« Vitr. 2.5 | Vitr. 2.5 | Vitr. 2.6 | About This Work »
2The cause of the mass becoming solid when sand and water are added to the lime, appears to be, that stones, like other bodies, are a compound of elements: those which contain large quantities of air being soft, those which have a great proportion of water being tough, of earth, hard, of fire, brittle. For stones which, when burnt, would make excellent lime, if pounded and mixed with sand, without burning, would neither bind the work together, nor set hard; but having passed through the kiln, and having lost the property of their former tenacity by the action of intense heat, their adhesiveness being exhausted, the pores are left open and inactive. The moisture and air which were in the body of the stone, having, therefore, been extracted and exhausted, the heat being partially retained, when the substance is immersed in water before the heat can be dissipated, it acquires strength by the water rushing into all its pores, effervesces, and at last the heat is excluded.
« Vitr. 2.5 | Vitr. 2.5 | Vitr. 2.6 | About This Work »