Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-05-26
AID D Z ES S
Delivered before the Huntington Mechanic:
Institute. by
GEORGE Il. MARSH,

~.
led I, deyiate from the chronology cal order pro.
posed, and to anticipate some observations pro-
perly belonging to another division of the sub
;ect but the art of MASONRY, TO which | refer,
is so closely connected with those ofbrckmlking
and stone-cutting that it is impossible to give II
tolerablv complete sketch ot the history OF one,
without Intervening some notices Of the others,
and there is an obvious proprrly IN treating OF
them in connection.
The art of masonry attained to n high perf1c-
ton at a very early period, as is attesed by the
Pyramids of Egypt the ruins of Babylon, the
Cyclopean walls of Greece and Italy, and other
ancient structures, Of whose builders no certain
historical account has survived. The oldest
known structures in masonry are without lime,
cement, or other binding material. The first
cement seems to have been clay interminglcd
with reeds, and native btumcn was used in re-.
mote ages This is probably the substance which
is called slime, in the scriptural account of the
building of the tower of Babel and the bricks
in some of the ruins of Babylon are bound to-
rethcr by this cement. This bituminous mortar
il of such tenacity, that it has been found Who'll
Nv impracticablc to separate the bricks ccmented
by it in a pile of ruins at Babylon, which is sup
posed BY some TO be the remains OF the tower
of Babel. The use c lime, and other minerals
which possess the property of setting, as II is
termed;is much later, though still ancient. The
Greek and Roman dement's were OF very great
excellence, and were employed in masonry to
mnrh greater extent than at present. Cement
was used, not only a binding material, but
archpd roofs and ceilings of considerable breadth
Of span were often constructed almost wholly of
this material, sparngly strengthened by pumcc
stone The ancicnls laid stone and brcl, in all
the dff,rcn. bonds now employed though the
Flemish bond, consisting of headers and stretch
crs alternately, was preferred. Brick were some
times coprciously laid herring bone wise, n style
in which the strength of the structure depends
wholly u3on the gondncss Of the mortar, there
being no proper bond.
The arch, of the most imp ortnnt features
in modern m,sonry, was rarely used in Greece
thong. frequent in Roman architecture. There
has been much discussion among antiquarics
in relation to the origin Of the arch, and both
the round AMI pointed were generally sup
posed to he comparatively modern, but recent
Investigations in Egypt have concusvely
shewn, tnat both the circular and pointed or
lancet arch were in fam liar Use in that country,
at least 1880 years before the Christian era.
am not aware, that any very ancient specimens
ct the horse shoe arch, characteristic feature
OF Slracenc architecture, have been found. In
this form of the arch, the curves divcrge, from
the sr'ng, and the opening is therefore consid.
erably wider above the spring, than at the I'M
post. The Egyptian arch is in general in al
respects similar in prime pie to the modern, but
in some buildings Of great antiquity, arches oi
a more primitive form occur. In these, the arch
stones or voussor>, as thcy are technically call
ed, instead nj radiating from one or more cen.
tres, are laid horizontally, each course from the
impost upward on both sides of the opening Fro
jecting little over the next lower, and so on
until they meet at the crown. The lower cor.
ners Of the projecting stones being then cnt to a
regular curve, the interior would present the
appearance of Il common arch, A curious
instance of constructive skill, in applying the
self supporting principle to the formation Of
perfectly fiat or level arch, occurs in an English
cathedral. The visitor sees whit at Il short dis
lance appears TO be massive beam, extending
across wide space from wall to wall but which
upon closer examination, is found to be com
posed ut many separate stones or voussoirs of
trapezodal firm, supported i'll their places, up.
on the same principle as those Of the arch The
strength of this beam is such, that il will bear
the weight OF many persons, though it trpmhlcs
and vibrates t. the tread of single individual.
The mode of its construction is familiarly illus.
trated by the fiat arches often thrown across the
openings ol windows in BRICK hunscs The
strength of the dome depends upon the same
principle and it may be considered as n n hcmis.
pher cal arch, with this d iiirrcnce however that
the literal support enables i. TO dispense with n
Keystone, and it may he, and indeed usually is
left open n n" ton. The N = rarrari,pIIe of
u''hC> VA %. ~. Is Va.
Rome, ho,,N"n tr-nr,c i-l',,'ol +, au the
Gods, no" called 'I.. Il .tnaGa. u f.rne "a roof
over tn" whole building, and including the
thickness of the walls, is IG7 feet in diameter
with circular opening of 81 feet at the summit
The firmness Of this structure is such, that OK.
cept the depredations upon it rcrpetrn,cd OF
suffered by the pop"s, it has stood entire and
nearly uninlurcd for about twenty centuries
Scarcely less celebrated is the dome of ST. Pc
Nll ,cl f..Ip i.,,t !,
diameter than the Pantheon. This dome wa
erected by Michael Angelo about the year 1850
1t rests upon an an octagonal base, supported b,
arches springing from four pillars seventy fee
square, and 100 IN height. The dome is double
with flight of stairs between the inner AM
onter arch. Much admired as this work is, i
exhibits less constructive skill than some othc
architectural structures, inasmuch as severa
cracks have been discovered both in the dom,
and its octngonal base. The dome was origin
ally strengthened by two massive iron hoops
but it has been found necessary to secure it b,
six additional hoops, five of which, applied il
the year l743, weighed not less than twev
tons each. The dome of the cathedral of SAINT
Maria del Fiore at Florence, erected by Brunei
leschi early in the fifteenth century, though les
elevated, and of smaller dimensions, is consid
cred as surprising in lightness and grandeur o
style, not only the dome of st. Peters, bu
every other similar work Besides these struc
lures, may be mentioned the domes of St. Pau
at London, st. Genevievc at Paris, Santa So
phia, originally n Christian church, but now
mahometan mosque, at Conslantinople, and tina
Of the tomb Of Theodore at Ravcnna, which i
Temarkaoe ~ for its size, being but little NOR
than thirty feet Ia diameter, but because it con
sists OF single stone, followed out like
bowl
in the middle ages, stone was cytensivel
used for roofing, being supported bv archie,
The most remarkable work Of MS kind is In
roof of Kings College Chapel at Lo.nbridre i
England, in the Gothic STYLE, which h a AWAY
commanded the highest admiration OF ntei!irer
architects
The ancient builders possessed wonderful ski
in the practical application Of mrch,ncal pr !
ciples to the moving and raising of iunmen,
blocks Of stone ! have already mentioned III
almost mountainous masses employed n. Balhc
and others Of grcntcr dimensions were carrie
vast distances, and raised to great heights, 1
the Egyptians. The ohesks at llrliopnlis, Il
shafts of which are each Of n single stone wcigl
inr more than 2A0 tons, were transported 81
miles. A colossal statue at Thebos weighn
900 tons, was carried 1879 miles. md we ha,
accounts Of a temple hcwn out of a single roc
and transported TO n great distance. which mu
have weighed At least 5000 tons. The only mo,
ern achievement which can he compared wi
these is 'hc moving Of the pedestal Cor the cqnc