and courses of the stones is bad, because it is an opposite one. So far from being unæsthetic, it possesses much that recommends it artistically, for it gives _colour_, and produces richness of surface where there would else be blankness. A wall whose face is so decorated forms an admirable ground to columns or pilasters, which it serves to relieve very effectively, as is exemplified in the screen façade of Dover House, that little architectural gem by Holland, which, though by no means faultless, has more of genuine artistic quality than any other building of its time in the whole Metropolis. SECTION.—A vertical plan of the interior of a building, showing it as it would appear upon an upright plane _cutting through it_. Though rarely shown, sections are almost as indispensable as plans, like which, they show the thicknesses of the walls; and in addition those of the ceilings and floors; and show also _heights_, both of the rooms themselves, and of doors and windows;—moreover, the forms of the ceilings, whether flat, or coved, or vaulted. In one respect, too, a section partakes of the nature of an elevation, the plane parallel to the line of section being an elevation of the interior, or rather consisting of as many elevations as there are separate rooms or divisions. Sections may be described as either _furnished_ or _unfurnished_; the former show only construction and the strictly architectural parts, wherefore, if the side of a room happens to be quite plain, without door, chimney-piece, or other feature, that side or space will be a blank, or little better. Furnished sections, on the contrary, exhibit, besides what strictly belongs to the Architecture and its decoration, mirrors, pictures, statues, furniture, draperies, and all other accessories. The number of sections required depends upon the nature of the plan, and what there is worth showing. If the design be worthy of it, there should be as many sections as will suffice to show every side of every principal apartment; though it may not be necessary to repeat the entire section through every floor. Sections are the _deliciæ_ of architectural illustration, and, it would seem, far too precious to be frequently exhibited. SOFFIT.—From the Italian _soffitto_, a ceiling; the under surface of any projecting moulding or member.