ASPHALTING, for Walks, Roads, Roofs, &c. — This composi- tion is a mixture of pitch and gas-tar, or tar oil, with either furnace ashes, slag, pebbles, broken limestone, spar, or sand. Ashes when used should be tindery and free from dirt. Breese, the riddlings from gas-coke is one of the best materials to use and makes a good road. For a cheap roof, sand is used. Take io cwts. of gas-tar and 3 cwts. of coal-tar pitch, boil together unul in- timately mixed, add this to about 2 tons of ashes or breese, to be well mixed on an even piece of ground. Have the pan for boiling the tar and pitch as near to the work required as possible. Place in the pan about one- fourth of brittle pitch, which requires a little time to melt, then add to it in a continuous stream, stirring all the time, three parts more of gas-tar. If there is any moisture in the tar it will cause the material to rise in the pan, cease putting the tar in, and lessen the heat under the pan, it will then go down. Empty into galvanised iron buckets when ready. When the mixture is ready mix as rapidly as possible the ashes and asphalt together. It is as well to use the coarser ashes first ; to about 1 gallon of asphalt add 1 cwt. of ashes, or for finer ashes or sand use 2 gallons of asphalt, or a little more. When well mixed it will appear black and grainy, and should leave an Impression of the foot without sticking to it. If too much asphalt has been used, add more ashes until it ceases to stick. The first operation is to make a good foundation, use broken material, gravel, or ashes, from a to 3 inches thick, make It as near level as possible, then put on the top the coarser mixture which must be beaten down with a pavior's dolly, (a long wood handle with a round iron flat at the end), then roll it to consoli- date it. The second operation is to place the finer mixture on the top of the coarser until it is about two inches thick, beat down again, then add white spar as required, roll again with a heavier roller, if this is properly done you will have a good road. ASTHMA. — This disease is well known. It manifests itself in temporary fits of difficult breathing, is accompanied with wheezing cough, a sense of suffoca- tion, and constriction of the chest. The cause ; hereditary predisposition ; cold and moist atmosphere ; sudden changes of temperature ; intense study ; sup- pression of long accustomed evacua- tions ; certain fevers : irritation of the air cells of the lungs, by aerial acrimony, or other causes ; irritation of the stomach, &c. When this disease is attended with expectoration, it is called humoural Asthma; and when there is no dis- charge, it is named dry Asthma. It is remarkable, that what will excite the disease in one patient, will often prove a means of relieving it in another. This peculiarity is shown in the eight pair of nerves, branches of which go to the lungs and stomach. When these branches are in a state of morbid ex- citement, or irritation, the muscles con- cerned in conveying air from the lungs become contracted so as to limit the expansion of the chest, and by retard- ing the circulation of the blood through the lungs, the blood becomes surcharg- ed with carbon, causing a dark Appear- ance of the lips, &c.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

ASPHALTING, for Walks, Roads, Roofs, &c. — This composition is a mixture of pitch and gas-tar, or tar oil, with either furnace ashes, slag, pebbles, broken limestone, spar, or sand. Ashes when used should be tindery and free from dirt. Breese, the riddlings from gas-coke is one of the best materials to use and makes a good road. For a cheap roof, sand is used. Take io cwts. of gas-tar and 3 cwts. of coal-tar pitch, boil together unul intimately mixed, add this to about 2 tons of ashes or breese, to be well mixed on an even piece of ground. Have the pan for boiling the tar and pitch as near to the work required as possible. Place in the pan about one fourth of brittle pitch, which requires a little time to melt, then add to it in a continuous stream, stirring all the time, three parts more of gas-tar. If there is any moisture in the tar it will cause the material to rise in the pan, cease putting the tar in, and lessen the heat under the pan, it will then go down. Empty into galvanised iron buckets when ready. When the mixture is ready mix as rapidly as possible the ashes and asphalt together. It is as well to use the coarser ashes first ; to about 1 gallon of asphalt add 1 cwt. of ashes, or for finer ashes or sand use 2 gallons of asphalt, or a little more. When well mixed it will appear black and grainy, and should leave an Impression of the foot without sticking to it. If too much asphalt has been used, add more ashes until it ceases to stick. The first operation is to make a good foundation, use broken material, gravel, or ashes, from a to 3 inches thick, make It as near level as possible, then put on the top the coarser mixture which must be beaten down with a pavior's dolly, (a long wood handle with a round iron flat at the end), then roll it to consolidate it. The second operation is to place the finer mixture on the top of the coarser until it is about two inches thick, beat down again, then add white spar as required, roll again with a heavier roller, if this is properly done you will have a good road. ASTHMA. — This disease is well known. It manifests itself in temporary fits of difficult breathing, is accompanied with wheezing cough, a sense of suffocation, and constriction of the chest. The cause ; hereditary predisposition ; cold and moist atmosphere ; sudden changes of temperature ; intense study ; suppression of long accustomed evacuations ; certain fevers : irritation of the air cells of the lungs, by aerial acrimony, or other causes ; irritation of the stomach, &c. When this disease is attended with expectoration, it is called humoural Asthma; and when there is no discharge, it is named dry Asthma. It is remarkable, that what will excite the disease in one patient, will often prove a means of relieving it in another. This peculiarity is shown in the eight pair of nerves, branches of which go to the lungs and stomach. When these branches are in a state of morbid excitement, or irritation, the muscles concerned in conveying air from the lungs become contracted so as to limit the expansion of the chest, and by retarding the circulation of the blood through the lungs, the blood becomes surcharged with carbon, causing a dark Appearance of the lips, &c.

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