The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-01 00:00:00

No. M.—An Account showing the Revenue and other Receipts of the Quarter ended Sept. 30, 1861;" the Application of the same ; and the Charge
of the Consolidated Fund for the said Quarter, together With the Surplus or Deficiency upon such Charge.

Surplus Balance beyond the charge of the Consolidated Fund, for the Quarter
ended June-30, 1861, viz. :
Great Britain -£ ..
Ireland r 839,743

839,748

Income received in the Quarter ended Sept, 30, 1861, as shown In Account I. I. 14,601,232
Amount raised per Act 23-24 Viet., cap. 109, on account of Fortifications, &c 240,000
Amount received in the Quarter ended Sept. 30, 1861, in repayment of Advances
for Public Works, &c.

288,400

X 15,969,470

Balance, being the Deficiency, on 30th Sept, 1801, upon the charge of the Conso-
lidated Fund in Great Britain, to meet the .Divideuds, and other charges, pay-
able in the Quarter to Dec. 31, 1861, and for which Exchequer Bills
(Deficiency) will be issued in that Quarter

3,062,A12

£19,932,082

erected; but the change of colour in the stone itself
and the fretting out of the surface,' which are
suggested as the first symptoms, lead us to appre-
hend that there may exist much more mischief
than at present is actually apparent.
" 12. One of the witnesses examined, however,
and whose judgment as a practical man is of
considerable value, is of opinion that the decay,
after proceeding to some depth in the stones, stops
of itself; that an induration of the surface takes
place, and that no further decay ensues. The
committee would willingly accept this opinion, if
they considered it well founded, but they cannot
conceive that it is true to any considerable extent,
notwithstanding there may certainly be some few
indications which lead to the belief that in some
cases it may be correct.
" 13. At present the decay appears for the most
part on the plain surfaces, while the finer and more
elaborately wrought portions of the building, unless
under projections; are not seriously affected. And
however disappointing and disfiguring these defects
may be, in a building so recently erected, the com-
mittee are of opinion that at present the decay does
not affect the stability of the structure.
" ll.—' fhe cause to which the decay is attribut-
able.'

" 14. This part of the inquiry naturally leads to
a reference to the evidence which has been obtained
by the committee on the subject of the stone itself.
The result of this evidence may 'be thus briefly stated.
The stone recommended by the Commissioners for
this building was that from the quarries of Bolsover
Moor and its neighbourhood, and this stone was
actually contracted for in the first instance. Before
the work began, however, it was found that blocks
of sufficient size could not be procured from those
quarries, and in consequence one of the Commis-
sioners was appointed to proceed to the spot to ascer-
tain whether other quarries might not be discovered
furnishing stone in beds of greater thickness and of
Urger dimensions. These conditions were found in
the quarries at Anston, and the stone of greater
thickness procurcd from these quarries has been used,
not only in this building, but in all the other build-
ings constructed of rnagnesian limestone in the
metropolis, after the quarries of Bolsover Moor had
been abandoned for the reasons above stated.
" 15. The recommendation of the Bolsover stone
in the report of the Commissioners was founded on
its similarity to that used in the Norman portion of
Southwelt Minster, which were stated in the report
to be in a high state of preservation. Evidence has
since been adduced, in a letter from Mr. Scott, to be
fcund in the appendix, which renders it probable
that the stone of this Minster was really obtained
from the ancient quarries at Mansfield Woodhouse.
The latter quarries were reopened, and a considerable
quantity of stone from them (exceeding 20,000 cubic
feet) was made use of in the Palace at Westminster;
but in their turn they were relinquished from dis-
satisfaction as to the size of the blocks, though we
have it on evidence, confirmed by our own obser-
vation, that the stone used from these quarries has
stood remarkably well.
" 16. The evidence brought before your Com-
mittee on the subject of the stone obtained from the
Anston quarries is very conflicting ; the contractor
and his principal foreman stating that the stone
was, with slight exceptions, extraordinarily good,
while other witnesses maintain that even in the
quarries themselves there are stones in a state of
actual decomposition ; and one very important wit-
ness, a foreman employed at the Palace at West-
minster, asserts he knew that certain beds in some of
the quarries were liable to decay, and that he aban-
doned them in consequence. With reference to the
selection of stone, the Committee venture to remark
that it is much to be regretted that the offer made
by one of the Commissioners, particularly well
acquainted with the selection and working of stone,
to examine that used in the Palace at Westminster,
for the moderate salary of £l5O per annum, was not
accepted, owing to some difficulty in regard to the
party who was to be held responsible for this un-
important amount, and that the matter was left to
persons who admit they had little or no prior ex-
perience of this description of stone, though they
evidently entertained suspicions of the durability
of some of it which they were employing.
" 17. With reference to the very natural and im-
portant question of the actual causes of the
decay of this stone when exposed to the Lon-
don atmosphere, the Committee take the liberty of
referring to the report of the chemists who were
members of the committee to whom this question
was specially referred. This will be found in the
appendix.

The best means of preserving the stone
from further injury.'
" 18. This part of the inquiry referred to the
Committee naturally divides itself into two ques-
tions, namely, as to the steps that have hitherto
been taken, whether experimentally or otherwise;
and as to those that are to be recommended for
adoption hereafter. With regard to the first ques-
tion we have ourselves examined with care the re-
sult of what has been done at the Palace itself,
either experimentally on the river front, or, as
in the inner courts by actual co itings or wash-
ing over large surfaces. With regard to the
second question, our inquizies have been earnest
and elaborate, and we have examined many wit-
nesses and given much time to the consideration of
the various propositions obtained by advertisement
or otherwise. As will be seen in a subsequent part of
the report, we finally referred this question to the
further consideration of the professional chemists
who were on the committee.

" 19. On the first question, the committee aro de-
cidedly of opinion that it is not necessary nor desir-
able to proceed with any general coating, painting,
oiling, or washing of the whole building. It is
quite obvious, in their judgment, that a very large
proportion of the stone does not require any such
application ; but that what is wanted is some eprocess which should be applied to the surface
ffl-
stone that begins to show symptoms of de-
ocifenatny,
cay, with a view to arrest its progress. The com-
mittee believe that the persons to whom the care
of the building is intrusted ought to watch it, and
note in the very earliest stages wherever decay is
perceptible by efflorescence, change of colour,
crumbling, or slight decomposition.
" 20. In cases where the decay is important, and
evidently eeeasi9ned by the fall 9f rain on an upper

Amount applied out of the Income for the Quarter ended Sept. 30, 1801, in
redemption of Exchequer Bills (Deficiency), for the Quarter ended June 30,
18 :4,
2,065,934

Amount applied out of' the Income to Supply Services, in the Quarter ended Sept.
30, I%j 10,455,35

Charge of the Consolidated Fund for the Quarter ended Sept. 30,1861, viz.:—
Interest of the Permanent Debt
Terminable Debt 653,732
The Civil List
Other Chames on Consolidated Fund
521319
Advances for Public Works, &c.

•
Surplus Tlalance in Ireland beyond the charge of the Consolidated Fund in Ire-
land, for the Quarter ended Sept. 30, 1801.

7,105,28

274,985

£19,932,082

projecting or exposed surface, protection should be
afforded by a covering o sheet zinc or lead ; and if
hereafter any composition should fortunately be
discovered by which the decaying stone could be
at once covered or coated, and the injurious influ-
ences of the atmosphere prevented from further
acting upon it, the difficulty would be solved. In
some extreme cases the decayed stone might be cut
out and replaced by a new one. With regard to
the processes which have actually been applied,
whether experimentally or extensively, your com-
mittee are decidedly of opinion that the discovery
of a proper mode of treating stones in a state of decay
has not yet been made, and there is no evidence
whatever on the building itself to induce them to
believe that the decay, where decay has arisen, has
been arrested, or that permanently the decay has
been prevented by any of the processes yet applied.
" 21. With reference to the second question, we
found ourselves unable, after much labour, to come
to any definite conclusion ; and we finally requested
the chemists in the committee to examine and report
upon it ; but those gentlemen state, as appears by
their report in the appendix, that the nature of the
inquiry is so extensive, and that time is so impor-
tant an element iu the solution, that they are unable
to give any opinion upon the subject. They further
state that they spent five whole days in the exami•
nation of only one suggested remedy, but they are
unable, notwithstanding, to give any opinion on
even that one suggtstion. They allude to secret
processes, regarding which they say they Gan offer
no opinion, but they express a doubt of the applica-
bility of any suggestion which would demand the
veil of secrecy for protection. Concurring in this
view, it may be further noted that even if such
applications were found successful in sample or ex-
periment no security would be afforded for a corre-
sponding success in any subsequent large operations.
They recommended that a series of experiments
should be conducted under chemical supervision for
tt considerable period of time, and the committee are
most reluctantly compelled to coincide with them,
and to urge upon the Government the adoption of
such a course.

" IV.—' The qualities of the stones to be recom-
mended for future use in public buildings to be
erectQd in London.'

"22. On this head of the inquiry the committee
have boon unable, in the time allotted to them, to
go into any very extensive examination. It is ob.,
vious, however, that although some varieties of
magnesian limestone are an excellent and durable
material, when not exposed to the deleterious influ-
ences of the London atmosphere, yet that in London
it is subject to causes of delay, which render it an
undesirable and unsafe material for the construction
of public buildings.
" 23. It is equally obvious that Portland stone,
well selected, has been used in buildings in London
from the date of St. Paul's downwards, under cir-
cumstances of great exposure, and with most suc-
cessful results. Portland stone is a material to be
obtained in any quantity and in blocks of any siza,
beautiful in colour and texture, reasonable in price,
not by any means so hard as the Anston stone,
and yet with a power of resisting the influences of
the London atmosphere that leaves but little to be
desired. It must be remarked, however, that Port-
land stone should be carefully selected, an operation
which would be the most satisfactorily effected by
an agent at the quarries.
"2}. On this subject the Commissioners could of
course bring much personal experience to bear ; but
after the valuable explanation of the principles upon
which the decay of stone depends in populous
places, as given by the chemists, in their report
before referred to, the Committee refrain from re-
peating
those conclusions, in which, however, they
entirely concur.

"25. During the inquiries of the Committee, one of
their members, Mr. Burnell, who is well acquainted
with architectural and engineering works in France,
undertook, at his own expense, a journey to Paris,
to inquire into the practice of the French architects
engaged in the Government works in that metro-
polis. There, the stone used, the rcalcaire gros-
sier,' though a carbonate of lime of tertiary age,
and therefore of very different mineral composition
from our magnesian limestone of the much older
Permian age, seems to suffer also from decay in a
comparatively pure atmosphere, and where wood is
chiefly used as fuel.
"2G. From the evidence of Mr. Burnell, it does
not appear that French architects or chemists have
been more successfnl than ourselves either in the
use of materials not subject to atmospheric influ-
ences, or in the application of processes for arresting
decay, when it has once begun. The opinions of
the m)st scientific chemists and architects in France
on this subject have, however, in this way been ob-
tained, and it is extremely probable that the inqui-
ries undertaken by them, simultaneously with those
undertaken in this country, may hereafter lead to
some successful result.

"27. The Committee have to thank the Govern-
ment for the facilities given to Mr. Burnell in this
important part of the inquiry, -by providing him
with an introduction which obtained for him the
active assistance of her Majesty's Ambassador at
the Court of the Tuileries.

" 28. The Committee delegated, gs before stated,
to a sub committee the duty of examining the various
buildings in London in which magnesian limestone
from the Anston quarries has been introduced in
the external architecture. The report of this sub-
committee forms part of the appendix, and we beg
to refer to that report as confirmatory of our
opinion of the uncertain character of magnesian
limestone, and the risk attending the use of it in
London.
" 29. In conclusion, the Committee venture to
recommend that the architect of the Palace at 'West-
minster, assisted by scientific chemists, should
- examine and record the actual state of the stone-.
work of the building at the present moment; that
experiments should be made by their direction,
under various conditions of height, exposure, and
aspect, with such preservative materials and agents
as the chemists may suggest from time to time, and
that researches should be continued into the effects
of the various alkaline silicates, the phosphates, and
other substances which have been brought under the
notice of the Committee, or suggested in Germany,
France, or elsewhere ; that where decay arises from
(14u3V, uIeCtUS Should be token to protect the stone,