Da 
Miscellanies. 383 
7. Asphaltic Mastic, or Cement of Seyssel.—A pamphlet before 
us, has been published in London, by F. W. Simms, Civil Engineer, 
(8vo. pp. 27, 1837,) explaining at some length the great importance of 
the above cement, in the construction of pavements, roofs, floors, hy- 
draulic structures, and other works of a similar nature. This ce- 
ment is prepared from a bituminous limestone, found at Pyrimont, one 
league north of Seyssel, in the department of L’Ain, on the eastern 
chain of the Jura mountains. This limestone is inpregnated pretty 
uniformly by about nine per cent. of bitumen, and for the purposes of 
the arts is broken down to a fine powder, being previously roasted to 
drive off any water that might be present. It loses by the roasting 
about one fortieth of its weight, and becomes so loosely coherent as to 
be easily forced through a sieve, with meshes one fourth of an inch 
Square. ‘To the calcareous asphalte thus prepared, seven centimes in 
the hundred are added of bitumen, extracted at the same place from 
the molasse (silicious gravel and bitumen) which extends from the 
banks of the river Rhone, to the foot of the Jura, covering the last 
stratum of the superior calcareous oolite, of which these mountains 
are composed. This bituminous gravel is broken into egg-sha 
pieces, and thrown into boiling water, by which means the bitumen 
is completely separated, with a yield of about fifteen to eighteen per 
cent. The bitumen and calcareous asphaltum are thrown together in 
the above proportions into iron cauldrons, carefully heated, and when 
liquid, a quantity of clean gravel also heated quite hot, is projected into 
the mass, and thoroughly incorporated by stirring. When itis rather 
more fluid than treacle, and begins to simmer, it is fit for use, and may 
be carried in buckets to the moulds, if the blocks of a pavement are 
desired ; or if intended for lining walls of stone or brick, forming of 
Toofs, and the like, the small gravel spoken of above, is omitted. 
Its application to all the purposes of architecture where cements are 
required, in the construction of permanent floors, water tanks, &c., 
Seems to promise the most substantial advantages. Several experi- 
Ments have been made to test its strength as a cement, one or two of 
which we will cite. Thirty bricks were cemented together with the 
Asphaltic Mastic* of Seyssel: the whole length was 5 feet 7} inches, 
each brick being two inches thick. 
cca 
* The following are the retail prices of this material, both in its native and man- 
Ufactured states, as charged by the company in Paris. 
£ s d. 
“ Asphalte in its native — = 100 a ne 219 rt eg eee: oC 
lish) 
Foot pavements &o. &e. sie metre superficial (1, 196 — yan Eng 
" 0 510 
07 6 
Covering of sell, per metre pagerledal ; - : > 
* 
