“D. Portions of coatings from the caissons or lacunaria of the Theseum. “The blue is a copper frit, or glass, with wax. “E. Portions of coating from the northern wing of the Propylaea. “The colour a carbonate of copper. Wax is present. “F. Ditto, ditto (north wing of the Propylaea) as E. “I also return you the drawings and letter. “Every truly yours, (Signed) “M. FARADAY. “T. L. Donaldson, Esq., &c.” ON THE ORIGIN OF POLYCHROMY IN ARCHITECTURE.[7] BY PROFESSOR SEMPER. From the time of antiquity to our own day men have sought to discover or invent the probable origin of the various systems of architecture. Besides the well known _hut_ of Vitruvius, and the no less celebrated _grotto_ of the Ichthyophagi or fish-eating races, (the supposed type of the Egyptian temples), the tent of the Nomad, or wandering races, occupies a very important place in our theories of the origin of styles. In the catenary formed by the fall of the drapery of a Mongol tent, has been recognised the type of Chinese and Tartar architecture. Footnote 7: Extracted from an Essay written in 1852, and published in Germany under the title of “The Four Elements of Architecture.” By PROFESSOR GOTTFRIED SEMPER. But no notice has been taken of the much more evident and less doubtful influence, which drapery itself, in its quality of a vertical wall, or partition, has exercised on certain architectural forms. Nevertheless it is the _motif_ which I venture to cite, as the one on which ancient art has been principally founded. It is well known that the nascent taste for the beautiful among those races which are in a state of social infancy, is first exercised in the manufacture of coarse tissues, which serve either as beds or as partitions. The art of dress is less ancient than that of the manufacture of stuffs, as several examples of people to whom clothing is unknown, and who nevertheless possess an industry, more or less developed, in tissues and embroidery, may satisfy us.