--the designing and the
moulding. The design rests upon a basis generally furnished by
experience, and which the founders have transmitted from generation to
generation. The thickness of the rim of the bell taken as unity
determines the diameters and dimensions. The outline most usually
followed gives 15 rims to the large diameter, 71/2 to the upper part of
the bell, and 32 to the large radius that serves to trace the profiles
of the external sides.

[Illustration: THE CASTING OF THE GREAT BELL OF THE BASILICA OF THE
SACRED HEART.]

The moulding is done as follows: In the pit where the casting is to be
done there is constructed a core of bricks and a clay shell, separated
from each other by a thickness of earth, called false bell. This
occupies provisionally the place of the metal, and will be destroyed
at the moment of the casting.

Now let us give a brief description of "La Savoyarde." Its total
weight is 25,000 kilogrammes, divided as follows: 16,500 kilogrammes
of bronze, 800 kilogrammes for the clapper, and the rest for the
suspension gear.

Its height is 3.06 meters and its width at the base is 3.03. It is
therefore as high as it is wide, and, as may be seen from our
engraving, two men can easily seat themselves in its interior. In
weight, it exceeds the bell of Notre Dame, of Paris, which weighs
17,170 kilogrammes, that of the Cathedral of Sens, which weighs
16,230, and that of the Amiens bell, which weighs 11,000. But it
cannot be compared to the famous bell given by Eudes Rigauit,
Archbishop of Rouen, to the cathedral of that city, and which was so
big and heavy that it was necessary to give a copious supply of
stimulants to those who rang it, in order "to encourage" them.

[Illustration: THE GREAT BELL OF THE BASILICA OF THE SACRED HEART.]

"La Savoyarde" will appear small also if we compare it with some
celebrated bells, that of the Kremlin of Moscow, for example, which
weighs 201,216 kilogrammes. One detail in conclusion: "La Savoyarde"
sounds in counter C. This had been desired and foreseen. The number of
vibrations, that is to say, the _timbre_ of a bell, is in inverse
ratio of its diameter or of the cubic root of its weight, so that in
calculating the diameters and in designing "La Savoyarde" the _timbre_
was calculated at the same time.--_L'Illustration._

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