not only the fewest possible number of sizes of engines and carriages that will suffice, but also how every single piece may have strictly defined dimensions. This question is also well worthy the attention of our architects and builders. Suppose, for instance, that the principal windows and doors of our houses were made only of three or four different sizes. Then we should have a manufactory start up for making doors, without reference to any particular house or builder. They would be kept in stock, and made with the best machinery and contrivances for that particular branch; consequently, we should have better doors and windows at the least possible cost. Our friends across the Atlantic manage matters in connexion with their buildings much better than at present we do.
I hope the members of this Institution will join me in doing what we can with reference to those two important subjects—correct measurement, and its corollary, proper gradations of size. The want of more correct measurement seems to prevade everything. Take, for instance, the case of the common brick, which ought to be three inches thick. Who is there that has made an addition to a building who has not felt inconvenience from the irregularity of size?—the new brick being, perhaps, too thick, and so
