The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-18 00:00:00

SCIENCE AND ART.

How TO CATCH FLIES.—Take a number of vessels,
such as jars or tumblers, and half fill them with soapy
water, covering them with paper the same as you would
preserves. The paper must be rubbed on the inside
with something sweet, and a small hole left in the cen-
tre of each cover just large enough for a fly to enter.
Place the vessels thus prepared in different parts of the
room or other place infested with flies, and the insects,
attracted by the smell inside the covers, will settle on
the tops, crawl through the holes, and feed upon the
sweets inside. Heat of the weather having caused
the soapy water to ferment, a gas is thrown off which
soon overpowers the flies, and they drop into the
vessel.
FRENCH COTTAGES OENEE.—I was much pleased
with some newly-erected villas and cottages ornees
which I saw at Passy and Auteuil, in which a highly
picturesque effect was produced by the employment of
black and red brick and stone without any elaborate
decoration. Some of these were in the Late Domestic
French Gothic style—a style peculiarly adapted, I
think, for modern residences, and of which there are
numerous specimens existing in good preservation.
Its adoption and introduction to this country would
give one more element for those new combinations of
known forms which must henceforth in architecture
take the place of originality.—The Builder.
DANISH ANTIQUITIES.—COPENHAGEN, SEPT. B.
The. King is now at Ringstad, the ancient capital of
the kingdom, to be present at the opening of certain
tumuli, containing, according to the popular legend,
the graves of the first Kings of Denmark. The first
that was opened was supposed to be that of King
Canute Laward, but nothing of importance was found
in it. The next tumulus opened was the grave of
Canute VI., where was discovered a long box or coffin,
with a leaden cover, which was immediately opened in
the presence of the king. There is no doubt that the
remains were those of the above-named king, from va-
rious regal emblems and the size of the skeleton---for
history records him to have been a very tall and power-
ful man. In the grave of king Waldemar 1., a very
interesting discovery was made. Under the head of
the body, which. was enveloped in a monk's cowl, was
found a square leaden slab, not only confirming this as
the grave of King Waldemar, but recording the prin-
cipal acts of his life.
THE STREETS OF PARIS.—The grand effect of the
street architecture of Paris, arising from the immense
height of the houses, is very striking to a Londoner,
who rarely sees three stories exceeded. The new
buildings in the extension of the Rue de Rivoli are
quite palatial, and, unlike our new streets, are con-
structed of stone, and not brickbats cemented over.
The balconies (of which there are two, one above the
entre-sol, and a second formed by a bold projecting
cornice, to the fourth story) are gilt, which mode is
probably as. durable as paint in the pure air of Paris,
and adds much to the gaiety of the general effect of the
new street. Nothing can be more admirable than the
arrangements for cleaning and watching the streets.—
The Builder.

CLAY AND BRICK IN ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE.—
The art of the bricklayer is at a very low ebb in Eng-
land : compo and contracts have left us but little of it.
Saying nothing of the rows beyond rows of unsubstan-
tial structures reared throughout the suburbs simply
to sell, the existence of which might be most suffi-
ciently explained by supposing that—

" Casual bricks in airy clime,
Encountered casual horsehair, casual lime,"
in our most extensive and important buildings of brick,
anything more than solid work is seldom if ever at-
tempted. From time to time, and • for a long time,
we have sought to turn the attention of architects and
brickmakers to the use of clay, to which we are restricted
as a material for building in so many parts of the
kingdom, in other and more ornamental forms than a
would-be rectangular parallelo-piped 9 inches long, 4-1-
inches wide, and 21 inches high, without a sharp arris,
or a, square side. Here and there endeavours have
been made, and are being made, to effect an improve-
ment in this respect. Hitch, of Ware, did something
in this way very long ago ; then Bakewell's screw
presses for the formation of moulded bricks, good and
cheap, were looked forward to. Messrs. Bowers, of
Tunstall, patented a method of making brick orna-