and one of immense value, is that it is thoroughly fireproof; in fact,
almost the only perfectly fireproof material. There is an interesting
account of the great fire of London by one of the eye witnesses, and
among the striking phenomena of that awful time he notes that the few
brick buildings which existed were the only ones able to withstand the
raging fire when it reached them.

In our own day a striking proof of the same thing was given in the great
fire in Tooley street, when Braidwood lost his life. I witnessed that
conflagration for a time from London Bridge, and its fury was something
not to be described. There were vaults under some of the warehouses
stored with inflammable materials, the contents of which caught fire and
burnt for a fortnight, defying all attempts to put them out. Yet these
very vaults, though they were blazing furnaces for all that time, were
not materially injured. When the warehouses came to be reinstated, it
was only found necessary to repair and repoint them a little, and they
were retained in use. The fact is that the bricks have been calcined
already, so has the lime in the mortar, and the sand is not affected by
heat, so there is nothing in brickwork to burn. Against each of these
good qualities, however, we may set a corresponding defect.

If brickwork is easily thrown into any shape, it is also easily thrown
out of shape. It has little coherence or stability, less than masonry
and very considerably less than timber. If any unequal settlement in the
foundation of a brick building occurs, those long zigzag cracks with
which we in London are only too familiar set themselves up at once; and
if any undue load, or any variation in load, exists, the brickwork
begins to bulge. Any serious shock may cause a building of ordinary
brickwork to collapse altogether, and from time to time a formidable
accident occurs owing to this cause. The fact is, the bricks are each so