Chap. IF.

LIME, SAND, ETC.

535
1851. Sand shoiilJ by all means, if possible, be procured from a runiiinj; clear stre.im, in
prtf>Tence to iliat obtained from pits It is cleaner and not so connected witli clayey vr
muddy partic'es. About the metropolis it is the practice to use (and an admijalde ma-
terial it is) the sand of the Thamts procured from above London Bridge. Tliis s:i!)d has
acquired a deserved reputation among the arcbiteits and builders of the capital. It con-
tains, however, a vast portion of hetero-eneoi s matter, such as calcareous fossd, quaitzose,
and flint sands, particles of coal alluvium, and much iron. The sharp drift sand of the
Thamis, therefore, before mixing with the linse, should be well .'criened ai d wasled.
1852. If pit sand only can be procured, it should be repeatedly was'ied to frie it from
the earthy and clayey partides it contains, until it becomes bright in colour, and feels
grittj' under the fingers. Smeaton lias stated that clay, even in very small quantities, materially inter-
feres ^\ith the hardening of mortar, and disposes it to p
rish in a few years. When the arch.t ct is obliged
to use sm sand, it must te we 1 washed in fresh water until the salt is entirely re>iioved
;
otherw.se tlie
cement for which it is used will never dry. So small a qumtKy as 3 per cent, of salt causes great incon-
veniences. Whenever the weather is dry, the walls show an efflorescencs on the inside or on' side.
This, when there is damp in the atmosphere, will collect nois'ure, causing ihe wall to look wot, and will
throw off any paper placed on it. In one case, where a Ijiiildcr in i o.imlnately employed sea sand f. r
outsirie and inside purposes, the saline property soon in'roiaiced the rot to all adjoining timber. Thera
is still (1887) mueli di\ersity of opinion as to the ad vi-ability o( using sea fand. The washing is o(
primary importance ; it is to 1-e b.-st effected liy using an iron
pp3
of about three-quarters of an inclt
diameter and two feet long, joined on to an india-rubber pipe attached to the water main. This pipe
is to stand in the c ntre cf the tub ; fill the tub with the sand, then turn on the water, which passl'
g
to
the bottom of the tub, r.'ses through the sand causing any salt to rise with it ; if allowed to run, the tub
overflows, and the salt is soon all carried oflf. The land should be washed as soon as it is taken from the
beach. (E. C. Morgan.)
185'ia. It will be well to notice here that Professor Wilson, of the Edinburgh Labora-
tory, made in 1848 a report on the use of tea sand in mortar in a house. No. 10 Randolph
Crescent, which was said to be damp from the use of it. On analysis he found that the
mortar contained only 1-I0,000th part of its weight of the chloride of magnesium, a highly
deliqiuscent attracting substance. But he considered that the setting of the mortar
mechanically enveloped and locked up within its m iss the substance in question
;
and
further, that it might chemically combine with the lime of the mortar to form a compi.und
not readily to be dissolved in water. It was also thought that in consequence of a
chemical action taking place between the lime in the m<;rtar and the chlorine derived from
the sea water containxi in the sand, chloride of calcium (muriate of lime) would be pro-
duced, and this being a deliquescent substance, would attract moisture and render the
walls damp. The amount, however, of chlorine in specimens of sea sands, was found to
vary from a S.lT'ltli to a 549th part oftheir weights ; the mean amount was a 1,204th pait.
The quantity in the mortar was so minute that it could not sensibly produce the effects of
dam|). The mechanical envelopment of the chloride of calcium in the mortar would also
shut up this deliquescent substance from moisture, and conduce to di yness. A further sub-
stance in sea sand, is chloride of sodium (common salt), and if tlie chlorine of this be
transferred to the lime to form chloride of calcium, the sodium will become converted into
carbonate of soda. These substances may co exist in the mortar, but as s3on as they are
separated from it, and diffused through the stone, or brought to it; surface, the carbonate
of sotla will convert the chloride of calcium into carbonate of lime (chalk) and become
itself chloride of sodium (common salt). A co-sideration of these facts led the analyst to
affirm that the a|iprehension that chloride of calcium, as derived from sea sand, would
render the house damp, was altogether chimerical. On an analysis of some of the pit sands
in the neighbourhood, he found that one of them contained almost the same quantity of
chli.rine as in the sea sand, although no charge was made against it. It does nut admit
of doubt, he reported, that, other things being equal, sea-sand mortar will dry more quickly
and keep more thoroughly dry tlian will pit-sand mortar; this sand, it must be noticed,
contained about 13 per cent, of earthy matter, and was therefore not so pure as the sea
sand.
18526. Although all the professional publications of late years have described the bad
effects likely to result from the use of unwashed pit sand, builders in the outskirts of
the metropolis have taken to use road sweepings in lieu of sand, and this even without
having washed it to free it from those impurities not only detiimental to its making good
mortar, but also to the building itself, as it may be the cause of introducing the dry rot.
Lately we have noticed a case in tiie professional journals where tlie lime, such as it was,
was "mixed with a large proportion of garden mould and mud, the bricks being of an in-
ferior quality and insufficient strength." We have already noticed the use of road d'lvt {par.
1839/.) In another case
"
the composition with which the portions of bricks were held
together consisted of .soap lees with a few small limestones and dirt." The interests of the
poorer classes should be belter protected.
1852c. Mttallic sand for cement was introduced about 1843. It was sold in coarse or
tine powder as required, to be mixtd up with blue lias lime for joining bricks and stone,
for concretes, for face work, or for moulded work. 1 measure of the sand, 1 of lime, and 6
of gravel were the proportions used in the foundations of the new Houses of Parliament, and
at the great tunnels of the Birmingham raihvay. It has also been used for malthouse