Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

Page concordance

< >
Scan Original
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
< >
page |< < of 320 > >|
    <archimedes>
      <text>
        <body>
          <chap>
            <pb xlink:href="003/01/090.jpg" pagenum="73"/>
            <p type="head">
              <s>CHAP. IV.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Of the IV alls, Battlements, Towers, Corniſhes and Gates, and the Timber-work
                <lb/>
              belonging to them.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>But to return to the Walls. </s>
              <s>The Ancients
                <lb/>
              adviſe us to build them after this Man­
                <lb/>
              ner. </s>
              <s>Raiſe two Walls one within the other,
                <lb/>
              leaving between them a Space of twenty Foot,
                <lb/>
              which Space is to be fill'd up with the Earth
                <lb/>
              dug out of the Ditch, and well ramm'd in;
                <lb/>
              and let theſe Walls be built in ſuch a Manner,
                <lb/>
              that you may mount from the Level of the
                <lb/>
              City quite to the Top of the Battlements, by
                <lb/>
              an eaſy Aſcent, as it were by Steps. </s>
              <s>Others
                <lb/>
              ſay, that the Earth which is dug out of the
                <lb/>
              Ditch, ought to be thrown without the Wall,
                <lb/>
              on the other Side of the Ditch, and there caſt
                <lb/>
              up into a Rampart, and from the Bottom of
                <lb/>
              the Ditch a Wall ſhould be run up, thick
                <lb/>
              and ſtrong enough to ſupport the Weight of the
                <lb/>
              aforeſaid Earth which bears upon it. </s>
              <s>At a
                <lb/>
              Diſtance from this another Wall ſhould be
                <lb/>
              raiſed in the Town, higher than the other, and
                <lb/>
              as far from it, as to leave Space enough for
                <lb/>
              the Soldiers to be drawn up, and to have
                <lb/>
              Room to fight in. </s>
              <s>Beſides this, you ſhould
                <lb/>
              between the principal Walls, and thoſe within,
                <lb/>
              erect other Walls croſſways from one to the
                <lb/>
              other, by the Help whereof, the principal
                <lb/>
              Walls may unite with thoſe behind, and more
                <lb/>
              eaſily ſupport the Weight of the Earth caſt in
                <lb/>
              between them. </s>
              <s>But indeed for my Part, I am
                <lb/>
              beſt pleaſed with thoſe Walls which are ſo
                <lb/>
              ſituated, that if they happen to be at length
                <lb/>
              demoliſhed by the Force of Battery, they have
                <lb/>
              ſomewhat of a Plain at the Foot of them,
                <lb/>
              where they may lie and form a Kind of Ram­
                <lb/>
              part, and ſo be kept from filling up the Ditch
                <lb/>
              with their Ruins. </s>
              <s>In other Reſpects I am
                <lb/>
              very well pleaſed with
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Vitruvius,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              who ſays
                <lb/>
              the Wall ought to be built thus: Within the
                <lb/>
              Body of the Wall we ſhould lay a good many
                <lb/>
              Timbers of Olive-wood burnt, to the Intent
                <lb/>
              that the two Sides of the Walls being faſtened
                <lb/>
              together by theſe wooden Bracers, the Work
                <lb/>
              may be the more durable. </s>
              <s>Such a Wall as this,
                <lb/>
              we are told by
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Thucydides,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              was made by the
                <lb/>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Platæans,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              to defend themſelves againſt the
                <lb/>
              People of the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Morea,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              by whom they were be­
                <lb/>
              ſieged; inaſmuch as they mixed Timbers a­
                <lb/>
              mong their Brick-work, and made a very ſtout
                <lb/>
              Fortification of it. </s>
              <s>And
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Cæſar
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              informs us,
                <lb/>
              that in
                <emph type="italics"/>
              France
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              moſt of their Walls were built
                <lb/>
              in this Manner: They laid Beams within the
                <lb/>
              Wall, and braced them together at equal Di­
                <lb/>
              ſtances, filling up the Vacancies with huge
                <lb/>
              Stones, ſo that one Beam never touched the
                <lb/>
              other; and ſo proceeded with ſeveral Courſes
                <lb/>
              of Work in the ſame Method, till they raiſed
                <lb/>
              a Wall of a good conſiderable Height. </s>
              <s>This
                <lb/>
              Kind of Work was not unhandſome to the
                <lb/>
              Sight, and was a very ſtrong Fortification, be­
                <lb/>
              cauſe the Stones ſecured it againſt Fire, and
                <lb/>
              the Timbers againſt the Battering Rams. </s>
              <s>But
                <lb/>
              this mix'd Work others diſapprove of; becauſe
                <lb/>
              they ſay the Lime and the Wood will not
                <lb/>
              long agree together, for Timber is eaten and
                <lb/>
              burnt up both by the Saltneſs and Heat of the
                <lb/>
              Lime. </s>
              <s>Beſides that, if the Wall ſhould hap­
                <lb/>
              pen to be demoliſh'd by Battery, they ſay,
                <lb/>
              that as it is thus made in a Manner all of one
                <lb/>
              Piece, the whole Wall will be apt to go all
                <lb/>
              together at once. </s>
              <s>In my Opinion one very
                <lb/>
              good Way of Building a ſtrong Wall, capable
                <lb/>
              to ſtand the Shocks of Engines, is this: make tri­
                <lb/>
              angular Projections out from the naked of the
                <lb/>
              Wall, with one Angle facing the Enemy, at the
                <lb/>
              Diſtance of every ten Cubits, and turn Arches
                <lb/>
              from one Projection to the other; then fill up the
                <lb/>
              Vacancies between them with Straw and Earth,
                <lb/>
              well rammed down together. </s>
              <s>By this Means
                <lb/>
              the Force and Violence of the Shocks of the
                <lb/>
              Engines, will be deadened by the Softneſs of the
                <lb/>
              Earth, and the Wall will not be weakned by
                <lb/>
              the Battery, only here and there, and thoſe
                <lb/>
              ſmall Breaches, or rather Holes, that are made
                <lb/>
              in it, will preſently be ſtopt up again. </s>
              <s>In
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Sicily,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
                <lb/>
              their Pumice-ſtones, which they have in great
                <lb/>
              Plenty, will do extreamly well for this Kind of
                <lb/>
              Work: But in other Places, for want of Pu­
                <lb/>
              mice-ſtones and Earth, any ſoft Stone may
                <lb/>
              be made uſe of; nor is Terraſs amiſs for this
                <lb/>
              Purpoſe. </s>
              <s>Laſtly, if any Part of ſuch a Struc­
                <lb/>
              ture ſtands expoſed to the moſt ſoutherly
                <lb/>
              Winds, or nocturnal Vapours, cloath and face
                <lb/>
              it with a Shell of Stone. </s>
              <s>And particularly it
                <lb/>
              will be of great Service to let the outer Bank
                <lb/>
              of the Ditch have a good Slope, and lie a </s>
            </p>
          </chap>
        </body>
      </text>
    </archimedes>
Impressum