Excerpt from Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania and American Repertory of Mechanical and Physical Science, Civil Engineering, the Arts and Manufacturers, and of American and Other Patented Inventions, Vol. 40: July, 1845 We might assume this as known a priori, but we arrive at the same conclusion by a direct examination of the forces. We may regard the prism B C E as a wedge, impelled by its own weight, against the planes B E, B C, and determine, on the princi ples of the wedge, the pressure on the surface B C; or we may re gard that prism as a weight tending to slide down the Inclined plane B E, and determine, by the theory of the inclined plane, the horizon tal force, or reaction of the wall, necessary to prevent the descent. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.