234											10
                                                                      
                                                                      	with that of its superstructure, applied entirely to the
                                                                      area of its own base, may not crush the materials or dis-
                                                                      turb the joints of the foundation:  The wider and deeper
                                                                      their stone on which the pillar is based, the better;
                                                                      but it evidently must not be mdde wide without being
                                                                      deep.  For in such case, as, suppose at a opposite, there
                                                                      would be a strong probability of the foundation stone’s bre[a]
                                                                       breaking in the centre, as at 6;  in which case the build-
                                                                      ing would instantly become unstable; while if no founda-
                                                                      tion stone had been employed at all, the pillar might
                                                                      have sunk gradually into the ground without in any wise
                                                                      losing its stability;  The more solid the block therefore
                                                                      the better;  and the larger the better, up to the point
                                                                      at which it loses its subordinati[o]on to the pier, and be-
                                                                      comes a needless weight of stone requiring a foundation
                                                                      for itself.  Supposing the foundation of the whole edifice
                                                                      itself solid and well knit, the most natural and simple
                                                                      form of base would be a block projecting (certainly not
                                                                      more than one half the diameter of the column on each
                                                                      side of it) to about the degree of the jut of the capital,
                                                                      and of the not less depth than two thirds of its width,
                                                                      as a2  Evidently however, when the pier is large, such
                                                                      an arrangement would greatly i[u]nterfere with the acces
                                                                      sibility and convenience

[Version 0.05: May 2008]