Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755
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              <s>
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              ally by that of Oleander. </s>
              <s>Broad flat Veſſels
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              full of Water ſet about the Floor are dangerous
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              Traps for Fleas that take their Leaps too da­
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              ringly. </s>
              <s>Moths are driven away by Worm­
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              wood, Aniſe-ſeed, or the Smell of the Herb
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              Savin: Nay we are told, that Cloaths are ſafe
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              from them ſo long as they hang upon Ropes. </s>
              <s>But
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              upon this Subject we have dwelt long enough,
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              and perhaps longer than a very grave Reader
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              may like; but he will pardon it, if he con­
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              ſiders, that what we have ſaid may be of ſome
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              Service for ridding a Situation of Inconvenien­
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              cies, and that all is little enough againſt the
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              inceſſant Plague of theſe intolerable Vermin.</s>
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              <s>CHAP. XVI.</s>
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              Of making a Room either warmer or cooler, as alſo of amending Defects in
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              the Walls.
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              <s>I now return to my Subject. </s>
              <s>It is a
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              wonderful Thing, that if you cover a Wall
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              with Hangings woven of Wool it will make
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              the Room warmer, and if they are of Flax,
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              colder. </s>
              <s>If the Platform be damp, dig Pits
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              and Drains under it, and fill them up either
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              with Pumice-ſtone or Gravel, to prevent the
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              Water from rotting in them. </s>
              <s>Then ſtrew
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              the Ground with Coal to the Height of one
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              Foot, and cover that with Sand or rather
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              with Tiles, and over all this lay your Floor.
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              </s>
              <s>It will be all to no Purpoſe if there is Room
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              for the Air to paſs under the firſt Pavement
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              or Floor. </s>
              <s>But againſt the Heat of the Sun in
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              Summer, and the Severity of the Cold in Win­
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              ter, it will be of very great Service, if the Soil
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              thereabouts in general is not damp but dry.
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              </s>
              <s>Under the Area of your Parlour dig away the
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              Earth to the Depth of twelve Foot, and then
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              floor it with nothing but naked Boards; the
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              Space beneath which is floored only with Plai­
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              ſter will make the Air in your Parlour much
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              cooler than you would imagine, inſomuch that
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              you ſhall find it make your Feet cold even
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              when your Shoes are on, nothing being over
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              the ſubterraneous Pavement but plain Boards.
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              <s>The Ceiling of this Parlour ſhould be arched;
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              and then you will be ſurprized how warm it
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              will be in Winter and how cold in Summer.
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              <s>If you are troubled with the Inconvenience
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              which the Satyriſt complains of the Noiſe of
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              Carriages paſſing through a narrow Street, to­
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              gether with that of the rough Language of
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              their bruitiſh Drivers, ſo dreadful to the poor
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              Man in his ſick Bed;
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              Pliny
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              the younger tells
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              us, in one of his Epiſtles, how to prevent this
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              Diſturbance, in the following Words. </s>
              <s>Next
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              to this Room lies the Chamber of Night and
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              of Repoſe, in which was never heard the Voice
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              of Servants, nor the hollow Murmur of the Sea,
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              nor the Crack of Tempeſt, nor can you here
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              perceive the Gleam of Lightening, nor even
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              the Light of the Sun, unleſs you open the
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              Windows, ſo retired is the Place. </s>
              <s>The Reaſon
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              is, that there is a Lobby between this Cham­
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              ber and the Garden, in which intermediate
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              Space all the Sounds are loſt, let us now come
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              to the Walls. </s>
              <s>The Defects in theſe are as fol­
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              lows; either they ſcale off, or they crack, or
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              the Ribs give Way, or they lean from their
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              Perpendicular. </s>
              <s>The Cauſes of theſe Defects
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              are various, and ſo are their Remedies. </s>
              <s>Some
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              of the Cauſes indeed are manifeſt, others more
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              concealed, ſo that often we know not what
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              Remedies to apply, till we have ſeverely felt
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              the Miſchief. </s>
              <s>Others are not in the leaſt ob­
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              ſcure; but then perhaps the Negligence of
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              Men makes them inclined to hope that they
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              may not do ſo much Hurt as they certainly
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              will do. </s>
              <s>The manifeſt Cauſes of Defects in
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              the Wall are, when it is too thin, when it is
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              not well knit together, when it is full of im­
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              proper dangerous Apertures, or laſtly, when it
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              is not ſufficiently ſtrengthened with Ribs
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              againſt the Violence of Storms. </s>
              <s>Thoſe Cauſes
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              which happen unexpected or unforeſeen, are
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              Earthquakes, Lightening, the Inconſtancy of
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              the Foundation, and indeed of Nature itſelf.
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              <s>But in ſhort, the greateſt Injury to all Parts
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              of a Building is the Negligence and Heedleſſ­
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              neſs of Men. </s>
              <s>A certain Author ſays, that a
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              Weed is a ſecret Battering-ram againſt a Wall;
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              nor is it to be believed what vaſt Stones I have
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              myſelf ſeen removed and puſhed out of their
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              Places by the Force, or indeed by the Wedge
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              of a little Root that grew between the Joints;
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              which if you had only pulled out while it was
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              young, the Work would have been preſerved
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              from that Injury. </s>
              <s>I greatly commend the
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              Ancients, who kept a Number of People in </s>
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