ould be measured off into eight and a half parts,
and the thickness of the column fixed at one of these parts. In the
systyle, let the height be divided into nine and a half parts, and one
of these given to the thickness of the column. In the pycnostyle, the
height should be divided into ten parts, and one of these used for the
thickness of the column. In the eustyle temple, let the height of a
column be divided, as in the systyle, into nine and a half parts, and
let one part be taken for the thickness at the bottom of the shaft. With
these dimensions we shall be taking into account the proportions of the
intercolumniations.

11. For the thickness of the shafts must be enlarged in proportion to
the increase of the distance between the columns. In the araeostyle, for
instance, if only a ninth or tenth part is given to the thickness, the
column will look thin and mean, because the width of the
intercolumniations is such that the air seems to eat away and diminish
the thickness of such shafts. On the other hand, in pycnostyles, if an
eighth part is given to the thickness, it will make the shaft look
swollen and ungraceful, because the intercolumniations are so close to
each other and so narrow. We must therefore follow the rules of symmetry
required by each kind of building. Then, too, the columns at the corners
should be made thicker than the others by a fiftieth of their own
diameter, because they are sharply outlined by the unobstructed air
round them, and seem to the beholder more slender than they are. Hence,
we must counteract the ocular deception by an adjustment of proportions.

[Illustration: THE DIMINUTION OF COLUMNS IN RELATION TO THEIR DIMENSIONS
OF HEIGHT]

12. Moreover, the diminution in the top of a column at the necking seems
to be regulated on the following principles: if a column is fifteen feet
or under, let the thickness at the bottom be divided into six parts,
and let five of those parts form the thickness at the top. If it is from
fifteen feet to twenty feet, let the bottom of the shaft be divided into
six and a half parts, and let five and a half of those parts be the
upper thickness of the column. In a column of from twenty feet to thirty
feet, let the bottom of the shaft be divided into seven parts, and let
the diminished top measure six of these. A column of from thirty to
forty feet should be divided at the bottom into seven and a half parts,
and, on the principle of diminution, have six and a