1843.] Asphaltic Mastic, to Flooring, Roofing, tyc. 535 



submitted to experiment. This is sufficient authority for my advo- 

 cating its adoption, and constitutes a guarantee for its future success 

 in India. I will here slightly anticipate the subject by noticing the 

 result of an experiment which I undertook, to prove the efficiency 

 of the substance to resist great heat, lest any sceptic should stop 

 short of a full investigation of its merits, under an idea, that its com- 

 ponent parts being bitumen and pitch, it would not answer in India. 



A section of prepared flooring in a wooden frame 12"-f 6" with a 

 surface of 3-8" of mastic was placed in a large oven (used for reducing 

 the asphalte to powder) with a thermometer which directly rose to 

 230°, and though kept in for six hours, it presented a surface at the end 

 of that time quite free from grease, proving that the pitch, the propor- 

 tion of which is small, was not drawn out by the great heat, the ex- 

 tent of which I could not ascertain, as the thermometer tube broke 

 shortly after insertion. A very few minutes after being spread in a 

 fluid state, it again resumes its original density, which is such, that at 

 100° Fahrenheit, it resists all impressions from ordinary force. How 

 frail and perishable are the floors and terraces of ordinary construc- 

 tion ? In many situations unable to resist the wear and tear to which 

 they are exposed from a variety of causes, such as the friction of stores 

 and other heavy articles in magazines and store rooms, the dragging to 

 and fro of boxes, cots and musquets in Barracks, &c. &c, whilst public 

 as well as private property suffers considerably from the facility of 

 access to white ants and damp through the slightest crevices in floors. 

 Who is not aware of the rapid increase of the smallest hole in a terrace 

 floor, and of the difficulty of efficient repair from the want of combina- 

 tion between the new and old material ? It must surely then be no 

 small matter of consideration, the employment of a material which 

 offers a remedy for these evils, and affords a means of putting a stop 

 to the constantly recurring heavy outlay on repairs. 



It is well known, that the use of a bituminous cement was common 

 in ancient structures, and history informs us, that the walls of Babylon, 

 that wonder of the world, were cemented with hot bitumen.* In the 



* The Museum of the Society contains four bricks from Babylon, presented by Mr. 

 Rich, and marked with the arrow-headed characters. On the reverse of these the 

 bituminous cement is yet partially adhering, and upon examination, its chemical 

 characters were found closely to correspond with those of Captain Goodwyn's Asphaltic 

 Mastic— Eds. 



