F O U ( are ) F O U

weight, &c. of the building: 1-Gth partof the whole height is looked upon as amedium ; and as to the thickness, doublethat of the width of a wall is a good rule.If you build upon mossy and loose earth,then you must dig until you find soundground. This sound ground, fit to sup-port a building, is of divers kinds: insome places so hard, as scarcely to becut with iron; in other places very stiff;in others places blackish, which is ac-counted the weakest; in others likechalk, and in others sandy : but of allthese, that is the best which requiresmost labour in cutting or digging, amiwhen wet, does not dissolve into dirt.

If the earth to he built upon is verysoft, as in marshy grounds, or such thatthe nniun\\foundation cannot be trusted,then you must get good pieces of oak,whose length must he the breadth of thetrench, or about 2 feet longer than thewall; these must he laid across the foun-dation about 2 feet asunder, and beingwell rammed down, lay Jong planksupon them ; which planks need not lieso broad as the pieces are long, hut onlyabout four inches on a side wider thanthe basis or foot of the wall is to be.But if the ground he so very bad, thatthis will not do, then you must providegood piles of oak, of such a length aswill reach the good ground, and whosediameter must be about l-12th part oftheir length. These piles must he drivendown by an engine for that purpose, andmust be placed as close as one can standby another; then lay planks upon them,and pin them fast. But if the groundbe faulty in some parts, and firm inothers, you may turn arches over thoseloose places, which will discharge themof their weight. You must not forgetto place the piles under the inner, aswell as the outer walls; for if theseshould sink, it would be a means to makethe outer walls crack, and so ruin thewhole building.

Having thus far considered the bed ofthe earth on which the building is to beerected, we shall next consider the sub-struction, as it was called by the an-cients; but our modern engineers call itthe foundation . This is the ground-work of the whole edifice, which mustsustain the walls, and may be termedartificial, as the other was natural; withregard to which, the following ihingsaremost necessary to he observed : 1. Thatthe bottom be exactly level; therefore

lay a platform of good boards. 2. Thatthe lowest ledge or row he all of stone,'the broader the better, laid closely with-out mortar; which is a general cautionfor all parts of a building that are con-tiguous to board or timber, because limeand wood are utter enemies to one ano-ther, and, if unfit confiners any where,they are more especially so in the foun-dation. o. That the breadth of thefoundation he at least double the breadthof the wall which is to be raised uponit: but even in this case, art should giveway to discretion : and the foundationmay he made either broader, or nar-rower, according as the ground and theponderosity of the edifice require. 4.That th e foundation be made to diminishas it rises, but yet so that there may beas much left on the one side as on the|other; so that the middle of that abovemay be perpendicularly over the middleof that below, which should, in likemanner, be observed in diminishing thewalls above ground; for by this meansthe building will become much strongerthan it would he if the diminution weremade by any other way. 5. That youshould never build on the ruins of anold foundation, unless you are wellassured of its depth, and that its strengthis sufficient to bear the building.

The stones in the foundation shouldhe laid as they naturally lie in thequarry, for they have the most strengthin their natural position. This shouldhe observed in ail parts of a building,because all stones have a cleaving grain;consequently, if the horizontal positionof the stones in the quarry should beplaced vertically in the building, thesuper-incumbent weight would be apt tocleave them, and so render the buildingruinous.

FOUNDER, a person who casts can-non, &c.

FO UN DE RING, a disorder in horses,which may be considered under twoheads, viz.

Foundejung in the feet, which is anuniversal rheumatism, or defluxion ofhumours upon the sinews of a horse'sfeet; so that in the course of time thehoofs become stiff and callous, and thehorse has no sense or feeling of them.This disorder is generally brought on byhard riding. Sometimes it proceeds fromsudden heats and colds; and frequentlyfrom the horse being watered when heis very hot. Too tight a shoe, or fre*