Page 288 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

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DEN1TICLEs, n., the cogged or toothed member, common in the bed­ mould of a Corinthian entablature, is said to be dentilled, and each cog or tooth is called a dentil, or denticle ;-L. denticulus, om dens, a tooth.
READING LESSONS.
(middle space, G.) is a square sunk space between every pair of triglyphs. F. triglyphe; G. triglyphos, om treis, three, and gl e, an incision or channel.
Prn'NAC E, n., the slender, tapering head of a turret or buttress; a small spire, or the head of a spire or steeple. F. pinacle; L. pin­ naculum, for m pinna, a wing.
RAM1IFIED, a., branching or extending, as the branches om a trunk; om ram.us, L., a branch.
FRET1TED, a., diversi ed, or variegated with raised work; c1 t or carved in many parts, so as to project rward; om the I. fratto, broken; split.
For "Structure,'' see p. 184; "Conical," p. 65; "Corinthian," p. 48; "Cube," p. 273; "Architect," p. 187; '' Symmetry," p. 69; "Nich­ es," p. 105; and "Intersecting," p. 146.
1. FROM the earliest periods of society, the art of building bas been cultivated by mankind; and the origin of all buildings may be deduced om the con­ struction of the meanest buts. These were, at rst, made in a conical rm, which is the simplest in structure; but being inconvenient, on account of its inclined sides, both· the rm and construction of the
huts were changed, by giving them the shape of a cube.
2. Mankind at length improved in the art of build­ ing, and invented methods of rendering their habita­ tions durable and convenient. The trunks of trees, deprived of their bark and other inequalities of sur­ ce, were raised above the humid soil, by means of stones, ahd covered each with a at stone, or slate, to exclude the rain ; and the interstices, or spaces between the ends of the joists, were closed with wax or clay. The roof was altered, and elevated in the centre by rafters, to support the materials of the cov­ ering, and to carry o the water. When the rude builder erected more stately edi ces, he imitated those parts which, om necessity, had composed the