Note 16 — LETTER VI. EDIFICES OF PARIS.

When I first visited Paris, this place was so blocked up with tubs and barrels, that I could hardly walk about; and on my return, not being aware that any alteration had been made, I did not visit it. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Scott for the following description of it in a more accessible condition:—

“The ruins of the Palais des Thermes, in the Rue de la Harpe, are very extensive. They consisted originally in baths of water and vapour, but till about three years ago, were occupied as wine vaults. The French government at that time purchased a considerable portion of them, and has since built stone props and arches to sustain whatever seemed in danger of falling. In the centre is a spacious, lofty, vaulted hall, without any key-stone; the walls are extremely thick, formed of rubble and squared stones, and at certain intervals are layers, each of four courses of brick-work: the whole is cemented by a mortar of extreme hardness; the bricks are of various colours, from light yellow to dark brownish red, and admirably made. The disposition of the bathing recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, along the walls, the tubes both for water and vapour, and the channels for the former to flow off, may still be clearly perceived. At the springing of the vault, at each corner of the large hall, is a large stone, carved in the shape, and with the ornaments of a Roman galley. One of the smaller apartments, about 18 feet by 15 in dimension, is the most astonishing object in these ruins. The floor is perfectly flat, both as to its upper and under surfaces; it is about one foot thick, composed of rubble and mortar, without beam, joist, or large stone; it is not inserted into the wall, but merely presses laterally against it, and this floor not only sustains itself, and has sustained itself for at least fifteen centuries, but it has also resisted the passage of loaded carts over it.

“In the vaults of the building, is to be seen the aqueduct which brought a supply of fine water from beyond Arcueil to Lutetia, and as far as the subterraneous part is concerned, in perfect preservation.”