Building, Materials. Haine: 
They absorb water very rapidly: one specimen gaining 11-523 
per cent. by weight in 20 hours, and another 13-257 per cent. 
When it had absorbed its maximum quantity it was easily 
crumbled between the fingers. A good brick does not absorb 
so much water as the Melbourne sandstones. One of 
Ramsay’s manufacture was immersed for 20 hours, and its 
increment was 2°841 per cent., and after 72 hours 3-216 per 
cent. Subjected to the ordinary tests the common red Brick 
very rapidly disintegrates. It may be inferred that a small 
amount of force would be required to crush it; and it is a 
matter of‘regret that I have no present means of ascertaining 
the exact weight. Such a material is certainly not suited 
for buildings three stories high; and yet a considerable 
number of houses in this City are so constructed. 
There is a very slight difference in the quality of the 
_ Melbourne Bricks. The fault is owing not so much to the 
material of which they are composed, as to the improper man- 
ner in which they are manufactured. They are usually burnt 
im clamps, and the clay is not ground and tempered as is 
customary in other countries. If suitable kilns were erected, 
and care was taken in the preparation of the raw material, it 
would be possible to make as good Bricks in Melbourne as 
any that are imported, excepting perhaps the fire bricks. 
Bricks which are made of pure clay, and heated to vitri- 
fication, have been found to resist atmospheric influences 
most completely. Such a material is unsuitable for high 
walls, as its cohesive strength is not so great as when a pro- 
portion of sand is used. The best English bricks are manu- 
factured from a clay which contains about one-fourth of sand, 
and if it should contract considerably in burning, the pro- 
portion of the latter is increased. Much of the fine clay 
around Melbourne contains lime and magnesia, but not in 
excess; and if it were mixed with the superficial clay at 
present in use, a manifest improvement would be apparent in 
the bricks. All materials of this manufacture are rendered 
more durable by glazing. This is effected by throwing a due 
proportion of salt into the furnace, the result of which is the 
vitrification of the outer crust. When the manufacture is 
otherwise imperfect, this system, if properly conducted, will 
lessen the tendency to decay, and obviate the unsightly and 
expensive system of painting, which is often resorted to in 
Melbourne. Not until we have the same spirit that animates 
the manufacturers in England and America will this branch 
of industry, be fully developed. Machinery has there super- 
