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been sufferers in some way or other, by this fatal delusion, could be arranged to give their testimony to it, their numbers would cover a not inconsiderable portion of the inhabited surface of the globe.

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All men are interested in this detail: yet, there are few by whom its interest will be felt with a practical impression; and the hardy writer, who should attempt to fix it, and to demonstrate the danger and fallacy of the popular error, would incur much less hazard of being disbelieved, than of exciting the derision of his readers for his unfounded zeal. "There needs no ghost," (may they say,) "come from the dead," nor writer from the press, "to tell us this." We all know it already. We all know it. -True but we all act, as if we were utterly ignorant of it. We shudder at the thought of it, when any recent, or near example, brings it home to our bosoms:-but neither example, nor self-bought experience operates as a warning. There was a time in the annals of this kingdom, when, if ever, the minds of its inhabitants might have been awakened to a sense of their future safety; when a dreadful conflagration had laid its whole metropolis in ashes. It might then have been expected that the united powers of science and legislature would have been all put in action to invent and carry into execution some effectual provision against the recurrence of the same calamity. This most obvious of all expedients either never occurred to any one among all the numerous sufferers, or fell with so faint an impression as to be unfelt, or inefficient. It is recorded, indeed, that the King did by his own authority order, that the streets should be made wider than before, and prohibit the use of lath and timbers in constructing the walls of the new-built houses. The Parliament, which met immediately after, confirmed what had been done; but made no provision for the future. There cannot be a stronger argument of

the total indifference of the nation to the general subject. It is not in the nature of mankind, to think in the mass. It is only from the minds of highly endowed individuals that inventions proceed, which conduce most to the benefit of society. Of this character was Sir Christopher Wren, the greatest architect of his time. He accordingly stood forth upon this occasion; and proposed the design of rebuilding the city, on a plan of great-not safety, but symmetry and magnificence! He too joined the whole body of the people in asserting the prerogative of fashion over common sense, and the principle of self-preservation. The people rebuilt their houses, and he abetted them, with the same destructive materials; and it is almost the only instance, in which we, their descendants, have not yet surpassed them.

If it could be doubted, that combustible substances exposed in their constant use to the action of fire, were liable to be catched by it, and consumed; if it could be denied that our houses are actually made up, in a large proportion of their composition, with combustible substances; the very important object of this little treatise might require a more ample detail of preliminary reasoning, to an attempt no less adventurous, than to subvert a practice rendered venerable by the sanction of the most remote antiquity, and enforced at this day by universal observance. But no argument can go beyond the blunt affirmation of an indisputable fact, into which the whole of the preceding dis course resolves itself. Sufficient, therefore, and more than sufficient, has been premised for the first purpose of this work. The second will be a suggestion of the remedies for the stated evils; and this will form the subject of the following pages.

The parts of habitable buildings, which are most liable to take fire, are the internal coverings, or linings, of the

walls;-the floors and ceilings;-the wooden stair-cases; -the doors and window shutters ;-whatever there may be besides of wood, in the rest of the building ;-and the garrets. The first of these is more dangerous than all the rest, from its combustibility, its inflammability, and continuity. It is composed of a slender frame of wood, called battens; of laths; of mortar, and of paper laid over the mortar, when dry, with paste. All these materials are highly inflammable, the mortar excepted, if that do not partake, by its combination with them, of their common quality. At the same time, the enclosed air, being colder than that of the adjoining room, rushes out, on the first opening made by the fire, like the continued blast of a forge, imparting additional force and fuel to it, until it has gained its level temperament.

The same, or similar materials, but in different forms, and less disposed by their horizontal position to conduct the progress of the fire, compose the aggregate of the floor and ceiling; between which the carelessness of the workmen too often leaves an additional provision of chips and shavings, for their future and eventual combustion.

It is unnecessary to descant on the other parts of the building. They are all of the same quality and tendency.

The remedies for these evils are, like the evils themselves, so obvious, that it is not easy to propose them in substance, or terms, that shall not shall not meet with their preconception in the mind of the reader. If the fashion of using combustible materials in building is pernicious, it follows of course, that we should disuse them, or use them only, where we cannot dispense with them; and in their stead have recourse, as much as we can, to incombustibles. To instance the facing of our walls, which has been described to be most liable to the danger of taking fire, and of conducting it: Let the walls be covered with mortar alone, or with plaster: but as these will not adhere

to the natural polish of some kinds of stone, and are apt to lose their internal tenacity from other causes, it will be advisable to provide against these consequences; and for this purpose the following cautionary processes are recommended.

First that of whatever material the bulk of the walls is constructed, they be lined with bricks :

Second that the bricks be well burnt; that is, to such a degree, as to return a ringing sound when they are struck. If they are imperfectly burnt, the frost will blister them, and moulder the surface to powder; and to this the mortar will not adhere.

Third that the bricks be soaked in water, before they are laid. The necessity of this precaution will be apparent to any person, who has witnessed the demolition of an old wall, in which the bricks will be generally found loose, occupying only the space left by the dry mortar, with an impression similar to that which is made by a seal on melted wax. The physical cause of this phenomenon is foreign from the design of this work. The fact is, that the water on the surface of the mortar, as soon as it comes in contact with the dry brick, is instantly drawn into it, and an equal quantity of air discharged; so that the mortar loses its first power of adhesion, to which the water is essentially necessary. It will be easy, and as cheap as easy, for any one, who distrusts the truth of this position, to put it to the proof, by spreading equal quantities of mortar upon two bricks, the one dry as it came out of the kiln, the other saturated with water; and letting the mortar remain untouched upon both, till it is perfectly dry.

Fourth that the water, and all the other ingredients of the mortar, be perfectly free from salts, and all manner of earths. Salts will make their way through the walls in the form of an efflorescence, and displace whatever is laid upon

them, or comes in contact with them; nor is there probably any cure to be devised for this malady, when it has once taken place. Earths are penetrable by water in every form of it, and will impart of course that quality to every other substance which is mechanically blended with them. They cannot therefore but be unfit for the composition of a ce

ment.

When the walls are built, it is advised to let them remain untouched, till they are quite dry. In the mean time the mortar, if that shall be preferably chosen for a covering to them, may be prepared in the customary manner, but with a more especial attention given to the purity of the ingredients. Of the plaster nothing need to be said. Let the surface of the walls be first wetted to saturation, and the mortar spread upon it, levelled and compressed, and the mouldings formed in the usual manner. In this state let it rest, till it is per

fectly dry. It may then receive a coat of paint, or two successive applications of fine mortar; but in no case paper; because, as the wall, in the prescribed state of it, will condense the atmosphere in contact with it, and cause it to run, when the atmosphere is warm, and the wall comparatively cold, the frequent repetition of this effect on the paper would moulder it, and accelerate its decay.

If it should be intended to finish the coating with mortar, it would be proper to wash the sand, that it may contain no impurities, and to reject all the bits of lime that are not burnt sufficiently to slack with the rest. When the mortar

is mixed, let it be ground to an equable degree of fineness, but still rough, and laid thinly over the first coat, and left to dry. For the last coating the same ingredients must be ground to an impalpable state, and laid smooth and even over the former, of a thickness not much exceeding, when dry, that of a card. Let the moisture which will gather on the surface be wiped off every morning with a clean cloth,

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