which it subtends (Illustration 10). Again, by fluting the shaft of a
column its area of cross-section is diminished but the appearance of
strength is enhanced because its masculine character--as a supporting
member resisting the force of gravity--is emphasized.

[Illustration 9: CROSS SECTION OF BUTTRESS.]

The importance of the so-called "orders" lies in the fact that they
are architecture epitomized as it were. A building consists of a wall
upholding a roof: support and weight. The type of the first is the
column, which may be conceived of as a condensed section of wall; and
of the second, the lintel, which may be conceived of as a condensed
section of roof. The column, being vertical, is Yo; the lintel, being
horizontal, is In. To mark an entablature with horizontal lines in the
form of mouldings, and the columns with vertical lines in the form
of flutes, as is done in all the "classic orders," is a gain
in functional and sex expressiveness, and consequently in art
(Illustration 11).

[Illustration 10: CORINTHIAN MODILLION; CLASSIC CONSOLE; IONIC CAP]

The column is again divided into the shaft, which is Yo; and the
capital, which is In. The capital is itself twofold, consisting of a
curved member and an angular member. These two appear in their utmost
simplicity in the _echinus_ (In) and the _abacus_ (Yo) of a
Greek Doric cap. The former was adorned with painted leaf forms,
characteristically feminine, and the latter with the angular fret
and meander (Illustration 12). The Ionic capital, belonging to a more
feminine style, exhibits the abacus subordinated to that beautiful
cushion-shaped member with its two spirally marked volutes. This,