THE 
LONDON anp EDINBURGH 
PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 
AND 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
[THIRD SERIES. ]} 
JUNE 1836. 
LXXVI. On the Mathematical Form of the Gothic Pendent. 
By James D. Forses, Esq., F.R.S.L. & E., Professor of 
Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh.* 
[With a Plate.] 
ard are few points in the history of science more cu- 
rious than the display of theoretical skill afforded by the 
masonic works of the darker ages. Wherever the Gothic 
architects derived their knowledge, it must have been both 
extensive and sound; and now that the stigma attached to 
the unfortunate appellation of Gothic has in a great measure 
passed away, and it is admitted that pure taste may be shown 
in following other than the Grecian models, we may be per- 
mitted to gather lessons from these remoter times, tending to 
show that the basis, at least, of what is pleasing in architec- 
ture is not of a capricious or ephemeral character, but reposes 
upon the immutable substratum of natural laws. 
When we select the best works which have characterized 
the middle ages, including both the Norman and the pointed 
styles,—but especially the latter, from its earliest introduction 
into Italy during the Imperial decline down to the sixteenth 
century,—we are sometimes at a loss to say whether the 
sound mechanical principles employed in such structures have 
been more happily displayed or artfully concealed. ‘To con- 
* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Feb. 1, 1836 ; and com- 
municated by the Author. 
Third Series. Vol. 8. No.49. June 1836. 2¥ 
