In looking back upon the works we found great cause for thankfulness for the successful conclusion of the building operations, without loss of life, or even the occurrence of any serious accident, excepting the destruction of the first Barrack in November 1839. It also gave me great satisfaction to reflect that, however difficult a rigid adherence to scrupulous accuracy of workmanship may be in such a situation as the Skerryvore, it had nevertheless, from the exactness with which the stones were dressed, on no occasion been necessary, throughout the execution of the whole work, to deviate from the rule which I had laid down of carefully gauging the diameter of each course and of admitting no variation from the true form materially exceeding ¹⁄₈ inch. Every part of the stone work, indeed, was fitted in an accurate manner and the floor stones, in particular, which serve as _ties_ across the building, were finely dressed and carefully set. All opportunities were also embraced, whenever it was practicable, to grout each course over night that the recent masonry might be in a state fit for building upon in the morning; and by those precautions and the peculiar properties of the mortar used, any disadvantages from very rapid building were entirely avoided. Even the elliptic cavetto which forms the cornice and which projects no less than three feet from the face of the wall, although bearing a very heavy _entablature_ or _plinth_, never gave any signs of _settling_ outwards; and when I examined it from a stage hung from the end of the balance-crane just before it was removed, there was no appearance of any change in the thickness of the joints, although the outer heads of the stones had been purposely kept a little high to allow for any tendency to settlement. The effect of the cornice is very bold and striking and is quite in accordance with the simple and almost severe style of the pillar itself. The masonry of the Tower is 137 feet 11 inches in height and it contains 58,580 cubic feet or about 4308 tons. ~The Lantern.~