.KHIN MKTcAi.r, i;.\i> MAKKII. ^-JT 



course and the nature of the different soils fchroilgh 

 which il was conducted. Having meiit i<>nr<l to him a 

 boggy piece of ground it passed throiigli, he observed 

 ihat 'that w;is the only place he had doubts concerning', 

 and that he was apprehensive they had, contrary to his 

 directions, been too sparing of their materials.' ' 



Metcalf s skill in constructing his roads over boggy 

 ground was very great; and the following may be cited 

 as an instance. When the high-road from Huddersfield 

 to Manchester was determined on, he agreed to make 

 it at so much a rood, though at that time the line had 

 not been marked out. When this was done, Metcalf, 

 to his dismay, found that the surveyor had laid it out 

 across some deep marshy ground on Pule and Standish 

 Commons. On this he expostulated with the trustees, 

 alleging the much greater expense that he must ne- 

 cessarily incur in carrying out the work after their 

 surveyor's plan. They told him, however, that if he 

 succeeded in making a complete road to their satisfac- 

 tion, he should not be a loser ; but they pointed out that, 

 according to their surveyor's views, it would be requisite 

 for him to dig out the bog until he came to a solid 

 bottom. Metcalf, on making his calculations, found that 

 in that case lie would have to dig a trench some nine 

 feet deep and fourteen yards broad on the average, 

 making about two hundred and ninety-four solid yards 

 of bog in every rood, to be excavated and carried 

 away. This, he naturally conceived, would have proved 

 both tedious as well as costly, and, after all, the road 

 would in wet weather have been no better than a broad 

 ditch, and in winter liable to be blocked up with snow. 

 lie strongly represented this view to the trustees as 

 well as the surveyor, but they were immoveable. It 



1 "l)lisrrv:iti(Uis on Blindness ami 

 on the Employment of the nthcr 

 Senses to supply the Loss <!' Si-lit." 

 By Mr. lie \ v. ' Memoirs of the 



Literary ami 1'hilosophieal S<>eiri\ of 

 Manelu-ster,' vol. i., pp. 172-174. 

 Paper read 17th April, 17-L' 



