CAPITAL FROM THE CHURCH OF S. VITALE, RAVENNA, ITALY. This is a mean between the two extreme types shown in Plates XXI. and XXII. In all these examples the treatment of the angles should be noted. Strong confining lines, with a distinct upward tendency of the ornament, contrasted with the flat sides, contribute much to the good effect of these capitals as constructive members. [Illustration: XXIV. Capital in the Museum of the Accademia di Belle Arti, Ravenna, Italy.] XXIV. CAPITAL IN THE MUSEUM OF THE ACCADEMIA DI BELLE ARTI, RAVENNA, ITALY. Whether this capital was originally intended for S. Vitale or some of the other churches of Ravenna we cannot state, but at all events it is a fitting companion for the others illustrated in this number. The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY BATES & GUILD, 6 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. Subscription Rates per year 50 cents, in advance. Special Club Rate for five subscriptions $2.00. Entered at the Boston Post Office as Second-class Matter. * * * * * An illustrated catalogue has come to be one of the important features of exhibitions of architectural drawings, and these catalogues are now exceedingly valuable records of recent progress in architecture. The contributions of the present year to this department of an architect's library are especially notable. Of the catalogues which have come to our notice, that of the architectural exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia is in point of illustration the most complete, and shows the most judicious selection of material. In this there was a marked endeavor to give as large a number of geometrical drawings as possible, and it is unquestionably a move in the right direction. The desire for the picturesque, which has been until recently the ruling motive with American architects, has had its day, and trained and conservative designers have gradually taken the place of the pyrotechnic draughtsman of the past. The change has been working gradually to be sure, but scale and detail drawings both in the exhibitions, which of necessity are intended to appeal to a more or less popular taste, and in the professional journals are from year to year growing more prominent. In their recognition of this tendency, the Philadelphia catalogue committee are to be highly commended. The same trend may be observed in a little less marked degree in the Architectural League catalogue. The exhibitions of the League have for years been the models by which minor exhibitions have been ruled, and its catalogue has been a guide to all others. As usual there is a great deal of valuable and interesting material presented in its illustrations.