33. Gothic pillars or columns are usually clustered, appearing as if a number were bound together. They are confined chiefly to the inside of buildings, and are generally employed in sustaining the vaults which support the roof. The parts which are thrown out of a perpendicular to assist in forming these vaults, have received the appellation of _pendentives_. The Gothic style of building is more imposing than the Grecian; but architects of the present day find it difficult to accomplish what was achieved by the builders of the middle ages. 34. In the erection of edifices at the present day, the Grecian and Gothic styles are chiefly employed, to the exclusion of the others, especially in Europe and America. Modern dwelling-houses have necessarily a style of their own, so far as relates to stories, windows, and chimneys; and no more of the styles of former ages can be applied to them, than what relates to the unessential and decorative parts. [Illustration: DORIC. IONIC. CORINTHIAN. COMPOSITE. TUSCAN. PILLARS AND ENTABLATURES OF THE FIVE ORDERS.] [Illustration: CARPENTER.] THE CARPENTER. 1. It is the business of the carpenter to cut out and frame large pieces of timber, and then to join them together, or fit them to brick or stone walls, to constitute them the outlines or skeleton of buildings or parts of buildings. 2. The joiner executes the more minute parts of the wood-work of edifices, comprehending, among other things, the floors, window-frames, sashes, doors, mantels, &c. Carpentry and joinery, however, are so nearly allied to each other, that they are commonly practised by the same individuals; and, in this article, they will be treated together. 3. Carpentry and joinery, as well as all other trades connected with building, are subservient to the architect, when an individual of this particular profession has been employed; but it most commonly happens, that the master-carpenter acts in this capacity. This is especially the case in the erection of common dwellings, and, in fact, of other edifices where nothing very splendid is to be attempted. It is to be regretted, however, that the professional architect has not been oftener employed; for, had this been the case, a purer taste in building would have generally prevailed. 4. Contracts for the erection of buildings are often made with the carpenter, as master-builder or architect. In such cases, it is his business to employ persons capable of executing every kind of work required on the proposed edifice, from the bricklayer and stone-mason to the painter and glazier. It not unfrequently happens, however, that the person himself, who proposes to erect a building, chooses to employ the workmen in the different branches.