220 CHEAP AND DURABLE STRUCTWIIES. 



Strangers who have sailed upon the Rhone probably never 

 suspected that those beautiful houses which they saw rising on 

 the hills around them, were built of nothing but earth. 

 Manvadvan- Ther^ is every reason for introducing this method of build- 

 rW^ecl from thfs '"^S ^"^^' ^^^ P^^*^ *^f Ireland : whether we consider the honour 

 m nner of of the nation as concerned in the neatness of its villages, and 

 '""* the consequent health of the inhabitants, to which it will greatly 



contribute (as such houses are never liable to the extremes of 

 teat or coUl), or whether we regard t!ie project on an economir 

 pal or an expeditious scale, by saving both time and labour 

 in building, and n-ndering the houses thus built almost imme- 

 diately inhabitable after they are finished ; for which latter 

 purpose, the holes made for the joists should not be closed up 

 directly, but left for the air to dry the walls more speedily. 



Method of forming the openings for Doors and JFindows. 



How the floor The openings fur the doors and windows must be left at the 



an ' window- l\^■^^Q q\ Iniilding the walls. This may be done by placing within 

 ways are to be , , ■ i /■ i i , i , n • 



juade. the mould either two or one ot the heads, wherever the wall is 



to terminate, and the opening commence. They should be 

 made sloping a little, in order to leave room for the frames and 

 sashes. 



On the description of co^nprcsscd Earth. 



Experiments After beating a small portion of earth, it was found to weigh 



which shew the thh-tv-ninc pounds and a half. Fifteen days afterwards it had 



time of drying. , '',. , , . t i c ,\ ^c 



lost tour pounds and a quarter. In the space ot another nt- 



tecn days, it lost but one pound ; and in fifteen days after that, 

 In forty-five it diminished only half a pound. In the space of forty-five 

 *^^^d ^'^ th^T" ^^y^ the moisture was completely evaporated, and it's weight 

 dry, and loses was diminished about one-eighth. This small portion of mois- 

 *'uuh"'^' ture cannot at all affect the solidity and consistency of the 



earth so treated. This experiment is also sufficient to shew 

 the difference between this kind of building and that vulgar 

 kind called in Ireland " Mud-walling/' The latter cannot 

 be executed without adding a great deal of water, which occu- 

 pies a considerable space in the mud, and leaves, on evapora- 

 ting an infinite number of pores or little cavities ; and thus the 

 walls become weak and brittle, and incapable of supporting 

 much weight, as beaten earth or pise can sustain. 



In 



