Nov. 14, 1884.) 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



405 



I 



Night Sign for the Month. 



supersede, or be a substitute for, an examination of the 

 thing itself. I strongly recommend the amateur, then, to 

 obtain an old Oxford frame, take it to pieces, and to reread 

 this article with it in his hand. He ought not to have 

 much difficulty in making another then. 

 (To be conftnued.) 



I 



ZODIACAL MAPS. 



By Richabd A. Proctor. 



"f T7E give this week both the day sign and the night sign 

 V* for the month, one showing the zodiacal sign now 

 high in the heavens at midnight, tbe other showing the 

 region of the zodiac athwart which the sun pursues his 

 course at this part of the year. 



CHAPTERS ON MODERN DOMESTIC 

 ECONOMY. 



II.— THE FRAMEWORK OP THE DWELLING-HOUSE. 

 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 



DURING the past few weeks we have instituted a 

 series of inquiries regarding the present state of 

 knowledge amongst builders and others who are concerned 

 in the establishment of dwellings in the vicinity of London, 

 and we have been led to discover a few items of interest 

 which may prove of value to some of our subscribers. 



The vast majority of viUa residences and siiperior semi 

 detached houses are the outcome of plans submitted to 

 capitalists by competent architects; they usually include 

 most of the conveniences of a healthy dwelling, with the- 

 exception of certain details which are very apt to be over- 

 looked as trivial or unimportant, but, which we shall show 

 hereafter, are of considerable practical value. Altogether, 

 however, there is but slight ground for fault-finding 

 amongst this class of buildings, the reason being that they 

 are the work of competent and well-trained professional 

 men. 



But let us turn for an instant to those other abodes 

 which represent the major portion of our homes. They 

 are tenanted by the middle, poorer, and labouring classes, 

 and realise rents of from XI 5 to £40 per annum. They 

 are generally erected under the following circumstances : — 

 A capitalist, usually a working man " who has ris," invests 

 a few hundreds through the agency of a practical friend, 

 or other intelligent workman, whom he styles his foreman. 

 It may happen that the foreman in question has had a good 

 builder's education, and is fully aware of the advances that 

 have been recently made ; but it is more often the case 

 that he is a man who can turn his hand to anything, from 

 the nailing on of garden palings to the fixing of a " Long 

 Hopper " basin. His architectural acquirements are based 

 upon the practical information he has derived during his 

 apprenticeship and journeymanship in the work connected 

 with larger and well-constructed houses, but he falls short 

 when he comes to apply his knowledge as a supervisor, 

 inasmuch as his training is devoid of those thoroughly 



