There will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low mean entrance.

All these soft kinds [of stone] have the advantage that they can be easily worked as soon as they have been taken from the quarries. Under cover, they play their part well; but in open and exposed situations the frost and rime make them crumble, and they go to pieces. On the seacoast, too, the salt eats away and dissolves them, nor can they stand great heat either.

Bricks should be made in Spring or Autumn so that they may dry uniformly.

Cold winds are disagreeable, hot winds enervating, moist winds unhealthy.

Astronomers have a common ground for discussion with musicians in the harmony of the stars and musical concords in tetrads and triads of the fourth and the fifth, and with geometricians in the subject of vision; and in all other sciences many points, perhaps all, are common so far as the discussion of them is concerned. But the actual undertaking of works which are brought to perfection by the hand and its manipulation is the function of those who have been specially trained to deal with a single art.

There are also kinds of water that cause death, as they run through harmful juices in the soil and become poisonous.

From food and water, then, we may learn whether sites are naturally unhealthy or healthy.