132 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



wardias, and carpeted witli knolls of scolopendrium and selaginella, 

 affords a new sensation. AVhen we have descended the short staircase, 

 the spell is greater than before — the ferns surround us and form a 

 green chequered roof overhead, and the splashing of water contributes 

 no less to their health and freshness than to the completeness of the 

 delusion that we have found our way at last to a fairy grove, such as 

 Egeria herself might inhabit. 



" The mosses of thy fountain still are sprinkled 

 "With thine Elysian -vrater drops : the face 

 * Of thy cave-guarded spring, with years unwrinkled, 



Reflects the meek-eyed genius of the place, 

 Whose green, wild margin now no more erase 

 Art's works ; nor must the delicate waters sleep, 



Prison'd in marble, bubbling from the base 

 Of the cleft statue ; with a gentle leap 

 The rill runs o'er, and round, fern, flowers, and ivy creep." 



To describe the construction or contents of these interesting 

 embellishments of the residence is not intended now ; it was simply 

 impossible to refrain from alluding to them, because they are not 

 merely receptacles for plants, but actual extensions of the chambers, 

 gardens under glass, eDJoyable at all seasons without wetting the 

 feet or breathing the external air, and contributing in great measure 

 to the enjoyment of life within doors, without any of the usual 

 vexations such as damp and loss of light, which are common defects 

 of conservatories immediately connected with dwelling rooms. 



And again, before entering the garden, we must call attention to 

 a plant-house, for it is in part represented in the picture. Origi- 

 nally, the windows of the dining-room commanded a rather extensive 

 view, laterally, of the adjoining gardens and far-off houses. Mr. Hay 

 determined to improve the view by contracting it, and the result is 

 a very ingenious arrangement. To furnish the reader with a clear 

 idea (if I should be so fortunate) of the arrangement, I will suppose 

 the windows removed, and a glass partition substituted, so as to make 

 the objectionable view still more extensive and objectionable. Next, 

 at some six or eight feet beyond this glass partition, construct a wall, 

 which shuts out the view altogether. JN'ext, place on the summit of 

 this wall glass lights sloping up to the wall of the house above the 

 partition, and you have what we may call an annexe, or miniature 

 lean-to plant-house. To prevent mistakes in the conception of the 

 scheme, let us, as heretofore, resort to a few printer's lines. 



In this arrangement, A represents the interior of the dining- 

 room, B the wall of the house, C the glass partition in the place of 

 windows, D the lean-to plant-house, E the outside wall of the plant- 

 house, E the glass roof of the plant-house. As things now stand, 

 the dining-room is, of course, rather dark, for the only light which 

 reaches it is supplied indirectly from E through C, and there is no 

 view of the garden at all. But there is just something remaining 

 to be done. In the centre of the wall, E, make a large oval aper- 

 ture ; fix this with glass, make of it, in fact, a window with one 

 sheet of glass, then furnish the plant-house in a suitable manner, and 



