Building Materials. 19 



Since the affairs of the colony have sobered down, and people 

 have thought it wise to build for the future, an entire change 

 has taken place in this branch of trade. The fields of Prahran, 

 about three miles from Melbourne, where these miserable cakes 

 of clay were principally made, have been entirely deserted, and 

 entirely new districts have been selected for the manufacture 

 of the bricks at present used. The principal places where they 

 are now made for supplying the Melbourne market, are at 

 Phillipstown, Brunswick, and Hawthorn, all within a few miles 

 of the city. The colors of bricks now made are white, red, 

 and iron-grey. The white bricks are made of a fine pottery 

 clay, and are capable of resisting a very great heat. They 

 are equal to the ordinary fire bricks, and are used for furnace 

 purposes. 



Considerable care is now bestowed upon the treatment and 

 admixture of the various clays, which are of a very superior 

 kindj and capable of making the finest pottery ; and the result 

 is, that bricks are now made which are believed to be equal in 

 durability to those of which the old Roman walls were con- 

 structed. The best facing bricks are now worth about £6 per 

 1000 ; the best hard grey bricks about £3 5s., and ordinary 

 bricks about £2 10s. per 1000. 



In trying some experiments upon the power of stones to 

 resist crushing, a cubic inch of it was cut out of a white facing 

 brick. This resisted pressure up to 4600 lbs., which is 

 1465 lbs. more than was sustained by a cubic inch of the 

 Portland oolite stone. 



Moulded bricks of various kinds are now being made, and bid 

 fair to supersede the use of colonial freestone, the bulk of which 

 is infinitely less durable, and much more costly. 



The Chinese on some of the gold fields are now making bricks 

 of very good quality, and of a dark blue color. 



DRAINAGE PIPES. 



Drainage pipes of excellent quality, suitable for sanitary pur- 

 poses, are also manufactured at Melbourne. 



SLATES. 



Slates have been found in many parts of the colony, par- 

 ticularly at Sandhurst, Kyneton, Kilmore, &c. They have, 

 however, been but little used, except in a few cases for local 

 works. The Museum for Building Materials at Melbourne, 

 which is devoted for the collection of all descriptions of building 

 products, is partly roofed with slates from Sandhurst. They 



