all that is needful for us to know, not only respecting cornices, but
respecting brackets in general, and balconies.

Sec. X. 1. The Bracket. In the simplest form of military cornice, the
brackets are composed of two or more long stones, supporting each other
in gradually increasing projection, with roughly rounded ends, Fig.
XXXVIII., and the parapet is simply a low wall carried on the ends of
these, leaving, of course, behind, or within it, a hole between each
bracket for the convenient dejection of hot sand and lead. This form is
best seen, I think, in the old Scotch castles; it is very grand, but has
a giddy look, and one is afraid of the whole thing toppling off the
wall. The next step was to deepen the brackets, so as to get them
propped against a great depth of the main rampart, and to have the inner
ends of the stones held by a greater weight of that main wall above;
while small arches were thrown from bracket to bracket to carry the
parapet wall more securely. This is the most perfect form of cornice,
completely satisfying the eye of its security, giving full protection to
the wall, and applicable to all architecture, the interstices between
the brackets being filled up, when one does not want to throw boiling
lead on any body below, and the projection being always delightful, as
giving greater command and view of the building, from its angles, to
those walking on the rampart. And as, in military buildings, there were
usually towers at the angles (round which the battlements swept) in
order to flank the walls, so often in the translation into civil or
ecclesiastical architecture, a small turret remained at the angle, or a
more bold projection of balcony, to give larger prospect to those upon
the rampart. This cornice, perfect in all its parts, as arranged for
ecclesiastical architecture, and exquisitely decorated, is the one
employed in the duomo of Florence and campanile of Giotto, of which I
have already spoken as, I suppose, the most perfect architecture in the
world.

[Illustration: Fig. XXXVIII.]

Sec. XI. In less important positions and on smaller edifices, this cornice
diminishes in size, while it retains its arrangement, and at last we
find nothing but the spirit and form of it left; the real practical
purpose having ceased, and arch, brackets and all, being cut out of a
single stone. Thus we find it used in early buildings throughout the
whole of the north and south of Europe, in forms sufficiently