TRAVEXS
T H R O U G H
SPAIN.
185
. M a n y considerable advantages will enfue from a due
observation of thefe principles,i and may :be a p p l i e d to
t h e purpofe/of. fhip builders a n d carpenters j from thefe
premifes w e m a y conceive the reafon, that, of ^two houfes
•built b y the fame architect, one ihali be folid, and remain
¿n a due perpendicular,--while, the walls of the other ihall
g i v e way. by the dilation :or contraction of the beams ;
:
from hence w e m a y perhaps be able ,to r e f o l v o t h a t curious p r o b l e m ,
which has b e e n propofed tó;all the-geo-
>rnetriciansin E u r o p e , to find out, w h y two {hips,, built
b y the fame perfon-,
011
fimilar/principles
ánd íxrenfura-
tion, with timber from the fame p l a c e , . :and.cut at the
fame time,
one ihall g o like the w i n d , and the .other
-ihall b e t h e clulleft @f failers.
O n e ihall c o m e h o m e
tight,- and in g o o d condition, from a l o n g voyage,.and the
other fo l e a k y , that the p u m p s muft be kept conitanly
going.
F o r m y part, as I conceive that the dilatation
of a b e a m , may-throw-a. waif out of e q u i l i b r i u m , I imagine that the fame effects, acting u p o n various bodies of
expofed to the air, and will not lañ a fourth part of the time, asthat, which is cut in winter,
when the fap is thickened, and at reft; yet there is an a£l of parliament to oblige every one
to cut their timber at that feafon for the-fake of the bark
See Miller's Gardeners Did:, pre-
face to folio edition, London, 1 7 5 9 .
Does not the following paffage from the fame author, fpealdng of t'he French, breathe
fpirit of a true patriot, as well as a philofopher.
the
" They do not neglecl the culture of their
own ufeful timber trees, particularly the oak, for as they leem to be very much in earned: to
improve and increafe their marine, they are purfiiing feveral fchemes, which in time will enable them to carry their point.
Surely then 'this ihould -not be negle&ed in Great Britain, as
the welfare of this country principally depends on its {hipping and commerce."
A a
timber,