designed by the emperor Napoleon to commemorate the glory of the French armies, and the first stone was laid on the fifteenth of August, 1806, being the emperor's birthday. Its dimensions are more than twice as large as those of Constantine's arch or the Porte St. Denis, and are as follows: height, 161 feet; breadth, 146 feet: thickness, 72 feet; height of the grand archway 67 feet, breadth 47 feet; height of the lateral arches 60 feet, breadth 27 feet. The depth of the foundations is 27 feet; and the arc is 179 feet long by 79 feet wide.

The front represented in the engraving faces the palace of the Tuilleries, and the approach from the palace is by the principal avenue in the gardens, through the Place Louis Quinze, and thence by the avenue of the Champs Elysées. There is a gradual rise of the ground for some distance before arriving at the barrier of Neuilly, and the arch is placed on a circular space at the summit. It forms one of the most

commanding objects from various parts of the environs of Paris.

On each of the two principal fronts there are two groups of sculpture. The first represents the departure for the armies in 1792, when France was menaced on all her frontiers, and by a solemn decree of the national convention the country was declared in danger. The Genius of War is represented pointing with a sword to where the enemies of the country ought to be met and overcome. A commander waves his helmet to invite the citizen-soldiers to follow him, and he is eagerly joined by a young man. A little to the right of the spectator a man advancing into years has already drawn his sword, thrown aside his mantle, and is prepared to march; and behind him an old man, who can no longer combat for his country, offers his counsel to the commander. To the left, a warrior seated draws his bow, and behind him is another in a coat-of-mail, who sounds a trumpet; and at the back of this last figure is a young man on horseback. The whole group is surmounted by the national flag.

The triumph of the French arms, at the period when the empire appeared to be most firmly consolidated in 1810, is also represented on the side of the arch nearest the Tuilleries. The emperor is crowned by Victory; Fame publishes his deeds, and History records them. Citizens of vanquished towns approach to make their submission, and on a palm-tree there are suspended trophies of arms taken from the enemy. The group is completed by a prisoner in chains.

The resistance made to the approach of the allies, in 1814, is the subject of the group on the right. A young soldier defends his invaded country; on one side his father, who is wounded, embraces him, and on the other, his wife, with a child which has been killed in her arms, vainly endeavors to stop him. Behind, a horseman, mortally wounded, falls from his horse; above this group, the Genius of the Future encourages the young man to resistance.

The other group on the Neuilly side is an allusion to the peace of 1815. A warrior sheathes his sword in the scabbard; on his left a woman caresses an infant on her lap; another child, who is reading, leans upon her. To the right is a man occupied with a ploughshare, surrounded by corn; behind him, " un soldat laboureur," returned to his hearth from the wars, subdues an ox which he wishes to put to the plough.

These four groups are designated as follows: Le Départ (1792); Le Triomphe (1810); La Résistance (1814); La Paix (1815).

There are two bas-reliefs on each of the principal fronts, and one on each of the sides. They represent the death of General Marceau, on the 19th of September, 1796. He was wounded so severely on the field of battle, that he fell into the hands of the Austrians. The Archduke Charles paid him the greatest attention, but he expired soon after he had received his wound, and the Austrian army showed the highest respect to his remains, which were interred, accompanied by the usual military honors, in which both the Austrians and French took part. The other basreliefs represent the battle of Aboukir, July 24th, 1799; the passage of the bridge of Arcole in Italy, on November 5th, 1796; the taking of Alexandria, in Egypt, July 2d, 1798; the battle of Austerlitz, December 4th, 1805; the battle of Jemappe, November 6th, 1792.

The frieze of the grand entablature, on the front shown in the engraving, and the half of each of the sides, represents the departure for the armies. In the centre the representatives of the people, before the altar of the country, distribute the flags to the commanders of the different corps of the armies of the north and south. To the right and left, extending to one half of each side, the troops are in full march.

On the Neuilly front, and the remainder of the sides, is represented the return of the armies. France, regenerated, accompanied by Prosperity and Plenty, distributes wreaths to the chiefs; and on the right and left the troops defile, bringing with them

the works of art.

The shields contain a list of thirty victories which are supposed to have had the most important influence on the affairs of France. They are: Valmy, Jemappe, Fleurus, Montenotte, Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole, Rivoli, Pyramids, Aboukir, Alcmaer, Zurich, Heliopolis, Marengo, Hohenlinden, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, Somosierra, Esling, Wagram, La Moskwa, Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Hanau, Montmirail, Montereau, Ligny.

The tympans of the lateral arches contain the figures of a grenadier, a light horseman, a heavy dragoon, a horse and foot artilleryman, a sailor, and a marine.

In the exterior decoration of the arch, there could only be appropriated a space capable of containing the names of thirty battles. The interior of the grand arch, as well as the smaller arches, is inscribed with other actions to the number of ninetysix, in which the French arms were not less distinguished. Under the heads of north, east, south, and west, follow the names of twenty-four actions which took place in each quarter.

To the list of military combats are added the names of the commanders-in-chief, marshals, and generals, who contributed to their celebrity. The list includes those of several generals-of-brigade, and colonels, who perished in the field. It has been necessary to confine this list to the superior grades of the army, but it contains three hundred and eighty-four names, and includes some Polish, German, Italian, and Spanish officers, who fought in the ranks of the French army. These three hundred and eighty-four names are divided in four groups of six columns each. Beneath them are the names of the armies which France sent to the different theatres of war, and a list of them shows the prodigious efforts which were required to sustain the system of Napoleon. On the north occur the names of the armies whose operations took place in that quarter, namely, the armies of the north, of Ardennes, of the Moselle, of the Rhine, of the Sambre and the Meuse, of Holland, of Hanover. On the east, the armies of the Danube, of Helvetia, of the Grisons, of the Var, of Italy, of Rome, of Naples. On the south, the armies of Dalmatia, of Egypt, of Spain, of Portugal, of Andalusia, of Aragon, of Catalonia, of the South. And on the west occur the armies of the eastern Pyrenees, of the western Pyrenees, of the West, of the Camp of Boulogne, of the Army of Reserve, and the Grand Army. Above each of the four tables of the names of distinguished officers is a bas-relief, representing military devices.

The cost of the triumphal arch has been rather more than $200,000, which has been contributed in nearly equal proportions under the empire, the Restoration, and since the commencement of the reign of Louis Philippe. It has sometimes been said, that the French, while embellishing their towns, and particularly the capital, have neglected works which contribute to domestic and personal comfort. Improvements, however, are going forward, which prove that indifference toward the latter objects no longer exists, and that, while the love of art has not diminished, great exertions have been making at the same time in matters which really contribute to utility and convenience.

The establishment called the "Morgue," was instituted in 1804, and is destined to receive the dead bodies of such individuals as have fallen victims to accident or assassination, or have been induced, by despair, to put an end to their own lives; they are publicly exhibited, that they may be recognised by their relatives or friends. This receptacle for the unknown dead found in Paris and the faubourgs of the city, contributes not a little to the forwarding of the medical sciences, by the vast number of bodies it furnishes, which, on an average, amount to about two hundred annually. The process of decomposition in the human body may be seen at La Morgue, throughout every stage to solution, by those whose taste, or pursuit of science, leads them to that melancholy exhibition. Medical men frequently visit the place, not out of mere curiosity, but for the purpose of medical observation, for wounds, fractures, and injuries of every description occasionally present themselves, as the effect of accident or murder. Scarcely a day passes without the arrival of fresh bodies, chiefly found in the Seine, and very probably murdered, by being flung either out of the windows which overhang the Seine river, or off the bridges, or out of the wine and wood-barges, by which the men who sell the cargoes generally return with

money in their pockets, and it is well known that many suffer in this way, whose home, being at a distance from Paris, those bodies, when found, are not seen by their friends, and there fall into the dissecting-room. The clothes of the dead bodies brought into this establishment are hung up, and the corpse is exposed in a public room for the inspection of those who visit the place for the purpose of searching for a lost friend or relative. Should it not be recognised in four days, it is publicly dissected, and then buried.

CHAPTER II.-FRANCE.

WATER is one of the most essential necessaries of life; and together with an ample or insufficient supply of food, enables population to add to its numbers, or compresses them within certain bounds. If the supply be scanty, or the quality unwholesome, and the evil can not be remedied by artificial means, it is plain that the existence of a large or thriving community is impossible. None but those whose poverty fixes them to a certain spot will reside there; and if there should be the opportunity of acquiring property from the exercise of some local industry, those individuals who are sufficiently fortunate to do so, when they have become masters of their own movements, will be under the strongest temptation to choose their residence elsewhere. Such a district will never be selected by those who can fix their habitation where they please; and it is therefore left to its poverty. A town thus situated may obtain a supply of water by means of aqueducts, canals, cisterns, reservoirs, hydraulic machines, &c.; and this triumph over the defects of situation places the inhabitants in circumstances favorable to their prosperity, and manufactures and arts may flourish, which could never have been pursued, but for an abundant supply of this necessary element.

Paris, though now well supplied with water, in former times often experienced the effects of scarcity, owing to the indifference of the authorities to the public wants, the concessions made to individuals and religious communities, and the defective nature of the hydraulic power employed in drawing the supply from its sources. Under the Roman domination, Paris obtained a supply of water by an aqueduct about five miles in length, which terminated at Arcueil. During the period which preceded the re-establishment of order and security, the Normans rayaged the country, and this aqueduct was either destroyed or became dilapidated. Henry IV. resolved upon re-establishing the Roman aqueduct; and in 1613 the first stone of the work was laid by Louis XIII. and his queen. It was found that, owing to a part of the aqueduct being carried over quarries of calcareous stone, the water percolated through the strata, and the fountains which it supplied became nearly dry. In 1777, the necessary repairs were completed at an enormous expense. The other sources of supply are the Seine, the Ourcq, and the springs of St. Gervais, Belleville, and Menilmontant. The aqueduct of Belleville was constructed in the reign of Philip Augustus, and was repaired by Henry IV. The aqueduct of St. Gervais, or Romainville, conveys the waters of Romainville and the neighboring heights into a reservoir, whence it is conducted by leaden pipes to Paris. Besides these aqueducts, there are a number of hydraulic machines, the principal ones being those of the Pont Nôtre Dame, of Chaillot, and of Gros Caillou.

Under the reign of Philip Augustus, Paris only contained three fountains. Between his reign and that of Louis XIV. thirteen others were constructed, and during the reign of Louis XIV. the additions were much more numerous. From 1804 to 1812, the palmy period of the empire, the number of fountains erected was seventeen. The number of fountains is now about seventy; and there are above one hundred and thirty bornes fontaines, or orifices, in the public streets, from which the water issues.

In 1608 an hydraulic machine, constructed by a Fleming, was fixed near the Pont Neuf, and in 1671 a similar machine was placed contiguous to the Pont Nôtre Dame. These machines were frequently out of order, and the greatest inconvenience was occasioned by the want of water. In 1769 the Chevalier d'Auxiron made a proposal for erecting steam engines in certain positions, which would obviate the defects of the old machines; but no active steps were taken until 1778, when a company, authorized by letters-patent, commenced its labors. The engine at Chaillot, which