Hawney's Complete Measurer: Or, The Whole Art of Measuring

On examination of the sixteenth edition, the editor found it to be replete with errors, owing to the inattention, or incapacity of those who had the care of the press, since the death of the author. Hence arose the necessity of working every example anew, and examining every rule with the greatest care. This was attended with considerable labour, and at the same time was not a very agreeable task; for as the nature and plan of the work has undergone little or no change, so the merit is still due to the author, while the errors, if any of consequence are left, will be attached to the present editor.

The first nine chapters are in substance the same as in former editions. The Xth, XIth, and XIIth are added by the editor, besides various rules and observations throughout the work, the principal of which are distinguished in the table of contents by prefixing an asterisk.*

The mensuration of the five regular bodies is placed immediately after the mensuration of solids, and these are succeeded by board and timber measure.

In the former editions, timber measuring was divided into several sections; as, squared timber, or pieces of timber in the form of a parallelopipedon; unequal squared timber, or pieces of timber in the form of the frustum of a pyramid; round timber with equal bases or pieces of timber in the form of a cylinder;

round timber with unequal bases, or pieces of timber in the form of the frustum of a cone and the contents were found, both by the customary method of measuring timber, and likewise by the rule for each respective solid. In this edition these examples are placed under the several rules to which they belong, and are distinguished by asterisks*; and in timber measuring they are brought for ward, and solved by the customary method, with reference to the pages where they are truly solved. By this means several pages have been saved for the introduction of more useful matter.

The gauging and surveying, which were given in the former editions by way of appendix, are introduced in this edition without that distinction. The former has undergone such alterations as will render it very useful for those who are candidates for the excise, or who want to find the contents of different kinds of vessels. And the latter will be found to contain sufficient information for such as want to find the true content of any single field, or parcel of land, by the chain and cross-staff only To form the complete gauger and surveyer, recourse must be had to treatises written expressly for the purpose.

The practical questions, which preceded the appendix, are now placed at the end of the book and in the same order in which they were formerly arranged.

The rest of the practical examples throughout the work, which amount to about four hundred, are given by the editor; several of which were copied from a manuscript, containing notes and observations on HAWNEY, by MR. RAWES, master of the academy at Bromley, in Kent.

In this edition eighty new geometrical figures, illustrating the different problems, are likewise given; so that neither pains nor expense have been spared, to render this work of equal utility with any other of a similar

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