THE
USEFUL ARTS
EMPLOYED IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF
DWELLING HOUSES.
THE SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND.
MDCCCLI.
LONDON:
SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS,
CHANDOS STREET.
[Pg iii]
PREFACE.
The dwellings of mankind, at first rude and simple in the extreme,increase in complexity as their inhabitants advance in civilization.Primitive dwellings are scarcely distinguished by signs of superiorskill or sagacity above the holes and nests of the lower animals. Thehut of the Hottentot may be considered as an inverted nest, and it iscertainly not more ingenious than the nests of many birds; but whereman constructs such a habitation for himself, he is invariably in alow state of civilization. The wants of the bird are few and simple,and the nest is a temporary abode annually constructed and annuallydeserted: the wants of man, in a state of nature, are almost aslimited, and thus the Hottentot’s hut affords him as good a nest as hedesires. But when he steps forth into the rank which the Creator hasdestined him to fill; when he feels that he is a responsible being, thecreation of an Almighty Power to whom worship is due; when he findsthat the productions of the earth are capable of being rendered usefulto him by the exercise of his ingenuity, and that his own mental powersare capable of being developed by communion with, and by the assistanceof his fellow-men;—then the hut—the inverted nest—is no longer equalto his necessities. He makes implements, and he must have a placeto shelter them; he cultivates grain, and he requires a store-housefor it; he collects and records the thoughts and the wisdom of hispredecessors, and he must have a roof to cover these precious mementos:unlike other animals, he requires fire for the preparationof the greater portion of his food; and his fire, as well as hisutensils, must be well defended from without:—in short, his wants areso multiplied by the cultivation of his reason, that a househas become necessary to him. The beasts of the field and the birdsof the air have certain natural instincts given to them which guidethem through life, and are perpetuated in their[Pg iv] offspring; the sameroutine goes on race after race without the operation of what we termimprovement. Not so with man: he is a progressive being: he steps forthbeyond the limits of mere animal life, and has a mental existence, withwants created by it, and depending on it; wants which are not known tohim when considered as a mere animal.
The building of houses has in all ages formed part of the employment ofman as he advanced from a state of mere barbarism to one of comparativecivilization. In devoting this little volume, therefore, to the subjectof the Application of the Useful Arts to the construction of Dwellings,it is necessary to set a limit to so large a subject. A wigwam isa house,—so is a palace, and examples of every possible gradationbetween the two might be given. In order, then, to avoid the seemingambition of grasping the whole of this extensive subject we shall nottravel out of our own country; nor shall we ascend to the very highest,or descend to the very lowest class of dwellings; but shall describethe principal arts concerned in b