ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Simplest of all was a seat, or exedra, sometimes 

 covered and sometimes uncovered, usually semicircular 

 in form and placed on a slightly 

 raised platform. This was espe- 

 cially intended for conversation. 

 On the street of the Tombs in 

 Pompeii are three or four of these 

 seats, favourite places for a rendez- 

 vous. Similar exedrcz were placed in 

 the house courts, gardens, and parks. 

 Grottoes or artificial caves cooled by streams of fresh 

 water served as museea, or thinking-places for philoso- 

 phers, where they could meditate in solitude, hidden 

 from observation, protected from 

 interruption, and sheltered from 

 the heat of the midday sun in 

 summer. Such a grotto sur- 

 mounted by a pergola is shown 

 in the accompanying illustration. 

 Other caverns, warmed by hot air, 

 were provided for winter occupa- 

 tion. The following account, by 

 M. T. Varro, gives a good idea 

 of one of these out-of-door studies 

 and its surroundings : " My study 

 (museum) is situated at the spot where the stream 

 springs, and from this point, as far as an island formed 



