BUILDING MATERIALS. 



201 



1840, he soon came into the possession of a 

 large fortune, which enabled him to gratify his 

 passion for books. Of these he made a very 

 large and choice collection, and to an extent 

 seldom equalled at his age, had made himself 

 master of their contents. His extensive read- 

 ing and devotion to study attracted the notice 

 of such men as Hallam and Bunsen, who re- 

 garded him as a young man of great promise. 

 The tendency of his mind and the drift of his 

 studies had been from an early period toward 

 the philosophy of history, and the result of his 

 many years of labor finally took form in a pro- 

 posed '' History of Civilization." The first vol- 

 ume of this, consisting only of an elaborate in- 

 troduction to the " History of Civilization in 

 England," appeared in 1857, and was repub- 

 lished the next year in this country ; a second 

 volume, also introductory in its nature, and de- 

 voted to the developments of civilization in 

 Spam and Scotland, was published in 1861, 

 and a third, in which he was to review the 

 civilization of Germany and the United States, 

 was in progress. These were all preliminary 

 to his treatment of the subject of the " History 

 of Civilization in England," of which the greater 

 part was said to be ready for publication. He 

 had also published in " Eraser's Magazine " 

 two essays, republished since his death in this 

 country, on "Liberty," and on the "Influence 

 of Women." The theory on which his histori- 

 cal works were based caUed forth strong and 

 severe animadversion, and was hardly accepted 

 even by his most intimate friends and admirers ; 

 but while many of the objectionable positions 

 in his works were attributed to his isolation as 

 a student, and his one-sided views of humanity, 

 he was unquestionably but partially understood, 

 and greatly misrepresented by his critics. A 

 more free and extended commingling with his 

 fellow men, it was thought, would have greatly 

 modified his theories, and brought his really 

 reverent spirit to a better understanding of the 

 " ways of God with man." The literary merits 

 of his works are very great : they give evidence 

 of vast research without pedantic display, and 

 the style in its lucidity and fascination com- 

 pares favorably with that of the great English 

 historian Macaulay. 



Mr. Buckle had seriously overworked him- 

 self in the preparation of his second volume for 

 the press, and after its publication suffered from 

 illness for some months. In October, 1861, he 

 left England, accompanied by two boys, sons 

 of a friend, to spend the winter on the Nile. lu 

 March, his health being improved, he left Cairo, 

 with Mr. J. S. Stuart Glennie, for a tour through 

 Sinai, Petra, and Palestine. The fatigues of a 

 horseback journey through the latter region, 

 led to his serious illness for about ten days at 

 Nazareth ; recovering partially he pushed on 

 to Sidon, and thence by the easiest route to 

 Damascus, where he was attacked with typhus 

 fever, and died after about ten days' illness. 



BUILDING MATERIALS. The very mark- 

 ed decay already taking place upon the surface 



of the stone used in building, not many years 

 since, the new palace at Westminster, London 

 the edifice containing the new houses of par- 

 liament having led to the appointment of a 

 committee to consider the subject of the causes 

 of decay in building stones and the possibility 

 of preventing it, the report of that committee 

 has not only furnished some important infor- 

 mation upon the topics in question, but has 

 served to elicit further discussion in England 

 and to some extent in this country. The stone 

 used in construction of the palace a magne- 

 sian limestone was mainly procured from the 

 quarries of Anston ; a portion, however, in view 

 of its reputation for durability, was taken from 

 the ancient quarries at Mansfield Woodhouse. 

 The committee of investigation just referred to, 

 appointed by an order of the House of Com- 

 mons, consisted of Sir R. I. Murchison: Geo. 

 Godwin, and M. Digby Wyatt, Vice-Presidents 

 of the Royal Institute of British Architects ; D. 

 T. Ansted and James Tennant, Professors of 

 Geology ; A. W. Hofmann, Edward Frankland, 

 and F. A. Abel, Professors of Chemistry, and 

 others: their report is dated August 1, 1861, 

 and is based upon results elicited by an exami- 

 nation of 77 communications submitted, and of 

 31 witnesses 13 meetings, irrespective of those 

 of sub-committees, having been held for the 

 purpose. The more important statements in 

 reference to the four points of inquiry specified 

 in the act of appointment, as condensed from 

 the reply of the committee, are as follows : 



' I. The extent and position of the decay." 

 This began to appear in portions of the palace 

 first built, and about 7 years after their execu- 

 tion ; yet in some of the most recent parts it is 

 now as obvious as in any others. In the parts 

 toward the Thames, and hi those fronting on 

 the approaches to Westminster Bridge, the de- 

 cay is much greatest in the lower portions of 

 the wall ; in some exposed positions where it 

 was looked for, it is extremely slight ; but in 

 the inner courts, which are much sheltered, it 

 is considerable, and perhaps the worst speci- 

 men is one of the parts most sheltered of all 

 an archway leading to the reporters' gallery, 

 near the entrance to "Westminster Hall. Thus, 

 the material appears most liable to decay in 

 damp and confined situations. The actual dis- 

 integration and discoloration of the stone in 

 the affected portions are already considerable, 

 suggesting deeper inroads into the material 

 than are at first apparent ; but though the dis- 

 figurement, marking the plane surfaces more 

 than the carved work, is already serious, it is 

 inferred that the stability of the structure is 

 not at present endangered. 



"II. The causes to which the decay is at- 

 tributable, taking into consideration the com- 

 position of the stone, and the influence exerted 

 upon it by moisture, and by the acids diffused 

 in the London atmosphere." It was previous- 

 ly known to some contractors that some layers 

 of the Anston stone were liable to decomposi- 

 tion ; and though no inspector of the material 



