GARDEN HOUSES, BRIDGES, ETC. 263 



As nothing is drearier than a dry fountain except the exasperat- 

 ing trickle of one that refuses to be drowned out by the continuous 

 drip of the eaves, it is better to place your fountain in a part of the 

 garden which you are only likely to visit on a fine day, and if possible 

 it should be set where its tossing spray will catch the sunbeams while 

 you repose in the cool shade ; then the supply of water may be as it 

 should unfailing. Fountains on such an extensive scale as those of 

 Versailles or Chatsworth are only to be excused, when, as at Caserta, 

 they run day and night from one .year's end to the other. It is only 

 in such great places, too, that large and monumental fountains, basin 

 above basin, adorned with sculpture and connected by cascades, have 

 any fitness, and even then they are apt to cease very soon to be fine. 

 Lead is the best material for such fountain sculpture in our damp- 

 laden atmosphere, as it discolours more becomingly than stone or 

 marble. This tendency to discolour in blotches and afford a foot- 

 hold for Mosses and Lichens, though a blemish on statues, is 

 an added charm to the necessary basins and copings which should 

 confine the waters of our fountain. A fountain, is a work of art, and 

 as such should always be placed in the more formal portions of 

 the grounds. The feathery spray of a jet is always a beautiful thing 

 but can be ill-placed as, for instance, in the centre of a large stretch 

 of ornamental water. 



