!216 



CitEAP AND DURABLE STRUCTURES. 



3Tethod of fix- 

 ing or using the 

 siouJil, betu-een 

 which the earth 

 is to be com- 

 prRgsed i 



FJciation of the Movid on the Wall. 



A. A stone foundation, eigliteen inches thick. 



B. Joists laid across the foundation wall. 



CC. The two sides of the mould, including betvteeti thetii 

 three inches of the foundation wall, 



I)D. The two upright posts, the tenons of which fit into 

 the mortices of the joists. 



E. Wall-gauge which fixes the width of the mould at top, 



and which is shorter than the thickness of the 

 wall at bottom, to regulate the diminution of ths 

 wall. 



F. A small cord making several turns round the posts. 



G. A stick, which being wound round, fastens the cord, 



and holds the posts tight together. 

 HH. Wedges which enter into the mortices in the joists, and 

 keeps the posts and mould firmly fixed against 

 the wall. 



— and of tak- 

 ing it down. 



The rammer. 



Such is the process of erecting the mould. A contrary order 

 must be observed in taking it to pieces. The rope must be 

 loosened, the wedges taken out, and the posts, mould, and joists 

 removed, to refix the whole again. 



The instrument with which the earth is rammed into the 

 mould, is a tool of the greatest consequence in the formation, 

 on which the durability and perfection of the work depends. It 

 is called a pisoir, or rammer. An idea of its construction may 

 be formed by examining Fig. 12. and 13. better than by words. 

 It should be made of hard wood, either ash;, oak, beech, or 

 ■walnut. 



Method of Working, 

 The method of Let US not confound pise with the miserable way of building 



working, ex- ^^^.j^j^ ^^.^^ ^^ mwd^, mixed with straw, as practised through Ire- 

 eniphued in an . 



land. Nothing can in reality be more different. Those 



wretched huts are built in the very worst manner that can be 



imagined ; whereas pise contains all the best principles of 



masonry, together with some rules peculiar to itself. Fig. 14. 



and 15. represent tlie elevation and plan of a house, the building 



of which will be regularly described, according to the method of 



pisG. 



The 



house con 

 structed of 

 earth, 



