House and Garden 
A TYPE OF THE PRIMITIVE FOUNTAIN 
At the Tombs of the Sultans , Brousse , Turkey 
bringing a note of refreshment in its cease¬ 
less rhythm. It is here, too, that the visitor 
is struck by the delightful combination of 
marble and curving jets of water which meet 
him at every turn and which constitute per¬ 
haps one of the chief charms bequeathed to 
modern Rome. But we cannot linger to 
wonder at the pretentious glory of the Fon¬ 
tana Paolina ; at the exquisite proportions 
of the little Tartarughe , or even to have a look 
at the great water-works of the villas at Fras¬ 
cati, where cascades pour down and columns 
spout forth water. These, indeed, have very 
little attraction for the student of art and can 
be looked on as clever feats of engineering, 
not so very much superior to the sham trees 
to be found in some old gardens which used 
suddenly to spout forth water from every 
branch to the confusion “ of ladies and 
others ” and presumably to the delight of 
the facetious owner of the ingenious toy. 
Leaving aside the question of city foun¬ 
tains, let us turn our attention to park and 
garden and to the work which is being done 
at the present time. Nature is conservative 
and does not change her form with succeed¬ 
ing generations, so that even if it is pro¬ 
posed to decorate some very formal garden, 
there is much latitude allowed. 
We are in touch with the old gods of 
mythology, especially with the fascinating 
race of water-deities: Neptune with his tri¬ 
dent and sea-horses, mermaids and mermen 
with fishy tails, dolphins, tritons, cupids and 
nymphs of everv degree frolicking in the gush¬ 
ing water, spouting it out through horns and 
shells and inflated nostrils, pouring it from 
reversed urns, make a veritable water-carnival. 
The surroundings, in all cases, help im¬ 
mensely. In the celebrated Versailles foun¬ 
tains, converging avenues of trees reflected 
in the troubled pools, clipped yew hedges 
: 55 
