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DOMESTIC. 
[MPR OVEMENTS at Buckingham 
House and Waterloo Place.—The new 
elevation will be Grecian, and of stone, 
advanced in front of the present building, 
which will be re-arranged so as to form a 
magnificent gallery, in which the beautiful 
collection of pictures belonging to his Ma- 
jesty, and which are scattered about in the 
different palaces, will be most advantageously 
disposed. The soil procured by widening 
the canal, and other excavations, is to be 
employed in raising a mound, which is to be 
thickly planted, and exclude the views of the 
new stables from every part of the domains. 
» From what we have learned of the plan of 
the projected improvements connected with 
the removal of the court from Carlton- 
house, and which, it is generally under- 
stood, are principally suggested by the 
King himself, the alteration will be one of 
_ the most splendid yet effected in that part 
of the town. A square, corresponding with 
Waterloo-place, will be opened towards the 
garden, but separated from it by an iron 
railing. To the right and left of this, facing 
the garden on a terrace, four or six first- 
rate houses will be erected, and three more 
on the site of the present riding-house—all 
of which will have the advantage of a view 
‘into the garden and park ; while from Re- 
gent-street the view will be uninterrupted 
across the Parade to Westminster- Abbey. 
Nothing can be more beautiful than such a 
prospect. On the other hand, the magni- 
ficent change to be worked at Charing-cross 
will secure to London a “ Place,”’ not to be 
equalled in grandeur and variety in any city 
in Europe. From this grand square, in 
which (as described in our former number 
for June, page 434.) a fac-simile of the Par- 
-thenon, the portico of St. Martin’s-church, 
the Heralds’-college, the College of Physi- 
-eians, the Union-club, the Athenzan-club, 
and a splendid facade in place of the present. 
buildings of the King’s-Mews, are to be 
collected; a street upon the same scale as 
Regent-street is to be built, annihilating all 
the neighbourhood of the Seven-Dials, and 
part of St. Giles’s, and leading directly to 
the British-Museum. In the front of the 
‘Museum, it is proposed to insulate the 
church of St. George, Bloomsbury, and leave 
a grand area in front of that building ; while, 
at the other end of the street, the beautiful 
church of St. Martin (see the article above 
referred to) is also to be insulated—a 
_ change which not only will bring that mag- 
nificent structure to the eye of the public, 
but also place the front of Northumberland- 
house as a feature in the square to which 
we have already referred :—a feature, how- 
ever, from the prison-like style of architecture 
of its front, most lamentably incongruous 
with the attic elegance of every other part of 
the planin contemplation. But probably the 
good taste and ample means of the Duke 
Mowntnty Mac. No, 412,— Supp. 
SUPPLEMENTARY VARIETIES. 
of Northumberland will induee him to re- 
move this blot of barbarism; and replace it 
by a front of more real grandeur and of 
more congenial proportions. 
Patent Houses.—A gentleman has just 
obtained patents for making improved ven- 
tilating bricks, in various new moulds, 
capable of admitting free currents of pure 
air to all parts of buildings, particularly to 
the ends of beams, joists, between floors, 
roofs, wainscots, &ce. 
The object in view is, if possible, to ren- 
der wood proportionably as durable as walls. 
The most respectable architects of all 
ages have universally aimed at this object, 
and agree, that ventilation prolongs the 
natural durability of timber of all sorts ; 
for which purpose, various partial, imper- 
fect and expensive experiments have been 
made. 3 
It is, however, most extraordinary, that 
builders, aware of the value and importance 
of ventilation, have never devised means to 
apply the remedy effectually. 
If the free circulation of air be the pro- 
per remedy, that object appears to haye 
been fully accomplished by the patentee, 
with the simplest and cheapest methods— 
in fact, without extra expense. His no- 
tice was attracted towards the prevention 
of dry-rot in the navy, at Portsmouth, 
during the war ; and he states, that his im- 
provement will always prevent the danger 
of its destruction. 
The patentee, Mr. Burridge, formerly a 
reputable merchant of Portsmouth, wrote 
a treatise, on the origin and remedies of 
naval dry-rot, a few years ago ;— since then, 
he has published ‘“ Britannia’s Protest’’ 
(a pamphlet), and the “ Tanner’s Key” 
(the only book extant on the art of tanning 
leather); and, we are now informed, he 
has’ resolved to publish a “ Treatise on 
Civil Architecture,’’ embracing a new 
system, and promising a new era in that 
science, one effect of which will be the pre- 
vention of smoky chimnies. 
The object appears one of the utmost 
magnitude and utility to the public, pro- 
vided houses arc not thereby rendered too 
damp or too cold in winter, because 
strength and ornament are promised to 
be united with unusual durability. 
We understand Mr. Burridge’s improve- 
ments are inapplicable to o/d buildings. 
But the metropolitan buildings in, progress 
this summer are immense—the demand for 
bricks is equally immense beyond all exam- 
ple ; and we are assured the duty, last year, 
increased above £1,000 weekly, compared 
with 1823; and this year probably will 
yield a similar addition to the excise. At 
all events, it is thought the manufacture of 
bricks this season will exceed whatever may 
be made in any future year, for itis a fact, 
_ that the whole quantity made last year were 
used before the season for making began this 
4L spring ; 
