ARCHITECTURE. 



shafts, the die being always equal thereto. 

 When balustrades are placed upon the 

 entablature of an order, over the inter- 

 columns or interpilasters, and the base 

 and cornice of the balustrade continued, 

 so as to break out and form pedestals over 

 the columns or pilasters, the breadth of 

 the die of the pedestals should be equal 

 to the breadth of the top of the shafts ; 

 and where there is no order, the breadth 

 of the die is never more than its height, 

 and very seldom narrower ; and the dies 

 of the pedestals are frequently flanked 

 with half dies, particularly when the range 

 of balusters is long. This is not only 

 apparently necessary, but is in reality use- 

 ful in shortening the range, and forming 

 a better support for the ends of the rail. 



Jittics. An Attic is a part of a building 

 standing on the cornice, similar in form to 

 that of a pedestal ; and is either broken 

 or continued. The use of an .attic is to 

 conceal the roof, and to give greater dig- 

 nity to the design. The Romans employ- 

 ed attics in their edifices, as may be seen 

 in the remains of the triumphal arches, 

 and piazza of Nerva. In the arch of Con- 

 stantine, pedestals are raised over the co- 

 lumns as high as the base of the attic, 

 and these pedestals are again surmounted 

 with insulated statues. In the ruins of 

 Athens there are no attics to be found : 

 there is one, however, over a Corinthian 

 colonade at Thessalonica, with breaks 

 forming dwarf pilasters over the columns ; 

 and with statues placed in front of the 

 pilasters, as in the arch of Constantine. 

 The attic carried round the two courts of 

 the great temple of Balbec is also broken 

 into dwarf pillasters over the columns and 

 pilasters of the order ; and the dwarf pi- 

 lasters have blocking courses over them, 

 on which statues are supposed to have 

 been placed. Attics are very dispropor- 

 tional in the ruins of these ancient edifi- 

 ces, some of them being nearly one-half 

 of the height of the order. The moderns 

 make their height equal to that of the 

 entablature ; as to the proportion of the 

 height of the members it may be the same 

 as that for pedestals. 



JJoors. Doors are apertures in exterior 

 walls, used for passage into public and 

 private buildings ; and in the interior, for 

 communication from one apartment to 

 another. In the fourth book of Vitruvius 

 rules are laid down for Doric, Ionic, and 

 Attic doors, all of which have apertures 

 narrower at the top than at the bottom. 

 These trapazoidal closures of apertures 

 have the property of shutting themselves, 

 v.bich, perhaps, might have occasioned 



the introduction of this form, and are vise* 

 ful in modern times for raising the door 

 above the floor in the act of opening, in 

 order to keep it clear of the carpet. Ex- 

 amples of them are to be found among 

 the ruins of ancient edifices ; they have 

 also been introduced by a few modern 

 architects. The apertures of doors of 

 small dimensions are most commonly 

 closed with lintels. Doors, in general, 

 are regulated in their apertures by the 

 size of a man, so as never to be smaller 

 than that he might pass freely through 

 them ; they are seldom less than two feet 

 nine inches in width, by six feet six inches 

 in height, except in confined situations, 

 and where utility is beyond any other con- 

 sideration. 



Doors of entrance vary in their dimen- 

 sions, according to the height of the story, 

 or magnitude of the building, in which 

 they are placed. In small private houses 

 fotfr feet may be the greatest width, and 

 in most cases three feet six inches will be 

 sufficient. The lintels of doors should 

 range with those of the windows ; and the 

 width of their aperture should not be less 

 than that of the windows. A good pro- 

 portion of doors is, that where its dimen- 

 sions has the ratio of three to^seven; 

 their height should never be less than 

 twice, nor more than twice and a half, 

 their breadth. In the entrance doors of 

 public edifices, where there is a frequent 

 ingress and egress of people, and often 

 crowded, their width may be from six to 

 ten feet. Inside doors, Or doors of com- 

 munication, should be in some measure 

 proportioned to the height of the stories ; 

 however, there is a certain limit for the 

 dimensions of their apertures, which they 

 should not exceed ; for the difficulty of 

 shutting the door will be increased by its 

 magnitude ; therefore the apertures of 

 doors, which are intended to shut in one 

 breadth, should never exceed three feet 

 six inches. In palaces and in noblemen's 

 houses, where much company resort, and 

 in state apartments, all the doors are fre- 

 quently thrown open ; they are made 

 much larger than other doors, being from 

 four to six- feet in width, with folding 

 leaves. The proportion of the apertures 

 of such doors will often be of a less height 

 than that of twice the breadth, as all the 

 rooms in the same story have a communi- 

 cation with one another, the whole of the 

 doors in that story will have one common 

 height. 



The apertures of exterior doors placed 

 in blank arcades are regulated by the 

 imposts, the top of the aperture being 



