arrangement of the bricks that any weight placed on the
topmost brick (a) is carried down and borne alike in every course; in this
way the weight on each brick is distributed over an area increasing with
every course. But this forms a longitudinal bond only, which cannot extend
its influence beyond the width of the brick; and a wall of one brick and a
half, or two bricks, thick, built in this manner, would in effect consist
of three or four half brick thick walls acting independently of each other.
If the bricks were turned so as to show their short sides or ends in front
instead of their long ones, certainly a compact wall of a whole brick
thick, instead of half a brick, would be produced, and while the thickness
of the wall would be double, the longitudinal bond would be shortened by
one-half: a wall of any great thickness built in this manner would
necessarily be composed of so many independent one-brick walls. To produce
a transverse and yet preserve a true longitudinal bond, the bricks are laid
in a definite arrangement of stretchers and headers.

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--English Bond.

In this and following illustration of bond in brickwork the position of
bricks in the second course is indicated by dotted lines.]

In "English bond" (fig. 5), rightly considered the most perfect in use, the
bricks are laid in alternate courses of headers and stretchers, thus
combining the advantages of the two previous modes of arrangement. A
reference to fig. 5 will show how the process of bonding is pursued in a
wall one and a half bricks in thickness, and how the quoins are formed. In
walls which are a multiple of a whole brick, the appearance of the same
course is similar on the elevations of the front and back faces, but in
walls where an odd half brick must be used to make up the thickness, as is
the case in the illustration, the appearance of the opposite sides of a
course is inverted. The example illustrates the principle of English bond;
thicker walls are constructed in the same manner by an extension of the
same methods. It will be observed that portions of a brick have to be
inserted near a vertical end or a quoin, in order to start the regular
bond. These portions equal a half header in width, and are called queen
closers; they are placed next to the first header. A three-quarter brick is
obviously as available for this purpose as a header and closer combined,
but the latter method is preferred because by the use of it u