House and Garden 
THE WALLS OF AVIGNON 
T HERE is no city in Europe which 
gains so much character from its 
fortified wall as Avignon. In the eyes of 
a military engineer the old masonry, if 
compared with the defences of such a 
place as Lille, appears as worthless as a 
cardboard enclosure. But when Avi¬ 
gnon was a refuge for the popes there was 
no other place that was more secure. It 
now suggests to the tourist the strength 
of the enemies who pursued popes and 
anti-popes for more than a century. 
The walls are wonderfully preserved. 
They have now to withstand enemies of 
a novel kind, for the municipal council 
have come to the conclusion that they 
are obstacles to public improvement. 
At first it was proposed to deal only with 
one of the watch-towers of Clement VI. 
The Commission of Historic Monuments 
interfered, whereupon the councillors 
decided upon a wholesale destruction 
of the ancient fortifications. It cannot 
be denied that Avignon is no stronger 
from its fourteenth-century walls; but 
if the municipal councillors are per¬ 
mitted to have their own way the city 
will be infinitely less attractive, for it ob¬ 
tains its peculiar character from the vast 
and grim palace of the popes and the 
walls, of which the picturesqueness has 
been enhanced by years .—The Architect. 
ARSENICAL POISONING BY WALL 
PAPERS 
I N a note by Mr. Thomas Bolas, 
F. C. S., in the “Society of Arts 
Journal,” we read: It has long been 
recognized that arsenical wall-papers do 
serious mischief, but the work of Gosio 
and of Emmerling seems to have cleared 
up that mystery which has surrounded 
the matter. Certain moulds, including 
the very common mucor mucedo, have a 
remarkable property of decomposing 
arsenical compounds, with the evolution 
of volatile products containing arsenic, 
and the highly poisonous character of 
volatile arsenical compounds, coming 
into the system by way of the respiratory 
organs, is well known. Arsenious acid 
is, even in small quantities, a highly 
antiseptic substance, and poisonous to 
moulds, so the throwing off of the arsenic 
in a volatile form may be an effort of 
nature to cast out the poison. The 
arsenical copper greens and other color¬ 
ing matters containing arsenic are still 
used, F and, paradoxical as it may appear, 
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Dept. 10 
CHICAGO 
Landscape Architects 
and Engineers 
Plans for the development of private estates, parks, 
cemeteries and boulevards made and executed 
SOUTHERN WORK A SPECIALTY Established 1856 
P. J. BERCKMANS CO. Augusta, Ga. 
VINAL & NEGUS 
Landscape and Garden Architects 
Copley Square, Boston, Mass. 
Formal and Naturalesque Gardens a Specialty 
Also Designs for Garden Accessories 
Correspondence invited 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden. 
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