1. The particular business of the bricklayer is to lay bricks in
mortar or some other cement, so as to form one solid body; but he
frequently constructs the foundations of buildings in rough stones,
and, in some cities, he sets hewn stone in the superstructure. In the
country, plastering is likewise connected with this business.
2. Bricklaying consists in placing one brick upon another in mortar,
chiefly in the construction of walls, chimneys, and ovens. In
connecting these materials, especially in walls, two methods are
employed, one of which is called the _English bond_, and the other,
the _Flemish bond_. In the former method, the bricks are most commonly
of one quality, and are laid crosswise and lengthwise in alternate
rows. The bricks which are laid across the wall are called _headers_,
and those which are laid in the other direction are called
_stretchers_. The brick-work of the Romans was of this kind, and so
are the partition-walls of many modern brick edifices.
3. The bricks employed in the walls constructed according to the
Flemish method, are of two, and frequently of three, qualities. Those
placed in the front, or on the external surface, are manufactured with
greater care, and, in some cases, are formed in a larger mould. A wall
put up on this principle may be said to consist of two thin walls
composed of stretchers, with occasional headers, to unite them
together. The space between them, when the wall is thick, is filled in
with the inferior bricks.
4. The inclosing walls of all brick edifices are erected on this plan,
although they are thought to be more insecure than those constructed
on the old English method. The reasons alleged for the preference, are
its superior beauty, and a considerable saving in the most expensive
kind of bricks. Greater security might be attained by the use of
larger bricks, say sixteen inches in length, and wide and thick in
proportion. Besides, an edifice constructed of well-made bricks of
this size would be but little inferior in appearance to marble itself.
5. Most of the instruments used by the bricklayer are also employed by
the stone-mason; and they have, therefore, been already mentioned. The
particular method of laying bricks, in their various applications, can
be learned by actual inspection in almost every village, city, or
neighborhood, in our country, a more particular description of the
bricklayer's operations is hence unnecessary.
6. Before closing this subject, however, it may be well to state that
the chimney appears to be an invention comparatively modern, since the
first certain notice we have of it is found in an inscription at
Venice, in which it is stated that, in 1347, a great many chimneys
were thrown down by an earthquake. It is conjectured that this
valuable improvement originated in Italy, inasmuch as it was here that
chimney-sweeping was first followed as a business.
7. Before the introduction of the chimney, it was customary to make
the fire in a hole or pit in the centre or some other part of the
floor, under an opening formed in the roof, which, in unfavorable
weather, could be closed by a moveable covering. Among the Romans, the
hearth or fire-place was located in the _atrium_ or hall, and around
it the _lares_, or household gods, were placed. To avoid being
infested with smoke, they burned dry wood soaked in the lees of oil.
In warming other apartments of the house, they used portable furnaces,
in which were placed embers and burning coals.
8. It is said by Seneca, who flourished about the middle of the first
century of the Christian era, that in his time, a particular kind of
pipes was invented, and affixed to the walls of buildings, through
which heat from a subterranean furnace was made to circulate. By this
means, the rooms were heated more equally. In the southern parts of
Italy and Spain, there are still very few chimneys. The same may be
said of many other countries, where the climate is pleasant or very
warm.
9. Hollinshead, who wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, thus
describes the rudeness of the preceding generation in the arts of
life: "There were very few chimneys even in capital towns: the fire
was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued out at the roof, or door,
or window. The houses were wattled, and plastered over with clay; and
all the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people slept on straw
pallets, with a log of wood for a pillow."