THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. 
[Nature and Art, August 1, 1863. 
The space between the gigantic pillars of the 
great nave and the Liliputian pillars of these flying 
buttresses is to form the Alimentary Court, which 
will include not only articles of food of all kinds, 
whether in a raw, preserved, or prepared condition, 
but also cooked foods, drinks, tobacco, and other 
matters. This gallery will form, in fact, an arcade 
all round the building, in which the exhibiting 
nations, each in its own section, may not only 
show, but also sell, Avliatever man eats, drinks, 
or smokes : here, then, will be the restaurants, 
cafes, taverns, eating-houses, pastry-cooks’ shops, 
wine- and beer-counters, and luncheon-bars, of all 
Europe, perhaps of Asia and Africa, and almost 
certainly of America and Australia. Beneath this 
portion is a range of cellaring nearly a mile in 
length and about thirty feet wide. The occupants 
of the Food Court will be charged a fixed sum per 
metre for rent, and will, of course, have to fit up 
their own establishments. One of the rules laid 
down by the Imperial Commission will give a 
certain character to this part of the Exhibition. 
Each nation will be strictly confined not only to the 
sale of articles used by its people, but also to its 
own proper methods of preparation and cooking. 
Gourmets are already talking of courses of com- 
parative eating and drinking, and critical essays on 
all the various modes of culinary chemistry. 
The ends of the lattice girders already alluded to 
stretch out into space, as if trying to find a bracket 
or pillar upon which to rest their arms : no such 
resting-place is to be provided for them — they are 
not only to remain thus extended and unsupported 
themselves till the end of exhibition-time, but they 
are to give support to an iron or other roof, and to 
form, in short, what is called in France a marquise, 
and thus supply a covered promenade around the 
whole building. This terrace will be more than 
twenty-two feet in width, and will lead, by a gentle 
slope, to the surrounding grounds or pare of the 
Exhibition. The shops and restaurants at the back 
will be upwards of thirty feet deep. 
During the last few weeks there has been an 
uneasy feeling floating about that the war in the 
centre of Europe would cause the adjournment of 
the Exhibition until the year 1868 ; this feeling 
was partially removed by the fact that Austria 
formally announced, at the beginning of July, that, 
in spite of the war, her contributions and arrange- 
ments would all be ready in good time. Events 
which have happened since, and the assurances of 
other countries, have aided in allaying all appre- 
hension ; the Papal government, for instance, has 
announced that the Pontifical frigate Immaculata 
Concezione is ordered to be ready to convey all the 
contributions from the Homan States without charge 
to France. 
The assurances given and the measures taken by 
the French Imperial authorities in connection with 
the Exhibition leave no doubt about the intentions 
of the Commission. In the preliminary article in 
the June number of Nature and Art mention was 
made of the extraordinary works in hand for con- 
verting the heights of the Trocadero into the grand 
Place du Roi de Rome. A few days since, the 
Emperor and Empress visited the works in cpiestion, 
which have been ordered to be ready provisionally 
by the 15 th of August, the day of the Imperial 
fetes : it is said that the quantity of earth which 
will have to be excavated and carried away, to carry 
out this order, will amount to 200,000 cubic metres; 
but with the aid of the electric light, so that the 
work may be carried on by night as well as by day, 
there is no doubt that it will be accomplished. 
Nearly all the special regulations connected with 
the Exhibition have now been published. As 
regards the Fine Art portion, the works to be ad- 
mitted are confined to those executed since the 1st 
of January, 1855, and which were not exhibited at 
the Universal Exhibition held in Paris in that 
year. No copies, even when executed in a manner 
different from the original, are to be admitted ; 
but this, of course, will not exclude reproductions 
by engraving, lithography, photography, or other 
means. 
The retrospective museum, or Illustrations of the 
History of Labour, as it is called officially, promises 
to be one of the most attractive departments of the 
coming Exhibition. At page 24 of Nature and 
Art will be found the heads of the programme of 
this division as applies to France. The assurances 
of other countries give promise that the collection 
of ancient specimens of art-workmansliip will be 
varied as well as numerous. Belgium has appointed 
a special commission for that section, including the 
keepers of the public collections of the country; and 
there is no doubt that the productions of the famous 
old Flemish art- workmen in the precious metals, 
iron, ivory, wood, and other materials, will be 
worthy of the occasion. The Greek Commission has 
taken similar steps ; and although the art-treasures 
of that country produced since the dark ages cannot 
cope with those of the Flemings, and there has 
been, until lately, little care given to the preser- 
vation of such objects in the country of the Hellenes, 
still their style and character are so peculiar that 
they will present a most interesting contrast. 
Bussia promises also to subscribe largely to this 
collection of antique works of art. The Patriarch 
of Jerusalem promises to send some curious con- 
tributions. Persia, also, will contribute many in- 
teresting specimens of her ancient art. The Y iceroy 
of Egypt, who takes a deep interest in the coming 
Exhibition, has, it is said, ordered the whole of the 
contents of the Museum of Boulak, including the 
ancient jewels discovered at Serapium, and a large 
collection of specimens of ancient art, arms, trinkets, 
and antiquities of all kinds, to be sent to Paris. 
The ethnological and ethnographical sections, 
and those relating to the improvement of the phy- 
sical and moral condition of nations and to their 
domestic economy, are expected to be well filled. 
Nearly every country is said to be preparing series 
of costumes, ancient as well as modern, to be set up 
on figures, as was seen to a small extent in the 
Norwegian and other courts of the Exhibition of 
1862. Bussia, Sweden, Norway, Persia, Greece, 
and Egypt, all promise contributions to this class. 
