small thickness required for the panels. It thus became
possible to substitute the principle of equilibrium for that
system of inert stability which had always been applied by
the Romans to their constructions. The fine feeling mani-
fested in the profiles and details in the twelfth century build-
ings of the district round Soissons is also a result of the
quality of the building stone there. To that also are due
the delicacy of the rib-mouldings, the richness of the pier
arches, the deep undercutting of the sculptured capitals."

-xxxii-