BRIDGE AT SH AUFFH AU SE N. 207 



dear/' said Mr. L. ; there is a size and weighty 

 beyond which a structure that floats^ and is 

 unequally supported^ will not hold together." 



" The Baron of Renfrew," I observed, " was 

 a vessel of perhaps larger dimensions ; and as 

 that shared a similar fate, the rage for build- 

 ing such immoderately large ships quickly died 

 away," 



" Buildings and shipping/' said Mr. Long- 

 hurst, certainly shew the use and strength 

 of timber to great advantage ; and so do some 

 of the famous wooden bridges. Those near 

 London, at Battersea, and Putney, especially 

 the latter, are, however, only famous for their 

 surpassing clumsiness, and the want of even 

 common skill and science in their formation. 



But the bridge at SchafFhausen, across the 

 Rhine, was an astonishing specimen of con- 

 structive ability in a man — ^Ulric Grubenman 



