12-1 THE SOURCES OF ARCHITECTURAL TYPES. 



out ; mid that hence our love of completeness is oficnded. 

 ]&amp;gt;ut then there come the further questions llo\v do wo 

 know thiil the architect s conception was symmetrical? 

 &quot;Whence comes this notion of symmetry which we have, 

 rtnd which we attribute to him ? Unless we lall back upon 

 the old doctrine of innate ideas, we must admit that the 

 idea of bilateral symmetry is derived from without ; and 

 to admit this is to admit that it is derived from the higher 

 animals. 



That there is some relationship between Gothic archi 

 tecture and vegetable forms is a position generally admit 

 ted. The often-remarked analogy between a groined nave 

 and an avenue of trees with interlacing branches, shows 

 that the fact has forced itself on men s observation. It is 

 not only in this analogy, however, that the kinship is seen. 

 It is seen still better in the essential characteristic of Goth 

 ic ; namely, what is termed its a ft] &amp;gt;i ring tendency. That 

 predominance of vertical lines which so strongly distin 

 guishes Gothic from other styles, is the most marked pecu 

 liarity of trees, when compared with animals or rocks. To 

 persons of active imagination, a tail (Jot hie tower, with its 

 elongated apertures and clusters of thin projections run 

 ning from bottom to top, suggests a vague notion of growth. 



Of the alleged connexion between inorganic forms and 

 the wholly irregular and the castellated styles of buildinir, 

 we have, I think, some proof in the fact that when an edi 

 fice is irregular, the more irregular it is the more it pleases 

 us. I see no way of accounting for this fact, save by sup 

 posing that the greater the irregularity the more strongly 

 are we reminded of the inorganic forms typified, and the 

 more vividly arc aroused the agreeable ideas of rugged 

 and romantic scenery associated with those forms. 



Further evidence of these several relationships of styles 

 cf architecture to classes of natural objects, is supplied by 

 ihe kinds of decoration they respectively represent. Tho 



