300 Essay on the Avian Order of Architecture. [Sept. 



Under this is the dado, or plain straight face, which is of about the 

 same height as the torus itself. Beneath this is a quirked ovolo of 

 bold projection surmounted by a straight fillet, and under this is the 

 plinth, of which the dimensions vary in the different examples. Of 

 these the Takht-i-Suliman specimen is the most massive, and as it is 

 further characterized by the total want of projection in the face, which 

 is flush with the wall of the building, and which I take to be an un- 

 doubted sign of antiquity. 



4. — Of the lighter kind of basement, there are two examples, of 

 which that of the enclosing wall around the tomb of Zein-ul-ab-ud-din 

 is probably the more ancient one as it is distinguished by the same want 

 of projection in its face which has just been noticed in the Takht 

 example. In this kind of basement the filleted torus is altogether omit- 

 ted ; and its place is supplied by an abacus, which in the earlier speci- 

 men is supported by an apophyge, or prastara, broken by several annu- 

 lets; and in the later specimen by a cyma recta surmounting two 

 annulets. The remainder of the earlier basement is similar to those of 

 Bhaumajo and Payach, but with a much less projecting ovolo. The 

 Marttand example only differs in having its face broken into three 

 annulets, something like those of the Doric capital, which are separated 

 from the upper member by an astragal. 



5. — The last basement is that of the wing-buildings of the Marttand 

 temple of which unfortunately I have no detailed measurements. Its 

 height is of course the same as that of the large temple ; but it differs 

 entirely in its details, which are however almost the same as those of 

 the pedestal of the largest interior niche. See Plate XVI. The decora- 

 tions of the face are precisely the same, and on the sides towards the 

 large temple, where they have been covered from the weather, these 

 decorations are still in excellent preservation. 



6. — It is impossible to say whether any particular rule was observed 

 in determining the height of a basement, as we have not sufficient data 

 to guide us. In the Bhaumajo and Payach examples, the height of the 

 base is exactly one fifth of that of the whole temple, whereas in that of 

 Marttand the basement was only one fifteenth of the whole height. If 

 the Bhaumajo proportion had been used for the temple on the Takht-i- 

 Suliman, its height would only have been 28 feet and 1£ inch. As 

 however this dimension is exactly three fourths of its extreme breadth, 



