No. 105.] 9 



width, in the centre of the hall, extended its entire length, hor^ 

 dered on either side by broad passages of about the same dimen-' 

 sions. Within this enclosure, three sylvan temples, one in the 

 centre and one at either extremity, and dedicated to the presiding 

 divinities of the place, reared their classic and graceful proportions* 

 In the intervals betvi^een the temples, double rows of terraced shelves 

 rose near the roof, densely and profusely loaded with magnificent 

 specimens of the richest and rarest productions of the vegetable 

 kingdom. Immediately within and between the two entrances, 

 modeled after the remains of a temple of so ancient a date that its 

 name and uses are now unknown, but supposed to have been com- 

 memorative of the most ancient of employments, the tilling of the 

 ground, stood the temple dedicated to Ceres, the goddess of agri- 

 culture, the fields and the harvests. 



ANCIENT TEMPLE TO CERES. 



Inscriptions bearing the name of the goddess curiously worked iri 

 flowers of the purest white, were intermingled among the rich and 

 vivid foliage with which the temple, its columns, cornice, mouldings 

 and dome, extending almost to the roof of the hall, was profusely 

 covered. 



In the centre of the hall stood a gothic temple, strikingly beautiful 

 in the symmetry and grace of its architectural proportions. All the 

 minutia and peculiarities of that style, mouldings, pointed arches, 

 minarets and towers, were carried out and wrought with dense 



