Triforium

“ The first triforium that goes around above us is not pierced, but just [Pg 65] above it we find the spacious embrasures of the second triforium. These latter are the largest of their kind the writer has ever seen; in fact, they are large enough to be placed in the clerestory of most cathedrals. Not satisfied with these, the architect has still further increased the lighting of the choir and given greater scope for the glazier by placing above this second triforium the lofty windows of the true clerestory, those toward the west of six lancets each, and those toward the east of two. ”

“ The triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large, wide-splayed, round-headed openings, in which the tracery and glazing introduced in the fifteenth century, when the aisle roof was lowered in pitch so as to expose the north side of the triforium to the sky, still remains. One of the triforium arches, namely, the third from the tower, was simply walled up at this time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory in this part of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. ”

“ Dog-tooth ornament decorates the mouldings of these triforium arches, and{208} also the string-course that separates the triforium from the clerestory. The clerestory windows are curious: spherical triangles enclosing three circles with quatrefoil cusps. Dog-tooth ornamentation runs around the windows. A large circle with five cusps ornaments the spandrels of most of the pier-arches across which the vault shaft passes. At the intersection of the various ribs (five ribs) are finely carved bosses. Much of the effect is obtained from the size of the triforium. ”

“ Each arch of the triforium (see Fig. 492) is acutely pointed, and contains two smaller acutely pointed arches within it, each of which has an inner trefoiled arch. These arches all spring from single round shafts, with plain round caps arranged to receive them. The tympanum of the large arch is pierced with a quatrefoil or trefoil. All the mouldings are of a bold first pointed character. The triforium, no doubt, contained the usual passage in the thickness of the wall, which would tend to weaken the structure. ”

“ FIG. 84.
building that we have yet noticed—the vaulting shafts resting on corbels situated far above the springing of the triforium arches. There are thus no continuous upright members embracing even two of the stories; and there would be hardly less structural continuity from the pavement if these vaults were carried on corbels at their springing. The ground-story and the triforium are merely two superposed arcades entirely unconnected with each other by any vertical members. The triforium string forms a cornice to the ground-story which is continuous from one end to the other of the nave. ”

“ Above the pier-arches there has existed a triforium, of which the only remains are a single shaft at either end of the nave, the beginning and termination of the arcade. The Norman triforium is in England simply a row of openings or pannels in the wall, to fill up, ornamentally, what would otherwise have been a blank space. In Germany it is a real gallery, and appropriated to the young men, and called the Männer-chor. ”

“ In earlier examples, even where the triforium was decisively divided into bays and had ceased to be a continuous arcading, it was absolutely independent of the clerestory, as in the transepts of the minster. There can be no doubt that the plan adopted in the nave was a convenient and logical one. It is impossible to have every advantage; and where the designer has set his heart on a wall of glass, he cannot combine it with a rich and prominent triforium. ”

“ The chevron ornament is absent in the earlier work in the choir and transepts. The triforium is almost uniform throughout the whole church. In each sub-bay it consists of two small arches under one larger one, with the tympanum solid. Here also the capitals are cushions and perfectly plain.
Above the triforium is the clerestory, which contains one light to each sub-bay, and surmounting all is the vaulting, which springs from the piers and from grotesquely carved corbels between the triforium arches. The vaulting ribs are ornamented with chevrons on either side of a bold semi-circular moulding. ”

“ But at Modena we find as genuine a triforium as in any minster of England or Normandy. Its form indeed seems somewhat rude and awkward, as if the containing arch had been crushed by the lofty clerestory above. And eyes familiar with Norman detail may possibly be amazed at the sight of mid-wall shafts, and those of a somewhat rough type, showing themselves in such a position. But the mid-wall [256] shaft is constructively as much in its place in a triforium as it is in a belfry window, and in the whole elevation there is nothing lacking. ”

“ It is possible that flying buttresses may have sprung over the aisle roofs; but there is hardly an instance of an external flying buttress of this early epoch, and it appears more probable that the triforium vaults formed the only abutments to the piers, which are almost heavy enough to bear the thrusts independently. As may be seen in Fig. 19, the capitals, [15] from which the high vaults sprang, were situated below the level of the clerestory string, so that these vaults may have been sufficiently abutted by those of the triforium. ”

“ Often the columns consist of slender shafts united on one base and under one capital. The mouldings of the arch, base and capital must be deeply cut and grooved. The pointed arches of S. John's have all these characteristic features. The lower of the two rows of pointed arches is called the triforium or blind story, that is, without windows, for it is built within the slope of the roof over the side aisles of the church. The upper row is the clerestory, containing many window lights. A triforium is only to be seen in the very largest churches. ”

“ In a church where the vertical bays are strongly marked I do not think that great comparative height in the clerestory helps to increase the effect of height. But in such cases the question rather lies between the arcade as one thing, and the triforium and clerestory together as another. Here the question lay between the triforium and the clerestory, and I cannot help thinking that, if the triforium had been on the same scale as that in the choir of Ely, the effect of height would have been less. ”

“ The design of the interior of the choir (Figs. 890 and 891) comprises in each bay a main arcade, resting on simple clustered piers of rather diminutive height, having bases and caps, the mouldings and foliage of which clearly belong to the middle pointed or decorated period. There is no triforium; but the arches of the main arcade being large and lofty, comparatively little plain wall space is left between them and the string course, but the wall space below the clerestory windows is plain and heavy. The latter windows are pointed and filled with simple tracery. ”

“ The interior is certainly grand but disappointing—almost all the arches are semicircular but (as the groining bays are not square) the wall ribs of the groining bays are pointed, and this gives in some way a general effect of pointed to the whole work. The main arches are round, but they were so covered with red hangings that it was impossible to see much of them. The triforium is of great height and consists in each bay of two round-head windows, filled in with slight tracery—the whole is of poor character and badly proportioned. ”

“ Because of the use of arsenic trichloride in the manufacture of organic arsenic compounds, a method of preparation was developed from arsenic trioxide and sulfur chloride or hydrogen chloride. It was also shown experimentally that the phosgene of the tail gas of phosgene plants might be converted into arsenic trichloride by reaction with arsenic trioxide. Charcoal is the catalyzer of this reaction. ”

“ On precipitating antimony trichloride or tartar emetic in acid solution with sulphuretted hydrogen, an orange-red precipitate of the hydrated sulphide is obtained, which turns black on being heated to 200° C The trisulphide heated in a current of hydrogen is reduced to the metallic state; it burns in air forming the tetroxide, and is soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid, in solutions of the caustic alkalis, and in alkaline sulphides. By the union of antimony trisulphide with basic sulphides, livers of antimony are obtained. ”

“ The fluoride is insoluble in water and mineral acids, as well as in excess of precipitant; this behaviour allows of a complete and easy separation of thorium from titanium and zirconium. The rare earth fluorides are also much more easily soluble in concentrated mineral acids than thorium fluoride, so that this compound may also be used in the separation from the rare earths. When heated in a stream of the acid to 800°, the hydrated salt yields the oxyfluoride, ThOF2; ignited in the air, it leaves the dioxide. ”

“ Sunlight, or a particular solvent, or the presence of some substance which acts as a catalyst, may effect the inversion. Cis and trans isomerism is also met with among cyclic compounds; it occurs among the terpenes; and certain alkaloids, as, for example, cocaïne, exhibit it.
Although the doctrine of stereo-chemistry was first enunciated in the case of carbon, and was, indeed, for a time solely confined to compounds in which carbon was the nucleal element, there is no a priori reason why the phenomenon should be so restricted. ”

“ Germanium is a greyish-white, lustrous metal of sp.gr. 5.5., melting at about 900°, and resembling silicon and tin in its general chemical relations.
Dysprosium, europium, gadolinium, lutecium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, thulium, and ytterbium (neoytterbium) belong, like scandium, to the group of the so-called rare earth metals. These substances have been detected in a great variety of minerals, many of which are extremely rare. The elements most frequently occur in nature associated with yttrium, cerium, thorium, and zirconium. ”

“ The methods of its preparation show that it does not combine with oxygen, although Troost and Ouvrard state that it unites with magnesium vapour. It forms no compounds with hydrogen, chlorine, phosphorus, sulphur, sodium, tellurium, etc. Even fluorine, probably the most generally active of the chemical elements, shows no tendency to unite with it. ”

“ Ammonia fails to precipitate trioxide of gold from solutions which are not tolerably concentrated, and in those containing free acid or ammoniacal salts the precipitate only forms upon boiling the solution. Before adding the ammonia, it is, therefore, proper to drive off the excess of acid, if any, by the application of heat. ”

“ If opium be infused in successive portions of cold water, the water dissolves all its poisonous principles, and also a peculiar acid possessing characteristic chemical properties. These principles are separated by means of the alkalis, the alkaline carbonates, or the alkaline earths. The most important of them are morphia, the chief alkaloid of opium,—narcotine, a feeble poison, not an alkaloid,—a peculiar acid, termed meconic acid,—and a resinoid substance. ”

“ The most important of the oxidation products of trop1ne is tropinone, C8H13NO, which is a ketone containing the grouping —CH2⋅⋅CO⋅CH2-since it yields a di-isonitroso derivative, a dibenzal derivative, and also forms mono- and di-oxalic esters. It is a strong base and has a powerful reducing action. ”

“ The separation of a crude thorium product from the acid solution obtained after decomposition of the mineral can be effected in two ways, both of which are based on the fact that thoria is less basic than the oxides of the cerium and yttrium metals. In the first, the rare earth elements, including thorium, are precipitated as oxalates by the addition of oxalic acid to the acid solution. ”

“ The funnels generally, but not always, radiate from a central globe. We give beryllium (glucinum) as the simplest example (2 on Plate III) , and to this group belong calcium and strontium. The tetrahedron is the form of chromium and molybdenum, but not that of the head of their group, oxygen, which is, like hydrogen, sui generis. These two groups are marked in orthodox chemistry as respectively positive and negative, and are closely allied. Another pair of groups show the same tetrahedral form: magnesium, zinc and cadmium, positive; sulphur, selenium and tellurium, negative. ”

“ Lime Water dissolves morphine, but is a solvent for narcotine only in presence of morphine.
Ammonia dissolves only traces of morphine; but narceine and codeine readily. It does not dissolve the other alkaloids, nor does it dissolve the resin.
§ 346. Assay of Opium.—The following processes may be described:—
Process of Teschemacher and Smith.—This process, with a few modifications, is as follows:—10 grms. of opium are as completely exhausted with proof spirit at a boiling temperature as possible. ”

“ The rare earth elements, as well as thorium, may be separated from zirconium by taking advantage of the insolubility of their fluorides in excess of hydrofluoric acid or alkali fluorides, since zirconium fluoride [121] is readily soluble in excess of the precipitant. The solubility of the fluorides in a large excess of concentrated acid increases with the electropositive character of the metal, the fluorides of the more negative elements being the least soluble. ”