Scotland. In short, there are a number of considerable towns with from ten to twenty thousand of a population which were mere villages at the end of the last century. There are, however, certain towns in Fife, such as St. Andrews, and a few others, which still retain many of the features that characterised them a century or two ago.

The greater part of Dundee has been formed and built in the present century. Indeed, the population of Dundee has increased so rapidly that this was not a matter of choice but of necessity. This enterprising city was supplied with water on the system of gravitation about the middle of the century.

The reconstruction of Aberdeen was begun about the end of the last century; and since almost the whole city has been rebuilt. Union Street and most of the principal streets have been formed in the present century; and very little of the Aberdeen of even the eighteenth century now remains. Like other towns, it has extended rapidly, and occupies six times as much space as it did at the opening of this century. The leading streets of the city are broad, and the colour of the stones lends a certain degree of attraction to the lines of houses, which conveys an impression of strength and utility. In general, the street architecture is not loaded with embellishment or much variety of style; but the principles of simplicity and symmetry are well exhibited.

In this section I have touched briefly on a variety of subjects directly or indirectly connected with architecture: all of which have a most important bearing upon great centres of population, with reference to houses of every description, and the sanitary conditions of health. Even up to the middle of this century the defective ventilation and sewerage of nearly every town in the kingdom was notorious. The overcrowding arose from various causes, but chiefly from the rapid increase of the manufacturing population, and the migration of people from the country disticts into the towns. It has been shown in the preceding pages that the greater part of the chief cities of Scotland have been reconstructed and built in the later part of the last and the present centuries; and sanitary arrangements in the construction of buildings and dwelling houses has been more carefully studied, and a marked improvement in sanitation has been effected; yet, much remains to be done in this department.

Beauty in architecture is a leading aim of the art, but it is not the prime end of it. The first consideration concerning every building

intended for human habitation is light, ventilation, and sanitary arrangements; these constitute the primary end of the art. Although, of course, in public buildings, churches, schools, and mansions, the aim to attain beauty often is the chief object of the architect; and rightly so, if the other ends are not neglected.

SECTION II.

Monumental Art, Granite-Cutting and Polishing.

In the first volume an account of the early sculptured pillar stones and monuments found in Scotland was given; and it was observed that one class of monuments are of undressed granite and whinstone, with pecular symbols incised on one side. In the middle of the present century there were upwards of seventy of these rough incised pillars in the district to the north of the Forth; they are not found at all on the south side of the Forth, and the greater part of them were in the district between the Dee and the Spey. These monuments are believed to belong to a period prior to the introduction of Christianity. They were followed by a class of sandstone monuments more or less dressed, and on which the peculiar symbols are figured, along with crosses of various designs and degrees of elaboration. Some of this class are believed to belong to the eighth century.

The crosses on the west coast of Scotland, in the islands, and in Argyllshire, are several centuries later than those of the east coast. They are characterised by a graceful form of foliage, and a higher development of the knot and scroll work in great richness and variety. It is well known that the troubles and struggles which ensued after the Reformation in Scotland were unfavourable to art of every kind; and although grave-stones and monuments continued to be erected, the art and workmanship associated with them rather declined than advanced for a century or two. But about the middle of the last century this art began to revive, and continued to advance.

Many gravestones and monuments throughout the country are made of freestone. It is easily cut and dressed, and very suitable for elaborate ornamentation.

Regular granite quarrying began about the middle of the eighteenth century, and the modes of working it gradually became better understood. Before the end of the century machinery was used in

quarrying granite in Aberdeenshire; and in the present century the modes of working the quarries, and the appliances employed, have been greatly improved. At present the quantity of granite quarried annually in Aberdeenshire is upwards of 200,000 tons. The principal quarries are these :-(1) Rubislaw quarry, worked by a Company; (2) Cairnery quarries, worked by Mr. James Leith; (3) the Kemnay quarries, leased by Mr. John Fyfe, which are very large, and out of which great quantities of granite are annually sent to all parts of the country and to the foreign markets; on an average, the Kemnay quarries produce over 55,000 tons of granite per annum. The other quarries of note are those of Sclattie, Cairngall, etc.; and the Stirlinghill quarries in the neighbourhood of Peterhead, which yields the well-known variety of red granite. About eleven years ago a new red quarry was opened at Hill of Correnie, near Tillyfourie, on the estate of Cluny, which is worked by Mr. Fyfe, and a considerable number of men are employed in it. There are several other quarries on this hill. The stones taken from these quarries are used for a variety of purposes, especially in works where strength and durability are required; such as harbours, embankments, bridges, great public buildings, houses, pillars, momuments of every descriptionsarcophagus, tombs, crosses, gravestones, urns, etc.; ornaments and jewellery; kerb, causeway, and pavement stones.

There are extensive granite quarries in Kirkcudbrightshire. The quarries of Craignair, in the parish of Kirkmabreck, were long worked by the Messrs. Newall; and other quarries in the same locality have been worked for many years. A large quantity of the granite taken from some of these quarries has been used for building docks. About thirty-two years ago the branch of cutting and polishing granite was introduced in this locality by the Messrs. Newall. At Dalbeattie, in Dumfriesshire, granite cutting and polishing, and monumental work is carried on. In the island of Mull, red granite quarries are worked, and some of the stones are dressed and polished in the island; but a large quantity of the Mull granite is still exported from the quarries in the rough state to other parts of the country, where it is worked into monuments.

Aberdeen, however, is the chief seat of the granite trade, and of the special branch of cutting and polishing all varieties of granite monuments, in which I include every work and stone intended by the living to commemorate the departed, or to mark their last resting-place.

Until the present century, the only tools used in dressing granite in this country were small picks; in fact, before this little granite dressing, as now understood, had been executed in Britain. About 1824, Mr. Alexander Macdonald commenced to dress granite in King Street, Aberdeen; and being a man of remarkable energy, his trade soon extended. In 1830, he removed his works to the foot of Constitution Street, where he developed the granite dressing and monumental works, which have become widely known. Mr. Macdonald died in March, 1860, and was succeeded by his son, Alexander; and under the title of Messrs. A. Macdonald & Field, the works were carried on for many years, and their reputation still farther extended. But in 1884, Mr. Macdonald died; and the works have since passed into the hands of a limited liability company, under the title of A. Macdonald & Co. These works are the largest in Aberdeen, and for a number of years they were the only works of the kind in the city. This establishment has for many years executed work and monuments which have been sent to all quarters of the globe. The firm had for long a showyard in London; and several experienced workmen were specially engaged in going from place to place in Britain, Ireland, and the Continent, to superintend the erection of monuments executed at the works in Aberdeen.

Besides monuments of every description, dressed and polished granite stones for buildings, exterior columns, pilasters, pillars, plain shafts for Gothic windows, string courses, trusses, and balustrades, were produced in these works. A considerable number of statues in granite have been produced in this establishment, of which may be mentioned the statue of the Duke of Gordon, the statue of Sir Charles Napier, at Portsmouth, and others. The firm employs about 500 hands.

The monumental granite trade has been rapidly developed in Aberdeen. In 1855, there were only seven granite stone cutting and polishing works in the city; in 1862, there were ten; in 1876, there were thirty; in 1882, there were fifty-five; in 1887, there were upwards of sixty; and in 1895, there were seventy-seven. The number of hands, however employed, has not increased in the same proportion as the increase of the yards. The number of men employed in this branch in 1886 was about 2000; and the number of hands employed in the quarries was about 1100.

Machinery and steam power has been gradually introduced, and is largely employed in all the principal works. The large massive

blocks of granite are laid down in the yards in the rough state as they come from the quarries. For various purposes the stones have to be sawed; and granite is cut into slabs of any thickness or thinness that may be required. The saws are made of iron plates, and the stones are placed under the machines; the saws, according to the old process, operated on the stones by means of quartz sand and water; but by this process it required a long time to cut through a stone. Recently, an American invented what is called "Chilled Iron," which in appearance resembles mustard seed; and this substance, along with oil, is now applied instead of the sand and water, and the stones are sawed through in a comparatively short time. There are a number of saws in one frame, which may be employed at once on one block.

An apparatus is used for dressing round piilars, which works very well. There are also machines for dressing other forms of granite stones, but they have not proved very successful. The greater part of this work is executed by the hand, thus:-(1) The blocks are rough-hewed and shaped into the prescribed form, which is executed by hand-picks with handles; (2) the surfaces are then reduced to a regular form by steel punches and chisels; they are next fine-axed or dressed, which is performed by various kinds of tools; (4) the last process is the polishing, which is now nearly all done by machinery; indeed, the polishing machinery has been brought to a stage of remarkable efficiency.

In granite, joints can be so closely made that when the various pieces which form a column or an elaborate monument are fitted up they are hardly perceptible. Granite monuments do not readily lend themselves to elaborate devices or ornamentation; still, many efforts have been made to extend the range of design and execution in this direction. Knotted and scroll work has recently been executed on a number of granite monuments produced in Aberdeen. Every effort should be made to extend the range of designs-there being too much sameness in granite monuments. A little more variety would produce a wonderful effect, and with the appliances now in operation this might be easily attained.

The lettering of the granite monuments is almost an art in itself, and this branch is executed with surprising taste and precision.

A few of the other granite works may be mentioned. Messrs. J. Wright & Son, John Street, have a large establishment, excellent machinery, and turn out a great quantity of work. Mr. J. Hutcheon,