CHAPTER VIII.

FIREPROOF BUILDINGS--PATENT SYSTEMS OF CONSTRUCTION.

Names of patentees--Dennett’s construction--Patent concrete--Mode of constructing arches for floors, ceilings, and roofs--Vaults and domes--St. Thomas’s Hospital--Cost of arching--Insecurity of the Bodleian Library--Parliamentary report on British Museum, National Gallery, etc.--Extinguishing fire at South Kensington--Water-supply in public buildings--St. Paul’s Cathedral--Paris fires during the Commune 85