ὁλκή, a wreath or winding), a spiral line. In architecture, some authors make a difference between the helix and the spiral. A staircase, according to Daviler, is helical when the steps wind round a cylindrical newel; whereas the spiral winds round a cone, and is continually approaching nearer and nearer its axis. This term is also applied to the caulicles or little volutes under the flowers of the Corinthian capital.