Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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1but is affected and altered by the Variety of
Weather, being ſwell'd by wet, and dried and
ſhrunk by Heat, it is no Wonder that the wea­
ker Parts ſhould ſink under the Weight, and
ſo crack the Pavement.
But of this we have
ſaid enough.
HOWEVER, I will not paſs over one Thing
which is not at all foreign to our Purpoſe,
namely, that different Times and Seaſons, and
Diſpoſitions of the Air, are proper for digging
the Foundations, filling them up, raiſing the
Wall, turning of Vaults, and finiſhing the
Shells.
The Foundations are beſt dug while
the Sun is in Leo, and in Autumn, the Ground
being then thoroughly dry, which will keep
your Trench from being infeſted with Water.
The Spring is very convenient for filling them
up, eſpecially if they are pretty deep; becauſe
they will be ſufficiently defended from the
Heat of the Summer, by means of the Ground
which ſtands about them as their Protector;
though it will be ſtill more convenient to fill
them up in the Beginning of Winter, unleſs in
Countries near the Pole, or in ſuch cold
Climates where they will be likely to freeze
before they are dry.
The Wall too abhors
both exceſſive Heat, exceſſive Cold, and ſud­
den Froſts, and eſpecially Northerly Winds.
Vaults, till they are dry and ſettled, require
an equal and temperate Seaſon, more than
any other Sort of Structure.
The beſt Time
for laying on the Coat is about the riſing of
the Stars, call'd the Pleiadas, (which is in
Spring) and particularly ſuch Days as have
been ſufficiently moiſtened with ſoutherly
Breezes; for if the Work which you are to
plaiſter over, or white-waſh, is not extreamly
moiſt, nothing that you lay on will ſtick to it,
but it will part and crack, and always look
rough and ſcandalous.
But of Plaiſtering and
Stuc-work we ſhall treat more largely in its
proper Place.
Having now gone through the
general Conſideration of our Subject, it remains
that we deſcend to Particulars; and accor­
dingly we deſign to ſhew firſt the different
Sorts of Buildings, and the Qualities requiſite
in each of them; then their Ornaments; and
laſtly, how to remedy ſuch Defects in them as
are owing either to the Fault of the Workman,
or the Injury of Time.
The End of Book III.
19[Figure 19]

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