xxxvi.), and the interesting letters by his nephew, in which he gives an account of the destruction of Pompeii, and of the death of his brave and philosophic relative who went deliberately into danger in the hope of saving the lives of others.

It would, in this climate, be distinctly inconvenient to imitate closely a Roman house. We may still, if we wish it, manage the impluvium, or marble bath sunk in the floor; but the compluvium, or opening in the roof through which the bath was filled by the skies, would certainly have to be closed up.

Wherever they can be conveniently introduced, encaustic tiles or tesselated pavement look well in a room of this sort; or if a warmer sort of flooring is preferred, a parquet floor-inlaid wood of various colours-has a very good effect.

In decorating a Roman room, considerable attention should be given to the frieze; this, or at all events the upper part of it, should be in relief, i.e. made of plaster, terra-cotta, lincrusta, or similar substances. Where this cannot be managed, something of the same effect may be given by a judicious choice of patterns. Stencilling is particularly useful in this style of decoration, where everything is regular, and one part of the room matches the other parts; only in each panel of the wall, of course, a different subject may be chosen, and drawn and painted by hand. Classical lamps (instead of candlesticks, or still worse,

gas), low divans with cushions and rich stuffs thrown on them, and skins on the floor would all be appropriate. The doors should be concealed by hangings. It would be "in keeping" (where fatigue is no objection) to paint the ceiling; the centre might be left plain, or have a mythological subject painted on it, and a broad border of Greek patterns or arabesques should be stencilled all round the edge. If there are any plaster mouldings, they also should be coloured, the parts in relief a lighter shade, the ground rather darker. I should strongly advise that the ceiling be painted in monochrome-different shades of the same colour. It is generally admitted now, that the Greeks used colour largely to bring out the architectural ornaments of their buildings, to make the relief stronger; while those spaces which appear now to be plain surfaces were covered with devices in gold and colours. The sculptors of old Greece have been more happy than her painters, no doubt equally great; the exquisitely cut marble has remained clear as ever, while the more fragile art has perished.

On the floor, near the door leading into the atrium, the Romans frequently placed the figure of a dog, or the words "cave canem" in black or red marble. The Romans and Greeks differed in the management of their doors: Roman doors (except by express permission) opened inwards, while Greek doors opened

outwards, even those which opened directly on the street, an arrangement which must have led, we may surmise, to the use of disagreeable language at times.

I have given a design for a frieze, from which a dado, in the same style, might easily be arranged. The wall may be divided into panels divided by arabesques; in each panel place an oval, a circle, or a square, with a border running round it, and inside it a drawing from a statue or bas-relief. It is hardly necessary to say that the lines of the drawing should be very correct.