and in &longs;hort the whole Structure falls to Ruin. <lb/>
</s> <s>The very Foundations them&longs;elves, which you <lb/>
will hardly bèlieve, are &longs;ecured by the Pro<lb/>
tection of the Covering: nor have &longs;o many <lb/>
Buildings been de&longs;troyed by Fire, Sword, War, <lb/>
by Multitude of Enemies, and all other Ca<lb/>
lamities put together, as have gone to Ruin <lb/>
by being left naked and uncovered thro Negli<lb/>
gence. </s> <s>It is certain the Coverings are the de<lb/>
fen&longs;ive Arms of the Building again&longs;t the <lb/>
A&longs;&longs;aults and Violence of Storms and Tempe&longs;ts. <lb/>
</s> <s>Wherefore our Ance&longs;tors in this as in other <lb/>
things acted very laudably, in a&longs;cribing &longs;o <lb/>
much Honour to the Covering, that they <lb/>
&longs;pent their whole Art and Study in adorning <lb/>
and beautifying it. </s> <s>For &longs;ome of their Cover<lb/>
ings we &longs;ee of Bra&longs;s, others of Gla&longs;s, &longs;ome of <lb/>
Gold with gilded Beams and Rafters, and <lb/>
richly adorned with Corni&longs;hes of Flowers and <lb/>
Statues. </s> <s>Of Coverings &longs;ome are open to the <lb/>
Air, others not: the open are tho&longs;e which are <lb/>
not for walking upon, but only for receiving <lb/>
the Rain. </s> <s>Tho&longs;e not open to the Air, are <lb/>
the Roofs and Coves that are between the <lb/>
Covering and the Foundations, &longs;o that one <lb/>
Hou&longs;e &longs;eems to &longs;tand upon another. </s> <s>By this <lb/>
means it comes to pa&longs;s that the &longs;ame Work, <lb/>
which is the Covering to the Apartments <lb/>
below, is the <emph type="italics"/>Aréa<emph.end type="italics"/> to tho&longs;e above. </s> <s>Of the&longs;e <lb/>
Coverings tho&longs;e above our Heads we call Roofs, <lb/>
or Cielings; and tho&longs;e which we tread upon <lb/>
with our Feet, <emph type="italics"/>Areas.<emph.end type="italics"/></s><s> Whether the uppermoft <lb/>
Covering, which lies to the open Air, is to be <lb/>
reckoned as an <emph type="italics"/>Area<emph.end type="italics"/> or Pavement, we &longs;hall <lb/>
examine in another Place. </s> <s>But the Covering <lb/>
to the open Air, tho' it be of a plain Super<lb/>
ficies, ought never to lie even with re&longs;pect to <lb/>
the <emph type="italics"/>Area<emph.end type="italics"/> which it covers below; but &longs;hou'd <lb/>
always incline of one Side to throw off the <lb/>
Rain. </s> <s>But the Coverings within, that are of <lb/>
a plain Superficies, &longs;hould be in all Parts <lb/>
equally di&longs;tant from the Floor. </s> <s>All Coverings <lb/>
mu&longs;t an&longs;wer in Lines and Angles to the Form <lb/>
and Shape of the Platform and Wall which <lb/>
they are to cover: And as tho&longs;e are various, <lb/>
&longs;ome being all of curve Lines, others all of <lb/>
&longs;trait, and others of both mixed together, the <lb/>
Coverings too are therefore various, and of <lb/>
&longs;everal kinds. </s> <s>But tho' they have this natural <lb/>
Difference, and that &longs;ome are hemi&longs;pherical; <lb/>
others made up of four Arches; others vaulted; <lb/>
others con&longs;i&longs;ting of Parts of &longs;everal Arches; <lb/>
&longs;ome &longs;loping or ridged like ordinary mean <lb/>
Hou&longs;es: yet which-&longs;oever of the&longs;e Kinds we <lb/>
chu&longs;e it is ab&longs;olutely nece&longs;&longs;ary, that all Cover<lb/>
ings &longs;hou'd be &longs;o di&longs;po&longs;ed as to &longs;helter and <lb/>
&longs;hade the Pavement, and throw off all Water <lb/>
and Rain, defending the whole Edifice upon <lb/>
which it is placed for a Covering. </s> <s>For Rain <lb/>
is always prepared to do Mi&longs;chief, and where<lb/>
ever there is the lea&longs;t Crack never fails to get <lb/>
in and do &longs;ome Hurt or other: By its Subtility it <lb/>
penetrates and makes its way by its Humidity <lb/>
rots and de&longs;troys, by its Continuance loo&longs;ens <lb/>
and unknits all the Nerves of the Building, and <lb/>
in the End ruins and lays Wa&longs;te the whole <lb/>
Structure to the very Foundations. </s> <s>And for <lb/>
this Rea&longs;on prudent Architects have always <lb/>
taken care that the Rain &longs;hould have a free <lb/>
Slope to run off; and that the Water &longs;hould <lb/>
never be &longs;top'd in any Place, or get into any <lb/>
Part where it cou'd do Hurt. </s> <s>And therefore <lb/>
they advi&longs;ed, that in Places &longs;ubject to much <lb/>
Snow, the Coverings &longs;hould have a very &longs;teep <lb/>
Slope, ri&longs;ing even to an acute Angle, that the <lb/>
Snow might never re&longs;t and gather upon them, <lb/>
but fall off ea&longs;ily; but in more Summeri&longs;h Cli<lb/>
mates (to u&longs;e &longs;uch an Expre&longs;&longs;ion) they laid <lb/>
their Covering le&longs;s oblique. </s> <s>La&longs;tly we &longs;hould <lb/>
endeavour if po&longs;&longs;ible, without Prejudice to the <lb/>
Lights or Wall, to have the whole Structure <lb/>
overlaid with one equal Covering in a manner <lb/>
all of one Piece, and &longs;o far jutting out, that the <lb/>
Water falling from the Gutters may not wet <lb/>
or &longs;oak into the Wall: and all the Coverings <lb/>
&longs;hould be &longs;o di&longs;po&longs;ed, where there are more than <lb/>
one, that one may not &longs;pout upon the other. <lb/>
</s> <s>The Space of Covering too that the Water is <lb/>
to run over &longs;hould never be too large, becau&longs;e <lb/>
upon Rains the Water gathering in the Gut<lb/>
ters in too great Abundance would wa&longs;h back <lb/>
again and flow into the Hou&longs;e; which would <lb/>
greatly prejudice the whole Work. </s> <s>Where <lb/>
the <emph type="italics"/>Area<emph.end type="italics"/> therefore is very large, the Covering <lb/>
&longs;hould be divided into &longs;everal Slopes, and the <lb/>
Rain flow off in different Places; and this is <lb/>
not only attended with Convenience, but Beauty <lb/>
too. </s> <s>If you are obliged in any Place to have <lb/>
&longs;everal Coverings, let them join one to another <lb/>
in &longs;uch a Manner, that when you are once <lb/>
under one, you may pa&longs;s from that to all the <lb/>
re&longs;t always under &longs;helter.</s></p>