the finished pinnacle and canopy, that an accomplished modern architect, however good a mathematician he may be, could hardly give his pupil better practice or clearer directions than to copy the diagrams, and work out the problems here given. But as we cannot expect the readers of the Archæological Journal to be prepared to follow the minutiæ of a mathematical treatise, we must content ourselves with a few specimens, and present them with a reduced series of the diagrams which will be generally appreciated, while those mathematicians who wish to do so can without difficulty draw out the definitions for themselves.
The first part teaches how "To raise a pinnacle (Fiale) from its foundation, according to the mason's art, and the rules of geometry."
| 1. Make a square as annexed, with the letters a d c d. This is the size of the block out of which the pinnacle is to be cut. |
Fig. 1. |
| 2. Make a square the same size as the previous figure, divide the line a b into two equal parts, and place e on the division, do the same on the other sides, and join the letters e h f g. |
Fig. 2. |
| 3. Make a figure the same as the last, divide e h at k, repeat this on the other sides, then rule the square i k l m. |
Fig. 3. |
| 4. Then turn the square e h g f, as in the following figure. The outer square is the plinth, the next the shaft, and the inner one the thickness at the bottom of the panel. |
Fig. 4. |
| 5. Draw again the figure as before, then carry the line i l till it cuts e h and g f, then place n, and do the same at the other corners of the figure. |
Fig. 5. |
