16 THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURES. According to Penrose the capitals were turned in a lathe, and they are so true that it is clear that they were finished by rotary action, but as there is no sufficient means in the top bed where- by such immense blocks could be at- tached to a lathe, it seems to me much more probable that they were finished by some revolving trammel. Penrose thought that the drums of the columns were ground together by rotating on their cen- tral pins which were of wood. Magne says this idea is ruled out by the fact that in consequence of the inclination of the columns the horizon- tal beds are not sur- faces of revolution. I cannot see that this remark is justified : if a point in the circum- ference was finally brought back to its proper position the fact that the axis of a drum would lie in different directions as' it revolved would be immaterial.*
- Penrose distinctly says moved " through a small arc." However, wood
dowels and even wood cramps were not uncommon, and altogether I con- sider it most likely that the 3-inch wood pins in 4-inch square blocks of the Parthenon were simply dowels. It seems to have been usual to put even bronze dowels into " boxes," some of which were square. Fig. 61. — Diagram of the Angle : Pediment omitted ; Small steps only suggest the height of stylobate.
