rhiladelphia genius has not exhausted itself in the inveution of the square window and 

 tlio "ihree-slory front and Iwu-slory l)ack." Something belter is in store fur the genera- 

 tion growing up, who have studied the arts of design better tlian their fiitlicrs. We 

 cherish hopes of living to see somebody liold enough to l)uild a house unlike others on 

 the same street — anything to break this wearisome iteration of the square, even were it a 

 Chinese pagoda for a tea-store, or a Swiss cottage for an ice-cream saloon. Who can tell 

 but that, before many years, we shall seo a Gothic arch here and there, or a projecting 

 window, or a few steep roofs, or a gable end or two turned to the street, or the sunken 

 entry, sheltering the visiter from the rain or sun, while ho waits for a tiirdy " help" to 

 answer the bell. Stained glass may be introduced. There are even now among us, in 

 West Philadelphia and on Schoolhouse lane persons who appreciate that promise in Holy 

 writ: " Behold! I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and thy foundation with sapphires; 

 and I will niuke thy windows agates, and thy gates with carbuncles, and all thy borders 

 with pleasant stones." 



We recommend this wl)olc matter to the Academy of Fine Arts. A painting on the 

 Academy walls pleases the few who will pay twenty-five cents to see it. A beautiful 

 building or window gratifies thousands gratis. Architecture has, too, the advantage of a 

 wide range. Painting and sculpture are imitative arts, limited by the outlines of the 

 objects they represent. Architecture is limited by nothing but the laws of matter and 

 the inventive genius of man. It is capable of inexhaustible variety. 



['] he foregoing we clip from the Public Ledger as worthy of preservation in our 

 columns. It is not often that more just sentiments on the subject discussed, are 

 condensed within the same space. — Ed.] 



PLANTS FOPt HANGING VASES. 



BY THOMAS MEEHAN, GERMANTOWN, PA. 



HILE our architects and citizens are debating the propri- 

 ety of originating a perfectly new style of American Ar- 

 chitecture, — necessity — the mother of invention — is lead- 

 ing our villas and country residences out of the time worn 

 track, by the force of circumstances alone. Wc cannot 

 do without shade. It is the one idea that pervades all 

 our visions, and enters into all our calculations of ease, 

 luxury and comfort. In no other country besides ours, 

 and where the pursuit of happiness leads men so ration- 

 ally to the delightful pleasures of country life, is shade so 

 much sought after, or so very desirable. I'rotection from our scorching summer's sun 

 is almost born with us, — and has become one of the prominent phrenological "bumps" 

 on our national cranium. Shade trees surround all our houses of any pretensions; and 

 porches, verandas, and piazzas in every direction, tell us that our houses have many 

 striking peculiarities which distinguish them from those of foreign lands. Let the 

 style be what it may, — Gothic, Grecian, Norman, or Elizabethan, the piazza or 

 anda must not be forgotten or set aside. 



s[lcr^i^«2^- 



