98 



THE SQUARE DES ARTS ET METIERS. 



in 1857 on tlie site of the old palace of the same name. It 

 has a surface of about 8000 square yards^ and cost 6000/. 



The Square des Arts et Metiers is like not a few others of 

 the minor ones, more of a playground than a garden^ gravel 

 and trees being the main features. A low balustraded wall 

 encloses it, and at intervals vases for aloes and like plants 

 are placed upon this. The appearance of this enclosure 

 may suggest that a kind of fence different from what we 



Fig. 37. 



Children at Play in the Square des Arts et Me'tiers. 



usually think necessary in London, might be at once more 

 elegant, and certainly not more expensive. It would not 

 do in the case of the large enclosures, but should we open 

 small squares to the public there is no reason why it might 

 not be tried. Few of us could have believed that Bay ti-ees 

 in tubs would remain intact in that playground for the Lon- 

 don Arab — Trafalgar-square— as they did dui'ing the past 

 year. In the centre of the Square des Arts et ^letiers 

 there is a small but elegant Crimean monument, and there 



