General Notices. 



527 



and we have before us the testimonials of D. S. Waters, Esq., of Coventry, 

 and of J. Gr. Shepherd, Esq., of Faversham, Kent, in favour of its excellent 

 action. — Cond. 



The Irritability of the Stigma of the Genus Mimulus is a fact that I do not 

 recollect to have seen recorded : it is remarkably irritable in all the species. — 

 N. W. G. 



Altering and improving an old Mansion. — A new front requiring to be 

 added against an old one, the walls on the ground floor which contains the 

 principal rooms are unavoidably 



made of more than double the 

 usual thickness, and advantage 

 is taken of this to have double 

 windows. The space between 

 the outer and the inner windows 

 is about 6 ft. by 4 ft., and in 

 each window this space is oc- 

 cupied as a cabinet for plants 

 in pots, which can be thrown 

 open to the room within, or to 

 the open air without, at pleasure. 

 The windows in the bed-room 

 floor of this house, being rather 

 loose, shake a good deal with 

 the wind ; and, to prevent this, a 

 double bead of well seasoned 

 oak is inserted in the window 

 case, as shown in the horizontal 

 section fig. 132. at a, on which 

 the style of the sash moves, and 

 is kept firmly in its place ; b is 

 the situation of the outer sash, 

 which has a similar double 

 bead ; d is the boxed frame for 

 the shutters inside the room ; 

 e is the box for the weights ; f 

 the brick forming the outside 

 jamb of the window ; and c the 

 outside sill. This is one of the 

 most effectual modes of pre- 



132 



■ Cond. 



venting old windows from shaking which we have anywhere seen. 



Paving luith Wood, which has been long practised on the Continent, has 

 lately been tried in Oxford Street, London, and with such success, that the 

 mode is being adopted in various other parts of the metropolis. It has long 

 been common in gardening, in paving the floors of rustic structures, and it 

 might be adopted with advantage in stable-yards, and in particular portions of 

 approach roads. In executing this description of pavement, the bottom is to 

 be made perfectly smooth and firm ; the blocks of wood are set on end, in the 

 direction of the grain, and the form of the blocks is either square, or penta- 

 gonal like the form of the cells of bees. The length of the block should not 

 be less than 8 in. or 9 in. But whatever be the length or form of the block, 

 it is of the utmost importance that the greatest accuracy be observed in both : 

 for the slightest difference in the length will produce an uneven surface, and 

 in the form of the sides, irregular interstices ; in either case, exposing the edges 

 of the blocks to be broken, or otherwise injured, by the wheels of carriages, 

 or the feet of horses. In the case of stone pavement, this accuracy is of 

 much less consequence ; because stone is not so easily broken as wood, and, 

 when a piece is chipped off, the weather does not make such havoc on what 

 remains. In the case of wood, however, when the edge of the block is 

 broken, or even bruised, the whole block absorbs and retains moisture, and 

 very speedily wears away from the action of the feet of horses, and the wheels 



