[ -17 ] 



VIII. Notices respecting New Books. 



Elcvientary Principlet of Carpentry ; heiug a Treatise on tlic 

 Pressure and Equilibrium of Beams, and Timber Frames; the 

 Resistance of Timber ; and the Construction of Floors, Roofs. 

 Centres, Bridges, &c. with practical Rules and Examplps. To 

 which is added, an Essay on the Nature and Properties of 

 Timber, the Method of Seasoning, the Causes and Prevention 

 of Decay; with Descriptions of the Kinds of Woofj used in 

 Building: and numerous Tables of the Scantlings of Timber 

 for different Purposes, the Specific Gravities of Materials, &c. 

 By Thomas Trrdgold. 4to. pp. 2.50, with nineteen ^to and 

 three folio Plates. — Taylor. Price 1/. 4^. 



X HE whole art of Building being dependant on the same theo- 

 retical principles as the art of Carpentry, the ol)ject aimed at in 

 tliis work, cannot be regarded with indifference. Carpentry is 

 in this work defined to be, " the art of combining pieces of Tim- 

 ber, for the support of any considerable Weight or Pressure;" a 

 definition which informs us, that the theory of carpentrv must 

 he sought for in the mechanical sciences, and we accordingly 

 find that the same has, since the time of Galileo, been more or 

 less cultivated, by the most eminent mechanical philoso|)her3. 



The design of the work before us, will be well shown by tlie 

 following extract from its preface ; " There is," savs the Author, 

 •' perhaps no class of the mechanical arts, so directly capable of 

 receiving improvement from the researches of Men of Science, as 

 those connected with Building; neither is there any that have 

 received a greater share of their attention ; but these researches 

 have not benefited practical Men, in proportion to the extent to 

 which they have been made, as thev are either given in Works 

 that are inaccessible to the l)ulk of Men of Business, or so com- 

 pletely scientific, as to be almost useless to any but Men of Sci- 

 ence themselves. It has been my object to make these researches 

 the ground-work of a practical Treatise." 



In noticing a Work like the present, which abounds in new 

 and important applications of Science, we can only point out the 

 most prominent features: in doing so we shall notice some parts, 

 wherein the Work seems to admit of useful improvement : it is 

 divided into ten Sections. 



The first Section treats of the principles of E(.|uilibrium and 

 Pressure of Beams and Timber Frames ; with examples of their 

 applidation in the practice of Carpentry : the exani])le whicii is 

 yiven, in the ca»c of the common hoisting C rane, makes us re- 

 gret, that the Author has not been less sparing of them. 



ill considering the doctrine of the ccjuilibrium of a system of 



Framing, 



