270 LECTURE XXII. 



a quantity of the melted lead had fallen down 

 his throat. The poor fellow died in great agonies 

 a few days after, and, to the astonishment of the 

 surgeons, on opening his body a piece of lead, 

 weighing upwards of seven ounces, was found in 

 the stomach. This may appear to you some- 

 what marvellous, but it is a well-known as well 

 as a well-authenticated fact. 



On the recommendation of the Royal Society, 

 Mr. Smeaton, an engineer of the highest cele- 

 brity, was entrusted with the erection of another 

 lighthouse on the Eddystone, in place of that 

 built by Mr. Rudyard. In order to guard 

 against future accidents by fire, he decided on a 

 building of stone ; and to prevent the possibility 

 of its oversetting, as the first had done, he con- 

 structed the tower courses of heavy blocks of 

 granite, which were dove-tailed into the solid 

 rock, and fastened to each other in like manner. 

 In choosing the form of the new building, he 

 adopted that which Nature presents in the 

 growth of a spreading oak, which has a broad 

 swelling base, gradually diminishing in a beau- 

 tiful curve as it rises upwards. After encoun- 

 tering many difficulties in the construction, the 

 light was exhibited on the 16th of October, 



