STYLE. 



59 



of the engine waters every part of the 

 house — thus obviating the labour of con- 

 veying water from place to place. 



The gutters employed in these erec- 

 tions are, we think, a great improvement 

 on those hitherto used. They are the 

 joint invention of ourselves and Mr 

 Meiklejohn of the Westfield Foundry, 

 and were originally intended for using 

 in the proposed square garden at Dal- 

 keith — allusion to which will be made 

 in another part of this work. They are of 

 cast-iron, 4 inches diameter at the top, 

 and are shown in Plate VIII., fig. 1, a. 

 They have dovetailed mortices cast 

 in them for the reception of astragals, 

 which are fitted in with white lead. The 

 upper dotted line, b, shows a bar of 

 iron cast at the same time, 6 feet apart 

 from each other, intended for supporting 

 a narrow plank to walk on when repairs 

 are effecting. The under dotted line c 

 shows a perforated grating of cast-iron, 

 in 3-feet lengths, resting on the shoulders 

 of the gutter, and not fastened down, so 

 that they may be removed at any time 

 for clearing the bottom of the gutter of 

 leaves, or any sediment that may accu- 

 mulate. Their use is to preserve a clear 

 passage under them for the escape of 

 melted snow, which, without this precau- 

 tion, would, in a half-melted state, choke 

 up the discharge, and, in the event of 

 frost succeeding, might be extremely 

 injurious to the roof. When the length 

 H Fig. 



of the gutters is so great as to require 

 several supports, they are supported on 

 tubular cast-iron columns, d, which, while 

 they sustain the superstructure, also carry 

 away the rain water or melted snow. 



The wooden astragals e are shown of 

 the same size. Instead of the usual 

 rebate for the glass and putty, they have 

 a groove cut in them, /, into which the 

 glass is fitted with scarcely any putty 

 whatever — no portion even of what is 

 used being exposed to the weather ; an 

 important improvement, and one tending 

 to render the roofs more water-tight, as 

 well as to avoid the annual expense of 

 puttying and painting. On one side of 

 the astragal the groove is cut deeper 

 than on the other, to facilitate the intro- 

 duction of the glass in cases of repairs. 



Plate VIII., fig. 2, shows an external 

 or end gutter on the same principle : it 

 is shown as resting on the end wall of 

 the building. 



Plate VIII., fig 3, shows a half gutter 

 used in cases where two houses adjoin, 

 and are of unequal height. Fig. 4 shows 

 the mode of joining these gutters to per- 

 pendicular columns, as well as where join- 

 ings occur, even when not above the 

 support. 



Fig. 35 shows the partitions between 

 these houses, with part of the ventila- 

 tion. The parapet walls are supported on 

 10-inch brick piers, d d, linteled over with 

 Caithness pavement, c c, 3 inches thick 

 35. 



a 



DD 



0 



1 1 m 



~z D 



and 20 inches broad. These piers are 

 the same thickness as the walls, which 

 are built hollow, to receive the 8-inch 

 fire-clay air-pipes a a a, admitting air 

 from their orifices in the terrace wall, 

 and, after passing under the terrace walk 

 and front passage of the houses, rising 

 by the side of the doors, and passing on 

 to the back wall. Five of these air-pipes 

 have 3-inch bent pipes, e e e, &c, attach- 



ed to their sides : these are carried up, 

 as shown by the dotted lines, to the top 

 of the partition wall — one set of pipes 

 on each side of the partition, as is more 

 clearly shown in the ground-plan. These 

 3-inch pipes are opened and shut by a 

 simple contrivance by the side of the 

 doors, so that any extent of air desired 

 may be admitted at pleasure. The tubu- 

 lar columns b b rest on the parapet wall, 



