Excerpt from Building Materials: Being an Introduction to the Study of the Principal Materials Used in Building Construction This book is intended to be an introduction to the study of Building Materials for the instruction of the young builder and architect. Only the principal materials are dealt with, special stress being laid on the exact examination of the materials for their constructional strength under different conditions, and their composition as revealed by chemical analysis, and by the microscope. The author realises that some, at any rate, of his readers may be unacquainted with the elements of chemistry. He has, therefore, tried to make the essential chemical information as simple as possible at the risk of some repetition. The student is advised to regard this book as merely introductory, and pursue his studies further by reading, more especially, Howe's Geology of Building Stones; The Materials of Construction, by Johnson; The Chemistry and Testing of Cements, by Desch; Concrete, Plain and Reinforced, by Taylor and Thompson; Modern Brickmaking, by Searle The Mechanical Properties of Wood, by Record; House Painting and Decoration, by Jennings; and Modern Asphalt Pavements, by Richardson. The author wishes at this point to express his deep indebtedness to these text-books in particular, as well as to others, for the information contained in the following pages. In addition, various text-books, the publications of the Engineering and Architectural Societies, both here and in America and the Reports of the Washington Bureau for the investigation of Building Materials have been consulted. Students interested in the resistance to fire of various materials should consult the Reports of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The author wishes especially to thank Professor Desch, Mr Searle, Mr Howe, Mr Borthwick, Mr Jennings, and Mr Vaughan for having kindly looked through the chapters in which they are Specially interested, and made many valuable criticisms and suggestions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.