Archimedes Texts

15
but also pleasant to the Sight. Nature at first
certainly gave us Columns made of Wood,
and of a round Figure, afterwards by Use they
came in some Places to be cut square. There
upon, if I judge right, seeing in these wooden
Columns certain Rings of Circles of Brass or
Iron, fasten'd about the Top and Bottom, that
the continual Weight which they are made to
bear, might not split them; the Architects too
left at the Foot of their Columns of Marble, a
little Ring like a sort of Binding; whereby
they are defended from any Drops of Rain that
might dash up again upon them. And at the
Top too they left another little Band, and over
that an Astragal or Collar; with which helps
they observ'd the Columns of Wood to be
fortified. In the Bases of their Columns it
was their Rule, that the under Part should
consist of strait Lines and right Angles, but
that their upper Superficies should terminate
circularly to answer to the Round of the Pil
lar; and they made this Base on every Side
broader than high, and wider than the Column
by a determinate Part of itself; and the under
Superficies of the Base they made broader than
the upper; the Plinth too they would have a
certain Proportion broader than the Base, and
the Foundation again a determinate Part wider
than the Plinth. And all these Parts thus
placed one upon the other, they erected per
pendicular from the Center of the Foundation.
On the other hand, the Capitals all agree in
this, that their under Parts imitate their
Columns, but their upper End in a Square;
and consequently the upper Part of the Capital
must always be somewhat broader than the
under. This may suffice here as to the
Columns. The Wall ought to be raised with
the same Proportions as the Columns; so that
if it is to be as high as the Column and its Ca
pital, its Thickness ought to be the same with
that of the bottom of the Column. And they
also observed this Rule, that there shou'd be
neither Pillar, nor Base, nor Capital, nor Wall,
but what should in all respects correspond with
every thing else of the same Order, in Heighth,
Thickness, Form and Dimension. But tho' both
are Faults, either to make the Wall too thin
or too thick, higher or lower than the Rule
and Proportion requires; yet of the two I
wou'd chuse to offend on that Side, where we
shou'd have occasion to take away rather than
to add. And here I think it will not be amiss
to take notice of some Errors in Buildings,
that we our selves may be the more circum
spect: in as much as the chief Praise is to be
exempt from Blame. I have observed there
fore in St. Peter's Church at Rome what indeed
the thing itself demonstrates, that it was ill ad
vised to draw a very long and thick Wall over
so many frequent and continued Apertures,
without strength'ning it with any curve Lines
or any other Fortification whatsoever. And
what more deserves our Notice, all this Wing
of Wall, under which are too frequent and
continued Apertures, and which is raised to a
great Heighth, is exposed as a Butt to the im
petuous Blasts of the North-East: by which
means already thro' the continual Violence of
the Winds it is swerved from its Direction
above two Yards: and I doubt not that in a
short time, some little accidental shock will
throw it down into Ruins; and if it were not
kept in by the Timber Frame of the Roof, it
must infallibly have fallen down before now.
But the Architect may not be so much in
Fault, because consulting only the Necessity of
his Situation, he might perhaps imagine that
the Neighbourhood of the Mountain, which
overlooks the Church, might be a sufficient
Shelter against the Winds. Nevertheless it is
certain, those Wings ought to have been more
strengthned on both Sides.

Of the great Usefulness of the Coverings both to the Inhabitants and the other
Parts of the Building, and that being various in their Natures, they must be
made of various Sorts.

The Covering for Usefulness far exceeds
any other Part of the Building. It
not only secures the Health of the Inhabitants
by defending them from the Night, from the
Rain, and especially from the burning Rays of
the Sun; but it also preserves all the rest of the
Edifice. Take away the Covering and the
Materials rot, the Wall moulders and splits,