253 



tion of climates, which even under opposite influences are rendered 

 healthy and suited to the wants and requirements of man. 



" That formerly, wherever plants were congregated beneath a glass 

 structure, the atmosphere was invariably deteriorated and rendered 

 unfit for being more than transiently inhaled, the usual method with 

 visitors being to take a hurried view of the chief beauties within, and 

 then retire to a more genial air. 



" That now plant structures are now no longer unhealthy, pent-up 

 ovens, and that the objects within them grow with ease and natural 

 vigour. 



"That the ventilation and climate of our dwelling-houses have also 

 been considered, and many additions to our comfort have in this 

 respect been made. The perfection of these internal arrangements, 

 contrasted with the atmosphere without, renders it still moi'e desirable 

 that something on a large scale should be done to counteract the 

 effects of the outer air, which in this country, and in the neighbour- 

 hood of London especially, is often during many months of the year 

 impure, murky, and unfit for healthy recreation and enjoyment; and 

 it is to meet this want that your petitioner offers the present recom- 

 mendation to the consideration of your right hon. House. 



" That all structures hitherto erected, however great and noble 

 some of them are, fall far short of answering this end, and that your 

 petitioner respectfully recommends the Crystal Palace as being, in its 

 dimensions, the best adapted for such a purpose of anything that has 

 been hitherto attempted, and that its great advantages should be used 

 for the public benefit. 



" That the Crystal Palace, if properly laid out, will open a wide 

 field of intellectual and healthful enjoyments, and will likewise stimu- 

 late the wealthy in large manufacturing towns to a similar adoption 

 of what may now be raised so cheaplj' ; and when judiciously fur- 

 nished with vegetation, ornamented with sculpture and fountains, and 

 illustrated with the beautiful works of Nature, would be pure, elevating, 

 and beneficial in its influences on the national character. 



" That at present England furnishes no such place of public resort; 

 for although Kew has a splendid palm-house, where daily are congre- 

 gated a great number of individuals, yet its warm and humid atmos- 

 phere is only calculated to admit of visitors taking a hasty view of 

 the wonders of the tropics, as they pass in their walks through the 

 gardens. On the contrary, in the Winter Park and Garden your pe- 

 titioner proposes, climate would be the principal thing studied ; all 

 the furnishing and fitting up would have special reference to that end, 



