appreciated in almost every quarter of the world, except the small
portion of it which we are in the habit of considering to have gone
Correspondence.
so far a-head of those nations from whom it received the arts and
sciences, as to be incapable of learning anything further from them. Interesting remains of the hot-air bath, whose antiquity tradition does not attempt to fathom, still exist in the district of Lebanon, in Assyria, Egypt and Morocco. Italy abounds in them, and even France and England furnish us with abundant evidence that, hun dreds of years ago, this kind of bath was in full operation in this very climate. The American Indian is well acquainted with its remedial virtues, and frequently has recourse to it; and the very same thing is now done in different parts of this island by the un educated peasantry, with the happiest results.
“Two varieties of sweating-houses (as they are called) exist in Ireland; one capable of containing a good many persons, and the other only intended for a single occupant.”
The following is from a description by the Rev. Robert Gage:– “In general, Rathlin is a very healthy place, and many of the peeple have attained to a good old age.
Asthma is the most common
disease, probably arising from the sulphureous vapour emitted from the turf or peat, with which it is strongly impregnated. Of late years, however, it has been less frequent, owing, perhaps, to the improved state of the cottages. Pulmonary consumption is very little known here. When the people are attacked with rheumatic pains, they have recourse to a remedy of long standing, in the effi cacy of which they have great confidence. In several parts of the island small buildings, called “sweat-houses, are erected, somewhat in the shape of a bee-hive, connected with stones and turf neatly put together—the roof formed of same material, with a small hole in the centre. There is also an aperture below, just large enough to admit one person on hands and knees. When required for use, a large fire is lighted in the middle of the floor, and allowed to burn out, by which time the house has become thoroughly heated; the ashes are then swept away, and the patient goes in, having first taken off his clothes, with the exception of his under garment, which he hands to a friend outside.
The hole in the roof is then covered
AMATEUR ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS!
DEAR MR. EditoR—Amongst the many duties both to the pro fession and the public which devolve on you in the responsible un
dertaking you have commenced—and which I sincerely trust you will succeed in carrying out advantageously to yourself—there is not one of less moment than that of showing up, in their true colours,
those egotistical and self-sufficient people who assume the office of “architect and builder" with as much confidence, and more so, than if
they had been regularly trained to them.
What, sir, is it that gives
birth to such architectural monstrosities as we daily notice perpe
trated in our commercial and domestic dwellings but this?
Indivi
duals, rich in pocket but poor in heart, to save the petty commission to which the professional man is entitled—which is only equal to that of the agent who “lets a house or a farm,” and half what is paid to an auctioneer for a stroke of his hammer-undertake buildings on their own account, commencing with the designing (save the mark!)
and ending with the superintendence of the various artificers works necessary even to completion. Surely it is no wonder to see in such cases walls not parallel, at right angles, or plumb, though intended to be so; windows and doors badly hung, and split in all directions;
cracked plastering, leaky roofs and gutters, settlements, &c., not to speak of the general absence in systematic arrangement internally, and suitable elevation externally.
Many of this class might as
reasonably undertake the designing and constructiou of a compli cated piece of machinery, for all that they know about either, and though at first imagining that they are doing it “very knowingly" by having neither architect nor builder, but acting in the double capa city themselves, and engaging an inferior class of workmen to adapt materials picked up at auctions and rubbish sales; they ultimately
find that they have paid “too much for their whistle.” With such a course pursued, may I ask, sir, how is to thrive A MAN who UNDERSTAND's AND MUST LIVE BY HIs BUSINEss.
with a flat stone, and the entrance is also covered up with sods to
prevent the admission of air. The patient remains within until he begins to perspire copiously, when, if young and strong, he plunges into the sea, but the aged or weak retire to bed for a few hours. This primitive vapour bath has been successful in removing pains of long standing, and people from the mainland have come for the ex press purpose of trying its efficacy. It is not, however, applied exclusively to the cure of disease, for the young women not unfre quently resort to it after burning kelp, to clear their complexions, especially if it should happen to be near the time of a Ballycastle fair. As the heating of the sweat-house is considercd rather expen sive, from the quantity of fuel required, a number of persons go together, and but for the darkness of the place, would present a sufficiently ludicrous appearance. The period of remaining is dis
MERE
SKETCHES!
SIR-I should like to know if I, of my professional brethren, am singularly unfortunate in meeting with parties intending to build, who, to guide them in their work, only require an architect's services as regards mere sketches / How painfully ludicrous is it to witness the undercurrent of niggardliness so manifest in clients who, to save
the professional percentage, seek to barter for a sketch and an out line specification, impressively arguing that same could be executed in an immoderately limited period by an expert architect, and place ing a value on the manual labour thereon, with no consideration for the mental, or the time previously occupied in studying for and C. cretionary with the patients, but at the end of half an hour the attaining a professional position. house is generally cleared, and the fresh air once more admitted, until its services are again required.”
£otts of #ittu Ülorks. NEW CHURCHES IN MELBOURNE.
PLANs are at present in course of preparation by Mr. Moran, architect, of this city, for two new Roman Catholic churches, to be built in the diocese of Melbourne. One comprises nave, chancel, sacristy, and tower at north-east angle; is in the early English style, and measures in the total 115 feet by 35 feet; has open timber roof chamfered and stained, triple lancet windows at east and west ends, and single lancets at sides. The other is in the style of 14th century, comprising nave, chancel, sacristy, and lateral
chapels, and tower at west end; dimensions—145 feet by 60 feet in the clear, with confessionals outside; open timber work and partially panelled roof, great five-light east and west windows, clerestory and nave; three-light windows, with tracery. An elaborate screen separates nave from chancel. Mr. Moran is also architect to Bally vaughan and Galway Augustinian new churches.
COMPETITION.
A LIMITED competition is about to take place for a new church to accommodate 1,500 of the Molyneux congregation, the Rev. Dr. Fleury, Minister. The cost will be about £7,000, and the architects competing are Messrs. M'Curdy, Burne, and Rawson Carroll.
A new District Model-school is to be built at Derry, according to drawings prepared at the office of Public Works. The plan is a parallelogram, with a frontage of about 208 feet, broken by many projections: the main building—two stories high with basement comprehending a recessed centre of 57 feet in width, with gabled wings at either side of 22 feet in width, in which the drawing-school
and pupil-teachers' room are respectively situated, and approached by a corridor which also leads to a maratime school 18 feet square; master's room, office, and boys' school, 50 feet by 40. Beyond main building is a lower connecting structure with high pitched roof, and containing museum and library, infants' and girls' schools, 48 feet by 25; and boys, infants' and girls' class-rooms. The style is early English; and the gable containing pupil-teachers' room has a projecting bay window, with three light-pointed arched windows above it; and the outline of the gable is picturesque, being broken at one side by a buttress surmounted by a chimney flush with front, and quaintly terminating near apex. Dormer windows, tall chimneys, and finials of appropriate character are introduced. In corresponding gable will be a large three-light window, with trefoil
heads formed in a large ope.
Connected with this gable by a recess
of 28 feet, is seemingly a flank divided into 3 bays, with triplet
windows and tastefully designed buttresses between, at the termi nation of which is a projecting gable with 3 light window and wheel over same and a tall projecting chimney at the side. The walling IMPRovKMENT of Victoria, Austral.IA.—It is intended to ex is to be rubble of greenish tint, and the dressings of Scotch stone.
pend a sum of £1,545,000 in public works in this colony, which is
The design reflects credit on the author, and is an improvement on
rapidly extending.
other scholastic buildings proposed by the same establishment. A conventual chapel, 70 feet in length and 20 in breadth, has been added to the Presentation Convent, Enniscorthy.
- To be completed in our next.
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