IV
been led into. He will be sorry if they containany errors respecting the works of his contem-poraries, and if the mention of any works ho-nourable to them and their countries is omitted.He is induced thus prematurely to publish them,thinking that they may be of use in determiningthe ratio of the parts of the proposed new Lon don Bridge , and he has annexed to them, inconsequence of the intended demolition of thatstructure, some observations upon the importantquestion of entirely changing the habits of sucha river as the Thames, become constitutional toit by long use, and to which the shores haveaccommodated themselves. *
Mr. Barlow, in the dedication to his Essayon the Strength and Stress of Timber, acknow-ledges his obligation to Lord Mulgrave for hisLordship’s support and encouragement in theexperiments which laid the foundation of thatwork; the Author hopes, from this circumstance,that Government is attentive to the importanceof obtaining a correct knowledge of the strengthof materials used in building, in direct tensionand compression; and that some of the membersof the House of Commons , distinguished bytheir scientific acquirements, under its sanction,will institute a set of experiments, in order to