ARCHITECTURE. 
is now common, even in ordinary buildings, 
to make them from two feet to two feet six 
inches high only. In noblemen’s houses, 
the sills are frequently upon the same le- 
vel with the floor, and sometimes rise a 
step or two higher. These circumstances 
will alter the proportion of the windows, 
and make them much higher than the dou- 
ble square. The width of all the windows 
must be the same in the same faqade; but 
the different heights of the stories will re- 
quire different heights of windows. Were 
it required to find the quantity of light for 
a room of given dimensions, it is evident 
that this will depend upon the area of the 
inlet and the cubature of the room ; there- 
fore, supposing that an aperture containing 
20 square feet is sufficient for a room 12 
feet square and 10 feet high, that is, 1400 
cubic feet, the quantity of light will easily 
be ascertained for a room of any other 
given dimensions. Let a room be sup- 
posed 25 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 14 
feet high, the cubature will be 7000 feet ; 
then, because the cubature of rooms 
should be as the area of the inlets, the pro- 
portion will stand thus : 
1440 : 7000 20 
20 
1440) 140000(97 the area of the in- 
12960 let required. 
10400 
10080 
320 
Or, instead of working the proposition, 
divide the cubature of the room by 72, 
thus : 
72) 7000 (97 as before. 
648 
"52O 
504 
16~ 
This quotient, divided into three parts, 
gives nearly 32 feet for each window. 
Which is very sufficient for light; and after 
deducting 12 feet, the breadth of three win- 
dows, 13 feet will remain for the four 
piers, which is a very good proportion : 
there is also abundant room left for any 
kind of furnishing above the windows. 
An odd number of windows, either in the 
same length of front, or in the same length 
of principal rooms, is always to be prefer- 
red to an even number ; for, since it is ne- 
cessary to have the door in the middle of 
the front, an even number of windows 
would occasion a pier to be above the open- 
ing of the door, contrary either to regulari- 
ty or to the laws of solidity ; and in rooms 
nothing is more gloomy than a pier opposite 
the centre of the floor. Windows placed 
in blank arcades should have the under 
sides of their lintels in the same horizontal 
plane with the springing of the arch ; or if 
the windows have a cornice, the springing 
of the arch ought to be carried as high as 
the top of the cornice. 
The aperture of the windows may be 
from two-fifths to three-fourths of the 
breadth of the arcade. In the principal 
floor, the windows are generally orna- 
mented ; the most simple kind of which is, 
that with an architrave, surrounding the 
jambs aud lintels of the aperture, and 
crowned with a frize and cornice. In 
cases where the aperture is high, in order 
to make the dressing of a good composi- 
tion, the sides of the architrave are fre- 
quently flanked with pilasters or consoles, 
or with both; and sometimes with co- 
lumns, when there is a set-off or proper 
base, so as not to have a false bearing. 
When the principal rooms are in the one 
pair of stairs, the windows of the ground 
floor are sometimes left entirely plain, and 
at other times they are surrounded with an 
architrave ; or the rusticated basement, 
where there is one, terminates upon their 
margins without any other finish. The win- 
dows in the third story are frequently plain, 
and sometimes surrounded with an archi- 
trave. When the windows in the principal 
story have pediments, the windows of the 
story immediately above have frequently 
their surrounding architraves crowned 
with a frize and cornice. The sills of all 
the windows in the same floor should be 
upon the same level. The sills of the win- 
dows in the ground story should be elevated 
five or six feet at the least above the pave- 
ment. In the exterior of every building, 
the same kind of finish or character should 
be preserved throughout the same story. 
Mixtures of windows should be avoided as 
much as possible ; or where there is a ne- 
cessity for introducing Venetian windows, 
they ought to stand by themselves, as in 
breaks. 
Gates. A gate is an aperture in a wall, 
which serves for the passage of horsemen 
and carriages. They are employed as in- 
lets to cities, fortresses, parks, gardens, 
palaces, and all places to which there is a 
frequent resort of carriages. In gates which 
