fluti,

of columns ; which, in so simple a figure, coulda ® r ® e abl ° Catc ^ attent * on of the beholder, and prove anu Th 6 en £ a S ement of the eye.

XV ^ l0 ^ e ^ ie building was, indeed, a piece of sliip-yXZ' forit is plain, from the preceding account, thatfits f r ® r P° s ed beds of moor-stone had nothing to do with? °f the building, it being entire and complete ex-co ns - ? ere °f : the beds of moor-stone could therefore onlyHat ha 6re< ^ ' n the nature of ballast, and amounted, from^° v e t ® been before stated, in the whole, to the weight of“jh[j a hundred and seventy tons.f 0<) hl e , windows, shutters, and doors, were composed of"llir^ j ank > cross and cross, and clinked together; whichtl^ a f ° a re hate when shut, their outside formed a parti-'h'out eral sur hice, like the port-holes in a ship’s side ;f‘ er e J“ aki "g any unevenness or projection in the surface.Hstn^ . re ’ however, two projecting parts terminating this^r 0ck >. 0lle at the top, at the other at the joining with!Hi8abl e ’ ut 'hty of which seems to render them indis-- 6 'o ' | hey had each a projection of about 9 inches.

h r °jection, which is in the nature of a cornice, con-i'' f in {j a s ''nple bevel, and the use of it was very great;,6 to f). 6s storms and hard gales of wind, when, accord-^ ri S(Js ^ acc °unts of Mr. Winstanley’s building, the brokenhe y, a ^ ilr g^ter height than tlie whole structure, it- r e lke ’y to break the windows of*the lantern, unless

° a far greater height than the whole structure, it#1 6 tv as 1 te *y to break the windows of*the lantern, unlessa 't of Sottle thing to throw it off, as their use does notJj,Mied tlf,^ e ^ ence by shutters. Therefore Mr. RudyerdC Ct 0 f * simple cornice, judging it sufficient to have the

3 s° , n 'rowing off the sea in times of storms ; and yet

4 thef Projection as that the sea, at the height of 71 feetHuge j ( 001 of the building, could have power enough to

tola 'Hich°fli 0m P ro j ect ‘ o n, which has been called the kant,the 8 j . 8 U P the angle formed between the uprightsa l ,p ] ?P ln g surface of the rock, so as to guard the footC",ly e 8 ,t8 kro!n that violence of action which the wavesUs ( .f u j ei ‘t when driven into a corner, was certainly a,/Vre "Pplication ; but I am inclined to think it wasiff '~"l>on j-'° n tke first completion.

ifl a room °f the main column, as a platform,

H wet g j er< ? Axed his lantern, which was an octagon ofH "Hdow- 8 diameter externally. The mean height ofli„l t'early q £ arnes of the lantern above the balcony floor,ah 0v f eet ; so that the elevation of the centre of thehy H v f:r tle highest side of the base was 70 feet; thatH] i 6 t. i n the centre of Mr. Winstanley’s second lantern* ' of higher than that of his first by 24 feet.

The

th e 6 ns o ’' Iludyerd’s lantern was, however, nearly the^Ov°' Ver *m> -^ r - Winstanley’s second ; but, instead ofJ-F.J.Jthe t 0 & 01 nara ents of iron work, and a vane that roseHi, 'Hiotf 1°^' tke cu P°^ a no ^ ess than 21 feet, Mr. Rud-a f ou nr j / contented himself with finishing his buildingW,| nt g ,, hall, of 2 feet 3 inches diameter, which termi-1,0 Mr^ akove the top of his cupola. The whole\t 0l ' e 1 ' Hudyerd’s lantern, including the ball, wasll r -^y. 21 feet above his balcony floor ; whereas‘‘,. 40. lns tanley’s, including tlie iron ornaments, was-t lie

" - ‘°le heio.i. t of Ruflyerd’s light-house,

V “e

* V lle ]ow le 1 ,ei gl»t.

23 ^ 8 'de to the top of the ball, was 92 feet, upon

* ‘ 1 I a,) d low 6 ^’ttches, taken at a medium between thel/Hil,!' :iv e , est P ar t of the rock that it covered.

( eav °ured t° describe this building with all

^Hiire keeause 't affords a great and very useful

lt| st3«i en ?‘ neers - We are sure that a building such

anley

8 was not capable of resisting the utmost

fury of the sea, because, in four years after its completion, itwas totally demolished thereby: but Mr. Rudyerd’s buildinghaving sustained the repeated attacks of that element, in allits fury, for upwards of forty-six years after its completion;and then being destroyed, not by water, but by fire ; wemust conclude, it was of a construction capable of withstandingthe greatest violence of the sea in that situation. And bywithstanding it there, this light-house proves the practica-bility of a similar erection in any like exposure in the knownworld.

“ I have seen a paper in the hands of one of the presentproprietors, upon which were put down the quantities ofmaterials said to have been expended in the construction ofthis building : viz., 500 tons of stone, 1,200 tons of timber,80 tons of iron, and 35 tons of lead; and of trenails, screws,and rack-bolts, 2,500 each.”

Mr. Smeaton then proceeds to detail the means by whichthe erection of the new lighthouse fell into his hands, hisseveral interviews with the proprietors, and various other pre-liminary occurrences, among which the following remarks onthe difference in structure of stone and wood, and on the bondof the stones to the rock and to each other, are particularlyworthy of notice.

“ In reflecting upon the late structure, it appeared mostevidently, that had it not been for the moor-stone courses,inlaid into the frame of the building, and acting therein likethe ballast of a ship, it had long ago been overset, notwith-standing all the branches and iron-work contrived to retainit: and that, in reality, the violent agitation, rocking, orvibration, which the late building was described to be subjectto, must have been owing to the narrowness of the base onwhich it rested ; and which, the quantity of vibration it hadbeen constantly subject to, had rendered, in regard to itsseat, in some degree rounding, like the rockers of a cradle.It seemed therefore a primary point of improvement, to pro-cure, if possible, an enlargement of the base, which, fromthe models before me, appeared to be practicable. It alsoseemed equally desirable, not to increase the size of the pre-sent building in its waist; by which I mean that part of thebuilding between the top of the rock and the top of the solid.If therefore I still kept strictly to the conical form, a neces-sary consequence would be, that the diameter of every partbeing proportionably increased by an enlargement of thebase, the action of the sea upon the building would be greaterin the same proportion ; but as the strength increases in pro-portion to the increased weight of the materials, the totalabsolute strength to resist that action of the sea, would begreater by a proportional enlargement of every part, butwould require a greater quantity of materials: on the otherhand, if we could enlarge the base, and at the same timerather diminish than increase the size of the waist and upperworks ; as great a strength and stiffness would arise froma larger base, accompanied with a less resistance to the actingpower, though consisting of a less quantity of materials, asif a similar conical figure had been preserved.

“ On this occasion, the natural figure of the waist or boleof a large spreading oak, presented itself to my imagination.Let us for a moment consider this tree: suppose at 12 or 15feet above its base, it branches out in every direction, andforms a large bushy top, as we often observe. This top, whenfull of leaves, is subject to a very great impulse from the agi-tation of violent winds ; yet, partly by its elasticity, and partlyby the natural strength arising from its figure, it resists themall, even for ages, till the gradual decay of the material dimi-nishes the coherence ol the parts, and they suffer piecemealby the violence ; but it is very rare that we hear of such atree being torn up by the roots. Let us now consider its par-