on the opposite side of the Council-room are in like manner 

 opened, is shown in the accompanying photograpli. 



The Council-room was designed by Capt. Fowke. It is 

 entered (except when the large shutters are opened) from the 

 passage on the right, after passing through the Vestibule or 

 Entrance Hall. It is 60 feet long by 40 feet wide, and 30 feet 

 high ; a portion of tins space, however, is occupied by architec- 

 tural details. Its sides are formed by columns and pilasters of 

 Roman Doric, surmounted by a cornice, from which semicircular 

 arches take their source. Three of these arches, on the east and 

 west sides respectively, furnish the openings already mentioned, 

 which are used as entrances when required, forming a passage 

 into the Garden through the colonnades ; a fourth arch occupies 

 the centre of the north end, and another the south. The four 

 angles are cut off and fitted with large mirrors, on each side 

 of which are niches for statues ; and above, in each corner, are 

 three window-like openings, left to aid in ventilation, and fitted 

 with ornamental u'on castings. The ceding consists of horizontal 

 lights of ground glass, tlu'ough which gas pendants descend. The 

 floor is paved with Minton's encaustic tiles, and the heating is 

 effected by hot-water pipes, which are carried beneath the floor 

 in channels covered with ornamental gratings. 



Standing on easels are some frames, containing illuminated 

 pages bearing the signatures of various Eoyal personages who 

 have been Fellows of the Society, or have visited its Garden. 

 The illuminated paintings, for the most part, consist of fruits 

 and flowers, bearing some allusion to the person whose signature 

 they surround — or are used to suggest some sentiment, such as 

 those which the Italians call concetti. The illustration on the 



