s like a
rising moon. I can only say, that I have never seen any drawing of a
richly decorated Eastern dome that made me desire to see the original.

Sec. VI. Our own northern roof decoration is necessarily simple. Colored
tiles are used in some cases with quaint effect; but I believe the
dignity of the building is always greater when the roof is kept in an
undisturbed mass, opposing itself to the variegation and richness of the
walls. The Italian round tile is itself decoration enough, a deep and
rich fluting, which all artists delight in; this, however, is fitted
exclusively for low pitch of roofs. On steep domestic roofs, there is no
ornament better than may be obtained by merely rounding, or cutting to
an angle, the lower extremities of the flat tiles or shingles, as in
Switzerland: thus the whole surface is covered with an appearance of
scales, a fish-like defence against water, at once perfectly simple,
natural, and effective at any distance; and the best decoration of
sloping stone roofs, as of spires, is a mere copy of this scale armor;
it enriches every one of the spires and pinnacles of the cathedral of
Coutances, and of many Norman and early Gothic buildings. Roofs covered
or edged with lead have often patterns designed upon the lead, gilded
and relieved with some dark color, as on the house of Jaques Coeur at
Bourges; and I imagine the effect of this must have been singularly
delicate and beautiful, but only traces of it now remain. The northern
roofs, however, generally stand in little need of surface decoration,
the eye being drawn to the fantastic ranges of their dormer windows, and
to the finials and fringes on their points and ridges.

Sec. VII. Whether dormer windows are legitimately to be classed as
decorative features, seems to me to admit of doubt. The northern spire
system is evidently a mere elevation and exaggeration of the domestic
turret with its look-out windows, and one can hardly part with the
grotesque lines of the projections, though nobody is to be expected to
live in the spire: but, at all events, such windows are never to be
allowed in places visibly inaccessible, or on less than a natural and
serviceable scale.

Sec. VIII. Under the general head of roof-ridge and point decoration, we
may include, as above noted, the entire race of fringes, finials, and
crockets. As there is no use in any of these things, and as they are
visible additions and parasitical portions of the structure, mor