENNY ATLAS OF THE WORLD,

IS A

. Irrirs of /iftq-tinn 3in{irnnl itmxk Jilnps, tEngrnnrli nn Itrrl,

INCLCOING

FIVE ANCIENT MAPS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE IMPORTANT
EVENTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY,

WITH A COPIOUS CONSULTING INDEX OF PLACES.

Geographical Knowledge was. to a considerable extent an essential necessity even in the
early periods of our world, cultivated indeed at first for almost purely social purposes, yet in
the same proportion as our progenitors increased ia numbers, so also did their extended range of
observation iustU into their minds the necessity of more practical observations on the relative
bearings of the districts through which they passed, noting at the same time the numerous changes
of hill and dale, rivulet and stream, and the countless varieties of the wonderful products with
which it pleased Almighty God to bless its various regions. Hence progressively arose the Topo-
graphical and Geographical Delineations with which the Scriptures abound ; to a similar cause
may also be traced the contributions which the savage tribes have at various periods of
our World's Uistory added to the branches of Geographical science.

Now, in the same proportion as any people forming a Nation develope theu commercial and
intellectual strength, in the same ratio has it pleased Providence to render it necessary that its
inhabitants should not only become acquainted with the Topographical and Geographical features,
relative distances and bearings, of their own and neighbouring nations, but of ever)- portion of the
known world, even extending their researches to unknown regions. Indeed, no member of a com-
mercial nation, especially in one where education is much diffused, is qualified to act his part aright
as one of its people, unless he is able to form a tolerably accurate notion of the uamcs of Nations,
Places, Seas, Rivers, Mouutain.s, fee., their relative position and extent, as well as to learn how
richly the Creator of the Earth has endowed them all with the means of ministering to tliose

PATERNOSTEK-ROW, LONDON.

comforts and pleasures of which man in evcrj^tate of society and climate so much stands in
need.

These reflections might be much extended, but the limits of a prospectus will not permit it.
Suffice it to say that every Englishman, be he rich or poor, should have access to modem Maps of
the various portions of the World, in order to possess the means of cultivating a knowledge of its
divisions, the names of the chief Nations, Places, &c. &c., as well as to be able to form intellectual
and commercial ideas of its numerous products, and the respective regions from whence come the
countless varieties of foreign substances now in use among us as articles of ornament or necessity.

Now, though a Modern Atlas of the World is so essential to every family in this kingdom,
still it has been almost limited in its possession, on account of the high price at which all really
good and practical works have hitlierto been issued. To remove this difficulty has been the prin-
cipal motive which has induced the Proprietors of " Philips' Penny Modern Atlas " to issue
a work which they feel satisfied will be universally admitted to be surprisingly cheap, and not
surpassed in usefulness by any attempt hitherto made to extend the knowledge of Greography.

LIST OF THE MAPS

Which will appear in Philips' Penny Atlas, any of which may now be had separately, price
One Penny each Plain, or Twopence Coloured: —

MODERN MAPS.

27.

Russia in Asia.

1. Western Hemisphere.

28.

Persia and Cabool.

2. Eastern Hemisphere.

29.

Hindostan.

3. World on Mercator's Projection — Double

30.

China.

Map.

31.

East India Islands and Australia.

4. Arctic Regions.

32.

New South Wales.

5. Europe — General Map.

33.

Tasmania, or Van Dieman's Land.

G. British Isles.

34.

New Zealand.

7. England and Wales.

35.

Africa— General Map.

8. Scotland.

36.

Egypt.

9. Ireland.

37.

America — General Map.

10. France, in Provinces.

38.

North America.

11. France, in Departments.

39.

United States.

12. Belgium.

40.

Canada.

13. HoUand.

41.

Mexico, Guatimala, and Texas.

14. Prussia.

42.

West Indies.

15. Poland.

43.

South America.

16. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

17. Denmark.

ANCIENT MAPS.

18. Russia in Europe.

44 Palestine.

19. Germany.

45 Orbis Veteribus Not us.

20. Austria.

46 Orbis Romani Pars Oocideutalis.

21. Switzerland.

47 Orbis Romani Pars Orientalis.

22. Spain and Portugal.

48 Graecia Antiqua.

23. Italy.

Table of the Comparative Height of

24. Turkey in Europe, and Greece.

Mountains.

25. Asia — General Map.

50 Ditto ditto Length of

2G. Turkey in Asia.

Rivers.

11.

WORICS PrBLTSHED BY JAMES GILBERT.

THK CHEAPEST MAPS EVER ISSUED.

PHILIPS' SERIES

LARGE SIXPENNY MAPS,

Size— Fall Sheet Imperial, 22 by 27 Inches, Pull Coloured.
Enaraced in the bed tiyle, and embraciiui all the recent Geographical Dttcoveriet.

LIST OF THE MAPS.

The World on Mercator's Projection.

„ Northern Hemisphere.

„ Southern ditto.

„ Eiistern ditto.

„ Western ditto.
North Horizontal ditto.
South ditto.
Europe.
Asia.
Africa.

America — General Map.
North America.
South America.
England.
Scotland.
Ireland.
British Isles.
The Channel Islands, including Isle of

Man and Isle of Wight.
Chart of the Baltic Sea.
Sweden and Norway.
Denmark.

Germany — Northern part.
Germany — Southern p.irt.
Holland.
Belgium.

France, in Departments.
France, in Provinces.
Spain and Portugal.
Chart of the Mediterranean.
Turkey in Europe and Greece.
Italy.

Venetian States.
Miliuiese States.

Tuscany and the States of tlie Church.
Nnples and Sicily.
Switzerland.
Austria.
Prussia.
Poland.

Russia in Eurojie.
Russian Empire.
Tartary.

Corea and Islands of Japan.

China.

East India Islands.

Hindostan.

British India — Northern pnrt.

British India — Southern part.

Birman Empire.

Persia.

Turkey in Asia.

Arabia.

Egypt and Abyssinia.

Palestine.

Noith and South Africa.

Atlantic Islands.

Chart of the Atlantic.

Canada, Nova Scotia, &c.

United States.

Californi.% Mexico, &c.

Panama, Giiatimal:i, &c.

W'est Indies.

Isles of Bermuda, Bahama, and Cuba.

Jam.iica.

St. Domingo and Virgin Isles.

St. Christopher's, with Nevis and St. L'icia.

Antizua, with Gu.adaloupe, iVc.

Dominico, with Martinico, Sec.

Barb:idoes and St. Vincent.

Trinidad, Grenada, Tobago, andCaraeoa.

Peru, Ciiili, and La Plata.

Caraccas and Guiana.

Islands iu the Pacific.

Australia.

New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land.

South .\ustralia.

New Zealand.

Chart of the Nonh-wcst Passage beiwf<"n
Europe and America.

Chart of the Disoveries of lloss, P.arry,
and Franklin iu the Autic Heglons.

Tiible of the comparative Height of Moun-
tains.

Ditto ditto Length of Rivers.

► * This series of Maps is by far the largest, best, and cheapest ever offered for separate vile,
■sons desirous of having a speoimeu of the series, can order a single Map, through th.ir
)ks<-llers or reniiv lOd. in postage-s'.amps to the Publi>hers, who w\ll send any Map named,

Per

book

postage free.

PATERNOSTEH-BOW, LONDON. 15

Just puhlulied, complete in WO very large mid full pages, Bcmy 8ro,

Conlaining matter equal in quantity to 1,500 pages of ordinary 8vo volumes, Trice ouly 4s., or
postage free, 5s., strongly and neatly bound in cloth,

GILBERT'S COPIOUS SERIES OF PAMPHLETS

ROMAN CATHOLIC QUESTION;

CONTAINING

Important Documents of Permanent Historical Interest having reference to the
re-Establishment of the

CATHOLIC HIERARCHY IN ENGLAND,

1850-1.

The Editor of these Pamphlets deems it almost superfluous to dwell on the paramount importance
of every respectable family possessing this volume of very special present and permanent interest.
During the discussion of the exciting matters now at issue in this all-absorbing question, there can
be no questioning the well-recognised fact that the possession of this copious and cheap volume
is essential to every thoughtful and inquiring person in our beloved country. For those who
ai-e as yet unaware of the immense mass of interesting and important documents that are in
its pages, AN index of its contents is issued for gratuitous distribution — this will
abundantly testify to the fact; and the Editor, thinks it only necessary to state that, with
scarcely an exception, the whole of the documents are printed, verbatim, as they originally
appeared, and in very numerous cases they have had the additional advantage of the direct and
special revision of the authors.

The Editor expresses his conviction that aU the important facts and documents relative to the
" Roman Catholic Question" have appeared in the pages of these pamphlets. Doubtless, during
the progress of the Ecclesiastical Tiiles Assumption Bill through the Houses of Parliament
speeches of interest will be made ; stiU the Editor thinks they will be merely elaborations of the
materials already in these pages, devoid of original f»cts or documents.

*^* Any persons who may wish to possess the Scries or sheet containing specific articles par-
ticularised in [the Index, will be at liberty to purchase it separately, at One Penny or Thne-
halfpenee each sheet respectively, or at Twopence each extra post-lree, tlirougli the publisiier.
Series 1 to 17 sell at Id., and 18 to 25 at l^d. each ; but it must be observed that each sheet or
Series contains several documents.

Just Puhlished, demy I8?no, sewed, Price 'Is. Gd., or accompanied by a large and accurate
Map, anil bound in Cloth, Price bs.

THE TRAVELLER'S HAND-BOOK

AND NEW GUIDE FOR

EMIGR.\NTS THROUGH THE UNITED STATKS OF AMERICA.

Containing a description of the States, Cities, Towns, Villages, Watering-places, Colleges, &c. ;
with the Railroad, Stage, and Steam-boat Rout-.s; the distances from place to place; and the
Fares on the great Travelling Routes.

By J. CALVIN SMITH.

16 WORKS PTTBLTSnED BY JAMK8 GILBERT.

JiiH ruhlished, in a neat Cover,

PHILIPS'

SHILLmG ATLAS OF MODERN GEOGMPHY,

CONTAINING NINE IMPERIAI. QUARTO MAPS,

ENGRAVED ON STEEL, & CONSTRUCTED FROM THE MOST RECENT AUTHORITIES.

CONTENTS.

EASTERN nEMI.SrilERE.

ASTA.

ENGLAND.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE.

AFRICA.

IRELAND.

EUROrE.

AMERICA.

SCOTLAND,

Lntdy Published, price 2s. ; or 2s. Ciil. bound in Cloth,

PHILIPS' YOUNG SCHOLAR'S ATLAS,

CONTAINING

(T'jjirtrrn Inrgr

CONTENTS.

/nil

fnlnnrrli.

EASTERN HEMISPHERE.

FRANCE.

SOUTH AMERICA.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE.

EUROPE.

PALESTINE.

ENGLAND.

ASIA.

UNITED STATES.

SCOTLAND.

AFRICA.

IRELAND.

NORTH AMERICA.

Just Published, Price 'As. Cul. in Sheets, carefully coloured ; As. 6d. in case ; or 7s. Gd.
viounted on black rollers and varnished,

A NEW TRAVELLING

MAP OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

BEAUTIFULI.V ENGRAVED ON STEEXi,

AND COMPILED FllO.M THE MOST RECENT AMERICAN GONTIRNMENT
SURVEYS AND OTHER AUTHENTIC SOURCES,

Showing the whole of the Railways, Cana's, &c., to the present time, and the dist.inces from place
to place in hundreds of miles, taking the City of New York as the centre.

The Publishers can, with conjidence, recoinmend this Map of the United States as the most
authentic and elaborate Map that has ever been produced.

*^* The works on Ihis and tlie fifteen prccedincr pages are pnhlishcd by JAMES GILBERT,
40, I'iiternoster-row, London, wholesale and retail bookseller, publisher, and ncwsvendor.

Foreign Orders will be executed by J. GILBERT on liberal terms ; or they can be either sent
to any wholesale liookseller or stationer ; or to any of the numerous merchants and manufacturers
who export to all ])arts of the world.

It will be necessary, liowevcr, to order GILBERT'S Editions, Published at 49, Paternoster-
row, London.

SALUnrUT, PltlNTEIl. PRIMnOSE IIII.I,, SALISBt'IlT-SQlARE, FLEET-STKEET .

^7^/:)-

; /C, /

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