THE DWELLING HOUSE 



Henry II it began to be more generally substituted for 

 the oiled paper, the cauls of colts, the canvas, and the 

 opalescent shells which had heretofore covered window 

 openings, and which even to-day are to be seen in re- 

 mote districts of Italy where glass is still too great a 

 luxury for general use. In the sixteenth century huge 

 glass windows became an expensive fad in the resi- 

 dences of the English nobility. We read that " Hard- 

 wick Hall had more glass than wall!" Windows were 

 not then considered part of the house, but were dis- 

 posed of separately in the wills of the owners. They 

 were covered with tracery, and set in casings of brick 

 faced with flints, stone, or black-glazed bricks. 



In the dry climates of the East roofs are often flat. 

 The flat roof of modern Turkish houses is equipped 

 with a cylindrical stone roller, which after a rain is 

 rolled backward and forward over the surface to dry 

 it. The ancient Egyptians built their roofs flat, but 

 the Greeks had a roof like the letter A, which they 

 covered with slabs of marble. The Romans used this 

 same style of roof, and finished it with parapets and 

 balustrades. The roofs of the Roman court were of 

 five varieties. Three of these sloped inward, leaving 

 in the center a flat area for the collection of rain water; 

 the fourth variety covered the entire atrium and sloped 

 outward, allowing the rain to run into gutters and thence 

 into drains which led the water away from the house, 

 or into subterranean cisterns; the fifth variety was 

 probably made of plate glass. The long roofs in the 

 timber districts of Germany and Switzerland are ex- 

 treme illustrations of protection against storms. The 



