94 TlMEHRI. 
dinary buildings. No doubt the new " Law Courts " with 
its varied crestings running we may almost say to seed 
upon their many roofs will help to encourage the use 
of these graceful ornaments. 
Metal cresting-work though possibly more at home 
in gothic atmosphere, is not however considered quite 
out of place upon our domestic dwellings ; and moreover 
here these crestings, apart from their decorative beauty, 
can be of practical use in preventing vulture birds of 
unclean habits from resting upon our roofs, for from our 
house tops all our drinking water flows. 
And now to another feature of both detail and con- 
structional importance, affecting the external appearance 
or beauty of our buildings; — the Arch. Strange it is, 
with so many horizontal and perpendicular lines about 
us we have so very few arched or curved lines to correct 
or counterbalance or set them off. Our windows and 
jalousied openings are all square headed. The new Ice 
House makes a noble protest against this universal square 
arrangement, and contains arches enough to show that 
they can be employed with very great success. Most of 
our galleries as stated before have many windows and 
jalousies ; why should not the arch-form mingle itself 
with these, and thus pleasingly break the square 
monotony. In a very few of our domestic houses the 
arch has been introduced, and generally with good 
effect, though often times badly executed. An arch 
judiciously introduced here and there would enliven 
the whole building ; but arched, and all curved 
work is much more expensive than straight or 
rectangular work, hence (shame to have to own 
it) the difficulty of getting builders to contrive 
