198 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



advantage of the natural situation, the direction of the wind, the 

 heat of the sun, the requirements of temperature and climate, all 

 of which must receive due attention in good and economic build- 

 ing. Ornamentation, decoration, design, aesthetic effects, and other 

 elements which are popularly supposed to compose architecture, 

 are either neglected altogether or put to one side as matters which 

 may receive attention after essential things have been considered. 

 The Romans were fond of ornament, they loved to overload their 

 structures with decorations of all kinds, and the number of 

 statues employed in some of their public buildings was prodig- 

 ious ; but Pliny's letter shows that there were at least some among 

 them who looked at architecture through the lens of common 

 sense, and it is to them we must go in our search after truth. 



Adaptation to its use was the chief element in Pliny's villa, the 

 basis on which it rested, and the plan on which it was designed. 

 There was no insistence on the beautiful or the elevation of artis- 

 tic form to the chief place, but everything was arranged as con- 

 venience dictated or sense suggested, and all was in consequence 

 admirably suited to the requirements of the owner. It was in 

 these things that he found satisfaction, while if any part was 

 arranged with elegance, so much the better ; but as long as he 

 was comfortable, as long as his windows opened on refreshing 

 views, as long as every advantage was taken of the shade in 

 summer or the heat of the sun in winter, as long as there were 

 convenient and accessible places of retreat as well as ample 

 rooms in which to entertain the guests, there was no fault to 

 be found, and, as the owner was satisfied, who could complain ? 



The pleasure that Pliny derived from his villa is in striking 

 contrast to the dissatisfaction that is expressed with modern 

 buildings of all kinds not dwellings alone, but stores and offices, 

 churches and public buildings; with those erected in an inex- 

 pensive way, and those on which unlimited sums have been ex- 

 pended. The fault-finding is not a subdued murmur, but is gen- 

 eral and outspoken, and, in the absence of any other object, is 

 aimed at the architect, sometimes with a vigor that should be 

 sufficient to arrest his attention. And the architects are largely 

 to blame ; for, as the leaders in the architectural movement, they 

 naturally have a fuller acquaintance with the subject than a man 

 who builds but one house in a lifetime, and, if they do not cor- 

 rect errors in construction, it is difficult to see who else is to be 

 held responsible. The reasons for this state of things are obvious. 

 Every man who undertakes to build a house seeks to make it a 

 model dwelling in which the faults of every other building he 

 is acquainted with will be corrected, and everything arranged 

 to suit his ideas of comfort and utility. He begins with well- 

 defined views, knows exactly what he wants, and lays them before 



