er clearness, I shall not draw the bricks in the shaft,
nor the flat stone which carries them, though the reader is to suppose
them remaining as drawn in Fig. XI.; but I shall only draw the shaft and
its two essential members of base, Xb and Yb, as explained at p. 65,
above: and now, expressing the rounding of these numbers on _a_ somewhat
larger scale, we have the profile _a_, Fig. XII.; _b_, the perspective
appearance of such a base seen from above; and _c_, the plan of it.

Sec. XI. Now I am quite sure the reader is not satisfied of the stability
of this form as it is seen at _b_; nor would he ever be so with the main
contour of a circular base. Observe, we have taken some trouble to
reduce the member Yb into this round form, and all that we have gained
by so doing, is this unsatisfactory and unstable look of the base; of
which the chief reason is, that a circle, unless enclosed by right
lines, has never an appearance of fixture, or definite place,[37]--we
suspect it of motion, like an orb of heaven; and the second is, that the
whole base, considered as the foot of the shaft, has no grasp nor hold:
it is a club-foot, and looks too blunt for the limb,--it wants at least
expansion, if not division.

[Illustration: Fig. XII.]

Sec. XII. Suppose, then, instead of taking so much trouble with the
member Yb, we save time and labor, and leave it a square block. Xb must,
however, evidently follow the pillar, as its condition is that it slope
to the very base of the wall veil, and of whatever the wall veil
becomes. So the corners of Yb will project beyond the circle of Xb, and
we shall have (Fig. XII.) the profile _d_, the perspective appearance
_e_, and the plan _f_. I am quite sure the reader likes _e_ much better
than he did _b_. The circle is now placed, and we are not afraid of its
rolling away. The foot has greater expansion, and we have saved labor
besides, with little loss of space, for the interval between the bases
is just as great as it was before,--we have only filled up the corners
of the squares.

But is it not possible to mend the form still further? There is surely
still an appearance of separation between Xb and Yb, as if the one might
slip off the other. The foot is expanded enough; but it needs some
expression of grasp as well. It has no toes. Suppose we were to put a
spur or prop to Xb at each corner, so as to hold it fast in the centre
of Yb. We will do this in the simplest possible form. We will have t