186 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



often for bridges, and occasionally for roofs, and the 

 more recent introduction of iron for some of those 

 purposes, wooden structures are met with in all coun- 

 tries, of vast dimensions, and often of great strength 

 and beauty. 



Roofs, &c. 



In modern roofino-, the timbers of the roof are 

 generally hid by a ceiling, so that strength only is 

 attended to ; while in more ancient tim^s, the timber 

 itself was made at once both ornamental and useful : 

 and in very large apartments, such as the ban- 

 queting halls of the kings and l^arons of the middle 

 ages, it had the advantage in point both of grandeur 

 and apparent stability. An extended flat ceiling ap- 

 pears to hang in the air ; while in an ancient roof, 

 like that of Westminster-hall, the support, of every 

 piece of timber is appareiit, and the only strain 

 which appears directly across the timber, is on the 

 boards and rafters between the great trusses. 



IVestminster-hall is the largest roof of the ancient 

 construction any whej'e to be met with ; and it is dif- 

 ficult to imagine a woi'k of human art which pos- 

 sesses, in so equal a degree, the three requisites of 

 beauty, strengtli, and durability. This hall was built 

 by William If. (Rufus), in the year 1097; it was 

 originally intended as a banqueting hall ; and the 

 monarch is said to have held a magnificent feast in it 

 on the Whitsuntide after its erection. Stowe adds, 

 that ample as are the dimensions of the hall, it did 

 not satisfj' the ambition of the king, who observed, 

 " This halle is not bigge enough by one half, aiid is 

 but a bed-chamber in comparison of that I minde to 

 make." And" Stowe adds, " a diligent searcher 

 might yet find out the foundation of the hall, which 

 he hadde proposed to build, stretching from the river 

 Thames even to the common highway." All traces 



