GLOSSARY.

1281
YT'sci BuTTRKS3. A Luttress in the form of an arch, springing from a solid mass of
masonr}^ and abutting against tiie springing of another arch which rises from the upper
points of abutment of the first. It is emploj-ed in most of the cathedrals, and its office
is 10 act as a counterpoise against the vaulting of the navo. If flj'ing buttresses were
built solid from the ground, it is obvious that they would interfere with the vista aloa^
the aisles of the church
;
hence the project of continuing a resistiince by means of arches.
Their stability depends on the resistiance afforded by the weight of the vertical buttress,
whence they spring. See Aec-boutant and Buttress.
cus. In geometry and the conic sections, a point on the concave side of a curve, to
which the rays are reflected from all points of such curve.
DDER or FoTHBR. A Weight among the plumbers of London of 19^ cwt.
ENiLiA, (Lat.) See Granary.
iL. The small arcs in the tracery of Gothic windows or panelling. See Cusp.
i.DED Floor. See Floor.
LDiNG Doors Such as are made to meet each other from the opposite jambs to which
they are hung ; and when they ore rebated together, their edges meet folding over each
other, with a bead at the joint, to give the appearance of one entire door.
LDiNG Joint. A joint made like a rule-joint or the joint of a hinge.
LiAGE.. A sculptured group of the leaves of plants and flowers, so arranged as to form
architectural ornaments, as in friezes, panels, &c., and in the capitals of the Corinthian
and Composite orders.
LiATiON. The use of small arcs or foils in forming tracery.
NT. A vessel, generally of stone or metal, fo'r containing the water of baptism in the
Christian Church. The body of the font is usually a large block of stone hollowed out,
and supported by a short column, single or clustered, and elevated on a base
;
sometimes
two or three steps lead to the platform on which the font may be fixed. Ancient
exampk'S occur where they are made of metal. Some of the early fonts are extremely
beautiful, and wrought with great richness of decoration. The singular inscription
frequently found on the walls of baptisteries occurs also occasionally on ancient fonts :
NIVON ANOMHMATA MH MONAN O^IN, which, reading equally well both ways, admo-
nishes the reader to cleanse himself from sin, not less than to use the outward ceremony
of baptism.
lOT. (Germ. Fuss.) A measure of length, but used also in a sense which expresses sur-
face and solidity. Thus we shv, a foot superficial and a foot cube. As this term is used
in almost all languages as a linear measure, it has doubtless been derived from the
length of the human foot. It seems in all other countries, as in England, to be divided
into twelve equal parts, or inches. See Measures.
The English standard foot
(31
Edw. 1.) is=12 lineal English inehes =
36 barley-
cnrns=16 digits = 4 palms = .3 hands =
5j
nails =
l^ spans=r515l Gunter's links

938306 ft. of France = -3047 met. of France. The foot is divided by geometricians into
10 digits, and each digit into 10 lines, &c. The French, as the English, divide the foot
into 12 inches, and the inch into 12 lines. The foot square or superficial is a foot each
way, and contains, therefore, 12x12=1-1:1 superficial inches =
2'29o684 square links.
The
glazier's foot in Scotland =
61 square Scotch inches. The Scotch foot is to the
English foot as 1 066 to 1-000, being in fact the French foot.
The length of the foot varies in different countries. The Paris royal foot exceeds
hat of England by 9^
lines. The ancient Roman foot of the Capitol consisted of 4
palms =11^
English inches. The Rhinland or Leyden foot, used by the northern
aations of Europe, is to the Roman foot as 950 to 1000. The following table exhibits
he length of the foot in the principal places of the Continent, the English foot being
livided into 1000 parts, or 12 inches
:

jondon
Kmsterdam
-
kntwerp
5ologna
5remen
Cologne
Jopenhagen
-
)antzig
>ort - - -
rankfort-on-the-Maine
orrain
antua
lono
942
046
1204
9G1
954
965
944
1184
948
958
1 569
Ft. In. Lines.
12
11 2
11 3
1 2 4
11 6
11 4
11 6
11 3
1 2 2
11 J
11
c
1 6 8
4 .N