1. Brick is a sort of artificial stone, made principally of
argillaceous earths formed in moulds, dried in the sun, and burned
with fire.
2. The earliest historical notice of bricks is found in the book of
Genesis, where it is stated that the posterity of Noah undertook to
build a city and a lofty tower of this material. Whether the bricks
were really exposed to the action of fire, as the passage referred to
seems to imply, or only dried in the sun, is an unsettled point. But
Herodotus, who visited the spot many centuries afterwards, states that
the bricks in the tower of Babylon were baked in furnaces.
3. It is evident, however, that the earliest bricks were commonly
hardened in the sun; and, to give them the requisite degree of
tenacity, chopped straw was mixed with the clay. The manufacture of
such bricks was one of the tasks imposed upon the Israelites, during
their servitude with the Egyptians.
4. The extreme dryness and heat of the climate in some of the eastern
countries, rendered the application of fire dispensable; and there are
structures of unburnt bricks still remaining, which were built two or
three thousand years ago. Bricks both sun-dried and burned, were used
by the Greeks and the Romans.
5. The walls of Babylon, some of the ancient structures of Egypt and
Persia, the walls of Athens, the rotunda of the Pantheon, the temple
of Peace, and the Thermæ, or baths, at Rome, were all built of brick.
The most common bricks among the Romans were seventeen inches long and
eleven broad; a size, certainly, far preferable, as regards
appearance, to those of modern manufacture.
6. In the United States, a great proportion of the edifices,
particularly in the cities and towns, are constructed of bricks, which
are usually manufactured in the vicinity of the place where they are
to be used. The common clay, of which they are made, consists of a
mixture of argillaceous earth and sand, with a little oxyde of iron,
which causes them to turn red in burning. The material for bricks is
dug up, and thrown into a large heap, late in the fall or in the
winter, and exposed to the influence of the frost until spring.
7. The operation of making bricks is conducted very systematically;
and, although every part of the work seems to be very simple, it
requires considerable dexterity to perform it properly and to the best
advantage. The workmen, in the yards about Philadelphia, are divided
into _gangs_ consisting of three men and a boy. The first is called
the _temperer_, who tempers the material with water and mixes it with
a spade; the second is called the _wheeler_, who conveys it on a
barrow to a table, where it is formed in moulds by the _moulder_,
whence it is carried to the _floor_ by the boy, who is denominated the
_off-bearer_.
8. The bricks are suffered to remain on the floor a day or two, or
until they have become dry enough to be handled with safety. They are
then removed and piled into a _hack_, under cover, in such a manner
that the air may circulate freely between them. It is the business of
the whole gang to remove the bricks from the floor, and also to place
them in the kiln to be burned. In both cases, each one has his due
proportion of labor to perform.
9. The day's work of a gang, when the weather is favorable, is to make
and pile in the hack a tale of bricks, which consists of 2332, or an
even 2000. The former number is called a _long tale_, and the latter,
a _short tale_. Considerable skill and much care are required in
burning the bricks in a proper manner; too much fire would cause them
to vitrify, and too little would leave them soft, and unfit for
atmospheric exposure.
10. In many places, the clay is mixed or prepared for the moulder by
driving round upon it a yoke of oxen, or by means of a simple machine,
consisting of a beam, into which has been driven a great number of
spokes. One end of this beam is confined in a central position, while
the other is moved round in a sweep by animal power.
11. Machines have also been invented by the aid of which the clay may
be both mixed and moulded; but these have been very little used. A
machine, however, is often employed in pressing bricks which have been
formed in the usual manner. The pressing is done after the bricks have
become partially dry. Such bricks are employed in facing the walls of
the better kinds of structures.
12. _Tiles._--Tiles are plates used for covering roofs. They resemble
bricks in their composition and mode of manufacture, and are shaped in
such a manner that when placed upon a building, the edge of one tile
receives that next to it, so that water cannot percolate between them.
Tiles, both of burnt clay and marble, were used by the ancients; and
the former continue to be employed in various parts of Europe. Flat
tiles are used for floors in many countries, and especially in Italy.