58 STRUCTURES ADAPTED TO PARTICULAR PURPOSES. 



applicable except under certain circumstances. We have seen 

 houses erected on this principle in Northern Europe, where they 

 doubtless answer the purpose much better than houses with ellip- 

 tical roofs, for the reasons already stated in regard to forcing- 

 houses; viz., the deficiency of perpendicular light,*not only in the 

 winter and spring, but also in the early part of summer, when all 

 the perpendicular power of the sun's rays is required for the proper 

 maturation of the fruit. It must be evident, however, that these 

 reasons can be of no influence on this side the Atlantic, at least, 

 in the southern and midland states, although we know of several 

 houses in the state of New York, built on this principle, or a 

 very near approximation to it. 



Fig. 17 is a single-roofed curvilinear house, built on the above 

 principle, the back wall being equal to the breadth of the house. 

 As a single-roofed house, this curve has a very good appearance, 

 and answers admirably where perpendicular light is desirable. 

 The only objection that can be urged against it, is the flatness 

 in the upper portion of the roof, which gives it the same faulty 

 character, for our hot climate, that we have urged against the 

 flat roofs of straight-lined houses. 



Fig. 18 is intended to represent a double-roofed house, on the 

 same principle. Here the width of the house must be equal to 

 the chord of both the sides. The parapet wall being only a con- 

 tinuation of the semi-circle, of course this form of house is open 

 to the same objections as the other, (Fig. 17,) even in a greater 

 degree, as the flat part of the roof, in this case, is precisely 

 doubled. The perpendicularity of the rays is in some measure 

 obstructed by a portion of the segment, at the apex of the roof, 

 being opaque, as in the case of the house from which our sketch 

 is taken. This plan answers the purpose very well, without 

 depriving the house of its effect, and we think, where it is neces- 

 sary, the effect might be heightened by a slight balustrade, or 

 other ornament. 



That curvilinear houses, properly constructed, are superior to 

 those with plain roofs, can hardly be questioned on practical or 

 scientific grounds. The construction of the monster palm house, 

 lately erected in Kew Gardens, at London, is an evidence that 

 this principle is recognized by the most scientific cultivators in 



