As in comparative anatomy it is easy, from a single bone, to designate
and describe the animal to which it belonged, so in architecture it is
easy to restore, by a few fragments, any ancient building. In
consequence of the known simplicity and regularity of most antique
edifices, the task of restoration, by means of drawings and models, is
much less difficult than might be supposed. The ground work, or some
sufficient parts of it, commonly extant, shows the length and breadth of
the building, with the positions of the walls, doors and columns. A
single column, or part of a column, whether standing or fallen, with a
fragment of the entablature, furnishes data from which the remainder of
the colonnade and the height of the edifice can be made out. A single
stone from the cornice of the pediment, is sufficient to give the angle
of inclination, and consequently the height of the roof. In this way the
structure of many beautiful edifices has been accurately determined,
when in so ruinous a state as scarcely to have left one stone upon
another.