Chapter XVII: Part 17

The unique curiosity, of which the annexed is an accurate representation, was one of the choicest rarities of the Bernal collection, and is, therefore, highly appropriate to our pages. It once belonged to, and was made for, Bogislaus XIV., Duke of Pomerania, in the time of Gustavus Adolphus. On the dial-side there is an engraved inscription of the Duke and his titles, with the date 1627, and the engraving of his armorial bearings; on the back of the case there are engraved two male portraits, buildings, &c.; the dial-plate is of silver, chased in relief; the insides are chased with birds and foliage. This watch has apparently two separate movements, and a large bell; at the back, over the bell, the metal is ornamentally pierced in a circle, with a dragon and other devices, and the sides are pierced and engraved in scrolls. It bears the maker's name, "Dionistus Hessichti."

THE RULING PASSION.

Mr. Henry Stribling, farmer, who died at Goodleigh, near Barnstaple, August 1st, 1800, in the eightieth year of his age, was one of the greatest fox-hunters in Devonshire, and had collected such a number of foxes pads, all of which he had himself cut off when in at the death, that they entirely covered his stable door and door-posts. At his own particular request, a pad was placed in each of his hands in his coffin, and he was attended to the grave by the huntsmen and whippers-in of the packs with which he had hunted.

EDICTS AGAINST FIDDLERS.

An idea may be formed of the strictness with which all popular amusements were prohibited when the Puritans had the ascendancy, from the fact that in 1656-7 Oliver Cromwell prohibited all persons called fiddlers or minstrels from playing, fiddling, or making music in any inn, alehouse, or tavern, &c. If they proffered themselves or offered to make music, they were to be adjudged to be rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy vagabonds, and were to be proceeded against as such.

SCENE OF DESOLATION.

Pass of Keim-an-eigh.]

The pass of Keim-an-eigh is one of the numerous wonders of nature. It is situated on the road from Macroom to Bantry, in the county of Cork, and winds through a deep and narrow rocky defile, about two English miles in length. Its name means, in Irish, "The Path of the Deer." Perhaps, in no part of the kingdom, is there to be found a place so utterly desolate and gloomy. A mountain has been divided by some convulsion of nature, and the narrow pass is overhung on either side, as seen in our engraving, by perpendicular cliffs clothed in wild ivy and underwood, with, occasionally, a stunted yew-tree or arbutus growing among them. At every step advance seems impossible--some huge rock jutting out into the path, or sweeping round it, seeming to conduct only to some barrier still more insurmountable; while from all sides rush down the "wild fountains," and forming for themselves a rugged channel, make their way onward, the first tributary to the gentle and fruitful Lee. Nowhere has Nature assumed a more apalling aspect, or manifested a more stern resolve to dwell in her own loneliness and grandeur, undisturbed by any living thing; for even the birds seem to shun a solitude so awful, and the hum of bee or chirp of grasshopper is never heard within its precincts.

THE FIRST ENGLISH NUN.

Face, widow of Edwin, king of Northumberland, is said to have been the first English nun; and the first nunnery in England appears to have been at Barking, in Essex, which was founded by Erkenwald, Bishop of London, wherein he placed a number of Benedictine or black nuns. The most rigid nuns are those of St. Clara, of the order of St. Francis, both of which individuals were born and lived in the same town: the nuns are called poor Clares, and both they and the monks wear grey clothes. Abbesses had formerly seats in parliament. In one, held in 694, says Spelman, they sat and deliberated, and several of them subscribed the decrees made in it. They sat, says Ingulphus, in a parliament held in 855. In the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. four of them were summoned to a national council, viz. those of Shaftesbury, Barking, Winchester, and Wilton.

PRESENCE OF MIND--ESCAPE FROM A TIGER.

In 1812, a party of British naval and military officers were dining in a jungle at some distance from Madras, when a ferocious tiger rushed in among them, seized a young midshipman, and flung him across his back. In the first emotion of terror, the other officers had all snatched up their arms, and retired some paces from their assailant, who stood lashing his sides with his tail, as if doubtful whether he should seize more prey, or retire with that which he had already secured. They knew that it is usual with the tiger, before he seizes his prey, to deprive it of life, by a pat on the head, which generally breaks the skull; but this is not his invariable practice. The little midshipman lay motionless on the back of his enemy; but yet the officers, who were uncertain whether he had received the mortal pat or not, were afraid to fire, lest they should kill him together with the tiger. While in this state of suspense, they perceived the hand of the youth gently move over the side of the animal, and conceiving the motion to result from the convulsive throbs of death, they were about to fire, when, to their utter astonishment, the tiger dropped stone dead; and their young friend sprung from the carcass, waving in triumph a bloody dirk drawn from the heart, for which he had been feeling with the utmost coolness and circumspection, when the motion of his hand had been taken for a dying spasm.

COST OF ARTICLES IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

The following article is taken from Martin's _History of Thetford_. It is copied from an original record in that borough, when John le Forester was mayor, in the tenth year of Edward the Third, A.D. 1336. It is so far curious, as it exhibits an authentic account of the value of many articles at that time; being a bill, inserted in the town book, of the expenses attending the sending two light-horsemen from Thetford to the army, which was to march against the Scots that year.

L s. d.
To two men chosen to go into the army against Scotland 1 0 0

For cloth, and to the tailor for making it into
two _gowns_ 0 6 11

For two pair of gloves, and a stick or staff 0 0 2

For two horses 1 15 0-1/2

For shoeing these horses 0 0 4

For two pair of boots for the light-horsemen 0 2 8

Paid to a lad for going with the mayor to Lenn (Lynn),
to take care of the horses (the distance between
Thetford and Lynn is 53 miles) 0 0 3

To a boy for a letter at Lenn (viz., carrying
it thither) 0 0 3

Expenses for the horses of two light-horsemen for four
days before they departed 0 1 0

LAW AND ORDER IN THE STREETS OF LONDON IN 1733.

What an extraordinary state of things does the following extract from the _Weekly Register_ of December 8th, 1733, disclose! The stages and hackney-coaches actually made open war upon private carriages. "The drivers," says the paragraph, "are commissioned by their masters to annoy, sink, and destroy all the single and double horse-chaises they can conveniently meet with, or overtake in their way, without regard to the lives or limbs of the persons who travel in them. What havoc these industrious sons of blood and wounds have made within twenty miles of London in the compass of a summer's season, is best known by the articles of accidents in the newspapers: the miserable shrieks of women and children not being sufficient to deter the villains from doing what they call their duty to their masters; for besides their daily or weekly wages, they have an extraordinary stated allowance for every chaise they can reverse, ditch, or bring by the road, as the term or phrase is." Verily, we who live in the present day have reason to rejoice that in _some_ things there is a decided improvement upon "the good old times."

NEVER SLEEPING IN A BED.

Christopher Pivett, of the city of York, died 1796, aged 93. He was a carver and gilder by trade; but during the early part of his life served in the army, and was in the retinue of the Duke of Cumberland, under whose command he took part in the battle of Fontenoy, as he did at the battle of Dettingen under the Earl of Stair; he was likewise at the siege of Carlisle, and the great fight of Culloden. His house, after he had settled at York, being accidentally burnt down, he formed the singular resolution of never again sleeping in a bed, lest he should be burned to death whilst asleep, or not have time sufficient, should such a misfortune again befall him, to remove his property; and this resolution he rigidly acted upon during the last forty years of his life. His practice was to repose upon the floor, or on two chairs, or sitting in a chair, but always with his clothes on. During the whole of this period he lived entirely alone, cooked his own victuals, and seldom admitted any one into his habitation: nor would he ever disclose to any the place of his birth, or to whom he was related. He had many singularities, but possessed, politically as well as socially, a laudable spirit of independence, which he boldly manifested on several trying occasions. Among other uncommon articles which composed the furniture of his dwelling, was a human skull, which he left strict injunctions should be interred with him.

AMULET BROTCHE.

The subjoined engraving represents an ancient Gaelic Brotche, which was made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and once belonged to a Highland Chief, Maclean of Lochbuy in the Isle of Mull, being formed of silver found on his estate. It is of circular form, scolloped, and surrounded by small upright obelisks, each set with a pearl at top; in the centre is a round crystalline ball, considered a magical gem; the top may be taken off, showing a hollow, originally for reliques. On the reverse side of the brotche are engraved the names of the three kings of Cologne, with the word _consummation_. It was probably a consecrated brotche, and worn not only for the purpose of fastening the dress, but as an amulet.

Gaelic Brotche.]

THE GOLYNOS OAK.

This wonderful tree grew on the estate from which it takes its name, about four miles from Newport, Monmouth. It was purchased by Thomas Harrison, Esq., in the year 1810, for 100 guineas, and was felled and converted by him the same year. Five men were twenty days stripping and cutting it down; and a pair of sawyers were employed 138 days in its conversion. The expense of stripping, felling, and sawing was L82. The trunk of the tree was 9-1/2 feet in diameter, and no saw could be found long enough to cut it down; two saws were therefore brazed together. The rings in its butt being reckoned, it was discovered that this tree had been improving upwards of 400 years! and, as many of its lateral branches were dead, and some broken off, it is presumed it must have stood a century after it had attained maturity. When standing it overspread 452 square yards of ground, and produced 2,426 feet of timber. When all its parts were brought to market they produced nearly L600.

Golynos Oak.]

CARFAX CONDUIT.

Carfax Conduit.]

In the grounds at Nuneham Courtenay, near Oxford, belonging to Mr. Harcourt, on one of the slopes that ascend directly from the river Thames, stands the ancient and far-famed Carfax Conduit, which formerly stood as a kind of central point to the four principal streets of Oxford. Certain alterations requiring its removal, it was, with the most perfect propriety, presented to the Earl Harcourt.

It was built in 1610, by Otho Nicholson--a liberal and enterprising gentleman--in order to supply the city with pure water, brought from a hill above North Hinksey; and although the conduit is removed, the pipes still remain, and afford a partial supply that will be superseded by the new City Waterworks. It is a square, decorated in accordance with the taste of the time--mermaids holding combs and mirrors, and dragons, antelopes, unicorns, being scattered about, while the Empress Maude is introduced riding an ox over a ford, in allusion to the name of the city. The letters O. N., the initials of the founder, are conspicuous; while above the centres of the four arches are the cardinal virtues--Justice, Temperance, Fortitude, and Prudence.

Carfax is from a Bishop of that name, who presided over the diocese of Tours in France, and died in the year 399. He was canonized, and is the tutelar saint of Carfax, or St. Martin's church, in the city of Oxford.

DESTRUCTION OF LIBRARIES IN THE TIME OF HENRY VIII., AT THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.

It is a circumstance well known, to every one at all conversant in English history, that the suppression of the lesser monasteries by that rapacious monarch Henry the Eighth took place in 1536. Bishop Fisher, when the abolition was first proposed in the convocation, strenuously opposed it, and told his brethren that this was fairly shewing the king how he might come at the great monasteries. "And so my lords," continued he, "if you grant the king these smaller monasteries, you do but make him a handle whereby he may cut down all the cedars within your Lebanon." Fisher's fears were borne out by the subsequent act of Henry, who, after quelling a civil commotion occasioned by the suppression of the lesser monasteries, immediately abolished the remainder, and in the whole suppressed six hundred and forty-five monasteries, of which twenty-eight had abbots who enjoyed seats in Parliament. Ninety colleges were demolished; two thousand three hundred and seventy-four charities and free chapels, and one hundred and ten hospitals. The havoc that was made among the libraries cannot be better described than in the words of Bayle, Bishop of Ossory, in the preface to Leland's "New Year's Gift to King Henry the Eighth."

"A greate nombre of them whyche purchased those superstychouse mansyons (monesteries) reserved of those librarye bookes, some to serve theyr jokes, some to scoure thyr candlestyckes, and some to rubbe theyr bootes. Some they solde to the grossers and sope-sellers, and some they sent over see to the book bynders, not in small nombre, but at tymes whole shyppes full to the wonderynge of foren nacyons: yea ye universytes of thys realme are not alle clere in this detestable fact, but cursed is that bellye whych seketh to be fedde with suche ungodlye gaynes, and so depelye shameth hys natural conterye. I knowe a merchant manne whyche shall at thys tyme be namelesse, that boughte ye contentes of two noble lybraryes for forty shyllinges pryce: a shame it is to be spoken: Thys stuffe hath he occupyed in the stede of grey paper by the space of more than these ten yeares and yet he hath store ynoughe for as manye yeares to come. A prodygyouse example is thys to be abhorred of all men whych love thyr nacyon as they shoulde do. The monkes kept them undre dust, ye ydle headed prestes regarded them not, theyr latter owners have most shamefully abused them, and ye covetouse merchantes have solde them awaye into foren nacyons for moneye."

CURIOUS MENTAL AFFECTION.

Singular faculties have been developed during somnambulism in the mental condition. Thus a case is related of a woman in the Edinburgh infirmary who, during her paroxysm, not only mimicked the manner of the attendant physicians, but repeated correctly some of their prescriptions in Latin.

Dr. Dyce, of Aberdeen, describes the case of a girl, in which this affection began with fits of somnolency, which came upon her suddenly during the day, and from which she could at first be roused by shaking or by being taken into the open air. During these attacks she was in the habit of talking of things that seemed to pass before her like a dream, and was not at the time sensible of anything that was said to her. On one occasion she repeated the entire of the baptismal service, and concluded with an extempore prayer. In her subsequent paroxysms she began to understand what was said to her, and to answer with a considerable degree of consistency, though these replies were in a certain measure influenced by her hallucination. She also became capable of following her usual employment during her paroxysm. At one time she would lay out the table for breakfast, and repeatedly dress herself and the children, her eyes remaining shut the whole time. The remarkable circumstance was now discovered, that, during the paroxysm, she had a distinct recollection of what had taken place in former attacks, though she had not the slightest recollection of it during the intervals. She was taken to church during the paroxysm, and attended the service with apparent devotion, and at one time was so affected by the sermon that she actually shed tears; yet in the interval she had no recollection whatever of the circumstance, but in the following paroxysm she gave a most distinct account of it, and actually repeated the passage of the sermon that had so much affected her. This sort of somnambulism, relating distinctly to two periods, has been called, perhaps erroneously, a _state of double consciousness_.

This girl described the paroxysm as coming on with a dimness of sight and a noise in the head. During the attack, her eyelids were generally half shut, and frequently resembled those of a person labouring under amaurosis, the pupil dilated and insensible. Her looks were dull and vacant, and she often mistook the person who was speaking to her. The paroxysms usually lasted an hour, but she often could be roused from them. She then yawned and stretched herself like a person awakening from sleep, and instantly recognised those about her. At one time, Dr. Dyce affirms, she read distinctly a portion of a book presented to her, and she would frequently sing pieces of music more correctly and with better taste than when awake.

DECORATIVE DRINKING VESSEL.

German Decorative Vessel.]

The above represents a German decorative drinking vessel of the early part of the seventeenth century. It is a stork bearing in its beak an infant; in accordance with the old German nursery tale that the king of the Storks is the bringer and protector of babies. It is of silver, chased all over; the eyes are formed of rubies; and one wing takes off that liquid may be placed in the body, and imbibed through the neck, by a hole in the crown of the bird. It was probably a quaint fancy for some German noble nursery.

EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT VASES.

The Vases which are grouped in the annexed engraving are highly deserving of a place in our collection of curiosities, inasmuch as they are truly unique and beautiful specimens of the degree of perfection to which the art of glass-making had been carried at the period when Rome was mistress of the world. They all belong to that period, and in elegance of form and skill of workmanship they equal--we had almost said, surpass, the most artistic productions of the present day.

Ancient Vases.]

Figure 1 is that celebrated vase which for more than two centuries was the principal ornament of the Barberini palace at Rome. It was thence generally known as the "Barberini Vase;" but having been purchased by Sir W. Hamilton, and then sold by him to the Duchess of Portland, it was at her death munificently presented by her son, the Duke of Portland, to the British Museum, where it has ever since remained as one of its choicest gems, and is now known as the "Portland Cinerary Vase." It was found about the middle of the sixteenth century, enclosed in a marble sarcophagus, within a sepulchral chamber under the Monte del Grane, two miles and a half from Rome, on the road to Frascati. The tomb is believed to have been that of the Emperor Alexander Severus, and his mother Mammaea. The vase is made of purple glass, ornamented with white opaque figures in bas-relief. The execution of the design is most admirable. In the first place, the artist must have had the aptitude to blow in purple glass a beautiful form of vase, with handles attached: and, even thus far, this is considered in our day a masterpiece of skill at our best glass-houses. Secondly, with the oxide of tin forming an opaque white glass, the artist managed to cover the whole of the purple vase with this white opaque glass, to at least the thickness of a quarter of an inch. The artist then, in the manner of cutting a cameo on the onyx stone, cut the opaque glass away, leaving the white figures and allegory embossed upon the purple. The figures in relief are in two groups: in the former of these, a female is represented in a recumbent posture, with a cupid hovering above her head, and a serpent in her lap; a young man on one side supporting her stretched out arm, and on the other a bearded personage of more mature age, attentively regarding her. The latter group, on the opposite side of the vase, consists of a female reclining on a pile of tablets, with her right hand placed on her head, and holding in her hand a lighted torch with the flame downwards--a young man being seated on a pile on one side of her, and a female, holding a rod or staff in the right hand, sitting on the other. The subject of the bas-relief has created much difference of opinion, but it is generally supposed to have reference to the birth of Severus. A few years ago this vase was broken by a madman, but it has since been repaired in a most artistic manner.

Figure 2 is the "Alexandrian Vase," of the Museo Borbonico, Naples.

Figure 3 is the "Pompeii Vase," also of the Museo Borbonico. It was discovered in a sepulchre of Pompeii in 1839, and is of the same character in the colours and quality of the glass as the Portland Vase, but of a more recent date. It is probably the production of Greek artists working in Rome.

Figure 4 is the "Aldjo Vase," which was found in 1833 at Pompeii, in the house of the Fauna. The ground of the vase is of a deep sapphire blue, on which, in opaque white glass, the ornaments are cut. It was found broken. Part is in the possession of Mr. Auldjo; the other in the British Museum. The shape of this vase is elegant, the handle and lip of exquisite form, and the taste and execution of the ornamental work in the purest style.

MINUTENESS OF INSECT LIFE.

As the telescope enables the eye of man to penetrate into far-distant space, and reveals to him myriads of suns and systems which otherwise would have remained for ever hidden from his natural sight, so the microscope opens up a world of life everywhere around us, but altogether unsuspected, astounding us as much by the inappreciable minuteness of its discoveries, as the former by the stupendous magnitude and remoteness of the objects. If we go to any ditch or pool which the summer sun has covered with a mantle of stagnant greenness, and lift from it a minute drop of water, such as would adhere to the head of a pin, we shall find it, under a high magnifying power, swarming with living beings, moving about with great rapidity, and approaching or avoiding each other with evident perception and will.

"Vain would it be," observes Professor Jones, "to attempt by words to give anything like a definite notion of the minuteness of some of these multitudinous races. Let me ask the reader to divide an inch into 22,000 parts, and appreciate mentally the value of each division: having done so, and not till then, shall we have a standard sufficiently minute to enable us to measure the microscopic beings upon the consideration of which we are now entering. Neither is it easy to give the student of nature, who has not accurately investigated the subject for himself, adequate conceptions relative to the numbers in which the _Infusoria_ sometimes crowd the waters they frequent; but let him take his microscope, and the means of making a rough estimate, at least, are easily at his disposal. He will soon perceive that the animalcule-inhabitants of a drop of putrid water, possessing, as many of them do, dimensions not larger than the 2,000th part of a line, swim so closely together, that the intervals separating them are not greater than their own bodies. The matter, therefore, becomes a question for arithmetic to solve, and we will pause to make the calculation.

"The _Monas termo_, for example--a creature that might be pardonably regarded as an embodiment of the mathematical point, almost literally without either length, or breadth, or thickness--has been calculated to measure about the 22,000th part of an inch in its transverse diameter; and in water taken from the surface of many putrid infusions, they are crowded as closely as we have stated above. We may therefore safely say, that, swimming at ordinary distances apart, 10,000 of them would be contained in a linear space one inch in length, and consequently a cubic inch of such water will thus contain more living and active organized beings than there are human inhabitants upon the whole surface! However astounding such a fact may seem when first enunciated, none is more easily demonstrated with the assistance of a good microscope."

The term _Infusoria_ has been by some naturalists applied to these diminutive animals, because they are invariably found in the infusions of vegetable or animal substances. They can thus be obtained at all times, by simply steeping a little hay, or chaff, or leaves or stems of any plant, in a vessel of water, and placing the infusion in the sun for a week or ten days.

LEGENDS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT.

It was believed in Pier della Valle's time, that the descendants of Judas Iscariot still existed at Corfu, though the persons who suffered this imputation stoutly denied the truth of the genealogy.

When the ceremony of washing the feet is performed in the Greek Church at Smyrna, the bishop represents Christ, and the twelve apostles are acted by as many priests. He who personates Judas must be paid for it, and such is the feeling of the people, that whoever accepts this odious part, commonly retains the name of Judas for life (Hasselquist, p. 43).

Judas serves in Brazil for a Guy Faux to be carried about by the boys, and made the subject of an auto-da-fe. The Spanish sailors hang him at the yard arm. It is not long since a Spaniard lost his life at Portsmouth, during the performance of this ceremony, by jumping overboard after the figure.

The Armenians, who believe hell and limbo to be the same place, say that Judas, after having betrayed our Lord, resolved to hang himself, because he knew Christ was to go to limbo, and deliver all the souls which he found there, and therefore he thought to get there in time. But the Devil was cunninger than he, and knowing his intent, held him over limbo till the Lord had passed through, and then let him fall plum into hell. (Thevenot.)

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SIDE-SADDLE.

In a retired part of the county of Essex, at a short distance from the road, in a secluded and lovely spot, stands the picturesque residence called Horeham Hall. The mansion is in the parish of Thaxted, and is about two miles south-west of the church. It was once in the possession of the important family of the De Wauton's; it afterwards belonged to Sir John Cutts, and eventually it became the property of Sir W. Smijth, of Hill Hall, in whose family it has remained up to the present time.

Of the learned Sir Thomas Smijth, the secretary to King Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth, there is still preserved an ancient portrait on panel, which is let into a circle over the carved fire-place of one of the parlours. It is remarkable as being one of the very few portraits painted by Titian.

Queen Elizabeth's Side Saddle.]

Another interesting relic is represented in the annexed cut. It is preserved in the Great Hall, and is the side-saddle of Queen Elizabeth; the pommel is of wrought metal, and has been gilt; the ornament upon it is in the then fashionable style of the Renaissance; the seat of velvet is now in a very ruinous condition; but it is carefully kept beneath a glass case, as a memento of the Queen's visits to this place. When princess, Elizabeth retired to Horeham as a place of refuge during the reign of her sister Mary; the loveliness of the situation and its distance from the metropolis rendered it a seclusion befitting the quietude of one anxious to remain unnoticed in troublous times. A room on the first floor in the square tower is shown as that in which Queen Elizabeth resided. She found the retirement of Horeham so agreeable, that often after she had succeeded to the throne she took a pleasure in re-visiting the place.

THE WINFARTHING OAK, IN NORFOLK.

A writer in the "Gardener's Magazine" gives the following account of this remarkable tree:--"Of its age I regret to be unable to give any correct data. It is said to have been called the 'Old Oak' at the time of William the Conqueror, but upon what authority I could never learn. Nevertheless, the thing is not impossible, if the speculations of certain writers on the age of trees be at all correct. Mr. South, in one of his letters to the Bath Society (vol. x.) calculates that an oak tree forty-seven feet in circumference cannot be less than fifteen hundred years old; and Mr. Marsham calculated the Bentley Oak, from its girting thirty-four feet, to be of the same age. Now, an inscription on a brass plate affixed to the Winfarthing Oak gives us the following as its dimensions:--'This oak, in circumference, at the extremities of the roots, is seventy feet; in the middle, forty feet, 1820.' Now, I see no reason, if the size of the rind is to be any criterion of age, why the Winfarthing should not, at least, equal the Bentley oak; and if so, it would be upwards of seven hundred years old at the Conquest; an age which might very well justify its then title of the 'Old Oak.' It is now a mere shell, a mighty ruin, bleached to a snowy white; but it is magnificent in its decay. The only mark of vitality it exhibits is on the south side, where a narrow strip of bark sends forth a few branches, which even now occasionally produce acorns. It is said to be very much altered of late; but I own I did not think so when I saw it about a month ago (May 1836); and my acquaintance with the veteran is of more than forty years' standing: an important portion of _my_ life, but a mere span of its own."

CURIOUS PIECE OF ANCIENT ARMOUR.

Bascinet.]

The above engraving represents a helmet, of the time of Richard II., which was termed by ancient armourers a bascinet. This extremely rare specimen was obtained from Her von Hulshoff, at his castle, near Munster, in Westphalia. The visor lifts upward on a hinge, and its position may be further regulated by the screw which slips in the groove above it. The row of holes on the lower edge of the bascinet was made to secure the _camail_, or tippet of chain-mail which covered the neck of the wearer.

EXTRAORDINARY ECHO.

Beneath the suspension-bridge across the Menai Strait in Wales, close to one of the main piers, is a remarkably fine echo. The sound of a blow on the pier with a hammer, is returned in succession from each of the cross beams which support the roadway, and from the opposite pier, at a distance of 576 feet; and in addition to this, the sound is many times repeated between the water and the roadway. The effect is a series of sounds, which may be thus described:--The first return is sharp and strong from the roadway overhead, the rattling which succeeds dies rapidly away; but the single repercussion from the opposite pier is very strong, and is succeeded by a faint palpitation, repeating the sound at the rate of twenty-eight times in five seconds, and which, therefore, corresponds to a distance of 180 feet, or very nearly the double interval from the roadway to the water. Thus it appears, that in the repercussion between the water and the roadway, that from the latter only affects the ear, the line drawn from the auditor to the water being too oblique for the sound to diverge sufficiently in that direction. Another peculiarity deserves especial notice,--viz., that the echo from the opposite pier is best heard when the auditor stands precisely opposite to the middle of the breadth of the pier, and strikes just on that point. As it deviates to one or the other side, the return is proportionably fainter, and is scarcely heard by him when his station is a little beyond the extreme edge of the pier, though another person stationed on the same side of the water, at an equal distance from the central point, so as to have the pier between them, hears it well.

JUGGLERS OF MODERN EGYPT.

Performers of sleight-of-hand tricks, who are called _hhowa'h_ (in the singular, _hha'wee_) are numerous in Cairo. They generally perform in public places, collecting a ring of spectators around them; from some of whom they receive small voluntary contributions during and after their performances. They are most frequently seen on the occasions of public festivals; but often also at other times. By indecent jests and actions, they attract as much applause as they do by other means. The hha'wee performs a great variety of tricks, the most usual of which we will here mention. He generally has two boys to assist him. From a large leather bag, he takes out four or five snakes, of a largish size. One of these he places on the ground, and makes it erect its head and part of its body; another he puts round the head of one of the boys, like a turban, and two more over the boy's neck. He takes these off, opens the boy's mouth, apparently passes the bolt of a kind of padlock through his cheek, and locks it. Then, in appearance, he forces an iron spike into the boy's throat; the spike being really pushed up into a wooden handle. He also performs another trick of the same kind as this. Placing the boy on the ground, he puts the edge of a knife upon his nose, and knocks the blade until half its width seems to have entered. The tricks which he performs alone are more amusing. He draws a great quantity of various-coloured silk from his mouth, and winds it on his arm; puts cotton in his mouth, and blows out fire; takes out of his mouth a great number of round pieces of tin, like dollars; and, in appearance, blows an earthen pipe-bowl from his nose. In most of his tricks he occasionally blows through a large shell (called the hha'wee's zoomma'rah), producing sounds like those of a horn. Most of his sleight-of-hand performances are nearly similar to those of exhibitors of the same class in our own and other countries. Taking a silver finger-ring from one of the bystanders, he puts it in a little box, blows his shell, and says, "'Efree't change it!" He then opens the box, and shows, in it, a different ring: shuts the box again; opens it, and shows the first ring: shuts it a third time: opens it, and shows a melted lump of silver, which he declares to be the ring melted, and offers to the owner. The latter insists upon having his ring in its original state. The hha'wee then asks for five or ten fud'dahs to recast it; and having obtained this, opens the box again (after having closed it, and blown his shell), and takes out of it the perfect ring. He next takes a larger covered box; puts one of his boy's skull-caps in it, blows his shell, opens the box, and out comes a rabbit: the cap seems to be gone. He puts the rabbit in again; covers the box; uncovers it, and out run two little chickens. These he puts in again, blows his shell, uncovers the box, and shows it full of fatee'rehs (or pancakes), and koona'feh (which resembles vermicelli): he tells his boys to eat its contents; but they refuse to do it without honey. He then takes a small jug, turns it upside-down, to show that it is empty; blows his shell, and hands round the jug full of honey. The boys, having eaten, ask for water to wash their hands. The hha'wee takes the same jug, and hands it filled with water, in the same manner. He takes the box again, and asks for the cap; blows his shell, uncovers the box, and pours out from it, into the boy's lap (the lower part of his shirt held up), four or five small snakes. The boy, in apparent fright, throws them down, and demands the cap. The hha'wee puts the snakes back into the box; blows his shell, uncovers the box, and takes out the cap. Another of his common tricks is to put a number of slips of white paper into a tinned copper vessel (the tisht of a seller of sherbet), and to take them out dyed of various colours. He pours water into the same vessel; puts in a piece of linen; then gives to the spectators, to drink, the contents of the vessel, changed to sherbet of sugar. Sometimes he apparently cuts in two a muslin shawl, or burns it in the middle, and then restores it whole. Often he strips himself of all his clothes, excepting his drawers; tells two persons to bind him, hands and feet, and put him in a sack. This done, he asks for a piaster; and some one tells him that he shall have it if he will put out his hand and take it. He puts out his hand free; draws it back, and is then taken out of the sack, bound as at first. He is put in again, and comes out unbound, handing to the spectators a small tray, upon which are four or five little plates filled with various eatables; and, if the performance be at night, several small lighted candles placed round. The spectators eat the food.

ORIGIN OF ATTAR OF ROSES.

"In the Histoire Generale de l'Empire du Mogol, (_T._ 1, _p_, 327,) compiled by Catrou the Jesuit, from Manouchi's papers, this perfume is said to have been discovered by accident. Nur-Jahan, the favorite wife of the Mogul Jahan-Ghur, among her other luxuries, had a small canal of rose water. As she was a walking with the Mogul upon its banks, they perceived a thin film upon the water,--it was an essential oil made by the heat of the sun. They were delighted with its exquisite odour, and means were immediately taken for preparing by art a substance like that which had been thus fortuitously produced."

A MAGICIAN'S MIRROR AND BRACELET.

A strange blending of pure science and gross superstition is remarkably illustrated in the history of the celebrated Dr. Dee. Born in London in 1527, John Dee raised himself at an early age to a great reputation for his learning, in the mathematical sciences especially, in the most celebrated universities in his own country and of the continent. He is said to have imbibed a taste for the occult sciences while a student at Louvain, but there was evidently in his temper much of an enthusiastic and visionary turn, which must have given him a taste for such mysterious pursuits, without the necessity of an external impulse. One of the oldest and most generally credited of magical operations, was that of bringing spirits or visions into a glass or mirror, a practice which has continued to exist in the East even to the present day, and which prevailed to a very considerable extent in all parts of Western Europe during the sixteenth century. The process was not a direct one, for the magician did not himself see the vision in the mirror, but he had to depend upon an intermediate agent, a sort of familiar, who in England was known by the name of a _skyrer_, and whose business it was to look into the mirror and describe what he saw. Dr. Dee's principal skyrer was one Edward Kelly, and during his connexion with him, Dee kept an exact diary of all his visions, a portion of which was printed in a folio volume by Merio Casaubon in 1659. In this journal more than one magical mirror is evidently mentioned, and that which we here engrave is believed to have been of the number. It is now in the collection of Lord Londesborough.

Magician's Mirror.]

It is a polished oval slab of black stone, of what kind we have not been able to ascertain, but evidently of a description which was not then common in Western Europe, and Dr. Dee, who died in 1608, may have considered it as extremely precious, and as only to be obtained by some extraordinary means. It was one of the ornaments of the museum of Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill; and Walpole has attached to it a statement of its history in his own hand-writing, from which we learn that it was "long" in the possession of the Mordaunts, earls of Peterborough, in whose catalogue it was described as "the black stone into which Dr. Dee used to call his spirits." It passed from that collection to Lady Elizabeth Germaine, from whom it went to John Campbell, Duke of Argyll, whose son, Lord Frederick Campbell, presented it to Horace Walpole. This interesting relic was bought at the Strawberry Hill sale for the late Mr. Pigott; and at the more recent sale of that gentleman's collection, it passed into the hands of Lord Londesborough. Its history and authenticity appear, therefore, to be very well made out. The family of the Mordaunts held a prominent place in English history during the whole of the seventeenth century, and it is hardly probable that they would have received an object like this without having good reason for believing that its history was authentic. It is believed that Butler alluded to this identical stone in his well-known lines:--

"Kelly did all his feats upon
The devil's looking-glass or stone,
When, playing with him at bo-peep,
He solv'd all problems ne'er so deep."
_Hudibras._ Part II. Canto 3.

Magician's Bracelet.]

The regular fitting out of the magician at this period was a complicated process. He required his implements of various kinds, and, in addition to these, various robes, made especially for the occasion, with girdles and head-pieces, and magical rings and bracelets. A very curious example of the last-mentioned article of the magician's accoutrements, is represented in the preceding cut, about one-third the size of the original. It was purchased by Lord Londesborough in 1851, and had formerly been in the possession of Charles Mainwaring, Esq., of Coleby, near Lincoln. It is of silver, the letters of the inscription round the bracelet being engraved and filled with niello. This inscription may be distinctly read as follows:--

+ IONA + IHOAT + LONA + HELOI + YSSARAY + || +
MEPHENOLPHETON + AGLA + ACHEDION + YANA +
BACHIONODONAVALI M[*] ILIOR + || BACHIONODONAVALI M[**] ACH +

Some explanation of this mysterious inscription might, no doubt, be obtained by a diligent comparison of some of the numerous works on magic compiled in the age of Dr. Dee, and in the seventeenth century. The bracelet has had four pendants on it, of which three still remain, with the silver setting of the fourth. One of the pendants which remain is a brownish pebble, secured by three flat bands of silver; another is an oval cage of strong silver wire, containing a nut of some kind and some other vegetable substance; the third has on one side a circular convex pebble set in silver, and on the back three smaller pebbles.

LUNAR INFLUENCE IN DEATH.

Many modern physicians have stated the opinions of the ancients as regards lunar influence in diseases, but none have pushed their inquiries with such indefatigable zeal as the late Dr. Moseley; he affirms that almost all people in extreme age die at the new or at full moon, and this he endeavours to prove by the following records:--

Thomas Parr died at the age of 152, two days after the full moon.
Henry Jenkins died at the age of 169, the day of the new moon.
Elizabeth Steward, 124, the day of the new moon.
William Leland, 140, the day after the new moon.
John Effingham, 144, two days after full moon.
Elizabeth Hilton, 121, two days after the full moon.
John Constant, 113, two days after the new moon.

The doctor then proceeds to show, by the deaths of various illustrious persons, that a similar rule holds good with the generality of mankind:

Chaucer, 25th October, 1400, the day of the first quarter.
Copernicus, 24th May, 1543, day of the last quarter.
Luther, 18th February, 1546, three days after the full.
Henry VIII., 28th January, 1547, the day of the first quarter.
Calvin, 27th May, 1564, two days after the full.
Cornaro, 26th April, 1566, day of the first quarter.
Queen Elizabeth, 24th March, 1603, day of the last quarter.
Shakspeare, 23rd April, 1616, day after the full.
Camden, 2nd November, 1623, day before the new moon.
Bacon, 9th April, 1626, one day after last quarter.
Vandyke, 9th April, 1641, two days after full moon.
Cardinal Richelieu, 4th December, 1642, three days before full moon.
Doctor Harvey, 30th June, 1657, a few hours before the new moon.
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd September, 1658, two days after full moon.
Milton, 15th November, 1674, two days before the new moon.
Sydenham, 29th December, 1689, two days before the full moon.
Locke, 28th November, 1704, two days before the full moon.
Queen Anne, 1st August, 1714, two days after the full moon.
Louis XIV., 1st September, 1715, a few hours before the full moon.
Marlborough, 16th June, 1722, two days before the full moon.
Newton, 20th March, 1726, two days before the new moon.
George I., 11th June, 1727, three days after new moon.
George II., 25th October, 1760, one day after full moon.
Sterne, 13th September, 1768, two days after new moon.
Whitfield, 18th September, 1770, a few hours before the new moon.
Swedenburg, 19th March, 1772, the day of the full moon.
Linnaeus, 10th January, 1778, two days before the full moon.
The Earl of Chatham, 11th May, 1778, the day of the full moon.
Rousseau, 2nd July, 1778, the day after the first quarter.
Garrick, 20th January, 1779, three days after the new moon.
Dr. Johnson, 14th December, 1784, two days after the new moon.
Dr. Franklin, 17th April, 1790, three days after the new moon.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, 23rd February, 1792, the day after the new moon.
Lord Guildford, 5th August, 1722, three days after the full moon.
Dr. Warren, 23rd June, 1797, a day before the new moon.
Burke, 9th July, 1797, at the instant of the full moon.
Macklin, 11th July, 1797, two days after full moon.
Wilkes, 26th December, 1797, the day of the first quarter.
Washington, 15th December, 1790, three days after full moon.
Sir W. Hamilton, 6th April, 1803, a few hours before the full moon.

The doctor winds up this extract from the bills of mortality by the following appropriate remark: "Here we see the moon, as she shines on all alike, so she makes no distinction of persons in her influence:

"----aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas,
Regumque turres."

GLUTTONY OF THE MONKS.

King John, pointing to a fat deer said, "See how plump he is, and yet he has never heard mass!" John might have alluded to the gluttony of the monks, which was notorious in his days; for Giraldus Cambrensis says, that from the monks of St. Swithin's, Winchester, Henry II. received a formal complaint against the abbot for depriving his priests of three out of thirteen dishes at every meal. The monks of Canterbury exceeded those of St. Swithin; they had seventeen dishes every day, and each of these cooked with spices and the most savoury and rich sauces.

ANCIENT BELL-SHRINE.

The annexed engraving represents one of the most valuable and curious ecclesiastical relics of the early Christian Period that has ever been discovered. It consists of a bronze bell-shrine and bell, found about the year 1814, on the demolition of the ruined wall at Torrebhlaurn farm, in the parish of Kilmichael-Glassrie, Argyleshire, and now one of the most valued treasures in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries.

Bronze Bell-Shrine and Bell.]

That it must have been deposited in the wall where it was found, for the purpose of concealment at a period of danger and alarm, seems abundantly obvious; but of the occasion of this concealment no tradition has been preserved. Within the beautiful case is a rude iron bell, so greatly corroded that its original form can only be imperfectly traced; yet this, and not the shrine, was obviously the chief object of veneration, and may, indeed, be assumed, with much probability, to be some centuries older than the ornamental case in which it is preserved. Whether it shall be thought to have been an ancient reliquary or a mass-bell, or whatever else may be conjectured of its nature and use, it may fairly be presumed to have remained in the neglected spot in which it was found since the subversion of the Roman Catholic worship in the sixteenth century, when the favoured objects of external adoration and reverence, under the former superstition, came to be regarded with impatient contempt and abhorrence.

It is deserving of attention that the figure of our crucified Saviour in invested with a regal crown, and not with a crown of thorns, as is usually the case. The brass chain or collar, of rude workmanship, about three feet six inches long, now attached to the case, and the extremities of which are connected with a small cross of the same metal, was discovered at the same time, not far from the case.

EGYPTIAN GARDEN.

The diagram which accompanies this article is an Egyptian sketch of an Egyptian garden; and it is expressly curious, both as an example of the pictorial art of the period, and as giving us an idea of the pleasure-gardens of Egypt in its most flourishing days.

Egyptian Garden.]

The garden here represented stood beside a canal of the Nile, with an avenue of trees between it and the bank, on which side was the entrance. It was surrounded by an embattled wall, through which a noble gateway gave access to the garden. The central space was occupied by the vineyard, surrounded by its own wall, in which the vines were trained on trellises supported by slender pillars. At the further end of the vineyard was a building of three storeys, the windows from which opened over the luxurious foliage and purple clusters, regaling the senses both of sight and smell. Four large tanks of water kept the vegetation well supplied with nutritive moisture; and, with the smooth and verdant turf which borders them, the water-fowl that sported over the surface, and the lotus-flowers that sprang from their clear depths, added a new beauty to the scene. Near the tanks stood summer-houses, overlooking beds of various flowers, and sheltered from the sun by surrounding trees. Two enclosed spaces between the tanks, being filled with trees, were probably devoted to some species of particular rarity, or remarkable for the excellence of their fruit. Rows of date trees and Theban palms, alternating with other trees, bordered the whole garden, and environed the vineyard wall.

The very numerous allusions to gardens in the Sacred Scriptures show that the Hebrews inherited the same taste as the Egyptians. In these allusions we find the same characteristics that are so observable in those depicted on the monuments; such as the absolute necessity of water, the custom of having pools in them, the advantage of a situation by the side of a river, the practice of enclosing them from intrusion, and appropriation of enclosures to particular productions.