Architectural Reveries.

when the intrigues of the boudoir became a positivelyiniluencingpoiverevenin matters of state ; and when a female coterie could decide authoritatively on the merits , or , at all e \ ents , the temporary vogue and fashion of authorship , the productions of the sculptor , the painter , or the architect , it is

not to be wondered at that every style of art should feel the influence of the newly developed regime . The neAv features of the artistic progress of this period were , iu England , interrupted in their de =-velopmment by the Puritan revolution in the reign of Charles I . ; but in Pranceeven in the

uncon-, genial atmosphere of the court of Louis XIII ., the first scintillations of a decided change of taste began to make themselves felt , and assumed a very rapid development in the reign of his successor . It was then that the leather hangings , quaintly stamped and gilt , were stripped from the Avails

where they had hung for ages . It ivas then also that the rich tapestries of former periods began to disappear . Those heavy drapiugs from the looms of Arras and Mechlin , grim with sanguinary battlescenes or with the scarcely less sanguinary proceedings of the Medieval hunting-field , were not

found to be in accordance Avith the sympathies of the new leadership of art , and gave way to silken hangings of delicate hues , enriched with scarcely A'isible embroideries . The old Avail linings of oak or cedar , heavily carved in quaint and often beautiful deviceswere too dark and massive in their

, effect for boudoir taste , and give place to delicate panellings , painted entirely lvhite , and relieved only with light and fanciful enrichments of slightraised ornaments , heightened ivith gilding ; leaving the dresses of the court beauties to supply the rich colourine- which had in their favour been made to

disappear from the walls ; while even the decorative pictures , ivhen introduced , ivere of light and delicate tones , all more or less modified by the admixture of ivhite , giving to them a kind of tender bloom , and producing somewhat the effect of a picture seen through gauze , or a girl ' s face through

a white veil . But Avhile interior architecture , and especially furniture , Avas undergoing the boudoir influence of the eighteenth century , Aviudow architecture suddenly ceased to make any decorative progress whatever . Improvements in glass-making

furnished larger panes , and the leaden lattice , ivith its variety of patterns , gave place to a plain ivooden framework Avith its monotonous and never-varying square panes . As architectural genius Avas ivithdraivn more and more from the monumental to the domestic

in the coni'se of institutional changes , internal comfort became , as a rule , a greater desideratum in buildings than exte :-nal effect . Ancl though , in Paris , in the course of the eighteenth century , some elegant facades arose , in AA'hich even the neglected ivindoiv feature was coquettishly adorned Avith surrounding mouldings , made graceful with chisellings of light and fanciful character ; yet the

monotonous square panes hacl firmly established themselves as a given element in window design , and all variety in the glazed portion of this important architectural feature came to a stand , from ivhieh , even at the present time , it has not emerged . Whether this stationary phase of window design

be absolutely necessary , as arising out of the nature of the materials used and the object to be attained in the construction of a modern windoAv , is a matter worth examining . The first question that presents itself in the inquiry is , ivhether wood be really the best material for the frameivork of

the glazed portion of house-windows of a superior class , and whether strong and rudimentalobjections may not exist to the present system of glazing . As regards objections to this system , it may be urged that , as glass is a very brittle substance , and liable to frequent accidentsit seems a clumsy

pro-, cess to stick the panes in permanently with a substance that hardens in such a way that , when a neiv pane has to be introduced in pla . ce of a broken one , the hammer and chisel have to go to work to extract the broken glass by main force , permanently disfiguring the neatness of the framework , and

rendering fresh paint necessary to cover the unsightly patching ; Avhile as the fresh paint can never be made to match the old , the Avhole win-CIOAV ought to be repainted ; and even then , if the paint of the other Avindows of the front be rather old , the only way to make a " good job" ivould be to repaint the whole of them—and all this in

consequence of an accident to a single pane of glass . Now , if instead of this clumsy ancl primitive method of glazing , one were adopted in which , a fresh pane might be put in with the same ease and neatness as putting a new glass to a watchface , all this clumsy pottering might be avoided .

Ancl this mi ght be easily effected at a very small increase of expense , even with the present Avooden frame . But , first , let us see whether metal framing would not be in every respect superior to wooden ones . The old objection to metal , on account of its liability to expansion bheatis not a valid

y , one , as that quality of metal might easily be pro-Added against . Taking it for granted , therefore ,, that Avindows mi ght be cast in metal , either in iron , zinc , or in some mixed metal ; the first advantage gained would be , that instead of the eternal square panes ( any deviation from ivhieh

Avould be very expensive in woodwork ) , Ave should be able to produce elegant varieties of tracery at . the same cost as the plainest rectangular pattern , after the mould had once been prepared . Then comes the subject of glazing , in such a way as that any piece of glass might be taken out and

replaced as easily as the process of unlocking the lid of a box and locking it again . The plan proposed is this—the rebate of each compartment should have a groove , into which india-rubber tubing should be fixed , of a flattened form suitable for the purpose ; upon this tubing the edges of the glass ivould lie ; and to secure the pane in