Northamptonshire Architectural Society.

ino- is unsuccessful . Probably our grey skies and the cold tints , as ' a rale , ol our wild indigenous flowers , have unfitted us for the natural harmonious use of bright colours , and we may eventually n-ain ground in this respect by the presence ancl contemplation of the gay exotics which are now the staple of our pleasurecrardens . It is certain that it is by trial by experiment , and not by theory , that we shall make progress ; and we can hardly expect in this generation to get beyond the stage of perceiving and acknowledging our failures .

Lalonrers' Cottages . There is one subject of our studies on the importance of whicli we all agree , and will agree also , I fain would hope , on the practical results at which our committee has unanimously arrived . The subject is that of labourers ' cottages , and the result is the plan which , after many long and . repeated discussions , the committee have agreed to lay before YOU as the best model for a married labourer ' s dwelling for the midland counties . The matter is too large to enter full

y into now , but the plans will speak for themselves to those ivho have bestowed any attention on the subjact . They are drawn up for us by Mr . Pedley , of Southampton Buildings , and have obtained the approbation , not only of your committee , but of all the most practical cottage builders to whom they have been submitted . Indeed , the general ground plan is so complete , that I can hardly understand any advantageous

departure from it . The plan is intended for a pair of agricultural labourers' cottages , and therefore , of course , not adapted to towns ; nor do we wish to see the identical building repeated everywhere over the country ; but it shall set before the landed proprietors of this archdeaconry a general model for their guidance , and shall have stimulated them to take a greater interest in this most essential element of the comfort , happiness , and morals of their dependents , your committee will not regret the labour they have bestowed in perfecting this design .

The Eev . Lord Alwyne Compton moved the adoption of the report in an excellent speech , in which he referred to Mr . James ' s criticism upon the International Exhibition . The noble lord said he would break a lance Avith him ( Mr . James ) , and object to his remarks with reference to his use of china for internal decorations , and lie did not think its brittleness should be any obstacle to its use for fountains in-gardens . In private gardens gentlemen did not expect that fountains or ornaments would be

broken , and the great advantage of its use for external decoration was the permanency of colour . Coloured stone turned black , but , if well arranged , china could be cleaned ivith a squib and water . With the use of that -material , then , he did not see why in this country they could . not have colours similar to those used by Italian artists . That which was put upon themand lasted onlfor a timemiht be accom

, y , g plislied permanently by the use of china . The Littleness of the material then was no obstacle in his opinion to painting on china , as some of the finest paintings were on a still more brittle material . His lordship then proposed the following resolution : — " That this meeting , understanding that the works at St . Sepulchre ' s Church are now at a stand-still for want of fluidsnotwithstanding the most liberal contribution

, of £ 600 from Madame Lind-Goldschmidt , and of £ 100 from an anonymous donor , strongly recommends the members of the society to use their utmost endeavours to assist in raising such a sum as shall allow the church to be opened without further delay for divine service . " ( Applause ) .

The motion was seconded , after Avhich , Samuel Sbarpe , Esq ., of Darlington Hall , read an interesting paper on the " Eoman Remains lately discovered at Dallington . " Mr . E . P . Law , architect , read an invaluable paper on " The Queen's Cross , " for which Ave have no space this week . Mr . James called the attention of the meeting to a number of Avasses formerly in tbe possession of the late Mr . George Baker , and

supposed to have been taken from some Northamptonshire churches . If they could be identified as belonging to any church , the society would be happy to give them up , as the churches to which they belonged were undoubtedly the most proper place for their conservation . A vote of thanks to the High Sheriff concluded the afternoon meeting . v

The Evening Meeting commenced at se \ 'en o'clock , ivhen the Rev . Lord Alwyne Compton presided . . The Rev . H . L . Elliott read a paper of considerable local interest on the parish registers of the town and neighbourhood of Northampton . ' The Rev . G . A . Poole was to have read a paper on " Painted

Northamptonshire Architectural Society.

I Glass , " but that gentleman being unwell , the paper was put into the shape of a letter , and read by Mr . James . A few remarks were made by the Eev , R . Burdetts and the chairman , upon the condition of churchyards , which both speakers complained of as being generally in an unsatisfactory state . The chairman said in foreign countries the churchyards formed a strong contrast to those in this country , especially in where

Germany , they were beautifully kept . A . vote of thanks was given to the chairman , and the meeting dispersed .

New Contrivances Ancillary To Engineering.*

NEW CONTRIVANCES ANCILLARY TO ENGINEERING . *

In the world ' s progress these exercise no small influence . The Greeks of old would have produced steam-engines easily enough , had only the metals and tools been forthcoming for handicraft , the predecessor of steam-working . Invention is of two kinds—that Avhich is produced by abstract thought , converting the powers of nature to many uses ; and that which is produced by obvious defects in existing practices . The former is forethought or invention : the latter is afterthought or

contrivance . The former springs spontaneously from the inventor ' s mind : the latter is forced on the Avorkman ' s attention . Invention is , in truth , the parent of contrivance , the idea giving birth to the practice ; as we constantly see , after every new discovery made the subject of a patent , a host of new contrivances springing up in a circle of patents like the satellites round a planet . But though the contrivances may appear small as regards the

mental effort involved , any perfect result produced by them may make all the difference between success ancl failure . Quarrying was an art anterior to gunpowder ,- but great was the labour-saving achieved by the man who first applied the powder ; contrived the means of boring a deep hole in a hard rock ; and brought tbe tamping process to perfection . And great must have been the exultation over the first production of that

apparently simple tool the "lewis , "—a wedge split into three parts to fix a ring into a stone block in an undercut hole to lift the heavy weight , not otherwise to be moved Avithout damage . Making steel , or finding it made by nature , and forming it into a chisel to cut hard materials , was also an achievement ; and so throughout the whole of the engineering processes . What is engineering but the conversion of the materials of nature into new forms and shapes useful to man by the agency of mechanical

and chemical art ? The engineer proper is , or should be , the designer of the new and useful forms , the vice-creator , varying by art the direction of the laws of nature ; yet how little would he really achieve without the aid of tbe numberless contrivances that make up the great whole of engineering progression , which is still only in its infancy ! There are two branches into which engineering divides itself ; that which deals ivith stationary or fixed matter , and that which

deals with moving matter . The former takes in the structure of roads , bridges , buildings , docks , harbours , the guidance of rivers , and the drainage of land—converting bogs and fens to healthy human uses . The latter takes in all that moves—engines , vehicles , machines , vessels on water , tools of peace and tools of war , mines , water supply , air supply , and heat supply , and also the processes , hitherto empirically applied , of diminishing heat for the purposes of healthin particular rooms and

, climates . We are accustomed to regard architecture and engineering as being two separate things , and common practice has divided them . It has been said that an architect ' s engineering and an engineer ' s architecture are the two extremes of bad result ; but there is a Averse condition than this , Avhen a man unites the professions of architect and engineer in his own person , without

any natural qualification for either . At the base of all good architecture must lie good engineering : the structure must have proportion in strength upon which the proportion in form must be based : the architecture is the flesh upon the engineering skeleton ; and ivhen an empirical practice obtains in any class of structure , engineering and architecture cease , and the " builder" takes their place , commonly without any knoAvledge of principles of structure , his practice going chiefly into economy of cost . "When once a particular class of structure has become stereo-