AECHITECTUEE. 



anneJng ideas of utility ; if they can be blended, it is the perfection of art in every 

 province ; and, in the choice and adaptation of new forms to new uses, consists the 

 genius of the artist. 



"But there is another consideration of greater importance, which relates to the 

 material of which the building is constructed. 



" The eye will not be pleased with that to which the mind can not be reconciled : 

 we must be satisfied that the construction is safe, and that the material is equal to its 

 office. The resistance of iron is greater than that of stone; but if iron columns be 

 made to represent stone, they will appear too light and weak. On the contrary, it 

 stone columns be made to resemble metal, they will appear too heavy and massive. 

 And if either of those materials be made to imitate wood, not only the relative 

 strength of each must be considered, but also the Principles of Construction^ which 

 are totally difterent in the Grecian and Gothic styles.* 



P 



j||_GRE CIANl 



PRl NCI PLES ofPRESSVRE 



N D I AN 



Fig. 2. Sketch exhibiting the principles of pressure in Grecian, Gothic, and Indian architecture. 



" Of Grecian Coxstructiox. — According to the law of gravitation, all matter at rest 

 keeps its place by its own weight, and is only to be removed by superior force acting in a 

 different direction. A perpendicular rock, or a solid upright wall, will preserve the same 

 position so long as its substance endures. On this principle of perpendicular pressure all 



Fig. 3. Sketch exhibiting the progress of Grecian architecture, from the cohimns and beams formed of the trunks of 

 trees, with the bark on, to the Doric order, with fluted shafts, &c. 



Grecian architecture is founded. Hence have arisen the relative proportions and inter- 

 columniations in the different orders, from the heaviest Doric to the most graceful Corin- 

 thian, the distances being regulated by the strength of the parts supporting and supported 



remark is every day confirmed by the too slender groins of Gothic arches, to imitate stone, in plaster, or cast 

 and the too slender columns of Grecian architecture in wood, painted to imitate stone and marble. 



