1824.] 
a cure might have been obtained by 
judicious medical treatment, may thus 
be irrecoverably lost. 
In conclusion I would observe that 
inflammation of the brain, and the water 
found in the ventricles after death, are 
seldom, if ever, primary diseases, but are 
the effects of some other complaint, 
which, if early perceived, and skilfully 
treated, may be frequently removed; but 
if neglected, misunderstood, or impro- 
perly managed, all that remains for us, 
is to watch our patient’s certain progress 
to the grave. CHARLES SEVERN. 
Egham, Aug. 2, 1824. 
——a—— 
For the, Monthly Magazine. 
\ PAVING of STREETS. 
RANITE stone, which is used for 
paving cart-ways of streets, is the 
hardest and most durable material which 
can be generally used; but the unevenness 
of the pavement, and the expense of 
keeping it in something like order, are 
the great objections to the present pave- 
ment. Could it be kept as even as 
when first laid, no better road could 
then be made in narrow streets, whence 
there is much traffick. 
The new system of’ breaking large 
stones into small pieces, will not do so 
well in confined streets; where there is 
much traffick, for the frequency of open- 
ing the ground to repair pipes, would 
always keep the road in a state of old 
and new, or firm and loose. ‘Not only 
that; but if not kept wet, the dust would 
be a.greater annoyance than the present 
rough pavement, 
What makes the present paved streets 
the most' objectionable, is, that they are 
continually in a’ state of hills and holes. 
The pavement does not become so from 
wear; the stones have not wore away, 
for you may invariably see, in every 
street where there is much traffick, that 
about a week or two after new pavement 
is done, it is‘as uneven as almost any of 
the old. 
Now this, J think, may be remedied by 
a more careful and judicious mode in 
arranging and squaring of the stones, 
and in fixing them down. In the first 
lace, the present way of arranging them 
is, to pnt together little and big ones, 
just as may happen; one may be twelve 
inches in length and the next one only 
six. The one which stands only upon 
_ six inches of ground, will sink further in 
with a heavy weight than the other, 
which stands on twelve inches. 
In the second place, there is not much 
Mr, Single on the Paving of Streets. 
127 
attention paid to the squaring of the 
bottom part, or bed of the stone. Now, 
suppose two stones to be together of an 
equal size, the one quite square, or flat, 
at the bottom, and the other to be 
pointed like a wedge, would not an 
equal weight on the top press one fur- 
ther into the earth than the other? 
In the third place, the present way of 
fixing them down is, first, to loosen the 
ground on which they are to be fixed. 
If one of them should be much deeper 
than another, then to scratch away the 
loose ground, so as the top of the stone 
may be fixed even with the others. If 
another should happen to be not’ so 
deep as the general run, more loose 
ground is to be added, so. as to raise it 
up to an equal level. Then comes the 
rammer to beat them down firm: a 
slight blow sinks the stone which has 
the most loose dirt under, and it takes, 
perhaps, three or four heavy ones to 
knock down the one which ‘has little 
or none under it., Now,’ with an 
equal weight on these, for instance, a 
loaded waggon, will not the first stone 
which has had but a slight ramming sink 
much more than the other? Why, in 
fact, the present system of paving is 
nothing more than putting the ground 
into a state of hard and soft, or hills 
and holes, and placing stones: upon it to 
prevent our seeing or believing that it 
1s SO. 
Now, the amendments in paving 
which I suggest, are first, to leave off 
ramming the stones, and to ram the 
ground instead on which the stones are 
to be placed to precisely the same form 
that you intend the top of the pave- 
ment to be; second, to place together all 
the stones which are exactly of one size; 
fourth, the bottom, or bed, to be per- 
fectly flat or square; then set them on 
this hard-rammed ground, and you will 
seldom see paving in hills and holes. 
For example, suppose that © such 
squared stones were placed on the top 
of any good hard road without at all 
loosening of it, would not the pavement 
be firmer and less likely to sink in holes 
than if the ground were pecked up and 
the stones rammed? Recollect, the 
knocking of them down does not make 
them harder; it is only done to make 
the ground harder on which they stand. 
Surely, then, it would be more effectu- 
ally done by beating it down hard before 
the stones are put upon it. 
Tuomas SINGLE, 
Mile End, Aug. 11, 1824. 
