406 THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE.

Book II,
are 14 in. in thickness. The exterior
walls heinir
2-1
ft. hijiii, and the dLptli of
the buihiinii 4(> ft. Their thickness
by
tlio rule should be 17:^ in. : they are IH in.
On passing
the INletropolitan Build-
ing Act in \855, previous to which
the thicknesses of walls depended on
buildings falling within certain clas-^es or
rates, we had the satisfaction of advising
the Government to adopt the thicknesses
of walls now directed to he used. These
are based upon rules deduced from sec-
tions I5l2et seq. Inasmuch, however, as
it was thought that builders might he
liable to mistakes in extracting the square
root of the sum of the squares of the
heijihts and lengths of walls, tables were
inserted in the Act to meet all cases.
Generitlly the formula t =
Jp
will be a useful guide in adjusting the thickness of walls.
in which t = thickness, h and I respectively the height and length, d the diagonal formed
by the height and length, and n a constant determined by the nature of the building. In
the tables for dwelling-houses, the constant multiplier (n) used was
22; for warehouses, 20.
And but for the interference in committee of the present Right Hon. Member tor
Oxfordshire (Mr. Henley), for what scientific reasons it is difficult to sav, the constant
multiplier for public buildings would have been 18.
M hen h is less than

' the constants are 27, 23, and 20 respectively.
Fig. C09.
\\ E
^^
'^ 9.>-
^
\

Vh
'/
^
f
^v
'/
,
/
^V
y'
;
/
X^
1/ \^
c D
Fis. 610.
Of
the Stnhil'.ty of Piers or Points
of
Support.
1.563. Let A BCD
{fg.
610.)
be a pier with a square base whose resistance is required
in respect of a power at M acting to overturn it
F
horizontally in the direction IMA, or obli(]uely in
that of NA upon the point D. Considering the
solid reduced to a plane passing through G, the
centre of gravity of the pier, and the point U,
that upon which the ))ower is supposed to cause
it to turn, let fall from G the veitical cutting the
base in I, to which we will suppose the weight of
the pier suspended, and then supposing the pier
removed, we only have to consider the angular
lever BDIor HDI, whose arms are determined
by perpendiculars drawn from the fulcrum 1),
in one direction vertical with the weight, and in
the other perpendicular to the direction of the
power acting upon the pier, according to the
theory of the lever explained in a previous section.
1564. The direction of the weight R being always represented by a vertical let fall from
the centre of gravity, the arm of its lever ID never changes, whatever the direction of the
))ower and the height at which it is applied, whilst the arm of the lever of the jiower varies
as its position and direction. That there may be equilibrium between the effort of the
power and the resistance of the pier, in the first case, when the power I\I acts in an hori-
zontal direction, we have M :
R::ID : DB, whence Mx DB=Rx ID and M= -f'j..
If the direction of the power be oblique, as NA in the case of an equilibrium, N : R;: ID
: DH ;
hence N X DH
= R X I D and N=
~
,^
/

1.565. Applying this in an example, let the height of the pier be 12 ft., its width 4 ft., and
its thickness 1 ft. The weight R of the pier may be represented by Its cube, and is there-
fore 12x4x1 =48. The arm of its lever ID will be 2, and we will take the horizontal
power M represented by DB at 1
2
; with these values we shall have M : 48
:
: 2 ; 1 2
;
hence
M X 12 = 48 X 2 and M=^"
= 8.
That Is, the effort of the horizontal power M should be equal to the weight of 8 cube
feet of the materials whereof the pier Is composed, to be in equilibrium.
1.566. In respect of the oblique power which acts in the direction N.A, sujiposing DH
48 X 2
=
7j,
we have N : 48::2 :
7J,
whence N <
7|
= 48 x 2, therefore N =

=
1;^3.
whilst the