IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMS OR SHAPES OF. MATERIALS AND SUBSTANCES USED FOR BUILDING. AND PAVING, AND IN THEIR COMBINATIONS FOR SUCH PURPOSES
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HODGSON, of Salisbury Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters. Patent under the Great Seal of Great. Britain, bearing, date at
Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her. heirs and successors, give and. grant unto me,
the said Richard. Hodgson,. Her especial. licence, full. power, sole privilege
and authority, that. I, the said: Richard Hodgson, my exors; adiñors; and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Hodgson, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree-with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter, during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her said-Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMS OR
SHAPES OF. MATERIALS AND SUBSTANCES USED FOR BUILDING. AND PAVING, AND IN
THEIR COMBINATIONS FOR SUCH PURPOSES," communicated to me by a certain
Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Richard Hodgson, shall cause a particular. description of

page_text: the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Hodgson, do hereby declare that the Invention in the Forms or
Shapes of Materials and Substances used for Building and Paving, and in their
Combination for such Purposes, has for its object to effect the following
improvements in the art of construction, namely,-
First, the formation of a perfectly horizontal platform, without the aid of
an arch.
Secondly, the formation of an horizontal platform superseding the use of the
arch, by the adoption of a peculiar but simple and regular form of construction,
in which all the materials are of the same shape, and the weight or pressure
acts perpendicularly and equally upon each material or stone, whereas in the
construction of horizonal platforms by means of arches, the only mode
hitherto known, all the materials must be of different forms and inclinations,
according to the situation in which they are proposed to be placed, and the
pressure is lateral, and dependant upon the keystones and abutments only.
Thirdly, the application of this principle of construction to buildings in
general, instead of the only principle hitherto known, that of forming all the
materials of a perpendicular and rectangular shape, the present Invention
accomplishing the same result by means which add considerably to the
strength and solidity of the building, videlicet, by producing the perpendicular
equilibrium and external rectangular form, by shaping all the materials or
component parts, according to the precise fixed and determined acute angle set
forth in the Drawings hereunto annexed. The Invention, in fact, consists in
forming or shaping materials or substances according to a new section of the
cube (such Invention being communicated to me by a Foreigner, and called by
him the stereotomy of the cube), which section is obtained by dividing the cube
into eight equal prisms or parts, four of which are to be taken from the
perpendicular corners of the cube, and the other four to be left remaining as a
compact solid body, but presenting the appearance of two solids or parallelo-
pipeds of equal shape and size lying obliquely across each other, and inclined
in opposite directions, the angle of their inclination being determined and
invariably fixed, as represented by the Drawings annexed hereto, and being
found by logarithmic calculation to be exactly sixty-three degrees, twenty-six
minutes, five seconds, and eight tenths of a second. The mode of ascertaining

page_text: and forming this angle with accuracy and correctness, and upon which the
success of the Invention wholly and entirely depends (inasmuch as it is the
only angle which causes the diagonal joining the obtuse angles of the two
parallelopipeds to fall in a perpendicular straight line, and which therefore
5 produces an inclined surface having the property of keeping a perpendicular
tendency), is to draw a square representing one side of the cube, and to divide
the upper side thereof into two equal parts, and from the point of division to
'draw an oblique line to the extreme point on the right at the bottom of the
square, and to divide in like manner the bottom side of the square into two
equal parts, and from the point of division to draw another oblique line to the
extreme point on the left at the top of the square, thus forming two oblique
parallel lines, or a parallelogram, and in the same manner on the square
representing the opposite side of the cube to form two oblique parallel lines,
but in the inverse or contrary way; that is to say, to divide the top side
of the last-mentioned square into two equal parts, and from the point of
division to draw an oblique line to the extreme point on the left at the bottom
of the said square; also to divide in like manner the bottom side of the said
square into two equal parts, and from the point of division to draw an oblique
lime to the extreme point on the right at the top of the said square, forming
two parallel lines or a parallelogram as before, which operations will present at
the upper and lower surface of the cube two squares united at the angles, and
forming one half of the whole cube. I further declare that the shapes and
forms before described, with their combinations, are applicable generally to
materials and substances employed in building and paving, whether of stone,
iron, bricks, or wood; and that though the said shapes and forms must in all
cases and materials be essentially the same, yet that they may be usefully
obtained and combined together in different ways, according to the nature and
quality of the materials employed, in the manner herein-after mentioned.
First, the shapes and forms before described are, in the case of stone, marble,
or other similar substances, to be formed by sawing or cutting the same out of
the full size of the cube, and leaving them entire in their relative dimensions,
so as to be ready to be placed together either horizontally, vertically, or
obliquely, as the case may require, and with or without the joints being filled
with cement, mortar, or plaster. Second, iron may be wrought or cast from
models made for the purpose, and although the angles are to be strictly the
same, the thickness may be modified according to circumstances; and the
node of uniting them is by screwing or otherwise securing the two oblique
surfaces together. Third, bricks may be of the same shape and form as
described for the stone, and put together with or without cement or mortar,

page_text: but it is not necessary to make them so thick as described under the head'
No. 1. Bricks may also be made singly, and put together when used, so as
to produce the same shape and forms as if made and moulded in a solid body;
and in doing so it is proper to form the separate parts, one with a recess, and
the other with a projection to fit; bricks of the same shape may also be made
with holes or grooves therein, to be applied in certain cases to the roofs.
of furnaces and similar erections, not only for the purpose of diminishing the
weight, but also for the purpose of giving a divided, free, and more diffused
issue to the heat. Fourth, the shape and form in wood must be precisely the
same as described for the stone, &c., No. 1; but in order to lessen the
expence both in labour and material attendant upon producing the shape from
a solid tube, the same form may be obtained by making the solid body from
two equal parts or blocks, which must be pegged or dowelled together at the
centre of each isosceles triangle forming the lozenge presented by their lateral
surfaces, the peg or dowel being in the centre of each isosceles triangle, as
will appear in the said Drawings hereunto annexed. For wood paving a
peculiar disposition of the materials or blocks thus shaped, and if necessary
pegged or dowelled, will be required, inasmuch as the blocks will have to bear
a great superincumbent weight, which will be continually moving and rolling
over them; they should therefore be laid upon solid firm dry ground, or other
solid firm dry foundation. As to the depth of the blocks, in ordinary cases
it will not be necessary to have them more than the depth of a whole cube
(say one of twelve inches) as described in Nos. 1 and 4, but the angle in
all cases to be the same. The solid body to be formed by two separate blocks
dowelled together with two strong pegs or dowells placed in the centre of each
isosceles triangle forming the lozenge which represents the two lateral faces of
the blocks, as described in the annexed Drawings; each row of blocks should
be also pegged together on the same principle, or they may be united by any
bituminous compound usually employed for similar purposes, so as to form one
compact body, and prevent the blocks being disengaged or separated one from
the other. It is necessary to add that the blocks may be packed up together
in the workshop in large square or oblong masses, as shewn in the said:
Drawings hereto annexed, so as to be laid down more speedily on the
prepared ground, where these masses must be fastened or united together,
either with pegs, or with any bituminous compound usually employed for
similar purposes. It should be further observed that the wooden blocks must
and will be necessarily placed nearly vertically as the tree grows. It should
also be stated, that according to the traffic in the roads or streets where the.
wood paving is intended to be laid down, its depth or substance must be

page_text: The wood paving may
increased or diminished according to circumstances.
in most cases be laid across the roads or streets from side to side, so as to
terminate each row of blocks or square masses of blocks against the stone
channel or the kirb stone, as the case may be; and the blocks or square
masses of blocks must be cut or terminated in two perpendiculars, so as to
form proper abutments to each other or to the kirb stone.
In some cases,
however, where it may be necessary, the square masses of blocks may be
placed in various directions, such as for instance in a diagonal line. The top
face of the blocks may also be usefully grooved at distances not exceeding six
inches apart to prevent the sliding or slipping of horses.
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing No. 1, consisting of six Figures, represents substances or materials
formed or shaped according to the aforesaid division of the cube. A and B
shew that portion of the cube which in a solid body forms the general shape
(consisting of two parallelopipeds) to be given to all substances and materials ;
the Figures 1 and 2 denoting one moiety or parallelopiped of such solid bedy,
and 3 and 4 the other moiety or parallelopiped, placed and crossing each
other in opposite directions, and joined. together in such cases where they
cannot conveniently be formed out of or of one solid mass. C, D, E, and F;
represent the perpendicular corners of the cube which are to be taken out
of it to obtain the forms and shapes shewn by the Figures A and B, when cut
from the solid.
4)
Drawing No. 2, consisting of six Figures, represents the two modes of
obtaining the exact angle with correctness. A and B shew the two parallelo-
grams of the front and back faces of the solid body or parallelopiped extracted
from the cube, and placed in opposite directions, as directed in the Drawing.
No. 1. C & D shew the two isosceles triangles of the front and back faces of
the Figure B in Drawing No. 1, and Figure E shews the two squares of the
upper surface united at the angles, forming one half of the whole square; and
Figure F shews the similar squares of the bottom surface, placed, of course,
the contrary way.
Drawing No. 3 shews the principle applied to platforms in bricks or stone,'
and which are formed by uniting the several solid portions of the cubes
laterally, the joints being united together with or without cement or
mortar. This Figure is intended to represent the application of the principle'
to platforms instead of arches, over all windows and other similar aper-
tures, to roofs and floors of houses and buildings, bridges, and other similar.
purposes.

page_text: Drawing No. 4, consisting of two Figures, represents the elevation of a
column, shewing the two different sides, and built according to the same
principal, by placing the several solid portions of the cube one over the other,
in order to evince the advantge arising from that shape, namely, that by
divesting the cube of one half of its substance and weight, the form which
remains still preserves the same principle of equilibrium and perpendicular
tendency as if it had remained in its entire and solid state.
Drawing No. 5, consisting of three Figures, being Nes. 1 and 2 of those
Figures, represents frames of wrought or cast iron bolted together, upon the
same principle and at the same angle as previously directed, and No. 3 shews
the plan.
Drawing No. 6, consisting of five Figures, represents the different kinds of
bricks to which the principle is applicable, the advantages of which are
precisely the same as described for other substances, and particularly for roofs
of furnaces, ovens, and other similar erections, some of which may require
a roof of peirced or open work.
Drawing No. 7, consisting of eight Figures, represents the principle as
applied to wood pavement. No. 1 shews the shape of the block, supposing it
to be cut or made out of one solid piece of wood. No. 2 shews one of the
parallelopipeds cut separately, to be afterwards coupled with another similar
one by pegs, as in Figure 1. No. 3 shews how, in some instances, greater
strength may be obtained by means of intercutting or dovetailing the blocks at
their isosceles triangles. No. 4 shews the mode of pegging, in order that one
block may be united to two others adjoining, No. 5 shews the exact position
of the two pegs in the centre of each isosceles triangle, as shewn by the letters
A and B. No. 6 shews a range of the blocks as laid across the road or street
pegged and united together. Nos. 7 and 8 show how the blocks may be in
the workshop disposed and packed up in large oblong or square masses; and
the lines R, L, show the direction in which these masses may be placed
across the street, R being the right and L the left side of the street.
Drawing No. 8, consisting of one Figure, represents the principle as
applicable to railways or other similar purposes in one block cut solid out
of one piece of wood, or in two united and bolted together.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to carried into execution, I would have it understood
that what I claim the Invention of is,
First, the mode of forming or shaping materials or substances for building,
paving, and other purposes, according to the division of the cube herein de-
scribed.

page_text: Secondly, the mode of employing in combination, for building, paving, and
other purposes, blocks, materials, or substances so framed or shaped.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Hodgson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.