Nature Art 1218661867 Lond

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NATURE AND ART.
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CONTENTS OE VOL. I.
PAGE PAGE
Introduction 1 Reviews (
continued )
Ancient Greek and Roman Field Sports. By the Alfred B. Richards, In Memoriam, &c. 191 .
Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S. ( Illustrated ) Smith’s Ferns, British and Foreign 192
Part I. Fishing . . . . .2 Boner’s Guide for Travellers 192 .
.
.
.
Part II. Stag-hunting in the Time of Xenophon 65 Charlesworth’s Transparent-covered Collec-

Part III. Wild-Boar Hunting 237 . . . tion-boxes . . ..192 . .
Rambles among the Crim Tartars beyond the

Seat op War. By W. B. Lord, Boyal Artillery
6, 38, 76, 111
Snowy Range .....
“An Old Indian’s” From Calcutta to the
Blackburn’s Travelling in Spain in 1866
250
251 .
By Rivington’s Rubricated Cambridge Prayer

The New Vegetable (Ba/phanus caudatus). J. R.
Book 252
Jackson, of the Royal Museum, Kew. (
illustrated ) 8
Music at Home and Abroad
The Mackerel. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery 9 .
58, 89, 122, 159, 189, 244, 246

The Paris Societe d’Acclimatation .10 . .
The Old Masters at the British Institution 60

The Breed op Horses in England and France 11
Notes on Fans. Illustrated ) .61 . . .
Scene on the Logier River, Zambesi. The full-

(
striped Quagga.
(
By Thomas Baines, F.R.G.S.
Illustrated ) . . . . • • .12
The Academy, the Chief Commissioner, and the
National Gallery
Fine Art Auctions
......
62
63, 243
The Ailanthus Silkworm Bombyx Cynthia), and (
its Culture in England. By W. B. Teget- Olla Podrida 64, 96, 252

meier. (
Illustrated ) . . . . . .14 Fishing with the Green Elm Caterpillar. By
A Garden in May. From the Danish. By H. Ward. W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery .68 . . .
Illustrated ) . . . . . . .16 The Welwitschia mirabilis. Plant of the Hykam-
.......
(
On Sketching prom Nature. By Aaron Penley, kop, South-West Africa. By T. Baines, F.R.G.S.
Professor of Landscape-Painting at the Boyal ( Illustrated ) 69
Military Academy, Woolwich. (
Illustrated Lithographic Stone. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery 74
18, 48, 81, 114, 183 In Search op a Climate. (Winter in the South of
Foreign Archaeological Notes . . .19, 118 Europe) 78
The Paris Exhibition, 1867. By G. W. Yapp 22, 82, 180 The Tusseh Silkworm op India. By W. B. Lord,
The Drama and the Stage 26, 88, 185, 248 . .
Royal Artillery. ( Illustrated ) . . . .85
Parisian Chapeaux. By K. E. F. Illustrated 27 ( .
The Needle Gun. ( Illustrated ) . . . .90
Art Notes prom the Continent. By G. W. Yapp 27, 115 Fine Arts 93
The Royal Academy 31 On a Coin recently acquired by the British
English Farming in the Sixteenth Century 33 .
Museum 95
Buceros Nipalensis. By Capt. Warren. Illustrated 37 Concerning Jackdaws 96
( )
The Honey-Hunters op South Africa. By T. The Story op a Scene-Painter. By Dutton Cook 100 .
Baines, F.R.G.S. ( Illustrated ) . . . .39 The Whistling Sand-Grouse op India. By W. B.

Lord, Royal Artillery. ( Illustrated ) .105
Athletics 42 . .
The Ancient Records op France

The National Portrait Exhibition
.42
.44
.
.
.
.
Humphreys ........
Fearful Contest in an Omnibus. By II. Noel
107
Sulphuret op Iron. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery 113
The French and Flemish Gallery .45 . .
Marks and Monograms, Pottery and Porcelain

On Mummies. By S. Birch, LL.D. Illustrated 45, 97
....
( )
120, 137
A Handful op Sand 49
Articles de Paris. Illustrated ) 123
(
French Art. The Salon op 1866. By G. W. Yapp 50 Henri Taine’s Travels in Italy . . .124
The East 53
Destructive Insects. By G. W. Y. 125
Remarks on Similar Forms of Butterplies prom Bible Texts Explained and Illustrated . .126
Similar Climates. By Arthur G. Butler, F.Z.S.,
Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum. A Hard Geological Nut 127
Illustrated ) '
. . . . . . .54 Concerning Insects commonly called Death-
(
Reviews — ieut. Oliver’s Madagascar and theMalagaslcy 56

Watches. By the Rev. W. Houghton, M.A.,
F.L.S 129
Linley’s History of the Ti-ping Revolution 57
Wynter’s Our Social Bees . . . .57 A Few Words upon the Luminosity of Lanthorn-
Hardwieke’s Crown Peerage . . .57 Flies. By Arthur G. Butler, F.Z.S. ( Illustrated ) 133
Pennell’s Fishing Gossip . . . .57 Before Breakfast on the Bridge op Lismore.
Elwes’s Legend of the Mount . . .57 By William Peard, M.D. .135
. . . .
! O 7b Iq \
— —
IV CHEOMO- AND PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHS, &c.
PAGE PAGE
Sprouting Plates and Jars. By George Chapman, Barra, in the Outer Hebrides. By Thomas
F.S.A. (
Illustrated ) 141 Gray, H.M.C.S .193
An Incident
The Bamboo
(
Illustrated )
in the Pacific. By P. Aris Eagle
Cane. By W. B. Lord, Eoyal Artillery.
. . .
142
. . .146 .
. The Great Tree-Aloe of Damara Land.
Baines, F.R.G.S. ( Illustrated )
The Pitch Lake of Trinidad. By Fras. W. Rowsell 204
.... By T.
200
Oil-Painting without a Master ;

or, Hints for Floral Decorations of Churches at Christmas.
Amateurs. By Mary Constance Clarke 148 . . By W. and G. Audsley, Architects. Illustrated 209 ( )
.
A Dish of Nuts. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery 214

Art in the Forest. By G. W. Yapp
The Rafflesia Arnoldi. By J. R. Jackson, of the
153 . . .
Graphotype. ( Illustrated) .....

219
.
Royal Museum, Kew. ( Illustrated )

Letter on Sand Nodules
Holbein in Germany. By H. Ward. ( Illustrated)
15V
160
. . .
Fennell ........
Morsels saved from Moth and Mouse. By Greville
The Resources, Products, and Industrial His-

222
Part I. Augsburg
Part II. Basle ......
. .161 . . . .
229
tory of Birmingham and Neighbourhood
The Palace of the C^sars. With Plan
224
225 (
)
.
.
Concerning Sneezing.
M.A., F.L.S
By
Gardening in connection with Architecture.

the Rev.
.166
W. Houghton,
( Illustrated ) .......
The Poultry of France. By W. B. Tegetmeier.
Our Winter Visitors. By John Cordeaux . .

233
235
By J. B. Waring, M.I.BA 168 Wanderings in the Bye-ways of London. By
The Flying Fish ( Exocetus volitans ). By W. B. W. B. L. . 240
Lord, Royal Artillery. (
Illustrated ) . . . 173 Fine Art Criticisms
Notes on the Red Deer. By Centurion 1V7 . .
Gambart’s Winter Exhibition in Pall Mall . 241
The Influence of Chalk on the Growth of Wallis’s ditto in Suffolk Street . . . 242
the Field Lupine. By P. H. Frere, M.A., Editor The Institute of Painters in Water Colours . 243
for the Royal Agricultural Society. (
Illustrated ) 188
CHE0M0- AND PHOTO -LITHOGRAPHS, ETC.
Hawking in the Olden Time . . Frontispiece Whistling Sand-Grouse . . . Faces p 105

.
Ancient Greek Fishermen . . . Faces p . 5 Articles de Paris 123

The Full-striped Quagga 12 Lanthorn-Flies 133
The Ailanthus-leaf Silkworm and Moth. 14 .
Sprouting Plates and Jars 141
Facsimiles of Water-colour Studies from Group of Bamboos 146
Nature 18, 48, 81, 114, 183
Parisian Chapeaux
Buceros Nipalensis, or Barking Bird
. .27
.37
. . . .
.
The .Rafflesia Arnoldi
Hanns and Ambrosius Holbein
The Flying Fish
157
162
173
....
Honey-Hunters of South Africa .41 . .
The Gigantic Aloe of South Africa 203 . .
Butterflies, British and Foreign .54 . .

Designs for Floral Decoration of Churches 209, 213
Wedding Fan presented to H.R.H. the Princess Head of Mousquetaire Graphotype — 221 . . .
Mary 61
The First Christmas Carol 224
Stag-Hunting in Attica
The Welwitschia mirabilis
The Tusseh Silkworm and Moth
69
.85 . .
65
Mount ........
Plan of Ancient Eoman Remains on the Palatine
Jakob Meier, and Anna Sheckapurlin his Wife

229
The Prussian Needle Gun and Snider-Enfield 91

Mummy-Case from Thebes 98
(after Holbein )
French Poultry ....... 230, 231
234
— )
CONTENTS OP VOLUME II.
rAc.ji
Bizz and hee Foes. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. (Illus- New Music 32, 95
trated )
Chapter I. ....... 1
Correspondence
A Bunch
........
of Fir Cones. By W. B. Lord, Royal
32, 54
Chapter II.
Chapter III. .......
Flamborough Head. By John Cordeaux 6
33
05
Artillery
The Paris Exhibition, 1867. By G. W. Yapp 44, 114

39
. .
The Atlantic Yacht Race. (Illustrated) .51 .
The Principles oe Good Taste in Decorative Music at Home and Abroad 55,59,87,155,195 .
Art. By J. B. Waring, F.R.I.B.A. .11 . .

Camoensia maxima ( Welwitsch (Illustrated) ).. 58 .
On Sketching from Nature. By Aaron Penley, Carols and Valentines. By H. W. (Illustrated) C3

Professor of Landscape-Painting' at the Royal
Olla Podrida 64, 95, 196
Military Academy, Woolwich. (
Illustrated
Ceremonies of the Greek Church. (Illustrated) 71
13, 43, 80, 101, 132, 163
On Tin. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery . .14 A Gossip about Amber. By B. Lambert 74 . .
The African Elephant. By Centurion 78

Description of an Egyptian Statue lately
. .
ADDED TO THE COLLECTION IN THE BRITISH The Dudley Gallery 82

Museum. ( Illustrated ) . . . . .18 An Heraldic Puzzle and its Solution. By G.
— .85
Holbein in Germany. By H. Ward.
Part III. Basle continued
Part IV. Basle concluded
.
.
(
Illustrated )
.
.
.
.
.20
.49
Chapman, F.S.A.
Landseer’s Lions
Venus’s
.......
(Illustrated)
Flower-Basket (Euplectella speciosa).

. . .
86
The Meteoric Shower of November, 1866. By (Illustrated.) By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery . 88

J.
(
Illustrated ) .......
Carpenter, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Art Notes from Paris. By G. W. Yapp

23
27
The Japanese Jugglers
Ernst Schulz
96
96
. .
The Foundations of the Earth. By J. Carpenter,

The Winter Exhibition of the Society of F.R.A.S., of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich . 97
Painters in Water-colours .31 The Drama. Audiences and Performances
.........
. . .
102
Reviews —
.
A Subaltern’s ” Recollections of the East 31

Ingres 104
“ Salmo Salar’s ” Autobiography . . 62
The Light Blue
The Savage Club Papers

.
Jacob Jones’s Century of Sonnets

.62
63
.63 .
. .
.
.
.
.
.......
Notes, Historical and Heraldic, on the Lion.
(Illustrated)
The Cocoa-nut Palm. (Oocus nucifera.) By W. B.

105
A Fox’s Tale ......

Simpson’s India, Ancient and Modern
Lachaise’s Manuel Pratique et Raisonne do

92
94
. Lord, Royal Artillery.
Floral Decoration of Churches

By W. and G. Audsley, Architects.
(Illustrated)
-at
. .
Easter.
(Illustrated) 119
. 108
.94
1’ Amateur de Tableaux
Figuier’s Les Insectes
Fergusson’s History of Architecture in
....
. . .
all
122
The Fate of Dr. Livingstone.
F.R.G.S.
By T. Baines,
120
Countries . . . . . .125 The Harmony between the Mosaic and Egyptian

Frances Power Cobbe’s Hours of Work and Cosmogonies. By J. Bonomi, F.R.A.S. (Illus-
Play 126 trated) 129
Picture-flaying at the National Gallery . 127 Stray Scraps from Odd Larders. By W. B.
Larwood and Hotten’s Sign Painters and Lord, Boyal Artillery . . . . . 133
Signboards . . .151 . . .
Esparto and its Uses. By B. L. . . . . 137
Michelet’s L'Oiseau. (
Illustrated ) 157, 187
The Rail and the Rod
Greville F.’s .160 .
The American Water-weed (Anacfyaris Alsi-
G. Washington Moon’s Elijah the Prophet 160

nastrum.) By the Rev. W. Houghton. (Illus-
.139
.......
trated)
General Bell’s Rough Notes by an Old
. . . . . . .
Soldier 194 Peter von Cornelius 141

The Volunteer Movement of 1859 . . 194 The Microscope . . . . . . .143
IV CHROMO- AND PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHS, &c.
PAGE PAGE
Our British Butterflies. By Arthur Gardiner The Deserts of Peru, and their Wealth. By
Butler, F.Z.S. ( Illustrated .) Part
Part
I.
II.
. .
.
.
.
145
170
William Bollaert, F.R.G.S., &c.
Notes on the Early History of Engraving
.... 166
The Yale of Cashmere. By William Simpson. ( Illustrated ) . . .

.172
. . .
(Illustrated) . . . . . .14V The Architecture of India. The Buddhist.

Society of British Artists .153 By William Simpson. Illustrated )
.... 176
. - .
. ( . . .
Anticipations of the Royal Academy .156 The Microscope. Illustrated 180

Lines to a Swallow. From the Danish
By H. W
.
of Wilster.
160
(
King Chasselas. By G. W. Yapp

The French and Flemish Gallery
)
.... . . .
185
190
Falconry in the Olden Time . . . .161 The Two Water-colour Societies . . . 192
A Reminiscence of the Pyrenees . . .164 Clarkson Stanfield, R.A 195
CUB0M0- AND PH0T0-LITH0GBAPHS, ETC.
Mary 0’ Gorman Faces p. 2 Grove of Cocoa-nut Palms, Ceylon . Faces p. 108

Fac-similes of Water-colour Studies from Designs for Floral Decoration of Churches 119
...
.
Nature 13, 43, 80, 101, 132, 163 Section of an Ant-hill 122
Statue of the Son of Rameses II. 18 The Great Tower of the Pagoda Wat-Ching,
Hieroglyphical Inscription 19 at Bangkok 125
Meteoric Shower of November, 1866 23 The Universe of the Ancient Egyptians .130
Wife and Children of Johann Holbein
Johann Holbein
48
49
The American Water-weed
The Swallow-tailed Butterfly
....
139
145 .
.
. .
The “Fleet wing” Catastrophe 54 A Nautch in Cashmere 147

Camoensia maxima
Philarete, Metropolitan of Moscow
.... .
.
58
71
Blackcaps and their Nest
The Brimstone Butterfly
158
171
The Casket of William de Yalence 85 Saint Bridget 176
Venus’s Flower-Basket 88 Buddhist Architecture 177
Varieties of Sponge Spicules 89 “Le Nid” 188

Landseer’s Lion 105
-
INTRODUCTORY.
HUE it is that tlie pride, favour of the pen, has given us the first of several
the misgivings, the hopes graphic sketches in Grim Tartary, which will sur-
and the fears, attending prise some who have principally associated the word
the cradle of humanity Crimea with the horrors of war and all but Arctic
are found also about the desolation. From another friend we are glad to
birth of a new periodical. welcome botanical notes while consideration for
;
It is true, too, that though our fair readers compelled us to find space for an
the judicious looker-on authentic letter from Paris on certain novelties in
knows too well the acci- fashionable fine-art manufacture.
dents that literature, like The intimation that we should welcome con-
flesh, inherits, to hazard predictions of long life or tributions from correspondents on foreign service,
beauty ; sanguine parents and nurses will ever brought us offers which ensure much interesting
claim for the new-born, against all comers, the matter for future numbers. That such would be
certain attainment of those advantages. This is the case was certain, seeing that in eveiy corner of
our present office, and we take the time-honoured the world may be found Englishmen whom amuse-
privilege of drawing the kindly reader’s attention ment and love of adventure take to nature’s recesses,
to our infant’s present claims, and stating our views and whom ample leisure tempts to record their
as to its future. impressions for the use of such as sit at home at
Our treatment of Nature and of Art will not ease. While through the ranges and plains of
be after the fashion of the Metaphysicians, nor shall India, and the dispersed settlements of the Isles —
we indulge in mere scientific detail. Our object is —
through all lands, indeed there are military
to draw our reader’s attention to that which is officers afoot whose pleasure as well as profession
interesting in Nature and admirable in Art. But it is to record phenomena, and whose records are
our intentions will be best understood from our too often interred for ever in the field-book and the
performances, and we present at once a specimen pigeon-hole, may we not reasonably look for
of our work. Weneed hardly say that as our manuscripts of value if we but offer the facility of
Magazine progresses our means of adding to its the press 1 Governments, learned societies, and
value will proportionally increase. Our illustra- even trades, are all sending skilled emissaries to
tions in Chromo- and Photo-lithography, which speak each quarter of the globe in quest of scientific and
for themselves, must be at once appreciated, and we practical knowledge. The successors of Humboldt,
J
shall make use of them for the double purpose of Schomburgk, and Waterton, are ever tracking
|
decorating our text and exhibiting the advance of nature in forest and on stream ; while arts are
those branches of art. pioneered into all lands by the daring followers of
Seeing that the Literature, Science, Art, the Stephensons and the Brunels. All of them
Antiquity, and Amusement of this and of other work for us. There are none of their achieve-
countries have each and all our sympathy, we pur- ments and results that we may not press into our
pose that each, as occasion offers, shall find a place service if only space permit us so widely to extend
in our columns. Yielding, for instance, to the joint our range of subjects.
summons of the antique and the amusing, we have We have already arranged for ample and diversi-
prominently placed a paper on “Ancient Greek and fied foreign correspondence, reports, reviews, and
Roman Fishermen,” considering it an example if — illustrations, all by able hands. Since the issue of
Cotton and Davey were not examples enough of — our Prospectus we have received such valuable
how grave learning and love of the angle are by suggestions and tenders of assistance, that we are
no means incompatible ; and we are bold enough even disposed to apprehend an embarras de richesse.
to predict that it will please alike the scholar and Commending, then, to the reader the varied contents
the sportsman. An enthusiastic naturalist who of our First Number, we may fairly promise that its
for a time has laid down the trenchant blade in successors shall at least equal it in attractiveness,
i. n
— —
9 ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS.

I.—ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FISHERMEN.
By the Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S.
HE love of the chase and capture of wild animals sports of the field. Devotedly fond as they were
T is, no doubt, inherent in man’s nature. Apart of all manly exercises, it was not likely that the
from the utility of many kinds, either as articles of pleasures of the chase should hold any but a pro-
food or as the means of supplying clothing, there minent place in their pursuits. The names of
is, probably, in all nations, however barbarous, an Xenophon, Oppian, and Arrian amongst the
sesthetic appreciation of sport for its own sake. Greeks, and those of Gratian and Nemesian
The native of Australia is doubtless highly gratified amongst the Latins, are conspicuous as writers
and pleased with himself when a successful throw of treatises on the sports of the field. “ The
of the boomerang has brought to the ground some invention of the art of hunting,” says Xenophon,
swiftly-flying bird or jumping kangaroo ; the Dyak “ is from the Gods, —
for hunting and dogs were ,
of Borneo feels a thrill of delight as the dart from the care of Apollo and Diana, who rewarded
his sumpitan, or blow-pipe, pierces some delicate and honoured Chiron with a knowledge of them
dove or bright-coloured parroquet ; the Indians of on account of his regard for justice. He having
the Amazon district of South America, who with received the gilt was delighted with it, and
wonderful dexterity pierce with hurled javelin had as disciples in this and other honourable
the carapace of some unfortunate turtle as it pursuits, Cephalus, FEsculapius, Melanion, Nestor,
swims submerged in the lake, are keenly alive to Amphiaraus, Peleus, Telamon, Meleager, Theseus,
the sport, independently of the baser associations Hippolytus, Palamedes, Ulysses, Menestheus,
that attach themselves to the name of turtle. The Diomede, Castor, Pollux, Machaon, Podalirius,
reason of this is, that the successful employment of Antilochus, FEneas, Achilles, each of whom in his
skill brings with it its own peculiar gratification. own day received honour from the Gods.” After
In the chase of savage animals there is an additional recording some of the merits of these heroes,
element of enjoyment ; for here not only skill is Xenophon adds, “ these men became such as they
requisite, but courage and presence of mind ; and Avere from the instruction derived from Chiron,
when the aid of the dog is needed, and his sagacity men whom the good still love, and the bad envy.
and wonderful powers of scent are exhibited, the If misfortunes befel any city or king in Greece,
pleasures of the chase become enhanced a hundred these men Avere the deliverers if any quarrel or ;
fold. Still, though one cannot doubt that the chase Avar arose betAveen the Avhole of Greece and the
of Avild animals is attended with a degree of pleasure barbarians, the Greeks secured the A ictory by such 7
in the sport itself apart from that derived from men as these, and Greece became invincible. I
the value of the prey captured, even amongst advise the young therefore not to despise hunting,
barbarous nations, yet probably a thorough ap- or any other training, for by such means men
preciation of field sports is to be found only become good soldiers, and excel in other accom-
amongst civilized peojfle. One reason of this is, that plishments, by which they are necessarily led to
they are better qualified to admire the successful think, speak, and act rightly.” Ancient philoso-
adaptation of means to an end and secondly, because
;
phers and poets, such as Aristotle, Plato, Cicero,
from their more prosperous condition they are not and Horace, acknoAvledge the utility of a training
to any extent dependent upon the game they kill. in the sports of the field ; the bard of enusia V
Hence the sportsmen of the civilized world can admirably shows the connection between the hunt-
afford to give the animal pursued some fair play or ing field and the field of battle in the folloAving
“ law,” supposing the nature of the prey is entitled lines :
to it. But, in the opinion of an uncivilized people,

“ Romanis solemne viris opus, utile fain®,
the idea of allowing the quarry the smallest chance Vitseque, et membi'is prsesertim cum valeas, et
;
of escape would be considered as the mark of the Yel cursu superare canem, vel viribus aprum,
most consummate folly. To slip two couples of Possis. Adde, virilia quod speciosius arma
greyhounds upon a hare the instant she starts from Non est qui tractet (scis quo clamore coron®
Pr®lia sustineas campestria) denique s®vam
her form, or designedly to let the dogs “ chop ” a
Militiam puer, et Cantabrica bella tulisti.” #
fox in the cover, would deseiwedly be thought a
sin of great magnitude in the eyes of an English The ordinary field sports pursued by the ancients
sportsman. But fair play is no jewel in the ars were hare hunting, deer and wild boar hunting,
venatoria of a rude nation. “Catch who catch can” coursing, fowling, and fishing. On some of these
is the motto by which they are guided. With sports I hope to speak on a future occasion at :
regard to the Field Sports of the Ancient Greeks present I would say a few Avords on Fishing.
and Homans, there is abundant evidence to show Fishing was principally carried on in the sea,
that they were held in great esteem. From a though river and lake fishing Avere not unknown.
knoAvledge of the character of these people, it is
only natural to anticipate an attachment to the * Epist. i. 18.
—
• — .; ; . — ;
;
***. Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.]

ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. 3
That the art was practised with much success and “ the cast” was (36Xoc, from fiaXXw, “to throw.” The
love of the sport is evident from the Halieutics of Romans used their casting-net, it is probable, in a
Oppian, the only Greek poem now extant on this manner not dissimilar to the one in rise amongst
subject but we learn from Athenseus that several
• the Greeks ;
and they had the same term to signify
other writers had written treatises or poems upon “the bolus.
cast,” The net itself was “jaculum
fishing, such as Csecilius, Numenius, Pancrates, rete,” or“jaculum;” it was also called “funda.”
Posidonius, Seleucus, Leonidas, and Agathocles. There is a very amusing passage in Plautus, where
All these writers’ works have unfortunately perished. Dinarchus compares the dangers of love and its
The methods employed to take the scaly creatures allurements, to fish caught in a casting-net :
of the sea and river were various, and in many “ Quasi in piscinam rete qui jaculum parafc ;
respects similar to those now adopted by the dis- Quando abiit rete pessum, turn adducit sinum.
ciples of W alton and Cotton. The ancients netted, Sin jecit rete, piscis ne effugiat, cavet
Dum hie dum illuc reti eos impedit
angled with rod and or hook and line, trolled',
line,
Pisces, usque adeo donixum eduxit foras.
set baited wicker traps, and occasionally practised
Iditem est amator.” ( True act
i. sc. 1.)
the art of fly-fishing after a rather rude fashion.
Various kinds of nets were used, Oppian mentions — “Just like a man who throws his casting-net into a fish-
pond when the net sinks to the bottom he contracts its
several. The most common nets were the seine or ;
folds, and when he has made his throw he takes care that
sean and the casting-net (dp^t/SXr/orpor).
(<x ayipnj) the fish do not escape, whilst the net entangles them in all
The materials of the nets were either flax ( linum ) directions in its meshes till he land them safely so is the ;
— hence linum sometimes denotes a net, as in lover.”
Virg. Georg, i. 142, From this passage it is pretty clear that the
“ Pelagoque alius trahit liumida lina,” jaculum ,
like the ajj.cj>i(iXricrrpov, must have been
nearly identical in form and manner of use with
or hemp. The sean net was probably not dis-
our own casting-net. It is impossible to form any
similar to the one now used by modern fishermen
conjecture as to the form of several other nets
there were corks or pieces of wood at the top of the
mentioned by Oppian, and in most cases by him
net, and pieces of lead at the bottom. To these
Ovid refers — alone ; what were the yplipoi, or the yayyapa, or
the round vTroycii, or the KaXiggara, or the ire^cii, or
“ Adspicis ut summa cortex levis innatet unda
the atyaipCivcu, or the aieoXia iravaypa, we have no
Cum grave nexa simul retia mergat onus.”
( Trist III. iv. 11.)
means of discovering. All we can gather is that
they were nets of different construction used by
The following passage from Oppian clearly ex- sea-fishermen of Ancient Greece.*
plains the use of the ancient seine or circle-net :
— Angling was a very common mode of fishing.
“ The silent fishers in the calm profound Sometimes a rod and line were used ; jd other times
With circling net a spacious plot surround, the line was wound round the hand, and let down
Whilst others in the midst with flatted oars from a boat or rock ; to this cord, either a single
The wavy surface lash old ocean roars ;
large and well-weighted bait (naOer fjc) was attached,
Murm’ring with frothy rage beneath the blow,
And rumbles to remotest deeps below. as a lure for some large kind of fish, or a series of
The dreadful din alarms the tim’rous fry baited hooks was fastened along a portion of it, as
They fondly to the net’s protection fly. in the long-line fishing of our own coasts. The lines
Fools From unbodying sounds to death they run,
!
were made of hemp, horsehair, or of spartos, and were

And flying but o’ertake the fate they shun.
But when returning seines the shores ascend, of great strength, as was requisite to catch the huge
And from the struggling ropes the fishers bend, conger-eel, whose flavour always threw an old Greek
Imprudent fears the trembling shock begets, into ecstasies of delight. The hooks were large, and
Closer they press and hug the treach’rous nets. 1 ’
flattened at the shaft end ; single or double, some-

The amphiblestron or casting-net was, there is times two-barbed, and fixed back to back like our
much reason to believe, similar to the modern pike or eel hooks. Dr. Badham saw an abundant
casting-net. But as to the precise mode in which assortment of ancient fish-hooks in the Museum of
it was gathered tip and thrown, there is no clear Naples they were disinterred from Pompeii, and
:
evidence to show. A
fisherman with net in hand, vary extremely in form, size, and mode of adjust-
just about to make his cast, was one of the figures ment they were made “ of two different metals
:
on the shield of Hercules. His attitude is described some, like our own, of hardened iron (nucleus ferri)
as follows: —
“And on the land there stood* a others, as we read in Oppian, of bronze.” Some of
fisherman on the look-out, and he held in his the larger kinds of hooks were weighted with lead
hands a casting-net for fish, being like to a man shaped into cylindrical lumps, which, from a certain
about to hurl it from him.” The term to denote rude resemblance to dolphins, were called delphini.
'*
The bait, being attached to this leaded hook, was
In the English translation of Elton (Hesiod, Shield of thrown into the sea, and drawn up and down, to
Hercules, 294) :
and fro, like our system of trolling.

“ On the crag & fisher sat
Observant in his. grasp he held a net
:
“ He bolds the labrax, and beneath his head
Like one that, poising, rises to the throw.” Adjusts with care an oblong shape of lead,
Surely theword ijaro means simply “was set” or “stationed,”
not “ did sit.” Sitting is not the attitude for a man “on the * Many words relating to fishing may be found in the
look-out,” or for one about to throw a casting-net. Onomasticon of Pollux, but they are seldom explained.
B 2
— ) ; ; .
4 ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
Named from its form a dolphin plumb’d with this excitement of having a lively fish at the end of the
—
;
The bait shoots headlong through the blue abyss. line :
The bright decoy a living creature seems,

As now on this side, now on that, it gleams.” “ A bite, hurrah
the lengthening’ line extends,
!
Above the tugging fish the arch’d reed bends ;
In order to prevent the from biting off the

fish He struggles hard, and noble sport will yield
hook, a tubular piece of horn sometimes covered My liege, ere wearied out he quits the field.
the line for the space of a few inches from its junc- See how he swims up, down, and now athwart
tion with the hook as gimp was unknown to the
:
—
The rapid stream now pausing as in thought
And now you force him from the azure deep
early followers of the gentle art, this was a wise
He mounts, he bends, and with resilient leap
and effectual precaution. To this Homer clearly Bounds into air there see the dangler twirl,
!
alludes when, speaking of Iris plunging into the Convulsive start, hang, curl, again uncurl,
—
dark sea, he says “ She sank to the bottom like a Caper once more like young Terpischore
In giddy gyres, above the sounding sea,
leaden weight, which, placed down upon the wild-
Till near’d, you seize the prize with steady wrist,
bull’s horn, sinks quickly, bearing destruction to And grasp at last the bright funambulist.”*
the raw -devouring fishes.” *
Traps or weels, made of wicker-work or rushes,
It is difficult -to understand why this passage
appear to have been in frequent use these, were
should have caused perplexity to some commentators ;
called cyrti ( Kvproi and labyrinthi (Xafivpivdoi), but

and translators. Thus, it has been supposed that
the former term was in more general use. The
the piece of horn spoken of was not fixed to the
cyrtus was open and narrow at one end, and closed
fishing-line, but to the side of the boat, and that the
and wide at the other. The bait was placed at the
line was run down this horn to prevent wear by
bottom of the trap, which was then cast into the
friction the traveller Clarke says that modern Greek
:
water. From the description that Oppian ( Halieut

fishermen adopt this plan.
“ Odyssey” (xii. 251
But a passage in the
—
254), which I will not here
iii. 341 —
356) has given of the cyrtus it would ,
appear that the narrow end was provided with a

cite, is clearly opposed to such an explanation, for
door, which was made to close when the weel was
it there appears that “ the horn was let down into
full of fish. The labyrinthus, as the name imports,
the sea,” i. e., of course, the whole fishing-line
was constructed so as to entangle the fish in its
the part being, by a common figure, put for the
mazes. The Homan nassa was probably identical
whole. Lord Derby, in his recent translation,
in form with the Greek Kvprog. (Elian thought this
adopts the very singular notion that the piece of
kind of sport hardly becoming a gentleman. “ Fish-
lead (fiokvfioaivrj) was “ incased in the wild-bull’s
ing with the cyrtus ,” he says, “ is a very deceitful
horn.” But neither can the Greek allow of such
mode of taking fish, dreadfully treacherous, and, in
an interpretation, nor can any reason be assigned
for inclosing the leaden weight in horn. Suidas tells
my opinion, not at all the proper thing for a
gentleman.” The last-named Greek writer says there
are four kinds of fishing, namely, with nets, with
the pole (-net), with weels, and with hooks. Fishing
with nets, he says, is very lucrative, and reminds a
person of the capture of a number of prisoners of
war after an army has been defeated. He says that
a variety of articles are required for this mode of
us that the fishermen “ prepared a tube of horn,
fishing, such as ropes made of the spartos plant,!
which they placed upon the fishing-line to prevent
white and black lines, cork, lead, pitch, thongs,
the fish biting off the hook.” (See also “ Dammii
horn, a six-oared boat, a windlass, and other things
Lex,” s. v. KEpac.) The relative positions of the
the names of which are very difficult to make out.
hook, horn, and lead, there can be little doubt, were
Fishing with the pole (iwmoaig, Sicucdvrwaig) is re-
in the order in which we have enumerated them.
commended as a manly exercise, and requires a
We cannot doubt but that the ancient Greek and
strong fisherman. It is not easy to see what this
Homan fishermen were keenly alive to the pleasures method of fishing was the requisites for it, we are
:
of a bite. As salmon were not known in the rivers

told, are “a strong pole made of olive, cords or
of Greece and Italy, the ancients were of course
ropes of the spartos (whether netted or not we are
strangers to the “ thrill of joy, fear, and surprise
not informed), torches of resinous pine-wood, a
induced by the first tug of a salmon,” which some
small boat, eager oarsmen, and strong hands.”
devoted disciples of fly-fishing have maintained to
Fishing with hooks, (Elian says, is the wisest kind
be “ the most exquisite sensation of which this
of fishing, and most suited to a gentleman. In
mortal frame is susceptible.”! But still the long
this art you require horse-hair (white, black, red,
pulland the strong pull of a mighty conger- eel were
or grey), straight hog-bristles, brass, lead, lines of
no doubt thoroughly appreciated by the Greek and
spartos, feathers (especially white, black, or varie-
Homan angler. Oppian has well described the gated). Some fishermen use red and purple wool,
also corks and pieces of wood (like the modern
* *H poXvpo aivy inkXr], ig fivoobv opovatv,
fie
"Hrs tear’ aypavXoio j3oog icipag, ep.[3e(5avla * Prose Halieutics, p. 3.

”U|0%£rai clyi?) (Try aw in’ iyOvoi Kijpo rpipovtra'
f The spartos is a grass. (Stipa tenacissima, Lin.) abundant
(II. xxiv. 80 — 82.) in Spain, where it is called esparto it is much used in the
f See Mr. Russell’s excellent book on The Salmon. manufacture of ropes, cords, nets, mats, baskets, &c., and
Edmonston and Douglas. 1864. even recently of paper.
— — — ; ; ! ;: ;
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.]

trimmers 1), tall reeds, slip-knots 1 (fSpoôL ), rods of Some one calls out for water and his partner;
cornel wood, horn, &c. &c. Catches a pail, and throws it o’er his friend
So as to sprinkle all his fish, and make
The mention of red and purple wool reminds us The world believe them newly caught and fresh.” *
of another passage in (Elian, from which it is clear
that even the art of fly-fishing was practised by I conclude this paper with Dr. Chapman’s
spirited Translation of the 21st Idyll of Theocritus,
some of the people of Greece. The passage is very
interesting, as*, containing, probably, the earliest which gives a most graphic description of the life of
extant allusion to artificial-flyfishing. We translate ancient Greek fishermen.
the passage in full.* THE FISHERMEN.
“ There a river called Astrmus, flowing midway between
is Asphalion and a Comrade.
Berea and Thessalonica, in which are produced certain The nurse of industry and arts is want
spotted fish (Ixdiii ti)v ypoan KaraariKTOi ) you must go Care breaks the labourer’s sleep, my Diophant
to the Macedonians for their name —
whose food consists of And should sweet slumber o’er his eyelids creep,
insects which fly about the river. These insects are dis- Dark cares stand over him and startle sleep.
similar to all other kinds found elsewhere they are unlike
wasps, nor would one naturally compare them with the flies
;
Two fishers old lay in their wattled shed,
Close to the wicker on one sea-mossf bed
called ephemera, nor do they resemble bees, but they possess
Near them the tools wherewith they plied their craft,
characters common to all these creatures for they are as ;
The basket, rush-trap, line and reedy shaft,
impudent as flies, as large as the anthedon, of the same
Weed-tangled baits, a drag-net with its drops,
colour as wasps, and they buzz like bees. The natives call
Hooks, cord, two oars, an old boat fixt on props,
this insect the hippurus. As these flies float on the top of
Their rush-mat clothes and caps propt either head
the water in pursuit of their food, they attract the notice of
These were their implements by which they fed,
the fish which swim upon them. When a fish spies one of
these insects on the top of the water, it swims quietly under-
And this was all their wealth. They were not richer
neath it, taking care not to agitate the surface lest it should
By so much as a pipkin or a pitcher.
All elseseemed vanity they could not mend
:
scare away the prey. So approaching it, as it were under

its shadow, it opens its mouth and gulps it down, just as a
—
Their poverty which was their only friend.
wolf seizes a sheep from the flock, or an eagle a goose from
They had no neighbours but upon the shore
;
The sea soft murmured at their cottage-door.

the yard and having done this, it swims away beneath the
chariot of the moon was midway only,
;
The
ripple. The fishermen are aware of all this; but they do
not use these flies for bait, because handling' would destroy
When thoughts of toil awoke those fishers lonely
their natural colour, injure the wings, and spoil them as
And shaking sleep off they began to sing.
lure. On this account the insect is in ill-repute with the Asphalion.
fishermen, who cannot make use of it. They manage to cir- The summer-nights are short, when Zeus the king
cumvent the fish, however, by the following clever piscatorial —
Makes the days long, some say and lie. This night
device they cover a hook with purple wool, and upon this
:
I’ve seen a world of dreams, nor yet ’tis light.
they fasten two feathers of a waxy colour which grow under- What’s all this ? am I wrong ? or say I truly ?
neath a cock’s wattles; they have a reed six feet long, and And can we have a long, long night in July ?
a fishing-line of about the same length they drop this bait
;
Friend.
upon the water, and the fish, being attracted by the colour,
becomes extremely excited ( oiaTpovptvoQ ) and proceeds to Do you the summer blame ? The seasons change,
meet it, anticipating, from its beautiful appearance, a most Nor willingly transgress their wonted range.
delicious repast ; but, as with extended mouth it seizes the From care that frightens sleep much longer seems
prey, it is held by the hook, and, being cajitured, meets with The weary night.
a very sorry entertainment.” f Asphalion.
Fish the prime kinds
i. e. are and have long — Can you interpret dreams P
I’ve seen a bright one which I will declare,
been, in our own
country, dear articles of diet. The
That you my visions as my toil may share.
same was the case at Athens with regard to those To whom should you in mother- wit defer ?
which were held in most esteem. The insolence of And quick wit is best dream-interpreter.
the retail dealers, their dishonesty, shameless con- We’ve leisure and to spare. What can one do,
duct, and avariciousness, were proverbial. The Lying awake on leaves, as I and you,
Without a lamp ? They say the town-hall ever
following amusing account of an ancient fishmonger
watering his stale fish to make them look like fresh
Has burning lights — its booty fails it never.
” Friend.
ones, is quoted by Athenseus from “ The Purple
Well let us have your vision of the night.
of Xenarchus :
:
“ Poets are nonsense ; for they never say Asphalion.

A single thing that’s new. But all they do When yester-even I slept, outwearied quite
Is to clothe old ideas in language new ; With the sea-toil, not over-fed, for our
Turning the same things o’er and o’er again, Commons, you know, were short at feeding hour,
And upside down. But as to fishmongers, I saw myself upon a rock, where I
They’re an inventive race, and yield to none Sat watching for the fish so eagerly — !
In shameless conduct. For as modern laws And from the reed the .tripping bait did shake,
Forbid them now
to water their stale fish, Till a fat fellow took it no mistake.—
Some hated by the gods, beholding
fellow, (’Twas natural like that I should dream of fish,
His fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel, As hounds of meat upon a greasy dish).
And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinks He hugged the hook, and then his blood did flow
He’s had enough, he falls and seems to faint, His plunges bent my reed like any bow ;
And lies like any corpse among his baskets. I stretched both arms, and had a pretty bout
To take, with hook so weak, a fish so stout.
* From a
passage in Martial (Lib. v. Ep. xviii.) it is also
certain that the Romans used flies as baits, but whether * Athenasus, Deipnosoph. i. 357. Tonge’s Translation,
“ dry sea-weed ” in all probability, the
they were natural or artificial does not appear. f B pvov aiiov, ;
f Nat. Aruim. lib. xv. c. 1. common Fucus vesiculosus. Bpvov is from (3/jvai “ to swell.” ,
;
6 A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. [Nature and Al t, June 1, 1866.
I gently warned him of the wound he bore. But ever would remain on land,
after
“ Ha will you prick me ? you’ll be pricked
! much more.”* And there my any king, command.
gold, like
But when he strug’g'led not, I drew him in. At this I woke. Your wits, good friend, awaken,
The contest then I saw myself did win. For much I fear to break the oath I’ve taken.
I landed him, a fish compact of gold !
But then, a sudden fear my mind did hold,

Friend.
Lest King Poseidon made it his delight, Fear not you swore not, saw not with your eyes
;
Or it was Amphitrite’s favourite. The fish you saw for visions all are lies.
;
I loosed him gently from the hook, for fear But now no longer slumber up, awake, :
It from his mouth some precious gold might tear, And for a false a real vision take.
And with my line I safely towed him home,f Hunt for the foodful fish that is, not seems,
And swore that I on sea no more would roam ;
For fear you starve amid your golden dreams.
* The words supposed to be put into the mouth of the of the difficulty. It seems exceedingly doubtful whether
fish,which is represented as threatening the fisherman with synonymous with Trutjfia, “a cable.” If I may
7T£iffr)jp is
punishment from the offended god. Asphalion just re- offer an opinion, I would suggest that TruaTrjpm be rendered
minded the fish, by a motion of his hand on the rod, that “by persuasion” (persuaders, persuading acts). The dif-
he was hooked. “ Ha will you prick me ? Poseidon will
! ficulty that perplexed Asphalion was how he should land
wound you more severely, if you injure one of his a large fish with weak tackle. He tells us how he accom-
” plished He did not pull violently against the struggling
favourites ! it.
f Kffi rbv fitv 7T£i(7ri;p<n icarijyov kir' r/irsipoio. fish,but kept a light hold of him, and so gradually subdued
Dr. Chapman’s translation of this line implies that the fisher- him, till he was able to drag him without resistance to the
man is dragging the fish ashore after he has already had it shore. “Thus it was,” he adds, “that by persuasion I
in his hand, and taken the hook from its mouth. Various secured him.” Asphalion did just what any modern angler
readings have been proposed by the critics in order to get rid would do under ths circumstances.
A RAMBLE AMONG- THE GRIM TARTARS BEYOND THE SEAT

OF WAR.
By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery.
nnHE of eaiTy morning still hang like

mists and from every ledge and flat rock darts a tiny
X smoke about the summits of the lower
battle with sheen of antique bronze, and eyes like
lizard,
hills and rugged gorges, just lifting here and there gems. We are wending our way through the
above the rocks and peaks, which look like islands hunting-grounds of Prince Woronzow ;
in the
in a sea of fleecy wool. Clear and pure is the air distance sparkle the gilt vanes and domes of his
this bright May morning, as it comes sweeping hunting-lodge away to the left looms, in cloud-
;
across the plains in sudden playful gusts, making capped majesty, the “ Ychatir-Dagh,” rearing his
the long green grasses wave and ripple like an cragged summit 5,000 feet above the fruitful
emerald lake. Countless flowers strew our way. plain below. Onward, still onward, and a flock
The sea-green orchis, the purple tare, and the blue of wild pigeons rises on clapping wing from the
larkspur grow luxuriantly, and are ruthlessly margin of a pool, fed by a clear spring which
trodden under foot by our mules and horses, which comes babbling coolly from amongst the rocks.
are literally wading through the tangled verdure A gnarled and crooked tree, grey with moss and
covering a small plain at the entrance to the lichen, stands hard by the well and on the top- ;
valley of Baidar, appropriately called the “ Taurica most branches sit two old crows, equally grey,
Arcadia.” A
brawling brook hurries by our path, who croak defiantly, take two or three short hops,
which here narrows into little more than a mere spread their wide wings, and flap off. So the —
track ; leaps in a pigmy cataract, between two water being good, the tree dry, and grass abun-
huge boulders and then ripples on its way to the
;
—
dant in the hollow “ halt ” is the word, and we
Black Sea. Up we go by hanging bushes, and will encamp, for night is not far distant. My
past fallen rocks, in wooded dells ; where the little canvas home is soon raised ; the mules and
giant peonies grow as in some enchanter’s garden.
. horses picketed and the throne of the crows
;
The servants gather the great pink and scardet is converted into a crackling cheerful fire, which
flowers, like silken cricket-balls deck the animals’ ;
leaps and flashes in the gathering twilight joyously.
heads with some of them, and pelt each other An inquisitive bat wheels in shadowy flight round
with the rest, like schoolboys out for a holiday. the top of the white tent, wondering, no doubt,
Onward still, amongst thickets of oak and wild what he should live to see next. Savoury odours
plum by tangled clumps of thorn, and stunted
;
and hissing sounds arise from the neighbourhood
juniper bushes. Beneath these, in marked con- of the fire, highly suggestive of supper, which
trast to their sombre hue, lay hundreds of pure appears in due course, and is as duly discussed.
white land shells ( Bulimus tauricus) tenantless and Night is soon down on us, and all is stillness and
bleached in the past winter snows whilst every : tranquillity, save when an ill-disposed, querulous
here and there, on the level spots, are piles old owl or two, in the wood above, quaver forth
or mounds of earth, and stems of grass, showing their discontent at things in general and the scarcity
where the souslik (Spermojihilus citillus) dwells and leanness of mice in particular; or sometimes
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. 7
the sharp tinkle of a picket-chain or the short point of vantage, suffering always more or less in
“ crop-crop ” of our hungry animals, breaks the the encounter ; but of all the determined, un-
charm, when we rouse up suddenly, and inquire, flinching, piratical, bull-dog antagonists to be
“ What 1 ” As nobody replies, we drive out several found in the world, your true Russian military
large moths of suicidal temperament, who will flea is the one to be most scrupulously avoided.
wheel and dash into our lamp in a manner most We therefore pass beneath the shadow of the grim
exasperating, button the flaps of the tent, and portal into the broad bright sunlight, and stand
drop off to sleep again. Like the redoubtable amazed and entranced at the marvellously beau-
“ Johnny Cope,” we must be “ far awa’ in the tiful scene, unrolled, as it were, like some vast
morning so we make an early start of it, and enchanted picture beneath us. Far away, losing
tramp gaily along the road leading to the Tartar itself at last in the dim blue distance, lies, like a
village of Baidar ; passing, every here and there, silver lake, the tideless sea. Stretching away to the
one of those combinations of sticks, thongs, and left is a rich fringe of wood and natural meadow,
fiendish noises, known as an “ Aroba.” If “ evil backed up by giant cliffs and riven peaks of wild
spirits dread a creaking wheel,” as says an Eastern fantastic grandeur whilst on high, floating like
proverb, imps and spirits would think twice before
;
—
specks in the clear air, are two eagles veritable
“ Russian eagles,” nowise related to
they fixed on this part of the world’s surface as an the wretched
abiding-place. Tartar men — in sheepskin coats, conventional “split crow” in which the Czar of
wool caps, and brigand-like foot-gear —
march all the Muscovites delighteth. Downwards now
along, goad in hand, administering sundry raps leads our path, and a devious one it is, needing a
and pokes to their lazy, stupid old bullocks, whose sure foot where loose stones and broken ledges
tails are tied fast to bowed sticks like overgrown encumber the zigzag track which winds amongst
mole-traps. Tartar women and children, of generally thickets of wild fruit-trees, thorns, and briars, for
“ bundley ” and woolly appearance, a good mile before the level of the sea is reached.
squat in the
lumbering, jolting machine, amid whole piles of Through tangled brake, and amongst huge riven
small quaint-looking scythes for grass-cutting, masses of porphyry, shooting up here and there
amongst which one would hardly care to be upset. to a thousand feet in height, we proceed to the
In the village sit and lounge, pipe in mouth, a opening of a sheltered and secluded valley, at the
mumber of stereotyped editions of our “ Aroba ” head of, and above which, lie the ruins of ancient
acquaintances, all equally sheep-skinny and “Laspi,” a town of the old Greek period. Here,
“ bundley.” Shops are here too much after the shielded by the surrounding mountains in secure
fashion of those from which the “ London ’Prentice ” tranquillity, nestles the modern village of the same
was wont to shout, “ What do ye lack % ” when old name, and it would be hard to find a spot more
London Bridge was standing. singularly blessed, both in climate and natural
Miscellaneous indeed are the treasures exposed fertility. No nipping frost or cold bleak wintry
on these primitive shop-fronts. Here are boots of winds reign here. All is perpetual summer and ;
brimstone hue, sharp of toe and of fire-bucket when the wide far-off steppe is clothed in its
pattei'n ; saddles, the very sight of which would mantle of white, and the whirling sleet whistles
make any untravelled horse kick all his four shoes through the waving reeds, this favoured nook
off ; bridles to match, and whips like fly-flappers. becomes a refuge for the game of the plains. The
Here are strings of capsicum pods, like little bustards and hares then betake themselves to the
nuggets of red coral. Huge leather bottles of oil, rich feeding-grounds here abounding, until the
bags of linseed, and festoons of brown shining yellow crocuses and pink hyacinths once more
onions. We
invest capital in onions, and go on deck the valley and hill-side. “ Winter is gone,”
our route rejoicing, and are soon amongst the and with it depart the greater portion of the furred
woods again, winding our way up the hill-side, and feathered refugees back to their old haunts on
where sparkling rivulets bubbling past afford our the wide rolling steppe. Afew sparingly scat-
four-footed companions an opportunity of cooling tered Tartar cottages, some ruins, trailing vines,
their hoofs and noses at the same time. Still fallen walls, and neglected orchards we pass on
upwards, and just before us stands a massive our road to the coast line, along which we travel
stone arch like a castle gateway without the gaily, the pigmy wavelets of the tideless sea rip-
castle. Tliis crowns the highest point of the pling up almost to the fringe of grass upon
“ Pass of Phoros and a strong compact structure its margin. Presently we find ourselves
it is, with guard-rooms built in the thickness of wending our way amongst piles and crumbling-
its masonry. Guards there are none but we masses of black shifting schist, backed up by stu-
;
have a strong suspicion that something far worse pendous crags towering rrp like the walls of some
may be met with by the heedless intruder, so we vast fortress. Who shall say that rich stores of
keep outside. Do we fear to enter what are we 1
? rock oil are not buried far beneath, as in many a

afraid of ?Wild beasts, ogres, snakes'? Ho, simply less promising locality
1
? We, however, do not

fleas of these we have a wholesome dread, based “ prospect,” having quite enough to do to guard
;
on a hard experience, which wanderings in many against a false step on this treacherous path, which
lands have only served to confirm and establish. in certain places would bring our journey to a
Indian, Egyptian, Turkish, Spanish, and Tartar speedy termination. A shelving ledge, barely wide
fleas have we combated manfully on their own enough for the mules and horses to travel on,
— . E
THE NEW VEGETABLE [Nature ancl Art, June 1, 18GG.
forms the only route through this perilous tract, till the 28th of February; so as to occasion a terrific abyss,
where whole villages are sometimes overwhelmed from ten to twenty fathoms deep, in which only a large
parallel ridge of hard rock and two smaller crests remained
by huge descending landslips. Professor Pallas
projecting- at the bottom. The ground thus fallen extends
thus describes one of these catastrophes :
about a mile and a half in length and six hundred yards in
“ On
the 10th of February, 1786, the surface of the earth breadth. In proportion as one part of the steep declivity
about the deep glens before mentioned, and in another still was detached from the rock, the whole mass pressed down-
further to the eastward, began to burst and to exhibit cracks wards, and the strand was removed further into the sea to
or clefts so that on the same day, the brook which had
;
a distance of from one hundred to two hundred yards.”
hitherto turned two small mills constructed by the native
Across one of the chasms caused by the shifting
Tartars entirely disappeared. Two days afterwards, the
soil having- become entirely disengaged, and the frightened
beds of shale, the Tartars had constructed a bridge
inhabitants of the adjacent village having removed their of the most rickety and insecure description.
and abandoned their habita-
cattle, carried off their effects, Some account of the passage of this we will give in
tions, thewhole tract between the hollows above described, our next communication.
from the lofty banks of rock by the sea-shore, fell in, about
midnight, with a dreadful noise and this sinking continued
;
(To be continued.)
THE NEW VEGETABLE.

(Baphanus caudatus.)
By J. R. Jackson, Royal Museum, Kew.
npHE newly-introduced radish, which has attracted the Chelsea, flowering- much more profusely out of doors, than
X attention of horticulturists so much of late, is those kept in a greenhouse or stove. The rapidity of the
certainly a novelty, inasmuch as the edible portion of the growth of the pod must be something remarkable, if, as
plant is the seed-vessel, and not the root. The common alleged, it grows three inches in one night. These long
radish, in its numerous varieties, is such an exceedingly fruits hang upon the plant some quite straight, while
;
popular salad-plant, that we are scarcely prepared to look others are twisted and curled in all directions, giving- the
to this genus for new economic products or floral novelties. plant a very peculiar appearance. The greatest twisting- or
When wo consider the many varieties of radish known in contortion of the seed-vessels occurs when the seeds are
this country, from the long and tapering red-root to the mostly in the upper portion of the siliqua. Now the
white turnip-radish, we might, in some measure, be pre- economic value of this plant lies entirely in these long-
pared for a wider development of nature’s laws in tropical seed-vessels they
: are said to be of a much more delicate
countries. Of the genus Baphanus there are but six species, flavour than a common esculent radish-root, with, perhaps,
and two of these are British, namely, the wild radish or a little more pungency. They can be eaten raw, in their
jointed charlock (B. raphanistrum), and the sea-radish (IS. young state, as an ordinary radish, or in salads, or as
maritimus). pickle ; indeed, if we are to believe the advertisements,
From whence our garden-radish came is unknown. It these seed-vessels are to be “ regarded as one of the
has been thought to be a native of China but some ;
most useful vegetables that have been introduced for many
varieties of B. raplianistrum have been gathered on the years.”
shores of the Mediterranean, and have characters almost suf- Now the question that arises regarding- this edible-podded
ficient to establish a link between the two, and the possi- radish is, whether it is a true and distinct species. Some
bility of the one being- a cultivated form of the other. The eight years since, seeds were received in this country of a
garden-radish, however, was very extensively grown both radish, called the Madras radish. It is said, however, to
by the Egyptians and Greeks in ancient times, and has be a native of Java, but cultivated to some extent in India,
long- been in cultivation in this country. We read that especially in the vicinity of Benares. This plant was also
radishes appeared at the table of Henry VIII., about 1532, grown at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden but, instead of
;
and the author of “ The Book of Simples,” written in pods three or four feet long, it only produced them of eight
1562, says “ Of radish-roots there ho no small store grow-
: or nine inches. This radish was subsequently called the
ing- about the famous Citye of London. They be more rat-tail radish, of which many varieties are known, and
plefttifull than profytable, and more noysome than nowrish- though the pods produced at Edinburgh were not more than
inge to manne’s nature.” Old Gerard seems to have been nine inches in length, it would appear that, by carefully
acquainted with four varieties so early as 1597. sowing seed from the long- attenuate-podded plants, they
The effects of climatic changes and rich soil, together with can be grown much longer. The pods of the Madras, or
careful cultivation, have considerably increased the number rat-tail radish, are referred to as being edible, though they
of varieties but the result has been a greater or more
; never came into great repute. The question now to be
perfect development of the root. This is not the case with decided is, whether these two plants are identical, and to be
the Baphanus caudatus ; the pods are the edible as well as considered rather as varieties than as species. Professor
the most singular part of the plant, for they are said to Balfour says,' the two plants he has at Edinburgh still hold
grow to a length of three or four feet. The seeds of this good to their distinctive characters. Those who consider
radish, which have been recently advertised for sale at the them quite distinct have given the name of snake-radish to
very high price of one guinea for seven seeds, were first the longest podded one, to distinguish it from the rat-tail.
received at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, in April, 1865, J. B. J.
and the pods were exhibited in July of the same year.
The plant is said to be a native of India, whence the seeds We
are informed that on the plant arriving- at matu-
were derived. They germinate, and the plants grow very rity,the pods of Baphatius 0. are often so numerous and
rapidly those at Edinburgh flowering seven weeks after
; heavy, as to render a substantial support to the plant
sowing. The petals are whitish, tipped with purple, and necessary, in order to prevent its branches from being
traversed by purple veins, or streaks each plant has from
;
broken. When served as a cooked vegetable, it should be
eighteen to twenty seed-vessels, some of them two feet nine treated after the manner of asparagus, which in taste it is
inches long, and varying in colour from green to purple, or said much to resemble. The flavour of early green peas
a mixture of the two. The plants grow well in the open which is attributed to it, will no doubt by epicures be
air indeed, they are said to do better even than under
; deemed no disqualification or loss of claim to their
glass, those grown at Edinburgh and by Mr. Bull, of I
favourable consideration. —
d.
; —
Nature and Art, June 1, 18C(i.]

THE MACKEREL. 9
THE MACKEREL.
(Fam. Scomberidce.)
T would be difficult to find a fish, more exquisite in form seven or eight inches long, and are much like the sinners,
I and colour, or more important in a commercial point of or young mackerel, found abundantly on our coasts during the
view, than our blue-and-silver friend who is popularly sup- summer months whilst in British waters, from fourteen to
;
posed to have arrived at the height of perfection as an sixteen inches in length, and two pounds in weight, is not
article of food in the month of June. By some very precise an unusual size. There are instances on record of mackerel
folk, in days gone by, his admission to polite society was measuring over twenty inches long', and heavy in propor-
considered out of the question until green gooseberries made tion but these are rare.
;
There is a fish known amongst
their appearance. fishermen as the Spanish mackerel ( Scomber colias). It is
The frequenters of Billingsgate have souls above such occasionally taken of considerable size but is easily dis-
;
antique prejudices. Let us then consider the fish from an tinguished from the true mackerel, and is in little repute as
entirely modern, prosaic, and practical point of view. an article of food, being dry and of indifferent flavour.
Mackerel, to be fully appreciated, should be eaten per- both curious and interesting to trace, from old
It is
fectly fresh. The sooner they are cooked after having, with records,how fluctuating and uncertain the visits of the
stiff protruding fins, quick shuddering flutter, and changing —
migratory shoals have been, and how like the rich claim
ultramarine tints, gasped their short lives away, the better. of —
the gold-digger the sea at times pours forth, most
The cause of the poisonous qualities which mackerel, as lavishly, the glittering treasures that have been long and
well as many other kinds of fish, especially those found in laboriously sought in vain. Thus we are told that, in the
tropical regions, at times possess (whether in a fresh or stale month of May, 1807, the crew of a fishing-boat from
condition), is a question opening up a field for investigation Brighton put out to sea, fell in with the fish, went to work
to those who have the will and leisure to enter upon it with a will, caught a boat-load, and sold them in Billings-
and such of the readers of Nature and Art as have already gate for forty guineas per hundred just seven shillings per
:
directed their attention to the matter would confer a favour fish, counting six score to the hundred.
by communicating the result of their researches. In the month of June, in the same year, the fish appear
There are many points connected with the movements of to have made heavy reprisals. For the shoals were so
the mackerel, its value, and mode of capture, which may great that a Brighton boat had all her nets, to the value
not prove uninteresting. Certain localities are visited by of £60, sunk and lost by the weight of fish entangled
the shoals only at particular periods of the year, whilst in the meshes. Again, we areinfoi’med that, on the 30th of
others are never deserted by them. Whether from the June, 1821, sixteen boats’ crews of Lowestoft realized
abundance of suitable food found at such times, or from between them, for their catch of mackerel, .£5,252 ; and the
some of the other causes which influence the migrations of fishermen on the Suffolk coast earned, in that year, not less
fish, it is hard to say ; but experience shows us that on than £14,000. It is also recorded that on a Sunday, in the
the coasts of Ireland mackerel are taken nearly all the month of March, 1833, four Hastings boats captured, and
year round. They are rarely very abundant on the coast of safely landed, 10,800 fish and on the next day, two boats
;
—
Cornwall although never entirely absent from it much — secured 7,000. Again, early in February, 1834, one boat’s
before March. A little later they visit the coast of Devon- crew from Hastings cleared £100 by one night’s fishing; and
shire, appearing to approach the land as the season advances. in six days, from the 19th to the 24th of June inclusive,
At Lowestoft and Yarmouth the fishing season is still later, 131,700 mackerel were sent to the London market. In
and is at its height during the months of May and June, 1808, on the Kentish coast, sixty fish were sold for a shilling.
whilst, in the Frith of Forth, June and July are the months Much importance appears in past times to have been
when they usually appear. In the Orkneys few fish are taken attached to the sale of mackerel in London, as we find that
until the last week in Jidy or the first in August. a law was passed, in the year 1698, legalizing their being
The mackerel family have an extended range, and are found vended by a “ cry” on a Sunday which custom, as we know,
:
most abundant in warmer climes than ours. The Sea of Mar- still continues.
mora and the Bosphorus at times literally swarm with them, There are several modes by which the capture of the
and it is extremely picturesque and exciting to see the light mackerel is effected. Seines, or long nets furnished with
and graceful “ caiques ” dancing like bubbles over the clear corks at the top, and leads at the bottom, are dexterously
blue sea, as, propelled by their lusty crews, they shoot here carried, fast boats, round the advancing shoal of fish,
by
and there amongst the circling nets. Meantime, the cunning which enclosed as within a “ pound.”
is The ends of the
old cormorants, undismayed by the bustle and splashing net are now secured, and the fish either taken from within
water, ply their occupation most diligently. As they grow the enclosure with a smaller net, or drawn to the surface in
audacious from long-continued impunity; they make a the “bunts,” or bags formed in the larger seines, when the
sudden raid over the corks into the thick of the struggling, leaping, struggling fish are dipped up literally by flasket-
fluttering fry. The fishermen shout, and by dint of admoni- fuls (by men stationed on the gunwale of the boat for the
tory pokes, liberally administered with the oar blades, the purpose) and thrown into a compartment provided for their
greedy, long-necked throng are ignominiously expelled, and reception. Great numbers are at times taken in ground
retire beyond the nets, gobbling down at leisure their ill- seines, or nets, which, although somewhat like those above
gotten plunder. Some idea of the abundance of fish to be described, are smaller, and so arranged as to be dragged to
found in this part of the world, and of the immunity from the beach with their contents. “ Trammel ” and “ drift ” nets
persecution enjoyed by these birds, may be formed by may be compared to curtains suspended in mid-water, and
watching the countless thousands of them which at times are moored securely in the places selected for them by
pass, in apparently endless lines, between the Sea of heavy stones fastened to their ends. In them the heedless
Marmora and the Black Sea. I have watched them for fish, not perceiving the treacherous web, dart their heads,
hours without seeing any apparent diminution in their become hopelessly entangled, and are ultimately strangled
passing hosts. Vast numbers of mackerel also frequent in the meshes.
the coasts of the island of St. Helena, where immense Hook-fishing, too, lends its aid in thinning the rainbow
quantities can bo captured. I have taken them with the throng. As a matter of sport and pastime, few pursuits,
hook and line, until literally tired of hauling up and unhook- I think, are more thoroughly enjoyable than “whiffing”
ing ;
baiting with a little strip of salt pork-rind, and for mackerel, and the following quotation will show that
throwing biscuit-dust overboard as an attraction. These others are much of the same way of thinking :
fish, although of excellent flavour, are rarely more than “ It was evident the bay was full of mackerel in every ;
/
10 THE PARIS SOCIETE D’ACCLIMATATION. [Nature and Art, June 1, 18G6.
direction, as far as the eye could range, gulls and puffins much of it as the hooker can stand up to, will estimate
were collected, and, to judge from their activity and clamour, the exquisite enjoyment our morning’s mackerel fishing
there appeared ample enjoyment for them amongst the fry afforded.” *
beneath. We immediately bore away from the place where Excellent sport is to be at times obtained by rowing
the birds were most numerously congregated, and the lines or sculling the boat into the thick of a shoal, and fishing
were scarcely overboard when we found ourselves in the with the white artificial fly.
centre of a shoal of mackerel. The hooker, however, had The mackerel fishing on our coasts, as practised in the
too much way. We lowered the foresail, double-reefed various ways here set forth, gives employment to a great
the mainsail, and then went steadily to work. Directed by number of the fishing community, properly so called, and
the movements of the birds, we followed the mackerel. others indirectly concerned in the sorting, curing, packing,
Tacking and wearing the boat occasionally, when we found transport, and sale of the fish. Immediately on their being
we had overrun the shoal, for two hours we killed these landed from the boats, large tubs of clear sea-water are
beautiful fish as fast as the baits could be renewed and the prepared, into which they are thrown. When washed, they
lines hauled in, and when we left off fishing, actually are wiped, allowed to drain, placed in small hampers or
wearied with sport, we found we had taken above 500 lbs. “ pads,” covered with paper, sewn down, directed, and
There is not, on sea or river, always excepting angling for despatched to where the “ iron horse ” waits the signal
salmon, any sport comparable to this delightful amusement. which shall send him screaming, rattling, and snorting
Full of life and bustle, everything about it is animated and through the wild dark night and misty morning, bearing
exhilarating. A brisk breeze, a fair sky, the boat in quick his giant load of food to the hungry throngs of vast in-
and constant motion, all is calculated to interest and excite. satiable London.
He who has experienced the glorious sensations of sailing
on the Western Ocean, a bright autumnal sky above, a
deep green lucid swell around, a steady bfeeze, and as * “ Wild Sports of the West of Ireland.”
THE PARIS SOCIETE D’ACCLIMATATION.

HIS energetic society has recently held its tenth annual vine was introduced there long before by the Phocians.
T meeting-. M. Drouyn de Lhuys, its president, deli- Strabo says that the vineyards of Gaul were very productive,
vered the opening address, in which he gave an interesting though not extensive. At the time of the invasion of Caesar
account of the progress of the cultivation of the vine from the culture of the vine in France, or rather Gaul, was con-
the earliest historical period to the present time. The fined to the Cevennes under Childebert it had extended to
;
president referred to the painted records of the Egyptians, the Loire and Charlemagne caused it to be spread over the
;
in which we still see the arched trellises loaded with grapes, hills of the Pays de Vaud. M. Drouyn de Lhuys dwelt with
the wine-makers treading out the fruit, and the ranges of natural pride on the wines of France, and also upon the zeal
goodly amphorae in the cellars ; he touched on the mention with which new kinds of vines had been introduced from
of wine in Holy Writ, on the famous vineyards of Israel, of other countries for instance, the famous grapes of Tokai
;
Carmel, of Hermon, of Lebanon, of Sorek, and of Eshcol had been acclimatized near Montpelier and, since 1862,
;
in the environs of Hebron. The wine of Sorek, he said, experiments have been made with vines from Portugal in
was still highly esteemed, and the vineyards of Eshcol still the environs of Rheims.
yield fruit which recalls to mind the marvellous grapes of —
The Hungarians who produce more wine than any other
the Promised Land which the messengers of Joshua carried people, with the exception of the French and Italians owe —
with so much labour and he illustrated this by reference
;
their first vineyards to Rome, the legions of Probus having
to a bunch of grapes grown in England on a vine from Syria. planted the TJva Ca/rthagenia, or currant, called by the
This bunch measured two feet in length by more than four Hungarians liadniA-ka, on the banks of the Lower Danube ;
feet in circumference, and weighed nineteen pounds. This the grapes which yield the famous white Tokai were intro-
phenomenal bunch of grapes was presented by the Duke of duced into Hungary from Italy by the French prince, Louis
Portland to the Marquis of Rockingham. Homer spoke of d’ Anjou, in the fourteenth century. It was to the French
the Thracian wine, wljicli was so strong that it would bear also, said M. Drouyn de Lhuys, that Russia owed the few
twenty times its own volume of water Pliny bore witness
; vineyards existing in the southern portion of her immense
to its excellence and its strength ;
and travellers still are territories ;
the Crimea was thus enabled to produce the
eloquent upon the subject of the grapes of Thrace. In the wines of Soudak and Koz, and the Cossacks to fabricate
middle ages, the vineyards of Lesbos, Chios, and Cyprus those white wines which are converted into a sparkling wine
were held in the highest estimation, and the Crusaders resembling Champagne. The extreme coldness of the winter
brought cuttings of the vines of those and other famous in Russia makes it necessary to have recourse to the plan
spots when they returned into France and Germany. mentioned by Strabo as being practised on the slopes of the
The Romans were slow to learn the art of cultivating the Palus-Meotide the vine-plants are buried, during the whole
;
vine, and Pliny recounts a witty saying of Cineas, the period commencing with October and ending with March,
ambassador of Pyrrhus, who finding the wine offered to him four or five feet beneath the ground. The speaker mentioned
at Rome extremely acid, and making allusion to the. bad the curious fact that China had the finest grapes in the
habit of training the vines on high trees, said — “ It was world, and gave great attention to the cultivation of the
just to hang the mother of such wine on such an elevated fruit for eating, while the making of wine has long been in-
cross.” Pliny says that the wines of the Italian peninsula terdicted in order to put a stop to drunkenness. One deli-
had no reputation till the sixth century after the founda- cious kind of grape, grown near Tien-tsin, has oval berries
tion of Rome. Wine was so scarce in Greece in the time two inches in length, and French connoisseurs say that they
when Lucullns was a child, that it was only served once at are unequalled. He alluded also to the growing importance
the end of the most sumptuous banquets ; and when the of the vineyards of Australia, and added that a Frenchman
celebrated proconsul returned home from Asia, he distri- was managing some vineyards on the banks of a tributary
buted a hundred thousand measures of his favourite beve- of the Murray, which promised, it was said, to rival some
rage, in order that all the citizens should partake his enjoy- day the products of the mother country and, further, that
;
ment. The conquest of Greece had, amongst other effects, the Societe d’Acclimatation had supplied that of Melbourne
that of introducing the vines of Chios and of Thasos into with a fine collection of cuttings, presented for the purpose
Italy. Pliny enumerates eighty kinds of wine, of which by the Grand Referendaire of the Senate. M. Drouyn de
two-thirds were Italian he merely mentions those of Spain,
; Lhuys finished with the following excellent passage :
—
“Allow
and exhibits little esteem for those of Gaul, although the me only to draw two conclusions from what I have said. For
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.] THE BREED OF HORSES IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 11
centuries the world has practised acclimatization without France, but there seems no reason why they should not suc-
knowing it and France, guided simply by the instincts of
;
ceed in the warm parts, such as Languedoc and Provence ;
her civilizing genius, entered on the road before Science had as regards this, it is said, and apparently with reason, that
set up the landmarks and indicated the limits. Now that the bird might become as completely domesticated as ordi-
she is supplied by you with a methodic itinerary, her course nary poultry, and that there is no reason why it should not
will be at once more sure and more rapid.” be bred largely, not only for the sake of its feathers, but
In addition to the ordinary medals and rewards granted also for its eggs and flesh. The Paris Society has just
by the society, annually, in the various sections of zoology received an ostrich fifteen months old, born at Grenoble, and
and horticulture, amounting to more than fifty, and the list four others born in the Jardin d’Acclimatation of Algiers.
of which included as recipients several foreigners Austrian, — The society received, during the past year, twenty-five
Russian, Caucasian, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, parcels of seeds, of 118 different kinds, from America, the
Egyptian, and Tunisian, colonists of Mauritius, Bourbon, Cape of Good Hope, India, China, Australia, the Canary
and Sumatra, an Australian named Youl, and an Anglo- Islands, Abyssinia, Senegal, and Algeria, and distributed
Indian, Mr. R. C. Beavan —
some important extraordinary them amongst more than a hundred societies and private
prizes were awarded this year. The sum of 800 francs was individuals who applied for them. The garden of the society
awarded to M. Jacquemart, of Quessy, in the Aisne, for the in the Bois de Boulogne is now putting on its most attractive
breeding and applying to labour the offspring of the yak and appearance, and is becoming one of the most favourite
the French mountain-cow, capable of carrying loads up steep resorts in the neighbourhood of Paris for all who love
inclines. A prize of 1,500 francs was given to M. Enriat natural history, and can be interested without music, singing,
Perrin, of Roville, in the Meurthe, for breeding twelve or or dancing.
more Angora goats, pure blood, with fleece equal to a stan- It will not be out of place here to mention a great im-
dard type. A
first prize of 1,200 francs to M. Frederic provement which has been introduced of late in the Jardin
Lequin, of the farm school of Lahayevaux, in the Yosges, for des Plantes with respect to the larger savage animals. A
twelve three-quarter-bred Angoras under like conditions; and very fine maneless lion may now be seen in comparative
a second prize of 800 francs to M. Fabre, director of another liberty, pacing or bounding about within his own railed
farm school, that of Vaucluse, at Saint Privat. Medals, of garden, as large as a moderate-sized room, and exhibiting
the respective values of 300 and 200 francs, were awarded his beautiful proportions and wondrous agility in a manner
for memoirs treating of the breeding of Japanese silkworms scarcely ever before seen in Europe ;
the creature has a
in France during the past year. house within which he can shelter himself when he pleases,
Amongst the latest acquisitions of the society are a beau- with a small terrace in front of it, which serves admirably
tiful female onagre, or wild ass of the Soudan, with a young as a pedestal for his form, whenever his restless nature
foal a young- guepard or hunting leopard, perfectly tame,
;
permits the creature to stand still there for a moment. We
and fondling its keepers like a cat and three larvrn of the
: saw a team of horses pass in front of the lion’s garden, and
leaf -insect or leaf-fly, which resembles in such an extraor- the intense excitement expressed in the face and the atti-
dinary manner the leaf upon which it lives and feeds. These tudes and movements of the king of the forest, would have
curious grasshoppers, for they belong to that family, are furnished an animal-painter with an admirable study. A
from the Seychelles Islands. lioness and a wild boar occupy another detached cottage and
The acclimatization of the ostrich has been and still is small garden, much smaller than that of the lion, and keep
one of the pet ideas of the society, and considerable success a little dog, who seems on the best of terms with both his
seems to have attended its endeavours ; young birds have hosts, and inclined to bully them rather than otherwise.
been born in the domestic state at Grenoble, in the Zoological The old Jardin had fallen into a somewhat neglected con-
Gardens of Marseilles, and in Algeria. It is not supposed dition, and it is pleasant to see such a proof of vitality and
that the ostrich will ever flourish in the colder parts of desire of improvement in the management.
THE BREED OF HORSES IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

HE triumphs of Fille de VAir and Gladiatem are not according to M. Houel, the excellence of the method which
T some time on either side of
likely to be forgotten for has been followed by the administration of the Imperial
Haras, and also by private breeders, in the choice of breed-
the Channel the facts are beyond question, but the best
:
judges are probably anything but unanimous as to the ing horses. He says that with us racing has become a
causes. M. Houel, honorary Inspector-General of the mere game, and a speculation in which the improvement of
Imperial Haras, has just published a brochure, in which he the horse is much less considered than the ojaportunity of
not only records the fact of England’s defeat, but tells the betting, and that animals have been chosen with far more
world what, in his opinion, were the reasons why we were regard to fleetness than to conformation. Speed, he says,
beaten, and ought to have been beaten. when cultivated alone, may lead to strange abuses, and in
In the first place, M. Houel says that there is only one the end produce an animal that can scarcely put one leg
province in France fit to breed what he designates the before the other. It is impossible to hide the fact, says M.
“ pure Western race of horses,” and that province is Nor- Houel, that in consequence of the exaggerated importance
mandy, which is only, he avers, a part of England cut off attached to speed, the breeding types have of late years
by a convulsion of nature. The first horses of the past year, become notably inferior in England ; the wise precept
Gladiatetvr, Gontrcm, and Mamda/rin, were not only born established by the English themselves, that three things
in Normandy, but nearly all their sires and dams were are necessary, “ Blood, speed, and beauty of form,” has
Norman Fille de VAir is descended from three mares born
;
been too much neglected. If, he argues, either of these
in Normandy Palestro, as well as his father and mother,
;
must be sacrificed, it should certainly be the second.
were Norman and the two most famous French horses,
;
France, we are told, has followed a totally opposite
Fitz-Gladiator and Monarque, are both Norman. As breed- course to that of England in the purchase of breeding
ing-places, M. Houel places England and Normandy on a stock ;
the administration has always given the prefer-
par, and there is the same equality, he says, in the matter of ence to those exhibiting the most beautiful conformation,
education and training the methods being alike, and the
: and, above all, perfectly free from blemish. The Fmperor,
greater part of the trainers and jockeys being English. sire of Monoyrqne, and gramdsire on the male side of
The principal cause of the rapid progress of the French Gladiateur, was, according to M. Houel, the most perfect
racers, and of the success which they have achieved is, horse with respect to conformation that it was possible to
;:
12 SCENE ON THE LOGIEE RIVER, ZAMBESI. [Nature and Art, June 1, 18GG.
see but, as he had achieved little success on the course,

;
excellent families of horses are allowed to die out, simply
having scarcely won anything but the Czarowitz stakes, he because they have not furnished a great winner during a
was sold for a moderate price. As to Gladiator, maternal generation. The development of a lymphatic temperament,
grandsire of Gladiateivr, this horse presented a type of such and the early failing of members are declared to be the
marvellous beauty that it is impossible to conceive how inevitable results of such a system.
England could part with him and certainly, adds M.
;
It is said that France is now behind England in nothing
Houel, if the English had possessed a public administra- connected with race-horses but the want of good training-
tion or a disinterested society, seeking only the improve- grounds, which will be found or formed in sufficient numbers
ment of the race of horses, that magnificent animal would before long.
never have crossed the Channel. Gladiator was irre- The opinions quoted above are deserving of the earnest
proachable as to form, and exhibited an amount of elegance consideration of the English breeder many of them are
;
and distinction that recalled the Arab breed in all its ideal without doubt perfectly true in principle, although the facts
perfection. He was bought by the administration of the connected with them may here and there be exaggerated.
Erench Haras and sent to Pin, and gave rise to those It is better, however, always to overrate than to under-
splendid reproducers, Fitz-Gladiator, Ventre Saint Gris, rate a rival, and in matters such as this of which we are
Surprise, Capucine, who will for ever keep alive his renown treating, it is well, if we are beaten, that we should know
in the annals of the French turf. it. .Allowing, therefore, that the points laid down are all
Another Frenchman, M. de Saint Germain, expressed perfect, and that the English system, or rather practice, is
in the Corps Legislatif last session, similar opinions respect-
,
as bad as possible, it woidd be unfair to dismiss the matter
ing’ French and English breeding, and condemned moreover, without calling to mind the fact that the deterioration of
the abuse of two-year-old races, declaring that such trials the English racer is not proved by the superiority of two,
at an age when the osseous frame of the horse is not' com- three, or a dozen horses bred in another country, and
pletely formed, have gradually undermined the good consti- descended from British sires. But if racing and horse-
tution of the English racer. breeding be worth doing at all, they are worth doing well
The idleness in which English racers generally live after and if English breeders cannot keep or retake the lead, they
the age of three years or so, is also greatly condemned. had better give up the race the second place is unworthy
:
When a first-class horse has undergone his proofs the of those who have so long been first.
animal is not completely developed his organization is not
: A very remarkable exhibition of half-bred horses took
perfected. It is not enough that he should have made place in the Champs Elysees in April under the direction of
exertions as a colt exercise must be continued, in modera-
;
the Sociiti hippique franqaise, the object of which is the
tion of course, but to a sufficient extent to keep up the encouragement of the breed of hunters, military, carriage,
habit of action in the principal members. The Arabs well —
and saddle horses,- in short, half-bred horses of all kinds.
know the necessity for this, and when Abd-el-Kader sent a There were from 300 to 400 horses exhibited, including a
choice stud-horse to Louis Napoleon, he recommended that large number from the Imperial stables. A
great number of
it should run once a week. The administration of the Haras prizes were awarded, and the exhibition finished with a
has always adopted and carefully practised the system of carrousel by the officers of the cavalry school of Saumur.
continuous and systematic exercise of a practical kind. This exhibition was duly reported in the English papers,
Another cause of the supposed falling off of the English and we only refer to it for the purpose of informing our own
stock, is in-and-in breeding.' Every year, says another countrymen of the steps taken in France for the encourage-
French writer, there is a desire for the progeny of a ment of the breeders, as well as the improvement of the
favourite horse, and the consequence is that in a few years breed, of the valuable class of animals which the society in
all the young racers descend from the same sire, and many question has taken under its especial patronage.
SCENE ON THE LOGIEE RIVER, ZAMBESI.

The Full-striped Quagga (Equus Chapmanni).
By Thomas Baines, F.R.G.S.
N
the year 1860, having returned to Cape Town from the miles farther down, which I named after my friend Logier,
I Zambesi expedition, worn out with fever and literally and began cutting and sawing trees into plank to rebuild
almost destitute, I determined not to desist from the the missing portions while upon my friend devolved the
;
attempt to penetrate into the interior of Africa, and the arduous task of hunting to supply the whole of the party
generous hospitality of my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Logier, with meat. Unfortunately, the carriers were able to lighten
enabled me to devote to the purpose of my re-equipment all their cargo and gratify their appetites by one and the same
the proceeds of my art during my residence in the colony. process, and not a tithe of the liberal supply ever reached
I was fortunate, too, in meeting with an esteemed friend, me. I. had, therefore, to leave my work and g-o hunting’
Mr. James Chapman, who, since I had known him, ten years fever and starvation came on one of my party died, and
;
before, on the Yaal River, had been almost continually en- seven of Mr. Chapman’s. He was himself so ill that, as he
gaged in travel, and was then fitting out another expedition was unable to join me, I was obliged finally to abandon my
for the purpose of exploration combined with hunting and work when I had every prospect of being able to complete
commerce. He had himself crossed the continent of Africa itand to return to him.
from the east, reaching Walvisch Bay on the west coast, in It was during' my residence hero that the incident occurred
1855, being the first European, so far as we know, who per- which forms the subject of the illustration. On Sunday, the
formed that feat and only by the desertion of his native
;
Vth of December, I had shot a spur-winged goose, out of a
crew he missed being the discoverer of the magnificent flock that came to feed upon the young grass which the
Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, two years before they were rains had caused to spring up and I had wounded, but
;
seen by Dr. Livingstone. could not capture, a Guinea fowl. As our meat was entirely
He invited me to join we agreed to attempt the passage expended I omitted the morning service, and went out with
— —
;
from Walvisch Bay to the Delta of the Zambesi on the east two Damaras Matokolo and Kajumba over the red and
coast ; and, for the navigation of the river below the Falls, rugged hills to the southward, between the Logier River and
I constructed a copper double boat in twelve sections, only the Luisi. The dense forest along the Zambesi bank com-
four of which we were able to carry up. After visiting the prisedmany varieties of noble timber trees, which, small as
Falls, in July, 1862, 1 selected a small hill, nearly a hundred they seemed from a distance, I always found unmanageably
QUAGGA
STRIPED
FULL
THE
ft.
;
'
?*
; ;
Nature and Art, Juno 1, 1866.] SCENE ON THE LOGIER RIVER, ZAMBESI. 13
large when I inspected them more closely for the purposes with the eye. I took up the tracks of the quaggas, and
of boat-building. followed them for many a weary round, till the men proposed
Two species of mochicheerie, with wood like red cedar, to give it up and come again to-morrow. But as the camp
pleasant to work but somewhat brittle, grew plentifully on was destitute of meat, to return without it to the hungry
the lower flats. The dense foliage of one is borne aloft upon people was not to bo thought of. At length Matokolo fell
the spreading limbs that of the other is carried in tufts
;
flat backward in the bush — his keen eye had caught sight
like those of the chestnut on branches that droop and then of the game ; but it was too late, and the quaggas dashed
gracefully curve upward again, bearing a small fig-shaped off to the opposite side of the valley. We left the spoor,
fruit, with red seeds of an intense bitterness. The stems and, climbing behind the hills, crept slowly and silently, not
are seldom less than eighteen inches, but more frequently daring even to break a twig-, to the brow, where, far beneath
three or four feet, in diameter, and from twenty to fifty feet me, I saw the head and shoulder of one. The short, sharp
or more before they part into branches. A small sapling, cry of alarm was uttered at the same instant,; the herd
growing straight up toward the light through agroup of larger started as I pulled trigger, and dashed away down the valley
ones, yielded me planks more than thirty feet long, nine inches to the westward.
thick at one end and five at the other. Unfortunately, I had Blood-spots on the stones and leaves encouraged us to
to cut it in November, when the sap was up, and, in con- follow. We caught a glimpse of one alone, and, after a
sequence, it was so heavy that I could not relieve my men chase of four miles, Matokolo was seen returning- trium-
of the labour of carrying it by floating it down to my sawing- phantly. He had outrun me ; and failing to kill the
trestles. Another tree, equally large, but with white and crippled quagga with his musket, had headed her, and
brittle wood and drooping clusters of yellow seed-pods, was knocked her down with a stone. My shot, aimed at the
also plentiful and the crashing of one of these, as it fell,
;
shoulder, had broken the hip-joint, as she started forward
once brought the natives, who were unused to the silent and Matokolo’ s had barely grazed the skin of her back.
operation of the cross-cut saw, to inform me that elephants “ Haah aim (be quick), Mynheer, with your sketch-book,”
must be in the forest breaking the trees close by me. said old Kajumba; “ and let us begin to eat.”
Beside these, were the large kameel thorn (Acacia giraffa) The chase had brought us to Logier River, only three
—
the motjeerie, or omborom bongo the traditionary mother miles from the hill ;
and word being sent there, the halt,
tree of the Damaras —
with wood like the lignum vitas we the sick, and all the women who seemed at the point of
used to cut for the furnace of the “ Ma Robert ” on the lower death, came tripping along like fairies to the promised
Zambesi and the motjihaara, or oomahaama, a tree that
;
feast, leaving not a creature to guard the house.
differs from the stinkwood of the colony or the matundo of No sooner was permission given to cut, than Kajumba’s
thp lower Zambesi, in having dry and flattened seed-pods knife flew, as if by its own volition, to make the incision
of a brownish tint instead of drooping clusters of bright round the tail ; but I stopped him in time, and, returning
yellow flowers. On the banks of the rivulets grew the to the hut, dined off as much of my goose as had not been
—
picturesque mosaawe the pao-pisa of the Portuguese feloniously abstracted from the pot, and attempted, but in
( Kigelia qnnnata) —
a large, soft-wooded tree, nearly im- vain, to dry and preserve the quagga skin, by stretching it
possible to work when cut with the sap in it. It is remark- above the fire in our cooking-hut.
able chiefly for the dark crimson flowers pendent on stems The animal was a mare of the full-striped quagga, which
four feet or more long from its spreading branches. It has Chapman had first shot on May 20, 1862, upon the plains
a fruit, hard, inedible, and fibrous as a great wooden some distance to the south and which, when he mentioned
;
cucumber. to me that it had stripes upon its legs, I at once guessed

Higher on the hills grew the gigantic baobab, or mowana, must be a new variety. The common quagga of Kaffirland
called here m’boyou, or the house and farther down the
;
(E. quagga) has no stripes upon its rump or legs, while the
river, the molambeira, with its white blossoms pendent among bonte quagga (E. Burchelli) has the legs white from the
the rich green leaves, to be followed by the fruit, from whose houghs and knees. The zebra, as we call it in the colony,
refreshing (though white and dry) antiscorbutic pulp it ob- or E. montanus, has longer ears, and more asinine head,
tains among the colonists the name of “ cream-of-tartar hoofs, and tail, and is found only on mountains and broken
tree.” Many of the stems were stripped from knee to breast ground, whereas immense herds of the newly found variety
height, for the purpose of making cordage of the fibre, live upon the plains, where there are no mountains within
leaving, when the process is repeated by successive genera- many days’ journey.
tions, a series of rings, which may be noticed on the trunk Since then, we shot, and I sketched, while my friend
shown in the illustration. photographed, as many specimens as we could but I only
;
In similar or even more precipitous localities is found the succeeded in saving one skin, which though it reached the
kookom-boyou, or Sterculia (f), a tree as tall, with a pithy Cape in good condition, was so destroyed by insects before
stem, and wood nearly as unfit for any useful purpose, as it reached the British Museum, that Dr. Gray could not
that of the baobab. It has straight and upright smaller form a judgment on it, and was obliged to send it to be
branches, which may be used as poles where lightness rather buried.
than strength is required while the inner bark, peeled off
;
The colour of the animal is generally white, more or
in strips, forms, while still fresh, good packing or binding less deeply tinted on the back, the rump, and shoulders,
thongs, but, when once dry, becomes too brittle to be used a with Sienna brown, which is also prevalent about the muzzle,
second time. blending into the black of the lips. The brown of my
The maruru papierie, or soft white-wooded tree, bearing present specimen was very faint, and in a young stallion
the poison grub of the Bushmen, grows also among the red previously shot by Chapman the ground was pure white.
volcanic rocks, with which the white stems and green The stripes are of the deepest possible brown, or even of
chandelier-like leaves of the Euphorbias, filled with milky jet black, continued down to every hoof. They are some-
but intensely acrid sap, formed a striking contrast. times so strongly marked that the black spreads almost
The white or pale blue lotos, with its golden centre and over the fetlock and pastern, and in others so faintly
broad green leaves, floats on the surface of the pools, from as to be hardly perceptible in all cases the inside of the
;
the depths of which the natives hook up its edible roots. forearm and thigh is more faintly marked.
Dwarf palms, with feathery or fan-shaped leaves, appear A black line runs from between the fore legs along
in favourable localities along the rivulets, and occasionally the belly to between the hind legs, where it spreads, and
the tall stem of a palmyra is seen in the distance, but they becomes less dark ; and in the female, the teats, two in
are by no means so common as in the better- watered country number, are placed in the after-part of it. There is also a
above the Falls. I saw a few pallahs ; but as no precaution black stripe upon the back, extending from the mane down
can prevent the all-pervading moisture from insinuating- the root of the tail to the brush, which is black and equine,
itself between the cap and nipple, my gun missed fire. though hardly so full as that of the horse. In fact, the
The spoor showed that koodoos and quag-gas had passed inside hairs of the mane are black also ; but, on the out-
recently ; but, as my people remarked, though the game is side, the vertical stripes of black and white upon the neck
not scarce, in that thick bush men cannot distinguish it and withers are continued up it. The mane comes well
14 THE AILANTHUS SILKWORM. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
—
down upon the forehead, and the ears which are sis medial one on the belly, and in wanting the gridiron
inches and a half long, cross-banded with black and tipped pattern (as Baines calls it) on the rump also, from the
;
with dark brown— are not seen above it, but are, in fact, other zebras, in having the callosities on the legs far larger
-
rather lower. The stripes upon the sides are all more or and more round in having shorter and more equine ears,
;
less perfectly connected with the vertical line. Sometimes six inches and a half high, instead of eleven and a half ;
two or three of them, sometimes more, join the dorsal line and in having a shorter and more equine head and tail.
-
upon the shoulder, but never far behind it the others either
;
The mane grows several inches down on the forehead, and
terminate before reaching it, or are curved backward over stands up between the ears so that when seen in front it
;
the flanks and rump till they merge into the horizontal is far higher than they are. Chapman and Baines give
stripes upon the thigh. Those on the shoulders open more measurements of several individuals. All who are com-
or less, so as to form a beautiful series of triangles, in petent to judge, from knowing the other species, will at
conjunction with the horizontal stripes of the fore leg. once detect the difference. I am well convinced of them
No two specimens are exactly alike, and the stripes even on myself, and I wish to call the animal Equus Chapmanni,
the two sides of the same differ a little, so as to give a after its discoverer, Mr. James Chapman, who has done so
pleasing variety, without injuring the symmetry. Sometimes much for African discovery, and has yet reaped no reward.”
there are intermediate stripes of light brown* between the For my own part, I trust that the name proposed by Mr.
black ones, on the hind legs, above the hough. It has Layard may be adopted by naturalists at home, and that
warts or callosities on the fore legs only. Mr. E. L. when —
the journal of my friend the result of nearly sixteen
Layard, the eminent naturalist and curator of the museum
— years’ research in Southern Africa —
is published, he will at
in Gape Town, says: “This new animal differs from least reap the reward of being as well known to the public
E. montanus in the union of all the stripes with the of this country as he deserves to be.
THE AILANTHUS SILKWORM, AND ITS CULTURE IN ENGLAND.

( Bombyx Cynthia.)
By W. B, Tegetmeiek.
HE failure of the silk-crop in Europe, in consequence of banks of the railway near his residence with many hundred
T the destruction of the silkworms by the peculiar dis- ailanthus trees, and reared many thousand worms during
ease known as “La Gattine,” has directed the attention of the past two or three seasons. The ailanthus shrub or tree
several of the Continental governments to the introduction has been long known in England, where it has generally
of new silkworms capable of supplying the place of the been termed the false varnish-tree of Japan. It is a hardy
ordinary mulberry-feeding insect, the caterpillar of the ornamental tree, growing freely even on the poorest soils,
Bombyx Mori. flourishing in the midst of the smoke in many London
-
It is hardly necessary to inform the gentler portion of our squares, and producing its large compound leaves freely
readers that the price of silk, in consequence of the ravages even on the barren Landes of France and the sterile dunes
of the disease, has of late years become nearly doubled nor: of Holland.
is the increased price to be wondered at, when we are in- The ailanthus worm appears equally hardy covered with
;
formed that, in some of the countries in the South of Europe, a powder which repels the wet, it is indifferent to rain and
the produce, in spite of an extension of the mulberry and wind, provided that the violence of the gale is not sufficiently
silkworm culture, is less than one-tenth of its former great to bruise it by the swaying of the branches.
amount. The total weight of the cocoons produced in The climate of England appears to suit it even better
Tuscany, during the year 1865 was only 42,000 kilogrammes than that of France, if we may judge by the results that
—the pi’oduce in previous years having frequently amounted have been obtained, the moths reared in this country being
to 480,000 kilogrammes, each kilogramme being equal to finer in colour and larger in size than the first imported
2 lbs. 2 oz. English weight. specimens.
As there is no known remedy for this formidable disease, Unlike the mulberry silkworm, that passes through our
the French government, recognising the vast importance of winter in the egg and hatches with the return of the warm
the subject, directed M. Guerin-Meneville to investigate the weather, the Bombyx Cynthia passes the winter in the
natural history of the silk-bearing insects, in order to ascer- cocoon, whence it emerges in the summer, lays its eggs,
tain if any of them were capable of being substituted for and dies. These eggs hatch in from ten to eighteen days
the mulberry worm. Two species have already been success- after they are laid, and if the caterpillars are produced early
fully introduced into the South of Europe, being sufficiently in the year, there is time to rear two generations of moths
hardy to bear exposure to the open air and to feed on the during one season.
plants growing in the ground. These are the Bombyx It is, however, probable that in practice it will be found
Ricinus, or castor-oil silkworm, and the Bombyx Cynthia, most desirable to rear only one brood, as the second pro-
or ailanthus silkworm. Others will probably be found duces cocoons which are much smaller in size, and conse-
sufficiently hardy to withstand our climate, but at present quently less valuable than those from the first brood. The
we have to do only with the ailanthus worm. Europe issuing-forth of the moths from the cocoons is most graphi-
is indebted for the introduction of this valuable insect cally described by Dr. Wallace in his “ Essay on Ailanthi-
to the labours of the Abbe Fantoni, a Piedmontese mis- culture.” It received the prize offered by the Entomo-
sionary, who forwarded it from the province of Shang- logical Society of London, and we regret we are not able
Tung, in the north of China, a district that is said to resem- to extract the passage at length. He states, in conclusion,
ble in its climate the northern parts of Germany. The that the whole process of birth does not occupy a minute.
cocoons forwarded by Fantoni in the autumn of 1856 were After the moths have emerged, Dr. Wallace finds it most
hatched out at Turin in May, 1857, when the first living advantageous to keep them in large cylinders formed of per-
specimens of this beautiful insect were seen in Europe. In forated zinc, against the sides of which the eggs are depo-
1858, specimens were received at Paris ; and Mr. F. Moore, sited ; these are readily removed by slight friction with the
of the East Indian Museum, exhibited specimens hatched in finger, and if kept moist will hatch in from ten to eighteen
1859 before the members of the Entomological Society of days, varying with the temperature in which they are kept.
London. Lady Dorothy Nevill was, however, the first to The eggs are larger than those of the ordinary silkworm
rear the insects in any numbers ; and, more recently, Dr. moth, and sufficiently firm to bear transit by post without
Alexander Wallace, of Colchester, has devoted great atten- injury, especially if secured in a quill. Each moth lays a
tion to their culture in the open air, having planted the number of eggs varying from one to three hundred.
E

THE AILANTHUS SILKWORM. 15
The larv® or caterpillars, -when just hatched, are dusky operation lasts for a considerable time, and the worm can be
black ;
they moult several times. The first moult takes place heard moving in its narrow cell for many days. There is
from seven to ten days after they are hatched they then
;
one very important difference between the cocoons of the
appear of a light yellow. This colour they retain for five ailanthus and those of the mulberry worms, which threat-
or six days, when their second moult takes place, and then ened to offer almost insuperable difficulties to the rrtilization
their skin secretes a peculiar yellow powder looking' some- of the produce of the former. The layers of silk, as they
what like the down on a plum. This repels water, and it is are spun, are agglutinated by an exceedingly tenacious gum,
to it that they are apparently indebted for their power of which connects the threads so firmly together, that the
resisting- rain. The third moult takes place in about six cocoons cannot be reeled off in the usual manner.
days after the second, when the larvse become of a greyish Hitherto they have been separated by carding. From
blue, and are so very much covered with white powder as to experiments which have been recently made with the object
look as if dusted over with pounded sugar. of dissolving the gum, there appears but little doubt that
It requires hut another interval of six days to bring on eventually the silk will be reeled off the cocoons in one con-
the final moult, after which the worms eat enormously. tinuous fibre. In fact, this is now done by the Chinese.
Dr. Wallace states that they grow so rapidly as to increase It must not be imagined that ailanthi-culture is still
in weight as much as six-fold in nine days. Their appetite entirely a mere experiment. The worm is largely cultivated
is so voracious that it is quite common at this period of in the north of China. Ailanthus silk fabrics are sold
their growth to see a tree covered with foliage one day and as regular articles of commerce in France and, though
;
quite bare the next while the hungry larvae are gnawing
;
not possessing the distinguishing gloss of the ordinary
down the tender ends of the leaf-stalks, or are wandering off silk, are remarkable for their beautiful appearance,
to other trees in quest of food. It is, he says, often a start- and, above all, for their almost everlasting duration. It
ling surprise to see bare leaf-stalks, where luxuriant foliage is said that in China a dress of this material descends as
existed twenty-four hours previously. During this final an heirloom for generations. Nor is the possibility of
period of their caterpillar or larval state, the worms assume the successful culture of the worm in England a mere
their most beautiful aspect. When full grown they are uncertainty. Dr. Wallace has planted many thousand
magnificent in size, and the greater part of the body is of ailanthus trees along the Essex railway banks and these,
;
a most delicate green colour, covered with tubercles tipped last season, were all utilized. In fact, the introduction of
with an exquisite marine blue tint, while the head and tail this useful insect offers good prospect of establishing a
are tinged with a brilliant golden yellow. The food taken new and profitable national industry, one which can be
during the last stage supplies the nourishment from which pursued advantageously in the most barren and sterile
,
the silk is produced. In the interior of the body of the worm places and which offers a lucrative employment to those
;
are two very long convoluted tubes. These, shortly before persons who are by age or sex incapacitated for severer
the cocoon is spun, become filled with the liquid which is exertions.
drawn out in the silken fibres of which the cocoon is con- For the efforts of Lady Dorothy Nevill, Lady Mary
stituted. Thompson, and Dr. Wallace, we can desire no better reward
Although known as the ailanthus worm, from feeding on than that such a result should crown their exertions.
the shrub of that name, there are many other plants on [As many of our readers may
be desirous of propagating
which the Bombyx Cynthia will thrive the ailanthus, how-
;
this handsome and interesting some remarks on the
insect,
ever, appears to be its proper and favourite food. cultivation of the shrub producing the leaves on which it
The common laburnum is eaten greedily, and the castor- feeds may not prove unacceptable; and as the subject has
oil plant is also taken readily. The changes which are been so ably treated by M. Guerin-Meneviile in his treatise
effected in the insect by an alteration of diet remain to be on the “ Ailanthus,” we cannot do better than give an
seen. Many entomologists imagine that the castor-oil extract from Lady Dorothy Nevill’s translation of that
worm (Bombyx Ricinus) and the ailanthus worm are varieties work. —
d.]
of the same animal —
the differences between them being “ The seeds may be sown from the month of February
caused by alteration of food. If so, it is a remarkable till May, broadcast or in rows, and ought to be covered
instance of an extreme variation, not only of form but of with about half an inch of earth, and they will appear
habit, resulting from external circumstances for the castor-
;
from three weeks to a month after they are sown. With
oil worm rears several broods in the year, the ailanthus only the exception of a few cereal grains, there are hardly any
producing one or two. other shrubs where the seed germinatos so quickly, and it
The spinning of the cocoon offers one of those remarkable is not uncommon to see some of the shoots from these
examples of instinct that are apparently so inexplicable. seeds thirty and fifty inches high the first year. Numbers
The worm feeds on trees whose leaves are deciduous, and of ailanthus trees have been planted on the Apennines,
its cocoon is formed by bending a few leaflets together and because they resist the bite of animals, and no ground game
spinning the mass of silk in the midst. In the natural course will touch them on account of the smell they exude when a
of events the leaves would fall in the autumn and the
;
leaf is gathered or a branch broken off. Those trees destined
cocoon would thus become liable to injury from lying on the for the reception of the worms ought to be planted about a
ground. But this evil is entirely obviated ; for, with an yard from each other, the chief stem cut down every year,
instinct that looks almost like foreknowledge, the worm, so that the young shoots spring up and afford young tender
before spinning its cocoon, passes along the lengthened foot- leaves for the worms and by planting them not too great a
;
stalk of the leaf, and spins an excessively strong band of distance one from another, the shoots join each other, and
fibres, connecting it firmly to the stem of the plant. These thus enable the worms to go from one plant to another.
fibres are continued round the footstalk down to the leaf As I mentioned before, this tree may be multiplied by its
itself ;
so that even if the stalk of the leaf be broken from roots, which may be cut off and planted, as we do potatoes.
the branch, or fractured in any part of its length, the cocoon Where the plants are yearly cut down, they naturally will
cannot drop, being securely held by the strong silken fibres not flower or seed. Experience has taught me that if trees
that connect it to the parent stem. are planted from twelve to fifteen feet high, they may be cut
Having thus secured its foundation, the worm pulls several down immediately to within two or three feet of the soil,
of the leaflets together, or curls inwards the edges of one of so that they will immediately throw out fresh shoots. This
sufficient size, and proceeds next to spin the silken covering tree is so hardy and so easy to propagate that in a planta-
with which it is concealed from prying eyes during its tion of 15,000 to 20,000 plants made in France not one
marvellous change from caterpillar to perfect insect. As is the died. In England it is equally hardy. I planted three
case in ordinary silkworms, the outside of the cocoon is first dozen standard plants on a sloping bank, exposed to the
formed, the worm working from without inwards, and arrang- sun the heads were cut off, and the leaves began to sprout
;
ing the silk in successive layers one within the other. This about the middle of May.”
— — ; ; —
16 A GARDEN IN MAY [Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
on a young May morning, when I was but a boy,

And when in racing o’er the leas I took a hearty joy,
And in flower-picking and bird-nesting, in woody ways and nooks,
In spite of all that others preach’d about their tiresome books.
II.
Well, now it was a May day, and, thirsting to be free,

I rush’d toward the shore to drink the breezes of the sea,
—
And to gather mussel-shells. but hark a skylark’s merry
! lay ;
He call’d mo with his carol to the meadow lands away.
ill.
I ran and roll’d upon the grass, and gazed up at the blue,
And, arching over the green fields, how grand it was to view !
Eor all the busy ways of town but little care had I,
The only life I envied was the skylark’s in the sky.
IV.
But when the sun stood up and kiss’d my tingling cheek,

at noon,
I look’d about for garden shade, —
was not far to seek,
it
A spot where Art and Nature were a happy wedded pair

I knew it not, but in I crept, —
a longing drew me there.
v.
The many colours dazzled me, I drank a balmy draught,

So sweetly o’er the wallflower did wooing breezes waft
There stood a bed of stocks in open freedom sunny bright,
And a cherry deck’d a wall with an altar-cloth of white.
VI.
Beneath a bower of summer snow there bent a hawthorn tree,
The pretty dark-green leaves of it I could not even see,

—
Playing hide-and-seek behind the flowers, but only for a time,
The constant green outvies the white before the Summer’s prime.
A murmur call’d me off to a cluster of pear-trees,

Where, mad athirst for nectar, there swarm’d a camp of bees ;
They swung upon the leaves, and they buzz’d a busy

strain,
And quick and deep the honey-juice they suck’d and

suck’d again.
—
Nature and Art, Jane 1, 18>'»G.]

A GARDEN IN MAY. 17
VIII.
Then lifted they their tawny thighs, and lightly did they speed
To an apple-tree, that proffer’d them her dainty cups of mead ;
And soon in every chalice a busy bee there lurk d ;
Like kobolds in their mining-pits, right eagerly they work’d,
IX.
And humm’d for joy ;

around them stirr’d a quivering breath
of Spring,
And dreamy sweets and melodies were mingled on the wing.
How proud that Orchard Beauty seem’d her milk-white blooms
to spread !
While tenderly the white was tinged with veins of rosy red !
x.
I never think the .apple-tree is such a comely one,
Not even when the cherry-cheeks are laughing in the sun,

—
As when she flings the trappings of her winter dress aside,
And stands in Nature’s chapel a blushing, blooming bride.
XI.
In autumn she’s a mother,— she smiles upon tho boy ;
In May-time she’s a maiden,— her bosom heaves for joy ;
Then, mother-like, she 11 woo the child to taste the juicy tieasurc,
But now she touches heart and soul with finer thrills of pleasure.
And so I spent my May-day, when all was young

and fair,
The fragrant breath of Eden seem’d to dance upon the air.
Oh, darling little Garden thou hast faded quite away
! ;
my art thou not as thou hast been ? Why is’t not always
May ?
Translated from the Danish of P. L. Moller,

By H. Ward.
18 ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. [Nature and Art, June 1, 18G6.
ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE.

By Aaron Penle^ Professor of Landscape Painting- at the Royal Military Aoaclemy, Woolwich,
No. I.
N introducing to the notice of the reader at present treat, hoping in future numbers to
O the following hints for sketching from
nature, I must be clearly understood as by no
illustrate itby separate studies.
The first thing to be determined in a sketch is
means pretending to have discovered any “royal the position of the Horizontal Line. This must
road ” to the acquisition of the whole art and be faintly drawn across the paper, and the lines of
mystery of water-colour drawing. Like the poet, every object above or below, and not parallel to it,
the painter must, I apprehend, be, “ born, not must incline to some point on it. Of course, a
made ; ” and not even the most naturally gifted, as certain knowledge of perspective is essential, and
respects taste and intelligence, may hope to the student must acquire it before he can hope to
attain to more than a moderate skill without such sketch successfully.
a devotion of time as the successful pursuit of To sketch in the outline correctly, it is neces-
every other profession requires of those who em- sary to observe very attentively the peculiar angles
brace it. There are, however, thousands of those and position of the several objects to be drawn, in
who take their pleasure by hill and river, who order that a truthful direction may be given to
have neither the poetic “ afflatus,” nor the aspira- every line. All forms deviating from right lines
tion to be professed artists ; and to whom a rudi- — —
horizontal and perpendicular -assume certain
mentary knowledge of sketching in colour would angles, and upon a just appreciation of these angles
be a highly-prized acquirement. To such as these the whole correctness of character must depend.
I now address myself. The relative position of the various objects in
Apart from its utility, there is perhaps no the field of view being once indicated (first lines
accomplishment more to be desired than sketching should only be “ indications ”), the undulations or
from nature, and so transferring to paper, when broken outlines, that certain of them may present,
opportunity offers, some of her choicest scenes. It should be given, great care being taken against
gives an additional zest to travel, and adds, in a exaggeration, —
an error of constant occurrence.
peculiar manner, to the intelligent traveller’s store It is not sufficient to give the outside lines
of information. For it is impossible to put pencil only, because these are almost always the result
to paper without being struck by the perfection and of irregularities of surface, which claim to be
completeness of objects before us ; and we can themselves represented by lines of their own. For
imitate none of nature’s forms without an elevat- instance, the broken character of a mountain’s
ing appreciation of their character, construction, top or side is due to the several masses of rock
and purpose. Nature and Art should ever go rearing their rugged heads at different elevations.
hand in hand ; the latter attaching "itself closely —
These masses if of any size, and in light -should —
to the former as to an infallible guide. Every be made to show whence they spring, and thus to
principle of art is dictated by, and drawn from, express the actual character, or, as I may say,
nature ; and so soon as the hand of the guide is construction of the entire mountain. Character of
dropped, art will, I submit, cease to excite and surface, again, is requisite to give character of dis-
gratify the intelligence of a nature-loving public. tance. A little eminence protruding from a mass
This proposition I think none will assail ; all, often tells with immense power, by throwing the
indeed, must acquiesce in it. The first precept, —
more distant scenery far very far backward. —
therefore, I would address to my student reader is, Unfortunately, amateurs too often undertake to
that however slight a sketch from nature may be, sketch subjects beyond their powers and in the ;
it must be a faithful transcript of the scene or attempt to take in a multiplicity of objects,

object sketched, without conventionality of any lose become careless, and so end by
patience,
kind. giving but a vague idea of the landscape. Far
A “sketch from nature” should imply such a better would it be to divide the scene, and to
representation of a scene as will give a general make three sketches instead of one.
impression of it without over much detail, and yet The best beginners is, with-
class of subjects for
without any such omission as might alter the out doubt, to be found in the lake or mountain
character or injure the effect produced on the districts —
at any rate, as far as outline is con-
mind. But to secure this generalization without —
cerned because the principal objects there are
loss of resemblance, an educated eye, a practised few in number, and of large proportions and in ;
hand, and a thorough knowledge of the forms under lake scenery, the straight line of water at the
treatment, are necessary. A “ study from nature ” mountain’s base is of the greatest value to the
is a different thing, demanding the strictest atten- young sketcher as a guide to the position of objects
tion to every part, with literal truthfulness in the whose lines rise from it. But in order to give a
whole, as well as in each part. Of this I will not clearer insight into the process of sketching, I
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.] FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. 19
furnish you with a coloured drawing, and a The boat was put in to fill the vacant space in the
skeleton-sketch. I claim the student’s attention water, and as a balance to the drawing.
to the numbers by which each line is indicated on The pencil outline being complete, it will be
the latter, and would recommend the adoption of better to fix it by washing the drawing with plain
the plan in all sketches of a similar kind. water, or a slight wash of yellow ochre and lake, or
I have selected my subject for its simplicity. neutral orange. Cobalt alone is employed for the
It is composed of only four separate masses, and sky, and taken over the distant mountains and
is
these are so arranged as to afford a variety of top of the near one. A tint of cobalt and lake,
angles, as well as of quantities no — two being with a little yellow ochre, is then passed over the
alike. Repetition of forms, or rather direction distant mountains, and changed, for the nearer hill
of lines and sameness of quantity or size, should and crags, to yellow ochre and lake, with a small
always be avoided ; and with this view the portion of cobalt to check the brightness of the
artist frequently alters his position. The same orange tone. Yellow ochre alone is used for the base
scene, from different points of view, will assume and upper portion of the water, and changed again to
quite a different composition ; therefore, the cobalt about midway to the bottom of the drawing.
manner in which the several lines constituting The whole of the paper being covered, the various
the forms come together should be most carefully shadows are to be introduced in the distance, and
studied ; and a point should be selected by the also on the large portions of crag on the right.
sketcher whence they appear to have the most Cobalt, lake, and yellow ochre are used in different
graceful bearing, and to intersect each other, with- degrees ; and the warm light tones washed in over
out violent contrasts, at the angles. the shadows. Raw umber, gamboge, cobalt, and
In the outline sketch, the line No. 1 is the lake are the colours for the herbage on the promon-
water-line, and is continued across the paper ; 2, a tory, and are put on with a tint of much power,
water-line above it, giving the base of the mountain changing the character of tone where required. The
on the right hand; 3, the angles of the pro- different colours of the broken and rocky surface
montory ; 4, the angle of the direction of the side are glazed over the groundwork of grey previously
of the near mountain ; 5 and 6, the angles of laid on. The white bits of stone at the water’s
the summit ; 7, the angle of the central mountain edge are most useful in causing the eye to fall on
from the point over the promontory ; 8, change of that part of the drawing, thereby giving a breadth
angle to the top 9, also a change of direction to
;
to the whole of the half-tones above, and preventing
the right, notice being taken of its exact incidence the gleam of light on the near mountain from being
upon the line 4 10 and 1 1 give the angles of the
; a spot. For this purpose also, the spots of light at
next mountain ; 12 and 13 show the most distant the edge and top of the lower range of crag on the
hill. O is an imaginary line drawn horizontally right are serviceable in drawing the attention and
across the top of the central mountain as a guide for giving value to the bright tones of the slopes
the relative heights of the others ; and it is import- covered with sunburnt grass and heather. The water
ant this should be strictly observed. After these is simply cobalt in a straight wash, and for the
lines of direction and position are correctly placed, darker lines a little yellow ochre and lake are to be
the undulating and broken outlines (also numbered) added. If the fingers are placed over the boat, the
are to be given with precision ; seeing that each sketch will be seen to want interest and the weight
line represents the character of the rocks, and the of colour at the left and in the deep shadows of the
slope of the different surfaces as, for example,: rocks to the right will be excessive. It was there-
in the broken ground of the promontory, the trees fore necessary to overpower these by some object of
at its top edge, and the rising ground at the base greater strength and by a little bright colour. The
of the near mountain to the right. wdiite, again, gives tone to the surface of the water
If attention be paid to the method by which by its colourless contrast. For the bright yellow
these several lines follow in succession, much less tints, gamboge is employed ; and for the red tones,
difficulty will be experienced in any after-sketches. gamboge with lake or rose madder.
FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES.
A FEW years since, the discovery of rude cari- have been found there. “ In the palace of the
catures of the Crucifixion, scratched on the Edile Pansa, in the Street of Fortune,” says the
walls of the imperial palace at Rome, which had been report, “ has just been found an engraved cross, not
covered for centuries by an adjoining building, finished, bearing inscriptions and caricatures re-
created considerable sensation in the. archaeological lative to a crucified God.” If this be true, we hope
world. A
fac simile of one of these scratchings some of our countrymen in Italy will furnish us
appeared in English publications, and was copied with a careful report on the subject; for such
into M. Champfleury’s history of caricature amongst evidences, although of a painful kind, are highly
the ancients, published in Paris last year. Ac- valuable.
counts from Pompeii state that similar productions Recent excavations in Egypt
"
have also yielded
c 2
20 FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. Nature and Art, June 1, 18G6.
some highly interesting results. M. Brugst, the The diameter is nearly two hundred
of the polygon
Prussian Consul, is said to have in his possession a feet, and its divided into panels by sixty
surface is
papyrus roll containing curious particulars relative Ionic columns, the capitals of which are decorated
to the construction of the City of Rameses, and alternately with palm leaves and wreaths. Four
the manufacture of bricks or tiles by Jews em- sides of the polygon facing the cardinal points of
ployed there. In the valley of Hamath, inscrip- the compass have false doors, surmounted by en-
tions on the walls of the ancient quarries attest the tablatures. Borings have been made in nine dif-
presence there of eight hundred Jewish hewers of ferent places to discover the entrance, or, if no
stone. The figures which accompany the inscriptions mode of entry were left, the arrangement of the
perfectly represent the Israelitish features, with long- interior of this curious monument. For this
beards, which were not worn by the Egyptians. purpose advantage has been taken of a breach, said
Dr. Dekier is said to have made some interesting- to have been made in the year 1552, by Salah
discoveries in ancient Stamboul, relative to the Rais, and re-opened in 1766, by Baba Mohamed
Christian era, and reaching down to the sixteenth Pacha, while other soundings have been made with
century. steel bars at the north-eastern angle of the base.
M. Florian Pharaon, formerly interpreter to the A cavity is said to have been discovered within the
French army in Africa, has just published an ac- monument, and a horizontal gallery is being opened
count of Louis Napoleon’s voyage in Algeria, form- in the direction indicated. We
must wait for the
ing a splendid volume, illustrated by M. Darjon. unravelling of the mystery. In the meantime the
In this work M. Pharaon treats, amongst other excavations themselves have not been fruitless a :
matters, of the mathematical science of the Arabs, number of objects of interest having been dis-
and he attributes a curious origin to their numerals. covered. These include a golden medal of the
He believes them to have been derived from the Emperor Zeno, a bronze coin of the time of the
lines inscribedon the signet ring of King Solomon. Numidian kings, and several pieces of money of
The following cut, copied from the work in the lower empire, including one of Gratian, in
question, will explain the supposed origin of the excellent preservation ; eight amphora;, and a
figures. bronze bracelet and ear-ring.
One of the oldest monuments in Paris the —
oldest of all, indeed, with the exception of the
remains of the palace built by Augustus Caesar,
z z A A A the Palais des Thermes, adjoining the hotel and
z X V —
museum of Cliiny is the abbey of Saint Pierre, on
the hill of Montmartre, and the arclueologists were
in a state of alarm the other day that the ancient
The figure at the head represents the device on remains were about to be swept away by the
the ring, and those beneath are all derived from it. demolishers. It is said, however, that although
By rounding off all the angles, with the exception the church is in a sadly decayed condition the
of that at the foot of the second, those of the fourth, authorities will do all in their power to preserve so
one of the fifth, and that of the seventh, we obtain interesting a memorial of past times. The present
the ten figures of the Arabic numeration. The building is of the twelfth century, but it was raised
only addition required is the small horizontal stroke upon the remains of a pagan temple ; the columns
at the head of the figure five. The French attri- of the apsis are Roman, and are said to have formed
bute the introduction of the Arabic numerals into a portion of that temple.
Europe to Gerbert d’Aurillac, the first French Pope, Another monument, not of nearly the same anti-
who filled the chair of St. Peter in the tenth century. quity, but highly interesting in itself, is likely to be
—
Two archaeologists M. Adrien Berbrugger, brought into public view by improvements about
keeper of the library and museum of Alger, and to be made in another quarter of Paris —
this is the
—
M. 0. MacCarthy are now engaged, by order of Donjon de Jean sans Peur, the last remnant of the
the Emperor Napoleon III., in trying to unravel old hotel of the dukes of Burgundy. The building
the mystery of the Kebour er lioumia, which is quadrangular ; but it has been so completely
signifies the tomb of the Christian woman in Algeria. built in and over, although it is more than sixty
This monument stands on the summit of the rising feet high, that it is not easy to distinguish it from
ground between the plain of the Mitidja and the the wretched modern tenements which enclose it.
Mediterranean ; it is little more than an hour’s ride It is situated in a street which bears the complicated
from Algiers, and about half that distance from a name of the Rue du Petit Lion, Saint Sauveur, not
little town called Ivoleah, deliciously buried in far from the Halles, or central market of Paris.
a forest of orange-trees. The tomb has been cleared The great hall or chamber of the Donjon, as well
of the accummulations of ages, and is found to aS other apartments, has been converted into a
consist of a polygonal body resting on a square private residence, by means of partition walls and
basement, and formerly surmounted by a cone, or false floors, but the stonework of the original build-
pyramid, in steps. The polygon has lost some of ing, which was extremely solid, the vaulting of the
its upper portion, but it is still more than a hundred roof, the turrets, parapets, and even the machi-
feet in height, and is supposed, with the pyramid colated embattlements, although at present masked,
complete, to have been at least one third higher. are nearly entire. The grand staircase remains
— ;
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.] FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. •

21
almost as it by the builder, and is a re-

was left that the Crispii were a family of ancient artificers
markably and peculiar as regards its
line structure, of the place. In the same ruins was found a slab
decoration. The steps surround a central column of marble, on one side of which are sculptured the
of granite on the top of the column is a simple
;
heads of Silenus and a Faun, with a small altar
capital, which supports a kind of round stone tub, and on the other a youth, supposed to represent
bound with three pairs of hoops, and from this Ganymed, offering the bird of Jove drink out of a
tub springs an oak tree, whose branches mark out cup. The sculpture is said so be very fine.
the vaultings, and cover the surface with their Accident has brought to light a quantity of
foliage. From the angles of the walls spring other antique jewellery in the ruins of the chateau of
branches of oak foliage, which meet and interlace Cerbastro, in the gorge of Ucos, between France
with the former. This staircas'e is engraved in a and Aragon. A
violent storm threw down a
well-known and very useful little architectural and large piece wall, and laid bare a series of
of
archaeological guide-book of Paris, of which, how- sepulchral chambers of the Gothic period. For-
ever, we do not remember the author’s name. On tunately the examination was conducted with care,
one face of the building is an escutcheon, on which and a large quantity of jewelleiy of various kinds
are represented a mason’s level and plane ; these has been collected. It includes diadems, brace-
are memorials of the rivalry of the houses of lets, rings, pins, and small ornaments of all kinds,
Orleans and Burgundy. The Duke of Orleans had the diadems resembling somewhat the very curious
adopted for his device a knotted stick, like the golden votive coronets brought from Spain some
“ragged staff” of the great Earl of Warwick, with few years since, and placed in the museum of the
the motto “ Je Vennuie.” The Duke of Burgundy Hotel Cluny in Paris. The art works of the Yisi-
retorted by setting up a plane, meaning, we pre- gotlis are extremely rare, and this discovery is, there-
sume, that he would shave off the knots of his fore, very interesting and important, as aiding in the
rival’s staff, and he added, moreover, a regie, or illustration of the material civilization of the period.
level, to indicate that he intended to regulate A farmer in the highlands of Riottier made a
matters in his own way. Monstrelet says that on lucky pick the other day. He struck against
new-year’s day, 1410, the Duke of Burgundy pre- something hard, which proved to be a thick earthen
sented to all the cavaliers in his suite and to the pot, containing a quantity of silver money. The
numerous clients under his protection, badges in the coins are of the times of Henry III. and Louis XIII.,
form of small levels, made, some of gold and some and are likely to be of value in the history of the
of silver gilt, with a small golden plummet sus- famous wine district, known as the Beaujolais, for
pended to them. These new-year badges were the lords of Beaujeu possessed a strong place in the
worn as decorations, so that the rejoinder to the locality of which the mam el on may still be seen
bravado of the Duke of Orleans glittered, no doubt, commanding the Saone and the neighbouring roads.
on many a manly breast. It would be an act The mere value of the coins as metal amounts to
worthy of an iconoclast of the darkest age to allow fifty or sixty pounds, and their artistic value is
such an interesting monument as this in question great, not only from their rarity, but also from their
to be destroyed, and it is hoped that the Donjon of excellent condition.
Jean sans Peur will be restored, and encircled by a A place of burial, supposed to be a Merovingian
public garden like the beautiful tower of Saint cemetery of the seventh or eighth century, has been
Jacques in the Rue de Rivoli. discovered by the Abbe Cochet, an enthusiastic
Apiece of very interesting solid Roman wall archaeologist, at a place called Petit Appeville, near
was discovered the other day, at a depth of about Dieppe. A small hill had been levelled for purposes
ten feet below the surface of the soil, in making of cultivation, and a number of bones discovered,
the excavations for the new portion of the Rue and the proprietor of the ground having placed it
Bonaparte in Paris. The workmen had great diffi- at the disposal of the Abbe for examination, ten
culty in removing this old masonry, and while doing days’ work brought to light twenty sepulchres,
so found a small, but very thick, gold coin, in containing the remains of men, women, and children.
admirable preservation. It bears on the obverse the All the bodies lay with their head towards the
head of Nero, with the inscription NERO CESAR north-west. Ten of the skeletons had black vases
AYGVSTVS and on the l’everse a goddess, seated
; at their feet, three had bronze rings on one of the
on a curule chair, holding an orb in one hand and fingers of the left hand. Four or five had, about
a cornucopia in the other, with the motto CON- the waist, plates of chased bronze, which bore the
CORDIA AYGYSTA. remains of silver plating, while many more had
An interesting though not very important dis- clasps of damascened iron. But the most interest-
covery has been made beneath the ruins of building article discovered was an ear-ring, composed of
ings which were erected within the famous Roman a large copper ring, with a pendant, consisting of a
amphitheatre of Nhnes. A
stone was found em- composition ball covered with golden scales, orna-
bedded in a basement wall, aud bearing the follow- mented in filigree, and having small glass tubes
ing inscription :
with bulbs attached. There was discovered also a
T. CRISPIVS REBYRRVS FECIT. small chain, composed of alternate links of iron
It is believed that the name on the stone is that and copper, and which had been enclosed in some
of the architect or builder of the amphitheatre, as kind of tissue. The articles discovered will be
it appears by other inscriptions, previously found, deposited in the museum of Rouen.
22 THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. [Nature and Art, June 1, 866 ’
*>
THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867.
HE works for the next Great Exhibition are noise. Theposition of the various parts of the
T
Champ
being pushed on with great activity. The building, the principal avenues, and the inner
de Mars, the scene of so many brilliant garden, can now all be traced with little diffi-
shows, and of some follies, is undergoing a com- culty.
plete metamorphosis, and the mere preparatory The trucks are constantly passing over the Pont
labour has been enormous. It must be remembered de Jena with the debris of the Trocadero ; but
that the site is three times as large as that of the this is for the formation of the subsoil of the park,
London Exhibition building of 1862 ; that the where, however, the earthworks are approaching a
ground was some feet lower than the surrounding conclusion.
roads ; in fact, just level with the river, and which — All the world knows by this time, we presume,
is almost a supererogatory statement —
utterly un- that the Imperial Commission has for its honorary
drained. To convert this desert into a fit place to president the Prince Imperial, son of the Emperor,
receive a palace for the wealth of the world, besides with the Minister of State as the acting president,
receiving the world himself, as well as his wife, was the Ministers of Commerce and of the Beaux Arts
the problem which the Imperial Commission, the for vice-presidents, and M. Le Play (who acted in
architects, contractors, and navvies, had to solve the same capacity in Paris in 1855, and in London
without loss of time. in 1862) as Commissaire-General. We presume
The first thing, of course, was to raise the whole also that known, almost as generally, that the
it is
to the necessary level, and to do this the autho-
i
—
building is to be of an irregular ovoid form in fact,
rities hit upon an admirable plan. On the
opposite a short body with semicircular ends ; that the
side of the Seine stands, or rather did stand, the classes are to be placed in concentric divisions,
“ Heights of the Trocadero a considerable emi- galleries as they are called —
the building being,
nence which lies between Paris proper and the however, allon one floor, an immense advantage
well-known little town of Passy, dear to English — commencing with the Fine Arts and ending with
residents. The Trocadero has long been the despair Machinery and that as each exhibiting country
of the imperial and municipal authorities, who at
;
will have a space enclosed between two radii —

a slice
length determined to cut off the excrescence and as it were of the great international cake —
each will
throw it into the Champ de Mars ; a single line of have a portion of all the concentric galleries thus ;
rails was laid down from one to the other, passing visitors will be able to examine the contents of the
over the bridge that separates them, and which has Exhibition either in geographical or systematic
been divided by palings for that purpose, and the order, as may best suit their purposes or their
1
stuff from the Trocadero carried to the hollows of inclinations.

the Champ de Mars, at the rate of sixty, or more, The Universal Exhibition of 1867 will surpass
truck-loads per hour. all its predecessors not only in actual extent, but
The preparation of that portion of the ground also in the comprehensiveness of its design it will :
which the building is to occupy has been completed include all that was comprised in former plans,
for some time. The whole of the passages for and several important features in addition. As
drainage and ventilation, the latter being large regards the former portion of the programme, little
enough to drive a coach through ; the great range need be said there is no doubt that the classes of
:
of cellars under the outer gallery, which is to con- raw materials, tools, machinery, and manufactured
tain, not only the exhibition articles of food in products, as well as that of the Fine Arts, will
their crude state, and in various stages of prepara- all exhibit a proportionate amount of progress ; and
tion, but also all the restaurants, cafes, and other the applications for space have been greatly beyond
places of refreshment ; together with the masonry, the capacities of the building.
which forms the foundation for the iron portion of As regards the new features, they nearly all re-
the structure, are finished. The huge columns of late to art, science, and the condition of the labour-
—
the great machinery court which will be more ing population of the world, and therefore present
than a hundred feet wide, and upwards of eighty many points of especial attraction for the readers
in height to the girders, and will form the most ofNature and Art.
remarkable portion of the building are being — The site devoted to the Exhibition is a parallelo-
reared rapidly in pairs, several of which are now gram rather more than 3,250 feet long by 1,365 feet
connected by their curved girders, and look like the wide; the building will measure about 1,600 feet
framework of triumphal arches for the passage of by 1,250 feet, and in consequence of its rounded
a giant army. The other portions of the iron form a very large space of ground will be left un-
work are also in hand ; and the walls of the two occupied. Moreover, the inner Avail of the building
inner galleries, to contain the fine art and retro- will circumscribe a garden more than 500 feet long
spective collections, are nearly half finished. These by nearly 200 feet broad. This large extent of
two galleries have been built of stone, in order to park and garden will afford means which former
exclude, as much as possible, not only dust, but Exhibitions have only possessed to a very small
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.] THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. 23
extent, for the exhibition of objects relating to which one corner of the park, equal to about
natural history, agriculture, horticulture, acclima- twelve acres in extent, has been devoted ; and we
tization, rural matters, and manufactures requiring may mention that they include the great aqua-
a considerable space, isolation, or both. The pro- riums, about which some extraordinary statements
gramme includes an exhibition of horses, cattle, have been made. The arrangement adopted falls
and domestic animals ; but, as breeders would be little short of the rumours to which we refer.
deterred by the long period of seven months the — There are to be aquariums both for fresh and salt
Exhibition being announced to open on the first water fish, and each will be connected with a
day of April, and to close on the last day of cascade, which in the former case will serve to
October, —
it is arranged that animals may be aerate the water to be pumped back into the aqua-
exhibited for short periods only, and be replaced rium. The tanks are to be of great size, and to bo
from time to time by others of the same so constructed that the public may pass beneath
class and from the same localities. The exhibition them, and thus view the fish from below as well as
of living animals will therefore be permanent, above. The management of the horticultural
while the animals themselves may be frequently portion of the Exhibition is entrusted to M.
renewed. Amongst other matters in this class Barrillet Deschamps, the chief gardener of the
which are likely to present peculiar attractions is city of Paris, and it could not be in better hands.
the rearing and management of silkworms, in which We are glad to find that the British liorticul-
the French and Italian departments will be, turists have accepted the invitation of the
prominent ; and side by side with the
especially Imperial Commission, and will co-operate with
insects ofEurope will be shown those of India, their French brethren in this interesting section
China, and Japan, which feed on the leaves of the of the Universal Exhibition.
mulberry, oak, ailanthus (or Japan varnish tree, as Model farm-buildings, cottages, and rural con-
it is erroneously called), jujube, and castor-oil s tractions of all kinds, will be encouraged in every
plant. This portion of the Exhibition will be all possible way, and it would be disgraceful to
the more interesting from the fact, that the England and Scotland did they not take up a
Ailanthus and other worms, some of them as large prominent position in this class. They have not,
as a man’s finger and exquisitely beautiful, will perhaps, very much to learn of others in this depart-
be seen in the open air, and may be studied ment ; but, to put the matter on the lowest ground,
as in a state of nature. Naturalists visiting the it would be doing an injustice to Great Britain not
J ardin d’ Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne, and to let the world at large see how much economic
the experimental establishment of M. Guerin- science and philanthropy combined have effected
Meneville at Vincennes, may have seen these for the well-being, moral as well as material, of her
creatures in their normal condition, but to the agricultural class, which is perhaps the best fed, the
public generally the sight will be novel and best housed, and the best provided for in every way,
interesting. in all Europe. If in one corner of the Exhibition
As the production of honey and wax is one of Park there be not a model English farm, and a model
the most universally extended occupations, the English cottage or two, with rose-clad porch and
comparison of the various systems employed therein —
garden-patch things scarcely known on the Con-
cannot fail to be suggestive. The honey of Hymettus tinent — one chance of correcting an error that
has lost none of its celebrity, though more than exists pretty generally abroad respecting the habits
two thousand years have rolled away since its of our island will be lost. We are looked upon
praiseswere first sung. It figured at Kensington as the most matter-of-fact people in Europe, and
in 1851 ; perhaps the bees themselves may appear it would be well that our neighbours should know
in the Champ de Mars next year. that the rural districts of England are as remark-
In Horticulture our neighbours, being at home, able for the production of ornamental flowers as
will have a great advantage over their visitors. for that of heavy crops.
The moment the ground can be prepared to receive A variety of the most important national
them, the French gardeners and horticulturists, industries dependent upon agriculture, besides
with the Imperial Societies of Agriculture and those already mentioned, will, of course, be repre-
Horticulture at their head, will "lay out then- sented. The French department will, doubtless,
plantations and parterres ; and they have done so be highly attractive in this respect, and will
much of late in acclimatization of plants, and the include model establishments connected with the
floral decoration of public pleasure-grounds, that manufacture of wine, the production of sugar from
we may look for an extremely interesting exhibi- beetroot and other substances, sugar-refining,
tion in this class on the French side. The system brewing, distillation, the extraction of perfumes,
ot transplanting large trees, so successfully em- the manufacture of fancy soaps, the preparation
ployed by the late Sir Joseph Paxton, has been of fecula, maccaroni, vermicelli, and other processes
carried out to a great extent by the authorities of for the preservation and preparation of food, to
Paris, and there is no doubt that some daring feats which 9 hemical science has been largely applied by
of this kind will be exhibited in the planting of the our neighbours.
ornamental portions of the Exhibition Park. The river Seine will flow past the door of the
We have been favoured with a view of the Exhibition, and a canal is now being constructed
draft plans for the Horticultural Exhibition, to in the future park for the supply of water for
—
24 THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
industrial and ornamental purposes. These water- tributed a most extensive and valuable series of
ways will afford admirable opportunities for the specimens in metal, moulded, and woven wares,
exposition of anything connected with maritime dating from the Flint Age to the centiiry imme-
art, fisheries, and aquatic sports and this is
;
diately preceding our own. Feeling that a great
another class in which it is to be hoped English- exhibition of modern art productions would be in-
men will occupy a worthy place. Will not some complete without the means of comparison with
enterprising individual — if
not our noble National those of the past, the Commissioners have added
Life-boat Institution —
undertake to send an
- another class to their programme, under the title of
English life-boat with its crew and all accessories the “ History of Labour,” which, it is hoped, will
complete ? Few things would do us greater comprise choice specimens of ancient art workman-
honour, or be likely to confer greater benefit in ship of every age and almost every country on the
the way of example. globe. The French section has been placed under
Another feature, interesting to the whole world, the able management of the Comte de Nieuwerkerke,
is that of the illustration of the purely manual the Superintendent of the Louvre and of the Fine
trades, including, however, not only those which Arts and the following are the subdivisions said to
—
;
defy the application of machinery if, indeed, de decided on : —

1. Gallic Art before the Metallic
it be safe in this mechanical age for any one to Period 2. Independent Gaul ; 3. Gaul under the
;
forbid the intrusion or limit the powers of the Roman domination 4. Productions of the Franks
;
lever, the inclined plane, and their offspring, to the Coronation of Charlemagne in the year 800 ;
but also others which are now running a competi- 5. The Carlovingian Period, from the ninth to the
tive race against those giants of the nineteenth eleventh century ; 6. The Middle Ages, from the
century, the steam-engine, the steam-hammer, the thirteenth century to the death of Louis XI. in
power-loom, and the electric battery. It is the 1473 7. The Renaissance, from Charles Till, to
;
iutention of the Imperial Commission to give all the death of Henry IV., in 1610; 8. Reigns of
possible prominence to this group. They will show, Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. (1610 to 1715);
if possible, the Indian weaving his exquisite shawls 9. Reign of Louis XV. (1715 to 1774) and, 10.
;
and fairy muslins ; the Arab embroidering cloth Reign of Louis XVI., the Republic, the Directory,
and leather, and weaving camels’ hair ; the Maltese and the Consulate, to 1800. This retrospective
making those fairy chains and that minute filigree- class will occupy a special locality —
a gallery im-
work which are the despair of other nations ; the mediately surrounding the central garden already
Chinese carving their ivory balls, fans, and artistic —
mentioned, and is likely to be one of the most
woodwork ; the American Indian fabricating bis attractive features of the Exhibition.
skin dresses and mocassins, decorated with beads Literature and Science are also to have their
and porcupine quills ; and the natives of Panama place in the grand concourse. The Minister of
plaiting those well-known hats, in presence of which Public Instruction, whose administration has been
the Italian straw-worker and the French basket- an unbroken series of strenuous and enlightened
maker, able as they are, must yield the palm. In endeavours towards the improvement of all kinds of
short, the Commission will do their best to exhibit —
education ordinary, ornamental, and professional,
all the manual arts, as practised by Asiatic and less — suggested the admission of the scholar, the man of
civilized people, side by side with the most ap- science, and the teacher, to the great gathering ;
proved methods of working adopted by the artisans and it has been arranged that reports shall be
of Europe. This is a grand scheme, and although, made by a select number of eminent professors in
doubtless, many links will be wanting, it cannot all the classes of intellectual acquirement, to be
fail to supply a series of most interesting and in- published by the Government as the contributions
structive industries. In order to finish the picture, of Literature, Education, and Science. The object
to render the story and the means of comparison is to show not only what progress France has made
more complete, the manual workers will be brought in letters and the abstract sciences, but also what
as far as possible face to face with those who composition is due to her, in comparison with the rest of
pete against them with the aid of machinery. the world, as respects her collegiate, professional,
Around the grand gallery of manufacturing ma- and common systems of education. Other nations
chines will be constructed a series of small work- are invited to take like steps, and Italy, for one,
shops, in which the purely manual artisans will has determined to respond to the appeal, and put in
pursue their industry in their own manner, while her claim for one of the Academic wreaths.
their rivals, with the aid of the subdued monster, Perhaps one of the most decided and generally
steam, will exhibit to the world how far they recognized results of Exhibitions, great and small,
excel or fall short, as regards excellence of work- is the fatigue of the visitor. The Imperial Com-
manship on the one hand, and rapidity of execution mission intends to try the experiment of mixing
on the other. the clulce with the utile to an extent not hitherto
Another new feature is the introduction of the dreamt of, and thus to charm away at once mental
historic element into the industrial department. A. and bodily weai’iness. As we have already said,
magnificent exhibition of retrospective art, founded the Exhibition building will stand in the midst of
upon that wonderful collection seen at South Ken- a large park, adorned with plantations and inter-
sington in 1862, was held last year in the Champs sected by a canal. All the arts of the sculptor,
Elysees, when the great collectors of France con- the architect, the engineer, the iron, bronze, and
!

THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. 25
zinc founder, the mason, and the rustic carpenter, Parisian establishments for the erection of one or
in addition to those of the florist and horticul- more theatres and concert-rooms. The list of
turist, will be called into use to decorate the entertainments is to include, moreover, pantomimes,
Exhibition Park with statues, fountains, picturesque puppet theatres, and all kinds of divertissements
objects, brilliant parterres, pleasant walks, and tending in any way to illustrate the intellectual
shady nooks there is no doubt the result will
;
condition or the national peculiarities of various
be worthy of the occasion, and that the surroundings nations.
of the New Palace of Industry will present a strik- The very boldness of a scheme often ensures suc-
ing contrast to those of its forerunners. But the j
cess,and this idea of combining amusement with
intentions of the Imperial Commission do not business is eminently fitted to attract our neigh-
stop here. Not content with providing their mil- bours and other Continental people who are so
lions of visitors with a garden in which they may much more accustomed than we are to spend the
take their pleasure, it is proposed also to furnish summer evenings in the open air, and who consider
the positive materials both of physical and intel- the theatre, music, and other entertainments, almost
lectual enjoyment upon the most liberal scale. as necessary elements of every-day life. In. order
The bodily wants are to be supplied by restau- to accommodate visitors, and enable them to spend
rants, cafes confectioners’ shops, and buffets for
,
as much time as possible in the Exhibition building
the sale of wines, beer, and other liquors, of every and park, the subsidiary railways of Paris, which
kind and country, each contractor being confined communicate with all the main lines, are being
to the sale of articles, and the modes of cookery continued to the Champ de Mars, and trains will
and preparation, peculiar to his country. The run from an early hour in the morning till mid-
great wine districts of France are resolved to place !
night. This brings us to the grand question of the
before the world a supply of the wines of Bur- [ means of approach to the Exhibition, which in
gundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Macon, and the this respect also will have advantages which none
South, in unadulterated and perfect condition, and other has ever possessed. The Champ de Mars is
at fair charges. An Austrian establishment for the ,
bordered by roads on all four sides, one of these
sale of the famous articles of Viennese bakery and I
being the broad highway that skirts the side of the
confectionery is amongst those determined upon. river, while a fine bridge spans the Seine exactly
There is little doubt that, in the British depart- ,
opposite to the chief entrance of the park :
ment, roast beef, chops and steaks, and a good ;
thus the Exhibition will be accessible on all sides

glass of beer, will be forthcoming and there is no
;
and in all directions by road, rail, and river, a
question that the able caterers of gastronomic deli- combination of facilities, which are of infinite im-
cacies for the Parisian world will do credit to their portance in such an undertaking. Lastly, arrange-
well-established reputation. There will be little fear ments are made to provide as far as possible against
of being starved in the Great Exhibition of 1867. bad weather. The side entrances to the Exhibi-
Perhaps the greatest innovation of all is the tion will be so arranged that visitors may there
indroduction of dramatic and other amusements to descend from their carriages under cover, and the
take place not only during exhibition hours, but broad paths which will lead from the front and
also in the evening, when, it is said, the gates of back gates of the park to the building will have
the park will be thrown open to the public— covered arcades on each side.
perhaps with a small charge for admission. In Such are the principal improvements and most
order to extend the universal characteristic to all remarkable novelties that have been introduced
the features of the Exhibition and its depend- into the plan of the great Congress of the works of
encies, it is proposed to have dramatic representa- Nature and Art for the coming year. The Impe-
tions, operas, and concerts, by ai'tists of as many rial Commissioners seem determined to throw all
countries as possible, and it is hoped that Italians, that has hitherto been done of the same kind
Germans, Spaniards, and Englishmen, will be found completely into the shade, and there is no legiti-
to represent one or more of the chefs-d'oeuvre of mate reason to believe that they will not be suc-
their great dramatists and composers during the cessful in their undertaking.
season. French dramas and operas will be easy
Palmam qui meruit ferat
of accomplishment, and negotiations have, it is
said, been entered into with the managers of two G. W. Y.
— —
;;
26 THE DRAMA AND THE STAGE. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.
THE DRAMA AND THE STAGE.

E the Drama can be associated with Nature, the Stage in the events ;
and as to the illustration of human cha-
I ought to be classed with Art but in the present state
; racter and the display of that endless variety of human dis-
of theatrical matters, we
fear that neither classification position that is constantly occurring-, we are told that it is
would be just. Our plays no longer represent human beside the office of the drama to portray it ; and that to
nature, although it is the chief aim of the existing stage to attempt to do so only leads to endless absurdities and
realize actualities. We
have, indeed, fallen upon a strange prosing. Inhuman as are the painful efforts made to avoid
conjunction of affairs as relates to the Drama ; for while what this class of writers for the stage call absurdities,
there is a loud call for real tables, real chairs, real carpets they fall into much greater. Thus while all is outwardly
clocks that will go looking-glasses that actually reflect
; real in such plays as Love’s Martyr, we find that the conduct
real silks and satins for the women’s dresses ; coats made by of the personages is most unreal, strained, and unnatural.
Poole ; and even for real horses and dogs on occasions yet : One word spoken would have put an end to all the agony of
there is no call for real human emotion, nor a true and deep the heroine of Love’s Martyr while we only see her suffer-
;
exemplification of human nature. There is an amazing ing in the outward spasmodic form of action. She is much
desire in audiences (to see the real outside of everything less real than Juliet, who shows us, in frequent soliloquies,
and the caterers for the public, the managers who are — the agitation of her soul.
always amongst the most supple of creatures pander to
this demand with even a reckless extravagance.
—
Go where
It is well we should put to the test the new doctrine, that
action only is to be shown on the stage. Were this so, all
we will amongst the twenty-three theatres that minister to the classic and almost all the elder English drama would be
the amusement, as it is courteously termed, of London, we swept from the stage. And the triumphing answer of the
find a strenuous effort made to produce on the stage strong real school —the literalists, the authors of the French
realities. At one theatre we had a real fire-engine, drawn drama par excellence — is, “ it is swept from the stage.”
in with real horses, to put out a fire, which is so real that And yet in to-day’s bills are announced, Hamlet, Macbeth,
it literally consumes a good deal of inflammable paper. Katherine and Petruchio, Henry VIII., Lady of Lyons,
This is for the genteel people at a theatre named after The Rivals, The School for Scandal, Kichelieu, and the
Eoyalt.y —The Princess’s. At another, peculiarly devoted Winter’s Tale, to be performed, and mostly at minor
to the people, but taking the highest name in the land theatres. The truth is, the mind will ever seek an exposi-
—
The Victoria reality is still further intensified, and in one tion of itself, and whatever the realistic writers may say,
piece may be seen a faic simile of a casual ward ; a section there always will be a reaction towards the poetical and
of an hospital a prison scene a fire ; and a real railway
; ; character drama. It is indeed from a want of fully compre-
engine and train. We hardly know how realization can go hending the words which give a title to our own publication
further. Yet the genius of a former generation must not be that these fallacies arise. Nature and Art are both im-
forgotten, for Mr. Bunn, at the classic and historic theatre perfectly defined and understood. Nature extends her
of Drury Lane, once opened a way into the veritable street, powers further than to actualities, and works with a prin-
and showed the actual coaches and carts passing, to the ex- ciple in many things that are the result of art. The
cessive delight of the audience of a theatre always supposed nature of art, if it may be permitted for a moment to use
to be devoted to the legitimate drama. the phrase, is not a nature we see exemplified in any actual
But we should not object to this extraordinary rage for objects; but it is the ruling principle which forms a new
realization, if it were also extended to the exemplification set of objects, things, and occurrences. It would be a misuse
of human beings and to some illustration of human of language to say that the fairies or the ghosts of Shake-
character. But let us Walk into the first theatre we come speare, or of any other poet or inventor, are natural yet ;
to, say the Olympic, and test how far the principle is they most undoubtedly seem to have a nature of their own,
carried out. The newest play there, Love’s Martyr, is an by which we are moved or interested. To talk, therefore,
adaptation by Mr. Leicester Buckingham, of a French play of nature (thereby meaning actuality) being a sort of
by Monsieur Soulie. Here the manager provides us with art, is to confound the object and the operation of .
everything real and in good taste ; and the French author imaginative work. To seek to reduce the imagination to a
takes great pains to keep within the leading canon of the mere inventive faculty to involve and evolve a series of
modern French Drama, that the language shall be strictly facts into an exciting story, is to make an angel do the
confined to the carrying on the action of the piece ; and to work of a journeyman. It is, in truth, to reduce art to
this canon the English adapter most precisely adheres. artisanship.
By this means it is supposed that the Drama fulfils the Such, however, is not only the office of the present
grand office for which it is said it was created, to show a drama but it is proclaimed to be the only office, and the
;
series of events woven into an exciting story. The con- only mode of treating it. The result is, that the poetical,
sequence is that all mental development is abandoned ; all the expanding, the analysing mode of the poetical drama
the internal conflict of emotion is left 'undeveloped and the ;
comes to be treated by fanatical and ignorant realists, as a
figures pass before the audience real as to clothes, and real mass of absurdity, and burlesque arises as an expression of
as to speech as far as it goes ; but with no more of their this feeling. Juliet’s agony is parodied as are the disquisi-
;
inward human nature shown than one could learn in a tions of Hamlet, the soliloquies of Iago, the subtle reason-
thronged thoroughfare where a suicide, a murder, or any ings of Richard. The Antigone becomes a farce, and every
other catastrophe had taken place. The personages of such subtle delineation of human character is derided as a prosy
a drama have indeed certain coarse outlined characteristics. surplusage. But the Real never has, and never will, satisfy
There is a swell villain a, mild gentleman a murderous— human nature, which is ever consumed with an insatiable
— —
usurer a jealous husband an agonised wife a silly — desire to pry into itself, and which always hails all lights,
artist —
who has a vulgar wife. But of all these people we whether direct or reflected, that will help to illustrate the
know nothing by their own revealment beyond a surface ever-varying human soul. Thus the classic and the Shake-
manner, for they avoid soliloquies and none of the old and
;
spearian drama “ will rise,” though realistic burlesque
antique dramatic expressions is allowed, that would show us writers “ would overwhelm them to men’s eyes.”
their minds, their reasoning, their impulses, and their Hereafter we shall illustrate our theories by a rigid
feelings. We
only see their actions ; we are only interested examination of the novelties of the theatres.
Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.] AET NOTES EEOM FBANCE. 27
PARISIAN CHAPEAUX.
My Dear Mr. Editor, —
Allow me to offer you for the the bovAUons are dotted with these sweet little flowers.
first number of Nature and Art, a true woman’s con- The brides are of pale blue taffetas.
tribution, a chapter on Bonnets. They say the men have
Fig. 4.
all lost their heads on the Continent, and that there is no
knowing' what may happen in Germany and Italy. If the No. 4 a pretty Leghorn hat, forme Japonaise, so much
is
ladies have not lost their heads, they have almost ceased to cl la mode just now. The only ornament is a delicate
provide bonnets for them, although they do wear certain garland of roses, pompons and leaves.
gossamer fabrics sometimes no bigger than the palm of the
Fig. 5.
hand, to which it is rather daring to give the name of .
chapeaux. However, no matter what they are called, so A

small cliapedu in fancy straw, christened the Pamela.
long as they look pretty. I send you ten portraits, both lady Bound the edge is placed a wreath of small, bright-red
and chapeau, in some instances from the life but you must poppies, and the brides, instead of being attached in front,
;
excuse my telling you which of the faces are real, and which pass round under the chignon, and are tied behind.
imaginary. It is enough, I think, to assure you that all my
Fig. 6.
sketches are those of real chapeaux that I have seen on the
racecourse, in the Bois de Boulogne, in the Champs-Elysees, A charming fantaisie — which we will call the Berger.
and other promenades during- the first week of this present Very small, very simple, very becoming to a pretty brunette.
flowery and, I may add, showery month of May. A tiny circle in Leghorn, surrounded by a wreath of fairy
I do not know exactly what my own dear countrywomen damask roses. The long cherry ribbon which forms the
are wearing on their heads just now, but I challenge them brides passes over the chapeau and is attached under the
to produce ten specimens, except from the secret drawer of hair.
their fancy, to outdo those which I have the pleasure of now Fig. 7.
sending you. A spring chapeau, forme Japonaise, entirely

delicious
Fig. 1. covered with the beautiful lily-of-the-valley, whose sweet,
white bells mingle gracefully with the curls of the coiffure.
Chapeani JBenoiton, so named after the heroines of
Long barbes of white tulle, tied beneath the chin, make a
Victorien Sardou’s successful play at the Yaudeville. A |
charming substitute for the everlasting taffetas brides.

pink fcmchon formed of bouillons of tulle, ornamented outside
with a moss-rose. Inside is placed a torsade of pink velvet Fig. 8.
with three cameos linked together by a jet chain. The brides
are of taffetas, with long barbes of pink tulle, fastened by a
A delightful composition of
guipure and tulle, embroidered
with white bugles a fringe of the same is placed all round
rose beneath the chin. A chaine JBenoiton in jet is attached ;
the chapeau. The strings are in white satin.

to the chapeau just over the ears, and falls in festoons over
the brides. Fig. 9.
Fig. 2. The toque CMnoise in Leghorn. The novelty in this hat
A
charming capote composed entirely of violets a chain ;
is the pointed crown, for we have seen the green velvet
of the same flowers falls upon the chignon. Green brides bordwe and seagull’s wing many times before.
with a small bouquet oi; violets on the bow. A fringe of glass
drops ornaments the front. Fig. 10.
A
grey and white fancy straw capote, edged with a
Fig. 3. garland of double violets, and attached beneath the chin by
The Papillon, a very dashing chapeau. Tiny bouillons of straw-ooloured taffetas.
white tulle radiate from the centre, whereon is posed, with Should my notes on chapeaux be acceptable to your lady
itswings outspread, a beautiful yellow.butterfly. A wreath readers, I shall be happy to send you from time to time a few
of forget-me-nots ornaments the edge of the chapeau, and other jottings. K. E. F.
ART NOTES FROM FRANCE.

By G. W. Yapp.
T day for art wlien the moderns
will be a dark remained for years chained to the car of some great,
I cease to study the works of Michael
shall and not unfrequently of some little, master, whom
Angelo, Raphael, and the other grand old masters ; they followed with blind zeal, until accident raised
but a promising sign that the worship of
it is up another in his place, whom they followed in
certain the slavish imitation of certain
styles, turn with the same zeal and the same slavishness.
manners, the servile prostration of the artist of the There still exists much of this classic mania, this
present day before the masters of the past, is melt- adherence to a model, this absence of independence,
ing away in the warm influence of free thought amongst the artists, connoisseurs, and critics of
and extended knowledge. Few nations have France, but considerable improvement has taken
exhibited a more extraordinary combination of place during the last few years ; some of the idols
practical ability and pedantry in art than our able have been examined, found unworthy, and cast
and sprightly neighbours, the French. Having- aside, and if some new ones have been set up in
acquired great power in the delineation of the their place, the fetishism is not so absolute, and
human figure, considerable skill in composition, an artist or critic may now think for himself in
and marvellous facility in execution, French artists art without being denounced as an infidel.
;;
28 ART NOTES FROM FRANCE. [Nature and Art, June 1, I860.
Much of this happy change is due to the daring Avorks has recently created a great sensation in
though incomplete genius of Eugene Delacroix, Paris.
who, if he could not succeed in embodying on A
few years since, a painter of landscapes or
canvas all his own ideas, exhibited a determination, animals, or both, Avas scarcely admitted by French
at the very outset of his career, not to be the slave to be an artist, the rank awarded to him
critics
of the ideas and opinions of others, and never Avas somewhere between the last miniaturist
swerved from it while his hand could hold a pencil. and the first sign-painter. That there could be
Delacroix saw that what were called the grand or anything worthy of the attention of an artist born
the classic styles were either lifeless or theatrical in a country that possessed an academy of art and
that the colouring of the French school was flat, a host of traditions, in transferring to canvas or
conventional, pedantic and he dared to compose
;
paper the vulgar elements of rural scenery, Avas
according to his own notions, and to colour, as inconceivable in the opinion of the great mass of
faithfully as he could, after Nature. His first the learned in such matters unless, indeed, certain
;
pictures were received with shouts of derision, grand personages, such as Venus or Diana, Apollo,
or shrugs of contempt he possessed less power in
: Pan or Silenus, Dido and HCneas, Solomon and the
delineation than many artists of his own standing Queen of Sheba, Avere introduced, when the paint-
his colouring was not only totally inconsistent with ing became a classical landscape, although the in-
the dogmas of the schools, but also evidently fell habitants of the mythical regions, of the balmy
far short of what he himself intended ; and in South or of the gloAving East, might be introduced
spite of the rapid advancement of his talent, his half, if not Avholly, undraped, amid the gnarled oaks
daring, uncompromising originality had to struggle or the frigid pine-trees of our colder climes. And
for many years against the vogue for pictures as even Avhen the work had thus paid toll, and passed
cold, correct, and soulless as his own were warm, the academic gate, if the artist exhibited too much
faulty in detail, and imaginative. But Delacroix fondness for Nature, and dwelt too lovingly on
combined perseverance with genius ; he bent him- sunrise and sunset, instead of putting them hi after
self to his work with the determined energy that the rule of the schools, the critic would shrug his
arose from a conviction of power; he painted down shoulders and say — “ No doubt the man lias
the scoffers, he interested the sceptical, and at length talent, but what a pity it is that he allows it to
the conventionalists were beaten, and admitted that run riot, and offend all the established rules of
he was a genius, though incomplete and wayward. classic art!’' Want of originality or dread of the
When he died he enjoyed one of the highest critics caused most landscape-painters to follow
reputations in France ;
and after his death his tradition only too closely ; they copied the pecu-
slightest sketches were sold to enthusiastic connois- liarities, the handling, the tricks of the artist in
seurs for fabulous sums. Nor was the demand for fashion, until their Avorks Avere as unlike anything
these sketches a mere fashion or mania. Delacroix in Nature as if they had been executed in Berlin
left comparatively few finished pictures ; his greatest avooI. The Avoolly school has still its adepts in
works are on the walls and the ceilings of the France, and hosts of admirers, but it is gradually
churches, the Hotel de Ville, and the Louvre, but giving place to a far more natural style.
many of his so-called sketches were exquisitely The French, until very lately, kneAV extremely
finished works, almost as much superior, in an little about the condition of the English mind, and
artistic point of view, to those for which they served the great and well-grounded admiration Avliich we
as guides, as the cartoons of Raphael must have expressed for the works of Claude Lorrain gave
been to the tapestry which was worked from them. our neighbours but a poor opinion of our critical
We have been present at the exhibition of the acumen. The case is considerably altered now we :
collected works of many painters, but we never have helped to teach our neighbours the value of one
witnessed such genuine enthusiasm as that which of their most original and brilliant artists, and in this
Avas called forth by those exquisite first draughts. we have done them a service for which they owe
It was, to a large portion of those present, a revela- us a debt of gratitude ; for one of the problems of
tion of genius. the French school of the present day is to discover
Posterity will probably not place Eugene Dela- Iioav Claude created his glowing sunsets, or flung the
croix iu one of the highest niches in the temple of silvery haze of morning over earth and sky ; and,
fame, but he undoubtedly deserves a position parallel sIoav as may be the approach towards his glorious
with that occupied by Samuel Johnson in English touch, every step on the road is a prize for modern
literature he broke the bonds that confined his
;
art.
class,and asserted Avith heroic determination and Constant Troyon was born, lived, and died
a large amount of success the freedom of genius, almost in sight of the famous porcelain works at
the liberty of independent thought. The man who Sevres. He received his artistic education from a
did this was a great artist, although his most ardent painter in that establishment, where everything was
admirers Avould not compare his works with those classical; the idol might be Raphael, or Correggio,
of a Raphael or a Leonardo da Vinci. or Watteau, or eA en Lancret, but an idol there
T
Others have since aided the good work begun by must be, and he must be followed implicitly, or
Delacroix for his epoch, and, in many respects, no there was no art in the matter, but simple barba-
painter has been more successful in the same course rous daubing. It was a grand proof of the original
than the late Constant Troyon, the sale of whose genius of Troyon that, after having been educated
Nature and Art, June 1, 18(5(5.]
ART NOTES FROM FRANCE. 29
under such a regime, he should have become one of always attracted hosts of admirers at the Paris
the most daring of reformers. But at the moment salon. He painted animals as few have ever
when he was issuing from the little world at Sevres, —
painted them not so grandly as Paul Potter, or
to commence the battle of life, he fell in with Diaz, Rosa Bonheur ;
not so poetically, nor so exqui-
and other clever artists of the new generation, sitely as Landseer :his cattle, sheep, and dogs are
who had already emancipated themselves from every-day working animals, with the dirt and the
the bonds of classic tyranny, from the frigid rules wear upon them ; but they are all living, breathing,
of the Academy, and declared that Art was a real creatures. Llis landscapes are at once solid
thing to be studied directly, and not, as it were, and bright, real and poetic ; his atmospheric
through media that produced a double refrac- effects are marvellous, and raise his works into the
tion. Naturally startled at such heresy, Troy on high domain of poetic art. His sheep going to
at first stoutly defended his early faith ;
but he market in the morning are enveloped in an atmo-
soon began to reflect seriously upon what he sphere of mist and dust, glorified by the first rays
heard he put the arguments of his new friends
;
of the rising sun. His oxen returning from labour
to the test of actual experiment, sat down in trudge home heavily, weary, soiled, and reeking
the spirit of true devotion at the feet of Nature, in the evening air. His pictures are not only true
and soon became her ardent devotee. It was not to Nature, but complete, harmonious, and stamped
long before he declared openly and positively that with the true seal of genius.
in future Nature should be his idol, and his Troyon’s works sold so readily that few of his
own convictions his sole Academy. The grief of finished pictures remained in his own possession ;
his family and early teachers at his defection caused but the exhibition of his minor productions created
young Troyon poignant suffering ; but it was not a intense interest ; the sketches, mostly completed in
matter of will, but one of absolute and inevitable the presence of Nature, were eagerly disputed, and
fate : he was convinced, and he could not retract. the sale realized half a million of francs (£20,000).
He refused absolutely to accept any of the dogmas In spite of a naturally weak constitution, Troyon’s
presented to him ; he renounced any pretension to industry was enormous, and failing health only
classicality, or any other scholastic ity ; he would made him more determined to push on his work.
not even set up for an animal-painter or for a He was threatened with blindness, and avowedly
landscape-painter, attach himself to any class, or applied himself more and more intensely, in order,
bind himself by any bonds whatever ; but simply as he said, to take all possible advantage of the re-
went out into the presence of Nature, pencil in maining light. He died at an age when most great
hand, studied intensely all he saw, fixed upon artists are only entering upon the last phase of their
whatever attracted his sympathy, and used all the career, upon their last manner ; but he had doubt-
art which he had acquired by laborious practice to fix less done his work, and to the very last moment
his impressions on his canvas. He declined to copy when the palette fell from his weary hand, he
any more mythological beauties, or to study any never abandoned the mistress to whom he had
more classical groups, and flung himself, according sworn allegiance in the first glow of his intellec-
to the opinion of the instructors and friends of his tual maturity. He never quitted Nature and Art
youth, into the yawning gulf of vulgar realism. to dance attendance in an ante chamber, or to woo
As regards the outer world of art, he had not to the reigning idol of the hour yet he left behind
;
struggle against the fierce tide of opposition which him such a fortune as few artists have amassed.
met Eugene Delacroix and would have engulfed He who can thus stand alone, be true to himself,
any less vigorous and less determined swimmer. and earn the applause of all whose praise is worth
In .the first place, Troyon came before the critics having, is, whether his style and his subjects be
a few years later than Delacroix ; and, secondly, grand or modest, classic or realistic, a great man
he was, in the eyes of the great critics, a mere and a great artist.
strange animal -painter, with some attempt at The Comte de Nieuwerkerke has brought to
landscape in the way of background ; he did not light an authentic portrait of the Ducliesse de la
trench upon classic ground, he belonged to the Valliere, by Mignard, which is considered to afford
outsiders, and was considerately tolerated as a conclusive evidence that not one of the current
man with certain abilities of an inferior class. portraits of the lady is a likeness. Such is the
He was therefore successful, or rather not unsuc- opinion of critics well qualified to judge, and,
cessful, at the very outset of his public career ; but amongst the rest, of M. Eudore Soulie, the keeper
his genius expanded gradually he went on step by
: of the Versailles gallery, where a copy of the picture
step, and the last picture that he exhibited was in question has lately been exhibited. The portrait
perhaps the best he ever painted. He gained his represents Madame de la Valliere at the moment
first prize, a third-class medal, in 1838; one of the when she is resolving in her own mind to quit the
second class in 1840 ; first-class medals in 1846 and court for the convent ; she is dressed with all the
1848 ; and in 1849 was decorated with the Cross luxury of the period, but a rose in her hand lets
of the Legion of Honour, having thus firmly esta- fall its petals on the table, a mask, cards, and
blished his reputation within a dozen years from his trinkets lie scattered an the floor, a book of
first appearance in public. After this, his popu- devotion is under the favourite’s hand, and on the
larity grew rapidly ; he was awarded a medal at base of a column are inscribed the words, Sic transit
the Universal Exhibition of 1855, and his pictures gloria muncli. The two children of the duchess are
30 ART NOTES FROM FRANCE. [Nature and Art, Juno 1, 1866.
included in the picture — her daughter, who after- Strangers visiting Paris are surprised at the
wards became Princesse de Conti, and little Louis paucity of grand concerts in a city which deems
cle Bourbon, who was titular Grand Admiral of itself intensely musical. The surprise is scarcely
France at the age of two years. It is an important well founded. The opera public is not a concert
fact as regards the picture in question that the boy public,and to say the truth, your true Parisian
isdressed in a black velvet tunic richly decorated loves costume, decorations, and footlights. The
with precious stones and embroidery, which corre- Conservatoire is a nursery for the lyrical theatres,
sponds exactly with the recorded description of a and much as it has done for singers and instrument-
dress worn by his sister, who was remarkable for has done little for grand music. The concerts
alists, it
her beauty, at one of the court balls. of theAssociation within the Conservatoire are
A
very curious question has arisen between the famous all over the world, but the case is quite an
authorities of the city of Parisand a painter, M. exceptional one. M. Pasdeloup, the conductor of
Lehmann. Ten years ago two pictures were ordered the Conservatoire band, is doing his best to induce
by the municipal Commission of the Fine Arts for a general taste for superior music through his
the Church of Sainte Clotilde, then building; the popular concerts, which are well attended ; the
painter fell ill, and was unable to complete the Government and the municipal authorities are also
works, which were finished by one of his pupils. doing all they can for musical education ; almost
The two pictures were eventually placed in the every common school in Paris has now a singing-
church, but M. Lehmann, on seeing them there, did class for youths attached to it, and in many of the
not consider them worthy of him, and requested schools evening classes for adults are also held ;
that he might be allowed to return the money and the Prefecture of the Seine has lately issued invi-
destroy the paintings. Whether the Commission tations to composers to compete for an unlimited
will accede to the request is not yet known ; but number of prizes to be given for good choral
the incident unusual and interesting.
is pieces to be used in these schools ; and the Govern-
Anoteworthy change is about to be made in the ment has just established classical concerts for the
arrangements of the Luxembourg. The gallery especial benefit of the pupils of the high schools.
is devoted to the works of living artists, and they At the first of these concerts, the pieces performed
remain there until five years after the death of were quintettes by Mozart and Beethoven, a trio
the painter, when they are transferred to the by Haydn, and several morceaux by Bach, Men-
Louvre. A
special room is now to be set apart for delssohn, and Spohr.
those of the intermediate stage ; that is to say, for It is dangerous to predict Avhat changes may
the works of those artists whose names have just occur in the tastes and habits of a people. French
become historical. critics are actually beginning to find flaws in the
Nor will be out of place to note here that
it porcelain of their own society ; instead of the
another exhibition,open to the public under rather amusing self-laudations to which Europe
certain restrictions, has just been formed in the has so long been accustomed, we have now and
charming gallery constructed by the late Due then fierce onslaughts on French art, French
de Morny, at the residence of the President of the literature, and French taste. M. Henri Bochefort,
Corps Legislatif. The collection consists of a who, by the way, had a small sword duel the other
number of works by foreign living artists, recently day with Prince Achille Murat, Avlien honour was
exhibited in an ill-lighted room in the Luxem- declared to be satisfied by the tearing of the
bourg, and of a selection of pictures by recent Prince’s shirt, and a slight flesh wound in the hip
French artists, including Ingres, Bousseau, of his antagonist, has just penned a slashing
Troyon, Bosa Bonheur, Isabey, Fromentin, and criticism, and, as abuse of our friends and neigh-
others. Those amateurs who visit Paris this bours, even by one of themselves, is always more or
year will be glad of the information, and will find less piquant, we will make a few extracts from the
little difficulty in obtaining admission. article under our hand :
—
“ It is understood that the
The amount of decorative work of all kinds arts flourish in France I ask nothing better than
:
lately executed in Paris enormous.

is We hope, to be convinced of the fact ; but good-Avill and
before long, to find an opportunity of point- patriotism have their limits, and it did not cost me
ing out the most important novelties ; for the a very long study to perceive that we were less
present we must confine ourselves to the mention of artistic than any other nation, and that never, in
the new Tribunal de Commerce, opposite the any age, have we exhibited in painting, in archi-
Palais de Justice, which presents one of the best tecture, in music, anything more than a certain
specimens of the time as regards interior decoration, facility of adaptation, in Avhich originality had
including four large works by Bobert Fleury, two scarcely any share. The proofs of our nrasical
of which are in place, and a good deal of admirable impotence superabundant.
are Except Herold
carving ; of the fagade of the new church of Saint . . . . we have
not had a single great composer
Augustin, in the Boulevard Malesherbes, decorated who did not cast himself in the mould of Bossini
with fifty or more statues, besides paintings on lava or Mozart. As judges, our most celebrated dilettanti
and ornamental sculpture ; and the new staircase are below the lowest maccaroni-seller in Naples or
and foyer of the Theatre Frangais, which have just Palermo ; for each time that a chef-d'oeuvre Avas
been completed by the placing of fine statues of given for the first time before a French public, it
Mars and Bachel in the vestibule. fell flat, and Avas only lifted up again after our
s:
Nature and Art, June 1, I860.] THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 31
neighbours had taken the trouble to make us com- dare to see for themselves, and to paint what'
prehend that we had hissed a wonder, Guillaume they see. Even Parisians themselves are begin-
Tell Zampa, La Traviata, liigoletto, were con-
,
ning to laugh at the absurd stereotyped phrase—
demned by the Parisian public with touching “II no, pas de style !’’ which is nearly equivalent
unanimity In music our incapacity is to the old complaint against dramatic writers,
great In painting it is different ; we who dared to neglect the sacred rule of the
know nothing at all about it ..... In . Unities.
painting as in music we have scarcely anything Few French popular ditties are better known
in France, we are nothing but copyists ; and, for to Englishmen than the famous Marlbrouck s'en
my part, I know only three veritable artistic va-t-en guerre and few persons have ever doubted
,
temperaments amongst contemporaries. Delacroix, that it related to “ John, the great

Duke of Marl-
Diaz, and Troyon,”— and so on through two or borough,” but it. appears, upon the authority of
three columns. M. Henri Rochefort lays his Chateaubriand, Frangois Arago, and others, that
lash on with a heavy hand ; but he is, I fear, Marlbrouck has no more to do with Queen Anne's
right in the main. Thought, sentiment, ori- hero, than Lord Romilly has to do with French
ginality, genius, are far less conspicuous in French rolls. The original of the song is said to have
artistic productions than facility, or what our been Mambrou a crusader, and the ballad to have
,
neighbours call chic. But there are signs of been brought into fashion by Marie Antoinette.
improvement with respect to painting ; Dela- There is little doubt, however, that the cap was
croix, Decamps, Troyon, and others, have nearly slightly altered to fit, and it was well done ; the
ruined the prestige of the pseudo-classical school, hero of Malplaquet and Blenheim is still, in the
and if, amongst the idols of the day, there minds of a great mass of Frenchmen, a kind of
are some conventionalists, there are others who Hudibrastic figure.
THE R0YA ACADEMY.

“T) EAUTY, in all its highest forms, is calculated to impress shadow of satisfaction to the mind of men on those points
D on human beings the belief in a perfection greater wherein the nature of things doth deny it, the world being,
than this world contains.” Thus runs a passage from Sir in proportion, inferior to the soul by reason whereof there
;
C. Eastlake, affixed by the Academicians to' the first page of is agreeable to the spirit of man a more ample greatness, a
their catalogue for 1866 and if they thereby intend
; to more exact goodness, and a more absolute variety, than can
claim high merit for their ninety-eighth exhibition, we can be found in the nature of things. Art doth raise and erect
only say that by no more inapposite quotation could they the mind by submitting the shews of things to the desires of
have challenged the verdict of the public. A man’s imagi- the mind whereas reason doth buckle and bow the mind unto
;
nation must be vivid indeed, if he believes that the pictorial the nature of things;” and we must look for something besides
beauty exhibited at the Academy is “ in all its highest beauty to fulfil the conditions laid down. Indeed, a highly
forms ; ” and no spectator can be impressed by any picture original and competent critic on art, Proudhon, has said that
with a “ belief in a perfection greater than this world con- “ The attainment of beauty is only the debut of the artist.
tains.” Certainly “ The Widow Wadman laying Siege to There are the variety of human actions and passions, pre-
my Uncle Toby,” by Frith (73), is not “ perfection greater judices, beliefs, conditions, casts, family, religion, domestic
than this world contains,” nor is she the widow Wadman comedy, public tragedy, national epic, revolutions. All
of Tristram Shandy. Inviting comparison, as this picture as much matter for art as for philosophy.” “ Here Nelson
does, with Leslie’s charming work, it is seen how much fell” (47), by Maclise, is an illustration of public tragedy.
easier a skilled artisan, with the brush, Can paint the wig It is the study for the truly noble and national picture
than the face of my Uncle Toby. Sir Edwin Landseer’s painted in the Houses of Parliament, and worthily represents
“ Lady Godiva ” (109) is essentially vulgar and common- the hero’s death, of which Napoleon said, “Bah! I won
place, ill drawn, worse painted, and much too suggestive the battle of Trafalgar by the death of Nelson.” It was
of the model. “ A
Chat round the Brasero ” (132), by about the middle of the battle when Nelson’s ship, the
Phillip, R. A., like as the harridans maybe to those of Spain, Victory, fell aboard the Redoutable, and a slaughtering
is far away from “ beauty in its highest form or perfection struggle took place, in which the superiority of the English
greater than this world,” or even Spain, “ contains ; ” albeit ship and crew was manifest. The resistance of the enemy
in colour the picture has all the richness and brilliancy of had almost ceased when Nelson fell ; yet the carnage on
the master. What supernatural beauty has that haggard the deck of the Victory was terrific, and Dr. Scott, whose
and ugly nun (262), by Orchardson, who is telling- “ The duties confined him entirely to the cockpit crowded with
Story of a Life ” ? What that story is no unprompted wounded and dying men, relates that such was the horror
spectator can gather, except that it does not seem to interest that filled his mind at this scene of suffering that it
the bevy of girls to whom it is related. Mr. Orchardson’ haunted him like a shocking dream for years afterwards.
portraits, exhibited the year before last, and his “ Hamlet Mr. Maclise’s work now under notice, and the “Meeting
and Ophelia,” of last year, gave promise not realized by this of Wellington and Blucher,” are two of the finest pictorial
picture but he has, nevertheless, merits which cause his
; records any nation can boast of, painted, too, at a large
future career to be looked forward to with interest and pecuniary sacrifice. The artist has worked at them silently,
expectation. “ Thetis,” by Watts (23), is a charming little year after year, absorbed in the grandeur of his conception
picture, and yet it is not exactly the ideal of the wife of and the magnificence of his work and it may be said for him,
Peleus and mother of Achilles. Still, as she had power to as Rubens said for himself — ;
“ Every one according to his

assume any form she pleased, and her wedding was honoured gifts. My endowments are such that I never wanted
with the presence of all the gods except Discord, Mr. Watts courage to undertake any design, however vast in size or
may be right in his imaginative sketch. Bacon has said diversified in subject.” “ Queen Elizabeth receiving the
that the use of art and pcesy “hath been to give some French Ambassador after the news of the Massacre of
32 THE ROYAL ACADEMY. [Nature and Alt, Juue 1, 1866.
St. Bartholomew ” (364), by Yeames, is a very good picture. great variety of character, and well composed yet the ;
Elizabeth and her court are all in deep mourning'. Her ensemble wants interest, and if satire is intended it is very
aspect is capitally represented, and the portraits of the far-fetched. Mr. Nicol furnishes some admirable represen-
statesmen who surround her are all good and well painted. tations of character, and his truthful and elaborate repre-
Though they are distant from the spectator, the interest sentation of accessories is marvellous. Notice especially
is centred in them. The figures and gay costumes of the No. 335, “ Paying the Rent.” What character there is in
French ambassador and his attendants are not very gainly all the figures, and what exquisite touches of humour !
or pleasing but perhaps this is what the painter intended.

; Landscape-painting is a speciality of the English nation,
—
They are the courtly representatives to use the viYid and, whether as a pendant to the love of nature itself, or as
description of Motley —
of that “ wolfish mob of Paris inducing that love, is equally worthy of admiration and
which lapped the blood of 10,000 Huguenots in a single night, esteem. The figure-painter may study his model at his
and was again rabid with thirst.” There is another his- leisure but the true, imaginative, and poetical landscape-
;
torical picture relating to Paris, No. 396, by G. Fisk, painter must carry away his impressions of sky and water
“ Waiting for the Moniteur Newspaper detailing the Arrest on his brain, for they are changing, fleeting, and transitory.
of Robespierre.” It depicts an earnest and excited crowd He requires exact powers of observation with a strong-
of men and women waiting with French patience for the memory, and then, if his imaginative faculties are large,
attention of the official newsvendor, and shows, at all and if he knows how to discard the trivial and unnecessary,
events, careful study. “ The last Moments of Raffaelle ” painting only what is adaptable to art, he will produce
j
(165), by O’Neill, has considerable merit, and shows that those poetical poems with which the greatest painters have
the artist has greatly improved in colour. The landscape, delighted the world. In Mr. Raven’s (No. 95) “ The Dow
seen from the window is very striking and solemn but the ;
rising by Moonlight,” mistiness, light, and reflection are
features of the dying man bear no resemblance to those so very strikingly represented. It is worth looking at again
well known and commonly received as Raffaelle’ s, nor does and again, and will well repay careful study7 .
the creation on the whole convey the remotest impression In Mr. Dawson we have another instance of a brilliant
of his character or his works. “ The Poisoned Cup ” (500), landscape-painter hardly dealt with by the “hangers.” His
by J. D. Watson, is a striking genre painting of a most “ Scene on the Ribble, Harvest Time ” (316), hung next the
unpleasant subject. ceiling, is evidently a noble landscape as respects the
The pictures on religious subjects are as few as a treatment of sky, water, and corn-field. “ A Spate in the
trading and commercial age might be supposed to Highlands ” (373), by Graham, is a powerful rendering of
require. “The Remorse of Judas” (101) and “The the storm and mist and sun-gleams of Scotland. “ Summer’s
Parents of Christ seeking Him” (503), both by Armitage, Golden Crown,” V. Cole (185), is a view of rich corn with
are fine specimens of a powerful master unaccountably a distant landscape. No. 403, by the same hand, and called
passed over in the new creation of associates. “ The Child “ Evening Rest,” is a lovely scene. The sky, the water,
Jesus in the Temple,” by Dobson (273), is pretty and the church tower, and the house-tops, the foliage, and the
sweet in colour, but feeble, to the last degree, in cha- shadows, are all rendered with wonderful effect. It is a
racter. In fact, “ Wayside Devotion, Brittany ” (107), by picture the spectator may linger over with ever-increasing
Boughton, is a far more truly religious work than those pleasure. No. 421, by Holl, junior, “The Ordeal,” tells its
painted professedly to represent Scriptural subjects. story7 well. A painter and his wife are looking on while an
Again and again, as we walk through the exhibition of —
expected purchaser and his wife a rather fine lady are —
the Academy, will the awkward question occur to us, examining a picture on the easel. Who can compute the
whether painters who are hangers have been denied, or in sum of thought, labour, and anxiety7 of heart-burning and
,
virtue of their office, deprived of, the sentiment of mag- heart-aching one exhibition would disclose if the story of
nanimity. Such a reflection has just been roused by what every picture could be told.
seems to us the sadly unfair “hanging” of No. 150, “Ere Care begins” (11), by T. Faed, R.A., is one of the
“ Moonrise,” by Daubigny. The picture is completely artist’s pleasing homely subjects; but Mr. Faed’s colour,
—
“ skyed ” hung next the ceiling, —
yet it is a noble work, so though rich, has a tendency to fattiness. “ On the Way to
far as we are allowed to judge. “ The Martyrdom of St. School” (117), E. Davis, is excellent. The boy is really in
Stephen” (254), by Legros, is another instance of unfair motion the girls and the landscape are admirably painted
; ;
hanging. The artist is a young Frenchman of very original and the picture is altogether a perfect gem, by a young
and remarkable power. His works are well known for their artist.
“ Trial by Judge and Jury ” (115), C. Hunt, is full
tragic force and mystic effect. The figure and expression of humour; and No. 191, “ Hearts are Trumps,” by Archer,
of the martyr-saint are clearly by no common hand. Mark is a good work. The archness and beauty of the girls, and
Anthony, again, is one who has been persistently all his life the richness of the dresses, are most effective, and perhaps
oppressed by his brother-artists. He is a landscape-painter the textures are here painted with more brilliancy than in
of whom England will one day be proud, but who, whatever any other work in the exhibition.
his fame is or may be outside, owes nothing to the Royal Of pictures “ By command,” Mr. Thomas’s “ Queen and
Academy. Year after year, till the painter has grown grey, Prince Albert at Aldershot” (212) is by far the best, and
have his pictures been hung in the worst places. His the only one of its class we can afford space to notice.
“ Peace of the Yalley ” (380) shows an ivy-mantled church Mr. P. F. Poole, the Academician, is one of the most poetical
standing on a rich and heavy green sward, with fitful gleams of English painters his works are always full of imagina-
;
of sunshine flitting across the time-worn trees around. tive power and rich with the glory of colour. We cannot,
Mr. Leighton’s pictures (Nos. 4, 7, and 292) are all in the however, think that in his “ Before the Cave of Belarius,”
grand style, rich and sensual in colour, striking in concep- from Cymbeline (82), he has worthily represented Imogen.
tion, varied in attitude and composition. He is an accom- There are cases in which a poet has created a character
plished artist, who will bring fame to the English school. which only a pictorial genius as great as the poet’s could
Mr. Hook’s pictures are homely subjects, transcripts,
all worthily transfer to canvas and Imogen is one of them.
;
true to the life, of landsea, of men and women

and yet ;
This artist’s “Midsummer Night,” figuring a shepherd boy
we have now seen so many of the same subjects, in the asleep by the sea, we can only term a perfect idyll.
same tone, that, charming as is every one of the pictures he If the terrestrial beauties in this exhibition come short of
has this year exhibited, it would be a relief if Mr. Hook angelic quality, the professed angels are no better off. This
would paint something different. We may here say a word applies to Mr. Thorburn’s “Orphan” (279), but though
for Mr. Melbv’s “Drifting on the Rocks ” (327), which has the angel be a failure, the orphan’s head is admirably con-
the best-painted sea in the exhibition. Mr. Calderon ex- ceived and painted. We would now gladly give our im-
hibits three pictures. No. 24 is entitled “ Her most high, pressions on the portraits, but, as want of space does not
noble, and puissant Grace.” A child is being attended by a permit us to do so, they must be reserved for a future
retinue of men and women, very finely painted showing a notice.
ENGLISH FARMING IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
HE LITERATURE of lord than the laity and its system of leasing lands
;
Agriculture in England for terms of seven years, with fines on renewal,

is of small extent and
I
was far more in advance of contemporary practice
antiquity. Farmers have than it now is behind it. The regular clergy
never been great readers, strove to counteract the evil influences which were
and, consistently enough, at work around them. They reclaimed the wastes
have been very meagre and cleared the forests, improved the breeds of
writers. Indeed, till al- sheep and cattle, and worked with greater intelli-
most our own days, edu- gence than their neighbours, inasmuch as they
cation was deemed rather prejudicial to the interests were guided by Cato and Virgil, Columella and
of agriculture,and it was long thought that the same Pliny, and not by the obstructive prejudices and
hand could never wield successfully the spade and traditions which swayed the uneducated.
the pen. Our age has exposed this fallacy, and has But, though they very materially assisted the
also witnessed the removal of those special obstacles progress of agriculture, their contributions to its
which, in earlier times, impeded alike the advance literature were rather indirect than direct. We
of rural economy and the growth of its literature. learn a good deal about their system of farming
At and after the Norman conquest, the land from scattered entries and passages in the account
generally was held under the Crown by feudal rolls of various religious houses ; but no regular
lords, whose attention was almost wholly given to treatise has come down to us from them. In fact,
those antagonists of agriculture, war and the chase. we are indebted, singularly enough, to a member
The former devastated the country, and consumed of the judicial bench for the first published
its scanty population ;
so that in troublesome work on English agriculture, written when the
times, the intervals between which were very power of the Church, as an owner and cultivator
short, the vassals contributed to the fertility of of land, was beginning to decline.
the fields almost as much after their deaths as they Sir Anthony
Fitzherbert* seems to hold a sort
had done in their lives. of middle between Cincinnatus and Mr.
place
The chase, again, was but little less detrimental DTsraeli, with this difference that his work was
to the interests of the farmer than were the battle composed in “the intervals of business,'’ and not
and the raid for, in order to enjoy it the better,
;
in enforced retirement from it. His agricultural
the forest remained untouched, or was even en- reputation was certainly not acquired at the
larged, the heath was left wild, the fen undrained, expense of his legal fame ; for his treatise, Da
and the wild animals only just so much checked as Naturd Brevium is as strongly commended by
,
to give keener zest to the national love of sport. Blackstone, as his Bolce of Huslanclrie, by Mr.
It is not, therefore, very surprising to find the Wren-Hoskyns and similar authorities.
condition of English agriculture, during the middle The latter work is indeed full of curious
ages, characterized as “most miserable.” And, if it information. It contains the experiences of a
was slow in emerging from such a state, we must farmer of forty years’ standing, who, though
remember that, then as now, the more active and ignorant of all the advantages of cross-breeding,
energetic minds found their most congenial sphere yet was as practical as the right honourable
in commercial enterprise ; for we need not be member for Bucks, and, like him, considered
ashamed to confess that England, so long as she “ shepe the most profitablest cattell that any man
has been a great nation, lias been a “ nation can have.”
bontiquiere .”
Strange as it may sound to modern ears, the
* SirAnthony was the youngest son of Kalph Fitzherbert,
church must be credited for whatever progress
county Derby. He was made a judge of the
of Tissington,
English agriculture made before the sixteenth Court of Common Pleas in 1 522, and retained his seat till
century. It proved, in most cases, a better land- his death in 1538.
n. D
; ;
34 ENGLISH FARMING IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [Nature and Art, July 1, 1866‘.
Nothing, perhaps, marks more strikingly the account the almost entire absence of good roads.
growth of our agricultural knowledge than the Easy communication with a good market-town,
contrast between the judge’s book, and such a and facility of transport for produce, are advan-
work as Mr. Morton’s Cyclopaedia of Agriculture. tages now so common amongst us as to be scarcely
The former* condenses all that could then be said on I’ecognized as such. But think of the loss of time,
the subj ect within the compass of some hundred pages money, and capital (not to mention that of temper
of large black-letter type. The latter is a ponder- also), which must have been the result of the
ous work in four octavo volumes, with double of General Wade.
state of things before the days
columns of close, though clear, print. Even two took nineteen days for
centuries ago it
It must not, however, be supposed that the the news of Charles the First’s death to reach
example of an eminent judge was required to make Taunton. This was in part due to the loyal un-
agriculture popular amongst the higher classes in willingness of the West Country folk to receive
England. Though the country gentleman, in the and transmit such intelligence yet it is an in-
;
modern acceptation of the term, isa creature of structive fact that there was a time which allowed
very recent growth, yet a connection with the the possibility of such tardy travelling. It was
land, and an interest in its cultivation, has been not until the year 1663 that the first act of Parlia-
held in honour from early times. Three or four ment was passed authorizing the levy of tolls for
centuries, ago it was not considered at all derog- the repair of roads.
atory to his rank, for the son of a wealthy noble- Neglected nature had also a powerful ally, and
man to seek a practical acquaintance with the the farmers an unreasonable opponent, in the
current system of agriculture by a sort of vexatious legislation of James I. That meddle-
apprenticeship to the business. We read, for some monarch enacted that carts and -waggons with
instance, that Thomas, 5th Lord Berkeley, was four wheels so galled the highways and bridges as
“ educated at Tliornbury in a farmer’s life, being a to be indictable as common nuisances, and the
perfect Cotswold shepherd, living a kind of grazier’s royal proclamation was only the echo of local Acts
life, having his flocks of sheep somering in one of Iona standing.
-
With such difficulties in the
place, and wintering in another; and he observed way, the farmer had no choice but to seek the
the fields and pastures to be sound, and could nearest market, and confine himself wholly to it.
bargaine best cheap ; and he kept an account of And even there fresh obstacles awaited him. He
all his receipts, payments, profits, and losses, con- was surrounded by a complicated and troublesome
cerning his flocks: sold his wool for 12s. 8d. the system of enactments, and was liable to have his
todd ; and kept also accounts of all his household j
ust expectations of profit disappointed by the
expenses.” + issue of a sudden mandate, fixing the price of corn
It would not be difficult to find a parallel to his at what Mr. Mayor might consider the fair value.
lordship in our own times. An ex-colonel of the Of oneother drawback with which farmers had
Guards, as eminent for his musical talents as for to contend, we think too much has been made. It
his skill in farming, is fond of narrating his own is not unusual to hear it said that the seasons in
experience as a seller of stock. Disguised in a smock, England are different from what they used to be
and shod with his clumsiest shooting-boots, he that the winters, especially, are not so rigorous
drove his sheep to a certain market in Hampshire, as formerly. This is probably, in some measure,
and took his seat on a hurdle, smoking the strongest true; and is partly the result of the diminution
“ cavendish,” and waiting for business. His price that has taken place in the extent of forest and
was too high for indiscriminate buyers; but, at the undrained land. Even in our own days the climate
close of the day, a rough-looking customer made a of Canada has undergone a perceptible change
bid which, after a due amount of wrangling, was from similar causes. But we, ourselves, are in-
accepted. On adjourning to the public-house to clined to think that, after all, the variation in
bind the bargain with the customary “ drain,” and temperature has not been very great ; and that the
to exchange addresses, each wrote his own name, truth is, that science has rendered farmers less depen-
and the astonishment that followed was mutual dent upon weather than in former times, while free
but the seller had the satisfaction of learning that trade in corn and cattle has rendered us less
his sheep had pleased the critical eye of General dependent on the farmers. The last two bad
Wemyss, and had been bought by him for the seasons, following each other in succession, would
Prince Consort. Truly a strange field and a have sufficed to ruin a vast number of farmers of
strange encounter between two gallant officers, the old school ; but we have not heard that agri-
who had both exchanged their swords for shep- culturalists, as a class, are louder than usual in
herd’s crooks. their complaints. And it is certainly the fact, that
In estimating the causes of the slow progress the public generally have suffered less from the
which agriculture had made in England three effects of last summer’s drought and last winter’s
centuries ago, it would be unfair to leave out of rigour than had been reasonably expected.
The foregoing remarks may serve as a sort of
We refer to tlie edition of 1598 “corrected, amended,
>)s
apology for the backward condition of agriculture

and reduced into a more pleasing forme of English than
in England three centuries ago. Let us add that
before.” The original work was published in 1523, and is
much shorter and more quaint than the later editions. the exceptions to that general backwardness are
f Smyth’s Lives of the Berkeley Family, p. 177. not found in the quarters where we should have
Nature and Art, July 1, 18G(>.]
ENGLISH FARMING IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 35
expected them. To see high farming carried on reputation for its breed of horses which it still
with most success and vigour nowadays, we should enjoys ; and Fitzherbert (who tells us that his
go to the eastern and north-eastern counties in : stock of mares was more than forty !) speaks of
earlier times the south and the west were most going to Ripon to buy colts.
advanced. Indeed, no student of English history Three centuries ago, England presented some
can have failed to remark the leading position points of curious resemblance to the new countries
which the western counties held in the sixteenth of our own day. The dissolution of monasteries,
and, in a less degree, in the seventeenth century. the policy of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., and
Old Aubrey sa.ys, “ The Devonshire men were the the impulse given to trade, had reduced estates in
earliest improvers (in farming). I heard Oliver size, and encouraged a more profitable cultivation
Cromwell, Protector, at dinner at Hampton Court, of them. Woods were felled, and inclosures made
1G57 or 8, tell the Lord Arundell of ardour, W upon a large scale, though, even as late as the end
and the Lord Fitzwilliam, that he had been in of the seventeenth century, a considerable tract of
all the counties of England, and that the Devon- country, including much of Wiltshire and Glouces
shire husbandry was the best.”'"' Cromwell, it must tershire, is described as “ Campania.” This virgin
be remembered, besides possessing the keen and nature of the soil may, perhaps, account for the
rapid eye essential to a general, had also the special high average of produce which tillage lands then
knowledge of a practical farmer, and his judgment yielded. Holinshed places it at from 1 6 to 20 bushels
upon such a matter as this is very valuable. of wheat, 36 bushels of barley, and 4 or 5 quarters
Nothing, however, tended so much to check this of oats per acre : results which Mr. Mechi, with all
favourable state of agriculture as the very his appliances, would have some difficulty in beat-
wars in which Cromwell engaged. The cultivation ing. Notwithstanding these productive powers,
of the soil was left “ to none blit a few weak land was decidedly cheap. Twenty years’ purchase
women and children, assisted by such infirm old was regarded as an exceptionally high price, and
men as were unfit to be soldiers;” and so rapidly Sir Symonds D’Ewes tells us that, in 1597, it had
had the farming deteriorated in Devonshire, that, fallen as low as sixteen or seventeen years’ pur-
in the reign of Charles II., “in many parts of the chase. We can, therefore, readily understand
county, an acre or two of wheat was esteemed a what Markham quotes as the general estimate of
rarity ; barley and rye being then the most farming in his days, viz.: “the onely or principall
common tillage, and such a quantity of oats as and greatest game that is, because no other thing
would then be sufficient for their hogs and geese, bringeth more gaine unto the master thereof than
and perhaps sometimes for exportation.” (Chappie’s the earth, if it be well husbanded and reasonably
Notes to Risdon’s Devon, p. 17.) maintained.” And the same writer, in recom-
It ought, however, to be noticed that Tusser, the mending a landowner to be his own farmer if he
well-known author of “ Five Hundred Points of wishes for profit, speaks of “ the greater spoile ”
Good Husbandrie,” was a native of Suffolk, and his that will otherwise accrue to “ the grosse-headed
judicious influence must have been somewhat felt peasants who, notwithstanding that they are alto-
.
in that and the adjoining counties. Indeed, the gether ignorant, grow rich at our costs and
cultivation of hops during the reign of Henry VIII. charges.” This charge of ignorance, by the way,
was as successful in the eastern counties as it now comes with rather bad grace from one who, shortly
is in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and the western shires. after, begs his readers to observe that, “for writing
Bullein, in his Government of Health, observes, that and reading, it skilleth not whether the bailiff be
“ tho’ there cometh many good hops from beyond able to do it or no and that as to the other R, a
;
sea, yet it is known that the goodly stilles and good memory is the best account-book, for paper
fruitful grounds of England do bring forth, unto will admit anything.”
man’s use, as good hops as grovveth in any place in Certainly the processes of agriculture at this
this world, as by proof I know in many places in period were neither complex nor manifold, though
the countie of Suffolke, whereas they brew their they did imply some branches of knowledge which
own beere with the hops that growe upon their are wholly omitted in the teaching of the Boyal
owne grounds.” Carrots, also, which are still a For instance, the “ Boke of
favourite crop in the Sandlings of Suffolk, were in
Agricultural College.
Husbandrie” gives us the following advice '‘•How :
—
high repute three centuries ago ; and the East of to make harraine ground bring foorth good come.
England generally especially Cambridgeshire, was If thou sowest any pease, beanes, barley, and oates,
celebrated for its saffron. This plant which was sowe them upon the 8 day of April], which is the
once cultivated to a very great extent, both as an Equinoctiall vernal], when Libra draweth the
article of cookery and of medicine, has now fallen houres of the daye and night to an even and just
into disfavour. proportion but if thou wilt be assured that
The North of England, abounding in forest,moor, no come shall faile, then take salt-peeter and mingle
and fen, needed, as it developed, all the energy and it in with thy corne, and sow it, and thy labor shall
skill of its inhabitants to bring it to the front rank. never be frustrate.” The first clause of this advice
But even 300 years ago, it had acquired that shows that Sir Antony had not forgotten his
V irgil ; and the second really evinces some notion
* Aubrey’s Natural History of Wiltshire, Part II.
of the peculiar properties of nitrates, even though
chap, viii, it is expressed in such a way as to imply that agri-
• “ : : —
: ;;
36 ENGLISH FARMING IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. [Nature and Art, July 1, 1866.
cultural chemistry was still regarded in much the attention to its value, yet for a long time it Avas
same light as alchemy, or the forbidden art. But used rather as a sweetmeat than as a vegetable.
even though much ignorance prevailed as to the We find it classed with oranges, lemons, and con-
true principles of agriculture, and though reasons gentleman of rank
serves, as a suitable present to a
adduced for adopting this or that course are often in the sixteenth century, and, even as late as 1 620,
trifling or utterly false, there is yet a good deal of Taylor, the Water-Poet, sings of it thus —
sound sense in many of the treatises of the sixteenth “ Spanish potatoes are accounted dainty,
century. Gervase Markham, for example, bids his And English parsneps are coarse meat, though plenty
pupils learn the nature of the soil — But if these Berries or those Rootes were scant,
They would be thought as rare, though little wont,
“ quid ferre recuset That we should eate them and a price allow,
Quid valeat.” .... As much as Strawberryes and Potatoes now.”
And “ not to force it to beare that which is con- We have also seen, in an Elizabethan cookery-book,
trarie to it.” His directions, also, for the improve- a receipt “ to make a tarte,” Avhich begins thus :
ment by dressings of marl and dung

of light lands “ Take two quinces, and tAvo or three burre rootes
are in accordance with modern practice; but he is and a potaton, and pare your potaton and scrape
wholly at a loss how to temper strong clays and your rootes and put them into a quart of Avine,” Ac.
heavy soils, except by deepening the furrows so It may not be generally knoAvn among housewives
that they may take the place of drains. Fitzherbert, that excellent jelly can be made from potatoes.
in the same manner, speaks of marl as the best With regard to the other branch of farming, Ave
—
manure that exists adding that “it is enough to may say that the improvements have been made
manure your grounds once in seven or twelve years within narrower limits. It Avas laid doAvn by
with it.” It must, however, be borne in mind that Fitzherbert as an axiom that agriculture and stock-
the rise of lime was very rare in these days in — keeping must go together “ the husbandman
fact, Markham and other contemporaneous writers liveth by plowing and soAving of his corne or by
—
do not even allude to it and we are therefore rearing and breeding of cattell, and not the one
driven to conclude that marl was employed as a Avithout the other, because they be adjuncts and
bulky substitute for it. Aubrey says Limeing — may not be discovered.'' Oxen were considered
of ground was not used but about 1595, some time more profitable than horses for ploughing and pur-
after the coming in of tobacco.” poses of draught, but as meat was a rare luxury
The crops which occupied the farmer’s attention Avith the bulk of the population, not much attention
differed in kind and degree from those which are Avas paid to the breeding of cattle for the market.
now his care. Of course the cereals —wheat, barley, It may amuse our readers to know what were con-
—
and oats were then, as now, the chief productions sidered the marks of a good cow in the sixteenth
of the farm but, of these, oats were cultivated to
;
century —
“ Beetle-broAved and sterne of looke, her
a greater extent, and formed the food both of men head and neck big, and from her throate hanginge
and horses in most parts of England. They were doAvne to her shanks a large and long dewlappe
also employed, indiscriminately with barley and let her sides be proportionlesse and great, and every
wheat, in the manufacture of beer. Bye was largely part of her, even her very foote, as bigge as bigge
grown, as supplying a cheap bread-stuff, though may be in general, the more bull-like a coav
one neither so wholesome nor agreeable as oatcake. is, the better.” Sheep Avere a triple source of profit
It is difficult to obtain a satisfactory average of the to the farmer, and consequently received his utmost
price of corn three centuries ago, for the fluctuations care. In his choice he Avould probably be guided
were rapid and excessive. Within a few months by Fitzherbert’s advice, and select those that were
the extremes of plenty and of famine Avere some- “ big-boned and well-woolled.” The wool was then,
times reached, and we read that in one year the as it now is in Australia, of more importance than
poor were barely kept alive by doles of rye-bread, the meat, and, in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
Avliile in another “ they traversed the markets to turies, the cultivation of the soil Avas absolutely
find out the finer wheats.” Clover and artificial prejudiced by the undue favour shown to the wool-
grasses were unknown the former was not intro-
;
trade. Arable land was in all directions converted
duced into England till the middle of the seven- into pasture, in order to find food for the immense
teenth century. Indeed, we may almost call Sir flocks of sheep, sometimes amounting to twenty
Bichard Weston, Avho introduced sainfoin, the thousand, which belonged to single individuals.
founder of modern English husbandry. He was an Legislation rather increased than removed the
ambassador to the King of Bohemia during the danger, and the contest on the subject between the
Commonwealth, and, on his return from abroad, clothiers and the landowners forms one of the most
pointed out to his countrymen the advantage of the curious chapters in the history of British economy.
field-cultivation of turnips as a winter food for But it was not through the wool-stapler and the
cattle. To him, also, we owe, in all probability, the butcher alone that sheep Avere a source of profit to
foundation of the alternate system of husbandry. the farmer; for Fitzherbert assures us that, “in
Potato-culture, now so important a feature in some countries, as in Suffolke, Essex, and Kent,
Scotch and English farming, was hardly knoAvn with many others, they milke their evves, a gaine
three centuries ago. For, though Drake and Baleigh equatt to the rest." The Cotswokl and Aylesbury
had brought the plant to England and drawn Avere considered the best breeds for all purposes
Nature and Alt, July 1, 18(10.]
BUCEROS NIPALENSIS. 37
but Fuller mentions Herefordshire wool “Leinster — lect their ancient, warme, and useful fashion, and
ore,” as it was called —
as “the finest in all England, goe d la mode. Before the Civill Warres I remember
equalling, if not exceeding, the Apulian or Taren- many of them made straw hafts, which I thinke is
tine in the South of Italy.” It need scarcely be now. left off, and our shepherdesses of late yeares
added that at this time the Merino was unknown doe begin to worke point, whereas, before, they did
in England. Aubrey gives an interesting account only knitt coarse stockings.”
of the dress of the shepherds of Salisbury Plain. Our space will not permit us to review the con-
—
He says “ Their habit, I believe, is that of the dition of the farm-labourer in Tudor times, or even
Homan or Arcadian shepherds as they are de- ;
to notice the rude and imperfect implements with
lineated in Mr. Mich. Drayton’s Poly-Olbion ‘
which the processes of agriculture were performed.
sc. a long white cloake with a very deep cape, which Agriculture has advanced in both inspects, but
comes halfway down their backs, made of the locks scarcely pari passu ; and Ave cannot help thinking
of the sheep. There was a sheep-croolce (vide there is room for the hope that we may yet see the
Virgil’s Eclogues and Theocritus), a sling, a scrip, farm-labourer enjoying at least equal care and con-
their tar-box, a pipe or Hute, and their dog. But sideration with those mechanical aids which modern
since 1671, they are grown so luxurious as to neg- husbandry delights to honour.
BUCEROS NIPALENSIS.
By Captain Warren, Royal Artillery.
To the Editor, — Sir:' The enclosed sketch is of which hung immediately below the lower beak ;
a bird which I believe to be entirely unknown to the red extended from the head and neck down the
English naturalists. The specimen from which I breast and belly to the legs the beak and tail (in-
;
took it was shot in February, 1865, in the Pass cluding wing feathers and coverts) were all deep
leading to Bissen Tagii, in Bhootan. black with a blue gloss prevailing the pinions ;
For many days previously we had on several oc- Avere the same, excepting the tips, which, like the
casions heard what we took to be the barking of ends of the tail feathers, Avere of pure Avhite ;
the
dogs, and concluded that reconnoitring parties of claws finely made and delicate, as is usual in all
Bhootanese were in our vicinity. At a distance, bii'ds of this class the eye Avas black, and the
;
the noise was extraordinarily like that of a dog, whole appearance of the bird strangely grotesque.
only not so continuous, the barks being separate, Subsequently, Avhen I kneAv that the barking-
and not one running into another, as is almost in- proceeded from a bird and not from a dog, I
variably the case when watch-dogs give the alarm. listened carefully to the call, and was still astonished
At length one day an officer of the “ Ivhelab at the resemblance but I fancied that, having once
;
Ghilfre” Regiment approached stealthily the fan- known of this bird, I should not again be deceived.
cied hiding-plage of some Bhootanese party, and I regret not having been able to make more care-
was surprised to find that the noise proceeded not ful notes of this bird’s habits, but the river which
from a dog, but from a bird, seated on the topmost ran close at hand held out greater inducements to
branch of a tree. He at once shot it with his rifle. me, for it swarmed Avitli fish, and afforded me most
On measurement, I found its extreme length from excellent sport. W.
tip of beak to tail-feather 3 feet 1 1 inches length ;
of bill, 10 inches. The red feathers on his head [Captain Warren is not quite correct in thinking
and neck very nearly approached the appearance the bird above described unknown to English natu-
of hair, and this he could make stand out Avhen ralists. It has been both described and figured by
excited or barking. The huge bill was deeply Jerdan and Grey. Still, we feel much indebted for
notched, and bars of blue and black ran perpen- the interesting incidents related in connection with
dicularly near the base ; a brilliantly blue, fleshy, its capture. The illustration — carefully prepared
bare space extended from behind the eye down the from the sketch furnished us — of the male bird
is
neck, and partly round a wattle of bright orange, (Buceros Nipalensis). — Ed.]
38 A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. [Nature and Art, July 1, 1866.
A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS BEYOND THE

SEAT OF WAR.
By W. B. Lobd, Royal Artillery.
ND what a bridge it was Arickety, creak- mount of St. Peter, rears his crown in solemn
A
!
ing mass of poles, tree-trunks, and brushwood, majesty to a height of nearly four thousand feet.'"'
lashed together with thongs and ropes. The caution Yet, with all these stern surroundings, it would be
and wonderful instinct exhibited by the mules at hard to imagine anything more fertile than the
the passage of this insecure structure (notwith- fairy spots nestling among the rugged blocks of
standing that the horses had led the way) has since scattered rock. The velvet turf and countless
been often recalled to my memory by similar traits flowering plants grow as though tended most care-
displayed by the knowing old trained elephants fully ; whilst, here and there, from some cleft or
which served us so faithfully in Central India. ledge, hang down matted creepers, charming by
The clever long-eared companions of travel I their very wild luxuriance. Clear, rippling brooks
now describe, investigated doubtful crossing-places How on between the grey rocks, and through the
most carefully, and never trusted to uncertainty. rich green natural meadows dotted about amongst
It was most curious to observe the way in which them and where, in glassy pool, the rivulet finds
;
they gave a couple of hearty sniffs at the bridge.

first rest, the silvery fish may be seen, shooting off in
Then they put their two fore-feet upon it, with shoals to tlieir hiding-places as our shadows fall on
roaclied back and protruding snout. Next, another the transparent water. Above the path on which
sniff, and one hind-foot on ; then a shrill hinny of we are journeying stretches a broad, hat terrace of
satisfaction. The other and last leg followed, and the greenest and most velvety sward, overshadowed
over we went, cheerily ! We
now wend our way by three or four perfect forest monarchs, and backed
through scenery of marvellous beauty. The olive, by an impenetrable thicket of thorns and under-
the fig, and the walnut here grow in vast luxuriance, growth, whilst amongst the broad green leaves
and reach a colossal size rarely approached in less tinkles a tiny rill, that hastes to join the rivulet
favoured regions. The “bee-eater” and golden below. Here we resolve to pitch our camp for
oriole dart from tree to tree, or vanish like harle- the night, and a spot more enchanting, or better
quins through the holes and crevices of the huge adapted to the purpose, it would be next to impos-
hollow trunks; whilst the “roller jays” flit from sible to discover, even in this land of flowers.
shrub to shrub like living gems. Here we are Camping operations are commenced by damming
literally getting into “boulder land.” Stupendous back the rill with turf, through which is thrust a
blocks of riven rock lie scattered pell-mell, one on tube, composed of bark stripped for the purpose
the other, in fantastic groupings ; and, as we near from a young tree and then we scoop out a deep
;
Limene, we pass an erratic block of huge dimensions, basin beneath it by shovelling out the sand and
“the rock of Panea.” On this is perched one of pebbles. An abundant and convenient water-supply
the curious and picturesque old castles which the being thus secured, a fire is kindled in the hollow
Genoese left behind them, built, like eagles’ nests, of one of the trees, the tent is unpacked and
on the summits of the most inaccessible rocks, and pitched, the animals are picketed, and a home is
crags they could find ; and its shattered walls stand established in less time than it would take to in-
forth in sharp outline and bold relief, amongst the spect furnished apartments at home.
wreck of ages strewn around. The whole imme- The nights on this coast are charming to a
diate locality presents every evidence of having, in —
degree still, clear, and starlit and while I was
;
some bygone age, passed through a period of the keeping the first watch, the “wheetle-wheetling” of
most violent volcanic disturbance. Stupendous insects and the champing of the mules and horses
masses of rock have been here hurled in broken and were the only sounds that served to break its stillness.
scattered fragments even into the sea below. Vast Towards morning some marauding Tartars endea-
jets of porphyry have penetrated through the voured to creep in among the pack-mules no doubt, —
deposits of schists underlying the J urassic limestone for the purpose of first “stampeding” and then
of which the towering cliffs are composed. In a stealing them but the appearance of my man,
;
small valley running up towards the high and armed with a double-barrelled gun, on the scene of
broken crags, the disturbed schists are to be seen, action, sent the woolly-coatecl prowlers crashing
fused with the fragments of upthrown porphyry, through the underwood below as though a legion of
showing the violence and intensity of the igneous fiends were at their heels, and we saw no more of
action to which this formation has been subjected. them. As the morning was breaking, I took my
A short distance onward, the schist stratification gun and wandered away up a neighbouring ravine,
curves up in one vast arch towards the mountain,
rising to about thirteen hundred feet above the sea- * By trigonometrical survey, conducted by M. Chatillon,
level; whilst, beyond, Mount “Ai Petri,” or the it was found to be 3,798 pieds de roi in height.
T
[:\ aturs-juid Art July 1,1866.
,
*
;
Nature find Art, July 1, I860.] THE HONEY HUNTERS. 39
as a pastime while breakfast was in course of pre- leaving a hole for the entrance and exit of the busy
paration. A short distance fromI discovered camp swarm; and I presume that these logs are separately
a whole colony of “pin tailed ducks,” which had removed as their contents are required for use.
evidently chosen these pleasant streams and water- We saw mills of the most Lilliputian proportions,
meadows for a breeding-place, and were completing erected where the numerous rivulets afforded the
their arrangements accordingly. Some were diving requisite power, their tiny wheels splashing lazily
about in the pools; others, with snake-like neck, round, whilst the wooden hammers they were con
forced their way through the water-plants and structed to work thumped away monotonously on
feathery reeds. The small dusky water- rails, too, the coarse Tartar cloth in the course of manu-
sculled restlessly to and fro amongst their larger facture.
neighbours, until some ill-disposed, tyrannical old Many of the natives of these villages were about
drake, with outstretched neck and open beak, would as unprepossessing specimens of humanity as one
make a sudden dash amongst the busy throng, could well meet in a long day’s march through the
sending them plunging and flapping off for shelter [
Tartar country, and that is saying a great deal.
amongst the and rushes.
flags |
Their liglit-reddish hair (a most uncommon colour
Our line of march that morning still lay through in Grim Tartary), coupled with their long, grotesque
“ boulder land,” amid wild vines hanging in festoons faces and heads, struck me as most remarkable.
from every branch and tree-trunk, and trailing Pallas says, concerning these satyr-like people, that
their length like cables. A
short ride brought us “ the ancient Genoese (their ancestors) were in the
to the village of Simeis. Many
of the Tartar huts habit of compressing the heads of the newly-born
are built against the hillside by simply digging a infants about the temples, with a view to rendering
deep notch, so to speak, in the bank, fixing a flat them unusually flat a custom which they appear
;
roof composed of poles, brushwood, and turf, like to have adopted from their predecessors, the Moors.”
a platform, level with the ground above, and build- This habit is also common, even at the present
ing up the front with a sort of “ wattle and dab” time, amongst certain Indian tribes inhabiting
wall. The roofs project far beyond the walls, so British Columbia. It is somewhat curious in an
as to form a sort of verandah, and those at Simeis ethnological point of view that the practice should
were in most instances covered with a luxuriant have prevailed among races so distant and distinct,
crop of grass, on which the goats were contentedly and from such an early period of history ; and,
feeding, yet, as it seemed to me, in peril of tumbling although the Tartars appear to have long discon-
head-over-heels down the chimneys, which were tinued it, they still inherit the grotesque expression
mere open holes. A benighted traveller,
stumbling and contour of face and head enjoyed by their- fore-
about in such a spot, would stand an excellent fathers. Still onward we pass through the land
chance of dropping down into some family circle in of boulders, every here and there catching glimpses
a manner more unceremonious than agreeable. The of the sea, and from time to time turning oft' the
greater portion of these huts were literally em- path in pursuit of birds, or with hammer and chisel
bowered in fruit-trees, and their gardens overrun attacking fallen fragments of rock, or with toma-
with the trailing stems and tendrils of gourds and hawk splitting off sheets of dry bark and flakes of
other members of the pumpkin family. I sawr in decayed wood that seemed likely to conceal some
many of them a curious and ingenious method of secretive, burrowing beetle or its plump larvae.
providing habitations for the bees, which appeared We are now
rapidly approaching the “Palace of
exceedingly numerous. A
number of short pieces Aloupka” and its exquisitely beautiful pleasure-
of log, thirteen or fourteen inches in circumference, grounds, for a description of which, and of the
are hollowed out until little more than the bark torch-light fishing we witnessed on the sand-spits
remains. The ends are then stopped up with clay, near “Yalta,” we must refer our readers to our next.
THE HONEY HUNTERS, OF THE SAPATANE OR WANKIE’S TRIBE,

NEAR LOGIER HILL, ZAMBEZIE RIVER.
Latitude 1 8° 45' 8" $., and 60 or 80 miles below the Victoria Falls.
By T. Baines, F.R.G.S.
YYTHEY we contemplate the honey-making insect the insect queen, receiving the constant homage of
« f of the southern hemisphere, all ideas of her devoted subjects, is exhibited to the gaze of ad-
neatly constructed “bee skeps,” tastefully arranged miring visitors. The little busy bee of South
in pleasant gardens, which have become almost a Africa and Australia, though equally industrious,
necessity to the domesticated insect of our own is less civilized than his European congener. The
country, must be at once dismissed from our mind hollow of a decayed tree ; the crevice of a rock ;
and still less may we dwell upon the luxury of or sometimes even the cavity of a deserted ant-hill,
miniature crystal palaces, in which her majesty broken and sacked by the Aardvark, or Cape ant-
— — —— — — a
40 THE HONEY HUNTERS. [Nature and Art, July 1, 1866.
eater, serves him for a nest ; and in this the cells the comb.” He remarked once that his mattress,
are as neatly built, and the honey as carefully having been laid out during the day, had been taken
stored, by the diminutive labourer of the wilder- possession of by a swarm, and he very good-
ness, as by the more bulky insect that gathers naturedly left it to shelter them for the night, after
tribute from the flowers of our own gardens. which they departed in quest of some convenient
In intertropical or equatorial Africa the bee is cleft in the rock for their hive. The same or other
so far known and valued among the natives that species of the genus apis, he says, abounds in every
they provide a rude hive or nest, made of a cylinder part of the continent, and in its mode of swarming
of bark, five feet long, and a foot and a half in differs in nothing from the English honey-bee. He
diameter. This they strip from the tree, as the mentions, too, that in digging out a nest in a hollow
Australian does when he wants it for the rude made by some burrowing animal, his Hottentots
covering of his Gunyah, or the Canadian Indian kindled a tire, and supplied it with damp fuel, so
when he requires it for that inimitable triumph of as to drive off the bees by the dense smoke —
native art — his bark canoe. precaution generally neglected by those so engaged.
Tiie bark is divided by two cuts round the tree, The comb and honey are eaten together, and the
at the proper distance from each other ;
another is bee-bread and larvm, or young bees, are accounted a
then made longitudinally, and the bark, being delicacy and, indeed, I have myself found when
;
beaten to loosen it as the work proceeds, is gradually eating wild honey, that some qualification of this
detached by the agency of pointed sticks or wedges. kind was necessary to correct its luscious sweetness.
It then resumes its cylindrical form. The central Much of the honey taken by the Hottentots is
cut is closed with pegs, or sewn together ; grass used to make a kind of mead and I have been ;
is twisted into a coarse rope, and laid in flat coils, told by experienced colonists that those who have
large enough to close the ends, and in the centre preserved the old traditions of their race, are ac-
of one of them a hole is left for a gang-way. quainted with roots and herbs, which, added while
In the dense forests, on his way to Loando, Dr. the “honey- beer” is in a state of fermentation,
Livingstone saw many such hives placed horizontally impart to it not only an intoxicating, but a stupefy -
amongst the highest branches ;

while a piece of ing property, which reduces the habitual drinker
medicine (generally a mere strip of bark, such as is
1
to an idiotic condition, most helpless and pitiable.

common on mangoes or other fruit trees belonging Manyare the enemies of our industrious little
to the half castes or natives, in the Portuguese African. Abroad he meets with “ bee-eaters ” of
possessions), was tied round the tree stem below. eveiy variety, from the common black one to the
The natives well understand that most of these gaily plumaged swallows, which nestle in perfora-
are only sham “medicines/’ but they believe that tions of the clay banks of the Zambesi or other
some possess the power of inflicting disease or rivers, or flit overhead like thousands of many
death, and think it safest not to risk the experi- coloured gems glancing brilliantly in the sunlight.
ment on any. However, some bold fellow will While at home he is exposed to attacks from tire
plunder a garden-hive or garden ; and it then powerful allies led to his stronghold by the honey-
becomes necessary for the owner to protect his guide ( Cuculus indicator), the habits of which have
property by charms, which lie believes eflicient. :
been well described in one of the minor pieces of our
All the wax exported from Loando and Benguela, poet of South Africa, Thomas Pringle, who has
is collected in this manner ;
and Dr. Livingstone very accurately introduced in the alternate lines
found the bee-swarms so universally appropriated the call of the “ guide,” and the sounds peculiar to
by the natives, that he never attended, while in those the other birds or insects described :
countries, to the call of the honey-guide, being sure “ The lioney-bird sat on the yellow wood tree
that it would only lead him to a bespoken hive. Cher a cher cher a cher cher a cucula
My late lamented friend Mr. Richard Thornton, Watching- the work of the blythe honey bee
the young geologist of the Zambesi expedition, and Bim a Bom Bim a Bom Bim a Bom boola.”
the companion of the late Baron Yon der Decken to But the watcher of the poet felt his own inability
the Ivilima Ndjaro, or Snowy Mountain of Eastern to force the stronghold ;
Africa, saw also, among the natives there, hives

“ So he flew to the woodpecker cousin, said he,
:
made of hollow logs, four or five feet long, sixteen Cher a cher cher a cher cher a cucula
inches diameter at each end, and rather more in the Come help me to harry the sly honey bee
centre, suspended in like manner in the forests. Tic a tac tic a tac tic a tac toola.”
Even this partial attempt at domestication I have
It is many years since I read the lines, and I quote
never seen south of the Zambesi. The Hottentots, them from memory but there is a moral to them.
;
or Bushmen, claim such nests as they discover,
The woodpecker doubts the justice of robbing the
or even such as may be within the range of
bees, becausethey have wings, and therefore are in
country they frequent but as Burchell, who
;
some but “ Cuculus” points
sort fellow-creatures ;
travelled in 1810 and the succeeding years, ob-
out many differences, and cunningly concludes with
served, “ None of the natives have the least idea
the tempting argument
of bringing bees under domestic management.
“ The hive half full of juicy young bees.”
They take the honey wherever it is found, and this is
being done oftentimes at improper seasons, they on which all scruples of conscience vanish, and the
uselessly destroy the larvae, or young bees still in woodpecker becomes a willing partner in the scheme.
;
Nature ami Art, July 1, 186(5 ]

THE HONEY HUNTERS. 41
The “ honey - guide ” knows, too, that man, eighty miles away ; but his messengers consumed
whether civilized or native, is as capable of break- the meat they should have brought, and as the wild
ing open the hive as the woodpecker and the ;
animals were relieved, by the rain-pools filling
hunter, knowing from a distance the call of the in the desert, from the necessity of coming to
bird, responds to it till it approaches near enough drink at the river, it was proportionably more
to assist him. The man who would shoot it would difficult for me to shoot them, and necessary for
be reprobated and held in universal abhorrence. me to leave my work more frequently for the pur-
It is said that the “ guide ” will sometimes lead its pose of doing so. Besides this, fever became rife
follower to a serpent, lion, or other dangerous beast among the party, and although my camp, being
but these may naturally enough be in the path. situate upon a small hill, was more healthy than
Livingstone says that he was only once led to a that of my friend, one of my best workmen had
black rhinoceros, and out of his 114 Makololo only died, and only one little brat— impudent as a street
one remembered having been so misled. Arab of London, and all the more valuable be-
The bird was first described by Spurrman in 1772 cause no conceivable hardship could knock him
and the variety he mentions ( Indicator Spurr- —
up was capable of attending me. I had been out
mannii, Sw.) is smaller than a thrush, grey brown several times with more or less success, and was
above, whitish beneath, and found principally in the myself growing weak from incessant exertion and
forests on the eastern coast, or towards Kaffraria. scanty rations of raw hide and water, when, on
It feeds chiefly on bees and their honey, but Le Thursday, the 8th of January, 1863, I again
Vaillant found nothing b\it wax and honey in its crossed the river to Wankie’s village; but, for
stomach, and the skin was thick and tough, so as want of solid food, I dared not drink the native
effectually to defend it from the insect’s sting. beer he gave me. I started towards the north-east
The most remarkable nest I ever saw was in one with a very intelligent old fellow named Masaawe,
of the densely-wooded kloofs near Sidbury, on the and had gained the level of the table-land without
road between Port Elizabeth and Graham’s Town. meeting a sign of game, when I
The strata of the rock had been but slightly sepa- saw him examine a tree with
rated, and, owing to their formation, the narrow great attention. A few of the
cleft thus formed curved so much that it was im- small bees of the country were
possible to reach more than a few feet from its hovering above us, and some of
front. The bees, therefore, built securely in its them directed their course to a
recesses, and only suffered occasional depredations small crevice in one of the larger
when they had incautiously built so far forward limbs. He deposited his spears, and, climbing up,
that their combs could be reached and detached. minutely examined the aperture ;
then, chopping
It is well known that where the bees frequent off a piece of bark, and bruising up its ends so
the flowers of the Euphorbium, the honey acquires as to form a dish in which his boy might receive
an acrid taste but, though many species grew
;
the spoil, he commenced enlarging the hole. The
among the rocks in this locality, I did not hear wood was softer than I had expected from the
that the honey was affected, —
probably because in-
nocuous flowers were there in abundance for the
smallness of the leaf and the character of the
bark, and was, moreover, rotten inside, so that
bees to choose from. he quickly began to reap the reward of his labour.
In Australia the natives, catching a bee, and im- He sent me a piece of comb, but the honey was
peding its flight with a minute fragment of grass, soured and as sharp as vinegar, and when he
will follow it for miles ; or, if they see two or more reached the really good honey and the pollen, I
homeward bound, will calculate with mathematical I
found myself unable to eat anything so luscious.
accuracy the point where they ought to converge. We returned without game, and Pompey so
Notches are then cut with the stone tomahawk, just |
cleverly tricked me out of the last scrap of meat
sufficient for the insertion of the toes or fingers, |
by telling me that the chief was cooking flesh for
the stem of the tall gum-tree rapidly ascended, me, that I hardly knew whether to laugh or be
the hollow sought out, and the nest plundered. angry at his plausible story. That story, however,
I remember that during the Kaffir war, while I soon found to be a fiction. Wankie, instead of
riding with the mail escort to Fort Beaufort, we offering me any, showed me some blue baft'as which
passed beneath the Krantz that overhangs the road the Mambari had given him, and I found his most
near the junction of the Fish and Koonop rivers. delicate way of asking for a present was to make an
One of the Hottentot soldiers looked up, and, de- attendant say to me, “ The Chief wishes to thank
tecting the flight of these little insects toward a you,” and when I asked “What for?” he intimated
crevice high up in the cleft, remarked to his com- the things he desired me to give him. He woiild
rade, “ Some day when we are riding express, and not let me have a fowl for love or beads in any
no officer is with us, we’ll stop and take that nest.” quantity, but gave me a bowl of maasa, or stiff pap
The incident selected for illustration occurred of the flour of native millet, and next day, after
some little distance from my house on Logier Hill, another unsuccessful hunt, Masaawe, who had
where I was endeavouring to rebuild the missing collected several edible flowei’s, berries, and roots,
portions of my boat for our passage down the gave me some cucumbers and small melons, which,
Zambesi. Chapman was encamped at a distance, cured of their bitterness by boiling, were not un-
hunting for me and for the party at his waggons, pleasant.
; ; ;
42 ANCIENT RECORDS OF FRANCE. [Nature and Art, July 1, 3866.
ATHLETICS.
HE word “
athletics,” in a substantive form, is a coinage and “flinging the hammer.” An Irishman, on the other
T few years, adapted to signify pursuits for
of the last hand, might consider any programme incomplete which did
which the terms already in use, such as “sports” and not include the exciting game of shillelagh. But setting
“ games ” were felt to he either inappropriate or inade- aside national idiosyncrasies, it may be suggested as a
quate. It must be owned that, philosophically speaking', general rule, that athletic contests should take rank in pro-
there is not much to be said for the word. It is merely a portion as they require, and are calculated to develope the
rough and ready adaptation of a well-known adjective, and |
higher qualities both of mind and body. In this point of
though it certainly supplies a want long felt, and, indeed, view, cricket, undoubtedly, ought to rank first of all
falls under the Horatian term, in so far that because, besides the scientific skill required in all depart-
“ Grasco fonte cadit parce detorta,” ments of the same, it offers so many opportunities for the
exercise of such important moral qualities, as judgment,
it has nothing further to recommend it, in point either of patience, foresight, and combination,
elegance or ingenuity. According to its Greek derivation, An inquiry into the origin of the present feeling in
it means properly, bodily contests of skill, strength, and
all favour of athletic exercise would take us back to the era of
endurance, with or without the collateral idea of a prize of the volunteer movement in 18S9. This movement, which
some kind attached to victory. The nature of such prize, sprang from a general conviction that it was time for the
of course, varies with the generations. The victors of old nation to take in hand the measures necessary for its own
were contented with the honour symbolized in a wreath of defence, g'ave a wonderful impulse to the pursuit of bodily
laurel, the palma nobilis but ours is a more substantial exercise throughout the country. Partly from natural
age, and, instead of the “ ennobling palm,” the modern inclination, partly from a conviction of its advantage and
champion expects something of solidity and value as a utility, and partly, perhaps, from the example of foreign
recompense for his exertions. nations, the taste for gymnastics has grown and become
In the days when Greek met Greek, there were five almost universal since that period. But the various pur-
principal contests, forming a gymnastic course, to win suits, to which the term in its most comprehensive sense
which was the crowning glory of the athlete. This “ Pen- ' applies, have been systematized and reduced to rule to such
tathlon,” to give it its proper name, comprised leaping, an extent, that what was before merely practised as a
running, throwing the quoit, wrestling, and boxing and ;
pastime, is rapidly becoming elevated to the dignity of a
though, of course, there were other contests, such as science. Treatises are compiled, rules are laid down, perio-
chariot and horse-racing, it is these chiefly from which the dicals are conducted, with the view of instructing competi-
word is derived, and from which we recognise its applica- i tors on the most approved principles. Enthusiastic crowds
tion to modern times. now attend the great cricket matches at Lord’s and else-
It may be doubted whether, from among modern pastimes, where while the rowing contests at Putney and Henley,
;
some might not be selected more worthy of first-class rank the athletic gatherings at different centres, and the pro-
than these but waiving that question for the present, it
;
minence given by the mass to the subject, all indicate how
will probably be admitted that, in substituting “ cricket much the national taste for such things has been developed
and rowing” for the “wrestling and boxing,” which by of late years. The fact, itself, is undoubted and though
;
common consent are excluded from the modern curriculum, some may regret this glorification of the gymnastic element
we shall be exalting, instead of detracting from the dignity as interfering with more important business, it is a question
of our gymnastic course. As regards the order and pre- whether, in these days of, wealth and luxury, any mote
cedence of the different contests, it is obvious that any effectual antidote and corrective of the Virtuti inimica
arrangement must be purely arbitrary. Probably no two voluptas could be found, than the real healthy hard
men would agree as to the five contests, which are worthy work indispensable to individual success, and the man-
of first-class rank in “athletics.” North of Tweed they are liness of tone which is born of fair, free, and genuine
very fond of “ tossing the caber,” “putting the weight,” competition.
ANCIENT RECORDS OF FRANCE.
W HAT
Lord Romilly and other liberal-minded men have
done, and are still doing, for the past history of our
own country, the Imperial government is doing for France,
More than three years ago, M. de Persigny, then Minister
of the Interior, presented to the Emperor a report accom-
panied by the first two volumes of a “ Summary of the
namely, placing the contents of the national archives at the Departmental Archives anterior to 1790.” Since that time
disposal of the intellects of the nation and a more valuable
;
the work has been pushed forward with considerable activity.
or more interesting work it is not easy to imagine. The All the departments of France, except five, have commenced
circumstances of the cases and the habits of the two coun- the publication of the analyses of their historic documents
tries cause the work to be effected in different ways. The thirty-five volumes are completed and placed at the disposi-
English authorities simply open the mine and clear away tion of the public, and a mass of equal amount is in the
the obstructions and the pioneers of literature, like British
;
hands of the Conseils GJndraux of the departments, in the
colonists in new lands, soon pick out the diamonds and sift preparatory form of fascicules or loose sheets. The number
the gold from the mass. The Imperial government proceeds of documents analysed to the present time amounts to more
in a different manner —
examines the deposits, analyses, in- than four and a half millions. Sixteen towns have followed
dexes, and supplies the public with a key to the whole. the example of the departments, and seven of the former
The treasures dealt with exist, too, under different condi- have completed their work ; Lyons has published the first
tions in the two countries. The archaeological wealth of volume of its analysis.
England lies chiefly, though certainly not solely, in the Amongst the matters thus brought —
to light are- masses
various record-offices of the metropolis the archives dealt
;
of important political correspondence with the sovereigns of
with by the French authorities are principally contained France, Spain, and Savoy, with the chiefs of the League and
in the muniment-rooms of the provinces. the agents of the Pope; much interesting information
; -
;
Nature and Art, July 1, 18GG.] ANCIENT RECORDS OF FRANCE. 4
and the success of painters

respecting' tlie origin, the works, woman was punished by three immersions in the Seine and ;
and sculptors employed in connection with public fetes and the murder of a woman of bad repute was expiated by a fine
solemnities, amongst whom are conspicuous, Pierre Evrard of five francs. In the Orleanais, false witnesses were
(1455), Pereal (1511), Sebastien of Bologna, the famous punished by having their tongues pierced with a hot iron,
architect Philibert de Lorme, and a great number of cele- and being- afterwards flogged with rods, by the hangman,
brated engravers, die-sinkers, bookbinders, and other artists through the streets of the town. The early phases of
and art-workmen. university life are curiously illustrated by documents relating-
The Administration Public Assistance, the charity
of to the famous schools of Avignon, Caen, Poitiers, Toulouse,
board of Paris, has just completed the first volume of the and other places. Many documents full of interest illustrate
analysis of the documents relating to the famous hospital of the progress of the fine arts and their applications to indus-
the Hotel Dieu, just now about to be superseded by a new try, such as sculpture in stone and wood, painting on glass
building after centuries of service in the cause of suffering and enamel, tapestry, and other work. Amongst those
humanity. This volume contains a vast amount of topo- appertaining to architecture are the deeds and papers rela-
graphical information respecting- old Paris, of which so little ting to the famous church of Bron, regarded as one of the
remains at the present moment, and which in a few years chefs d’ceuvres of the sixteenth century, the Sainte-Chapclle
will be almost as difficult to trace as the remains of the of Dijon, the Palace of the Dauphins ; the Chateau Gaillard,
works of Augustus and Julian which lie beneath them. j
famous in the history of the English possession of Nor-
Many documents supposed to have been destroyed have mandy, with its paintings by the Italian masters and the
;
been brought to light and it is stated, in the Minister’s

;
royal palaces of Fontainebleau, Vincennes, Blois, Ambrose,
report, that a large number of questions relative to state, and other places. The history of the revocation of the
communal, and individual rights, which have been under [
Edict of Nantes, and that of the abominable institution of
dispute for years, can now be settled these papers have :
j
Lettres de Cachet, may now be studied in a large number of
been found principally amongst the cartularies, the cadastres j
important documents.
or valuation of lands, court rolls, road maps, and concessions ! Interesting references to celebrated persons are of course
of common and waste lands. Much curious and valuable sprinkled throughout the whole of the archives. Wefind
information has been obtained respecting the works and that the great naturalist, Cuvier, in his youth, filled the
plans for the defences of the ports and coasts of Rouen, modest office of registrar in the small commune of Bec-en-
Havre, Dieppe, Saint- Valery-en-Caux for the prevention Cauchois; and the minutes of the meetings of the authorities,
'
—
;
of the inundations in Loraine, the embankment of the Rhine, in his handwriting, are still in existence. Pierre Corneille
and the formation of canals projects connected with mines,
;
—
the Grand Corneille kept the register of the building of a
quarries, haras, or horse-breeding establishments, nursery church at Rouen, of which he was marrguillier, or church-
grounds, bridges, and roads the extinction of pauperism,
;
warden, and his observations on the conduct of his
and many other subjects connected with social economy. colleagues are noted with great freedom. A little place
The old acts relative to the foundation of hospitals, the called Avon — not in Warwickshire, but in the department
creation of the national manufactures of porcelain, tapestry, of the Seine and Marne —seems to have been a perfect
and tobacco, and the organization of public works, are full hotbed of genius, though now it is scarcely known. In its
of interest at the present moment, when such marvellous parish books are the records of the birth and many other
transformations are being made, especially in the capitals of circumstances relating to a crowd of eminent men the —
France and England. artists, Leonard de Flamand, Francois de Bologna,
The most valuable documents of all are perhaps those Sebastian Serlio, Rosso, Antoine .Tacquet de Grenoble
which help to explain the extraordinary state of society the Primatrice 1
Nicolo Dell’ Abbate, Jean de Hoey,
which existed previous to the Revolution, such as the records Freminet, Ambroise Dubois ;the mathematician Bezout,
of the old parliaments, of the States-General, of the assem- and the naturalist Daubenton.
blies of nobles, of provincial assemblies, and other institu- The whole expenses of analyzing and publishing these valu-
tions of that interesting, time and those which illustrate
;
able records of aby-gone time, have been borne by the Conseils
the peculiar habits and customs of the various provinces, Gtneraux of the various departments but the work could
;
their connections, quarrels, conflicts, and disputes. It is scarcely have been done at all, and certainly not within any
difficult to imagine any quarry more attractive than this to reasonable period, but for the existence in France of an
the student of European history and of civilization. institution, which has no counterpart in our own country,
All old documents of the kind furnish much personal namely, the Ecole Invperiale des Charles, connected with
matter of interest memorials of men famous in history, in
;
the bureau of the Imperial Archives in Paris. This school,
art, or in story, traces of their hand in the movements of which confers the degree of Archivists. Paldog raphe, supplies
the time, and indications of their individual peculiarities keepers and assistant-keepers for the central bureau, and
and the French archives abound in such memorabilia. We for all the departmental archives ; and almost all the
see Claude Saumise, the savant of the seventeenth century, historical documents of France are placed under the
occupied with the deciphering of ancient manuscripts, and guardianship of educated men, with whom antiquarian
at the same time vigorously defending his own claim to history is the study of their lives.
nobility and the echevins, or aldermen, of Lyons, after the
;
This great synoptical work is to be completed by an alpha-
troubles of the League, are exhibited expending far more betical index, of which the plan is now under consideration,
time in searching for the letters-patent which ennobled them and by means of which all the existing documents on any
than in defending the city against the gipsies, necromancers, subject, whether administrative or historical, may be
and vagabonds of all descriptions who threatened to con- readily discovered. This portion of the undertaking will
sume the funds intended for the support of the old and be performed under the direction of the Imperial Go-
infirm. The records of the local tribunals afford strange vernment. Such an admirable scheme of indexing has
glimpses of ancient jurisprudence. In Burgundy, for in- never before been applied to the archives of any state in
stance, the fine inflicted for aiding- in the escape of the am- the world. Few governments have ever possessed the
bassadors of the Count of Savoy and the Marquis of Mont- means of carrying out such a grand national work and, ;
ferrat, in the year 1385, was only ten francs; but the still fewer, it must in justice be added, would have thought
proceedings gave rise to writings “ fifty feet long,” and these of undertaking it. What the government of the first
were taxed at a little more than a farthing per foot. In Napoleon did for the laws of his country, that of the third
Rouen, in the thirteenth century, slander committed by a is now achieving for the memorials of the past.
44 THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT EXHIBITION. [Nature and Art, July ], 1866.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT EXHIBITION.
Oillustrate our history by exhibiting the portraits of known only to heralds and antiquaries. So much more
T those whose actions have assisted in making it, was potent the ballad-maker and the dramatist than the
is
a very happy thought of Earl Derby, and has been, on the historian, that this goldsmith’s (or, as the catalogue says,
whole, very well carried out at Kensington. Coming from baker’s) handsome run-a-way wife is very probably more
so high a quarter, and from a man who is himself historical, eagerly looked for by the public of this day than “ The
and a part of his age, it has been liberally responded to. White Rose of York,” Elizabeth Plantagenet, who, by her
Such a design, however, has its drawbacks and interesting
; marriage with Henry Tudor, united the houses of York and
and copious as is the collection, it still can only be esteemed Lancaster, and put an end to the long aristocratic civil wars.
a crude carrying-out of the idea. Contributions of all Of Henry VII. there is a great choice of portraits but ;
kinds, from all sources, have been poured in and the conse-
;
with this monarch we merge into the Tudor dynasty
quence is, there are not a few pictures which are more than and get into somewhat safe and assured ground both as to
doubtful as works of art and, again, there are many por-
; artists and subjects. There is no doubt that the early
traits that are genuine as regards the artists, but are mis- Flemish artists settled in England about this time, and the
nomers as regards the persons they are said to represent. portraits of these reigns aro certainly by superior hands to
The well-informed officials, Messrs. Scharf, Redgrave, and those that preceded them. We are now coming to the period
others, are not, however, to be accountable for the errors of when every portrait of eminence was at one time attributed
this kind. The committee of lords and gentlemen who to Holbein. Some careful research, however, has now
superintended the getting-up of the Exhibition were placed proved that there were several painters who, either in-
in a peculiar position. The collection was to be formed of structed or inspired by him, worked in his style ; and, no
voluntary offerings, and it would, therefore, have been doubt, some of them were Englishmen.
ungracious to criticise too severely the pictures sent in. The period of Henry VIII. is very finely illustrated. Of
Indeed, the noble proprietors would scarcely have allowed course, there are profusions of portraits of the burly monarch,
their property to be depreciated by doubts as to its genuine- who seems, from his veriest childhood, to have the bold and
ness. In this dilemma there was no course for the mana- defiant manner which is so peculiarly characteristic of him.
gers of the Exhibition but to catalogue all they accepted The wives and victims of his perverted religion and inor-
according to the description of the owners. The editors of
. dinate passions are also here, and are viewed with a painful
the catalogue have done their work very well under the interest.
circumstances. Whilst they have not compromised them- The Edward VI. and Mary are principally
reigns of
selves, nor imposed on the public by sanctioning the false illustrated by statesmen and clergy, the victims of suc-
naming of pictures, either as regards artists or personages, cessive factions, both lay and clerical. The reign of Elizabeth,
they have given a succinct account of each portrait, and as it was so long and so illustrious, is rich both in the
enough of the biography to remind or inform those who persons it presents, and in the artists. The queen is repre-
may not have a minute knowledge or remembrance of history. sented on an infinite variety of canvasses, some of which it
To have a collection of upwards of a thousand pictures, is difficult to reconcile as giving the portraiture of the same
many of them the production of the finest masters, well person but this effect is more strongly produced in the
;
displayed in the South Kensington corridors, and to be able illustrations of Mary Queen of Scots, who varies remarkably
at full leisure to examine the collection at a very trifling from the common idea entertained of her beauty. The
outlay, is really a great boon to the public, and it would be warriors, statesmen, navigators, nobles, beauties, and
hyper-criticism to dwell upon the blemishes of such an eccentrics, of this remarkable period are copiously illustrated,
exhibition. The arrangement is chronological, and is and, in the main, in a truthful and powerful manner.
divided according to the different reigns or dynasties. To the reign of James I. have been relegated some
Commencing with the Plantagenet series, it contains por- personages who, at all events, took their rise in the previous
traits which cannot be contemporary, and are therefore reign. Had they, however, been placed there, this period
very doubtful. We should be very glad to see a true por- would have beon very bare, whereas now it is rich in the
trait of so world-renowned a beauty as Miss Clifford, who great dramatic poets. The same remark that we have
had the addition of Rosa mundi ” attached to her name on
“ already made as to the extreme difference of portraits said
account of her surpassing loveliness but the Lady in the Ruff
; to be of the same person applies here ;
and those of Shake-
presented in No. 1 of this collection can by no means satisfy speare may be cited as an instance.
our desire. We must say the same of the great warrior, The period of the first Charles is rich in Vandykes, and is
Sir William Wallace. The present portrait in no way ful- well illustrated. The second Charles’s time, with his
fils our notions of the Scottish hero. Indeed, we must pass profligate favourites and courtiers, both male and female, is
over all the pictures until we come to the large, life-sized fully illustrated and, as many of the divines and philoso-
;
portrait of the weak but handsome Richard II., which is an phers are also represented, never was there a greater mixture
emblazoned representation in the old style, and, if not the of good and bad the last, however, we fear prevailing.
;
original, is probably a careful reproduction of the old panel There is just a sprinkling illustration of the three years’
picture. This may fairly be taken as the earliest portrait reign of James II., many of the personages who flourished
of an English sovereign. The porti’ait of Henry IV. has in his brief period being reserved for the succeeding
generally been received as a likeness, and is very probably Exhibition, which will so copiously represent that and the
a reproduction of an older original. We may give the same ensuing period, down to our own time. We hope this
credence to the portraits of subsequent kings in this series. is only a commencement of illustrating our history, and
Those of the period of Edward IV. have sufficient proba- when thoroughly organized there is no doubt the grand
bility about them to make them interesting. One of the periods of our national annals will be taken as the basis of
most curious and perhaps popular is that of a lady who is collection. Thus we might see exhibited in groups all the
prominent in the history of England, although her conduct important personages who moved in the Reformation, the
was disreputable, and her end miserable. Such, however, grand Rebellion, the Revolution of 1688, &c. This Exhibition,
is the triumph of domestic and personal influence over however, is a very good beginning, and the nation is under
historic grandeur that Jane Shore is familiar in every one’s obligation to those who suggested and to those who carried
knowledge, whilst the Woodvilles and the Nevilles are it out.
—
Nature and Art, July 1, I860.] ON MUMMIES. 45
THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH EXHIBITION.
AN exhibition of pictures of the French and Flemish

schools is now, for the thirteenth time, open, under the
direction of Mr. E. Gambart, at his Gallery, No. 120, Pall
latterwork bounds any Flemish horizon. No scholar, no
artist,no admirer of hard study and uncompromising truth,
may pass the very remarkable productions of Alma-Tadema,
Mall, and is not one of the least pleasant resorts in town. a pupil of the Baron Leys and a Paris first-class medallist.
The connections of Mr. Gambart with the Art world of the The first, serially, is “The Portico of a Boman Theatre
Continent are so wide and have been so long established, and the artist has shown the descent of a Boman grande
and his taste is so unquestioned, that the almost universal dame from a cleverly-studied, but of course somewhat
merit of the collection is no matter of surprise. Comprising apocryphal, car of the period, at the portal of the Boman
but 218 works, by about half that number of artists, it amphitheatre. A gentleman hands her politely from her
neither fatigues nor dazzles the visitor, who may, neverthe- one-horse “ pilentum,” and another lady seems to have her
less, in a couple of hours, derive a variety of very delightful husband waiting for herself and her boy. Here we have
impressions. pallaj, toga, stole, tunic, and all the minutiae and accessories
There are minor examples of Bosa Bonheur and Gallait of Boman costume, even to the chignon and frizzled curls of
the latter not altogether satisfactory. Baron Leys is repre- the time, reproduced with a most commendable fidelity
sented by three extraordinary revivals of mediseval Dutch and, at the same time, with satisfactory breadth. The
life and characters, and is to our thinking surpassed in his supernumerary characters in the foreground, and even a
own peculiarities by whose “ Sunday
his pupil, V. Lagye, portion of the public, of whom we have a glimpse, seated in
Afternoon” is, wondrous. By Madame E.
in parts, simply the auditorium, are as carefully and intelligently studied as
Jerichau, of the Eoyal Danish Academy, six small and the principal figures. There is a degree of hardness in
highly-finished paintings of domestic subjects are deservedly Tadema’s treatment of drapery which is apt to strike some
popular. “The Lesson,” “The Morning Toilet,” and “Tired observers unpleasantly, but as to its admirable lines there
out,” all by Max Michael, works of the same character, can be no controversy.
must by this time have found new owners. It was a satis- The gem of the collection we have yet to refer to the —
faction to find that an old and daring friend, Biard, who is “ Phryne” of Jean Leon Gerome, a work with which the
well remembered as the painter of “ The Pirate’s Deck,” artistic public are already familiar through a published
some years ago, has not fallen a victim to his passion for photograph. The story runs that an advocate, defending
Northern adventure. His “Souvenir of Central America” Phryne before the tribunal of the Areopagus on a charge of
and “ Lapland Lovers off Cape North” show us that a hand impiety, enforced his peroration by disclosing to the court a
we feared was cold has not lost its cunning. The great portion of his client’s charms, thus appealing to the highly-
—
Meissonnier whose minutely-finished morceaux are striven cultivated sense of Beauty that so strongly influenced the
for by all who can buy, and sighed for by many who cannot Greek mind. This startling episode the great pupil of the
— has two exquisite subjects of military character, to praise great Delaroche has depicted in a startling manner in fact,
;
which would be impertinent and he too, it would seem,

;
he has permitted his pleader to disclose Phryne in absolute
has pupils, Buiperez and Zamacois, who will not be un- nudity. The drawing and colour, both of the principal
ambitious of the mantle, should it, regrettably, be at liberty. figure and of the partly scandalized, partly charmed, and
An extremely fine work is “The Bashi-Bazouks” of Adolphe —
wholly amazed tribunal the latter, as may be imagined,
Schreyer. The magnificent steed who leaps the stream is offering a great variety of expressions — have attracted so
as effective in colour as in drawing. We cannot open our- much observation, and have been so lauded by the most
selves to the reproach of blindness by not naming the two recognised authorities, that we will not weary our readers
other Bonheurs, Auguste and Juliette. The “ Meadow with a rdcha/uffe of criticisms which have left little of
Scene” of the former and “The Twins” of the latter are eulogy unsaid.
both admirable in their way. Among the most notable Before closing our notes we have only to recommend to
dexterities here are “ The Nun” of Madame Henriette the visitor the “Arabs in Ambush,” No. 180, and D’Aubigny’s
Browne (whose face is seen through a crape veil), and the —
very large, gloomy, and grand landscape, No. 50, hinting
—
satin gown —
the one attraction in Joseph Cormans’ “Lucy at the same time, that the effect of this canvass cannot
Ashton ;” and Eugene Verboeckhoven’s delighful “ Flemish be appreciated at a less distance than from fifteen or twenty
Meadows — Morning” and ditto —Evening”
“ will arrest all feet. Happily, the space at Mr. Gambart’s disposal allows
who share our love of nature and truth. We must, how- every work in his interesting collection to be seen from a
ever, take en passant a playful exception to the suggestion suitable point of view.
of the catalogue that the range of hills represented in the
0 NT MUMMIES.
By S. Birch, LL.D.
EFORE describing the ceremony of embalming, These books treated of religion, ethics, grammar,
B and the decorations of the dead, it will not
be unintereating to trace, as far as monumental and
and the narrow circle of the sciences known to
an Egyptian. If destined for the priesthood, or to
literary evidence admits, the sketch of the life of exercise the profession of a scribe, the youth passed
one of the mummies that lay in the tombs of into one of the colleges attached to the temples of
Gourneh. The children of the upper class were the principal cities, and there perfected his education.
first committed to the care of a nurse. After their According to the works which have escaped the
first infancy, they passed under the direction of a ravages of time and the destruction of the Arabs,
tutor. By him they were taught to read the ;
there was “nothing like learning.” It elevated its
works they read were the so-called Hermetic books, follower to the highest ranks, and proffered to him
supposed to have been written by Thoth himself. the noblest rewards. Every other walk or pro-
46 ON MUMMIES. [Nature .and Art, July 1, 186!5.
fession of life had its drawbacks. Not to mention, of the Syrian coast were brought on shipboard
the inconveniences and degradation of the lower to the cellars of the monarch and the aristocracy.
occupations, the toil and uncertainty of trade, The Egyptian possessed all the enjoyments of
and the mechanical art, even the occupation of life ;
the luxuries considered essential in those
all
agriculture had its misfortune. An Egyptian scribe days to his comfort or happiness. Conquest
draws a lively picture of the miseries of the farm : obtained some ; commerce or barter others.
the horses unfit for the plough, the blunted plough- The civil governmelrt was as rigorously enforced
share, the rats which over-run the corn-bins, the by police magistracy, and by the royal courts of
locusts that devour the crops, the bandits that “ hearers of plaints,” or judges, as the foreign
attack the farmer, and the idle negroes, whom he policy was carried out by a disciplined army,
cannot compel to work, are not forgotten. But quite adequate to hold Assyrians in check and
the charms of learning are everywhere extolled, negroes in awe. But the sacerdotal class soared
and the knowledge of hieroglyphics pointed out as above all others. They ministered to the temples,
the path to fame and honour. The young scribe interpreted the oracles, taught the mysteries of
learned to write, studied the codes of law and religion and the secret of letters. The vast tem-
morals, undertook the keeping of accounts, and ples of Egypt were a government within the civil
either became attached to the temples Avhose government itself. The palaces at Thebes if —
organization resembled that of the modern monas- palaces at all —
are so mixed up with the temples,
teries, or else entered into the civil service of the that they are lost in the greatness of the religious
state, and became one of the bureaucracy. If the edifices. The supreme Pontiff or high priest of
profession of arms required his services, the youth Amen Ha, the Theban Jupiter, was only second to
was sent to a military school or a barrack. He was the monarch. Under him were the orders of
,
there taught all the drill and martial exercises reverend prophets, or, as they were called, divine
required; the use of the sword, the buckler, and fathers and priests. The administration and or-
the bow. Under the earlier dynasties, infantry ganization of these vast temples was equally mi-
only were known or used, for the horse was un- —
nute scribes or clerks attended to the accounts,
known till the eighteenth dynasty, and then only comptrollers presided over the lands, the corn, the
used for the chariot. To take the chariot to pieces, cattle, the linen, the revenues of the society.
to harness and drive the horses, was then a portion Each department had its presiding officer ; wherever
of the soldier’s duties. When foreign wars and anything was to be kept there was an appointed
external conquests had carried the standards of keeper. Their riches, their rank, and their im-
Egypt to the banks of the Euphrates on the portance are attested by the numerous tombs at
northern, and within a few degrees of the line on Gourneh, which record facts interesting to all stu-
the southern limits -of the empire, the Egyptian dents of ancient history and art, while the tenants
soldier traversed, as occasion required, these of the sepulchres have long since disappeared.
distant regions, and kept garrison amidst the hostile Their destruction commenced long before the Arab
Assyrians, or revolted Negroes. In these expedi- fellaheen or the European traveller penetrated their
tions he not unfrequently encountered the wild obscurity. It is as old as the sepulchres them-
beast of the plain or waters as well as the face of the selves. The priestly order has supplied the greatest
enemy. It was pastime to spear the crocodile of number of mummies. The museums of Europe
the Nile, or harpoon the hippopotamus— the are full of the embalmed hierarchy. The plunder
behemoth of the waters it was not less a sport
: of the tombs has gone on for centuries, and they
to kill the lion of the plains of Mesopotamia or are still unexhausted. Asimilar state of society
the forests of Syria. Nor were the diversions of prevailed at Memphis, but that capital of the
polite society wanting to his return to Memphis, Delta was too exposed to the attacks of the enemies
the capital of the lower, or Thebes, of the upper of Egypt to retain its importance after the rise of
country. Banquets, gymnastic sports, dancing- the neighbouring Semitic nations. The Hyksos
girls, music, the games of chance and skill, beguiled had conquered it. The magnificent sepulchres of
his leisure hours ; the toilet occupied others ; and the early dynasties, as well as the humbler ones of
the beaux of Thebes painted their eyelids as darkly, the officers' of their court, had been rifled at a most
as the belles. The condition of the upper civil and remote period. Hence, Memphis remained as an
military classes was aristocratic. Their households old religious capital, the centre of the worship of
were filled with slaves, many of them prisoners of the god Ptah or Yulcan, and his avatar the Apis,
war, who made in their workshops all that the tillthe days of the Romans ; but its political impor-
master required. The domestic servants were tance had declined. Those, therefore, who plun-
nearly all slaves. The produce of the land sufficed dered the sepulchres of Memphis found a less abun-
for the support of the household, and as there was dant harvest of mummies and their accompaniments
little or no money, even at a highly refined period, than the devastators of Thebes. Under the Saites
barter, or precious metals paid by weight, sufficed of the seventh century B.c. and Ptolemies, Memphis
for the acquisition of such things as were required. slightly revived, but the nation was expiring. The
At an early period the Egyptian was only a fresh- Greeks did, be it observed, no good to Egypt. They
water sailor. He navigated undauntedly the neither improved its art nor arrested its decadence.
placid or ruffled bosom of the Nile ; but in a later They perched their capital on the seaboard of the
age his galley ploughed the deep, and the wines Mediterranean, and indolently governed an empire
Nature and Art, July 1, 1866.] ON MUMMIES. 47
once mighty, with a view to secure the transit trade destruction or purgatory. A flat tin plate of
of the East, and enrich the coffers of a corrupt court. square shape engraved with a mystical eye, was
Of what race were the mummies : —
the greater placed on the flank incision. This represented the
number of the Egyptian exhibiting at the earliest eye of the god Shu, one of the deities of light, and
epoch certain negroid peculiarities, but intermingled of itself was supposed to retain the vital principle.
with Semites on the northern and negroes on the A series of pretty little amulets of jasper, felspar,
southern border 1 The Egyptian of the sculptures and gold, were hung round the neck, and were
has an upward elongation of head, receding fore- supposed to prevent the deceased from being
head, delicate features, oblique eye, straight or turned away from the gate of heaven at the
aquiline nose, full lips, and ear placed high on the west, to procure him food off the table of the sun,
head. His colour was red, his form long and slen- and to justify him against his enemies. As the
der, his legs thin. The hair was plaited in curls. Egyptian considered the heart to be the seat of
Similar peculiarities are traceable in the mummies, life, a scarabseus with a special chapter, consecrated
in which the features are thin and delicate ; the by special ceremonies, was placed above the region
hair sometimes curly, at others long the forehead
;
of that organ for its protection. The enwrapping
good the teeth well preserved, but the front ones
;
of the mummy was a most artistic preparation, and
often worn ; the height moderate. On the whole, the quantity of linen employed considerable as
the Egyptians were a well-proportioned race, and much as 700 yards, and 40 lbs. in weight, have
distinct from the other races by which they were been found. Coarser near the body, the wrap-
surrounded. Immediately after death the prepara- pings become finer externally, and quantities of
tion of the dead commenced. After the relations old material were employed, for either the families
or some of the family had rushed into the streets preserved the linen for the purpose, or else the
and raised the funeral wail, the preparers of the agents of the embalmers traversed the streets from
dead, the tariclieutw or embalmers, were called to house to house, to secure an adequate supply.
take possession of the body. So jealous was this They were laid on wet, and kept even by pledgets.
fraternity of its rights, that care was taken to apply We find that the more finished parts of bandages a
to the proper one of the district. They called for few inches broad, and several yards long, were used
the corpse at night, and carried it to their establish- fresh from the loom with their blue selvages and
ment, for the costly and tedious preparation could and fringes, the coarser portions being composed of
not be performed in the precincts of a private old shirts or other household linen. Several men were
house. Here the scribe traced with a light reed employed at the same time on the bandages ; often
the place of the flank incision ; a paraschistes they could not be finished at once. A scribe then
operated with a so-called Ethiopian stone ; and a wrote, on a bandage outside, the name of the
rite of throwing stones at him for the supposed deceased, to which he sometimes added the age at
injury was ostensibly performed by the bystanders. death, and the year of the king’s reign when it
As to the particular manner in which the preserva- happened. The last bandage of all mummies of
tion of the dead was to be effected, that depended some periods, was often of a pink colour dyed by
on the age in which the deceased had lived, or the an infusion of the carthamus tinctorius, at others
expense that the family was willing to incur. it was formed of strips covered with the text of
Models of the different manners were exhibited in rituals traced in black, but no one rule prevailed.
the shops or establishments, and the extant mum- Over the outer bandage there was frequently a
mies exhibit great diversity of the art. Ideas network of bugles and beads of blue porcelain.
changed during 2000 years ; new drugs were dis- This net was the symbol of Osiris, whose body, when
covered; different processes invented. The earlier thrown by Typhon and his associates into the Nile,
preparers seem to have relied on salt, wax, and had been recovered by the nets of fishermen.
wine ; those of the middle empire on naphtha and Sometimes, pieces of beaded work with various
bitumen but, as the art declined and the wealth
: devices worked in divers colours, and even in-
of the country grew less, salt and cheaper substances scriptions, were placed on the outer bandages.
were employed. In the days of Herodotus the cost Many mummies had the pectoral plate or uta, an
of preserving a body, in the first or best style, ornament bearing the same name as the word
amounted to a talent of silver, or about £244 but u health,” which it perhaps symbolized, with a
;
the middle classes did not expend above 20 mime, scarabseus in a barge, emblem, as it would appeal',
or £22, on the operation. of Osiris adored by Isis and Nephthys. This
It is not necessary to detail all the processes and searabseus often bears the chapter of the Ritual for
the curious anatomical facts, that the scientific the protection of the heart. These beaded decora-
examination of mummies has revealed. It is tions are principally found about the sixth century
sufficient to state, that these processes occupied B.c., and do not appear at the commencement of
nearly 70 days, and that during this period the the art. At a still later period they are super-
family kept fast, and mourning. When the body seded by smali gilded emblems of words, amulets
was preserved from decay it was enwrapped in in shape of the principal deities of the dead, and
linen, no other material being allowed. But before other charms which had a mystic meaning. In
the final placing of the wraps, certain amulets were the Greek mummies which have certain pecu-
placed about the form to protect the body, and to liarities of type, there were often substituted
assure the soul a safe delivery from the danger of wreaths of leaves for the network, and gold
;
48 ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. [Nature and Art, July 1, 186(5.
tinsel by way of external adornment. Objects of feet. The dead, in fact, were made as gay and
nse or ornament, according to tlie taste of the artistic as the beads, bugles, tinsel, and colours
family, were often placed amidst the bandages. could contrive to render them.
Now a papyrus or religions book, then a dagger After all these decorations the labours of the
or toilet vase, or the comb with which the beauty embalmers were by no means ended. The mummy
curled her flowing locks. Often the long hair of required a case, a description of which, as well as
ladies was cut from their heads, made into a of other portions of the funereal accompaniments,
separate packet, and carefully deposited at their will be given in a subsequent number.

By Aabon Penley, Professor of Landscape Painting- at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
No. II.
lid, —The accompanying drawing is taken from force, and interest. The mountain is beautiful in
S the entrance of Gienflnlas, near the Brigg of form, and its rugged outline desirable, to prevent
Turk and the Trosachs. I have selected it as my formality. It is also so placed with one of its
second subject in your magazine for its extreme sides warm, and the other cool in tone, as to receive
simplicity of character, and because I see in it a breadth of light and shadow. The lines of the
a great variety of broad masses of form, combining, middle distance, being curved in different direc-
as it does, mountain, moorland, and a rudely tions, assist very naturally to give elevation and
picturesque Highland hut. I have given the scene dignity to it ; and the warm citrine yellow tone,
exactly as I saw it, without addition or alteration. with purple and laky heather, serve to send it far-
Indeed, there was no need for either, as every away into aerial grey. There is often much
object was calculated
compose agreeably, and to
to difficulty in giving expression to a large mass of
produce a pleasing result. Nothing can exceed moorland or hillside, unless the surface is extremely
the charm of colour frequently found on old thatch. irregular and, even then, we are not made cog-
;
The patches of different grasses growing to seed nizant of those features of character so requisite to
upon it exhibit every description of tint portray, until some sudden gleam of sunshine
while the weather-stricken thatch itself assumes lights up the more prominent parts, or, on the
indefinite compounds of russet, brown, and purple other hand, some passing clouds produce dark and
greys. It is from such little “ bits,” that the telling divisions by their cast shadows.
artist gleans much knowledge of harmonizing and I would deeply r-ecommend all whose pencil is
natural blending, enabling him to bring the force employed on mooi'land scenery, to notice whence
of h is pallette into action, and yet keep clear of the several undulations spring, in what direction
unpleasant or crude brightness. The lines of the they continue, and where they terminate. It will
cottage are broken by the position of several poles be upon a correct disposition of these lines that
leaning against the roof and as these have neither
;
distances will depend ; for it is not unusual that
similarity in direction, nor equi-distance from one several miles of sp>ace have to be expressed upon
another, they present no stiffness or apparent what would appear to a casual observer, nothing
design. There is also great diversity in the sloping more than a flat surface void of interest. When
roof ; not only as regards colour, but also in its alluding to the charming and varied effects of moors
several layers or demarcations, which help to make and downs, I would recall to memory the exquisite
up an agreeable, although broken, whole ; while productions of the late Copley Fielding; because
the chimney, with its slaty top, gives a point of many of them are truly beautiful, and exhibit a
darkness and intensity. The peat at the side of most poetic and refined feeling for nature and art.
the cottage is well placed for giving depth of shade In the present drawing, there is, in point of
and warmth of colour. Such scenes as this the colour, great simplicity, harmony, and contrast,
amateur should seek for his pencil because, the
;
with a broad of daylight.
effect The sky and
component objects being few in number, there is clouds are cool and light in tint. The distant
little difficulty in dealing with them without con- mountain rises with much tenderness of tone,
fusion, oi- in tracing the manner in which the deepening towards- the extreme outline. Opposed
combinations of colours are effected. far-off A to this is the citrine or yellow-tinged moorland,
mountain, backed by light and flying clouds ; a with its delicate markings and shadows of warm
middle distance of broken and undulating moor- russet purples; the yellows causing the greys to
land a cottage by the roadside, based by patches
; appear more aerial, and the half-toned shadows
of grass ; a large fragment or two of stone a stone ;
throwing the mass far into distance. The local
wall ; and three small trees, compose the whole of tones of the motley-coloured roof, poles, and stone
the scene before us with the exception of the
;
walls, give a soft appearance to the mass of moor-
horse and cart, which I introduce to convey action, land, placing it at once in the middle distance.
•’Nature and Art, .July 1,1866.
— A ; Y
Nature and Art, July 1, 18J6.] A HANDFUL OF SAND. 49
And, again, the broad grey shadow of the cottage For the markings of shadows and forms, raw
side gives an of vigour to the local
increase sienna, cobalt, and lake after which a few
;
colours. The brightest lights in the drawing will glazings of raw sienna and lake, and of terre
be found on the cottage wall, it being requisite verte in the green shades between the several
that these should be clear and attractive. Next in markings.
degree of light is the road, with the intervals —
Cottage Eoof and Poles Cobalt, lake, and
between the patches of grass, and so diffused as to raw sienna sepia being added for the deep
;
cause the eye to regard the whole of the fore- shadows and markings.
ground. The shadows of the stone wall to the Cottage Wall in Siiadoav — Sepia, lake, and
left, and across the road, connect the sides of the cobalt.
drawing, and repeat the tones of grey dispersed —
Peat Brown madder for the lights, and brown
throughout it. For this purpose also, the shadows madder and sepia for the shadows.
on the fragments of rock are of much service, as —
Grass Gamboge, burnt sienna, and indigo.
well as those of a warm colour. The cart is so Trees — Gamboge, burnt sienna, and indigo in
placed as to repeat the tone of the stone wall ; and some depth of colour.
the black horse, to give a point of concentration —
Shadow on Boad Sepia, lake, and indigo a ;
while the colour of the figures subdues the whole. little Gamboge added for the stone wall.
The position of the trees, encircling the subject Shadows of Large Stones — Sepia, lake, and
with their deep and broken greens, is also valuable. indigo, with a glazing of terre verte.
The colours employed were, for the Colour of the Road —
Yellow ochre, a little
—
Sky Cobalt. lake,and sepia.
—
Clouds Cobalt, sepia, and a little lake. Warm Stones — ellow ochre and lake.
Mountain Cobalt, lake; yellow ochre, shaded —
Cart Sepia and yellow ochre, shaded with sepia,
with cobalt and lake a light wash of raw
;
lake, and indigo.
sienna and lake on the top, and of terre verte —
Figure Lake, shaded with sepia.
on the lower part. Horse— Sepia, lake, and indigo.
Moorland or Middle Distance wash of — Stones on the Cottage Wall — Modification of
yellow ochre and raw sienna over the whole. raw sienna, lake, cobalt, and sepia.
A HANDFUL OF SAND.
TlHE mariner nearing the coasts of England carefully. The boundless treasures so long buried
X during the dark night and winter fogs, watches in the wide valleys of California might have re-
his charts anxiously, and hails with joy the appear- mained at rest and undiscovered to this day had
ance of “ sand and shells ” on the arming of the not sand disclosed the golden secret, and thus it
“ deep sea lead,” which, like a faithful diver, has was divulged. One Captain Sutter, an old soldier
I
plunged far down into the doubtful regions below, of the American republic, had settled in the valley
and brought back indisputable evidence of the due of the Sacramento, laid out a farm, built a mill,
performance of its mission. To the explorer, tra- and regularly established himself. It was found
”
veller, and investigator of Nature’s secrets, “ Sand that the “race” constructed to carry off the water
is a page — —
perchance a volume in the w oriel’s his- which had passed the wheel was not deep enough
tory. Every tiny rill and rivulet which pours its for its purpose. It was therefore decided that
waters through ravine and valley, to lose itself at the whole water-power should be turned on, and
last in some passing river, brings with it, slowly allowed to rush through, and deepen it. The pent-up
but surely, grain by grain, specimens of the rocks torrent not only did the duty it was called on to
and deposits over which its waters have for ages perform, but overflowed the banks, carrying turf,
worn their way. Each winter flood and summer sticks, stones, and sand far over the meadows.
storm lends its aid to break down, disintegrate, .and As the water drained off, and the sun shone out,
drift away the detritus brought down by the ever- the white quartz particles glittered like a thousand
fretting, ever wearing, influence of running water. diamonds, and a handful was gathered by one of
If you doubt as to the geological formation of dis- the Captain’s people, when yellow grains as well as
tant hills and inaccessible mountains, consult a white were discovered, examined, and found to be
handful of sand from the nearest brook flowing gold. How the human tide flowed in endless
from them, and much light will lie thrown on the throngs to the new El Dorado, and how splendid
Subject by the investigation. To examine sand, it cities sprang into being where, a few months before,
has been my custom, after washing and drying it, a herdsman’s fire and a lean wolfish-looking dog
to lay a well-mixed portion, say of the size of a or two were the only signs of occupation, need not
shilling, over a sheet of clean white paper; to flat- be dwelt on here, as they are matters of history.
ten out the pile until the particles are evenly dis- Hargraves, too, tempted by the golden prospects
tributed ; and then with my pocket lens to scan them held out in the new lands, quitted Australia, and
ii. E
” ;
•
50 FRENCH ART. [Nature and Art, July 1, 18(16.
joined the gold-seekers in California. There the fragments little more than sand. These, with other
rocks and drifts struck him as being so much like atoms worn from the bed of the torrent over which
those which he had left behind, that he, like the abrading masses have passed, are borne onward,
Whittington, retraced his steps, visited the river- and settle for a time, according to their gravity
bed near his own home, gathered sand which told and size, to be again disturbed, carried onward,
him the great gold secret, and unlocked the vast re-deposited, shaken about, fretted, rounded, and
coffers of the Antipodes. Many other highly again crushed. Your veritable “rolling stone”
valuable alluvial gold and diamond washings are gathers no moss, indeed, but obtains, like many
dependent on, and have been discovered by, the waifs and strays on the stream of life, a particularly
drifting sand borne ever onward by the giant smooth surface instead. Onward and ever onward
strength of water. So vast and irresistible is that journeys our sand, forming at times “ bars ” across
strength, that huge boulders which, when the river- rivers and the mouths of harbours, silting-up lakes,
bed is dry, the reeds withered and yellow, and the — a process now going on in that of Geneva,
—
water-plants crumbled up like parched tobacco- blocking-up channels, forming “ sinks ” for whole
leaves, look as though no earthly power could stir rivers to disappear in, and, in fact, doing its part
them from their beds, are rolled pell-mell over and to bring about many
of the changes which the
against each other by winter floods or “ spates Earth’s crust is always undergoing. On the
of molten snow that thunder down from distant burning desert and amongst the sterile dunes, sand
mountains. holds high festival ; and well do I know, from
Each of these water-worn blocks lends its con- painful experience, what a tyrant he is, when
tribution to our “ handful of sand.” The mineral whirling aloft like some huge pillar, curling round
veins and quartz reefs traversed and intersected in mazy, spiral, onward march, the sand-storm
by the crushing mass are laid bare, pulverized as is upon us, and we bow our heads in meek sub-
by a mighty mill, and ground into particles and mission.
FRENCH ART.
THE PARIS ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF WORKS OF LIVING ARTISTS.
fjnHE best idea of tlie extent of this exhibition may be prominent works for their benefit. Two small pictures by
JL conveyed by stating that the collection of paintings the late Hippolyte Bellange, “ L’Escadron repousse,” and
alone seventeen rooms, all of which are large, and three
fills “ La Garde meurt, le 18 Juin, 1815,” have attracted great
of them immense. Several others are appropriated to water- attention. The latter was touched by the artist on his
colour drawings, pastels, engravings, lithographs, and deathbed, and is, after all, but an unfinished work, but full
architectural studies and designs ;
and that, besides all, an of sentiment and force. A few veterans of the guard stand
extensive gallery of sculpture and models occupies the lower up in the midst of a hecatomb of their fallen comrades, and
floor. The cliiffre of the catalogue is the more astonishing one, with clenched fists, hurls his last defiance at the foe.
that no artist is permitted to send more than two works in In the other picture a cuirassier and his horse are both
any one class, and that many only exhibit one. The number wounded, the man mortally the animal has sunk to the
;
of paintings in oil is 1998 ; of drawings, pastels, miniatures, earth, and its master is falling backwards in the saddle.
enamels, painted porcelain and earthenware (faience), and Both pictures are worthy and most touching examples of
designs for stained glass, 616. The sculpture class includes the painter’s genius, sad memorials of a glory that is passed.
390 works of various kinds there are 75 sets of archi- —
Bellange was the last of the famous trio Charlet, Raffet,
—
;
tectural drawings ; 172 engravings, and 46 lithographic Bellange whose pencils kept alive the Napoleonic fervour
works. Last, come 41 works in painting, sculpture, archi- during the Restoration, and he leaves no equal behind him.
tecture, and engraving, either the prize works of pupils of The picture that attracts the largest amount of attention,
the Ecole des Beaux .Arts, of the past year, or sent by those after those of Bellange, also presents a scene of blood, an
who are now passing the term of their prize scholarship in episode in the struggle of the Poles
—“ Warsaw, the 8th
Rome or Athens. The quantity of works, however, is of April, 1861,”— a crowd of victims, men, women, and
little importance. The Salon, indeed, like almost all other children, kneeling around tlie column of Sigismond, are
general exhibitions, could be weeded to advantage. The hemmed in on all sides by Russian troops, and falling
—
grand question is what is the quality of the works beneath the bullets of the infantry. It is a scene of intense
generally ? horror, represented with great power. The painter is a
From various causes, illness amongst the rest, several of young man, son of M. Robert-Fleury, and pupil of Paul
the most popular names are unfortunately absent from the Delaroche and Leon Cogniet. He will, or rather has already,
catalogue. Cabanel (fils), Meissonnier (the elder), Baudry, won his spurs, for he is sure to receive one of the medals
Iinaus, and Winterhalter, amongst painters ; and Clasinger, and, some think, the medal of honour. Another young
Cavelier, Debay, Dubois, Guillaume, Jouffroy, amongst artist, Adolphe Schreyer, who received a medal last year for
sculptors'; the two last-named, however, seldom exhibit. an admirable picture of a charge of artillery at Traktir, has
There is a perceptible diminution in the number of official “ A Charge of Cuirassiers ” in the grande salle this year ; but,
pictures, battle-pieces, and portraits, and certainly the exhi- though clever, it is not equal to his former work. M. Protais,
bition gains greatly thereby. As regards portraits, it is another painter of military subjects, or, more strictly speak-
believed that the jury has exercised considerable severity, ing, of the joys and sorrows which belong to a soldier’s life,
of which recent exhibitions have certainly demonstrated the exhibits a remarkable work. A young infantry soldier,
necessity. wounded and dying in a ditch, amid a profusion of nature’s
The gallery will probably have been dispersed before wild and lavish beauties ; the pale, haggard face, the sunken
these lines meet the eye of the reader but as there are many
;
eye, the prostrate form, the flitting life in the midst of the
to whomthe doings and progress of the French School is long fresh green grass and the bright flowers, make up an
no matter of indifference, we will notice a few of the most intensely touching picture.
1
;
Nature and Art, July 1, 1866.]

FRENCH ART. 51
In this central chamber of honour are also a remarkably sentiment is entirely wanting. But M. Courbet is worthy
fine, though peculiar work, by a well-known artist, M. game from his position and real talent, and a little also from
Courbet, entitled “ Remise aux Chevreuils,” deer gathering a certain amount of eccentricity and it must be admitted
;
together under the shadow of a group of beeches a picture ;

that the objectors might have fixed upon more glaring
of a tribe of nomad Arabs crossing a stream, by Fromentin, instances of the practice to which they object. M. Courbet
purchased by his excellency Khalil Bey ; two exquisite small is hors concours, having received all the ordinary medals ;
forest by Rousseau
scenes, a charming work entitled
;
but, should he obtain the medal of honour, or the cross of
“ Vines and Elms,” by Nazon; and two of those extraordinary the legion, the “ Nudists ” will be triumphant, and the next
reproductions of objects of art, embroidery, and flowers, for exhibition may be expected to be tres-ddcolletde.
which M. Blaise Desgoffe has so well deserved a reputation. The Daubignys, father and son, contribute four pleasing
The caskets, cups, and table-covers in these two works are as —
landscapes M. Delamarre, a daring use of positive colours
near perfection as can well be imagined the rendering of ;
in his Chinese merchant, counting his money —M. Gustave
agate, glass, ivory, and velvet, leaves nothing to be desired. Dore, a soiree in the campagna of Grenada, a group of
If M. Desgoffe’s fruit were but as pulpy as his wine is liquid, ladies in their black mantillas, listening to the music of a
we should pronounce him all but perfect in his speciality. knot of peasants ; and a landscape in Savoy. M. P. E.
Nearly the whole of one side of this great room is filled by —
Frere whose works are well known in London— exhibits
an ambitious work by M. E. Dubufe, “ The Prodigal Son,” !
an admirable group of young girls at work, under the title
an immense composition, exhibiting considerable talent and I of “L’Ouvroir a Ecouen.” Well studied and well painted,
laudable daring, which may contain the germs of future this humble, industrial interior is one of the smaller gems
eminence. The above are not all the good pictures in the |
of the exhibition.
grande salle, but they are the most remarkable. M. Gerome’s Cleopatra and Csesar is the cheval de hataille
In the first of the lettered or alphabetical rooms (which of the present year’s exhibition. The artist holds an
do not include the salle d’honneur, and two others devoted eminent position, not only in public estimation, but officially.
to very large canvasses), the following pictures, amongst He has won a great name by his Caesars, his Phryne, and
others, merit attention :
—
“ Un Cauchemar,” by Antigua, other works. Of the three professors of painting in the
a sleeping nude, female figure, with a demon, of the imagina-
-
, Ecole des Beaux Arts, he is the only one who has not yet
tion, resting his elbow on the victim’s chest; “Serenade received the medal of honour. His name was placed at the
it Echo,” a bevy of merry damsels of Haut-Aragon listen- head of the jury list this year and, lastly, his principal
;
ing with secret delight to the songs and guitars beneath picture is remarkable not only for its subject, but for the
their window a charge of cuirassiers, by Annand-Dumaresq
;
accidental circumstances connected with it. It was painted
and a view of the Villa Torlonia, by Achenbach. to order for the embellishment of a new mansion in the
The adjoining room is glorified by a large and brilliant Champs Elysees, which is already celebrated before it is
work from the pencil of Auguste Bonheur, entitled “ Le habitable ; it was refused on account of the sum demanded
Dormoir a group of cattle are being collected for the night, for it by the artist, namely 40,000 francs, and was im-
on a mossy spot, overshadowed with pine-trees, while the mediately purchased at that price by Mr. Turner. M.
slanting rays of the setting sun shine through the autumnal Gerome has taken for his text the piassage in Plutarch’s life
foliage, and fall in exquisite “ chequered light ” on the rough of Cassar, which states that the famous queen, the “ Serpent
ground, purple with heather. This is the finest work that of Old Nile,” caused herself to be carried nearly naked, in a
the artist has yet produced, and a smaller painting called carpet, into the presence of the great conqueror, in the
“ LePlomb du Cantal,” is worthy of the same pencil. Rosa Palace, at Alexandria. M. Gerome has treated the subject
Bonheur has not exhibited for some time in Paris but three ;
in what is called the neo-elassic style, and his Cleopatra is
of her family are in the catalogue this year, namely, Auguste not the fascinating, voluptuous queen of ancient literature
Bonheur, of whom we have just spoken Isidore Bonheur,;
and modern art, but the swarthy Egyptian of the painted
the admirable sculptor of cattle and Madame Peyrol, whose
; walls of her own country. It may be that the painter is
maiden name was Juliette Bonheur, and who exhibits this archaeologically correct but, undoubtedly, the picture loses
;
year two excellent studies of sheep and lambs. “ Rembrandt greatly in artistic interest by such treatment. The question
going to an Anatomical Lecture,” by a young Dutch artist, almost invariably put on approaching the picture for the
named Bisschof is a very remarkable work, the property of first time, “Is that the Cleopatra?” is the popular con-
the historical gallery of Amsterdam. Madame Henriette demnation of the mode of treatment adopted. The figure
Browne isunfortunately only represented by a single of Csesar is insignificant, while the slave, one of the least
portrait, which, however, is a work of art. M. Boulanger important figures in the composition, is universally re-
contributes a rather oddly conceived, but cleverly executed cognized as the most successful. But M. Gerome is a
picture of the interview of Catherine I. with Mehemet remarkable artist, and this, as well as a small but repulsive
Baltadji, in 1711 ; and M. Boulange, two charming forest picture, deserves careful study, on account of its admirable
scenes. manipulation and general tone. Their greatest fault and —
M. Chaplin exhibits a panel painted for the hotel of Prince it attaches to all M. Gerome’s works —
is the absence of
Demidoff, glowing with nymphs and cupids, and entitled movement and life-like energy. In the expressive language
“ A Dream.” M. Chintreuil has a very remarkable land- of the French studio, all M. Gerome’s characters posent.
scape, entitled “ The Country under a March Wind.” M. M. Hamon is another of the accomplished masters of the
|
Corot has two landscapes in his usual grey style, but scarcely French school of the present day he, too, is neo-classic, but
;
exhibiting his usual delicacy and M. Courbet who has

; — with this remarkable difference, that while his compositions
charmed all the world with his retreat of the deer already are formal and sculpturesque, his figures are exquisitely soft
—
mentioned has set all the critics and connoisseurs by the and lovely. His representations of Greek domestic life, are
ears, with his “Femme au Perroquet.” The lady reclines too well known by their engravings to require description.
in an exceedingly uncomfortable position —
her head lower Upon the present occasion he has sent us, from his retreat
than her body, and, with one hand raised, supports the bird. in Garibaldi’s isle of Goats, a picture of more than usual
The head and hair are certainly far from perfect, but the importance, a subject of the highest poetical character,
work exhibits great study and power of pencil. The truth “ The Muses mourning the destruction of Pompeii.” The
is, M. Courbet’s work is made the occasion for a removal of “ Sisters Nine,” view from the house-tops, the work of the
a feud which has existed for some time in Paris, and which burning mountain, Clio and Urania are seated in melancholy
may be expressed in a few words. “ Is it well to admit in contemplation, while Terpsichore prostrate, with her face to
public exhibitions studies of the nude, which are not pictures, earth, weeps the desolation that has fallen on the once
properly so called, but only artistic exercises ?” M. Courbet laughing city, in which she must have been one of the most
is not the most glaring offender; for, while there are far too cherished of the Muses. The composition is grey, dreamy,
many figures which represent nothing but mere form, and vapoury, and in certain portions somewhat weak, but the
some few to which exceptions might be taken on other figures of Clio and Urania, especially the latter, are
grounds, the “ Femme au Perroquet ” has both subject and exquisitely beautiful, and would alone be sufficient to save
action, although both are certainly of a slight kind and the existing school of French painters from the charge of a
E 2
; ;
52 FRENCH ART. [Nature and Art, July 1, 18ob.
total want of pure poetic sentiment. If M. Hamon’s Clio which the prizes are few, and as mediocrity in it is neither
and Urania were professors in the Academy, the “ Champ admirable nor useful, it is the duty of a critic, even when
de Mars ” would not contain the students of history and he cannot point out all the mistakes, to laud nothing but
astronomy, and the power of Venus would pale in the that which deserves commendation. Critical observers
presence of their purer beauty. M. Hebert, whose Eastern will find beauties for themselves, but the uninitiated have
woman at the well, and other charming compositions, are so a right to expect, in a popular work, laudation of that only
well known through all the world of art, deserves severe which is worthy of admiration.
reprobation for contributing to the salon, in two years, Visitors to the exhibitions at the Paris salon must not
nothing but four charming portraits. The best of these expect to find many great examples of art ; the highest
cannot be accepted as a sufficient excuse, yet no one with elements, great poetic sentiment, patriotic feeling, moral
an artistic eye will pass by the Pre-Raphaelite figure of the teaching, and aesthetic beauty, are rare here as elsewhere ;
tall boy, or the charming sketch of the little girl in the but they will not fail to find a vast field for study. Com-
present exhibition. One of the most remarkable small works paring the present with past exhibitions, it may be said, in
in the salon of this year, is the “ Antichambre ” of M. general terms, that there is less conventionality than there
Heilbuth, a Hamburg artist, —
a waiting-room with an oaken was that nature has more share in the productions of art
;
bench, on which is seated a long- bony lawyer-like figure that there is more independence of thought, less servile
in black, while a fat-faced, thick-lipped, small-eyed old imitation, more feeling for the phenomena of nature, an
servant, in a faded green velvet livery, leans over the high improvement with respect to colour, and a decided advance
back of the seat, and talks to the waiting visitor. The in all the material portions of the artist’s profession.
picture is bare, dry, hard, and the subject unromantic, un- An arrangement which deserves notice has been made
picturesque, uninteresting to the majority but the artistic
;
this year with respect to the light in the picture galleries.
contrast of the two faces, the painting of these and of the It will be remembered that the Palais de l’lndustrie, in
hands, and the drawing in general, are beyond praise. which the exhibition is held, has a glass roof, and many
The two studies of Eastern women “Femme fellah,” of complaints have been made of the effect of the light upon
Asia Minor, and an “ Armenienne ” of the Caucasus by M. the pictures. The directors have therefore suspended semi-
Landelle, are very pleasing productions, especially as opaque canopies in several of the rooms, by which the
regards picturesque costume. spectators are screened from the light, which falls only on
One of the most popular pictures here is “Margaret the walls. The general opinion is that the arrangement is
trying the Jewels,” by M. Merle. Goethe’s sweetly sad satisfactory, provided the canopies be not too low or too
heroine essays the effect of the terrible lures offered to her j
opaque. Considering how much the appreciation of works
by the old neighbour, while Mephistopheles clings to the of art depends on position and light, every experiment of
back of the girl’s chair, and encourages her vanity. The this kind is deserving of serious attention.
composition is somewhat flat and conventional, but The liberal measures now in force relative to these annual
Margaret’s face is very lovely, and the rendering of the exhibitions deserve special attention. The jury entrusted
various tissues of her dress is excellent. M. Gustave with the reception or rejection of the works sent in for
Moreau, whose Sphinx created so much admiration and exhibition, and with the settlement of the awards, is elected
controversy two years since, and has received all the under the new rules, which place the selection of three-
honours of engraving, photography, and enamel, and who fourths of the jurors in the hands of those artists who have
won a second medal last year, contributes two works this 1
themselves received medals or other distinctions painters,

;
year, —
a young girl bearing the head of Orpheus, and his sculptors, architects, and engravers each voting for jurors
lyre cast into the Hebrus by the murderous nymphs he had in their own section only. The other members of the jury arc
slighted and, “ Diomed devoured by his Horses.”
;
These nominated by the administration of the department of the
works certainly disappoint even M. Moreau’s most ardent Beaux Arts. This system gave great satisfaction last year,
admirers the former certainly presents some beauties
: and, looking at the list of jurors for 1866, it can scarcely be
amid glaring faults the second is a sad mistake. M.
;
otherwise on the present occasion. The painters elected on
Moreau forms with MM. Gerome and Hamon, a curious the jury are MM. Gerome, Cabanel fils, Bida, Meissonnier,
trio of neo-classic painters, strangely differing, withal, Francjais, Fromentin, Carot, Robert-Fleury, I. Breton,
amongst themselves. M. Gerome sins on the side of hard Hebert, Dauzats, Brion, Daubigny, Barrias, Dubufe, and
correctness; M. Hamon is all sentiment; and M. Moreau Baudry ; and the sculptors are MINI. Guillaume, Barye,
all colour, the rainbow scarcely sufficing for his palate. Cavelier, Dumont, Jouffroy, Perraud, Daumas, Cabet, and
All three want action and mobility all are steeped in
;
Paul Dubois. Of these, six are members of the Academy of
mannerism yet all are artists of great talent, if not of
;
Beaux Arts in the French Institute, six are professors of
genius. painting and sculpture in the Ecole des Beaux Arts M. ;
M. Ribot, a medallist of 1864 and 1865, exhibits two Robert- Fleury was lately director of the same school, and
works, Chi-ist and the Doctors, and the Flute Player. is now appointed superintendent of the French school in
These works belong to a new school of realistic painters, Rome, and M. Paul Dubois won the grand prize in sculpture
”
and we name them simply as an indication of one phase of for his charming statue of the young “ Florentine Singer
French Art of the present moment. last year. It would, we think, have been very difficult for
As regards the sculpture, we fear we must say that there the body of elective artists to have made out a list that
is no very great work amongst the contributions of this would have more completely justified the confidence placed
year, though many are well worthy of notice. Such are in their judgment by the Government, which has, by its
those of Barre, Isidore Bonlieur, Cain, Carpeaux, Chapu, liberality in this matter, at once put an end to almost
De la Planche, Feugeres des Forts, Garnaud, Gantier, all ground of complaint against the authorities respecting
Heizler, Marcellin Loison, Marcello (the pseudonym of the either the admission and placing of the pictures and other
Duchesse Castiglione Colonna, whose “Head of the Gorgon” works of art, or the award of the prizes. A still further
has just been purchased for the South Kensington Museum) change has been made with respect to the prizes, which, in
Moreau, Olivia, Prouha, and perhaps some others. fact, gives to the public an indirect voice in the distribution
Few tasks are more ungrateful than that of giving a short of the medals. It is the custom to close the doors of the
account of an important collection of works of art. Every salon for a few days when the time of the exhibition is
effort towards the beautiful, every endeavour to raise the about half expired, in order to make certain changes in the
standard of art, and thereby to elevate the taste of the disposition of the works, to correct mistakes, and to bring
World, is in itself so praiseworthy, that every one but a important pictures into more favourable lights and it is
;
snarling critic would willingly laud each attempt, wherever not until this change is made that the awards are now
apparent, and gloze over every failure, however glaring. announced, so that the juries have the benefit of public
It has been well said, that those who are unacquainted opinion, as well as an extension of time, for completing and
with the secrets of art cannot appreciate the labour and the revising the list of honours to be bestowed. This is an
talent that are often employed in the production of even a admirable arrangement it aids art education by forcing
:
bad picture or model ; but as art is a kind of lottery, in the public, as it were, to think for itself for a time, and it
— — ;
Nature and Art, July 1, 1836.

THE EAST. 53
gives fresh interest to the exhibition just at that middle In addition to all these pi-izes, the Emperor has created
period when attention might otherwise begin to flag. a still higher distinction, a quinquennial prize of a hundred
In addition to the ordinary medals, of the uniform value thousand francs, to be provided for out of the civil list, and
of four hundred francs, of which sixty-nine are awarded to be called the Emperor’s grand prize. This is to be first
namely, forty in painting ; fifteen in sculpture, seal-engrav- awarded in the year 1869, provided the special commissioner
ing, and die-sinking- six in architecture
; ;
and eight in the appointed for the purpose should deem any work in painting,
sections of engraving and lithography. Two medals of sculpture, or architecture deserving of such high reward.
honour are likewise bestowed when any works are deemed It is scarcely necessai-y to add, that the nomination of artists
of sufficient merit to call for such distinction. New regu- to the Legion of Honour is another mode which the Emperor
lations respecting these prizes have been established on the possesses of rewarding and encouraging artistic merit most;
present occasion. The prizes, or medals, are of the value of the eminent artists are Chevaliers, several are Officers
of four thousand francs each, and may be given in any of and Commanders, and M. Ingres is Grand Officier of the
the sections, and even both in one section. These are now Order. Mademoiselle Bosa Bonheur received the Cross from
to be awarded by the direct vote of all the exhibiting artists the hands of the Empress not long since.
who have received a medal upon a previous occasion. The There is still another and highly attractive form of recom-
number of artists entitled to vote this year is 506, and pense, namely, the purchase of works exhibited in the salon
the vote will be considered null unless one-third of these for the public galleries. The entire amount received from
take part in the ballot. If the majority of the voters insert the public at the doors of the Exhibition is devoted to this
a blank ticket in the urn, no prix d’honneur can be awarded ;
object, and an additional sum has been recently voted. The
but should this not be the case, and yet no artist, or only most impor-tant acquisitions are placed in the gallery of the
one, should have a majority of votes, a second ballot must Luxembourg, and the rest are distributed amongst the
take place in the following week in favour of the ten artists numerous museums in the provinces.
who obtained the largest number of votes on the first occa- The list of artists now living who have received medals
sion. Finally, should the second ballot be indecisive in its of all classes and decorations includes at least thirteen hun-
results, a third must take place, when the three artists at dred names, the oldest being M. Ingres, who won the Grand
the head of the last list become the sole candidates, and Prix de Eome in the year 1801, and was created Senator
the one or two to whom a majority of votes have been given in 1862.
receive th e prix d’honneur.
THE EAST.
HE great interest felt by Englishmen in matters The most remarkable improvements made in other
T connected with the East, not only from an quarters are those at Tophaneh, but the whole line
antiquarian, but also from a political and com- of the suburbs on the Bosphorus is being gradually
mercial point of. view, will render the following- opened out.
notes, j ust received from a valued correspondent in AtPera, fine new villas continue to spring up,
that quarter of the world acceptable to many of and one of the most remarkable from an artistic
our readers :
point of view is that built by Colonel Messoud
Constantinople. The great lire fortunately did Bey, the Director of the Statistical Department.
not destx-oy any monument of architectural or A new French theatre has been opened this season,
archaeological importance. The Government is but, except as regards the large size of the interior,
prosecuting its designs of architectural improve- presentsno remarkable features. The English
ment so long conducted by H. E. Edhem Pasha, Memorial Church is now assuming considerable
Minister of Public Works. The new streets will proportions.
be connected with those already laid out under his Edhem Pasha has determined that the new
auspices on the sites of former fires, so that in a buildings shall be constructed of stone ; he has
few years’ time Constantinople will be a city of fine abolished local duties on building materials, and is
streets as well as of remarkable monuments a — taking measures to encourage the regular supply of
change which could scarcely have been brought stone, bricks, and lime. Ban some’s company is
about without some such calamity. The grand applying for a privilege from the Turkish Govern-
street leading from the strand to the Porte, and the ment for the manufacture and supply of artificial
heart of the city, already shows the nature of these stone.
improvements it has been planted with trees in
;
Improvements are being made at the Sublime
the manner of the Paris boulevards. The new Porte, but nothing of a monumental character.
palatial front of the Seraskierat comes out with The public offices in the Tijaret have been re-
good effect the kiosks at the corners, constructed
; paired and rearranged, but the complete demolition
in variegated marbles, and in a mixed style com- of the ancient and ruinous buildings is only a ques-
posed of Saracenic and modern Italian, are really tion of time and money.
magnificent ; but they are said not to satisfy the The University building remains in statu quo,
expectations of the Sultan. The practical cha- and nothing is respecting Edhem Pasha’s
known
racter of the Turkish mind exhibits itself in these Museum, the materials of which are accumulating
improvements, for, wherever practicable, rows of in the basement of the new building.
shops have been formed in the basements of the The Treasury is suffering from a bad fit of its
new buildings. The coppersmiths’ street has been chronic embarrassment, but the general prosperity
transferred to the Seraskierat, and the dealers look of the country is clearly shown in the rapid increase
infinitely more consequential in their new abodes. of superior buildings.
;
54 BUTTERFLIES, [Nature and Art, July 1, 1866,
The long shore of Galata is beinS rebuilt in a home some landscapes of Ephesus and Palmyra for
good style, and will be connected by wide streets a patron at Liverpool.
with Tophaneh and Pera. A successful attempt has been made to photo-
Upwards of ,£50,000 has been collected for the graph the Sesostris, and likewise the Niobe, which
widows and poor house-owners who suffered by the presented considerable difficulties. Mr. Prank
fire and, besides this, the Viceroy, the Sultan,
;
Calbert has, it is said, been collating his observations
Prince Mustapha Pasha, and others, are rebuilding in the arclueology of the Troad for the new edition
many houses and some public edifices at their own of Murray’s Turkish Guide.
expense. The reduction of the French Budget is likely to
The burnt portion of the Seraglio remains un- have a bad effect on the expenditure for archeolo-
touched at present. gical purposes which has done so much for the ex-
No discoveries of importance have been made in ploration of Asia Minor and the East. The
Asia Minor of late. Coins continue to pour into j
Dilettanti Society appears to have abandoned its
Smyrna from the interior since the cessation of the expeditions under Mr. B. P. Pullan. The last
local quarantines ; most of these have been for- work received here on the archaeology of Asia
warded to Europe under commissions from col- Minor is that of Messrs. Tercier and Pullan, and
lectors ; one considerable series of Lycian coins has we are looking with interest for the publication by
been sent to Mr. Waddington, of Paris. the French Government of the account of the mis-
The excavations at Ephesus have totally failed to sion of M. Georges Perrot, which is now in the
bring to light the remains of the temple of Diana ; press.
in fact, they were mere scratching^, quite beneath An English church was opened at Boujah on
the object in view. At present the efforts of the Easter Tuesday ; it is in the Early English style,
explorers are principally directed to the Great with a small spire or pinnacle. The French are
Theatre, and it is said, but without sufficient building at Smyrna a large Homan Catholic
authentication, that a good statue has been found cathedral, and M. Lattiy is erecting an immense
in the proscenium, and forwarded to the British, Greek casino. The terminus of the Casaba rail-
Museum. If the excavators were placed under the way is a plain stone building, only relieved by
superintendence of a competent archaeologist or windows, and behind it is a neat iron station
architect, Ephesus might still yield good results. shed.
The publication of the remarks of M. Ernest The new palace of the Governor - General, and
Penan on the topography of Ephesus is awaited the promised quay, are not yet commenced, but a
with curiosity. fine new road has been opened to the marine suburb
The inscriptions of Mr. Hyde Clarke from of Kara Tash.
Ephesus and Smyrna are now being packed to A local artist, —a M. Cramer, who has studied
be forwarded to the University of Oxford, to which for a short time at Dusseldorf, —has worked up from
he has presented them. Most of them have been a photograph a large portrait of the Sultan Abdul
published in the “ Suscriptions de l’Asie Mineure.” Azis, for which he says he has refused 20,000 francs
M. George Tuson, Student of the Eoyal Academy, he intends to present the work to the Sultan, with
has visited Smyrna, and obtained some good com- the idea, possibly, that he may not in the end be a
missions. Another artist, Mr. Svoboda, has sent great loser by that disinterested act of homage,
REMARKS UPON SIMILAR FORMS OF BUTTERFLIES FROM

SIMILAR CLIMATES.
By Arthur G-. Butler, F.Z.S., Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum,
N the study of the beautiful works of Nature, developed, or whether they have existed in their
I there can be few things more interesting or present condition since the beginning of time, is a
instructive than the careful observation and com- question that has been much discussed, and con-
parison of the numerous allied or mimetic forms of cerning which much more might still be said it :
animal life. Many of these forms sO closely resemble certainly appears extremely unlikely that Nature,
each other that only the most minute examination with her wonderful powers of design, should have
of their several parts can discover any appreciable originally produced so great a repetition of the
differences, although they may perhaps belong to same pattern, with but slight variations ; surely it
separate families or races, whilst others apparently is more reasonable to suppose that external aids
more distinct prove only to be varieties of one and have gradually developed these petty changes. Is
the same species and, indeed, it frequently happens
;
it not as likely that any other animated being
that precisely the same forms may be met with in should, in the course of time, be changed, as that
totally different localities. Whether differences in an Englishman should gain the features of an
structure and appearance have been gradually American ; and may we not with reason imagine
Nature and Art. .inLvl, 1806.
) : — , —
Nature alid Art, July 1, 186G.J BUTTERFLIES. 55
that all closely-allied forms have sprung from one The following are also somewhat similar to the
type, as that the many races of men should all have British ones, but must be considered as specifically
had one common origin 1 distinct :
It is not, however, our intention to discuss the

origin of species, but rather to point out some of Anthocharis Seolymus, Butler, Proc. Linn.
1.
those extraordinary resemblances which we have Soc., 1866. (Differs considerably from our A. Car-
met with amongst the numerous and varied species damines, having the apex of the fore-wings produced
of the exotic butterflies, and more particularly with into a distinct hook, the orange spot of the male
regard to the similarities which exist in similar much smaller, and the greenish markings of the
climates. under side differently arranged. The intermediate
It is undoubtedly a fact that the Lepidopterous form between this insect and our own is A Genutia .
Faunas of similar climates, depending as they of Godart, from North America.)

mainly do upon the botanical resources of the 2. Colias Pattens, Butler, Proc. Linn. Soc., 1866.
country, must of necessity agree to a very great (Differs from C. Hyale in being much smaller, the
extent thus many of the insects from climates
:
front-wings much more narrojv and long, and of a
similar to our own are identical with our species, paler colour.)
and others are so nearly allied that only a practised 3. Argynnis Midas, Butler, Proc. Linn. Soc.,
eye can readily distinguish them. 1866. (Differs from A. Pap/da of Linnaeus in the
Some of these forms have received new names, in more squared hind-wings, the absence of the black
consequence of a prevailing idea that the same streaks upon the nervures, the more rounded front
insect cannot occur in two widely-separate localities, margin of the fore- wings, the larger spots, the basal
and thus the study of this branch of zoology is ren- bands of the hind-wings being replaced by spots ;
dered more difficult, species being made which but below, it chiefly differs in having only one central
perplex the student, so that at times he will almost silvery streak in the hind-wings, and all the other
wish his specimens sensible of their own distinctive- markings much paler.)
ness, that he might merely have to say, with the 4. Polyommatus Euphemus, Ochsenheim. (Only
Duke in the “Comedy of Errors” differs from P. Arion in the spotting of the under
side ; the marking of the upper side is variable in
“ Stay, stand apart ; I know not which is which.” both species.)
Within the few months a very interesting
last
There are also several species of butterflies similar
collection of insects has arrived from Hakodadi
(North Japan), and, as most of the species are very to some of the other European forms the moths ;
similar to, and many of them identical with, our bear the same relation to our species which exists
own, they will perhaps form the best illustration of in the butterflies.
the foregoing remarks. Several other collections have, from time to

time, arrived from Northern India, Syria, &c., in
The following British forms are in this col- of which the same curious resemblances have
lection :
— all
existed.
1. Pa/pilio Machaon Linnaeus. Eastern form
,
(
having a narrower blue band in the hind-wings Explanation op Plate.
and all the markings of the under-side less distinct.)
Kg'. 1. PapiUo Machaon, Linn. England.
2. Leucophasia Sinajris, Linnaeus. Variety with Japan.
( j
2. ,, ,,
Linn.
the front-wings rather elongated.) 3. Leucophasia Sinapis, Linn. Japan.
3. Aporia Cratcegi, Linnaeus. 4. Pieris Napi, Linn. England.
4. Pieris Rapce, Linnaeus. 5. ,, ,, Linn. Japan.
6. 7. Anthocharis Ca/rdamines, Linn. England.
5. Pieris Afapi, Linnaeus. Variety nearly twice
(
8, 9. ,,
Genutia, Hiibner. North America
as large as the British insect, the lowest spot on Seolymus, Butler. Japan.
10, 11. „
the front-wing of the female extended along the 12. Colias Hyale, Linn. England.
inner margin to the base of the wing. Allied to 13. ,, Pattens, Butler. Japan.
Pieris Ajaka, Moore, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, pi. 14. Argynnis Paphia, Linn. England.
15. ,,
Midas, Butler. Japan.
xxxi., fig. Himalayas.)
16.
Japan,
16. Polyommatus Euphemus, Ochsenh.
6. Colias Hyale, Linnaeus. (
Form found in
Germany and the East the wings of a brighter
yellow. [The above remarks, from a valued correspondent,
7. Pyrameis Gardui, Linnaeus. will, we trust, serve to impress on our Entomo-
8. Limenitis Sibilla, Linnaeus. logical readers the necessity for close observation
9. Argynnis Adippe, Linnaeus. (
Variety with and careful note of the varied and delicate hues
silver spots near the apex of the fore-wings, on the found so richly developed in the charming tribe of
under-side; very like A. Jainadeva, Moore, Proc. insects he has devoted so much attention to. The
Zool. Soc., 1865, pi. xxx., fig. 1. Himalayas.) almost imperceptible shading, and gradation of
10. Polyommatus Argiolus Linnaeus. , tint and colour, tell their tale to the practised eye as
11. Chrysophanus Phloeas, Linnaeus. (
Variety clearly as do equally minute anatomical differences.
with a dark spot in the centre of the fore-wings.) These, when unobserved or heedlessly passed over,
12. Pamphila Sylvanus, Fabricius, lead to much confusion and sacrifice of scientific
— ; —
56 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, July 1, 18Gfl.
accuracy. The first glance too often leads the with its stone outside the fruit, and of being highly
explorer and traveller to jump hastily at false con- unpalatable into the bargain whilst the pear of
;
clusions, and induces him to give names to strange that favoured land would, if duly fitted by a clever
objects in accordance with his ideas of resemblance cabinet maker, and properly polished, make an
to others long familiar, no matter how faint that excellent knob for a street door. To the inex-
fancied resemblance may be. Hence we have perienced, these “home names” carry their own
“ Cape Pigeons,” which are no more pigeons than charm with them, and lead to all sorts of indis-
wild geese; and “Cape Salmon,” which are not cretions, which are only to be checked by the hard
salmon. The “robins” of the United States are rubs and painful straits that experiences of travel
no robins at all, and enjoy none of the love and are sure in the end to bring with them. “ A
privileges accorded to their more fortunate name- cabbage tree ” is a species of palm nowise related
sakes on this side of the Atlantic. Again, we say to the cabbage family. Do not, then, because
advisedly, let no man heedlessly try the strength some insect is said to be simply a “ wasp,” or “ only
of his teeth on an “ Indian wood apple,” simply a beetle, exactly like lots of others we have seen,”
becauseit is called “an aj>ple.” He had far better be induced to pass it without investigation. See
make an attempt on a four -pound shot of Woolwich for yourself what sort of “wasp,” and what descrip-
pattern at once, than try his powers of mastica- tion of “ beetle,” it is. Take nothing for granted,
tion on one of these same apples. The cherry, of and do not grudge the trouble of minute examina-
Australia, too, has a disagreeable habit of growing tion.— Ed.]
REVIEWS.
Madagascar and the Malagasky. By Lieut. Oliver, take the place of monkeys in Madagascar), till they would
Royal Artillery, F.R.Ct.S. (Day & Sou, Limited.) come quite near, springing and swinging- from bough to
bough, supported by their convolute tails. The vegetation
T strange that an island so long discovered, favourably
is we passed to day was wondrous. Besides innumerable large
I placed for commercial intercourse, and rich in natural timber trees, their vast limbs covered with litmus, lichens,
productions as Madagascar, should have remained so long orchids, creeping ferns and parasites, palms of numerous
almost a “ Terra Incognita and it is to be hoped that the varieties shot up to a tremendous height. The candelabra-
work now before us, by Lieut. Oliver, Royal Artillery, on the like pandanus exhibited a thousand fantastic shapes, and
“ Malagasky and their Customs,” may serve to direct more various bamboos shook their feathery plumes, like monstrous
general attention to the capabilities of this fertile spot. The hop-plants, whilst magnolias, myrtles, fig-trees, tree-ferns,
author had very excellent opportunities, having been a with their umbrella like canopies, filled the spy.ee between.
member of the suite of Major-General Johnson, who, in June, Here, in a humid atmosphere, and under a tropical sun, the
1862, was deputed by the Governor of Mauritius to convey to spontaneous growth and decay of vegetation has proceeded
King Radama II., who had just mounted the throne, an auto- without interruption for centuries, presenting scenes un-
graph letter from her Majesty the Queen of England, and surpassed in the world. The scenery, indeed, is never to bo
—
a collection of presents, comprising a quarto family Bible forgotten, especially one part of the road that wound round
a scarlet silk umbrella a silver gilt tankard and goblets ;
;
the edge of a rapid torrent, which, flowing under a gigantic
Wilkinson’s rifle gold mounted field-marshal’s scimitar,
;
table of granite, fell in a foaming broad cascade, into a
and sword-belt a field marshal’s uniform complete a full-
; ;
cauldron hollowed out of the massive rock beneath. The
length portrait of her Majesty and a set of musical instru-
; ravine formed by the torrent was superb, and the cascade,
ments for a band of twenty-five performers. The mission swollen by the rains which had now ceased, was seen to its
was received with much distinction by king Radama best advantage. The granite-table formed a titanic bridge
who, as is well known, has many pretensions to civiliza- over the torrent, and holes worn in it by eddies during past
—
tion and remained about the capital until his Majesty’s centuries showed the hissing waters beneath. The mag-
coronation in September. In his notes on this ceremony, nificent foliage met overhead, entwined with wonderful
the author gives us glimpses of international jealousies creepers, shutting out the rays of the tropical sun, and
which we fear bode no good to the islanders. “ Notwith- throwing a sublime gloom on the scene, lightened here and
standing,” we read, “the French party had used all their there by the bright colour and delicate young fronds of the
influence to induce his Majesty to don a magnificent suit of tree fern. We stopped awhile to breathe and admire.
royal robes brought from France, Radama persisted in his —
Everything was dripping trees, rocks, ferns, parasites, and
original intention of being crowned in English uniform, and creepers, ourselves also, whilst our marmites steamed under
wore accordingly that of a British field-marshal, which we had their exertions. The road was much easier to travel where
presented him with from the Queen. The Jesuits set about it was rocky ;
but oftentimes w- e would come to sudden
a report that they had crowned the king privately, with all
-
chasms and precipitous slopes, slippery with clay, mud, and
due Roman Catholic ceremony before daylight but this I ;
water. It was no joke to meet — as we once or twice did
cannot believe. The Jesuits, however, have spread such one of the numerous herds of cattle, on their -way to
scandalous reports about the bishop, Mr. Ellis, and the Tamatave, from the capital, in one of these gullies. They
Nonconformist missionaries, that their veracity is not to be are forced over the edge of these places, and slide, roll, or
depended upon.” Poor Radama II. ! Poor Madagascar ! tumble all the way down, without being able to stop them-
say we, if the Lieutenant’s observations above cited are selves, till they are brought up in the soft mud at the bottom.
accurate and reliable. The wild, romantic scenery, and Magnificent creatures many of them were, all destined to
luxuriant tropical vegetation of the island are so pleasingly supply the carnivorous propensities of beef-eating John
and graphically described, that we cannot resist giving the Bull, at Mauritius, and, in a less degree, of his Gallic neigh-
subjoined extract :
— bours at Reunion.”
“ In spite of all the wet and difficulties of the road, the The work is tastefully got up, and the twenty-four
good spirits of the Marmites, toiling under their heavy
-
illustrations, in very excellent lithography, show that the
burdens, were indomitable. Imitating the lemurs’ cries, they author combines with his literary taste no mean ability as
would attract these handsome, soft-furred animals (which a draughtsman.
— ;
Nature and Art, July 1, 18(56.]

REVIEWS. 57
Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh ;
The History of the Ti-Ping Revo- gathered together in such form as this, and republished.
lution. By “ Lin-Le.” (Day & Son, Limited.) Many of Dr. Wynter’s papers, in this volume, are highly
interesting. They are put forth, not as exhaustive scien-
It not our intention to endorse the opinions expressed
is tific treatises, but as chatty,j general observations. They
by Mr. “ Lin-Le ” in his introduction to the above work, or enter sufficiently into particulars to induce a desire for
enter on the subject of British policy in China, but we shall further inquiry, and this, at all events, must be esteemed
confine ourselves simply to the subject-matter it contains, as as a healthy and worthy result. If we were disposed to
bearing on the “ Celestial Empire,” its inhabitants, and pro- (
carp at so genial a book, we might find fault with some of
duetions. We seldom meet with a mass of valuable and in- the names of the articles as being mystifying and far-
teresting information, coupled with so much stirring ad- fetched but it has become a fashion —
originated, we believe,
—
;
venture and amusing traits of character, as in the work before by Mr. Dickens to give these curious titles, which lead
us. Some of the river and marsh tracks described would the unitiated astray, and to set up, as it were, any bush
prove hunting-grounds of irresistible attraction to the orni- rather than the one which would notify the character of
thologist, who would find an inexhaustible mine of wealth the entertainment provided. “ ’Tis affectations,” as Sir
amongst the countless thousands of waterfowl and shorq Hugh Rose says. Who would guess that “ Hedging against
birds. Many of the battle-scenes and skirmishes between Fate ” was intended to prepare the reader for an article on
the rebels and Imperialists are most graphically described, Insurance Companies; that “Buried History” headed a
and admirably portrayed in the accompanying illustrations. paper on “ Uriconium,” &c. that “Human Wasters”
;
A fight on the Yang-tze river, as described by the author, meant idiots; and that “Distinguished Settlers from
so happily combines the picturesque with the warlike, Abroad ” referred to the collection in the Zoological
that we give it in his own words :
“ Their plan of battle was well formed, and very pic

—
Gardens ? who, but some clever student of Dickensian
enigmas ? We suppose, however, that conundrum -like
turesque in appearance successive squadrons of gunboats
; titles, which may mean anything, do provoke curiosity and ;
would sail down and engage the fort, delivering their fire ; thus, perchance, lead idle and careless persons into the
and then, filling away before a fair wind, returning to their way of acquiring information. Dr. Wynter is an agreeable
position up the river. These vessels were assisted by others writer of the light and airy school of essayists. He pre-
co-operating from below the Ti-Ping lines ; all being pro- tends not to profundity, but discourses in easy conversa-
fusely decorated with gaudy flags, and propelled by nume- tional style, requiring no labour of thought on the part of
rous oars on either side. the reader. He tells us of a great deal which everybody
“ The whole scene of battle formed a never-to-be-forgotten
knows well enough and he, perhaps, thinks it advisable
;
spectacle. The gallant appearance of the innumerable gun- to disguise plain and accepted facts in new dresses, so as
boats tacking down stream, and opening fire, one after the to give them an air of novelty. Who can quarrel with
other, in regular order some crossing in every direction,
; such an endeavour ? Who would despise the chef de
and others running back dead before the wind, with their cuisine's assistance by means of which the monotonous
broad and prettily-cut lateen sails stretching out on either mutton-chop is occasionally dished up d la maitra d,’ hotel?
side, like a pair of snowy wings ; the incessant roar of the Certainly not this variety-loving generation, which will, no
cannonade, the flash of the guns, the curling smoke, at doubt, amply reward, by its patronage, such labours as
first dense and impenetrable, and then dissolving into thin those which Dr. Wynter so satisfactorily performs for them.
wreaths, gracefully circling round the rigging and the white
sails the steady reply from the flag-covered forts, now
;
enveloped in clouds of sulphurous vapour, anon standing Hardwicke’s Crown Peerage, for
1866, by E.
forth clear and sharply defined against the dark back-ground Walfoi'd, M.A., is a handsomely bound volume, con-
little
formed by the waving bamboo ; the peaceful current of the taining information, not only respecting the House of
—
noble Yang-tze river here narrowed to a point less than Lords, and the Scotch and Irish Peers, but the Baronetage
1,800 yards across, though stretching far and wide imme- and Knightage also. The title, “ crown,” given, we sup-
diately beyond on either side the grim embattled walls
;
pose to distinguish it from other publications of the same
of Nankin, towering over the plain a few miles distant kind, represents its price. It is the cheapest and most com-
mountains of fantastic shape on every side, some near im- pact book of the sort we have seen, and is, perhaps, as free
pending and majestic, others cloud-capped and dimly visible from error as any work, containing such numerous par-
in the distance the cheer and cry of battle mingling with
:
ticulars of hundreds of persons, can well be.
—
the echo of artillery all combined produced an effect truly
grand and imposing.”
Mr. “ Lin-Le ” appears to have enjoyed unusual oppor- Fishing Gossip or, Stray Leaves from the Note-
;
tunities for drawing, not only war-pictures, but for depicting
scenes of every-day life in China and that these opportu-
Books oe several Anglers. Edited by H. Cholmon-
;
nities have not been neglected, the work before us furnishes deley Pennell. (Edinburgh : Charles & Adam Black.)
ample testimony. This entertaining volume contains not only a great deal
of very amusing “ Fishing- Gossip,” but much that is
Our Social Bees. Second Series. By Andrew Wynter, highly interesting to the general observer of nature. The
M.D. (London : Hardwicke.) gentlemen from whose note-books these varied and graphic
pen-and-pencil sketches have been gleaned are nearly all
Under this rather curious title, which maybe taken to well-known “angler-naturalists.” They have not contented
suggest that bees are usually unsocial, Dr. Wynter themselves with a mere glance at the wonderful and deeply-
has republished a number of very readable papers, which interesting objects gathered and brought to light from the
he has, from time to time, contributed to magazine litera- sea’s depths, the river’s bed, or amongst the green water-
ture, and which relate to all manner of subjects, from plants and tufted reeds but have carefully investigated
;
“London Omnibuses” to “Lifeboats,” from “Water them, noted well their form and structure, and garnered up
Supply” to “Eire Insurances,” from “ Trichiniasis ” to curious and agreeable fish-lore, for the benefit of all who
the “ Thames Embankment.” His first volume having love the gentle art. We, therefore, cordially recommend
been successful, he now issues the one before us, with, as the book before us as being a highly-amusing and desirable
far as we can judge, excellent prospect of its equally drawing-room or seaside companion.
obtaining public approval. Although containing reprints
only, the books will be new to many who take them up.
It is not to be supposed that one can read every number The Legend op the Mount or the Days of Chivalry.
; ,
of the numerous periodicals which the teeming British pen

By Alfred Ehves. (Effingham Wilson.)
sends forth regularly every week consequently, it must
—
;
happen that many excellent articles would escape the The author or, as he modestly terms himself, the
notice of the public due to their merit, if they were not adapter of “ Jaufry the Knight,” a prose talc of the times
— —
58 MUSIC AT HOME AND ABROAD. [Nature and Art, July 3, 1866.
of King Arthur, which found no small favour some years flock while birds of varied plumage twittered by, or carolled
;
since' —has now published, under the above title, a com- hymns of love and praise to heaven.”
position which, in his own words, aims at being “ both a Mr. Elwes tells us that the legend was composed to
prose tale and a poem.” This may, at first sight, appear illustrate some sketches of chivalric subjects, made by a
paradoxical, but is nevertheless true, as the following Leyden professor, and it may be fairly said that he has
metrieo-prosaic extract may show :
imbued himself with an appropriate feeling, which is re-
“ But ’twas notinanimate alone which made this place
life flected upon his pages. Beautifully printed, and choicely
so pleasant to the sense. Each verdant patch sustained the got up, this elegant little experiment is at once a boudoir
antlered deer ; each velvet mead could boast its bleating ornament, and, in its way, a literary curiosity.
MUSIC AT HOME AND ABROAD.

HERE can be no doubt that the appearance of Madame figured the Africaine, La Sonnambula, Hon Giovanni, II
T Maria Yilda, in the character of Norma, has been one Barbiere, Faust e Margherita, Lucia di Lammermoor, L’Elisir
of the principal events of this year’s musical season. This d’ Amove, and Fra Hiavolo, besides Norma and Lucrezia
lady is another proof of the truism embodied in the old Borgia, already mentioned. What a list of rare chefs-
proverb which informs us that “ There is as good fish in the d’oeuvre ! To say a word of how they are all executed, both
sea as e’er came out.” When it was evident that the by singers and instrumentalists, at both theatres, would be
powers of certain once all-popular prime donne were on the superfluous. With regard to the instrumental portion more
wane, the croaking part of the community forthwith com- especially, are not Signors Costa and Arditi the conductors p
menced their lamentations, coupled with prophecies that the As for concerts, their number has been immense yet, ;
glories of the lyric stage were departed for ever ; and in- despite of this, all that were worth attending were nume-
quired piteously who would ever sing the “ Casta Diva” like rously attended by the unmusical London public.
Signora So-and-So, or warble the part of Zerlina like Signora The threatening aspect of affairs at the present; moment
Somebody Else Well, the question has already been an-
! naturally engrosses the attention of the continental public
swered very satisfactorily by Madlle. Adelina Patti, Madlle. to a great extent, and the attendance at the theatres is
lima de Murslta, Madlle. Titiens, Madlle. Lucca, and a host not what it generally is. Still, this state of things is, in
of other ladies. Last in point of time, though not of talent, all likelihood, only temporary for, strange as it may
;
is Madame Maria Yilda, who is destined to fill a very appear, it is an undoubted fact, that never are theatres
eminent position in the operatic world. Indeed, she does better filled than in times of war. Such has always been
so at the present moment. She sang, and found herself the case hitherto, and will probably be so for the future as
famous. It is long, very long, since such a voice has been well. We
may, therefore, presume that the strains of
revealed to the English public. The profound impression Meyerbeer, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and a host of other great
Madame Yilda created in Norma was increased by her im- musicians of whom Germany has cause to be proud, will
personation of Lucrezia Borgia, in Donizetti’s opera of that continue to delight the people of that country, even though
name. their armies may be engaged in a suicidal conflict upon the
Foreigners are very fond of saying that the English are field of battle.
not a musical nation. If such be the case, it must, at least, In support of this opinion, we may mention the report
be admitted that we barbarous islanders adopt a strange concerning the young King of Bavaria. His majesty, as is
method of showing our unmusical proclivities, for there is generally known, has taken a great liking for the “ Music of
not a capital in the whole of Europe which can boast of such the Future,” as it is termed, and especially for that of the
a galaxy of great singers and great 'players as London at great prophet of the future, Herr Richard Wagner. Last
this moment. These same singers and players do not exert year his majesty had Herr R. Wagner’s latest opera, Tristan
their talents for nothing. Their terms are high, and yet we und Isolde, got up in magnificent style, and produced
—
English cheerfully pay them, because we are not fond of “ regardless of expense,” to adopt a rather threadbare
music. It is true that a vast number of these artists are expression, at the Royal Opera House, Munich. This
foreigners, but what of that ? To say that an Englishman summer, war or no war, Herr Wagner’s two operas
does not like music because the artists he patronises are Tannh'duser and Lohengrin, placed on the stage with equal
not all native-born Britons would be about as absurd as to —
magnificence as the work first mentioned are to be per-
say he is not partial to his glass of port or sherry because formed in their original and unabridged form. Herr A.
those wines are not grown on the hills of Surrey or the Niemann who is expressly engaged to sing in them, is
downs of Sussex. The English nation not musical Why,
! to receive one thousand florins every evening he appears.
it would require a book almost as big as Kelly’s London Whatever difference of opinion may exist about the young
Directory to give anything like a complete list of the various king’s taste in art, there can be no doubt that his majesty
musical performances, concerts, &c., which have taken place is as “thorough” in his patronage of Herr Richard
within the last month. We will not attempt the task. All Wagner, as was the Earl of Strafford in his endeavours to
we can do is to mention cursorily a few of the leading’ substitute an absolute monarchy for whatever constitutional
events. government England enjoyed in the seventeenth century.
At Her Majesty’s, Gluck’s Iphigenia in Tauris has been But, as a rule, kings and princes abroad are more lavish
excellently received. It was most magnificently interpreted in bestowing marks of approbation on, or extending sub-
by Madlle. Titiens, Sig. Gardoni, M. Gassier, and by that stantial patronage to, musicians, than our sovereigns have
prince among singers, Mr. Santley, a very creditable pro- been. It would take up a page or so of Nature and
duction, by the way, of “ unmusical” England. Among the Art to give a complete, though merely nominal, list of
other operas performed have been Les Huguenots, Hinorah, all the composers, singers, and musicians honoured with
Hon Giovanni, II Flauto magico, and Oberon —
not a bad list. crosses or orders in the course of a single twelvemonth,
This theatre has received a great accession of strength in from one foreign potentate or another. Thus, for instance,
Sig. Mongini. Nor, while Mr. Mapleson has manifested j
some time since, the great pianist, Herr Joachim, in con-
such laudable activity in his managerial capacity, has Mr. sequence of certain intrigues which were being carried on
Gye been content to slumber on his laurels. First and against him, threw up his post as Concert meister at the
foremost, it was he who introduced Madame Maria Vilda to Court of Hanover. In a manner as honourable to himself
the London public. Then, among his company for the as to the celebrated virtuoso, the King of Hanover appealed
present season are Madlle. Adelina Patti and Madlle. Lucca, personally to him to resume his functions. Herr Joachim
Signor Mario and Signor Ronconi. In his programmes have immediately responded to the appeal, refusing, at the same
; ;
Nature and Art, July 1, 180().] MUSIC AT HOME AND ABROAD. 59
time, a proffered augmentation of his salary. The king of at Berlin, for the first time on the 15th March, 1821,
Wurtemberg, also, has lately been playing the Maecenas, some months before Der Freischutz. Weber’s music soon
like his two royal brethren. A new three-act opera, found its way to people’s hearts, and the dashing choruses,
entitled Astorga, by Herr Abert, was successfully produced as well as the song, “ Einsam Bin ich,” are still almost as
at the Theatre Royal, Stuttgart. The day after the first fresh and popular as ever throughout Germany. Another
performance, the king sent for the composer, and, after has been that of Sophocles’s Antigone,
interesting- revival
conversing with him more than half an hour, and particular- with Felix Mendelssohn’s music. It is now more than
ising those portions of the new work which more especially —
twenty years since the music written at the suggestion of
pleased him (the king), created Herr Abert Royal Musical —
the late Frederick Wilhelm IV. of Prussia was first per-
Director ; a dignity highly prized by the musicians of a formed, under the piersonal direction of the gifted composer.
country where the rage for titles pervades all classes. It was revived in 1843. Since then, it has not been per-
In Vienna, VAfricain'e has been continuing its triumphal formed up to the present time. The management of the
career. There is no doubt that this last clief-d’ oeuvre Royal Opera-house deserves the warmest thanks of all lovers
of Meyerbeer, has been a greater success on the Continent of art for affording them an opportunity of enjoying- the
than it has hitherto proved in England. Since first pro- beauties of so grand a work, so grandly performed. By the
duced it has been- played in Madrid, Milan, St. Petersburg, way, those of our readers who have resided any time in the
Parma, Bologna, Pesth, Berlin, Vienna, Hanover, Darm- Prussian capital, may feel interested in learning that two
stadt, Coburg, Mannheim, Frankfort*on-the-Maine, Cologne, very popular (though not, perhaps, first-class) fair artistes,
Nuremberg, Gotha, Leipsic, Wiemar, Schwerin, the Hague, Fratilein Leontine Garicke, and Fraiilein Santer, have
Amsterdam, Brussels, Ghent, Brunswick, and a host of left the Royal Opera-house, each on the occasion of her
other places, too numerous to mention, besides finding its marriage. The former lady, who has married a Berlin
way across the Atlantic. But to return to music in Vienna : tradesman, retires altogether into private life the latter,
;
Bazin’s comic opera, entitled in German, Die Biese nach now Madame Blume Santer, transfers her services to the
China, has proved a hit. The public were surprised and Theatre Royal, Dresden.
pleased to find that it was more of an opera, and less a There is not much to record concerning- the other Berlin
piece of mere buffoonery, than the productions to which they theatres. At the theatre of the Friedrich Wilhelmstadt, the
have been aocustomed lately by composers of a certain principal attraction has been a version of Jeanne quipleure
school. Weber’s Preciosa was performed, after having et Jean qui rit, of which a version is now being played at
been a long time absent from the bills, for the benefit of the Adelphi, under the title of Crying Jenny and laughing
the wounded and the invalid soldiers of the Austrian army. Johnny. In the German playbills it figures as Die Hanni
The performance attracted a house crowded in every part, Weint, der Hansi Lacht. The summer season at Kroll’s
and brought in the net sum of 3,500 florins. The leading- well-known theatre has begun, and is now in full swing,
artists of both Imperial Theatres lent their aid on the opera being the staple amusement. The gardens belonging
occasion, and some of the most celebrated names in the to the establishment have been 'much beautified, the system
operatic annals of Vienna figured in the lists of mere chorus of illumination being truly magnificent. The al fresco
singers. A highly interesting performance also was given orchestra is under the personal direction of Herr Engel, the
by the Italian company at the close of this season. In enterprising manager himself.
conformity with a practice becoming very prevalent of late, Fraiilein Cornelia Meyerbeer, the youngest daughter of
the entertainment, instead of consisting of one work, was a the great composer, is shortly to be married to Herr Gustav
medley, made up of the fourth act of V Africaine; the great Richter, a professor at the School of Fine Arts, Berlin.
quartett and trio from Vltalia/no in Algiere the second Professor A. B. Marx is dead. He was the author of several
act of a very popular ballet, Flick unci Flock and the works, among- which, that entitled the Musikleure was the
second act of II Barbiere. M. Grisar’s operatta, Les Douze best known, perhaps, in this country. He composed, also,
Innocentes, re-christened, Fin Dutzend Naiu/rlcinder, has an oratorio, entitled Hose, which, though containing some
greatly pleased at the theatre Unter Wien. Herr Starbeck, few good points, was a comparative failure. In private
who was recently appointed Imperial Hof Kapell Meister, life, Professor Marx was highly esteemed as a straight-
has written a mass which is very much admired. A few forward, honourable gentleman. A letter has appeared in
weeks ago there was hardly a place of amusement where several of the German papers, concerning a curious relic.
the braying of the brass military bands was not heard at : The writer, S. Gyutai, states that Beethoven’s piano is at
present, stringed instruments alone are the rule. The present in Klausenberg, Transylvania. It is about seventy
military bands have been ordered off on active service with years old, we are informed. The sounding board is orna-
their respective regiments. mented with the composer’s coat of arms, and with his
In Berlin, there has not been any absolute novelty at the portraits, taken when he was young and easily recognisable.
Royal Opera-house during the last month ; but two or three The name “ Louis Beethoven,” wreathed round it, leads
celebrated works have been revived with good results. First Herr Gyulai to suppose that the instrument was manu-
on the list comes Weber’s Preciosa. It is superfluous to — —
factured by J. A. Vogel -who then resided at Perth either
say that the performance here was not for the benefit of the as a present to Beethoven, or by his order. According to
invalid and wounded soldiers of the Austrian army. It has the statement of persons still living in Vienna, it was be-
been the fashion to laugh at the sentimental character of queathed by Beethoven as a memento to one of his pupils,
the book of Preciosa ; but, notwithstanding, the piece when who subsequently became a music-master in Hungary, and
well performed, always finds admirers. In 1811, Pius taught Madlle. Elise Kallais. This lady married the poet
Alexander Wolff adapted it, as a spoken play, from the Joysika Miklos. She received the piano from her master,
Spanish tale of La Gitanella, by Cervantes. When first as a mark of his gratitude. After remaining in her posses-
performed at Hamburg, it proved an utter failure. Count sion, and being used by her for many years, it passed into
Von Briihl, Intendant of the Theatres Royal, Berlin, in the hands of the Daniel family, at Dees. Thence it went
—
1820, liked it, however, and begged Weber -then engaged to Pitaky Mihaly, at Klausenberg-, and thence to Herr A.
—
on his Der Freischutz to illustrate the play musically. Konez, a merchant there. Its present possessor is Herr S.
Weber at first hesitated, but eventually consented. It Gyulai, from whom the above statement emanates, and who
would be superfluous to enter now on a criticism of the declares his readiness to leave the piano, as a relic of the
music but it is impossible not to be astounded at the
; immortal master, to any public collection or museum ; but,
inventive power possessed by the composer, when we reflect whether as a gift, or for a “ consideration,” we cannot say.
how rapidly he wrote the eleven pieces, illustrating the Should any famatico per la musica desire further particulars,
text. He was, however, attracted by the difference between he may obtain them by writing to “ Samuel Gyulai, Belsas
the two subjects, and by the opportunity of employing a Farkas, Utsza, No. 8, Klansenberg, Transylvania.”
treatment quite distinct from that of Der Freischutz, yet In Paris, the Italian operatic season has been brought to
not less pleasing-. On the 25th May, 1820, twelve days after a close without the production of Verdi’s much- talked-of
Der Freischutz was finished, he commenced Preciosa. On Simon Boccanegra. On the whole the present management
the 15th July the work was completed. It was produced has hitherto proved unsatisfactory in an eminent degree ;
— ; — ;
60 THE OLD MASTERS AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION. [Nature and Art, July 1, 18GG.
the performances were tame and insipid, and Madlle. Scribe had made the grand scene of the oath the principal
Adelina Patti alone kept the theatre open. Nevertheless, feature of the act, but Nourrit thought it strange that he,
M. Bagier possesses such influential patrons, that he has the hero of the opera, should have to appear only once, hide
again obtained an imperial grant of money. At the Opera- himself immediately afterwards, then rush out of his retreat,
Comique, Herr von Flotow’s new opera (words by M. St. run off, and not be seen again till the next act. Rather
Georges) entitled Zilda, has been successfully produced. than submit to this, he preferred not coming on at all. This
The plot is laid in the time of the Caliph, Haroun al version of the matter, especially since Berlioz gave it in his
Raschid, that is in the time of the Thousand and One Soirees de V Orchestra, was accepted as correct. On the one
Nights. The music is pleasing, and contains several very hand, people were wrapt in admiration of the genius of the
effective pieces. The principal part is confided to Madame composer who could extemporize, as it were, so magnificent
Marie Cabel, who is excellent in it, both as a vocalist and a production as the duet in question ; on the other, they
an actress. A two-act opera, by M. Gounod, will shortly were never tired of expatiating upon his good fortune, in
be produced at the same establishment. It is called La having been incited to the task by the caprice or ambition
-
Colombo, and has already been performed at Baden-Baden, of a tenor. Recent investigations have, however, demon-
with Madame Miolan Carvallo, and M. Roger, as its prin- strated that the idea of the duet existed in M. Scribe’s
cipal interpreters. A
third novelty at this theatre will be sketch of the plot, and that it was actually carried out by
the Salteador of M. Jules Cohen, a talented young com- him, but that Meyerbeer, who had been delighted with the
poser, who is professor in the Conservatory of music, so notion, was far from satisfied with the execution of it. In
that there is no dearth of novelties. In addition to the this dilemma, as M. Scribe had gone on a trip to the
foregoing, moreover, the management of the Theatre- Pyrenees, Meyerbeer applied to M. Emile Deschamps, with
Lyrique, has accepted one in three acts, and bound itself whom he was on intimate terms, and, after showing him
to bring it out before next February. The music is by M. M. Merimee’s “1572,” from which the idea of Les Huguenots
Victor Joncieres, and the book by M. Becque. Its title is was taken, requested him to write a new duet. M. Emile
Sardanapale. Another opera of the same name is being Deschamps consented to do wkah he could, and wrote the
composed by a great lady, the Baroness de Maistre, for the duet now sung.
Grand Opera, the manager of which, M. Perrin, is said to But M. Emile Deschamps did more than this. He wrote
have discovered a new operatic genius, in the person of a the air of the Page, at the end of the first act the romance
;
M. Duprat, who, in his turn, is said to have written an of Valentine, at the commencement of the fourth the grand
;
opera called Petrarca. This, also, is said to contain air of Raoul, in the ball-scene the scene d’entrde of Marcel,
;
numerous beauties of a high order. M. Ambroise Thomas in the first act; the famous “Piff-Paff” song; and the
is working on an opera, entitled Mignon and M. Offenbach trio in the last act. For this large amount of work, M.
on one named Haroun al Raschid. Emile Deschamps still receives a royalty upon every per-
M. Gounod has been elected a member of the Academie formance of Les Huguenots, but that royalty is taken from
des Beaux Arts, in the place of the late Louis Clapisson. M. Meyerbeer’s share, and not from M. Scribe’s, because
Thirty-six members voted nineteen for M. Gounod and
;
the alterations in, and additions to, the book were made
sixteen for M. Felicien David, the rival candidate. solely at the wish of the composer, without consulting his
One of the greatest musical lions of the season has been first literary collobomteur.
a M. Bonnay, a young Frenchman, who plays upon an in- At St. Petersburg-, the musical season is over, and a
strument called the “ Xylophon,” Anglice, an instrument very bad one it has proved for most of the foreign artists
made of wood and straw, with which he has excited the who have visited the Russian capital. A great many
wonder of the fashionable public. scarcely earned sufficient to defray their travelling expenses.
All who have heard Les Huguenots —
and what lover of Russia is no longer the Tom Tiddler’s ground it once was,
—
music has not done so ? ag'ree in pronouncing the grand where musicians had only to appear in order to commence
duet in the fourth act, between Raoul and Valentine, as one at once the agreeable task of picking up gold and silver.
of the most brilliant gems in this chef cl’ oeuvre, which con- The railways have overstocked the musical market, and
tains so many. While, too, the composer has been praised travelling virtuosoes are at a heavy discount. For some
for what he has done, there had been no want of laudation considerable time, some extraordinary attraction has been
heaped upon M. Scribe, for his share in the work. With needed to attract the public to a concert given by a foreign
an amount of modesty that is quite charming, M. Scribe artist. Perhaps Madame Clara Schumann is the only person
allowed the public and the critics to go into ecstacies about who of late years has given a series of concerts that were
his great merit, in having furnished the composer with such really well attended, and the fact of their being so was
a situation, and such words, as a basis on which to build up attributable more to the popularity of her late husband’s
— —
the fabric of his music, for as far as we know the popular compositions than to her own merit, great though that be.
author never let drop a hint that the encomiums thus Unless possessed of the very highest talent, or holding letters
lavished on him were not his due. Yet such was the case. of inti’oduction from most influential patrons, foreign artists
M. Scribe did not write a word of the duet. For a long would do well not to visit Russia with the idea of reaping a
time there was a report current that Meyerbeer composed good rouble harvest, except they have in their pockets an
the duet at the suggestion of the famous tenor, Nourrit. engagement, duly signed and sealed, before they start.
THE OLD MASTERS AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION.

rjIHE public su a bona nbrint — are really much indebted
si fortunate as to save his priceless Sir Joshuas from the
X to those kindly —indeed, we may not say patriotic
if, flames that stripped his noble hall of so many objects of
collectors who, year after year, denude their walls of heir- antiquarian interest. A portrait of fair and frail Kitty
looms and household gods, to furnish forth the interesting Fisher one of Master Crewe, posed and dressed as the
;
exhibitions in Pall Mali. Here, in modest space and among Bluff King another of a Mrs. Crewe, as a shepherdess ; and
;
sober canvasses, the dazzled eye and crowd-tossed frame yet another of two Misses Crewe, have been pronounced by
that have borne the burthen and heat of a day among the the world of connoisseurship to be the finest examples sent
modern painters, may enjoy a repose at once grateful and by his lordship. The Mrs. Fisher has, it is true, yielded her
instructive. The Gallery is perhaps more than usually complexion to time, and is of a melancholy greenish hue
attractive this year, in consequence of the number of works but the grace and beauty of both the subject and the paint-
by Sir Joshua Reynolds contributed by several families of ing have been, so far, proof against the attacks of the
distinction ; and all must rejoice that Lord Crewe was so destroyer. Mrs. Crewe’s portrait, a full-length, is a splendid
*
?•
.
— ; ;
Nature and Art, July 1,

-
I860 .]
NOTES ON FANS. 61
specimen of the inspiration Sir Joshna would seem to have beard of two days’ growth may not be charming, is worth
drawn from the contemplation of well-born loveliness and attention for its admirable rendering of the hair and com-
;
the boy’s picture, while rich in every other quality, displays plexion. A Masaccio portrait (said to be an Aldobrandini),
infinitely more nerve than any of the great president’s lent by Lord Overstone, presents a figure of imposing
works we can call to mind. gravity and force of tone and Jan de Mabuse is represented
;
There are a number of Sir Joshua’s family portraits by. “A Merchant,” clearly a portrait, wonderfully executed
none of them unworthy of veneration and study contri-— and full of expression, albeit this is curiously associated
with a face and brow of marble smoothness, exceeding in
buted from the Fane, Westmoreland, and Beaufort collections.
The most imposing is the composition, or “ assembly,” as it its delicacy the dreams of a Bachel, and unruffled by a line
was termed at the period, introducing Mr. Henry Fane, Mr. of thought or faint suspicion of a wrinkle. The power the
—
Inigo Jones, and Mr. Charles Blair the two latter gentle- portrait has is, of course, the more singular on this account
—
men guardians of the former enjoying their wine alfresco. and, in a somewhat less degree, the same remark may apply
to the Aldobrandini picture. The downward flight of a full-
Here the hand of time has so regrettably injured parts of
the work, that we find an additional reason for congratu- robed angel, by Masaccio (belonging to Lord Somers), is
lating our Academicians of to-day on their decision —if
very excellently represented but one foot seems unfortu-
;
nately out of drawing. In the same corner is a magnificent

decision may be inferred from their published suggestion
to take formally in hand the chemistry of pigments. Canalletto “View in Borne” —
an exhibition by itself. In
Our reverence for our own great portrait-painter must the Middle Boom a remarkable portrait by an artist named
not rob us of the pleasure of suggesting- that an hour or two Lutliihuys must arrest every spectator’s attention, and is
may be worthily spent among the Flemish masters in the worthy of study and those who associate the name of
:
North Boom. Here we have a good specimen (an interior George Morland with not unrepulsive pigstyes and villeinage
composition) of the three hundred known works of the serio- only, will do well to pause before his minutely-finished and
comic Jan Steen and a splendid one of Gerard Dow’s power very pleasing morceaM, “ Girl caressing a Dove.”
;
over texture and still life, linked to a meaningless attitude Large as is the force and number of the foreign masters
of an insipid subject. In the “Wine-taster” of Mieris, a in this year’s exhibition, England need not blush for her
cabinet work in his own exquisite style, we seem to find the own sons, who not unworthily represent her. The purity
type of one of the modern German Hasenclever’s famous of Crome’s air, the lightness of his clouds, his mastery over
group. There is a good “Baggage Train” by Wouvermans the sombre and the luminous, is displayed in several of his
works lent by Mr. Fuller Maitland and Mr. Wynn Ellis,
;
a noble landscape, a grim and gloomy wooded gorge, by the

monarch of Dutch landscape painters, Buisdael. A yet more which may stand at no disadvantage side by side with those
imposing marine piece, by the same great hand, is the qualities of the ancients. Dyce’s “Virgin and Child,”
“ Harbour-mouth, with Vessels making for Shelter.” The painted almost in our own day, is a splendid example of
passionate, chequered breakers, perturbed sky, and terror- colour and flesh-painting, with perhaps a thought too much
stricken ships, are all in actual movement, and the crisis of nerve in the holy infant’s plumpness of muscle. We might
the storm is so imminent that the spectator seems to await ramble on, however, beyond the limit of our readers’ patience
it with a sensation of anxiety.
—
were we to catalogue even all the beauties without glancing
The Duke of Devonshire’s rustic mill embosomed in noble at defects —in these rooms so, praying the attention of all
;
foliage, an ample landscape to the right, and a solidly-painted for whom infancy has a charm to Sir Joshua Beynolds’s
foreground, is in that manner of Buisdael which has had exquisite child-portraits (162 and 110) —
to all mothers the
such an influence upon English landscape art. The “ Head —
gems of the exhibition we must quit this pleasant place
of an Old Man,” by Denner, although a Chinese copy of a and interesting subject.
NOTES 0 N FANS.
W E are glad to offer to our fair readers a chromo-
lithograph and description (kindly placed at our
service by Mr. W. J. Thomas, of 136, Oxford Street, one of
It
Fan was never invented in a cold country.
Certainly our
must have been born with the sun, and have travelled
westward. It has been copied from Egyptian tombs and
the leading court jewellers in Europe), of a fan presented by temples, by Mr. Owen Jones, into his beautiful “Grammar of
the Princess Marie, Duchess of Hamilton, to Her Boyal Ornament.” (Chap. III. Plate 5. Figs. 1, 4, 5, and 6.) It
Highness the Princess Mary on the occasion of her marriage. has turned up recently in Assyrian investigations. It may
The sides are of pierced gold arabesque work, enriched with be tracked through all the painted records of Hindostan
H. B. Highness’s monograms and crown in diamonds, rubies, and Persia. China and Japan are full of it. Its most
and emeralds. The meshes are of fine carved mother-of- monstrous forms (if we except the huge steam screw-blades,
pearl, richly inlaid with wreaths of flowers in pure gold now technically called fans) are the Indian Punkah, and
the monogram and coronet carved on the centre one. The the leaves of the Ceylon Palm, a Borassus Flabelliformis
body is of the finest Brussels lace expressly designed, and This precious tree, on which Sir Emerson Tennent thinks
the workmanship, as well as the lace of the (unjewelled) fully one-fourth of the population of the northern division
fac simile now before us, is truly exquisite. To these par- of that island depend for sustenance, provides them with
ticulars we take the opportunity of adding a little fan- food, oil, wine, sugar, building-poles, roofs, fences, baskets,
gossip, which we hope may not prove uninteresting. To mats, books, and lastly Fans. But not from the East did
—
begin in the true encyclopaedical style though, by the the fan of society reach Britain. We —
owe it according
way, as will be found on reference, the subject has not —
to the bulk of authority to France. Steevens places its
been found worth the attention of the encyclopedists — arrival in the reign of Henry VIII. Stow says that masks,
we have collected the following etymology of the word from muffs, fans, and false hair for women, were devised in Italy,
the best authorities. and brought to England from France in 1572. That being-
Fan. Anglo-Saxon, Fann ; German and Dutch, Wanne ; the year of the Huguenot massacre, and of the supremacy
Vanno; French, Fventail; Spanish, Abanico; Latin,
Italian, in France of Catherine de Medici and her Italian follow-
Vannus, derived (says one) from the Greek [3a\\eti> 7 meaning ing, it is, perhaps, not very odd that Stow should have
to “winnow, cast, or throw lightly into air.” # fixed upon it for the invasion of England, by what he would
have termed a pestilence of their Italian novelties. Once
— —
* A very rare perhaps unique book exists in the planted, the exotic throve apace, for in“ Love’s Labour Lost,”
Archieopiscopal library at Lambeth, dated 1578, and called written about 1594, we find Don Armado, “ a fantastical
“ The Fanne of the Faithful.” Spaniard,” rallied for taking upon himself the office of a
— - ;
62 THE ACADEMY, THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER, &c. [Nature and Art, July 1, 18C5G.
lady’s fan-bearer. In “Romeo and Juliet,” the nurse calls to The fan, too, like the garter, has been the base of an
an attendant, Peter, for her fan and this may be taken as
; order of chivalry. Louisa Ulrica, Queen of Sweden, in-
a satirical allusion to'the frivolity of an upper class, or to stituted in 1744, the Order of the Fan for the ladies, of her
a deep-seated “ fan-mania ” pervading all society. When court and gentlemen were afterwards allowed to join it.
;
Queen Bess died, her wardrobe was found to contain twenty- Fan-making must have been a brisk business in England
seven fans. One of her Majesty’s fans, we are told by Mrs. some years earlier for we find that the Worshipful Com-
;
Stone, in her “ Chronicles of Fashion,” was valued at <£400. pany of Fan-makers of London, the eighty-fourth in order of
Another, given to her by Sir Francis Drake, was white and precedence of the Civic guilds, was incorporated in 1709
red, with a gold, and jewelled handle. Even the young and was well enough reputed to attract to its fellowship
gallants of the time bore fans —if we may credit Greene’s good men and true from outside the City walls. With the
“ Farewell to Folly,” written in 1617. In an interesting foundation of the Fan-makers’ Company ends the archaeology
work, called “ Toilette in England, by a Lady of Rank,” of the English fan, which thenceforward became part and
we find a representation of feather-fans of the Elizabethan parcel of our everyday life.
age, bearing much resemblance to the hand fire-screens of For just a century after Addison wrote, the fan figured
our own time. In Mr. Fairholt’s “ Costume in England,” prominently in polite society, matched, when the sword
—
we find numerous varieties. Several of them an Italian one went out of fashion, against the snuff-box and the clouded
especially, shaped like a key —are of very quaint forms indeed. cane, and often victorious. The satirists and dramatists
In a MS., by Aubrey, “On the State of Manners in were in turn bitter and pleasant in their references to it.
England ” (dated 1671), is the following curious passage, Painters and their sitters paraded it ostentatiously. It is
bringing our fanology down to the reign of James I. :
said to have done wonders in diplomacy, and who could
“ The gentlemen then had prodigious fans, with which wonder at the success of flying sap and masked battery
their daughters oftentimes were corrected ; Sir Edward against garrisons defended by an eye-glass, a pinch of snuff,
Coke, Lord Chief Justice, rode a circuit with such a fan. and a malacca. The fan’s apogee was in the days of the
Sir William Dugdale told me he was an eye-witness of it.” minuet de la cour. But since athletic waltzes, piolkas, and
No. 103 of the Spectator, signed by Addison, consists of mazurkas have elbowed out their courtly predecessors, the
a most amusing “letter to the Editor,” as we should say now- once “ modish little machine ” has retired into obscurity
a-days, upon “ The exercise of the fan.” “ Women,” says with the “wall-flowers,” or, if at all, is used by the dancers
the supposed correspondent, “ are armed with fans, as men as inartistically as though it were the archetypal “vanne”
with swords, and sometimes do more with them.” “ To the or wind engine. Brighter days may, however, dawn, and
end, therefore, that ladies may be entire mistresses of the society which, in its way back to costumes of the Watteau
weapon which they bear, I have erected an academy for the and Pastoral periods, has already reached the stage of short
training up of young women in the exercise of the fan, waists and long trains, may even in our time reclaim the
according to the most fashionable airs and notions that are little exile from its temporary partial shade. We have not
now practised at Court.” Having set out a scheme of fan- time to trace or follow its career in other lands. Though
drill and evolutions, the author dilates upon their philosophy many may perhaps wish we had illustrated its best-known,
and poetry, most amusingly. He attaches most importance or Spanish variety, we must needs leave that field for some
to “the flutter,” which “masterpiece of the exercise may more erudite students of costume, and conclude by devoutly
be learnt,” he says, “in three months and he believes rejoicing that, in the ordinary fan of the present day Art
that by attention and observation, a “ woman of tolerable has not strayed far from Nature. To Nature we owe the
genius, who will apply herself diligently for one half-year, Palmyra, the Borassus, and the Talipat ;
to Art, the
shall be able to give her fan all the graces that can possibly beautiful productions of which our illustration depicts an
enter into that little modish machine.” example.
THE ACADEMY, THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER, AND THE NATIONAL

GALLERY.
QINCE the accession of the new president, the Royal of death. If the judge, once appointed, must be always a
O Academy have taken a step which will be most accept- judge, it certainly does not follow that the painter will be
able to the public. They have submitted to Her Majesty’s always a painter. For, if so, our Associates may be always
Government twelve proposals for reform, several of which are Associates, pining outside the delectable gate for the places
-
worth quoting. They are prepared to throw open their of men whose hand may have long since lost its cunning.
doors to an indefinite number of Associates, who may vote The provision that members need not hereafter abandon
at elections of Academicians, and they will repeal the other schools or societies is a very proper concession to a
obnoxious rule which has heretofore demanded that every long-expressed public opinion. It is time that the old ex-
candidate for admission into their ranks should cease to clusiveness that has kept outside such men as Hurlstone
belong to any other artistic body. Academicians are to be and Pyne was abandoned, and the new President, if to him
elected for merit only, and not for length of days, from the move in the right direction be due, is to be congratulated
among the associates and the opening of the Schools the
;
upon it. The offer of the Academy to establish a laboratory
whole year round will be entertained. But it is to be re- for chemically testing colours and vehicles is another sign of
gretted that the body cannot be reconciled to the idea of enlightenment which, in view of the deplorable state of
extending the number of full Academicians beyond the many of the public pictures through neglect of chemistry,
forty-two of the existing Charter. They have decided, it cannot be passed without a word of encouragement.
appears, that, if Governmental pressure forces them to give In the course of the debates upon supply a few weeks
more seats to professors of sculpture and architecture than ago, Mr. Cowper announced, to the satisfaction of the
the six and four now allotted to those arts, it will be better architectural profession, that the number of architects to
to reduce the number of painter-Academicians than to raise compete for the building of the new Palace of Justice had
the total number. If this view be accepted by the Crown, been enlarged from six to twelve, and that as many were to
we should urge a stipulation on the part of Government — compete for the new National Gallery proposed to be built
while the Crown is yet in the position to make stipulations in Trafalgar Square. For this latter work, or rather for a
— that some provision should at least be made for passing portion of its site, ,£45,000 were voted, and <£20, 000 were
the fathers of the Academy on to a retired list, and thus taken (on account of ,£65, 000) for an Examination Hall to be
securing vacancies by some less sad agency than the hand built for the London University on a portion of Burlington
— ;;
Nature and Art, July 1, 1886.] FINE AET AUCTIONS. 63
Gardens. When the Ministry proposed that the Eoyal numerous each agreed to differ toto
; ccelo from his neigh-
Academy, driven at last from Trafalgar Square in obedience bour and no conclusion was arrived
; at. A few mornings
to the will of the large party who claim that site for a after, Sir Edwin Landseer stepped
into the arena, informing
National Gallery, should find rest on the Burlington estate, the public through the Times that he, at least, was no con-
and that they should be allowed to have a design of their senting party to the movement of the Academy to Brompton.
own, so it were in keeping' with the works projected by the He took for granted, necessarily to his own argument, but
Government, jthey reckoned, it seems, without their host, on entirely insufficient grounds, that the Academy would
or let us say their invited guest. It was not fated that have pleased no one by building in Piccadilly, and thus
the ancient “triangular duel” between the Dilettanti, having cleared away a disturbing element from the calcula-
the Academy, and “ the Department,” should be thus tion,argued on the respective merits of Trafalgar Square
arranged. and Kensington, as follows :
Mr. Beresford Hope, speaking no doubt upon information, “ To a suitable site for the collections belonging to the
re-opened the ball on the 8th ultimo by asking “ Whether, nation there are some things indispensable. It should pro-
in the event of the negotiations between the Academy and vide, in an equal degree, for the exhibition of them in an
the State for a site at Burlington House being broken olf, accessible way, for the careful preservation of them, and for
some guarantee would not be given that the house in ques- large and frequent additions to them. Trafalgar Square has
tion should not be demolished ? ” This led to an admission the accessibility, and nothing' else. When the question was
that the Academy had —
though not yet officially— altered first mooted seriously sixteen years ago, a committee of the
their minds,and were going to accept three acres offered to House of Commons —
of which Lord John Bussell, Sir Bobert
them at Brompton by that eternal and irrepressible body, Peel, Lord Seymour, Sidney Herbert, and Mr. Disraeli were
the Commissioners of 1851, or, as they might fitly be de- —
members examined a great many witnesses, and reported
signated, the Commissioners of South Kensington. Happy their evidence to be only short of unanimous against Tra-
academicians, happy commission, happy Mr. Cowper, say we, falgar Square as unfavourable for the preservation of pictures.
ifthe ghostof this long-vexed question can thus at last belaid. They condemned as useless any expenditure for increasing
For, as was well observed, the Academy enjoy no grant of the accommodation on that site; pointed out the extent to
public funds, and may spend their own as they like. The which its many disadvantages had already checked the
mission of the much-abused men of 1851 is to cover the and bequests it was the nation’s interest
liberality in gifts
land at South Kensington, and the sooner that mission is to have encouraged and laid it down as essential, in build-
;
ended the sooner will public heart-burning cease. The ing for the national collections, that three incidents insepar-
course of the good-tempered Minister of Works in this able from a crowded London thoroughfare should be avoided
matter has been prescribed for him long ago by Dogberry. — excessive smoke and dust, obstructions to light and air,
—
“If a man will not stand why then, take no note of him, and impossibility of enlargement whenever necessary.
“ On the other hand, the more dispassionately the matter
but let him go and presently call the rest of the watch
;
together and thank God you are rid of him.” But, alas ! is considered, the plainer it will be that it is for the interest
his repose will be but transitory. For, if he be really rid of of all, and especially for the public interest, that the
the academicians and their tenant-right question, the men of Eoyal Academy should remain in Trafalgar Square. No
taste will yet live to worry him in the names of art, anti- other purpose could be named for which that site is so
quity, and associations ; and the utilitarians, in the names well adapted as for the three months’ exhibition and
of common sense, convenience, and economy about the dis- the public schools of the Academy. With proper man-
posal of the sites at Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly. One agement I believe the space would be sufficient for both
honourable member seemed to consider the memory of the there would no longer be a necessity to close its schools
former occupants of Burlington House quite sufficient reason while its exhibition was open its galleries would be large
;
for letting their old house alone. Others thought it ought enough for the acceptance of every picture deserving of
to be preserved and somehow incorporated with a very large exhibition ; and, by its money saved in building, every
building. Lord Elcho and Mr. Ayrton very sensibly thought, advantage it has given to students might be enlarged, every
if it really was such an ornament to London the walls charitable provision it has made might be rendered more
around it might be removed. All spoke in the usual high worthy, and, appropriating all its income to the promotion
terms of Trafalgar Square and most contemptuously of the and encouragement of the arts, it might in future far more
building there. A
minister was absurd enough to evoke the than repay by the extent of its public service whatever
Duke of Wellington in support of an apocryphal distum public advantage it now receives. A sufficient guarantee is
that a National Gallery should, for military reasons, not be afforded by its past history for what its future career in such
near a barrack. Lord Cranborne took occasion to censure circumstances would be.”
what he termed the “ peculiar spirit of self-assertion, self- Every one is not bound to approve Sir Edwin’s confident
aggrandisement, and intrigue which appeared so strongly to perorations ; but his communication to the literature of this
animate the staff at South Kensington.” Mr. Hubbard ancient and most pretty quarrel is a valuable one, and
thought South Kensington the very place of all others for carried weight enough at the time to be cited in the House
all exhibitions, and Mr. Cowper, the best of landscape as a reason, among others, for postponing the third reading
gardeners. The speakers in this long debate were not of the Bill.
FINE ART AUCTIONS.

S usual at this season several very valuable galleries of Beckford’s collection, 1,010 guineas. Again, the final por-
A paintings and drawings have been disposed of by Messrs.
Christie, Manson, & Woods, who may be termed the
tion of Mr. Flatow’s stock-in-trade was sold for £8,585
(the first part having brought £24,750). It comprised
Clotho and Atropos of fine-art collections. Those of Moore, a landscape by Sir A. Calcott at 1,000 guineas, and a
Macqueen, & Co.', realized together £1 7,250. Mr. More- Sydney Cooper at 500 guineas. Week after week, in fact,
land’s small gallery, in which were high-class specimens of during the season, an ebb and flow of fine-art treasures may
Canaletti, Claude, the Vauderveldes, and a very fine Cuyp, be noted with interest at the famous rooms in King Street
produced about .£8,000. The important collection of Mr. and the same thing is, of course, going on at Paris. The
George Young comprised examples of Calcott, F. Goodall, competition in the gay city for high-class works is, ap-
T. Webster, P. Nasmyth, Fleury, Creswiek, Boberts, T. S. parently, more intense than here. The collections of tho
Cooper, Wilkie, Collins, Etty, Stanfield, Constable, and J
Comte de Choiseul, Mons. Meyer, and others recently
Turner. The “ Haywain,” by Constable, brought 1,300 !
sold have produced large sums. The “ Phryne,” for
guineas; and the “ Seventh Plague of Egypit,” formerly in j
instance, now a conspicuous ornament of Mr. Gambart’s
04 OLLA PODEIDA. [Nature ancl Art, July 1, 1866.
gallery in Pall Mall, was bought by an intermediate owner others — —

meaning the fine-art buyers have no more concep-
at the Meyer sale for £ 1,1 80. tion of the fluctuation of money than Arcadians, and buy
The sale of the Pourtales gallery, and, in a minor degree, pictures, jewels, and blood-stock, without any notion of
that of the late Due de Morny’s collection, were events that investment. Such, however, happens not to be the case.
brought half the connoisseur world to Paris, and the prices Mark a catalogue at King Street, and where you can get
surprised everybody. The late retrospective exhibition in the name of a principal you will find that the amateur of
the Champs Elysees showed the extent to which the love diamonds and sapphires is a “Mincing-lane man,” who has
and the vogue for objects of art and curiosity are now culti- the bank x-ate at his fingex -ends the buyer of lacquer, jade,
-
vated in France. Such a collection of enamels, old faiences, Cellini cups, and the like, is a prosperous money-jobber and
china, carving, and curiosities, was rarely ever seen under citizen spectacle-maker. Croesus, of Lombard Street and
one roof. One of the most remarkable contributions to the lanes adjacent, has never finished stocking his west-
—
that exhibition the museum of the well-known virtuoso, ward palace with objects of art while Dives, of Moorgate
;
—
M. Carpentier, recently deceased was offered to the public Street, has nothing left to sigh for but more wall space for
in June. It contained sixteen hundred objects of the his pictures. It would be an evil day for the painters of
richest and most varied quality. England in which the magnates of Lancashire and York-
Truly we cannot refrain from observing that the fine-art shire— the men of the mill, the mine, and the forge ceased —
buyers, at least, have escaped the panic ” of the day. An
11
to vie with each other for specimens of Muller, Constable,
eminent contemporary, moralizing on this theme, draws the Turner, Stanfield, Creswick, and Ansdell and successful ;
conclusion that the class concerned in the ups and downs traders of London to invest in pictures and precious orna-
of the East-end, and in the treasures of King Street, are ments, as deliberately, perhaps as profitably, and quite as
widely different. Commerce and finance, he thinks, have a agreeably as they could in houses or Consols.
world of their own and while some deal with their money,
;
OLLA P ODRIDA.
LARGE PICTURE Rocky Mountains painted
of the Whymper, of Alpine renown, purposed to trace by land the
A by Mr. Bierstadt, an American artist, is now on view at
Mr. McLean’s gallery in the Haymarket. It is long since we
extent of Greenland to the north, conceiving, from the
number of deer that find their way to its ice-bound coast,
have had an opportunity of inspecting a work of art so that there may be pasture-grounds beyond.
grand, and yet so truthful in detail. The huge riven peaks A Variety oe Indian Corn known as Caragua maize
shooting up, snow-capped, 10,000 feet above the sea’s level, has lately been cultivated in the South of France it ;
their sides furrowed by glaciers, and the chasms amongst is said to attain a height of from ten to twelve feet, and to
their giant crags pouring forth streams of crystal water, give nearly twice as much grain as the ordinary kinds and
stand towei'ing imposingly before us. The lights and sixty per cent, more forage. It is not stated whether it
shadows are so admirably disposed, that it is hard to divest requires a hot climate, but, from the fact of its cultivation
the mind of the reality of the scene, or avoid entertaining being commenced in the South of France, this is most pro-
ardent wishes for a rod and line with which to levy ti'ibute bably the case.
on the speckled trout that our imagination pictures eagerly
Apropos of Arctic discovery, we extract the following
waiting the gaudy, treacherous fly in the depths of that
remarkable passage from the corner of our daily contem-
noble pool below the -cataract. The camp of the Shoshone
porary, the Standard, in which, considering its startling
Indians beneath the grove of cotton-wood trees, is replete
with rich coloux-ing- and picturesque effect. In fact, the
natux-e, it was somewhat unaccountably buried: “Two —
French gentlemen recently explored the island of Spitz-
quiet, peaceful valley amongst the mountains will long live
bergen in a manner never before done. They have measured
in our memory almost as though it had been one of our own
the mountains, mapped the whole coast, examined the vege-
camping-grounds, when, like the artist, we worshipped at
table products, the geological composition, &c., of the island.
the shrine of Natux-e amongst her most majestic temples.
They found that the long day, extending over several months,
On the 12th of May a large and distinguished party, during which the sun never sets, became intensely hot after
several hundred in number, was entertained at Willis’s a month or two by the unceasing heat from the sun. In
Rooms by Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal this period vegetation springs up in great luxuriance and
Geographical Society. The treasure-stores of travellers abundance. The North Pole is only a matter of 600 miles
in every quarter of the world seem to have been laid under from the island, and it is thought by the two explorers, as
contribution to delight the assembled geographers and their by many others, that the Pole itself and the sea which is
friends. Conspicuous among- the objects was the collection supposed to surround it could be reached from Spitzbergen
of Mr. Consul Baker, the Nile traveller, and that of Com- without any great difficulties being encountered. singular A
mander Forbes, from Japan. The former comprised a fact noticed by the explorers in connection with this island
specimen of indigenous cotton from the equatorial region, is the enormous quantities of floating timber which literally
seemingly, at least to unpractised eyes, full of promise. The cover the waters of the bays and creeks. A
careful exami-
latter, rich in curiosities of the description now
familiar to nation of the character, condition, and kind of those floating
most of us, was remarkable for a rope described as “ a logs would no doubt lead to a conclusion as to whence and
junk’s cable of ladies’ hair !” Our valued contributor, Mr. how they came, and probably suggest new theories for the
Baines, exhibited his drawings made in Australia and Central solution of geographical problems connected with the Arctic
Africa ; and an attractive feature of the multifarious exhi- Seas.” We shall certainly look with intex’est for further
bition was a Chinese work illustrated by native artists. detail in this matter.
Not only the Geographical Society and the scientific world, In the North of France, salt, we hear, has been
but we may even venture to add that civilization itself, is found of great value in renovating asparagus beds that
indebted to the liberality that organizes these monster have ceased to be productive. The salt is applied in the
gatherings.
proportion of aboixt 12 lbs. of the grey common salt of the
At the Annual Meeting of the same Society a purse country to each yard of bed, six feet wide or, in other ;
of 100 guineas was presented to M. Du

Chaillu, to re-imburse wox-ds, six pounds of salt to the square yard. Treated in
him for the loss of his instruments in Western Africa thus ;
this way, says a French gardener, old beds yield crops
affirming satisfactorily the value placed by a competent twice as large as could be expected from young plants ixx
tribunal on the labours of a traveller whose inferences and full bearing. The middle of March is said to be the best
even veracity have been strongly impugned by captious and time to apply the salt, which is merely sprinkled on the
ungenerous critics. It was announced, too, that Mr. surface.
!”*
By the Bey. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S.
II.— STAG HUNTING IN THE TIME OF XENOPHON.
T was on the 20th day of of which I am speaking. Devoted to field sports

the Attic month Elaphe- and farming, proud of his horses and dogs, he lived
bolion, in the first year of here a good type of the Greek gentleman. Of course
the 99th Olympiad,'" that lie took interest in politics, and heard with peculiar
Xenophon, so celebrated zest what was going on in democratic Athens. The
in Grecian history, enter- great quinquennial Olympic festivals brought him
tained a few friends at his into contact with men of his own town, from whom
house in Scillus, a small he could learn the state of public opinion at Athens
town of Triphyllia, a towards himself. But little was said of politics on
district of Elis, and distant the present occasion. The pleasures of the chase
about three miles from Olympia. The great formed the chief topic of conversation at the
annual hunt in honour of Artemis was about Symposium. The merits of certain horses, and
to take place. Reclining at the Symposium, after the qualities of a good dog, the best places for deer
dinner, were to be seen, in one of the banqueting- and wild boars, and the preparations for the great
rooms of the house, several individuals, all ardent hunt, were all discussed with considerable ani-
lovers of the chase. There was Xenophon, the host mation. The old general treated his guests with
now about 60 years of age, a tine handsome man, anecdotes of hunting he had taken part in, while
of a modest and prepossessing appearance, t with with the army in Asia he dwelt especially on the
:
grey hair, and animated countenance, which, 'though first-rate sport which was afforded by the chase of
it did not bespeak great subtil ty of intellect, or the wild ass on the plains of Arabia. He spoke of
profound thought, was full of good common sense, its amazing swiftness, and of the excellent quality
deep piety, and thorough kindliness of heart. At of its flesh— like venison in flavour, but more
his right hand reclined a distinguished foreigner, tender —and told them of the amusement the horse-
Anacharsis;}; by name, a Scythian, who had been on men had found in pursuing ostriches, bustards,
a visit to Lacedaemon, and was Xenophon’s guest and antelopes, though he had to confess that the
for the hunt. Gryllus § and Diodorus, Xenophon’s
two sons, were there the former was about 23
ostrich ——
proverbial amongst the Orientals for its
stupidity had so far proved too clever for its
;
years old, of strong active frame, and with the pursuers, who had not succeeded in capturing a
courage of a lion. His brother was about two single specimen.
years his junior, and a fine open-hearted youth, “ We must drink after the Scythian fashion, my
though apparently not of such a determined dis- friends, on this occasion,” said the host, raising his
position as Gryllus. Two guests from Lacedsemon elbow from the pillow of the couch, and looking
completed the pai’ty. Xenophon did not seem to full at Anacharsis. “ Slave, fill a cyathus of un-
have suffered at all from his Asiatic campaign, about mixed wine from the crater, and hand it to each
twelve years before, nor did his bearing show any of the party.” “By Jupiter!” cried one of the
signs that he took to heart his banishment from his Lacedasmonians, jestingly, “ our worthy host would
native Athens. He had been resident at this de- have us share the fate of Cleottienes * “May
liglitfid spot of Scillus about ten years, at the time the gods avert from each of us so dire a calamity,”
responded Xenophon “ but we drink to the health
:
* In the month of March, b.c. 383. of Anacharsis.” The Scythian expressed himself
f See Biogenes Laertius, in his Life of Xenophon.
I A descendant, we will suppose, of the celebrated * Cleomenes I., a King of Sparta, who died raving mad
traveller of that name, who was brother of the king of by his own hand. Some of his own countrymen attributed
Thrace, about b.c. 590, and the contemporary of Solon. his death and madness to the habit he had learnt from the
§ Afterwards killed, bravely fighting at the battle of Scythains of drinking large quantities of strong wine.
Mantinea. (Herodotus, vi. 84.)
III. F
CG ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. [Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.
highly gratified by the reception he had met with, follows :

“
Whoever has this property and gathers
and remarked on the different customs of nations, its fruits,must sacrifice a tithe every year to the
saying, “ That, while in Greece to drink wine goddess, and out of the remainder keep the chapel
unmixed was considered an improper thing, his in repair. If any should omit to perform these
oavii countrymen, on the contrary, always took it duties, the goddess will herself see to the matter.”
so ; and that both sexes, indeed, not only drank it, An orchard of various fruit-trees lay contiguous to
but poured it over their garments, thinking they the chapel and, altogether, the landscape offered
;
were thus engaging in a tasteful occupation.* But a charming vai’iety of woodland, meadows, and
tell me, 0 Xenophon,” he asked, “ what kind of hills. Mount Pholoe, noted for game, reared its
game is to be found in this neighbourhood V’ “ Fine head conspicuously a few miles off. With excellent
sport can we show thee, 0 Scythian guest,” the pasturage for stud and stock, and plenty of sport
veteran responded ; “ we have hares, wild hoars, at hand ; with leisure for writing treatises on the
chamois, f and stags. Mount Pholoe, close at hand, management of horses, the breeding of dogs, and
is a rare wood for game. To-morrow we must try the excitements of the chase what more could a
;
for a stag, as we want meat for the larder. Slave, Greek gentleman require? We
doubt not that
another cyathus of wine, and we will drink success Xenophon spent the happiest years of his life hi
to hunting.” this pleasant retreat, free from political turmoil,
After this manner the evening at Scillus was and from the anxieties that attend active military
spent pleasantly and good-humouredly by all the service.
party, till each retired to his room for the night. We have already stated that once every year
Let us glance at the spot where Xenophon lived Xenophon held a grand festival in honour of
for so many years. He had been allowed by the Artemis, the expenses of which were paid out of the
—
Lacedaemonians the masters of the country for tithe of the fruits of the property. It was a feast
—
the time being to settle at Scillus, and had pur- of great solemnity. Booths were erected for the
chased land there, with spoil-money gained in his visitors, and refreshments supplied at the expense of
Asiatic expedition. His dwelling, an unpretend- the landowner. The more solid portions of the
ing structure of wood, brick, and stone, with a entertainment were provided for by the Grand
flat roof, on which persons could walk when so Hunt, on the occasion of which the guests previously
inclined, was built for convenience, and not for mentioned had been specially invited. The first
show, according to the rules he has laid down hi thing the party did after the early breakfast on the
his “ (Economics,” and, in the main, after the morning of the 21st was to visit the stables, which,
fashion of the Greek houses of the period. The as we have seen, formed a portion of an ancient
outer door, facing the north, led into a passage, Greek dwelling-house. Gryllus and Diodorus were
on the left side of which was the porter’s lodge, the directors of the chase, and selected the company
and on the right the stables. In these were five that was to join in the pursuit ; they themselves
horses, in -separate stalls. At the end of the rode, the majority of sportsmen going a-foot. As
passage was a rectangular space called the peristyle, the horses were led out of the stables they were
or hall of the Andronitis, or men’s apartment, pronounced fine animals, with their strong limbs,
with dining-rooms, parlour, and store-rooms, form- small heads, glistening eyes, and round solid hoofs
ing the sides of the rectangular hall. The opposite as hard as flint. As the practice of shoeing was un-
or south end of the house was appropriated to the known in those days, a good hoof was most indis-
Women. Here Philesia, Xenophon’s wife, and her pensable in a horse. By the marks in their teeth
domestics, spun wool and attended to their daily the ages of the animals were rising five.’" They
household duties. This part was called the had been bred and broken under Xenophon’s in-
Gynceconitis ; it was of nearly similar form to the structions. When Gryllus’s steed was brought out
Andronitis, with which it w as connected by means
T
he showed signs of restiveness. “ That’s what I
like ” joyously said the youth, “I want something to
!
of a passage, closed by a door or curtain. The
house was pleasantly situated among trees of various conquer.” Upon this he vaulted on its bare back
kinds. The spot had been selected by Xenophon, with the activity of a practised athlete, while the
on account of certain resemblances to the site of horse reared and plunged in a fashion of his own.
the Ephesian temple. A
small river, called the^ “ By Equestrian Neptune ” cried Gryllus, “ but I
”
!
Selinus, abounding in fish, flowed hard by. There will tame you “ Hold them ” called out his
! !
was another of the same name, near the temple of father, with the decision of a commander of cavalry ;
Ephesus. In the grounds and near the house were “ do you not see that the animal is frightened 1 You
to be seen a chapel, an altar, and a statue of the must exercise patient forbearance, not violent oppo-
goddess Artemis, made of cypress wood all of — sition.” Saying this the old soldier went quietly
them copies, on a reduced scale, of the great temple up to the animal, and, seizing the bridle, stroked
and golden statue at Ephesus. A
column, with him gently on the neck and head, using soothing
carefully engraved Greek characters, was to be seen words, which by degrees dissipated the animal’s
amongst the buildings. The inscription ran as fears, and induced him to a willing submission.
* The words of Plato. De Legibus, i. 637. * It dear, from Xenophon’s “ Treatise on Horseman-
is
t The original word is BopicaSeg, Perhaps chamois are ship,” that the ancient Greeks knew how to judge of the
the antelopes denoted. age of a horse from his teeth.
.
[Nature and Art August 1.186 6
Lilli
Son(LitnludO
Sc
Day
; !
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. (17
“ My
son,” said he, with a smile on his counte- of the animal to pass between them, and then closed
nance, “you so far resemble Socrates, that whereas upon the leg. To the periphery of the p>odostrabe,
he chose the most ill-tempered woman for his wife, a strong noose, or eye, of
in order that if he gained the ascendancy over her twisted hemp was firmly
he would have no difficulty in subduing all other attached, to which again
women, so you seem to think that your subjuga- was fastened a rope of the
tion of a high-mettled horse will enable you to deal same material, bearing at
with the rest.” “ Precisely so,” responded Gryl- its other end a clog of oak
lus. “But,” answered Xenophon, “you must be timber, perhaps about 22
careful to hit upon the right means of doing this ;
inches long and I inches
you must ascertain whether your animal is obsti- broad, with the bark still
nately vicious, or whether his intractability may adhering to it. Such was
be due to some cause independent of his disposition. the fashion of this instru-
In any case, such a contest with him as you just ment, and itwas set as
now indulged in is a mistake, and unbecoming a follows : —A round hole
generous mind.” was dug in the ground
“ Did you give orders to the huntsman to put about 1^ foot deep, equal
”
doAvn the traps for the deer 1 asked Diodorus of in diameter at the top to
his father. “ I did,” was the reply. The party the crown of the podostrabe,
now moved away accompanied
in search of a stag, and gradually narrowing
by live or six Indian dogs, led in couples, and below ; another hole was
several men with hunting-spears ; they proceeded made for the clog, and a
to some hilly land adjoining Mount Plioloe. channel for the rope. The
Whilst they are on the way, us endeavour
let circular part of the snare
to describe the method of capturing deer as was then placed in the
practised in the time of Xenophon. If it savours round hole, and the clog
a little of what modem English sportsmen would and rope each in their re-
regard as poaching, we must remember that before spective places, and all was
the days of gunpowder it was no easy matter to covered over with leaves
take wild animals in a thickly- wooded country and earth.
without the adoption of various devices in the Several of these snares,
shape of nets and snares. The wary stags, even then, were placed, the night
now-a-days not easily stalked with dog and rifle, previously, in localties fre-
could seldom be taken in a thickly-wooded country quented by the deer, and
in a fair chase. Besides, as I have said in a pre- many eager eyes were
vious paper, the flesh of wild animals was more watching for indications that an animal had been
important as an article of diet than it is in modern caught by msyj or other of them. It is necessary to
England. V
enison is now a luxury for the rich state that the deer was never retained by the snare
in ancient times sporting was not only a pastime, in the spot where he had been hampered, but that he
but a means of subsistence. At any rate, on the always pulled it up, the trap having fastened itself
occasion in question, Philesia, the placeus uxor of to one of his legs. The mingled feelings of terror and
the old general of Scillus, required venison for the rage which a noble stag would exhibit as he rushed
great entertainment she was .so busy providing. wildly onwards, the snare grasping his limb, and it
So the huntsman (rur^ye'rjje) had received especial caught by a fore foot, the clog beating against his
orders to set a number of traps in places frequented face, may be easily imagined. The party had not
by the deer. These necessary paraphernalia of a long to search for a snare which had been turned up.
Greek sportsman were used principally in the cap- Diodorus* was the first to summon his companions,
ture of deer and wild boars. They appear to have who ran quickly up to him. “ See here, he cried,
been of the form depicted in the accompanying with great glee, “ an animal is in a trap somewhere
illustration, though, owing to want of perspicuity hereabouts, if we can only find him and a fine ;
in the description which Xenophon has given of stag he is, too,” he added, as his sharp eyes detected
them, it is not possible to speak positively as to the print of a deer’s foot on a narrow pathway on
all their details. These traps, then, which were the hill. Two large dogs were immediately loosed,
called podostrabas, i. e. literally, “nooses for the and began to try to pick up the scent. Then all
feet,” consisted of a circular crown of yew twigs, joined in the pursuit, the huntsman cheering on
twisted strongly together-. In this were fixed the hounds. “ At him, good dogs Bravo, Thymus
!
several spikes of tough yew-wood and iron alter- Well done, Alee! Forward, forward, clogs !” The
nately, the latter being the lal-ger ; these spikes scent, howevei*, was not very good, and the dogs
probably radiated towards the centre of the circle, were often at fault. Then the numerous party
but we have no accurate information on this point. dispersed seeking the track of the clog along the
We are not told what was the ordinary diameter of
these circular crowns of yew-wood, but I appre-
* As the huntsman knew where the traps were set, of
hend it was about two feet. The spikes were equi- course he would, point out the place to the hunters, and
distant, and so arranged that they permitted the foot enjoin caution.
F o
68 FISHING WITH THE GEEEN ELM CATEEPILLAE. [Nature and Art, August 1, 186*6.
ground, or upon the rocky parts of it. Soon the Scillus and Cyllene for cooks, who had been busy
huntsman discovered, on tire corner of a stone, a for the last three days making sweetmeats and
small fragment of bark which had been freshly other delicacies. Besides venison, there were young
rubbed off the clog. Then he called in his dog's and fowls, supplied from
goats, lambs, sucking-pigs,*
and released a fresh couple, who went in briskly, the farm by the bailiff; as well as quantities of
sometimes catching the scent, and sometimes sausages, salad, leeks and onions. The fish had
losing it for half an hour ; the excitement of the been brought from the lagoons on the coast of Elis.
hunting-party continuing to increase. And now There were eels stewed in beef-, turbot, anchovies,
the dogs pursue breast-high, at a great pace, leaving and other dainties, prized by the Grecian palate.
the foot sportsmen in the distance. It is clear After all had satisfied themselves, the numerous
they are approaching their game. Gryllus and tables were removed the floor, which was strewed
;
Diodorus alone are up with them, and catch a sight with bones, bits of bread kneaded to a dough, t and
of the entrapped animal as he crosses a narrow the refuse of the plates, was swept ; and water was
valley between two woods. Arattling “ view handed round to the guests for washing their
hallo ” soon conveys the cheerful intelligence to hands. The dinner ended with the usual libation.
the other members of the hunt, who push forward The dessert consisted of figs, nuts, olives, salt
to the best of their power. The stag is nigh mixed with spice, to improve the taste of the wine,
exhausted ; with panting breath, and eyes half out cakes, and sweetmeats. The mixed wines, red and
of his head, he is resolved to die bravely. So he white, of varioirs kinds, were rendered deliciously
awaits the attack of the dogs. Phyla made the cool by means of ice. In the midst of the
first rush, but was rolled over by a well-directed symposium a man of Syracuse entered, and with
thrust of the stag’s right antler, a deep wound him a girl who played admirably on the flute, and
in the chest pouring forth red blood. Gryllus and another rvlio performed the most astonishing feats.
Diodorus had fastened their horses to separate trees, Among others she leaped head foremost over a
and proceeded, spear in hand, to give the animal hoop which had a number of swords fixed into it
his death-blow. With a high-aimed throw, one of standing upright, and then sprang out of it, leaping
the spears struck the animal near the top of the clean over the pointed weapons. Of course, the
shoulder, and the three dogs rushing simultane- party played at the cottabus, and with dice, as was
ously upon him at this juncture, the stag was usual at Greek wine parties. They also amused
quickly despatched. themselves by asking riddles. If a person made a
Portions of the hunted animal appeared in due wrong guess, the fine was to drink off a certain
time on the tables of the different banqueting-rooms quantity of wine without taking breath if he ;
of Xenophon’s house, late on the evening of the guessed right, he was rewarded with a chaplet or
same day f and it is needless to remark that ample with cakes. After such a manner did the party
justice was done to them and the rest of the good enjoy the evening after the hunt.
things prepared. Philesia had sent to the towns of
* to SacaioraToi’ KpsaQ, as Plutarch says of the flesh of
pig-
# The venison would be too fresh for an English palate,
f <xTopaydri\tn. The ancient Greeks used neither knife
but would probably be tolerably tender, if hunted deer is nor fork, but ate with their fingers, and had no dinner-
like hunted hare. napkins, they cleaned their fingers with bits of bread.
FISHING WITH THE GREEN ELM CATERPILLAR.

By W. B. Lord, Eoyal Artillery.
HEBE are few baits — excepting perhaps the live veniently kept for use in a flat tin box, with plenty
T minnow —with which larger fish are to be of holes in it for air. A
two-vard trace of fine,
taken, than with the elm caterpillar, which will round, well-selected gut, “ round plait ” silk line,
be found in considerable numbers at this season and a long, stiff, light rod, should be used for this
amongst the short, spreading twigs surrounding the kind of fishing. The hook from Nos. 8 to 10,
main stems of the elm trees in most localities. To Kirby trout pattern, rather short in the shank,
capture them I have been in the habit of using an and of stout Avire. A
strong, sharp pocket-knife,
inverted umbrella, holding it by the ferule end and long-handled landing-net should be provided,
with the left hand, whilst with a long stick held in as many of the haunts of the finest fish are at
the right hand I thrashed the branches thoroughly, times so over-grown Avith bushes or water-plants,
receiving the falling caterpillars in the umbrella, as to render it necessary that a hole should be
which rvas held ready beneath, spread like a cup stealthily cut, through which the rod Avith the gut
for their reception. The caterpillars are then trace wound spirally round it may be introduced.
easily separated from the bits of stick and leaf When fairly over the water about to be fished, and
which accompany them in their fall, and are con- free from impediments, the bait may be dropped
XuUiiv amt in
— ; —
Nature and Art, August 1, 18f>6] THE WELWITSCHIA MIRABILIS. 63
quietly down by turning the rod round in the had lowered himself from the branches above by
hand and unwinding the wound-up trace. Some
so his web, and “ paid out ” too much of it. By
little care is required in baiting the hook with gently lowering the top of the rod the green lure
the caterpillar in order that it may not be torn isnow allowed to sink quietly away, and when it
the point should be entered at the back and has reached within a short distance of the bottom,
brought out the length of the shank down the side. should be brought by short lifts, “sinking and
Three or four No. 4 shot should be placed on the drawing,” so to speak, up again. Yery few fish
trace at about four inches apart, and the lower one are abstemious enough to resist this attraction, and
about sixteen inches from the hook. a number will be often seen shooting off at once
In putting on the shot great care must be through the clear water, like arrows towards the
taken not to crush the gut in closing the flat bait. Just an instant should be allowed after the
surfaces of the divided lead, and it is a good plan bait disappears from sight, or the indescribable but
to first partially close the slit over a bit of fine pleasant sensation which a biting fish sends thrilling
wire, before introducing the gut, which is thus through the rod is felt ; then strike sharply out,
kept round, instead of being squeezed fiat, and sideways and upwards, and should you be fortunate
thereby seriously weakened. The “ approach ” to enough to hook your fish, keep a tight line ; hold
the water-side must be as stealthily as that of a his head well up, and get your net under him as
red Indian or deer-stalker. Every tree trunk, rock, quickly as possible, as there is rarely much room
or tuft of fern being used as a screen to guard the afforded for playing a fish in situations where
lurking fisherman from the keen eyes of the ever- caterpillar fishing is most destructive, and which
watchful fish. The bait should be dropped quietly the larger members of the finny race select as their
and naturally on the water, as if the caterpillar favourite haunts.
THE WELWITSCHIA MIRABILIS

( Plant of HyTccimlcop), South-West Africa.
By T. Baines, F.R.G.S.
South-West Africa, the

NT the desolate coast of dwelling of Mr. Latham, in which goods requiring
O any projecting point before
sand, drifting from
the prevalent southerly wind, forms shoals running
protection were stowed till they could be forwarded
to the interior. Neither grass nor water was to be
northward nearly parallel to the coast, and inclosing found there, and waggons were either loaded up at
bays which afford secure anchorage to vessels of once, or the cattle sent to graze at a distance till
almost any size, and lagoons into whose still waters again required. After crossing this dreary flat
countless myriads of smaller fish are chased by odorous with the remains of flat fish drying in the
sharks, porpoises, and many varieties of the smaller —
sun the dry bed of the Kuisip winding between
whales. Their shallows are frequented by long shifting sand-hills, served us for a road. Our
lines of flamingoes, so numberless that, when upon wheels sank deeply, and the sand flew from their
the wing a rose-coloured cloud seems quivering in spokes as they revolved, like water from the paddles
the air. Here snow-white pelicans their forms — of a steamer while the dense, hot dust- cloud
—
;
lifted to an enormous height by the mirage loom so raised, rendered it impossible to breathe to
like the canvas of some distant vessel there : leeward. The small patches of samphire gave
duikers, or cormorants, similarly distorted, look place to a semi-saline vegetation. Stunted dabbies
like stranded hulks cover the surface of the bay
; or tamarisks, ganna bushes, and a few thorns
with long, dark lines, as they wheel in mazy appeared; and the “nara,” a half-creeping thorny
evolutions ; or blacken patches of sand for many shrub, bearing a no less prickly fruit, somewhat
hundreds of yards when they settle. bigger than an ostrich’s egg, clothed, and helped
Upon the shores of some of- these bays, fisheries somewhat to bind together, the sides of the loose
have been established by merchants of Cape Town, sand-hills. The fruit which is about the sole
who send, for the use of those employed, supplies of vegetable food of the few poor natives during nearly
food and stores, and sometimes fresh water, by the a third part of the year, is, when ripe, of a yellowish
vessels which call occasionally to collect the produce green colour. On breaking the thin, gourd-like
of their industry. Some serve as points of de- shell, a deep yellow or orange coloured pulp appears,
parture for traders or travellers to the interior. which may be eaten with a spoon, and tastes
Of these Walvisch (or Whale) Bay (Lat. 22° 57' S.) deliciously but is apt, if too freely indulged in, to
;
is the most important, and here upon the broad bring on nausea, and soreness of the lips and gums.
flatformed by the estuary of the Kuisip River The seeds, which are numerous, and not unlike
overflowed by every spring-tide, and flooded with those of a melon, are scattered through the pulp,
fresh water perhaps once in ten years stood, — but are not eaten with it. The natives collect
when I arrived in 1861, the unpretending wooden them carefully, dry, and keep them in bags of skin,
70 WELWITSCHIA MIRABILIS, [Nature and Art, August 1, 1888.
either for future use or for sale to Europeans, who with water, which remains permanently screened
find amusement in cracking and eating them as from evaporation, or from pollution by wild or
after-dinner nuts. A cake is made of the pulp by domestic animals, and may be reached when
evaporating the mixture. It will keep; is rich, well- required by digging, or in some places by merely
tasted, and looks something like coarse sugar. As scratching in the sand while in others, as at
;
Andersson remarked very truly, “Without the nara Hykamkop, it appeal’s upon the surface, and after
this barren land would be almost uninhabitable ; flowing a short distance again finds the sand in
with rare exceptions it grows only in the bed of the sufficient volume to entirely absorb it.
Kuisip, within a few miles of the sea. All animals, Here, about seven years previous to my visit, a
from the field-mouse to the ox, the feline and canine tree called the wild tobacco had been introduced,
races, birds, especially ostriches, devour it. Even and spreading rapidly with its cool green leaves
the white Egyptian vulture feeds on it the only— and yellow tubular flowers, became quite a feature
instance, save one, in which this kind of bird is in the landscape ; while the tamarisk, the mimosa,
known to partake of vegetable food.” the kameel doom, and in favourable places the
The first day’s journey from the bay is generally ana, a gigantic thorn-tree, much used for building-
very short. The cattle are sent to refresh them- purposes, grew upon the low secondary bank that
selves as they can ; and on the next, the waggons had formed along the base of the hills.
“ climb out ” to the elevated Nariep desert. This Mr. and Mrs. Eggart, of the Rhenish Mission,
is a barren plain of loose sand, quartz, and other who were respectively turning out the goats and
pebbles. It lias rocky ridges, destitute of grass or preparing early coffee, gave us a hearty welcome to
verdure, where the few leafless shrubs, breaking- their little house, which was built of reeds, rather
like rotten seaweed, have insides —
like the apples as a cooling screen from the sun’s rays than a pro-
—
of Sodom full of nought but ashes ; and where, tection from any possible rain. A
poor fellow was
if anything green should meet the eye, it is more lying ill of fever and bowel complaint in another
likely to prove a trace of metallic tint upon a rock, hut, and I was glad to be able to promise him a
than a vegetable. little quinine, to which one of my friends kindly
We halted late in theevening to make coffee, added a small quantity of spirit. Mr. Dixon
the ruddy firelight gleaming on the white waggon- presented me with two buffalo heads, now in the
tents and on the oxen as they stood patiently in Museum at King’s Lynn, and led me to the
their yokes awaiting the finish of our short refresh- waggons by a more direct, but less picturesque
ment, and seeming to know as well as we that it ravine, partially filled with sand, forming a broad,
was useless to outspan them on such a desert plain. flat bed, and in this my attention was drawn to a
We crossed the Dupas river, a little stream, which singular plant of immense size. Whether it were
like the Kuisip had not run with water for ten new to science I could not tell ; a vagrant artist
years, and outspanned before daybreak, with some can neither afford nor carry the necessary books of
low hills of weathered granite on the north, in- reference. I saw that it was new to me, and
dicating the commencement of the ravine, inclosed determined to secure the best sketch and specimen
by barren pyramids, cones, and precipices of I could before I rejoined the waggons.
fantastic shape and arid hue, by which we were to The two leaves, nine or ten feet in length, and of a
descend more than five hundred feet to the valley pale green colour, except Avhere somewhat withered
of the Swakop. at the ends, were split by the wind and drought
The yellowish grey of the generality of the rock into ribbons. Some of these were fourteen inches
was relieved by darker tints, banded by light pink or more in breadth, lying curled in every direction
veins of quartz, crossed by lodes of black iron- upon the sand, and conveying at first sight the
stone, or speckled by black micaceous substances, idea that there were four, instead of two original
splitting easily into thin glittering laminae. The leaves. These issued from the circumference of
whole surface seemed to be undergoing complete a woody mass, with a rough bark or cork-like
disintegration, and in places it was almost dangerous surface, rising a foot or so above the ground, and
to step on what seemed a solid block of granite, bearing round its edges, just within the insertion
lest it should crumble under foot. In this manner of the leaves, an assemblage of small stems about
caves, holes in the rock, arches, and blocks of six inches long dividing into smaller branches,
fantastic shape, some like gigantic human features, each of which bore from three to five cones, three
or other grotesque resemblances are fonped and— inches in length, and | inch thick, of an elongated
names more graphic than poetical are applied to oval form and crimson colour, tinted with green in
many of them. the less developed specimens, and marked with
The deep ravine of the Swakop, cleft thus in the scales like those of a fir-cone. Numbers of insects
solid rock,has been partially filled with sand — a kind of field bug— fully an inch in length, and
brought down by the periodical torrents, and this prettily marked with red and yellow,' sheltered them-
has become a level bed of, it may be, five hundred selves beneath the leaves, but in the lapse of years
yards in breadth, and of almost unknown depth. my specinlens of these have gone adrift, and though
The brief flushes of the rainy season, deep enough I could from memory sketch them sufficiently well
to make the crossings dangerous, and sometimes for artistic purposes, I could hardly preteud to
impassable for waggons, soon pass away but mean-
;
scientific accuracy in the delineation.
time this bed of porous sand has been saturated My drawing was made on the 9th of May, 1861,
— .
Nature and Art, August 1, 18GG.] THE WELWITSCHIA MIRABILIS. 71
and on the 2oth of the same month I had the goo.d Indeed, it is so peculiar as scarcely to be mistaken
fortune to fall in with a splendid specimen of the even from the rudest description.
gigantic yellow-flowering aloe, of which, as Dr. “ It is only found in one single locality, which is
Hooker has very kindly granted me access to the exceedingly circumscribed ; that is, as regards
drawings I presented to the national collection at Damara Land. It grows in sandy places, and luxu-
Ivew, I hope shortly to he able to furnish you with riates when it can find a few stones to fix its extra-
a figure. ordinary tap-root, penetrating often several feet
On my return to Walvisch Bay I entrusted my deep, so that it is indeed a work of labour and
specimens to Mr. Latham, for conveyance to my patience to extract one single plant. I have been
friend Logier, who, on the 18th of December, re- thus occupied more than an hour, and even then
ceived permission to hand them over to the Colonial have come away with only a part of the root.
Office to be forwarded to the Royal Botanic Gardens “ The leaves attain a length of several feet, a
at Ivew. small portion only of the point being withered, in
In due time my friend received the following other respects they are evergreen they are straight- ;
letter, which, however, from the difficulty of com- grained, and you can tear them from top to bottom
munication, I had no opportunity of seeing till my without deviating a single line from a straight
young friend, E. Barry, met with it, in a parcel of course.
newspapers forwarded to me, at Lake ISTgarni, on “ Rain rarely or never falls where this plant
my return with Mr. Chapman from the Zambesi exists. I have crossed and recrossed Damara Land
in 1863 through its entire length and breadth, but only
found it growing on that desperately-arid flat
“ Kew Gardens London
, ,
“ stretching far and wide about Walvisch Bay, or
To F. Logier, Esq. 1862.
between the 22nd and 23rd degrees of south
“ Dear — am
extremely obliged to you for
Sir, I latitude.
so kindly forwarding me the excellent drawings “It is most common about the lower course of
and specimens of plants from my friend Mr. the River Swakop ; but my description is very in-
Baines. The specimen of the aloe was quite dead adequate, and I shall endeavour to procure the
and rotten, but the other plant has given me plant itself, and forward it at an early date to
uncommon pleasure, inasmuch as, old a botanist as
England.
I am, I never saw it before, nor has more than one “ Indeed, I would have sent it years ago, had I
person ever done so ; that person is Dr. Welwitsch, not been under the impression that you already had
a German botanist, long resident at Loando. He specimens; for I assisted Mr. Wollaston once to
made a journey south of that territory, and, in a excavate a couple, which I thought he purposed
letter to me, described the new plant so accurately presenting to Kew. I know that they were re-
that, themoment my son, Dr. Hooker, and I saw ceived at the Botanical Garden at Cape Town, for
Mr. Baines’s specimens and drawings, we both said’ I saw them there only the other day.”
that must be Dr. Welwitsch’s new plant. We
shall now be able to publish an account of it. In the Botanical Magazine of March 1st, 1863,
“ Mr. Baines has not done me the favour to it is thus noticed -
write to me, so that I take the liberty to inclose

WELWITSCHIA mirabilis. (Tabb. 5368, 5369.)
my note of acknowledgment to you, as I have no
African Welwitschia.
idea in what part of Africa he is.
“The drawings of the great tree-aloe are also Nat. Ord. Gnetaceas. Polygamia monadelphia.
most interesting ; but the species is certainly not Gen. Charr.—Squamce strobili homogami 4-fariam im-
the dichotoma, as Dr. Ecklon suspects, but probably bricate, perplurimse floriferoe, fructifer® valde auct®. Flores
hermaphroditi et foeminei. Fl. Herm. Periantliivm 4-phyl-
a new species. Ex Africd semper aliquwl novum. lum, foliolis 2-seriatis, inferioribus connatis. Stamina 6,
“ Yours very faithfully, and with many thanks, monadelphia ; anther® 3-loculares. Ovuli integumentum
disco stigmatiformi terminatum. Fl. Fcem. Periantlnum
“W. J. Hooker.” ampullaceum, compressissimum, 2-alatum. Ovulum maris,
sed processu styliformi recto apice simplici lacero. Fructus
Sir William also wrote a letter requesting farther siccus, squamis membranaceis strobili velatus. —Truncus
obconicus, lignosus. Folia 2, opposita, longissime linearia
information, and, in my absence, Mr. Logier — ,
dilacerata, nervis parallelis. IPoolc. fil.

forwarded it to Mr. C. J. Andersson, then in
Welwitschia mirabilis.
Otjimbengue, requesting him to forward a perfect Welwitschia mirabilis. Hoolc. fil in Trans, of Linn.
specimen. This was brought down on the 15th of Soe. v. 24, p. 1, cum tabulis I. —XIY.
September, 1862, planted with its native soil in
a flour-barrel by Mr. Latham, who, finding my
“The old adage, Semper aliquid novi ex Africa
‘
friend at that time an invalid, very kindly conveyed provenire,’ holds good in the present day as in
times long gone by. It is little more than two
it on board the mail-steamer on the 22nd.
In reference to this specimen, Mr. Andersson, years and a half since the first knowledge of this
*
dating from Otjimbengue, February 12th, 1862, singular plant (the subject of our two plates)
gave the following interesting particulars :
reached Europe, in a letter addressed to myself by
its discoverer, Dr. Frederick Welwitsch, a talented
“ The plant you inquire about, and which has so
awakened your curiosity, is well known to me. * See Botanical Magazine March
,
1st, 1863,
, —
72 THE WELWITSCHIA. MIRABILIS. [Nature and Art, August 1, 18G6.
on a botanical mission at St. Paul’s,

naturalist, then “ Mr. Monteiro also sent us plants collected at
Loando, on account of the Portuguese Government. Mossamedes, or Little Fish Bay, in 1862. These
The account was soon published, and excited, as were gathered in a journey of thirty miles from the
may be supposed, an interest among the most coast, in ground of hard quartzose character, and
eminent European botanists which has never been generally near little ruts worn in the plain by
exceeded, if equalled, since the discovery of the running water in the rainy season. Several Portu-
Rafflesia. guese of Cape Negro assured him they had seen
“Nordid it want an historian to describe fully specimens measuring, as Dr. Welwitsch also said,
its character and affinities, and external and internal six feet across the apex of the trunk, and even
organization, in the work above quoted. larger, and with the ribbon-like leaves two and
“ Having, however, actually received living plants even three bracas (fathoms) long.”
at Kew (though in a dying condition), besides The letter of Mr. C. J. Andersson, previously
copious dried specimens, through the kindness of quoted, is then given, and the notice concludes with
two gentlemen still residing in South-Western the following description :
—
Africa Joachim Monteiro, Esq., of Loando, and “Descr. — hi this we shall confine ourselves to
C. J. Andersson, Esq., of Damara Land, —
we are the more popular portion of Dr. Hooker’s, referring
justified in giving it a brief notice in the Botanical for the more scientific history to the Linnean
Magazine, and thus extending a knowledge of it ‘
Transactions.’
among many who have not the opportunity of con- “ It is a woody plant, said to attain a century in
sulting the Linnean Society’s Transactions.’
‘
As duration, with obconic trunk, about two feet long,
to the cultivation of the plant in our stoves, we of which a few inches only rise above the soil, pre-
despair of it altogether, as much as we do of rearing senting the appearance of a flat, two-lobed, depressed
the Rafflesia Arnoldii. Climate, soil, and native mass, sometimes, according to Dr. Welwitsch,
locality are all against success. Yet trials should, attaining fourteen feet in circumference, and looking
and no doubt will, be made to raise it from seed like a round table. When fully grown it is dark
when opportunity may offer. brown, hard, and cracked over the whole surface
“Dr. Welwitsch found the plant, in 1860, in- much like the burnt crust of a loaf of bread. The
habiting the elevated plateaxi near Cape Negro, lower portion forms a stout tap-root, buried in the
Western tropical Africa, in lat. 15° 40' S. ; and soil, and branching downwards at the end. From
Mr. Thomas Baines, the able artist in Gregory’s deep grooves in the circumference of the depressed
exploring expedition across North Australia and — mass, two enormous leaves are given off, each six
who accompanied Dr. Livingstone on the Zambesi feet long (and probably often much more), one
—
mission while travelling, the following year, in corresponding to each lobe of the trunk. These
the Damara country, between 22° and 23° S. and are quite flat, linear, very leathery, and split to
five hundred miles south of Cape Negro, was so the base into innumerable thongs, that lie curling
struck with its appearance that he made coloured upon the surface of the soil.
drawings of it and others, and sent them to me, “ Its discoverer describes these two leaves as
—
with some cones but these being more than a year being present from the very earliest condition of
en route, not dried, and packed with the succulent the plant, and assures me that they are in part
leaves of a, gigantic aloe, were much decayed. developed from the two cotyledons of the seed,
“ Happily the cones contained ripe seeds, which, and are persistent, being replaced by no others.
by hardening in alcohol, enabled Dr. Hooker to From the circumference of the tabular mass above,
satisfy himself of their great similarity in develop- but close to the insertion of the leaves, spring stout
ment and structure with those of Cycadece and dichotomously branched cymes, nearly a foot high,
Gnetacece. The native name Tumbo* was commu- bearing small erect scarlet cones, which eventually
nicated both by Dr. Welwitsch and Mr. Baines; become oblong, and attain the size of those of the
but as the same name is given to the gigantic aloe common spruce fir. The scales of the cones are
of the country, it is a generic rather than a specific very closely imbricated, and contain, when young
name among the natives, for to the branch of cones and still Ar ery small, solitary flowers, which in
Mr. Baines had written, Called by the Hottentots
‘
some cones are hermaphrodite (structurally, but not
Gliories, and by the Damaras Nyanlca Hykamkopl functionally), and in others female.
As we were now in possession of specimens, how- “ The hermaphrodite flower consists of a perianth
ever imperfect, of this wonderful plant, from Mr. of four pieces, six monadelplrous stamens, with
Baines, and very anxious that its discovery should trilocular globose anthers, surrounding a central
be announced, Dr. Hooker wrote to Dr. Welwitsch, ovule, the integument of which is produced into a
reminding him of a request he had made that a full styliform sigmoid tube, terminated by a discoid
account of his discovery should appear in the apex. The female flower consists of a solitary erect
Linnean Transactions,’ and urging him either to
‘
ovule contained in a compressed utricular perianth.
make the plant known himself to the scientific The mature cone is tetragonous, and contains a
world, or to send his specimens here for publication, broadly-winged fruit in each scale. Every part of
proposing at the same time that it should be called the plant exudes a transparent gum. Welwitschia
Welwitsch ia mira b ilis. is a dicotyledonous plant, belonging to the gyrnno-
spermous group of that class, and having a very
* Otjitumbo, a stump. close affinity with both Ephedra and Gnetum, but
— ; -
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.]

THE WELWITSCHIA MIRABILIS. 73
differing from all previously known gymnosperms specixxxen sent by Mr. Rawson, then Colonial
yoxx to
in having hermaphrodite flowers, and in wanting Secx’etaxy at the Cape, was forwarded to England,
the disk-bearing wood-cells. Notwithstanding these and now yoxx have brought with you another
peculiarities,Dr. Hooker places it the Nat. Ord. living specimen.
Gnetacece of which it is the only South African “ Dr. Hooker describes it as a woody plant,
,
representative.” said to attain a cexxtxxxy ixx duration, presexxtixxg the

Of course this plant, common as it is in its own appeax’ance of a flat, two-lobed, depx’essed mass ;
limited localities, must have been seen long ago by soxnetinxes, according to Dr. Welwitsch, attaining
many persons. The only wonder is that no one fourteen feet in circumferexxce, axxd lookixxg like a
had previoxxsly sent it home. round table.
Mr. Chapman took stereoscopic views both of it “ Soxxxe of the specixnens seen
by yoxx seem to
and the great tree-aloe. As we did not effect a have been of a corresponding magnitude, their
junction till far beyond the boundaries of Damara weight beixxg estimated by the hxxndredweight, and
Land, neither of us knew what was being done by a hogshead being spoken of as necessary for their
the other. In 1863 he sent, and in 1864 conveyed conveyance.
personally, specimens to the Cape ; and, in reference “ Let axxy one look at that yoxx have brought,
to these, received from the Rev. J. C. Brown, axxd imagine what sxxclx gigaxxtic specimens xxxxxst
LL.D., the Colonial Botanist, a highly compli- be. This looks like two imxxxense clam-shells, ox-
mentary letter, which has since been published, two lobes of an immense bean, measuring sonxe 18
and from which I take the liberty of making a few inches acx'oss, pax-tially opexxed with the inter-
extracts :
mediate space so filled that, when viewed edge-
“ Wynberg, lD/i November, 1864. ways, it presents axx elongated heart-shape, being less
deeply sitxxated iix the gx-ouxxd than Dr. Hooker
“James Chapman, Esq. describes, appearing somewhat wedge-like, axxd
“ My dear Sir, —
I rejoice to find that you have lxavixxg roxxxxded edges forming the sides of a
brought down from the interior another specimen depression rxxxxxxixxg aloxxg its upper sxirface ixx its
of the Tumboa
or Welwitschia mirabilis and I ;
longitudinal direction. This depression, axxd a con-
feel obliged to our mutual friend, Mr. Layard, for siderable portion of its upper surface roxxnd the
bringing it under my attention. Before I left extremity of the depression, is covered with solid
England I found the interest awakened by the circular ridges aboxxt half an inch ixx diameter, the
descriptions given of this plant to be very great. . . nature of which xxxay be coxxjectux'ed and described,
. The plant was found by Dr. Welwitsch, whose
. but does not at first appear.
name it bears, in 1860; but I am informed by a “ Ixx the specixxxen brought by you, the place
gentleman in this neighbourhood, that, long befox e -
where the leaves proceeded is like a cx-aclt or rexxt,
1860, he had seen these plants in Damara Land, and, sxxclx as would appear if two layers of a monstrous
in one of his journeys, endeavoured to uproot some clam shell had separated to allow the protrusion of
specimens for a near relation in the colony, a lady the leaves. These rents close ixx xxxoist weathex-,
taking an interest in the cultivation of rare plants ; axxd open ixx dry, when the ixxterior sxxrface presents
but he never imagined, he. says, that plants so the whitish appearance seexx betweexx the leaves of
abxxndant as these coxxhl be xxxxknowxx to xxxen of soxxxe species of the blood-flower (Hamianthus),
sciexxce axxd thus xxxay it be with xxxany travellers
: and the candelabra flower ( Brunsvigia ) and it is
iix regard to plants which, from their abundance, so suggestive of a bulb-like strxxctxxre, that I do xxot
have ceased to interest them, bixt of which botaxxists wonder that this portion of the plant is gexxerally
know nothixxg. About the time of either Dr. spokexx of as a bxxlb.
Welwitsch first writing of the plant to Sir Wm. “Dr. Welwitsch states these leaves are never
Hooker, or of Mr. Barnes forwarding to him his renewed or replaced. To this also, should yoxx
drawings, a specimexx was bx’cxxght to Cape Towxx revisit the coxxxxtxy, may I ask yoxx to give your
by Mr. Wollastoxx, and givexx to his friend, Mr. attexxtioxx, as the fact lxxay be ixxdicative of xxxxxch
M‘Gibbon, the Sxxperixxtendexxt of the Botanic besides. your observatioxx of the leaves beixxg
Froixx
Garden. It was dead probably, in conseqxxence of
;
xxxorewithered at one seasoxx thaxx another, there
the xxxeans which had to be adopted to transport it seems to be, at times, a fresh vigoroxxs growth at
to Cape Towxx; axxd it consisted, I am told, oxxly theix> base.
of oxxe half of the plant, with dxy withered remains “ I axxx glad that yoxx sent, soxxxe time since,
of the leaf attached. This was sexxt to England ixx a sxxxall case of these cones to Kew, as parties
the beginxxixxg of 1863, aixd must have beexx obtained ixx England and elsewliei'e may be desix-oxxs of
xxot later thaxx 1861 ;
axxd I have testimony that it examixxixxg them.
was pondered over agaixx axxd agaixx by, at least, “ I have
used throxxglxoxxt the designation,
one of the Comxnissioners of the Garden, who has Tumboa. Dr. Hooker says, the native xxame,
spent much time, labour, thought, axxd ixxoney, oxx Txxmbo, was givexx both by Dr. Welwitsch and
the Soxxth Afx'icaxx flox’a. In 1862, Joachixxx Mr. Baixxes ; bixt to the bunch of coxxes Mr. Baixxes
Moxxteiro, Esq., of Loaxxdo, collected soxxxe plaxxts has writtexx, called by the Hotentots, Ghories ;’ ‘
at Mossamedes or Little Fish Bay, and these he and by the Damaras, Nyaxxka Kykamkop. ‘
sent to Kew. In the same year specimens wex’e “ Dr. Bleek coxxfxrms the ixxtex’px-etation yoxx
sexxt by Mr. Andersson. Last year, 1863, a living have givexx of the latter xxaxxxe, the bulb or plant of
,
74 LITHOGRAPHIC STONE. [Nature ancl Art, August 1, 1866,
Koom Kop. Nyanka being tlie Damara designa- Brown’s complete and exhaustive scientific descrip-
tion applied to a plant, or, if I understand you tion of this plant. My object has been rather to
rightly, a flowering bulb
to and Koom’ Kop
;
extract what more particularly refers to the
being thename of the locality where it is found. labours of my friend and I trust that when his
“The Damara name supplied by you, Otjiturnbo journal is published, fac-similes of his stereoscopic
otjihoro, or stump with a head, embodies the views of these and other objects of interest, as well
previous designation given by Dr. Hooker. Nyanka, as much valuable information will be laid before
Otjiturnbo, and Otjihoro, I understand to be Damara tlie public respecting the Ethnology, Zoology, and
words ; and Koom’ Kop, to be a corruption of a Botany of Southern Africa. Several of his specimens
Seroan or Hottentot word, implying some reference are in the museum at Kew, and others brought from
to three rivers.” the west coast by Sir A. P. Eardley Wilmot, It. N.
It is impossible, even in the quotations I have may be seen in one of the conservatories, where
taken the liberty to make, to do justice to Dr. every effort is being made to maintain their vitality.
LITHOGRAPHIC STONE.
By W. B. Lobd, Royal Artillery.
TJB simply stating that the stone to which we cut through by invading “ navvies,” and that
O
and
are indebted for so many graphic, charming,
representations of both animate and
life-like
these were the broken edges of the flags. These
floor-like layers are “ white lias,” closely allied to
inanimate objects is of the “ Lias” order, belonging the true lithographic stone, and it is questionable
to the “ Bavarian Jura” formation, might, to a whether carefully- selected specimens from this dis-
certain number of our readers, prove all-sufficient, trict might not be found even and compact enough
and at once explain to them the nature of the in grain to be made available for some descriptions
subject with which we are about to deal. There of lithography. The dolomite or magnesian lime-
are others, not versed in the science of geology, who stone deposits associated with the lithographic-
would wish for more than the name of the forma- stone formations of the “Jura” are remarkable for
tion to which the stone belongs, and ask for further the interesting and curious bone-caverns found
and more extended data, as to where it is found, amongst them. The contents of these caves mainly
what it contains, the position it occupies on the consist of the remains of animals which have here
earth’s crust, and, last, but not least, what it is lain buried for countless ages. These are merely
worth. To the latter class, then, do we address affairs of yesterday when compared with the rocks
ourselves, trusting that our stone may not prove a deep amongst whose clefts and crevices the ancient
heavy burden. caverns are formed. The neighbouring rocks, in
In the neighbourhood of A iclistadt, in Bavaria, turn, contain, as we remains of creatures
shall see,
extensive quarries and deep workings have been older far than those whose bones are entombed
established, where the stone, in vast quantities, is amongst the cavernous vaults of the dolomites.
raised from its bed. Solenliofen, too, lias its name Strange it is that the very stone on which, when
favourably associated with lithographic stone whilst ;
polished and prepared, the artist, with skilful touch
the picturesque and richly-wooded heights in the and pigments of vax'ied hue, depicts the richly-
vicinity of Pappenheim are built up, so to speak, shaded dragon-fly, or banded, pearly fish, to delight
layer on layer, with this interesting and valuable the eye of the lover of Nature and Art, should
deposit. The broken heights stand up in bold, contain, sealed up within its own hidden recesses,
sharp outline, more like to the scarped walls and like flies in amber, not only dragon-flies, fish, and
vast remains of huge fortifications of some past and shells of the graceful nautilus, but old-world types
forgotten age, than to Nature’s monuments, reared of life so strange, so incongruous, and startling,
”
in commemoration of extinct races. In these that, beside them, the “ roc of Sinbad the Sailor,
valleys ceaselessly ring out, in clear music, like the hideous dragon which Saint George is popularly
the clink of the armourer’s anvil, the lusty strokes supposed to have bravely slain in single combat,
of the quarryman, who, with ponderous hammer, and the huge serpent killed by Hercules before
breaks into suitable fragments the flat slabs already obtaining the apples of the Hesperides, become
displaced and ready to his hand. Those of our almost probabilities. Stranger than all these is the
readers who have travelled by the Great Western very anomalous and remarkable bird which the
Railway between Swindon and Bristol may perhaps astute powers of observation and knowledge of
remember certain cuttings, near the latter place, comparative anatomy possessed and brought to bear
against the sides of which stand clearly-marked, by Professor Owen has rescued from the category
straight, even layers of light-grey stone, as if the of lizards, amongst which it was for some time
kitchen of some comfort-loving ogre of that vague associated, and placed in the position it now
period known as the “dark ages” had been ruthlessly occupies. The existence of fossils on the surface of
;
Nature and Art, August 1, I860.]

LITHOGRAPHIC STONE. 75
the stone is, however interesting to the geologist, and, without question, the oldest ever discovered.
objectionable in a lithographic point of view. Still, True it is, that, in a peculiar kind of sandstone, of
to one of them are we indebted for the singular age perhaps as great as that of lithographic stone,
remains which have caused so much doubt and found in the valley of Connecticut, in America,
question. A
feather, and then some bones, were numerous foot-prints of birds have been found ; but,
found. The great
detective inspector of science, strangely enough, no bone, feather, or aught besides
“from information he was in possession of,” con- the impression of their feet on that which, when they
sidered the so-called Saurian an impostor. “You, lived, was, no doubt, soft ooze, partially submerged
sir, are a bird,” said he. “ You are wanted.I have sand flats,and marsh mud. Here these old-world
my eye on you. I have counted every process in waders, stork, and crane-like birds, sought their
your very irregular tail, measured your claws, and food amongst the sedge and weeds, devouring the
shall very soon find your head ; so you had better reptiles, fish, and inhabitants of shells, which, even
come along quietly at once. I am Owen it is of ;
themselves, are now extinct which then abounded.
no use trying to deceive me you may as well
;
The Professor’s bird, “ Archceopteryx Macrura,” is,
confess yourself a bird forthwith, and save at any rate, as old as those which, like the unwel-
trouble.” come intruder on the shore of Crusoe’s Island, have
An anecdote, related by the peasantry on the left a foot-print only, to tell of their visit. He
borders of the Black Forest, of the late Baron has, far more satisfactorily, left nearly the whole
Cuvier, who was for some time prosecuting his of his bones as a legacy to inquiring naturalists
researches in that neighbourhood, may serve to but is, alas !like “ Mayne Reid’s Horseman,”
show how dark superstition and respect for the “without a head.” In size, it has been by some
faithful investigator of Nature’s secrets often go compared to a rook but I am of opinion, from the
;
hand in hand. It is a veritable Black Forest length and proportions of the leg, and some other
legend, and, therefore, must be received accordingly. bones, that it must have stood much higher, and
The Baron, say they, was a man above fear. He been of much slighter form. The most remarkable
would plunge into the very depths of the forest, and anomalous feature presented by the remains,
heedless of the sprites and goblins reported to dwell as they lay partially imbedded in the stone, is the
there as plentiful as blackberries. “ This sort of long, slender, rat-like tail, composed of twenty pro-
thing will not last,” said Grandfather Hans, a man cesses. From each of these a pair of quill feathers
thoroughly versed in phantom lore; “the Baron projected laterally, presenting, when complete, the
will some day get into the enchanted grove, and appearance of one large, flat feather, much in
then he never can return to us the demon of the : external form like those from which pens are made,
forest would eat him, to a certainty. Oh, Baron,” but built up of smaller ones like the side leaves to
said he, “ take heed of what I say ; never venture the frond of a fern. The wing feathers appear, so
beyond the Hunter’s Oak,’ at the opening of the
‘
far as I can see, much like those of birds of the present
‘
Black Grove,’ or you will repent it.” “Yery well, period. It is to be hoped that some fortunate
Grandfather Hans,” said the Baron ; “ I will re- chance may bring to light other remains of these
member.” But, not remembering the caution of truly ancient birds, in order that their perfect form
Grandfather Hans, the Baron next day wandered, may be known.
book in hand, on and on, past the Hunter’s Oak, The value of lithographic stone, in connection
down the grove to the very “Ivobold’s Rock” at with pictorial illustration, is becoming too well
the bottom, and then, seeing the sun sinking behind known to need comment here. It is imported into
the pines and night coming on, he turned to retrace this country in immense quantities, and is worth,
his steps. There, as might be expected, stood the to the trade,from one penny to threepence per
demon of the forest, a sight most hideous to look pound, according to size. Some idea may be
upon. “You cannot return,” growled the demon. formed of the quantity in demand, and the sums
“For what reason 1” asked the Baron. “ Because,” expended upon this material, by the mere fact of the
said the terrible fiend, “ I am about to devour you publishers of this journal having, at this moment in
for daring to intrude on my realms.” “ Indeed ” ! their stores, from twelve to fifteen hundred tons,
was the calm reply “ pray let me examine you
:
;
valued at £20,000. Thus, then, we read, literally,
your appearance and physical conformation are, to “ sermons in stones and good in everything.” The
say the least, new to me, and are noteworthy. buried forest of the carboniferous period furnishes
So-so — let me see —horns, hoofs cloven, caudal ver- the vast and wealth -producing coal. The quartz of
tebral processes numerous, forming a perfect tail. an earlier period yields up its stores of yellow gold ;
Sir Fiend, you are a ruminant, and very few and the tiny coral insect of our own time builds
degrees removed from a cow,” severely remarked slowly, but surely, ever upwards, the foundations
the Baron. “ You eat me ! Absurd preposterous ! ! of reefs and islands, to which the drifting weed,
Get out of the path. I pity your anomalous posi- the wandering sea bird, the dead and stranded
tion ;
but you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” fish, and empty shell, all lend their aid in making
And the demon was ashamed of himself, and “habitable land.” At length wave-borne cocoa-
sneaked off out of the Baron’s sight, a wiser, if not nuts and other tropic seeds arrive, germinate, take
a better, member of his order. vigorous root, and soon wave their feathery foliage
To return then to our stone, and that which in the fresh sea breeze. Thus, all-bounteous Nature
may now be fairly called Professor Owen’s bird, works ever for the good of man.
70 A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. [Nature and Art, August 1, I860,
A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS BEYOND THE

SEAT OF WAR,
U NSURPASSED in picturesque beauty as these

charming grottos ancl fairy-like nooks are, an
additional charm is lent to the whole by the quaint
wicker baskets, and scooping out the cylindrical
bee-hives, before described, with knives of rather
formidable dimensions, and peculiar form. Some,
magnificence of the castellated palace to which they we saw here, were made to fit, as in a sheath, the
belong. Standing, as it does, almost on the “ border handle of the riding-whip, leading one to think,
lands” of Europe and Asia, architectural beauties after all, that the catching of a Tartar might not
have been gleaned from each ; and as we see at prove quite as jocular an affair as is generally
times, in passing from the plains to the mountains, supposed. Wetherefore do not catch one, but
some well-known plant or tree growing beyond its proceed peaceably on our way still through the
usual limit, so the graceful minarets, pointed pin- orchards and fruit trees ; still among the golden
nacles, and gilded domes of Moorish order and true orioles and the turquoise-like roller jays. The
Oriental beauty are associated with the massive bee-eaters, too, appear to have a busy, bustling
walls, grim, frowning battlements, and deep, heavy time of it and dart hither and thither as if all the
;
archways of the Western world ; and we are some- bees in the world had to be devoured in a given
what perplexed, and scarcely know for the moment period, and they had but this one day left to do it in.
whether the whole is not a page out of the “Arabian The rich fertile belt of land between the high
Nights’ Entertainments,” and that we are not in mountains and the seashore, Avidens out rapidly,
the neighbourhood of Bagdad, and likely to run and here and there stretches in open tracts and
against a turbaned caliph at some unexpected undulating mounds, away towards the hills beyond,
corner, or if, perchance, after all, we are not in on one of Avhich stands a curious record of the past
some Highland chieftain’s stronghold, and about to — a mass of huge, piled-up rocks, which, if found on
be greeted by a “ skirl” from Donald’s pipes. Still, the cloud-capped “ Tors ” of Cornwall or the wild
our very perplexity has a charm about it, and we wastes of Brittany, we should at once pronounce
wander on amongst the pomegranates, olives, and Celtic or Druidical in their origin. Hoav came
flowering acacia-trees. The soft cooing of the they here, or avIio reared them 1 “ Quien SabeI” *
hoopoes, as, with elevated crest and curved beak, Here they are, at any rate, and appear likely to
they turn the fallen leaves over in search of worms remain for some time to come.
and insect prey ; the tinkling of the rills amongst We are now rapidly nearing the promontory of
the rocks;
and the sharp “ churr, churr” of the Aithodor, on the very crown of which, amongst
large ash-coloured shrike, as he sits on some bare thickets of Oriental juniper and immense arbutus
thorn twig, break the silence, and call us back trees, stands the ruin of some ancient Greek
from waking dreams to life’s realities, and lead us temple, on the site of which a monastery appears to
to reflect on the vast sums in “silver roubles” it have been built, and in turn become a ruin ; a few
must have cost Prince Woronzoff to surround him- white marble pillars and some fallen stones being
self with so much that is beautiful. all that remain to tell of its past grandeur. Our
And here we cannot refrain from relating a freak path still widens out, and is rapidly becoming a
of true Russian magnificence indulged in by the plain. Mount Megabi rising boldly up from its
prince in his younger days. When in command of very midst. The turf, over which we ride, is soft
the Russian army of occupation, which, it will be as velvet, and thousands of floAvering plants strew our
remembered, remained in France after the Peace of track. A Avliole flock of sandpipers rise from almost
1815, he was informed, when about quitting that under our horses’ feet, and wheel off, Avith shrill
country, that a number of his officers had fallen whistle and sharp wing, towards the sea, Avhich is
heavily into debt, from their gay habits and the not far from us. The white gulls and SAvalloAv-
expensive society in which they had mixed, and like terns come hovering OAr er head, wondering, no
were leaving without paying any one. He imme- doubt, at our unceremonious intrusion. Close
diately directed an officer he could trust to collect doAvn by the seashore, backed up by the sheltering
all the outstanding bills, paid them out of his cliffs, and amongst splendid trees, stands the
private purse, and burned the receipts an example,
;
palace of “ Ourianda built by the Emperor
it is to be apprehended, few commanding officers of Alexander, and inhabited by the dowager Empress
the present day are likely to follow. of Russia. A
most elegant and tasteful retreat it
Our onward march now leads for some distance is. One immense hall-like room, with its roof
by orchards and vineyards, pass more Tartar huts, supported on pillars and open to the sea, is charm-
and through the village of Gaspra, with its cool, ing beyond description. Huge vines, like boa
clear fountains and patriarchal walnut-trees, under
the shadow of which sit groups of villagers making * Who knows ?
;
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. 77
constrictors, twine themselves from pillar to pillar which we have left behind us. At last, beneath a
their green leaves fluttering in the sea breeze im- solitary clump of aspen-trees, we discover a well,
parting a delicious sense of freshness and purity. into which several plump, active, green frogs leap
The floor of tesselated pavement, cool as marble, head foremost on our approach ; whilst others,
has a clear fountain in its centre, from which from amongst the tufted grass and water plants,
liliputian canals are conducted through the apart- croak forth their evening song as the sun goes
ment in every direction, adding the charm of ever- down.
running water to its other delightful attractions. This quiet, pleasant nook beneath the aspens is
Whole suites of apartments are there, too, with soon alive with bustle and activity. Tent un-
polished oak floors to walk in safety over which a
;
packing, picket-pins driving, “ off saddling,” and
faithful study of the art of skating, one would be general preparations for spending the night, in full
disposed to think an imperative necessity. But we operation. We select a tree rather apart from the
step short in our heavily spurred riding-boots, as if rest for the sacrifice, remove the leather cover from
in the act of crossing some frozen pool and we ac-;
the head of our keen, long-handled American axe,
company the white-bearded old major-domo through measure our distance, and send its heavy blade up
gallery and corridor, and from room to room, until a to the very eye in the soft, white wood, sending the
small mysterious apartment is reached, and we are chips off' right and left, until with a splitting crash
sorely puzzled as to the purposes for which it could the tree comes sweeping to the earth, and is soon
have been constructed. Unpleasant suspicions arise, food for the flames, which flicker and dance up
and old stories, not the less unpleasant for their cheerfully in the gathering twilight ; and as the
age, are recalled to our memory, as we see a small night closes in we see that there are others afoot
furnace and whole rows of pigeon-holes, evidently besides ourselves : lights pass to and fro some
for the heating and reception of instruments of distance out to sea, shine out, flicker brightly,
some kind. Horrid thought, are we in the disappear, and again throw forth their lurid light
chamber of torture ? and is this the chief tor- in a fresh place ; so we go down to the beach to
mentor’s dread establishment 1 Yet the handsome investigate, and find a whole party of Tartars, torch
mirrors and luxuriant seats negative the supposi- and harpoon in hand, fish spearing.
tion. We are fairly posed, puzzled, and perplexed, The sand in many places runs in flat “ spits ” and
and endeavour to seek information of our long- tongue-like deposits far out beyond the strand, and
coated and obsequious guide, whose knowledge of on these, with flaring brands and poised spears, our
English is even more limited than ours of Russian, Tartar friends were wading in search of such “thorn-
which is saying a great deal. Pantomime goes a backed turbots,” or small sturgeons, as good fortune
long way in such cases and what with gestures
;
might bring beneath the glance of their peering,
indicative of astonishment, and asking in our very downcast eyes. Large quantities of the former fish
best Russ, “What fori” a light appeared, at last, to are also captured on the coast by hook and line,
break on the faculties of our friend, whose flat, when semi-circular “ pounds ” are built of stones
Mongolian face brightened up like the sun through and large pebbles, into which the fish are turned,
a cloud. He spread his voluminous skirts out, and as sheep are in a pen, and when required for use
minced, on the very tips of his long-booted toes, the fishermen wade in with a boat paddle and
down the room and back again, after the manner literally hunt as many as they want to the shore,
of a Lady of High Degree, when caricatured by when by a dexterous lift or so with its flat blade,
persons of his class ; twirled his straggling grey the astonished and bewildered victims are pitched
locks, cork-screw fashion, round his finger ; made out high and dry on the sand. After watching
imaginary tongs with the digits of his other hand ; this wild and savage-looking band of fish-hunters,
sank, with mock grace, into a seat opposite a look- and whoops, purchasing
listening to their shrill cries
ing-glass and the whole thrilling mystery was at
;
a turbot nearly as large as a moderate-sized tea-
an end: all is explained. We
are in the bureau tray for the value of about tenpence, and getting
of the “ court barber,” and here he wielded his thoroughly wet in bringing him on shore, we wend
curling-irons in high and exacting majesty. The our way back to camp with our fish, with whom
family being at St. Petersburg, we escape the we have some serious misunderstandings on the
barber and after a sight of the gardens, in which
;
road, but a couple of admonitory raps on the head
there are some unusually large fig-trees, we resume settle matters at last, and we are soon beneath our
our journey, and are soon away on the smooth our own trees and in our own tent once more.
velvet turf again, with the sea, on our right, calm To-morrow we intend visiting Yalta to purchase
and tideless as an inland lake. Evening is closing corn for our animals, as well as certain creature
in rapidly, and we look out for an eligible spot on comforts for ourselves. A
description of our search,
which to encamp for the night. Water is, by no for grain and what befel it and us, we shall com-
means, as plenty here as in the boulder-land municate in our next.
—
78 IN SEARCH OF A CLIMATE. [Nature and Alt, August 1, I860*.
IN SEARCH 01 A CLIMATE.*
INCE oiu' last number was published a cam- sufferer, has formed, by experiment upon him-
who
S paign, of which we hardly yet know the details, self and own benefit, a code of health-rules
for his
and of which we are yet to learn the effect, has and a system of health-travelling, which have
been lost and won. Sufficient blood of complacent notoriously been of supreme advantage to himself
subjects has been fratricidally shed, it may be by and those to whom his condition was once a matter
previous concert, to satisfy the honour of absolutist of grave solicitude.
monarchs, and to pave the way for what the bureau- “ Now that rest and the mild Southern winters have in a
crats will call “studious re-examinations” or “pacific measure restored me to health, I am desirous to make the
solutions.” The downcast innkeepers, whose best Biviera, and especially Mentone, known to the tribe of
sufferers obliged to fly from England,
1
chance then was that some spoil of war and wages merrie’ in winter to
only the hale and strong who can defy and enjoy the cutting
of blood might in part compensate them for war-
winds, the rain, the snow, and the frost of a Northern
taxation and the absence of Milord and his follow- land.”
ing, now think that the travelling multitude may
yet appear to them in the course of the autumn. Such is his text; and we shall help the good
Those wish-engendered thoughts we can hardly cause of the preacher, and, we hope, amuse some
share, if, indeed, we sympathize with them ; for who need no advice, if we follow awhile his foot-
though, in 1795, when Pichegru and the army of steps.
the Directory were hammering at the gates of Twenty-two miles from Nice, to which there is
Elirenbreitstein, it suited the famous Mrs. Ann “ through ” railway communication, lies Mentone,
Radcliffe to undertake a German tour, after the capital of the lately-annexed principality of Monaco.
labours of publishing her successful “ Mysteries An able-bodied traveller may gallop there from
of Udolplio,” we imagine that the English matron London (523 miles) in forty-five hours, or less ; an
of to-day will scarcely court such scant amenities invalid should proceed, according to Dr. Bennet
as our country-folk may expect from the successful and common sense, in the totally different method
and inflated Prussians. In our own opinion, the set out in the Appendix. The town is on a bay
—
Continent or so much of it as is represented by four miles wide, landlocked by the extreme spurs
all Germany, Lombardo- Venetia, and Piedmont of the Maritime Alps. Its salubrity is not derived
will, formany reasons, be intolerable this autumn from latitude alone, but from the protection on the
(should even peace be maintained) to all travellers north and east afforded by this chain. Its inner line
not in search of profit or adventure. Our wealthy of defence against the pernicious Mistral is formed
neighbours who can pay for the “ rest and repose,” by hills of from 500 to 1,500 feet, rising to an am-
or the “ change of air,” which, according to their phitbeatre of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet altitude.
several views, is afforded to them by a continental Twenty or thirty miles in advance, again, is the
scamper, will, we are sure, be of our opinion, and main range of the Maritime Alps, effectively ob-
to such the advent of a new pioneer is certainly structing or diverting every variation of northerly
most opportune. wind, and giving an immunity from the bitter cold
Let us offer sympathy, then, to the authors whose engendered on the continent of Europe. Here, on
handbooks to the Spas and Bader and Brunnen will warm terraces, protected from all winds but the
pine this year upon the shelves, and accredit warmly south, winter may be said not to exist. The lively
to a section of the pleasure-seeking public (for whose lizard never liybernates, the swallow never migrates,
use in truth it was never written), the work of a and you must reach the latitude of Palermo, six
learned and volatile expert, who, in his 450 pages, degrees farther south, before you can again find
exhausts for us Mentone and the Riviera, skims lemons growing in full perfection and in open air
along the Italian coast, sips of Corsica, swoops like apples in an English orchard. It is during
upon Sicily, flutters over Biarritz, kisses fondly the winter, of course, that such a climate is especially
Italian lakes, and, homeward-bound —
for the sum- valuable to the rheumatic, the phthisical, and the
—
mer only shakes indignantly from his shoes the general valetudinarian tribe. Eor them, like
Ventnor and the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight,
snow of the Simplon, thankful to have passed its
Alpine horrors in hygienic safety. “ Euns rediens- Mentone is rendered unpleasantly hot, if not un-
que gaudet” is his fanciful motto ; a swallow his wholesome, in August and September, by the shelter
crest ; and many, we foresee, must in time be in- of those ramparts that are a blessing in winter-time.
duced, and, under Providence, permitted, to follow Those invalids to whom fortune permits two homes,
the system and example set forth in his genial and who would follow our author’s advice, should
writings. This we are bound to say seriously ; for dally on the way rather than reach the town before
here is no unpractical preacher, no blind guide, no the 20th of October, and they may safely, it would
immoveable signpost ; but a man of science and a seem, follow his custom and venture northwards on
the 20th of April. During a Mentone winter there
is no fog, at sea or on land, day or night, morning
* Winter in the South of Europe, By J. Henry Bennet,
M.D. (John Churchill & Sons.) or evening; and such is the power of the sun,
: — —

IN SEAECH OF A CLIMATE. 79
tlierocky character of tlie soil, and the general Recel a terrible state of things existed ;
for, accord-
quality of the air, that washed linen dries always ing to a French prefect
and quickly out of doors, except on the very few “ 4,300 assassinations occurred in Corsica, between tlie
days when rain falls or tlie sky is obscured. Yet years 1821 and 1852, in a population of 250,000. In the
even fair Mentone has a skeleton in her house. last two years of this period, the number was 319. Tho
“The little cloud” that bears the germ of future peasant scarcely cultivated his field, for fear of being shot
at the plough and his life wa3 often passed in tracking or
trouble has been detected on her horizon by the ;
avoiding a foe. The women, bred up in a savage sense of

medical seer. The spectre of bad drainage rises honour, urged their husbands and sons to these deeds of
even in an air laden with the perfume of a thousand bloodthirsty revenge sang wild songs of triumph over
;
flowers, and unless her inhabitants wisely look to them, if victorious, and equally wild lamentations if they
it,the black mark of typhus may some day sully were killed. Many Corsicans, in those days, spent years of
their life barricaded in their houses, which they durst not
her now unspotted health-certificate.
leave. I made, myself, the acquaintance of a gentleman,
But although, as the author says, “ the search one of the leading proprietors of the island, who, a long
after an unimpeachable climate is in some respects while ago, actually lived for two years barricaded in the
— like that for the philosopher’s stone, for the elixir upper flat of a house in that town to avoid the "Vendetta.
of life, or for the quadrature of the circle a fruit- — An iron door on the staircase, through which he could
shoot any one approaching, protected and separated him
less one,” his fate, it seems, is to pursue it. In from relentless foes.”
1860 he crossed the Mont Cenis ; found Genoa
hygienically wanting ; flouted Pisa and its ditch-like At the commencement of the present century,
Arno found no rest in Florence or the Eternal
• there were 1,000 assassins sheltered in the moun-
City from the like point of view, utterly contain fastnesses of the island. The commandant of
demned the fair, yet ill-savoured, Naples; and at Ajaccio told the author that, in 1855, there were
last returned to the Riviera from his sanitary still 300. The very vigorous measures of the
survey, a more enlightened and contented man, but Government are, however, beginning to tell tho-
with the thirst for new well-springs of health yet roughly. Security reigns ; and although the
unappeased. So, after many days, he sought the French regard appointment to Corsica as
officials
island-cradle of the Buonapartes, whose mountain- banishment, and the French public hold the island
peaks had fitfully revealed themselves do him at to be semi-barbarous, Dr. Bennet complacently feels
early dawn, though from one hundred to one hun- persuaded that her isolation must end, and he uses
dred and thirty miles from Mentone. The chapter his good offices, recommending that a few brigades
upon Corsica is perhaps one of the most interesting of invalids should initiate the rapprochement. Be
in the book. It could hardly indeed be otherwise ; it so, and let the good physician lead the expedi-
tion, but we will none of it. “ Servantgalism ” in

for, irrespective of the natural beauties of the
island and the romance of its history, its associa- England is bad enough, in America far worse ;
but
tions with the Imperial family are so deeply rooted that of Corsica is fearsome for an athlete, and agony
that no observer, having our tourist’s facilities, for an invalid to contemplate. Such a prejudice
can fail to collect rich store of gossip and informa- may be fallacious, and contrasted with the amiable
tion charming alike the cursory and the student enthusiasm of our author may seem mean ; yet
reader. we must confess we hold to it until otherwise
In Ajaccio he was pleased to find a thoroughly advised.
recommendable winter sanitarium. It is unques- In the winter of 1862, our pilgrim of Hygeia
tionably one of the most lovely spots in Europe went forth again upon his mission, and investigated
cleanly, well built, airily planned, and well pro- Sicily. He glanced, on the road, at Naples and
visioned. It offers society and good medical treat- Pompeii, where he was fortunate enough to see
ment, while the name of the great Emperor no — the now famous plaster group, termed the “ In-
longer a word of terror and abhorrence to the pronti umani the ashy moulds for which, formed
—
Briton hangs ever about it as a spell and a at the great eruption upon the actual bodies ol
mysterious charm. Its grain of bitterness is un- fugitives, were found in an available state for the
questionably the backward civilization of its High- use of the curators. How available, indeed, we
land-Italian populace. The atrocious institution of were not aware until we read the following pas-
their Vendetta in its widest sense has, it is true, sage, which appears to us worth quoting :
been modified by the total disarmament of the “ Every muscular contortion, every detail of shape is
island, and by a rigorous application of the “ Loi du distinctly brought out in this vivid, ghastly group. I also
Recel,” which enables the administration to seize saw a recently discovered' subterranean channel, some four
and imprison a family, or even a clan, as hostages feet wide and two deep, in which a considerable body of
cool, pellucid water was running rapidly to the sea. few A
for the good behaviour or, as they prefer it, for the down
feet only of the roof had been taken off, and I looked
self-expatriation of a turbulent individual. But the with interest on this stream of pure water, collected from
ferocity engendered of this custom is not to be ex- the adjoining mountains, more than eighteen centuries ago,
tirpated with the custom itself, and adventures for the use of the town and which, during all that period,
;
occurred to the author which he has very amusingly has been running unseen, hidden in the bosom of the earth,
buried with the city it was intended to supply.”
detailed, but which tend to show that, whatever its
depths may be, the surface of Corsican society is by Tlie result of tlie survey of Palermo was a con-
no means unruffled. viction that its climate, being unprotected north-
Immediately before the enactment of the Loi du ward, is as warm, but no more so, than that of
— ;; —
80 IN SEARCH OF A CLIMATE. [Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.
Mentone and the Riviera. It is somewhat moist the editor of the Times addressed to persons about
and relaxing and though of value to highly
;
to travel a graceful plea for Ireland. Likening
nervous, excitable, impressionable constitutions, the autumnal swarm of English tourists to a ferti-
that are too much braced and stimulated by the lizing inundation, he expressed a hope that at
dry, tonic atmosphere of the Riviera, it cannot be least a portion of it might now find an outlet
so beneficial as the latter in the earlier and curable among the lovely scenes, the venerable antiquities,
stages of phthisis. The doctor’s review of Sicily, and the stirring associations of the sister island.
birthplace of mythology, extends to considerable Our brief digression to echo the kindly wish needs
length and though it be as interestingly treated
;
no excuse, and we return to our hygienic traveller
as is, we may fairly say, every division of his for a few lines only. These are, to our thinking,
subject, we can
revel but little more in condensing necessary to point his moral ; and the unhappily
or quoting. His general conclusion seems to have numerous class who have more than a fugitive
been that, with the exception, perhaps, of his new- interest in the subject will, we make sure, recog-
found station of Ajaccio, Mentone might hold nize their value. The following authoritative
her own as queen of Sanitaria against all com- passage on the misuse of travel has, our experience
petitors and we must thus, too, dismiss the
;
tells us, a sad significance :
interesting pages given to the lakes of Como,

“I have infinitely more confidence in, and reliance on,
Maggiore, Orta, and Iseo. But we cannot help the value of a winter residence in the South, than I had six
despoiling the chapter on Biarritz, the pet resort years ag'o, when I first left England for the winter, a con-
of their majesties of France, and superior in firmed invalid. As a practising physician in London, I had
health-value to our Ventnor, Bournemouth, and not seen the good results from wintering abroad that I
have since experienced and witnessed at Mentone. The
Torquay. The time comes round for the annual Four out of
explanation, however, to me is obvious.
crop of letters to all editors, from “ Indignans,” five of my former patients and friends evidently committed
“ Vindex,” “ Bublic Decency,” and “ Paterfamilias ” all kinds of mistakes, against which, from want of
(the irrepressibleand omnipresent), about bathing at experience, I could not guard them as I can now. They
travelled about for pleasure when they ought to have con-
watering-places. Mayors and councils and local
sidered themselves delicate invalids on the brink of the
boards of government are apt to get fussy just now grave, and to have remained stationary. They lived in
about muzzling dogs and secluding bath machines large, dirty,- fever-poisoned southern towns, more occupied
and to such of the public as have not seen the admir- in sight-seeing than in health-seeking, and constantly
able pictorial sketches of French bathing, published exposed to many pernicious influences. Is it extraordinary
that they should often have come back as bad, or worse,
last year in Paris, we must offer our condensation
than when they started ?”
of a written one. The passage is long but while ;
there are many whom it may amuse, there are They left all in fact to “ climate,” as thousands
some whom it concerns to know a system which, who are quitting London, while we publish these
whether better or worse than our own, prevails remarks, will leave to “ change of air ” the task of
elsewhere : repairing, without their help, the loss their lives
have undergone by the friction of a twelvemonth’s
“ Both ladies and gentlemen wear a bathing costume.
That of the former consists of loose, black woollen drawers, exertion in trades, and fashionable
professions,
which descend to the ankles, and of a black blouse or pursuits. Poor “ change of air,” in truth, is an
tunic descending below the knees, and fastened at the honest beast of burthen ; and sadly put upon by
waist by a leathern girdle. All seem totally indifferent, many of those who profess to be among its most
and pass smilingly before their friends and the spectators,
appearing to enjoy every stage of the performance. The
fervent friends. And now, having made our way
gentlemen’s dress is a kind of sailor’s costume and as ;
back to the land of Cocagne and its denizens, we
custom gives them more latitude with respect to colour, may fairly lay down our pleasant task, merely
material, and make, great varieties are observed. The repeating that this is not only a medical treatise,
exquisites seem to take a pride in showing themselves off
but also a traveller’s note-book, entitled to rank
thus prepared for their marine gymnastics. I have often
seen them —
cap in hand, feet and ankles naked talking to — with the pleasant works of Matthews, Head, and
their lady friends sitting around, previous to taking their the Halls. Wehave found most seasonable di-
first plunge. Once in the water, all the bathers mingle version on a short holiday stroll, in its chapters
together. The utmost decorum, however, prevails the :
devoted to the Geology, Physical Geography,
husband assists his wife, the father his younger daughters
Meteorology, Natural History, Antiquities, and
but strangers keep at a respectable distance in the water,
Social Life of the Mediterranean Sanatoria. So
as they would on dry land. At first this aquatic mingling
of the bathers strikes the English beholder as an infringe- exuberant, indeed, is the author, that he could not
ment of the laws of propriety and decorum but a more ; pass the Italian lakes without a pleasant treatise
close scrutiny brings the conviction that such is really not
on angling, and a “ fancy free ” digression to
—
the case indeed, that the mode of bathing is infinitely
Scotland and her lochs. Fascinated by his per-
more decorous and decent than that which is pursued on our
own shores. The bathers are to all intents and purposes formance, which is a prominent instance of the
dressed and there is, in reality, no more impropriety in
; grave and gay in unity, and impressed with its
their witnessing each other’s marine sports, than there is value as a contribution to knowledge upon a topic
in the members of a masquerade mingling in the streets
of absorbing interest in many an English home,
during the carnival at Rome or Naples.”
we feel conscientiously at liberty to commend it
Some time ago. in view of foreign complications, to both lay and professional readers.
.\' .»
twro and' A it ..Vrtûst 1.1866.
; ;
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 81

By Aaron Penley, Professor of Landscape Painting at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
No. III.
T is my
intention to vary my scenes from month the point whence the hill-side rises from the valley.
I month, so that I may present to your
to This practice is the only true method of finding
—
readers at any rate to that portion of them to the relative points of the several objects, and will
—
whom drawing is a delight every class of object prevent their being placed too far on either side.
with which they are familiar. Of course, comparing by means of imaginary
The two previous drawings were strictly moun- horizontal lines will insure the relative height of
tainous in character. I have now introduced each object. The dark line at the further end of
one with trees of some size, and continued, in’ a the foreground is now
to be given and the curva-
:
slight degree, the practice of the former distances. tures of the road, pathway, and water-course on
I have also had regard to the singleness of subject, the right. Now, raise the stem of the nearest tree,
if I may use the term, in the hope of inducing and the exact position of its neighbours. In groups
many to seek out the like during the season for of this kind, the most perpendicular stem should
working out of doors. There are so many failures, always be drawn first ; and then the direction of
attended by perplexity and disappointment, in the those near to it can easily be settled by the indica-
attempt to portray scenes of a difficult description of a dot below, and another at the proper
tion, that I am desirous of leading the beginner to distance above, and also at any part where there is
those of a simple kind ; so that, when he has had a change of angle. This done, the outline can
practice in such, he may exercise his pencil upon readily be filled in without hesitation. Attention
subjects of greater combinations and importance. in this respect will save much time. The stems
Success is always encouraging ; failures invariably being sketched in, the foliage can be placed rvith
depressing. The former can only be attained great truthfulness, and will appear to have a
when the ability is equal to the task ; the latter is proper support.
a sure evidence of incompetent skill. It is much Trees are felt to be very difficult to the amateur.
more prudent to undertake too little than too much “ I cannot draw a tree,” is constantly sounding in
because there is real pleasure in the pursuit of any my ears and this arises from a want of apprecia-
;
accomplishment where the powers are not over- tion of the construction of stems, limbs, and foliage.
taxed, and where we are influenced by confidence in There is considerable arrangement in the clusters
the place of fear. To the sketcher, Confidence is of branches, not only as affecting the outside of the
truly necessary ; for, with this feeling, there will tree, but also its interior; and it is upon a just
be both freedom and decision of touch, a clear and perception of the chief of them that the general
well-formed outline, a judicious arrangement of character of form will depend. When trees occupy
light and shade, and a perception of colour that a conspicuous position, it is imperative that their
will be in accordance with the landscape under forms should be gracefully drawn, so that they may
treatment. Where the mind can fully compre- recommend themselves to the spectator. Otherwise,
hend the matter, a little patience and care will they give interest or excite pleasure.
fail to It is,
most assuredly carry out the work most satisfac- therefore, to the outside foliage and to the graceful
torily. But if the matter is beyond the mind, —
curvature of lines noting whence the foliage
then it is advisable never to hazard subjecting the —
proceeds that we must direct especial attention;
latter to perplexity and disappointment. I have afterwards filling in the clusters of hanging boughs
dwelt upon this at some length, knowing the folly in front of the stems. If this be well done,
of aiming at difficult subjects ; and shall make a an agreeable effect will be produced; but if not,
point, from time to time, of repeating the caution. clusters or solid masses of impossible forms are very
The present drawing is of simple materials — likely to present themselves. Of course, every tree
sky, mountain, water, a hill-side, a flat tract of has a peculiar growth of its own, a knowledge of
middle distance and foreground, with a group of which can only be gained by drawing it from nature,
trees to the left, and a few stones bounding the with the full determination to study its individual
water-course to the right. In making the sketch, character, both of stem and foliage.
the water-line should be the first drawn ; then the In the treatment of Grass there is also a general
line for the middle distance below it, and the failure, and this I attribute to the same non-
particular rising angle of the hill-side. After these, appreciation of form that we find in regard to
draw the central mountain, carefully noticing its foliage. Nothing conduces more to the effect of a
incidence upon the hill-side, and the precise position picture than a pleasing distribution of patches of
of its greatest elevation. This must be found by grass in the foreground. The colour they bear, in
an imaginary perpendicular line from it to the contrast to the groundwhence they spring, naturally
water ; which line, in this instance, falls just upon gives very decided features of form, and as these
hi. G
C —
82 THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. [Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.
are so immediately in the front, they produce the distant vale, while the light stone to the left under
greatest influenceupon the eye, either for an agree- the tree and those by the water- course to the right
able impression or otherwise. An
artist is so well invite attention to the entire foreground. I will
aware of he is often put to much
this fact, that only add, that where there is an absence of deep
trouble before he can produce a satisfactory arrange- and powerful shadows, great judgment must of
ment ; and not until he has done this, is he inclined necessity be applied to balancing the warm and
to turn his attention to other portions of the work. cool tints and to this the tyro cannot too soon
;
In the accompanying drawing there is much prac- direct his attention.

tice of the kind, and it will be seen that, not only
do the forms or direction of lines of grass undulate
The colours employed were, for the
naturally, but that the several masses are also of Sky — obalt.
different quantities and considerably varied in tone —
Clouds Sepia, cobalt, and a little lake.
of colour. It is upon the outside lines of the grass —
Mountains Cobalt, lake; yellow ochre, with a
that the forms of the road, the path, and the water- glazing of gamboge and raw sienna on the yellow
course depend so that here is another reason (and
;
part, raw sienna and lake on the red and terre ;
a very important one) for giving study and careful verte on the green parts.
drawing to this part of the sketch. —
Middle Distance Raw sienna and yellow ochre
The detached bits of Stone are, in their turn, for a first wash. Cobalt, lake, and raw sienna
useful, by position, to direct the eye to the sides and for the markings. Raw sienna and lake for the
centre and this they do by assuming a crescent-like
;
spaces between for the highest light, gamboge
;
form round the foreground. The upright figure and lemon-yellow.

repeats the perpendicular lines of the trees. —
Trees and Grass Gamboge, bright sienna, and
There is but little actual light in the drawing, indigo :sepia introduced for the dark
a little
the general impression being that of half-tone, and shadows. A
glazing of terre verte on parts of
the only positive dark is upon the figure, which, the greener tones.
from its blue, red, and brown drapery, imparts a Stems and Shadows of Road and Stones — Sepia,
mildness of tint to all around. The highest or lake, indigo.
brightest yellow light is upon the centre of the Light Tint of Road —Yellow ochre, lake, sepia.
THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867.
HE works of the Universal Exhibition Build- about 450 feet, or considerably more than one-
T ing are beginning to make a most imposing

appearance, and the plan of the whole is now
third. The great nave of the Exhibition of 1862
was eight hundred feet long; the great central
distinctly visible. But it is necessary that our
readers should, at the outset, clearly understand
the form and arrangement of the compound
structure, which is to contain the collection of
choice samples of the art and industry, not only of
the present time, but of past ages of the world.
The plan of the Exhibition building is of irregular
ovoidal form. If you were to take a ring and
press two of the sides together until you have
reduced the diameter in one direction to about
three-quarters of that of the other, you would have
nearly the figure of the outline of the building.
It consists, in fact, of a very short body with semi-
circular ends. But a simple diagram will best
show, not only the general form, but also the
internal arrangements.
The length of the building is about 1,600
feet, and the width nearly 1,250. Figures alone,
however, do not always give a suflicent idea
of extent and it will be well to compare the
;
new building with another devoted to the same

purposes namely, that of the Exhibition of
:
1862, at South Kensington. The length of avenue of the building now erecting in Paris will,
the principal front of the latter building was with the garden in the centre, be double that
1,150 feet so that the Paris building will be
;
length ; and the great transverse avenue more
wider than the other was long, and longer by than half as long again as the great nave of the
;
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. 83
South Kensington building. The double dotted This great nave, with its lateral galleries, of
lines, radiating from the centre, represent secondary which we shall speak lower down, is being erected
avenues or passages for the public. It should be in three sections, simultaneously, by different con-
mentioned that the avenue leading from the chief tractors. In consequence of the immense size of
entrance, which is at the lower end of our diagram, this portion of the building, the engineers who
is made wider than the other avenues, in order to designed wisely determined to construct it of
it
allow for grand effects in that portion of the wrought iron and every portion of the pillars,
;
building. These avenues supply the means of direct roof girders, in fact, all the parts, with the single
ingress and egress to and from all parts of the exception of the window-frames, are made of iron
building, and are therefore arranged radially as plates riveted together like those of a steam-boiler.
described. The courts, or galleries as they are The great pillars are rectangular, about eighty-
called — the new building possessing the immense five feet high, and two feet by four at their bi'oadest
advantage of being entirely on one floor, and there- part. They are prepared in the workshops of the
fore having no staircases and no dark shadows from contractors, one of whom brings them on to the
—
upper floors are arranged in rings or zones, as seen ground all complete, while the others convey them
in the diagram. In the centre is a garden, with there in three sections, which are riveted together
an open colonnade all round it, which will supply on the spot. The foundation for each of these
an agreeable retreat from the crowded galleries at pillars is carefully prepared beforehand an iron
;
times when old Sol regards weak mortals with too shoe of the form of the base of the pillar being
much fervour. firmly secured by masonry set in concrete ; the
The first small zone or gallery, that which pillar is then raised by means of a crab or windlass,
immediately surrounds the central garden, is to be and, when erect, its foot is securely bolted to the
devoted to the History of W
orkmanship in fact, a ;
shoe in which it is to stand for the next two years
retrospective museum of the art manufacture of all at least. There will be eighty-six pairs of these
nations, from the earliest times to the past century. gigantic pillars, each pair being connected by a
The second gallery, of considerably larger propor- great curved girder, and by a pair of tie-rods above,
tions, is to contain works of fine art, painting, which, in their places, look like threads stretched
sculpture, engraving, architecture. Next to this, across from pillar to pillar, but which are in fact
again, is a smaller gallery, for the exhibition of 110 feet long, and nearly as thick as a man’s wrist.
the materials and practical applications of art ; in When finished, there will be nothing between the
short, all that appertains to the fine arts in any floor of this grand gallery and its curved roof. The
way. These three galleries form one portion of roof is covered with stout corrugated iron plates,
the building, and their walls are of solid stone, in the waves being about twice as wide and deep as
order to exclude as far as possible the dust and in ordinary corrugated iron, and is unpierced, the
noise, which are almost inevitable where large nave being lighted from the sides. The whole of
crowds are collected. A
considerable portion of the upper portion of the spaces between the columns
these walls is erected, and the forms of the will be filled with light iron window-frames, so that
galleries are now clearly marked out. there will be a complete clerestory all round, both
The next three, or “ Intermediate galleries,” as on the inner and outer side of the nave. The upper
they are called, are to be devoted to the exhibition ends of the pillars will be masked by iron or wood
of raw materials and ordinary manufactures of all work forming a running frieze all round the outside
kinds. Two of these are constracted of cast iron, and decorated with slight ornaments, but the build-
and present no special features. ing will not present any great architectural effect
Lastly, we arrive at the great outer zone, the it will be simple in appearance and in good keeping
machinery court, or great nave as it is called, in with the object for which it is intended.
which are to be exhibited, not only the machinery, In order not to interfere with the description of
but processes of all kinds, whether aided by the great Machinery Court or nave, we have pur-
mechanism or dependent solely on the fingers of posely avoided above any special mention of the
the workmen. We
have explained the views of lateral portions of this zone or section of the build-
the Imperial Commission on this head, in our ing, but they are extremely important parts of the
previous article in the first number of Nature structure itself, and one of them will form a very
and Art ;
we will now attempt to convey some interesting feature as regards both the appearance
notion of this grand feature of the Exhibition of the building and the convenience of the public.
building. The outer wall of the great nave will Beyond the great Machinery Court, and outside the
form the exterior of the building, and will conceal outline given in our woodcut, is a series of small
all the inner galleries from view. This stupendous pillars supporting lattice girders, with large brackets
hall of industry will be 107 feet wide, 82 feet high, in all the angles there are two of these small pillars
;
and 4,500 feet, or about four-fifths of a mile, in to each of the great pillars.The whole of this
length. In order, as before, to have the benefit of portion is also of wrought iron, and its great object
comparison, we may state that the principal nave is to give support to the main building and relieve
of the Exhibition building of 1862 was 85 feet the girders and tie-rods above from a portion of the
wide, 100 feet high, and 800 feet long. The enormous strain which would otherwise fall upon
superficial area of the floor of the former will be them this small outer gallery represents, in fact,
;
rather more than seven times that of the latter. the flying buttresses in a Gothic building.
G 2
;
THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. [Nature and Art, August 1, 1863.
The space between the gigantic pillars of the Place du Roi de Rome. A few days since, the
great nave and the Liliputian pillars of these flying Emperor and Empress visited the works in cpiestion,
buttresses is to form the Alimentary Court, which which have been ordered to be ready provisionally
will include not only articles of food of all kinds, by the 15 th of August, the day of the Imperial
whether in a raw, preserved, or prepared condition, fetes it is said that the quantity of earth which
:
but also cooked foods, drinks, tobacco, and other will have to be excavated and carried away, to carry
matters. This gallery will form, in fact, an arcade out this order, will amount to 200,000 cubic metres;
all round the building, in which the exhibiting but with the aid of the electric light, so that the
nations, each in its own section, may not only work may be carried on by night as well as by day,
show, but also sell, Avliatever man eats, drinks, there is no doubt that it will be accomplished.
or smokes : here, then, will be the restaurants, Nearly all the special regulations connected with
cafes, taverns, eating-houses, pastry-cooks’ shops, the Exhibition have now been published. As
wine- and beer-counters, and luncheon-bars, of all regards the Fine Art portion, the works to be ad-
Europe, perhaps of Asia and Africa, and almost mitted are confined to those executed since the 1st
certainly of America and Australia. Beneath this of January, 1855, and which were not exhibited at
portion is a range of cellaring nearly a mile in the Universal Exhibition held in Paris in that
length and about thirty feet wide. The occupants year. No copies, even when executed in a manner
of the Food Court will be charged a fixed sum per different from the original, are to be admitted
metre for rent, and will, of course, have to fit up but this, of course, will not exclude reproductions
their own establishments. One of the rules laid by engraving, lithography, photography, or other
down by the Imperial Commission will give a means.
certain character to this part of the Exhibition. The retrospective museum, or Illustrations of the
Each nation will be strictly confined not only to the History of Labour, as it is called officially, promises
used by its people, but also to its
sale of articles to be one of the most attractive departments of the
own proper methods of preparation and cooking. coming Exhibition. At page 24 of Nature and
Gourmets are already talking of courses of com- Art will be found the heads of the programme of
parative eating and drinking, and critical essays on this division as applies to France. The assurances
allthe various modes of culinary chemistry. of other countries give promise that the collection
The ends of the lattice girders already alluded to of ancient specimens of art-workmansliip will be
stretch out into space, as if trying to find a bracket varied as well as numerous. Belgium has appointed
or pillar upon which to rest their arms : no such a special commission for that section, including the
resting-place is to be provided for them —
they are keepers of the public collections of the country; and
not only to remain thus extended and unsupported there is no doubt that the productions of the famous
themselves till the end of exhibition-time, but they old Flemish art- workmen in the precious metals,
are to give support to an iron or other roof, and to iron, ivory, wood, and other materials, will be
form, in short, what is called in France a marquise, worthy of the occasion. The Greek Commission has
and thus supply a covered promenade around the taken similar steps ; and although the art-treasures
whole building. This terrace will be more than of that country produced since the dark ages cannot
twenty-two feet in width, and will lead, by a gentle cope with those of the Flemings, and there has
slope, to the surrounding grounds or pare of the been, until lately, little care given to the preser-
Exhibition. The shops and restaurants at the back vation of such objects in the country of the Hellenes,
will be upwards of thirty feet deep. stilltheir style and character are so peculiar that
During the last few weeks there has been an they will present a most interesting contrast.
uneasy feeling floating about that the war in the Bussia promises also to subscribe largely to this
centre of Europe would cause the adjournment of collection of antique works of art. The Patriarch
the Exhibition until the year 1868 ; this feeling of Jerusalem promises to send some curious con-
was partially removed by the fact that Austria tributions. Persia, also, will contribute many in-
formally announced, at the beginning of July, that, teresting specimens of her ancient art. The iceroy Y
in spite of the war, her contributions and arrange- of Egypt, who takes a deep interest in the coming
ments would all be ready in good time. Events Exhibition, has, it is said, ordered the whole of the
which have happened since, and the assurances of contents of the Museum of Boulak, including the
other countries, have aided in allaying all appre- ancient jewels discovered at Serapium, and a large
hension ; the Papal government, for instance, has collection of specimens of ancient art, arms, trinkets,
announced that the Pontifical frigate Immaculata and antiquities of all kinds, to be sent to Paris.
Concezione is ordered to be ready to convey all the The ethnological and ethnographical sections,
contributions from the Homan States without charge and those relating to the improvement of the phy-
to France. sical and moral condition of nations and to their
The assurances given and the measures taken by domestic economy, are expected to be well filled.
the French Imperial authorities in connection with Nearly every country is said to be preparing series
the Exhibition leave no doubt about the intentions of costumes, ancient as well as modern, to be set up
of the Commission. In the preliminary article in on figures, as was seen to a small extent in the
the June number of Nature and Art mention was Norwegian and other courts of the Exhibition of
made of the extraordinary works in hand for con- 1862. Bussia, Sweden, Norway, Persia, Greece,
verting the heights of the Trocadero into the grand and Egypt, all promise contributions to this class.
$%t.urc and Art August 1.1866.
Nature and Art, August 1, 18GG.] THE TUSSEH SILKWORM OF INDIA. 85
A large tract of waste land near the Exhibition all dimensions, giving amusement or occupation to
building has been taken as an Agricultural annexe, nearly six thousand amateurs and l’egular sailors.
and a very considerable portion of this will be de- The question of medals and other prizes, and the
voted to the contributions from Great Britain. In many considerations which attach to their influence,
fact, the programme of the Exhibition with respect and the modes of their distribution, is still a vexed
to this class is so vast that it will be difficult to one ; and eveiy great Exhibition as yet has had
meet the flood of demands made to the various a distinct plan of its own. The Imperial Com-
commissions. mission has just issued the regulations which have
Amongst the curiosities spoken of is a specimen been adopted on that head. The sum to be devoted
at once of topography and typography to be sent to the pui’pose is 800,000 francs, or ,£32,000. The
from New York ; namely, a plan of that city, jury is to consist of six hundred members of all
25 feet long by 8 broad, in which not ouly every nations. —
With some exceptions as for instance,
street and alley, but also every house, will be dis- the classes of driving-machinery, food, animals,
tinctly indicated. horticultural products, and the tools and products
That portion of the programme which relates to of hand labour, which can only be judged of after
the illustration of the dramatic, musical, and other —
longer experience and trials the decisions are to
elegant ax-ts, and to the amxisemeixt of the visitors be made by the xxiiddle of May, and announced on
to the Exhibition, seems likely to be carried out as the 1st Jidy, 1867, when the distribution will take
intended. Engagements have been entered into place in the old Exhibition building in the Champs
between the Imperial Commission and tlxi-ee operatic Elysees. The plans for this public cei’emony have
and theatrical managers for the construction of an already been sketched out, and considerable im-
international theatre in the Exhibition pare. The portance will be given to the crowning of the
direction of the concerts to be given in this theatre laureates of industry and the arts.
is to be in the hands of M. Carvalho, the director In the fine art gi’oxxp, the rewards are to be
of the Thedt.re Lyrique, and husband of the charming 17 grand pi'izes of 2,000 francs each, 32 first prizes
cantatrice. A
dozen other different means of amuse- of 800 francs, 44 second prizes of 500 francs, and
ment are talked of, but we are not aware that any 46 third prizes of 400 francs each. In the indus-
of them have yet advanced out of the condition of trial and agricultural groups, the prizes ai'e as
schemes and proposals. follows: —
100 gold medals, of the value of 1,000
One of the l’ecent additions to the programme francs each; 1,000 silver and 3,000 bronze medals;
is the foi’mation of a special committee for the and 5,000 honourable mentions. All the medals are
admission of pleasixre-boats and yachts, for the ac- to be of the same form.
commodation of which a piece of ground, close to A new class of rewards is added to the above.
the Exhibition, and with a frontage towards the One grand prize of 100,000 francs, and ten other
river, has been devoted. Series of fetes and regattas prizes —amounting in the whole to the same sum,
will be arranged by the committee, to which the divided according to the decisions of the jui'y are —
vessels and boats of all nations will be admitted. to be awarded to any persons, establishments, or
Yachting and boating, like racing, and, in a less places, that have, by special organization or in-
degree, cricketing, are becoming acclimatized in stitutions, developed good harmony amongst those
France. Twenty years ago no sxxcli thing was engaged in industrial pursuits, and thereby ensured
known, except at certain ports, where probably the to the work-people material, moral, and intellectual
English were chief promoters; and now we ai'e advantages. The grand prize in this class will, of
told, on the authoi’ity of the Minister of Marine, course, oxdy be given should any individual or society
that there existed in France, in November, 18G5, of persons have performed remarkable services iix
nearly five thousand pleasure-boats and yachts of thus conti’ibuting to the welfare of their fellow-men.
THE TUSSEH SILKWORM OF INDIA

( Antlierceu Pa/phia).
N EVER perhaps has the subject of silk cultiva-

tion in thisand other countries attracted so
much public attention as it is now doing ; and it
to see a new element of home industry established,
by which employment will be afforded to the aged,
the very young, and the afflicted, of oxxr suburban
is to be hoped that the spirited and strenuous and rural districts. It is oxxr intention to xxote
efforts now being made to acclimatize the Ailanthxxs carefully, froixx time totixxxe, the progress made axxd
worm ( Bombyx Cynthia), a description of which arrived at iix this xxew, bxxt xxxost desirable,
x’esxxlts
was given in the June number of Nature and branch of ixxdustxy. France has, as yet, outstripped
Art, may be crowned with success. So far we see xxs on the march, and is faix’ly established as a silk-
no reasonable grounds for fear as to the ultimate prodixcing coxxxxtry. Hithex'to the laboxu’s of the
result ; and we confideixtly hope, in a short time, mxxlberry worm have fxxrnished the supply to the
—
86 THE TUSSEH SILKWORM OF INDIA. [Nature and Art, August 1, I860.
manufacturers, and countless trees were reared and family within the pale of civilization. So our dusky
planted out to supply food for the ravenous broods worm-hunters betake themselves at early dawn to
of worms. the byer-berry and asseen thickets, and there, with
How the silkworm-pest, “ Gettein,” appeared, keen searching eye, examine the fallen leaves, flat
and swept, like a blight, over the lands of the poor stones, or pieces of bark, in order to discover the
silk-cultivators is too well known to need com- gunpowder-like traces of the young insects, which
ment ;
and it appears probable that both the may chance to be luxuriating amongst the rich
Ailanthus, and still more hardy Oak worm Bombyx
(. green canopy above. The tell-tale signs once
Yama-mai), will ere long spin their webs for the discovered, our prying investigator places the soles
“ public weal,” both in England and France. of his feet against the trunk, and, with a small
India has, from time immemorial, been a silk- sharp hatchet in his waist-cloth, walks up the tree
producing country and there is no doubt that,
;
in a manner that even Leotard himself would find
from the very earliest ages, much attention has hard to accomplish. The perforated leaves and
been directed to silkworm management. busy worms, as with sharp nippers and swaying
The ordinary Chinese or mulberry worm, has heads they mow their way amongst the young
been long known and extensively reared in many foliage, are now brought under observation. A
districts. But it our intention now to deal
is few steady, well-directed cuts, serve to detach the
more particularly with the native Indian silk- branch from the parent trunk ; and the whole
worm, his woiks and mode of life. It is by the family of vagrant young worms, branch and all,
natives called “ Bughey and the dead leaf or are passed carefully to the ground. These, with
brown-coloured silk which it spins, is known others procured in like manner, are then carried,
throughout the length and breadth of India as !
with much ceremony, many curious religious
“ Tusseh.” This becoming and exceedingly durable rites, and an inordinate quantity of tom-tom
silk is rapidly gaining favour amongst the fair beating, to their future home, near the hut of
members of English society ; and Regent Street, their captor, who at once places them on the leaves
that great emporium of fashionable merchandise, of the asseen-tree to feed. From this time, war of
possesses, in common with the bazaar of the the most determined character is declared against
Eastern world, its piles of rich brown Tusseh, piled all marauding crows and piratical
“ mina-birds.” *
bale on bale, as a lure to those who heedlessly trust Pellet-bows, stones, and slings, accompanied by
themselves within the magnetic circle of the shops. noises of the most wild and fiendish character, serve
By the inhabitants of India, silk of this descrip- to scare off the feathered prowlers by day but by ;
tion is in almost universal use ; and so durable is —

night on leaden wings, in long lines, like some of
it, that years of wear are scarcely sufficient to the strange old-world species long passed away
destroy its tough texture. But to all those who out flap the bats, who are even more fond of a plump
possess garments of this, or any other Indian silk, young silkworm than the crows and their hungry
a word of caution may not come amiss. Never companions. So that, what with the howling of the
subject them to the action of hot water, or their jackals, the screaming of a chance leopard in the
strength and durability soon pass from them, and distant forest,and the owl-like hootings of the “ silk-
they rapidly become deteriorated and fragile. worm guard,” night is made hideous, and sleep an
The “ Tusseh ” worm is found in Bahar, Assam, impossibility. The eggs from which the young
and Bengal ;
being very abundant in the neigh- worms are hatched, generally take from two to
bourhood of the Beerbhoom Hills, in the latter four weeks, according to the temperature and state
country. In this and other portions of the of weather, before the young brood comes forth
presidency, it has been for ages so abundant and and makes its appearance. They are deposited
unfailing in its supply of raw silk, that the native by the moth amongst the crevices and rough pro-
population are enabled to avail themselves exten- jecting plates of the bark, to which they are
sively of it for a number of useful purposes. Its attached by a very glutinous material. This
food, the leaves of the Ehamnus Jujuba, —“byer,” appears to protect them from the attacks of ants
“ beer,” or “ bear ” berry of the Hindoos, —is found and other enemies. Nearly three months are
growing wild in every forest and jungle. The passed in the egg and 1 arva state before the
Terminalia, Alata, Glabra, or “ Asseen,” is also worm begins to spin ; and it would be difficult to
eaten freely ; so that scarcity of food is a contin- find amongst all the curious and interesting
gency rarely to be feared. And wherever life-giving instances of clever insect architecture which the
water can be made to flow, or where, deep beneath upturned stone, the displaced bark, or hollow tree
the cable-like roots and spreading branches of some discloses, one more wonderful than the house on a
huge banyan, the cool well lies hid, there will the stem built by the “ Tusseh ” worm. This, as it will
water-loving Hindoo erect his hut, and pass his be seen on reference to the accompanying illustra-
simple life, cutting and pruning the trees in the tion, is of almost oval form, firmly and evenly
neighbourhood of his own home, until the season woven, and hung from one end, much like some
shall arrive for the young worms to appear amongst forest fruit at the end of a long, tough, horny stalk.
the leaves of the forest. For, be it known that This, at its upper end, has a perfect ring made in
”
our “ Tusseh friend is a veritable vagabond in both it, which passes round a twig of suitable size, and
his youth and old age, resolutely objecting to be

domesticated, and absolutely refusing to rear a * The mocking-bird of India.
— ; —

THE TUSSEH SILKWORM OF INDIA. 87
always within a bifurcation of the wood. No other five days. Flat, shallow dishes are now provided,
means of attachment could, for simplicity and stillearthen, and still of the family of “ pot.” Into
strength, equal this arrangement; as rough, stormy these the softened cocoons are thrown, without
winds, or other disturbing influences, instead of water. The terminal threads of four or five cocoons,
breaking the stem short off, as would inevitably after having been dexterously unravelled, are carried
happen if glued fast, simply move the ring round to the drum of a small primitive-looking reel, built
the stick forward or back as the branches wave. up of four bars of hard wood running through a
In this hanging cot the worm remains at rest couple of the hardened knots of a large bamboo
from October until some time in July, when the cane. The reel is held in the left hand and turned
moth forces its way out, and, if a male, at once flies with the right, the threads passing in an oblique
off to other and far-off groves, deserting the ladies direction over the thigh of the spinner, who squats
most rudely. —
They good, orderly creatures — on the ground before his dish of cocoons as if about
quietly remain at home, until, after a short time, to indulge in a feast of tempting fruit. By a
perhaps within a few hours, perchance in a day or peculiar species of sleight of hand, a dexterous
two, arrive, with much flutter and display of twist is given to the compound thread as it is wound
painted wings, a whole troop of gay gallants, who off, and much skill appears requisite in the opera-
at once establish a domestic circle around them. breakages and entanglements. When
tion, to avoid
These gay Lotharios have been reported by the fittedby after-preparation, the thread is carried to
natives as having winged their way from immense the loom of the country, where the “ Tusseh” fabric
distances in their wanderings, proved by certain is produced.
well-known marks placed on their wings by the Besides the worm now under notice, there are
inhabitants of distant districts. Whether these others which we shall merely give a passing notice
restless creatures would select suitable partners if of, although their products are valuable and may
confined to the home-circle, it is hard to say one : call for further remark in a future number.
thing is certain, with them liberty and flight go The “ Arrindy,” or Pahna Christi worm, feeds
hand-in-hand. exclusively on the leaves of the Palma Christi,
The movements of these insects are always most spins a lighter-coloured silk than the Tusseh ;
but
carefully watched by the natives engaged in their it cannot be wound, and is therefore carded, and
management, as good or evil fortune is supposed treated much after the manner of cotton. Its
to result from the early or late arrival of the flights strength and tenacity are wonderful. Garments
of male moths ; and the inevitable, “ tom-tom,” made from it have been known to descend from
together with instruments rather of torture than generation to generation. How fortunate it is that
music, lend their aid in causing such a din as would the fashions of the East are not so changeable as
frighten any ordinary moth clean out of his wits, those of our oAvn country ! What would “ Lady
and make him forget the ladies altogether. Clara” think of being presented at Court in the
The female moth rarely lives beyond from eight same dress as that worn by her lamented grand-
to twelve days after depositing her eggs, which she mother when she was young 1 Shawls, muslins,
generally does very near the cocoon from which she and other Indian productions are, by the merchants,
came. During the period of her short life, no food packed in “Arrindy cloth,” as being the strongest
of any description is taken, and no mouth or other and most durable envelope to be found.
orifice through which sustenance could pass exists. There is yet another silk-producing worm, the
The cocoons are gathered from the trees long native name of which I do not remember. This is
before the moth is sufficiently developed to com- found living wild amongst the great mango “ topes”
mence its attack on the walls of the sealed-up cap- of Central India, spinning its cocoons either between
sule in which it is imprisoned. Now conies another the forks of some twig, or amongst the thick
season of “tomash:” “tom-tom” again, braying of clustering parasites, which closely resemble the
horns, and general production of unearthly noises. mistletoe of our own orchards and woods. This
Plantain-leaves have to be gathered, dried, packed wild silk is frequently gathered by the inhabitants
together, and duly burned. From the ashes, when of the “ gaums,” or native villages of the interior,
mixed with water, a “ley” is made, which is then for the purpose of mixing with the other kinds, or
deposited in just such an earthen pot as that in with a view to the manufacture of bow-strings,
which “Ingoldsby” describes his “convivial imp” sword-loops, bands for the barrels of their match-
triumphantly luxuriating :
locks, and various other odd purposes to which silk
“ A quaint imp sat in an earthen pot, is applied in an Eastern country. That India has
In an earthen, big'-bellied pot sat he furnished large quantities of silk to the Western
Through holes in the sides his arms stuck out world from periods of the most remote antiquity,
Rather a comical sight to see.”
history and tradition alike prove ; and it has been
For between two and three hours the cocoons about reasonably questioned whether the immense canopies
to be wound are allowed to soak in the mixture used for the purpose of covering the ancient Homan
contained in this pot. They are then wet, and are theatres were not composed of this material ; and,
so transferred to another vessel, also earthen, and together with the peacocks, gold, and other precious
in material closely allied to pot the first. Here merchandise in which the old-world potentates so
they are allowed to remain until sufficiently soft for much delighted, brought from the distant land of
winding, which they generally are in from four to “ Ind” to minister to their wants and luxuries.
88 THE DRAMA AND THE STAGE. Nature and Art, August 1, 1806.
THE DRAMA AND THE STAGE,

Theatric Art.
E _
the Drama be not literary or musical, it can scarcely as to bring into the strongest unrelieved glare, much that
I come within the limit of criticism. It is true, indeed, charitable taste would veil in mist. As each dances past
that we talk of Dramatic Art but it may be doubted if
;
the centre of the scene, grimacing at the audience, what
this phrase can be applied justly except to the literary or but contemptuous pity can be roused by such a show. The
lyrical portion stage performances.
of The stage, as a violation herein is more of taste than virtue ; for no man
dumb show, has hardly ever touched the limits of genuine who has the slightest capacity to appreciate the beautiful in
art and it would be difficult to prove that without litera-
;
form or effect, can have anything but a feeling of revulsion
ture or music it has ever been more than a raree show. In towards such an exhibition. It is difficult for the mind to
running over the numerous spectacles, scenery, ballets, bring itself to the fact, that the Greek ideal of elegance,
pantomimes, and transformations we have witnessed, there simplicity, and beauty, is the type of what has become so
can hardly be recollected any that would come within the haggard, mean, and tawdry. It is a long step from Theo-
definition of art. In the time of Stanfield and Roberts as critus to your modern ballet-master. Such devices lay
scene painters, there may be recollected scenes and other bare the deplorable vulgarity of the age which is not con-
;
representations which, in combination of colour and form, fined to the uneducated class, but is, perhaps, most paraded
and as appealing pictorially, might be supposed to be the by those calling themselves, par excellence, the cultivated.
result of artistic composition, and to produce the true The stalls and boxes are more eager recipients of such art,
effect of art. The only two, however, that we can vividly than even the galleries and pit, who have not so close an
call to mind, were the landscapes in “Acis and Galatea,” and opportunity of witnessing it. Probably, the ne plus ultra
the Senate scene in “ Coriolanus.” In the former, the land- of such vulgarism was lately attained in a divertissement of
scape was so delicately painted, the mechanical effect of so-called Spanish dancers at the Adelphi.
the sea flowing and ebbing' on the beach, and the exquisite It is not, however, only the human adjuncts of the
grouping, were so tastefully and harmoniously introduced ; spectacle or performance that are so inartistically applied.
it was so perfect a picture that it became artistic, and all There is an equal deficiency of art or taste in the still
idea of the stage medium was lost. Foot-lights, scene- forms. The halls of coral, the realms of fern, the sea
shifters, canvas-daubers, ballet-girls, and stage manager caverns, the depths of ocean, or the regions of stalactites ;
were obliterated. It was nearly the same with the Senate all afford the same crude, raw display. Mechanism is
scene in “ Coriolanus although there was not that scope everywhere ;
art nowhere. The repetition of the same
for landscape painting which the Sicilian scene afforded. The forms proves the ever-present genius of the pattern-maker ;
fine heads, classical togas, and massive arrangements of the and recalls the kaleidoscope. The same ugly flowers rise to
senators against the stone architecture, produced a fine reveal the same espaliered children or women stretched on
effect, which was not only illusive but suggestive. The their iron frames ;
and the same stars open on the tinsel
kind of effect may be seen in Gerdme’s picture of Phryne, foil and cloth of silver and gold, which intoxicate the eye
now so famous. By becoming suggestive of more than with the blinding splendour lavished without mind or taste
was actually represented, such stage expositions may become on all alike. Unreasoning, and excited by the senseless
artistic. glare, the childish audience clap their hands, and call for
Allusion has been made to those past glories of the the showmaker, who proves his gratitude by adding to
stage, which occurred about the year 1842-3 because in ;
the dazzling scene the flaring effect of varying hues. And
making an estimate of what is called theatric art, it is so, amidst the fumes of sulphur and the evanescent changes
necessary to ascertain what the phrase means, and if of the blue and pink fires, the curtain falls, its sober green
it may be allowed. If theatric art is to be confined to a welcome relief to the overstrained and wearied eye.
the means of obtaining effects that will bring down applause It is not meant to say that some of these effects might
in a theatre, then the property-man, the costumier, and the not be used in theatrical displays but the fault is that
;
gas-lighter must be applied to rather than the intellectual they are not used artistically. In fact, there is no such
critic. Undoubtedly, there are rules and principles for thing as art applied to the stage. The showmen who
producing such effects, but they cannot be included in the command and occupy it use colour, machinery, painting,
fine arts ; and we must sharply draw the line between the and even music ; as publicans in gin-palaces, sell liquor,
showman and the artist. The stage, our modern stage, is not as refreshments, but as stimulants. Neither class seeks
certainly much more indebted to the artisan than to the so much to invigorate as to intoxicate its customers both :
artist for effects ; and many of the successes of the age are produce the same dismal effects. The senses over-stimulated
disgraceful to its taste being' childish to a degree, and
: must seek habitual excitement ;
and, failing its pro-
sometimes not so innocent as infancy. Let us examine gressional increase, become flaccid, ’irritable, and ultimately
what are termed “ transformation scenes,” even when pro- paralyzed.
duced by so clever a man as Mr. Beverley. Is there any Those who have watched the different effects of true art
principle of art in them ? The predominant power is derived and false excitement, will not consider this statement
from light and colour and these affect audiences as they
;
exaggerated or useless. Every production of art, like a
might savages or infants. Glare, direct contrasts, colour in beautiful production of nature, soothes, refreshes, invigo-
its simplest expression, the glitter of gems, the shine of metal, rates human nature. A fine picture, a musical air, a fair
the blaze of unmodulated light, are the preponderating form, a genuine comedy, or anything truly artistic, gives to
qualities. Here is no art for the uneducated eye which, ;
the spirit a glow and animation that is wholesome as well
like that of the unjudging infant, is merely gorged with as delicious. But mere show and no art exhaust and
crude matter. Nor are the forms better, whether human trample down the spirit, and leave us dull, flat, and
or scenic. The women have no grace and their stereo-
;
mentally dead. Not only one touch of nature, but one
typed attitudes, originally cast in the meanest ideal mould, touch of art exalts and inspirits us. For true relaxa-
rather restrain than suggest ideas of beauty. Nor are tion, then, we should fly to genuine art for revivification
;
means taken, of any truly artistic kind, to moderate their of exhausted mental energy, there is no better restorative.
ungracefulness ; but they are brought out, without any When, as a nation, we have acquired fine taste, and have
relief of light and shade, into a full barber’s block -like pro- learnt to appreciate genuine Art, we shall be much nearer a
minence. They come with their various ages, their hetero- right state of Nature than we are while mistaking excite-
geneous forms, and all their physical imperfections thick ment for enjoyment, and coarse actualities for dramatic
upon them, into the artificial light of forty lamps, so thrown fiction.
; ; ; ;;

MUSIC AT HOME. 89
MUSIC AT HOME.
rpO those having the advancement of music at heart, the very thick mane but he may one day become as impatient
;
A study of the London Opera hills is far more comforting in the concert-room as he was, on a certain Saturday
than it was some few seasons back. Opposition is good evening, in the theatre. In that hour, the ominous word
and rivalry in operatic management an undoubted benefit. “ Basta,” delivered with significant energy, may be found
The Atlas of the Haymarket, who bears the responsibility not quite so pleasant to hear as “ Brava,” delivered accord-
of the “old house” upon his shoulders, produces classical ing to custom, and in defiance of common sense. Tolera-
and sterling works in quick succession while the autocrat
;
tion of faded capacity may be very well to a certain extent
of Bow Street relies chiefly upon repetitions of past successes. but the interest of music is by no means promoted when
That deliberate animal the tortoise, we are told, ordinarily that description of charitable feeling is carried beyond all
wins the race and if good fortune does not refuse to follow
;
reasonable bounds. Some who have made both reputation
a lessee of similarly inactive habits, so much the better for and money in England, sacrifice the former without
him, whatever it may be for the public. The subscribers hesitation, if, by so doing, they can increase their store of
and the “upper ten” are notoriously apathetic concerning the latter. Inefficiency among instrumentalists would not
the musical arrangements for a season, and would possibly be permitted as it is in the operatic and concert- singing-
be content to witness a return of the Verdi fever which worlds. Would an audience listen to Arabella Goddard,
desolated London before the production of Faust. Mozart’s Charles Halle, or Joachim, struggling through concertos of
opera II Seraglio is an important revival and, besides em-
;
Beethoven or Mendelssohn with fingers partly paralysed ?
ploying Mdlle. Titiens as the heroine Costanza, Dr. Gunz as Would either of these jeopardize fame, and degrade then-
Belmont the lover, Mdlle. Sinico as Blonda, Signor Eoli as art, after Nature had withdrawn her countenance from
Selim, and Signor Stagno as Pedrillo, gives Herr Rokitansky their efforts ?
the chance he deserves in the part of the gardener Osmin. When voices fail when intonation becomes more than
;
—
This specimen of the old school so despised by the fanatics uncertain, and habitually false ; when high notes are
of the “ future” creed —
was given to perfection on the first barely pouched and often coolly ignored and when the
;
night it was performed. The same may be said of Ernani, time is “ dragged” by a singer no longer able to articulate
produced July 10th. Mr. Mapleson’s new tenor, Signor clearly and rapidly, it would certainly become that singer
Tasca, did more with Ernani than could have been antici- to withdraw with the honours of war. At both the great
pated from his previous attempts but he is woefully
;
lyric theatres of London an amount of impatience has
deficient as an actor. Mr. Santley’s Carlo Quinto is simply been provoked and expressed on sundry nights of the
perfect and Ernani is far better, in every way, than many
;
present season a fact which should be accepted as a
;
of Verdi’s later operas. Roberto il Diavolo laboured under warning by those who have nothing more than faultless
the disadvantage of a deputy Bertramo (Signor Eoli for acting to rely upon. In operatic artistes, a voice and some
Herr Rokitansky), a tenor (Signor Tasca as Roberto) command over it is required.
unequal to that particular emergency, and a nervous Alice Vocalists, however, it would appear, always seem to
(Mdlle. Celestina Lavini) unfitted for any important part. prefer to retire fighting for every inch of ground and, in ;
Mdlle. lima de Murska, that illustrious young Dinorah, who common with too many of us, lack the candour to accept
walks about during two acts of storm and darkness in thin defeat at the hands of the unflagging pursuer, Time. The
Parisian pink rosetted boots, literally walked over the friendly summonses of that antique general are systemati-
course as Isabella on the first Roberto night. Oberon, cally unheeded ; and the approach, or rather the actual
11 Barbiere, with that pearl among singers Madame Trebelli- commencement of the “sere and yellow” period, is
Bettini as Rosina, Semiramide, and La Sonnambula have frequently ignored with wonderful pertinacity. The first
been played within the month. Mr. Tom Hohler is perhaps Napoleon said of Josephine, that “her toilette was an
a better Elvino than an Arturo, but he has yet many things arsenal from which she drew weapons to defy the assaults
to learn. of time ;” but no such aid supplies the need of the fading
At the Royal Italian Opera, Madame Vilda has not ven- voice. It is melancholy enough when the necessity for
tured on anything but Norma and Lucrezia Borgia. Many retirement from public life is not frankly acknowledged
alterations are to be found in this year’s cast of L’Etoile du but when that proceeding is effected by a, series of feints
Nord Adelina Patti as Caterina being the head and chief and manoeuvres extending over some years, ending at last
among them. M. Eaure is a far better Pietro than Signor in unavoidable collapse, the spectacle is simply pitiable.
Attri ; and no comparison could be instituted between the ISlot only is this a common case ; but the musical public
operatic pet, Adelina, and Madame Van den Heuvel (Caroline are now invited to marvel at that philosophy which can
Duprez). Signor Naudin is also preferable to the stout lead Empresses of Song to exchange an honourable repose
tenor, M.
Hiliare. for an activity bringing with it little else than humiliation.
Many of the societies have rested from their labours The withering lyric crown is no pleasing object. Faith
concerts are on the wane and those dreary gatherings
; should be kept with the public and farewells should
;
known as matinees will soon be things of the past. be taken once for all. The amateur who economizes, or
The “ballad concert” held in the transept of the
first resigns other pleasures to witness a “ final performance,”
Crystal Palace was speedily followed by a second, at which is naturally irritated when he finds that luxury offered to
—
the Norma of ancient days the delight of titled sub- him a second time.
scribers, and the bright particular star of the original Though the most conspicuous mistakes of this kind have
Puritani —
quatuor sang to the “people,” otherwise the
“ shilling mob,” “ How are the mighty fallen !” may be
been observed in foreign artists, they are not alone in the
obstinacy with which they keep in the field. Certain
feelingly exclaimed; for the “light of other days,” which —
English nightingales whose tones, compared with those of
should have been extinguished according to promise when other days, are now as unpleasant as the song of that
its brilliancy began to wane, now twinkles but feebly in the —
gorgeous fowl, the peacock still haunt the platforms they
musical horizon. Putting the dignity of art entirely out of the might have quitted with honour long ago. With whatever
question, it may, perhaps, be argued that any Una, long leniency this practice may be regarded, it is none the less
past her vocal meridian, is justified in taking every con- to be regretted and those artists able to rest from their
;
ceivable advantage of the British Lion’s amiability. That labours in affluence, or even comfort, would increase then-
stupid and tractable beast now ambles quietly along while own credit by abstaining from competition with others
Una croons unpleasingly ornamental versions of his possessing the inestimable advantages of youth and
national melodies, and shakes the golden coin from hi? freshness.
90 THE NEEDLE GUN. [Nature and Art, August 1, 186G.
THE NEEDLE GUN.

when
AT would squander their ammunition, was practically
a time the merit of the wonderful
“ needle gun ” the universal theme of con-
is refuted. During the recent brief but terrible
versation, and when its adoption into the Prussian campaign in Bohemia, the needle gun has again
service is by many looked upon as sufficient alone asserted its superiority, and in so decided a manner
to account for the unexpected and disastrous defeats as to elicit one universal cry from every civilized
sustained by the Austrians in Bohemia, we think nation for the arming of their troops in like manner.
that it may not be uninteresting to the readers Still we would caution the public mind against the
of Nature and Art to have placed before them idea that there is any inherent merit in this par-
a short account of an invention which has gained ticular form of the needle gun which has obtained
for itself such universal renown, and which will for it so startling a reputation.
cause a revolution in the armament of the infantry The successes of the Prussians may rather, we
soldier. We propose now to present to our readers think, be attributable to the fact of their being
such a description as we hope may be intelligible to armed with the breech-loader versus the muzzle-loader
every one, even to those fair friends who have been of those opposed to them. In consequence of this
accustomed to look upon needles as exclusively superiority in the Aveapon, the morale of the
their own domain, and devoted entirely to works Austrian soldier Avas utterly crushed, Avhereas that
of a peaceful character. We
accompany this de- of the Prussian Avas proportionately elevated ; but
scription with a drawing of the needle gun in two it must be remembered that in all future wars such
positions, viz., with the chamber closed and open, wide disproportion can never occur again. One
and with the component parts of the needle arrange- breech-loader Avill be pitted against another ; and
ments shown separately. On the same sheet will that only which has the most perfect construction
be cgiven an illustration of Snider’s converted will be eligible for use in the battle-field. In the
Enfield breech-loader, which has been ordered to Prussian needle gun iioav under consideration, Ave
be introduced into our service. must confess to seeing much that we consider faulty
The “ Zundnadelgewehr,” or needle gun, so called in construction. The parts seem too complex for
from the ignition of the charge being produced by field service, Avhere the soldier is exposed to every
a needle or steel-pointed rod which passes through vicissitude of weather, and where it is essential that
the cartridge, and strikes the percussion powder his weapon should be of the simplest form, con-
arranged in its centre, was introduced into the sistent Avith its good shooting qualities. The
Prussian service in 1848. It was originally pa- folloAving description, Avhich is chiefly taken from
tented as a muzzle-loader in 1831, by Mr. Abraham Sir Howard Douglas’s work on Naval Gunnery,
Adolph Moser, of Ivennington, and, having been Avill, plan and
Ave hope, Avith the assistance of the
improved upon by a Mr. Dreyse, was adopted by drawing, enable our readers to judge of the general
the Prussian government. This gun can be loaded construction of the piece.
and fired six or seven times in a minute. All that The barrel, A
A, is screAved into the end of a
has to be done is to open the chamber, insert a strong open guider or channel, B B, which virtually
cartridge, shut it, and fire ;

and, at short distances, forms part of the breeching. Inside of the guider
“ liebel ” or
the piece may be discharged from the hip Avith out slides an iron tube, E E, with a strong
even raising it to the shoulder. handle, F, and having in the front end a hollow of
In the Danish Avar the superiority of the Prussian about 11- inch in length, G G. In the middle of
gun was demonstrated beyond all contradiction ; this space stands forward a “tige” or pillar, II,
and the objection raised, that soldiers so armed pierced with a small hole in its entire length, and
.
[Nature and Art August L1866.
Prussian Needle (run .
Snider’s converted Enfield
U
THE NEEDLE GUN. 91
through, this passes the needle, 1ST. The steel “tige” fixed by a spring in connection with the trigger.
It then ready for The iron tube, E E,
firing.
is screwed into a solid plate of iron, J J left in the
is
which carries the needle-tube, K K, is capable of
,
tube, EE, and this plate it is which receives the

whole reactionary force of the charge. Behind the being moved backwards and forwards near the
plate J J (see fig. 2) there is a second tube of iron, breech, by means of a handle in its side, which
Iv Iv, gilt passes through a perforation similar to a bayonet

X, carrying within it a smaller tube, When the tube is
by two rings, marked LL in fig. 1, and
TT in notch in the side of the barrel.
fio-. 2. Through K passes the K

needle, N, a tlim drawn as far as the perforation will allow towards
of an inch in diameter, bluntly the stock, there is left an open chamber, between
steel wire, about
the charge. it and the barrel, and by this means the charge is
pointed at the end which is to ignite
end screwed into a brass head, O, and introduced into the latter. The tube is then pressed
Its other is
this again screws into the inner tube, K K, which forward till its extremity, which is in the form of
carries the spiral spring, WW .By means of the a frustum of a cone, is in contact with the
reai
ring, T, the needle-tube forces back W

W, until it is extremity of the barrel, which having the form of
; — - ,
92 THE NEEDLE GUN. [Nature and Ait, August 1, 18G6.
a hollow cone, receives the end of the tube ; the to ensure that our troops shall, at once, be pro-
handle being then turned round in the notch, the vided with an efficient arm ; but the gunmakers
tube is, as it were, locked in close contact with the may be assured that they will shortly be called
barrel. Fig. 3 represents the whole needle ap- upon to send in specimens of
paratus as withdrawn from the guider, B B. breech-loaders designed after their
The bai'rel is rifled with four grooves, as shown own unfettered judgments, with-
in A(fig. 4), and the grooves have a uniform depth out their being hampered by the
and twist, with one turn in 42 inches. The necessity to convert an old arm.
bullet, B, is ogival in form, weighs 451 grains, and We have no doubt but that this
is fired with a charge of 65 most intelligent body will respond
grains of powder in the cart- cheerfully to the call, and that ere
ridge. The powder is separated long a weapon will be produced
from the bullet by a rolled perfectly satisfactory to the require-
and compressed paper cylinder, ments of the day. There is one
which is hollowed at the end most essential point that we would
next to the bullet. It has a endeavour to instil into those
cavity at C, in which lodged is who invent as well as those who
the fulminating composition to select from the inventions, namely,
be exploded by the thrust of that, for actual field-service, the
the needle. terms simplicity and durability
The question of the intro- are almost synonymous. Together
duction of a breech-loader into with the drawing of the needle gun
our own army has long been we give one of the recently con-
under consideration. We will verted Enfields (Snider’s system).
not say that there may not On inspection, it will be seen that
have been much unnecessary the construction is much more a Wood plug.
delay in coming to any con- simple. The weight, also, is a b Bullet,
c Clay plug.
clusion in the matter. are We great consideration. Snider’s con-
e Cartridge (thin
informed that one cause of verted Enfield weighing only 9 lb. rolled brass
—
delay after the report of the 5 1 oz., whereas the Prussian needle sheeting).
committee “ on the trials at gun weighs 10 lb. 11 oz. The / Papier mache.
Woolwich of Enfield rifles con- method of conversion is as follows g Anvil. :
li Cap.
verted to breech-loaders,” dated about two inches of the upper part
j Cotton wool.
3rd July, 1865 —
was, that not of the Enfield barrel are cut away
one of the altered arms offered at the breech, and a solid breech-stopper, working
for experiment came up alto- sideways on a hinge, is placed in the opening thus
gether torequired con
the made. Through this stopper passes a piston, one
ditions. Of the eight arms end of which, when the breech is closed, receives
under trial, those sent in by the blow from the hammer, while the other com-
Mr. Westley Richards, Mr. municates it to the centre of the cartridge and fires
Mont Storm, and Mr. Snider, it. There is an arrangement for withdrawing the
approached most nearly to the old cartridge case after each discharge, by means of
above-mentioned requirements sliding back the stopper on the bar on which it hinges.
but Mr. Snider’s was the only There have lately appeared notices in the l'all
system adapted for a cartridge Mall Gazette, and Army ancl Navy Gazette, upon
Fig. 4.
carrying its own ignition. Snider’s converted Enfield, and they are so clear and
The shooting, however, of Mr. Snider’s gun was so evidently from the pen of a writer thoroughly con-
decidedly inferior to the Enfield rifle, although it versant with the question, that we feel no apology is
was considered by the committee that this inferiority necessary for appending copious extracts from them.
arose from defects in the cartridges, which might In the Pall Mall Gazette 30th April, we find as
admit of considerable improvement. To this end, follows : —
Colonel Boxer, of the Royal Laboratory Department
“ The arm, which was subsequently improved by the
at Woolwich arsenal, was called in, and with his
patentee in conjunction with Colonel Dixon, the Superin-
valuable assistance a cartridge (fig. 5) was produced, tendent of the Government Small Arms Factory at Enfield,
which we have high authority for stating, entirely possesses the advantages of being simple, safe, cheap, non-
removes the objection to Mr. Snider’s system. capping, and little liable (apparently) to get out of order ;
it is free, moreover, from the objection which proved fatal

Under these circumstances, we cannot but congratu-
on the preliminary trial to other ingenious systems, of re-
late the country on the fact that a decision has, at quiring such a reduction of the stock as to destroy the
last, been come to, and that within a very few months efficiency of a weapon, which, for military purposes, is
our troops will be armed with a breech-loading required to act as a pike as well as a fire-arm.”
rifle, such as is inferior to no other at present in
Again, on the 19th June, in the same journal,
existence. There is further subject for congratu-
It that the conversion of
we find
lation in store for us. is,
the Enfield rifle is merely a temporary measure “ We estimated in a previous article the accuracy of
— ;
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] PINE AETS. 93
shooting of the Snider rifle at from 20 to 25 percent, above in the improvements of Mr. Snider’s cartridge,
that of the Enfield it would now seem to be as high, taking
; whereby his system was rendered so good as to
an average of all ranges up to 1,000 yards, as 30 per cent.
be finally selected from among all the others by
The relative rapidity of fire of the two arms is, in round
numbers, about as five to one and in freedom from fouling,
;
the committee. We cannot help expressing a
in non-liability to deterioration by bad weather, and in strong opinion on this point. If a Government
facility of manipulation, the Snider rifle has proved itself officer is enabled from his great experience to offer
remarkably superior to the unconverted arm. The am- assistance to any competitor in the improvement
munition, too, has exhibited extraordinary powers of resist-
ance to damp ; it seems to be capable of standing almost
of arms selected for the public service, surely the
any amount of rough usage, and to enjoy a perfect immunity question of it being unfair towards another com-
from miss-fires.” petitor cannot, for one moment, be taken into
consideration. The same experience and assistance
Iii a late number of the Army and Navy Gazette ,
would beyond all question have been brought to
we find
bear upon the weapon most approved, by whom-
“ The ammunition appears to be all that can be desired. soever it had been submitted. To require that an
It will resistdamp to an extent far beyond the requirements accomplished public officer should on a grave oc-
of actual service it is remarkably safe against premature
;
casion keep to himself his special knowledge in his
or accidental explosion on the one hand, and against miss-
fires on the other ; its cost will not greatly exceed that of
own particular department, and watch the com-
the service Enfield ammunition and possibly when the
;
petition of interested traders with his hands in his
manufacture is established on a large scale, and when all pockets, amounts to asking that he should be
contingent charges are taken into consideration, it may wanting not only in love of art, science, and his
prove not more expensive. The principal originality in the
profession, but also, to our thinking, in common
ammunition is the construction of the cartridge-case, which
is made of thin sheet brass, rolled into a hollow cylinder, honesty to the nation which employs him. It is the
one end of which receives the bullet, the other end fitting adoption of the most perfect arm possible that the
into the metallic cap which contains the percussion or country cares not the ruffled feelings of in-
for,
ignition arrangement, this arrangement differing in no im-
dividuals who may think themselves aggrieved by
portant respects from that commonly adopted in central ‘
fire ’
sporting cartridges. The brass case, which is covered
another’s system being approved in preference to
with thin paper, uncoils on discharge, and contracts to a their own. Wetrust we may hear no more of such
slight extent when relieved from the internal pressure of petty and unworthy complainings. Our future
the gas, thus guarding against splitting and escape of gas greatness as a nation may materially depend upon
in the first instance, and facilitating withdrawal in the
the arm with which our soldiers are provided.
second. The bullet is an original combination of several
constructions. In general appearance it resembles the Nmnerically we are a feeble nation, and we owe to
service Enfield bullet ; but it is slightly lighter, and is our public security, and yet more to the compara-
provided with some grooves or cannelures round the back tively tiny armies we can array, that, if art can effect
end, which contain the lubrication of pure bees-wax, while
it, each man shall be found, in the day of trial, a host
the position of the centre of gravity is adjusted by means
in himself. The paramount superiority of Britain in
of a wooden plug in the head.’"’ (See fig. 5.)
manufacture needs only to be evoked, and it were a
Wehave been favoured with a view of a new supreme public crime to neglect the warnings that
conversion of the Enfield which has lately been have reached us. The consciousness of this, of
invented by Mr. Needham, of Piccadilly ; and course, prompted alike the praiseworthy steps taken
have been greatly pleased by the simplicity of the by the late and the present administration to
contrivance. We
strongly recommend it to the provide an immediate and important supply of
notice of all who take an interest in these matters breech-loaders. It behoves us to exert every
and we venture to prognosticate that, in the com- energy collectively and individually to attain the
petition shortly to be called for, Mr. Needham desired end, and dropping all petty jealousy and
need not fear being behindhand in the race for miserable trade etiquette, to strive, each in his
the prize. own way, for his country’s good the practical
:
Before concluding these remarks, we would gunmaker by yet newer inventions and still more
briefly allude to a question, which was raised by perfect manufacture ; the general public by encou-
Lord Lifford in the House of Lords in April last, raging and, if need be, pressing the authorities to
respecting the alleged discontent of the leading gun- prompt and decisive action on this momentous
makers at the assistance afforded by Colonel Boxer question.
FINE ARTS.
THE SOCIETY OE BBITISH AETISTS, SUFFOLK STEEET.
T HE cynic might perhaps remark that to affect to report

upon a Fine Art Exhibition about to close in a few
days were stale, flat, and unprofitable. The exhibitors
the works successfully exhibited by the Eepublican institu-
tion which has so long and so bravely held up its head
against the pressure of Academic disfavour, nor to slay
might, on the other hand, observe that the ex post facto again the slain. It is true that there are, among the free
approval of verdicts already given by the critical, and en- and independent of Suffolk Street, men at whose capable
dorsed by the purchasing public, were too late to be genuine. hands we would gladly have welcomed better things. But
On this occasion, however, wo neither propose to catalogue the “Kismet,” or fate, of the Oriental (which includes a
94 FINE ARTS. [Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.
host of what we Westerns term “circumstances”) decides outline and no less true in colour, should be 'unticketed is
for the quality and the future of painted as of written pro- not surprising. The artists of this name too often ignore
ductions, and, like those who find too late that they might those classes of society who have no picture galleries or
have done better, the disappointed amateur must submit vast mansions, and forget, at the same time, that even in
to it and hope. We are given to understand that up to galleries and mansions of this period space is more scarce
this time the gross total of sales, from a collection of 1,087 than pictures. The vials of our surprise are not yet exhausted
oil-paintings and water-colour drawings, has reached the though hardly adequate to the demands on them in the
sum of about <£9,000, being within a few pounds more or water-colour room. Here, considering the vast popularity
less equal to the receipts of last year. But at the same of water-colour drawings, the comparatively absurd prices
time we much regret to observe that a number of works of at which admirable and conscientious work is offered, we
excellent quality still remain on the walls round us without are on the painful horns of the following dilemma —
Either
:
that pleasant sale-ticket which cheers the sympathizing ladies and gentlemen of means, position, and even affect-
critic as well as the more interested artist. Whether this ing taste, who have abundantly visited these walls, have
— —
may be traced as the artists will trace it to the crippled really no taste, or courage to venture a few sovereigns in
means of a class within whose financial reach the majority support of it, until the painted ware has been through the
of the works of the society generally fall, or to an absence hands of the dealers ; or the position we last month
of self-reliant taste from the visitors, it is not our function ventured to combat is a true one, and the picture-buying
to decide. The gallery will be dispersed within a few days energies of the middle classes (though the auction sales
of our present issue, and our remarks cannot therefore pertinaciously belie this) is completely paralysed. iRound
influence the sale of a single canvas but we will not deny
; —
us are some twenty or thirty works we cannot refer to all
ourselves the satisfaction of offering a parting word of en- of them — which the amateurs have ignored at prices we
couragement to a few of the Unsold. —
have not space to quote ; and which when these walls
First and foremost in this category, we regret and shall have been stripped, and the artists’ stock have found
wonder to find two admirable specimens by J. B. Pyne, its way to the stores of the middle-man — will be issued to
painted perhaps more clearly than usual with this distin- the stupid herd of genteel buyers at double and treble
guished artist, and offered at by no means high prices. One prices, as boudoir and drawing-room furniture. We refer
of them, a delightful and delightfully -painted view of especially to several elegant pieces by Mr. Thomas Pyne (son
Venice, is disfigured by the introduced diagonal lino of the of the famous oil-painter); to Mr. J. Varley’s “Harvest
“ Strada Ferrata,” which may account for the neglect of Time” (891) ; to Mr. Dakin’s effective “Hastings” (938 # );
the work by a public who have not had time to digest the to the noble drawing of Prague (940) (architectural alto-
conception of a Venetian railway at all, and who will for gether) by Dobbin ;
and to a very charmingly wrought
ages yet to come prefer the Venice of all the painters, from and most reposeful “Milking Time,” by Mr. Galbraith.
Cannaletti to Cooke, to any edition improved and corrected This, perhaps, is one of the most elegant drawings here.
by the engineers and architects. Mr. W. Fyfe, by affixing Two of “Arundel Castle,” by Charles Pyne, should long
to one of the most —
if not the most — meritorious and since have had the green ticket, and surely as we write, the
complete works in the exhibition, “ The Covenanter of Priest “ Tanfield Dene” (1075), of Mr. Galbraith, here offered for
Hill,” a price perhaps intended to be prohibitory, has pro- ten guineas, will, in the fulness of time, and when the
bably obviated all offers but this cannot apply to the very
;
artist shall have painted out a monstrous rabbit which is
clever march of Commonwealth cavalry, by Mr. F. Weekes, a sad eyesore to the initiated, be offered as “dog cheap,”
a small canvas within reach of thousands, cheap in price, on an expansive cardboard mount, at twenty. Mr. J. D.
excellent (though among ten figures the artist has only Linton’s water-colour (884) “ A Soldier of Fortune,” offered
shown one face) in the drawing and handling of both men at sixty-three pounds, is a large and very imposing three-
and horses. No such hypothesis, again, could account for quarter-length figure of a cuirassed warrior, helmet in hand
the yet unmated condition of Mr. H. H. Horsley’s pleasant and lance on shoulder. It is, unfortunately, in a cramped
study in the woodland (No. 73), or Mr. John T. Lucas’s position, and the exigencies of space deny the spectator
“Head Centre,” a small Irish character head of excellent sufficient room for thoroughly enjoying its qualities. Still,
quality. We are surprised that the pretty mignonne, the carefully and successfully studied, as well as painted, this
“Euterpe” of Mr. Radford (No. 216), has not found a magnificent drawing is at once a curiosity and an honour
purchaser at <£12. 12s.; for the work is after the school that to the rooms. Again and again we have pondered over and
the Meissonniers have popularized, and is quite to the taste enjoyed it ;
but its destination next week is, we are most
of the age. The fair guitarist is, however, on the floor- sorry to see, yet undecided.
line;
and so is Mr. T. Whittle’s pretty, luminous little
gem, “The Way to Warren” (No. 400), offered at ,£4. 4s.
None can wonder that the vast clan of Williams and The Studies (in Water-colours) of Italian Art,
Boddington do not every inch they produce ; still, No.
sell exhibited for two months past at No. 2a, New Burlington
376, offered here by one of them, constructed on their usual Street, by the artist, Mr. J. Hadwen Wheelwright, deserve,
pattern, might have tempted some Art Unionist. No. 545, even if out of due season, some notice from every journal
by another of this family, “ A bright Winter’s Night in the professing to embrace Fine Art topics within its range.
North,” exhibiting a snow-covered range in moonlight, is a
-
Had the fine art equivalent in our last number not been
truly marvellous gallery picture of considerable size. None who somewhat in excess, we should then have offered to Mr.
have not well marked the lustrous softness of snow under Wheelwright the encouragement and admiration we now
moonlight can understand this work. Its range of buyers bring somewhat repentantly, in that we are too late to be
has therefore been limited, or it would long since, we are of immediate service to him. He has worthily accomplished
sure, have changed hands. Mr. Rossiter’s (76) “Secret his end of illustrating, by means of water-colour copies from
Intelligence ” comprises a lady, a lover, and a duenna. It great masters, the progress of painting in Italy, from the
is beautifully wrought, small enough for any private house, early Christian period to the grand consummation of the
and very cheap at twenty-six guineas; but fate perhaps— art under Leonardo, Michael Angelo, and Raffaelle. Seven
the unfortunate faults that the figures have no action, years were devoted to this labour of love. They were seven
and that any title would answer as well as that chosen has — years not alone of handiwork, but also of worship and
kept it yet unsold. Mr. Woolmer has seldom, in years meditation and how successfully they were spent none
:
past, failed to get rid of his fair and misty dreams. This year, may know who do not spend a delightful hour or two in
lie is more distinct and more telling than usual, yet one of his presence of their results. Commencing with the famous
— —
best in the best position too falls under our present notice. “ Nozze Aldobrandini” of the Vatican, a painting of the
The fact that two of Peele’s Northern country landscapes first century, the series of copies proceeds to a singular
are unsold, reflects no great credit on the taste of the work of the sixth century, from the Calixtus Catacombs,
thousands who, having the means, deny themselves such depicting the Last Supper, and very remarkable for the ex-
acquisition. Perhaps they are too faithful. That Mr. E. treme youth of the disciples, without exception, and the
Pettitt’s gigantic “ Matterhorn,” faithful though it be in conventional outline (as to the beard especially) of our
; —
Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] COIN. 95
Saviour’s face. We —
soon reach for there were resting- L. Eastlake, by F. T. Palgrave. Nor is the anonymous
places for our painter in intervening ages, although Archi- article “About Etching” less interesting to the mass of
—
tecture then flourished the period of the grand illuminators readers who are now taking an interest in that pleasing
and altar-painters, of Cimabue, of Giotto, of Giottino, of art. The “Studio-talk” article on landscape-painting,
Simon Memmi, and of Orcagna. The half-sized copy of an although a little unstudio-like, will find a certain limited
altar-piece in Florence by the latter gives an idea of the circle of admirers outside of the author’s set. Not being
devotion the artist has brought to his work, and pleases us addressed to the general, and in fact launched far over
by the assurance that such devotion met with the great their heads, no much wider popularity could be expected.
reward, self-approval. He leads us by easy steps, pausing The rest of the number is pleasantly written and the very
;
at Dello Delli, Ucelli, and Masolino, all frescoists, to useful Quarterly Chronique of additions to the National
Masaccio, whose beautiful head of Santa Caterina and Gallery and South Kensington Museum reminds us that a
Brancacci “Temptation” he has delightfully rendered. One monthly publication of such particulars by the respective
of the most elaborate works of the series here arrests us, a departments might long ago have been commanded by
grand copy, by the Princess de Croy, a pupil of Mr. Wheel- the Trustees of those institutions, and published by their
wright’s, from the “Coronation of the Virgin” by Fra officers.
Angelico. This work, with the seven surprisingly minute
panel-pictures at its foot, gives the spectator a good idea of
the religious fervour and unspared conscientious labour of
A case of hardship, not to say grievance, has just come
under our notice, which we think ought to reach the
the Mediaeval painters. Among the most interesting speci-
directors of the Crystal Palace in the shape of printer’s ink,
mens of sixteenth-century art, we find a noble portrait, by
through however unobtrusive a channel. It seems that the
himself, of the apparently-loveable Andrea del Sarto, a
very interesting Gallery at the Palace, under the manage-
splendid copy of his Pieta from the Palazzo Pitti a monk’s
—
;
ment of Mr. Wass, is recruited from time to time by in-
—
head alive, we might say, by Perugino ; and copies of
vitation from the directors to artists in general. The fact
well-known and immortal works by the gigantic trinity,
that a season ticket is issued to each exhibitor, is fair
Michael Angelo, Leonardo, and Raffaelle. In the words of
evidence that the company considers itself to a certain
Mr. George Bedford, who has written a worthy guide to a
extent the obliged party in the transaction. But even this
collection we hope again to traverse under his auspices,
“ Mr. Wheelwright has set himself strenuously to work pleasant courtesy, with the contingent advantage to the
artist of occasional sales (for which the company receives
with the determination to be absolutely true to the master
its due honorarium ), is not a set-off against the dilapida-
before him. Ho would add nothing, nor leave out anything
and, above all, he has endeavoured to obtain, by long and
tion— —
nay almost destruction of works of art. We write
in front of a canvas three feet by two, on which, whether
thoughtful study, such an insight into the feeling and
by the action of sunlight, or through want of ventilation
manner of each master, as to give to his copy the inestima-
ble quality of truth, without which all would be worse than
—
and most probably the former the painted texture appears
“ perished,” split, and riven to the very canvas ground. It
useless.”
might be set up that this were possible through the prema-
ture application of varnish by the painter but, as we
;
The First Number a new series of the Fine Arts

of observe that the gilding of the frame has also peeled off in
Quarterly Review, brought out under the accomplished the same position (and without any such excuse), and as,
editorship of Mr. B. B. Woodward, Her Majesty’s moreover, we are credibly informed that this is a frequent
Librarian, claims the notice of all votaries of the arts. The case, we think the eminently politic and well-disposed
listof effective contributories, and the luxurious appliances, directors in question should have the matter brought to
as respects paper and type, at the editor’s command, would their notice, if possible, unfiltered through strata of manage-
seem to assure its taking a position among the classes who ment, sub-management, and red-tapery. What has occurred
have the intelligence and courage to fathom the depths of to our informant may have occurred to hundreds of his co-
art, and the means to indulge in valuable books. The exhibitors, or, even to a still more helpless class, the
opening article is a satisfactory, though too curtailed, purchasing public ;
and it surely indicates the want of a
review of Leslie and Taylor’s “Reynolds and his Times,” canvas or calico cover to the glazed roof, or of some other
by W. B. Donne, Esq., illustrated by a Mezzotint portrait scheme for abstracting from a picture gallery the in'operties
of the great president. A
valuable antiquarian paper, by of a bakehouse. The cost of the appliance would, we are
Mr. C. Ruland, on the forty miniatures, or, as they would sure, be comparatively insignificant, beside the loss of so
be vulgarly called, illuminations, by Jehan Fouquet, in the great an attraction as the Art-Gallery or a few well-fought
possession of Mr. L. Brentano, is illustrated very beautifully claims for damage ;
but wo apprehend there is no need for
in chromo-lithography. We
could with pleasure extract any appeal so enforced to a Board which has blazoned
much quotable matter from the sensible iloye on Sir Charles “ Fine Arts ” so conspicuously on its ensign.
COIN RECENTLY ACQUIRED BY THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

HE silver coin of which the accompanying The head on the obverse is that of Athene Polios,
T photograph is one of the recent
given, is
additions to the British Museum, and of a large
and valuable collection lately bequeathed to that
institution by Mr. Woodhouse, of Corfu. It has
been supposed to be a dodekadrachm of Athens, but
its weight does not quite answer that denomination.
The usual large coins of Athens are the tetra-

drachms, or pieces of “4 drachms,” weighing 270
grains Troy only one larger piece, a dekadrachm
; ,
or “ 10-drachm” piece, in the British Museum,

weighing 675 grains, being known. The weight of
the present coin, according to Mr. Vaux, is 744
grains, and its size 9 "3 of the numismatic scale. or Minerva, protectress of the city, probably copied
W ;; — ;
96 OLLA PODEIDA. [Nature and Art, August !, 1866.
from her statue at the Erechtheum, and represents the honour of naming the city on the plains of
the goddess wearing a helmet chased with a helix Attica, produced it from the ground, and, on account
ornament, crowned with olive, and surmounted by of its supreme utility to man, was adjudged by the
a low crest. She wears ear-rings the features are : assembled gods to be the winner. In the field is
archaic, the eye represented in profile, a smile on A0E, for AOENAION, money of the Athenians.
the lips, like the works of the Dredalids, or of the The style of art of this coin is anterior to b.c. 470 ;
vEginetan school, such as the statue made by the but the old type was retained for nearly a century
sculptor Encloios must have been. On the reverse, later. It is somewhat difficult to account for the
within an indented square, Minerva’s emblem, the deficient weight of this coin; and neither the place,
owl, standing full face and with extended wings. time, nor occasion of its issue, has yet been satis-
At the corner is a sprig of olive, also an emblem of factorily settled.
the goddess, who, in her contest with Neptune for
To the Editor of Nature and Art. openly say, “Jack is a rogue.” Of course he is, we all
Sib, — have had sad havoc around our hencoops.
e
know that. Did he not steal the abbot’s ring ? and was
he not deservedly visited with the thunders of the abbot's
Thirteen young- chickens have been found headless, their
bodies lying quivering on the ground. From the description “anathema” in consequence? Jack is like the immortal
given by our poultry-woman, I have no doubt but that the Major Bagstock, “ sly, sir.” Of that there can be no
jackdaws destroyed them, as she saw one of them fighting doubt, and even his best friends admit it. But when we
first heard of this wholesale chicken slaughter, we rather
with a hen, who was trying in vain to defend her little
brood. In every instance they left the bodies on the ground, hoped that some other marauding delinquent might have
taking the heads to their young ones, whom they are been caught in the very act, and our minds have been
relieved of much painful suspicion but the weight of
known to feed on the eyes and brains of small birds. My ;
butler was constantly on the watch, but never succeeded in

evidence rests heavily against Jack. We have ever been
shooting any of them. They would fly away on his approach, accustomed to regard him with a certain degree of rever-
and return to the spot the moment he was gone. They ence, as being a frequenter and lover of our venerable
cathedrals and ancient baronial towers, and we have felt
have now entirely ceased their depredations, and I am led
inclined to forgive many a thievish trick from the associa-
to believe from this that the young birds are able to support
themselves by this time, and are now living on other food. tions with which his haunts have surrounded him. But as
Last year they destroyed a great many young pheasants in the murderer of dainty young pheasants, alas !Jack, we
Kneb worth Park, where there is a colony of them, but the can take your part no more. We fear there is no help for
it but to deliver you over to the- tender mercies of “ our
keeper managed to kill several, not however before he had
butler ” and poultry-woman (when they can catch you).
lost the greater portion of his birds. W. B.
Welwyn, June 28, 1866.
We can only imagine one little bit of excuse for you ; viz.,
that amongst other of your ecclesiastical preferences, you
[This has the appearance of being a very serious charge have learned to bo a sad epicure, and that you do not stand
against our old friends the Daws. There are persons who alone in your relish for a “ daintie dish ” of brains. Ed.]
OLLA P ODRIDA.
From the second volume of Otto Htibner’s Verglei- Austria, one theatre to 235,000 persons; Prussia, one theatre
cliende Statistik Europas, we learn that there are in Europe to 243,000 persons; Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, and Greece,
1,480 theatres, though only 298 permanent companies. Of one theatre to 380,000 persons. The fewest theatres are
these theatres, 337 are in France 296 in Italy (with
;
found in Bussia, with one to 1,360,000 persons. Italy has,
Venice, 348) 168 in Spain; 159 in Great Britain; 152 in
;
therefore, comparatively eighteen times as many theatres as
Austria in the smaller States of Germany, 115 in Prussia,
; ;
Bussia.
76; in Bussia, 44 (Poland, 10); in Belgium, 34; in the The famous illustrator of Perrault, Balzac, Chateau- ^ 't
Netherlands, 23 in Switzerland, 20 in Sweden, 10

;
in
; ; briand, Cervantes, Dante, and the Bible, is now at work on
Norway, 8; in Portugal, 16; in Denmark, 10 (Schleswig- Lafontaine and Shakespeare. The illustrations of the
Holstein, 5) ; in Greece, 4 in Turkey, 4 in Boumania, 3 ;
; ; fables of Lafontaine are far advanced, if not completed
in Servia, 1. In France there are 61 permanent companies; and the artist is said to be working, with even more than
in the smaller States of Germany, 46 in Great Britain, 39
; ;
his ordinary vigour, on the sketches for the illustration of
in Austria, 34; in Prussia, 32; in Italy, 24; in Bussia, 15. our immortal bard. There was a meeting of publishers
Of capitals, those that possess the greatest number of some weeks since in Dore’s studio, and it was then said
theatres are Paris, which has 40 ; London, 26 Naples and ; that the artist had placed his work with one of these gentle-
Milan, 13 each Borne, Turin, and Brussels, 10 each
;
men at the price of 400,000 francs. This is now contra-
Berlin, Vienna, and Florence, 9 each (in the case of Vienna, dicted, and it is said that while that sum was offered by
singing-halls seem to be included in the calculation) the three publishers, M. Dore demanded one quarter more,
Madrid, Venice, and Genoa, 8 each; Seville, 6; Lisbon, or half a million of francs. Such is the report which we
Amsterdam, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Bologna, Leghorn, repeat without guaranteeing its exactness. Twenty thou-
and Verona, 5 each. There is a theatre for every 190,000 sand pounds is certainly a large sum, but M. Gustave Dore
inhabitants in Europe. The most theatres in proportion to is in a position to ask, and to obtain, an exceptional price.
the population are found in Italy, where there is one theatre It is added, that of the three publishers, one only was a
for every 75,000 persons; in Spain, one theatre to 93,000 Frenchman, one an American, and the other an English-
persons in France, one theatre to 110,000 persons; then
; man. The rat figures constantly in Lafontaine’s works,
come Switzerland, Belgium, and the smaller German States, —
and the artist has therefore set up a “ ratary ” to coin a
one theatre to 150,000 persons; the Netherlands and Great word for the occasion —
at home, and is living on most
Britain, one theatre to 184,000 persons; Norway and familiar terms with its fifteen occupants.
ON MUMMIES.
By S. Birch, LL.D.
No. II.
MUMMY-CASES, two hair generally painted blue or black, and on its

is
fashions principally pre- crown often seen a scarabams, emblem of the

is
vailed at the period which future existence or transformation made by the
intervened from the 20th dead in the future state. A fillet or wreath is
to the 30th dynasties. disposed round the head, with flowers of the lotus
Either the mummy was in front;
and sometimes a mystical formula is
placed in a highly de- traced in hieroglyphs on the fillet. The face is
corated linen case, or else painted red, if that of a man at the earlier periods,
left plain and deposited and yellow if of a female ; but pink was intro-
in a painted wooden duced in a later age under the Ptolemies. A rich
coffin. As the undertakers were not bound by collar adorns the neck, and the accompanying
any fixed rules, they added or varied their de- pectoral plate is often adorned. A ram-headed
corations at will ; but certain devices appear at hawk, emblem of Khnum or Chnebis, the Creator,
particular periods. Thus, at the precited one, flying with extended wings, and holding a signet
about 1000 to 525 b.c., leather straps or braces, in each claw, is generally painted on the breast.
called cmkhu, terminating at the ends in scarlet Beneath this is the hawk of Ra, or the Sun, wearing
bands, are found stamped with the names and the disk and horns upon his head, and flying in the
emblem of the monarch in whose reign the mummy same ’attitude. Over the lower part of the chest
had been made. What particular meaning these is the judgment scene, or vignette of the 125th
straps and devices had does not appear; but at chapter of the Ritual. This scene, more or less
the Roman period, leaden seals, or even waxen complete, represents the deceased introduced by
ones, were used, probably to hinder mistake or Thoth or Hermes into the presence of Osiris, the
prevent the abstraction of the valuable articles judge of the dead, seated on his throne in the hall
deposited with the dead. After these came the of the two Truths. Before him is the Devourer,
cartonage, or linen covering. This was made of symbolized as a monster composed of a hippopotamus,
several layers of linen, sometimes as many as lion, and crocodile; and the New- birth or Metempsy-
forty, glued and pressed together, so as to become chosis, indicated by cubit measures, terminating in
a hard compact substance ; and it was made, when human heads. In other compartments, at the sides,
wet, to follow the contours of the mummy. A are deities and genii of the dead ; and beneath,
face and head-dress was modelled in imitation of another vignette represents that of the 89th chapter
life, and a small square plinth or pedestal moulded of the Ritual. It is the union of the soul and body,
at the feet ; so that the mummy, when it was stood the revisit of the disembodied spirit to its mortal
upright, resembled a statue on its pedestal. The tenement. The soul, symbolized as a hawk with a
cartonage was made separate from the mummy, human face, flies down, holding in its hand the
and open at the back, in order to facilitate its
left emblem of life, which it brings back to the mummy
adjustment. Sometimes the back had eyelet-holes laid on its sepulchral bier. From this, down the
for a cord to lace it tightly round the form ; and centre of the cartonage, is a standard of a housing
under the foot was generally a painted board of surmounted by two plumes, emblem of the ceme-
sycamore wood, which completed the case. On tery of Abydos, in which reposed the deified Osiris.
these cases or cartonages were laid smooth and thin On the staff of this stands a line of hieroglyphs,
layers of stucco, on which were painted, in tempera, expressing the usual dedication to different deities
various scenes and portions of the Ritual in pure and of the dead —
to Osiris, to Ra, to Ptah Socharis
lively colours. These scenes had reference to the —
Atum, and other gods invoking them to give the
Ritual for the Dead, and, although great latitude dead food and drink, and other substances that
occurs, were yet arranged in a certain order. The 1
he required, to permit him to go in and out of

iv. H
i
; ;
98 ON MUMMIES. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
Hades, to admit him at the Empyreal gate, and to the spectator feels that bad Greek is worse than
let his soul leave theearth for heaven. The sides good Egyptian art. At this time, especially in
have generally different sepulchral deities, while Thebes, the art had fallen to a low ebb ; but
over the insteps are painted the jackals of Anubis, some of these painted shrouds appear to have been
who guarded the paths of the North and South continued till a late period. Two of a male and
and the eyes of Horus, emblems of the sun and female, at present in the Augusteum at Dresden,
moon. Although mere decorations or plain surfaces both in the ornaments of their dress resembling
are often found under the feet, two pictures some- the Byzantine dalmatica and in the other decora-
,
times there appear. One represents the sandals of tions of their forms are referable to as late a
the mummy, on which are painted an Asiatic and date as the 5th century. When the ait finally
a Negro bound hand and foot, and representing ceased, is not known •
but in the days of St.
the detested foreigners and neighbouring enemies Athanasius, about a.d. 325, it was still in exist-
of Egypt trodden under the sandals of the dead. ence ; and as it was not repugnant to Christian
The other, ecpially common at the period, has a doctrines, like the incremation of the Greeks and
bull,—the Apis, bearing the mummy
on its back, Romans, it probably existed till the Arab invasion
carrying it far away over the hills to the cemetery. of Egypt. The bodies thus prepared were called
All these paintings alluded to the deceased as by the Egyptians Sahu for moom appears to be a
another Osiris for upon his model he was em-
•
Persian word, derived from the wax employed for
balmed and encased, and the name of the deceased the purpose. As no mummies, however, have been
after the 1 2th dynasty, was always preceded by found with Coptic inscriptions, the art must have
that of Osiris as a title. All the funeral cere- declined, at the appearance of that writing, which
monies and litanies, in fact, turned upon this was apparently later than the 5tli century a.d. ;
mystic symbolism, and represented the burial and for the demotic continued in use till the 5th century.
destiny of Osiris himself in the regions of the dead. Along with the mummy were often laid various
It is not possible to here describe more than the objects ; sometimes the musical instruments and
normal pictures of the cartonage, for there are arms which the deceased used during life. One of
many varieties of these decorations. Some, in- the mummies of the Roman period, in the British
stead of numerous deities, are inscribed with Museum, has a pair of cymbals ; and the splendid
extracts from the Ritual of the Dead ; others are gold, jewelry, and arms found on that of the Queen
crowded with figures of deities, enriched with Aahhetp, of the 18th dynasty, and shown in the
gilding upon a deep blue background ; but the Great Exhibition of 1862, will illustrate the
usual colour of the ground is white, while the splendid objects deposited with the mummies.
figures and accessories are in blue, red, black, When the outer covering, whether cartonage or
and yellow. painted sheet, was placed on the form, there only
On the decline of Egypt under the Ptolemies remained the coffin and sarcophagus to complete
and Roman prefects, the decorations declined in the funereal adornment. The richness, the beauty,
beauty and character ; the form of the bandages the variety of the different coffins are so great, that
not following so nearly the contours of the form, they can only be described in classes. The earliest
and the cartonage being superseded by a linen shape, found in the sepulchres of the 4th and Gth
covei'ing of one piece, on which the subject is dynasties at Memphis, and continued till the 11th
coarsely painted in tempera and various colours, and 12th, was a deep rectangular box, with a fiat
such as a light red, green, or pink. There is no cover. —
The sarcophagi a term to be restricted to
longer any relief, but, en revanche there is a greater
,
—
the outer coffins of stone were at this period
attempt at portraiture, and the features offer always rectangular. These sarcophagi are generally
Greek types. The heads are crowned with wreaths, of granite, exceedingly simple in their forms, and,
the forms clad often in the peplos or the stole, and if sculptured, with only a few architectural orna-
chiton with purple borders ; while rings, earrings, ments. The monarch who built the Great Pyramid
shoes, and bracelets, and the whole costume are had no better sarcophagus than a plain box or
Greek. In many cases, indeed, some of the Osiris trough of granite, without a single ornament. The
type is still preserved, especially the network functionaries of the succeeding dynasties, who could
covering of meshes over the body but the details •
not afford the expense of such costly sarcophagi,
are more Greek than Egyptian.
' The deities are were deposited in wooden coffins of cedar or syca-
still sepulchral and Isis, Nephthys, and the more, of the same shape. Cedar, which must have
jackals of Anubis, are often depicted. At an earlier come from the Lebanon, was too rare and costly to
or later date, real portraits, painted in encaustic be covered entirely with stucco ; and when it was
on thin panels of cedar, in chiaroscuro and of ,
used, a deeply-cut line of hieroglyphs round the
considerable merit, are placed over the head, and border of the chest and down the lid repeated the
are the only decoration of the mummy. sepulchral dedications to Osiris the judge, and
As to the inscriptions of this age, new religious Anubis the preparer of the mummy. The interior
formulae appear, and present a mixture of Greek had always running round the chest a frieze, on
and Egyptian ideas. The duration of the life of the which were painted, in brilliant colours, the various
deceased is often recorded ; the sepulchral formula objects of dress and toilet, such as the dagger, shoes,
disappears, and is replaced by addresses to the cosmetic vases, and washing-utensils of the day, the
deceased The hieroglyphs are mere scrawls, and number of which, required or possessed, were duly
[Nature iiudAvt, Sept?
'
/
;
Nature and Art, September 1, 18G6.] ON MUMMIES. 99
recorded above them. In a hieroglyphic table mystical standards, and the deity Socharis, lord of
beneath was the “carte,” or bill of fare, of the the tomb, or the goddess of the West, inside the
wealthy proprietor. Sixty or seventy varieties of lower part or chest, and Nu, or the Heaven, inside
viands and liquors attest that the flesh-pots of Egypt the lid, are the prevailing pictures ; but other
were by no means despicable. Beef and veal but — curious ones are sometimes introduced. A
plani-
—
no mutton several varieties of venison, chiefly kid, sphere is painted inside the coffin of a high priest
live or six kinds of water-fowl, and pigeons, were of Amen-Ra, instead of Nu, or the usual firmament.
the principal animal food. These coffins were often placed in two or three
Tastes differ, but hyenas were eaten in the days others. The outermost, being the largest and con-
of Cheops. As yet, however, the fowl and the taining the other’s, are decorated more or less
pheasant were unknown, and no fish figures in the elaborately than the inner ones. The faces of these
“ carte,” although the fisheries were in full activity coffins are often carved out of dark sont, or acacia
and fish was salted and cured for inferior persons. wood, the eyebrows inlaid with blue glass or porce-
There were many varieties of bread and biscuits, lain, the lids of bronze, the white of the eye of ivory
conserves of dates and other fruits, and abundance of the hippopotamus, and the pupils of obsidian. The
of vegetables. Onions were an aristocratic dish in beards are sometimes of ebony, at others inlaid with
those times of old. Wine of three or four kinds is blue glass. The hands occasionally are carved of
mentioned, beer, and pure water. The rest of these separate pieces, and emerge from the mummied
coffins have lines of inscriptions —
chapters of reli- form. The sarcophagi either follow the above
gious books, themselves so old that they are cited types, or else are large chests, rounded at the head,
in different versions —
and have, some of them, with covers representing faces. The royal ones,
running comments and esoteric explanations. Ask which transcend all others hi magnificence, are of
who wrote them, and the rubrics answer, Tliotli, or granite, breccia, alabaster, and marble. The favourite
Hermes Trismegist himself, on some stone or slab, subject is the passage of the Sun through the hours
and left them in some nook or cranny for the of the night in the Egyptian purgatory, and the
orthodox Egyptians. destiny of the soul. At the Roman period the
As sycamore was indigenous—for Egypt, poor in coffin entirely changed in shape, the mummies were
trees, —
was the land of the sycamore the coffins of laid on a flat board, the cover was vaulted with
that less costly wood were more decorated. The upright posts at the four corners. Greek zodiacs,
whole of them were covered with a layer of the hours of the day and night, scenes of the Great
white stucco, having the inscriptions, frieze of J udgment, and various deities of the later Pantheon.
utensils and architectural ornaments painted on it. The whole is often surmounted by the hawk of Ra.
The finest example of this kind of coffin is at Berlin, The board on which the mummy lies has often
and it shows the perfection to which this kind of Athor, Venus, Nu, or Rhea.
decoration was carried. No doubt these chests We may speak hereafter of the
were mystical copies of that in which Osiris had other objects which accom-
been nailed down by Typhon and his associates. panied the mummy, the subjects
The most usual form of coffin, however, was that of the tombs, the dogma of the
which, to judge from the one of Mencheres found immortality of the soul, and
in the third pyramid, was fashioned like the fate of the body.
cartonage. The body was represented mummied in The accompanying woodcut
its bandages, with the face and head attire carved. and coloured plate * represent
V ariety is found in these, for some of the coffins of the lid of the coffin of a priest
the 18th and 19th dynasties are quite flat behind, named Pakhratharaubsh, son of
for the purpose of lying down on the floor of the Nahamkhuns. He was incense
tomb, while others, under the subsequent dynasties, bearer of the temple of Khons,
are modelled in the shape of figures, and have a or the Moon, at Thebes, and
flat plinth from the nape of the neck to the feet, probably lived at the close of
and a small pedestal beneath. Such coffins were the 20th or beginning of the
evidently intended to be set upright, and in the subsequent dynasty, about B.c.
scenes of the tombs are so represented. The last 1000. The coffin is a splendid
prevailed from the 26th dynasty, or about b.c. 700 example of the period, and ex-
to the Christian era. The older fall into two hibits the principal peculiarities
classes —
those of cedar ornamented on their covers of the class. The handsome
and sides with incised inscriptions and the figures head-dress, collar, and bracelets are elaborately
of a few deities. Those selected are Nu, or the painted in detail. On the throat is the Ibis, or bird
Firmament, the wife of Seb and mother of Osiris, of Thoth, with the ostrich feather, emblem of that
who received the deceased into her arms ; Anubis fmd as declarer of Truth.’ The seated crocodile and
o
‘
and the genii of the dead. The texts are chapters liippopotamic deities on the shoulders are selected
of the Ritual. The sycamore sarcophagi of this from those who preside over the halls of the Aahlu,
shape are painted like the rectangular ones, in
bright and varied hues, and the distribution of their
* The woodcut gives a bird’s-eye view of the coffin lid ;
decorations resembles that of the cctrtonages. Sepul-
the coloured plate shows also its sides and that part of the
chral deities, dedicatory inscriptions, chapters, ornamentation which extends on to them.
H 2
100 THE STOEY OF A SCENE PAINTEE. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
Elysium, where the virtuous and wicked receive each side is Uati, who presided over the lower
and punishment. The four
their appropriate reward hemisphere. The fifth compartment has the Tat,
deities in the compartment below them, having a a mystical form of Osiris, supported by the god-
human, ape, hawk, and jackal head, are the genii desses Nit, or Neitli, Minerva, having a shuttle, and
of the Amenti, or Purgatory, children of Osiris, Selk having a scorpion on her head and symbolic
who particularly presided over the interior por- eyes. The hawks at the side are emblematic of Hut
tions of the body and insured their preservation. or Tebhut, the winged disk, or Agathodaimon. In
They were Amset, Hapi, Kabhsenuf, and
called the fifth compartment the vulture of the goddess
Tuautmutf. The sepulchral vases were made in Nenshem soars, holding the standard of Victory in
their shape and consecrated to them. In the third, its claws. Shu, a solar, god, kneels underneath on
or next compartment, is the judgment scene, the emblem of refulgence, elevating the solar disk,
having above the hawk of the Sun flying, and at hr which is the Scarabseus, emblem of existence.
the sides the jackals of Anubis, to whose care was At the sides are deities from the halls of the
confided the paths or roads of the Upper and Elysium. The inscriptions in these scenes explain
Lower Hemisphere, or World. Sometimes they their meaning. The side inscriptions are dedications
are seen conducting the Sun’s barge along its to Ptah-Socliaris-Osiris, a pantheistic form of Osiris,
empyreal course. The judgment scene, the usual who was considered to preside especially over the
vignette in the Papyri of the 125th chapter of the tombs. Besides the usual statement that he affords
Ritual, has the god Osiris, the Pluto or judge of the the usual food to the dead, they affirm that this
dead, standing and listening to the speech of the god has granted the soul to come out of the Nu, or
god Horus, who introduces Pakhratharaubsh into Firmament, and to enter into the empyreal gate of
his presence, attended by the goddess Ala, or Truth, the Morn. Round the lower part of the chest,
in whose hall the judgment has taken place. Before which is not seen in the plate, are several demons
Osii'is is a papyrus flower with the four genii ;
of the Aahlu, or Amenti, and other mystical types,
behind him are Isis- and Neplithys ; at the sides as the cow and fish of Athor, the Egyptian enus. V
are two lion-headed deities with snakes, also the The inscriptions of this portion state that the gods
demons of Aahlu. The inscriptions announce the grant to the deceased to receive his food and drink
names and titles of the deities, and that Osiris has oft’ their table or altar like one of themselves to ;
given the usual good things to the deceased. In enter also the gateway of the Hall of Truth, where
the fourth compartment the standard of the East is he is tried and acquitted and that his heart is poised
;
raised by Thoth, Ibis, and Horus, hawk-headed. equally in the balance, for were it lighter he would
At their sides are rams, emblems of Chnanus, be condemned to the flames of Egyptian purgatory
the Demmrgos, or creator. The winged goddess on or sent back to re-enter the world in another form.
THE STORY OF A SCENE-PAINTER.
W HEN, in the middle of the seventeenth

century, Sir William Davenant, manager of
the theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, discarded the
first “ painting in perspective ” brought upon the
boards was in the judgment of many the thin end
of a wedge, which, as it thickened, was certain
“ Haverses ” and tapestries which had theretofore to drive forth and destroy all that was intellectually
been accepted as sufficient for the purposes of stage and vitally precious in the drama, and to lead the
illusion, and substituted regular scenes “painted in way to a last scene of all in the eventful history of
perspective,” without doubt there were to be found the stage, which should be “second childishness and
many conservative old playgoers who lifted up their mere oblivion.”
voices against the startling innovation, and pro- But the scene-painter having set foot within the
phesied the approaching downfall of the drama. If theatre was not to be expelled. The intruder soon
the grandsons present marvelled how elder genera- won for himself a large popularity ;
held his ground
tions could for so long have gone without such useful against criticism and opposition. He
was no mere
and necessary appliances, assuredly the grandsires journeyman dauber. From the he had taken
first
were complaining that now things had come to a distinct rank as anartist. Lustrous names adorn
pretty pass indeed, when a parcel of beardless, the muster-roll of scene-painters. Inigo J ones
empty-pated boys, not content with stage fittings planned machinery and painted scenes for the
such as had been esteemed good and sufficient by masques, written by Ben Jonson, for performance
the late Mr. William Shakespeare and his great before Anne of Denmark and the Court of James
brother-dramatists, demanded foolish paintings and the First. Evelyn lauds the “very glorious scenes
idle garniture, that diverted attention from the and perspectives, the work of Mr. Streeter,” sei’jeant-
effoi'ts of the players and the purpose of the play- painter to King Chai’les the Second. In February,
”
wrights, and had never been dreamt off, and would 1G64, the Diarist saw Dryden’s “ Indian Queen
never have been tolerated in the good, and simple, acted “ with rich scenes as the like had never been
and palmy days gone by. Unquestionably, the seen here, or, haply, except rarely, elsewhere on a
!
Nature and Art, September 1, 1806.] THE STORY OP A SCENE-PAINTER. 101
mercenary theatre.” Mr. Repys —most devoted of Anecdotes of Painting) “ some natural causes pre-
—
playgoers notes occasionally of particular plays, vented the English from becoming master’s either
that “ the machines are line and the paintings in painting or sculpture.” Shortly after his arrival
very pretty.” In October, 1667, lie records, that in England he was engaged by Garrick to design
he sat in the boxes for the first time in his life, and and paint scenes and decorations for Drury Lane
discovered that from that point of view “ the scenes Theatre, at a salary of <£500 a sum considerably
;
do appear very fine indeed, and much better than larger than had been paid thitherto to any artist
in the pit,” to which part of the house he ordinarily for such services.
resorted. The names of the artists who won Mi'. Of gorgeous scenery and gay dresses Garrick was
Pepys’s applause have not come down to us. But as fond as any manager of our own day he knew ;
previously to 1679, one Robert Aggas, a painter of that these were never-failing allurements to the
some fame, was producing scenes for the theatre in general public. Yet as a rule he confined his
Dorset Gardens. Nicholas Thomas Dali, a Danish spectacle to the after-pieces ;
did not, after the
landscape-painter, settled in London in 1760, was modern fashion, illustrate and decorate what he
engaged as scene-painter at Covent Garden Theatre, regarded as the legitimate entertainments of the
and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy theatre. For new as for old plays, the stock
in 1771. For the same theatre, John Richards, a scenery of the house generally sufficed, and some of
Royal Academician, appointed secretary to the the scenes employed were endowed with a re-
Academy in 1778, painted scenes for many years. markable longevity. Tate Wilkinson, writing in
Michael Angelo Rooker, pupil of Paul Sandby, and 1790, mentions a scene as then in use which he
one of the first Associates of the Academy, was remembered so far back as the year 1747. “It has
scene-painter at the Hay market. Other names of wings and flat of Spanish figures at full length,
note might be mentioned before the modern and two folding door's in the middle. I never see
reputations of Roberts and Stanfield, Beverley and those wings slide on but I feel as if seeing my old
Callcott, Grieve and Telbin, are approached ; and acquaintance unexpectedly.” Of the particular
especially over one intermediate name are we plays assisted by De Loutherbourg’s brush, small
desirous of lingering a little. The story of the scene- account has come down to us. They were, no doubt,
painter of the last century, who was well known chiefly of a pantomimic and ephemeral kind. For
to his contemporaries as “ the ingenious Mr. De the “ Christmas Tale,” produced at Drury Lane in
Loutherbourg,” presents incidents of singularity —
1773 the composition of which has been generally
and interest, that will probably be found to warrant assigned to Garrick, though probably due to Charles
our turning to it for purposes of inquest and —
Dibdin De Loutherbourg certainly painted scenes,
comment. and the play enjoyed a considerably run, thanks
The biographers of Philip James De Loutherbourg rather to his merits than the author’s. Some years
are curiously disagreed as to the precise period of later, in 1785, for the scenery of O’Keeffe’s “Omai,”
his birth. Five different writers have assigned produced at Covent Garden Theatre, the painter
five different dates to that occurrence 1728, 1730,: furnished the designs, for which he was paid by
1734, 1740, and 1741 ; and it has been suggested, the manager one thousand pounds, says Mr. J. T.
by way of explanation of this diversity, that the Smith one hundred pounds, says Mr. O’Keeffe ;
;
painter’s fondness for astrological studies may liaye so stories differ The scenery of “ Omai ” was
!
induced him to vary occasionally the date of his appropriate to the then newly discovered islands in
birth, in order that he might indulge in a plurality the South Facilic, and the play concluded with a
of horoscopes, and in such way better the chance kind of apotheosis of Captain Cook. In the course
of his predictions being justified by the. actual issue of “ Omai,” Wewitzer, the actor who played a chief
of events. ILe was born at Strasbourg, the son of warrior of the Sandwich Islands, delivered a grand
a miniature painter, who died at Paris in 1768. harangue in gibberish which of course, for all the
,
Intended by his father for the army, while his audience knew to the contrary, was the proper
mother desired that he should become a minister language of the natives ; a sham English translation
of the Lutheran Church, he was educated at the of the speech being printed with the book of the
College of Strasbourg in languages and mathematics. songs. The harangue was received with enormous
Subsequently he chose his own profession, studying applause
under Tischbein the elder, then under Vanloo and As a scene-painter, De Loutherbourg was de-
Francesco Casanova ; the latter, a painter of battle cidedly an innovator and reformer. He was the
pieces after the style of Bourgognone. By his land- first to use set-scenes, and to employ what are
scapes exhibited at the Louvre, De Loutherbourg technically known as “raking pieces.” Before his
”
acquired fame in Paris, and in 1763 was elected a time the back scene was invariably one large “ flat
member of the French Academy of Painting, being- of strained canvas extending the whole breadth
then eight years below the prescribed age for and height of the stage.He also invented trans-
admission to that distinction, say the biographers parent scenes, introducing effects of moonlight,
who date his birth from 1740. Quitting France, sunshine, fire, volcanoes, Ac., and effects of colour
he travelled in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, by means of placed
silk screens of various hues,
and in 1771 came to England, moved hitherward, before the foot and side lights. He was the first
probably, by the opinion then prevalent both at to represent mists, by suspending gauzes between
home and abroad, that (as Edwards puts it in his the scene and the audience. He made something
: — ;
102 THE STOEY OF A SCENE-PAINTEE. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1863.
of a mystery of the artifices he had recourse to, was accompaniments upon a smooth-tonecl organ, and
careful to leave behind him at the theatre no paper painted the scenes. The stage was about six feet
or designs likely to reveal his plans, and declined to wide and eight feet deep the puppets some ten
;
inform any one beforehand as to the nature of the inches high ; the little theatre was divided into pit,
effects he desired to produce. He secretly held small boxes, and gallery, and held altogether about two
cards in his hand which he now and then consulted hundred persons. For half a century no exhibition
to refresh his recollection, as his assistants carried of the kind had appeared in London. The puppet-
out his instructions. show was old enough to be a complete novelty to
After Garrick had quitted the stage (in 1776) the audience of the day. For a time it thrived
and sold his share in the management of Drury wonderfully ; then managers and public seem both,
Lane to Sheridan and his partners, it was proposed by degrees, to have grown weary. Dibdin and his
to De Loutherbourg to continue in his office of friend departed ; the exhibition fell into the hands
chief scene-painter, his salary being reduced one of incompetent persons ; then closed its doors. The
half. This illiberal scale of remuneration the dolls, properties, scenery, and dresses were brought
ai’tist indignantly declined, and forthwith left the to the hammer by merciless creditors ; and there
theatre. He is said, however, by Parke in his was an end of the puppet-show. In 1782 De
“ Musical Memoirs,” to have painted the scenes for Loutherbourg took the theatre for the exhibition
the successful burletta of “ The Camp,” produced of his Eidophusikon.
by Sheridan, at Drury Lane, in 1778. But he now De Loutherbourg had professedly two objects in
devoted himself more exclusively to the production view to display his skill as a scene-painter well
:
of easel-pictures. He had, in 1773, become a con- versed in dioramic effects, and to demonstrate to
tributor to the Exhibition of the Royal Academy. the English people the beauties of their own
In 1780 he was elected an Associate; in the country. He averred “ that no English landscape-
following year he arrived at the full honours of painter needed foreign travel to collect grand
academician ship. Peter Pindar, in his “ Lyrical prototypes for his study.” The lakes of Cumber-
Odes to the Royal Academicians for 1782,” finds a land, the rugged scenery of North Wales, and the
place for De Loutherbourg. Having denounced mountainous grandeur of Scotland, furnished, lie
the unlikeness of Mason Chamberlin’s portraits, he said, inexhaustible subjects for the pencil. He
satirizes the style of art of the landscape painter :
opposed the prejudice then rife among artists and
“
amateurs alike, that England afforded no subjects
And Loutherbourg, when Heaven so wills,
To make brass skies and golden hills, for the higher display of the painter’s art. He con-
With marble bullocks in glass pastures grazing fined the Eidophusikon for the most part to the
Thy reputation too will rise, exhibition of English landscapes under different
And people gaping with surprise, conditions of light and shadow.
’ ”
Cry Monsieur Loutherbourg most amazing
‘
is !
Achief view exhibited was from the summit of

And in another ode he derides the artist’s pictures One Tree Hill, Greenwich. There was cleverness
as “tea-boards,”- “varnished waiters,” and avows evinced in the selection of this landscape. large A
that his rocks are “ paste-board,” while his trees public are always prepared to be pleased when they
resemble “brass wigs,” and his fleecy flocks “ mops.” are shown something with which they are well
Probably the quiet of his studio oppressed our acquainted. Each spectator found himself, as it
painter somewhat. The simple effects attainable in were, individually appealed to. Each had seen One
an easel-picture did not satisfy him. He missed Tree Hill, and could bring to bear upon the subject
the appliances of the stage the coloured lights, the
: his own personal knowledge and observation, and
transparent scenes, the descending gauzes, and so test and certify to the painter’s skill. The view
cleverly combined cut-pieces. He would not go was a set-scene with a movable sky at the back :
back to Drury Lane, however ; as to that lie was a large canvas twenty times the surface of the
fully determined. He would not toil for ungrateful stage, stretched on frames, and rising diagonally
managers, or paint backgrounds merely to supple- by means of a winding machine. De Loutherbourg
ment and enrich the exertions of the actors. He excelled in his treatment of clouds ; he secured in
decided upon providing London with a new en- this way ample room and verge enough to display
tertainment ; upon opening an exhibition that his knowledge and ingenuity. By regulating the
should be all scene-painting. action of his windlass he could control the move-
Charles Dibdin, the famous sea-song writer, who ments of his clouds, allow them to rise slowly from
was also a dramatist, a composer of music, an actor, the horizon and sail obliquely across the heavens, or
a scene-painter, and a manager, had constructed in drive them swiftly along, according to their supposed
Exeter Change what he whimsically called “ The density and the power to be attributed to the wind.
Patagonian Theatre:” in truth, a simple puppet- An arrangement of set-pieces cut in pasteboard
show, upon the plan of that contrived years before represented the objects in the middle distance the :
by Mr. Powell, under the Piazza, Covent Garden, cupolas of Greenwich Hospital, the groups of trees
and concerning which Steele had written humor- in the park, the towns of Greenwich and Deptford,
ously in the Spectator. Dibdin, assisted by one and the shipping in the Bool ; due regard being had
Hubert Stoppelaer, humorist and caricaturist, to size and colour, so that the laws of perspective
wrote miniature plays for the doll performers, in distance and atmosphere might not be outraged
recited their parts, composed the music, played the the immediate foreground being constructed of cork
—; ;
Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.]

THE STORY OF A SCENE-PAINTER. 103
broken into rugged and picturesque forms, and to thenew entertainment ; the artist world especially
covered with minute mosses and lichens, “ pro- delighting in it. Sir Joshua [Reynolds, who was a
ducing,” says a critic of the period, “ a captivating frequent visitor, loudly extolled Mr. De Louther-
effect amounting indeed to reality.” bourg’s ingenuity ; recommending him to the
In his method of illuminating his handiworks patronage of the most eminent men of the time,
De Loutlierbourg was especially adroit. He aban- and counselling all art-students to attend the exhi-
doned the unnatural system (introduced by Garrick bition as a school of the wonderful effects of nature.
on his return from the Continent in 1765) of lighting Gainsborough’s ready sympathies were completely
the stage by means of a flaming line of footlights, enlisted. For a time, after his manner, he could
and ranged his lamps above the proscenium, out of talk of nothing else, think of nothing else ;
and he
sight of the audience. Before his lamps he placed passed evening after evening at the exhibition. He
slips of stained glass —
yellow, red, green, blue, and
purple ; and by shifting these, or happily combining
even constructed a miniature Eidophusikon of his
—
own moved thereto by De Loutherbourg’s success
them, was enabled to tint his scenes so as to repre- and the beauty of a collection of stained glass, the
sent various hours of the day and different actions —
property of one Mr. Jarvis and painted various
of light. His “ Storm at Sea, with the loss of the landscapes upon glass and transparent surfaces, to
Halsewell, East-Indiaman,” was regarded as the be lighted by candles at the back, and viewed
height of artistic mechanism. The ship was a per- through a magnifying lens upon the peep-show
fect model, correctly rigged, and carrying only such principle. But at last the fickle public wearied of the
sail as the situation demanded. The lightning Eidophusikon, as it had been wearied of Mr. Dibdin’s
quivered through the transparent canvas of the sky. puppets. The providers of amusement had, in those
The waves, carved in soft wood from models made days, to be ever stirring in the production of
in clay, coloured with great skill and highly var- novelties. The sight-seeing public was but a limited
nished to reflect the lightning, rose and fell with and exhaustible body tlieu, little recruited by
irregular action, flinging the foam now here, now visitors from the provinces or travellers from the
there, diminishing in size and fading in colour as Continent. Long runs of plays or other entertain-
they receded from the spectator. Then we read — —
ments the rule with us were then almost un-
“ De Loutherbourg’s genius was as prolific in imita- known. The Eidophusikon ceased to attract. The
tions of nature to astonish the ear as to charm the amount received at the doors was at last insufficient
sight. He introduced a new art the picturesque
: to defray the expenses of lighting the building. It
of sound.” That is to say, he simulated thunder by became necessary to close the exhibition and pro-
shaking one of the lower corners of a large thin vide a new entertainment. Soon the room in
sheet of copper suspended by a chain the distant
;
Exeter Change was crowded with visitors. Wild
firing of signals of distress he imitated by striking, beasts were on view, and all London was gaping at
suddenly, a large tambourine with a sponge affixed them.
to a whalebone spring —
the reverberations of the Meanwhile De Loutlierbourg prospered as an
sponge producing a curious echo, as from cloud to artist. His reputation grew his pictures were in
;
cloud, dying away in the distance. The rushing request ; he was honoured with the steady patronage
sound of the -waves was effected by turning round of King George III., and was personally an acknow-
and round an octagonal pasteboard box, fitted with ledged favourite at court a thoroughly successful
:
and containing small shells, peas, and shot

shelves, man indeed. Then we come down to the year
while two discs of strained silk, suddenly pressed 1789, and find the artist of the Eidophusikon
together, emitted a hollow, whistling sound, in assuming a new character. He has become a
imitation of loud gusts of wind. Cylinders loosely — — —
physician a seer a fanatic and, it must be said,
charged with seed and small shot, lifted now at one a quack; a disciple of Mesmer, a friend of Cagliostro
end, now at the other, so as to allow the contents practising animal magnetism, professing to cure all
to fall in a pattering stream, represented the noise diseases, and indulging in vaticination and second
of hail and rain. The moon was formed by a cir- sight.
cular aperture cut in a tin box containing a power- Towards the close of the eighteenth century,
ful Argand lamp, which was placed at the back of credulity and imposition shook hands heartily and
the scene, and brought near or carried far from the held a great festival. Throughout civilized Europe
canvas as the luminary was supposed to be shining a sort of carnival of empiricism prevailed. Quack
brightly or to be veiled by clouds. These con- was king. A spurious leaven of charlatanism was
trivances, from a modern point of view, may strike
the reader as constituting quite the A
B C of
traceable in politics, in science, in religion
vaded all things indeed. The world was mad to
per-—
theatrical illusion. But then it must be remem- cheat or to be cheated. The mountebank enjoyed
bered that they were, for the most part, distinctly his saturnalia. Never had he exhibited his exploits
the inventions of De Loutlierbourg, and, upon their before an audience so numerous and so sympathetic
first introduction, were calculated to impress the — so eager to be swindled, so liberal in rewarding
public of his day very remarkably. the swindler. Gravely does Miss Hannah More
For two seasons De Loutherbourg’s Eidophusikon, address Mr. Horace Walpole, concerning what she
exhibited at the Patagonian Theatre in Exeter terms the “demoniacal mummery” —
“the operation
ChaDge, and afterwards at a house in Panton Square, of fraud upon folly” which then occupied the
was attended with singular success. Crowds flocked country. “ In vain do we boast of the enlightened
“ :
104 THE STOEY OP A SCENE-PAINTEB. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
eighteenth, century, itncl conceitedly talk as if human of Dr. Mesmer were without number. It was in
reason had not a manacle left about her, but that ridicule of general rather than class credulity that
philosophy had broken down all the strongholds of Mrs. Inchbald wrote (or adapted) her comedy of
prejudice, ignorance, and superstition and yet, at “ Animal Magnetism,” produced on the stage of
;
this very time, Mesmer has got a hundred thousand Covent Garden in 1788.
pounds by animal magnetism in Paris, and Mainaduc After a time, however, the bubble burst. The
is getting as much in London. There is a fortune- duped were becoming desperate. A
loud cry arose.
teller in Westminster who is making little less. As a doctor, De Loutherbourg failed utterly as ;
Lavater’s physiognomy books sell at fifteen guineas a seer, his prophecies broke down lamentably.
a set. The diving rod is still considered
[divining 1] Presently there Avere very riotous proceedings
as oracular in many places.
Devils are cast out by outside his house at Hammersmith throwing of :
seven ministers and, to complete the disgraceful

;
stones and smashing of windows. De Louther-
catalogue, slavery is vindicated in print and defended bourg prudently disappeared until the storm had
in the House of Peers Poor human nature, when
! passed away. He Avas believed to have gone to
wilt thou come to years of discretion 1
”
Mr. alpole W SAvitzerland with Cagliostro, proposing never to
writes back (he has always a proper tone for Miss return. But soon news came of the arrest of
More, reserving his levity and licence for less staid Cagliostro in Rome, and of his condemnation to
correspondents) :
—
“Alas while Folly has a shilling-
! —
death for being a freemason the sentence being
left, there will be enthusiasts and quack doctors
” afterwards commuted to perpetual imprisonment
— —
and he adds, airing his pet affectation a hatred of and Cagliostro’s friend was found to be in England
royalty, a love for republicanism and there will again, no longer practising as a physician, but
be slaves while there are kings or sugar-planters.” folloAving his legitimate profession, hard at Avork
—
Joseph Balsam o more generally known by his before his easel as though he had never quitted it.
pseudonym of Count Alexander De Cagliostro, ex- His fanatical escapades seem soon to liaA e been 7
pelled from France, after nine months’ durance in forgiven and forgotten. A
highly esteemed painter,
the Bastille, on account of his complicity in the he Avas permitted to resume his place in society.
diamond necklace fraud and scandal had taken — In proof of the regard in Avhicli he was held, it may
refuge in England, bringing with him a long list of be noted that the guardians of the De Quinceys
quackeries and impostures among them, his art of : deemed it worth while to pay De Loutherbourg a
making old women young again his system of ;
premium of one thousand guineas, to receive as a
“ Egyptian freemasonry,” as he termed it, by virtue pupil William, the elder brother of Thomas De
of which the ghosts of the departed conld be beheld Quincey, who had given promise of skill in drawing.
by their surviving friends and the secrets and dis-
;
The young fellow died, however, in his sixteenth
coveries of the great Doctor Mesmer in the so-called year, about 1795, in the painter’s house at Hammer-
science of animal magnetism. Walpole at once smith. A
more moderate sum had some years
proclaims the man a rascal, and proposes to have previously been demanded of Mr. Charles Bannister,
him locked up for his mummeries and impositions. the actor, for the art-education of his son John.
Miss More laments that people will talk of nothing For a payment of fifty pounds per annum for four
else. “ Cagliostro and the cardinal’s necklace,” she years, it was agreed that John Bannister should be
writes, “spoil all conversation, and destroyed a very taught, boarded, and lodged. But the arrangement
good evening at Mr. Pepys’s last night.” dis- A came to nothing. De Loutherbourg demanded the
cussion of such subjects was by no means compatible payment of the money in advance. He mistrusted
with Miss More’s notion of a good evening. the players. They had caricatured him on the
What could have induced simple-minded Mr. stage as “ Mr. Lanternbug,” in General Bourgoyne’s
De Loutberbourg to put trust in this arch -juggler ? comedy, “The Maid of the Oaks and then his
Can have been that from the painter’s native
it mocking artist brethren caught at the nick -name,
'
Strasbourg had come to him unimpeachable fables corrupting it, however, to “ Leatlierbag.” Mr.
of Cagliostro’s feats during his stay there, which Bannister was unable or unAvilling to comply Avith
had preceded his nefarious expedition to Paris? the painter’s requirements so young John was sent
:
But the artist is ever excitable, receptive, impressi- to the school of the Royal Academy, which he
ble — the
ready prey of the dealer in illusion and soon deserted, and finally trod the boards, and
trickery. De Loutherbourg is soon at the feet of charmed the town as an actor. Another pupil of
the quack Gamaliel soon he is proclaiming him-
;
De Loutherbourg, and a close imitator of his Avorst
self an inspired physician, practising mesmerism. manner, Avho is yet worthy of public notice as
Cosway and his wife declared themselves clairvoy- the founder of the Duhvich Gallery, Avas Francis
ants. Other painters of the period were dreaming Bourgeois, knighted by the King of Poland.
dreams and seeing visions. Nor was it only the Edward Dayes, artist, critic, and biographer of
artist world that took up with, and made much of, artists, is said to have exclaimed eccentrically in
Count Cagliostro and his strange doings. Wiser reference to Sir Francis :
“ Dietricy begat Casanova,
people than Mr. De Loutherbourg were led astray Casanova begat De Loutherbourg, De Loutherbourg
by the mountebank, though they did not wander so begat Franky Bourgeois, a dirty dog, who quarrelled
”
far from the paths of reason and right, nor publish with nature, and bedaubed her works !
so glaringly the fact of their betrayal into error. By his pictures of “ Lord Howe’s Victory on the
Cagliostro was the rage of the hour. The disciples 1st of June, 1794,” and “The Storming of Valen-
>•; •
-
,
aiicLAvt 1 1866 .
'Nan n-e
.
; :
Nature and Art, September 1, 1806.] THE WHISTLING SAND-GROUSE. 1C5
ciennes,” De Loutherboiu’g acquired great popularity. painting-room. A few crude pencil lines upon a
For Macklin’s Bible (most luxurious of editions, in card were enough for him to take home with him ;
seven folio volumes, published in seventy parts at one for the rest he relied upon his Inemory or his in-
guinea each !) he painted “ The Angel destroying vention. But in such wise was the general method
the Assyrian Host,” and “The Deluge the latter of his time. Painters produced their representa-
a particularly spirited and effective performance. tions of land and sea after close toil by their firesides.
Dayes, his conte^ ary, suggests, however, that There was not much taking of canvasses into the
he was made a? real painter by the printsellers, open air in the days of De Loutherbourg.
rather than by th ifficiency of his own genius in Pursuing such a system, he became, necessarily,
that respect. For the higher purposes of art, very mannered ; and yet, with other and greater
his composition was too defective, his drawing men, he helped to destroy a conventional manner
not masterly enough, and his execution too small in art. Rules had been laid down restricting the
and delicate. But Dayes greatly admired De artist to an extent that threatened to oust nature
Loutherbourg’s “ Review of Wai’ley Camp,” in the altogether from painting. It had been decreed, for
Royal Collection especially praising the animals
;
instance, that in every landscape should appear a
introduced, and the cool grey of the general effect first, second, and third light, and, at least, one
the painter as a rule being prone to a somewhat brown tree. Departure from such a principle was,
coppery tone of colour. according to Sir George Beaumont and others, flat
In 1808, Turner, appointed Professor of Per- heresy. De Loutherbourg avowed himself a heretic.
spective to the Royal Academy, went to live at And he ventured to object to the old-established,
Hammersmith, in order, it has been suggested, to well-known classically- composed landscape, which
be near De Loutherbourg, of whose works he was was becoming an art nuisance. The tiling has dis-
known to be an admirer. That he should have appeared now, but the reader has probably a dim
aided in the art-training and forming of the greatest acquaintance with the classically-composed land-
of landscape painters is a real tribute to the merits scape. It was somewhat in this wise in no
:
of De
Loutherbourg. It is something to have been particular country, a temple of ruins on the right
even the fuel that helped the fire of a great genius hand was balanced by a trio of towering firs on the
to burn the more brightly. left. In the middle distance was raised another
The characteristics of the old scene-painter’s art temple in a more tenantable state of repair, above
which attracted the attention of Turner, were a river crossed by a broken bridge, the ragged
doubtless the boldness and strength of his effects : arches strongly reflected in the water ; at the back,
his rolling clouds and tossing waters his sudden ;
in the centre of the horizontal line (gracefully waved
juxta-positions of light and shade his bright and
;
with mountains), was the sun, rising or setting,
lilac
transparent, if occasionally impure and unnatural, it was never quite certain which ; whilst little ill-
system of colour. He was of another and inferior drawn, inch-high figures straggled about in the fore-
school to Richard Wilson, Gainsborough, and ground, and furnished a name to the picture
Constable, who, differing widely in their points of ./Eneas and Dido, Venus and Adonis, Cephalus
view and in their methods of art, are yet linked and Aurora, Apollo and Daphne, Ac. Ac. De
together by a common love of the natural aspects Loutherbourg’s dashing sea-views and stormy land-
of the objects they studied, and a preference for a scapes, although they might savour a little of the
tender and temperate over what may be called a lamp and the theatre, did service in hindering the
hectic and passionate rendering of landscape. But further production of the “classical compositions”
succeeding or failing, De Loutherbourg certainly of the last century.
aimed at the reproduction of certain pictorial tours De Loutherbourg died on the lltli March, 1812,
de force which they would never have attempted. at the house in Hammersmith Terrace which had
He was an innovator in the studio as on the stage. been the scene of his exploits as an inspired
According to modern modes of thought he was not, physician. He was buried in Chiswick church-
of course, a conscientious worker. His landscapes yard, near the grave of William Hogarth.
were indeed begun, continued, and completed in his Dutton Cook.
THE WHISTLING SAND- GROUSE.

( Pterocles exustus.)
WAY on the wide table-lands of Central India, vender, will be found the home of the whistling
A where the sparse herbage struggles for exist-
ence amongst the scattered stones and spots of arid
sand-grouse. When wandering about, hunting and
collecting, through tracts of counti-y but rarely
sand, and where in the far distance the herds of visited by Europeans, I found these beautiful and
black-buck move restlessly along in search of pro- interesting birds exceedingly numerous, winging
; -
106 THE WHISTLING SAND-GEOUSE. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
their way high over-head in flocks varying in num- torted trees rooted amongst the rocks, formed a
ber from eight or ten to sixty or seventy, cutting bower-like shelter from the midday heat ; and
the air on sharp, wing, in flight much like the here I remained snugly ensconced, watching the
golden plover of our own downs and uplands, but proceedings of a couple of crow- kings ( Tyrinus intre
pealing forth from time to time a whistle so wild, pidus), who had succeeded in catching a wretched
shrill, and piercing, that, once heard, no other old crow, away, possibly “on urgent private affairs,”
sound could well be mistaken for it ; and, like from his companions. On the top branches of a
coming events, which are said to cast their shadows dead bush crouched poor “ Corvus,” with outstretched
before them, the whistle of the sand-grouse is often wings, open beak, and protruding tongue a picture —
heard long, before the passing flock can be distin- of helplessness, much like some huge East-Indiaman
guished. A notion prevails amongst the natives beset by two fast pirate schooners, who swoop down
that they feed only on stones, and show, in proof of within range, deliver their fire, send the splinters,
the belief, a number of hard black grains frequently or rather feathers, flying, re-load, and at it again,
found in the stomachs of the birds, gravely asserting beating their bulky antagonist by the rapidity of
that they are pieces of black gravel, and excellent their movements and persistency of attack. It is
grouse-food. These, on examination, I found to be hard to say why these “forest cruisers” are so de-
the seed of a trailing plant, of which the sand- termined in their attacks on other birds, as they are
grouse, and a small grey plover frequenting the mainly insect-feeders, and therefore have no direct
open dry plains, are particularly fond. I have often object, so far as 1 can see, in making themselves so
found more than a teaspoonful on opening one of disagreeable to their neighbours. On quitting my
the latter. leafy shade, as the sun sinks behind the distant hills
It was a long time after reaching the plains where and the shadows lengthen, I follow down the course
our whistling friends abounded before I could ob- of a wide but dried-up water-course, scattered over
tain a single specimen, or even get within a very which were island-like spots of beerberry and other
long shot of one. All my treacherous and well-laid bushes. In wading over one of these, some red-
plans proved utterly abortive. Creeping, like some legged partridges were disturbed, and ran here and
huge lizard, amongst the tufts of dry herbage and there, rat-like, below the \indergrowth. Not caring
over the angular stones, to where, in the vanity of much Avhether they rose or not, I threw my gun
my hopes, a splendid pack should have been snugly over my arm and strode onward, when, under my
feeding, or, with stealthy step and ready gun, ap- very feet, from amongst the dry, short grass, barely
proaching the very spot from which I felt sure they high enough to cover a quail, a whole pack of my
would rise the next instant, only to have my hopes long-sought whistling sprites went skimming off.
dashed to the ground by hearing their exasperating My old “No. Eleven” seemed to leap of his own
whistle as they skimmed away aloft, three hundred accord to my shoulder. A couple of sharp, ringing
yards from where I expected to find them. I tried cracks, two tufts of feathers drift off on the wind,
the borders of a small lake at sunset, with a hope the charm was broken, and a brace of P. exustus
that some thirsty party might just drop in for a met their doom, as did four more brace before the
cooling drink before retiring for the night. Other ravine was quitted for the plain. From this time
guests there were, resolutely bent on liquid refresh- I found no difficulty in shooting as many as I re-
ment, who drank “manfully,” and then whisked off quired, both as specimens and food. In flavour,
for the night; still, no sand-grouse. The nightjars the sand-grouse is excellentbut to eat it in per-
;
flit out from the bushes, and skim the lake-shore ;

fection, the proceeds of the morning’s sport sho\dd
the bats follow then the frogs amongst the water-
;
contribute to the evening repast. By the next day
plants croak forth their evening song ; and a stray the flesh becomes hard but even then, few Indian
;
skulking j ackal creeps by. N

o grou se to a certainty birds are equal to it for a grill.
and as a flock of wild ducks pass on whistling For the markings and varied tints of the male
wing, I send the contents of both barrels into and female bird, I must refer the reader to the
the brown of them, gather up the spoils, and annexed plate, as they are there so faithfully ren-
tramp home to camp, grouseless as usual, wondering dered that any description of mine would be
whether sand-grouse do not, after all, bear charmed superfluous. I shall therefore content myself by
lives. stating that the dark-coloured and spotted bird is
The next day was devoted to the investigation of the male, and that crouching by the water-side his
some long ravines running up amongst a range of mate.
low hills stretching away across the distant plains, Farther on, close to the borders of Malwah, I
the piercing whistle of my “Will o’ the wisp” found, in the month of February, several of their
friends greeting me on my morning’s ride, as nests, or rather the pits in which the eggs are
though in mockery of my fruitless efforts to secure deposited. These are mere accidental depressions
them. in the ground, advantage being taken of any tuft of
Of other specimens, animal, vegetable, and mine- dry grass or small pile of stones sufficiently high to
ral, there was no lack and my bags and boxes
;
afford a slight protection to the bird when sitting.
grew heavy and plethoric as the noontide sun poured The eggs were invariably and unlike those of
three,
down his scorching rays on the glistening sand and any other bird I have ever met with. Both ends
slabs of bare rock. Amass of tangled creepers, of the egg are alike ; and it more nearly resembles
growing
O O from the stalks of some crooked and con- a diminutive, elongated, speckled pumpkin, than
; —
Nature and Art, Sex>tember 1, 1866.' FEARFUL CONTEST IN AN OMNIBUS. 107
anything else I can compare it to. The colour is more ready hand than do the thoughtless gunners
greenish, dotted Avith brown ;
a smoky tinge pei'- and hedge-poppers of our favoured land amongst
vading all. such wretched birds as may have the misfortune to
Many of the native chiefs capture the sand-grouse be rare. So far, I have heard no report as to the
with falcons and it is by no means uncommon to
;
discovery of either the nests or young of the sand-
see a whole cortege of falconers, hawk on fist, riding grouse in England and it is to be feared that poor
;
forth in all the pomp and panoply of the Middle Syrrhaptes P. has, like many another traveller
Ages, to enjoy the “royal sport,” for which the seeking a home, found an untimely end instead.
wide plains of India are peculiarly adapted. Whence these wandering refugees came it is hard
When, some short time since, our coasts were to say. The coast of Barbary is the nearest point
visited by so many specimens of Pallas’s sand-grouse I knoAV from which it is probable they could have
{Syrrhaptes Pallasii ), I entertained sanguine hopes winged their way. Their journey was a long one,
that a few might escape the fate generally awaiting at any rate; and it is most devoutly to hoped that,
the wandering migrant which instinct or chance should fortune favour us with another batch of
may cast on our inhospitable shores. No Andaman these mottled and painted gems, shelter and pro-
Islander or inhabitant of the Feejee group ever tection, rather than tow and Avire, may lie extended
dealt out death amongst a shipwrecked crew with to them by the lords of the soil.
1
FEARFUL CONTEST IN AN OMNIBUS.

—
A BOUT the 1 4th of June,
better to be particular in dates I got into
one of the “City Atlas” omnibuses in Cheapside,
1866
—
it is always shade of uneasiness, and even alarm in her manner.
In answer to her silent questioning, I moved my
head mechanically towards that part of the omnibus
en route for the house of a friend avIio resides at upon which the intent look of my opposite neigh-
St. John’s Wood. The omnibus Avas nearly full of bour appeared to be riveted Avith such a strange
very quiet-looking people, and I little imagined kind of fascination and with the idea of satisfying
;
that, before I quitted it, I should become a spectator my OAvn curiosity and that of the lady at the same
of one of the fiercest contests, long carried on, with time, I was about to advance towards the spot
continually varying success, that I ever Avitnessed. which appeared to absorb the entire attention of
Nothing of more than ordinary character took place our companion ; —
but, before I could advance a
till Ave reached Orchard Street, when most of the single stepi in that direction, he spirang forward, and,
passengers got out, leaving only a lady, avIio wore seizing my arm, held me tightly down to my seat,
a very pretty bonnet, in the corner above me, and Avliile the lady in the corner, Avith the piretty bonnet,
a gentleman on the opposite side, who had been alarmed at this display of pihysical force, uttered a
occupied during the greater part of the journey in little involuntary scream. This he did not notice,
examining, by means of a small but powerful lens, but piointed, Avith impatient and reiterated gesture,
Avhich he wore attached to a piece of elastic cord darting his fore-finger forward several times, in
about his neck, some evidently minute objects con- rapid succession, towards a particular spAot on the
tained in a small mahogany box that he appeared cocoa-nut matting, saying, in a loud whispAer
to handle Avith great care. Having completed his “ Look there ! there —
there’s a fight 1 Talk of
examination, he tucked the lens into a small pocket Austrians and Prussians look at that that
! — !”
neatly contrived in the upper part of his waistcoat, I looked instinctively towards the sjAot so ener-
evidently intended for the express purpose of form- getically indicated ; and there, on the floor of the
ing a convenient receptacle for that little instru- omnibus, I certainly did poerceive that, in the slight
ment, and then proceeded to the deposition of the mist caused by the dust of the matting shaken upi
mahogany case in his black leather bag. by the motion of the omnibus, a fierce combat was
The Avhole of the omnibus betAveen our party of actually going on —between two opponents Avho
three and the door having, as stated, become vacant, seemed savagely to have made upi their minds that
the cocoa-nut matting on the floor was no longer there should be only one survivor of the conflict.
covered by a croAvd of feet, and was therefore in First one and then the other was uppermost in the
full vieAv —
a fact which I noticed because I per- struggle; and then came long and well-balanced
ceived that my opposite fellow-passenger, of the lens trials of piower, in which the strength of each com-
and mahogany box, suddenly fixed his eyes upon it batant appeared exerted to the uttermost, while
Avith an earnestness of expression that at once neither gained any permanent advantage. It is
attracted my attention. The lady Avitli the pretty true, they were but pigmy duellists ; but their
bonnet also perceived the excessive earnestness of fierceness and energy were such, that my interest
manner so suddenly assumed by that gentleman became at once as much excited as that of my
and his entire change of demeanour having, as she opposite neighbour ; and I could not take my eyes
seemed to think, something suspicious about it, she from a contest which Avas carried on with several
turned towards me with an inquiring look, and a Aveapions, each skilfully and vigorously used.
; , -
108 FEARFUL CONTEST IN AN OMNIBUS. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1806.
“ Do you know what they are?” said my fellow- most and his long, sharp palpi appeared to be
;
passenger, who may as well be called Lens, for fixed, with murderous intent, between the head
the sake of brevity ; “ do you know what they are ?” and thorax of the beetle. He seemed to have
he repeated. found out a joint in the plate armour of his
“ Of course I do,” I replied ; and was about to adversary, and was pursuing his advantage with
explain, but the increasing vigour of the combat deadly effect.
prevented me from saying more at the moment. “ Bravo, Scales !” cried Lens again. “A hearty
Lepidopterist is cheering you on,” he continued.
“ Do you know the moth ?” he said, turning to me.
“No, not exactly but it appears to be a
;
Crambus.”
“So I thought, at first,” said Lens; “I thought
it was Crambus petrijicellus, the ‘
common veneer,’
as collectors call it ;
but look at the long, sharp
palpi that he is driving into the flesh of the beetle
at a weak point of his armour, the joint of the
thorax. Those are undoubtedly the palpi of a
Cliilo. I believe it to be Chilo phragmatellus the
!
“ Scale armour against plate ” cried Lens. “Scale gigantic veneer ;

nearly allied to the Crambidse, it
armour has it Bravo bravo!
You’ll excuse my
! ! is true, but not a Crambus.”
partiality as an umpire,” said he, turning to my side The and the form of
size of the insect, I agreed,
of the omnibus, “but I am a Lepidopterist.” the wings, as well as the length of the palpi, seemed
The lady looked anxiously and inquiringly to- to bear out his view ; “ but then,” I observed,
“ Is he not rather “ Chilo phragmatellus is only found at Whittlesea
wards me, seeming to say, a
Bedlamite? anti will you not protect me, or call out Mere.”
to the conductor?” “ True, very true— you are quite right and he
;
“ Do not alarm yourself,” I interposed “ it is could not have come all the way to London by
;
only a very curious conflict that is going on upon omnibus yet I believe it to be the Whittlesea
;
the floor of the omnibus.” Chilo. It is just the season for that rare insect —
”
“ I can see nothing,” said my companion in the mid- J une
pretty bonnet with increasing alarm, and evidently Here he was interrupted by an intensified state
thinking that both her travelling companions might of the combat ; the dust flew up around the belli-
be in collusion with the Davenport Brothers, or gerents, and the motion of the omnibus, now cross-
perhaps were those celebrated spiritualists in propria ing the New Road and jolting its hardest, gave new
persona and that the combatants, if any, were but
,
variety and spirit to the fight.
thin air, and visible only to “ mediums” such as we “ But,” said Pretty Bonnet, “ I never knew that
might
O be, or to those under a similar kind of
7
moths were savage, pugnacious creatures.”
“ Nor, indeed, did I,” said Lens “ but the per-
influence. ;
“Allow me to explain,” said Lens, who now tinacity of modern observation is every day lighting
perceived her alarm and incredulity, “allow me to up new beacons on the road to true science. Who,
explain. A
very singular duel is being fought in
”
for instance, till Mr. Gould’s persevering investiga-
this vehicle, between tions proved the fact, would have believed that a
“ Between?” inquired the lady, who may as well tribe of Australian birds actually constructed
be called Pretty Bonnet, with an incredulous and pleasure-bowers, as a kind of decorative and archi-
slightly scornful air. tectural bel respiro, quite distinct from their nests ?
“Between a moth and a beetle,” said I, inter- Till the positive discovery was made, the picturesque
rupting my opposite neighbour. architecture of the bower-bird would have been
“ nonsense !” exclaimed Pretty Bonnet
Absurd ! treated as a fable. And so with the now-evident
but looked towards the exact spot so
yet, as she combative propensity of moths. Who, that had not
accurately indicated by Lens, she too perceived that witnessed this interesting and spirited contest,
—
a battle an actual battle, fierce and fatal was — would for a moment have believed in it ? or in the
going on, and became from that moment an equally muscular strength of a slender moth like the little
absorbed spectator of the contest. Chilo that is now fighting so fiercely before our
Wewere near the top of Baker Street. The eyes? And then,” he continued, “we seem to be
omnibus was going at a brisk rate ; and, what with learning, at the same time, the true functions of tlfe
the jolting motion of the vehicle and their own palpi, which, as their name denotes, have been
energetic efforts for victory, the tiny gladiators hitherto considered mere feelers,’ while the present
4
often leapt from the floor in the full tide of the contest seems to prove to us that they are positive
relentless strife —
falling together, still in the grip mandibles, weapons offensive and defensive, of a
of a combat cl Voutrance, and renewing the straggle truly formidable character. But see see the — —
in some new with ever- varying advantage,
position, beetle has wrenched himself away from their grasp,
sometimes to the one and sometimes to the other and freed his throat. Now the chances are again
side. even. Beware, Scale-armour plate and corslet
!
The moth at length became permanently upper- may still prove too much for you ;
” and then
; ;
Nature and Art, September 1, 18<56.] FEARFUL CONTEST IN AN OMNIBUS. 109
Lens became silently absorbed in the chances of and simply an abbreviation of the Latin insectus.
is
the war. The wasp, as you must have noticed, is so deeply

“ What does he mean by scale and plate armour 1” insected —
or, as you would say, has so slender a
said Pretty Bonnet, addressing me, while she also —
waist that the two portions of the body are appa-
watched the progress of the combat. rently only joined by a slender ligament. The
“The term ‘scale ax'moui',’ I conceive, applies to term entomology,’ or insect science,’ is founded
‘ ‘
the wings of the moth, which are closely covered upon a Greek term of precisely the same import,
with a series of overlapping scales, in the manner entos, which, equally with the Latin insectus, means
of scale armour ; the wings themselves, when the cut in, or insected, as all true insects are. But only
scales are removed, being merely a transparent look how furiously they fight while the omnibus
!
tissue, likea filmy sheet of elastic glass. It is from is going over these rough stones, positively leaping
this circumstance that moths have been scientifically and plunging at each other like miniature war-
termed ‘ scaly wings,’ or rather Lepidoptera a term — horses only I fear the beetle is getting the best of it,
;
compounded of the Greek lepis, a scale, and pteron, and taking a savage advantage of the opportunity.”
a wing. This is a characteristic which the great “ Oh, do separate them,” cried Pretty Bonnet
modern naturalist, Linnaeus, seized upon at once as “the beetle will kill the brave little moth.”
one which distinguished them from all other insects “ No, no,” I interposed, “ I am not so sure of
and naturalists devoting themselves to the especial that ; and, then, it is of no use they had better —
study of butterflies and moths are consequently dis- fight it out. But I do not wonder at your sympathy
tinguished as Lepidopterists, as our friend just now for the moth. One associates the whole moth and
called himself. I have no doubt that the small butterfly tribe with ideas of innocence and beauty
mahogany box which he put away so carefully con- and sweetness, and the sipping of honey through the
tains some recently- captured specimens of the moth fine-drawn tube of their delicate proboscis, from the
and butterfly tribes. The term plate armour was, ‘
’
nectaries of beautiful summer flowers while beetles, ;
no doubt, used by our friend in reference to the so often black and sinister in their aspect, are more
solid cuirass-like armour in which the body of the often things of prey, capturing and devouring other
beetle is encased \ a feature in the organization of insect creatures —
the burying-beetles, for instance,
that class of insects which Aristotle, the first and that carry off either dead or living insects into their
greatest of naturalists among the ancients, at once burrows, to feed their young ; especially one of
seized upon as a well-marked class distinction, and the genus Silpha, which feeds on the living larvae
named the class of insects so organized Coleoptera, of moths and butterflies, climbing after them into
from coleos, a case or sheath, and pteron a wing in ,
— their seemingly safe retreats among the foliage of
allusion to the casing of the wings by those solid high trees. Then there is the Cicindila campestris,
pieces of true ] date armour ; and the term thus in- commonly known as the tiger-beetle, from its car-
vented and applied more than two thousand years nivorous nature, preying, as it does, upon other
ago, is the one still used to denote that class of insects, and occasionally upon its own species. It
insects.” is as beautiful and as treacherous as the tiger whose
“ Howvery curious,” said Pretty Bonnet. “Are name it has borrowed.”
there any books about that ?” “ Horrid wretch !” exclaimed Pretty Bonnet.
“ Hundreds,” said I. “ But in its larva or grub state that its
it is
‘ ‘
Howvery odd that I should never have met tigerish ti-eachery comes out most strongly. It
with them.” makes a deep and narrow perpendicular pit, or
“ Not at all, madam,” interrupted Lens. “ Ladies mine, and then, climbing to the top, stops up the
look upon the grubs and caterpillars from which all opening with its own flat-topped head, covered with
moths and beetles are developed merely in the light sand, waiting till some unsuspecting insect passes
of nasty, dirty, disagreeable, disgusting things and ;
over this treacherous living trap-door, when it at
therefore they are not at all likely to inquire for once lets itself drop, followed of course by the
books about them but see see the dreadful! ! wretched victim ; and, if the creature so trapped in
beetle, in his irresistible cuirass, is uppermost my ;
the perfidious oubliette be too large to fall freely, it
brave Chilo must perish ; yet, no
little no !”
Plere the omnibus gave a lurch, which greatly
— ! is seized and dragged mercilessly down to the bottom
of the dark cavern, where

”
assisted Chilo, who, making the best use of the “ How very frightful !”
cried Pretty Bonnet, with
opportunity, darted his sharp, long palpi into a a sympathising expression, like the glance of
soft,
joint of the armour between the back plate and the “woman pleading for the vanquished” in Etty’s
wing-cases. famous picture. “ But, there oh, there,” she cried, !
“He has got him round the waist,” cried Lens. “ the moth has the best of it again. Did you see
“ Plucky little Chilo ! he has got him at the in- that blow with its little wing ? It positively struck
secture !” the beetle down ; and it seems, too, to have wound
“What does he mean by the insecture V’ said its delicate trunk, like a tight wire, round the
Pretty Bonnet. beetle’s throat.”
“ Our friend refers,” I said, “to that deep insection “ True, true,” said Lens “ that wing-blow has
;
in the form of all creatures of that class which won the battle. The wing is the most potent
separates the thorax, or chest, from the abdomen. weapon of many creatures a swan has been known :
The very term insect is founded upon that insection, to break a man’s arm with a wing-blow. And then,
; ;
110 FEARFUL CONTEST IN AN OMNIBUS. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
as you truly say, the little warrior is evidently became sluggish, and almost lifeless ; while the little
strangling his great black, opponent with his pro- Chilo, like a true Jack the Giant-killer, was as
boscis. Really, the skill of fence with various active as ever.
weapons on both sides, which we have witnessed, is “ I am so glad the moth has won,” exclaimed
most extraordinary. But, look the beetle is not
! Pretty Bonnet, quite beaming at the triumph of her
idle with his tremendous mandibles, though thrown favourite.
upon his back. He is still formidable and I ;
But, as the omnibus drew up, the Chilo, too,
believe that he has just bitten off three of the legs became less and less active ; perhaps from wounds
of his antagonist.” received in the conflict from the possibly venomous
“Pray, oh, pray, separate them, then!” cried mandibles of the beetle, which might be producing
Pretty Bonnet. an ominous torpor ; or, perhaps, excessive over-
“ It is of no use,” urged Lens “ the little Chilo exertion in defending itself against a too-powerful
;
has learnt something by experience, and is now enemy had overtaxed its powers. Plowever this
keeping his enemy at a greater distance, while beat- might be, as the omnibus finally stopped, poor
ing him over the head with repeated wing-blows. Chilo fell stark and still by the side of its prostrate
— —
There there there right and left
! to stupefy
! foe.
him, till he gets another chance at one of the joints “ How shocking ” sighed Pretty Bonnet. “ Poor
!
”
in the armour, when he will, I have no doubt, go things they are both dead
! !
in and win. I think,” he continued, “that the And then we all three stooped down, to take a
beaten giant is one of the burying- beetles perhaps,
Necrophorus germanicus, the largest of the British
— last look at the brave combatants— but found
neither Chilo nor Necrodes Chilo turned out to
!
species. He intended, most probably, to carry off be a split straw, with jagged ends for its long,
the Chilo, and bury him in the subterranean larder sharp palpi, and an entangled hair for a proboscis.
adjoining his family nursery, as food for his necro- Necrodes was just simply a black silk tag-button
phorine offspring ; but he is more likely, I think, from a lady’s dress, the ends of silk with which it
to get a free burial for himself. See how the brave had been sewn on making the formidable mandibles
little Chilo is pegging away at him.” while the two, entangled together by a loose raveling
I suggested that the beetle was not so large as of cotton, and jolted up and down by the action of
IP. germanicus, and that it was possibly Necrodes the omnibus, had performed a series of evolutions
littoralis, common during June on the banks of the and revolutions, out of which our active imagina-
Thames ; and, having been brought away by some tions had conjured up a terrific insect-combat, during
accident from the neighbourhood of the drowned which speculations of a supposed scientific character
creatures which form his usual food, he had got had been hazarded upon “ the baseless fabric of a
frightfully hungry, and pounced upon the little moth vision.”
as a dernier ressort. But, then, I remarked that his
form and size was more like Necrophorus ruspator,
only he had not the fine orange markings perhaps ;
it was an entirely new species, thus accidentally

discovered.
“ It is, at all events, one of the burying-beetles,
or sextons, as they are sometimes called,” said I,
turning to Pretty Bonnet, “as you may see by the
curious brush-like form of its front legs, which
enable it to excavate its burrows by brush-work
instead of spade-work ; and it is most expert in
applying the spade-brush principle.” For a few moments I was quite taken aback by
“ How very interesting,” said Pretty Bonnet the totally unexpected denouement; and when I
“ but he evidently will not have an opportunity of looked round for my companions, intending to offer
applying the spade-brush principle in the interment a few observations to Pretty Bonnet and Lens, in
of the dear little moth. See, he appears quite ex- mitigation of our being all three so egregiously
hausted, and is making but little resistance to the “ sold” by a button and a bit of straw, I found they
continued blows of his brave little opponent.” had both disappeared and as the conductor, for the
;
“You are right,” I replied; “whether Necro- third time (though the first two ejaculations had
phorus or Necrodes, he is evidently beaten.” only reached my perception very vaguely), was
He was, in fact, lying on his back ; and so, as an calling out to me rather sharply, “ Now, sir we !
Irishman might use the expressive proverb, was “on don't go any further,” I got at my money as quickly
his last legs.” The omnibus was slackening its as I could in my then confused state of mind, paid
speed, for we were approaching the “ Swiss Cottage,” my fare, and moved out of sight of the conductor
which is its terminus north-westward and the ;
aiid the “ Swiss Cottage.”
motions of the black giant, but recently so vigorous, H. Noel Humphreys.
;
Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.]

A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. Ill
A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS BEYOND TITE

SEAT OF WAR.
rilHE torches were still Hashing out at fitful and After crossing a clear rippling brook, in which
_1_ uncertain intervals, and shrill wild whoops our friends the egrets are cooling their toes, we
were borne in quavering cadence on the sea-breeze make our way at once to the Hotel d’Odessa, which
as we took a last look from the door of our tent is as dreary as the City of the Head. Here we leave
before retiring to rest. We
were soon in dream- our servant and mule, with strict orders that a
land, lulled by the even beat of the tiny waves search should be instituted forthwith for barley,
as they fell on the smooth strand below us. The vodka,* lemons, eggs, and bread ; all of which were
morning was delicious, and a plunge in the fresh to be procured and packed during our absence.
leaping water sent us back to breakfast with an After a cigar and a tumbler of tea with a slice of
appetite which an ogre might have envied. For- lemon in it, we are on horseback again, and soon
tunately, our tenpenny investment was a sub- ascending a steep hill at the back of the town. On
stantial one, and when cut in thick long strips, the left-hand side of the road are some Cyclopean
and fried with ham, was so excellent as to at once ruins, much like those before described ; many of
induce us to register a solemn promise to expend the masses of rock of which they were composed
|
tenpence more at the very earliest opportunity. have been broken up and removed for building
The horses being saddled and a pack-mule equipped, purposes. In a sheltered dell, not far off, stand
we start for Yalta, and march gaily along over the some huge and venerable oaks, whilst the neigli-
undulating mounds and breezy downs close border- |
bouring slopes are covered with magnificent vines.
ing the sea. The Pratincoles ( Glareolci Torquato) On the very crest of the hill stands a church, built
were very numerous here, and we secured several in the Doric style, at the expense of Prince
specimens. This beautiful and interesting bird is Woronzof. It is constructed on the site of a very
aptly described by the trivial name which has been ancient structure, probably a temple, from the
given it, viz. the swallow plover. Skimming along J
interior wells forth a clear spring of Avater, which
on sharp curved wing with arrow-like flight, or still flows through an arched opening contrived
|
running with surprising rapidity, now stopping to I for it in the Avail, and, after furnishing moisture
secure some heedless insect, and again starting off j
to the roots of the splendid trees growing around
in rapid run to fresh hunting-grounds. The I the church, joins the little stream in Avhicli the
Pratincole, in turn, reminds us of both his name- j
egrets Avere standing, and together empty tliem-
sakes, and with his plumage and
richly-tinted j
selves into the sea. Near this is a Avhole colony
elegant form, is one of those charming objects on j
of vine-growers, who have received grants and
which Nature appears to have lavished her skilful privileges from the emperor, conditional on the
1
handiwork. The day owls, too, hovered and sailed proper cultivation of the vine. Magaratcli is the
along over the low undergrowth, keeping a watchful name of the vine-dressers’ village ; and a very pretty
eye on the bronze-green lizards below, whilst high little place it is. Some red wine Ave were fortunate
over-head, like specks in the blue firmament, soared enough to obtain here was of excellent quality, and
a pair of eagles ; down by the shore, in clamorous much like that produced on the Phine.
troop, the snow-white gulls contended for the By a short cut, and rather rough scramble, we
shoals of silvery fry which each curling wave re- get back to the road leading to Nikita, the site of
vealed. Onward we ride, our trusty old gun ready the Imperial Acclimatization Gardens ; but Ave have
at hand for the benefit of such specimens of not time to inspect them, so proceed on our journey.
natural history as good fortune might throw in A short distance from Cape Nikita, not far from
our way. Weare soon among the vineyards again, the path, an excellent opportunity is affoi'ded for
and a short ride amongst gardens and tobacco- examining the geological formations of the region
plantations brings us to Yalta, which is a clean through which Ave are passing. The schist forma-
white town without any of the usual accompani- tion here lies between the traveller and the sea-
ments to sea-side recreation found nearer home shore ; a deposit of sandstone follows ; and, crown-
so that we had some difficulty in convincing our- ing all, the piled-up masses of the J urassic limestone,
selves that we were in the fashionable seaport of the material of which the vast cliffs and towering
the southern coast. Little appeai’ed doing, as we crags we have been journeying through are com-
rode through the deserted streets. Two carjxenters posed. A short journey from the cape brings us to
we did see engaged in repairing a very small boat, —
a valley unsurpassed in fertility and richness the
making use of a saw with the teeth set backwards, vale of Ourzouf. This Avas the “ Gorzubita” of the
and di’essed in long flax cloth shirts, and boots up to ancients, and here the emperor Justinian sought
the knees ; very easy-going carpenters were these, out a rock of almost impregnable position, on Avliich
evidently disposed to make the most of a rare he built a castle. Its ruins were afterwards taken
opportunity. Two beautiful egrets stalked along possession of by the Genoese, Avho constructed a fort
the deserted street on long stilt-like legs, and with
sharp peering eye seeking their breakfast. * Russian whisky.
;
112 A RAMBLE AMONG THE CRIM TARTARS. [Naturfe and Art., September 1, 1866.
around them, composed of stones from the

pai'tly sea, we return to the hotel, where we find our trusty
original structure.In the neighbourhood of Ourzouf purveyor, with his mule laden, and ready to start.
there are ruins of the most interesting and exten- A plethoric sack of barley and two baskets com-
sive character, probably the most ancient in this pleted the load one basket contained sundry bottles
:
land of antiquity. Huge piles of massive stones, of vodka tightly wedged in with lemons, the other
uncemented, are heaped together, forming walls of several dozen eggs packed in hay, whilst a loaf of
immense thickness and strength, dating far beyond Russian bread, about a yard and a half long, was
the Byzantine, Greek, or Genoese periods and ;
lashed fast to the handles. Thus fortified, we
there can be little doubt but that the Tauro- marched triumphantly out of Yalta, catching a
Scythians were the people who reared them. Below parting glance of the egrets, who were standing
these ancient remains stands the village of Par- knee-deep in the brook, watching for fish ; and
thenite ; and it has been supposed, not without seeing them so intent on their evening occupation
good reason and reliable authority, that the adjacent set us thinking, and we resolved to diverge from
—
promontory of Aioudagh the Kriumetopon, or our path, pay a visit to the fish-pounds, find a big-
—
“ram-face” was the true site of the temple of booted Zebedee, and lay out another tenpence,
Iphigenia, and the locality in which her cruel in a tui'bot of tea-tray pattern. So the hard road
and merciless rites were celebrated, and the spot was soon exchanged for the green sward, and then
on which Orestes and Pylades appeared to the the soft sand of the beach, along which we bent our
goddess, who, with eagle eye, scanned the distant way until, in a snug cove beneath the sheltering cliff,
horizon in search of the white sail or tapering mast we came on a party of the very fellows we were in
of the wandering bark destined to furnish fresh search of, repairing the walls of their fish-enclosure.
victims to the sacrifice, and to add more white A few minutes sufficed to explain the nature of
bones to those already strewn beneath the giddy our requirements, and, displaying the silver talisman,
crags from which the hapless captive was hurled. one of our fish-hunting friends shouldered a paddle
Strabo says, in speaking of this promontory, “Far and went wading and floundering about amongst
along the Tauric coast there detaches itself into the the terrified turbots, sending them darting liei’e
sea a promontory which looks towards Kriume- and there in every direction, until gradually nearing
topon opposite to it corresponds Cape Carambis, in
; the shore, the flat blade of the oar was dex-
Paphlagonia ; and they divide the Euxine Sea into terously shot under a splendid fellow, and out he
two parts.” At Kriumetopon, says Scymnus,' ar- 1
'
came, flapping his wet tail at our very feet, and
rived Iphigenia, when she disappeared from Aulis. sending tire sand flying. This was conduct not to
The Tauri abound here, and their numerous tribes be tolerated by the fishermen, who rapped him on
lead a wandering life Barbarians
in the mountains. the head in an admonitory manner until he was
and murders, they adore a divinity
in their cruelties quite orderly, when, with pieces of twine and a bit
which resembles them in its impious crimes.” of rope, our prize was attached to the corn-sack,
It is much to be regretted that excavations have our tenpence cheerfully paid, and we were soon on
not been made in a neighbourhood so rich in anti- the green turf again, homeward bound, thinking
quarian associations ; and there can be no doubt wliat a capital day’s work we had done, when,
but that most important discoveries might be made, alas for the mutability of human affairs, the fish’s
and much light thrown, by the investigation, on tail got loose and with the freedom of the tail the
;
passages of ancient history which are now obscure. taps on the head lost all their effect ; the rope
We would willingly linger longer on such classic became slack down came the fish under the mule’s
;
ground, but it cannot be. The sun is no longer belly, against which he delivered a whole shower
over head, but warns us by the lengthening shadows of smacks and flaps. In one minute all was frantic
that we must reti’ace our steps to Yalta, and our confusion with a shrill scream of rage and terror
•
good horse, whose brown nose has been some time the mule sent his heels in the air, and, with his
in the mysterious depths of a well-filled corn-bag, head between his fore legs, sent the sack and baskets
raises no objection ; so we start at a brisk trot, and flying ;
lemons scattered broadcast over the plain
reach the Hotel d’Odessain the cool of the evening. long loaf broken in two 3
hay and eggs, as if some
The steamer to Odessa is just leaving harbour, and huge bird’s nest had been danced on bottles, lodged
things are somewhat more lively than in the morn- in the mud, and the wretched fish, the author of
ing ; still, no one appears in the least hurry, and a all this wreck and destruction, at the end of a yard
very rough and wild-looking subject of the Tzar had of rope, still flapping furiously amongst the spilt corn
established a stall for the sale of hot tea in the very at the mouth of the sack. After much hunting,
centre of the high road leading to the pier, his galloping round, and coaxing, our truant mule was
somovar giving otf steam and smoke enough for a at last secured, and our scattered treasures gathered
small locomotive engine. Ivan the tea-seller deals up. The hard-headed fish was killed in earnest
in spoons cut from willow-wood, as well as tea, this time, and, together with all the corn that could
slices his lemons (of which he has a net full) with a be scraped up, placed in the sack and repacked.
knife large enough to take high rank amongst It was dark night before we reached camp, heartily
swords, and smokes vile tobacco from a carved root. tired, and glad to revenge ourselves on our trouble-
As the steamer puffs, smokes, and paddles out to some fish by eating a considerable portion of him
for supper. Our next excursion will be to the city
* Scymnus of Chio, b.c. 100. See Hudson, Geo. Min. of the ancient Karaite J ews.
Nature and Aid, September 1, 1856 ]
SULPHURET OP IRON. 113
SULPHURET OF IRON.
The “ Mundic ” of the Miners.
“ ”
A LLis not gold that glitters ; yet tlie bright emitting numerous sparks on being struck sharply
1X yellow spangles which shine so brilliantly against steel, obtained for it the name of “ Pyrites,”
amongst the black treasures deposited in our coal- which is still frequently made use of. The wheel-
scuttles, appear to the unpractised eye uncommonly lock pieces, used after the matchlock, and before
like it. No golden grains are these, but a combi- the introduction of the flint-and-steel gun, were so
nation of iron and sulphur, innocent enough when constructed that on pulling the trigger a small
united, but, separated by the agency of heat, such roughened which, acted on by a spiral
steel wheel,
sulphurous fumes are poured forth as to make you spring, wound up much after the manner of a
devoutly wish that no dissolution of partnership clock, revolved rapidly against a fixed fragment of
had ever taken place ; and the careful householder sulphuret of iron, thereby producing a stream of
who, tongs in hand, and with slippered feet, yawns sparks and igniting the gunpowder placed in the
sleejhly as he rakes the last glowing embers from pan beneath them. Although never treated with a
the grate before retiring for the night, feels naturally view to the production of iron, the sulphur, we have
indignant at being taken sharply by the nose by already shown it to be rich in, is taken advantage of
Mr. Brimstone, who fiercely resents the intrusion, in the manufacture of both alum and sulphuric acid,
attacking our nervous friend’s air-passages in a sulphuret of good average quality producing about
manner not to be endured, and making him cough seventeen per cent, of sulphur more or less asso-
most heartily, and probably exclaim, “ Dear me ! ciated with arsenic. This, when burnt, leaves a
where on earth can all the brimstone come from 1 ” large residue in the chamber or retort used in its
Simply then from its former partner, iron, who treatment. On being removed, it is thrown together
rests quietly in the form of oxide, amongst the in heaps and exposed to air and moisture. Oxide of
ashes. Few substances are more widely dissemi- iron and sulphuric acid are thus formed, which
nated amongst the mineral productions of the earth unite and produce a soluble salt, the common —
than that now under consideration, and from the copperas, green vitriol, or sulphate of iron of
destructive effects produced on the metal iron when commerce. This, when collected in proper re-
undergoing metallurgical treatment, by the sulphur ceivers, is crystallized on branches of trees or strings,
set free from the fuel, and the contamination pro- and is extensively used in dyeing, the manufacture
duced amongst other metals by the sulphuret (con- of ink, &c. &c. The pigment, or colour commonly
sisting of two atoms of sulphur with one of iron) known as “ colcothar,” or “ purple-brown,” is ob-
mixed with them, that it may be almost looked on tained from the refuse matters remaining in the
as one of the greatest enemies the metallurgist has heaps after the soluble salt has drained off. We
to contend against. A. very simple experiment will have at times detected small quantities of gold and
serve to show how readily sulphur and iron unite silver amongst such refuse ; but, as a general rule,
when the latter is heated. Place an ordinary bar too minute in quantity to render its extraction a
of iron, say the size of the middle finger, in a forge profitable undertaking. In Bohemia, considerable
fire until it is at a bright red heat when with- ;
quantities of gold are obtained by reducing the
drawn, hold it in contact with a stick of common sulphuret to an almost impalpable powder, mixing
sulphur. The two substances will immediately it with water, and then causing “ the slimes,” as
fuze together and drop away like sealing-wax, until the mixture is called by miners, to flow through a
the bar is divided and falls asunder. The drops number of wooden basins, placed on the slope of a
which have fallen are no longer iron it has united ;
hill and here it is ground with mercury. This
;
with the sulphur and become brittle, and perfectly immediately seizes on every stray particle of gold
useless as a metal in fact, it is no longer one.
; it can catch (taking it into custody, so to speak),
Many of the sulphurets of iron found by the miner and forming what is called an “ amalgam.” After
in his search for mineral ores are exceedingly some time the mercury, with its prisoner, is drained
curious and beautiful, filling at times some cleft or off, placed in a leather bag, and squeezed. The
cavern amongst the rocks with crystalline forms, so mercury forces its way in thousands of silvery
brilliant and exquisite, that we are almost led to globules through the pores of the leather, leaving
believe some royal Kobold of the mine had here the gold behind, a putty-like mass in the bag.
stored up his elfin regalia, or that the lamp of This is heated to drive off superfluous mercury, and
Aladin must have been, after all, a “ Davy lamp,” afterwards melted and refined.
and his cave of jewels a cavity in some deep mineral It sometimes happens that the process of de-
vein. Troublesome and unprofitable as sulphuret composition and conversion of the “ sulphuret ” of
of iron sometimes is, it is at others usefully em- iron into the “ sulphate,” takes place deep down
ployed for many purposes connected with arts and amongst the coal measures, where such intense heat
manufactures. The property which it possesses of is generated as to cause spontaneous ignition of the
IV.
—
114 ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
beds of coal with which it is associated. oftenWe instance of the formation of iron-pyritesupon animal
find, too, by the working of the strange and in- matter in a decomposing state occurred at the bottom
scrutable laws governing the earth’s chemistry, of a mine shaft near Mousehole, Cornwall, where a
such laws as those by which the pure flint is de- dog had fallen into a solution of iron, and its body
posited on the wheat straw and the feathery reed ; was found surrounded by iron-pyrites. In these and
the morphia to dwell within the juices of the gaudy- other well-known cases the hydrogen evolved from
painted poppy ; the life-saving quina amongst the the decomposition of the animal matter is considered
cells and fibres of the “ heart-leaved cinchona,” to take the oxygen both from the sulphuric acid
and the deadly strychnia in the vomic nut of and oxide of iron, so that the iron-pyrites, or bi-
India, —
that casts of extinct creatures, Ammonites, sulphuret of iron, is formed. Mr. De La Beche
and shells of past geologic ages, have been com- thus accounts for the formation of the sulphuret,
pletely filled as by molten bronze, with glittering and there is no doubt but that under certain con-
sulphuret of iron, accurately filling the space once ditions it might be formed as he states. Yet, when
occupied by the living inollusk. Deep buried we see the most minute and delicate flutings, on
amongst the shale and schist beds, far down amongst the surfaces of shells, not thicker than tissue-paper,
the slate rocks, and imbedded in the chalk and as faithfully moulded in bright shining sulphuret
indurated clay, lie these sulphurets. How they as though cast from molten metal by the hands of
reached the strange positions in which they are some expert goldsmith, we are rather at a loss to
found, who can say? Mr. Pepys, in 1811 ( Trans- understand where, in a structure so delicate, enough
actions of the Geological Society of London ,
first iron and animal matter can be found to bring these
series, vol. i.), was amongst the first to publish a very strange changes about ; and this, like many other
illustrative case of the formation of iron-pyrites from secrets of nature— the origin of “ meteoric stones
”
the decomposition of the 1 todies of some mice in a amongst them, must remain for time and careful
solution of sulphate of iron. Another illustrative investigation to elucidate.

No. IV.
T has been my purpose to deviate a little this gi-eatestuse in keeping up the crispness of outline
I month from theout-door sketching, because I definition. This cannot be too much iixsisted upon,
am desirous of combining the character of the three it being by the pencil that the first impression has
previous subjects, and so afford to many of your to be made and the foundation laid for success in
readei’S an opportunity of putting into practice the after treatment. To each stone there is a form ; to
several objects before noticed. each bi-anch there is a form ; to each patch of grass
There is in this drawing, scai'cely anything bxxt there is a form ; the chimney, the windows, the
what may be deemed local, and that of such size as thatch, the old broken door, the boat, all have forms
to give free scope for copying forms with literal peculiarly their own; and it is only ixpon a just regard
correctness. I use the term “literal coi'rectness,” to each that they can be presented to the spectator
as rather implying a truthful impression, than that in an intelligible and agreeable mannei’, and the end
elaborated and minute attention to individual detail be at the same time attained of investing the scene
which is now generally understood by the word be it what it may—-with a truthful character. I
“ Pre-Baphaelitism.” Each portion of the cottages, fear that some may think I have dwelt almost too
for instance, is to be carefully drawn in with the much upon a cai'eful peiicil outline; but this is of
black-lead pencil, showing the various demarcations such importance to a successful drawing, that it
of thatch, wood, and stone. Nothing is more im- were far better I should appear too particular than
proving in a manipulative point of view, nor, ixot be particular enough ; and I therefore repeat
indeed, in an intellectual one, than this kind of that nothing lies nearer the root of failure than a
practice ; for there must of necessity be much thought vague and hurried outline; while on the other
brought to bear on giving to each object and every hand, an industrious and a carefully studied one, is
part of it, a veritableness of resemblance, so that perhaps the greatest ingredient in success.
there can be no mistaking the thing intended. The subject for this month’s magazine is given
Over and over again do I hear the remark, “ I with great cleai’ness of form throughout. The light
thought it was not requisite to dx’aw so much with and shade, as well as contrast of colour, are suffi-
the pencil, when there was colour to be put on.” ciently pronounced to convey the idea of breadth,
A greater mistake than this there cannot be, for if and at the same time to keep ti’ansparency in every
colour has to be used, it is essential that the precise part that is, to give colour and depth without a
;
position for it should be accurately marked and well tendency to blackness. The sky is of a cool grey,
drawn ; inasmuch as the pencil is often of the for the purpose of showing the warm colouring of
[Nature and Art, Sept? 1.1366.
—
Nature and Art, September 1, 18GG.] ART NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT. 115
the cottages to greater advantage. Whenever there small. The dark blue coat is also valuable to bring
are masses of tones inclining to orange, citrine or depth into the right portion of the picture, as well
red, it is necessary to have some corresponding as to throw the background into distance. In the
masses of gi-ey, in order to establish a requisite trees there is much variety of colour, light, shade
amount of repose and quiet ; but these must be so and form. I preferred massing the foliage, thinking
treated as not to disturb or check the harmony by it better to do so, and have only introduced a few
a suddenness of transition. slight branches at the right extremity to give lightness

The dark tones of the clouds are repeated by the and to indicate the effect of wind upon them. The
shadows on the mountain at the opposite side, the grass on either side is so marked in its several
warm tints of which also repeat in a subdued degree contours, as to show the character of the ground
the orange and laky hues of the thatch. These are upon which it grows. I have omitted any detailed
again diffused over the walls of the cottages by the account of the progressive “ washings-in ” of colour,
colours of the stones, and the grey shadows of the having a desire to exercise the ability of the pupil
walls being warmer than the clouds, are adapted to in this respect ; nevertheless, I subjoin a list of the
cause them to advance, especially as the several combinations of the varkms tints to be employed
glazings introduced are calculated to cause the eye —
Clouds Cobalt, yellow ochre, and a little lake.
to traverse over the whole breadth in an agreeable —
Mountain Cobalt, lake, yellow ochre.
manner. It is to the decided edges of these shadows Distant Trees —Yellow ochre, cobalt, and a little
that the gleams of sunlight depend for their with gamboge in the light parts.
lake, glazed
“catchy” vividness. The upturned boat, being- —
Near Trees and Grass Gamboge, burnt sienna,
separated from the cottages and the shadow of the and indigo, varied.
road, partakes of the warm grey, so giving a second :
— —
Tiiatch First Tint Yellow ochre, lake, and
mass, although but a small one, and produces a cobalt, varied.
circular form to the composition by its connection Shadows and Deep Markings —Burnt sienna,
with the stony portion of the ground to the right. lake, and indigo, with a little brown pink.
The highest light, which is to be found on the left Glazings of Yellow Tones Raw sienna. —
cottage wall, between the window and the door, is Shadows of Wall and Road Burnt — sienna,
caught up by the upper part of the post supporting lake, and indigo, with glazings of burnt
the wall, and repeated on the figure of the woman sienna, lake,and brown pink where required.
over the boat, and again by the chimneys, and then All the dark markings are touched in with the
passes off in the light of the sky. Indeed, every same colour, used thickly or in a pulpy condition.
light— as every colour —
has its purpose, and it would These touchings are of several depths, and can only
always be well that, when copying a drawing, the be effected by a repetition each being smaller in
pupil should study it carefully in all its parts, and succession.
endeavour to discover the intention of the artist. I would strongly recommend who really wish
all
The two bright “ bits ” of orange-colour in the to succeed in water-colours to copy this drawing
instance I have given, serve to illumine the scene more than once, it being calculated to afford im-
and carry force by contrast although they are so provement.
ART NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT.

By G. W. Yapp.
HE result of the voting for the award of the much broader in its scope, and considering that the
T two Medals of Honour at the Salon, Paris, was ideas of art at the present moment are certainly
as pretty generally expected, that no artist obtained more elevated, or at any rate less hampered by
a sufficient majority, and therefore no grand prize conventionality than they were when the greater
was given. On the whole, the critics and the part of the older artists were students, and that,
public have corroborated the decision of the elec- generally speaking, ideas and aspirations are purer
tive ai’tists, that no work exhibited this year and higher at the outset in life than when the
deserved such a special distinction, but still the artist has had to grapple with, and perhaps been
fact that a high reward falls to the ground is not a forced to bow down before, the terrible exigencies
pleasant one either in an artistic or patriotic point of practical existence and the temptations that
of view, and faults are found with the regulation beset the artistic career, there would be no reason,
which gives the franchise, in this case, only to those perhaps, to fear that the prizes of honour would be
artists who have themselves received certain dis- awarded to an unworthy candidate. But, although
tinctions, and who therefore form an aristocracy in the Imperial Government, in matters of art, ex-
the world of art. A
considerable party advocates hibits a desire to conciliate the rising generation,
universal suffrage, and would like to see every and to popularize the regulations respecting art and
exhibiting artist qualified to vote for the award of art education, it seems almost too much to expect
the two great annual prizes. Undoubtedly the the Ministry of the Beaux Arts to place the dispo-
expression of opinion thus obtained would be sition of the great prizes in the hands of the whole
i 2
;
116 ART NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT. [Nature and Art, September 1, 18GG.
of the exhibiting artists. It cannot be taken for an attempt is to be made to transfer them on to
granted that the majority of those whose produc- canvas for the museum of Nancy.
tions are admitted annually by the jury for exhibi- In the beginning of the present year, a suc-
tion are artists in the highest sense of the word, cessful bronze casting was made of the famous
and it can scarcely be said that the painter of a “David” of Michael- Angelo, at Florence ; it is now
mediocre portrait, a bunch of lowers, or a bit of
i proposed to substitute this reproduction for the
still life, is necessai'ily a judge of the higher original, Avliich has stood so long exposed to all
qualities of art. It was a great step in artistic changes of weather, and to place the Avork of the
legislation to place the ballot-box in the hands of great master’s oavh hand in the gallery of the
the body from which the laureates were to be Palace of the Podesta. With this A-iew a com-
selected, and it might be the means of bringing mission has been appointed, and the “ David ” is
about failure and causing a retrograde movement now surrounded by a hoarding, in order that careful
were the artistic franchise to be lowered. The experiments may be made, to ascertain whether
body of young artists might, perhaps, be more free there will be any danger in removing the statue.
from prejudice and camaraderie, and even more 1
The restoration of such edifices as the church of

elevated in their vieAvs, theoretically, than their Notre Dame in Paris, and that of Saint Denis, has
elders, but they would certainly be at least as always at once a charm and a terror in the eyes of
liable to be led astray by enthusiasm, and would artists. It is charming to see the veneration that
be less regardful of the views and opinions of the preserves such beautiful monuments of the art of a
outer artistic world. bygone day, terrible to think Avliat infidelities the
Whatever may be the opinion respecting this restorer may be guilty of. If we except the re-
important subject of artistic self-government, if placement of that abominable Louis-quatorze altar,
Ave may so call it, the arrangement by which no and its glaring incongruities, the restorer lias done
prizes are given until the term of the exhibition is his Avork faithfully and skilfully at Notre Dame
half expired, when not only artists and critics, but not of the Metropolitan, but of the equally
it is
but the public at large, have had full opportunities celebrated provincial church of Saint Denis that
of saying what they think of this or that work of Ave have to say a few Avords at present.
art, is one which has given universal satisfaction, The Avorks have been going on in the latter
and must, we are convinced, if persisted in, prove for several years under the direction of M. Viollet
a most valuable means of general art education for ;
le Due, and are now approaching their termination.
if the interest of the ordinary spectator is naturally The object in vieAvis true restoration; the sweeping
drawn towards those works which have been away of the accumulations of those truly dark
crowned by the jury, his judgment is far more ages in architecture, when Gothic cathedrals Avere
satisfactorilyemployed and cultivated by trying to —
converted into Composite Composite is the only
mark out for himself the works which will be so Avord —and lancet-shaped windoAvs were trimmed
rewarded. The liberal regulations which Avere up Avitli Corinthian colonnades, Homan garlands,
adopted three years since, and which place the ! and rams’ heads, and the reproduction, as far as
election of three-fourths of the members of the
1
possible, of the edifice of the thirteenth century.

juries entrusted Avith the admission or rejection of FeAV fine churches have been worse treated than
the works presented, in the hands of the artists Saint Denis ; it has been chipped, and altered, and
themselves, has almost entirely SAvept aAvay every decorated, and redecorated in the most barbarous
complaint on that head, and thus removed a cause manner. The Avails of the chapels of one aisle had
of considerable irritation, and Ave believe that the all been thrown down, and the space enclosed for
other changes to which we have referred are service in cold weather, utterly destroying, of course,
destined to produce most beneficial effects in all the symmetry of the structure this part is to be
:
directions. We
trust that the art authorities and !
restored to its original condition. This is natural

legislators at home Avill study the progress and
[
and comparatively simple ; but the rendering homo-
effects of these reforms with care, for they are ' geneous all the parts of a structure, erected at
being tried in a bold manner and in a wider field various periods, is a difficult matter. For instance,
than Ave have to experiment in. Art education is the great sacristy Avas built in the time of the
no chance accident, no hot-house plant it will ;
Empire, and the assimilation of this to the style of
grow vigorously or feebly like other things, ac- the church itself is a difficult task. The pictures
cordingly as it is encouraged or protected, aided or by Guerin, Gros, and other painters will, very
coddled. properly, be taken away and placed in the Louvre.
An discovery has been made at
interesting The vaulted roof of the nave is to be painted and
Nancy : removing a chapel erected by Henry
in picked out Avitli flowers in the style of the time of
de Yille, Bishop of Toul, between the buttresses Philippe le Hardi and the floor of the choir, which
;
of the cathedral, some mural paintings, long hidden Avas so high as to spoil the proportions of the pillars,
beneath coats of whitewash, have been brought to has been lowered. The grand altar has been recon-
light. The paintings recall the manner of the structed in the style of the thirteenth century.
Italian school of the fifteenth century, and especially Beneath is the famous crypt which once contained
that of the Fra Angelico. They exhibit highly the ashes of a long line of kings this has been
:
finished execution, and much vivacity in colour, completely restored, and the tombs are now being
and, as otherwise they Avould have been destroyed, replaced. That of Dagobert, the only one yet
Nature and Art, September 1, 18GG.J AET NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT. 117
finished, will be followed by those of Louis XII., the following notice to the reader :
—
The words of
‘
Francis I., and Henry IT., and opposite to Dago- this poem may be arranged in twentv-eight different
bert’s will be erected a tomb to receive eventually ways.’ There was nothing manly in them sparks ;
the remains of Napoleon I. without fire, sensibility without emotion.” The

The chapel to the right of the sacristy, which is lecturer might have added that, contemporary with
known as that of the Grand Constable of France the poet of the royal house of Orleans, lived and
and has a separate crypt of its own, is being wrote, in abject poverty, one of the most original-
completely restored. This chapel dates from the —
minded of poets Frangois Villon, the author of the
fourteenth century. A
very rich leaden coffin was —
Grand Testament whose poetry is now the wonder
found near the spot, which is supposed to be that and the delight of critics, but for whom there was
in which the famous Duguesclin was buried. no audience in his own time. Villon dared to
Only one of the two towers over the western think for himself, and to pen what he thought his ;
fagade of the edifice remains entire, and that is in cloth was woven of real materials, and the work-
such a bad state that the upper part is to be manship was as good as tire wool, but he omitted
taken down, and both completed after the founda- the embroidery, and he became a vagabond on the
tions have been made secure. The famous historical face of the earth ; contempt drove him to miscon-
church of Saint Denis will be well worth a visit duct, and he is said to have written one of his finest
next year. poems a prisoner at the bottom of a damp hole
The restoration of the grand works of the Free- down which his bread was thrown to him as to a
masons of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, dog. There is, however, a bright ray thrown over
brings to mind the laudable attempts which are the last days of poor Villon ; after all his sufferings,
being made in France to resuscitate the art of which no one knows now by whose means, he was rescued
they form such brilliant examples. The Central from his misery, and was enabled to pay a visit to
School of Architecture, established two years ago, England, an undertaking at that time which re-
is working earnestly in this way. The new school quired both time and money. But it remained for
is intended to do what, unfortunately, academies the nineteenth century to find out the value of his
have rarely done here or elsewhere, that is to say, poems.
combine sound practical instruction with theory The later Renaissance, the true renaissance, was
in the education of youth for the jmofession of that which occurred in Italy. “ Already, in the
architecture in the classes and ateliers they learn
: fourteenth century, Boccacio and Petrarch did due
the principles of construction and their application, honour to the Greek and Roman art. Distinguished
in the lecture-room they listen to the expositions of minds gave themselves up passionately to the study
the ablest men of the day. of the ancients. In 1450, eyes were blight, ears
A few extracts from a recent lecture on the quick, all the senses eager for impression, mind was
Renaissance delivered in the school, will not be
,
— re-awakenecl no hesitation, no reticence, now the

;
—
uninteresting “ To understand this epoch,” said
:
ardent nature of man unfolded itself in the sun-
the lecturer, “it is necessary to take a glimpse at shine, eager to cull all the flowers of life.
the two centuries which preceded it. After the “ Two causes marked out Italy for the centre of
Crusades all the institutions sprang into new life ; the Renaissance. First, the development of the
the taste for letters, arts, and sciences began to sow communal system. The hardihood, the freedom of
the seed of the Renaissance. The thirteenth century manners, the independence of the inhabitants of the
was a moment of wonderful intellectual blossoming ;
Italian towns, contrasted strongly with the timidity
there was more philosophic impulse in 1250 than and the pusillanimity of our burgesses in their
there was in the time of Louis the Fourteenth. But, attempts to establish communes in France. They
in the following century, literature fell ill of the were accustomed in Italy to the sensation of strong
same malady that attacked architecture and philo- feelings and it is certain that reflection on pro-
—
sophy of subtlety. In the poems of the time there
;
found sentiments produces the fine arts. If the

was nothing but clever embroidery subtlety, the : epochs which had preceded the Renaissance had
mistress of the ingenious, dried up the true sources been calm, we should not have had that noble array
of poetry. The philosophers took up the text of of artists which characterized the fifteenth century.
Aristotle or of the Bible, and argued till they lost The second cause which favoured the introduction
themselves. They did not study man ; the facts of the arts into Italy was luxury with its accom-
,
and real interests of society had no attraction for ,

panying leisure and the general well-being which
them. No one at that period saw things as they allowed it to be regarded without jealousy. Wealth
really were. Nature was effaced by an artificial had grown out of commerce with the East, and
substitute, subtle, but utterly incapable of producing luxury became remarkable in Italy about the middle
anything good. The malady of the epoch was a of the century. All classes felt a thirst for new
progressive subtilization of the human intellect. sensations nothing could outweigh this longing
;
The renaissance which had begun to spring up in for enjoyment.

the thirteenth century failed the scholiasts had a:
“ In 1453, after the taking of Constantinople and
large hand in the miscarriage. Literature had be- the fall of the Eastern empire, the Greek savants
come a mere mosaic of words. The poems of Charles and artists fled to Italy from the tyranny of the
d’ Orleans, for example, full of finesse, were com- Turks. They carried with them many treasures,
pletely wanting in elevation. One bore at its head and gave a new impulse to the taste of the day.
118 FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. [Nature and Art, September 1, 186G.
The Medici aided the intellectual movement. En- is always intense. It was in the midst of this
thusiasm for letters and the arts seized upon the enthusiasm for nature that arose that grand Italian
courts of Milan, Mantua, Urbino It art which is known as the Renaissance.”
was the epoch of the most brilliant literary and The views of the lecturer are in some respects
artistic development in Italy, the moment of her novel, and his words are not likely to be less
regeneration. effective becauseopen to discussion ; they contain
“ That which is especially to be remarked is that, day a lesson and a warning.
for the present
at that time, there was great interest shown in the Is there a renaissance going on now, or do we
visible qualities of things ;
men began what
to see want some new and great events to rouse the
was around them. Forms, colours, lines, attracted human mind to grand design 1 Will Italy once
admiration and the taste for what attracts the eye
;
more light the sacred fire 1
FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES.

HE study of archseology and the collection of Saint Louis to receive the relics brought by him
T objectsof antiquity are certainly growing- from the Holy Land, and there it remained for
more and more into favour. years, the emblem of pagan triumph surrounded
The collection of medals, cameos, small bronzes, by the relics of Christianity in a Christian chapel.
and other objects of art belonging to the Biblio- Such was the celebrity attached by the Christian
theque Imperiale is well known to all connoisseurs ; world to the grand cama'ieu, as it was then called,
but this collection is now thrown open to the public that the Pope desired to see it, and it was sent to
in a separate gallery in the new buildings of the Rome in the time of Philippe VI., and not replaced
establishment, and the objects themselves are seen in the Sainte Chapelle until Charles V. came to
to far greater advantage in the new museum than the throne. No suspicion, or no hint, of the real
they were in the sombre rooms of the old palace subject of the design seems to have been raised or
of Richelieu. given in Rome, and the cameo remained amongst
In the largest compartment of the new gallery, the relics until archaeologists began to discriminate
a noble room, is a central case which is the object between Romans and Easterns, or until church-
of the greatest attraction. This case is divided men would give ear to archaeologists. It was only
into seven compartments, each of which holds one in 1791 that it was transferred to the gallery of
celebrated object of virtu. First there is the antiquities in the Bibliotheque Royale. few A
famous cameo of the Sainte Chapelle, as it is called, years afterwards it was stolen and offered for sale
a sardonyx eleven or twelve inches in diameter in to a jeweller in Holland; but he recognized it in-
each direction, and having five distinct strata, on stantly, and caused the thief to be arrested and the
which is engraved the Apotheosis of Augustus. cameo to be restored.
The design is divided into three scenes in the : On
one side of the great cameo is a noble sar- -
first the Emperor is carried to the foot of Jupiter’s donyx cup mounted in gold and decorated with
throne by Pegasus, and received there by his, precious stones ; this belonged formerly to the
asserted, ancestor LEneas in the central compart-
; church of Saint Denis, and was called the Gondola
ment the family of the Cresars is collected around from its elongated form.
the Emperor Tiberius, seated on a throne, while In the division on the other side of the central
Drusus points out the triumph of the great object is a massive gold plateau, with a Latin cross
Augustus ; in the lower division of the work, in the centre, composed of pieces of red glass and
German and Oriental captives, men, women, and a gold ewer. These curious objects were found,
children, the trophies of Germanicus and the with a quantity of Roman money, near the church
younger Drusus, prostrate themselves at the feet of of Gourdon, in the Cote d’Qr, in a hole covered by
the family of Tiberius. The history of this cameo a large brick, or rather tile, where they are sup-
is curious ; it is said to have been executed at posed to have been hidden in the time of the
Rome in the time of Tiberius, and to have re- Merovingians. It should be mentioned that the
mained in that capital until Constantine took with discovery was not purely accidental; there was a
him a part of the imperial treasure when he raised tradition afloat in the neighbourhood that a treasure
the new empire on the banks of the Bosphorus. The was buried near the spot, and many previous
cameo was amongst these treasures, and was even- attempts to discover it had been made without
tually purchased by Louis IX., of the Emperor success.
Baudouin. When brought to France, the savants Another of the objects in this central case is the
pronounced the subject to be that of the flight so-called Patera of Rennes, a massive golden tazza
of Joseph into Egypt, to which, unless you or coupe, beaten out with the hammer, and bearing
discard all costume and emblems, it has no manner as decorations a bas-relief representing the conflict
of resemblance ; however, as such it was placed of Bacchus and Hercules, and sixteen gold medals
in the exquisite little Sainte Chapelle, built by of the Roman emperors. It was found, -with some
Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.] FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. 119
other objects, six. feet below ground, during the de- ficent Arab sword, the scabbard of which bears, on
molition of a house at Rennes, in the year 1774, a plate of enamel, the device of the Moorish
and presented to the king. kings of Granada : it is said to have belonged to
Next is a small bust in agate, which originally one of the last kings of the dynasty of Beni Nasr.
formed the top of a staff carried by the leader of M. Blanchard de Farges has presented to the de-
the choir in the Sainte Chapelle. The bust has partment of engravings 110 plans, designed by
been supposed at various times to represent Saint Le Notre and Mansard, or under their direction,
Louis, the Emperor Titus, and Constantine the for works in the palaces and gai'dens of Versailles,
Great. the Trianon, and Saint Germain, together with two
Another very curious object is a noble plateau, inventories in MS., one of which is. annotated by
having eighteen medallions in rock crystal and the hand of Louis Quatorze, of the apartments at
coloured translucent glass. In the centre is a the Trianon and Saint Germain in 1684 and 1685 :
medallion representing an Oriental personage these lists come direct from the family of Le
seated on a throne this is said to be the Saracenic
: Notre.
king Chosroes. This plateau was presented to the Many other donations have been made to the
Abbey of Saint Denis by Charles the Bald, and it new galleries, affording another proof of the im-
remained amongst the treasures of that monastery mense wealth that’ pours into a national collection
for a thousand years, under the denomination of when a suitable establishment is prepared for its
Solomon’s Cup. How it fell into the French king’s public exhibition.
hands is not recorded. Another museum is to be opened on the 15th
The last object in this cabinet of jewels is also of August, in the establishment of the Imperial
from Saint Denis, one of the finest known cups in Archives ; this will contain a curious collection of
Oriental sardonyx ; the material is beautiful in manuscripts, seals, and other interesting archseolo-
itself, and the workmanship worthy of it the cup gical curiosities. The gallery devoted to the pur-
;
and its handles are all formed out of the solid pose formed the apartments of the Princess Rohan
block, and the sides are decorated with Bacchanalian Soubise, to whose family the edifice belonged. The
scenes hi bas-relief. It is known as Ptolemy’s wood-work of the rooms is said to be of great
cup, and it is conjectured to have belonged to beauty and in perfect preservation.
Ptolemy, the husband of Cleopatra, who was sur- Still another collection of antiquities is being
named Bacchus, and whose vases are described by formed at the Hotel de Ville, under the direction
Athenseus. Others have called it the cup of of Baron Haussmann, the Prefect of the Seine.
Mithridates. Whatever be its origin, it is a right This will be confined to objects illustrative of the
royal cup. It was consecrated to Saint Denis by history of Paris, of which large numbers are in
one of the Carlovingian kings in the ninth century, the hands of the muncipality and of private in-
and tradition says that in olden times the queens dividuals. The authorities have purchased the
of France, on the day of them coronation, drank collection of M. Legras, rich in manuscripts, seals,
the consecrated wine from this imperial chalice. ancient leaden medallions, badges, and emblems
The collection of medals, engraved stones, and and other curiosities, and have secured a fine
antiquities, has been greatly enriched by the mansion for the new museum.
donation of the fine museum of the Due de Luynes, Lastly, the fine old chateau of Saint Germain
which includes many Greek coins, cameos, intaglios, is being rapidly restored, and will be devoted to a
vases, and engraved cylinders. collection of antiquities illustrative of the history
Another very fine collection, that of the late of France.
Vicomte de Janz6, left by will, with important A. number of tombs have been uncovered by
additions by his widow, has been added to the new accident in the commune of Griel, in the canton of
gallery. The Vicomte de Janze’s museum was one Eu ; they are supposed to belong to the Frank or
of the most celebrated private collections in France ;
Merovingian periods of the seventh and eighth cen-
and the portion presented to the Bibliotheque Im- turies. Vases in red and black pottery and scrama-
periale includes, amongst other objects of interest, saxes were found, near the/ tombs, and it is re-
no less than 89 bronze statuettes, and 81 works in marked that some of the vases and arms were
terra-cotta. Amongst the former are the following- outside of the coffins.
celebrated pieces —
Sophocles, seated ; the Etruscan
:
At a recent meeting of the Academy of Inscrip-
Apollo; the Diadumene ; Adonis; Venus and tions, M. d’Archiac presented a curious ancient
Cupid ; a Muse wearing in her hair a feather taken work of art, a design engraved in line on a piece
from a Siren ; Alexander the Great ; the Etruscan of schist, greyish -green in colour, micacious, lus-
Athlete; Jupiter; and Minerva Promachos, antique trous, and very close in the grain. The lines are
style. Among the terra-cottas are pieces equally firm, well drawn, and equal throughout. The design
celebrated ; such as the V
enus, Hebe, and groups represents a bear walking ; the outline is good, the
of Europa, of Cupid and Psyche, and of Proserpine ears and eyes well placed, and the proportions
gathering flowers in the fields of Enna. observed throughout. The stone measures about
The museum of medals has also received valuable seven inches by four, and was found in the lower
additions fromthe Comte de Nieuwekerke, Mr. grotto of Massart, in the Ariege, in the midst of a
Waddington, and other collectors. large quantity of bones and flint implements.
The Due de Luynes has also presented a magni- Two leaden coffins were found the other day by
— ;
120 MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. [Nature and Art, September 1, 18GG.
men employed in making a new sewer in the rue amongst the most important are the following
de Turbigo, in Paris ; both contained human bones, —
bronzes a Hercules, about a foot high, covered
but one only had an inscription, which runs as with a lion’s skin ; another Hercules, smaller in
follows :
size, wearing a coat of mail like that of a Roman
knight i a small panther, with one paw on a round
“ Ici est le corps de tres-haute et tres-puissante dame
ball, and a collar of ivy around its neck, evidently
madame Suzanne Gamier, veuve de tres-haut et tres-puissant
seigneur messire Charles de Brancas, comte de Yillars,
one of the beasts of Bacchus ; and two small
chevalier d’honneur de la feu reine, mere du roi Louis XIV, Mercuries, one bearing a caduceus in silver ; besides
lieutenant-general des camps et armees de Sa Majeste. Au a quantity of sacrificial knives, spring scissors,
jour de son deces ilgee de LIX ans IX mois, decedee le ll e lamps, hinges, and a mass of fragments of silver
jour de novembre 1685, a huit heures du soir Requiescat
.
— vases and other objects.
in pace!”
A mosaic of the thirteenth century has been
The Comte de Villars was the son of Julienne discovered in Rheims, in which are two medallions,
d’Estrees, daughter of the Marquis de Cceuvres, one representing Abraham with a sacrificial knife
and sister of the too celebrated Gabrielle d’Estrees, in his hand, and the other Isaac. The pavement
and died in 1 G 81 it is supposed that the second
: is nearly five feet below the present surface of the
coffin contains his remains. It is curious that the ground, and is in perfect preservation.
coffincontaining the relics of a countess of Choiseul- The museum of Strasbourg has been enriched
Beaupre was found about five years since side by by a very rare and curious bas-relief found in the
side with another bearing no inscription, which heart of the town. It is more than two feet
was also conjectured to be that of the comte. long by sixteen inches wide, and represents Mithra,
The family of the Comte de Yillars mentioned a Persian divinity, attached to the worship of
above is extinct. Zoroaster, and who, introduced into Rome under
Some interesting Roman antiquities were dug Pompey, penetrated about the third century of our
up a short time since at Vienne, in the Isere ;
era with the Roman legions into Germany.
MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. *
W HEN the mighty editor of the Eatansioill

Gazette poured into the astonished ear of the
admiring Pickwick the instructions given to his
found to contain much valuable information, not
only for professional and amateur collectors, but
also, though in a somewhat less degree, for the
critic for composing his famous article on Chinese student, the manufacturer, and the general reader.
Metaphysics, he enunciated a principle which, how- It is is chiefly intended
for the last that this article
ever absurd may have been his application of it, and with the productions of pottery and porce-
it is
we are bold enough to ask our readers to follow lain as toorks of art that we specially concern our-
with us on the present occasion. Mr. Pott’s selves. Those who desire ancient classic lore con-
directions, it will be remembered, were to “cram” nected with the subject, or information on the
by reading in the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” for mechanical contrivances and chemical combinations
“ Metaphysics” under the letter M, and under the employed in fabrication, will require far more than
letter C for “ China,” and to combine the informa- can come within the scope of our article, or, we may
tion thus acquired. What is now proposed is so add, than Mr. Chaffers’s book can afford. Such
far in agreement with this original theory that may be referred to more learned, elaborate, and
Pottery, Porcelain,and the marks and monograms scientific treatises, as, for instance, Birch’s “History
by which the various productions of such ware are of Ancient Pottery,” and “ Traite des Arts Cera-
distinguished, will be considered in order. We miques,” by Brongniart, which are mentioned,
must, however, in the present number, confine our- amongst many others, in the most useful though
selves, after a few general introductory remarks, to almost formidable array of books of reference,
some observations on the essay on “the Vasa fictilia, occupying four pages, which follows the preface.
of England” prefixed to the volume. shall We Those, again, who wish to inquire into the “History
thus, too, be adopting, in great part, the plan of of Pottery and Porcelain, Mediseval and Modern,”
Mr. Chaffers’s interesting hand-book, which, though cannot do better than peruse, and if possible, obtain
its title (with the exception of the “ Vasa fictilia ”) as 'a permanent possession, the charming volume of
might lead one to expect little beyond a dry but that title, by Mr. Marryat. It contains, in a con-
useful catalogue of marks and monograms, will be densed form, information of the greatest interest on
the subject, and is written in so pleasing a style,
Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, with
'*
and is so replete with exquisite illustrations, as to
Historical Notices of each Manufactory, preceded by an be an ornamental as well as literary addition to a
Introductory Essay on the Vasa Fictilia of England, and
drawing-room library.
followed by a copious Index. By W. Chaffers, F.S.A.
Second edition, considerably enlarged. (London John Davy :
It is scarcely necessary to insist on the extensive
& Sons.) and increasing interest taken by the public, and
Nature and Art, September 1, 1806.] MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. 121
especially by the British public, in works of design -of remark, that though the words pot and potter
and colour, oron the greatly improved taste of pro- are old enough in our language, the word pottery
ducers and purchasers of both useful and ornamental does not appear to have been in acknowledged use
fabrics, acting and reacting on each other. Taste in Dr. Johnson’s time; and it would, we doubt
seems no longer to be an esoteric secret, restricted not, have been disowned at the academy for young
as the happy possession of a few elegant dilettanti ladies at Chiswick Mall, for it does not appear in
and frequenters of Christie’s in the season and in ;
the “ Dixonary” of “ the great Lexicographer” —
at
no one article of manufacture has the general im- least it is not to be found in the 9th edition, quarto,
provement been more remarkable than in that of 1806, which may be fairly presumed to be about the
fictile ware. It has become the habit to use the date when “the Semiramis of Hammersmith” and
terms art and manufacture as distinct, even if not her establishment flourished together in “ Vanity
contradictory, and the distinction is doubtless partly Fair.” This is the more remarkable as the fancy
justified by art having been so often and so long for china was fully rife in the time of Johnson, who
painfully “conspicuous by its absence” (to use Earl himself took a considerable personal interest in the
Russell’s famous bull) from English manufacture. manufactory which was then established at Chelsea;
The French, more logical and scientific in their and there has never perhaps been a more enthusiastic
language, have been happier in the nomenclature, collector than his contemporary, Horace Walpole.
assigning to the same distinct ideas the terms art Dr. Johnson remarked on Walpole’s writings, that
“ he had got together a great many curious little
and metier. The distinction as ordinarily expressed
in English is false in terms though correct in idea, things and told them in an elegant manner.” With
and has been greatly increased by, and is chiefly the slightest verbal alteration the same might have
due to, the conventional application, or rather mis- been said with equal truth of his collection of
application, of the word manufacture, to those articles of virtu. Strawberry Hill has stamped on
establishments where the hand of man is almost all articles which belonged to it a mark of honour,
superseded by metallic mechanism and his energy a dignity and a value appreciated by purchasers as
by steam. The fabrication of fictile ware may still well as sellers of bric-a-brac. We may add that
perhaps be said to more truly realize the original this famous collection contained many specimens of
idea of manufacture than any other to which the what is now called pottery, as distinguished from
term is applied and, curiously enough, the more
;
porcelain, but which then came under the common
so in those productions which deserve the name of term of delft.
works of art. It is still the clay moulded by the As
regards the word porcelain, it can claim a far
potter’s hand which can truly claim the title, and higher antiquity among the immigrant families of
whatever subsidiary aid may be afforded by set the English tongue, and though scarcely dating
moulds and mechanical contrivances, fictile fabrics back so far as the Conquest, and evidently of foreign
still derive their highest value in that they are descent, had acquired an established position long
formed by some master hand, impressing on the before the time of Johnson. He admits it into his
clay the conception of some master mind, whose Lexicon, but gives the fanciful derivation “pour
imagination is thus developed in beauty of form, of cent annees,” which was but a continuation of a
colour, or of both. It is thus that pottery claims vulgar error that it was made of marine and egg
kin at once with the arts of the sculptor and the shells, and buried for a hundred years. The original
painter, as may be illustrated by the productions meaning and the derivation of the word is still a
of Wedgwood from the designs of Flaxman, and matter of some doubt, the consideration of which
those of the short-lived factory at Bow, for which will call for our notice in its proper order.
Nollekens and Bacon designed and painted. In remarking above, that Mr. Chaffers’s book
The term pottery applied both to the art and the contains more than might be expected from its
produce of the manufacture of earthenware, first in title, an exception was made in respect to the
”
its general signification, and next as distinguishing introductory essay. “ The Vasa Fictilia of England
opaque from translucent ware, has now so generally appears to us a rather grandiose heading for the
obtained in the English language that it may seem somewhat fragmentary paper to which it is prefixed.
pedantic to observe on it as a modernism. More- Nor is itwhy, under so extensive a Latin
clear
over, even if it were’not formed, most legitimately as term, modern earthenware should not be included
we presume, from the French poterie, art and science as well as mediaeval. Some protest, too, might
seem to have established a claim to a language of fairly be made against the application of a Latin
their own, free from the trammels of philologists ;
word at all to any but Romano-British pottery; for
and, to the horror of strict grammarians, combina- if the term is to be extended further, it surely
tions are continually perpetrated the most irregular, would be better to put it into a plain English
and most excruciating words are invented to supply translation, or at least substitute an English equi-
a vocabulary sufficiently varied and distinctive for valent ; just as the Italian writer on the ancient
the requirements of advancing science. A
striking, ]
lottery of Arezzo, Dr. Fabroni, who is more than
amusing, and a most successful example of this once referred to, has entitled his work in his own
audacity, was exhibited a few years ago hi the language, “Stoi’ia degli Antichi VasiFittili Aretini.”
lengthy and almost heated controversy of telegram The adoption of Latin words, when unnecessary,
versus telegrapheme, in which correctness had to suc- appears to be spurious classicism. There are indeed
cumb to convenience. It may lie, however, worthy cases in which, for terms connected with the arts,
a —
122 MUSIC AT HOME. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
there are no English equivalents, and we need not be to a tendency which often leads to less justifiable
ashamed to have recourse to words invented or results.
applied by foreign masters or philosophers ; such, The author has evidently too much eye and feeling
for instance, as “Sonata,” and “Chiaroscuro,” and for beauty and art to dwell with much sympathy on
“ motives,” in music and painting. But it is difficult the ancient British pottery, and dismisses it in the
to see the necessity, whenwriting in English, for following short but comprehensive passage :
Calling even a Bomano-British tile, vase, lamp, or

cup, much less a mediaeval jug, pot, or pitcher — “ The earliest specimens of British pottery found in
England are principally funereal, discovered at the burial-
vas, or vasum fictile. Not that the fault is in our places of the ancient Britons, under mounds of earth called
author ; for he has but adopted what is probably barrows, or heaps of stones called cairns. These are the
the cant of the curiosity-shop, and possibly of the most primitive kinds of sepulchral interment. The barrows
are mostly seen on elevated situations, either on downs or
museum but the habit is one which is but too
;
on uncultivated spots and the investigation, although
much in vogue, and it would be well could it be ;
interesting, yields in general little to repay the antiquary

checked. On the other hand, the necessity and for his trouble as they seldom contain more than the rude
;
convenience of conventional terms must be admitted, sun-dried urn filled with the ashes of the dead mixed with
and a dead language frequently affords the best the charcoal of the funeral pile, cremation being universal
at that early period. These urns are sometimes ornamented
materials for their construction. Nor should we with chevrons, semicircles, and longitudinal lines, cut or
be too strict in criticising them, though it would be scratched on the vessel. We
shall not enter into any
well if care rather than chance' selected them. lengthened description of these early British vessels, but
Possibly it would be said that, in the present case, proceed to give the reader an account of the more artistic
it was wished to have some generic term, under
productions of the Roman settlers in Britain, who brought
with them improved methods of making and decorating
which all earthen vessels of past ages, the possession pottery, as well as other manufactures.”
whereof is the result of excavation and research,
may be classified ; and that the correct Latin term The ground is thus cleared for the essay on the
is as good as any other and that, as it is fitly
;
“Vasa Fictilia of England,” which is divided into
applicable to Roman remains, it is by a fair analogy two parts: 1. on Bomano-British Pottery; 2. on
extended to mediaeval relics discovered in a similar Mediaeval Earthenware. It is written in a simple,
position. The question is not perhaps worth dis- unaffected style ; and the well-executed illustrations
cussion, and for practical purposes is in the add to the pleasure and instruction to be derived
present case useless ; but we hope we may be ex- from its perusal. "We hope to continue our remarks
cused for having been led by it into thus alluding in a future number.
MUSIC A T HOME.
PEAKING- “ by the card,” Mr. Gye may be pronounced Countess, is energetic and at the same time gentlemanly in
S the victor in the Nozze cli Figaro contest of a few manner. M. Faure’s Figaro is formal and constrained,
weeks since ;
for he produced the opera in his regular whereas M. Gassier’s is wonderfully buoyant and genial.
season, though as late as July 27th, the last night but one As for the Marcellinas, an enraged musician might well
thereof. The “ Orpheus of the Haymarket ” was before exclaim with Mercutio “A plague o’ both your houses!”
him by three days, it is true; but the “cheap night” and notwithstanding Madame Trebelli-Bettini’s incom-
period had set in, and La Nozze was a pearl thrown before parable voice and singing, Mdlle. Pauline Lucca is certainly
audiences allowed to retain the habiliments of every-day nearer the ideal of that saucy little spoiled darling Cheru-
life while doing- homage to Mozart. Dignified and con- bino. At the Royal Italian Opera Mozart’s intentions are
servative Oovent Garden may point the white finger of scorn respected, but at Her Majesty’s the enthusiastic Signor
at the vulgar giant of the Pall Mall district, but much comfort Arditi may be called to account for certain brazen interpola-
is gained by the temporary abolition of swallow-tailed gar- tions in the March.
ments, tight boots, tape neckties, and similar emblems of A concert of far more than average interest was given by
civilization. In a general sense, this gem among operas was M. Moscheles, at St. James’s Hall, on the 30th of July.
satisfactorily given at both houses, and the balance of The veteran pianist, be it remembered, did a great deal,
advantages was tolerably equal. some years ago, to foster pure taste, and led students into
The public gain by the very creditable rivalries among the right path. He was a great executant in his time, and
operatic artists ; and no doubt considerable emulation gave to the world pianoforte music that would shame many
existed between those who played the corresponding- week inventions of the enemy nowadays. Yet how often is
characters at each theatre. It may be quite as safely the name of Moscheles heard of in drawing--rooms ? Only
assumed that all of them felt they were engaged upon a a few months since, Madame Arabella Goddard resuscitated
master-piece of musical genius, and an opera which may his “Recollections of Ireland,” and shortly afterwards
serve as a model for all ages. Though musical amateurs Moscheles himself received an ovation at Mr. Arthur
had but little time to make comparisons, they possibly dis- Sullivan’s concert, whither he had betaken himself as one
covered in Mdlle. Titiens’s Countess an intensity of feeling of the public. He played at the concert of the 30th (for a
and expression, and in Mdlle. Artdt’s a more dreamy and charitable object) some of his admirable studies, and
tender pensiveness. It may likewise have appeared that, extemporized on themes from Beethoven’s C Minor
although Mdlle. Sinico, as Susanna, is a much better acti-ess, Symphony, and “ See the conquering hero comes.” Ex-
than Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, our English soprano temporaneous performance was always a speciality with M.
carries off the palm as a vocalist of extraordinary refine- Moscheles, but the spirit of musical creation is sometimes
ment. Mr. Santley’s Count Almaviva is preferable in not conveniently at hand. True spontaneity is not invariably
every respect to that of his rival Signor Graziani, for the at command, and much technical ingenuity hardly com-
first-mentioned baritone, in the jealous passages with the pensates for its absence. Parrots will not talk save when
'
[Natore au<l Art . US66,
; ; —
Nature and Art, September 1, I860.]

ARTICLES DE PARIS. 123
in the humour, and the clever treatment of specified sub- English public for reason cannot be, at least partially,
jects, its way, is apt to produce only
although interesting' in vindicated.
fugitive impressions. The Societies have, for the time being, had their day, or,
On the 18th of July a painful exhibition was made of an properly speaking, their nights. The Schubert brethren
untaught negro pianist at the Hanover Square Rooms have rested from their labours ; but, being wise in its genera-
those genteel apartments to which the third King George tion, the Schubert Society does not explain its mission.
gave a plate-glass mirror. Since that horrible insult to the The public, left to speculate on the subject, naturally be-
majesty of death (the embalmed body of Julia Pastrana) —
think themselves of Franz his genius and his exquisite
was shown there for a shilling, the people of colour con- songs ; and foolishly conclude that all three are to be
templated by admiring London have been principally of the honoured and reverenced by the Schubert Society. Unfor-
mild Christy Minstrel order. “ Blind Tom ” has, however, tunately for Franz, who was and will be always great, there
stimulated the Ethiopian interest and is supposed to be
;
is an E. Schubert, who, musically speaking, and arguing
mad upon every subject excepting music. He can name any from his compositions played at the concert of July 25th,
note immediately after hearing it played ; can sing any is not, and never will be, even mediocre. That Franz
given note without that assistance, can give an imitation of Schubert should have no place in the programme was bad
anything he hears on the pianoforte, and can sing one of enough ; but that the great man should be ousted by a very
Henry Russell’s songs. The first exploit is not very re- small violoncello player of the same surname, was a piece
markable, the second is so the third is to a great extent a
;
of impertinence absolutely sublime. At the Dramatic
failure, and the fourth a simple fact. This African is pro- College Concert, on the 20th of July, the public were treated
nounced to be of the lowest type and, we apprehend, he
;
to a scandalous scene. Probably for the first time in the
may fairly claim to be of the ugliest. Granting that his history of the Hanover Square Rooms, a lady vocalist came
musical capacity is unusually extensive, and crediting the on to sing, and waited on the platform while a squabble was
assertion as to his being entirely “ untaught,” a black youth progressing outside. The scene ended by one of the con-
standing on a platform and making the most horrible ductors telling the audience that the artists were disgusted
grimaces is not a pleasant sight. The negro visage, when with the whole thing. Everything was done out of order,
twisted and contorted by the mowings of an idiot, becomes and not one Shakesperian song was given, though the
repulsive in the highest degree. In Eng'land we keep im- concert was intended to further the interests of the stage.
becility out of sight, and do not turn a penny by making' a Mr. Alfred Mellon began his new reign on the 7th of
sensational exhibition of mental vacuity. In a sense of August. Promenaders have found but little inconvenience
true musical feeling, Blind Tom’s performance is beneath as yet. Mr. Mellon’s scheme for the present season extends
contempt. He plays crack-brained fantasias of his own, to three months of the concerts, and an operetta and pan-
and uses a piano with as much delicacy as a blacksmith tomime at Christmas. Master Bonnay, xylophonist in
does his anvil, or a thresher the corn beneath his flail. ordinary to everybody of consequence, has made a very
Blind Tom, we are told, would be quite as much delighted palpable hit. The xylophone is not new clowns have, be- ;
to hear himself hissed as applauded. It is a pity the ex- fore now, extracted from pieces of wood just enough of
periment is not tried, and that, with the enforced discon- something to call a tone. Master Bonnay does more, and
tinuance of this lamentable spectacle, the character of the plays with extraordinary precision.
ARTICLES DB PARIS.
—
T HERE is always something new in Paris. Many have
said this, some scornfully, some complaining-ly, but
certainly the greater number admiringly and as it is in
thing new to be seen in Paris by those who have eyes and
use them for observation.
Who has not dwelt with delight on the humming-birds,
;
the spirit of admiration that the prettiest lips have spoken, those wondrous little foreigners, so magnificent indeed, —
it is the banner of this faction that waves the highest and —
almost incomparable in colour ? The poet has called them
whose triumph is the most secure. Novelty is a queen the “ winged jewels of the air,” and never did poetic fancy
whose sway extends far and wide, and who, with her faithful adorn its object more truthfully. Their exquisite plumage
and zealous servitors, taste, creative fancy, and nimble- has graced many a pretty head, and been imitated on many
fingered ingenuity, has chosen Paris, of all the cities which a delicate trinket and elegant fan ; but I was surprised, the
her presence graces, for her favourite residence. Her other day, to see some charming specimens set, as jewels
creations here are not perhaps always quite correct accord- should be, in shining gold. I saw a tiara, a comb, brooches,
ing- to strict views of art. Severe taste might sometimes a ring even, exceedingly rich and bright, and deriving their
note shortcomings and exaggerations conventionality finds
; principal charm from the metallic plumage of these birds.
in them many wild fancies overleaping her boundaries, I send you a sketch of the centre of the tiara, which had
laughing fearlessly in her face, and trying- to blind her eyes five humming-birds’ heads on its semicircle. Each lovely
with their 4clat as with golden dust but the productions
: little head, as you see, is set up on
golden shield just as
its
are generally pretty, even if extravagant, and often most the head and antlers of the noble stag are mounted in
graceful and charming. Perhaps the adjective best fitted baronial halls the slender bill is bordered by a fine fillet of
;
to them is the well-worn word coquet; some ladies, still gold, and the little eyes are replaced by diamonds, rubies, or
greater advocates for novelty, go farther, and adopt the emeralds, set in tiny rings of gold. Between the shields
horrid word chic but, prenez garde, mesdames, you have are oval medallions, filled with the smallest feathers of
borrowed that direct from argot, which is not an elegant the humming-bird, in fan-like arrangement. The whole
creditor in a lady’s boudoir. It must be admitted that the forms a wonderfully-brilliant ornament and I should like
;
lower qualities are most common in the crowd of novelties to see it flashing its bright colours over some fair brow.
in dress and parure but in what is this not the case ? The comb-top was only a smaller kind of tiara, with three
Hard, indeed, is the struggle to get free from their domina- birds’ heads set on the gold rim. The brooches had, of
tion but Paris has its share in the higher grades of taste,
: course, but one head each, and I can fancy them charming,
often raising fancy into art, and producing that which is so fastening at the neck some white material. The ring, which
charming to the cultivated eye, harmony and grace in adorn- occupies the centre of my sketch, is a true Parisian fantasy :
ment. the idea of a “winged jewel” on the finger is certainly

You do not, however, require or expect from me an essay pretty enough, though not very convenient, and would
on taste, but simply a short notice of that which is novel tempt, I think, only the most devoted lovers of oddity to be
and pretty. As I have said above, there is always some- its wearer. But, in this case, the bird is a jeweller’s bird,
—
124 TAINE’S “TRAVELS IN ITALY.” [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
a manufacture in all but the feathers of which it is inge- are very tasteful. The mixture of metal with the silk in
—
niously formed a little glittering cheat, spreading its the tassels is effective and artistic, carrying the idea
artificially-made wings over the golden circlet. Humming- throughout.
bird jewellery may not become common, but it is new, and At the foot of my sketch is another article de Paris,
that fits it exactly for my pen. a gilt comb, also with chains effectively disposed, and,
For some time chains and medals have been the rage suspended from the comb top, are drops of the brilliant
curls have been imprisoned, white throats encircled, bonnets . German crystal, as it is called, but which, I rather suspect,
laden, and dresses ornamented with these emblems of thral- owes its beauty, and its cracklin appearance in the interior,
dom they have been twisted in the hair, to fall in loops on
; to human ingenuity. In the present case the drops are green,
the neck and, as with the savage princesses of the Oceanic
;
but I have seen them of different colours, and sometimes
islands, suspended to the ears in guise of ear-rings. The of clear crystal.
gilt sequins have become old we are all tired of their
; Can leave unheeded the inexhaustible subject of
I
Oriental charms. Eastern Jew dealers have worn the style bonnets Its elevated position seems to assert its right
?
threadbare, and fashion has consigned them to oblivion. and demand a gracious word. The fashions of ladies’
Paris has started its own medal style, and, with chains, it bonnets vary a hundred times in a quarter of a century,
is becoming quite the mode. I have seen a number of and the last is always the most charming. What endless
ombrelles (
parasols we call them now, d V Anglaise) with a fancy Paris has lavished to produce the marvellous trans-
medal on each segment, and chains connecting the tip of formations of gauze and ribbons, lace, straw, and flowers
each rib with the next, and, in some cases, festooned on the of the present day, those fairy-like fabrics, mere charming
silk. I have seen black silk parasols with chains and medals pretexts to pose on the hair I was beginning to imagine
!
in frosted silver, and blue parasols with oxidized ornaments. that her resources must be nearly exhausted, but she is
Sometimes, too, small stuffed birds and bright-winged but- proving their richness more than ever.
terflies are placed hovering on the sun-shades but to ;
One of the last creations of Parisian coquetry is the
my eye they look awkward, though, of course, it may be fanclion espagnol, most pretty but most fanciful. It is
said, in defence of the fancy, that birds and butterflies composed of a broad piece of black lace fastened by two
might pause in their flight, and poise on the passing silken flowers one nestling in the hair, and the other placed on
;
canopy. I confess I had rather not have my parasol laden the brides, where they cross beneath the chin. I am not at
with medals and chains, however pretty but some people ; all sure about the taste of the inspiration which produced
are so fond of novelty that the incongruity does not strike the pouff dejleur, but its novelty at least merits a descrip-
them, and things really pretty in themselves earn their tion. A large rose on the summit of the head forms the
admiration and gain their support without their troubling bonnet the gauze brides which secure it are fastened under
;
themselves much about the convenience and then the ;

the chin by a small rose, and the whole is sprinkled with
clinquant, some gentlemen say, is itself dear enough to the glass “tears” imitating drops of dew. I have not yet
—
female senses an assertion which we must, of course, repel seen it on a pretty head, where, perhaps, this new rose-
as an impertinence. bonnet might win my admiration in spite of me.
If medals and chains are out of place on a parasol, they Paris is getting out of town as fast as possible, flying
are pretty enough elsewhere, and I send you sketches, from the hot, dusty grandeur of the bouleva/rcls to breathe
which I was compelled to reduce to one half the real size to the fresh, pure air of the country, before seeking the still
get them on to my paper, of two neck ribbons which are fresher breezes of the Bains de Mer. It is horrible to
extremely pretty. They are of black, or purple watered have to acknowledge being here still but, as I am, I
;
silk, with gold ornaments, or of blue, with oxidized silver. send you what I trust will not be unacceptable.
Where the medallions are really good, these neck ribbons K. E. F.
TAINE’S TRAVELS IN ITALY.*

O much has been written about Italy, that to what boisterous school, of which M. Edmond
S look for anything new upon this subject seems About also is a member.
After passing some years
somewhat Utopian. Yet novelty may arise, not at the ecole normale —
a nursery not only of able
from the country itself and its invaluable treasures, professors, but of lively and clever journalists the —
but from the mind and ideas of the writer. In former entered literary life with critical articles
fact, almost every person who visits Italy returns in theJournal cles Debats. When literature
with different opinions about everything there, so left his pen unoccupied, the young professor, in
that human organs may be said to possess percep- partibus, made excursions in the dominions of art,
tions as varied as the expression of individual and attracted attention by his bold expression of
features and physiognomy. Now, M. Taine has daring (or at least so considered) views on men and
explored no unknown corner of Rome or Naples ; things about which so many people, especially in
he has made no archaeological discovery ; he has France, think there can be only one reasonable
elucidated no pendent question about doubtful point of view.
pictures or uncertain authorship ; he has, in fact, M. Taine’s deliberate and independent disposi-
gone through the ordinary routine of travellers in tion made him at once a decided favourite with the
Italy, and yet his book is a most interesting one, younger portion of his contemporaries, and no
merely from the original point of view in which lecture-room is so full, no lesson better attended,
the writer has placed himself throughout his artistic than Taine’s course of Aesthetics and the History of
rambles. Art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. It
M. H. Taine belongs to that young and some- was that notorious sympathy, together with his
undoubted talent, that secured for the young pro-
fessor a .position which lie, with his political ideas,
* Voyage en Italie. By M. Taino. Yol. I. Naples and
Rome. Paris, 1866. would not have postulated any more than the
— —
Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.] DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 125
French government would have offered it to him “ Of all the artists I know, none is more like him than
under ordinary circumstances. Spencer. Many
readers, at first, think Spencer formal and
dull nothing seems real but soon one mounts with him
To return to the Voyage en Italie ,
and show ; ;
into the light, and his characters, which are impossible, are
through the dimness of translation, what new light divine.”
M. Taine can throw on hackneyed subjects, we
quote this paragraph about Rome :
Among a profusion of remarks and criticisms
which would be worthy of notice, we choose the
Rome may be compared to a painter’s studio; not to
“
that of a fashionable artist who, like some of my country-
following :
—
men, dreams of fame and makes a parade of his profession, “ There are four men who, in art and literature, have
but the studio of an old broken-down painter, whose genius raised themselves above all others, so much so that they
has long since deserted him, and left him to quarrel with seem to belong to a separate race. Those men are Dante,
tradesmen. He has been a bankrupt, and creditors have Shakspeare, Beethoven, and Michael-Angelo. Neither their
more than once seized his furniture, respecting nothing but deep knowledge, nor their complete possession of every
a few works of art and the four walls. To-day he lives on resource of art, nor their fertility of imagination, nor their
the ruins of the past, acts as cicerone to the curious, takes originality of mind, could alone have given them that place ;
money from the rich, whom he despises even while he they possess all these gifts, but this is of secondary impor-
pockets their fees. His fare is meagre, but he consoles tance. What has carried them to such a height is their
himself with the memory of the glorious exhibition in which soul, a soul of fallen divinities, altogether raised by an
he has figured, vowing to himself, and sometimes to others, irresistible effort towards a world out of proportion with
that next year he will take his revenge. It is not to be ours, always fighting and suffering, always working and
denied that the studio has a nauseous smell about it the ;
struggling, incapable of being satiated, as of being
as
floor has not been swept for an age ; the sofa is burnt here discouraged, and ever employed in bringing forward before
and there with the ashes of his pipe some old shoes worn
;
mankind giants as powerful and ungovernable, as painfully
down at heel are littered in a corner and still the side-;
sublime, as the minds from which they sprang.”
board, on which lie a bit of sausage and a rind of cheese,
is a real old piece of Renaissance furniture, and the thread- The volume only of M. Tame’s work on
first
bare tapestry, which only half conceals a wretched mattress, Italy yet published.
is It is chiefly devoted to
is a fine work of the sixteenth century on the wall, along;
Naples and Rome. In Naples he studies the climate
which runs the ugly stone chimney, hang rare bits of
armour, and some arquebuses of beautiful workmanship.
and landscape, the neighbourhood, Herculaneum
It is a place to see, but not to live in.” and Pompeii, the art-galleries, and even the habits
and disposition of the people. Naturally, Rome
liis general impression on the town
After giving is the principal theme of the book. M. Taine does
at M. Taine proceeds to visit the public
large,
not supply anything like a guide, but takes a
galleries and the chief works of great artists. The general survey of the great men and things from
author has some interesting remarks on Raphael
which the town derives its well deserved fame.
for instance :
What this short analysis is completely inade-

“ His (Raphael’s) triumph is in ideal and allegorical quate to show, is M. Taine’s marvellous power and
personages Like the ancient artists, he sup- variety of expression. His ability in using the
presses the fugitive and accidental expression of the human
, most exquisite and refined resources of language is
figure, as well as all the peculiarities betraying a being
tossed about and crushed by the battles and perils of life.
perfectly charming. He draws more than he de-
His personages are exempted from the laws of nature; scribes, and the details that he adds are mere
they have never suffered, nor can they be moved their ;
touches of colour. Others may exhibit more
calm attitudes resemble those of statues. One would not feeling and depth, but in the vivicl comprehension
dare to address them one is impressed with respect, and
;
of the picturesque, we know no writer of the
yet this respect is mixed up with sympathy, for you soon
discover under their gravity an almost feminine kindliness ;
present day in France, and few of any country or
and sensitiveness I
period, who can be compared with him.
DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS.
N the autumn of last year the Societe centrale d' Agricul- pterous insect, called the neriter or the gribouri, endangers
I ture of France "got up an admirable exhibition of useful, the great crops. The dryness of the seasons and the mild-
and destructive insects in Paris. The success of the exhibi- ness of the winters are regarded as the chief causes of
tion has induced the society to form an International these invasions of insects.
Society of Insectology, which promises to do some service The destruction of these mischievous creatures is not so
to science as well as to agriculture and gardening. The easy a matter as some persons may suppose ; it requires con-
object of the new society is to study and publish the history siderable entomological knowledge to know when the various
and habits of each class of destructive insects that prey changes take place in insect life, and which is the best season
upon the crops and devour forest, orchards, and gardens, for attacking their haunts in fact, the general knowledge
;
and to give precise instructions relative to the proper season of the entomologist added to that of the special locality.
and means for their destruction. The precise habits and transformations of each destructive
The ravages of insects have been terrible in France for insect require to be studied, and only then can effective
some time, and the losses caused by them have reached a means be taken to get rid of them.
very serious total. In the central departments of France the M. Guerin Mcneville has selected for example the Dacus
ravages of the caterpillars have been enormous in the ;
oleas, which devastates the olive plantations, and has de-
vicinity of Paris the cockchafers and caterpillars have scribed its habits. The eggs are deposited in the olive at
devastated the plantations in Normandy the white worm
;
the moment of its formation, and lie there during the
has eaten up the green crops to the north of Paris a small
;
process of incubation. When the Parenchyma of the fruit
black worm attacks the beetroot, and in Burgundy a coleo- is sufficiently developed to afford nourishment, the larvte
126 REVIEW. [Nature and Ait, September 1, 1866.
appear, and immediately commence devouring the walls of the Rhone, and it was tested last year by the Director of
their prison and they continue to do so until the olives are
;
the School of Arboriculture at Lyons, M. Denis, who says
ripe. By this time the whole of the pulp of the fruit has that the trees so treated were covered with fruit, while
disappeared, and nothing remains for the mill but a worm- others were almost completely stripped by the insects.
eaten olive, that yields but a few drops of bad oil. But the The following method against ants and other insects
worm does not go to the mill with the olive. About the which climb up the stems of trees is highly spoken off.
time for gathering the fruit, the insect comes out of his Take common lamp-oil and expose it to the air for three
retreat, and lets himself drop on the ground, into which he or four days, till it becomes gluey, then take a painter’s
burrow's to a certain depth, and passes the winter in a state brush and make a ring around the bole of the tree about
of complete torpor. When the warmth of spring begins two f§et above the ground ; the band need not be more than
to be felt, he revives, and quits the ground in the form of a two inches wide, and it is said that it will protect the tree
fly, and this fly deposits her eggs in the young olive-buds. for four years at least. The operation must be repeated on
The plan of destruction proposed by M. Guerin Meneville, three or four successive days.
when the insects are numerous, is to gather the olives in But all the resources of science and all the efforts of
October, when the larvae are but partially developed, and have man seem helpless against such a terrible plague as that of
only eaten a portion of the flesh of the fruit, and extract the locusts, which has devastated a large portion of Algeria
the oil at once. The yield may be small, perhaps, and the for nearly three months. These creatures arrived in swarms
oil not very good ;
but it will be worth something', and the that actually obscured the light of the sun, and lay on the
insects are utterly destroyed for the following year. ground over hundreds of square miles many inches deep ;
When the habits of each species of insects have thus been the army and the whole population turned out against them ;
studied, and the inhabitants of a given district can be made on the sea-board the soldiers chased myriads of them into
to understand the importance of combined action, the means the sea, but inland it was found utterly impossible to pro-
of destruction will rarely be very difficult to arrange. Every duce any effect upon them they not only devoured the crops,
;
country wants its National Society of Insectology. but they choked up the rivulets and all small channels, and
The apple, pear, plum, and other fruit-trees, have also it was with the greatest difficulty that the soldiers could
suffered terribly by insects whose habits resemble those of prevent the water from becoming putrid. In the presence
the Dacus olece above mentioned ; and a useful receipt has of such a terrible visitation as this, man is almost helpless,
been given for combating their destructiveness. It has and is forced to give way before countless legions even of
been discovered that these insects have an intense horror insects. The mischief done is enormous, and a subscription,
of the smell of vinegar, and it is therefore recommended headed by a sum of 20,000 francs from the Emperor, has
to sprinkle the trees well, by means of a syringe provided been set on foot in Paris to furnish the starving colonists
with a fine rose, with a mixture composed of one quart of with the necessaries of life. There is one slight, very slight,
vinegar to nine quarts of water, the solution being pre- compensation in this case namely, that the Arabs eat the
;
viously well stirred, so as to mix the two liquids. This plan locusts and declare them to be excellent one mode of pre-
;
is recommended by the Imperial Society of Horticulture of paring them is to fry them and preserve them in oil.
REVIEW.
Texts from the Holy Bible. Expressed by the Help of the the transmigration of souls and show that they held the
;
Ancient Monuments. With a few Plans and Views. same opinion with the Jews about the impurity of swine.”
By Samuel Shabpe. (Day & Son, Limited.)
Mb. Shabpe has, in the volume before us, rendered most

valuable aid in interpreting many passages in Holy Scripture,
and no one who has perused it will fail to see at once its
importance and worth. In fact, as a work of reference on
matters connected with sacred writings, it is invaluable.
Nothing can be more strangely interesting than to trace
from figures hewn on the solid rock, carved on the towering
monolith, or engraved in intricate and delicate tracery on
the soft alabaster or dense Syenite of some ancient sarco-
phagus, the close relationship which existed between the
mythic and figurative belief of the ancient inhabitants of
Egypt, Assyria, and other localities equally antique, and
that of the early Jewish people, who followed them on the
pages of the world’s history. Much that seems vague, un-
satisfactory, and of obscure meaning, is clearly interpreted
by the hieroglyphic writings.
We read, says Mr. Sharpe, in the fifth chapter of St.
Mark, thirteenth verse, as follows :
—
“ And the unclean
spirits went out and entered into swine.”
In the annexed cut (an extract from the above work),
taken from a drawing of the sarcophagus of Oimenepthah,
we have the Egyptian god Osiris seated as judge of the
dead. The human race are coming up the steps of his
throne to be judged. “ Before him is placed the great pair
of scales. In one scale is the soul of the dead man in the
form of a bird, as in p. 3, but the sculptor has omitted from It is remarkable that many of the religious traditions and
the other scale the figure of Truth, against which the soul customs of the Hindoos should so closely resemble those of
is usually weighed. At a distance in a boat, is the soul of the ancient Egyptians. Maha Deo, or Siva, together with
a wicked man sent into the body of a pig, and given his consort Parvati, are deities in high repute throughout
into the charge of an ape. On a papyrus in the British Western India. He has been compared to Osiris, to Saturn,
Museum, we see the soul of a good man sent into the body and Jupiter. He is said to delight in human sacrifices ;
of a ram. These pictures explain the Egyptian opinion of represents Time, and as with Osiris the ox, apes are sacred
Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.] A HARD GEOLOGICAL NUT. 127
to him. It has been said that on the Bombay sepoys, who interest appertaining to all connected with Egyptian lore.
formed a part of the expedition against the French in Egypt, The numerous illustrations which embellish Mr. Sharpe’s
being landed, they manifested great delight and astonishment work, have been chiefly furnished by Mr. Joseph Bonomi,
at finding their own sacred Bull, “ Nundi,” as well as many whose zeal in the cause of antiquarian research and graphic
other mythological figures which they well knew, and pencil are too well known to need remark.
immediately recognized, exclaiming that the people who There is but one cause for regret, and that is the brevity
formerly inhabited Egypt must have been Hindoos. It is, of the work. Still it is to be hoped that other editions will
however, far more probable that the Hindoos are indebted follow, and that more of the same class of subject matter
for many of their mythological ideas to the land of Osiris. may be placed ere long at the disposal of the student of
However this may be, no doubt can exist as to the deep antiquity, and general reader.
A HARD GEOLOGICAL NUT.

N the pleasant little village of Welwyn just — have sipped his tea and smoked his pipe, accom-
I opposite to the church, and between it and a panied by his biographer and toady Boswell, who
sluggish little stream which rejoices in the eupho- introduced him to Young. There are also many
nious title of Mimram and abounds in excellent stories told of the poet in his gallant moods making
trout, many of them of upwards of 5 or 6 lb. in flowery speeches to ladies under the shadow of
weight and of that exquisite pink lme so beautiful these ancient trees. It is further declared (though
to the eye of both sportsman and epicure there — we hope, for the sake of our poet’s character for
stands an old-fashioned house, most unpretending good taste, that there is not sufficient foundation
and ugly in its appearance from the road ; but on for the report), that Young had a scene painted,
the river-side possessing attractions rarely to be which he placed at the end of the avenue to give
met with in such immediate proximity to a village. an idea of distcmce, when looking through it from
This house has been in our occupation for the the house. These trees are in themselves really
last two years, and up to within a few weeks of noteworthy. The avenue is a short one, having only
the present time. We
should not presume to six trees on each side, but they are truly beautiful.
draw the attention of the readers of Nature and Their branches feathering to the ground, have
Art to the spot, were it not that there are associa- thrown off shoots, which in turn have taken root and
tions connecting it with other days, which we produced a growth suggesting that of the famous
think may invest it with interest to many; and banyan tree and in the spring time, when covered
that within its precincts was lately found an with blossom, the group presents a “giant’s nosegay,”
object of some considerable curiosity, which it will which it would be difficult to find woi’ds to describe.
be the purpose of the present paper to describe. In the garden also, and lining the banks of the
The house, as we have already stated, is an river on the opposite side, are some magnificent
old-fashioned structure of no architectural pre- willows, which old Jesse, in his “Gleanings,” has
tensions whatever, and, in fact, of as ugly an thought well worthy of note. The chestnuts must,
exterior as can well be conceived; but from within indeed, be very old, for they were flourishing in
its walls have, at different periods, issued forth Young’s time, when he planted a now perfect avenue
thoughts and learning, such as must render it ever of limes in the rectory garden. But relics with far
memorable to the poetic and literary world. At the longer pedigrees have here been found. A
battle is
present date the estate belongs to the representa- said to have been fought in the neighbourhood with
tives of the late Mr. Henry Fynes Clinton, who the Danes; and Bo man pottery, and bones, per-
lived in the house up to the day of his death ; who, haps Boman also, have been dug up in the garden.
standing at his high desk in a room overlooking But older far than all is the curiosity we are
the garden, there compiled that magnificent work, about to describe ; and it came to light in this wise.
/’
so prized by the classical scholar, “ Fasti Hellenici Our three little girls, Agnes, Edith, and Cicely
and whose character, we have reason to believe, (aged respectively six, five, and three years), had, in
was prominent in the mind’s eye of his dear friend their play, established under the chestnuts what
and neighbour, Lord Lytton, when writing they called their gold and silver mines. The thick
that delightful and most popular of his charming shade of the trees prevents the growth of grass
novels, “ The Caxtons.” under them ; but the ground is carpeted with
In the old title-deeds the place is called aconites, crocuses, moss, and periwinkles, which in
“ Guessens,” probably a corruption of the German the spring have a most brilliant effect. few A
“ Gast-haus.” months ago some flower-beds had been excavated
In former times the old house was the abode of hard by, and the old material (composed of remains
the poet Young ; and here he is supposed to have of buildings, mixed with the Original gravel which
written his melancholy “ Night Thoughts,” whilst here overlies the chalk) had been spread out under
sitting in his room looking
into the churchyard. In
* The growth (as described in the text) of the chestnut
the garden there an avenue of beautiful horse chest-
is
nut trees reaching from the house to the river, where is,we believe, somewhat remarkable the branches having
—
;
touched the ground have taken root, and the new stems
Young, in his contemplative moods, would walk, are considerably larger in girth than the original branches
and under whose branches old Johnson is said to from the tree itself.
f
128 A HARD GEOLOGICAL NUT. [Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.
the trees. One tine hot clay in July, on our return found both in the Jura formation of Southern
from London, we were assailed by all the little ones Russia, and amongst the limestone beds in the
at once, and with the native fervour of tine soldier’s neighbourhood of Poona, in India. Zeolites and
J
daughters (they were all born in a gun-shed at lime crystals, too, have we found locked up like im-
Woolwich), “Oh! father,” they all cried together; prisoned genii within their tiny cells. Upon pro- J
“ mother says there was a great battle here and, ceeding to divide our hard geologic nut on a con-
;
j
look in our gold-mine we found this cannon-hall

! venient ledge of stone (a couple of well directed
They then put into our hands a round object blows doing it perfectly), a quantity of beauti-
with an iron-like appearance, but regularly flattened fully fine, yellow siliceous sand, which perfectly filled
at the poles like the earth’s figure, and with slightly the even circular cavity in which it had so long
raised concentric rings round it. Its size was about rested, was disclosed. The annexed cuts, from
that of an ordinary grape-shot. It was compara- photographs, are the true size of the nodule.
tively light, and, from its structure, it was evident Its weight, together with the sand, is slightly
that this was none of man’s work. We at once under three and a half ounces. The crust or shell is
said, “No, children, it is far more curious than a composed of siliceous sand, of coarser grain than
cannon-ball. We will take it to London, and put that which it contained, associated with iron.
it into the magazine —
and you like Old Benbow,’
;
‘
We do not think the neighbourhood in which
in your pretty dog-story book, ‘Awake or Dreaming,’ the nodule was discovered likely to have been its
—
•
shall read about yourselves.” Hereat, as may be place of original formation ; but more incline to
readily supposed, there was much delight and the belief that one of the many talented men who
“clapping of tiny hands.” have, from time to time, occupied the old house,
must have obtained it as being noteworthy and
curious, perhaps, from some distant district per- —

chance even from abroad.
The process by which a formation such as this
has been produced, we can only speculate on and
say rather what we consider possible, than lay down
any absolute train of causes as having operated in
bringing about the particular arrangement of sub-
stances before us.
It is %)ossible then that a siliceous pebble, worn
smooth and rounded by the rushing snow-torrent
and grinding avalanche of the glacial period, or,
perhaps, from the beach of some sea of past geo-
logic age, may have been deposited amongst the
By the gentle persuasion of the geologist’s ham-
drifts of shifting sand. This, in time and in asso-
mer and chisel, applied by an experienced hand, ;
ciation with the iron element (water borne), may

amidst an admiring crowd of lithographic printers, )
have surrounded our pebble, which, acting as a

the ball was split in two, and presented a true
nucleus, became gradually encrusted, layer after
hollow sphere (accurately delineated in our wood-
layer, with that which was slowly but surely be-
cuts), filled with sand in tire finest possible state of
coming stone, and building up a dungeon for it.
division, and the envy of all the lithographers.
As periods and geologic ages pass away, and
This nodule and sand we have submitted to the
are lost in dim obscurity, other changes take place ;
most experienced geologists of the day, and the
upheavings and displacements occur ; the sandstone
results of their united deliberations we proceed to
rocks are in ijieir turn ground, fretted, and Avorn
record, in their own manner, for the benefit of those
cloAvn, becoming sand as before, and leaving little
who take a scientific interest in such matters. of the original mass but the hard crust surrounding
a round caAuty filled Avith fine siliceous sand, the
The little rounded, nodular mass submitted to
result of the slow but unaccountable disintegration
us for examination, is the most perfect of its kind
of our imprisoned pebble.
we have ever seen ; and our researches amongst the
old world treasures of the British Museum have
[We have, just before going- to press, received fromNorfolk
specimens closely allied to that under consideration, but not
failed to bring its like to light. Concretionary larger than pistol-balls. We shall furnish the result of
masses, slightly and irregularly hollowed, we have our examination of them in our next.]
- — —
CONCERNING INSECTS COMMONLY CALLED DEATH-WATCHES.

By the Bov. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S.
HE peculiar ticking sound louse.” From this description it is quite easy to see
that maybe frequently that the animal intended by Baxter was the small
heard proceeding from old insect belonging to the Neuropterous order, to which
picture frames,
furniture, I have already alluded. The name of this insect
and
the wainscoting of is the Apropos 'pulsatorius, whose likeness to a
rooms, has attracted atten- Pediculits or louse,
,
is certainly very striking.
tion from very early times. Let us now consult another authority, the learned
It was, as is well known, and philosophic Sir Thomas Browne. He says :
popularly considered to be
“ Few ears have escaped the noise of the death-watch,
a death omen to some one that the little clicking sound heard often in many rooms
is,
of the family resident in the house wherein the somewhat resembling that of a watch and this is conceived
;
sounds were heard ; indeed, to this day, although to be of an evil omen or prediction of some person’s death ;
superstition is' gradually fleeing before the face of wherein, notwithstanding, there is nothing of rational presage
or just cause of terror unto melancholy and meticulous*
knowledge, there are many persons who are full\*>
heads. For this noise is made by a little sheath-winged
convinced that these tickings foretell death. The grey insect, found oftpn in wainscot, benches, and wood-
cause of them has been long ago shown to proceed work in the summer. We have taken many thereof and
from two or three species of beetles belonging^to the kept them in thin boxes, wherein I have heard and seen
family Ptinidce, while some have traced them to a them work and knock with a little proboscis or trunk
—
very minute insect frequently seen in old books in
against the side of the box, like a pious martins, or wood-
pecker, against a tree. It worketh best in warm weather, and
the summer season —
belonging to the Neuropterous for the most part giveth not over under nine or eleven strokes
order. It may not be uninteresting to consider the at a time. He that could extinguish the terrifying appre-
whole question, with a view to ascertain, as far as hensions hereof, might prevent the passions of the heart and
possible, the real facts as to the insects which pro-
many cold sweats in grandmothers and nurses, who, in the
sickness of children, are so startled with these noises.”
duce the sound, their motives for making it, and
the modes by which they occasion it. It is quite clear that an entirely different insect
The celebrated non-conformist divine, Richard from the Atropos pulsatorius is here intended, and
Baxter, speaks as follows on the subject of the there can be no doubt that some species of Anobium
death-watch : — is denoted, either, perhaps, A. lesselatum, or A.
“ There are many things that ignorance causeth multitudes striatum ..
to take for prodigies.. I have- had many discreet friends Swammerdam speaks of a “small beetle, which
that have been affrighted with the noise called a death- having firmly and strongly fixed its foremost legs
watch, whereas I have since, near three years ago, oft found
and bent and pitt its head through the space
by trial, that it is a noise made upon paper, by a little,
nimble, running worm, just like a louse, but whiter and
between them, makes a continued noise in old
quicker and it is most usually behind a paper pasted to a
;
pieces of wood, walls, and ceilings, which is some-
wall, especially to wainscot, and it is rarely if ever heal’d times so loud that, upon hearing it, people have
but in the heat of summer.” been persuaded that nocturnal hobgoblins, ghosts,
or fairies wandered about them.” “ I think,”
But yet Baxter could not altogether abandon the
idea ot omen, for he adds : continues Swammerdam, “that this may be properly
called Sonicephalus, or the noisy-headed beetle.”
“But who can deny itto be a prodigy, which is re-
corded by Melchior Adamus, of a great and good man, who Here again there can be little doubt that some
had a clock-watch that had layen in a chest many years species ofAnobium is signified. Let us also bear
Unused; and when he lay dying, at eleven o’clock of itself, in mind the mode in which the insect produces the
in that chest, it struck eleven in the hearing of many ? ”
well-known ticking, according to the observation of
According to the last-named authority, the insect so good an authority as old Swammerdam. Wallis,
that produced the ticking sounds was not a beetle,
but a “ little, nimble, running worm, just like a * i. e., Timid. The word is now obsolete.
V. K
— ; : ; —
130 CONCERNING DEATH-WATCHES. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
in liis “History of Northumberland,” attributes beetle Scarabceus galeatus pulsator ,* that is, the
the sounds in question to the Anobium tesselatum. Anobium tesselatum of modern systematists. This
writer, who kept living specimens for several days,
says the beetle produces the sound “ by beating his
head on the subject fit for sound. The part it
beats withis the extreme end of the edge of the
face,which I may call,” he adds, “the upper lip,
the mouth being protected by this bony part and
lying underneath, out of view.”
We now come to the remarks of the learned and
observant William Derham, who, in a letter to the
publisher of the “ Phil. Transactions ” “ concerning
“ an insect that is commonly called the death-watch,”
The small scarab,” lie says, “ called the death-
watch dated Upminster, July 21st, 1701, says he has
(
Scarabceus galeatus pulsator) is frequent
among dust and in decayed rotten wood, lonely observed two sorts of these insects. The first is
clearly an Anobium, and probably A. tesselatum,
and retired. It is one of the smallest of the
the second is the little louse-like animal to which
vagipennia, of a dark brown, with irregular light-
I have already referred, the Atropos pulsatorius of
brown spots, the belly plicated, and the wings
under the cases pellucid ; like other beetles the modern entomologists. Of the beetle, Mr. Derham
helmet turned up, as is supposed for hearing, remarks that he kept two specimens alive in a box
(a male and female), for about three weeks, in the
the upper lip hard and shining. By its regular
pulsations, like the ticking of a watch, it sometimes
month of May, and that he could make one of them
beat whenever he pleased by imitating his beating.
surprises those that are strangers to its nature and
properties, who fancy its beating portends a family
As to the beetle’s motive in producing the sound,
change and the shortening of the thread of life. he was perfectly satisfied from ocular evidence that
“ these pulsations are the way whereby these insects
Put into a box, it may be heard and seen in the
act of pulsation with a small proboscis against the
woo one other.” With reference to the mode by
side of it, for food more probably than for hymeneal
means of which the ticking is produced, Mr. Derham
differs from Mr. Allen, who asserts that it is made
pleasure, assome have fancied.”
The well-known lines of the witty Dean of St. by “ the extreme edge of the face, which may be
galled the upper lip,” and states that he “ observed
Patrick’s identify the death-watch with some kind
the insect always to draw back its mouth and beat
of wood-worm whether he had any knowledge
;
of the matter and was speaking of the larvse of

with its forehead.” Wehave already seen that
Anobium tesselatum, which some writers affirm do Baxter was acquainted with the Atropos pulsatorius,
also produce the ticking sounds, is doubtful. The which he describes as “ a little, nimble, running
following are his lines :
worm, just like a louse, but whiter and quicker,”
and that he attributes the ticking noise to this
“ A -wood-worm insect which he had “ oft found by trial” to be the
That old wood, like a haro in her form,
lies in
With teeth or with claws it will bite, or will scratch, case. This, so far as I have been able to trace
And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch the matter, is the earliest account extant of the
Because, like a watch, it always cries click ascription of the death-watch sounds to the Atropos
Then woe be to those in the house who are sick ;
pulsatorius. But observations in natural history
For as sure as a gun they will give up the ghost,
require to be made with great care, and Baxter was
If the maggot cries click, when it scratches the post.
But a kettle of scalding- hot water injected, no naturalist ; and probably his remarks would have
Infallibly cures the timber affected appeared questionable, had they not been completely
The omen is broken, the danger is over, verified by the observations and experiments of
The maggot will die, and the sick will recover.” Derham, who, however, does not appear to have been
Brand cpiotes from the “ British Apollo,” vol. ii., in any degree aware that the non-conformist divine
No. 70. To an inquiry “ concerning a death-watch, had anticipated his own discovery. The following
is Mr. Derham’s account of Atropos pulsatorius :
whether you suppose it to be a living creature,”
answer is given, “ It is nothing but a little worm “The other death-watch is an insect in appearance quite
in the wood.” And again from the “ Secret” different from the last [i.e. the Anobium tesselatum ], which
I lately discovered about the beginning of this July. The
Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbell
other death-watch [i.e. the beetle] beateth only about seven
(Bond., 1732, p. Gl), “How many people have I or eight strokes at a time and quicker, but this will beat
seen in the most terrible palpitations, for months some hours together without intermission, and his strokes
together, expecting every hour the approach of are more leisurely, and like the beats of a watch. I have
several years observed these two sorts of beating, but took
some calamity, only by a little worm which breeds
it to be made by one and the same animal. The insect
in wainscot, and endeavouring to eat its way out,
” which makes this long- beating is a small greyish insect,
makes a noise like the movement of a watch !
much resembling a louse when looked on onty with the
The early volumes of the “ Philosophical Trans- naked eye. For which reason (for want of another name)
actions ” contain some interesting matter on the 1 call it Pediculus pulsatorius.. It is very nimble in running
subject of the insects known as death-watches. * An account of the Scarabceus galeatus pulsator, or the
According to the observations of Mr. Benjamin death-watch, taken August, 1695. “ Phil. Trans.,” vol. xxi.
Allen, the ticking in question is produced by the p. 376.
— — — — —
Nature and Art, October 1, 18GG.] CONCERNING DEATH-WATCHES. 131
to seek its shelter when disturbed. It is very common in wood, which was answered by a similar noise from within
all parts of the house in the summer months. They are it. Both the species whose proceedings have been most
extremely shy of beating when disturbed, but will beat noticed by British observers is A. tesselatum, F. When
freely enough before you, and also answer you when you spring is far advanced, these insects are said to commence
beat, if you can view them without giving them disturbance, their ticking, which is only a call to each other, to which if
or shaking the place where they lie, &c. I cannot tell no answer be returned, the animal repeats it in another
whether they beat in any other thing, but I have heard place. Raising itself upon its hind legs, with the body
their noise only in or near paper. Concerning their noise, I somewhat inclined, it beats its head with great force and
am somewhat in doubt, whether it be made by beating their agility upon the plane of position and its strokes are so
;
heads, or rather snouts, against the paper ; or whether it be powerful as to make a considerable impression if they fall
not made after somo such manner as grasshoppers and upon any substance softer than wood. The general number
crickets make their noise. I rather incline to the former of distinct strokes in succession is from seven to nine or
opinion. But my reason of doubting is, because I have eleven. They follow each other quickly, and are repeated
observed the animal’s body to shake, or give a sudden jerk at uncertain intervals. In old houses, where these insects
at every stroke, but I could scarce perceive any part of its abound, they may be heard in warm weather during the
body to touch the paper. ’Tis possible it might beat the whole day. The noise exactly resembles that produced by
paper and I not perceive it, by reason its body is small and tapping moderately with the nail upon the table, and when
near the paper when it beateth, and its motion in beating familiarized, the insect will answer very readily the tap of
is sudden and swift.” the nail.”
As to the motive of the ticking noise, Mr. Kirby and Spence in the above passage take no
Derham was satisfied that it is a call between the notice of Mr. Derliam’s remarks upon Atropos
sexes, as in the case of Anobium. Whoever has pulsatorius in the “ Pliil. Transactions,” and pass
examined this frail little insect under consider- over this latter claim to a death-watch
insect’s
ation, cannot have helped entertaining doubts as without further remark.In Carpenter’s and
to the accuracy of those observations which assign Westwood’s edition of Cuvier, p. 580, the only
to so minute a creature a sound so loud and distinct, mention of Atropos pulsatorius is the following :
and thus Mr. Derham writes — “ We generally find in books of collections of plants the
“ I have often, heretofore, by the noise pursued the P. [ Psocus Latr.] pulsatorius, of a whitish colour, and which
,
makers of it, but have thought myself disappointed when I has been believed to produce the slight noise like the
found nothing but some of these pediculi, which I did not ticking of a clock, often heard in houses, whence its
perceive to boat, and which I little imagined could have made specific name.”
so sonorous a noise as I have heard some of them do, even as
Rennie in his “'Insect Architecture” (p. 266,
loud almost as the strongest beats of a pocket watch. But
lately finding a piece of paper in my study in which I was
Lond., 1857) identifies the Atropos pulsatorius as
sure the beating was, and it being luckily loosely folded, so one of the death-watches but it do^s not appear
;
as to be viewed throughout, and also happening to be in a from his remarks that he had ever had ocular de-
good light, I strictly viewed it, but could only see some of monstration as to the mode in which the insect
these pediculi. And viewing them with a convex-glass, I soon
perceived some of them to beat or to make a noise, with a
produces the sounds. He says :
sudden shake of their body, as hath been described. And I “ The most common of the solitary species [of Termites]
am now so used to, and skilful in the matter, as to be able to must be familiar to all our readers by the name of wood-
see and shew their beating, almost when I please, by having louse* (Ter mes pulsatorium, Linn.; Atropos Ugnarius, Leach),
a paper with some of them in it conveniently placed, and one of the insects which produces the ticking superstitiously
imitating their pulsations, which they will readily answer.” termed the death-ivatch. It is not so large as the common
louse, but whiter and more slender, having a red mouth and
Iii a paper written subsequently to tbe foregoing,
yellow eyes. It lives in old books, the paper on walls,
the author repeats his assertion that the ticking collections of insects and dried plants, and is extremely
noise is a wooing act, and remarks that it is agile in its movements, darting by jerks into dark corners
commonest about July. He then adds that he for the purpose of concealment. It does not like to run
scarce ever heard them beat before July, but that straight forward without resting every half-second, as if to
listen or look about for its pursuer, and at such resting-
all or the greatest part of July they beat, and in the
places it is easily taken. The ticking noise is made by the
beginning of August. He had heard the beatings insect beating against the wood with its head, and it is
till the 16th of August, but never later. The supposed by some to be peculiar to the female, and to be
insects “do not every year beat alike, but some- connected with the laying of her eggs. Another
. . .
times sooner, sometimes later ; sometimes much, death-watch is a small beetle ( Anobium tesselatumi).”
sometimes little, according as the year favouretli or In the second volume of the “ Magazine of
hindereth their inclinations.” # Natural History” (p. 461), there is the following
In Kirby and Spence’s “ Introduction to Ento- comnranication relative to death-watches :
mology” (ii., p. 386) we read “ These little creatures, whose portentous click once made
“ Authors were formerly not agreed concerning the insect stout hearts quail, and still inflicts no small terror on many
from which this sound of terror proceeded, some attributing an ancient dame, even in these days of enlightenment, are
it to a kind of wood-louse [i.e. the louse-like Atropos as I thus described by Mr. Carpenter :
] “ This singular noise proceeds from two different insects.

lately observed, and others to a spider but it is a received
;
‘
opinion now, adopted upon satisfactory evidence, that it is One of these, the Anobium tesselatum, is coleopterous, of a
produced by some little beetles belonging to the timber- dark colour, and about a quarter of an inch in length. It
boring genus Anobium, F. is chiefly in the latter end of spring it commences its noise,
“ Latreille observed Anobium striatum, F. produces the which may be considered analogous to the call of birds.
sound in question by a stroke of its mandibles upon the This is caused by beating on hard substances with the
shield or fore-part of its head. The general number of
# ASupplement to the account of the Pediculus pulsa- successive distinct strokes is from seven to nine or eleven.
torius, ordeath-watch, in “Phil. Trans.,” No. 271, serving
to the more perfect Natural History of that insect by the * This term is now popularly applied to the Crustaceous
Rev. W. Derham, F.R.S. animal of that name.
K 2
; — — - - —
132 CONCERNING DEATH-WATCHES. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
These are given in pretty quick succession, and are repeated (p.58) assigns the name of death-watch to the
at uncertain intervals. In old houses, where the insects are Anobium tesselatum alone, taking no notice of the
numerous, they may be heard, if the weather be warm, almost
Atropos beyond what is given in the following
every hour of the day. In beating, the insect raises itself
upon its hinder legs, and with the body somewhat inclined, sentence —
beats its head with great force and agility against the place “ Authors were formerly not agreed concerning the insect
on which it stands. This insect, which is the real death-
from which this sound of terror proceeded, some attributing
watch of the vulgar, must not be confounded with a minuter
it to a kind of wood-louse, others to a spider.”
insect, not much unlike a louse, which makes a ticking noise
like a watch but instead of beating at intervals, it con-
;
These are the identical words of Kirby and
tinues its noise for a considerable length of time without
intermission. This latter insect, the Termes pulsatorium,
Spence. Being anxious to ascertain whether any
Linn., belongs to a very different tribe (Neuroptera). It is living entomologists had personal experience of the
usually found in old wood, decayed furniture, museums, and noise asserted to be produced by the A tropos pulsa-
neglected books. The female lays her eggs, which are ex- torius in the writings of some naturalists, and denied
ceedingly small, in dry, dusty places, where they are likely
in those of others, I wrote to Mr. Frederick Smith
to meet with least disturbance. They are generally hatched
about the beginning of March, a little sooner or later, to ask whether he had any knowledge of the matter.
according to the weather. After leaving the eggs, the He replied that he was unacquainted with any
insects are so small as scarcely to be discerned without the ticking noise produced by the Atropos, but, of
use of a glass. They remain in this larva state about two course, had frequently heard the sounds of Anobium.
months, somewhat resembling in appearance the mites in
cheese, after which they undergo their change into the
In a subsequent letter he writes : —
perfect insect. They feed on dead flies and other insects ; “ Last evening (December 4, 1865), I brought the subject
and often from their numbers and voracity very much of the death-watch, &c., before the meeting of the Entomo-
deface cabinets of natural history. They subsist on various logical Society, but no one had any knowledge of Anobium,
other substances, and may often be observed carefully Atropos, or any insect tapping many had, of course, heard
;
hunting for nutritious particles amongst the dust in which the ticking inside chairs, tables, old chests, &c. that was
;
they are found, turning it over with their heads and searching all I could get at.”
about somewhat in the manner of swine. Many live through
the winter buried deep in the dust to avoid the frost.’ ” Mr. Smith could not conceive it possible that so
The above extract contains nothing more than softand delicate a creature as Atropos could pro-
what had been previously communicated to the duce any sound whatever.
Royal Society by Mr. Derham in his “Supplement Soon after this I was favoured with another
to the Account of the Pediculus pulsatorius ,” and communication from Mr. Frederick Smith always —
so obliging in rendering assistance to inquirers
it loses its importance from the fact that it does not
appear to be the result of personal observation. together with a letter from Mr. Doubleday ; this
The seventh volume of the “ Magazine of In atural latter gentleman, from his own observations, en-
tertained no doubt that Atropos pidsatorius was
History” (pp. 468-473), contains some original
observations on the death-watches, from which it is one of the insects that produced the sounds in
clear that another beetle besides the Anobium
question and an interesting communication from
;
tesselatum produces the sounds in question ; this is

Mi William Noble to a recent number of “ Science
-
.
the Anobium striatum and from the investigations

Gossip” (April, 1866), seems to place the matter
of Mr. Westwood, there seems no reason whatever
beyond all doubt, and to verify the remarks of
to doubt that similar noises are produced by the
Baxter, Derham, and others. Mr, Noble writes as
follows
larva, as well as the perfect insects. Anyone who :
has examined the larva of Anobium tesselatum and ,

“ On
the night of Sunday, the 23rd of July last, I was
observed its strong teeth, can readily understand :
sitting reading in my drawing-room, after the rest of the
family had retired to their rooms, when my attention was
that it is quite able to make the noise attributed
attracted by what sounded like the loud ticking of a watch
to it, by gnawing the wood with its jaws. near to me. My first impression was, that my own watch,
That the Atropos pulsatorius is the cause of the from some occult cause, was making much more noise than
sounds under consideration is denied by Van der usual but on pulling it out I at once ascertained that it
;
Hoeven, who thus writes :

was not thence that the sound proceeded. Ultimately I
traced it to the mantel-piece, though scarcely (on this
“ This insect is commonly found on wood, upon walls, in occasion) to any specific part of it. So remarkable was the
old papers, &c. it has superficially a resemblance to a
;
imitation of the tick of a watch, so perfect the metallic ring,
louse, but runs very rapidly. The Latin specific name is and so utterly unlike anything which could conceivably be
derived from the idea that the ticking in old furniture and produced by an insect, that I fetched down one lady who
door posts, which superstition often receives as a bad omen, had not commenced undressing, to come and hear it. After
is caused by this insect ;
on the contrary, they are small this we used to amuse ourselves every night by listening to
beetles which cause the tapping sound ” ( Handbook of the ticking, until eventually, in October, I determined to find
Zoology, Lond., 1856, i., p. 426). out by what means it was produced. Upon careful ex-
amination I traced it to one of the lustres, which by way of
Westwood, on the other hand, allows to the
experiment, I removed to a distant table. The first dis-
Atropos 2iulsatorius the claim to be considered a turbance silenced the insect, but a few minutes’ quiet re-
death-watch, but it does not appear that this eminent assured it, and on it went again. Finally, I tracked it to a
entomologist had any practical acquaintance with French paper-rose surrounding the base of the candle ; and
upon striking this sharply upon the table there fell out a
the fact.
specimen of the Atropos pulsatorius. This I examined under
Mr. F rank Cowan in his recently published book * the microscope, and I must say that I was quite as much
astonished as Mr. Smith could possibly be to see the extra-
# Cv.tious Pacts in the History Philadephia, ordinary minuteness and delicacy of the creature, which had
of Insects.
1865 (p. 58). .so perfectly similated the hard metallic ring of a chronometer
Nature and Art .October 1.1866.
—
Nature and Art, October 1, 18G6.] LANTHORN-FLIES. 133
balance. Unfortunately I squeezed my captive to death in vexata, has been thus finally set at rest, and that
trying to confine him in a live-box, and so put an end to
A tropos pulsatorius is certainly one of the insects
him and the ticking by one operation. After this, for a
qiopularly known as death-watches.
month or two all was silent when one night towards the end
;
of the year, whilst sitting over the fire, my ears were saluted
by the well-remembered sound. Experientia docct, so I
straightway removed the lustre from the chimney-piece, and
after listening to satisfy myself that I had my friend safe,
removed the rose from the base of the candle, and as before,
by a sharp tap on the table, knocked the Atropos out of it.
I killed him or her at once, intending to have mounted the
specimen as a microscopic object, but from the extreme
softness of the body, it squeezed up into an amorphous
mass when I attempted to flatten it. From that time up
to the present date I have heard no more ticking, and so
infer that I must have destroyed a pair which had taken up
their abode in the candle ornament, and whose untimely
decease has cut off a possible generation of the Atropos
pulsatorius.”
I may mention that a friend of mine told me that Since the above was written I have examined
the summer before last he heard a peculiar ticking a number of these minute insects, which I find
sound proceeding from a picture-frame in his sitting- abundantly in my house. The A tropos pulsatorius,
room, and that upon his taking the frame from the which is about one line in length, is entirely
wall on which it hung and placing it upon the table, destitute of wings, the female is broader than the
he continued to hear the same sounds anxious to ;
male, and has the antennae much longer. The sex
discover the author of them he took the frame to can readily be distinguished by pulling the body in
pieces with the greatest care, and discovered within two with the points of two needles the repro- ;
it a minute spider, and a specimen of what, from ductive organs may then be readily seen under the
his description of it, I doubt not was an Atropos microscope. I have not yet succeeded in my en-
pulsatorius. I think this matter, so long a qucestio deavours to hear the ticking sounds.
A FEW WORDS UPON THE LUMINOSITY OF LANTPIORN-FLIES.

By Arthur G. Butler, F.Z.S., Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum.
OW frequently we find that things which the beautiful lanthorn-fly, which enlivens the gloom
H appear to some
others most fit
men most probable, seem to
subjects for question and debate.
with its little lamp, and by its numbers makes us
almost fancy that the stars of heaven have descended
The well-worn adage, “ seeing is believing,” is towelcome us. Listen ! it is singing as it flies, like
still made use notwithstanding its threadbare
of, some small elfin of the night.
condition, and probably will be so long as the world Yet, alas the luminosity of this insect has been
!
lasts ; this, perhaps, is to a great extent owing to denied by savants, who having wandered far from
the vulgar notion that it shows sound sense not to their native land, leaving all the comforts and de-
believe everything that you are told: yet this lights of home for the express purpose of searching
sceptical spirit cannot surely be an evidence of a out nature’s secrets, return from their toil and tell
powerful intellect, for we see it strongly developed us that our flying lanthorn is but a lanthorn of the
in the most illiterate. brain, invented no doubt by some light-headed
Familiar aswe all are with the glow-woi-m, and person and as proof of this, they say that they
;
knowing luminous properties, we should laugh

its have often seen the insect, but not its light :
to scorn any attempt to shake our faith in the

reality of its phosphoric brilliance; yet, just such
“ Sir, of my judgment you ’ll allow,
I’ve seen, and sure I ought to know.”
an attack has been made by the scientific men of
the present day, upon the fair reputation of another Ay, some go even farther. Dr. Hancock asserts
of night’s starry wanderers. that the whole of the native tribes of Guiana agree
Let us cross the Atlantic, and visit the dense in treating the idea as fabulous ; he considers the
forests ofSouth America, where strange birds with whole story an invention of Euroqieans desirous of
gorgeous plumage utter their varying notes where ;
assigning some use to the curious diaphanous pro-
those brilliant metallic butterflies, the Morplios jection resembling a horn lanthorn in front of the
and Apaturas, take their bold flight through the head of the insect ; he also states that it seldom
splendid tropical foliage, and summer, ever present, sings.
perpetuates the earthly paradise. Then, when And, perhaps, it might appear presumptuous on
evening with rapid stride closes upon the scene, our part entirely to disagree with these experienced
Nature, ever prodigal of her treasures, brings forth naturalists, did we not believe that some explana-
— —
134 LA.NTHORN-FLIES. [Nature and Art, October 1, 186fi.
tion of the non-appearance of luminosity in Fulgora In opposition to this, has been urged that
it
might be given. Those who have studied the Madame Merian was sometimes incorrect in her
economy of the glow-worm and other well-known statements, in support of which it is said, that she
luminous insects, will agree with us, that the asserts the fact of the large American spider,
brilliant light which the creature emits is the lamp Mygale avicularia, feeding upon small birds ; yet
of love, and burns only at that season in which this is not so supremely ridiculous an idea as might
be supposed, for in Mr. Bate’s Naturalist on the
“ So like a bride, scented and bright,
Amazons, we find the same truth recorded.
She comes out, when tho sun’s away.”
In 1837, Mr. R. M. Martin fully corroborates
We well remember taking home a glow-worm, the truth of the luminosity of the lantliorn-fly in
just such a one as many of our young readers the “History of the West Indies,” vol. ii., page
may have seen in that interesting little book, 184 (vol. v. of the British Chemical Library).
entitled “ The Butterflies’ Ball and Grasshoppers’ We need not, however, go so far back for informa-
Feast;” and placing it in our London garden, we tion on this head ; in 1858, Dr. J. A. Smith ex-
many a night had the pleasure of watching its soft hibited a specimen of the Fulgora laternaria aj; a
green lustre ; but one night, alas it had vanished.
!
meeting of the Royal Physical Society of Edin-
Before going to bed, however, we threw up the burgh, and he observed that it was still an
window and, gazing downwards, perceived, as we undecided question amongst naturalists whether
thought, two glow-worms glistening below us these flies were really luminous at any time it was ;
;
suddenly they vanished, and now again we saw therefore of importance that the undoubted evidence
them moving rapidly above our garden wall they — of eye-witnesses should be produced. Mr. Banks,
were only the eyes of a cat The true glow-worm
!
of Prestonpans, who had forwarded the specimen
had ceased to shine, for its luminous season had exhibited, was therefore at once requested to
passed. obtain further information from his correspondent
If, then, these insects have their seasons of brighton that particular point.
ness, why should not the lantliorn-fly also have On the 27tli of April, 1859, at a subsequent
a set time in which to light its lamp 1 meeting of the same society, Mr. James Banks
Dr. Hagen certainly appears to take this view :
communicated through Dr. Smith, the reply of his
he says, “ May it not possibly be the case that correspondent at Honduras to the question raised
Fulgora only luminous at certain seasons 1 ” He
is at the society, Mr. Banks had received several
also proposes another explanation of the mystery, letters upon the subject of the luminosity of
namely, that the luminosity may be confined to Fulgora, and they all bore testimony to the truth
one sex, this being, according to all analogy, ex- of the statement, that this fly emits light. letter A
tremely likely. from Mr. Alexander Henderson, of Belize, furnished
As to the reality of the luminosity of this insect the following details
at times, the following facts seem to our mind “ In answer to the question, Is it really luminous ?
1 ’
conclusive : certainly the fly possesses light, and therefore emits it.
As back as 1685, Nehemiah Grew, M.D.,
far The light is evidently under control, for it increases and
notices the fact lie, however, states that the
diminishes at pleasure. When the wings are closed there
;
are three luminous spots on each side of the head-piece on
Indians fasten two or three to a stick, and thus the upper part (like a cat’s staring' eyes) of a beautiful
obtain sufficient light to work, or to travel by. sulphur-coloured light, in rays that spread over the room.
Now, although Mr. Grew gives a figure of the The third luminous spot is seen when the fly is on its back,
Fulgora, it is possible that lie may in this matter half-way down the abdominal part of the insect. When
quiescent the lumination is least in daylight the upper
have been misinformed, as the very thing is known ;
spots are nearly white, emitting no light whatever (its

to be done with the Elater noctilucus, or fire-fly. lively time is at twilight). Immediately on being agitated,
Madame Merian, in her work upon the insects or moving about, the spots become sulphur colour and
of Surinam, not only asserts her belief in it, but radiate forth streams of light, clearly seen, although the
sun be shining into the room, as it now does at the moment
informs us that the first discovery which she made
I write, with the creature in the glass tumbler before me.
of this property caused her no small alarm. The We shut out the light, and to test the power of the fly I
Indians had brought her several of these insects, took up a book and read two verses of the 109th Psalm.
which, by day-liglit, exhibited no extraordinary Mr. Robert Gregg also took up a book and read by its
light. I hope this will satisfy all, that the lanthorn-fiy
appearance ; and she enclosed them in a box until
is luminous.”
she should have an opportunity of figuring them,
placing it upon a table in her lodging-room. In Notwithstanding all this, we see in the Zoologist for
the middle of the night, the confined insect made 1863, that Mr. Robert John Jeffry, of New Grenada,
such a noise as to awaken her, and she opened the cannot tell why it is called the “ lanthorn-fly,” for
box, the inside of which, to her great astonishment, it gives no light ; he imagines that the use of the
appeared all in a blaze ; and in her fright letting it subdiaphanous projection is to preventthepoorstupid
fall, she was surprised to see each of these insects insect from injuring itself by knocking against hard
apparently on fire. She soon, however, divined substances during flight, the head at such times
the cause of this unexpected phenomenon, and acting as a sort of buffer. Mr. Kirby, however, who
reinclosed her brilliant guests in their place of con- believed in the luminous properties of the insect,
finement. She adds, that the light of one of these imagined that the lanthorn which must necessarily
flies is sufficiently bright to read a newspaper by. precede the insect when on the wing, might act the
— ; —
Nature and Art, October 1, 18(ifl.] ON THE BRIDGE OF LISMORE. 135
pai’tof a guide, enabling tlie insect to discover its which had occurred within his own experience :
prey, and to steer itself safely in the night. he said that he once had a box of Chinese insects
As with the Fulgora laternaria of America, so before him, when, of two sailors that stood by, one
is itwith the Hotinus candelarius of China. Mr. exclaimed to the other, pointing to the Hotinus
John Bowring, who for many years resided in candelarius “See here, Tom, here’s one of the
,
China, where he made vast additions to his splendid flying candles that we used to catch in our hats
collection of beetles, asserts that he never observed along shore at night in China.” Mr. Smith, who
any luminosity about it however, in the year 1864,
: had not drawn their attention to the insect, or
we heard Count Christian Zedlety d’Enzenberg, mentioned the circumstance of its coming from
an officer in the Austrian service, affirm that he China, then asked them if they were sure that it
had seen it shining brilliantly at night, and that shone at night. “Well,” he replied, “those we
the luminosity flashed out at intervals, like a saw were just like this one, only they were red
revolving light ; he also said that one evening instead of yellow.” Now it is undoubtedly true
whilst strolling through the streets he observed a that the Chinese lanthorn-fly, although blood-red
crowd of Chinese gathered round a house, a look when alive, changes to yellow after death, and as
of perplexity on each countenance ; upon the wall the sailor was correct in this part of his story, we
above them was a brilliant greenish light. The may surely give him the credit of making no
count, who was a practical man, instead of gazing and mistake as to the fact of the insect’s luminosity.
gaping, with the words of that beautiful rhyme of We
trust that time will solve the mystery, and
our childhood stamped on his forehead clear the fogs of doubt that hover about the
“ Twinkle, twinkle, little star, luminous path of these most interesting insects, and
How I wonder what you are,” then we shall again be able to applaud the old
saying,—
took his walking-stick and knocked the object “ Magna est veritas, et prevalebit.”
down, and, as he had expected, it turned out to be
a flying candle he picked it up and took it home
:
In our plate we have given figures of three of
to show to some friends, who, as he thought, might the most striking Lantliorn-flies,
not previously have seen the phenomenon. Hotinus candelarius, fig. 1.
Mr. Smith, of the Bi’itish Museum, who also Hotinus maculalus, fig. 3.
heard this story told, related to us an incident Fulgora laternaria,, fig. 2.
BEFORE BREAKFAST, OK THE BRIDGE OF LISMORE.

By \V. Peaed, M.D.
HAD been hard at Avork, and Avanted rest. It blue hills : it Avas a summer night, in all its glory.
I was therefore Avitli no ordinary delight that, I had long been a prisoner amongst bricks and
early in J uly, I received an invitation from a friend mortar ; care and work were for the time cast off.
to visit him on the banks of the BlackAvater. The I was supremely happy, and felt in my inmost
offer Avas gratefully accepted, the answer Avas Avritten heart all the power of the sweet spells which nature
currente calamo, and, following hard on the heel of was weaving round me.
my letter, I Avas soon racing doAvn the Great Western The first sight that met my waking eyes Avas the
by the morning express. Quay of Waterford. Companies and regiments of
There about Bristol that Avas
Avas a quaint aspect pigs Avere marching doAvn for embarkation, Avith a
quite refreshing. As
drove through Bedcliffe
Ave discipline never attained except by Celtic SAvine,
Street, houses so old that Sebastian Cabot might and apoplectic oxen Avere patiently waiting their
have supped there, seemed to lean forward in order turn to go on board.
to take a nearer vieAV of us. Over grey roofs, over “Kar, your honour It’s for the station your
1
lofty chimneys, towered the spars of many a ship, en- honour is 1 Out of the way, gintlemen ” (to the pigs).
joying a questionable sort of holiday on the stagnant “ Here I am. Where’s your honour’s luggage V’
waters of the Float. Then, Iioav glorious Avere the Three or four “free companions” seized my pro-
rocks through which our vessel glided, Avitli a sIoav perty, and disappeared in the general melee ; nor
and stately motion how green the lovely Avoods of
! Avas it Avithout devout thankfulness that, after fight-
Leigh Yonder lay Pill, immortalized by Macaulay,
! ing my Avay safely through the tumult, I found the
iioav dozing, as it ahvays does doze in fine weather, on baggage already packed on the vehicle Avhicli Avas to
the margin of its muddy creek. White and ghost- bear me to the station.
like shone the lighthouse in the evening sunshine Fortified by breakfast at Cahir, for the second
Avider grew the Channel; the lazy waves gave us
•
time Ave committed ourself and our personals to the
the kiss of peace as we fleAV onwards between the care of an amiable savage, possessed of a minimum
Holmes. One by one the lamps were lit far off in of nose and a maximum of mouth, and set out on
the sky ; one by one lights shone out from many a the next stage of our journey. The great mountain
Devonshire cottage perched on the slopes of her tract which extends from Waterford on the east
; , ;
136 ON THE BRIDGE OP LISMORE. [Nature and Art, October 1, 18G6.
coast to Dingle Bay on the west was before us ;

every movement of our agile foe could be seen
slowly we mounted one spur after another, paused plainly ; and the marvel was how the slight hook
to rest by a lonely lake, and again resuming our held him, even for a moment. Noav he spins round
pleasant pilgrimage, at last halted on the summit. and round like a dancing dervish then he darts
;
Far below, on either side, stretched an interminable like an arrow into the deeps above but slower:
expanse of heather, now in richest bloom. To the grows the pace, those desperate leaps have broken
north lay the fertile plains of Tipperary, to the his heart, his race is nearly run, the polished steel
south the golden valley of the Blackwater ; whilst is —
near him uoav a foot— another inch There Avas !
on the east towered the purple peak of Ivnock-mel- a slight splash, the line grew slack, and leaning
dawn. Twilight was falling when we reached the over the parapet, I could see Mr. Ned, in the
hotel in the episcopal town of Lismore, and a short meadoAv beloAv, carefully extracting the fly from
stage would have carried me to my friend’s house our first fish for the day.
birtthat stage implied another hour’s jolting. I was Myprofessional friend had one fault his deli- —
dead tired, and had the Dean and Chapter asked beration was maddening. If the poor fellow ever
me to “move
on,” I should have answered “No.” had an enemy —which I doubt — he would have
Somnus a partial deity in the town he bestows
is ;
called it laziness, apathy, carelessness. The imper-
on his worshippers lethargy, in the country gives turbable one had some distance to come round but ;
them the blessing of rest. How light and refresh- when at last he did arrive, his constitutional tran-
ing were my slumbers. All night I felt the sweet quillity for once deserted him, as he cast a hurried
breath of the fields on my cheek heard the leaves
;
glance upwards at the arching rod, and then into
whispering to each other and was broad awake
;
the stream beloAv. It was a time for action, not
when the martins brought the first instalment of discussion, for Ave Avere “fast” in a stout salmon,
breakfast to their children in the mud cabin above whose furious runs and desperate summersaults de-
my window. The cathedral clock was striking five manded full attention. Up to this time, however,
as I stood in the street. The little place looked so matters had gone smoothly, the fish keeping Avell
clean and thriving, that it seemed less like an Irish up the Avater ; but we could not be blind to the
than an English town. “ The Mall” evidently held danger of his gradually dropping down with the
a resident gentry you might have sworn, without
;
current under the arch as strength failed him ; in
fear of perjury, that the curate and the doctor, the which case, with so heavy an adversary, Ave should
lawyer, half a dozen maiden ladies, and his reverence be ruined beyond redemption. The crisis Avas at
Father Mahony, P.P., lived there. But here, punc- hand unable longer to resist the combined forces
;
tual as the hour, comes my old professional man, of the stream and a hundred and tAventy yards of
Mr. Bay. line, “faint, but fighting still,” sloAvly, but, alas!
“Well, Ned I see Tim delivered my message.” too surely, he began to give ground. Now he is
;
My companion gave me a warm welcome, more —

within tAventy Avithin ten yards of the bridge
Hibernico, and then proceeded to business. now under, iaoav beloav !
“ With the butt at the level of my head, and the

I suppose it’s to the bridge your honour 'll be
going 1” point towards the Avater, I leaned desperately over
The distance did not probably exceed two hun- the parapet, endeavouring, by the elasticity of the
dred yards ;
eager fingers screwed the rod together rod, to check my friend’s progress on the road to
and passed the line through the rings in another ;
ruin. It is said, “ a wilful man must have his way,”
minute the small flies were falling and eddying over and a more headstrong individual than the one in
the high arch towards the tail of the long pool above. question I trust never to meet. Doavii, down, still
Light fell the line, but in vain again, and again,
;
—
down three minutes more, and I should be ruined.
and again the cast was repeated, without producing In the moment of peril true genius shows itself.
any more favourable result. Connected with the southern end of the parapet
“ I s’.pose we must change,” remarked Mr. Bay, was a Ioav Avail bounding a plantation belonging to
Avho had been standing silent and disconsolate at the Castle. Once there, Ave Avere on a level with
my left shoulder. “ This an’t like what you remem- the river. I could pass under the arch, and folloAv
ber it, before the queen put them bastes of gaps in the fugitive ; but, alas there were some twenty
!
the weir there, and spiled the best bit of wather in feet of empty air between that low Avail and the
the IioavI kingdom of Ireland. It’s all ready, your ground. All this flashed through my mind in an
honour ; but it an’t the least use in life. Sure ye instant ;
but, brief as that space was, the danger
didn’t rise him ? ” noticing an upward motion of Avas so much the nearer. Giving full play to the
the rod. “ Holy Mary but he’s stuck in him.”
! wheel, I dashed doAvn the road, leaped on the
The fish was light, but the ground was unfavour- masonry, and thrust the rod into Mr. Ned’s aston-
able. If the salmon dashed straight ahead, it Avas ished hands. Grasping the coping, and dropping
quite possible to be “ run out it was still more to the full stretch of my arms, I let go my hold,
likely that, when half done, lie might drop down and, by great luck, fell lightly on my feet. Swiftly
the current under the arch in either case there Avas
: but carefully the rod Avas lowered ; in another
a difficulty, the danger being in the ratio of the second it would have been too late, for the barrel
size. There was, hoAveA-er, little fear of losing the of the wheel shone brightly through the few yards
small but active grilse now on the rod from either of line which yet remained. With a shout to my
of these accidents. From our elevated position, companion, I rushed on, and in a dozen strides Avas
; -
Nature and Art, October 1, 1800.]

MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. 137
on the hank. Turning ray head whilst at full the sun in his might ; over the lofty trees rose the
speed, I saw a heavy body in the act of falling towers of the princely castle where John of Anjou
therewas a dull thud, as when a hundred-and-fifty- once revelled. In mid air the rooks wheeled and
pound shot an earthwork, and then a crash-
strikes circled in their happy flight, whilst many an an-
ing sound, accompanied by a dismal groan. chorite thrush was offering up his sweet orisons.
I was going three feet to the fugitive’s one, and “ It’s all over for this morning,” observed Mr.
soon he was “ under the rod,” laying like a helpless Ray. My thoughts had 'been mounting up to the
log on the surface. At this critical moment, Mr. rooks yonder, perhaps farther his were fixed on
;
Ray limped up, gaff in hand, and did his devoir like earth.
a true knight. “Well, he is a beauty one-and-twenty pounds,
!
When we again reached the bridge, the shade I’ll not a bad morning’s work, and before
go bail ;
thrown on the river by the masonry had nearly breakfast too. I think your honour won’t forget
passed away; high in the cloudless heavens marched the Bridge of Lismore in a hurry.”
MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY AND PORCELAIN.*
W E mayclass as Romano-British pottery all

earthenware of the period of the Roman
occupation, whether imported or manufactured in
ordinary table service. It appears probable that
hence “Samian” became a general term applied to all
commoner earthenware, wherever made, among the
the island. Within the last twenty or thirty years Romans, of this same red colour, which was pro-
many fresh specimens have been discovered, and duced by tinting the clay with ochre a practical —
the improvements in the metropolis and other answer to the Horatian question, Quid concinna
towns have led to excavations laying bare most Samo ? It is not clearly stated whether the original
valuable remains, of which the zeal of antiquaries Samian of the island of Juno derived its colour in
has not been slow to take advantage. Mr. Chaffers the same way, or from the natural red of the clay.
himself has done good service by his researches Air. Marryat attributes the extended use of the name
among the city excavations, “especially those for the to the excellent quality of the ware, “ as deserving
Royal Exchange, which afforded him opportunities from its perfection to be compared with that of
of saving from destruction many interesting relics Samos.” * Specimens have been found almost
of ancient art and objects illustrative of the wherever there were Roman settlements, and in
manners and customs of the Romans in Britain.” France and Germany Roman kilns and moulds have
He alludes with proper acknowledgment “ to the been discovered, supposed to be for the manufacture
labours of others in the same field,” and notably those of this wai*e, though the evidence is not considered
of Mr. C. Roach Smith, to whose “Illustrations of by our author to be quite satisfactory. From these
Roman London ” he refers those who wish for more it is believed that this colony was supplied, for no
detailed information. A sketch of a section of a such kilns have yet been found in England. The
cutting made in Cannon Street, in 1851, gives an method pursued by Roman potters in Germany,
excellent idea of the succession of accumulated where, as at Heiligenberg, near Strasbourg, and at
strataon which modern London has been built, Cologne, moulds have been discovered, appears to
and of the relative position of Roman and English’ have been as follows : —
pottery discovered there. “ Stamps, with handles either of bronze or baked elay,
The earthen vessels of Roman manufacture dis- were modelled in relief with patterns, devices, and potters’
covered in London, from which Air. Chaffers’s names these wore employed to impress an incuse pattern on
;
illustrations are almost exclusively taken, consist the interior of a general mould of soft clay, capable of con-
taining tho vessel in one piece, the interior being first
of plates or dishes, vases, bowls, cups, lamps, and
rounded smoothly into a perfect form by tho lathe. The
cinerary urns ; and the ware of which these are mould thus covered with the required pattern was fired,
composed are chiefly Samian, Aretine, and Castor. and became perfectly hard for future use. The moist paste
The two former were importations, the last was proof which tho vessel was made was then pressed into the
duced in England from British clay. There are, mould by hand, so as to obtain a perfect impression of all
the minute details. The irregular surface of the interior
too, some other instances of Roman fictile work
was smoothed by being turned in the lathe (for the lathe
with British material, to which no particular name marks are always visible) while yet in a soft state, and
or locality has been assigned. before it was removed from the mould, thus preventing any
Samian was a red lustrous ware, first made in injury which might otherwise happen to the ornamental
vase by handling. Both the mould and vase inside it were
Samos, whose potters were, celebrated 900 b.c.,
then placed in the kiln and baked the former having been
and which the Romans of the better class used for
;
already fired, would not shrink, but act as a seggar to

protect it from smoke, and regulate the heat, the latter
* Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, with would necessarily shrink during the baking, and be easily
Historical Notices of each Manufactory, preceded by an removed when finished. The moulds would then be kept
Introductory Essay on the Yasa Fictilia of England, and for future use.”
followed by a copious Index. By W. Chaffebs, F.S.A.
Second edition, considerably enlarged. (London John Davy:
* Marryat’s “Pottery and Porcelain Glossary of Terms,”
& Sons.) — Samian Ware.
— — —
1S8 MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. [Nature and Art,' October 1, 1866.
Of this Samian ware only vases, dishes, and plates glazed after the figures were laid on, which are usually of a
have been found in England, but no regular drinking- different colour to the body of the ware, as white on a light
brown or chocolate ground. Fig. 16 [of which we give a
cups. An example of an amphora is given, found copy] is a poculum of the Castor ware of white paste, dark
at Cologne. We present the copy of an illustration brown glaze, with a metalloid lustre, representing hounds
hunting a stag, laid on in slip after the vase was turned,
and then glazed a sort of engine-turned tool work is seen
;
at the bottom. Height, 4,1 inches ; found in Cateaton Street,

January, 1845.”
This is also, as we
learn from Marryatt’s book,
where the same plate is given, to be seen in the
Museum of Geology, and, from Mr. Chaffers’s
description, it must be an exquisite work. The
remains of this ware are chiefly drinking-cups, some
of them, like the example quoted above, attaining
elegance and luxury in design and ornament. The
form of some of the
of a very fine bowl (alas oidy a fragment) of this
!
am phone found in
ware, which was discovered in 1 845, in St. Martin’s- London of plain, we
le-Grand. The original may be seen by any one who presume Samian,
—
takes the trouble which will be well rewarded ware, is elegant
of a visit to the Museum of Practical Geology, in in its simplicity
Jermyn Street. The inscription of. vital. ( Officind simplex munditiis
Vitalis, from the workshop of Yitalis) is impressed — if the hackneyed
inside it. Horatian express-
Aretinf, ware, fabricated at Aretium (Arezzo), ion may be excused.
in Etruria, is distinguished from Samian of which, — We extract one
in its larger meaning, it may be perhaps considered from p. 23, fig. 30.
a variety, though Mr. Chaffers holds it as distinct Of tiles, cinerary
by the darker red of its colour, and the higher urns, and lamps,
finish of its work, and by the potter’s name being but few examples
generally impressed on a “ foot print,” or on the are given ;
in regard
outside of the vessel. to the last, owing,
The great authority on this fabric is Dr. Fabroni, Mr. Chaffers says,
whose book, mentioned above, is referred to by to their being, with
Mr. Chaffers. Only two specimens, one of them few exceptions, of a
found in London in 1841, are given, and we are left rude character. We
with very scanty information in regard to this ware. pass over them, and the former also, as presenting
Of Roman ware produced in England, some of no features remarkable in art, only mentioning a
blue-black colour has been found in the remains of good specimen of a terra-cotta lamp, which was
a very extensive pottery along the banks of the found at Cologne, and can scarcely, therefore, come
Medway, near the village of Upchurch. vase, A under the head of Vasa Jictilia of England. Of
probably of this manufacture, was dug up in figures in terra-cotta, two are mentioned, but they
Cheapside in 1850. are not very remarkable or valuable.
The Castor ware, made at Castor, in Nor- The marks on the Roman and Romano-British
thamptonshire, where are extensive remains of pottery consist generally of the plain name of the
kilns, was of a more ornate kind the vessels and
•
fabrication of this ware— specimens of which have

been found in various parts as well as near Castor
are thus described by Mr. Chaffers :
“These vessels are ornamented in relief with hunting

subjects, representations of fishes, scrolls, foliage, and
human figures ; the mode of
operation seems to have been
by means of sharp and blunt
skewer implements, and a slip
of suitable consistency. These
implements were of two kinds,
one thick enough to carry
sufficient slip for the head,
neck, and body of animals,
and another small enough to
delineate the details, as the
tongue, eye, lower jaw, legs,
and tail. There appears to In Samian ware
potter, and frequently contracted.
have been no retouching after
the slip trailed from the im- it isimpressed in the centre of the dish, as in the
plement. These vessels were figure of a patera, manufactured by one Ursulus,
; — ; — ;— —
Nature and Art, Ootober 1, 1866.] MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. 139
“ Let it no name of planets tell

Occasionally, however, the name is outside the
Fix’d stars or constellations ;
vessel.
For I am no Sir Sydrophel,
The Aretine ware, as we have said, is generally Nor none of his relations.
marked on a sort of foot, as below :
“ But carve thereon a spreading vine,
Then add two lovely boys
Their limbs in am’rous folds entwine,
The type of future joys.
“ Cupid and Bacchus my saints are
May drink and love still reign !
With wine I wash away my care,

And then to love again.”
The real value of all specimens of ancient pottery, The second part of the essay, containing an
or of glass or metal ware, is of various kinds, account —with various apposite and interesting
arising, first, from their intrinsic beauty i.e., as ,
literary illustrations, quotations, and allusions of —
works of art ; for in the oft-quoted line of Keats, mediaeval pottery in England, appears to us more
“ A thing of beauty is a joy for over
” complete than the former part, though still par-
;
taking of the fragmentary character, unavoidable,

or, secondly, from their historic interest, affording
perhaps, in an attempt to compress so extensive a
illustrations of the manners and customs of those
who used them, and from their form and com- subject into so small a compass. The specimens
which have been found of earthenware dating from
position, attesting (in combination with previously
the seventh to the fifteenth century, owe their value
ascertained data) to the period of historic facts
almost exclusively to their historical and antiquarian
or, thirdly, may be called by way of
from what
interest ; for, as Mr. Chaffers- notices, “ for elegance
distinction, their antiquarian value, namely, that
of form, or fineness of material, they present a
value which alone they often acquire in the eyes
lamentable decline from the Greek and Roman
of collectors as pieces of curiosity, for their rarity,
periods.”
age, and perhaps, too, for their hideousness. The
first two kinds of value are rational and elevating ;
From this remark, an
exception should be made
as to the last, it must be confessed that, save where
in favour of tiles, of
connected with one or other of the former, it is
which there exist examples
useless and contemptible, serviceable only to the
superior to any of Roman
pockets of curiosity-dealers, and exhibitors of the
fabrication. In this country
type of Barnura and Artemus Ward. Now, the
a special perfection had
Vasa Jictilia of the first part of Mr. Chaffers’s essay
—which might be perhaps more fitly called an il-
been attained in the thir-
teenth century, and Mr.
lustrated catalogue raisonnee of articles of antiquity
of this kind which have fallen under the writer’s Marryat observes
own observation — do not, interesting as they are, “ The tiles discovered in England are generally of better
make and more elaborate execution than those of the
afford more than a slight insight into Roman life in
Continent, and were no doubt of native workmanship.”
Britain, and prove rather the absence or poverty of
native fictile ware at the period, than exhibit the In Greek and Roman art, the grotesque was com-
abundant luxury of the articles of domestic life paratively rare, and when introduced, was geuerally
among the Roman colonists. Without indulging in combined with a certain grace whereas, in the pro-
;
the excesses of the vicious capital of the Empire, it ductions of the Middle Ages it is predominant. This
cannot be doubted that the tables of some of the grotesqueness is particularly noticeable in mediteval
richer settlers, or even natives, and of the Roman earthenware jugs, and it forms one of their chief
prefects and generals, were furnished with vases, points of interest. Some of the vessels especially —
goblets, and cups of Greek and Etruscan fabric, as drinking-vessels —
of the sixteenth and seventeenth
well as of silver and gold, of far greater beauty than centuries, were made vehicles of satire, and with
any here mentioned, ornamented probably, with their design are connected curious and amusing
bacchanalian and amorous subjects, social and allusions to the political and religious feelings, and
mythological. A picture of
such a composition is illustrations of expressions and passages in the
imagined and described in the exquisitely classic literature of the period. An example of this is
and elegant drinking-song by the Earl of Rochester. —
found in the “ Bellarmine ” so-called as a mark of
Protestant disrespect to the great controversial
“Vulcan, contrive me such a cup
As Nestor used of old cardinal, the champion of Romish politico-religious
Show all thy skill to trim it up, doctrine. This jug was “ introduced from Holland,”
Damask it round with gold. and “ was in general use in the sixteenth century
“ Make it so large, that filled with sack at public-houses and inns.” It is one of the family
Upto the swelling brim, of grey beards; and, according to Marryat, “received
Vast toasts, in the delicious lake,
its name in the reign of James I., in derision of
Like ships at sea may swim.
Bellarmine, and in compliment to the king, who
“ Engrave not battle on his cheek,
With war I’ve nought to do
had recently issued a rejoinder to Bellarmine’s
;
I’m none of those that took Maestrich, celebrated letter De Potestate Summi Pontijicis in
Nor Yarmouth Leaguer knew. rebus temporalibus, in which he sought to detach
;
140 MARKS AND MONOGRAMS, POTTERY, &c. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
the English Roman Catholics from their oath of

'
Earlier mention should have been made of Saxon

allegiance.” pottery, of which a short summary is given, but
there seems but little to be said on it, beyond that
“ it is generally rude, whilst the glass is elegant,”
a fact most curious, and well deserving attention,
investigation, and explanation.
For a considerable period earthenware appears
to have been held in rather low esteem, and to have
fallen into disuse. But few vessels were manu-
factured in England, and those generally of a coarse
kind ; all of the better sort came from abroad,
and a lucrative monoplv existed in the trade by
Royal grants. One vessel, however —but whether
of English or foreign fabric
“ Crusekyn,” is mentioned in
is —
uncertain the
|
an inventory of
Edward If. (1324), and was mounted in silver.
The word is still in use in Ireland, and is familiar
to all who remember the long famous and favourite
song “ The Cruiskeen Lawn,” recently made more
The following lines, quoted by Mr. Chaffers, from
popular among Londoners in the exciting drama of
“The Ordinary” (act iii. sc. 3), show that the “ The Colleen Bawn.”
,
of “ Conscience,”
By degrees, enterprise dis-
warning designation was also
covered afresh what the Romans, as we have seen,
applied in Ben Jonson’s time to these bearded jugs, j
found out centuries before, that capabilities existed

“ Thou thin", fora home manufacture; and in 1G2 6 permission
Thy some strutting: hill,
belly looks like to
O’ershadowed with thy rough beard, like a wood,
was granted by Royal Letters Patent to two persons,
Or, like a larger jug', that some men call probably, it has been suggested, foreigners by birth,
A Bellarrmine,
but we a Conscience, to carry it on. The document is, we think, of
Whereon the lewder hand of Pagan workman sufficient interest and value to be extracted in spite
Over the proud ambitious head hath carved
of its length.
An idol large, with beard Episcopal,
Making the vessel look like tyrant Eglon.” “ Whereas, we have been given to understand by our
loving subjects Thomas Rous, or Ruis, and Abraham Cullyn,
The specimen which we reproduce, was found
of the City of London, merchants, that heretofore and at
on the site of the Old Boar’s Head in Eastcheap, this present, this our kingdom of England, and other our
which gives it additional interest, and one cannot dominions, are, and have been served with stone pottes,
but wish that the excavators had been fortunate stone jugges, and stone bottells out of foreign pai-tes, from
enough to discover a specimen of the cups, of what- beyond the seas, and they have likewise shewed unto us
that by their industry and charge, not only the materials
ever material, from which, according to Shakespeare,
but also the art and manufacture may be found out and
Jack Ealstaff quaffed his sack a century earlier. performed, never formerly used within this our kingdom of
There is a humorous old song of note, familiar, England by any, which profitable invention they have already
perhaps, to many of our readers, which from its attempted and in some good measure proceeded in, and hope
to perfect by which many poore and unprofitable people
kindred, though more poetic fancy, and its quaint, ;
may be sett on work and put to labour and good employment.

however remote, connection with our subject, we We therefore grant our Royal privilege for the sole making
are here tempted to quote. Its title is “ The Brown of the stone pottes, stone jugges,and stone bottells, for the
Jug,” imitated from the Latin of Hieronymus term reward for their invencion, and
of fourteen years, for a
Amaltheus, by the Rev. Francis Fawkes, a learned they have voluntarily offered unto us for the same a yearly
rent of five pounds towards our revenue, soe long as they
and sociably-disposed ecclesiastic and friend of have benefittc by this our grant, neyther do they desire by
Johnson and Wharton, who lived between 1721 virtue of such grant to hinder the importacion of these
and 1777. commodities by others from foreign parts.”
“ Dear Tom, brown jug, wliich now foams with mild
this It may be presumed that it was after one of these
ale
(In which I will drink to sweet Nan of the vale),
grantees—conjectured have been a native of
to
Was once Toby Fillpot, a thirsty old soul Cologne —that the name of “culling” was given to
As e’er drank a bottle, or fathomed a bowl the jugs manufactured by them. “ These vessels
In boosing about, ’twas his praise to excel, were of a sort of mottled grey or brown, and their
And among jolly topers he bore off the bell.
necks were plain, and not bearded as the Bellar-
“ It chanced, as in dog-days, he sat at his ease, rnines ;” but, like them, they were unglazed. Two
In his flower-woven arbour, as gay as you please,
more vessels must be mentioned, the “ Costril ” and
With a friend and a pipe, puffing sorrows away,
And with honest old stingo was soaking his clay the “ Tyg,” both of coloured glazed ware. The
;
His breath-doors of life on a sudden were shut, former was pierced for a cord, so that it might be
And he died full as big as a Dorchester butt. carried on the person like the wooden barrel carried
“ His body, when long in the ground it had lain, by labourers, for which the same name is still in use.*
And time into clay had resolved it again, The latter, of which the name (of Saxon origin)
A potter found out in its covert so snug, still survives in Staffordshire, is more remarkable.
And with part of fat Toby he form’d this brown jug,
Now sacred to friendship, and mirth and mild ale ;
So here’s to my lovely sweet Nan of the vale.” * Marryat’s History, p. 140.

[Nature and. Art, October 1.1866
1
— :
Nature aud Art, October 1, 1806-3

SPROUTING PLATES AND JARS. 141
“It was made of coarse earthenware, with chocolate- numbered experiments, be made to combine with other
substances, apparently as heterogeneous, obtained from
coloured glaze, sometimes decorated with buff-
other nations.” — Shaw.
coloured ornaments,” and having two or three “ A
single piece of ware, such as a common enamelled
handles, was used as a parting or loving cup, being teapot, mug, jug, &c., passes through at least fourteen
passed on from guest to guest. different hands before it is finished, viz. the slipmaker, :
—
With what success materials have, since the time who. makes the clay the temperer or beater of the clay
; ;
the thrower, who forms the ware the ball maker and
of Messrs. Itous and Cullyn, been sought for in ;
carrier the attendant upon the drying of it

;
the turner, ;
England, and the variety of skill employed in their who does away its roughness the spout maker the handler,
; ;
application, will best appear by a final quotation who puts on the handle and spout the first, or biscuit ;
from the closing passages of the essay, with which fireman the person who immerses or dips it into the lead
;
fluid the second, or gloss fireman the dresser, or sorter

we will also conclude this notice. They are well ; ;
in tho warehouse the enameller, or painter

;
the muffle, or ;
calculated to excite an interest and curiosity in the enamel fireman. Several more are required to the completion
subject, and thus form a good introduction to the of each piece of ware, but are in inferior capacities, such as
rest and main part of Mr. Chaffers’s work, namely, the turner of the wheel, turner of the lathe, &c.”
his “ Catalogue of Marks and Monograms.”
On parting here from the author not without —
“At the present day, to produce the commonest painted an idea of some day returning to the subject we —
bowl used by the poorest peasant wife to contain the break- may take the opportunity of remarking that his
fast of her rustic husband, the clays of Dorset and Devon- present edition contains a mass of new and im-
shire, the flints of Kent, the granite of Cornwall, the lead
portant matter ; is elegantly, nay, luxuriantly,
of Montgomery, the manganese of Warwickshire, and the
soda of Cheshire, must be conveyed from these respective produced and has the great advantage over its
;
districts, and by ingenious processes, the result of un- predecessor of a careful index.
SPROUTING PLATES AND JARS.

By George Chapman, F.S.A.
HE drawings accompanying this article re- piece,have risen in several places from the substance
T present an exceedingly rare phenomenon of the china on Avhite crystalline, bases to the height
occurring in Porcelain, a phenomenon so rare, of nearly a quarter of an inch, and in other parts
indeed, that the present writer after careful in- a lesser disturbance has taken place but as the :
quiry and researches has heard of but two other movement is still continuing, the shoots may
instances. If, however, any of the numerous possibly all attain the same altitude. Such is the
readers of Nature and Art have met with any strange behaviour on the part of a tea-pot which
other examples, the information will be gladly re- had borne for so long, a quiet and respectable
ceived through the Editor. character.
Let them only be so fortunate as to escape We Avill shortly refer to the other instances on
fractures, and one is inclined to suppose that the record of this strange freak that porcelain nature
cherished bits of “ Old China ” that ornament our is liable to, and then state Avhat is probably the
drawing-rooms are among the most unchangeable scientific explanation.

of one’s possessions. Of the two improbabilities In the “ Recreative Science ” magazine for
one would, perhaps, rather expect to hear that January, 1860, the Editor tells us that, attracted by
one’s mahogany chairs were shooting into leaf, a handbill announcing the “ startling fact ” of an
than that one’s china tea-pot was growing, and yet old china plate coAr ered Avith “ a natural groAvth of
Ave have three instances of the latter occurrence, trees, shrubs, and flowers ” to be seen at No. 2,
and none of the former. William-street, Shoreditch, he attended the ex-
The jar under consideration which, though it hibition, and, for the outlay of 6d., saw the wonder
resembles a tea-pot was probably not intended for which he thus describes “ It is simply a case of
:
such a purpose, is of oriental manufacture, though it efflorescence, and the crystals formed by some sIoav
has been thought that possibly some additional decomposition taking place in the clay, force them-
colouring and gilding has been added and burnt in selves through the enamel, and in some instances
in this country —
a not uncommon circumstance. rise to a height of half an inch, in tufts and
It is of rather coarse substance covered Avith a hard bundles. In several places portions of the enamel
glaze ; its age may be from a hundred to a hundred are lifted up by the crystalline growth and appear
and fifty years. It has been for many years in the like lozenges laid on the flat surface.”
possession of a relative of the writer, resident in Lon- The other example was announced by the follow-
don. About a year ago it Avas observed that the ing amusing advertisement —
enamel Avas rising in lumps on the outside, and on ex- “ THE GROWING PLATE.”
amination it appeared also in the inside of the vessel. “ Go and H. Healey’s growing plate. The most
see Mr.
This process Avent steadily on till patches of the wonderful natural phenomenon of the age. The surface of
enamel, in size from a fourpenny-piece to a shilling an old china dinner plate, which has been in the possession
— —
142 AN INCIDENT IN THE PACIFIC. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
of Mr. Healey’s family nearly 300 years, during which long without injuring a very interesting specimen.
period it has escaped accidents of time, is now covered with
eruptions of the purest crystal, resembling palaces, shrubs,
A minute portion, however, which was removed
flowers, &c., &c., of the most exquisite beauty. On the 8th from one of the protuberances appears on examina-
of August, 1859, it was removed from the cupboard for tion to be chiefly, if not wholly sulphate of soda.
ordinary purposes, when it was found to be covered with The question now arises, how did the sulphate of
small eruptions, which created much surprise, and being soda get there, and what induced it to sprout
preserved, has continued to develop its wonderful natural
up, forcing up the enamel in the way above
curiosities to the present time. The attention of anti-
quarians and men of science is expressly invited. Now on mentioned.
view, 147, Oxford Street.” The following is offered as a probable ex-
planation :
Among who visited

those this plate was Mr.
Carbonate of soda was used in the enamel as a
Frank Buckland, who thus describes it in the
flux, the soda forming a glass with the silicic acid or
second volume of his third series of “ Curiosities
silica. The quantities not having been accurately
of Natural History” :
proportioned (the carbonate of soda being most

“ At first sight one would imagine that bits of common likely in excess), a slow decomposition (not
washing-soda had been scattered over the plate, and at- necessarily on the surface) has been going on for a
tached to it by gum but, on close examination with a
;
long time. There is hardly a mediaeval window
magnifying glass, I observed numerous excrescences of a
whitish opaque substance, apparently growing or extending
where such a decomposition may not be obsei’ved.
themselves out of the centre and rim of the plate. The The atmosphere of all large towns, London
largest eruption (if it may be so called) is about the size especially, contains suphuric acid, the result of the
of a fourpenny-bit, and it has raised up a portion of enamel combustion of sulphur in the coal.
above the surface of the plate to about the height re-
presented by the thickness of a new penny-piece.
The acid has by slow degrees combined with the
In
another place is seen a portion of enamel, also of an oblong soda and formed sulphate of soda, the moisture of
shape, just being raised up above its ordinary level by the the air supplying the water of crystallization.
substance which is coming up from below. Every equivalent of sulphate of soda takes ten
“ Numerous minor eruptions are also seen in the plate, all
equivalents, or more than half its weight, of water
presenting' the same appearance, viz., that of some sub-
of crystallization ; the increase therefore in the
stance taking its origin from the interspace between the
upper and lower surfaces of the plate, each raising with it bulk of the salt on crystallizing is very considerable,
a portion of enamel corresponding- in size to the extruding and hence the sprouting.
material. I have not the least doubt that this is a The length of time occupied by this change may
natural production that the material is of a mineral
;
be a puzzle to some, but the phenomenon will
parasitic growth, resulting from some chemical decomposi-
tion of the clay of which the plate w as originally formed.
r appear in reality to have taken place with great
“ The proprietor told me that he had refused a cheque for rapidity, if we compare it with the time which
a thousand pounds for his specimen. I therefore advise my must necessarily have elapsed in the chemical
readers to look in their china-closets, and see if any of changes in the crust of the earth that geology has
their plates have grown since they were deposited there.”
brought to light. When, by the decomposition and
It only remains that we should state the pro- the action of sulphuric acid and moisture in the
bable explanation of this singular phenomenon. aii’, the sulphate of soda had been formed, the
A complete analysis of the crystalline substance crystallization and consequent sprouting would be
which has forced up the enamel, is not possible comparatively rapid.
AN INCIDENT IN THE PACIFIC.

By P. Akis Eagle.
B.OBABLY in no part of the world are there finally mingle their waters with the ocean. The
P such a number of beautiful scenes as there are
in the various Groups which dot the Pacific from
landscape is crowned by distant mountains covered
with the rich verdure of the tropics, producing a
the Bay of Islands to the Equator. Of these, none scene that, for beauty and picturesque effect, may
are more diversified and interesting than the cluster vie with any in the world.
which comprise the Solomon group. The islands On a cruise round the northern island during the
display everywhere the richest vegetation and summer before last, in one of the numerous vessels
colouring ;
their rocky shores being often clothed engaged hi the sandal-wood trade that leave the port
to the water’s edge with tropical plants and shrubs, of Sydney, we found ourselves early one morning,
which dip their graceful stems into the sea. Deep under the shadow of a high mountain. The sun
glens, often enamelled with flowers of the brightest was flushing a strange orange tint in the east ; the
hue, revealing here and there the luxuriant foliage orange deepened into purple, and spread into broad
of the pandanus-tree, are relieved again by groves flakes over half the sky ; and, like magic, it was
of pine or sandal-wood, which extend to the foot of daylight. Watching the varying effects of sunrise,
the hills, and are intersected with rivers and stream- we curiously directed our attention to the mount
lets, whose glittering courses are traceable until they which towered above us like a gigantic cone.
Nature and Art, October 1, 18GG.]
AN INCIDENT IN THE PACIFIC. 143
Another moment and the light had struck upon its the fretted work
of jewellers. The vessel lay a little
summit, and it brightened instantly, looking like way her sails appearing like snow-flakes,
off shore,
a huge golden wedge, piercing the heavens. The and the men on her deck like small black insects.
island could not be more than twelve or fifteen Our late companions had already reached the foot
miles in circumference, and the peak was fully of the hill, which we had ascended so laboriously.
7,000 feet above the sea level. It rose almost While seated, we experienced a very distinct
perpendicularly, and the small ridges, or hollows on shock of an earthquake, and I felt the strongest
its face, were filled with richly coloured foliage. possible hope of seeing something more striking
The sea broke on rocks that looked like black pieces than an almost extinct volcano. As we ascended,
of marble, strewn in all directions along the shore. the shocks became more frequent, although not
Wenow noticed that a thin haze of blue vapour severe. They were sufficient, however, to terrify
hung in a fantastic shape above the space between the remaining white follower of ours he refused
:
the crags that formed the peaks of the island, and to proceed at last. The negro, “ Sal,” who was
it then occurred to us that it was a volcano, and rapidly becoming of a dirty grey colour, rather than
still active. This impression was strengthened his natural ebony, declined to go back with him,
upon a closer observation, and it was determined preferring our company, even in danger, to that of
by the captain (who was an American), and myself, our late companion, whom he looked upon with much
to ascend the hill, and examine the crater. Choosing contempt as a deserter. After another short rest
four men from among a number of volunteers, in- we again proceeded on our journey, but in spite of
cluding a negro, known as “ Sal,” and loading them our utmost efforts, the sun was getting low in the
with food and other requisites, we started on our west, when we stood upon the brink of the great
expedition, about nine o’clock in the morning. The crater of Tama-Tavoo. The scene Avhich broke
bo&t went merrily through the blue water, which upon us as we reached the top was strikingly grand,
was here as transparent as glass, showing deep yet terrible. The whole mountain seemed a mere
below us the little coral insects at work, rearing a hollow shell in its upper part so hollow, indeed,
;
wall, which now shone with every colour of the that it was matter of surprise that these two sharp,
rainbow, and was twisted into every beautiful or jagged peaks, one on each side of us, could have
fantastic shape imaginable. Out and in amongst the remained upright so long. The inside of the crater
purple and green coral stems, fish of the most intense was in shadow, and the clouds of sulphurous steam
blue dashed rapidly, or nibbled at the soft shoots, that hung about its sides in lazy wreaths, very
as they seemed, of the coral plants. The sky was much impeded our view of the bottom. couldWe
a cloudless sapphire in colour, and the great sun see it, however, probably not more than 1,000 feet
seemed to swelter in the intensity of his own light below us.
and heat. Startled as Iwas at the first sight of the crater
Above us towered the mountain, its jagged peaks in its far from extinct condition, I had scarcely
standing out, sharp cut, in splendid relief against glanced round me, when I conceived a strong desire
the background of sky ; while over it, like some- to penetrate its lower depths. My
companion was
thing unearthly and weird, hung the large vapour- eager for the adventure. With “Sal,” however,
cloud, which changed shape every few moments, it was very different. He expostulated in the
but — -asit were some ghostly warden of the strongest and most incoherent language against such
volcano’s mouth —
never left its station. In about an attempt as descending into what he forcibly
ten minutes from leaving the ship’s side, we reached designated as being “ berry like um hell.”
the shore. Its formation seemed to be of rock, yet Having deposited the food and other things we
scarcely anywhere was this visible for the creeping carried, I took up the track of the captain, who
plants that stretched their long tendrils in every had already got some way down the slope, and was
conceivable direction. Our progress, indeed, was shouting to me to follow, as he “guessed it war a
slow, and difficult from the first, owing to this darned rum location.”
tangled growth, which often twined round our feet The scene revealed to us when Ave had got about
as we went, and not seldom threw one or other of half-way down, was well calculated to impress one
us down. After about an hour’s travelling, the with aAve and wonder, and exceeded all that my
ground changed in character the sharp stones
;
imagination had formed of it. The setting sun
giving place to red burnt ashes, which rendered being partially intercepted by the taller of the two
ascent a matter of difficulty, as we often sank in peaks, a deep shadoAV was thrown right aci-oss
them nearly to the ankle. We
had journeyed for the huge gulph that lay between them. Far above,
about three hours, when two of our party gave in, a Avhite cloudlet floated, fringed with purple light,
and positively refused to go any further. Shifting and distinctly visible from below. The eastern
a portion of their load to ourselves, we left them peak of the mountain formed of basalt, black as jet,
free to return, and resumed our journey
after a few and jagged and broken into a thousand fantastic
minutes’ rest. Halting for refreshment about noon, forms, seemed set in burnished gold. Lower down,
we sat down upon the steep slope, and leisurely the white sulphurous vapour hung fleecy and heavy
surveyed our situation. The scene below us was ex- in the clefts of the rock, while little jets of steam
ceedingly beautiful. At our very feet, as it seemed, burst forth here and there Avith strange, intermittent
lay the sea, glittering like gold, and wrinkled all puffs. The bottom, Avhicli appeared not more than
over with ripples, that looked in the distance like 500 feet below us, presented an unearthly aspect-
144 AN INCIDENT IN THE PACIFIC. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
It seemed to be floored with stone, or rather with pass over the part of the place on which I stood, and
something like an asphalt pavement ; while, dis- just behind me there gaped a rent in the rock of about
tributed about, were a number of little hills, black four feet in width, out of which there burst, with a
in colour, and of the shape and appearance of a shrillscream, a column of white steam, and the red
sugar-loaf, but invariably puffing jets of steam, like lava boiled up to the very brink, as if it would
those from an engine, and often with as shrill a overflow. I shouted with terror. My
only way
noise. Every few seconds there came the shock of of escape seemed barred by this phlegetlion, that
an earthquake, more or less violent. hissed and bubbled, and leaped in little wavelets, as
The captain, who had nearly reached the bottom, if rejoicing at my coming destruction. I forgot
stopped occasionally to urge me to follow him faster. everything but the instinct of self-preservation. I
I could see him put his hand up to his mouth to turned, and planting my pole as securely as I could
shout, but his voice was drowned amid the rumblings in a crevice of the rock, where I could see that it
which appeared to issue from every side. smoked, and began to redden preparatory to bursting
“ Sal ” was a long way above me, apparently into flame, I ventured on the leap. Providentially I
making his way down the slope, but very slowly reached the other side, but so close to it did I alight,
indeed. Hastening after my companion, I managed that as the lava boiled up, a particle dropped on
to descend pretty safely, and escaped with a few my trousers, and inflicted a most acute pain. I
trifling bruises. Breathless, at last I reached the never once thought of the captain. The roar, and
bottom, and stood, as it appeared, on the shore of hiss, and howl of the terrible element behind me
a lake of asphalt, that had been suddenly petrified, made me run for my life, and I fled in horror even
with its ripples all in motion. It was a marvellous from things that I had faced without shrinking,
sight, and I confess to a sensation almost of terror half an hour before.
as I glanced around me, and felt, rather than saw, I cannot even now guess how I managed to get
how large a share of the light which showed me the over some of the cracks that gaped, and bubbled up
place, came from below me, rather than from above. floods of spluttering, foaming, red-hot lava or how ;
It was not difficult to discover whence this illumi- none of the showers of stone and cinders struck me.
nation proceeded. Close to me, at a distance of At last I had got away from that awful lake, and
not a dozen yards, there was a great crack, with a had climbed, in my terror, perhaps a hundred feet
chasm of about two feet in width, from which up the steep side of the crater. Here I was
steamed irp a lurid whitish vapour, and the reflected forced to pause from absolute exhaustion. Suddenly,
light showed plainly enough that below was molten and for the first time since the panic seized me, the
lava. thought of my companion flashed across my mind.
Seeing that my companion had gone across to With a shudder, I looked below me into the lurid
what seemed to be the most active side of the atmosphere— painful for the sight to dwell upon for
volcano, I set out to follow him. The rock was so many seconds. He was there. I could make out
hot that it burned through my boots as I "walked, his active, tall figure, now looking gigantic in that
and every moment my ear was startled by a report, extraordinary atmosphere, as it came towards me.
varying in loudness from that of a pistol to that of I watched it with my breath suspended, and my
a cannon. I had to leap from one huge piece of aching eyes starting from their sockets. I have
paving, so to speak, to another, across a gap that read of the awful sights and sounds seen and heard
glowed a dull sullen red at the bottom, and emitted by Arctic voyagers when the ice floes break up ;
vapour which made the eyes water. Still I pressed but I never read of, or conceived anything like
on, but slowly now, for the frequency of the ex- that I now gazed upon. The noise was deafening.
plosions on every side had in them something The floe of lava was parting each moment with a
appalling. I looked up overhead, the sunlight had crack like a thousand cannons' roar. Huge columns
faded from the peak, and the sky had a grey, cold of steam burst momentarily forth from some spot
look, which betokened the rapid coming on of night. where an instant previously you would have sworn
There was no want of light where I stood, however there was a solid rock, and with a yell that seemed
but it was dull, red, and smoky, like the light from to crack the drum of the ear, would rush up into
a huge smelting furnace, thrown out on a dark the murky air above, and hang in a grey cloud over-
night. I could just make out my companion, as head. The whole plain of lava which I had just
he appeared a long way in front of me his figure
;
left, seemed moving. Like blocks of ice on a great
looked of an unearthly size, and as if his body was river, the huge pieces of crust rock that covered the
transparent, and of the colour of molten iron. Just molten sea below, heaved and crunched up against
then came a terrific crash and a roar, and a huge one another, and broke with the most awful crashing
block of stone, at a red heat, fell within a couple of noise conceivable.
yards of where I stood. I saw the captain stop and I saw all this, yet I never took my eyes off my
look back, as if irresolute what to do. I knew that companion, the captain. Nearer and nearer he
I could not possibly make myself heard, but yet, came. From floe to floe he seemed to leap, as if
by an unreasoning sort of instinct, I put my hand —
by magic the magic of despair, I suppose. “ He’ll
to my mouth, and shouted to him with all my reach it he’ll reach it ” I shouted wildly, as I saw
! !
strength, to come back, for his life With a dull,

! him within a hundred feet of the edge, and in com-
heavy rumble, and a heaving of the ground, which parative safety. As I spoke, I was deafened by a
almost threw me down, a sort of shudder seemed to roar, louder by far than I had heard before, followed
J
Nature and Art, October 1, 186(5. AN INCIDENT IN THE PACIFIC. 145
by a rushing sound, which seemed to advance curiosity to see more. have prayed at the
I could
towards me, from the opposite side of the crater. moment for a gale of it came without my
wind ;
and
As if held by a fascination, I could not take my prayer. Suddenly, the wreaths of mist grew
eyes off my companion. He heard that sound, too, agitated, and swayed from side to side in wild com-
for he gave a start, and bounded forward towards motion then gathered up their huge white billows,
;
the brink. The rushing sound came on like a and passed away before the gale.
whirlwind. I looked up, and there, right across The volcano was in full and awful eruption !
the whole width of the crater, hurried a dense Right before me was the great crater, no longer a
white cloud, through which fiery coruscations black, smoky abyss, but now a boiling sea of red-
gleamed and flashed with an intense red light. hot seething lava. It leaped and waved, and
On, on it came I gazed at it in stupid terror.
! hissed with a sound like a myriad of snakes, while
My eyes followed it as it advanced, and then caught its awful waves lapped up higher and higher every
sight once more of the figure of my companion. moment on the sides of the crater. It would be
He had not reached the shore. I saw him raise his impossible to give an idea of its coloui\ Now it
pole, and plant it upon what seemed a perfectly was red, like the sky after a stormy sunset now ;
hard place. He leant upon it to leap, and the the colour of blood, so like it, that I shuddered
place on which it rested went down I shrieked
! again ;
then again of a purple tint, and almost
in horror, but the same instant the woolly-looking verging upon blue, while over it in all directions
white cloud passed over the spot, and flashing forth floated hazy vapoirrs of every conceivable tinge of
its red lightnings, rushed towards where I cowered, colour, throwing ghastly shades upon everything
trembling. I turned, and sprang up the steep within reach of their colouring powers. I saw now
ascent. From crag to crag I sprang, heedless of what the noise had been. The whole of the western
the fact that my boots were torn, and my feet and peak of Tama-Tavoo had disappeared slipped, I did —
hands bleeding and cut in a dozen places, so entirely —
not doubt into the boiling lake below it. As I
had the idea of escaping with life absorbed every looked where it had been, a thought thrilled through
faculty into itself. Presently, the cloud over- me like a fear once more. It was caused by a hope !
took me. I gasped as the thick vapour took my I stood upon, as nearly as possible, the very spot
breath, but I did not give in. On, on I sprang, at which I had begun my awful descent into the
totally unable to guess what was before me, but crater. Formerly, there had arisen on each side a
certain that death lay behind. I could see nothing craggy peak now there was but one peak. Before
;
more than a couple of feet from me now, and only me, the burning, boiling lake of fiery waves was
that by a tension of my powers of vision, which I surging and seething up towards me, foot by foot,
could not have endured for a minute at any other inch by inch The hope was, that it might over-
!
time. The volcano I knew was busy I could

! flow the crater, before it rose to the spot where I
hear the sharp rattle of huge pieces of stone thrown stood. It was but one shudder, and I was calm
up, and bounding down the steep side of the crater. again. —
Calm enough strange and unnatural as it
Still I struggled on ; struggled not merely as a man —
may appear to observe the forms of some of the
struggles for life, but as a man struggles to escape rocks at my feet, and to speculate upon the question
a horror worse than death. how soon each little point would be covered by the
At last It was the cool wind from the sea that
! advancing tide. It was curious how many things
sent that thrill through every nerve and muscle of I seemed to see at once. I was conscious of the
my body I knew that I had got out of the crater
!
;
moon floating undisturbed overhead ; I knew how
I could, however, see nothing yet. The white cloud beautifully the sea shone far below under its soft
was round, and all over me as before, and I had to rays ; I could even observe and wonder at the
grope round in the horrible darkness. Still, I felt curious forms which the fiery waves of lava assumed,
that I was in a place of comparative safety, and as they lapped up and up along the brink of the
that feeling unnerved my limbs and unstrung my crater. The only thing I could hear was the vast
muscles. I sank upon the ground in utter ex- hissing noise, to which I have before referred, and
haustion I must have been some time insensible,
! which had either drowned every other, or had
for I seemed suddenly to awake with a start, at a affected my sense of hearing, so that I could perceive
sound more appalling than any I had yet heard. I nothing else. On it came ! never stopping, never
leapt to my feet with terror At that moment,
! ceasing for an instant, that same awful monotonous
the wind came with a strong puff, and that fleecy sound. I shrank from it, and though with both
cloud, which glowed now with an unutterable light, hands I screened my face from the intolerable
rolled up in heavy folds before it, and split asunder heat and light, I was too paralyzed in body and
right overhead. mind to move, until a yet mightier sound, like the
It was The calm, broad moon was
like a dream. roar of a cataract, made me start from my lethargy.
floating rightabove me in an ocean of blue sky. I looked, and in a moment I felt that I was saved.
That flood of pure silvery light which penetrated The lake had found an exit already it had burst !
through the red glare round me, seemed to still my through the retaining brim of the crater, and was
pulse as if by magic. I scarcely thought whether rolling a mighty, glancing, quivering river of fire
there was a chance of life or not, my sole feeling down the steep hill-side.
- seemed one of awe, and of a strange kind of rest, Down ! down ! down ! My eyes followed its
mingled in some inexplicable way with a strong course as if in a dream. Before it I could see the
v. L
;
14G THE BAMBOO CANE. [Nature and Art, October 1, I860.
matted lowland shrivel up, and then

foliage of the close them at once. move, but I skeined
1 tried to
moment in what looked
toss its tendrils, each for a to be bound hand and and to feel a weary sort
foot,
like agony. At last it reached the shore, and, with of lassitude. Attempting to open my eyes, a hand
a plunge and roaring hiss, met the dashing waves was laid upon them, and a voice which I knew to
of the sea ! be that of black “ Sal,” said in a whisper, “ You
keepee your eyes shut, massa. You all right now,
When I returned to consciousness, and opened ’board ship. Sal bring um back from de mouth ob
my eyes, the stream of golden sunlight made me de bad place.”
THE BAMBOO CANE.

(Bambiisa arundinacea.)
T would be difficult amongst all the treasures inches in one day. In favourable situations it has
I placed at man’s disposal by an all-wise Provi- been known to shoot up twenty feet in height, and
dence, to find one possessing so wide a field of use- attain a circumference of from nine to ten inches in
fulness as that now under consideration. As there six weeks. Many natives, experienced in matters
are sermons in stones, so are there discourses most relating to cane, assert that every bamboo reaches
eloquent inscribed on the ridged and furrowed bark, its full altitude in one year from the time of its
the spotted leaf, and amongst the waving grasses springing from the ground, and that the only
and trees of the forest, the ebbing and flowing tide, change it afterwards undergoes is in the deposit of
the drifting “ gulf-weed,” and the branching coral woody matter in its substance. It is very doubtful,
each tells its tale of wise provision to those who however, as to whether this is the case, as many of
roam amongst the works of Nature, and faithfully the “ topes,” or clumps of bamboo, which we have
study at her shrine. From the frost-bound North, examined in Bengal, appear to be of considerable
where the pigmy Esquimaux launches his skin age, and of growth too irregular, even in the same
canoe amongst the floes of floating ice, and clump, for all the shoots to have attained their full
captures the oil-bearing seal and fish — destined to height at any given period, as light, space, and
furnish light, heat, and food through the long- character of soil must all influence their develop-
twilight of an Arctic winter —to the prairies of the ment. Another notion prevails that in certain
far West, where the mounted Indian hunter dashes localities the cane will not bear seed until it is
in pursuit of the countless throngs of bison dotting fifteen years old, after which it immediately dies.
the plains, Nature provides for man, as well as in Although growing wild over a vast extent of the
other lands, Avliere, under an ardent sun, lie requires East, the bamboo is at times carefully cultivated,
more varied material with which to supply his daily and great pains are taken in its management. It
wanfs and necessities. Our present object is to show is very singular, that although rich spongy soil is
how amply many of the most important require- so congenial to its growth, continued moisture
ments of those resident within, and on the borders of, destroys it to a certainty. We
had an opportunhy
the Torrid Zone, are supplied by the gigantic grass, of seeing this fully proved. A
small rivulet, which
so wisely and profusely placed ready to their had served to drain the superfluous water from a
hands. Nothing can exceed in beauty the graceful miniature lake in the woods, had been dammed
bamboo, as its feathery foliage waves and flutters back by a fallen tree leaves, sticks, and dead water-
;
in the breeze. The colour of its long, narrow, plants had added their mass to the obstruction.
pointed leaves is charmingly refreshing, and the The lake had to find for itself a new outlet, which it
shade afforded by the natural canopies often formed did at the head of a valley on its border, converting
by it is most enjoyable. It will be observed, on that which was a bamboo thicket into a swamp.
examination, that the bamboos brought to this Every cane was soon dead, and standing stark and
country for fishing-rods, walking-sticks, <fcc., are withered, whilst a thousand flowering plants and
hollow, and that the hollows are divided at certain trailing creepers made haste to clothe them with
intervals by knots, or “ internodes,” as they are their leaves and blossoms. So destructive to the
called. These are produced by bundles of sap- bamboo is a too humid soil known to be, that a
bearing fibres, which are thrown across each other. wide, deep trench is cut round each plantation, in
They, like the rest of the interior, are lined with a order to carry off the water.
soft white coating. From the outside borders of The bamboo propagated from young sprouts,
is
these knots are produced alternate lateral buds ;

which are placed in pits about two feet deep, pre-
and from these grow the alternate branchlets, which pared for them at the close of the autumn months.
form of arrangement gives such elegance to the As the season advances, and the young plants take
full-grown cane. No plant with which we are ac- root and shoot up, they are cut ofi' close to the earth,
quainted has anything like the rapidity of growth in order to impart vigour to the parent root. And
of the bamboo ; it sometimes grows as much as four now comes into operation the art of the cane
[Nitare tad Art ,Q*tol>«r 1 . 186ft.
;
Nature and Art, October 1, I860.]

THE BAMBOO CANE. 147
cultivator, who culls, assorts, ami selects the par- any of the ordinary acids it remains unaltered by
;
ticular plants he considers best adapted to the and forms with the alkalies a clear glass, just as
fire;
special uses for which they are ultimately intended flint would. This is the celebrated “ Tabascheer ,” so
those destined to ornament the garden and the renowned throughout the East for its marvellously
pleasure-ground being turned into graceful curves, curative properities and it is not improbable that
;
over sticks bent for the purpose ; others, such as this, like many
other Oriental productions, may
are used for fishing-rods, or the slender flag-poles contain virtues little dreamed of by the medical
of the temples, are allowed to shoot up straight practitioner at home.
to their full altitude, all the other sprouts from the A
decoction of bamboo-leaves is esteemed a
roots being cut oft’. A
very curious method is specific in all catarrhal affections. A highly prized
adopted when a cane of unusual size and height is salve is made from the root, mixed with tobacco-
required for any very special purpose. leaves, betel-nut, and oil. The outside rind is ex-
After careful search and due investigation, a root tensively used in cases of a febrile tendency, and an
of the most vigorous description is selected by a infusion of the young buds is frequently made use
whole conclave of knife-bearing cane-growers, who of as a cooling drink. So much for it in a medicinal
usually have a great deal to say on the subject. point of view.
This, after being carefully dug up, is planted again “ Blessings on the bamboo,” say the Hindoos.
in a pit prepared for it, in the most favourable It makes you well if you are ill, and is very nice
position to be found on the plantation. The shoot food into the bargain. There is a sort of forest
is now cut off about five or six inches from the dainty which the Hindoos are particularly fond of,
ground, leaving a hollow tube projecting, and into and this is its mode of preparation Young bamboo :
this hollow of the cane is rammed a mixture of sprouts, fresh and crisp, are gathered, cut into small
stable litterand pounded sulphur, until it is quite pieces, and placed with an equal proportion of
full. For three years, every sprout appearing above honey, plundered from some colony of wild bees, in
the surface is scrupulously cut off. The most a bamboo joint of goodly size. This luscious com-
vigorous and best- shaped shoot of the fourth year is pound is then tightly pressed home ; a coating of
alone allowed to stand, which in due time becomes rough, tenacious clay is moulded over all. The
a sort of Goliah amongst canes. Those which turn mass is then roasted slowly and carefully over a
out either crooked or unsightly, thereby rendering clear wood fire, until the splitting clay and browning
them unfit for the purpose originally intended, are cane show the experienced and watchful cook that
immediately applied to another, such as fencing in the roast is done to a turn. "When served on a
the plantation, making bridges across the drainage- freshly-gathered plantain-leaf, it is a delicacy not
ditches, props for other canes, splitting, &c. to be despised or thought lightly of.
Nothing is wasted. The young sprouts which By the Chinese the seeds of the bamboo are
are cut off as superfluous, are carefully preserved, used extensively as an article of food, and during
and served up at table like asparagus, to which periods of scarcity whole districts are mainly de-
vegetable they are quite equal, if not superior, with pendent on them for their daily support. Chinese
the advantage of being in season all the year round. historians and poets have extolled the innumerable
A little loose earth heaped up around the main uses and virtues of the bamboo, using it as a type
root keeps the sprouts blanched and succulent. of all that is good and graceful.
Prepared with salt, they are excellent as an ac- Water-wheels are entirely made from it. Water-
companiment to rice ; boiled in syrup, they form pipes, miles in length, are formed by uniting the
an important element in many of the best Eastern larger joints end to end. Buckets, cups, boxes,
preserves and sweetmeats and with vinegar and
; agricultural implements, weapons of war, and even
capsicum pods, a pickle of exceeding excellence is boats and ships of very considerable tonnage are
made from them. Many of the large hollow stems constructed from this material" alone, the hull,
contain a very considerable quantity of cool, palat- masts, yards, sails, and even many of the ropes
able fluid, the presence of which is ascertained by being made of bamboo, either whole, split, or
the experienced, by shaking the cane in a sharp, twisted ; some of the most powerful bows we have
peculiar manner, when the sound emitted by the ever seen were in the possession of the Bheels of
imprisoned fluid discloses its whereabouts, and the Candish, which with their strings and the arrow-
cane is tapped for its obtainment. This juice is shafts, Avere composed of bamboo only. Through-
not only an agreeable and refreshing drink, but is out the East bamboo pens are preferred by the
said by the natives to be particularly wholesome. “ learned Pundits ” for transcribing their volumi-
It is somewhat curious that the siliceous element nous writings.
found covering the outside of the cane, like a The with which the Indian sends
pellet bovj, too,
varnish, should be held in solution by this fluid. his ball ofsun-baked clay with such wondrous
But that it is so there can be no doubt, as when precision, is formed from a split bamboo. Houses
the liquid or sap is allowed to remain for any length are built, roofed, and floored with it whilst the ;
of time in the tubular cavity of the cane, it either ingeniously constructed mats which serve as blinds
becomes absorbed altogether, or leaves a hard to the windows, admitting light and air, yet ex-
concrete substance, far more like a mineral than a cluding the ardent rays of a mid-day sun, are made
vegetable production. Possessing, in fact, all the of split cane. Baskets, brushes, brooms, and the
attributes of an earth product, it is not acted on by shoulder-poles for carrying burdens are of cane, as
—
148 OIL PAINTING WITHOUT A MASTER. [Nature and Art, October 1, 18GG.
are nearly all the various contrivances used in the passing breeze eddying round and passing into them,
Eastern fisheries, such as rafts, outrigger boats, net produces tones and cadences of the sweetest melody,
scaffolds, (fee. &c. ; whilst floors, flat stages, and swelling and dying away like the sweeping strains
platforms are made from certain kinds, which having of some huge AEolian harp, and charmingthe listener
an incision made in them from end to end, are then by their extreme wildness and apparent mystery.
flattened out and pressed until perfectly even, when This forest organ is called by the Malays “ Bulu
they are used much as we use deal planks. A Perindu,” or the cane of melody. Other instru-
deep well may be excavated by splitting up the ments less pleasing in their notes are constracted
end of a long bamboo, and working it up and down from bamboo joints arranged size after size, and
in the ground until the filaments are clogged struck with a wooden hammer these are called :
with earth and stones. These accumulations are “ Ankalongs.”

shaken out at the surface from time to time, and Flutes and fifes of ear-piercing shrillness are
the cane again introduced until a round hole of constructed from the smaller joints, whilst “Pan’s,
sufficient depth to reach the water has been formed. pipes ” are merely “ Ankalongs ” on a very small
The benighted pedestrian provides himself with a scale blown into instead of being struck. As an
walking-staff of split cane, the noise of which instrument of government, civil, military, and
scares the snakes from his path. (We have often domestic, the bamboo reigns paramount in
carried one of these when cobras were unpleasantly Eastern lands. Nothing can be done without its
numerous.) The running postmen of India carry assistance. The governor of an unruly province,
hollow bamboos with iron rings loosely fixed on or the head of a family, alike seeks its aid in the
them, so that the sharp clanking sound they give maintenance of his due authority. As we see in
out may keep the prowling tiger at a resjjectful the case of Hyson, Senr., when dealing with his
distance. Indefatigable John Chinaman, like disobedient but love-sick son :
Robinson Crusoe, is incomplete without his “ And as the thrasher swings round in a trice,
umbrella. Robinson constructed his partly of The ponderous flail and thrashes out the rice,
goat-skin, John makes his solely of bamboo, the — So whirling round his head a stout bamboo,
He thrash'd his son, his son who dared to woo.” *
stick, the frame, and the cover. By steeping the
wood and separating the soft white lining before From youth to age, in sickness or in health, in joy
referred to, a very serviceable description of paper and sorrow, from the cradle to the grave, bamboo
is made, which is applied to numerous useful pur- and the Eastern man are inseparable. Close up
poses, umbrella-covering amongst the number. his mines, cut clown his rice, and root up his fruit-
A coat of varnish renders it impervious to rain, trees, —
he lives and struggles with adversity so
and its light colour readily reflects the sun. In long as his precious cane is spared. What would
certain islands of the Malayan Archipelago, the become of him if disease should fix on and sweep
inhabitants have ingeniously converted the grow- that away, is more than we can venture to speculate
ing bamboo into a natural instrument of music, and on.
by perforating it with holes of different sizes
according to the dimensions of the joints, the '*
The Loves of Young' Hyson and Bohea.
OIL PAINTING WITHOUT A MASTER;

OE, HINTS FOE AMATEUES.
By Mary Constance Clarke.
HE following hints for painting figures in oils several practices I have dared to suggest but after
T
been
are written for those amateurs who, not having having tried divers styles and modes of colouring,
;
able to meet with good instruction, are yet 1 have come to the conclusion, that for an amateur
desirous of trying to “walk alone” without the without a master, either of the following methods
help of a master. The rules to be observed will will be found the best to adopt. Trusting then,
probably be needed only by those who are teaching that these hints may meet with the approval of
themselves, as the pupils of any master will, of some artists, and be useful to those amateurs who
course, wish to follow the practice of that master, are struggling on in thfi dark, and with whom I
in preference to any new or unaccustomed style. well know how to sympathize, I will, without
However, I hope that the experience of many years further introduction, explain how a picture may
of study, and the results of much experimental be painted in oils.
painting, may not be found utterly useless to any To paint a good picture, whether a copy or an
amateur artist ;
and as I have so often been asked, original, it is necessary that the pupil should know
“ how I do it,’ I have endeavoured in this little how to draw, that is, know
the shape of
should
treatise, to explain as well as I can, in writing, all every feature accurately, so that an eye may not
that I have hitherto taught by word of mouth only. be painted like an almond, or a mouth with a
.1am quite aware that many artists may object to straight line through it. In fact, a slight knowledge
—
Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.] OIL PAINTING WITHOUT A MASTER. 140
of anatomy is very desirable, if the pupil wishes to flake white, with a small sable brush, having first
produce a face or figure that will appear alive, rubbed a drying oil on it and wiped it off
little
instead of a wooden doll, prettily coloured. Taking thoroughly, with a silk handkerchief this is to —
for granted, then, that drawing has been properly enable you to wipe out the outline from time to
acquired, I shall begin by suggesting that the pupil time, if incorrect, while wet. The sketch should
should put aside all ideas of washes and floating now be left till the next day to dry, and then the
colours, and understand that oil colours are only to colouring may be begun.
be dabbed on (thinly or thickly as the case may be) Suppose you are going to paint a head. Put out
and the lights put in, not left, as in water-colours. on the palette small quantities of flake white, burnt
The first thing to be done, then, is to procure sienna, vermilion, and raw umber. Add some copal
the following colours in tubes : to them, and mix it well with each colour, wiping
the knife carefully, after every mixture, with the
Flake white. Lake or rose madder.
cloth. The use of the copal is to make the colours
Yellow ochre. Indian yellow.
dry hard and firm, which they ought to do in
Burnt sienna. Vandyke brown.
twenty-four hours, unless too much copal is used.
Raw umber. Light red.
The proper proportion is, one drop of copal to
Cobalt. Ivory black.
about four times the quantity of paint, and great
Prussian blue. V ermilion. care must be taken to mix them well together with
Indian red.
the palette knife ;
for where the copal and paint
These colours are sufficient for everything, as the are separated, one part will dry much slower than
fewer varieties that can be used the better. Get the other, and must be more perishable, as it is not
also, a bottle of copal varnish. This should be protected by the varnish. Never be tempted to
pure and free from resin, or the picture will in time paint any part of your picture without copal, to
crack. That bought at a coach-maker’s is said to save time ; for, although it will look quite as well
be the best, but it sometimes requires thinning with as the other parts at first, it will not dry as quickly,
a little turpentine, and may be troublesome to and in a few years (or even months, sometimes),
manage. A
bottle of pale drying oil, and a cup or the picture will show the difference.
wide-mouthed bottle of common sweet oil ; one or Now, rub some drying oil over the sketch, and
two hog’s hair brushes, and three or four sables, wipe it off again as before ; and do this before
all of different sizes; and one large round brush of beginning each day’s work only be sure that the
;
the best camel’s hair an old silk handkerchief, and

;
picture is dry when you oil it. Take a little of the
a piece of linen or calico a wooden palette, and a
;
flake white, and a touch of burnt sienna blend them ?
palette knife ; and a prepared mill-board or canvas, together with a sable brush, just to make a pale
make up the list of the apparatus required. flesh tiut, and paint very thinly the light parts of
Now, begin by squeezing out on the palette a the face, neck, &c., leaving all the broad shadows
small quantity of raw umber, with one or two drops in the brown ground. You will find that wherever
of copal varnish mix them well with the palette
: the flesh tint is very thin, it will give a delicate,
knife (as you would mix salt with butter on your pearly grey tint over the dark ground, which will
plate), and paint over the prepared millboard with serve in most cases instead of blue, and can never
a hog’s hair brush, till it is as dark as brown paper. look dirty, as blue sometimes does. Subdue the
Then take the large round brush, and holding it white outline with raw umber. Mix, and use,
perpendicularly to the board, strike it quickly all vermilion and white for the cheeks and lips, and
over the painted surface until it has an even, slightly do not let any other colour get into this while
granulated appearance let it remain till the next
: wet, or it will look dirty. Then put in, very thinly,
day, when, if quite dry, the picture may be begun. the reflected lights, with the flesh tint, and the
This should be first sketched on a piece of paper, bright high lights on the forehead, nose, chin, (fee.,
and from this a tracing may be taken. Put out on with white alone, according to the high lights of
the palette a very little flake white, with a small the copy, the whites of the eyes, and the tint of
drop of copal mixed in it ; twist a corner of a cloth the eyeballs, blue and white, raw umber and white,
round the finger, dip it in the white, and rub it (fee., according to their colour, and the pupils in ivory
hard on a sheet of writing-paper, as thinly as black only leave the ground for the shadows, and
:
possible, working it well in, to pi-event too much paint thinly, so as to allow it to shine through,
coming off. Lay this, face downwards, on the pre- except in the very high lights, which may be
pared board, place the tracing-paper over, and draw painted thicker. Then paint a little of the back-
—
the lines again hard take off the paper, and the ground round the face with whatever colours are
sketch ought to be seen clearly in white on the in the copy, or that you may choose, if painting
brown board. Sometimes the white paint will from nature; only, if you use cobalt, you must also
come off in spots where the pencil has not traced, use cobalt in all the blue-greys of the flesh, and the
but they may be wiped off carefully with a silk same with Prussian blue. The latter is the best
handkerchief, without injury to the outline. Com- colour to use. Cobalt, raw umber, and white,
mon black paper will do instead of white, but the or Prussian blue instead of cobalt, make a good
outlineis not so distinct. Any one, however, who background. If you have much ground to cover,
can draw readily and correctly, had much better mix the tints on the palette with the knife, as the
make the sketch at once irpon the board, in the brush will not do it so evenly and effectually where
150 OIL PAINTING WITHOUT A MASTER. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
there is much
colour to mix at once. Take care ground. Paint the lights more thickly, so as to
never to the background be darkest close to the
let leave the thinly-painted parts of the day before to
face, or it will appear to touch it, and there will be serve as half- tint.
no air behind the head. It should be quite hat and Now, you may alter the drawing of any part of
even, or a very little lighter (almost imperceptibly your picture if defective, but this must be done
so) just where it is painted close to any part of the with care, so as not to get the picture hard and
face or figure, &c., unless, of course, they really wooden, or dirty ; and always use rarv umber, or
come in contact, as might be the case, were a chair raw umber and white, for any alteration in, or
or cushion to be the background, and then the addition to, the shadows and half-tints ; as long as
shadow of the figure cast on such objects should raw umber and white are alone used, the picture
be carefully defined in shape, to show that it is will keep its clean and fresh appearance. And
shadow, and not dirt. don’t be tempted to put in any blue or yellow into
Now, put in the hair, slightly touched in the the picture at present, although you may see it in
lights with raw umber and white, and darkened in the copy, or in nature. Paint the dark lines and
the shades with raw umber alone. Also the dress, shadows of the mouth with vermilion and raw
with whatever colour it may be, only thinly painted umber, or vermilion and burnt sienna, according
at first.Remember, in all parts of the face and as you require darker, brighter, or lighter shadows,
figure, to keep the lights and shades quite clear and and the half-tints with vermilion alone. Then put
distinct ; that is, the shadows must have a definite a slight touch of vermilion in the reflected lights,
shape, according to the form of the feature, lock of if they are warm, and in the centre of the darkest
hair, drapery, &c., that casts them for, if they ;
shadows, such as that cast by the nose, and in the
are allowed to be indistinct, they will only look deep shade of the nostrils, in the shadow cast on the
like dirt on the face. The edge of each shadow, throat by the chin, on the chin itself where the
may, form has been carefully left by the
after its shadow is deep, in the corner of the eyes, in the
flesh tints, be slightly softened by touching it gently upper line of the upper eyelid, under the ear, and
with the brush that the flesh tint has been put on inside it, &c. and’ in the shadow thrown on the
;
with, after having wiped it on the cloth to remove flesh by the hair, dress, Ac. You will always find
some of the paint. This will do for the first day’s this warm tone in nature, unless some other colours
painting, and the picture had better dry before any in the dress, background, &c., are reflected more
more is attempted. The brushes must now be strongly, but it is never such an agreeable effect if
washed in turpentine, wiped, and dipped in sweet they are. The vermilion in the deep shades may be
oil, before they are put away, and the oil carefully subdued with raw umber and white, if too harsh and
washed out again with turpentine before use the strong. It is only of use to give a rich, warm glow to
next day, as sweet oil will not dry, and must on the shadows. Some artists use Indian red for this
no account get into the paint; its use is only to purpose, but it is so apt to become heavy and dirty
prevent the brushes getting stiff and hard while if used unskilfully and its tendency to give a dull
;
not in use. The brushes may often be washed in lilac tone to the flesh, makes it a very undesirable
turpentine, and wiped, while the painting goes on, colour to use, except in draperies, when glazed with
ifneeded, but not in sweet oil. The palette must other colours, or in the shadows of clouds in land-
be scraped clean with the knife, and wiped with scape backgrounds.
the cloth, and rubbed with a little drying oil, to Wherever you see a grey tint or shade, leave
polish it, and the paint thrown away. It is of no the flesh tint thinly painted on the ground, as this
use to try to keep it in water till the next day, for it gives the pearly tint I before mentioned, and it is
becomes very disagreeable to work with ; therefore, better than any blue colour laid on, until quite
to prevent waste, no more should be put out on the near the last painting, as blue is so apt to look
palette than will be wanted for each day’s painting. heavy and black if not most skilfully used. Pure
If the paint sticks to the palette, and does not wipe white alone will look quite blue on the brown
off readily, a little turpentine will clean it effectually. ground, unless the latter has become very much lost
Second painting. If quite dry which may be — in the colouring and it will look blue if painted
;
tested by touching it with the finger rub a little— over any part that has been touched again with
drying oil over the picture, and wipe it off again, raw umber, or glazed.
as before. Then put out the same colours on the Be very careful to leave no hard lines. There is
palette as on the first day, and after washing the no line in nature ;
therefore, to prevent the picture
brushes in turpentine, wipe them, and let them dry being wooden, and to give the soft appearance of
a few minutes. Then begin to paint in the flesh flesh, stipple along the edge of every line, with
tints as before, putting in more white in the bright shadow or half-tint as the case may be, until the
lights, and painting all the paler shadows over with line ceases to be a line. To explain my meaning
flesh tint, till they are nearly of the right strength, better, I will sujrpose you have painted in the lips
and lay on the same in the darker shadows and the dark shade between them and on the upper-
thinly and sparingly, always remembering that lip. You will find that there is more or less of
every shadow has its depth. In painting over the half-tintabove the edge of the red of the upper lip;
dark shadows with the opaque flesh tint, great care this should be stippled with raw umber and white,
must be taken not to put it on too thickly, but let where the red and flesh tint join, and the red itself
it appear like a thin veil, over the raw umber stippled at the extreme edge with rather lighter red.
Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.] OIL PAINTING WITHOUT A MASTER. 151
So that although the lips will appear quite clearly Avhole. The flesh tints will then be slightly dark-
defined in shape, yet the outline will have no line ened and enriched, and the shadows become more
or sharp edge to mark it, but one part will melt transparent. Then put out on the palette the same
into the other imperceptibly. The same must be colours as at the first painting, mixed with copal,
done to the division between the lips, also the lower and begin painting into the glazing, while wet,
edge of the under lip, the outline of the face, neck, with the flesh tints thinly as before, putting
&c., where the hair or background comes in contact vermilion and white on the cheeks and lips, in
with it the lines of the eyelids, Ac., and even the
;
short, all the colours again in every part of the
eyeballs and pupils of the eyes, or they will not look picture as in the first painting. Imitate now as
liquid and clear, but have the appearance of the eyes much as you can the finished tints of the copy, or
of a painted doll. The edges of all shadows that of nature ; paint the bright lights again, as the
have been left hard in the former painting, must be glazing will have taken off their sharpness and
treated in the same way ; using, of course, the same touch, also the whites of the eyes, as they will have
colours that each part has been painted with. In become too much tinged with the red of the glazing.
short, do not let a single line or sharp edge remain Of course I need not say that all parts of the
without this stippling. At the same time, be most figure, neck, hands, and arms, Ac. must be painted ,
careful to preserve the true shape of all the features in the same way as the face. And now a little
and the shadows, or the picture will look woolly. blue and white with a touch of raw limber to pre-
Experience, and a good copy, will show what I vent it- looking harsh, may be used where much
mean, and the pupil cannot fail to see the necessity 'blue or seen in the copy, only take care not
grey is
of this careful stippling. to let it get for that would
mixed with the vermilion,
I should recommend the copying of one or two make a blackish purple tint, very unlike nature.
good pictures, before trying from nature, as it is There is always a grey tint at the edge of the
very puzzling at first for a beginner to find out all warm shadows, which should be put in with blue,
the delicate gradations of shade and tint that really raw umber, and white (if not already left by the
exist, until the eye becomes educated, as it were, ground shining through the flesh tint), and a little
and learns to see what variations of tone and colour, yellow ochre and white, where yellow prevails in the
shadow and half-tint, are to be found in what at flesh tints, if the glazing has not been sufficient to
first appeared only one smooth, unbroken surface. give the required yellow tone (which it ought to have
Be careful to paint the picture, up to this point, a been). This finishing, refining, and retouching into
much lighter and cooler tone than you intend it to the wet glazing will be enough for one day’s painting.
be when finished, as the glazing will darken and Fourth painting. Glaze the hair with such
enrich the tints every time it is applied. colours as will give the tinge of colour required,
The hair may now be painted in again, according but take care that the part 'to be glazed is per-
to its colour; light hair, with raw umber and white; fectly dry, and remember that no white must ever
dark, with raw umber and black, or burnt sienna be mixed with the glazing, only painted into it
and black, &c. ; very light golden hair, with a little after it is rubbed on the picture, or it will look
yellow ochre added to the raw umber, and the milky instead of transparent. Paint in the lights
lights put in with white ; the dress and background of the hair with white mixed with yellow ochre or
may also be finished a little more. Then let the raw umber, Ac. Burnt sienna is useful sometimes
picture dry thoroughly. to glaze auburn hair, or very warm golden hair,
Third painting. Now scrape the picture over but always, while the glazing is wet, paint into it
carefully with the palette knife to remove any with opaque colour (not all over it of course).
rough, uneven patches of paint or any dust that There are many tints in the from the bright-
hair, as
may have stuck to it but this must not be done
;
ness of its nature the surrounding
it reflects all
unless quite dry, and if the picture has been laid colours ;
therefore look carefully what are re-
aside for some time so as to get dirty or smoky, flected, and add them Avhen painting into the
wash it with a clean sponge dipped in water, and glazing. Glaze also the dress iioav, which, even if
wipe it dry with a silk handkerchief, but do not use Avhite, will need a glaze of a yellowish tinge, and
soap. When quite dry, the painting may be begun paint white again into it, and bluish-grey or
by rubbing drying oil over the part to be worked yellowish-grey into the shadoAvs, according to them
upon, as before, and it should then be glazed ; but colour. I should obserwe that the glazing must not
this must not be attempted unless it is as dry and be entirely lost in the after painting, only improved
hard as possible. by it, and this glazing and repainting may be re-
Now mix a very small quantity, just a touch, of peated as often as the picture seems to need it, only
rose madder or lake, and the same of yellow ochre, taking care that it is quite dry, orthe first glazingwill
on the palette with as much copal varnish as will be rubbed up and spoil the picture, and never at-
make a mixture just tinged with a rich orange-red, —
tempt toAvijm out Avet glazing it Avill often make the
which the rose madder and yellow ochre will give, picture smeary and sticky, and give endless trouble
if in proper proportions, and with a large dry hog’s in trying to recover what lias been lost. If you are
hair brush, take up some of this mixture and paint dissatisfied Avith the tint, leave it and paint into it
it hard and evenly all over the face, going over into Avhile Avet, until the tone you had lost is restored
the background and dress, Ac., and up into the again as much a's it can be ; it Avill give you trouble
hair, without fear, as it will give harmony to the no doubt, but it is better than trying to wipe it off.
; ;
152 OIL PAINTING WITHOUT A MASTER. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1863.
However, if you do wish to attempt this, rub it and neck should be learned in order to see where,
with a silk handkerchief dipped in drying oil. in the beautifully rounded throat of a woman, or in
Where you have no wet glazing, you can wipe out the little fat dimpled one of an infant, the muscles
the paint as often as you please before it is dry. and bones are indicated, although perhaps almost
Should the paint be sticky and seem to harden too imperceptibly to an unpractised eye. The ear
much on the palette and be difficult to work, it is also is often left very sketchy, instead of every part
either ropy from age or it requires more oil. If the being carefully drawn, and to the eye of an artist
addition of a little drying oil fails to make it work this has a very unpleasing effect. It is a curious
well, discard it and get a new tube of colour, for it fact, but a true one, that the ancient sculptors left
is only waste of time to work with it. Flake the ears of their statues very unfinished, and conse-
white is often in this state when old. The quently many people who have learned by drawing
background should now be finished by glazing and from casts do not know how an ear is really formed,
painting into it as in the other parts of the picture. although they can draw a face perfectly. The
If, after any glazing, you find that the painting into corners of the eyes, too, are seldom drawn properly;
it has not been sufficient, but that another glazing generally the upper and under lids meet in a point
would not be required, the picture being dark at each end, and the canthus (as it is called) at the
enough in tone, glaze with copal varnish alone, and inner corner is left out altogether. This is just the
paint into that. shape of a doll’s eye, and is frightful to look at one ;
Should any of the lighter parts of the picture be eye is also frequently drawn larger than the other
too dark, they may be painted thinly over again and not parallel to the mouth and nostrils this ;
with lighter colour, without glazing first. This is should be carefully attended to, as no colouring,
scumbling, but it is better to do this only in a back- however good, will make up for such defects.
ground, such as the sky, or to give a distant effect In drawing the outline, it should not be
to trees, distance, &c., as it is not so good for near done with smoothly curved lines, but with bold
objects. Some artists rub
on with the side of
it angular strokes, which will become rounded in the
the thumb and say it gives a better surface, but if painting, although the squareness of this outline
used in the face or figure, &c., it should be glazed should not be quite smoothed away, or the picture
again and painted into as before, and not rubbed will have a weak and poor effect. These last few
in, but painted with the brush. Of course, it is hints are only intended for those who have taught
quite impossible to make any rules as to how themselves to drawp of course the pupils of a good
much must be done at one painting. It depends on master will not need them. If any one should object
the subject and the time the pupil can give to it to the effect of burnt sienna as a flesh tint, and should
only, if it can be avoided, no glazing should be left to desire to have a more rosy colour, light red may be
dry untouched by the opaque colour to be painted substituted but this is according to the taste of the
:
into it. Therefore, if there is but little time for the amateur or the colouring of the copy, and it will
work, it would be better not to glaze, say the hair most likely need more yellow in the glazing, or
and dress at one sitting, or the background and perhaps yellow ochre and white must be painted in
any other part. The face and neck should be done with the flesh tint. Should the pupil find great
at the same time if possible, or it will be difficult difficulty in painting on the dark ground (which,
to make the colouring of each part harmonize only : however is the best, as it gives softness and harmony
I know the trials of amateurs, their interruptions of tone), the raw umber may be rubbed on very
and want of time for a long day’s painting, and thinly like a mere glaze, just to tinge the white
I therefore recommend them to consider well, before ground, and then the shadows must be painted in
they begin their day’s work, how much they can with raw umber before putting in the flesh tints
do in the time allowed them, and to put on no and nearly all the greys must be made with blue,
more glazing than they have time to paint into. white, and raw umber but, as before, they should
;
There is nothing else now that need be said not be put in till the picture has proceeded some
about the finishing of the picture. Of course the way, for fear of making it black and dull from the
pupil will go on as I have directed until it is blue getting too much mixed with the other colours.
worked up to the finish of the copy, or to what is By this method it will be more difficult to get the
considered sufficient, if painting from Nature. grey pearly tint produced by the flesh tints and the
(Instead of painting the ground brown, a piece of white on the dark ground. I omitted to mention,
smooth brown millboard may be used, but it does that in cleaning the brushes most people wash those
not work so easily). There is one thing that almost of hog’s hair in soap and water; but it is a bad plan,
all amateurs, even those who can draw well, are it spoils the shape of the brush, and, if the soap
apt to forget, and that is, that every throat, even should not be perfectly washed out, it will injure
that of a baby, shows more or less of muscular the colours. In about ten or twelve months the
development, and it is a very common thing to see a picture should be varnished with mastic varnish.
well-drawn face with a throat as if turned in a lathe I will conclude by reminding those who are
or as flat as a plank ; accordingly some faint indica- anxious to succeed in oil painting, that they must
tion of muscles must be shown ; aud even the not be discouraged by a few failures at first. There
palest grey tint will often give shade enough to is no royal road to painting in oils but a little
;
show that the throat is not an eVen polished sur- practice will soon overcome any difficulties that
face. Therefore the anatomical form of the throat may be experienced at first by a beginner.
Nature and Art, Oetob.r 1, 1866.] ART IN THE FOREST. 153
ART IN THE FOREST.

By G. W. Yapp.
T said of French artists, that they study human

is the latter seem all to have been turned into the
I nature at the cafe and the theatre, look at the courts and gardens, in order to make room for King-
world from the window of a fifth or sixth floor, go Vine, who basks in the sun, morning, noon, and
to the Jardin des Plantes for their lions and tigers, night, on the front of nearly every house in Mar-
and draw their landscapes from the depths of their lotte. The stems of the vines are generally six or
own imaginations. It is true that many of those more feet in height, in order, perhaps, not to lead
in Paris indulge in too much chamber practice and little people into temptation ; and being of all sizes,
take nature far too readily at second hand, but ragged and twisted, present a strange appearance.
there are many exceptions. All French artists Sometimes they grow within a garden, where their
are not Parisians there are hundreds of modest
: roots may be more comfortably accommodated than
studios on the banks of the Loire, the Gironde, and beneath the grey sandstone. But however they
the Rhone, where works are produced every year may be arranged, almost every house, wall, and
for the metropolitan exhibition ; and, amongst gate, looking- south, east, or west, bears its Baccha-
Parisians, Horace Yernet and many others have nalian banner, and the huge branches of fruit
wisely set up their easels at Versailles and other generally hang in thick, luxuriant clusters. Such
charming localities. Troyon lived and died at was and is still the case this year but alas !
—
to use
—
;
Sevres, and Hamon paints poetry while looking- a venerable figure of speech such a cold, wet
on the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Artist August was never known in Marlotte, no “not !
village life, in fact, has of late years become common in the memory of the oldest inhabitant ” ! In
in France. There is a colony at Ecouen, about a many places the berries are shrivelled and dropping
dozen miles from Paris, and the Forest of Saint olf, while in some cases the leaves too have fallen
Germain and other picturesque spots are dotted and left but a stick behind, and even where the
with artists, who find fresh air does not disagree damage is least, the grapes, though of good size, will
with them, or injure their art. But Fontainebleau be poor and watery. It is always said, in the wine
has for a long time been one of the most favoured districts, that three good vintages never yet came
haunts of the painter. It cannot be said that there in succession, and, according to all appearance, that
is a Fontainebleau school like that founded, or of 1866 will prove a sad contrast to those of the
rather commenced —
for the continuity was soon two past years, when the vines were loaded with
solved —by Primaticcio, whosefew unspoilt works luscious fruit, and the difficulty was not to get
are the glory of the old chateau there; but there
still wine, but casks to hold it.
is a crowd of artists in the famous old forest in the You may walk through Marlotte from end to
summer season, and others, who reside continually in end in about ten minutes, you may notice a timber-
or near the town, have their ateliers, in fine weather, yard and a blacksmith’s shop, but for a butcher’s
beneath clumps of noble trees, amidst the warm, or a baker’s, a grocer’s or a linendraper’s, a chemist’s
grey sandstone nestling in moss, fern, and heather, or an undertaker’s, you may look from early dawn
and glowing with richly-tinted lichens of a hundred to dewy eve, and find never a one. Still, there is
kinds. At Barbizon, a village in the outskirts of no reason for being starved in Marlotte. Milk and
the forest on the Paris side, there is a complete eggs are abundant several dames make a pound
;
artistic colony, and so many of the brethren visit or so of butter more than they want for their own
the place during the summer, that the walls of the consumption weekly, and you are perfectly welcome
Maison Jaune, the only inn in the place, are to it, provided no one else has bespoken it fruit
;
covered everywhere with sketches, some of which and vegetables are most plentiful, only they are
are works of merit. Rosa Bonheur lives at all taken to Fontainebleau, or elsewhere, in the
Thomery, a village at the other extremity of the middle of the night, which the jolly paysanncs call
forest, famous for its dessert grapes, the renowned the first thing in the morning the bakeress will
;
Chasselas cle Fontainebleau and there tends with

,
bring your bread from the next village between
sisterly care the cattle which she immortalizes. breakfast and dinner-time, unless anything should
But perhaps the most complete specimen of artist interfere to prevent her ; and you may generally
village life is to be found at Marlotte, a little place get whatever meat you require at the same place, if
which has come into repute within a few years. you order it on a certain day, and will walk a mile
Marlotte is situated at the very edge of the forest, or so across the fields to Bourron to fetch it, unless,
and is distant about two miles from the Montigny indeed, you commission the obliging postmaster-
station of the Bourbonnais branch of the Lyons and-man, as we did, to bring it for you in the basket
railway. It is a clean, stony little place, contain- with your letters. To make up for deficiencies in
ing about two hundred houses, and five or six one direction, there is a perfect plethora in another :
hundred inhabitants, and the first things likely to if Marlotte is without bread, she has plenty of
strike an observant visitor is the abundance of water there is a great stone-coverecl well in every
;
grape-vines and the paucity of windows ; in fact, corner, for everybody’s nse, only in many cases yoir
,
154 ART IN THE FOREST. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.
have to carry to it your own rope as well as your Roses did not always grow under the good woman’s
bucket. The provision for intoxication is eminently feet, or if the roses were there, so were the thorns.
satisfactory, there being two wine-shops, each of The Pere Anthony, if report speak truly, gave
which lias a large room at the back, with a billiard- more attention to the quenching of his own thirst
table, and seats for thirty or forty persons. Both than to anything else, and when he left the world,
of them sell tobacco in all forms, and one has, in his widow had to begin life anew, as it were, and a
addition, an interesting assortment of laces and hard time she must have had of it. One day a
braces, wooden shoes, lucifers, and sweetmeats. lady with an infant came to the Auberge Saccault,
These are the taverns of the joaysans ; there is and not long afterwards the lady was gone, but the
—
another for the bourgeois the universal name for infant remained. How Mere Anthony being, you
all visitors, not agricultural, in France ; and see, a poor struggling widow, probably with a legacy
without it Marlotte would scarcely be Mai-lotte. of debts upon her shoulders, could not be expected
This is the Auberge Saccault, kept by the Mere to take upon herself the charge of a child, about
Anthony, the good genius who provides shelter whom she knew nothing but that it was cast adrift
and creature comforts for all forlorn bachelors, and upon the wide, wide world by a hard-hearted and
some few other bourgeois for a sum per day that
,
perhaps wretched mother ;
and so, in the very
would hardly afford you one decent meal in Paris. spirit of contradictory human nature, she took the
It is a jolly party that meets around Mere child to her heart, and the little Nana knows no
Anthony’s mahogany (it is not quite certain that it mother but Mere Anthony. Nana soon became
is mahogany, but that matters little) twice a day ; useful, and is now the gay daughter, the “ neat-
the convivial hall in ordinary is the salon, behind handed Phillis” of the house, waiting on the
the billiard-room —
this makes three billiard-room bourgeois with modest alacrity, while her foster-
in Marlotte ; but when the skies are propitious, mother toils in the kitchen. The Mere Anthony
the dinner-table stands outside, not exactly in a may be seen every day in her peasant’s gown and
cap, while Nana, if not “ dressed in silken sheen”
r
garden, and yet not in the street, or in a paved
court, but in that part of the establishment where like a fine lady, to which rumour, of course, says
pigs and poultry most do congregate. The archi- her birth should have entitled her, is one of the
tecture of the Hotel Anthony is not pretentions, neatest damsels in Marlotte, and quite a little lady
the facade is simple, the entrance equally so, and amongst the good paysannes of the place. So the
the approaches somewhat confined ; but the Mere Cynic will allow that something far more charming
Anthony knows how to make good potage, does a than a skeleton is to lie found sometimes, even in
rod to a turn, is grand at an entree or an entremets, the cupboard of a little village inn.
and irreproachable as regards cafe noir. Happy Marlotte is in a dreadful condition from a
Marlotte and happy bourgeois to possess such a governmental point of view it has no maire no
:
cordon bleu ! barracks, not even a single gendarme or sergent de

But the Mere Anthony’s establishment is not ville; no representative of Imperialism, with the
without embellishment the grand salon is a gallery
: single exception of the worthy little garde-cham-
of art as well as of gastronomy ; the walls of that petre, who, with beat of drum and
“ Oyez Oyez !” !
classic room are rich in decoration. In one corner announces the behests of the authorities of the
are seen walking in the forest a well-to-do bourgeois canton, or tells the good folks that there is a sale
with his elegant wife, life-size, capitally sketched, to come off, or a dog gone astray. There is no gas,
including the lady’s red plume. Opposite is the no petroleum, not even a lantern in the streets,
figure of a sturdy littleman with fierce eyes this : which, when Madame Luna and the stars withhold
is Murger, the poet, who found a refuge from the their beams, are as dark as Erebus. There was
world which he had renounced, in quiet Marlotte, no place of worship in the -village till a short time
and who helped greatly to give the village celebrity. since, when a zealous bourgeois built a small
On other parts of the wall are wonderful Me- temple with a house or two beside it, and announced
pliistophilean figures, grotesque masks, and cari- that lie would not let his apartments to any one
catures of the wildest kind, all rather unfinished, who did not attend his church. The good people
and far from being in perfect condition ; but they smiled a bit at the zeal of the marguillier (the
are in their place, and no paper-hanging, however equivalent of our churchwarden) ; but the little
gay, or however fresh, would be half so well in place of worship is opened twice on each Sunday
keeping with the genius loci as these cartoons of the and fete-day, and the marguillier may be seen
Anthony gallery. proudly carrying the church plate to and from it
is said that no house is without a skeleton in
It carefully tied up in a pocket handkerchief. Yet in
its cupboard. Let the snarling cynic hug his pet spite of all the drawbacks, the Marlottians
proverb ; he will miss many a jewel in his search seem wonderfully happy. No servants are to be
after the bones. The Mere Anthony is not a fine found, because every peasant can earn his five
lady ; she works hard, and dresses plainly, and if francs a day, and generally has his own strip of
she sometimes sheds a tear while peeling onions for- land, which he cultivates besides. As to rent and
th e potage, she does not lay claim to special sensi- taxes, they seem nominal ; and the forest supplies
bility or virtue on that or any other account ; but the peasants with nearly all their firing.
if she have no skeleton, she has something else in There is not a horse or shay to be had for
her cupboard that perhaps every house cannot show. rnoney in Marlotte. You may get the loan of one
—
Nature and Art, October 1, 1866.] ABT IN THE FOEEST. 155
of the two or three traps or steppers, which belong skirt it, or in choice spots of the forest, steadily work-
to the resident bourgeois; but the chivalry of ing at a bit of nature very likely to find its way to
Marlotte [prefers mules and donkeys, and Marlotte London or New York, which are far better market's
possesses some capital specimens. In the morning than Paris for landscape. The young artist re-
you may see half a dozen comfortably roomy carts freshes his eyes and all his senses, sketching here
coming back from market when they depaik — and there a bit that pleases his fancy while roving,
from Marlotte marketwards is a mystery not often butterfly-like, over the rocks, under the trees, and
unveiled to bourgeois eyes with two paysannes — around the tarns of the delicious forest ; but his
comfortably seated therein on rush-bottom chairs, chief occupation at Marlotte, like that of his con-
and Master Jack plodding his way along in all the freres of the pen or scalpel, is to bathe in the
conscious dignity of one who has performed his luxurious bath of nature ; to stretch his limbs in
duty, and who is about to reap his reward in the tremendous pedestrian excursions, and lie on his
form of oats or hay. At haymaking or harvest back under the beeches when the toes begin to
time, Jack is equally useful, but presents a more tingle or the knees to be slightly shaky; and to float
comical figure on his back hangs a kind of
: on the surface of the Loing, a tributary of the
double ladder, armed at the upper edges with Seine, when chaste Diana’s silvery beams fall in
terrible spikes, and supported on the pack-saddle splendour on the waters.
by two cross-pieces, and on this scaffolding are There is nothing fast or snobbish about Marlotte,
placed the bundles of hay or the sheaves of corn and if there is any affectation, it is the affectation
which form the burden. He cuts a queer figure, of simplicity ; certain young men, whose paletots are
does Jack, with his head and tail just visible from irreproachable on the Paris Boulevards, and whose
beyond the load, and his nose covered with a small whole mise is acknowledged to be perfect in the
basket to prevent his indulging in promiscuous salons of the capital, walk the earth at Marlotte in
meals by the wayside a habit pernicious and
: —
the costume of the veriest qiaysan perhaps, in a
inconvenient in donkeys as well as men. few cases, with a slight dash of the opera comique
Some of the artists to be found in Marlotte are over all. But they give themselves no airs, they
resident bourgeois, and form the aristocracy of the patronize nobody, they are known to all the
place. One
has a charming chalet with a delicious paysans and paysannes of the neighbourhood, who
prospect over a fertile plain to the skirts of the give them a cheery bon jour as they pass in the
forest, and over the neighbouring village of Bourron streets, and who are as civil, communicative, and
to a distant range of purple hills capped by another unobtrusive as any people can possibly be.
range lying like a rich grey cloud beyond. Another Marlotte life is just the place for a robust young
has taken his ground on the very frontier of the —
Englishman and he is generally represented there ;
station, and his studio windows look boldly out but he must be thoroughly French as regards his
north, east, south, and west, without a screen mode of living, or he will find matters curiously
between them, the forest, and the horizon. His new to his tastes.
gates shut him in from the world, and over them Dissipation is not to be found in Marlotte, nor
and the walls adjoining falls a mass of climbing much attraction in the shape of amusement. Once
plants which in itself would make a painter’s we saw the community thrown into a state of con-
fortune if he had the cunning to transfer them to siderable excitement by the arrival of a company
canvas. Half a dozen houses form perhaps the of comedians in their own carriage, drawn by their
whole body of bourgeois residences, and in those own horse, and having a brass knocker to their
few retreats, it is no breach of confidence to say, door — an instrument which all Marlotte cannot
there are produced pictures which decorate the boast of possessing. The principal lady of the
Avails of the Paris Salon, blocks and sketches for company invited us, personally, as she partook of
stone which illuminate the pages of French period- her soup at her own table in the high street, to
icals, and designs which come before the world on attend the performance ; and, later in the day, pre-
plates and cups of British manufacture. ceded by the light young gentleman, who certainly
The nomad population is more numerous and far —
makes a noise in the world on the drum, she did
more mixed. France, England, and America art, — us and others the honour of setting forth, beneath
science, and literature —
all send their quota, though our windows, in grand dramatic style, the attrac-
the whole congregation is but small after all. The tions awaiting us. The performance took place in
married artists find their rural quarters in little the ball-room of the place, which is no other than
farmyards, amid the pigs and poultry, over the the largest of the billiard-rooms minus the billiard-
chambers of sleek crummies, or other “useful table ; but I understood that the “ first lady” was
coos,” who graze by day on the rich herbage of the not at all overcome with the patronage of the Mar-
forest, and supply Marlotte with richly- perfumed lottians, whom she is said to have declared to be
milk ; or in the cottage of some well-to-do peasant,
. rather a shabby set than otherwise. She was vent-
who, having two, lets one of them for the season ing her ill-humour the next morning, while
at about the price of two rooms in Paris for a purchasing a duck for her dinner, poor thing, and
month. The elder men, those who “ have in spite of the hints of her clever, bright-eyed
given hostages to fortune,” and who know what re- daughter, the young lady of the company, when a
sponsibility means, may be seen quietly seated in paysan gave her this characteristic bit of advice :
the streets of the village, or in the roads which “Well, if you are not satisfied with your lot,
;
,
156 ART IN THE FOREST. .

[Nature and Avt, October 1, 1866.
with a duck for your dinner, why do you not go to delight of all. And those who are curious in fungi
work as we do 1” It is impossible to express the will find a rich harvest, almost all kinds abounding
disdain with which the first lady received this in- in the forest, from the common toadstool to the
quiry; it must have almost turned her artist’s true mushroom, which enters so largely into French
blood to gall. cookery. There are six varieties of the cepe or bolet;
Marlotte is situated on the edge of a fertile plain, amongst which are the cepe ordinaire ( Boletus edulis),
half surrounded by the forest, with the spire of her considered delicious eating in some parts of France,
somewhat bigger sister, Bourron, standing out the cepe or bolet bronze (B. cereus ), the
noir,
opposite against the hills. The plain is a perfect bolet orange,or gyrolle rouge, and the Boletus
garden, cultivated in small patches with every kind cyanescens, blue and poisonous. Some of these
of crop, from potatoes to vines, for whose especial grow to a gigantic size, and we picked some the
advantage, also, are constructed stone walls, other day which measured a foot in height and ten
hundreds of yards in length, and covered with inches across the head. One of the most curious
trellis-work. Everywhere are to be seen fruit-trees fungi of Fontainebleau, however, is the Gyrolle
of noble growth —
the lordly walnut, laden this called also Oreille de Houx ( Agaricus agnifolii,
year with its green eggs, apple, pear, plum, and Poulet), of a bright orange-yellow colour, and which
cherry, and especially the great trees which bear often gives the ground the appearance of being
the blackheart kind of cherries, called in France strewed with orange-peel it is peculiar in form,
;
ginnes. Certain young ladies, on seeing the tempt- the top being slightly hollow, the edges indented
ing store of fruit on these trees, and deeply im- irregularly, and the stalk thickening upwards and
pressed with the severity which generally exists, in channelled. The surface is waxy, and it strikes
France, in relation to even fallen fruit, asked a every one as looking just like a clumsy attempt to
worthy peasant how much he would sell them some model a flower in yellow wax a more poisonous-
;
ginnes for. looking thing it is scarcely possible to conceive, but

“Oh,” said the man, “if you will take the it is not so, and is eaten largely at Marlotte and
trouble to gather them yourself, you ai-e quite wel- elsewhere. We
ventured upon a dish upon one oc-
come to them ; and if you pick more than a pound casion, but found it so like our idea of a stewed kid
”
or so, you can leave two sous at my cottage there ! glove, that we did not ask for any more Gyrolles.
Rural felicity ! Fine cherries a penny a pound, We have met with a very delicate-looking fungus
and the weighing the purchaser’s conscience
left to ! in the forest, the name of which is unknown to us
Some of the finest spots in the forest of Fontaine- its form is that of the common mushroom, only the
bleau are close to Marlotte, or within easy walk. top is thinner and more fragile, and the whole is
The Longs Lockers, for instance, are a splendid range translucent and as perfectly white as if it had been
nearly two miles in length, enclosing within their —
carved out of the finest ivory or rather out of
sinuosities several exquisite plains that seem marked vegetable ivory —
while the entire surface is covered
out as amphitheatres for silvan games. They are with a fluid which seems to be watery, not viscous,
broken into the most romantic forms, covered and gives it a peculiarly fresh and polished look.
with purple heather and green fanlike ferns, and It is disappointing to see a forest with so little
enamelled with flowers. They possess, moreover, a game, and such a want of singing birds, as that
cavern which furnishes shelter for a large party, part of it which lies about Marlotte here and :
and on whose floor may be seen, in spite of the there a solitary deer, very rarely a pheasant, a hare
forest laws, themarks of many a fire around which now and then, but plenty of rabbits the too-whit ;
the gypsies of cultivated Paris have warmed their of the night owl and the cry of the rabbit or hare
chilled fingers and dried their dripping habili- when in danger are the best-known sounds in the
ments drenched by the Aquarius of the region. woods. But the naturalist who loves butterflies
The Gorge aux Groups is another fine rocky scene, and beetles, lizards, salamanders, big ants, and frogs,
where the pleasure of a moonlight ramble is will find a splendid field of study. There is one
heightened by the reputation of the place, and by creature, the viper, for which Fontainebleau has
the presence of a wolf-trap discreetly hidden from a bad reputation, and against which ladies as well
sight, Imt indicated by a placard or a wooden post, as gentlemen wear leggings ; but although they
the inscription on which may be read if you are in- exist there, they are not numerous.
formed beforehand of its purport. The Mare aux An old forest would be unworthy of its name if
Fees, again, where shadowy beings flit over the it had not its spectre the spirit of Fontainebleau
:
pools, and amongst the noble beeches and oaks is the Grand Veneur the master of the hounds
,
which surround the still, cold, grassy tvaters, and long gone to the dogs, the black huntsman who
many another lonely spot, lies buried in masses of appeared to Henry IV. just before his assassina-
pine and juniper, or towers aloft and commands tion. There can be no doubt about the truth of the
prospects over the tops of miles and miles of legend, for the Croix du Grand Veneur still stands
forest to the blue-grey hills beyond. The sandstone in the forest to prove it. However, the black
and the of Fontainebleau are known to
crystals huntsman has not been seen lately but there is ;
every geologist, as well as to every sight-seer, who another spectral exhibition which may be seen
has visited the neighbourhood. The varieties of every night in several parts of the forest. At the
ferns, the beautiful branched mosses, the exquisite point where the Marlotte road enters the domains
lichens, and the abundance of wild flowers, are the of the black huntsman, and where communal rule
Nat Mr and Art .October 1. 1860.
! —
Nature and Art, October 1, I860.] THE RAFFLESIA ARNOLDI. 15V
ends and forest law conies into force, there are comes, he does the veilleur s work out of pure love
observed, from March to September, two unquiet for labour, like the Goblin in L’ Allegro, of whom
spirits, one of whom, in the dead of night, drags Milton sings that —
unhappy trees from the bosom of the woods, and hews
“In one night, ere glimpse of morn,
them to pieces with fiendish delight, while the other His shadowy flail hath thrash’d the corn,
piles them on a fire which burns with fury from That ten day lab’rers could not end ;
sunset to sunrise. At intervals these spirits raise Then lies him down the lubber fiend,
a fiendish cry —
Tow ! Tow ! ! which is answered — And
Basks
stretch’d out all the chimney’s length,
at the fire his hairy strength,
by other spirits far away in the black night, till the And crop-full out of door ho flings,
forest echoes again with their noisy clamour. The Ere the first cock his matin rings.”
good people of Marlotte often pay a visit to the
watch-fire of the veilleur, as he is called, and some It may be that the maker of the spectral fire
credulous people declare that his occupation is to which blazes warmly in the solitude of the night is
prevent the deer and other game from coming out a mere prosaic game-watcher, and that his man
of the forest, and devouring the crops in the plain ;
Friday is who likes spending
a half-witted fellow
that there are other veilleurs stationed at other his nights out but we prefer to believe that the
;
exits from the forest, which is completely fenced in, black huntsman has something to do with it, and
except at these places ; and that the spectral sounds we are convinced that when traversing the Longs
they utter are nothing more than the Taiaut ! Tochers, the Gorge aux Loups or the Mare aux Fees
,
Ta'iaut ! of Saint Hubert, the original of our in a dark night, there is something weird and spectral
Tally-lio ! But why does the giant, who splits the about the Taiaut / Taiaut ! ! hurled by these fiends
young fir and oak trees with such herculean force, or watchers across the forest to one another.
emit such uncouth sounds when his axe enters the We have shown, we think, that the French
heart of the wood, and shrink into the darkness artists and their friends have exhibited their judg-
when strangers approach 1 The simple country ment in the selection of a summer retreat and ;
people say that when the young giant was in his when we add that the country around is full of
cradle, a weasel ate away his face and left him a interest, abounding in lovely scenes, rich valleys,
half-witted Caliban ; that since he grew up he has delicious hills, and historic ruins who will be :
felt but one desire, one craving necessity to be — surprised that those who can pack up their work,
ever cutting, rending, destroying something ; that or leave it behind them, should quit the lialf-molten
he works all day in the stone-quarries in the forest, asphalte of the Paris Boulevards and streets in the
where the picturesque sandstone is converted into dog-days for the giddy precipices, the shady bowers,
most prosaic paving-stones and that, when night
; and the mossy banks of glorious old Fontainebleau 1
THE RAFFLESIA ARNOLDI.

By John R. Jackson, Curator of the Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew.
OT long since, at one of the scientific meetings however, that a description of this vegetable
of the Koyal Horticultural Society, Mr. peculiarity, to accompany Mr. Fitch’s faithful re-
Bateman, the celebrated orchid grower, brought up, presentation of the plant, will not be uninteresting
as a subject for the lecture, the giant flower of to the readers of Nature and Art.
Sumatra, liafflesia Arnoldi, with considerations of The plant is, as we have said, a native of Sumatra,
the possibility of its introduction in a living state, and was discovered in the year 1818, by Sir Thomas
and its cultivation in this country. Though a Stamford Baffles, Dr. Arnold, a botanist of some
period of forty-eight years has elapsed since the note, and other friends, whilst on a tour into the
discovery of this extraordinary plant, it has never interior. The discovery was first communicated to
yet flowered, or even been in cultivation in any this country in a letter from Sir T. S. Baffles to
European botanic garden, so that, if it were now to Sir Joseph Banks, then president of the Boyal
be successfully cultivated, such an occurrence would Society, dated Bencoolen, August 13th, 1818 and ;
have to be recorded as a horticultural triumph. the description above alluded to is from a letter,
The Baffiesia Arnoldi is a most interesting plant, written by Dr. Arnold to an unknown friend,
not only to the botanist, but also to the general which Sir Thomas found amongst Dr. Arnold’s
jiublic, and it is remarkable, that, though so long papers after his death. He says :
a time has elapsed since it was first seen by “ Here (at Pulo Lebbar, on the Manna river, two days’
Europeans, nothing has been done to make the plant journey inland of Manna), I rejoice to tell you, I happened
popularly known, though, of course, accounts of it to meet with what I consider as the greatest prodigy of
appeared at the time in scientific works, and an the vegetable world. I had ventured some way from the
party, when one of the Malay servants came running to me
elaborate and minute description was published in
with wonder in his eyes, and said, ‘Come with me, sir, come
the “ Linnaean Transactions,” by that celebrated !
a flower, very large, beautiful, wonderful.’ I immediately

botanist Robert Brown. We are fain to believe, went with the man about a hundred yards into the jungle,
— —
158 THE EAFFLESIA ARNOLDI. [Nature and Art, October 1, 1866
and lie pointed to a flower growing' close to tlie ground, anthers are or seated flat upon this curled
sessile,
under the bushes, which was truly astonishing'. My first edge. To appearances, the female flowers are
all
impulse was to out it up and carry it to the hut. I there-
fore seized the Malay’s parang' (a sort of instrument like a
similar to those of the male. They are alike in
woodman’s chopping'-hook), and finding that it sprang from size, the lobes of the perianth are similar, as well
a small root which ran horizontally (about as large as two as the corona, and eveu the cup or tube ; but the
fingers, or a little more), I soon detached it, and removed it difference is in the absence of the anthers, and in
to our hut. To tell you the truth, had I been alone, and place of them the presence of the ovary, which is
had there been no witnesses, I should, I think, have been
fearful of mentioning the dimensions of this flower, so much
united to the base of the tube; it has but one com-
does it exceed every flower I have ever seen or heard of ;
partment, but contains numerous ovules, or un-
but I had Sir Stamford and Lady Raffles with me, and a developed seeds, arranged along its inner walls.
Mr. Palsgrave, a respectable man, resident at Manna, who, The top of the ovary is surmounted by numerous
though all of them equally astonished with myself, yet are
styles springing from it. These large flowers, fre-
able to testify as to the truth.
“ The whole flower was of a very thick substance, the quently measuring over a yard in diameter, are
petals and nectary being in but few places less than a parasitical on the trailing stems and roots of a vine
quarter of an inch thick, and in some places three-quarters ( Cissus angustifolia;), so that, when the flower is ex-
of an inch ;
the substance of it was very succulent. When panded, the large lobes of the perianth cover or hide
I first saw it, a swarm of flies were hovering over the mouth
of the nectary, and apparently laying their eggs in the
the place of its attachment to the stem, and the
substance of it. It had precisely the smell of tainted beef. flower thus is to all appearance the entire plant,
The calyx consisted of several roundish, dark brown, concave there being no leaves or other stems. It was first
leaves, which seemed to be indefinite in number, and were known by its native name of Krubut, and Dr.
unequal in size. There were five petals attached to the
Arnold described the soil where it was found as
nectary, which were thick, and covered with protuberances
of a yellowish-white, varying in size, the interstices being being richly manured by elephants frequenting the
of a brick-red colour. The nectarium was cyathiform, locality.
becoming narrower towards the top. The centre of the As regards the parasitism of the flower, it seems
nectarium gave rise to a large pistil, which I can hardly
to originate in cracks or hollow places in the stem
describe, at the top of which were about twenty processes,
somewhat curved, and sharp at the end, resembling a or root of the nourishing plant, upon which it soon
cow’s horns ;
there were as many smaller, very short pro- establishes itself, forming the hard, round buds
cesses. A little more than half-way down, a brown cord, before spoken of, wrapped in numerous bracteal
about the size of common whipcord, but quite smooth, sur- sheaths these sheaths or scales, as the flower opens,
;
rounded what perhaps is the germen, and a little below it
drop away, and when the flower is fully expanded,
was another cord, somewhat moniliform.
“ Now for the dimensions, which are the most astonishing few of them are left remaining. The flower takes
part of the flower. It measures a full yard across ; the about three months to come to perfection, it remains
petals, which were subrotund, being twelve inches from the expanded for a few days, and then gradually decays,
base to the apex, and it being- about a foot from the in- the seeds being mixed up in the pulpy mass. The
sertion of the one petal to the opposite one ; Sir Stamford,
disagreeable smell arising from the flowers is very
Lady Raffles, and myself taking immediate measures to be
accurate in this respect, by pinning- four large sheets of probably the means of attracting insects, by the
paper together, and cutting them to the precise size of the movements of which the fertilization of the flower
flower. The nectarium, in the opinion of all of us, would is effected. At one time
these plants were con-
hold twelve pints, and the weight of this prodigy we
grow only on the roots of the cissus, from
sidered to
calculated to be fifteen pounds.”
which they were classed amongst the Rhizanthse.
Tlie surprise of a naturalist upon first beholding A greater intimacy with their habits, however,
such an extraordinary flower, remarkable alike for has shown that they grow upon prostrate stems as
its size, as well as its structure and habit, may well well as roots, and that other species of Rafflesia
be imagined ;
undoubtedly it was one of the most grow upon ordinary stems some feet from the
startling discoveries ever made in the vegetable ground. They form a distinct natural order
kingdom. The opening, are
flower-buds, before Rafflesiacese. The very accurate investigation into
nearly globular, and look like the heart of a very the structure of the plant of Robert Brown, by which
hard close cabbage. These flowers have not a its affinities and classification were determined, is
separate calyx and corolla, but they have one floral one of the many proofs of that botanist’s great tact
envelope called a perianth, which is tubular below, and power of discernment. In this instance he
and is divided above into five large, red, fleshy lobes, was materially aided by the accurate microscopical
which, as will be seen by the plate, are dotted all drawings of Francis Bauer. Dr. Bindley, in his
over with little light-coloured tubercles. These five “ Vegetable Kingdom,” pays a high compliment to
lobes of the perianth are united towards the centre, both these workers. He says :
where the whole mass suddenly rises, forming a rim, “Among them (the Rafflesias) is the very remarkable
or corona, two or three inches high ; in the midst species described by Brown in the 13th volume of the
of this is a deep pit, or tube of the perianth, which
‘
Linntean Society’s Transactions,’ under the name of
Rafflesia, to which those may be referred who are desirous
is the part Dr. Arnold refers to as being capable of
either of knowing what is the structure of one of the most
holding twelve pints of water. In the midst of anomalous of vegetables, or of finding a model of botanical
this tube, in the male flowers, a thick fleshy column investigation and sagacity, or of consulting one of the most
rises, the base of which is surrounded by pro- beautiful specimens of botanical analysis which Francis
jecting rims, and at the top is a flat plate, nearly Bauer ever made.”
as wide as tlie aperture itself ; the margin of this Since the discovery of this great flower, three or
plate is usually more or less curled under, and the four new species of the genus have been found, all
)
Nature and Art, October 1, 18GG.] MUSIC ABROAD, 159
natives of Java and Sumatra, and inhabiting the botanists, who safely transmitted living plants,
same rich, dense mountain forests. The essential together with the Cissus serrulatus, upon which
characters of all the species are similar, the chief they grow, to the botanic garden at Leyden.
difference being in the size of their flowers, which A singular feature in all the species of Rafflesia
are all smaller than those of Rafflesia Arnoldi, so is, that the flowers develop themselves at a time
that this flower still holds its place as being the when the nourishing plant is devoid of leaves. It
lai’gest in the vegetable world. Plants of Rafflesia was from this fact that Sir T. S. Raffles and Dr.
Patma have been introduced into some of the Arnold, before they discovered that the flower was
Continental botanic gardens, where they have a parasite, described it as being without leaves.
flowered more than once ; but the latest discovered The Rafflesias have no economic use, though in
species is Rafflesia Roclmsseni, named after J. V. Java the natives consider them to have styptic and
Rochussen, Governor-General of Java at the time astringent properties. Their great interest lies
of its discovery, in 1850. This discovery was made alone in the singular habit and form of their
by MM. Teysman and Binnendijk, two Dutch enormous flowers.
MUSIC ABROAD.
JRAU MUSICA, as the Germans style the j
discipline in matters theatrical is not carried quite
I Muse of whom Bach
and Handel, Mozart, so far. Herr Beck is an immense favourite in
Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer were high-priests, has Vienna, and created a great sensation by his im-
had great cause to complain of the influence personation of Nelusko in L’Africaine. Indeed,
exerted by political events, during the last two the great majority of the Viennese insist that he
months, upon her faithful votaries the Viennese. — is the best Nelusko that has yet appeared, and as
Her shrines and temples, or, in other words, the they have never had an opportunity of seeing and
theatres and concert-rooms, have been almost de- hearing any other, they are, of course, exceedingly
serted. But who could listen to operas and competent judges. Herr Beck will re-appear first in
symphonies when, every minute, the notes of the Herr Richard Wagner’s Fliegender Hollander, and
orchestra and the voices of the singers might be then in Don Juan. By the way, the mention of
interrupted by the cannon of the blue-coated and the former opera reminds us that another work,
helmeted Prussian hosts, attempting to force their Rienzi, by the same composer, is to be produced on
entrance into Vienna 1 In fact, considering the the Empress’s birthday, the 19 th November, in
precarious posture of affairs for some weeks, it is grand style, and under the direction of the com-
a matter of surprise that a single place of amuse- poser- himself. “ Guando una puerta se cierra,
ment could be kept open in the capital of the ciento se abren ,” says the Spanish proverb. No
Hapsburgs. But the Viennese are a light-hearted sooner does it seem probable that, in consequence
race, and their spirits seem to recover from any of the state of affairs, his Majesty of Bavaria may
temporary shock in the same wonderful manner not be able to extend to the “Music of the Future”
that the Austrian monarchy itself has risen, on the welcome he intended, as announced in the July
several occasions, apparently as vigorous as ever, Number of Nature and Art, than we find the
after having received what most people have con- said “Music” rising into favour at Vienna. How-
sidered its death-blow. The attractions of singers ever, there is one comfort. Were every day in the
and instrumentalists have revived, and money- year an empress’s birthday, and were one of Herr
takers no longer sit with heaps of cheques, ready Wagner’s operas performed on each birthday, his
to bo exchanged for guldens or greasy Government music would never be more than what it is at pre-
notes, but with no public to complete the desired sent a proof of the absurdities into which an un-
:
transaction. Yet there is nothing worth mention- doubtedly clever man may be led by some pet
ing in the way of novelty to entice the public. theory of his own. If Herr Wagner is right, then
L’Africaine is still being performed at the Imperial all the great masters are wrong as some quiet
;
Opera-house, and, what is more, still draws. A gentleman, who is to be found in every lunatic
slight alteration in the musical bill of fare has been asylum, and who tells you that it is not he but the
rendered possible by the return of Herr Beck, after world who is mad, the victim of a terrible mistake.
a four-months’ leave of absence; for “imperial” The recent public examination of the pupils
singers are granted leave of absence just as though studying at the Conservatory of Music was
they were soldiers in the imperial armies. In highly successful, and bore irrefutable testimony to
former days, “imperial,” “royal,” “grand-ducal,” the excellence of the system pursued at the estab-
—
and “ ducal ” artists that is, artists enlisted, no, lishment. The members of the pianoforte -classes,
engaged, as members of the companies at what conducted by Professors Ramesch and Schmitt,
are called the Court Theatres Hoftheater in especially distinguished 'themselves. Even the
— (
Germany enjoyed, also, the privilege of being- youngest proved that they had been taught some-
placed under arrest and sent to the blackhole for thing more than mere mechanical correctness and
any dereliction of duty ; but, at the present date, dexterity, and that one of the objects to which
ICO MUSIC ABROAD. [Nature and Art, October 1, 18(50.
their attention had been sedulously directed was Beethoven’s C minor Symphony, magnificently
the necessity of properly understanding and render- executed, and the second act ofMeyerbeer’s
ing the spirit, as well as the mere notes, of the Felcllager in Schlesien. The numerous passages in
composer whose works they were performing. The the latter applicable to the late campaign excited
singing classes comprised many voices on which tumultuous applause. The performance was
all the lessons of the best instructors in the world brought to a close by Spontini’s “ Borussia,” to
would be thrown away. It is a singular fact, by which was appended a tableau, in which art was
the bye, that, according to the laws of the Con- again called in to the assistance of patriotism. In
servatory, only female pupils are taught singing. an antique hall were the bu-sts of the King, the
This is a grave mistake, and may perhaps account, Crown Prince, and Prince Friedrich Carl. Borussia
in some degree, for the difficulty experienced in offered them wreaths of laurel, while groups of
procuring good native men-singers, especially tenors, warriors gathered around, and the names of the
at the Imperial Opera-house. victories, “ Nachocl,” “Skalitz,” and “ Konigsgratz,”
As in Vienna, so in Berlin, the war had, at first, appeared in letters of flame. The receipts amounted
a most depressing effect upon the stage and every to nearly 2,000 thalers. This is but one of the
other branch of art. Most of the private theatres, many entertainments which have been got up for
as opposed to the Theatres Royal, or theatres enjoy- the benefit of the soldiers who were wounded, or
ing a government grant, were placed, so to speak, of the widows and orphans of those who fell. The
upon a war-footing, i. e. the managers, availing public have liberally responded to the appeals thus
themselves of a clause to that effect in the engage- made to them, there can be no doubt. Indeed, the
ments, discharged all their artists, and then re- Prussians have uniformly shown that, while re-
engaged, at reduced salaries, only those whom they joicing at the great victories achieved, they do not
considered absolutely indispensable to carry on their forget those who suffered in their achievement.
establishments. The sole private theatre at which The popular French singer M. Roger has been
this plan was not adopted, but the old engagements giving a series of performances at Kroll’s Theatre.
observed, was Kroll’s. The tone of the public He is a very great favourite in Berlin, and has been
—
mind even despite the cholera, which was at first so for the last fourteen years, his finished and artistic
—
exceedingly severe soon began, however, to im- style making even the most difficult critics his ad-
prove marvellously. With every victory of the mirers. He has appeared in Fra Diavalo, La Dame
Prussian armies, it rose more and more, and the Blanche, Jean de Paris, and Lucia di Lmimermoor.
staid Berliners grew regularly intoxicated with joy. Now that it is decided that Hanover, Cassel, and
Of course, this exercised a marked effect upon all Wiesbaden are to form part of Prussia, people ask
matters connected with music and the drama, and what is to become of the former Court Theatres in
the scene which occurred on the opening of the those towns. The theatre at Hanover enjoyed a
season at the Royal Opera-house was such a one grant of some 160,000 thalers a year from the ex-
as had never been before witnessed in that building. King’s privy purse, or rather for the public money
The performance was for the benefit of the soldiers which found its way thereinto. It could boast, also,
disabled in the war. The interest taken in the of some first-rate artists. Joachim, it will be re-
event by the public was enhanced by the fact that membered, was once engaged in Hanover. The
the King would visit the theatre for the first time Cassel theatre was a very good one. The same,
after histriumphant campaign. The house was too, is true of that at Wiesbaden, with an annual
crowded to suffocation, as a matter of course. subscription of 10,000 thalers, all really coming
Immediately his Majesty appeared in his box, the from the gaming-tables, though the Duke and the
enthusiasm knew no bounds. The whole audience Town were supposed to contribute a portion. The
rose, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, the probabilities are that these theatres will be con-
men flourished their hats and cheered, and the stituted Prussian Theatres Royal, with a subvention
King kept bowing in all directions. A “ Sieges- from the State.
marscli,” or triumphal march, by Herr Taubert, According to a letter from Weimar, the Grand
began the performance. Then came, by the same Duke Carl Alexander is endeavouring to persuade
composer, the “ Lied A on der Majestat,” with new
T
the “Abbe” Franz Liszt to forsake the Eternal
words written expressly for the occasion. Three City and once more fix his residence in the pleasant
cheers were then given for the King, and the grand-ducal capital. In September, 1863, Liszt
National Hymn demanded, every one standing up was not disinclined to take this step ; but now, it
and taking part in it. This was followed by appears, there are grave doubts about the matter.
We have examined the “Sand Nodtdes” forwarded to rounded and water-worn pebble. The others appear to have
us from King’s Lynn, and find them, although by no means had no nuclei, being merely rounded concretions, cemented
as perfect as that described and figured in the last number and bound together by the agency of carbonate of the
of “ Nature and Art,” somewhat like it in formation and protoxide of iron, the result of the percolation of a solu-
structural arrangement. One only had loose siliceous sand tion, probably of the sulphate.
in it, and the cavity in which this rested was angular and Should any of our correspondents discover more of these
uneven, as though a rough fragment of siliceous gravel interesting substances, we shall feel obliged by their com-
had undergone the process of disintegration, instead of a municating to us the particulars of such discovery. Ed.—
: ; :
HOLBEIN IN GERMANY.*
By H. Ward.
PART I. ATT GSBUEG.
JLAND has long re- we used to believe, but of the right German Free
garded Holbein as an City of Augsburg and there he painted under his
;
adopted son, devoted to father for years before his migration to Basle, which
her during half his life- took place in 1516. Germany thus claims half his
time, and nearly the career ; and an account of it, down to his first
whole of his career for ;
departure for England in 1526, is contained in this,
he came to London in the first volume of “ Holbein and his Age.” We
152G, and, according to have found it such pleasant reading, and so in-
most of his early bio- teresting, though at times fantastic, that we desire
graphers, he was then only to lay a sketch of it before the readers of Nature
twenty-eight, and resided here until he died of and Art. Eor the present we shall stay at
the plague in 1554, being fifty-six years old. Augsburg next month we shall proceed to Basle
;
•
This English period of twenty-eight years is brim- and by that time the Life announced by Mr.
fid of pictures attributed to him ; but eleven of W ornuvn will have been published, and we shall then
the years have been lately cut clean away. In be fully enabled to treat of Holbein in England.
the “ Archseologia ” for 1863, was published his We will commence by playing the showman.
Will, drawn up on the 7th October, and adminis- It will be observed that our photo-lithograph
tered on the 29th November, 1543. Some doubts represents a young man and a sturdy boy of four-
as to the testator’s identity were hinted in the teen ; the numbers over the head of the latter are
Catalogue of the National Portrait Exhibition of very distinct, and so is his name, “ ITanns Holbain.”
the present year ; but the main question has now The original was drawn with the silver point, and
been settled, by the discovery of a document in belonged to a series in the first home sketch-books
the archives of Basle, which is appended to the of the boy. It is now one of seventy, preserved at
volume before us. It is the official copy of a letter Berlin twenty-six are at Copenhagen, eighteen at
]
from the city magistrates to one Jacob David, gold- Basle, and others at Weimar, Munich, &c .but
smith at Paris, summoning him (as being himself the subjects and inscriptions show that they all
a citizen of Basle) to grant testimonials to his ap- came from Augsburg. Some utterly unskilled
prentice Philip, son “of the late Hans Holbein, de- hand, it will be further observed, has meddled
ceased ” ( von wylanclt Hansen Holbein seligen ) this with the features of the boy-artist, but not enough
is dated 19th November, 1545. We
may, therefore, to destroy their character ;
and the feeble lines of
set aside the old authorities, and accept the very the pen serve at least as a foil to the bold and
convincing proofs adduced in the “ Archseologia,” flowing strokes of the silver point. The boy’s
that Holbein died in 1543. Thus his whole resi- companion used to be called his father, but the
dence in England extended over no more than remains of the inscription show it to be his
seventeen years ; and from these again at least two eldest brother, Ambrosius. The numbers denoting
must be subtracted, as he was actively engaged at the age of the latter, and the date on the upper
Basle in 1529-31. All this seems to give great verge of the drawing, are now very faint. Dr.
satisfaction to the Germans, who naturally regard Woltmann complains that they are fainter in his
Basle as an outlying portion of Fatherland ; indeed, own photo-lithograph ; and in ours, which is only
it did not enter the Swiss Confederation till 1501. a copy of a copy, they are fainter still.W e cannot,
Moreover, Holbein was not a native of Basle, as then, seriously contest Dr. Woltmann’s readings
the age of Ambrosius, he says, is given as twenty-
* Holbein und seine Zeit : von Dr. Alfred Woltmann. five, though the face is older ; and though the date
Erster Tbeil, mit 31, Holzschnitten und einer Photo-litlio- looks like 1511, yet on closer inspection it proves
graphie. Leipzig. 1866. to be 1509. Thus he decides that Hans Holbein
VI. M
;
162 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1S66.
was born in 149/). Now, 1498 is the birth-year vessels for itself. But its chief correspondent was
assigned by Walpole and others; but then they Venice; and thus wealth brought Italian taste
rely upon two authorities, both of which are with it. There was a showy life in the city, which
doubtful; the one being the first biographer, Van suited the fantastic spirit of Emperor Max ;
so that
Mander, and the other an engraved portrait of he did not resent the French king’s calling him
Holbein by himself, with monogram, and his
his “ the burgher of Augsburg.” Indeed, he desired
age, and a date (H. Ae. An. 1543).
45. Van to purchase property there ; but the real burghers
Mander may be set aside, as he blundered so com- felt some dread of an imperial mate, and persuaded
pletely about the place of birth and year of death ;
him to be only the guest of the Free City.
and the original of the engraving is lost so that ;
Here were cast his splendid arms and his metal
we cannot judge whether the age and date may not statues ; and here dwelt Hans Burgkmair, the chief
have been inserted by a later hand. Until the designer of his Triumph. He entered heartily into
dated portrait itself is forthcoming, the engraving the town frolics, its masques and carnivals, and its
may be fairly balanced by a dated altar-screen (set. highest festival of all —
that of the Freeshooters
17, an. 1512), which we shall mention presently. (or volunteers). When he had closed the Diet
Holbein’s third biographer, Charles Patin, remarked here in 1518, he turned as he rode beyond the
that he seemed to be prodigiously precocious, and gates, and said “ Now, God bless thee, beloved
:
suggested that at least three years’ more childhood Augsburg, and all thy kindly citizens. Many a
should be allowed him. On the other hand, it merry cheer have we made in thee. But now we
must be noted that his playroom was a studio the : shall never see thee more.” On the 12th of the
forms of Mediteval art were all around him, and following January he died.
next door to him were those of the Renaissance. When this poet-emperor was still in his prime,
His father and uncle were eminent painters of the the Holbein family was already well known in
old school, and his mother was most probably the Augsburg. Hans Holbein, the elder, and his
sister of the greatest German designer of the new brother Sigmund, were probably born as well as
school, Hans Burgkmair. At any rate, there was a bred to the brush, somewhere about 1450. The
close intimacy between the two families of Holbein former was soon commissioned to paint for churches
and Burgkmair. and cloisters in other parts of South Germany and ;
At this epoch Ulm

and Augsburg were the two his earliest extant work appears to be an enthroned
head-quarters of Swabian art. Its chief founder, Virgin at Nuremberg, bearing the date (half effaced)
however, Martin Schongauer, had settled at Colmar, of 1492. It is most delicately finished, like an old
where he is supposed to have died in 1499. The Flemish miniature, with a background and frame-
familiar designation of Martin Schon he may have work of Gothic architecture. Further on we shall
owed to the beauty of his designs and copper en- find that a few works, adorned with arabesques of
gravings.* He had studied painting under the the Renaissance, used to be attributed to him :
best pupil of the Van Eycks. He by no means they bear the name of Hans Holbein, but are now
rivalled them in colouring or in manly character- generally supposed to be by his son. As if the
ization his figures, too, are meagre, and his
;
confusion were not enough, some modern critics
draperies hard and angular but there is a wild
: have started a third Hans Holbein, of Augsburg,
savagery in his fiends, and a winning grace in his and called him the grandfather; but Dr. Woltmann
angels and Madonnas. His followers at Augsburg has banished him to the land of shadows. His
vied with him in idealism, until they were influenced arguments are stated in a passage (pp. 58—70), which
by the modern taste and the growing desire for more is quite a model of close and shrewd investigation.
varied human interest. We have no room for more than a bare indication
“ Augsburg Pompeii of the German
is the of his line of arguments. This shadowy grandfather
Renaissance.” These words of a brother art-critic owed his brief existence to- two paintings. The
are quoted and re-quoted by Ur. "VYoltmann with first a Madonna, in which the composition is
is
great gusto. He leads us into the town-hall, and borrowed from Martin Schongauer’ s Madonna in
looks out upon the graceful bends of Maximilian tlio Rose-garden but the background, instead of
Street ; and, half-closing his eyes upon the church being a hedge of roses, is a gay mountain landscape.
grandeurs of St. Ulrich, he conjures up the burgher It bears this inscription “ Hans Holbein. C[ivis]
palaces of the seventeenth century, when their A[ugustanus], 1459.” Now, Ur. Woltmann asserts
frontages were bright with the gay figures of a that the letters look very modern ; and he proceeds
southern mythology, and the town was like a bonny to show that this, if genuine, is the only known
picture-book. The period of this new style of instance of the name’s being thus spelt by the
art was just opening when Holbein was born. Holbeins, as long 'as they lived in Augsburg. The
”
Augsburg had always been closely connected with Augsburgers wrote “ win,” “ hailig,” “ Freihait
the South by commerce. In the fifteenth century (instead of ein, heilig, Freiheit), and so also •
a new impulse was given to its activity it traded

;
“ Holbain.” The inscription was first brought to
with India through Portugal, and even fitted out light by cleaning, and a might have been easily
cleaned into e ; but so might 9 into 5 ; and there are
* See the curious remarks on this mysterious Martin
other reasons for believing that the true date was
Schon, and his claims to be considered the earliest engraver
on copper, in Lanzi’s History of Painting (Bohn’s Standard something like 1499. The second painting is known
Library), vol. i., p. 110. as the Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, being one
/2i:ur.ui\ 1
; .'
*
: — ;
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. 163
of a series of six, commissioned by St. Catherine’s if not even a pupil, of Martin Schongauer, though
Convent at Augsburg, representing the Basilicas of more or less influenced by the Blemish masters. He
Home, and the legends of their patron saints it is : now (or not very long after) made a great stride
inscribed “Hans Holbain, 1499.” At the foot of the foi’ward. He painted another of the Basilicas ,
that of St. Paul, filling the three compartments

picture appears this monogram, jj-'jj on a grave-
,
with scenes of the Saint’s conversion, and martyr-
stone. The
discoverers of the grandfather have dom, and canonization. The figures, many of them
printed an extract from the Convent Annals ascrib- portraits, arevery numerous. The bodies and feet
ing this work to “ the old Hans Holbein a phrase are still drawn too meagre ; but in other respects,
which could hardly apply to the father, whilst young especially in dramatic force, and in the modelling
Hans was in his babyhood. But Dr. Woltmann of the hands, the advance is striking so much so,
;
proves that they have depended entirely on a indeed, that some critics (among others Dr. Waagen)
modern transcript, and that the Annals themselves imagine that the elder Holbein must have been
say nothing of the sort. Finally, Hans Burgkmair’s assisted by his son. On the other hand, there is
father began a list of all the Augsburg artists whom an old tradition that three figures are taken from
he could remember since 1460 ; this was continued the painter himself and two of his sons ; and in
down to 1548, and it contains only one “ Hanns one of these, a chubby boy of seven or eight, Dr.
Holbain,” namely, Holbein the father ; for his son Woltmann recognizes the features of our hero. He
never painted at Augsburg as a master. now We has presented us with an outline of these figures
take leave of the grandfather, who was actually (it and we cannot help believing, with him, that there
appears) named Michel. His two supposititious is truth for once in pictorial tradition. The father
works may be transferred to Hans Holbein the brought up his three sons, Ambrosius, Bruno, and
father. The second, viz. the Basilica, is in three Hans, to his own profession ; and a little sketch-
compartments ; one of these contains the story of book of his, preserved at Basle, shows who it was
St. Doi'othea, how, after yielding her head to the who taught young Hans to use the silver point.
axe, she converted her persecutor by sending him It would be interesting to compare the drawings of
an angel with roses of Paradise.* Her executioner father and son. We
are not enabled to do so for
is a figure which we shall presently have to contrast ourselves from the text, however, we gather that
;
with another in the Martyrdom of St. Catherine. those of the former are characterized by lightness,
Wemust linger still, for an instant, among the but indecision of touch ; whilst his pupil soon
undoubted works of the elder Holbein. St. Cathe- equalled him in delicacy, and surpassed him in
rine’s convent, now the royal picture-gallery of vigour.
Augsburg, was, in his day, a nursery of high art. We are now led back to our photo-lithograph ;
When was rebuilt in 1496, its prioress was

it we wish that it did not stand alone. Dr. Woltmann
Anna Walther her sister Maria was there as a
; has given us five more leaves out of young Holbein’s
simple nun and their father, IJlrich, commissioned
; sketch-books, but only in the shape of coarse wood-
the elder Holbein to paint a votive tablet for the cuts, which convey no notion of the original hand-
whole family this was accordingly completed in
: ling. Still, the heads are full of character. First
1502. In the upper division is the Transfiguration comes the uncle, Sigmund Holbein, about forty
the Christ is fine ; but the gestures of the three years old, every inch a German artist ; earnest and
bewildered apostles, especially those of Peter, are thoughtful, with strongly-marked features, bushy
almost ludicrous. The lower division is much beard, and long hair fantastically dishevelled. Next
more remarkable. It represents IJlrich Walther, is a droll, high-shouldered little fellow, trying to look
with a portion of his household a portion only, — fierce, yet no less than a councillor of the Empire,
for when he died (three years later, at the age of Kunz von der Bosen we are not surprised to find
:
eighty-six), he left 133 living descendants. He is that he proved himself alternately worthy of the
here kneeling on the left side, with four pairs of coat of mail and the motley. The third is the
his sons and grandsons behind him ; on the other stiff-necked, long-nosed, clean-shaven Jakob Fugger,
side kneel the prioress and her mother (the former who helped to found a countship on a silk, wool, and
taking the place of honour), and behind them are grocery business his portrait, as a younger man,
:
four pairs of his daughters and granddaughters, and forms No. 4 of “Imagines Fuggerorum et Fug-
one pair of maid-servants. They are all praying, gerarum,” published at Augsburg in 1618. The
not merely with clasped hands and bended knees, fourth and fifth are rivals in ugliness ; a fat, self-
but with earnest faces ; yet their differences of age satisfied abbot, and a gaunt good creature of a
and character are individually marked. The young monk the latter is an absolute scarecrow but he
:
•
women and children are graceful ami natural. The evidently would not harm a fly. These heads will
artist of such a work, concludes Dr. Woltmann, was some day be photo-lithographed, no doubt, together
worthy of being the father and teacher of Germany’s with many more ; and then we can sit down in the
greatest portrait-painter. In religious subjects the circle of young Holbein’s friends, as he sketched
elder Holbein had hitherto shown himself a follower, them (often, perhaps, unawares) ; or look out with
him at a few of the notables of Augsburg, headed
.
* See Massinger’s Virgin Martyr, Act v. Sc. 1. See also by the Emperor Max, now somewhat bowed with
Mr. Swinburne’s St. Dorothy, a lovely poem, half-spoilt by years. Before leaving them, we must mention that
an unsaintly kiss. one of them, Conrad Morlin, Abbot of St. Ulrich
m 2
— ;
1G4 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
at Augsburg, died on the 2nd February, 1510 : king’s daughter to the last, is a highly refined copy
this gives us some further indication of the date of of the second sketch. She is clothed in a rich red
the earlier drawings. mantle and a jewelled hood. The chief headsman
In 1512 two folding-doors of an altar-screen for is entirely changed. The sketch makes but a poor,
St. Catherine's convent were painted inside and unsteady figure of him he lifts up the sword
:
out, thus presenting four detached subjects on the ;

with both hands and altogether he resembles the
;
inner side were the Martyrdom of St. Catherine, executioner of St. Dorothea, in the Basilica of Sta.
and the legend of St. Ulrich, the patron saints of Maria Maggiore. The painting makes him a
the convent and of the city on the outer side were ;
stalwart man-at-arms he grasps tjie holy princess
;
the Crucifixion of St. Peter, and the Virgin sitting by the neck with his left hand, his sword-arm hangs
beside her mother St. Anne, with the child standing down, and he is waiting for the signal of death.
on the bench between them. The four subjects are Thus, if we may safely follow Dr. Woltmann, at
now separated, and placed in the Augsburg gallery. the age of seventeen (the same age that marked
The backgrounds are green the rims are orna- ;
the development of Raphael), young Holbein had
mented with golden Renaissance-work, dolphins, already begun to outstrip his father in truth and
horned masks, and winged children sporting among beauty of historical design. In matters of decorative
plants, or blowing into flower trumpets. They bear art he had entirely deserted him, and his new taste
the date, and the name of Hans Ilolb., but tradition may not improbably have been formed in the studio
has added to this name the designation of the elder. of his presumed maternal uncle, Hans Burgkmair,
Tradition was flatly contradicted by Dr. Waagen in who had returned from an Italian excursion in
1845 ( Kunstwerke in Deutschland, vol. ii. p. 24).
. . . 1508. The Renaissance ornamentation is considered
He laid stress upon the fine modelling, especially almost sufficient of itself to decide any rival claims
of the hands, upon the leather-brown llesh-tones, of father and son, in favour of the latter.
upon the figured draperies, and upon the Italian One (perhaps the finest) compartment of the
character of the arabesques. Since this opinion altar-screen contains, as we have said, the Virgin
was given, the work has been cleaned, and upon and child with St. Anne. The Virgin’s mother
an open book on the knees of St. Anne another was now receiving high honours, in consequence of
inscription has come to light. Dr. Woltmann the lately enforced doctrine of the Immaculate
confesses that he generally distrusts such dis- Conception ; and this group, known as S. Anna
coveries ; but here, he says, the old-fashioned letters selb dritt (St. Anne and the other two), had become
look so very genuine, and they are broken by the a general favourite. But young Holbein’s treat-
sun-cracks so very naturally ; in short, the temp- ment of it was new. The two holy women, says
tation is too much for him. The inscription runs Dr. Woltmann, are teaching the child to walk
thus —
“ Jussu. Vener. Pientque Matkis Veroni
:
and he dwells upon the scene with delight. But
;
. . . W . . . E . H. Holbain, Aug. ietsujB

. . we have only time to note that the head of the
xvii.” that, is, “ by order of the most venerable Virgin is almost repeated in another picture, the
and pious mother, Veronica Welser, Hans Holbein Madonna with the May-lilies. This is a half-figure,
of Augsburg, in the year of his age 17.” scarcely half life-size, standing behind a balustrade.
We sincerely trust that the above inscription In front of her lies a gold-embroidered cushion,
may be proved legitimate, and may not be finally upon which she supports the child Avith her right
affiliated upon a cleaner. But, in any case, the hand ; and in her left she holds a peach, tempting
paintings were executed under the eye of the elder him to stretch out his arm for it. The child’s body
Holbein, and partly designed by him. There are is rather too meagre, and his face too old. But the
two sketches by him existing at Basle, for the subject Virgin’s head is full of maiden grace and motherly
of St. Catherine ; in the one she is praying against fondness. She has the same features and expression
the torture of the wheel, and the thunderbolt is as in S. Anna selb dritt and her fair locks Aoav in
descending to shatter it ; in the other she is sub- the same waves from underneath a jewelled head-
mitting to the sword-stroke. The two situations band. On the balustrade beside her stands her
are combined in the painting ; the wheel is still in symbol, the vase of May-lilies. The background
flames, and the executioners are crouching still, all is brown, with simple ornaments in the new style ;
but one, who stands erect, and keeps hold of his above are two winged genii on a frieze, which is
prey. As to the details, the following are the supported on each side by plain pilasters. One of
principal variations —
The attitudes of the terrified
: these pilasters is inscribed “ Johannes Holbain in
men in the first sketch are strained and angular. Augusta bingewat,” the last word being good South
One of them, who is raising his elbow as if to German for inngebat; and the other— “ Carpet
guard his head, is a complete caricature. He aliquis cicius quam imitabitur” (people will carp
reminds Dr. Woltmann of the apostles in the sooner than imitate). A similar architectural
Transfiguration, above the votive tablet of Ulrich framework incloses the earliest painted portrait by
Walther, executed by the elder Holbein. In the the younger Holbein. But on the balustrade lies
painting, on the other hand, there is a young man, a piece of red tapestry, and the background is open
screening his eyes with both his hands, whose to the blue sky. It seems to be taken from a man
figure is freely adapted from the sketch, but the of importance. He is ruddy, with long florid hair
caricature is gone. The saint herself, as she appears and short curly beard ; and in a fur cap and robe.
in the painting, kneeling with folded hands, yet a He shows the right hand, but no arm, an ungrace- —
; :
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. 165
ful arrangement. Otherwise the portrait, which is Mr. Wornum’s book will confirm the truth of these
dated 1513, might have vied in composition, as it descriptions and conclusions. If Holbein was not
does in colour, with Holbein’s famous Basle portrait born before 1498, he coiild hardly have worked in-
of Amerbach in 1519. dependently at the altar-screen of 1512 ; in which
Passing over two portraits (1514 and 1515) and case his father, when an elderly man, must have
two subjects from the life of Christ, the Last mastered an entirely new style of ornamentation.
Slipper and the Scourging, we come to a remark- This is by no means impossible; for the artist
able votive picture. Ulrich Schwarz, a carpenter of the Basilica of St. Paul was cleai-ly a man of
of Augsburg and a fierce demagogue, had been progress and from his sketch-book Ave learn that
;
chosen burgomaster in 1469. He hanged the on one occasion, at least, he executed a com-
nobles for a few years, when fortune changed sides, mission more archaically than he had designed
and the nobles hanged him. His martyrdom, as it. He may have adapted his ornamentation, in
some people called it, occurred in 1478. But the like manner, to the taste of his patrons ; and
peaceful burghers detested his name, and for restrained his OAvn taste for the new style, until it
many years he was left without any memorial. At had become popularized by Burgkmair. But at
length his sons took heart, and this votive picture, any rate, these paintings are closely connected with
it may be presumed, was hung over the family the student days of the younger Holbein. Next
vault. In the centre is Ulrich Schwarz storming month we shall see him formally admitted, at
heaven with prayers. The dead as well as the Basle, into the guild of the Master Painters. But,
living are ranged on either side of him his three ;
meanwhile, he is said to have left at Augsburg what
wives, and thirty-one children and grandchildren, maybe termed his diploma picture, the Martyrdom
all uniting in the Litany of the Head. Above of St. Sebastian. But this, again, is a subject of
them, and above the clouds and cherubim, is God contention. We have barely left ourselves space
upon the throne the great sword of justice is in
: for any account of it. Moreover, this volume
His hand, but He is sheathing it for Christ and ;
presents us with a woodcut, which acts as a strong-
his mother have joined in the appeal for mercy, antidote to the raptures of the text. should We
the one displaying his wounds, and the other her say that the pictorial saint has suffered more from
breasts. Their gestures may be theatrical, perhaps, the graving-tool than the legendary saint ever did
yet they are forcible and pathetic, and manifestly from the arroAvs. we can discern a certain
Still,
studied from life. The Virgin, no longer the beauty in his attitude he stands, nearly naked, in
;
beautiful commonplace of early art, is a real front of a tree, Avith his right Avrist fettered to the
woman, with expressive, though somewhat irre- stem above his head, and his left arm bound down
gular features ; her hands are too powerful to be to the stump of a branch by his side there is just:
quite feminine, but they are admirably modelled. enough left here to sxiggest a fine original, with
Forms of such passion and grace, says Dr. Wolt- classic lines in his upper body. His legs, however,
mann, had been hitherto almost unknown in are absolutely infirm and there are a few other
;
Germany. But most interesting to us, he con- symptoms of the artist’s not having yet escaped
tinues, is the head of the Almighty : we have seen from the old school. The archers are all in Medkeval
it before, as that of the crucified Peter, on a com- costume ; one of them, a kneeling figure Avith
partment of the altar-screen of St. Catherine’s ; an arroAV betAveen his teeth, wears the livery of
and we shall see it again, as that of a sympathizing- Bavaria, the traditional enemy of the Free City of
spectator, in the Ma/rtyrdom of St. Sebastian. Of Augsburg and another has a cock’s feather in the
;
its profile there is a silver-point drawing at Berlin, cap over his sinister face, which strangely recalls
belonging to the Augsburg sketch-books. And we Dr. Waagen’s descriptions of pictures by the elder
venture to identify it with the head engraved in Holbein. The group, whoever designed it, is full
Sandrart’s Deutsche Alcademie, as the portrait of of animation that the son had a hand in it, we
:
Holbein the elder. In all of these the leading- might almost take for granted and this is con- ;
features are the same the outlines of the nose and

: firmed by four of the sketch-book leaves at Copen-
cheeks ; the contraction of the brows and the : hagen, containing studies for the Martyr and his
remarkable forehead overshadowing the eyes. This executioners.
head reminds us also of the self-portrait of the But be was uoav about to work by himself
elder Holbein, in the Basilica of St. Paul but the there no reason to suppose that his father accom-
is
lapse of a full decennium has sharpened his features panied him to Basle. As only one “ Hans Holbein,
and furrowed his brow, and turned his flowing painter,” occurs in the registers of Augsburg, so
brown locks and beard into a silvery grey. The also one only occurs in those of Basle. There Avas,
young artist could find no better type for his indeed, another Holbein admitted into the Painters’
heavenly father than this idealized portrait of his Guild at Basle but this was Ambrosius, the same
:
earthly father. whom we see, as a young man, on our photo-litho-

On the pommel of the sword of Justice in the graph, and who had hitherto remained peacefully
at home, for aught Ave know. But young Hans
hand of the Almighty, is a monogram, jj|f£ the
,
Holbein, as soon as he began to feel the fulness of
earliest example of any used by the younger his strength, longed to prove it to the world and ;
Holbein. so, in 1516, he set out for Basle, taking, as it were,

We shall be extremely curious to see how far his elder brother with him.
— —
166 CONCERNING SNEEZING. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
CONCERNING- SNEEZING.
By the Rev. V/. Houghton, M.A., E.L.S.
NEEZIN' Gr may be popularly defined as a spasm it ? Etymologically the word has reference to the
S due to an irritation applied either directly or nose, theAnglo-Saxon noese, the German nase, the
indirectly to that portion of the Schneiderian * Latin nasus, &c., hence the word used to be written
membrane, which the expanded distribution of
is without the initial “ s,” as “neesing” or “ neezing,”
the olfactory nerve, the seat of the special sense of and Shakespeare
smell. The complex phenomena of “reflex action” “ And then the whole quire hold their hipS and Ioffe,
are also involved in the act. The irritation may And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and swear
be caused directly, as by snufF, and so forth ; or in- A merrier hour was never wasted there.
( Midsummer Night’s Dream, aotii.,
directly, as by the sudden impression of light upon sc. 1.)
the retina, or by the well-known effect of a sudden Mi\ Hensleigh Wedgewood thinks that the name
chill. of the nose is taken from an imitation of noises
Probably there are few people in England made through that organ. Similarly, Webster
perhaps I may say in the world who pass a single— defines the noun sneeze to be “ a sudden and
day without one or two occasional sneezings. violent ejection of air, chiefly through the nose,
There is no doubt much difference among in- with an audible sound.” But this is manifestly
dividuals in this respect. Much, too, depends upon incorrect, for the ejection of air is always normally
the season of the year ; a person will, generally through the mouth. Let any one, when threatened
speaking, sneeze more in the summer than in the with a sneezing fit, keep his mouth closed, so as to
winter, on account of the glare of the sun, and a compel the expulsion of air through the nostrils, he
more pulverised condition of the road. Not a few will find the operation extremely unpleasant, and
suffer from the very unpleasant affection called will not care to repeat the experiment. However
“hay-fever,” which is characterised by a troublesome this may be, it is certain that the irritation in the
itching of the eyes, and great irritation of the nose is the primal cause of the sneeze, and therefore,
membrane lining the nasal passages, producing the words nose and (s) neeze stand in close relation-
constant sneezing, and a general constitutional ship one to the other. Sneezing may again be defined
disturbance. The numerous minute particles of to be a spasmodic effort to get rid of any causes of
the pollen of grasses and other plants from the irritation which affect the lining membrane of the
meadows are distributed by the air and conveyed to nose, such effort being accompanied by a violent
people’s nostrils, which immediately reply to their ejection of air chiefly through the mouth. Sneezing-
presence by a fit of sneezing. The dust and smell may be symptomatic of disease, as in the case of
arising from a hay-field are eminently productive of common catarrh, measles, but alone it can never be
these disagreeable sensations, and hence the name depended upon as a diagnosis of disease.
of the complaint. There are some people, however The
ancients attributed various properties to the
— but not such as are affected with “ hay-fever ” act of sneezing, amongst which may be especially
who are rather pleased than otherwise with the pre- mentioned that of stopping hiccups. There is
liminary titillation of the mucous membrane of the rather an amusing passage in the Symposium of
nose with its natural result, at which the whole Plato on this subject. It appears that Pausanias,
frame shakes convulsively. And then a person one of the party, had done speaking, and that it
may be taken with a fit of several consecutive was Aristophanes’s turn next to address them ; but
ebullitions at most inopportune moments. It must unfortunately this latter individual Avas seized Avith
be rather awkward for actors sometimes when, in
the midst of some solemn declamation, the un-
a bad fit of the hiccups, —
probably brought on from
eating too much dinner (two wAô-yoio/t;,) and he —
welcome sneeze gives warning of its approach. was unable to talk ; whereupon he turns to Eryx-
Imagine Hamlet, at the end of the well-known imachus, a physician, who sat just below him, and
words, addresses him “ Eryxiinachus, you ought either
:
“ O that this too, too solid flesliwould melt, to stop my hiccups or else to speak in my turn,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,” until I can cure them.” To which Eryximachus
Would replied, “ I will do both I will speak in your turn,
to be seizedwith a paroxysm of sneezing !
;
not the audience fear lest those violent sternutatory and Avhen your hiccups have ceased you shall speak
agitations should prove the prelude to that much- in mine; but while I am speaking, if by your
wished for consummation 1
?
holding your breath for a long period, your hiccups
cease, all right ; if not, gargle your throat with
But what is sneezing, and how shall we define
water if they are very Ar iolent, take something of
;
>;s
The mucous membrane
lining the nasal fossa sometimes
this kind Avith Avhicli you can tickle your nostril and
called pituitary, receives this name from Schneider, who sneeze if you repeat this once or twice the hiccups
;
was the first to show that this secretion was due to the Avill cease, be they ever so violent.” * Aristophanes
mucous membrane, and did not proceed from the brain as
had previously been supposed, * Sympos. 185, D.
, ;
: — ——
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] CONCERNING SNEEZING. 167
applied the remedy, which he says he found a the popular cures for hiccups. But to return to
perfect cure. sneezing. G. Petronius, a voluptary at the court
Every one is acquainted with the custom of of Nero, writes as follows :
saluting a person who has sneezed, with the ex- “ Gyton collectione spiritus plenus, ter continue) ita sternu-
pression, “ God bless you It is very interesting tavit at grabatum conculeret, ad quem motum Eumolpus
to trace, as we often can do, existing customs conversus, Salvere Gytona jubet.”
up to very remote periods ; and it is certain
There is a very amusing epigram in the Greek
that the custom of blessing persons when they
Anthology, on a man who had a nose so long that
sneeze is of great antiquity, and that sneezing has
he could not hear himself sneeze. (The Greeks
been pretty generally considered ominous amongst
were of the same opinion as some of the moderns,
nations. As early as the time of Homer, sneezing
that the sound proceeded from the nose.)
was regarded in this light ; accordingly we find
that after a speech of Penelope in the xviith book “ Proclus with his hand his nose can never wipe,
of the Odyssey, Telemachus “sneezed aloud” (jiey His hand too little is his nose to gripe ;
He sneezing-, calls not Jove, for why ? he hears

e-rrrapev), which was considered a happy omen.
Himself not sneeze the sound ’s so far from ’s ears.”
;
Eustathius on this passage observes that sneezing

to the left was unlucky, but lucky to the right. The Rabbinical account of saluting a person
Aristotle * asks many questions about sneezing when he sneezes, is most curious. I will give it
amongst others, why sneezing from midnight to as I find it in Buxtorf’s “ Lexicon Chaldaicum et
mid-day are considered to be unattended with a Talmudicum ” (p. 1,599) :
good omen, but those which take place from mid- “ Since the day of the creation, every man who sneezed
day to midnight are considered to be attended with always died of his complaint wherever he was, whether in
;
a good omen 1 While Xenophon was uttering an a journey or in the market, if he sneezed his life immediately
went from him but when Jacob came, he asked God’s pity
important speech to his soldiers, somebody sneezed, ;
on account of this thing, and besought him thus 0 Lord of :

1
whereupon this was considered a good omen from the world, take not away my life from me before I have ad-
Jupiter the preserver, and all sacrificed to the god. f monished my sons and my grandsons.’ And God granted his
Plutarch tells us that when Themistocles sacrificed petition. Now, when all the kings of the earth heard of
this, they trembled and were disturbed, for such a thing (as
in his galley before a certain battle, and one
a man sneezing and not dying) had never happened since
of the assistants upon the right-hand sneezed,
the creation of the world. On this account a man when he
Euphrantides, the soothsayer, presaged the victory sneezes is compelled to give God thanks for having brought
of the Greeks and the overthrow of the Persians. him from death to life, as it is written, ‘ His sneezings make
If the god of love sneezed on the right all would light to shine (Job xli. 9.)
’ So far Chaskuni.
Before the time of Jacob a man sneezed and died ; afterwards
go well with lovers ; thus Catullus (Carmen xlv.) :
they said to a person sneezing, chayim lobvrn, that is, good ‘
“ ”
Hac ut disit, Amor, sinistra ut ante, life to you.’
Dextram sternuit approbationem.”

Brand, quoting an extract from tlie “ Gentleman's
Theocritus (Id. xviii.) in the Epithalamium of Magazine,” says :
Helen, thus addresses the newly married Menelatis “ The year 750 is commonly reckoned the era of the
“ Thrice happy bridegroom on thy way ’tis clear
!
custom of saying ‘
God bless you,’ to one who happens to
Good demon sneezed, that only thou should’st gain sneeze. It is said that in the time of the pontificate of St.
The prize so many princes would obtain.” Gregory the Great, the air was filled with such a deleterious
influence that they who sneezed immediately expired. On
As to thecustom of blessing persons when they this the devout pontiff appointed a form of prayer, and a
sneeze,some have supposed that it had its origin wish to be said to persons sneezing, for averting them from
the fatal effects of this malignancy. A fable continued
from a disease that prevailed in the time of Gregory against all the rules of probability, it being certain that this
the Great, which, it is said, proved fatal to those who custom has from time immemorial subsisted in all parts of
sneezed; hence the expression, “God bless you!” the known world. According to mythology, the first sign
Nothing, however, can be more certain than that of life Prometheus’s artificial man gave was by sternutation.
The supposed creator is said to have stolen a portion of the
the custom dates from a time long antecedent to
solar rays ; and filling with them a phial which he had made
Gregory the Great. Pliny, in a very interesting on purpose, sealed it up hermetically. He instantly flies
chapter on customs, asks the question, cur sternu- back to his favourite automaton, and opening the phial,
tamentis salutamur ? “why do we salute sneezings 1 ” held it the rays still retaining all their
close to the statue ;
and tells us that Tiberius Ctesar, the most morose activity, insinuate themselves through the pores, and set
the factitious man a sneezing. Prometheus, transported
of men ( tristissimum ut constat hominum) used to
,
with the success of his machine, offers up a fervent prayer,
observe this custom even when riding in his chariot. with wishes for the preservation of so singular a being.
Now that we are quoting from Pliny, we may as His automaton observed him, remembering his ejaculations,
well mention that he states it is the opinion of was very careful on the like occasions to offer their wishes
in behalf of his descendants, who perpetuated it from
some that in order to cure the hiccups, it is a good
father to son in all their colonies.”
plan to shift the ring from off the left hand to the
longest finger on the right, and to plunge the hands But though sneezing was at one time considered
in hot water. It is curious that shifting the ring a mortal distemper, it was also regarded as a sign
is still considered amongst ourselves as one of of recovery from disease. Hence, in the account
which relates the raising to life again of the
* Problem, xxxiii. OS A ITEPI MTKTHPA Shunammite’s son, in 2 Kings iv., the child, it is
t Nen. Anab. iii. 2, § 9, said, sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.
; — ;
168 GARDENING IN CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. ["[Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
In Howel’s Proverbs occurs the following sentence :

salutehim in so loud a tone, that persons in the ante-
“ He hath sneezed thrice, turn him out of the chamber hear it, and join in the acclamation in the ;
adjoining apartments they do the same, till the noise reaches

hospital he is nearly well again. the street, and becomes propagated throughout the city, so
The following translation of some old Latin that at each sneeze of his majesty results a most horrid
verses occurs in “ The Schoole of Slovenrie, or cry from the salutations of many thousands of his vassals.”
Cato turn’d wrong side outward, translated out of
The Siamese are said to have a custom of saluting
Latine into English verse, to the use of all English
persons who sneeze, and wishing them a long
Christendome, except Court and Citie ” :
life.
“ When you would sneeze, shalt turn yourselfe into you “ For they believe that one of the judges of hell keeps a
neibour’s face, register wherein the duration of men’s lives is written, and
As for my part, wherein to sneeze, I know no fitter place that when he opens this register and looks upon any par-
It is an order, when you sneeze, good men will pray for ticular leaf, all those whose names happened to be entered
you on such leaf never fail to sneeze immediately.”
Marke him that doth so, for I thinko he is your friend
most true. What animals besides man are subject to this
And that your friend may know who sneezes, and may
littleannoyance 1 Dogs and cats certainly, and
for you pray,
Be sure you not forget to sneeze full in his face alway. probably others' of the canine or feline tribes. Is
But when thou hear’st another sneeze, although he be the lining membrane of the elephant’s proboscis
thy father, sensitive to irritating particles, so as to induce a fit
Say not Gocl lless hi m, but Choah up, or some such of sneezing in this mighty pachyderm 1 Speaking
matter, rather.”
of dogs, I am reminded of what Horapollo tells
Various amusing accounts have been given by us, viz., that when the ancient Egyptians would
travellers of this custom of saluting sneezers in denote the spleen, or smelling, or laughter, or
different parts of the world. Whenever the King sneezing, they depict a dog, “ because the thoroughly
of Monomotapa (Sofala) sneezed, it was known to splenetic are neither able to smell, nor laugh, nor
thousands of his subjects. sneeze ” —a piece of Egyptian logic which only those
who have been initiated in the “hidden wisdom”
“Those who are near his person,” says Disraeli in his
“Curiosities of Literature” (p. 45), “when this happens, of the hieroglyphics are able to appreciate.
GARDENING- IN CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE.

By J. B. Waking.
ATTJRE and Art can never be more happily serve to give some idea) ;
and although ancient
combined than in some noble building whose Assyria with its hanging gardens of Babylon,
gardens, groves, fountains, avenues and park, har- F
monizing with it and forming, as it were, a setting
to the jewel, evince that taste in design and sense
of fitness in the accessories which lend such a 1
mmmmwptmmfm
HUIHIIIII
^
* lllillil
ll!
peculiar charm to some of the fairest palaces and

trrrrH ciiiaiM mm dpntf
mansions of Europe.
The art of landscape gardening is of comparatively
\lHHw EraMii4i*p|n
o |||
modern origin. Although we have drawings still o-l

||
preserved to us of Egyptian gardens in the antique i a#. #4 Oi
past (of which the accompanying illustration * may ||
A
rr A! E
1 ill •&- i ’fiisw
1
* This hieroglyphical design copied (but not the reference

letters which we have added) from Sir Gardner Wilkinson’s
“ Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,” and by
1 H _
G
jr
him from Professor Rosellini’s work, shows the outline of j
an Egyptian mansion, built about an inner court contain-
^111 1 j'
M
1
ing a vineyard, and having an extensive planted and

walled enclosure round three of its sides.
A. Is an elevation of the part of the building that looked in-
ward. The design shows three stories, and that the
roof was ornamented with plants.
E. Is the elevation of the grand doorway.
1 Mlltls <0 H $ f a * Mii
E P P F. An embattled wall, which looked, through an
avenue of trees, on to the river. WLMS’flTWsfflili! Cl
G. A canal or river.
C C C C. Are ponds in the park or gardens. Ducks or
geese are depicted upon them. Borne with its gardens of Lucullus, Persia with its
D D D. Are kiosks or summer-houses. “ paradises ” and celebrated Royal gardens at Shiraz,

; —
Nature and Art, November 1, 18G6.] GARDENING IN CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. 169
and even Tartary, whose sovereign Timnr Beg little thought of, and Art too much. As Horace
(Tamerlane) built a splendid palace in the Baghi- Walpole remarked :
dilcusha, or “ garden which rejoiceth the heart,” “ The measured walk, the quincunx, and the dtoile im-
all prove that the art of gardening in combina- posed tlieir unsatisfying- sameness on every royal and noble
tion with architecture is innate in man, and is of the garden. Trees were headed, and their sides pared away.
highest antiquity ;
—
still, for us people of modern
. . In the garden of Marshal Biron, of Paris, consisting
.
of fourteen acres, every walk is buttoned on each side by

Europe, the art may be said to have had its origin, lines of flower-pots, which succeed in their seasons.”
to have been systematized and developed in a truly
In spite, however, of such criticism, and the
grand manner during the sixteenth century. Italy
clever author’s sneers at fountains, which toss “their
took the lead, not only in the formation of gardens
waste of waters into air in spouting columns,” and
for the growth of remai'kable trees and plants,
at “terraces hoisted aloft in opposition to the facile
but also in the adaptation of the ground, and the
slopes that imperceptibly unite the valley to the
addition of artistic accessories, for the purpose of
hill,”we still see much to admire and love in these
giving to them an architectural character in com-
'
well-ordered gardens and the works of art, more

bination with the natural beauties of the site. At
or less suited to rustic scenery, with which they are
that time Italy set the fashion to other countries.
adorned.
France speedily followed in the same track, nor did
our own country lag far behind, for in the gardens
A
building, we must remember, is entirely a
work of conventional art, and the ground more
at Nonsuch Palace, laid out about the year 1540
immediately in its neighbourhood should also be
for Henry Till., we read of “shady walks, columns
treated in a more or less conventional manner, in
and pyramids of marble, fountains that spout water
order to harmonize with it. But Fashion is pro-
one round the other like a pyramid, upon which are
and the witty and sarcastic Horace
vei’bially fickle,
perched small birds that stream water out of their
Walpole Avas in his day her arbiter elegantiarum.
bills.” These were among the concetti in which
Bridgman commenced a reform, and Kent, the
Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe took delight,
architect and protege of another arbiter, the Earl of
but in the succeeding century such puerilities
Burlington, brought new principles to bear on the art
gradually gave way to a more purely artistic and
of landscape gardening. Nature and breadth of effect
refined taste. They were justly disregarded for, ;
were his guides. “ The great principles on which
as Lord Bacon said of different coloured patterns,
he worked,” writes Walpole, “were perspective,
“You may see as good sights many times in tarts.” and light and shade.” Wild Nature now became
And we smile when the Rev. J. Cradock tells
more the vogue, to the disregard and disuse of the
us of a Dutch garden at Saardam, in which he “ Capability Brown ” came to the throne,
Arts.
saw a table and punch-bowl, with pipes, cut out
and Walpole, speaking of Warwick Castle, says,
of evergreens, and a famous stag, whose antlers
“It is well laid out by one Brown, who has set
were always growing. This, however, relates to
up on a feAv ideas of Kent and Mr. Southcote.”
the ars topiaria, of which we shall have more to
Whilst CoAvper in his “ Garden,” sings of him
say anon.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
thus : —
“ Lo, lie comes !
some of the most magnificent results of what may Th’ omnipotent magician, Brown, appears !
be called architectural gardening were achieved Down the venerable pile, th’ abode
falls
grand examples of which still are preserved to us, Of our forefathers, a grave whisker’d race,
and demand our admiration, not only from the But tasteless. Springs a palace in its stead.
He speaks. The lake in front becomes a lawn ;
extensive scale on which they are carried out, but Woods vanish, hills subside, and valleys rise :
in many respects for the art evinced in their design. And streams, as if created for his use,
Such are the great gardens of the Pitti Palace Pursue the track of his directing- wand,
and the Bellosguardo, at Florence ; the gardens of Sinuous or straight, now rapid and now slow.”
Pratolino, of the Pamphili Doria Palace, Rome ;
This Avell describes the new style of landscape
of Caserta, near Naples ; of St. Cloud and Versailles gardening, which consisted in torturing and twisting
— both from Le Notre’ s designs, —
St. Germain en Nature into something as different to herself as
Laye, the Luxembourg Palace, and Fontainbleaxi, might please the fancy of “ Capability ” Brown, so
in France; Schdnbrunn, near Vienna; theJBelvedere, called because his first remarks were always as to
Potsdam, and Charlottenburg, near Berlin Loo, ;
the “ capabilities ” of the ground placed under his
Ryswick, and the Hague in Holland the old ;
moulding power. Nature here was denaturalized,
parts of Blenheim, Cliatsworth, and Stowe, and and the Arts as applicable to Nature almost clean
Hampton-Court gardens and park, laid out by forgotten. A
more tasteful sense of Nature in
London and Wise, for King William III. At landscape gardening was inculcated by the succeed-
the latter place, however, the small garden was ing school, of whom Sir TJvedale Price may be said
probably made in Wolsey’s time, and affords to have been the founder. The “ English garden”
many examples of Bacon’s precepts. To our by this time had become naturalized abroad and
mind, these gardens with their alcoves, statues, Avas looked upon as the acme of good taste ; and, in
terraces, and fountains, are charming, and full so far as it. aided or improved on natural features,
of delights, despite the somewhat monotonous and sought picturesque effects, it deserves some
character of their mathematical regularity. It credit. But in all this, Art, and especially archi-
must still be admitted, that Nature was then too tectural art, as forming an important feature in the
170 GARDENING IN CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. [Nature and Art, November 1, 18C6,
gardens belonging to large buildings, fell compara- rules,and made suggestions which every lover of
tively into disuse. Nature and of Art should hold dear. It is not our
In our own time we have seen an attempt at purpose to enter into the description of a country-
this revival ofArt and Nature in combination, in house. Wemerely premise that we fully endorse
such works as the gardens at Sydenham, and at Lord Bacon’s dictum that on the upper story should
South Kensington; and, although the former are be “an open gallery upon pillars, to take the prospect
immeasurably the best of the two, yet such a want and freshness of the garden.” This we find in several
of good taste, and a poor appreciation of Art, as of our old Elizabethan mansions, which with their
suitable to Nature, is observable in each, that large and deep bay windows, open galleries, spacious
we have been induced to make some remarks on courts, clear fountains, and broad terraces, are
this most interesting subject, of which the above models of English country-houses. With respect to
opening sketch of the rise and progress of the the immediate neighbourhood of the building, he
practice in Europe, will serve as a useful intro- adds,— “You must have, before you come to the
duction. front, three courts ; a green court plain, with a
Among the various qualities required in an wall about it ; a second court of the same, but
architect, asenumerated by the too exacting more garnished with little turrets, or rather em-
Vitruvius, we are not aware that a knowledge of bellishments upon the Avail ; and a third court to
landscape gardening forms one. And yet, most make a square with the front, but not to be built,
assuredly, if there is one subject in which the nor yet inclosed with a naked wall, but inclosed
educated and accomplished architect should be with terraces leaded aloft, and fairly garnished on
skilled and trained, it is a taste for, and knowledge the three sides ; and cloistered with pillars, and
of, the capabilities of the country or ground on not with arches beloAV.” We need hardly say that
which his building is to be placed, and with which this applies only to palatial buildings. The principle,
it will henceforth be inseparably connected, seen, however, remains good and ought to be practised,
and judged of. First of all, the site of his building- namely, that the main building should be gradually
demands artistic consideration ; then its congruity united by architectural features with the grounds
with the surrounding scenery must also be thought and surrounding country. As for the ordering of
of ; and, finally, the ordering of the garden, so as to the garden, in which, as he beautifully says, the
be in harmony with the entire work, should clearly breath of flowers “ comes and goes like the warbling
devolve upon the designer of the principal piece, to of sweet music,” he advises that a large plot of some
which it forms an adjunct of the most important thirty acres (which in his time was considered
character. For want of all this, what miserable about the quantity of land required for a palatial
failures have we seen in our own day, and among mansion), should be divided into three parts, ac-
persons who pride themselves on their artistic ability cording to the fashion of the period. “ A
green in
as architects. To take one only example from the entrance ; a heath or desert in the going forth,
amongst numbers, we have the most important and the main garden in the midst, besides alleys on
building of modern times in London, the Houses both sides ; and I like well, that four acres of
of Parliament, not raised —
for such an expi’ession ground be assigned to the green, six to the heath,
—
would be inappropriate, but sunk almost out of and twelve to the main garden.” It is an injustice
sight ; not springing from a broad and high platform to the author to give meagre extracts from his
by the river’s side, but squeezed up, and pressed down delightful description of the manner in which these
into its muddy ooze, so as to constitute to all time the three plots of ground should be planted and ar-
most expensive possible example of how a bad site ranged :whoso loves a fine garden, should read
can entirely destroy the effect of a noble building. and study the essay for himself.
In this particular case we believe the architect was We will proceed to consider the various parts
not to blame. As regards the next point, congruity and features of a garden, to which architectural or
of character between the neighbourhood and the ornamental art can be best applied. And first of
building, there are certain associations of ideas which all for terraces. We hold it as a reasonable and
must not be neglected. The many-roofed castle, good principle that every house should be raised,
with its outline, jagged as the rocks on which it is where possible, upon a platform for, to make it
;
perched, will not harmonize with gentle streams or stand flat on the ground, as though it had been
green sweeps of fat pasture land, the home of plenty shoved up bodily through the earth, or placed
and of peace. There is such a thing as being too down haphazard upon it, like the santa casa of
picturesque, and that is the rage at the present Loreto, is opposed to that Art which should connect
day, when villas which wilfully set all uniformity at itself agreeably with Nature. It is extraordinary
defiance, and painfully seek eccentric irregularity, what value a raised platform, however small, gives
appear suited neither for domestic comfort nor for to a building. Descending from this by a few steps
the soft, calm beauty of the woods and fields in Ave come to the terrace itself, which Ave hold should
which they are placed. On the third point, that be broad, and furnished with wide Avalks, large
in which Nature and Art are principally inter- velvety grass-plots, and beds of the sweetest flowers,
woven, we think it advisable to consider each near enough at least to scent the air and be wafted
separately, and will take as our well-beloved guide on the breezes into the house itself. This terrace
Francis Bacon, who, in his two delightful essays
*)
should not be too straight, or it becomes monoto-
“ On Building ” and “ On Gardens,” has laid down nous and tame, however grandly carried out, as at
;
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] GARDENING IN CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. 171
Alton Towers, for instance, and as at the Pamphili ends of so many dirty sticks, as at Sydenham, injure
Doria Palace, near Rome. Circular bastions, with the look of the whole fountain. If possible, all
fountains, statues, and flower vases on the balus- standing water, whether in the basins of fountains
trade, give additional charms to this the first, and or in lakes, should be avoided. We have seen
perhaps the only terrace in the grounds. Indeed, beautiful grounds, like those at Arundel Park, for
too many terraces are to be avoided and in the ;
instance, ruined by the nasty, green, slimy surface
“ Theory and Practice of Gardening ” translated which will collect on standing pools or where the
from the French (of Leblond), by S. J. James, current is not kept pretty strong, and, even then, it
1712, a work of great interest to the planners of requires to be carefully watched and cleared away.
gardens, it is observed that “ by means of levels or These lakes are nuisances, with their wretched
flats ( plein-pieds ), continued as long as the ground little boats, and muddy-tasting fish. Avoid arti-
will permit, you should endeavour to avoid the ficial lakes and useless canals like those at Hampton
defect of heaping “ ten'ass upon terrass.” Loudon, Court, or, if you must have standing water, see that
in his valuable “Encyclopaedia of Gardening,” justly it is kept in such well-lined basins or reservoirs as
remarks that this terrace serves to unite the house shall admit of its being easily cleaned, and which
with the grounds, and should, whenever practicable, will keep it clear as long as possible. “ Such a
be introduced into the design of the building of reservoir' which,” says Bacon,
“ we may call a bath-
which forms almost a component part.
it For ing-pool, admits of much curiosity and beauty,
ourselves, we love a fine terrace, and whoso knows wherewith we will not trouble ourselves ; as that
Haddon Hall, must know also its special charms. the bottom be finely paved and with images ; the
As regards the terrace-stairs, these may be wind- sides likewise ; and, withal, embellished with
ing or angular rather than parallel with the coloured glass (mosaics), and such things of lustre ;
terrace itself, with broad treads and pleasant encompassed also with fine rails of low statues.”
landings at every seventh step or so. The most Of this kind is the large oval reservoir, called the
easy ascent of stairs we know of is that of the “ Isola bella,” in the Boboli Gardens at Florence,
Vatican, which are barely 6 in. high, with a tread with its centralj marble fountain of Neptune and
of 1 ft. 8 in. If possible, we would have also a water-nymphs, surrounded with low, sweet-smelling
tapis-vert terrace well sheltered on the north and shrubs and flowers. Another example of the same
east by trees. The green carpet may be planted class, with a central raised terrace, is to be seen in
with odorous herbs which give their scent out the public gardens at Nismes. As for fountains
when pressed by the foot, as Bacon advises the : ornamented with glass mosaics, the only architect
external fence of 'this terrace may be also a well- who ever carried out Bacon’s suggestion, so far as
clipt, low hedge —
for want of this, the fine terrace we know, is our excellent friend Professor Lewis,
at Lowther Castle, Cumberland, looks unfinished, of the London University, whose beautiful fountain
and is even dangerous for children one terrace- : in the old Panopticon (now the Alhambra) is un-
walk also we would always have paved, as it is not fortunately destroyed. The ornamental adjuncts of
so damp as gravel after rain. fountains should be always appropriate one of the
:
Adjoining both house and terrace, should be the best and most fanciful of its kind is that by Tacca,
greenhouse. “ Who loves a garden loves a green- in the Piazza Annunziata, Florence. Such works,
house too,” sings Cowper, in his cliaraiing poem however, are only for the gardens of the most
“ The Garden and we need hardly add that it wealthy; but, as a rule for these and for all, we
should be so designed as to form a promenade in would say, keep the water ever flowing. And one
bad weather, and always be connected with the way in which it may be very prettily conducted,
house itself, so that it may be reached under cover. from a higher to a lower stage, is by means of
This feature in a garden has now been brought goulettes, which James explains as “ small channels
nearly to perfection, and splendid examples will cut in stone or marble, laid sloping for the water
occur to us all in the South Kensington Gardens, to run in( which is now and then interrupted by
and in the winter-garden at Sydenham. The little basins, cut in form of shells, which throw
plant-houses at Kew are unfortunately greatly up small spouts of water we would, however,
overcrowded, but this is, probably, unavoidable. dispense with the jets, which appear unmeaning
Returning again to the garden, we will now speak and trivial. Some of the most beautiful fountains
of the additional beauty it derives from the pre- in Italy, as, for example, that “ Della Rocca ” at
—
sence of water which is the very life and soul of Yiterbo, are on a raised platform ascended by steps
pleasure-grounds. We
agree heartily with Lord which greatly add to the appearance of the design.
Bacon, that “ for fountains, they are a great beauty The old system of waterworks is now, happily,
and refreshment, but pools mar all, and make the quite gone out of fashion. At Chatsworth in the
garden unwholesome and full of flies and frogs.” olden time, a multitude of little fountains suddenly
Great waterworks, such as those of Ver’sailles, spouted out over the incautious stranger who stood
Sydenham, Chatsworth, &c., are by no means neces- in admiration of the great cascade, and wetted
sary to perfection in forming a gar-den ; indeed, we him to the skin. This great cascade appears to
consider such tours de force as only fitted for vulgar have been of the same class as that at St. Cloud,
parade. The expense of making them is enormous, which is built in stone terraces, each with its vases,
and the result, as regards beauty, nil whilst the and the whole body of water empties itself into a
pipes, if left protruding out of the water, like the large oval beneath. This piece, designed by Le
— — ;
:
172 GARDENING IN CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. [Nature and Art, November 1, 18G6.
Notre, is a fine example of its kind, but we need terrace, with steps, seats, and appropriate statuettes.
hardly say is now properly out of vogue. Among Modern landscajxe gardeners approve of what they
the more useful applications of water, the system call “prospect towers” —
such as are the Chinese
practised in the gardens of the Generalife at pagodas at Kew and Alton Towers ; but we do not
Granada, is very good and pleasing. In that torrid —
hold with them they look too isolated and unmean-
climate of Andalusia, the plant and flower-beds are ing. A prospect tower, or belvedere, is better
interwoven with small swift-running streams of planned in combination with the main building, to
water, in pebbled channels, which here and there which it forms an additional feature capable of very
are enlarged to form fountains. The effect of sound effective treatment.
and sight as you look out from the lovely Moorish Out of vogue as it now is, we venture to say a
arcade of the palace is exquisite. Resembling in few words in favour of the topiary art. We do
this respect the garden of Alcinous as given in not wish to see the evergreen pipes and punch-
Homer’s “Odyssey,” thus rendered in the Guardian, bowls already spoken of, nor those figures which
No. 173 worthy Gervase Markham describes in his “Way
“ Two plenteous fountains the whole prospect crown’d to get Wealth” as “being in the shape of men
;
This, through the gardens leads its streams around, armed in the field and ready to give battle, and
Visits each plant, and waters all the ground : swift-running hounds to chase the deer or hunt the
While that in pipes beneath the palace flows, hare though it be true, as he observes, “that
And thence its current on the town bestows.”
this kind of hunting shall not waste your corn, nor
Floating islets of flowers may also well be placed much your coyn.” Nor “ Adam and Eve in yew —
in water, as we have seen in the river at Taunton, Adam a shattered by the
little fallof the tree of
Somersetshire, where the effect is exceedingly knowledge in the great storm ;
but Eve and the
pretty : Serpent very flourishing,” as described in No. 173
“ A little lawny islet of the Guardian, to which the reader is referred
With anemone and violet, for a very humorous satire on the ars tojriaria.
Like mosaic paven.”
But, as Bacon says, we “ do not like images cut
As Shelley sings ;
— or, better still are mounds of out in juniper or other garden stuff’ ; they be for
beautiful colour and sweet fragrance studding the children. Little low hedges, round like welts,
calm surface of the water. Statues, vases, water', with some pretty pyramids, we like well.” Neatly-
and flowers, form an exquisite combination; and, trimmed thickset hedges, the monotonous lines
as regards water-plants, these also are not without of which are, happily, relieved by a few such con-
their charm, but they require great care, and are ventional figures in yew, cypress, etc., we look
often too dependent on a muddy bottom to be on with much pleasure ; there is an air also of
As regards statues in a garden,
altogether desirable. orderliness and care about them which is not dis-
we may learn from the experiments at South pleasing they should be sparingly used, we think,
:
Kensington that bright gilding and dark bronze are yet not altogether condemned. As regards flower-
equally unsuitable to our atmosphere the first — beds, it is still too much the custom to form them
looks staring, the last looks dull. Marble, stone, into patterns, and, although we have given up the
and terra-cotta, are still the best ; whilst rustic “ embroidery parterres ” of our forefathers, we still
figures and groups may well be cast in lead or com- err in making intricate designs with our flower-beds
mon metal, as seen in the gardens of the Pitti which are only ornamental on plan, and keep the
Palace at Florence, where they have always appeared flowers, in which we delight, away from sight and
to us to harmonizeadmirably with the foliage scent. Serpentine walks are also bad far prefer- :
which ought to serve background or setting to

as a able, to our mind, are even the straightest of our
them. Then, it is a great mistake to isolate large old allees. Common sense should be studied in
statues, as is commonly the practice of our modern these matters ; and, where the nature of the ground
garden-planners. If they are poor in point of requires or permits it, these winding paths are
art —
and we do not expect the best in a garden admirable ; but on a flat surface they seem made
they are exposed over-much to notice, and if good, merely to make your way, from one point to another,
they seem to deserve some covering or protection as long and devious as possible. Moreover, in a
from our rough climate. Statues in groups are pre- small plot of ground, such meandering curves are
ferable also to single figures, and the best back- positively painful to the eye, which finds no repose
ground they can have is a well-clipped evergreen and is distracted by pathways which seem to lead
hedge, or palisade as it is technically called. As —
one nowhere in search of nothing.
regards colossal statues, we do not care to see them As to seats, which should be placed in all points
they may serve in a city, but in a garden they are where a good view is to be obtained, or restful
out of place. The most extraordinary example of retreat, — they always be provided with
should
this kind is the “ Genius of the Apennines,” built backs. The seat itself may be of a hard, close wood,
up of brick and mortar, and cemented over, with — or of metal laths, but the ornamental portions are
a staircase up his inside and a room in his head best in stone. Around them may be vases taste-
this figure, about GO ft. high, ismonstrous strange, fully disposed and thus with flowers sweet of scent
;
and should be a “ caution” as Americans say. No and bright of hue, and the rippling sound of a
garden, we hold, is complete without a sun-dial, stream hard by, each sense be gratified and the
which may form quite a picturesque feature on the spirits soothed into blissful peace.
,
^NichoU
Andrew
—
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] THE FLYING FISH. 173
We love to see flowers around us : they lend a times planted round with flower-beds. have We
charm even to the gloom of the cemetery, and no need, however, to dilate upon this theme who :
redeem it from its sombre character for are not we, ;

does not love flowers —
those “ stars which in
too, flowers of mortal growth, who wither and die eai'th’s firmament do shine?” Our gossip now is
here, indeed, but bloom perennial in a happier clime ? over about architecture and gardening, and if we
How greatly, too, are the houses of the living have succeeded in making out a case in favour of
improved by a few flowers, not only pictorially, but the principles of gardening in connection with
architecturally. We remember Paris when the architecture as practised during the sixteenth and
Louvre and other public buildings were unadorned seventeenth centuries, showing that they ought not
even with grass-plots in the courts, &c. but now ;
to be so utterly condemned as they have been, and
how charming they look, with their little borders that, with all their faults, they present many points
of box, and grass, and sweet-smelling, sweet-looking worthy of retention, imitation, and development,
flowers !Never have we seen architecture better our jjaper on this subject will not have been written
set off than in those churches which are now at in vain.
THE PLYING FISH.

(Exocilus volitans.*)
By W. B. Lord, Eoyal Artillery.
mHE monotony of a long sea-voyage is most with a mere touch on the crest of the heaving
X agreeably broken by observing the habits and billow, again flit onward reinvigorated and re-
watching the movements of the endless variety of freshed.
curious and beautiful objects hourly presented to The extreme distance to which each of these
view, cleaving the air on restless pinion as the good flights extends is rarely beyond two hundred yards,
ship speeds on her way ; skimming the crest of and usually even much less space is traversed. The
some rolling billow ; or soaring away aloft on out- sustaining power possessed by the wings, or fins,
stretched wing ; yet ever following and keeping appears mainly to depend on the presence of
her company. There are sea treasures too, wave moisture ; but whether the act of tipping the
bonie, which well repay investigation. In southern waves from time to time is sufficient to communi-
climes the types of animal and vegetable life cate it, or whether the peculiar form of the tail
brought to the notice of the observant voyager, are enables them rapidly to cast water over themselves,
more varied and attractive than in the colder seas is a question which has yet to be solved. Captain
of our own latitude. The exquisite colouring and Tobin, in speaking of the Flying Fish, says,
beautiful form of the Portuguese man-of-toar as it
“The
lower half of the tail is fully twice the length of the
floats gracefully by the huge turtle sluggishly
; upper. The use
of it has always appeared evident to me. I
drifting with the current ; the passing tufts of have by the hour, watched the dolphins and bonitas in pursuit
gulf weed, with the curious Crustacea and infusoria of them, when, without wholly immersing themselves, which
often found amongst them ; the pigmy sail of the would have proved fatal to them, they have disposed, in their
progressive motion the lower part of the tail in such a
graceful nautilus ; and the horn -like fin of the
manner as to supply their wings with moisture, so as to
dreaded shark, are each in turn objects of interest. support them above the surface. I never saw one exceed
The stormy petrels, too, hover swallow-like in the the distance of one hundred yards in its flight without being
wake, and appear almost disposed to peep in at the obliged to dip for a fresh supply.”
cabin windows to inquire after the health of We, too, have had numerous opportunities of
“ Mother Carey,” whose own chickens
they are, observing the movements of these interesting
by the sailors, declared to be ; and who strongly creatures, and incline to the belief that a moist fin
object to their being shot at or molested in any is and that both
essential to their aerial progress
;
way, for fear of rousing the ire of that respected the outstretched form of wing made use of in
stiff,
old lady, and so bringing on a gale of wind as a skimming or hovering, and the rapid winnowing of
manifestation of her displeasure. There is no the fins seen at particular periods of the flight, are
sight more charming or pleasing to remember than each produced at the will of the fish, just as a
the flight of a shoal of Flying Fish as they shoot hawk either soars aloft, flutters in mid-air, or
forth from the dark green wave in a glittering swoops down on its prey. Mr. Swainson thus
throng, like silver birds in some gay fairy tale, gives the result of his experiences in the matter
— gleaming brightly in the sunshine, and then, “ It is said, also, that the fins are merely used as para-
chutes, and do not, as in birds, propel the fish forward by
* The species of Flying Fish which most frequently comes repeated movements. This again admits of doubt. The
under the notice of the voyager is that now under considera- flight of these fish, though short, is very rapid, almost as
tion, which is known as the “ oceanic,” and E. Exiliens, or —
much so as that of a swallow and every one knows that
the Mediterranean Flying Fish. Although alike in general these birds will advance far with little or no beating motion
appearance, they are distinguished by well-marked anatomi- of the wings. In crossing the Line in 1816, we were very
cal peculiarities. anxious to ascertain this point in the economy of the
— — -
174 THE PLYING FISH. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
Flying Fish but, although we had them before our eyes

; keeping company with us at the depth of two or three
almost every quarter of an hour for a week, their flight was fathoms, and, as usual, glistening most beautifully in the
so rapid that, at the nearest distance they ever were to the sun, no sooner detected our poor, dear, little friends taking
ship, we found it utterly impossible for the eye to determine wing, than he turned his head towards them, and darting to
this question, as it is to see the vibrations of the wings of a the surface, leaped from the water with a swiftness little
fly. Our impression is that this act of flying is effected in short, as it seemed, of a cannon-ball. But although the
two ways first, there is a spring, or leap, by which the
: force with which he shot himself into the ail- made him
fish is raised out of the water ;
and then the pectoral fins gain upon the Flying Fish at first, yet the start which they
are spread and employed to propel the fish in a forward had got enabled them to keep a-head of him for a consider-
direction either by a few flappings, or by the motion that is able time. The length of the dolphin’s first spring could
analogous to the skimming of swallows. It is quite true not be less than ten yards, and after he fell we could see
that they have not the power of elevating themselves in the him gliding like lightning through the water, for a moment,
air in an undulating direction, as we see in swallows. The when he again rose and shot forward with a speed consider-
course of their flights being always that of a very slight ably greater than at first, and of course, to a still greater
arch, the height of which, we believe, varies with the distance. In this manner the merciless pursuer seemed to
species those near the Equinoxial Line, towards America,
; stride along the sea with fearful rapidity, whilst his brilliant
have a low flight, so that though innumerable flocks rose coat sparkled and flashed in the sun quite splendidly. As
round the vessel in all directions, not one ascended he fell headlong on the water, at the end of each huge leap,
sufficiently high to fall into it ;
whilst in other instances a series of circles were sent far over the still surface which
they have fallen into ships from fourteen to twenty feet lay as smooth as a mirror.
above the water. Sometimes they fly off in an oblique, “ The group of Flying Fish, thus hotly pursued, at length
angular direction from that which they first took, an im- — dropped into the sea, but we were rejoiced to observe that
portant fact, because it proves that, this flying is effected they .merely touched the top of the swell, and scarcely scenic
not merely by the leap, but by the action of the fins and into it — at least, they instantly set off again in a fresh and
tail just as these members are used to influence the course even more vigorous flight. It was particularly interesting to
of birds, although the mode in which the pectorals are used observe that the direction they now took was quite different
for this purpose we do not pretend to understand.” from the one in which they had set out ; thus implying- that
they had detected the fierce enemy who was following them
That 'they have the most perfect control over
with giant steps along the waves, and was now rapidly
their own movements and direction of flight there —
gaining upon them his terrific pace, indeed, was two or
can he no doubt, but the fact of their so frequently —
three times as swift as theirs poor, little thing-s. The
falling on board ship and into boats, leads us to dolphin was fully as quick-sighted as the Flying Fish, for
imagine that their powers of vision must be de- whenever they changed their flight in the smallest degree,
he lost not the tenth part of a second in shaping a new
fective when in the ail', or that the certain and
course in pursuit whilst they, in a manner really not unlike
;
well-understood danger below distracts their atten- that of the hare, doubled more than once upon their pursuer.
tion from the unknown risks above. The powers But it was soon too plainly to be seen that the strength and
of flight possessed by Flying Fish, and the life of confidence of the Flying Fish was fast ebbing. Their flights
became shorter and shorter, and their course more fluttering
danger and persecution led by them, are thus
and uncertain, whilst the enormous leaps of the dolphin
described by Captain Basil Hall :
appeared only more vigorous at each bound. At last, indeed,
“ A notion prevails afloat, but I know not how just it may we could see, or fancied we could see, that this skilful sea-
be, that they can fly no longer than whilst their wings, or sportsman so arranged all his springs that he contrived to
fins, remain wet. That they rise as high as twenty feet fall at the end of each, just under the very spot at which
above the water is certain, from their being found in parts the exhausted Flying Fish were about to drop. Sometimes
of a ship which are full as much as that out of the sea. I this took place at too great a distance for us to see from the
remember seeing one about nine inches in length, and weigh- deck exactly what had happened ; but on our mounting into
ing not less than half a pound, skim into the Volage’s main the rigging, we could discover that many of the unfortunate
deck port, just abreast the gangway one of the seamen little creatures, one after another, either fell into the
:
was coming up the quarter-deck ladder at the moment when dolphin’s jaws as they lighted on the water, or were snapped
the fish, entering the port, struck the astonished mariner on up instantly afterwards.”
the temple, knocked him off the step, and very nearly threw
him down at full length. We have enjoyed several opportunities of watch-
“ The amiable Humboldt good-naturedly .suggests that ing the progress and results of these sea-lmnts. It
the flight of these fish may be mere gambols, and not proofs frequently happens, too, that as the ship lays over,
of thfeir being pursued by their enemy, the dolphin. I wish
and the passing wave leaps joyously up, several
I could believe so, for it were much more agreeable to
suppose that at the end of a fine sweep which they members of a shoal will pay an unceremonious visit
take, they fall safely on the bosom of the sea. I do not to the deck or quarter-boats, when some active
recollect whether that eminent traveller, who not only Jack Tar soon pounces on and secures them.
observes many more things than most men, but describes Mr. D’Ewes relates the following anecdote, show-
them much better, has anywhere mentioned his having
ing the unexpected manner in which Flying Fish
witnessed one of these chases. The best I remember was
during the first voyage I ever made through those regions sometimes intrude where their presence is unde-
of the sun, the Tropical seas, and I will describe it : sirable, and the alarming consequences occasionally
“ We were stealing- along pleasantly enough under the
caused by the intrusion : —
influence of a newly-formed breeze which, as yet, was con-
fined to the upper sails, and every one was looking, open- “ We were,” he says, “ soated at the cuddy table at
mouthed to the eastward, to catch a little cool air, or was breakfast, on a broiling morning in the Tropics, when
congratulating his neighbour on getting rid of the calm, in suddenly a loud cry of terror issued from one of the side
which we had been so long half-roasted, half-suffocated, cabins occupied by Captain B s and his newly-married
when about a dozen Flying Fish rose out of the water and wife, who were en route to Madras. A sudden rush was
skimmed away to windward, at the height of ten or twelve made to the door of the cabin in question, and the cause
feet above the surface ;
shortly after, we discovered two or was soon explained. Madame, who was leaving her High- 1
three dolphins ranging past the ship in all their beauty. land home for the first time in her life, and whose rather
’
Presently the ship in her course put up another shoal of robust figure, golden hair, and freckled complexion, were all
these little creatures, which flew in the same direction which decidedly anti-tropical, had been reclining in her cot in a
the others had taken. A large dolphin, which had been state of light dishabille, the upper part of her person close
—
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.]

THE FLYING FISH. 175
to the open port-hole, in order to catch any breath of air that following, like the dolphins, the shoals of Flying
might arise, when an adventurous Flying’ Fish alig'hted upon Fish, which are also immensely numerous within
her bosom. This piscatory intrusion was the cause of the
and on the borders of the Tropics, with unceasing
screams we heard. The lady’s knowledge of natural history,
or perhaps her belief in its laws not having extended to this pertinacity. For the table, neither the bonita nor
very remarkable marine phenomenon, all the answer she albacore is particularly good, being to our taste
could be induced to give to her husband’s explanations and rather dry. The bones, too, however necessary
endearments, was the repeated assertion, Auch, mon, it’s
‘
in an anatomical, point of view, are inconvenient,
the deil.’
”
to say the least of them, when their number,
Although the life of our fluttering, silvery little
sharpness, and length have to be studied at the
friend looks, at the first glance, so much like a breakfast or dinner table. Still, either the one or
“merry-go-round” of joy, it is, in fact, very far the other forms an agreeable change in the ordinary
from being so. Nemesis, in the form of the bonita, role of cabin fare. The Flying Fish, on the other
the dolphin, or some other scaly enemy, is rarely hand, are as good as they are beautiful ; and the
far behind, dividing the spray like arrows. Now great ground for complaint regarding them is, that
in sight, with striped back and upraised fins, darting their visits are not more general and frequent.
eagerly onward in the chase ; now lost to view Nicely fried, after the manner of smelts, they form
beneath the waves, and anon, with sheen of gold, a feast an alderman might envy.
crossing and re-crossing like hounds on the track When the bonitas and albacores are darting hither
of game ; whilst greedy sea-fowl wheel on swift and thither in pursuit of their flying prey, the best
pinions, ready for a swoop at the silvery victims opportunity will be afforded for capturing some of
below. Mr. Forbes, that close observer of nature, these hunters of the sea ; and thus do we proceed.
and faithful recorder of things Oriental, makes the
following rein ark in his memoirs :
“ In the Hindoo metempsychosis, where the bodies of the

dove, the bee, the ant, and other favourite animals, are
assigned as the temporary abode of tender, affectionate, and
tranquil spirits, and lions, tigers, and hyenas for those of a
ferocious disposition, the body of the Flying Fish would be
a fit receptacle for the malicious, envious souls, who, like
the arch fiend they imitate, are continually going about
seeking whom they may devour.”
It strange that, with so many enemies always

is
on the alert, Flying Fish should be so numerous ;
and it is a question well worthy of the trouble
of solution, whether the spawn bears with it the
natural protection which has been attributed to it.
Plunder in his MSS. says that the ova of the
Flying Fish is so intensely acrid that not the
smallest quantity of them can be swallowed, for
they immediately burn off the skin from the tongue
and palate. It would be well worth while to
examine on the spot at the Antilles (for Plunder
does not distinguish the species producing this
ova), whether the flesh be not equally caustic ; and
whether this quality arises from the peculiar cha-
racter of food made use of, or is bestowed by nature
for the preservation of the spawn, in order to secure
their propagation. When the bonitas and albacores
are in hot pursuit of their prey, man, in his turn,
often makes prey of them. These beautiful fish A bait, as drawn in the accompanying woodcut, first
are at times taken of considerable size ; they some- described by us in our work “ Sea Fish and howto
what resemble gigantic mackerel, and belong to the Catch them,” should be prepared. Its mode of con-
same family (Scomberidee). Instances are recorded struction is simple in the extreme, and many of the
of then' being captured on our own coasts. Some materials are easy of obtainment even on board ship.
season or two since, when scrambling about, speci- Still, a few hooks of different sizes, large swivels, and
men hunting, on the coast of Cornwall, we discovered strong fishing-lines, should form a portion of every
a remarkably fine specimen of the bonita, lying traveller’s sea-kit, as they at all times minister to
dead amongst the tangled weed in one of those amusement, and are occasionally of the greatest
sandy, pebbly pools in which cunning old crabs, value.
limpets of adhesive habits, and anthozoa of rainbow First, then, procure a piece of oak or other
hue, delight to dwell. Few well-authenticated strong grained wood, of about from five to six
instances, however, are recorded of their taking a inches long ; taper it from head to tail like a
bait. In the warm seas of the south, and under a small fish, exit a deep longitudinal groove both
tropical sky, they are not only abundant, but take above and below, from end to end, leaving a notch
a bait such as we have figured at fig. 1 voraciously, at each extremity ( vide fig. 1). Then twist a
;
176 THE FLYING FISH. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
piece of stout copper wire into the groove, leaving it {vide fig.) A cross lashing of fine tAvine is then
a ring at each end, to lay across the notches, as in put on, in order to keep the nail in its place,
fig. 2. Bore a hole through the body with a
gimblet or red-hot wire, as shown by the arrow at
fig. 3,and at each side secure in the holes so made
a tuft of bristles from a sweeping-brush, which is
best done with a little hot pitch, as vide fig. C.
These serve to represent the fins or wings. Another
and shorter tuft opened to receive the tapered end
of the body, and secured in its place Avith AA axed r
silk or thread, serves for a tail. Prepare a long,

narrow strip of sheet lead, wind it firmly and evenly
in a spiral coil, from end to end ; scrape the lead
bright and smooth Avith a pocket-knife, secure the
two ends Avith tacks, and the body is complete.
Mount it as follows : fasten two No. 4 sea-hooks
back to back on a piece of strong line about five
inches long, which must be served Avitli fine copper
Avire ; form a loop in the end, and attach it to the
tail ring A. The same arrangement of hooks on a
three-inch piece of line served like the other, must
be looped to the head ring, B. Attach your main
line, which must be a strong one, to the bait, Avitli
a loop at B. Place a couple of large-sized brass
SAvivels at tAvo feet apart, the first being fitted as
shown in the Avoodcut, and serve the line from about
a foot from the bait Avitli the wire, as in the hook
lengths. An omission of this precaution Avould in
all probability, lead to the loss of both fish and bait,
as both the bonita and albacore haAr e sets of re-
markably sharp teeth, and know Avell how to use prevent the Avood from splitting, and to secure a
them. The arrangements being now completed, short piece of rag, which represents the tail in
the lure may be cast into the sea, and the line its proper position.
veered aAvay until a sufficient distance from the ship The bait is now
has been reached, Avhen the bait should be kept ready for use, and
leaping from AvaA’e to wave by hauling in and giving is by no meaus
out line : thus roughly imitating the motions of a- bad make-shift
the Flying Fish. Few bonitas or albacores Avill be Avhen hooks are
found self-denying enough to resist this attraction. difficult to obtain.
The glittering, springing bait once seen by the The Esquimaux use
pursuing fish, a general rush is made; a gleam of contrivances of
blue and silver is seen for an instant, and the line various sizes, very
becomes tense as a bell-wire, as the painted captive much in principle
sheers off beloAv, or darts in a race for life far off like this, for the
from the ship’s side. Coolness, readiness, and strong capture of both
tackle are the great aids now required, and with large and small fish,
them, backed up Avith a moderate share of luck, the only omitting the
prisoner may be brought on board, Avhere Avith stark, rag, baiting them
stiff fins,quick shuddering flutter, and changing much as Ave bait an
ultra-marine hues, his life rapidly ebbs away, and ordinary fish-hook.
the remorseless cook claims him as a sort of wind- The trace, or
fall to swell the carte of the next coming meal. connecting piece
Honest forecastle Jack either strikes the bonita and between the hook
albacore Avitli the grains —
a trident- shaped instru- and the line, is
ment, in the management of which he is usually composed of a strip
—
an adept, or makes use of a primitive contrivance, of sinew or Avh ale-
with which to inveigle them, and thus he prepares bone; the body or
it : a stout piece of hard, strong wood, about six or shaft, of a bit of
seven inches long, is obtained, notched at the neck, driftAvood gathered
to receive a couple or three lmlf-hitches of strong from the beach; the
line, under which is firmly secured a strip of Avhite point, of a sharp,
rag to serve as wings. At the loAver or tail end of finely-scraped bone
the stick a hole is obliquely bored, and a stout and the arming or lashing, of a thread of tendon or
sharp nail, such as carpenters use, driven through split ground AvilloAv. The neatness and ingenuity
;
Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] NOTES ON THE RED DEEB. 177
displayed by them in the manufacture of these advantage of, and almost the same movement
simple but effective fishing contrivances, serve to through the water secured and whether the highly
;
show how much may be effected by small means finished Limerick hook of O' Shcmghnessy s own
well applied. The woodcut will give a better make or the fragment of fire-hardened root of the
,
idea of their mode of construction than would forest tree, carved by Indian ingenuity, is used, the
any written description. From the hollow pearl- pleasure to the captor of the scaly prize is much
shell bait of the Polynesian Islanders, to the the same. Man is by nature a hunting animal,
glittering spoon-bowl of the finished English fisher- and his instinct, whether savage or civilized, is to
man, the same principle of construction is taken catch something.
NOTES ON THE RED DEER.

rTlTIE Red Deer, the Cervus Elephas of Linnaeus, antler, being still covered by a prolongation of the skin.
X appears to exist almost universally in Northern The structure of the part at this time is soft and carti-
laginous it is immediately invested by a true periosteum,
Europe, and in a considerable portion of Northern ;
containing large and numerous vessels, which by the gradual

Asia. It is not found in America, although the name
deposition of ossific matter convert the young antler into a
is given to the American Deer Cervus Virginianus
( perfect bone. The vessels pass through openings in the
of Baird), a species which closely resembles our bony circle at the foot of the antler, the formation of this
Fallow Deer. In the Hudson’s Bay Territory it part proceeding in the same ratio with that of the rest
is also applied to the Wapiti
the openings are contracted and the vessels thereby pressed,'
Cervus Canacliensis),
( until a complete obstruction ensues. The skin and periosteum
which in Canada is termed the Elk, the true Elk then dry and perish, and fall off, the surface of the antler
being there known as the “ Moose,” a confusion of remaining uncovered. At the stated period it falls off, to
names which has led to endless mistakes in narra- be renewed again, always increasing in size. The antler is
tives of sport and shed in the spring, and ronewed in the summer.”
travel. The height of the British
Red Deer may be averaged and a half feet.
at three ,We may add, that while the horns are still
The average weight of a full-grown male is, accord- tender, the animals are more than usually and shy,
ing to Mr. Scrope, * about 25 stone, imperial. The in the combats which often take place between the
males are called stags or harts, the females hinds. males, they appear carefully to avoid approaching
The female consorts with the male in her second their heads together, but, rearing themselves on
year, carries her young eight months, and the their hind legs, fight desperately with their fore feet.
young follow the mother about ten months. The There is another remarkable provision of Nature
young of both sexes is called a calf until six months
old, when the horns of the males begin to appear,
—
which we may here notice, the spiracula, or ad-
ditional holes for respiration, which are found in
and they become brockets, staggards, and lastly, all the varieties of both the deer and antelope tribes.
stags or harts. The males carry their horns ten White of Selborne appears to have been the first
months. among modem naturalists to notice this fact, which
Blumenbach, in his “ Comparative Anatomy,” has since become generally recognized, although
asserts this annual reproduction of the horns in the he quotes a line from the Greek poet Oppian,
deer species, to be “ one of the most remarkable showing that the ancients were aware of the
phenomena of animal physiology.” His English peculiarity.*
translators, Lawrence and Coulson, have added a
note on the subject, which we will here transcribe “If some curious gentleman,” lie writes, “would procure
:
the head of a deer, and have it dissected, he would find it

“ The word horn, which is furnished with two spiracula or breathing-places, besides
frequently applied in English
to the antlers of the deer kind, as well as to the horns of the nostrils, probably answering to the pvmcta lacrymalia
other g-enera, would lead to erroneous notions on this in the human head. When deer are thirsty, they plunge
subject. The antler is a real hone, it is formed in the their noses, like some horses, very deep under water, while
same manner and consists of the same elements as other in the act of drinking, and continue them in that situation
bones its structure is also the same. It adheres to the
; for a considerable time ;
but to obviate any inconveniency,
frontal bone by its basis, and the substance of the two they can open two vents, one at the inner corner of each
parts being consolidated together, no distinction can be eye, having a communication with the nose. Here seems
traced when the antler is perfectly organized. But the to be an extraordinary provision of Nature, worthy our
skin of the forehead terminates at its basis, which is attention, and which has not, that I know of, been noticed
marked by an irregular projecting bony circle, and there is by any naturalist, for it looks as if these creatures could
neither skin nor periosteum on the rest of it. The time of not be suffocated, though both their mouths and nostrils
its remaining on the head is about a year. As the period of were stopped. This curious formation of the head may be
its fall approaches, a reddish mark of separation is
observed of singular service to beasts of chase by affording them
between the process of the frontal bone and the antler. free respiration, and no doubt these additional nostrils are
This becomes more and more distinctly marked, until the thrown open when they are hard run. Mr. Bay observed,
connection is entirely destroyed. that at Malta, the owners slit up the nostrils of such asses
“ The skin of the forehead extends as were hard worked, for they being naturally straight or
over the frontal bone
when the antler has fallen. At the period of its regenera- small, did not admit air sufficient to serve them, when they
tion, a tubercle arises and takes the form of the future travelled or laboured in that hot climate. And we know
* Scrope’s “ Deer Stalking in * “ TsrpdCvpci ph'i£, m'ovpec Trvaiytn ciavXot.'’
the Highlands.”
VI. N
— -
178 NOTES ON THE RED DEER. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1863.
that grooms and gentlemen of the turf think large nostrils more improved style of “ Venerie,” when the quarry
necessary, and a perfection in race-horses.”
was run down with the aid of “ hound and horn,”
A little further on, dates from the Norman period, when those large
Mr. White adds :
portions of country, like the New Forest, were laid

“ Mr. Pennant has sent me the following curious and waste to form royal hunting-grounds.
pertinent reply :
—
I was much surprised to find in the
‘
A few centuries ago the chase of the deer would
antelope something analogous to what you mention as re-
markable in deer. This animal has also a long slit beneath seem to have possessed more of the danger and
each eye, which can be opened and shut at pleasure. On excitement of actual warfare than we are liow
holding an orange to one, the creature made as much use accustomed to associate with the pursuit of any
of these orifices as of his nostrils, applying them to the English game. Sir Walter Scott has thus described
and seeming to smell ”
fruit, it through them.’
some of the incidents of the chase in a note to his
The writer of the present article can bear witness poem of the “ Lady of the Lake” : —
to the truth of this assertion, having repeatedly “ When the stag turned to bay, the hunter had the
noticed it in two domesticated antelopes which he perilous task of going in upon, and killing or disabling the
had in his possession in South Africa. Not only desperate animal. At certain times of the year this was
do these spiracula perform the functions above held particularly dangerous. It was at all times a task to
be adventured on wisely and warily, either by getting
described, but by opening an additional communica-
behind the stag when he was gazing at the hounds, or by
tion with the olfactory nerve, they contribute to watching an opportunity to gallop in roundly upon him and
that exquisite keenness of scent upon which these killing with the sword. (See many directions to this purpose
animals appear so greatly to rely for safety. in The Booke of Hunting.’)
‘
Wilson, the historian, has
recorded a providential escape which befell him, when a
Again, when hard pressed, the. Deer frequently
young man, and a follower of the Earl of Essex ‘ Sir P.
:
—
takes to the water, or “ soils,” as it is termed in Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer to
“ V enerie.” In these cases a stag will lie down in hunt the stagg ; and having a great stagg in chase, and
the water, his horns laid flat on his back, and but many gentlemen in pursuit, the stagg took soyle, and divers,
a small portion of the head above water, a position among whom I was one, alighted, and stood ready with
drawne swordes, to have a cut at him on his coming out of
in which additional means of respiration are
the water. The stagg then being wonderfully fierce and
doubtless most necessary. On these occasions (we dangerous, made us youthes more eager to be at him. But
may observe), not only is the animal hidden by the he escaped us all, and it was my misfortune to be hindered
water, but, in a running stream, the scent will be of my coming nere him —
the way being slipirie by a fall, —
which gave occasion to some who did not know me, to
carried down stream, with a rapidity dependent on
the velocity of the current, and thus almost to a
—
speak as if I had fallen thro’ feare which being told mee,
I left the stagg, and followed the gentleman who (firste)
certainty mislead his pursuers. spake it, but I found him of that cold temper that it seems
lied Deer are now nearly extinct in the British his words made an escape from him, as by his denial and
Islands, save in the Highland deer forests, where repentance it appeared.

“ But this made mee much more violente in pursuite of
‘
their preservation has been an undertaking of

the stagg to recover my reputation, and I happened to be
-
,
expense and labour. During a severe winter, a the only horseman in when the dogs sett him up at bay,
few seasons back, a Bed Deer was found in the and approaching nere him on horseback he broke thro’ the
north of Yorkshire ; but he, it was supposed, was a dogs and ran at mee, and tore my horse’s side with his
straggler from one of the deer preserves further
homes close by my thigh. Then I quitted my horse and
grew more cunning (for the dogs had got him at bay again),
north ; and we believe we are correct in saying stealing behind him, and with my sworde cutting his ham-
that the only spot on this side of the Tweed where strings, and then got upon his backe and cut his throat,
these animals can now be found, is a small tract of which as I was doing, the companie came in and blamed
limestone country, about forty miles long and fifty my raslmesse for running such a hazard.’ ”
broad, running along the shores of the Bristol The reader will remember that a similar feat is
Channel, towards the Somersetshire range, known said to have been performed in the presence of
as the Quantock Hills, and forming a part of .Queen Elizabeth.
Exmoor Forest. The Scottish kings appear to have been some-
Some few years since a small remnant of the times content with a tamer kind of sport shooting ;
breed also existed on the least-frequented parts with the bow from an elevated spot, before which
of the Cumberland Fells ; but a gentleman well the deer were driven, as is now often practised on
acquainted with the natural history of the northern the Continent.
counties informs the writer that these animals, he Pennant, in the second vol. of his “ History of
believes have now disappeared altogether.
,
Perhaps Scotland,” when mentioning a walk that retained
some of our readers may be able to throw additional the name of “the King’s Seat,” having been the
light on this point. place where the Scottish monarchs placed them-
Many writers assert that Red Deer were in- selves to direct then shafts at the flying deer driven
-
troduced into England from France. They were that way, quotes the following English version of
at any rate very abundant as early as the days of a story told by Barclay in an old treatise, Contra
the Saxons in every part of England. The history Monarchomachos, of Mary Queen of Scots, showing
of the chase at that period is somewhat obscure. that even this style of sport had its danger.
—
The Saxons with whom it was a serious occupa-
“ In the year 1563, the Earl of Atholl, a prince of the
tion, carried on as much to supply the necessaries
blood royal, bad with muck trouble and vast expense a
of life as for amusement —
appear to have been hunting match for the entertainment of our most illustrious
content with driving and trapping the deer. The and most gracious Queen. Our people call this a royal
;
Nature and Art, November 1, 1806.] NOTES ON THE RED DEER. 179
hunting'. I was then a young man and was present on which is just by, and reposing herself on a bank smoothed
that occasion. Tivo thousand Highlanders, or wild Scots for that purpose, about half a mile distant from Wolmer
as you call them here, were employed to drive to the Pond, and still called the Queen’s bank, saw with great
hunting ground all the deer from the woods and hills of complacency the whole herd of Red Deer brought by the
Atholl, Banedoch, Marr, Murray, and other counties about. keepers along the vale before her, consisting of about five
As these Highlanders use a very light dress, and are very hundred head. ‘But,’ he adds, ‘by means of the Waltham
swift of foot, they went up and down so nimbly, that in blacks, as the deer poachers are termed,’ or, to use his own
tivo months they brought together two thousand Red Deer, expression, when they began blacking,’ they were reduced
‘
besides Roes and Fallow Deer. The Queen, the great men, to fifty head, and so continued decreasing until the time of
and others were in a glen when all these deer were brought the late Duke of Cumberland. It is now more than thirty
forward before them. Believe me, the whole body moved years ago that his Highness sent down an huntsman and
forward in something like battle order. The sight still six yeomen prickers, in scarlet jackets, laced with gold,
strikes me, for they had a leader whom they followed close attended by the stag hounds, ordering them to take every
wherever he moved. deer in this forest alive, and convey them to Windsor. In
“ This leader was a very fine stag, with a very high head. the course of the summer they caught every stag, some of
This sight highly delighted the Queen, but she soon had which showed extraordinary diversion but in the following
;
cause to fear upon the Earl addressing her thus :Do you
‘
winter, when the hinds were also carried off, such fine
observe that stag who is foremost in the herd ? There is chases were exhibited as served the country for matter of
danger from that stag for if either feare or rage should
;
talk and wonder for years afterwards. I saw, myself, one
drive him from the ridge of that hill, let every one look of the yeomen prickers single out a stag from the herd, and
for himself, for none of us will be out of the way of harm, must confess it was the most curious feat of activity I ever
for the rest will follow this one, and having thrown us beheld out of Mr. Astley’s riding-school. The exertions
under foot, they will open a passage to the hill behind us.’ made by the horse and rider much exceeded all my expecta-
What happened a moment after confirmed this opinion, for tions, though the former excelled the latter in speed.”
the Queen ordered one of the dogs to be let loose on one
of the deer this the dog pursues, the leading deer was
;
The large herds of deer, he adds, if they did
frightened, he flies by the way he had come there, the rest much harm to the neighbouring crops, did far more
fly after him, and break out where the thickest body of the to the morals of the inhabitants of the district, by
Highlanders was ; they had nothing for it but to lay them-
the temptations they presented to poaching. The
selves flat on the ground, and allow the deer to pass over
them. It was told the Queen that several of the High-
excesses of these Waltham blacks, as the poachers
landers were wounded, and two or three of them killed were termed, led to the passing of the Black Act,
outright. The whole body had got clean off, had not the by which deer, sheep, horse-stealing, and innumer-
Highlanders fallen on a stratagem to cut off the rear from able petty pilferings, were declared capital crimes.
the main body. It was of those that had been separated,
that the Queen’s dogs and those of the nobility made
Windsor Forest, which extended over seventeen
slaughter. was disafforested in 1814, and was the
parishes,
“ There were killed that day tlwee hundred and sixty-five scene of a royal hunting on a large scale ; a part of
deer, five wolves, * and some roes.” the Life Guards were turned out to assist in driving
the deer, of which several hundreds were collected,
We have some of the above remarks
italicized
and many more destroyed by the country people,
to show the on which these huntings were
scale
conducted in the olden time, and the time devoted
who had conceived the idea that when the act
received the royal assent, the deer became public
to them.
property.
The numbers of deer appear to have been fre-
quently thinned by disease. It is now a well-known
We have already referred to the small portion of
fact that animals in a state of Nature frequently
Exmoor on which these animals still exist. What
the state of the adjoining parishes may be now, we
suffer from epidemic diseases, as much as those in
confinement, the effects being more noticeable in
know not but, twenty years ago, the sheep-stealing
;
countries where, as in England even in the Norman

and poaching proclivities of the natives fully bore
out Mr. White’s strictures. Stag hunting appears
days, the larger carnivora have been exterminated.
to have been regularly practised here, with a few
In some of the old chartularies of the Royal Forests,
trifling interruptions, since the days of Elizabeth.
we find the right of hunting granted to certain
individuals on condition of their hanging on trees,
Stag or hart hunting commences in early summer,
-
out of reach of the hounds, all carcases of deer dead

and continues until October. Hind hunting then
takes its place, continues until Christmas, recom-
of the murrain.
White, of Selborne, writing eighty years ago, thus mences at Ladv-day, and continues until 1 0th May
the cessation during winter being chiefly on account
describes the Forest of Wolmer (near Aldershott), •
of the animal’s habit of “ soiling,” entailing so much

the deer in which, at the beginning of the seven-
teenth centuxy, were, he says, over 500 head in water work on the hounds, with its accompanying
number. evil, severe attacks of canine rheumatism. These
deer show the aversion to sheep which is peculiar
“There is an old gamekeeper now (1778) alive, whose to all the deer tribe. It is curious that there seems
great-grandfather’s grandfather, father and self, have held
the keepership for more than a century. to be a strong resemblance between the scent of
This person
assures me that Ms father has often told him that Queen these animals and that of the small Exmoor sheep,
Anne, as she was journeying along the Portsmouth road, probably arising from the similarity of their food.
did not think the Forest of Wolmer beneath her royal Worrying sheep has always been a vice, and, as is
regard. For she came out of the great road at Lippock,
generally the case with dogs addicted to it, is a
* A few years after this we read of perfectly incurable one in the Devon staghounds.
great ravages being
committed by wolves in Scotland (1577). The last wolf What the number of the deer may now be we
was killed in England temp. Edward I., and in Scotland in cannot state. Mr. Collyns, of Dulverton, in his
1685. amusing work, “ The Chase of the Red Deer in
n 2
;;
180 THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867. [Nature and Art, Nuvcmbcr 1, 1866.
Devon,” states that in the best days of the sport, thirty years ago, when the picturesque pages of
about fifty years ago, eight stags and as many hinds Mr. Scrope’s “ Deer Stalking in the Highlands ”
was about the annual average of killed. (1834) first made the sport familiar to the reading
The care and outlay expended on the Highland public, and when breech-loading rifles were not.
Deer Forests, and the far larger extent of pasturage If, as we are informed on good authority, .£60 be
they offer, of course enable them to present far the minimum average value of each animal thus
larger herds. The numbers killed during the season killed, the cost of a season’s sport in a large forest
(for which see the Scotch provincial papers every will not form an unworthy comparison with the
year) certainly contrast strongly with the small bags outlay on the “ royal huntings ” of days long gone
with which deer-stalkers were wont to be content by. Centurion.
THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867.
By G. W. Yapp.
HE preparations for the Great Exhibition of The pare is only divided from the river by the quay,
T next year are beginning to attract universal which, however, is very broad in this part. This
attention. The dread of war has passed away has been cut through, and a light iron bridge spans
people are just beginning to return from the country, the opening. This will, when finished, supply an
aud to ask what is to be the subject for the coming- entrance and exit to the public arriving or departing
year ; the doubts about the completion of the by water, and an outlet for the small ornamental
immense buildiug are blown into air, and the novel canal which runs through the grounds. This canal,
features, which are at the same time the popular which will be supplied by a great water-tower, now
ones, are beginning to exhibit themselves. The shell in course of erection, starts from the further end of
of the building is finished as regards the principal the park, takes a tortuous course through the
parts, the last hugepillars of the outer court were grounds, disappearing under the footpaths and
raised some time since, and the roofing, glazing, buildings, and being open amid the shrubberies and
painting, and flooring, are all proceeding with great flower-beds, and terminates in a large lake near the
rapidity. The masons have done their work, and bridge just referred to. At the head of this lake
are gone to fresh fields, if not to pastures new; and is a solid circular stone structure, upon which is to
the stalwart engineers and hammer-men will soon be exhibited the system of electric lighting now to
follow their brethren of the plumb-line and trowel be seen in operation at some points of the French
the great iron verandahs or marquises which sur- coast a light-house on the old system will furnish
;
round the inner garden and the outer wall of the means of comparison between the new and the old
building towards the pare are approaching com- lanterns. Around the base of the light-house in
pletion, and begin to give the whole a finished question, masses of rock-work are being formed,
look, trimming off the stone wall within and the over which will fall a sheet of water.
great iron wall without, as the fringe of a lady’s Hard by, stands a small church, which at first
dress trims the corset and the skirt. Considering puzzled the public sadly, and many a flaneur gave
the materials employed, and the size of the pieces it as his opinion that a religious edifice was scarcely
used, the elegant lightness of the great outer required in connection with the Exhibition. The
verandah is truly surprising. Placed against the building, which is Gothic, has a chancel with aisles
immense iron wall of the great Machinery Court, divided off by two rows of pillars, a regular transept,
with its hundred huge pillars, its hundred triple apsis, and lateral chapels. Its walls are pierced
windows, and its hundred feet of altitude, this iron with as many windows as place could possibly be
verandah looks at a short distance like light lace- found for, and the roof is of a high pitch, and
work by comparison. The Fine Art and Retrospec- presents a very large surface. The object of the
tive galleries are nearly all covered in, and many building is an admirable one it is to supply a
:
of the divisions are glazed, and the walls prepared suitable frame and foundation for the exhibition
for painting or colouring ;
the intermediate zones, of every kind of ecclesiastical decoration, internal
which are to contain all the manufactured articles and external, as also of church furniture, fittings,
(except machinery), as well as raw materials, are utensils, and ornaments. On the walls and roof
mostly glazed, and are being painted of a chocolate without will be shown ornamental work in stone,
tint ; and the minor works of the great outer zone, marble, cement, brick, tile, and metal. The
or Machinery and Processes Court, are proceeding windows will be filled with stained glass the ;
admirably. It is in the pare, however, that the interior will be paved in various styles, and with
greatest changes have taken place during the last various materials ; the walls will be covered with
few weeks, and there the principal interest just now mosaic work, fresco paintings and pictures ; each
attaches. The main entrances to the pare and to the chapel will have its own altar and decorati'ons ;
building face the river, and we will therefore take lustres, candelabra, and sconces, will hang from the
the Seine for the starting-point of our observations. roof, shine on the altars, and decorate the columns ;
;
Nature and Art, November 1, 18G6.] THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867. 181
while sculpture, carving, church plate, and other the various arts of Ancient Egypt in chronological
objects of art and decoration, will complete the order. Those representing the first epoch will be
exhibition. The idea of thus showing the works derived from the Pyramids, Saqquarah, Aboukyr,
of the ecclesiastical architect, decorator, goldsmith, Zawyel-el-Mai'tin, and other contemporary sources.
and a suitable shrine, is an admirable
artificer in In the curious bas-reliefs from the tomb of Phtah
one, and there is no doubt that the collection will Hosep (Saqquarah), the deceased is shown sur-
be one of the most beaxxtiful and curious of the kind rounded by the members of his household. There
that was ever brought together. Our neighbours ai’e fishing and hunting scenes in the marshes
have stolen a march on their visitors and allies, for chasing the gazelle in the plains with greyhounds ;
neither the Belgian nor any other nation will have hunting the lion ; a combat between a lion and a
such suitable means of showing its ecclesiastical buffalo;
slaves carrying a cage containing two
productions. lions ; fetes and dances. The bas-reliefs from the
Close to the main entrance, and between it and tomb of Ti include agricultural scenes, cattle,
the railway station, just without the limits of the troops defiling before the defunct, a farmyard, a
pare, a large building is growing up, which will hunchback leading a greyhound, swans, geese,
supply another novelty this is for the Exhibition
: ducks, all represented with an amount of art which
Club, which will comprise a large hall or exchange, Egypt no longer possesses. Another compartment
news-rooms, writing-rooms, billiard-rooms, dining- represents the construction of boats, cabinet-making,
rooms, kitchens in short, all the features of an
;
tanning, sculptors producing a statue, jewellers
ordinary club, and furnish its subscribers with all and others at work. Next come scenes of the
kinds of facilities for business to say nothing of — navigation of the Nile, with craft of all kinds ; a
amusement. To the club will be attached a post- fight in the water between a crocodile and a hippo-
office and telegraph-office. The Emperor, the potamus ; and the embarkation and transport of
Sultan, and his powerful vassal the Viceroy, will sculpture. In another great panel will be seen a
have each his pavilion in the pare, and a very reproduction of the bas-reliefs of the twelfth
elegant structure, nearly finished as regards the dynasty, with the famous scene of a visit paid to a
framing, stands on one side of the avenue which moudyr by a Semitic family asking permission to
leads to the chief entrance of the building. It is a reside in his province ; industrial scenes, dances,
kiosk, consisting of a central portion, over which is music, and curious gymnastic feats and exercises.
a dome, and of four wings of elegant leaf-like form. The bas-reliefs of the eighteenth dynasty, from
The style of the building caused it to be christened Thebes and Abydos, include historic episodes, cam-
at once by the loungers beyond the park railings, paigns in Arabia and India, soldiers marching to
“ the Sultan’s Pavilion but those who have the the sound of trumpet and drum, the navigation
privilege of the entree know that it is for the host of the Red Sea, disembarkations, conquests, cap-
himself, the Emperor of the French, and not for tives led in chains, return to Thebes and triumph
his distinguished guest, the lord of the crescent and of the King ; the fanatic Amenophis the Fourth
star. The Sultan’s pavilion is not yet visible but ;
on his war chariot, followed by his seven daughters,
the Viceroy of Egypt is erecting a temple which also in chariots ; domestic scenes, house-building,
promises to be one of the glories of the Exhibition. and manufactures. Those from the tombs of the
It is a large rectangular building, surrounded by an twenty-sixth dynasty at Thebes will occupy the
open colonnade, and measuring outside the latter last division. The outer surface of the walls of
about 84 feet by 60 feet. It is to be a complete re- this temple will thus exhibit an abridgment of
production of the famous temple of the sacred cow, the history of Egyptian art during the whole four
Hothor, in its minutest details, and its execution thousand years of its existence.
has been entrusted to Mariette Bey, whose name is Within the temple itself will be represented the
intimately connected with Egyptian research and famous bas-reliefs of the great temple of Abydos,
illustration. The colonnade will consist of twenty- and, on the walls, two ranges of pictures, princi-
two columns and four large antes at the corners, pally of the epoch of Seti. Among other objects
and the various parts of these, as well as the archi- of interest will figure a remarkable collection of
trave, frieze, and intercolumniations, will be from j
ancient jewellery and objects of ornament and
the Ptolemaic structures of Pliilas, Esneh, and luxury ; the statue of Chephren, in diorite or
Denderah. The decorations of the colonnade will greenstone, believed to be the oldest statue in the
7
•
represent, with all the variety of which the subject world ; a statue of the priest Ra-nefer, and another^
is susceptible, one of the Ptolemies making offerings in wood, of the Sheikh el Belled, considered as the
to the divinity of the temple. In the fagade will be finest specimen extant of Egyptian art ; and a
introduced a bas-relief discovered last winter in the statue of the great Hothor herself in basalt, re-
caves of Denderah, which is confidently declared cently discovered and a selection of the sculpture,
;
to be an authentic contemporary portrait of the coffers, and other objects, the gems of the Viceroy’s
famous Cleopatra. The ceiling of the colonnade is museum of Boulaq.
to be painted blue, with golden stars, and decorated In addition to this magnificent temple of art,
with figures of the great vulture of Medinet-Abou, which is to be surrounded, as far as practicable,
with white bodies and particoloured, red and black, with the vegetable productions of the country, the
wings. On the outside of the walls of the temple Viceroy has ordered two other buildings to be
itself will be a series of bas-reliefs, illustrative of constructed, one representing the habitation of a
182 THE PARIS EXHIBITION OP 1867. [Nature and Art, November 1, 180*0,
Fellah family of Upper Egypt, with stables for aerating the salt water for the aquariums, and a
war dromedaries and domestic cattle, and a kiosk, large number of workmen ai’e now employed on
one portion of which will contain a divan for the their foundations, and in the formation of the lake ;
nse of the Viceroy, who is expected to visit the but this quarter of the park is not in a condition
Exhibition, while the other will represent an to be spoken further about at present.
Egyptian caje with all its fittings and accessories
, ;
The plan of the horticultural portion of the
in addition to this, it is said that groups of native Exhibition is bold and original, and we shall have
workmen will be seen pursuing their ordinary to return to it shortly. The same remarks will
trades. It is quite evident that ricli, thriving, apply to the Agricultural Department, which is
though nominally dependent Egypt, will make a expected to be unusually interesting but the pre-
;
grand figure amongst the nations next year in the parations for it are not commenced, or scarcely so.
Glmmp de Mars. France, however, has a good deal of her material
The only European nation that yet makes any ready in the shape of the stalls, used upon several
show is Belgium, who certainly will not be behind- occasions in the Palais de V Industrie, for the exhi-
hand unless she follows the unfortunate example of bitions of cattle and of horses. A very large tract
the hare in the fable. Not satisfied with the of ground, somewhat lower down the river than
amount or position of the space allotted to her, the Champ de Mars, is also appropriated to agri-
she has erected in the park two separate structures, cultural purposes, and it is at this place that the
a large rotunda for locomotives, the wooden framing competitive trials will take place.
of which was nearly completed a fortnight ago, There are to be seen in the Pai’k several very
and a rectangular building for her pictures, which ornamental buildings, in particoloured brick, with
promise to be very numerous. The latter structure chimney-shafts. These are the houses for the
is about a hundred feet in length, and being divided motive power required to drive the “ machinery in
by a central wall, forms two galleries, which are to motion ” they are twelve in number, and are
:
be lighted by sloping skylights with a transparent situated in a circle around the building, at a
horizontal ceiling beneath them, the whole fur- distance of about a hundred and fifty feet from its
nishing, of course, about four hundred feet stretch circumference. The driving machinery, with all its
of wall. It is width of the
to be feared that the accessories, will be supplied by twelve large
galleries will not prove on crowded days
sufficient ; engineering firms ; thus each of them will present a
in other respects the building is well adapted for separate exhibit of steam-engines, boilers, and fur-
the intended purpose. naces. Amongst the firms who have undertaken
When we consider that the English division is this service are two or more English ones estab-
in one of the circular ends of the building, and that lished in France; but no firm in England appears
consequently her picture galleries will not have in the list, a matter rather to be regretted.
one inch of flat wall, with the exception of the ends, On one side of the Park stands the Jury -house,
which are all pierced with doorways, we feel bound an immense building of three stories, with access
to call the attention of the British commission, and from the road outside, as well as from the grounds.
especially to such portion of it as takes special in- This building has been completely finished, as
terest in the efficient display of our art productions, regards the walls and roof, for some time, and will
to the unfortunate form of these curved galleries shortly be ready for occupation. Its isolation will
for picture -hanging, and to urge the inspection of make it most convenient for the important purpose
the Belgium building, and the erection of some- to which it is to be applied. In another corner,
thing of the same kind for the due exhibition of that nearest the river and the city, stand models of
our Reynoldses, Gainsboroughs, Hogarths, Wil- stables and coach-houses, for the erection of which
sons, Constables, Lawrences, Wilkies, and Tur- tenders have been issued by the Imperial Com-
ners. The curved galleries would make excellent mission, —
another novel and useful feature in the
exhibition-rooms for other objects, but the cross general arrangements.
lights, which nothing can remedy, must prove The Commission has just made a very considerate
ruinous to paintings. A
light iron building might change in the regulations respecting the Fine Arts
be prepared and set up in a very short time, and Department ; instead of sending in the works of
would have the double advantage of security against art tendered for exhibition, as originally laid down
both fire and damp, and of being ready for use the in the rules, by the present month, which would
day it was erected. The question is already asked have caused the owners to be deprived of their
in Paris how is it that Great Britain is not yet pictures and statues for more than twelve months
appearing on the ground, seeing that so much is in case of acceptance by the jury of admission,
expected of her, especially in agricultural and other and for three or more in case of rejection, artists
out-of-door Classes and the formation of a suitable
;
and others are now only required to hand in a list
Art Gallery would be an admirable commencement. with dimensions of what they propose to send, and
Nearly one half of the further portion of the the jury will admit well-known works without
Park is to be devoted to the Horticultural Exhibi- examination, and will not require them to be
tion. This department will include, in addition to delivered till the month of February; while those
plantations, flower-beds, conservatories, and gigantic which they desire to examine need only be sent in
aquariums, in connection with a lake and cascades. January. This is a liberal and sensible regulation,
One of the latter will be used for the purpose of which deserves notice and imitation.
Nature and Art, November 1.1866.
—
Nature and Art, November 1, I860.]

ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 183
The Commission intends to afford all possible en- theatre, as well as of a cafe chantant and we believe
,
couragement for the exhibition of nautical matters, that preparations are on foot for the realization of
whether for commerce or amusement. A special these plans ; but of this, anon. The illumination
landing-place, with a piece of ground in its rear, of the park at night has not only been decided on,
on which will be erected sheds and places of exhi- but the gas-pipes are partly laid, and there is no
bition for models, plans, and accessory matters, will doubt that the grounds, with places of amusement
be set apart for the purpose, and a series of regattas and of refreshment of all kinds, and the ample
and matches will be given on the Seine during the shelter in case of showers which will be afforded by
Exhibition. Our neighbours have progressed as the great outer verandah, will be a most attractive
rapidly in sculling and sailing during the last few place of resort on sultry August nights. The whole
years as they have in horse-racing, and it is to be of the grounds are not, however, to be lighted ;
hoped that some of our best crews will uphold the they will be divided into two portions by a light
honour of old England, the Thames, the Cam, the fence, which will cut off the outer angles of the
Isis, and the Tyne, upon the Seine next summer. park, and enclose a large space of ground, with the
The Exhibition will not be complete unless an Exhibition building in the centre, and in this
“ University eight,” a “ Leander,” and a “ Water- central part of the park will be collected all the
men’s ” turn out \ and nothing will give our friendly objects of interest, as well as amusement, which can
rivals a better notion of the power, pluck, and be advantageously exhibited by artificial light.
endurance of various classes of our countrymen. To the present time, the programme of the
“A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether,” Imperial Commission has been well kept, and
might serve as ,a motto for the English nautical there is no reason to anticipate that it will be
department. departed from in a material degree, except for its
Of the amusements to be found on the grounds, improvement. The gathering of 1867 is expected
it is too early to speak with precision. Everything to be magnificent, and we have no doubt that
is promised, and much may be confidently expected. the good people of Paris will have reason to be
Tenders have been accepted for the erection of a satisfied.

By Aaron Penley, Professor of Landscape Painting- at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
No. V. HUT AT GHOEPHWYSFA, NORTH WALES.
T
HE road from Capel Curig to Snowdon passes
by the hotel at Pen-y-Guryd, and thence
O ...
give table-lands from whence the sides undulate
more or less suddenly, and continuing their descent
taking a turn to the right (that to the left being deeper and deeper, they at length rest their base on
to Beddgelert), ascends a hill of considerable length, the narrow and beautiful vale of JSTant Gwynant.
the summit of which opens out to the tourist the —
From the other side of this lovely spot and it is a
wild and almost chaotic “ pass of Llanberis.” At lovely one —
the mountains, forming the group and
this point there are a few poor huts or cottages extension of Moel Siabod take their rise, and a little
with a comfortable little inn (a truly welcome one way up can be seen the descending and winding-
to travellers), taking the name of Ghorphwysfa, or road towards Beddgelert. These mountains are
a resting-place. To the left of this, there is a lone joined by other ranges, which assume every variety
hut at the entrance of the rudely constructed road of direction and shape, rising one before another,
or mountain track, leading to the wondrous peak of and exhibiting rugged combinations of rock and
Snowdon. herbage so diversified as to produce a constant
This hut forms the subject of our present illustra- change of colour. Thus they afford, as it were, fresh
tion. Small and insignificant as it is, it has, from starting-points for more remote forms, until the eye
its desolate position, a character that impresses rests upon outlines mingling with the clouds, con-
one with the idea of solemn dignity. It stands necting sky to earth, and producing an effect always
erect and solid in its stony construction ; at the grand, mysterious, and impressive. The lofty emi-
front of a vast arena of heights and depths, un- nences to the right are the south-eastern buttresses
dulating and precipitous, full of the adjuncts of a or spurs of the Snowdon range. Nothing can be
mountain district, with huge masses of riven rocks more picturesque than their sharp angular character,
occupying positions truly picturesque, and dispersed and either side being equally precipitous, the ridge is
—
about as well as disposed in forms both grand and necessarily very narrow. The principal of these is
sublime. The lesser mountains (none can be called named Lliwedd, a frowning steep, deeply furrowed
are so distributed as to present so many pro-
hills) and riven by blast and tempest, with a bleak and
minent features in the scene, and from their barren savage aspect, destitute of one redeeming point
and I'ocky heads, being somewhat rounded, probably as to vegetation, save at the dipping of its base
by glacier action in times gone by, they serve to in the darkly-toned waters of Llyn Llydaw, a
184 ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
wild and romantic lake about one and a half mile may be productive of several pictures. Colour,
in length. The road or track to the right is again, is another feature for study and observation,
exceedingly tortuous and hilly ; and the large stones subject to alteration of atmosphere and power
constantly rising in the centre make the drive of light. Space has to be rendered truthfully ;
anything but pleasant to those who are not in the distance must be portrayed as distance, and all the
habit of riding in cars almost without springs. I intermediate objects, as they advance to the fore-
know no other locality where such exquisite com- ground, must keep their place, localizing where they
binations of foreground materials can be found. should localize, until colour is seen in all its un-
There is every characteristic that the sketcher can changed character immediately in the front. Yes, it
desire, and at times it is extremely difficult to is impossible to sit down before scenery such as I have
settle which shall become the subject of the pencil. humbly endeavoured to describe without reflecting
Patches of long and many-coloured grasses rise out upon “the why and the wherefore,” and striving to
of dark and purply blackened peat, contrasting with learn some lesson from the riches of the heights and
warm and grey stones, which, moss-grown and depths of created Nature. I shall hope hereafter
lichened, lie side by side in every possible way, and to speak of other scenes in my late tour, and
of every imaginable shape. It is truly surprising trust they will recall to many who have gone
to witness the eccentricities of colour — for I must over the same ground, the degree of admiration
—
use the term to be found upon the same species they experienced during their sojourn amidst the
of stone. Some partake of the orange, others of mountains.
browns, russets, purples, and greys, of every shade With the exception of the figures (and thei’e
and hue ; while not a few are almost colourless and were several looking over me while sketching), I
white. It is this that enables the artist frequently have given the most simple and truthful representa-
to bring the whole force of the palette into his tion of the hut and scenery that I possibly could.
foreground without having recourse to drapery or Not one stone has been added, and, I may say,
cattle. not one has been omitted. Everything was care-
In giving the above description, it of course fully drawn with the black-lead pencil, and with
must not be supposed to have reference to the some power of line, because, by so doing, less time
drawing of the stone-built hut with tire surround- would be spent in colouring. There was the place
ing country, because it were folly indeed to give, in of everything and every change of tint found
;
a magazine like this, a subject for imitation so com- its place most readily, and without hesitation.
prehensive and poetic in its character. But it has Even the sky was pencilled as well as the mountains
been introduced immediately on my return from a and mid-distance. The road and its accompani-
sketching tour in that locality (having made the ments, the grass and its undulatory character,
solitary hotel at Pen-y-Guryd my head-quarters), were strictly drawn with the pencil. The large
that I might lay before many a lover of the grand grey stone by the side in the second portion of the
in Nature the multiplicity of exquisite subjects road was blasted and cut, as it completely stopped
with which the vicinity of Snowdon abounds. My the way, so that it is a correct portrait. It is very
stay there was sadly too short, not one day being remarkable that in no one instance in this locality,
without rain, and yet this did not prevent the did I perceive the roofs grown over with moss or
endeavour to bring back some study fraught with grass of any kind ; while in almost every other spot
instruction and profit. It is impossible to be this is the general accompaniment of a cottage roof.
seated before scenery of such sublime proportions,
without reflecting upon the wonderful manner in
The colours employed were for the —
Sky — Light red, a little sepia, and indigo.
which its stupendous forms are brought together.
"What perfect arrangement there is in every suc-
—
Mountains Light red, a little sepia, and indigo.
cessive change, and with what exquisite felicity
—
Middle Distance Lake, sepia, indigo, and yellow
ochre the first tone being of yellow ochre,
;
the whole are grouped so as to charm the eye
lake, and a very little indigo.
by never-ending variety of outline and construction
— these may be better imagined than told. Some-
—
The Hut Sepia, indigo, lake, gamboge, yellow
ochre, in different proportions, sepia being the
times the effect is solemn and portentous, with
preponderating colour.
passing clouds that, hurried on by the wind, assume
all manner of shapes, sweep over the higher portions
—
Grass Gamboge, burnt sienna, and indigo for the
warmer tints ; gamboge, indigo, and a little
of the landscape, and envelop the mountain-tops
sepia for the cool tints.
in the most mysterious manner. At other times a Deep Touches — Gamboge and sepia, throughout
parting cloud lets in a flood of light, exhibiting
the foreground and building.
ramifications of rock and of inequalities that were
little suspected to exist or some projection is
;
The whole of the colours are to be applied without
brought into prominence by silvery streaks of light, any subsequent washings off. The time to be
displaying a vividness almost startling. Indeed, the occupied in making such a sketch, out of doors
effects in a mountainous district are so ever fresh and with the like degree of finish, should be from three
fugitive,, that a note-book should always be at hand, to four hours but if the careful outline with a
;
to write down the lessons Nature so abundantly black-lead pencil is not patiently carried out, five
teaches ; and if in the progress of one sketch atten- or even six hours will not suffice to produce a
tion is given to passing changes, that one sketch finished result.
; ; ;;
Nature and Art, November 1, 18G6.]

THE DRAMA. 385
THE D HAMA.
THE theatre is a strange domain, bounded as it are fond of the reflections they see in the mirror
is on the one side by literature, and on the but these minds produce no new reflections in
other by showmanship. The inhabitants of the themselves. So it is, however. And not only to
theatrical region are equally various, and range the vulgar— which generally means the poor, though
from poets and scholars to posture-makers, mum- it includes a large portion of the rich — does this
mers, and showmen. Though there is never any assertion apply ; for the elegant people in the
absolute contest between these opposite personages, stalls are no whit before the roughest youths in
yet there is a great flux and reflux among them as the gallery, in delight at gaping at the imitative
to the possession of the stage. It must be con- scenes on the stage. A i’eal pump with real water
fessed, however, that the showman’s party are in is to all a joy ; and a real horse, or even a real
the ascendant ; and they have contrived to enlist donkey, a dear creature they could fondle. This
on their side a good deal of art and talent, if not being so, it comes then to the question, for what
absolute genius and poetry. The theatrical season do people go to the theatre 1 and the answer must
has set in with unusual severity ; and the love of really be, to get away from home, and to see and be
public places, if not a love of the drama, fills every seen. We are gradually becoming mor e of an out-
theatre. Philosophers of the old school have specu- door people ; and the uneasiness and dulness of
lated on the cause of the decline of the drama, and home are beginning to be oppressive. Pater-Fa-
the l’ise of the taste for theatres. What they call milias long ago found it so, and took himself to his
the decline of the drama, is an unwillingness to ancient tavern now seeks his modern club.
: The
hear a good deal of fustian that formerly passed for sons soon followed, some going to the casinos. Mater-
heroic poetry ; and a mass of didactic spouting inter- Fa mi lias, at last, revolted, and the incipient maters of
mingled with a caricature of character. There is course followed ; and stalls being timely invented
scarcely a play of the eighteenth century except — at the theatres, they, too, were emancipated from
the “ School for Scandal” —
that will outlive the nine- the ever-wearisome routine of home. The multi-
teenth century ; for the increasing good sense of the tude, without waiting for their betters, had invented
nation will not put up with the shams and pretences the music-halls, whereto whole families thronged,
of a former age there being always plenty of them
;
ami avoided the dull homilies of home existence.
in the present time, whenever that may be. The Having thus, after some hundreds of years, come
drama of Shakespeare — not
the Shakespearian out of our hives, and tasted the delights of company,
drama —
in his half-dozen great acting plays, will noise, and lights, we seem inclined to take our fill
last as long as a religion ; though, by turns, like and, we believe, the thousands who seek for an
certain lighthouse lamps, it shows an increasing and evening’s amusement are very indifferent whether
diminishing lustre. it be a music-hall, a theatre, or, to speak without
The theatre has, in truth, but little to do with profanity, a popular chapel, they frequent. They
the past, and is essentially of the present ; for, as are contented not to be at home and are very little
;
the purpose of playing, both at the first and now, critical as to Avliat they see and hear. Such being
was and is “ to hold, &c.,” of course, it was to the taste of the audiences, so must be the kind of
show things that are, and not to merely speculate on fare presented to them. If it be good, it is owing
things that may be. The passions of the three or to the better taste of the providers; if it be bad, it
four popular heroes of Shakespeare are essentially is because the public is so uncritical and indifferent
of the present, as much as any Irish sailor or old and, as regards art, so ignorant that it will put up
jockey of Mr. Boucicault’s. The stage, however, with anything.
has more of reflex than Shakespeare’s famous defini- We have been lured into these introductory
tion infers, and reflects things as well as morals ; remarks because the facts stated lie at the founda-
and the mirror that is held up to the present tion of our criticism upon them. The action on
public must show chairs and tables, and exact and reaction from audience and stage are equal.
costumes, and rooms and actualities of all kinds Each must regard the other in some degree ; and
and cares very little about the features of virtue, the seller must seek to please his customer. We
or the images of scorn. It wants facts, or appear- have now fifteen theatres and thirty music-halls,
ances it mistakes for them and as people will run
;
besides many concerts and other resorts, opened for
to see panoramas and views of places they know,
. the entertainment of the British public ; and we
and do not care for those they do not know re- — are told, and truly, that even these do not suffice
joicing at views of Greenwich and Richmond, and to amuse the monstrous mass that nightly craves
neglecting the finest delineations of Timbuctoo or for fresh entertainment.
the Nyanza Ralls —
so they like to see every-day We will take a cursory view of the theatres,
realities presented to them. When we analyse leaving other entertainments out of the inquiry ;
this taste, we cannot but pronounce it childish and and we cannot do better than take them in the
barbarous, being very like that of the savage, who is order in which they opened for the season. As
never weary of poring over the reflections 'in the some of the smaller stars first begin to twinkle in
first looking-glass placed in his hands. Such persons the twilight, so the outlying theatres first open in
186 THE DRAMA. [Nature aiul Art, Noueinber 1, 18GG.
the theatric season, which may be said fairly to alternated “ Macbeth ”

;
also playing Falconbridge
commence in September. in “King John.” This gentleman has not im-
The new Surrey Theatre, which is a monument proved lias not retrograded; though he is more
;
of how people really know of their own busi-

little laboured in his utterances, and seems to suffer
ness, opened early in September, the Upper Gal- from a throat attack. His figure is commanding ;
lery and a greater part of the Upper Boxes having his attitudes impressive and could Shakespeare
;
been rebuilt, as it was found, after the theatre was be acted Avithout speaking, he would pass for a fine
opened, that half the peo] tie in this portion of the delineator of his characters. He has, however,
building could not see the stage. This blunder again passed aAvay, and needs no lengthened exa-
having been rectified, the managers tried to rectify mination. Another Macbeth has immediately arisen
some of their own mistakes ; and finding that in the person of a Mr. Talbot, new entirely to the
grandiloquent Byzantine dramas did not interest London stage, but popular in the North. This
the public, they purchased (not of the author, but gentleman is remarkable for marked idiosyncrasies,
of the committee of the Dramatic College) the which give an appearance of some originality to
grand Prize Naval Drama, which had obtained his performance. Neither his “ business ” nor his
Mr. T. P. Cooke’s singularly absurd prize of one readings are new ; but he has a decisive kind of
hundred pounds. Mr. Slous, known as the author earnestness, sometimes expressed in vehement ges-
of some half-successful blank verse and otherwise ticulations, Avhicli recall the delineations of actors
blank dramas, after the old model in five acts, Avas of the pre-Kemble school, and which may be sup-
the winner, —
not fortunate, we should say, of the — posed to have had their rise from the Garrick fire
£100, because the drama went to the benefit of and energy. They seem a trifle old-fashioned now,
the Dramatic College, and the price of a very long but certainly smack more of the Kean than the
four-act drama, which has any success, has not yet Macready modes. Altogether, Mr. Talbot has a
come doAvn to £25 an act for entire copyright. downright style and a voice that speak of the strong
Mr. Boucicault’s loAvest price, out and out, is will and determination of the North. Amongst
£4,000, as we have been told. The piece thus other performances which have challenged criticism
curiously introduced to the public is entitled, is Mrs. Yezin’s (Mrs. Charles Young) depiction of
“ True to the Core,” and represents a thoroughly the sorrows of the Lady Constance in “ King
sentimental and theatrical sailor of good Queen John.” It has gained much applause from the
Bess’s time. As, however, he wears trunks and a audience and other admirers, and doubtless it has
tunic, instead of trousers and a blue jacket, he is force and feeling but it lacks the solemn grandeur
;
not so popular as sweet William. Nevertheless he and proud supremacy that should belong to it.
is so actively engaged against the Spaniards and We see none of that grandeur of grief which
other Popish invaders ;
utters so many virtuous dwarfs kings and conquerors and all things earthly,
sentiments ; is so thoroughly self-sacrificing ; and is and sits upon the eai’th as a supreme Niobe, Avho
acted with so much energy by Mr. Creswick, that typifies the fate of all mortality. The mode in
he makes way with his audience in spite of his which the great middle-age plays are got up here is'
outlandish-looking dress. Whoever expects that excellent in scenery and supernumeraries ; their
the play-bill, which is full of grand historic names, armour looking real and not new, and their bearing
leads up to any neAV or eAr en old illustration of the being in general martial and effective, though now
destruction of the Great Armada, will be woefully and then a few of them of the wSst-dressed kind
disappointed ; and they must Avait till Mr. Proude Avill linger and bring ridicule upon the rest. The
arrives at this period of our history for a full eluci- Siege of Angiers, and the costly paraphernalia of
dation of this momentous event. There is an the Pope’s legate ; and the admirable view of the
effect of sea, however, which is worth seeing ; and exterior of SAvinstead Abbey, with its cold blue
“ the mirror ” is otherwise “ held up ” to certain cos- marshy mist, are admirable stage arrangements,
tumes and facts after the approved modern fashion. and Avere never executed better, if so Avell. Before
As this piece still keeps in the play-bills, we are we are published, but not ere we are printed, the
sure that it is a treasury success. grand mystical, philosophical, and magical play of
On the 1st of October the great Drury Lane “ Faust ” Avill have been produced, so that Ave can
Theatre recommenced operations under the sole only refer to the extraordinary efforts of adapter,
management of Mr. P. B. Chatterton and Avith ; ' scene-painters, costumiers, mechanists, and musi-
the same firm adherence to Avhat its admirers call cians, to make it one of the most striking plays
the legitimate, historic, or Shakespearian drama. ever produced.
Mr. Phelps is still the chief tragedian, or rather The Haymarket, which boasts itself as the home
comedian, in the old poetic sense of the term as of legitimate comedy, although it ran for some six
defining an exemplifier of Iranian nature, both on hundred nights a most illegitimate comedy, opened
its serious and its jovial side. He seems not to be Avitli Oolman the younger’s old-fashioned comedy
imbued with the rancorous jealousy supposed to of “ The Heir-at-Law.” Possessing a little more
belong to theatrical monarchs for he alloAvs many
;
of general human nature than these old pieces
not only to come near his throne, but to occupy it. commonly do, it is not quite so removed from the
liras Mr. Swinburne alternated chief parts with present as many of them ;
and thus not so repug-
him last year, and now Mr. Barry Sullivan, re- nant to modern tastes. Its production was cited as
turned, after a five years’ absence in Australia, has a proof of the lasting natxire of the drama of its
;
Nature and Art, November 1, 1806.]

THE DRAMA, 187
period;
but it remained only three nights, and outrageously popular. We
have not space or time
then was succeeded by Mr. and Mrs. Charles just now to analyse or describe its qualities. The
Mathews, and the dramas specially concocted for dramatic mirror here holds up to intense admiration
them. Such is the swiftness of time, and his the accurate reflection of the interior of a telegraph
rapid destruction of novelty, that the young critics office, amongst other actualities.
are crying out that the joyous Charles wears hats, The Princess’s Theatre continues “ The Huguenot
stocks, and trowsers of a past age, and notwith- Captain ; ” but has also revived a three-act comedy
standing his airiness, is evidently getting behind of intrigue, entitled “ The Triple Alliance,” adapted
this age. There may be some truth in this ; but some three years since by Mr. Oxenford, from a
no time can destroy, until he is utterly incapable, comedy of Scribe’s.
the exquisite taste that marks all he does on the The Olympic, after an interregnum, in which all
stage ; or dull the vivid intelligence that enables sorts of drama were enacted, has re-opened under
him to indicate a thousand humorous notions ; and the regular management of Mr. Wigan, with a very
by a wave of the. hand and a slight intonation of feeble Irish piece, called “ The White Boy,” by
voice to depict character and produce a situation. Mr. Tom Taylor. It turns out that it is an early
Mrs. Charles Mathews depends on qualities which production of that' clever dramatist, produced in
time will find more assailable ; but which are not rivalry to the Irish dramas so lately successful
diminished at present. A
new comedy is pro- under Mr. Boucicault’s management. If there be
mised, and what is thought more important, Mr.- any truth in this, it is the strangest kind of avenge-
Sothern will appear at Christmas ; but the Dun- ment we ever knew ; for it can but injure its
dreary mania has greatly subsided. author and its producers. From its stagy common-
The Adelphi, with its extremely easy-going place, clumsy verbosity, and inaccurate allusions
management, opened with a sloppy rendering of an and actualities, it was wittily described as “ an anti-
Olympic piece, in which Miss Kate Terry appeared, —
Boucicault ” piece the last-named author having
and looked very much like a piece of rare Dresden certainly put melodrame on its legs, and taught it
china amongst rough kitchen utensils. Not that to use them properly.
the Adelphi does not possess some excellent per- St. J ames’s Theatre, which moves in a somewhat
formers in Mrs. Mellon, Mr. and Mrs. Billington, remote orbit, has pursued under its tasteful
&c. ; but the rough style of doing everything lately — —
manageress Miss Herbert a renewal of the last
at this theatre gives a coarseness to the general century comedies, and by her elegance and care
performance. A
new piece, in four acts, from an makes them endurable ; being very well seconded
unacted French piece, has been produced for Miss by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Matthews, Mr. Walter
Terry, in which she enacts not the breaking but Lacy, and altogether a good working company. The
the disease of a heart. There is a rough purport weak though sprightly comedy of the “ Belle’s
in the play to show the brutality, vulgarity, and Stratagem ” is the last new experiment, and is
cruelty of mere moneyed people, and the suffering attractive and amusing.
and misery of the truly refined and delicate. This The little Strand Theatre sticks to small, verv
purpose, however, is shown in too coarse a style ; small, comediettas, and to frolicsome burlesques.
and in manners and circumstances foreign to our The novelty one of these last-mentioned pieces by
is
general proceedings. A
political allusion to Hyde Mr. Burnand, who has the greatest talent of any
Park riots, put into the part of a young actress by modern dramatist for making utter nonsense amus-
herself, as it appears, from Mr. Webster junior’s ing to a large number of persons. He is not truly
letter,caused a great opposition on the first night, satirical: he does not parody he does not invent
:
and was very nearly creating a “regular row.” but he is simply absurdly frolicsome, and leads his
The fortunes as well as the management of the audience into the same nonsensical mood as his own
Lyceum Theatre have been entirely changed, Mr. animal spirits seem to carry himself. All that can
Boucicau.lt becoming the real acting manager. be said for this childish kind of drama, is that it is
M. Fechter indeed still remains the responsible pure as well as childish, and is free from grossness ;
lessee but he does nothing but receive a- large
; or if the last is imported, it is done in the acting
share of the profits. It is a strange power Mr. and not in the writing. W
ere it not simply foolish
Boucicault has of going into a theatre and taking gaiety, it would be hooted from our theatres. The
its government entirely into his own hands, bring- last subject is
“ Der Freischiitz,” which is befooled
ing out a piece of his own, and pensioning off to the utmost.
the actual lessee. He seems to be doing with his The Prince of Wales’s Theatre, which, under
new play of “ The Long Strike,” at this theatre, the management of Miss Marie Wilton, the
what he did with the “ Colleen. Bawn,” at the guidance of Mr. Henry Byron, and the writing of
—
Adelphi benefiting the manager in spite of him- Mr. T. W. Bobertson, has taken a higher stand than
self,and making his own fortune. The piece itself any of the other smaller theatres, opened with a
is clever, and is very well acted, especially by new comedy by the author of “ Society ” Mr. T. W. —
Mr. Emery and Mr. Widdicomb ; and the “ Irish Bobertson. It is named “ Ours,” and its dramatis
Sailoi ” (surely an anomaly) by the author-manager
-
personal consist principally of officers of a crack
(Mr. Boucicault) is much liked ; as is the gentle regiment, who are, however, more engaged in
acting of Mrs. Boucicault. This piece is very good making love than war. Mr. Bobertson has the
of its kind ; but its bind is not good, though ambition of a literary man, as well as of a successful
188 THE INFLUENCE OF CHALK ON THE FIELD LUPINE. [Nature and Art, November 1, 18GG.
play-writer ; and the consequence is, he seeks to theatre entirely new region as concerns
in an
produce works of literary art, as well as telling theatres. “ New Holborn ” has been success-
The
theatrical pieces. His love of effect is, however, as fully built and opened by Mr. Sefton Parry. It is
great as his taste for the mental and he is as far
;
a very pretty and commodious building, accessible
removed from the literary man’s usual notion of and airy ; and comprises all the latest stage apti-
dramatic writing as any sensational dramatist that tudes. It opened with a four-act melodrame by
ever drew down the applause of an audience with the ubiquitous Mr. Boucicault, who seems ready to
a real brick wall or a veritable gas-lamp. He has provide the whole world with plays. It is called
a good deal of satiric power, and the common sense “ Flying Scud,” and in the first two acts interests
that belongs to it. His characters always act like by the fate of a famous race-horse being involved.
veritable and every-day human beings and say and
;
This equine hero is pursued by blaclc-legs, and pre-
do no more than is necessary for the action of the served by a faithful ’cute old jockey ; coming in
drama. He knows, however, that they must triumphant for the Derby. With his success the
also interest, and he contrives to give them a intei'est of the piece dies, though the lovers are
smart and sometimes an eloquent utterance. It has still persecuted, and the human hero is robbed at
been said they talk “good drawing-room chaff,” cards, engaged in a duel, and subjected to a variety
and they do. He is also ingenious in placing his of the usual mishaps that occur to sensational
characters so as to bring out his story
;
and, indeed, heroes. It would seem that the manager’s aim is
manifests much dramatic talent. He is what a to make his new playhouse, with regard to the
hundred years ago would have been denominated Holborn thoroughfare what the Adelphi is with
“ a very ingenious writer,” meaning thereby ex- regard to the Strand. It will take time, talent,
tremely clever and judicious. “ Ours ” is a pleasant money, and perseverance to succeed, but we have
as well as clever production, and has so much reason to believe Mr. Sefton Parry is provided
geniality, and is so comparatively true to modern with all these requisites ; and avc heartily Avish him
life, that it cannot fail to be popular with those success.
who still expect in a comedy some dashes of We have still left a few outlying of the fifteen
wit, some new portrayal of character (exteriorly theatres iioav open unnoticed but we must make
;
at least), and incidents so well put together that a special circuit in their exterior orbits. The
they interest. Mr. Henry Byron, now become the inveterate playgoer will not need to be told he will
manager of two Liverpool theatres, has given a find sensational pieces at Astley’s and the Victoria.
new burlesque to this theatre, which is also founded In the opposite extremity of the town he Avill also
on the opera of “ Her Freischiitz.” It is more of light upon, at the Grecian, a \-ery well-contrived
a parody than Mi'. Burnand’s, and is both better piece ;
and Mr. Anderson, the tragedian, is at the
and worse on that account. It is not, however, City of London. At Sadler’s Wells, Miss Marriott
one of Mr. Byron’s best productions, though his still Avitli unceasing energy and much merit plays
facility of word-splitting and echoing sound is still the high poetical drama and Avill shortly appear in
;
manifest. Sliiel’s “
Evadne ” although Ave Avould rather see
;
The great theatrical event of the season, how- her in Beaumont & Fletcher’s character of the
ever, has been the opening of an entirely new same name in the play modernized as “ The Bridal.”
THE INFLUENCE OF CHALK ON THE GROWTH OF THE

FIELD LUPINE.
By P. H. Fkebe, M.A., Editor for the Boyal Agricultural Society.
HE design on the opposite page is given to illus- Norfolk, Suffolk, and Surrey, have reported most
T tratethe influence Avliich an uncongenial favourably of its growth ; Avith others it failed
most unaccountably.
element in the soil may exert, and the difference in
growth which it may cause in plants sown in the About seven years ago, when Baron Nathusius,
same field, on the same day, under the same condi- president of the Prussian Agricultural Society,
tions —barring small casual variations in the soil. brought this under our notice as a field-crop, I tried
The blue field lupine came to us a few years a large piece, which failed utterly I then hinted
;
back, with a high introduction, from the sterile at a chalky subsoil as being the cause of the failure,
sandy plains of North Germany, as a plant which but certain scientific authorities would not accept
would groAv vigorously on the poorest lands, bearing the explanation. This year, some of my farmer
a rather bitter seed, which animals soon learned neighbours Avere all agog about the plant it had —
to like,or in its green state affording abundant just cropped up as a novelty in their field of vision
produce to be either eaten by sheep or ploughed in — and I said to them, “Try it by all means, and
asinanure. choose as sandy a bit of land as you can find, but
Various farmers on the reclaimed warrens of ‘
Ware chalk.’ ” The district has much heath-land,
[Natun* and Art, November L1866.
Nature and Art, November 1, 18G6.] MUSIC AT HOME. 189
black or brown sand on the surface, but an uniform sand-streaks ;

dwarf, sickly, half-dead specimens,
subsoil of chalk. such as those which accompany it, may be pulled
My neighbours’ lupines have long since been up all over the field, even within one or two feet of
ploughed up as failures. their well-grown kindred ; yet, to judge by the.
My own farm manager shared the impulse, and surface, the whole field is one of black sand.'"'
got leave to try a little bit (about half a.n acre) with These illustrations will, I think, set forth better
the injunctions aforesaid. The plot he selected had than words can do, the great antipathy which this
generally 8 or 10 inches of blackish sand above the plant seems to have for chalk, either as a subsoil
chalk, but the plough occasionally grazes the chalk or as forming a very slight admixture iti its seed-
rubble. The plants sown in May generally came up bed. Such great sensitiveness is generally an attri-
well, but, as generally, turned yellow, got stunted, bute of animal rather than of vegetable life, and,
sickened, and often died. Since, however, the crop among animals, belongs rather to the higher than
was sown for the sake of experiment, not profit, it the lower classes ; and further, to the more refined
was left standing, to see what would come of it. type rather than to the more hardy, homely tribes
When I looked at the plot in the end of J une, I of the highest of animals —
man. Yet this offshoot
remarked, at the further part from where I stood, of the German Flora, which came to us with a
two or three narrow streaks of a dark green hue, character for “ rusticity,” as the French call it as —
which, from their dissimilarity to the rest, I mis- a sort of maid-of-all-work for the poor-land farmer
took at that distance for couch-grass. When set — without finery, without “ die Englische whims ”
right on this head, I said, “Then, depend upon it, (vagaries which, according to our German neigh-
these are narrow veins of deep sand ;” and the spade bours, none but the native word can adequately
next morning showed that I was right, going down represent), turns out, in respect of chalk, to be as
three feet through sand at those spots without reach- sensitive as any fine lady, —
nay, she might possibly
ing the bottom of it. stand even Hans Andersen’s “ Princess-test,” and
Experience in trenching ground for plantations be discomposed if one single pilule of chalk were
had previously called my attention to those sandy inserted three or four inches deep in her bed.
streaks which fill narrow parallel channels, pro-
# Small pockets of remarkable depths in comparison with
bably the last puny erasions made by the once
their diameter, were in like manner scooped out of the
mighty waters as they receded from the great chalk in places by the eddy of these waters, and similarly
marine formation of the chalk. The tall specimen filled up. The black sand is, probably, a later and indepen-
in flower was gathered Sept. Gth, from one of these dent deposit.
MUSIC AT HOME.
ALFItED MELLON one nightmare, than she is called upon to gather up
M P. holds at the present
time undisputed sovereignty over musical
London. Opposition is temporarily defunct, orches-
her classical drapery and do battle against some other
apparition. Audiences, that is to say, the shilling
tral conductors are still out of town, and the stars and require
section thereof, tire of adult performers,
of the vocal hemisphere wander in touring troupes the occasional stimulant of a juvenile phenomenon.
through the pleasant places which lie between That questionable blessing is always forthcoming ;
the North Foreland and Penzance. Even as Alex- and the noble British public is forthwith moved to
ander Selkirk was undisturbed by any rival extravagant demonstrations of delight in honour of
claimant of tropical territory, the king of the Pro- mediocrity in short petticoats, or in boyish habili-
menaders looks abroad, and finds the concert field ments, as the case may be. One phenemenon un-
his own. It is true the black-leaded minstrels of fortunately makes many, and, after a sensation of
Christy still ask their doleful riddles, still sing this undesirable kind, we must be prepared to find
their dismal songs, and still bewilder the public specimens of musical precocity springing up on all
with contradictory declarations of legitimacy. Very sides. Precocious talent is all very well in its
small concerts are also occasionally heard of in very way, but is better adapted for exhibition in family
large suburbs ; but these fitful gleams merely serve or private circles than in public assemblages. A
to make the succeeding gloom more profound, and, certain amount of rawness and crudity is to be
excepting at Covent Garden, Euterpe sleeps soundly reasonably anticipated in the performances of
under the veil she put on at the close of the season. juvenile prodigies but it is none the more pleasant
:
No mistaken individual ventures upon a short term to hear when the prodigy takes some unfortunate
of English Opera ; no five thousand school children classic in hand, and noisily pounds all the soul out
sing the good old minim psalm tunes in the Handel of his music on a “concert grand.” It is certainly
Orchestra; and no chosen “six hundred” lull sub- neither unfair nor inopportune to ask how the
scribers to sleep with the Messiah, the Creation, and dignity of sterling music can be upheld in the ex-
Elijah in wearying succession. hibitions made by modern juvenile pianistes or
Music must have its vagaries, and Euterpe afore- pianists of the present day 1 In the compositions
said no sooner breathes freely after wrestling with of Beethoven, Mozart, or Mendelssohn, what can
—
190 MUSIC AT HOME. [Nature mid Art, November 1, I860.
compensate for the absence of that “soul” or ex- cleverness ;

and of all the benignant Mellon’s pro-
pression which is their great characteristic, and in teges, Master E. Sauret is the best.
executants of ten, twelve, fourteen, or “ some six- Classical nights on the old principle, when one
teen summers,” how can that intensity of feeling be composer’s works fill the first part ; 'mixed classical
expected 2 If pianoforte playing be simply a on the new plan, when homage is done to several
matter of digital dexterity, then are the perform- stars of bygone days ; together with German,
ances of some recently discovered instrumental Gounod, Verdi, and volunteer festivals have
stars faultless ; but individuals yet abound who are alternated. Levy of the cornet- a-pis ton has re-
not transported to the seventh heaven by mere turned ; Signor Bottesini has done likewise ; Mr.
mechanical execution, or strength without quality of C. Coote has produced a new valse Herr Meyer
:
tone: Absence of mind is common enough in every- Lutz’s “ Lemuel ” waltz, now withdrawn, has been
—
thing pianoforte playing included, — but is much much and justly admired. It is unconventional, and
to be regretted in the latter department of musical the more refreshing that its best strain does not come
art. A “ Mdlle.,” native or foreign (for plain first. Mdlle. Carlotta Patti’s attempts at ballad-
English “ Miss ” is now an obsolete barbarism), may singing have been accepted with more satisfaction
play with forty-metronome-power regularity, and at than ever. Mr. Harry Sanderson’s name is last “ on
an express pace, but this is not sufficient in the the blazing scroll of fame,” as a pianist, and is likely
interests of music, however efficacious it may be to remain so, especially while he plays his own
in securing applause. The comparative absence of arrangements. He is not singular in putting such
expression, which quality is as rare in young in- a lovely melody as Bellini’s “ A te, o cara,” to the
strumentalists as four-leaved shamrocks are in torture on a pianoforte, and completely destroy-
Irish meadows, is easily accounted for. Until the ing its vocal character ; neither is he alone in
feelings and passions of an individual are matured sacrificing pathos and tenderness to a coarse kind
-
and developed, he cannot enter into the spirit of of “noise and fury signifying nothing.” Those
music, or poetry written by one who has attained who astonish the masses will inevitably please them
that period of existence. A girl or boy of ten years at the same time, and the creed which certifies, as
might be taught to sing Beethoven's “ Adelaida the best players, those who make the most noise,
but a young man or maiden of twenty would give lias stillmany believers. Madame Patey-Wliytock,
a much better reading of that immortal love song. one of the most legitimate singers of the day, will
Nature does this much, and upon Nature we must find her position more secure from her sojourn at
wait. “ Mellon’s.” Mr. Henry Corri is again in the
The changes have been frequently rung upon concert world, and Avill appear in the conductor’s
juvenile performers during the last two or three new- operetta at Christmas.
years, and Mr. Alfred Mellon lias generally been Mdlle. Sophie Angeline, a feminine flautist,
able to satisfy this craving of the public. He gave played on September 15th; and on the 17th, Herr
us Mdlle. Marie Krebs, and she gives us Men- Wilhelmj, a violinist of extraordinary acquirements,
delssohn’s Capriccio Brillante in B Minor in her made a “very palpable hit.” Little Emile Sauret
own peculiar manner. Mdlle. Krebs is feted performed Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, from
beyond all reason, and it is to be hoped will not memory, on the 20th. Some comparatively un-
allow herself to be carried away by the ridiculous known compositions have been introduced on the
applause which seems to have grown into a fashion. classical nights, —
Mozart’s Fugue in C Minor, for
So clever a pianiste may be reminded that rapidity stringed instruments, to wit, and the promenaders
is not everything desirable ; and that mere gabble is are conciliated with a new selection from Mose in
objectionable even on a pianoforte. Contemporary Egitto.
with this prime youthful favourite there have been, The lyre of Sydenham is no longer silent. Apollo
Emilia Arditi, and Bertha and Emma Dreschler Manns commenced a new series of winter concerts
Hamilton, violinists ; Master Bonnay, xylophonist, on October 6th.
and Mad Tom, the sable pianist. These are inde- At Drury Lane The Beggars' Opera has been
pendent of certain leaders of the opposition at less revived ; Mr. W. Harrison, whose strong point
pretentious places than Covent Garden Theatre ; now appears to be robust comedy, being the Captain
for the Oxford-street Hall of Music has its young Macheath, and Madame Jenny Bauer (with a ri-
xylophonist, by name Delepierre, and her sister de- diculous variation upon “Cease your Funning”)
voted to the violin. Touching the latter instrument, the Polly Peachum. We
are informed that Her
Mr. Alfred Mellon’s youngest professor thereof Majesty’s Theatre will open this month for a short
—
Master Emile Sauret is a shining instance of opera season, with Mdlle. Titiens and Mr. Santley
genuine and premature talent. From the mass of as leading stars.
mediocrity sometimes emerges a specimen of real
; — : ;; ; : — — ——
; ;; ;
Nature- aud Art, November 1, 1836.] POEMS BY ALFRED B. RICHARDS, 191
POEMS,* BY ALFRED B. RICHARDS.

npHERrE is a thorough -hearteclness about Mr. these for quotation, such as, “Would I might fall
JL Richards, which will come home to every asleep,” or “ Pale Memory is Mine ;
” but after
reader of his poems. On the other hand, critics all,we prefer turning to a poem hi which delicacy
cannot help noticing his imperfect execution of of rhythm is combined with pathos. The follow-
many good conceptions. His leading lyric is ing are two of the opening passages of “ Let Jeune
clearly overweighted by its name for Religio ;
- Fille et la Mort —
Animce suggests a strain of intense sublimity, and “ In a low and squalid room
not a mere song of the affections, however charm- Darkening in the twilight gloom,
1
With one broken lattice small

ing it may be. A
poet feels the life of the soul so
Peering through the sullied wall
strong within him, that he cannot doubt of its Near which tall and spectral trees
independent existence ; yet his nervous tempera- Shiver in the chill night breeze
ment makes him peculiarly liable to fits of despon- Such as, by some mansion lone,
dency, and nothing is more likely to bring them Linked with Murder’s tale have grown
Sleeps a young girl wearily
on, than an hour in a circle of Realists. This sore ;
O’er her wanface flit strange fears,

trial, we imagine, has been endured by Mr. The ashen trace of tears
Richards ; and, on returning to the gods of his Defiles her hollow cheek :
own hearthside, he has poured forth his feelings in In disordered dream

Her light tresses stream
pure, sweet verses. But it requires a deeper voice
All about her pillow
than his to chant the Religio Animce. His best Not in fairy freak,
quality, we repeat, is thorough-heartedness. This But like the heavy willow
is eminently displayed in his ballads but none of ;
O’er a pool of woe
these are short enough to be quoted entire, and Sad it is to see
Her neck’s sharp tracery
their merits ai’e not of a kind to be fairly exhibited
Shadowed deeply so
in extracts. “ The Convict’s Escape,” for instance, By the dim light in the room,
is effective as a whole. It tells of a Frenchman Like her, dying into gloom.
who has escaped from the galleys, and who begs Suddenly the moon stole there,
for shelter and food at a poor cottage. The Threading fast her shadowy hair
peasants themselves are starving their son has Into silver brightness rare,
;
Mist-like floating with soft grace
been carried off by the conscription ; and their
Round her wan and pearly face
youngest grandchild is at the point of death. And I saw a bright red streak
The convict forces the grandfather to lead him On her eyelids, on her cheek
back to prison and claim the reward. The But her lips were pale and lurid,
scheme is discovered, but ultimately pardoned As a Lily from the earth
Sprung in slow and sunless birth
and the cottagers annually keep the day in honour All in dark, cold shadows buried :
of the convict, but remember it also as the day

Then I knew the poor girl’s doom,
when their little Francois died. The homely Fading early to the tomb.”
pathos of this story is heightened by its artless
She awakes and sees Death, in visible shape,
style yet its texture is plain, perhaps to a fault,
:
standing beside her,
and supplies the journalist with no gmrpwei
“ Then the
panni for excision. In the “ Message of Cir- flutter of her heart
Hurries into beating-
cassia,” and in “ Pipeclay
and Bunting,” the author With a dull and muffled Sound-
rates Old England soundly for deserting the cause Each stroke a hunted creature’s bound,
of freedom abroad, and for neglecting her own And her quivering lips apart
soldiers. He makes eloquent appeals to her, also, Into sculptured anguish start
In the pale moon’s chilling beam
both in verse and prose, on behalf of the suffering
You might have seen her bosom striving,
pool’, and throughout all such passages he speaks Like your own, in fearful dream,
like a warm-hearted son, a man of mettle and Or a snow-wreath tossing, driving
feeling, who would be the last to disallow the And her breath so fleeting
Might be heard, in choking sob and cry
merits and claims of his native country. But he ‘
I am so young to die,
is not without other moods of the mind. Two of •
Too young to die ” !
’
his poems were written in connection with the

At the close of the poem
she becomes resigned;
designs of one of our finest artists, Mr. Frederick
the grisly phantom hides away, and she dies in peace.
Sandys these are “ Banae,” and “ Helen and Cas-
sandra.”
;
Now and then, too, after the fashion of We conclude with a little piece, which is a choice
specimen of art. It is an easy matter to mimic
all poets, he indulges in reveries, for mere delight
the turns of speech, but it is a positive feat to
in melancholy music. We had marked some of think the thoughts of our ancestors. Whilst the
* “ BeUgio Animal, and other Poems.” revival of learning was still fresh, the images of
By Alfred
B. Richards, author of “ Croesus, King of Lydia.” London :
classical mythology were more to the poet than
Edward Moxon & Co., Dover Street. pretty figures of fancy. Old Chapman, the stately
— :
1S2 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.
dramatist, and translator of Homer, might have His birth alone had -stamp’d the nation great
written such lines as these their language may Where he was nurtured ;
for indeed hewas
;
Humanitie’s bright essence. None e’er lived
not be correct to the letter, hut their spirit is the
Compeere to him, or will ;
for he made all
very spirit of the age, when poets actually felt the His owne, that is. Echo moneth he lay within
presence of the nine Muses, quickening the atmo- His mother’s wombe, a severall Muse did beare
sphere, and stirring the sap in the bay-trees. They Her sweetest companie thus was he framed
;
are appended to fifty stanzas on the characters of

To such nice sympathyes and on the daie
;
He did stretche his dimpling finger tow’rd

first
Shakespeare, and are entitled, His Prayse.”
‘ ;
Earth’s waving flow’res, Apollo left his throne

“ Fayre Wisdome’s Bridegroome, married to her yong, To visit him and kisse his smiling brow
That dry’d the inke, wherewith he wrote, with sand In seale of promise. That yere laurells bloom’d
Shedde from the lioure-glasse of admiring Time. Before their time in this our Britain’s isle.”
REV I E WS.
Ferns: British and Foreign. Their History, Organography, mortar from a wall such are very dangerous, because so
:
Classification, and Enumeration. With a Treatise on deceptive and unreliable. They give way at onife, on the
their Cultivation, &c. By John Smith, A.L.S. (London least pressure. You see some small projections on which to
Robert Hardwicke, Piccadilly.) plant your toe or the side of your foot, and so enable you
to climb higher, when as soon as your whole weight is
Mb. Smith’s work is as exhaustive as its title is com-
brought to bear on it, a flake of stone comes away beneath
prehensive, and cannot fail to be a most acceptable boon to
all those who interest themselves in the history or cultiva-
your tread.” “ Before relying on some bit of rock, try it for ;
if it give way just as you are stepping upward, you cannot

tion of the charming and interesting family of plants under
tell how serious may be the result. You may also have
consideration. The ample opportunities enjoyed by the
occasion to lay hold of some projecting crag to steady
author whilst curator of the Royal Botanic G-ardens, Kew,
coupled with a faculty for close and accurate observation,
yourself in passing a difficult place. Such a great piece of
rock is, you think, firm enough and as to its giving way,
have well fitted him for the laborious undertaking which he ;
there need be no fear about that but, despite its large pro-
has performed so well. The numerous descriptive cuts ai-e ;
portions and seeming stability, it is as treacherous as the

clear and well executed, whilst an index framed expressly
smaller points, which, like needles, scratch your fingers in
to relieve the mind of the student of the difficulty too often
touching them. At the very moment when you most want
caused by synonymes is given. The adventurous plant-
the steadying support, it will loosen in your grasp, and
hunters, the pioneers in the noble science of botany, are not
forgotten, although it is much to be feared that many of
come tumbling down over the rocks. Fortunate for yon if
it do not strike you in falling, and carry you rolling along
their graves beneath the feathery palm and plume-like fern .
with it. Never trust limestone rocks.” For our own parts,
they loved so well are too often allowed to become forgotten
spots. Few are there who so boldly venture forth penetrat- we most faithfully promise Mr. Boner that we never will.
ing the fever and ague-stricken morass, the wild mountain
We are informed also, that, “ sometimes rocks are flat
ravine, and the dense jungles of the Tropics so courageously

and smooth like large slabs of stone. When sloping, it is
difficult to walk on them, and the nails in your shoes add
as the wandering plant-collector; and few lands are there,
from the frozen north to the Torrid Zone, where he has not
to this difficulty. Take off your shoes and walk across in
your socks, and all danger vanishes at once you go as
levied tribute and gathei-ed floral treasures. The results of :
easily and safely as across your room.”

the united labours of such adventurous men, when carefully
Mr. Boner’s little volume is embellished with several very
analysed and embodied, form the basis on which such
well executed cuts, which serve to show the best modes
books as Mr. Smith’s are founded, and we cordially advise
all lovers of ferns or their culture to read that which he
of surmounting the difficulties described. The hints there
has written.
given are the result of long and practical experience. We
therefore confidently recommend a perusal of it to all those
about to grasp the “ Alpen-stock,” and shoulder the
li
Rucksack.”
Guide for Travellers. In the Plain and on the Mountain.
By Chables Boneb. (London Robert Hardwicke,
:
Piccadilly.) Me. Chableswobth’s tkanspabent-coveeed Col-

A little work replete with useful suggestions and lection-Boxes.
practical hints on mountaineering. As long as rugged Wehave just received from Mr. Edward Cliarlesworth,
crags, fissured glaciers, snow-capped peaks, and giddy ledges Secretary of the British Natural History Society, Whitting-
exist, so long will adventurous travellers be found amongst ton Club, Arundel Street, Strand, two admirably-arranged
them. An uncontrollable desire appears to exist in the cases of specimens, — one containing- shells of the Channel
breast of almost every male member of the human family to Islands, and the other fossils illustrating the “ Crag Forma-
scramble up something or somewhere. From the truant tion.” In their arrangement, advantage has been taken of
school-boy who denudes his waistcoat of buttons, destroys Mr. Charlesworth’s transparent-covered boxes, which, as
his trousers, and scrubs out the toes of his boots in pursuit depositories for minerals, shells, insects, or objects of
of the eggs of jackdaws and starlings, artfully concealed in antiquity, are perfection itself. Each box being floored, so
the ivy-covered nooks of some insecure old ruin, to the va- to speak with soft wadding, the specimens travel with the
cation tourist, travelling nobleman, or wandering hunter greatest safety, and can be readily examined without re-
naturalist, the same instinct prevails. The author now moving the cover. In an educational point of view, collections
before us is evidently an accomplished cragsman and cliff such as these are of the greatest value, as every specimen
climber, delighting to perch bird-like on points of rock, and is plainly and correctly marked, and serves as a faithful and
treating a goat-path a few hundreds of feet up the mountain reliable guide in the classification and arrangement of such
much as if it were the “ Queen’s highway.” Still there are collections as the student or collector may be making. The
passages in Mr. Boner’s book which serve to show how cases before us (also transparent), each containing twenty-
slight the tenure is on which life is held amongst the fiveexamples, are, Mr. Charlesworth informs us, furnished
solitudes, “ the home of the chamois.” We give one of by the Society for 18s., a price at which wefeel students
them in the words of the author : and lovers of natural history will be glad to
find they can
“ Some rocks are very brittle, and cake off as easily as purchase them.
BARRA, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES.
By Thomas Gray, H.M.C.S.
HE following Jottings by since Fin McCoul, the Irish giant, threw it over
the Way will, it is hoped, from the north of Ireland. We take no more
not be altogether without than a glance at the petrified packmen, and at
interest. Their language is Bob Bory’s head, chiselled by nature out of the
unstudied, and the arrange- solid rock : and we hasten onwards. We cannot
ment is perhaps rugged ;
afford now to loiter :our business is not to admire
but withal a few points Nature’s freaks in the inanimate world, nor to
are suggested that may lead describe “ glowing sunsets,” “ roaring seas,” “ natural
some of us to fresh doubts curiosities,” and “ show ” places. Descriptions of
whether our country has these may be found in novels, and in guide-books.
altogether attained that state of civilization in which Our business and our thoughts are now with the
we would so willingly and fondly believe it. They people of the Outer Hebrides and their wretched-
may remind tiiose interested in
missionary labours ness.
of work to be done near home and landed pro- Leaving, then, the many andvailed beautiful
—
;
prietors, of the advantages as well as of the duty of islands, rocks, ruins, lochs, and each with its
bits
residence on their estates. But, above all, they legend, and each the delight of the naturalist, the
will inform the tourist desirous for a time of leaving artist, the geologist, and the antiquarian —
to be
civilization, its luxuries and comforts, of a sure admired at the proper time, as they deserve to be,
means of gratifying his inclinations thoroughly and we must make a rapid stride northwards, whither
readily. we are bound peremptorily, picking up on the
After an uncomfortably wet passage by sea from road two travelling companions (one a returned
the Thames along the East coasts of England and Indian, and the other an officer who has been in
Scotland, and after a few wet days on the West action before the enemy upwards of twenty times],
coast of Scotland and in Glasgow, the writer took both well capable of observing and judging accu-
a passage on board the steamer Clydesdale, be- rately ; we run up between Kintyre, and J ura
longing to Messrs. Hutcheson 4 Co., for the purpose and Islay, that paradise of topers ; northwards,
of visiting officially certain of the islands on the again, through the sounds of Mull, Islat, and Baza,
western coast. These islands are naturally divided the latter sound separating the beautiful little
into two groups. The inner group consists of island of Baza, with its woods and cairn, from
Skye, Bum,
Mull, Jura, Islay, Coll, Tyree, and Skye, with the Cuhulen hills, the most grand and
several smaller islands and rocks ; and the outer Alp-like of all the grand Scotch ranges. Still
group, known as the “ Outer Hebrides,” “ The northwards and westwards across the treacherous
Western Islands,” or “ The Long Island,” consists “ Minch,” we reach Stornoway, in the island of
of Lewis, Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Lewis, the most northerly and most important of
Uist, Watersea, Barra, and some smaller islands the “ Outer Hebrides.”
and rocks. Our interest will be concentrated on Barra, the
The
cruise down the Clyde past the isles of Bute southern island of the group ; but as we were
and Arran, and round the head, or mull, of Kintyre, obliged to proceed to Stornoway in the first in-
is known to most visitors to the western part of stance, we implore our readers to put up with a
Scotland ; it is therefore unnecessary to introduce little trouble and perhaps tediousness, by taking a
here extracts from memoranda respecting it. We short practical survey of the country between the
just notice the solanders darting down from aloft, dis- northern and southern extremities. The general
appearing below the surface of the sea with a splash impression of the whole group will be recorded
and a shower of spray, each to return above it with further on ; but our short preliminary survey
a fish striving and vainly wriggling in its grasp. of the islands will be of use and add force to our
We pass by Ailsa Craig, rearing itself about conclusions, as it will enable our reader to realize
1,500 feet above the waves, where it has rested the extent of country over which it is hoped he may
VII. o
194 BARRA, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES. [Nature and Art, December 1, 186G.
some day travel, and to realize the number of British and their families. The island of Harris, although
subjects resident in a strange British colony within mountainous and rugged (one of the hills is 2,600
Great Britain. These people, although actually feet high), contains some good pasturage ; but it i;s
within Britain, are practically more remote than are not a place where grain can be raised to much
the Canadians ; and while at the present moment Ave profit. Tarbet, the chief place in Harris, is situated
can communicate with our kindred in North on the head of Loch Tarbet, and is one of the
America and receive a reply within ten minutes, stations of the steam packets.
we cannot at all times communicate with our The next island, North Uist (pronounced
brethren in the Hebrides within six weeks. We Whoeest), is about thirty miles long, with a breadth
entreat our reader’s patience, and we claim his of from eight to fourteen miles. Lord Macdonald is
attention. We
wish to hold out a helping hand, proprietor. The population (Protestant) number
to assist in raising these people from a slough of about 4,500. In NorthUist the people are generally
ignorance, dishonesty, superstition, and filth, as more thriving than in the other islands. The
shameful, as degrading, and as unwarrantable and houses are better built, and some of them contain
unjustifiable as any that ever shocked a philanthro- furniture. The people here at once strike the
pist, or demanded the attention of the thoughtful visitor as being more cleanly and intelligent than
and right-minded. their neighbours. Loch Maddie, the chief town, is
Header, do not turn away, saying, “Fine situate on a loch of that name, and is the station
—
words, Mr. Tourist fine words ; but nothing in of the sailing mail-packet between North Uist and
them.” If you have patience, we pledge you we Dunvegan, in Skye. A“maddie” means a dog;
will prove them all ; and, if you have a heart, we and at the entrance of the loch are three remark-
will enlist it in our cause before you close the book. able rocks (well worth the study of the geologist)
But to commence our survey. known as the Maddies, or Dogs hence the name
:
The island of Lewis is about forty miles long, of the place.

and has in its broadest part a breadth of about Benbecula (with its romantic name) is the next
twenty-five miles. The population is about 19,000; island, and is about nine miles long and nine miles
and the proprietor, Sir James Matheson, is a model broad. The population is 2,000, mostly Protestants,
landlord, and a public-spirited gentleman. During as far as we could learn ; but some of them, are
the potato famine with which these islands were so Catholics. The proprietor is Colonel Gordon, of
severely scourged about twenty years ago, he was Cluny Castle, Aberdeen. The island is flat, and
the only resident proprietor amongst a population the soil is sandy and not productive ; but potatoes
of 37,800 souls. His presence was a tower of and cabbages are sometimes raised in abundance. It
strength. It aided the Highland Belief Com- is separated from North and SouthUist by “sounds,”
mittee in a proper and effectual distribution of or, more properly speaking, “ fords.” These fords
their funds and stores. He has built a beautiful claim a passing notice, since they regulate the
mansion at Stornoway, and has established a business of the inhabitants and supply them with
factory for distilling oil, &c., from peat, with which much food. Business matters and meetings are
the islands abound. The inhabitants of Lewis here settled according to the time of the fords.
are Protestants ; and although destitution, im- When the tide is out they are practicable, and
morality, and degradation abound there, as they do present a very remarkable appearance to the
everywhere else in the Outer Hebrides, the people stranger. The sand covering the bottom is a pure
are better off in Lewis than in any of the other white silver-sand, whilst the land around is chiefly
islands of the group, excepting, perhaps, North Uist. black bog and brown rocks. The contrast is most
The comparative prosperity of Lewis, besides being marked. It is not safe to cross the fords in a
in a great measure due to its proprietor’s judgment, chaise or cart, without a guide ; the sands, though
is no doubt mainly attributable to the presence of generally firm and hard at low water, are in some
the chief port of the group. The port of Stornoway places quick and very treacherous. They are
is a thriving fishing-station, and a busy place. sprinkled with innumerable rocks, which look like
It is pleasantly situated at the front of a very various-sized haycocks and stacks, placed in all
pretty little wood, and at the head of a fine sorts of puzzling positions. It is amongst these
bay. rocks (some of which have beacons and crosses on
The next island, Harris, which in the map them to serve as land-marks) that the guide con-
appears to form a part of Lewis, has a length of ducts the traveller. The fords abound in shell-fish,
•twenty-six miles and a breadth varying from eight which give food to the inhabitants, who in this
to twenty-four, with a population of about 5,000 place will eat them ; whilst in Barra, a little
souls. The religion is Protestant, and the pro- further south, they will not. When the water is
prietor isthe Earl of Dunmore (or “ Harris,” as up, the fords are impassable. No boatmen will
he' prefers being called). At the time of the potato venture into a sea so thickly studded with dangers
famine Lord Harris was in his minority, and was amongst which the tides rush, and whirl, and eddy
absent ; but his excellent mother, Lady Dunmore, with fearful violence.
was present, and nobly represented the proprietor The next island, South Uist, is about twenty-six
in the island. She, like Sir James Matheson, be- miles long, with a breadth of about seven miles,
haved well ; and, by her exertions and motherly and a population of 5,000. Colonel Gordon is pro-
care, saved the lives of many crofters and cottars prietor, and the population are nearly all Catholics.
— ;
Nature and Art, December 1, 18(56. BAEEA, IN THE OUTEE HEBRIDES. 195
In passing through South Uist, some parts of it the hill-sides, and Scotch cattle are raised in some
appeared to us to be capable of cultivation, whilst numbers. In most of the islands there is grouse,
others presented expanses of black peat and black and in all, plenty of wild fowl. The sportsman
ponds, having a most dreary and depressing effect. can always find rabbits, otters, woodcock, moor-
The parts round the slopes of mounts Heckla and fowl, wild duck, <fec., and we noticed amongst the
Benmore, are especially rugged and dreary. Heckla rocks hr the bays, seals in abundance.
ismarked in our travelling map as 1,992 feet high, The tenant farmers of the Hebrides are like the
Benmore as 2,038 feet. The people seem to be same classes elsewhere ; but the lowest class, the
much the same as in Lewis and Harris. But at “ crofters ” and “ cottars,” as they are called, differ
and about Grogerry, where the steward of the from their own class in England to a degree that
proprietor lives (who gives visitors a hospitable is difficult to believe even after having seen it.
welcome, and who has two very pretty daughters), The deputation of the Highland Relief Committee,
the country was nicely cultivated, and after Barra who visited these islands in 1849, reported as to
and some other islands presented to us a cheerful their condition in the words given below ; and we
appearance. would rather, in a case like the present, use the
And now we come to Barra. The 'parish of words of the bonnie Scots themselves, than our
Barra is perhaps the most extraordinary in the own. Our words might be open to misconstruc-
United Kingdom. The people cannot all get to tion, and in any case they might be attributed to
the priest, and if he were to visit all his flock, prejudice ; but the words of the Highland Relief
scattered as they are on so many small islands, he Committee cannot be objected to as unfair. They
might be able to visit each place once a year. The are as follows :
parish consists of Barra Island Proper, and the

“ We regretted to see that the crofters and small tenants
islands of Watersea, Sandrera, Mingala, Pabba, and
were, for the most part, huddled and crowded together in
Barra Head Islands, besides islets and rocks in- miserable hamlets ; that their dwellings were, with one or
numerable. The length of Barra Island is twelve two exceptions, of a wretched kind, filthy in the extreme,
miles, and the breadth varies from three to six most of the people being under the same roof, and on the
miles. The length of the entire parish is twenty- same floor as the cattle ; and, worse still, the manure being
gathered and kept in the houses till it requires to be laid on
four miles. The population is about 2,300, of the ground.”
whom. 300 are Protestants, and 2,000 Catholics.
Colonel Gordon is proprietor. We confirm this from our own observation, and
After this catalogue of the islands, we will can add that most of the hovels abound with
endeavour to convey our impressions of the general uncomfortable parasites, and are contiguous to
aspect of the whole group. They are rugged, bleak, stagnant pools, tainted with .animal refuse, around,
poor, and the atmosphere is misty, with the in, and about which the half-naked and half-starved
hill-sides and valleys generally sprinkled thickly children “ play.”
with granite boulders. Where the rocks are covered, Having by this time conveyed a general, and pro-
the covei'ing consists either of sand or peat-moss. bably a most uncomfortable, idea of the whole group,
The parts covered with peat-moss have a dull, heavy, we will proceed to sjjeak particularly of Barra
black appearance, and the shallow lakes, or ponds, —
parish the place to which we were specially de-
and sluggish ditches, reflecting the blackness of the puted, and in which we spent most of our time.
peat, look like ink, and add to the general depres- Many things we have written about this parish are,
sing effect. The constant visitors to these fields doubtless, applicable to the whole group ; but, as
are the “ Hoodie ” crows. They are large birds, our attention was concentrated on Barra parish, and
with bodies much the colour of a dirty blue pigeon, as we specially observed and noted the habits and
with black head and wings, and black feathers half manners of the people there, what further we have
way down the neck. They have a very melan- to say about the Outer Hebrides, we will say in
choly look, and when walking about the black peat connection with it.
remind one of undertakers’ men in a cemetery. The western shores of these islands just catch the
These fields, cut up for fuel, look something tail of the Gulf stream. The climate is therefore
like black brick-fields. The peat in bricks is not so cold as might be expected from the latitude
arranged in stacks, or strewn about and left to but the islands, especially those to the south, are
dry. wet to a degree equally astonishing and uncomfort-
In the sandy parts the sand drifts in large masses, able. The
natives must be, and really are, am-
and is the crofter’s greatest enemy. The drift in phibious. The
swell from the Atlantic, which rolls
some places will cover the surface of the grass for in with enormous force and grandeur, soon breaks
many feet thick in one night. The crofters do up any vessel that may come ashore on the western
what they can to keep the surface level and un- side.
broken, so that the sand may not be exposed to the The coast-line generally is bleak and savage-
winds, and for this purpose it is covered where looking granite, with a few very fine sandy bays.
possible with “ bent,” or coarse grass. The soil in There is not a single tree or shrub in the Avhole of
all cases, whether sand or peat, gives a very scanty Barra Island. The group of islands forms a sort of
crop, unless well manured with lime or sea weed. outlying breakwater. On it are continually washed
Potatoes seem to be the chief thing cultivated. ashore curious Indian carvings and articles from
Sheep feed on the small grass that grows freely on the coasts of America, and on it are stranded derelict
; ;
196 BARRA, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
vessels, abandoned during tlieir voyage to or from that part of itwhich our Queen delights to dwell,
in
our North American provinces, as well as others woman is degraded and her position is as
as
with crews and passengers on board, beaten in by hopeless as amongst savages. There the women and
stress of weather. In the six months ending J une, the girls dig manure and peat, Avhich they carry
1866, very nearly .£300,000 worth of property has inheavy loads in baskets like caller herrin’ baskets,
been washed ashore, or has appeared in distress off and (on the authority of the Highland Committee),
these islands. This shows the necessity for an “they do the work elseAvliere done by the lower
efficient police, and a vigorous administration ; but animals.”
the islanders look upon these wrecks as a special It is sometimes pleasing to live in agreeable
dispensation of a wise Providence. delusions. The delusion as to the social position
Most of the men were away on the East coast, of woman was one of these Jack the Giant-
;
fishing ; but we heard, on the authority of the killer was another. The delusion that the amiable
doctor of one of the islands, that they were not E. L. Blanchard, the delight of our childhood,
half a match for the women. The women wear wrote pantomimes whilst surrounded by fairies and
their hair loose about their heads, and, except the flowers, was another. The delusion that Grace
crones, very few were observed to have any decided Darling was loAT ely and fairy-like, was another.
head gear. Their legs are bare, excepting on oc- These delusions pass away one after another, and
casions. We saw one or two women with footless are replaced by stern facts. The angelic Grace
stockings, and no shoes. Shoes are almost unknown Darling gives place to the Barra woman. Grace
amongst the women and children, and are not Darling must haAr e been a heroine of the Barra
believed in — they keep the feet so wet and footless — type ; none other of the sex could have gone off in
stockings seemed to be great luxuries. The feet such a boat to such a Avreck, in such a storm as
would be no use in the stockings, because they she did. We saAV several Grace Darlings in the
would be worn out in one day. For clothing the flesh,here and elsewhere, some pulling boatloads of
women wore all sorts of odd adaptations. It was “Avinkles” to sea to meet the steamer going south.
a matter of wonder to us at first where they got In the islands, other than Barra, they put oft' from
their clothes from. They (the women) did not dreamy Avooded little nooks and bays and if they ;
appear to us to wear, as a rule, clothes of home had not always been accompanied by a very old
manufacture and of native wool but to have a ;
man with a bright butcher’s-blue gingham, they
selection from a most marvellous and miscellaneous would, in the distance, have been suggestive of
collection of old clothes. In fact, amongst the Nereids. As a companion in a boat amongst the
women of the hamlets in Barra, there may be seen fearful and treacherous rocks of the Avest coast, on
curtailed specimens —
very faded, ragged, and Avorn a stormy night, the actual black-haired, black-eyed
out, it is true, but still specimens —
of costume from Darling is a mighty fact. Strong, uncompromising,
Queen Anne’s time, downwards. The only con- vigorous, and assuring, she pulls a heavy oar, with
clusion to be arrived at is that they get their clothes a straight fore and aft movement of the body.
from wrecks, and thus obtain the fashions of The determination of her mouth leads us to dread
almost all nations. The one drawback is that her; but her clear eye and retiring manner
through sleeping on the ground Avith the animals at reassure us, and her limbs lead us to wonder by
night, and getting Avet all day, the garments lose what process they Avere developed.
their distinctive colour and pattern, and all alike The men whom Ave saw dressed better than the
seem tobe dirty, draggled, and deplorable. robust A women, and like ordinary fishermen and hovellers.
woman, broad in the shoulders, thick-necked, large- But some of the elders, the heads of families,
handed, bare-legged, her hair half-way down her seemed to exist only on dirt and pigtail. In a
back, and a short, ragged garment, with little or no covering of dirt they stood at the doorways of their
covering for her head, is of the ordinary type in filthy huts looming at the puddles of stagnant
Barra. The young ones ride very gracefully on water, Avith their heads in the smoke from the peat-
bare-backed ponies ; and sometimes, though very fire —the door often serves for door, chimney, and
rarely, the elder ones indulge in a short pipe. But, —
window a fit representation of the benighted and
Avith all their coarseness, there is a bearing, a diffi- beAvildered state of the whole.
dence, and a shyness about them in the presence of The food of the people in Barra consists of oat-
strangers, that commands respect, and appeals to cake, potatoes, salt fish, milk, boldie, and brachsie
the heart for sympathy. It is charming to dAvell and the drink is, as elseAvliere in Scotland, Avhisky.
on the rights and social influence of woman ; to The streams give good healthy Avater for ducks
look on woman as she really is, the regenerator and and geese,and there are plenty of small insects for
civilizer of the human race. It is satisfactory to foAvls ; and the lakes and streams, as well as the
think that most of our great men oAve their great- bays and rocks, abound Avith fish. Not with fish
ness to the influence and teaching of their mothers to be lightly rejected, but with fish that an epicure
to speculate what each of us would have been and Avould delight in and yet these people nearly
:
must inevitably have been if at some time or other starve in the winter. Their food is potatoes and
in our cliequei’ed life, we had been deprived of the salt fish one day, varied by salt fish, meal, and
genuine and heartfelt solicitude of a mother, a potatoes the next day, Avith now and then some
sister, a Avife, or a daughter. It is cruel to think brachsie. Without meal, the proper allowance per
that in some parts of our civilized country, and in head per diem is 8 lbs. of potatoes. They drink
; —
Nature and Art, December 1, 1836.] BARRA, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 197
milk, which they can generally get, and whisky ever, that out of a stock of 6,190 sheep, 1,132 had
always. disappeared ; and after allowing for casualties, this
One sensible man told us that potatoes were the left a great number as misappropriated. As a
ruin of Barra and he is right. Without this
: chicken is looked upon as an egg-producing machiue,
information, we should have thought it had been so a sheep is looked upon as a wool and mutton
whisky. “ If,” said he, “ there were no potatoes, producing machine. The quantity of wool exported
the men would take to fishing regularly. As it is, from these islands is enormous. sheep does not A
they don’t give their minds wholly to either. in the ordinary eou rse of nature live more than
When the potatoes ought to be planted, the men three years upon them. After that term the wet
go away on some sort of fishing in a half-hearted climate tells on him, and he gets the rot. His
manner ; and when the herring fishery is on, and owner, therefore, makes wool of him for three years,
they ought to be hard at work at that, they run and sells him for mutton the next.
away home in a body if they hear that the potatoes Although a Barra man prefers to sell his sheep
are ‘seeding.’” It is the old story of the donkey rather than to eat it, he takes care that if any die
between two bundles of hay. But the way in which from natural causes they are not often wasted.
potatoes are the ruin of the island is, that a cottar “ Brachsie ” is a term applied to sheep that die on
can get a hut (or stye) to live in with his family and the hills from natural causes, such as inflammation
animals, and a small patch of ground for potatoes, of the bowels, &c. Of course they do not have the
for £1 a year ; and in such small holdings hundreds professional attendance of a surgeon or a butcher,
are packed where there is room only for tens. If and die with the humours and blood in them. They
the potato crop could be depended on, these wretched are picked up when they are found, i t may be a day
people might exist ; but, as it cannot, the suffering after their decease, or it may be a month, but when-
is severe. Eggs are plentiful in the spring and ever it is they are carefully taken home by the
summer ; but they are mostly shipped South. finder. The skin is used for bladders for fishing
Chickens and ducks are numerous ; but beware of a floats, the offal goes to the ducks, and the flesh
Barra chicken or a Barra duck. We
remember our is eaten by the men and women. wanted We
attack on one, and our ignominious defeat. They mutton and might have got “ brachsie,” but as
are too valuable to kill, as long as they can be one of our party had resided on the island in
induced to lay. They are looked on as egg-pro- the depth of winter and knew the peculiarities of
ducing machines ; and it is not until they are worn the dainty, we declined it on his advice. The
out and run dry, and the combined efforts of colour, what with the disease and blood, is that
nature and art fail to concoct another egg, that of our boots ; and the smell, faint and indescribably
they are sacrificed. disgusting.
“ Boldie ” query whether this is quite the right The fish salted and eaten is either cod, ling,
(
name*) is a term applied to sheep who go mad skate, or hake. They do not eat much fresh fish.
from various causes, e. <j. maggots on the brain. On the rocks are a few oysters ; and there are
Boldies are caught and are put into an asylum, where cockles, scallops,and mussels in abundance, and in
they are made to take food. They are incurable the sands razor fish. The cockles alone saved many
but they rally and get somewhat fat sometimes, families in the potato famine. The other shell-fish
between the attack and a relapse. In this state they never or rarely eat. In the streams and lakes
they are shipped off, or are killed for ships wanting are trout, plentiful but small ; and in the sea are
meat and ready to pay for it. At all events, they lobsters, crabs, eels, and almost all sorts of fish.
are sold if they can be, and if not they are killed The natives of Barra do not seem to care about
and eaten ; but it vexes sore the heart of a true- trout, as far as we could learn ; and they would as
born Hebridean cottar to kill his own sheep. To soon think of eating scallops and other shell-fish
eat anything of his own that will sell, is, according (except cockles on emergency) as we should of eat-
to his political economy, a false step. ing “ brachsie.” Eels are forbidden to be touched as
The law of meum et tuum has not yet been food. The reason assigned is, that they are a
clearly expounded in Barra it is not therefore sur-
: part of one’s own economy, springing from human
prising that not acted on.
it is To steal, and kill, hair ; and when a Barra man gives this reason it is
and eat the sheep of other persons, is a differeat not, as would at first sight appear to be the case, an
matter altogether from killing and eating their evasion on his part it is really a belief. This super-
:
own. That this is not uncommon, is shown by stition about eels and snakes coming from hair is
the proprietor, Colonel Gordon, who complained to not confined to the Hebrides, although there the
the Treasury that certain of the islanders had lost story is more generally current than elsewhere. A
“ from sheep-stealing alone, from 2,000 to 3,000 somewhat similar superstition exists in the Orkneys
sheep.” The Highland Relief Fund investigated and Skye as to the hair of cows and horses. In
this allegation, and reported that while there had Essex it obtains as regards the hair from the tail of
been sheep-stealing to some extent, Col. Gordon’s a horse. In “Antony and Cleopatra,” act i., scene
statement was exaggerated. They admitted, how- ii.
,
the following words occur :
# * # “ Much is breeding 1
Which, like the courser’s hair, hath yet but life,

# It is not always easy to catch the correct term in this *
And not a serpent’s poison.” * *
outlandish place. Boldie, or Bawldie, or something like it,
is perhaps near enough. In “Ovid” we find the following allusion to a
— ; —
198 BARBA, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
superstition that snakes spring from the spinal shall be, and who shall be the innkeepers, and
marrow of a man. Garth’s translation has it there is an end of it. Comfort or convenience is
thus :
not required. People might go again if they were
“ There are who think the marrow of
a man, made comfortable, and to encourage strangers
"Which in the spine, while he was living, ran amongst them would seem to be, in their eyes, a
When dead, the pith corrupted will become mortal sin against independence of spirit.
A snake, and hiss within the hollow tomb.” We must not omit mention of the sea “ware”
But we are digressing, and, now that we haVe or sea “rack.” It is the Fucus vesiculosus It
secured the reader’s attention, we must return to fixes itself to the rock by a sort of fibrous sucker,
Barra in the Outer Hebrides. grows from seven to twelve or fourteen feet long,
The people at Barra (Celts) are always spoken of and is about as thick as the wrist of a middle-
.”
as “ a 'peculiar people They are Papists of the sized man. It is used for three purposes, viz.,
most faithful order. They take vessels of holy fodder for cows, manure, and soda ashes. Its ap-
water Avith them to sea in their boats and obtain pearance when cut across with a knife is something-
the priest’s benediction before starting on a long like the section of a soft turnip. Great Arnlue is
voyage. They have a perfect and simple faith in attached to this sea ware, as may be understood
the power of their priest. They believe in his from the fact that at the time a well-knoAvn Avreck
power, because “ he can turn them into a pillar of lay on one of the islands, the farmers’ people had to
salt.” Their belief in his goodness, however, we walk round her, instead of going straight, to get to
did not discover. They are the Ishmaelites of the place Avhence they carted the sea weed before
Scotland. Every man’s hand is, so to speak, against she came ashore. In fact, they Avent out of their
his neighbour. As we found that
a practical fact way some yards, and for this, under the head of
almost every one had something to tell confidentially “ circuitous route which had to be taken for sea
about somebody else that would have insured hang- Aveed,” they claimed upwards of .£120 from the
ing or transportation for life if true and proved. ship-owner. It seemed a favourable opportunity
The moment an absent man’s name was mentioned for making somebody pay for something, and was
every one condemned him. They quarrel amongst too good to be lost.
themselves and live in a state of perpetual quiet Surface damage is another favourite claim. When
hostility, each Avatching for the faults of the other ; a Avreck comes ashore it may do a little damage, and
but if a stranger come to the island to buy, or if a people passing and repassing may do a little more.
ship come in in distress, then they band together We advisedly say may do. If a Avreck Avere to
against the intruder. They act on the direction happen on some parts of our coasts, for instance on
literally— “ If a stranger come within your gates, the margin of wheat fields, under crop, damage
take him in ; ” and they do take him in with a would be done ; but when a Avreck happens on
vengeance. granite rocks, and is confined to those rocks betAveen
We Avere charged as much for the use of a dung- high and low water mark, no damage can be done
cart Avitliout springs, and the horse without harness, to the coast, and when the surface further inland
to take us over parts of these islands, as we should consists of a grass-groAvn peat thickly sprinkled Avith
have paid for the use of a tAvo-horse brougham and boulders of granite, it is not easy to see how any
a man in London for the same distance. At the damage could be done to that. The damage in any
inns the charges are higher than at the “ Waverleys,” case can only be that the “ bent ” may be worked off
and at the cleanest and best Ave had to sleep on a the surface Avhen it is sandy, or that where wreck
table, in a place Avith a brick floor and ducks for is stacked the grass or bent will die under it but ;
visitors. Wemust do this inn justice and say that it will come up again next year. In one case this
it Avas clean, and that Ave were put about in this happened on one of the Hebrides. For about the
Avay because the Procurator-fiscal had engaged the space of three acres, patches of grass had been
only bedroom. Let its name be recorded as covered with Avreck and had faded, and patches of
“ Sinclair’s Inn, Bhirva, Barra.” At the inn at bent, in a space included in a hundred yards, had
Pulchar, in South Hist, there are four rooms on been Avorn off the sand. The damage done to the
a floor one was the tap-room, another was the
: bent could be repaired by half a dozen labourers in
stable and coAv-house, a third a pigstye, and the two days, and we have shoAvn that a cottar can get
fourth a sort of dung-heap. The state room, is on a plot of ground for a pound a year but about £30
:
the first floor, and is furnished Avith one bedstead was charged for surface damage. In the case of
and bed and two chairs. The ceiling was not water- another and sadder Avreck in a sandy bay in the
tight, but the bedstead Avas intended to be. It has Hebrides, an enormous sum Avas charged for surface
a good strong wooden roof, and can be moved about damages. At the latter wreck also, a bill was serif
to the dry part of the room when it rains, and with in to the owners that could only be equalled in
a tarpaulin over it would be comfortable that is — fiction. Amongst other things equally monstrous,
to say, comparatively comfortable —
all things going Avas a charge of nearly £400 for “cattle scared, so
by comparison. It was more so than the dung or
#
Commonly collected for the manufacture of kelp. Kelp
peat cart we travelled and rested in, but it was not
is not now manufactured to any great extent, but a few
so clean. In truth, the inns have not been run
years since it was a source of great wealth in the western
down enough they are execrable holes. The pro-
:
islands and the western shores of Scotland. Engl. Cyclop.
prietor of the island settles how many inns there (Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 113).
,
Nature and Art, December 1, 1886.]

BA.BR A, IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 199
that they would not feed;” another for “drying there is little or no law. The tenant farmers in
l-opes, and frightening cows,” nearly £400 ; and these islands are mostly of undoubted respectability
another for “cows that slipped their calves, and and immovable integrity ; but some of them, as we
calves lost,” upwards of £400. So that it would have seen, make harvests out of wrecks by systematic
appear that all the cattle on the island went to see and groundless claims ; and the cottars act in a
the wreck, and that all these cows were enceinte, straightforward but less systematic plan of open
and. in such a precarious state at one and the same plunder. The Government ships have visited Barra,
time, that the wreck coming ashore brought on a so we wereinformed, three times in ten years. The
premature delivery, and caused their offspring to police force in the island is not active and is not
die. This would not be believed in a novel, and intelligent, nor could it establish a character for
yet it is a stern fact. Perhaps the worst feature sobriety. It consists of a solitary constable. This
of all was the way in which the survivors are representative of authority troubles himself not
reported to have been treated ; they were, as was about plunder and lawlessness; his mind is ac-
stated in the press truthfully, in many instances customed to the normal state of things on his beat,
pitilessly plundered by the cottars of what little and he is supremely happy and contented with an
they had contrived to save and bring ashore, and it occasional glass of whisky.
has been alleged, it is to be feared with truth, that During the last winter, a ship laden with paraffin
in many cases, fingers of the dead were cut off’, or came ashore, and soon broke up. Seventy-five
pulled off, or “ came off,” during the time that these casks were recovered, and given into the custody of
wolves were possessing themselves of the rings and the Resident Deputy Receiver of Wreck, the
squabbling over their prey. A
heavy charge was Government officer appointed to protect the interest
made for burying the dead. The funeral service is of the owners. Now, Barra is a place whence thieves
reported to have been a farce, and the whole pro- cannot escape, and had there been any desire to
ceeding brutal and degrading to a degree. The suppress plunder or to detect the thieves, it could
bodies were thrown into two holes, “ packed like easily have been done. But not so ; twenty-five
herrings in a barrel,” and there is no mark, not casks were removed from the custody of the Resi-
even a rail or bit of wood, to show where these dent Receiver, a tenant farmer, by the natives, who
bodies are buried, where not far short of 360 of the thought it was whisky or gin, or something to
victims of one of the most heartrending wrecks of drink. And although it was offered for sale freely
our time lie interred. throughout the islands, and although every hut was
But again to return to Barra. The Protestant —
burning it some in teapots with the wick through
Church at Bhirva is out of repair. The roof is not the spout —no steps were taken to detect the thieves,
watertight, and the floor of the church is not paved and the Hebridean officers, who ought to have pro-
or boarded there is one pew only, and the church
;
tected the property, represented that there had been
itself is tolerably large, but more like a barn inside almost no plunder at all.
and outside than anything else. We have been The Harmony a large timber-laden ship, came
told that it is not an uncommon occurrence for ashore on the rocks last winter, bottom up. She
umbrellas to be used inside the church on a wet was on an isolated rock, and her bottom and keel
day. This may be, and we hope it is, untrue, but were prominent objects against the sky. Gulls,
at any rate, we know from the actual knowledge herons, and puffins sitting on them, could be seen dis-
of one of our party that in the school-house the tinctly from the neighbouring places; and yet thieves
children could not keep their books on the desk worked on her where any one could see them, day
last winter because of the rain coming through the after day, and week after week, with heavy hammers
roof. and crowbars, until nearly the whole of the valuable
The minister at Bhirva is a scholar and a gentle- copper fittings were removed. Some of them of
man, with a fairly cultivated glebe, some good great size and weight were carried about and dis-
cattle, two fine and handsome daughters, and an posed of in the most charmingly open and candid
inestimable wife. She, dear, kind soul, took us in manner. The policeman’s beat is large, and he was
when, in attempting to jump over a river (which, probably wanted at another part of it ; we will not
were it not for her kindness, we would call a ditch), put his inaction down to apathy, as he does bestir
we had fallen into it. Hers was the nearest himself sometimes ; for he has been known to get a
house, and thus we made her acquaintance. She search-warrant two months after property has been
had our clothes toasted and our boots baked, and stolen, and to make a search of premises after giving
rigged us out in the clergyman’s suit, just big- twenty-four hours’ notice in the cross roads that he
enough to hold two of us, and then took us into was about to begin.
Tier parlour, where, under the influence of new And now one other of last winter’s cases, and
milk and whisky, as preventives of cold, we we have done. We like to take recent cases, other-
enjoyed the pleasant and lively conversation of wise our readers might be deluded into the belief
herself, the minister, and their daughters. This that all we have written about Barra, its crime,
—
glimpse of civilization this oasis in the desert of barbarism and misery, are things of the past. We
—
Barra will ever be remembered, but at the time it would they were things of the past, but, alas it is
!
only made the dreariness and desolation outside not so. Last winter, the Bermuda, a fine ship, was
appear still more dreary and more desolate. wrecked there. It was a fearful night, and bitterly
How is the law administered in Barra ? Reader, cold, with a driving sleet, and with the snow thick
200 THE GEEAT TEEE-ALOE OF DAMAEA LAND. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
on the ground. After passing days and nights of dangers they had passed, and scared by the hellish
mental anxiety, and after narrow escapes, that by sight and noises around them, stood benumbed in
their frequency had almost removed a sense of the snow and piercing wind. Their boots were
danger from the captain’s mind, the ship was taken from their feet and their wraps and coverings
wrecked on a lee shore. By almost a miracle, the from their bodies, and in that state they might
captain, his wife and little daughter, and the crew have perished.
were saved. But the scene of lawlessness at the resisted, and appealed in vain for
The captain
wreck was something indescribable. Everybody help. He
was powerless. The people believed
began to “ rifle, rob, and plunder;” and such was that Providence had sent them another harvest.
the effect on the crew of the vessel, that, notwith- Should they not glean it while they could, and
standing their recent escapes from peril, they joined while they were permitted by the Island au-
in and plundered too. thorities 1
But the worst remains to be told. The captain’s Header, your patience is exhausted. We have
wife and child, two helpless creatures, half dead redeemed the pledge we made you. Have we err
with fright and cold, bewildered by the horrible listed your sympathy 'l
THE GREAT TREE-ALOE OE DAMARA LAND, S. W. AFRICA.

By T. Baines, F.E.G.S.
T was during the month of May, 1861, and With so hopeful a prospect, I thought it as well to
I about a fortnight after my first sight of the spend an hour or two in getting my hand in to the
Welivitschia mirabilis ,* that I was privileged to manufacture of cartridges for my rifle. Shortly
behold another marvel of the vegetable kingdom, after noon, the friends whom we had left behind
which I believe is not yet figured in any work upon the road from Walvisch Bay, came up, and
available to the public of this country, nor contained Mr. Cator invited me to his waggon, from which
in those which, by the kindness of Dr. J. Hooker Mr. Smutz soon after pointed out two remarkable
and Professor Oliver, I have been permitted to pinnacles in the distant range, which have been
examine in the herbarium of the Boyal Botanic called “the Ears” of almost every resident of any
Gardens at Kew. importance in the country ; but as this would
Leaving Hykamkop on the 10th, and halting to suggest rather a Midas-lilce comparison, I should
send the cattle down the long ravine at Oosip, again prefer to name them, as Cator did, “Westminster
to seek a little water in the Swakopf river, we Abbey.”
spanned out after a long night journey, near the But beautiful upon the mountains, as were the
Roode-berg, j; where, on the 11th, the rising sun warm grey tints and soft pearly shadows of the
showed that the soil began to be scantily veiled distance, a treasuremore estimable far, lay unsus-
with small narrow-leafed white grass, which, though pected by me, in the bare granite mound beside us.
nearly invisible when we looked straight down upon As the loose cattle turned from the path and
it, showed, like the mirage, in greater strength streamed up its sides, I thought they were but
when the eye glanced along the distant plain and ;
taking a nearer cut ; but when the dogs returned
with the heavy dew sparkling upon it, reminded with dripping jaws, and the men with well-filled
me in some degree of hoar-frost upon the fields in barrels, I that this must be the water I had
knew
England. As the mist cleared off, we saw the bold heard of. In the top of that low mound was a
outline of the Roocle-berg, its peaks barren as they large, and nearly circular hollow, retaining the
had appeared the day before, but its sides slightly water of the last rains. I determined at once to
tinted by scanty grass, dwarf aloes and bushes, remain and devote the rest of the daylight to the
scattered among the enormous boulders. ex- We completion of my sketch, in which this jewel of the
pected shortly to reach Tineas, the reputed head- desert became the prominent object, and the distant
quarters of the lions, where at one time the spoor ranges the accessories ; my friends considerately
of as many as eighteen together had been seen, and leaving a Darnara to carry my gun and sketch-
at another a traveller had encountered a number, book. At sunset Onesimus arrived, reporting that
“ sitting across his path,” and by no means too eager his cattlewere unable to draw the waggon further.
to get out of his way and where, in sober reality,
;
A sheep was slaughtered on the spot, and, as all
the drivers considered it unsafe to walk beside the hands had been on short commons for the last two
waggon after dark, lest a lion following, in hope of days, supper was soon extemporized. Next morning
picking up a disabled ox, should spring upon them. I walked ahead, the path winding between blocks
of weathered granite, some of which seemed as if
* For description and drawing of this plant, see Nature an infant’s touch could launch them down to
and Art, No. 3.
bar the narrow pass. As the country opened,
f Or Schwagoup ;
from a Hottentot word signifying
fatness. Not Swartkop. the vegetation improved, and frequent bushes of
J Pronounced Bdoee-beerg (the Eed Mountain). Euphorbia were seen, with green rod-like leaves, of
.1 Aj-I .
Dwmh.M-U.-U.w.
;
Nature and Art, December 1, 18G6.

THE GREAT TREE-ALOE OF DAMARA LAND. 201
half an inch in thickness and five or six feet in tortoises left uncovered as they emptied it. Here,
height ; while in the dry sandy bed of the little for the first time, I saw the peculiarly elongated,
Tineas, the native ebony trees, with their fresh and unmistakeable foot-print of the giraffe a fine ;
green drooping foliage, looked like weeping willows male of which was subsequently shot by Mr. Wilson,
in miniature. At the Tineas outspan was a little who, at no small cost and labour, preserved the
pool, near which stood a mass of white rock, con- skin, and forwarded it to the museum in Cape
nected with the low rugged cliffs by a rough wall, Town. Naturally enough, the hunters averse to —
serving as a “ scherm,” or shelter for the night the pronunciation of long names— utterly ignore
.
hunters. The spoor of a lioness and two cubs that of camelopard ; but, instead of using the con-
had been seen but only a couple of ducks had been
;
venient and appropriate one of giraffe, follow the
shot. I waited till long after dark, and was making example of the Dutch, and speak of having seen
up my mind to pass the night there, when I heard or shot so many “ camels.” In like manner, the
the echoing “klap” of the long waggon-whip, and fishermen on the coast will unintentionally mislead
after a smart walk overtook Onesimus, who had a stranger, by telling him they have caught an
already passed the river and consequently I had to
;
alligator, when they mean an alligator-shark.
return half a dozen miles next morning for some We halted at the house of Mr. Jones, at
valuables deposited in a hollow of the rocks. The Omquaronto, or Kurikop, which Onesimus
last
few spring-boks we saw were difficult of approach, translated “ Jager’s,” or “ Hunter’s place.” It was
and the Damara who followed me, was not a little jfieasantly situated on the bank of the Swakop, the
astonished when he saw the bullet from my Wilson’s broad, flat sandy bed of which winds between low
breech-loader strike up the red dust close by an banks fringed with willow-like trees, while, between
ostrich at a range of more than 1,100 yards. it and the cliffs on either side, are groves of kameel
With the ready hospitality characteristic of a doom, ana-trees, and mimosas. Small patches of
thinly-peopled country, Smutz, who heard that I corn or garden land were cleared in the very bed
was a-foot, rode back leading a horse for me. The of the river, in trust that the subterranean moisture
surface of the plain seemed limestone, and in a would forward the crop so far, that it might be
hollow of it we saw about six inches of the folds reaped before the periodic flood should sweep it off.
of a serpent fully as thick as my wrist. Any Extensive cattle kraals, some enclosed by the usual
attempt to take him alive would have been im- fence of thorn trees cut and heaped around them,
prudent in the extreme, and had the rock been and others by substantial palisades, were near the
granite, it would have been hardly less so to have house, and nothing but visible water seemed wanting
risked the rebound of the bullet; but, as it was, I to make it a perfect little paradise. Still, though
fired into the orifice, in hope of destroying, even if the sandy river-bed was not damp even to the feet,
I could not capture, the venomous reptile. We there were few places where, by digging, or by
rode S.E. and E. toward Onanies, and outspanned merely scratching with the fingers, the precious
near a couple of large granite hills, destitute of fluid, so effectually screened from evaporation and
vegetation, smooth, bare, round, and solid enough pollution, might not readily be obtained.
for the construction of rock-temples of any magni- And here I witnessed a little bit of rough-and-
tude, had there been natives with surplus energy ready justice, which goes to show that, whatever
for so vast a misapplication of labour. At night, may be the faults of our countrymen or their
I believe a little farce was got up for the benefit of colonial descendants, a spirit of fair play will
a couple of tradesmen going up from Cape Town ; generally actuate the majority. A
quarrel had
one of the Damaras personating a lion leaping and occurred during the night, and a young Englishman
roaring in the bushes, and the rest of the party in the heat of passion had inflicted a rather severe
wide of him as possible.
firing as scalp-wound upon a Hottentot or half caste. A
The country continued to improve. Park-like council was called he expressed his regret for the
:
glades and clumps of mimosas were seen upon the injury, but pleaded provocation and a quick temper,
plain ;
and, as we passed under the steep cliffs of excited, moreover, by an unwonted libation ; and
the Witte-water range, the “Kameel doom” ( Acacia finally consented to pay eight pounds sterling, as
ejiraffee) became a feature in the landscape, while compensation for damage, which I verily believe
throughout the valley and over the mountain-sides hardly disabled the complainant for a day.
were scattered aloes of many varieties ; some of At Otjimbengue, formerly a station of the copper-
them (like those of the Cape Colony), spicata per- ,
mining company, and now the head-quarters of the
foliata, ferox, and others from which the medicinal Rhenish mission, I found Mr. C. J. Andersson,
gum is extracted, were reared on stems six or eight whose property it then was, preparing for an over-
feet high, draped roughly with the withered foliage land journey with cattle for the Cape market, and
of former years, with star-like crowns of fresh green was hospitably received by Mr. Henry Hutchinson,
leaves, and gorgeous spikes of crimson, scarlet, or who walked out with me to the nearest hills. These
orange flowers. Others, more lowly but as beautiful, were mostly of disintegrated granite, the large
nestled on the ground, and carried their pendent fissures in which were sometimes filled with light
clusters of red or yellow blossoms on many branch- pink quartz, from six to ten inches thick, smooth,
ing stems. In a crevice of the rocks, the water straight, and perpendicular as a well-built wall
filtered into a small deep pool, out of which men while on others seemed to be an incrustation of
baled it to supply the cattle, and captured the small limestone, sharp and unpleasant to the feet as well
;
202 THE GREAT TREE-ALOE OF DAMARA-LAND. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866,
could be imagined. On the plain he called my though the mark of the bullet on the cliff showed
attention to a small creeping plant which, somewhat that I must have hit the exact spot, I do not be-
later, bears a beautifully-marked pink or crimson lieve I touched the nimble animal I aimed at.
flower, followed by that peculiarly thorny seed A few deserted Damara huts did not exalt my
known as the G-rappler, which, complicated
if its ideas of native architecture. A
rough framework
arrangement of hooks, projecting at every conceiv- of sticks covered with reeds, just close enough to
”
able angle, happens to catch the lips of a grazing allow “ kraal mist to be plastered on them, and
animal, causes the poor creature to stand in helpless a door-hole big enough to let a man crawl through
and painful entanglement, moaning piteously for like a snake, seemed habitation enough for them.
assistance. The seed is frequently brought as a It must be remembered, however, that these were
curiosity to the colony, and a resident there once but cattle-watchers in the veldt, and not settled
purposed to plant a quantity around his orchard as villagers. The only fruit of my morning rambles
a terror to barefoot urchin depredators. I am was a sketch of a pair of beautiful lizards sunning
happy to add, however, that his project for its ac- themselves on the hot and naked blocks of granite,
climatization was never carried into effect. Among and far too shy and active to be caught, although
the mimosas we caught several brilliant butterflies they would allow me to stand quite close enough
and beetles, one of them of a rich emerald-green, for observation, confident that at my first advance
with white longitudinal stripes on the wing-cases. they could at once vanish into the fissure just
Mr. E. Layard, of the Cape Museum, supposed it beneath them. One had a yellow head and streak
to be new, and proposed to call it Hutchinsonici. down the back, with red spots upon the shoulder;
The Elephant beetle, so named from its peculiar the other, a red head, yellow dorsal stripe, and half
form, especially about the head and trunk, and of a the tail from the base yellow, and the rest red the :
dull black colour with red stripes, was also common body of each was dark.
but the Rhinoceros beetle I did not see till after- On Saturday, May the 25th, we turned into
wards. Andersson’s new road, which, though perhaps more
On Wednesday, we started for “the Bay,”
22nd, rugged than the old, avoids the great detour to the
but, being detained by the straying of the loose south of the Roode-berg. In passing through a
cattle and sheep, were glad to obtain a supply of narrow poort, I saw, upon the hills, a small tree,
meat from Mr. Wilson’s waggon, which joined us bearing a marvellous resemblance to a stunted
at Chobies. Onesimus, however, shook his head baobab. In fact, in the stem and branches, I
ruefully over the groceries ;
remarking, “ De zuiker could see but little difference but the leaves,
;
raakt gedaan en de pad niet ” (our sweets are getting instead of spreading like those of the chestnut, from
done faster than our journey). The improvement one stalk, were small, nearly round, and arranged
caused by the late rains was wonderful. Tufts of in pairs opposite each other. It was, probably, one
tall feathery grass hid the nakedness of the soil, and of the sterculias which abound here. In the
the bush was adorned with flowers of every hue. distance I observed several trees, which reminded
One of these, of a bright yellow, was succeeded by
— —
me of Humboldt’s print, familiar, I should think,
seed-pods, varying through every tint of orange to to everyone,- “the Dragon-tree of Orotava. ” I
deep red, and producing in combination the richest found the waggons outspanned in the poort, under
possible effect. Large stemless Euphorbias, with a pretty clump of kameel-doorns, beside a nameless
many-angled spirally-twisted leaves, and exuding, and waterless sandy river ; and the rough veldt
when cut, an acrid, glutinous, and milky -looking being now covered with seeds like miniatures of
juice,grew among the rocks. They were called by the spiked balls on the clubs of Gog and Magog, I
the Damaras “ oodwoa,” and by the Hottentots turned to repair my dilapidated boots, to replace
“ ghooro,” or “ ghooloo,” and known in Dutch by the canvas slippers I had been obliged to wear. I
the common appellation of “ gyft ” (or poison) saw a troop of ostriches, but, being armed only
“ boscli.” with light shot-gun, I dropped out of sight as quick
We saw a few gemsboks ( Oryx Capensis), with as possible, and ran back for my rifle. The noise of
their long straight horns, and black liarness-like the coming waggons, however, had alarmed them,
markings on their cream-coloured bodies ; but to and as the singular granite peaks, called by the
follow these swift-footed creatures on foot was out white people Wollaston’s or Andersson’s “Ears,”
of the question, especially near the waggon-road, and by the Namaquas “ Anison,” or the “ horned
where it was impossible to “ bekruyp ” (or stalk) owl,” were now before me, with two or three of the
them. A harsh noise, between the croaking of a supposed dragon-trees standing boldly on an inter-
hoarse crow and the impatient yelping of an ill- vening ridge, I stayed and made a careful sketch,
conditioned cur, suddenly broke the silence. This allowing the waggons (light, and with young and
I found proceeded from a kind of toucan, similar fresh oxen be it remembered) to pass me while I
to that known in the Colony and Kafirland as did so.
“ Vlou Haarting” (or faint-hearted), from its short To observe its character more closely, I turned
and ill-sustained flight ; and, as I showed myself aside toward the largest tree, and, to my astonish-
above the ridge, a number of “ Klip Dassen,” or ment, saw that it was in reality a gigantic aloe.
—
rock rabbits ( Hyrax Capensis ), the coney of the Kneeling down so as to bring my arms low enough
—
sacred writings scuttled away into the stony to embrace the solid trunk, I found the circum-
rocks which are their refuge so quickly that, ference to be nearly twelve feet. Above this it
— ;
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] THE GREAT TREE-ALOE OP DAMARA LAND, 203
divided into five stems, eacli of which, about four is distinguished by the addition of “ Otjihooro,”
feet higher, was subdivided into four or five more ; making it “ the stump with a head ; ” eventually,
and from these arose branches nearly as thick as my however, they gave it the name of “ Omontinde,”
arm, and of uniform size, even to the very top, though whether this applied exclusively to the
where each was crowned by the well-known star of gigantic aloe I could not learn.
aloe-leaves, short, thick, tapering to a finely-hard- Our path lay down a deep ravine, from whose
ened point, and curving gracefully upward, and dry sandy bed rose stifling dust-clouds, which
each surmounted by three or more magnificent though the moon shone brightly, rendered even the
spikes of yellow flowers, showing, with more than nearest objects all but invisible. We
passed the
golden lustre, above the fresh green of the succu- junction of the Onanies river with the Swakop
lent leaves. The stems were smooth, round, and and, though the bed of the “Father of Waters”
externally of a light cream-colour. Upon the showed only as a strip of desert sand, the roots of
smaller branches, immediately below the leaves, the “kameel dooms” seemed to find moisture
thin annular flakes, easily detachable, marked, I enough beneath to enable them to keep iip a
suppose, the position of those that had been most refreshing verdure in their spreading foliage and
lately shed ; and near the base of the main trunk gracefully waving catkins, among which I found an
the bark seemed to burst and curl off as if very thin opportunity of netting a few butterflies. “ The
veneers of fine satin-wood had warped off the reeds,” as, from the coarse vegetation on which the
foundation they were laid upon. oxen fed, our lialting-place was called, were varied
The effect of this magnificent crown of leaves by groves of thorns and tamarisks; and from the
and flowers more than fifteen feet from the ground, branches we brushed off, in passing, caterpillars
and twenty in diameter, growing from sterile ridges against which Onesimus earnestly warned me, as
of rough red rock, strewed with many-coloured the mere pricking of the skin with two or three of
pebbles and quartz crystals flashing back, like their bristly tufts was enough “to make a man
diamonds, the intense sunlight, was lovely in the scratch himself to death.” Nevei'theless, I have
extreme; so, choosing a position that commanded not handled more formidable-looking creatures of the
only the best view of the tree, but also of a smaller kind in Kafirland, and the only result has been a
one (with an upright stem, perhaps eight feet in slight but long-continued irritation of the finger-
height, as many inches thick, and having four ends, and a consequent vow against future contact
already bifurcated branches), and ®f a small ster- with hairy caterpillars. Some of the trees wei’e
culia in the foreground, I made the sketch which, thickly covered with a kind of red flowering
without more artistic license than the interpolation mistletoe, from the berry of which birdlime is
of the solitary ostrich, is now placed in chromo- sometimes made to strew in the path of guinea-
lithography before the reader. —
fowl ; and the spoor of a solitary rhinoceros
It was with regret that I broke off a couple of proved that the species was not yet “ shot out” from
branches about four inches thick, in order to possess Damara-land, though the number of bleaching
myself of a specimen ; for, indeed, I am never skulls would almost lead a traveller to think so.
quite able to get over the idea that the wondrous After a passing call to renew my acquaintance
products of nature ought to be admired rather than with the Welwitschia, or rather “ the plant of
destroyed, and I am rather afraid that this feeling, —
Hykamkop,” for it had as yet no scientific name,
more proper to an artist than to a sportsman, we reached Walvisch Bay, where Mrs. Andersson
greatly contributed to the safety of the only two was waiting the arrival of the Good Hojoe, by
quaggas I saw during the day. My
botanical spe- which to join her husband in Cape Town. Mr.
cimen, with gun, sketching-folio, and appurtenances, Latham was also there, and he not only undertook
proved too heavy a burden ; so, after carrying it to convey my sketches and specimens to Mr.
for some time, I sat down to sketch it, and, pre- Logier, but, with the generous liberality which we
serving only the flower-spikes, left it by the path. become so accustomed to in the colonies as to think
The stony character of the country in advance almost too little of it, agreed to take to Town for
seemed now to force npon the Euphorbias the repair my disabled watch, and lend me, for the
necessity of enlarging their roots above ground till journey, his own, which was in perfect order. It
they looked like blocks of granite, as big as tables, was by and similar acts from many other
this,
with the thin green rod-like leaves growing abruptly friends, that I was enabled to lay down our route
out of them. to the Victoria Falls with some approximation to
I found Onesimus already preparing supper, and, correctness.
on my showing him my sketches, he remarked, On our return,, in 1863, a parcel of news-
“ Dit ist neit voor nicht dat onzen Heer zoo agter papers, received at Lake Ngami, contained the
blyven ” (he does some work when he stays be- letterfrom Sir Wm. J. ^looker, Director of the
hind). He recognized the tree, and, as I was Loyal Botanic Garden at Kew, which is quoted in
anxious to secure another specimen, sent a Damara “ Nature and Art ” for August last; and then I
to seek for one in the rugged kloof near Wilson’s firstheard the fortune of my contribution. It
Fountain. The Damaras called it “ Otjitumbo appeared that Dr. Ecklon, a talented and well-
but that, I believe, is rather the general name for known Cape botanist, to whom Logier had shown
any stump-like tree, and is applied to many other them, considered the aloe to be the “lvoker boom,”
aloes, as wêll as to the Welwitschiamirabilis, which or quiver-tree ( Aloe dicliotoma) ; but Sir William,
—
204 THE PITCH LAKE. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
after mentioning the decayed condition of the spe- copper-mine in the direction of Bethany, in Nama-
cimen, wrote : qua-land, and who joined the Good Hope in the
rock-protected harbour of Angra Pequena, brought
“ The drawings of the great Tree-Aloe are also most
on board a few young shoots of apparently a similar
interesting; but the species is certainly not the dichotoma,
as Dr. Ecldon suspects, but probably a new species.”
aloe ; and these, placed in half a barrel of sand,
were carefully preserved till they reached Cape
About the end of May, 1864, during the savage Town, where, according to Dr. Burchell, a specimen
war between the Damaras and Namaqua Hottentots, of Aloe dichotoma existed in the Government
1 was travelling with Mr. C. J. Andersson (who garden previously to 1822. He gives, however,
subsequently accepted the command of the former, no figure nor description, and Lichtenstein, who
and by the sacrifice of his property and nearly of travelled in 1803, speaks only by report of the
his life, secured for them their independence), and “ koker boom,” as allied to Aloe perfoliata.
passing by Hykamkop and Wilson’s Fountain, The apparent similarity between the great Tree-
I again obtained sketches and specimens of the Aloe and the Dragon-tree of Orotava can hardly
Welwitschia, and the Great Aloe, though I escape notice, and especially because, in the common
never subsequently found one that equalled the prints of the latter, which are copies of the sixth
magnificent tree I had first met with. From or eighth descent from the original, the true
these inferior specimens, growing abundantly among character of the long sword-shaped leaves is lost,
the x’ocks, I had no hesitation in cutting out a and by clumsy drawing they have been shortened
junk of the main stem ;
and this, instead of showing to the more triangular shape of those of the Aloe.
concentric rings of wood a timber tree,
like So, in truth, the common prints of the Orotava
seemed merely an arrangement of reticulated fibres, Dragon-tree are much more like the Great Aloe
partially filled with a soft moist pith, which, when than to the object they are supposed to represent.
dried up, left them like a loose and open net-work. Whether the gigantic flowering Aloe I have de-
I took the first opportunity of enclosing a few lineated be, as the late Sir William Hooker con-
flowers in a letter to Sir William, who wrote to me sidered it, really new, is a question for scientific
that they were decidedly new, though the material botanists. All I pretend to, is to represent faithfully
was not sufficient to enable him to describe them. what Ihave seen. The reader may easily compare
I kept a small branch with its tuft of leaves for my picture with the stereographs of the Diacoena in
many months, in the proverbially dry climate of Professor Smyth’s “ Teneriffe,” as well as those of
Otjimbengue, and it seemed to possess in an extra- the great Tree- Aloe, which I trust will be in the
ordinary degree the power of retaining its moisture forthcoming work of Mr. Chapman. I should be
and vitality. I believe I might have brought my glad if Mr. Andersson, or some other of my friends
specimen to England in a sufficiently perfect state travelling in Damara Land next May, would forward
for examination, had I tied it loosely in a gunny- to Kew a branch, with its star of leaves wrapped
bag and kept it exposed to the air, instead of loosely in a bit of gunny bag, and freely exposed to air
shutting it carefully in a box, which partially rotted during the passage, with a few of the flowers dried
it by confining the moisture. The Namaquas at and some preserved in spirits and I should be glad
;
Onanie’s Mouth call it the “ koker boom but, as to see some future number of Nature and Art
that name is applied to almost any aloe of which enriched with a drawing and description of the
they can make a quiver, and even to some of the dichotoma, by Mr. Charles Bell, who is now in
small sterculias, this is no proof of its identity with England, and whose merits as an artist, in the most
the dichotoma. Messrs. Yan der Byl and Spence, varied and extended sense of the word, are well
who had been exploring and “ prospecting ” a new known in the Cape Colony.
THE PITCH LAKE.

By Francis W. Rowseul.
HE Pitch Lake is one of the most extraordinaiy pound of sweet which has been allotted to Trinidad
T
Tn
phenomena of the volcanic kind in the world. for its portion, and one comes upon it sliudderingly
size, if not also in its distinctiveness, it is with- after seeing the other districts, and feels a sense of
out an equal, and the interest attaching to it, and pain at discovering the canker which has found a
to its surroundings, is proportionately great. Its home in so eminently fair a body. As the Pitch
geographical position is not a little remarkable. Lake differs in its special characteristics from any
Situated in the island of Trinidad, which, without other object on the island, so does the character of
disrespect to the other islands, may be called the the country in which it is situated differ from
most beautiful of the British West Indies indeed, — that of the rest of Trinidad. All along the north
it is known as the Indian Paradise— it is with its coast may be seen, in running down from Tobago, a
sombre complexion and its ever active volcanic bold mountain range, with few openings in it but ;
springs, a sort of perpetual memento mori to the these, when they occur, clothed with the richest
rest of the island. It is the ounce of bitter in the tropical verdure. The mountains sheer down
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] THE PITCH LAKE. 205
towards the and for the most part throw out a

sea, off the —
southern point of the bay Cape la Brea.
sort of buttress, with a sloping side seaward,which For several miles before coming to it the land is low,
lessens the abruptness of the meeting between land flat, and thickly wooded mangrove bushes push
;
and water, without taking away the idea of grandeur out into the sea, and there are other tokens of
which is conveyed by the height of the mountains shallows and of a shelving shore. The Cape itself
themselves. The aspect is beyond question bold, is the head of a small promontory, which juts about
and as one sails along the coast, and looks in vain two miles into the sea, and contains the site of the
for some opening, unguarded by either nature or art, Pitch Lake. Within a quarter of a mile from the
he is reminded of the description given by shore there is good anchorage, and water deep
Hollinshed, of Lundy, which is “ so immured with enough for a ship of the line but inside of that the
;
rocks, and impaled with beetle-browed cliffs, that water shoals rapidly, and, especially when there is
there is no entrance but for friends.” As soon, more north than usual in the wind, causes a heavy
however, as the north-west corner has been reached, surf to roll. At a distance of six miles from the
and the Gulf of Paria entered through either of land a bituminous smell, which grows stronger and
the Bocas — the Boca de Monas, or Apes Channel, stronger the nearer one approaches, indicates the
is the narrowest and most dangerous, but the most neighbourhood of the Pitch Lake and its belong-
beautiful — the character of the scenei-y is altered. ings. Among the latter is a submarine spring,
The hills back ground, and gradually
retreat into the which manifests itself at a short distance south of
give way, even inland, to lower and more culti- the Cape, not always active, but when in motion
vable ground. One of the most magnificent bays throwing up large quantities of petroleum and
in the world, both for size and beauty, lies stretched bitumen. Forty miles further south ai’e several
out before the sight, rivers and mountain streams mud volcanoes, always more or less active, and in the
are there, running down to the sea, amid the most Bay of Mayaro, in the eastern side of the island, is
luxuriant jflants and trees that the tropics can another submarine volcano ; but neither the former
show the undulating ground prevents the idea of
;
nor the latter can be said to be in any way con-
monotony from entering, and the eye is prevented nected with the Pitch Lake, excepting so far as
from wearying with the continued contemplation they are all the outcome of some hidden cause
of so much natural beauty, not only by the varying beneath the surface.
tints and forms of these beauties themselves, but After getting through the surf, which at times is
by the relief afforded by the deep blue sea which, a very ti-oublesome operation, the traveller lands
unsullied here by the earth-laden currents of the upon what is no more nor less than an asphalte beach.
Oronoque, ripples quietly and peacefully upon the Large lumps of solid pitch crop out here and there
margin of the land. In this bay is Port of Spain, through the earth and cinders which loosely clothe
the chief town of the island, and one of the finest the ground, and the roadway and all the parts ex-
in the West Indies, shut in at the back by a range posed to friction show a surface as black and grimy as
of hills, thickly wooded with all kinds of trees. A the floor of a coal-yard. The eye cannot fail to be
description of the bay and its beauties could not impressed with the richness of the vegetation, and
be adequately made either by pen or pencil ; but it the deep tints of the green on all the plants. This
is sufficient for the present purpose, which is to richness is due to some cause originating in the
establish a contrast between the Paradisaical ap- pitch, whether it operate through the medium of
pearance of the upper part of the Gulf with the the atmosphere or of the soil, and is not apparent
Tartarean gloom of the memento mori at the lower only, as some have suggested, in consequence of the
part, to say that neither the Bay of Naples, nor contrast presented by the black ground in which
Dublin Bay, nor any of the beautiful spots which the vegetation flourishes. The soil itself is as light
nature has delighted to adorn in other parts of the in character as it is dark in colour, and seems to
West Indies, nor any other place at home or have but little affection for its bed, seeing that it
abroad, can compare for loveliness with the bay in is driven hither and thither by any wind that blows,
which Port of Spain lies. It is beauty paramount. producing a parched sensation in the throat and
Mona Point is the northern limit of this bay, and mouth, and tilling all the pores of the skin and all
Cape la Brea is its southern boundary, the distance one’s clothes with an unpleasant impalpable powder.
between the two headlands in a straight line being Trees are plentiful, and shrubs and quickly-growing
thirty-five miles. As the traveller goes by sea from plants abound ; the land, as has been stated, is
Port of Spain towards La Brea, he sees a different and generally low and flattish, but rises gradually as
less beautiful coast than that he is leaving behind. the traveller goes inland, until it attains a height
The land is lower and less attractive, but still so at the Pitch Lake of eighty feet above the level of
' beloved of nature that were it not for the super- the sea.
magnificence of the neighbouring part, it would be A mile along the dusty pitch-road, which now
reckoned grand, and absolutely is higher in the and then quite bereft of covering, and shows the
is
scale than the finest parts of some of the other solid slabs of friable asphalte underneath, brings the
islands, e.g., Barbados. In this district lies the traveller to the Pitch Lake itself. Here the smell
plain of Carapiquaine, backed by the yet more- is overpoweringly strong ; having, in addition to
fertile and well-cultivated plain of the Caroni. the concentrated essence of pitch, a sulphureous
A course south and by west from Port of Spain flavour, which clings to the olfactory nerves for
will, in the course of a morning, bring the traveller some time after they have ceased to be exposed to
206 THE PITCH LAKE. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
it. This sulphureo-pitchy scent is perceived at a man to walk upon.it. Fountains of boiling pitch,
distance inland of six to eight miles from its source ; mingled with argillaceous earth, and sometimes
and seaward, as already stated, it has been noticed with water, throw their murky contents to a height
six miles from land. The road runs in a pretty of thirty feet into the aii\ The whole basin is in a
straight line from the coast till within a short simmer, and perfectly liquid to a depth of two or
distance of the end, when takes an abrupt turn,
it three inches, while below that the pitch is so soft
and brings one out directly on to the shores of the as to yield to the weight even of slight sticks,
lake. Here, as on either side of the road for the which sink in and are lost. In those parts where
whole way, the number and luxuriant growth of the upheavings are most violent, the pitch is, of
the trees are very remarkable. Nearly all the course, in a yet more liquid state, though the
tropical plants are represented, and, as if not to depth to which it is so cannot, for obvious reasons,
allow the animal kingdom to be unfavourably con- be ascertained.
trasted with the vegetable, numbers of the most In the cooler months of the year, however, it is
beautiful butterflies it is possible to see, and of the quite possible to traverse almost the whole of the
most gorgeously-dressed humming-birds, flutter and lake, avoiding parts which are soft at all seasons,
dirt about in the sunlight, or ply in and out among and which give evidence enough of their presence
the branches of the trees. to warn the explorer against falling into them.
In a circular basin eighty feet above the level of When this is possible the pitch at the edges of the
the sea, and about a mile and a half in circum- lake is cool and hard, and
as safe to stand still
ference, the lake of asphalte is contained. The upon as the pitch road but the farther one goes
;
appearance it presents, as one comes suddenly from the edge, the less firm does his footing become.
upon it from the road, is very striking. There are If he stand still in such places, his feet will leave
scarcely the same conditions as are essential to the their prints, and an oily substance will ooze up,
existence of a lake of water. Banks are wanting, pressed out of the asphalte which the foot trod
the road goes straight on, rather rising than de- down, and which will, in the course of a few
scending, until it merges itself in the body of minutes, recover its former level, extinguishing the
pitch which forms the surface of the lake ; and print, and making a uniform surface as before. It
there is another feature which will be noticed is not safe, therefore, to stand still for more than a
presently, that at first sight seems incompatible minute on such yielding footing. Experiments as
with the idea of a collection of fluid matter. Again, to the time necessary to engulph any object may be
except at a certain season of the year, the wet made with poles, logs, or anything else than living-
season, there is nothing in the condition of the beings, and the shortness of the time required,
surface of the lake to give rise to the notion that even in the coed seasons, is astonishing enough.
it is in any essential point different from the pitch Much depends, of course, upon the weight of the
road over which the traveller has been walking, or object, but a stout pole, six feet high, such as
the pitchy beach on which he landed. There is, to might be used to walk with, will disappear when
be sure, a sudden absence of that thick vegetation planted in the asphalte, in the course of a quarter
which has been so observable elsewhere and a second
;
of an hour. A
story is told of a man-of-war’s
glance will show that for a considerable distance the crew being sent up from their ship, which was
trees and plants seem to have been cleared away lying off La Brea, to fill casks with the pitch, which
arbitrarily within a circumscribed compass, small was to be sent to England. The casks were landed
clumps of trees, earth, and shrubs, being left as a and rolled up on to the lake the seamen began
;
sort of outlying remnant, and dotting the black cutting out the pitch and filling the casks, Avhcn
surface at frequent intervals with beautiful little all hands were recalled by signal in order to chase
islands, like emeralds in a setting of jet. But for some suspicious-looking craft at sea. When they
nine months out of the twelve, the visitor may returned to the lake to finish their task, they found
walk off the road into the open, and be unaware that their casks and implements had vanished,
that he has really come to the lake until he has swallowed up by the treacherous and greedy
advanced some little distance upon it ;
for the asphalte, which “ left not a wrack behind.” The
surface is at the edges quite firm and resonant to people cut the asphalte out in blocks with axes and
the tread, and the asphalte, even further in, is, com- spades, and such is the closing up power of it, that
paratively speaking, hard. Gradually it becomes though they may scoop out enough on one day to
softer and softer, and the visitor is sensible that he load a ship, the next morning there will not be any
has lighted upon a sort of bituminous quicksand. trace of the removal, the surface will have resumed
When the unstable ground draws, ipso facto ,
its smoothness, and the quantity abstracted will
attention to itself, and the eye recognises some- have been filled up from beneath.
thing of design and order in the uniform level of At all times there are some, but in the cool
it, and sees how the district is enclosed by a natural times there is an infinite number of small islets,
boundary, then the visitor perceives how that he richly clothed with shrubs and small trees, dotted
is walking on what is really a great reservoir of here and there about the lake. Few of them ai’e
pitch. He learns that during the months of July, more than thirty feet round, and they are mostly
August, and September, the whole of the pitch circular in form. These, too, are liable to sudden
within that natural boundary is in a liquid and and complete catastrophes. That which was yes-
heated state, rendering it quite impossible for a terday a flourishing oasis in the black Sahara the —
; ;
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] THE PITCH LAKE. 207
pride of tlie lake, and which seemed to enjoy an have produced the most disastrous effects upon
immunity from destruction, even though the molten places more remote than Trinidad from the scene of
—
pitch boiled and bubbled close to its borders may their first ebullition, should have spared to molest
to-morrow have vanished clear away, so that “ the Trinidad itself. In 1797 an earthquake violently
place thereof shall know it no more.” Other shook the Antilles, but it was not felt in Trinidad
islets will succeed, born of the caprice of the and a short time afterwards, when the province of
asphalte, without apparent reason why or because Cumana on the mainland, extending to the Gulf of
and they will endure, like their predecessors, for Paria, was desolated by a like catastrophe, the
a while, to be like them snuffed out at the last. shock was only slightly felt in the island, and there
There is another very remarkable feature about was not in consequence any perceptible difference
the Pitch Lake, which has been already alluded to, in the operations of the various volcanoes existing
but not mentioned. It is the liberal system of in it. In 1812 the city of Caraccas was destroyed
irrigation which has been provided on its surface, by an earthquake, and thirty days afterwards the
by means of numerous small natural canals that Souffriere mountain in St. Vincent's, distant 400
intersect the asphalte in all directions, crossing and miles in a straight line and separated by that
mingling with each other, but never combining so length of sea, burst out with signal fury after
as to form one large body of single stream water. a silence of ninety years. Bumblings had been
These canals are seldom more than seven feet heard at intervals during the month between the
broad, more often they are from one to three feet. outbreak at Caraccas and the outbreak at St. Vin-
Their depth is generally equal to their breadth, cent’s, and there were other signs which went to
their sides slope inwards till they meet in a point at show that the two were connected and proceeded
the bottom, so that they may be said to be trian- from the same cause. Trinidad, however, felt
gular troughs cut out by themselves in the pitch, nothing of all this disturbance, and there is no
over the face of which they run in an irregular memory of disastrous eruptions having been ex-
course, fulfilling some function which is not, how- perienced there. It enjoys a singular and estimable
ever, very apparent. They are filled .to the brim immunity from serious earthquakes and evil-doing
with the clearest possible fresh water, which is not volcanoes, as it does from hurricanes; and cata-
stagnant, but runs on with a slow current, that strophes which involve districts adjacent to it in ruin
would seem to be proper to the circulatory system pass it by without suffering it to endure more than
which the contriver of them has established, though the shock of a slight concussion. Nature has been
neither the cause nor the effect of it has been scien- lavish of her bounties to the place, and has poured
tifically explained. Fish, and report says alligators, out her gifts of beauty with liberal hand. She has,
have been found in these streams, of which the however, provided in the Pitch Lake, and in the
water is clear and perfectly fresh, though tainted harmless volcanoes in the neighbourhood, a visible
with a flavour of pitch. The bottoms of some of warning against a feeling of false security. The
the canals are exceedingly soft ; poles thrust into pitch, which has hitherto done no more than over-
them disappear almost immediately. Others, how- flow its basin and cover the country for some dis-
ever, allow of being stood upon. tance with a thick skin of asphalte, even extending
These fresh water courses are the more extra- its operations to the sea which it underruns for
ordinary that the lake is supposed to be in direct some way from its brink, may at any time belie the
communication from below with the sea. Not only experience of the inhabitants and show itself in the
is it reasonable to suppose that the submarine terrible shape of an active discharging volcano, having
volcano which, a short distance south-west of Cape a crater some two miles in circumference, full of
la Brea, throws out large quantities of a mineral the most destructive and ruthless agents it is pos-
resembling in composition the mineral in the lake, sible to imagine. What has actually occurred there
is in communication with the lake, but actual ex- in times long past it is not possible to know. The
perience has shown that between the lake and the historical records of the island are few. Trinidad
sea there is some free channel. Poles, marked for was discovered by Columbus in 1498, when it was
sake of identification, have been thrust into the thickly populated by Caribs ; but the Spaniards
lake and engulphed, and in the course of a few days failed to take possession till 1588, and thereafter,
afterwards they have been picked up on the sea-shore as the island did not yield gold, it was neglected
— so that it is evident there must be some means of by them, and was not at any time much noticed
communication between the lake and the sea. It by the sea-faring nations. It was not till 1797
would be but a speculation, founded on no actual that it came into British hands by conquest,
experience, to say that* there is concert between the and it does not appear that before that time
pitch spring and the lake on the west side of the there was any public account taken of what
island and the submarine spring near Point Mayaro happened in the island at all events, no such
:
on the east side. Such concert is, however, ex- record remains, so that we are considerably in the
ti’emely probable, and it is, moreover, likely that the dark as to the antecedents both of the Pitch Lake
mud volcanoes already spoken of as in action forty and of the other volcanoes. What we do know,
miles south of Cape la Brea, are but different mani- however, warrants the remarks that have been
festations of the same principle which is in opera- made ; and though the character of the basin of
tion beneath the Pitch Lake. Whether this be so the lake would not seem to betray a volcanic
or not, it is very remarkable that volcanoes which — —
tendency it is of clay, there is nothing to show
208 THE PITCH LAKE. Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
that beneath the surface, or rather beneath the Naturally enough it was supposed that the pitch
level of the sea, there
is not a slumbering volcanic of the Pitch Lake would be available for the purposes
agency which at any time might bring destruction of commerce. No more persevering pursuer of the
on the island. idea than the late Earl of Dundonald, when Admiral
It is much to be regretted that so little attention ! Cochrane, and his efforts were supplemented by those
should have been paid to this extraordinary pheno- of a company called the Pitch Company ; but it was
menon by geologists and professional surveyors of found that, except for the purpose of road-making,
nature. M. de Yerteuil, a native of Trinidad, says for which it is truly excellent, the cost of refining
in his interesting work on the island, published in so as to render the pitch useful for all other pur-
1858 :
—
“ Excepting Mr. C. Deville, who made but poses for which pitch is used, was so great as to
a short stay in Trinidad, no professional geologist
|
exceed the market price of pitch obtained elsewhere.

has ever visited the island.” The consequence is, Many shipments of it have, however, been made
that not much satisfactory information is upon within the last few years to America and to France,
1
record to show the character of the formations and and although at present the means have not been
strata, and, incidentally, the source and origin of found to utilise it to the utmost, it is to be hoped
the pitch springs. Humboldt suggested that they that science will not rest satisfied with her hitherto
probably proceeded from the beds of limestone abortive attempts, but will ere long open a large and
which form the Brigantine and Cocollar on the useful branch of trade in the grim contents of the
mainland ; and he seems to have had no doubt that '
Pitch Lake.
the causes which produced the pitch springs on the At present the uses to which the bitumen is put
main were also the causes of like elfects in and are for flooring stores, for paving purposes (part of
around the island. King Street, Port of Spain, is paved with it), and
Humboldt and all who have given scientific at- mixed with lime and gravel, for bricks and building
tention to the subject are of opinion that the island slabs. United with wood or refuse sugar-cane it
was once part of the continent, an idea which answers very well as fuel, and from it may be dis-
readily finds credence in the mind of any one tilled a large, percentage of petroleum.
who has seen the chain of islet limbs which stands It seems that the cargoes exported by Lord Dun-
between the two both on the north and south. donald’s company were not of the best. The pitch
The geological formation of the continent and the was found to contain from 30 to 35 per cent, of
island confirms the supposition. On the opposed earthy and saline matters, and from 15 to 20 per
sides of each is found the bluish-gray transition cent, of water and the cost of getting rid of what
;
limestone, destitute of petrifactions, and traversed amounted to about 50 per cent, of the cargo, for all
by veins of calcareous spar ; gypsum, sandstone, of which freight had to be paid, was so great as to
and micaceous schists, which abound all over 1
preclude the idea of establishing a trade in it, and

Trinidad, are abundant in Cumana, and on the i
the company, not being backed with a capital large
shores of that province may be seen pitchy springs ;
enough, gave over their attempts. It has been
differing in no essential particular from those of the |
suggested that pitch taken from nearer the centre,
island. They exist in the Gulf of Cariaco, and at I
where it is always more or less liquid, is much freer
El Buen Pastor, near the Bio Areo, between which from the impurities which discouraged the projectors,
place and Cape La Brea, a distance of 105 miles, and might be advantageously worked. Abraham
De Yerteuil says, the geological identity of the two Gesner, the American chemist, who says that he
lands may be distinctly traced. obtained kerosine first from Trinidad pitch, also
The following extract is from De Verteuil’s book, says that he obtained from one ton of pitch forty-
the only really valuable work on Trinidad that has two gallons of oil proper for lamps, and eleven
been published. (Ward & Lock, 1858.) gallons fit for lubricating purposes. Acoording to
“Bitumen, or inexhaustible abund-
fossil pitch, exists in his observations, the pitch on the borders of the
ance throughout the whole of the southern division. Point lake yielded more oil than that at the centre. The
La Brea, in the county of St. Patrick, is formed altogether smell of it, however, was very offensive, and getting
of hardened pitch, which extends into the gulf. The Pitch
rid of that, in addition to the cost of distillation and
Lake, with the village of La Brea, in the same locality, is
the great natural curiosity of Trinidad, and is really worth fetching, seems unlikely to allow of petroleum from
visiting. A pond of soft bitumen also exists within the site such a source coming into competition with that
of the town of San Fernando, and another between Moruga which wells up from the ground direct from Nature’s
and Guayaguayare. The latter is known by the appellation retort.
of ‘ Lagon Bouf,’ from the peculiar noise produced by the
bubbling of the soft bitumen. At Oropuche, Guapa, and As a matter of fact, there is no regular export of
Quemada are likewise small craters of the same substance. the pitch. A
careful examination of the records in
About two miles from the Yaro, in the spring of the year, a the office of the Board of Trade shows that it has
periodical but brief submarine eruption occurs, throwing up not up to this time been utilized to such an extent
quantities of petroleum with which the beach is afterwards
as to warrant its being mentioned in the statistical
strewn. Many of these bituminous craters exist at the
bottom of the gulf along the line of coast from San Fernando returns of commerce. Locally, it is employed for
to Trois their eruptions occasionally agitate the waves and
;
the purposes already mentioned, and it is also used
eject considerable quantities of petroleum. The pitch cast medicinally for the same objects as Barbados tar,
upon the beach is generally in the form of lumps or cakes. The
to which it bears a considerable resemblance.
“ It is to me evident that our pitch deposits must have a
difficulties in the way of utilizing it on a large scale,
submarine communication with those of El Buen Pastor, in
the canton of Maturin.” so as to assure reasonable profit for capital and
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] FLOBAL DECOEATION OF CHURCHES. 209
labour, have been hitherto so great as to prevent inexhaustible supply of it, to offer prospect of a
the establishment of regular traffic in a substance trade as lucrative as that brewery of which Dr.
which at first sight would seem, both from the Johnson said that there was in it “ a potentiality
usefulness of its component parts and from the of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice/’
FLOEAL DECOEATION OF CHTJECHES.

By W. & G. Audsley, Architects.
CHRISTMAS.
'll 17 CII Iras
been done during the last five-and- work, and we are of opinion that we cannot do so
1
JIJL twenty years towards the advancement of all in a more efficient way than by offering, in the pages
branches of ecclesiastical architecture and art and ;
of Nature and Art, a few simple directions and
large sums of money have been willingly expended hints for the guidance of those who are able and
in the restoration, building, and decoration of willing to devote a portion of their time and
churches. Unquestionably we have made great attention to the decoration of their churches, but
progress in architectural art, and many of our who have not any decided ideas regarding the
modern churches can vie with any of the ancient correct and most beautiful manner of doing so.
in richness of material and elaborate workmanship ;
We are aware that there are many to whom the
but we are still behind in coloured decoration, not- following lines will suggest nothing new ; many
withstanding what has been done, and the majority there are, indeed, who could add most ably to them ;
of our sacred edifices are still devoid of any attempt and would that we could have their valuable assist-
at coloured enrichment. ance. To such persons, of course, our short essay
In ancient times no church was considered com- is not addressed ; but we are assured that the
plete until every available portion of its interior majority of our readers, who take any interest in
was richly painted with appropriate ornaments, or the subject of Floral Decoration, may here find some
adorned with scripture, legendary, and saintly useful hints ; and we hope that they may be induced
histories. Then every wall spoke of the great to give our suggestions a fair trial in their several
truths of our most holy faith and of the lives and
;
churches for the festival of Christmas.
martyrdoms of the saints. Then every detail of the Before proceeding to any practical details, we
architecture stood forth in the rich bloom of finely must, at the risk of being pronounced somewhat
contrasted colour, which, harmonizing with the impertinent and officious, give a piece of sound
costly hangings and precious embroideries and advice to all decoration committees. As a general
furniture of the sanctuary and its altar, produced rule these committees or clubs, as they may be called,
an effect which we can with difficulty realize, even are composed of volunteers who come forward from
in imagination, in the present day. Besides these their several congregations. These hold very decided
permanent decorations, there were others which views, each one being convinced that he or she
were called into the service of the Church on the knows all about the subject, and could decorate a
great festivals and other particular occasions. Of church to perfection if others would only attend to,
these,' the most important and beautiful were and work under, his or her directions. But, alas !
flowers, fruit,
God for His own
and —precious
foliage
glory and our delight
gifts sent
and such
by all who come forward desire to be considered learned
in the art of decoration, and expect to be appointed
;
aswe should on all possible occasions be careful to leaders. Things may go on pretty well until the
dedicate to His service in the adornment of His real work is commenced, when out come each
altars and His sanctuaries. individual’s decided opinions and intentions. All
It is on the Floral Decoration of Churches are at once rich in ideas and prolific in whims, and
that we in this place, and at this time, desire to say indignant that they are not carried out. The result
a few words, and give a few hints. One of the of all this is that some give up the task and leave
great festivals of our Church is rapidly drawing in a vexed and angry spirit, thinking their opinions
near. In a very few weeks, Christmas, with its have not been properly appreciated, and those who
usual festivity and happiness, will be here, and busy remain do as they think best, and the decoration
hands will be twining the holly wreath and hanging turns out, as might be expected, to be incongruous
the mystic mistletoe in each home of our land ;
and incorrect. Let each committee, be it composed
while in many, we sincerely trust in all, of our of ladies or gentlemen, or, as is most usual, of both,
churches, willing hands will be found at their labour before proceeding to woik, arrange a definite scheme
of love, decorating the sanctuaries of our Lord, in for the decoration in hand appoint the most com-
;
commemoration of that great day when He came petent person they can command, to act as director ;
“veiled in flesh” to dwell amongst men. and agree to work under his or her leadership. If
“ Born tliat man no more may die, this be done, more work will be got through, and a
Born to raise the sons of earth, more uniform and perfect result will be obtained,
Born to give them second birth.”
than by any other mode of proceeding.
We sincerely desire to lend a hand in the good Having premised, then, that a scheme should in
VII. p
210 FLORAL DECORATION OF CHURCHES. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
all casesbe decided upon before the absolute decora- two running in opposite directions the latter will
;
tion commenced, we cannot do better in this

is cover the column with an open diaper. Of course,
place than say a few words on the general design neither of these methods of wreathing large columns
and disposition of floral decorations with reference must be attempted where material and labour are
to the several styles of church architecture, and the very limited. All small columns which stand quite
various portions and details of church interiors. free from the stone-worlc should be ornamented
In decorating a church attention should be paid with a single spiral wreath, taking not more than
to the style in which it is built ; and the ideas for three turns (Fig. 10, Plate II.). Irregular and
the floral enrichments should as a rule be derived grouped Norman piers should not be decorated with
from the usual details of the architecture. Above wreaths or bands and, indeed, as there is no satis-
;
all, care should be taken to retain the general feeling factory way of ornamenting them, they had better
of the style in the decorations. be left without any floral enrichment.
In Norman work we find great massiveness and In treating large surfaces of flat wall, several
breadth of treatment ; the round arch used for all methods can be adopted, according to the amount
openings ; arcades composed of intersecting round of material and labour at command. They may be
arches ; columns horizontally banded or ornamented decorated in a very appropriate way by bands of
with spiral, zigzag, or diaper patterns ; mouldings zigzag and interlaced semicircles (Figs. 8 and 9,
enriched with the chevron, cable, chain, bead orna- Plate II.), or designs of a similar nature, placed at
ment, Ac. •
flat surfaces of wall covered with a some distance from one another, with medallions
species of trelliswork diaper, both with and without between them ; or they may be covered with diaper
small enrichments at the intersection of its lines ; patterns, such as Figs. 8 and 10, Plate I., which are
lozenge-work, scale-work, and parallel rows of zig- based on the trellis- work, diaper, and scale-work of
zags placed over one another ; and lastly, we observe the style.
a total absence of those cusped forms so common in It is not advisable to attempt to fasten any species
the later styles. of floral enrichment to Norman mouldings, but thick
In essaying to decorate the ulterior of a church cables or twisted ropes of holly may be laid over
in the Norman style, it is important that great hood-moulds or string courses with very good effect.
simplicity of form, massiveness of character, and They may be fastened to small wire hooks driven
breadth of effect should be sought after, so that the into the joints at intervals.
decoration in the mass may harmonize with the Any or all of the symbols, monograms, and
architecture. This may be secured by adopting devices which are appropriate for the Festival of
simple forms for all the ornaments, and using large Christmas, may be used in the decoration of Norman
quantities of evergreens, Ac. in their construction.
,
work, and they should in all cases be enclosed within
As the round arch is one of the distinctive features circles of evergreens.
of the style, and as cusped or foliated forms do not In Early Pointed architecture we find consider-
belong to it, the simple circle should invariably be able severity and breadth of treatment, but an almost
adopted for enclosing devices which are to be hung total absence of the massiveness so characteristic of
upon the walls (as in Tig. 3, Plate I.), and no such Norman work. The pointed arch has superseded
forms as the trefoil, quatrefoil, or cinquefoil, should the round, and has given unlimited play to the
in any case be used. The arcades formed of inter- genius of the builder ; it lias brought lightness,
secting semicircular arches, which are so frequently grace, and elegance in its train, to clothe every
to be found in rich examples, supply us with a good detail with a new beauty.
idea for the ornamentation of the lower portions The style is rich in arcades, formed of pointed
of chancel walls, where no important efirichment arches, which are never interlaced as in the Norman
already exists. These arcades may be constructed style. Columns are usually banded with one, two,
of stout wire or light wood, and covered with ever- or three horizontal bands, but are no longer enriched
greens relieved by holly berries and whatever with surface patterns. The single circular shaft
liowers are at hand. In the construction of arcades continues to be used, but, in rich examples of the
of this description, there is great room for the display style, grouped columns are more frequently met
of taste and skill. with. Mouldings are not so richly ornamented as
The great size of the generality of Norman in the preceding style, but are worked into more
columns renders their decoration, if richly done, a members, separated by deeply-cut hollows.
matter of considerable labour. Perhaps the easiest In Early Pointed work many beautiful diapers
method of ornamenting the large circular piers of are to be found covering large spaces of wall, as at
the style is by banding them with plain wreaths or Westminster Abbey; and flowing scroll-work is
broad open bands, similar to those shown on Plate also used as a surface enrichment. In very early
II., Pigs. 8 and 9. Those columns which are banded buildings few cusped forms are to be met with, but
architecturally may have a single wreath laid round as the style was matured, simple geometrical forms
the shaft immediately above, and resting on the such as the trefoil, quatrefoil, and sixfoil became
band ; or they may have two wreaths or open very common.
bands fastened round the shaft, one beween the base In the above short summary we find enough to
and centre-stone band, and the other between the assist us in framing a correct scheme for the deco-
latter and the capital. A plain circular column may ration of Early Pointed structures. The fact that a
be beautifully decorated with a spiral wreath, or with greater degree of lightness prevails in them than iu
;
Nature and Art, December 1, 18GG.] FLORAL DECORATION OF CHURCHES. 211
Norman, at once tells us that care must be taken be hung under the cornices of nave and other walls
not to construct the decorative materials of a very where admissible. Medallions containing sacred
massive description, and as the architectural features devices should be used in all cases where favourable
generally are more refined and elegant, the floral spaces occur, such as between nave arches and side
ornaments should be made in keeping. As the aisle and clerestory windows. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 on
pointed arch is an important and characteristic Plate I., and Figs. 4 and 5 on Plate II., supply
feature of the period, and as the round arch, designs perfectly suitable for this purpose. Over the
although sometimes used in very early work, is no chancel arch, where no permanent decoration exists,
longer consistent, it is obvious that wherever arches a large device, in which the cross forms the principal
are introduced in the decorations, they must be of feature, should be suspended ; a suitable design for
the pointed or lancet shape. Arcades may be used this is given in Plate I., Fig. 5. On each side of
as in the Norman style, but they must not be of this centre medallion, in the centres of the remaining
interlaced arches. Columns, when circular, may spaces over the arch, small medallions containing
be ornamented, as in the preceding style, with bands an alpha and omega may be placed.
ot evergreens, and their capitals, when not carved, The decoration of Middle Pointed buildings may
should be enriched with chaplets of holly, berries, be executed in a similar style to those just described,
and flowers. and with the same designs as far as they go, but we
Single spiral wreaths of small size may be twined can now introduce two very important ornamental
round the columns, although they are not so con- adjuncts in the shape of emblazoned shields and
sistent as when applied to Norman shafts. Piers banners, bearing symbols, monograms, or other
consisting of several small columns placed round a devices. These should in all possible cases be
centre one are frequently met with, and when the associated wij.li floral patterns. Fig. 1, Plate II.,
columns are sufficiently numerous to leave moder- shows the banner associated with a rayed circle of
ately sized spaces between them, vertical ropes of holly and spruce fir; and Fig. 1, Plate I., and Figs.
evergreens may be hung in the spaces from the 2 and 3, Plate II., show shields enclosed in floral
capitals to the bases. Should the columns stand devices. Crosses either composed of evergreens only,
sufficiently far from the centre pier to admit of or of evergreens with richly coloured ground-work
wreaths being passed behind them, the pier may be (as Fig. 6, Plate II.), may be used wherever suitable
wreathed spirally, allowing the small columns to spaces occur for them. The most suitable positions
stand in front of them, or the detached columns for designs similar to Fig. 1, Plate II., are in the
may be delicately wreathed, and the centre pier left spandrils of nave arches, or between clerestory
plain. When columns are constructed of attached windows, where flat spaces of wall occur. In small
members divided by deep hollows, ropes of ever- panels, such as are frequently met with in Middle
greens may be pressed into all the hollows, but they Pointed architecture, coloured shields charged with
should never be wreathed spirally. In Plate II., appropriate emblems, Ac., may be placed without
Figs. 11 and 13, are shown an elevation and section any floral work, the cusps or mouldings of the
of portion of a quatrefoil column having ropes of panels taking the place of the evergreen outlines,
holly down its four angles. as in the case of the medallions before described.
Mouldings may be ornamented in the same Stars may be used in place of the shields if preferred.
manner as the columns with attached members We may here remark, although what we are
that is, they may have ropes of evergreens pressed going to say is equally applicable to works in all the
into the most important hollows, and small bosses styles, that in every case great care should be taken
of holly leaves, berries, and flowers, may be placed with, and the most el alio rate ornament devoted to,
at intervals in the minor hollows. It is of course the decoration of chancels, and particularly the East
obvious that either of the above methods of de- walls of same. Where rich reredoses exist, their
corating mouldings may be resorted to alone. decoration with evergreens and flowers must be a
Diapers may be used to any extent in ornament- matter to be decided by some competent person in
ing wall-spaces, but they should not be of too each individual case, for it is perfectly impossible
massive a description ; those as shown on Plate I., for us to give even general directions beyond the
Figs. 8, 9, and 11, are very suitable perhaps Fig. 9
;
recommendation to do what may be decided on
is most to be recommended, as it displays the pointed with the choicest materials procux-able. If such a
form. feature as an arcade should exist in the east wall of
For the decoration of spandrils or tympani of a chancel, taking the place of a reredos, its columns,
archesand other small spaces of wall, flowing scroll- if of marble, shorxld be banded or wreathed with
work may be used with great effect. It may be ever-lasting flowers, attached at short intervals to
formed of holly, Ac., on a ground-work of stout wire coloux-ed ribbon, or strips of coloured cloth. The
bent into the proper forms, and soldered, or other- most suitable flowers for this pux-pose are those of
wise securely fastened together. The scroll-work, a blight ox-ange and scar-let coloixr about the size of
when finished, may either be suspended in its place, a florin. If the columns are of stone, they may be
or secured, if it is on stone-work, by two or three wreathed with evergreens, relieved at intervals with
wire hooks driven into the joints of the masonry. everlasting flowers. In chancels where the East
Creased ribbons, bearing illuminated texts, form wall is not richly ornamented, a large floral cross,
very suitable enrichments for spandrils or spaces with a gold star in its centre, becomes an appropriate
over windows, doors, Ac. Bands bearing texts may and highly desirable ornament above the altar,
r 2
212 FLORAL DECORATION OF CHURCHES. [Nature and Art, December 1, 18G6
The decoration of Late Pointed buildings is by paid to the selection of the symbols and other sacred
no means so easy, the general details of the archi- devices for the different seasons of the Christian
tecture not being of so distinct a character, or so year. Indeed, the whole collection of symbols,
susceptible of tasteful enrichment by floral appli- emblems, and monograms which have been intro-
ances. In rich examples, all the wall spaces will duced by the early artists, and which have been
be found covei’ed with panelling, the columns dedicated to the service of the Church ever since it
moulded, or having small shafts attached to them, struggled under persecution in the catacombs, has
and separated by large shallow hollows, the arches of late years been looked upon as a sort of stock
much depressed, and their small spandrils panelled. set from which anything that strikes the individual
The windows are very large and consequently fancy may be taken for any purpose or for any sea-
leave but little wall-space between them. The son. We have great hopes, however, that matters
style is also rich in screenand tabernacle work, will be altered, and that as Christian art comes to
but seldom shows arcades of any importance, the be better understood, we shall not have to blush for
ordinary panelwort taking their place. the mistakes made, and the ignorance displayed, in
In simple buildings but little panelwork is met quarters where all things should be as perfect as
with. Plain octagonal columns take the place of minds and hands can make them.
moulded ones, and, generally speaking, more wall- Of all the Christian symbols the cross is at once
space is found than in the more developed examples. the most universal and beautiful, and its use, under
In considering the decoration of buildings of this certain conditions, is allowable at all seasons. As
period we must therefore conclude that small de- a Christmas decoration, the Cross need not be made
tails in constant repetition must be decided on. very prominent, and in no case should the Latin
In the ornamentation of walls covered with panels, form be adopted, although, owing to a vei’y popular
it isadvisable to insert small devices either in the and mistaken idea that this form is the only proper
shape of coloured shields or floral work in the one, it has long been almost exclusively used in
centres of the panels. Columns when moulded are Christmas decoration. It must be understood that
better left undecorated, but when they are octagonal the Latin Cross is derived directly from, and repre-
they may be wreathed spirally or have their capitals sents the actual Cross on which our Blessed Lord
surrounded, when uncarved, with chaplets of ever- suffered, and is termed in its simple shape the
greens. Mouldings may be left undecorated or Calvary or Passion Cross. Now it is obvious that
have patterns of evergreens inserted at intervals at Christmas, of all seasons of the year, we should
into their large hollows. The screen and tabernacle- have no wish more particularly to allude to the
work of the period may be decorated, when of a Passion of Our Lord, than we have desire on Good
simple and defined character, but when very rich Friday to commemorate His Birth or Resurrection.
and complicated, as in many of our large buildings, The Cross which is alone suitable and appropriate for
floralenrichment should be dispensed with or used the Festival of Christmas, is the Greek. This form
very sparingly. Temporary screens, richly covered is in reality the original cross idealized, and although
with evergreens, banners, scrolls, and shields, form it may be adopted as a Symbol of Christ, it is more
most appropriate ornaments in those churches where properly accepted as expressive of the Religion of
permanent screens do not exist, or indeed in any —
the Cross to be the emblem of Christianity, rather
case where they may be inserted. These screens than the sign of the Atonement.
should be formed of light timber work and wire. We mentioned above that, in Christmas deco-
Banners and shields may be used to any extent in ration, the Cross need not be made very prominent.
the decoration of Late Pointed churches, and almost W e do not wish it to be understood that we consider
any shape of the former may be adopted as taste or that the symbol should at any time take a secondary
circumstances suggest, but the latter should be of position. What we mean is that at Christmas, when
either of the forms shown in woodcut below, in- everybody and everything should wear the garb of
stead of that on our plates. joy and gladness, the cross should not stand forth in
its severity, but should be grouped with other forms
which allude to the event we are commemorating.
The centre design in Plate I. is an example of this
treatment of the Cross, and it will be observed that
while the Cross distinctly asserts its beautiful form,
its interest isdivided with the star placed within
the emblem of eternity, and bearing, as the centre
of all, the monogram of the Blessed Name of
JESUS.
Having briefly considered the manner in which All the varieties of the Greek Cross may be used,
the schemes for the decoration of churches in the but the most beautiful and appropriate are the
various styles of mediaeval architecture should be Cross Fleurie and Cross Patonce ; the latter is
determined and developed, we have now to say a shown in Fig. 5, Plate I. the former, issuing from
;
few words on the symbols, emblems, and monograms behind the shield, in Fig. 1. It will be observed
most suitable and appropriate for the Festival of that the arms of the Cross Patonce gradually spread
Christmas. outwards from the point of junction, while those of
Generally speaking, far too little attention is the Cross Fleurie remain straight, until near their
[Nature and Art December
1.1866.
.
—
Nature and Alt, December 1, 18G6.] FLOEAL DECOEATION OF CHUECHES. 213
extremities. A very pleasing form of the Cross is chancel. When placed above the altar, which is
shown in Fig. 6, Plate II.; it is nothing but a Cross the best position for it, it should occupy the centre
Patonce, with the foliations of the arms cut off. of a Greek Cross. The most important position
This form is very suitable when a Cross with for the Star in the nave is over the chancel arch,
coloured and inscribed arms is required, as in our where it should also be grouped with the Cross.
design. Fig. 5, Plate I., illustrates the treatment we have
The Agnus Dei, or Divine Lamb, and the Lion, just described. Stars of any number of points
which are symbols of our Lord, are most appro- may be adopted, although five, six, and seven
priate for Christmas. They may be depicted on points product the most beautiful forms. It will
shields and banners, or in aureoles enclosed in floral be observed, on examining Fig. 4, Plate I., that
medallions, as in Fig. 3, Plate I., which shows the —
the symbol of the Holy Trinity namely, the in-
Agnus Dei in an aureole, occupying the centre of terlaced triangles, forms a perfect Star of six
a six-pointed star, and surrounded with the circle. points ; and this symbol is most appropriate, and
The Pelican, as a figure of our Lord, should not be may be freely used on the walls of chancels, or
used, as it particularly alludes to His Passion. placed, on a large scale, over chancel arches. Fig.
The Fish, however,
a proper figure for Christmas.
is 3, Plate I., shows a six-pointed Star enclosed
It has been adopted as a figure of our Saviour within a circle (the emblem of eternity), and having
because the five letters forming the word fish, in in its centre an aureole containing the Agnus Dei.
Greek (IX9Y2), when separated, supply the initials Fig. 2 shows a five-pointed Star, charged with the
of the five words monogram IHS, and enclosed in a cinquefoil. In
Ljcoac XpiGTCic Qtuv Yioc Yitur>)p.
Fig. 1, the centre shield is charged with a gold
Jesus Christ (the) Son of God (the) Saviour. Star of seven points ; Fig. G, Plate II., shows a
gold Star in a blue aureole (symbolical of Heaven)
All the monograms of our Lord’s name are
occupying the centre of a Cross ; and Fig. 5, on
appropriate for Christmas decoration, whether used
the same Plate, shows two six-pointed Stars, one
as independent ornaments (as in Figs. G and 7,
placed behind the other, with their points counter-
Plate I.), or on shields, banners, and medallions.
changed, in a quatrefoil, and surrounded by the
The monograms most usually met with are those
monograms IHS, XP2, and the A and LL The
which are composed of the two first and the last
latter composition is appropriately surmounted by
letters of the word JESUS, in Greek (III20Y2).
a floral crown.
The two first letters I (Iota) and II (Eta) always
remain the same but the last letter assumes three
We may now say a few words on the shields and
The
—
;
banners suitable for Christmas decoration.
forms S, C, and X, which are the three forms of
most appropriate grounds for shields are gold, red,
the Greek sigma. These monograms may either be
and white ; and for their charges, gold and silver
formed of Greek letters (as in Figs. 2 and 6, Plate
(or white), when the field is red, and red and blue
I., and Figs. 1 and 5, Plate II.), or of Gothic letters
when the field is gold or white. Other colours may
(as in Figs. 4 and 5, Plate I.). When the letters be adopted, if preferred. The most appropriate
are entwined, it is usual to elongate the I, and form
charges for shields are the symbols and monograms
it into a Cross (Fig. 6, Plate I.). The monograms
already enumerated, and the following devices of
of the name of CHRIST are formed in a similar
—
minor importance- namely, the Latin word BEX
manner from the first two and last letters of that
surmounted by a Crown (Fig. 3, Plate II.) the
name in Greek (XPI2T02), or, as is most usual, ;
Star the Star and three Crowns, in allusion to

from the first letters only (X P). Both these forms ;
the Adoration of the Magi ; the monograms of tlie

are shown in Fig. 7, Plate I., and Figs. 2 and 5,
Plate TI. With all the monograms of our Lord’s
Virgin, M and AM, entwined, and surmounted by
Crowns ; a bunch of Lilies, the emblem of the
name, the Alpha (A) and Omega (H) may be
Virgin ; and two Shepherds’ Crooks, crossed, in
grouped.
allusion to the heavenly message given to the
Those of our readers who desire to become ac-
shepherds, as they watched their flocks by night.
quainted with the interesting subject of Christian
Symbolism, will find it popularly treated in our
We may here state that the publishers of this
periodical have prepared for sale, from our designs,
“ Handbook ”* and we must refer them to its
a series of shields, in gold and colours, suitable for
;
pages for full particulars relating to the symbolism

Christmas decoration, and also several designs for
of the Cross, the symbols and emblems of our
grounds of Crosses, after the style of the Cross
Lord, and all the various monograms of His name.
(Fig. 6, Plate II.). They have also printed alpha-
Of all the ornaments to be used in Christmas
bets of initial and black letters for texts. The
decoration, the Star is, of course, the most im-
initials areon richly-coloured square panels and
portant, and should be freely introduced, either ;
the small letters are designed so as to be easily

alone or in conjunction with the symbols and
cut out, having no curved lines in their formation.
monograms above alluded to. large and fine A Banners should, in all cases, be white, which is
star containing the Agnus Dei, or the monogram
the canonical colour for Christmas, and have gold-
of the name of JESUS, should invariably occupy
coloured cords, tassels, and fringes, and they may
a prominent position on the east wall of the
also be bordered with blue or red. The same
* “ Handbook of Christian Symbolism.” Day & Son charges as are suitable for shields are also suitable
(Limited), London. for banners ;
but as banners are usually made of
——— — —
214 A DISH OF NUTS. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
a pretty large size, they present a greater oppor- Crosses. There are three kinds of crosses suit-
tunity for the display of tasteful enrichment and able for Christmas decoration, namely, those com-
complicated ornament than the ordinary shields posed entirely of foliage and flowers, those of
possibly can. coloured grounds surrounded with evergreens, and
Having briefly touched upon the most important those which are in colours without any evergreens.
points of our subject, we shall now conclude by The last-named should never be of a large size.
giving a few directions as to the construction of the Floral crosses may be formed on wood, wire, or
decorations we have recommended. We
shall do perforated zinc foundations. The crosses which
so in distinct paragraphs, alphabetically arranged, have coloured grounds should be made of dressed
for the sake of reference. timber painted in oil, or of card-board painted with
—
Arcades. The ground-work for arcades may distemper colour and secured to wooden stretchers.
either be constructed of light timber or wire, to The evergreens may be attached to the wood-work
which the evergreens may be attached by tacks, or to independent frames of wood or wire, made to
string, or tying- wire. When the arcades consist of fit the outline of the crosses. The small crosses
interlaced semicircular arches two kinds of ever- may be made of card-board or wood. These and
greens may be used, one on each set of arches. the card-board ground are to be had, printed in
Rosettes of holly-berries or everlasting flowers gold and colours, from the publishers of this
should be placed at the points where the arches journal.
cross each other, and rich bunches of leaves, flowers, Diapers. The diapei’s shown on Plate I. should
&c., should be fastened where the arches spring be wrought on wire frames, the evergreens and
from the uprights. These bunches are intended to rosettes being attached to them by thin string or
take the place in the decoration that the capitals of fine tying- wire. The smaller drops in Fig. 10 are
the columns do in true arcades. Arcades com- composed of holly-berries, threaded.
posed of pointed arches may also be wrought in two Medallions. The outlines of all the medallions
kinds of evergreens, the standards being in one shown in our plates, and altogether of a similar
sort and the arches over in another, the points of nature, should be constructed of light timber, to
junction being treated as above described, to con- which the holly or other leaves can be readily
vey the idea of capitals. Where very rich arcades secured. The inner portions of the medallions may
are required, their standards, beside being covered be constructed of timber, cardboard, or wire, as
with evergreens, may be further enriched by spiral experience may direct.
wreaths of flowers attached to tapes, and their Monograms. The monograms shown in Figs. G
arches may be studded at intervals with rosettes or and Plate I., are best constructed on wooden
7,
bunches of holly berries. foundations, with the evergreens attached in the
Bands. — The open bands which we have recom- usual way.
mended for wall and column decoration should be Scrolls and Texts. The inscribed bands and
composed, when for the latter purpose, of wire or scrolls which we have recommended to be used, may
narrow bands of perforated zinc soldered into the be made of a white calico stretched on light frames
form required. When for walls, they should be of wood, or of thin wood merely painted or covered
composed of timber or perforated zinc strips as with paper. The letters, cut from thin cardboard
before. These are to be covered with leaves in the or paper, should be fastened to the bands or scrolls
usual way, and may be ornamented, as shown in with glue. In preparing the letters for this purpose
Plate II., with rosettes, <fec. great distinctness and effect should be aimed at.
Banners.—The most suitable material for ban- Shields. Shields may either be of wood or
ners, and at the same time the most inexpensive, is stout cardboard, painted in oil or water colour. The
thin white calico, and their fringe, cords, and tassels gilded portions may be done in the proper way
may be either of silk or wool. The symbols or Avith gold leaf, or Avith bronze dusted on moist gold
monograms may be of applique work, or painted on size ;
but gold paper may be used for the cardboard
the calico in distemper colours. The borders may shields, if neatly cut out and smoothly pasted on.
be of ribbon or paint. The design in the centre of Stars. Stars may be formed of wood or card-
Plate II. shows the best shape for banners and the board in the same manner as the shields above
manner in which they should be suspended. described.
A DISH OF NIJTS.
N autumn offering within the reach of rich and The contents of our dish are known to all, being,
A poor, and Avith Avliich Ave shall find
whole hosts of home thoughts and pleasant memo-
bound up in fact, every-day acquaintances, needing no formal
introduction but yet, like many good and stanch
;
ries, not the less dear from hanging garland-like old families, having scraps and jottings of historical
round the Christmas-hearth of both the peasant lore, old verses, songs, superstitions, and quaint
and the prince. sayings, associated with them. Hazel-nuts, chest-
— —
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866. A DISH OF NUTS. 215
nuts, and walnuts, constitute oui’ store ; and as we Its use throughout the western counties of England
crack or roast them familiarly with the reader, is known as Dowsing. We
have ourselves seen the
we purpose gathering together some of these and dowsing-stick experimented with, but have never
relating them. Whether clothed in bright spring been fortunate enough to see any manifestation of
garments decked with its silken catkins, or later the discovering powers attributed to it ; and we are
on, when autumn has dyed the leaves of the forests informed by a correspondent, in whom we have much
and hedgerows, mingling the rich browns and faith, that within the last twenty years a “diviner,”
yellows with the reds and sombre greens, the of water-seeker, travelled the “ West,” pursuing his
hazel, with its clustering cramps of ripening nuts, art, and apparently not without success; butwhether
forms a charming feature in our English land- his then unqxxestioned discoveries of hidden springs
scapes ; and many towns, villages, and hamlets owe were due to the exercise of his delicate senses, fore-
their names to the thickets of hazel-bushes at one knowledge of locality, or to the mystical properties of
time growing near them. Thus we have Hazel- the “ virgula divinatoria,” is a question open to the
mere in Surrey, Hazelingfield in Cambridgeshire, scientific to raise and settle if they can. The same
and Hazelbury in Wiltshire Hazelwoods, Hazel- ;
notions regarding the rod appear to have prevailed
dales, and Hazelbrooks, are also common as names extensively in Germany ; and Sir Walter Scott, in
for farms and homesteads. his charming novel The Antiquary, most pleasantly
The word hazel is said to have been derived from introduces one of the Rhabdomancist experts in the
the Anglo-Saxon hcesil, a head-dress probably ;
pei’son of Mein Herr Doustex-swivel. Again, we read
from the tough young shoots being interwoven for “The finding of gold which is under the earth, as of
the purpose of making coverings for the head. all other mines of metal, is almost miraculous. They
Both the Greeks and Homans, in very early ages, cixt up a ground hazel of a twelvemonth’s growth,
appear to have been well acquainted with the which divides above into a fork. Holding the one
peculiarities of this tree. It was said by Virgil to branch in the right hand axid the other in the left,
be considei’ed by them injurious to their vines, from not held too slightly nor too strictly, when passing-
the far-spreading roots drawing off the richness of over a mine, or any other place where gold or silver
the soil. And as the goat was equally destructive, is hidden, it will discover the same by bending
from its habit of browsing on the young vine-shoots, —
down violently, a common experiment in Ger-
the vine-dressers adopted an effectual method by many, not proceeding from any incantation, but a
which the two evils might be disposed of at once. natural sympathy, as ii’on is attracted by a load-
The goats were offered up as sacrifices to Bacchus, stone.” And now, pray listen to this, ye fond
whilst the hazels were cut down to form spits on mammas who have grey-eyed little ones.
which the entrails were roasted. are also We We find it gi-avely asserted that the ashes of the
informed that the common hazel-nut was called by shells of hazel-nuts applied to the back of a child’s
the Romans Nux Avellcma, from the town of head a certain means by which the eyes can be
is
Avellino in Naples ; whilst the filbert was called tui’ned from grey to black. An ancient herb-doctor
Nux Politico,, from its having been brought from thus writes of the hazel and its nuts :
Pontus. The filbert appears to have derived its “ Some doe hold that these nuts, and not wallnuts, with
name from the full beard or long husk, distin- figs and rue, was Mithridates medicine, effectuall against
guishing it from the other species, of which Loudon poysons. The oyle of the nuts is effectuall for the same
gives five. In many vexy ancient songs and purposes. If a snake be stroke with a hazel wand, it doth
sooner stunne it than with any other sticke, because it is so
ballads, both Fi’ench and English, the hazel is
pliant that it will winde closer about it, so that being de-
lauded and spoken of with great affection and prived of their motion they must need die with paine and
esteem. There appears also to have been a num- want and it is no hard matter in like manner to kill a mad
;
ber of supei’stitions connected with the shrub, and dog- that shall be strook with an hazel sticke such as men
maiwellous qualities attributed to it. Evelyn, use to walk or ride withall.”
whose “ Silva ” is dated mdclxxix, thus writes The writer of an old English ballad gives the
of it :
hazel wand credit for the possession of greater
“ The coals are used by painters to draw with lastly, for powers than even the doctor from whom we have
;
riding-switches and divinatory rods for the detecting and just quoted. Possibly he wrote the result of his
finding out of minerals (at least, if that tradition be no im- own experiences ; we in no way indorse them.
posture). It is very wonderful, by whatever occult nature
the forked stick (so cut and skilfully held) becomes impreg-
“ If a man has got a wife
nated with those invisible steams and exhalations, as by its Who’s a torment to his life,
spontaneous bending from a horizontal posture to discover Let her taste a stick of hazel that is tough and strong.
not only mines, subterraneous treasure, and springs of water, In the wand there is a charm
but criminals guilty of murder, &c., made out so solemnly, That will work more good than harm,
and the effects thereof, by the attestation of magistrates For ’twill make a scolding woman hold her tongue.”
and divers other learned and credible persons (who have
Be may, the sticks of the hazel ai-e use-
this as it
critically examined matters of fact), is certainly next to a
miracle, and requires a strong faith.” ful for —
an infinity of purposes fishing-rods, walking-
sticks, bird and vermin traps, hoops, and spigots.
The tei'm Rhabdomancy has been applied to this The framework of the gipsy’s tent, and the clotlies-
supposed ai't of divination. Even to this day there pegs he sells from door to door, are of hazel. The
ai-e persons connected with mining iix Cornwall who chips were in old times highly esteemed as wine-
implicitly believe in the vii'tues of the divining-rod. cleansers, bundles of them being put to soak in the
— ; — • “ —
216 A DISH OF NUTS. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1806.
wine-barrels. Quoting again from Evelyn, who countries sending their quota. Perhaps of all the
lavishes praises on the hazel,— so-called small nuts imported, the description known
“ Even most signal services it was ever em-
after all the as the “ Barcelonas ” are held in the highest repute.
ployed and which might assuredly exalt this humble and
in, They do not actually come from Barcelona, but are
common plant above all the trees of the wood, is that of despatched from the port of Tarragona. Mr. Inglis,
hurdles.
in writing of thisbranch of trade before the altera-
“Not that it is generally used for folding our innocent
sheep, an emblem of the Church, but for making the walls tion in the duty, andwhen two shillings per bushel
of one of the first Christian oratories in the world, and par- was charged, says, “ The annual average export of
ticularly in this island, that venerable and sacred fabric at nuts from Tarragona is from 25,000 to 30,000 bags,
Glastonbury founded by St. Joseph of Arimathea, which is of five bags to the ton, free on board at 17s. fid.
storied to have been first composed but of a few small hazel
per bag.”
rods interwoven about certain stakes driven into the ground ;
and walls of this kind, instead of laths and puncheons, super- The return retained by Government of nuts of
induced with a coarse mortar made of loam and straw, doe this description sent from the various foreign ports
to this day enclose divers humble cottages, sheds, and out- at which they are shipped to this country, gives for
houses in the country, and it is strong and lasting for such
the year 1864, 204,264 bushels.
purposes, whole or cleft and I have seen ample enclosures
;
of courts and g-ardens so secured.”

In certain districts on the Continent, a very ex-
cellent oil, very little inferior to oil of almonds, is
In many parts of England it lias been the custom
made from the kernels of hazel-nuts. kind of A
to pass the long winter evenings away by engaging in chocolate has also been prepared from them, and
various games in which nuts performed an im-
during periods of scarcity a substitute for bread has
portant part and the trial for a sweetheart by their
;
been sought in the paste made from ground nuts.
aid was, to the young ladies of the party at any
Why a nut-shell should be so generally used as
rate, an interesting and important ceremony and ;
a standard of comparison for confined spaces, it is
thus was it conducted —A
basket or bag of nuts in
:
hard to say, as some nuts are by no means small.

their husks or cramps being produced, each young- “ As much gold as you could put in a nut-shell,”
lady was called on to state how many lovers she
would represent a very substantial quantity ; still
had, not always an easy task, as the following lines
the comparison, when applied to houses and rooms,
from an old English song will show :
is appropriate enough.
“ For so many lovers had Sue of the Yale,
It is related of a rather dilettante A. D. C., that
That no cramp of nuts could give half of tho tale ;
on returning from leave of absence, he thus ad-
So she grasp’d a good handful
To cast in the flame, dressed an old friend and companion in arms :
“ What, still in this wretched little nut-shell, my

Crying, If you were fift}',
I’d roast you the same.” dear major How long is this state of things to
1
On the number being given, a cramp containing last How much longer do you intend to vegetate
a corresponding number of nuts is drawn from the here
1
?
” — Probably, my dear fellow, until I
mass, and the name of one of the admirers being actually become a kernel,” replied the economical
called, a nut is cast into the fire, the assembled field-officer.
party of divers into the future chanting in chorus, Much uncertainty exists as to the exact period at
which the chestnut was first brought to England.
“ If you love me, rap and fly
It appears from all accounts probable that it was
If you hate me, burn and die.”
first brought to Europe from Asia Minor by the
The boys usually engaged in a boisterous game Greeks, about 504 B.C. Its name castanea, was no
of cob nut, which is played by boring holes in nuts doubt, derived from Kastanea, a city in Pontus, in
and attaching them to a string, when they are let Asia. It appears also probable that the nuts were
down one by one and their strength tested by strik- firstsent to Rome in the reign of Tiberius Csesar.
ing them violently against other nuts similarly Pliny, in speaking of the chestnut, gives eight kinds
arranged ; the challenge to combat being a sort of as known to the Romans. Perhaps the most
chant— ancient cliestnut-tree we have any record of in this
“ Harry, Harry Hob-nut,
country, ‘is that known as the Tortworth chestnut,
Lay down your cob-nut.”
which grew on an estate in Gloucestershire, belong-
And when victory smiled on some nut of more than ing to Lord Ducie. A
portrait of this tree was
ordinarily thick shell, and the antagonist lay shattered taken, and an etching was executed in the year
on the cap or hat usually used as an arena for these 1772, beneath which the following inscription was
battles of nuts, the kernelwas at once eaten by the placed : —
owner of the “hard case,” who celebrated his “ The east view of the ancient chestnut-tree at Tortworth,
triumph by the shrill imitation of the crowing of a in the county of Gloucester, which measures 19 yards in
cock circumference, and is mentioned by Sir Robert Atkins, in
“ Cock-a-doodle-do !
his history of that county, as a famous tree in King- John’s
Conqueror of two.” time and by Mr. Evelyn, in his 1 Silva,’ to have been so
;
remarkable for its magnitude in the reign of King Stephen

And so the season of frost and snow passed (1135), as then to be called the Great Chestnut of Tortworth,
merrily in the old farms and country houses of the from which it may reasonably be presumed to have been
standing before the Conquest (1066).”
provinces. Yast quantities of both foreign and
home-grown nuts are annually consumed in this Many of our old English poets and ballad writers
country France, Portugal, Spain, and other
; have celebrated the qualities and convivial associa-
- — — —
Nature and Art, December 1, I860.] A DISH OP NUTS. 217
tions connected with the plump brown chestnut. insinuating itself among the fissures and chinks, and
Thus writes Herrick about it :
attaining a large size. “ Wherever,” he goes on
“ Remember us in cups full crown’d, to say, “ I have seen chestnut-trees —

and I have seen
And let our city health go round, them in a great many different localities they —
Quite through the young maids and the men, were never in soils or on surfaces fit for the pro-
To the ninth number, if not ten ;
duction of corn. On mountains in France, Swit-
Until the fired chestnuts leap
zerland, and Italy, the chestnut begins where the
For joy, to see tho fruits ye reap
From the plump chalice and tho cup corn leaves off ; and in climates suitable for corn,
That tempts till it be tossed up.” the tree is only found on rocky and flinty soils.”
And the esteem in which it was held in Evelyn’s During our visit to the city of the ancient
Karaite Jews, we were much interested at the
day will be best shown by that which he writes
about it : — extraordinary industry displayed by a colony of
monks of the Greek church, who were engaged
“ Wegive that fruit to our swine in England which is
in excavating cavities amongst the tremendous
amongst the delicacies of princes in other countries and ;
cliffs bordering the valley in which their monastery
being of the larger nut, is a lusty and masculine food for
rusticks at all times, and of better nourishment for husband- was situated,* for the purpose of planting young
men than cob and rusty bacon. Yea, or beans to boot. chestnut -trees in; one man bearing the tree, two
Instead of which, they boyl them in Italy with their bacon, a large basket of earth, and a third a pot of water
and in Virgil’s time they ate them with milk and cheese.
to refresh the roots of the young plant with ; the
Tho bread of the flour is exceedingly nutritive. ’Tis a
robust food, and makes women well-complexioned, as I have whole operation being one of the most perfect
road in a good author.” examples of gardening under difficulties it has ever
been our lot to see. Theophrastus informs us that
And mark well, all ye fashionable young ladies,
in his day Mount Olympus was nearly covered
what the worthy old gentleman goes on to say.
with chestnut-trees. The great chestnut of Mount
“A decoction of the rind of the tree tinctures hair of a Etna, known as the Castagno di cento Cavalli,
golden colour, esteemed a beauty in some countries.”
described by Houel, must have been a sort of
In France, considerable attention is paid to the giant amongst trees. It is, lie says, one of the
preparation of the chestnut as an article of food, largest and oldest chestnuts in the world, and ob-
and no sooner do the cold, bleak winds of autumn tained its name from Jean of Arragon on her road
and winter go sweeping through the broad thorough- from Spain to Naples. Having visited Mount
fares of Paris, than whole flocks of the hirondelles Etna attended by her principal nobility, they
d’hiver, or “ winter swallows,” as the roasted were caught in a heavy shower of rain, when the
chestnuts are facetiously called by the Parisians, queen and a hundred cavaliers took shelter under
may be seen roasting on the charcoal-pans of their the branches of this tree, which completely covered
vendors, at every convenient corner. and saved them from the storm. Mr. Loudon
Great attention is paid by the French to the informs us that in 1770 this tree was still standing,
selection of the particular kinds of nuts most although much decayed, and measured 204 feet in
esteemed for the table. The most notable of these circumference.
is the kind known as les marrons, which are said The Neapolitans appear to have held high repute
to be to other chestnuts much what apples are to for their roasted chesnuts. Martial writes :
ordinary crabs. There are several other varieties “ For chestnuts roasted by a gentle heat,
less esteemed, hut still important ; such as the No city can the learned Naples beat.”
Limousin, which is chiefly noted for the size of its
Virgil appears to have had a thorough appreciation
fruit, and the length of time the leaves remain on
of the goodness of the chestnut, and its importance
the trees. The wood chestnut, or chdtaigne de
as an article of food. Thus he writes :
bois, is mainly valuable for its luxuriant production

“ Ripe apples and soft chestnuts have we there,
of brushwood, nearly all the coppice woods in the
And curd abundant, to supply our fare.”
vicinity of Paris being of this kind. Large
quantities of the nuts are used in the neighbourhood He speaks also of the mode by which the nuts
of both Perigord and Limousin, for the manu- were obtained from the trees in his time and in ;
facture of a peculiar kind of cake, known as la this particular, at any rate, fashion has changed
galette, of which the peasantry are particularly but little.
fond. A
thick species of porridge is also prepared “ Myself will search our planted grounds at home
from the chestnut-meal, and is in pretty general For downy peaches and the glossy plum,
use. And thrash the chestnuts in the neighbouring grove,
Such as my Amaryllis used to love.”
Chestnuts, when treated like ordinary beetroot,
have produced 14 per cent, of sugar, a larger Milton, too, was not indifferent to the homely
quantity than most samples of beet produce and ;
comfort of the cosy fireside and its winter accom-
as the trees thrive and flourish where little else paniments.
could be profitably grown, it is a matter of “ While hisses on my hearth the pulpy pear,
surprise that more attention is not paid to their And black’ning chestnuts start and eracklo there.”
cultivation.
The annual consumption of chestnuts in the
Bose says the chestnut-tree thrives well among
rocks, where there is apparently very little soil, # The valley of Jehoshaphat.
— —
218 A DISH OP NUTS. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1886.
United Kingdom exceedingly large, as, in addi-

is the manufactures of muskets in this country con-
tion to those of home
production, 125,659 bushels sumed annually 12,000 large trees.
were imported in the year 1864. And such was the panic caused in France by a
Shakspeare, in “ Macbeth,” shows its the envy disease having appeared amongst the walnut-trees,
excited in the breast of the witch at the lapful that, fearing a great scarcity of the timber, an act was
of chestnuts held by the sailor’s wife. Phillips passed in 1720, prohibiting its exportation under
says :
pain of confiscation and a fine of 3,000 livres. In
“ In Catalonia a custom prevails of people going from these days of Volunteers and rifles, vast quantities
house to house on All Saints eve, believing that by every of walnut timber are required to keep pace with
chestnut that they eat in a different house they will free a the demand ; and many foreign sources the Black —
soul from Purgatory.”
Sea and American ports amongst them- have been —
The period at which the walnut was first intro- opened up for that purpose and it is not probable
;
duced in England appears to be uncertain. It is that such a price as £600 will ever again in this
said to have been cultivated by the Romans before kingdom be paid for one walnut-tree. This
the death of the Emperor Tiberius, and is stated amount, we are informed, was once given.
to have been brought from Greece by Vi tel us. l i
Collinson, in his “ History of Somersetshire,”
Strabo states that, at one time, in Rome, tables of when speaking of the Glastonbury thorn, says :
walnut-wood sold at a higher price than those of “ There grew also in the Abbey churchyard, on the south
citron. From a poem entitled Be JLuce, written side of St. Joseph’s Chapel, a marvellous walnut-tree, which
by Ovid, it appears that at marriages walnuts never budded forth before the feast of St. Barnabas (the
were thrown amongst the assembled children by 11th of June), and on that very day shot forth its leaves,
and flourished like other trees of the same speoies.”
the bride and bridegroom and it has been sug-
;
gested that ceremony was instituted to show that He also informs us that this tree was much
the bridegroom now cast aside his boyish amuse- sought after by the credulous ; and that Queen
ments, or that the bride was no longer a votary of Anne, King James, and many of the nobility of
Diana. the realm, even when times of monkish superstition
“ Now bar the door. The bridegroom puts had ceased, gave large sums of money for small
The eager boys to gather nuts.” cuttings.
There are several varieties of walnuts grown in
It has also been suggested that the French term for
England; amongst them may be
different districts in
nuptials des JVoces might have been derived from
mentioned the kind known as the “ Highflyer,” or
this ancient custom.
Thetford nut ; the fern-leaved ; the thin-shelled, or
We read that in 530, St. Medard, bishop of Uoyon,
titmouse walnut (so called from the shell being
instituted a festival, entitled La Rosiere, at Salency,
thin enough for the titmice to eat through it) ; and
his birthplace, for adjudging annually the prize of
the huge Nux Juglans fructu maximo known as
a crown of roses to the girl who should be ac- ,
the Warwickshire walnut. Many very charming

knowledged by all her competitors to be the most
little presents are ingeniously packed in the shells
amiable, modest, and dutiful in the village and ;
of these ; and, if reports speak truly, they have
he had the pleasure of crowning his own sister as
often been the medium through which delicate kid
the first Rose Queen. It was also, it appears, an
gloves were transported free of duty. The pur-
important pax’t of the proceedings to formally pre-
poses to which the wood of the walnut is applied
sent the newly-made Floral Queen with offerings
are almost endless, and many of them are too well
of ripe walnuts and other fruits. may judge We known to need comment.
from the following extract, that much importance
In Tartary, and on some portions of the coast of
was in Evelyn’s day attached to the cultivation of
southern Russia, it is a common practice to tap the
the walnut-tree on the continent of Europe :
walnut-trees for the purpose of obtaining the sap

“ Burgundy abounds with them, where they stand in the with a view to the manufacture of sugar. This is
midst of goodly wheat lands, at sixty and an hundred foot
done much as the American settlers obtain their
distance and it is so far from hurting the crop, that they
maple sugar. Holes are bored in the trees when
;
look on them as a great preserver, by keeping the ground

warm nor do the roots hinder the plow. Whenever they
;
the sap is rising. Aconvenient spout of bark is
fell a tree (which is only the old and decayed) they always inserted, which carries the liquid as it flows into a
plant a young one near him ; and in several places ’twixt pot or other vessel placed to receive it. This is
Hanaw and Francfort, in Germany, no young farmer what-
afterwards boiled and crystallized roughly for use.
soever is permitted to marry a wife till he bring proof that
he hath planted and is a father of such a stated number of Many of the trees which we examined on the
walnut-trees, as the law is inviolably observed to this day, southern Russian coasts had been thus treated.
for the extraordinary benefit which this tree affords the Wine is made also from the juice by subjecting it
inhabitants.”
to fermentation, whilst by distillation a strong Spirit
The Government authorities in this country is obtained. Perhaps the largest walnut-trees in
have, from time to time, caused large numbers of the world are to be found in Crim Tartary. Large
young walnut-trees to be planted in the neighbour- quantities of oil are obtained from the kernels of
hood of the various public works, in order that walnuts, and, in a commercial point of view, its
they might be made use of for gun-stocks, for obtainment is more important than any of the
which purpose the wood is peculiarly excellent. other purposes to which the nut is applied in the
It appears, from a calculation made in 1806, that districts in which it is grown. When the proper
— — — — — — ; ; ;
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] GRAPHOTYPE. 219
season arrives, large convivial parties are assembled, Within, be said that form by change to gain,
As caryon call’d by learned Greeks in vain,
much after the manner of the corn-huskings, candy-
For membranes soft as silk her kernel bind,
pullings, and apple-peelings of the United States of Whereof the inmost is the tenderest kind,
America, for the purpose of cracking the nuts before Like those which on the brain of man we find ;
pressing. This is effected by the use of small light All which are in a seam-join’ d shell enclosed,
mallets, which some of the party use whilst others Which of this brain the skull may be supposed.
This very skull enveloped is again
remove the kernels from the broken shells and place In a green coat, her pericranium.
them unpeeled in baskets. Either horse or water Lastly, that no objection may remain
power is usually made use of for grinding the nuts To thwart her near alliance with the brain,
to a paste, which, when sufficiently fine, is placed She nourishes the hair rememb’ring how
;
Herself deform’d without her leaves does show,

in strong coarse bags, and subjected to heavy pres-
On barren scalps she makes fresh humours grow.
sure. The first runnings of oil, known as the cold-
Her timber is for various uses good,
drawn, are esteemed the best. The paste, after The carver she supplies with useful wood
having the oil pressed from it, is used as food for She makes the painter’s fading colours last
pigs, sheep, and poultry anti in some localities
;
A
table she affords us, and repast
E’en while we feast, her oil our lamp supplies
a rough kind of candle is made from it. Dark-
The rankest poison by her virtue dies
brown and black dyes are made from both the The mad dog’s foam and taint of raging skies.
root and husk. Would-be gipsies and strollers The Pontic king, who lived where poisons grew,
have from very early ages availed themselves of the Skilful in antidotes, her virtues knew.
colouring juices of the walnut for the purpose of Yet envious fates, that still with merit strive,
And man ungrateful, from the orchard drive
staining the faces and hands of newly-elected
This sovereign plant. Excluded from the field,
members or such poor stray children as evil fortune Unless some useless nook a station yield,
might cast in their way and enable them to kidnap. Defenceless in the common road she stands,
Referring to this custom, we receive advice in verse, Exposed to restless war of vulgar hands,
with a reason for following it :
By neighbouring clowns and passing rabble torn,
Batter’d with stones by boys and left forlorn.”
“ Go, stain your cheek with nut or berry,
It lias long been a prevailing notion tliat walnut-
For the gipsy’s life is merry.”
by having their branches beaten
trees were benefited
Although the quantity of walnuts grown in the by the long heavy poles (often iron-shod) used for
United Kingdom is very large when compared with knocking down the nuts. And some cross-grained
the other kinds contained in our dish, the number old curmudgeon has thus written regarding the
imported will serve to show how extensive and practice :
general this consumption must be. In the year “ A woman, a dog, and a walnut-tree,
1864 we find 125,659 bushels the quantity received The more you beat them the better they be.”
from the various ports from which they are usually
It is devoutly to be hoped, if there is any truth
sent. The estimation in which the walnut was
in the doctrine of metempsychosis, that sometimes
held in Cowley’s time will be best shown by quoting
a little latitude is allowed, and plants as well as
that which he has written about it :
animals permitted to become the abiding-places of

“ The walnut then approach’d, more large and tall;
lost spirits ; in that case we should expect to find
Her fruit, which we a nut, the gods an acorn call the aforesaid “ curmudgeon” safely bound up in
Jove’s acorn, which does no small praise confess,
T ’ve call’d it man’s ambrosia had been less. the bark of some fruitful and well-thrashed walnut-
Nor can this bead-like nut, shaped like the brain tree.
GRAPH OTYPE.
EVERAL months ago, in one of those columns Our object not being to write a pamphlet, but
S of the press which, for a consideration, are quite to condense as many facts as possible into one or
impartially open to the most legitimate appeals two pages, we will not travel into an account of
for co-operation, and to the victim-traps of the wood-engraving from its supposed birth in the 10 th
financial depredators, there appeared the announce- century to the present time. We assume the
ment of the “ Graphotyping Company, Limited.” reader’s knowledge that the subject of a Avood-cut
It was emphatically “a bad time for a new com- is first drawn by one artist in pencil, ink, or colour,
pany,” and many an old concern has had a mauvais upon a block of box-wood, and then that the spaces
quart d’lieure since then yet this one, we are told,
:
between the lines are cleanly cut away by the
has contrived not merely to hold its own through “ wood engi'aver,” who, to be successful, must him-
the financial hurricane, but to progress fairly self be an artist. From the block so prepared, or
toward realizing the hopes of its founders. We from stereotypes cast in moulds taken from it, are
are glad of this, for we look upon Grapliotypy as printed the impressions with which all are familial’.
a discovery and practice which will be presently The quality of the cut that delights us in the high
recognized to have an important bearing upon fine class Christmas-books, and in the weekly papers of
arts, manufactures, amusement, and education. our time, or offends in publications of a low grade,
— ;
220 GEAPHOTYPE. [Nature and Art, December 1, I860.
depends upon the taste and skill of the original appellation. It was christened Graphotype, literally signi-
draughtsman, and the dexterity and appreciation of fying a type made immediately from a drawing.
“ Prior to a second experiment it was thought necessary to
the engraver, as well as, to some extent also, upon
use a substance of a finer and more uniform quality of grain
the good management of the printer. The process than common lump chalk, so a cake of French white powder,
is in all classes of work the same, different as the used by ladies for improving their complexions, was obtained,
results may be ; and under the hands of many and the result was highly satisfactory. The faot that these
cakes of white beautifying powder were compactly formed
eminent designers and engravers since the days of
by hydraulic pressure suggested a valuable improvement to
John Bewick, to whom we owe its revival in this the process.”
country, it has been brought to such perfection and
cheapness that wood engravings have for many It will be gathered from the above passage,
years been almost indispensable adjuncts alike to whicli gives but a faint idea of an inventor’s
the most luxurious and to the meanest of publica- labours and anxieties, that although Mr. Hitch-
tions. cock literally “ stumbled,” as his exponent says,
Itwas reserved for an American draughtsman, “ over this notion,” he grasped its wide scope, and
Mr. De Witt Clinton Hitchcock, to discover very its importance to the public (peradventure to him-
unpremeditatedly that the lines of a drawing made self also) with the acumen characteristic of his
with silicating ink upon a surface of chalk would countrymen, and with their native vigour reduced
absolutely resist ordinary friction, while their in- it to practice. The details of the process were not
terstices could be removed by a brush of delicate matured, as may be imagined, without study for ;
hair, or a rubber of velvet, leaving in bold relief a our reader must not assume that any so-called
type or block, which could either be “ printed from any piece of chalk, will answer
silicating ink, or
direct,” or used as a mould for stereotype. the purpose of the graphotyper, or that art and
The story of the discovery as told by the inventor’s technical skill were
not called into requisition
able brother artist and representative, Mr. Henry at every step. in the fulness of time,
Still,
Fitzcook, is not, in our opinion, to be condensed or the Graphotype was brought to the notice of the
improved upon : so we take leave to adopt it :
Society of Arts. According to the custom of
“ In the summer of 1860, whilst engaged in the pursuit of that body, Mr. Fitzcook was permitted to read a
his art, the discovery was made in the following manner: — memoir before it, on the 6th of December, 1865 ; and
In the course of making a drawing on boxwood, he found it to submit the invention to the scrutiny of a hap-
necessary to alter a portion of his design by erasing it and
hazard tribunal, comprising, probably, true experts,
i’e-whitening the exposed surface of the wood. The material
used for this purpose was the enamelled surface of an representatives of old or new rival interests, ignor-
ordinary visiting card, softened by water and a brush, a amuses, and crotcheteers in general. The verdict
method known to most draughtsmen on wood. This card was favourable indeed, it could hardly be other-
:
happened to be one printed from a copper plate, and after wise. For the inventors were there at work with
the removal of all the enamelling, as described, the artist
their frames of indurated chalk, their tiny hair
discovered that the printed letters were undisturbed, and
standing up in a bold relief. pencils, their silicating ink, and
spacing- their
“ Mr. Hitchcock undoubtedly was not the first or only brushes and rubbers, in lieu of boxwood blocks,
draughtsman who had used a card in this way or with the lead pencils, tinters, and gravers. One man at the
samo result but it must be conceded that he was the only wood
:
Graphotype was doing two men’s work at

one who perceived in this mutilated visiting card the basis of
a mode of producing a relief printing-plate without the :
engraving, and in a tenth part of the time. The
skill of the engraver, and who proceeded to experiment press was at hand to prove the tale, and the minor
thereon.
“ The
technical objections —
so often fatal —
having been
first was upon a piece of chalk one inch in
trial
satisfactorily disposed off, the Society of Arts was
thickness, sawn from the ordinary lump, and smoothly
pleased to acquiesce in the “ inexorable logic of
surfaced by scraping. The ink used was silicate of potash,
commonly termed liquid glass, coloured with indigo with ;
facts,” and pronounce success successful.
to
this and a quill pen, a drawing four by six inches was made. Fortifiedby the verdicts of the Society and the
“ The inventor well knew that the application of water to press, and by the experiments of a crowd of ap-
his chalk block would undermine the lines, and consequently
proving artists, the Company wisely associated
destroy the drawing; he, therefore, departed from the method
used with the visiting card, and, with the aid of a tooth-
itself with some practical men, and embarked at
brush, pulverised or disentegrated the surface of the chalk once in business, offering to execute work for all
not immediately drawn upon. comers. As, under favourable conditions, the
“ The lines of the drawing being literally composed of
managers can turn out a stereotyped block ready
stone, withstood the assault of the tooth-brush, but the in-
for the printing-press, in less than two hours after
tervening particles of exposed chalk succumbed, and vanished
in a cloud of snowy dust, leaving the impregnable lines receipt of a finished drawing on the chalk block
standing in relief, inviting a proof of their strength by and as they charge one half the price of a wood
printing on paper. This could not be done until the whole engraving (the drawing being found in both
mass of chalk was changed into stone, by saturating it with instances), there is no room to doubt that a
the liquid glass, and in half-an-hour the chalk engraving or
block was inked and printed in the ordinary way, on paper by demand must be forthcoming from the publishers
burnishing. of cheap books and periodicals, irrespective of all
“ Sawing and surfacing the chalk block, preparing the ink, artistic considerations. But it remains for time to
making the drawing (quite an elaborate one), brushing it into disclose whether the new art will ever vie with
relief, petrifying the block, and printing therefrom, occupied
—
only four hours four happy hours for the inventor.
wood engraving of the highest class. Some of the
11
The new process now needed a name. It was a living published specimens favour the presumption that
act, but the dead languages must be exhumed for its such may be the case ; from others, adverse conclu-
Nature and Art, December 1, 18C6.]
GRAPHOTYPE. 22 L
sions might certainly have been drawn. We are had the Graphotype existed in his young days, he
glad to illustrate our pages with one from the ac- would now have been riding “ in a coach and six,
complished pencil of Mr. John Gilbert, who, after a instead of in an omnibus.” Still, notwithstanding
long and successful career as a designer on wood, the satisfactory results, and the strong body of ad-
lends the weight of his authority most unequivo- herents which the cause has attained, some few years
new material. The list of contributing
cally to the may elapse before the school of competent draughts-
artists new edition of Watts’s “Divine and
to a men now in course of formation has developed fully
Moral Songs ” comprises the names of Holman the capabilities of the art for booh illustration. Time,
Hunt, Cave Thomas, Du Maurier, Hablot Browne, again, and probably tire work of many an ingenious
Marcus Stone, T. Morten, J. D. Watson, H. brain, will show how best to adapt it to the uses of
Anelay, Florence Claxton, C. Green, M.
.
E. the potter, the embosser, the pattern-maker, the
Edwards, and D. C. Hitchcock. calico-printer, and the thousand other artificers who
Mr. Noel Humphreys and Mr. Fitzcook, both have an interest in the cheap and expeditious
practicalmen, were bold enough severally to declare multiplication .of artistic designs.
before the Society of Arts, that properly trained Mr. Holman Hunt himself was, we apprehend, to
artists would find no difficulty in drawing the finest a certain extent, of our opinion, when he wrote the
lineson chalk surface with a brush as fine as is following passage, no less valuable to the invention
now habitually used upon smooth stone by litho- as a testimonial in its favour than as a caution
graphers, and that those who apprehended difficulty, against going too fast :
—
only did so because they had not tried. The “ I regard the process of drawing for book illustrations,
amiable George Cruiksliank, again, thought that called Graphotype, with which ‘
Watts’s Hymns have
’
;
222 MOBSELS SAVED FBOM MOTH AND MOUSE. [Nature and Art, December 1, 18G6.
been illustrated, to be the best yet adopted. The merit of may chance materially to concern, we must par-
the modern wood-cutters is very great, and the care which
they bestow upon the blocks they cut deserves, oftentimes,
ticularly commend this gentlest of arts to that
the greatest thanks of the designer of the work but, even interesting and growing fraternity, the amateur
;
under the most favourable treatment by the cutter, much of Etchers. In a recent number of the “ Fine Arts
the original character of the drawing must necessarily be Quarterly Review, ” an enthusiastic writer “About
lost. Your new invention will preserve every peculiarity of etching,” told us, epigrammatically and truly enough,
style. A first experiment
is scarcely a fair test of the
that the etcher’s needle was to the engraver’s burin
capability of the process, but it has convinced me that
when the tools are familiar to the draughtsman ho will find “ as a pen to a plough.” He illustrated in poetical
a means of expressing his ideas which he never had before and forcible terms the superiority of the “ point ”
except in etching on metal, which of course cannot be used in “ suppleness, liberty, rapidity, and directness of
in type printing.”
utterance ; ” “ in mobility, in independence,” and in
That a revolutionary invention should pass “ mental properties.” Adopting and carrying
through a certain period of minority is satisfactory, farther his metaphor, we are bold enough to say
as withdrawing from calculation the evils attendant that in every property which may enable an artist
upon large and sudden convulsions in the labour to record felicitously his impressions of nature the
market ; and we confess we should regard the Graphotyper’s pencil must bear away the palm
Grapliotype with less complacency could we believe while, in the commonplace particulars of con-
that it would paralyze the profession of the designer venience and manageability, there can be no com-
on wood, or annihilate that of the wood-engraver. parison between the processes. We cannot con-
Should a revolution come, its march cannot be so ceive that any such “ poet painter,” as is referred
rapid as to leave no time for preparation by those to by our contemporary, if his object be con-
who, from previous training, will have so little scientiously and without unnecessary labour to
need of it. The art cannot extemporize its pro- attain the qualities above set forth, will, after a
fessors ;
and the industries in question may, at trial of the Grapliotype, ever again resort to the
small pains, be ready to welcome it. If they refuse cumbrous paraphernalia of the etcher. Whoso
to see the signal of change the fault will be their would save himself pounds of burden and crowns
own. Under either flag they may be safe if they in money, besides enjoying the satisfaction of seeing
please, and we are glad to think there is no place the continuous progress of his plate instead of work-
for the conservative objection we might otherwise ing in darkness and uncertainty as to result, must
have founded upon tendresse for an old interest in surely, ere long, prepare to abandon the copper-plate
danger of being swept away. with its fussy array of bottle and bath, varnish and
And, while we counsel the instant study of the mordant, in favour of the hair pencil, the chalk,
Grapliotype and its capabilities to those whom it and the rubber of the Grapliotype.
MORSELS SAVED PROM MOTH AND MOUSE; OR, GLIMPSES OF

NATURAL HISTORY IN THE DARK AGES.
By Greville Fennell (Barnes).
S there are nations and individuals who look was like to die in the morning, was able to make
A upon a piece of printed paper as a sacred
emblem of literature, and spare it in consequence, so
a supper of it in the evening for they are good
meat.”
:
have we, whenever we have met witli typical worth Doubtless the piquancy of the meal was not a
thereon, considered that the scrap which gave us little increased by the captain’s knowledge that he
pleasure might afford delight to others and it has, ;
was eating his enemy.
consequently, escaped destruction. We
have re- The effects of electricity upon fish are well
cently been sorting some of these jottings and known, although but little is understood at present
cuttings under heads, and as our natal month claims thereon. The Tench suffers extremely from thunder-
for its zodiacal sign —
the Pisces, it is but natural storms, and in Norfolk, where large quantities are
a preference should be given to the musty bits taken and “ trunked,” the fishermen often endure
that apply to fishes, some of them being from books great loss from this cause ; yet the consequences
and manuscripts, which we are inclined to believe are very partial in their character, one trunkful
are now extremely scarce, or have almost ceased of tench being killed on the same “ Broad,” —
as the
to exist. But let us dip at once, after the fashion lakes or lagoons attached to the rivers are tech-
of an extempore and petite lottery, into our budget nically termed, —
while others wholly escaped. We
of literary tickets, and take what comes first. learn by an article in the Quarterly Review for
“ There are stingrays, which carry a dangerous January, 1822, upon Dobrizhoffer’s “ History of the
sting in their tails. Captain Smith,” says Harris, Abipones,”that in tropical climates hail and thunder-
“ was stung by one of them. The effect was a storms together sometimes depopulate rivers. In
violent swelling and a tormenting pain, but was Fotherby’s “Voyage near Greenland,” lat. 78°, “they
cured by a good chirurgeon, and the sick man, that saw a light upon the Fore-bonnet, which the sailors
— a
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] MORSELS SAVED FROM MOTH AND MOUSE. 223
calla Corpo-Santo it appeared like the flame of

;
falling sickness, and the liver,” as Timotheus
so is
“ The and mixed with honey, ap-
liver dried
a candle, and (as seamen observe) always presages relates.
a storm. It was foul weatlier all that day, and plied to the toothache, is a perfect cure,” as Nicander
was so vehement the night following, that the sea hath it. Wecherus testifies, “ the same beaten to
”
ofttimes over-raked the ship.” “ When great fishes powder and drunk, is good against a quartane ague
appear in great numbers, leaping about a ship, it (lib. 2, Antidot. sped.). “ The gall,” as Pliny hath it,
presages a storm some call it playing but I “dissolved in honey, cures the flux.” “The blood
—
:
;
imagine,” says the philosophical author, “ that this is good against growing of hairs, their fat dropt
motion proceeds from some pain or other they are into the ears cures deafness, —
the spawn or sperm
afflicted with against bad weather.” of them put into a linen cloth and applied to the
“ The greatest enemy of mankind is man,” is an hemroides is excellent,” as Gallius, in his Basilica
old axiom. It is well, then, that he possesses some Chymica, asserts. “ The same kills the itch of the
friends amongst the brute creation, as the dog, and, hands, and redness of the face, and is good against
may we add, the horse. And it would seem that any burnings,” as Quercetan testifies (lib. Pharmac.),
he is not destitute of those who love him amongst “All these are known for truths,”
“ taken in March.”
the fish, for we
learn from Sir Thornes Herbert, for doth notAldrovandus, that famous author, tell
that, while he was on the coast of Sanquebar, — us as much in his History of Quadrupeds, lib. 1,
large kingdom on the east side of the Cape of Good page 60 1 “ The troublesome unpleasant noise of
Hope,—he saw there great numbers of dolphins, frogs in the night will cease if you set a candle
of which he says, “ they much affect the company burning on the bank-side nigh the water where
of men, and are nourished like men ; they are they be, or else many lights, according to the
always constant to their mates, generate by sperm, greatness of the place where they be.” quote We
embrace, join, and go with young ten months ; so the latter fact on the authority of Africanus Geopont,
tenderly affected to their parents, that, when they and if nothing else, it serves to show that frogs,
are three hundred years old, they feed and defend albeit considered powerful for good in dark ages,
them against hungry fishes ; and when they die dread the light. Would that the croaking of some
carry them ashore and bury them.” We are not other animals could be as effectually stayed by
told how they contrive to perform the funeral enlightenment.
ceremony ; for another writer (Dr. Grew) describes We must leave the operations of the Frogs, and
the dolphin as of about two yards and a half long. hop back into the water amongst our friends the
“ His tail is expanded in a peculiar way, not fishes. Let us not, however, in gallantry pass over
uprightly, as in other fishes, but horizontally ; by what we have gleaned of “ women-fishes.”
the help of which he makes his gamboles above the “ In some lakes of Angola is frequently seen the
water, and at the same time takes his breath. By creature called Pesiengoni by the natives, by the
this form (sic) being pretty large, he casts himself English Syrens, because, when taken, they fetch
forward, and is said to exceed all other fishes in many sighs and mourn like a woman, and are
swiftness.” Granted that he can “ gambole ” and something like in shape. [The Syrenic pun is not
“ cast himself forward,” when half-seas over, this ours, but of an age to know better.] There is a
would be far from a decorous movement ashore, in hand of this creature at Leyden.” Similar fish-
which to indulge while attending the funeral of his women, or women-fish, are recorded by Collier,
grandmother. But Pliny would have us believe whom it may be enough to quote, although the
that the dolphin is capable of undertaking even scientific may refer to Atlas ,
1740, are closely
stranger feats, for he, and others, relate a story allied in many respects to “ God’s chief work.”
of one of these fishes which frequented the Lake “The Spaniards,” says Collier, “call them Juguete
of Lucrin :
de agua, and the natives Axolotl. And it was like-
“ A
boy that went every day to school from Baia wise pronounced as a fact in natural history, that
to Puzzoli, used to feed this dolphin with bread, Manilla possessed these women-fish in great numbers,
who became at last so familiar with the boy, that they being so called because they had breasts like a
he carried him often on his back over the bay.” woman.”
Appian says he was an eye-witness of the act, But to descend from V enus amongst fishes, only,
“ besides many more that flocked from all parts to it may behold her again in the heavens, let
be, to
see it] and Solin affirms that at last it was so us dilate from the lower ooze of the sea upon the
common that it was scarce any more regarded as an “ Star-gazer.” Rondeletius is particularly anxious
extraordinary thing.” that we should believe his story, and few of our
This “going a wooing” by a Dolphin naturally readers Avill not fail to recognize our friend under
directs us to the Frog. We
are assured in black- his old name. “ This fish [the Star-gazer] hath a
letter that, although he is well known, his virtues slender membraneous string in his mouth, which he
physically are comparatively little understood. projects and draws in at pleasure, as a serpent does
But “ all parts of him are good and profitable for his tongue: with this he decoys little fishes, and
mankind. The heart,” Arnoldus has it, in lib. then preys upon them. For, plunging himself in
I, Breu., “is especially so.” One who was troubled mud,” &c. &c.
with a dire complaint was perfectly cured by If Nature and Art
has any alderman amongst
swallowing, four or five mornings, the heai’ts of frogs. its readers, we beg the
following mouth-watering
“ The lungs of frogs are a preservative against the account of a turtle may be omitted, as in the case
;
224 THE RESOURCES, ETC., OF BIRMINGHAM. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
of the recent agitation of a fear that our supply of and as they lie, they sometimes fetch deep sighs,
coals would he soon exhausted, as the world was and shed abundance of tears. They are excellent
being rapidly scuttled, our city friends may opine good meat, and are sometimes big enough to dine
that the decadence in the size and weight of turtle fourscore men.”
during the last two hundred years may fairly argue It is almost a pity to spoil the poetic sentiment
a time fast approaching when calipash and calipee of “ the sighs and the tears;” but in the attempt to
will be no longer seen in “ big bits ” of green fat. get breath in such an apoplectic position, any
“In the island of Cuba {temp. 1602), they, the — creature with so little neck would gasp and be
turtle, are so large that they will creep along with suffocated by water, or, prosaically speaking, be
five men upon their backs they squirt the water
: drowned. The assurance that “ they are excellent
out at their nostrils, as the dolphin does at his spout. good meat,” protects us, however, against any fear
Men take them by turning them upon their backs that we, by disturbing the pathos of our ancient
with staves, from which posture they cannot rise author, shall annoy his shade.
THE RESOURCES, PRODUCTS, AND INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF BIRMINGHAM,

AND THE MIDLAND HARDWARE DISTRICT.
F Association should ever be in want of testi-
tlio British. In our necessarily rapid summary of the contents of this
I mony it confers upon the country
to the benefit which work, we are obliged to omit mention of many excellent
by holding its annual meetings in different provincial towns, articles on various subjects, several of which, if they were
it may point to the reports lately edited under the above treated at large, would each suffice for a volume. We will
title by Mr. Samuel Timmins (than whom no more zealous advert to but three or four of the most prominent.
or accomplished authority could well have been selected), in In a paper on the Ribbon and Watch Trade of Coventry,
proof of the wholesome stimulus which the Association we have a distinct assertion that the late distress of the
applies to the minds of men apt to pursue trade and trade ribbon-weavers was due less to the commercial treaty then
improvements too eagerly to waste a thought upon the just concluded with France, than to an unsound system of
mere chronicling of the events connected with their several labour-payment and to the caprice of fashion. “ Foreign
manufactures and products. competition, or rather the terror of foreign competition, may
In this work of more than 700 pages, containing informa- have somewhat hastened the crisis, but the crisis itself was
tion respecting the coal and iron of Staffordshire, the glass inevitable, and would have been equally disastrous had the
and alkalis and soap of Smethwick, and the metal-works of French treaty never been concluded. On the other hand,
Birmingham, including its cheapest toys, its costliest plate, while the direct competition of the produce of French looms
and all kinds of engines and machinery, we have a highly can hardly be said to be felt by the Coventry manufacturer,
valuable collection of facts, furnished us by men who, in the indirect competition produced by abolishing the restric-
their several departments, have had special opportunities of tions on trade has undoubtedly been the mainspring of the
knowledge, and who, if not gifted with great literary skill, renewal of prosperity on a sounder and more enduring
must yet be admitted to have described what they have had basis.” The writer is not, however, satisfied that tho
to tell us with considerable ability and perspicacity. Pecu- attempt to introduce the manufacture of cotton goods into
liarly interested as we are in Art manufactures, we have of Coventry has been proved as yet to be successful.
course perused with most care the portions of this book There have occasionally arisen strange rumours as to the
which relate to these productions, and are glad to note kind of goods Birmingham sometimes exports to uncivilized
admissions made here and there that Birmingham has yet countries ; heathen gods, themselves, as some have asserted,
much to learn in this respect. For instance, in summing up have been provided “to order.” Scarcely less strange is
—
the particulars of the lock-trade one of the most flourish- the trade described in this book as being carried on with
—
ing in the district the writer acknowledges that there has some princes of Africa in specially-designed brass coffins,
been little or no improvement made during the last twenty with plates of glass inserted, in order, as the Birmingham
years in Birmingham locks, which might be fashioned “with reporter poetically writes, “ to enable friends to survey the
more symmetry and beauty, without in any way destroying ravages of the destroyer on the visage of the silent tenant
their more practical qualities.” So also we note that the or the curious exportation of brass wire to the Gold Coast,
writer upon japanning admits his “ doubt if any great pro- sometimes to the extent of twenty tons at one order, for
gress has been made in the trade in an artistic direction, use by the natives of that country as money, or, in Birming-
although we no longer see Abraham in red sacrificing Isaac ham euphuism, “as the circulating medium.” Another of
in blue upon a green altar with a black background.” He its annual exports to Africa is about 100,000 to 150,000 of
tells us that all colour is now eschewed for japan ornament,
—
those flint muskets “park-palings” they used derisively
“
excepting one, and that is the hue of the metal which sub- to be called on account of their quality— with stocks stained
—
dues the world” meant to be an elegant periphrase hinting to order, black, brown, red, and vermilion —the African
that “gold hath the sway” at present; a statement which being fond of “standing on the old paths” in the choice
is followed by a mysterious sentence that “ one whose name of his guns, rather than to accept the results of modern
in matters of art is just now much before the public” has scientific discovery.
announced that “ colours are coming in again,” and we The particulars respecting the manufacture of Birmingham
may consequently expect that “ the flat and insipid will soon jewellery and the cheap imitations of such valuables is ex-
give place to Tyrian dyes and hues that emulate the rose.” tremely interesting, and perhaps also the most carefully
This rather glowing paper ends with a statement that among described in the volume. We have not room, however, to
japanuers “ a little more education is desirable for a man
;
enter upon them here, nor to refer to the papers on electro-
to excel in his art he should know something of perspective plating, bronze-casting, glass-painting, coining, steel-pen
and more of colour.” But Birmingham artists in japanning making, bells, and other manufactures. It must suffice that
can not be covetous of large pay, and yet they must be we pronounce the work to be an extremely important one,
very expeditious for we are shown, in a statistical account
; and to commend it to general perusal. Yet it is but a frag-
of them, that their wages average only 30s. a week, although —
ment an imperfect fragment— of tli6 industrial history of
“ a skilled artist can paint with ease two gross of small this country, which yet remains to be written.
landscapes per day.”
;
•
’’
‘'
i -V'
: &
:: ; ;
IN atiuv ami Art, December* .l.ltttiii.
xs>)
m
A\
O
=GW>i?ifl •
ir • etxeeiifSis-
$
Cauntru talk fnttfj eager eyes,
f<s
_ Stable Saar fame flatfung rotm®

ffilje
l
‘^fW 9aS “ J>!)epf)er®B, tljere,” tljeg crte®, “He lies
3u® ere tlje Make ge desk tS faun® :.
, tit)
•it Caesar’S rail, from Souti) to norti),

Our tribe t£ tal® in Setljleljem
3n® priest aitS Hebite thrust tfjem fartfj,—
&j)e ajr’S Stall toaS meet far tljem.”
<£()e sl)epi)er®S came— a Simple creto,

In rustic orSer bmt t!)ej? tijere;
Stub Still tlje Sijepljer®pipes tfjeg bleb),
CGysk Qn® Sang betimes a Solemn air
#63 Cljeg bent, tfjett gaje®, “to ©a® tl>e praise:’
ia)/?
Cbeg raSe, an® Ijmnn’tr tfjeir Ijpmn again
It Seem’® a Strain of eRJer ®aj»S,
fflSSijeu ©a® boucfySafe® to fioalft toiti) men.
®u® tljen tljeg tal® Ijata late at ntgf)t,

2Jg J3abi®’S OTell tljeg toatd)’® tfjetr fal®;
(0) C5je bale tnaS hiaTT® ta left an® rigijt,

3 u® Screen’® tljcir I)u®®ltng Sljeep from cal®.
©a®’£ angel Staap’® in bright arrag,
“dfear not,” Ije Sat®, “but Sljaut an® Sing; &
Ca gau, tn S3abt®’S tabnt, tljis ®ag
IS barn a Jiabtaur, Christ tlje Bing.
“ 3n® tfjtS Sfjall be tlje Sign: ge’ll fin®
<*.,<< 2-3
C!je ISabe toitijiu a manger Iat®.“
STljen
C5e
Su®®en
Ijeabenlg ijaSt
3n®, tel) tic ije
a’er
an
tlje
:
angel Sljtitc®
fjarpS rfjeg plag’®. #
maunte® in tfjeir Iigl)t,
f. dfram Sbn ta eartl) tlje rfjaruS ran,
O' “©Icrg to ©a® tn IjigtjeSt t)eigl)t,
Peace upon eartl), gcu®4mn to man.”
o
;: ; :
jg>urf) toaS the tale, and “ poor our Ain,”

Ch eg Said, “but ©ad h» h tuned l ifje Song,
<3nd henceforth Still, o’er date and fjtll,
«0ur fjumble pipes to ©ad belong

9ntf ‘Cf)riSt tS bout!’ toe’ll Shout amain,
‘©lorg to ©air in IjtgfjeSt height:’
5>fl tarot toe that angel Strain,
gearltj to greet thee, blessed night.”
Chet) msrbelTd at tfjc Shepherds' tale,

Clje people thronging to anil fro
“ Cl)e Stated seasons ncbcr fait,
Che wears drato tttgfj,” tfjcg toh&per’d loto
®ud SerrS before manger Stepp’d
tfje
<Ind fail’d Him— “ 3Lord and Sting tfjou art.”

33ut all SagtngS iHarg bept,
tl)eSe
Snd muSed upon them in Ijer heart
«&h fHarp, mother, mceft and mild,

!
Chg baS need of Strengthening noto

fait!)
©aje long upon thg Sleeping ©fjtld,

Jfor blood Shall burn that placid broto.
Cljose lips Shall toritfje tn agong,
$nd Sljrtefe tlje SinteSS Soul atoag
Und get tfjg faith must modeless be,
Sind learn to bleSS $>tS torment dag.
©I)! Virgin pother, Spouse of ©ad!

Slung burning patlj of dread
tfjc
Chg tooman’S feet Shall pass unshod —

CfjtS hour Shall Stag thg Stnbtng head.
Und oft tohen tointcr ntgfjts are long,
find all thg heart toith toatcfjing toorn,
Sfgatn shall burst that angel Song,
38teSSed of toometi, “Christ is bora!”
^
Q/~
; ; .
Nature and Art, December 1, 186(5.] TI-IE PALACE OF THE C^SAES. 225
THE PALACE OF THE CM S AE S

TITHE celebrated gardens of the Farnese palace, gives very nearly a square form to the Germalus ),
A which belonged to the ex-king of .Naples, were in order to have reached the other side of the
purchased of Francis II. by the Emperor Louis Palatine Mount, and thence the “ lowest ” point,
Napoleon, and the latter has prepared the materials where it abutted on the Tiber. This being the case,
of a highly-interesting chapter in his “Life of Julius it was only necessary to excavate from the Arch of
Caesar” by placing them in the hands of the Chevalier Titus, in the direction of the Interrnontium in ,
Pietro Rosa, a learned Roman archaeologist. Ex- order to discover the foundation of the ancient way;
cavations were commenced in 1861, with the and the point on this line where the remains of the
object, as given in the Chevalier’s own words, of Porta Mugionia might be found, would be at once
bringing to light, for the advantage of science, all the summit of the Via Nova and the point of de-
that remains on that spot belonging either to the
.
parture of its prolongation across the Interrnontium.
earliest epoch of the eternal city, of which the Pala- This being done, the situation of the house of Ancus
tine Mountwas the cradle, or to the latertimes of the Martius, which, according to Varro, stood on the
republic and the empire, whose magnificent edifices left of the Via Nova, near the gate Mugionia (ad
covered nearly its whole surface. The labours of portam Mugioniam secundum Viam sub sinistra),
M. Rosa, described partly by himself, and partly by would be determined. Two lines of Ovid —
Dr. Henzen, in the “Bulletin of the Archaeological “ Indo petens dextram, porta est
Institute of Rome,” have resulted in important dis- Augusta palati.
coveries and highly-interesting hypotheses, which “ Hie Stator, hoc primiim condita
cannot fail to be deeply interesting to the learned Roma loco est.”
Trist ., Book II.)
world. Those discoveries refer to three distinct (
objects —the primitive form of Mount Palatine directed M. Rosa’s

researches to this spot where he
the public and private buildings erected in the time was sure Temple of Jupiter
to find the vestiges of the
of the Caesars ; and the monuments of a still older Stator ; and as the heights of the elia rose beforeV
period on the ruins of which they were raised. him to theleft of the Interrnontium the position of the
,
M. Rosa’s first task was to clear away the super- house of Tullius Hostilius and of the Temple of the
incumbent soil of the gardens, and lay bare the Penates, as described by Solimus ( Tullus Hostilius
ruins below ; and, after much research, he believes Ileum Penatium cedes
habitavit in Velid, ubi posted
that he has made a discovery of great importance, facta, est), was he was also enabled
clearly indicated ;
and which will go far towards explaining what has to fix the place of the house of Tarquin, whose
before seemed obscure in ancient accounts. The windows, says Titus Livius, looked upon the Via
discovery, or hypothesis, is this —
that the surface of Nova, near the Porta Mugionia, and the temple of
Mount Palatine, which has been heretofore re- Jupiter Stator. At the same time he was enabled
presented as a trapezium, was formerly, like the to solve the much-vexed question touching the
Capitoline Hill, intersected by a hollow, or Inter- direction of the Via Nova, raised probably by the
montium, dividing it into two plateaux of unequal text of Ovid, who made it pass by the Velabrum
size. Of these the western was the Germalus, and and thus contradicted the words of Festus cited
the smaller one, a mere appendage, which stretched above. The dates clear up the discrepancy the :
towards the Esquiline and separated the two valleys Interrnontium being closed over in time by build-
of the Forum and the Flavian Amphitheatre, the ings, the direction of the Via Nova was altered,
Velia. M. Rosa declares that there is no doubt and passed round the hill by the Velabrum to the
whatever of the original existence of these two Circus Maximus. The discovery of the Inter-
heads of the Mount, for he has laid bare, beneath montium, moreover, enables M. Rosa to determine,
the palace of the Caesars itself, the under-ground as he believes, the perimeterof the ancient square city
constructions which filled up the original hollow, and of Rome, founded, as the legends say, by Romulus.
furnished an artificial foundation for later erections. The famous wall, whose place was traced by the
This discovery has led to the following important plough of the royal shepherd, per ima Montis Pala-
deductions. It is known, from the evidence of tini, as Tacitus says, and the pomoerium, or boule-
Solimus, that the Porta vetus Pcdatii, or Porta vard, of ancient Rome, which Aulus Gellius says
Mugionia, one of the gates of the old square city, was confined to the Mount Palatine, could not,
constructed by Romulus, was situated at the cul- according to M. Rosa, have descended and re-
minating point of the Via Nova ( supra summam mounted the Interrnontium. The boundaries of
Novam Viam ) and as Festus tells us that the Via the ancient city must have included only the Cer-
Nova which branched off from the Via Sacra, at the
, —
malus that part indicated on the plan by dotted
place where the Arch of Titus was afterwards lines. This point being admitted, the difficulties
erected, and reached the banks of the Tiber presented by the texts of Tacitus, Aulus Gellius,
by passing between the Velabruni and Mount and Solimus, are cleared away. M. Rosa considers,
Aventine, it is evident, he thinks, that the Via also, that he has been enabled to fix the position of
Nova must have followed the Interrnontium, or the head of the steps of Cacus ( supercilium sca-
hollow (which, it will be seen by the plan annexed, larum Caci), and the probable situations of the
VII. Q
, -
226 THE PALACE OF THE CiESABS. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
altar of Consus, the curios veteres,and the sacellum care to destroy, or to apply to other uses, this monu-
larium. ment of imperial folly and Domitian would not
;
As regards the constructions of the time of the allow the palace of the Csesars to be rebuilt on an
Caesars, they may be divided into two groups : — enlarged plan, adopting in preference that of the
those which constitute the Imperial palace properly old Roman House.
so called — the JEdes Publicce or Imperatoricc ; and The edifice, then, Avhose plan M. Rosa has re-
those which were buil t by successive emperors in constructed from the remnants he has discovered,
the vicinity of the public edifice to which they Avas exactly that to which Nerva gave the designa-
were attached. Of course the former, the public tion of JEdes Publicce, which Lampridius, in his
buildings, have been the principal objects of “Life of Heliogabalus,” calls JEdes Ardicce and
M. Rosa’s attention and research. They occupy jEdes Imperatorice, and which the topographical
the upper part of the plan to the left, and are writers of the fourth century called, in order to
marked with the Roman numerals I. to X. This distinguish it from the imperial constructions,
colossal edifice has always been considered as the Sedes Imperii Pomani ; and that it was erected by
work of the Flavians ; and M. Rosa attributes it Domitian, M. Rosa concludes from passages in
more especially to Domitian, the last of the Csesars contemporaneous writers, notably Martial and
of that family. It is true that Suetonius, in his Statius, and from the peculiar make and stamps of
account of the great works executed by Domitian, the bricks used in its construction. The following
does not mention the rebuilding of the palace is his description : —
of the Csesars ; and equally so that, notwith- The Porta vetus Palatii, at the head of the Clivus
standing that emperor’s habit of giving his own Palatinus gave access to an open space in which
name to all the works accomplished during his the people circulated freely, and which held, in the
reign, the palace in question is not called after him case of the palace, the place of the enclosed Atrium
by any contemporary writer, even amongst his most of Roman houses. It will be seen, on reference to
devoted flatterers. This may, however, have arisen, the plan, that this A trium lies directly on the Inter-
suggests M. Rosa, from its essentially and rigorously montium which lies beneath the whole extent of the
public destination. The publicity of the imperial palace. Alarge flight of steps, mentioned by Ovid
palace was, as it Avere, one of the stipulations of and Suetonius, led from the Atrium to the colonnade
the compact entered into between the people and which ran all along the face of the palace ; but they
the Cxesars. The Great Julius, who, before being have not yet been opened up, out of consideration
named Sovereign Pontiff, inhabited a simple private for the buildings which now stand over the site.
house in the Subura (in Suburd modicis cedibus, Ascending the rising ground we arrive at the
says Suetonius), installed himself, after his election, portico, of Avhicli M. Rosa has collected all the
in the Domus Publica, at the foot of the Palatine fragments he could find. At three points the in-
Mount, near the point marked in the plan Avitli the creased spaces between the columns mark the
Arabic figure 7. entrances to three distinct apartments.
But the Domus Publicci did not contain merely Of these the centre one is the Tablinum (No. I.),
the habitation of the Caesars, but also, as in the in Avhicli, during the early periods, the archives of
time of the ancient kings, the Sacred Hearth of the the family Avere kept (tabulae, Avhence come the
Country and the temple of Yesta. Dionysius of words tabulinum, tablinum) ; and there it was
Halicarnassus tells us, that Avhen the modest house that the patron gave audience to his clients. The
of Hortensius on the Palatine Mount, inhabited by clients of the Emperor of Rome were the Roman
Augustus, had been burnt, that politic sovereign, people, in it the Emperor presided over the
on erecting another on rather a larger scale, ordered meetings of the Senate, his chair being placed
that it should be open to the public, not only because in the centre of the tribune which faced the door.
it had been built with the public money, but because, In seAT eral parts of the pavement and walls, the
in his quality of Sovereign Pontiff, he ought to live circuit of which is still complete, may be seen traces
in a house which was at once private and public. of rich marble incrustations. This apartment has
This tradition became afterwards a sort of political passed hitherto for the famous Palatine Library,
dogma, even under the successors of Augustus. established by Augustus ; it was discovered in the
The palace of the Csesars never ceased to be a truly year 1720, by Biancliini, who, however, could not
public edifice Avhere each citizen was at home it : pursue his investigations.
had not the accommodations of a private Roman The chamber marked II. was evidently the
dwelling ; but the general arrangements, which basilica, or supreme tribunal, and, consequently,
were invariable and in a sense sacred, Avere main- peculiar to the imperial palace. The semicircular
tained. It was the House of the Roman People, tribune with the podium, Avliere the judges sat, and
and Csesar was only the first citizen. Nero lost the two small lateral staircases, which led to these
sight of this clause of the contract. He found seats, are perfectly recognizable;
and M. Rosa has
that the emperor Avas “ not even lodged as a man,” found and replaced a portion of the transenna, ox-
and built for himself that famous House of Gold, balustrade in white marble, which separated the
with its ponds, woods, baths, pavilions, and pastures, audience from the accused. Thei*e are also traces
and which encroached, over the valley where the of the columns which supported the two external
Amphitheatre now stands, to the very summit of galleries, while a piece of Avail, entire as regards
Mount Esquilinus. But the Flavian emperors took height, serves to show what Avas the altitude of the
* ;
Nature and Art, December 1, 18G6.]

THE PALACE OF THE C33SARS. 227
hall. This, then, was the Basilica Jovis, where with marbles, and contained statues. The lower
St. Laurence and other Christians were condemned. range of niches touched the water, so that the
The apartment No. III. is the Lararium, which reflection of its surface added to the brilliancy
in every Roman house is found in or at the side of of the marbles and the richness of the ornaments.
the A trium ; and Roman writers speak of sacrifices Here was found a fine statue of Eros, lifesize and
made to the La/res in the Atrium of the palace, with large wings, the restoration of which has been
before the sittings of the Senate. entrusted by the Emperor to M. Charles Steinhauser,
Returning to the Tablinum, we pass thence into a clever German sculptor -
M. Rosa has decorated
.
the Peristylium, or interior colonnade, which always this fountain with flowers and verdure, as he con-
occupied the centre of a Roman house. The area ceives it to have been in the time of the Csesars.
of this Peristylimn, would, if completely cleared, Not far from the Nymphwum is a fine octagonal
measure more than three thousand square chamber (No. VI.), having four doors in its sides
metres ; but at least one-third of it is cut off and the same number of niches in its angles ; two
by the buildings of the Villa Mills (anciently of the doors communicate with the Peristylium and
Villa Palatina), which also conceals a part of the a side colonnade, and the room seems to have
house of Augustus, and, according to all ap- formed the main entrance to the former on that
pearances, the Temple of Apollo. A part of the side of the palace.
portico of the Peristylimn, which was in Carrara The figure VII. marks eight rooms of various
marble, has been restored by M. Rosa, and, as in dimensions, but all hexahedral in form. V
itruvius
the other parts of the palace, considerable fragments tells us that this was the arrangement of conversa-
of ancient yellow and other marble facings are tion rooms, not only in the gymnasia, but also in
found on the jravement and along the stylobates. private mansions.
Here were, perhaps, the mural pkengites which, The rooms indicated by the figure VIII. may be
according to Suetonius, the suspicious Domitian considered as antechambers to the Basilica and the
caused to be polished with great care ; so that, Tablinum.
while walking under the portico, he could see with The apartments above named may be considered
a glance of the eye what was passing behind him. as constituting the principal mass of the Aides
Under the gallery to the south of the peristyle, Publicoe, and the private apartments were com-
marked on the plan with the letter H., you descend paratively unimportant. Of the latter, that marked
a few steps and find two small chambers, decorated IX. is believed to have been the library ; and
with paintings and stucco-work, which have long No. X. one of those halls for declamation, which,
borne the arbitrary designation of the Baths of borrowed from the Greeks, were first brought into
Livia, and which, M. Rosa believes, belong to the use by the first of the Flavians.
Augustan period. Beyond the Peristylium opens —
To the right of the building is a portico a con-
No. IV., the Triclinium (from the Greek word tinuation, in fact, of that in front, and which has
rphckwov, three beds), situated, according to custom, been uncovered along the whole side of the
in the same area as the peristyle, and reproducing building. As in the principal fagade may be re-
exactly the form and arrangement adopted by the marked three chief entrances, ) E. F., of which
I .
Greeks, according to Vitruvius, for grand ban- the first leads to the Basilica, the second to the
quetting-rooms. Csesar’s famous military architect Tablinum, and the third to the Peristylium, through
says that these apartments opened towards the the vestibule (VI.) already referred to. It will be
north, that they were arranged to contain two long perceived that these colonnades afford ready means
tables placed facing each other, and that they were of access to all the principal parts of the palace.
pierced with windows of the same width as the The openings in the side, as well as in the chief
doors, in order that the guests “lying” at table colonnade, looked on to a large open space this ;
should have a full' view of the gardens upon which was the Area palatina, devoted to public exercises
they looked out. All these features are found in and amusements. On the other side of this Area
the apartment in question, and, in addition, a large were the private habitations of the emperors, erected
apsis at the end opposite the door, and where, no principallyby Tiberius and Caligula. An ancient
doubt, was placed a third and principal table — that road,which Haverses the Area palatina and leads to
of the Emperor. Amongst the vestiges of decoration the Peristylium, passes by the house of Tiberius.
in this room are enormous pieces of granite columns, The excavations in this part of the hill are not
and large fragments of red porphyry, which belonged so advanced as those on the site of the palace itself
to the pavement of the apsis ; these have all been but some interesting discoveries have been made.
placed in situ, so as to give some idea of this A long series of vaulted cells which open on the
sumptuously-decorated chamber. Via Antigua formed, it is believed, the quarters of
To the westward of the Triclinium has been the Pretorian guard. In one of these cells are
discovered a vast Nymphceum (No. V.), which —
some rude scratchings a galley, a man’s head, &c.
doubtless held the place of one of the usual —
- which have the appearance of having been traced
gardens, and which was evidently decorated in a with some such instrument as the point of a sword.
manner to deceive the eye. In the centre of this A passage connects these cells with the central
apartment is a monumental fountain of elliptical Peristylium (M.) of the house of Tiberius.
form (shown in the plan), and furnished with two
ranges of niches, which were evidently decorated * See Horace, Ep. i. 3-17.
Q2
228 THE PALACE OF THE CHCSARS. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
Lower down, to the north of the latter, extend up in Sylla’s time, when Alba and Travertine stone
the buildings of the house of Caligula. In ex- came into use. The most important vestiges which
cavating to find the traces of the ancient Clivus M. Rosa has yet discovered of constructions anterior
Victories, M. Rosa came \ipon a kind of colossal to the time of the republic are those of the Temple
gallery, composed of two ranges of arches, one of Jupiter Stator, of the Auguratorium and of the ,
above the other (N. N.). Amarble balustrade Temple of Jupiter Yictor. The exhumation of the
exists in the upper range, and bas-reliefs in stucco first of these is, however, not yet far advanced.
are to be seen on the vaultings and frieze ; the The director wisely confined himself at first to the
nature of these latter, defaced though they are, is determination of the limits of the Imperial Palace
said to indicate the buildings which Caius Caligula and of the private constructions of the Ctesars,
itself
constructed in an infamous fit of speculation, and knowing that such a course would narroAvthe ground
to which his agents invited visitors in the basilics for his future researches. He argued, moreover,
and public places. that the tendency to aggrandisement manifested by
The constructions marked 0. 0., P. P., erected Tiberius, by Caligula, and by Nero would only have
by the successors of Caligula, mask the galleries in been arrested in presence of the sacred character of
question, and give them, in certain places, the air neighbouring edifices ; and the discovered situation
of a cavern. This spot, moreover, of all the of the buildings of the Imperial period revealed to
splendid and terrible places here, is that which is him the fact that certain monuments of the republic
haunted by the most terrible reminiscences. All the were preserved long into the Imperial epoch. As
prestige of solemn acts and historic grandeur cannot regards the temple promised by Romulus to Jupiter
here shut out the horrors of human infamy. Under Stator, Titus Livius, Ovid, and other writers fix its
these dark arches we see in our mind’s eye the shade position near to the Porta Mugionia; and, as the
of the imperial fool, who threw a bridge across the limits of the Imperial buildings on that side of the
Forum, in order that he might converse privately hill touch very nearly the slopes towards the Yia
with Jupiter in the night. Here, perhaps, the Sacra, and moreover were connected Avith other con-
impure Messalina paraded her own dishonour, and structions between which there Avas little space, it
the haughty Agrippina concocted her sanguinary became eAr ident that remains of the edifices of the
intrigues. That arch which opens on the Velabmm republican period, and especially the Auguratorium
is the postern-door (pars postica palatii ), by Avhich and the Temple of Jupiter Yictor, must be sought
the perfidious Otho, wading through blood to the in other directions.
throne, Avent to join his accomplices at the Golden There remained to be examined a space of ground
Standard, leaving the kiss of Judas on the cheeks about 600 feet in length and 300 in breadth, in the
of him whose head and throne he coveted. Avestern part of the Mons Palatinus and occupying
The tortuous Avay which traverses the Palace of the angle between the Yelabrum and the Circus
Caligula M. Rosa believes to be the Clivus Victories, Maximus. On this spot M. Rosa has discovered
as it is at the foot of this sloping road that Festus two monuments, of Avhich the antiquity is believed
places the Portei Remiana, the second gate of the city to be proved not only by the quality of the materials
of Romulus, and the same, no doubt, by which the employed, but by their disposition and by the mode
assassin of Galba made his escape. Outside of this of construction, Avliich is that known under the
gate should be found the steps Avhicli led, by way of name of square work, or Etruscan properly so called.
the Yelabrum, to the Circus Maximus. Near it One of these monuments is composed of tAvo terraces
Avere the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Domus of unequal size, the smaller of which commands the
Publica, which Avas the dAvelling of Caesar, the groA'e larger, and both are contained betAveen two great
dedicated to Yesta, and the dwelling of the sacred which serve as their supports. Against
parallel Avails,
virgins and, finally, here commences the Forum
;
these Avails also rest the two large flights of steps
Romanum, a mine of gold, yet scarcely opened, for which grae access from without to the great terrace,
the historian and the archaeologist. and thence to the smaller one above it. On the
Quitting now the habitations of the Caesars, we small terrace and against the central portion of the
again ascend Mount Palatine and glance at the back Avail advances a kind of rectangular rostrum
monuments, anterior to the imperial epoch, which or pulpit, which M. Rosa believes Avas Avithout
M. Rosa has discovered or indicated. A trench doubt the augural chair, the sacred seat whence
thirty feet Avide has been opened at the point marked the priests studied Destiny by observation of the
G. on the plan, that is to say, by the side of the heavens. Such is the general outline of the Augura-
portico which separates the Triclinium from the torium, marked J. in the plan, which Avas con-
Library already mentioned (and, consequently, near tracted, as tradition reports, on the A ery place T
the Intermontvum), and has yielded good fruit. Here where Romulus consulted the heavens respecting
were found the broken columns of the portico G., the foundation of Rome.
of which the stylobate alone remained in its place. The position and conformation of the building in
The foundations thus laid open are not extensive question seem to leave no doubt of its identity.
but possess great interest they are said to belong Tacitus and Quintilian tell us that in a Roman camp
;
undoubtedly to the time of the republic, and cer- — and old Rome Avas but a permanent entrenched
tainly anterior to the time of Sylla, as they are —
camp- the Auguratorium was situated as near as
built of the stone taken from the Ccelian, one of possible to the Prestorium and to the western limit
the seven hills of Rome, the use of Avhich Avas given of the camp ;
Tacitus adds, that it contained in
.Nature and Art D ee <-tnb er 1 .1866.
,
CIRCUS TVT AXIMUS

MOUNT
Tujtjtt ru/m Fnnsttitb

J>ovitd<w:7iere dwelt
APOLLO
OF
ANTIQO a
TEMPLE
»M 0 U S f. OF f B E/R
l I
PALATl e atrium Gardens
FORUM
V i
f
)A A >, T.'&'Ci
YARDS
: —
Nature and Art, December 1, I860.]

HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. 229
front of the augural chair an open space where the has decorated the sides of the cuttings with flowers
altar was This open space is well repre-
placed. and shrubs, and has moreover set up a number of
sented in the ruin in question by the larger terrace finger-posts bearing quotations from Solimus, Varro,
which covers half the plan of the building. Tacitus, Ovid, Titus Livius, and other authors, in
The remains which M. Rosa recognises as those order to add interest to the ruins. doubt not that We
of the Temple of Jupiter Victoi marked K. in the -
,
amongst the visitors to those uncovered records of
plan, are situated to the south-east of the Augwra- the past our own countrymen will form a consider-
torium, near the Nymphceum of the palace, and it able proportion, and therefore we hope our readers
will be seen that the wall of the apartment in the will thank us for this account of what has been
rear of the last named runs parallel with the east done, and is still in progress, towards the illustra-
side of the supposed temple, as those of other build- tion of the history of the seven hills of the eternal
ings do with the western wall. are told by We city. It is curious that the downfall of a modern
Titus Livius that the Temple of Jupiter Victor was Italian kingdom should thus have given rise to so
built in pursuance of a vow of Fabius Maximus much information being gathered concerning the
during the Samnite war, and the character of the cradle of its fathers and it would be unfair to for-
;
constructions laid open accords with this. It is get that one of the effects of the Italian war has
impossible to doubt that this temple was situate on been the placing of the Farnese gardens in the hand
Mount Palatine, from the following passage : of Napoleon the Third, with whose name and that
“ Palatinus continet aream palatinam cedes Jovis . . . of his learned and zealous agent, the Palace of the
Victor is' ’
— (Notitia and in Curioswm
urbis, reg. x.); Ctesars, the Temples of Jupiter, and the rostrum of
urbis it is situated between
stated that the temple is the Augurs must for ever be associated.
the Auguratorium, the Area palatina, and the
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN.
Domus Dionis. M. Rosa says, in the first place
I. Tablinum of the Palace of the Cmsars.
the disposition of the structure resembles what we
II. Basilica do. do. do.
see in that of some of the principal temples yet III. Lararium do. do. do.
visible in ancient Latium, as, for instance, those of IV. Triclinium do. do. do.
Hercules triumphans, at Tivoli, and of Castor and V. Nymphasum, or Hall of Fountains.
VI. Entrance Hall, leading- to the Peristylium from the old
Pollux, at Tusculum. As in those temples, so in
road by the house of Tiberius.
the remains of the one now discovered on the Pala-
VII. Small chambers.
tine Mount, the approach is by imposing flights of VIII. Dependencies of the Basilica and the Tablinum.
steps alternating with landing-places or platforms ;
IX. Library.
those commence from the road which runs along the X. Academy.
A, B, C. Entrances to the Palace from the Atrium.
front of the edifices constructed at the foot of the
D, E, F. Entrances from the Area qjalatina.
mount towards the Circus Maximus. The greater H. The Peristylium.
portion of the principal platform, which may be J. The Auguratorium.
called the A rea Sacra of the temple, is still entire, K. Temple of Jupiter Victor.
L. Entrance to the Palace by the old road from the west.
while the temple itself, standing on a much higher
M. Central Peristyle of the private palace.
level, contains, although in a dilapidated state, re-
N. N. Principal facade of the buildings of Caligula.
mains of steps divided into two flights by another O. 0, P, P. Successive additions since Nero down to Adrian.
platform. The remains of its walls are in square Nos. 1 and 2. Position (supposed) of the Curice vetcres.
work, that is to say, of hewn blocks of tufa or 3. Do. do. do. Ancus Martius.
4. Do. do. do. Tarquin.
volcanic stone, in horizontal layers, but of irregular
5. Do. do. do. Clodius.
sizes, while the sub-basement, which supports the Do. do. do. Cicero.
6.
lower platform on the slope of the hill, is formed 7. Do. do. Domus ptijblica inhabited
of stones of irregular form laid in cement or — Do.
by Caesar.
wood and Temple
“ irregular reticulated ” or “ ashlar ” work. 8. do. of
Vesta.
M. Rosa is now seeking for the ruins of the 9. Do. do. cavern and steps of
Tugurium Faustuli, which he places between the Cacus.
Auguratorium and the Temple of Jupiter Victor. The dotted lines show the supposed perimeter of the
Wherever his excavations have been completed he 1
ancient Rome.
By H. Ward.
PART II. BASLE.
OLD youth and health and genius could
as which had been born, he may have dreamed of
lie
B make him, young Hans Holbein set forth on

As
going to Italy but for a time, at least, he turned
;
His first
his travels. lie left the school of high art in a little westward and halted at Basle.
* Holbein
work there has never been questioned. This was a
und seine Zeitvon Dr. Alfred Woltmann.
Erster Theil. Holzschnitten und eincr Photo-litho-
Blit 31
signboard. It was not unconnected with the
grapliie. Leipzig, 1866. Muses ; for it swung at the door of a poor school-
;
230 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature aud Art, December 1 I860.

,
master. It is now at the Basle museum, sliced in ornaments were the shields of the dead magnates ;
two, so as to exhibit both sides of it. One of them and the living ones managed to combine religion
represents the junior school to the left is the
: and comfort and respectability in a way that was
master at his desk, rod in hand, hearing three boys novel to their southern visitor. The bodies of the
repeat their ABC; and at an opposite desk sits churches, says he, have wooden closets on each
the mistress with a little girl. The other repre- side ; and the mistresses shut themselves up with
sents the adult school, where the master is setting their daughters and maids, in higher or lower
copy-books before two hobbledehoys. Each side is closets, according to their rank, so that the noble
dated 1516. And now that we have seen how our ladies are quite invisible ;
but the untitled women
young artist earned his first crust of independence, show their heads when they stand up ; the rest of
let us glance at the place that was to be his head- the congregation can be seen down to the waist.
quarters for ten years. The pew system, then, was antecedent to Protest-
Basle was well described by a lively Italian, antism, with which we are apt to connect it.
eighty years before Holbein’s arrival. Looking Perhaps it marks the spirit of the northern races ;
down upon it from the neighbouring heights, he who do not care so much about levelling the bar-
says, one is struck by the high-pitched roofs, and the riers of rank, as keeping a door open for a change
many-coloured glazed tiles that glitter in the sun. of owners. The burgher may remove the knightly
Almost everything is new ; for earthquakes and shield, but he quietly appropriates the pew. This
fireshave half-ruined the old minster towers, and sort of change was going on when young Holbein
scarcely left one hundred old houses standing. The entered Basle.
Bhine too, in the early summer, swollen by melt- The University had already done a brave piece
ing snows from the Alps, often sweeps away the of work, a large portion of which would not have
long wooden bridge, and cuts off the northern pleased its papal founder. It had made the town
quarter from the main body of the town. But the an asylum for students. Not only those had come
place is rich, and quickly recovers itself. The streets who desired instruction in the classics, in Hebrew,
are wide enough, and well-paved ; the churches are and in orthodox theology, but those also who
numerous, not indeed made of marble as in Italy, longed for something like free polemical discussion.
but still of handsome stone aud Florence cannot
; The new ideas had spread from student to towns-
boast of neater dwelling-houses, each with its own man, The burghers had begun to jostle the nobles,
fountain and courtyard and garden. There are and edge them out of office and they had more
;
splendid public fountains also, and more conduits than maintained the old independence of the Free
than at Viterbo, and they are full of sweet and City. They had refused to follow the Swabian
sparkling water. The people delight in breeding League, when Maximilian turned it against Swit-
singing-birds, and they make the storks at home zerland. But, loath to attack their emperor, they
for it is thought that if a stork’s nest were disturbed, had stood neutral throughout the war. At the
she and her mate would bring firebrands on to the close of it, they had been harassed out of patience
roof. The public walks are closely shaded with by the resentful Imperialists and they had entered
;
pollard oaks and elms ;

and there the young folks the Swiss Confederation in 1501. At the same
race and wrestle, and shoot at the mark, or hurl time they had been at variance with their own
the bar. The city walls are not high enough to bishop. His claims to be chief magistrate had
stand a hot assault, but their defenders say that often been contested : they were now set aside.
they are the walls ; and indeed they are broad- His spiritual authority, and some political influence
shouldered and stout-hearted, only too fond of remained but he was not left strong enough to
;
father Bacchus and dame V

enus. As for learning, remove the teachers, who were preparing the Avay
it is confined to the vulgar tongue and the very
; for the Beformation.
name of Cicero is unknown. A minor change, too, had taken place, which
The writer, whose letter we have been citing, made the streets more pleasant for a painter. At
was HLieas Sylvius (or Eneo Silvio Piccolomini, of an earlier period the substantial burgher used to
Sienna), whoplayed one of the leading parts in the wear sombre clothing himself, and enforce sombre-
Council of Basle (1431-1443). As soon as he be- ness upon his j uniors ;
and so it was to be again at
came Pope Pius II., he thought of his former hosts, a later period. But now, during this interval of
and their intellectual shortcomings, and he founded excitement, the dark plumage was moulted, and
the University of Basle in 1460. It flourished bright colours flaunted in the sun. It Avas a
rapidly, and helped to break through the class carnival before the long Lent of Calvinism. The
exclusiveness remarked by its founder. The Free republican youths decked themselves like gallants
City, as he knew it, was nominally governed by its of a court. In the drawings of Holbein, Ave see
bishop and two popular assemblies, but actually broad-brimmed hats and feathers, slashed jerkins
by a small oligarchy. No one below a knight and breeches, pinked shoes, openworked or em-
was eligible for the post of burgomaster. Plebeian broidered! shirts and frills, Avith brooches and other
beauties were admitted to the state balls, but not elegant fopperies. The women could not outdo
their fathers and husbands, unless they were their brothers, but they equalled them ;
and hEneas
extremely useful to the aristocracy. This exclu- Sylvius would no longer have complained that the
siveness the nobles carried to church with them. floral sisterhood might be mistaken for so many
Next to the massive altar-plate, the most striking vestal virgins. In short, the old restraints had been
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removed, and not yet replaced by the new ; and to learn, but nothing whatever to dread from his
licence had introduced her twin daughters, smart- rivalry. To him Dr. Woltmann ascribes a few
ness and slovenliness. The latter scandalized the figures, which have been jumbled together with a
Town Council now and then, enough to call for few of Holbein’s, and engraved by Mechel in his
some special decrees. In 1506 it was strictly CEuvre de Jean Holbein, under the title of Costumes
forbidden that any one should enter the hall of his Suisses. Judging from this book, one might sup-
guild without hose, unless indeed his coat was long- pose that they were intended for nothing more for ;
enough to hide the bareness of his legs. their life is almost quenched in the engravings.
The times were ripe for the caricaturist. Basle But while those of Urs Graf have become mere
had already contributed its share to the grim satire tailors’ blocks, those of Holbein still remain creatures
of mediaeval art and literature. On the cloister of breath and motion. Holbein had so much vital
walk of its Dominican cemetery was a Dance of fire in him, that he threw a spark of it into his
Death, which was famous on its own account, and slightest sketches and his finished studies of lambs
;
suggested many subjects for the more famous work and bats, and “ such small deer,” might make one
by Holbein. It is vulgarly said to have been fancy, as Dr. Waagen says, * that he had never
painted in 1439, when the Council of Basle was studied anything else. Photographs of these, and
half-dissolved by the plague ; and to have included of other Basle drawings, amounting to eighty or
portraits of the Pope and Emperor, and others ninety, are now on sale in London. W
e will specify
but a few fragments in the Basle museum are all two of them. The first is a design for stained
that remain now and before the series was en-
;
glass :a broad shield, left blank for arms, on a
graved, it had been more than once painted over. pedestal, with a church tower and mountain land-
Later in the 15tli century appeared the Ship of scape beyond it ; above it a triumphal arch, framing
Fools, by Sebastian Brandt, a learned poet of the picture the supporters are two halberdiers, one
Basle ; and it was soon translated, and its wood-
;
erect, the other leaning forward on his halberd, —

cuts imitated, in France and England. But these not heraldic dolls, but real warders of the shield,
were works of general satire. There must be some yet so statuesque as to be in keeping with the-
piquant touch of personality to complete what we general architectural design. It is worth noting
call a caricature. Such touches soon grow obscure ;
that these are the originals of two of the ineffective
and Dr. Woltmann seems to have detected nothing- plates in Mechel’s Costumes Suisses. The other
more than faint traces of them, even in those draw- drawing is a battle-piece, that must have made Urs
ings by Urs Graf, the goldsmith, which he describes Graf tingle with pleasure or envy, perhaps with
so appetizingly. He can only say that a few religious both. Two of the soldiers have drawn a little
subjects are openly caricatured, perhaps in ridicule apart ; but in the thick of the fray every one is
of Italian originals. But when that humorous fighting with every muscle of his body. The rest
draughtsman died (about 1530), he probably left of the drawings are portraits, studies for wall-
all sorts of nettles behind him, which had even paintings, and so on. Some of the saints are figures
then lost their stinging qualities. When we see of astonishing grandeur but we must not dwell
:
his Thisbe stripped naked in her flight from the lion, upon them ; and still less upon the outline group of
stabbing herself over the corpse of a Pyramus in the Family of Sir Thomas More, which Holbein
doublet and hose, we ascribe the travestie to the brought to Erasmus in 1529 we must return to
:
artist’s simple ignorance of archseology. When we where we left him, under the old school signboard.
remark that the fountain-god, who presides over He did not wait for better luck, we may be
this sad catastrophe, is a Fool, we call it a stroke of sure; he sought it, and found it. In the same
general satire. It is nothing more now ; but in its year he painted half-lengths of Jakob Meier, the
own day this design may have burlesqued some first plebeian burgomaster, and his wife. Of these
individual sentimentalism.* The same remark Mechel, in his CEuvre de Holbein, has given engrav-
applies to his School of Aristotle, where the pupils ings. A
friend to whom we showed them ex-
discover the sage on his hands and knees, bridled claimed, “ That was not the work of a youth of
and saddled, and ridden by a queen of Greece, as — eighteen.” The exclamation was a passing one,
—
Gown calls ker,+ who is.here attired like a pretty but probably none the less correct ; and we received
horsebreaker of Basle. Urs Graf has left a number it asunbiassed testimony in favour of Holbein’s
of satirical allegories, where Nemesis is queen of new biographer. Dr. Waagen says that the whole
all. The figures are dashingly drawn, says Dr. workmanship is nearly as mature as the famous
Woltmann, and so are the savage landscapes ; but Dresden Madonna, at whose feet are kneeling-
their riddles are hard to read. He still more often figures of thesame Jakob Meier and his family.
indulged himself in mere whimsies of diablerie ; or His portrait is dated 1516 and the piece of gold
:
else in strange wild contrasts of life and death on between his heavily-ringed thumb and finger is a
the battle-field, or under the gallows-tree. commemoration of the date, for in this year he had
From this draughtsman Holbein had something obtained the imperial recognition of the gold coinage
of Basle. He was subsequently twice re-elected
* The same subject by the same hand, but rather dif-
and under him, in 1521, the last political privileges
ferently treated, is reproduced in Rudolph’s Weigel’s
of the Bishop and nobles were swept away yet he :
Holzschnitte herulimter Meister.
f Oonfessio Amantis, Book viii., section de Nomine
illorum., &c. * Kunstswerke . . in Deutschland, vol. ii. p. 285.
;
232 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature and Art, December 1, I960,
always held fast to the old faith. He looks like a Graf. They made meritorious designs ; but those
man strong enough for revolutionary times. In of Ambrosius Holbein look cramped, and those of
the original sketches (which are photographed) his ITrs Graf coarse, as soon as one turns to the bold
own features are not cpiite so coarse as in the engrav- and graceful lines of Hans Holbein.
His scroll-
ing, his crisply curled hair is liner, and there is more Avork is said to have been foundedon that of Hans
bonhommie about his mouth ; and his wife’s plain Burgkmair ; and it is possible that others may have
household dignity is much more refined and win- matched him, so far but there can be no mistake
;
ning. But
there are only indications of the other about the hand, if the design has anything living in
details, with notes of the colours. The notes on it. He is fond of naked boys and so are Ave,;
the first sketch are deciphered by Dr. Woltmann A\dien they are draAvn by Holbein whether they are
they run thus —
“Eyes black, barret-cap red, (hair)
:
;
strutting in procession Avith their shoulders under a

nut-colour, brows yellower than the hair, eyelashes shield, and the boy-king standing on it, or clamber-
like the brows.” In the painting the black coat is ing 0A er one another, and up pillars enAvreatlied
r
strongly contrasted by this bright red cap. His with vine or apple branches. There is one head-piece
wife’s dress is red, deeply bordered with black the : that naturally reminds us of the Nonnes Preestes
gold embroidery of the chemisette, and its pendent tale. A fox is scampering off Avith a goose, and turn-
white silk plaits and liossy tassels, are worked out ing his head round at a village swordsman, avIio is
with minute delicacy. The clear ruddy browns of close at his heels, folloAved by boors Avith flail and
the flesh-colour give a warm effect to each picture. spade, and a girl Avith a rake. Chaucer’s verses are
"We need hardly add that the pillars and vaultings not a Avhit more lively. These designs Avere some-
of the background are in the style of the Renaissance. times rather muddled by the engravers on metal :
Holbein was lucky in obtaining such sitters at the wood-engraAr ers Avere more completely masters
the outset of his career. It is probable, however, of their material. The them all, perhaps,
best of
that he and his elder brother took good introduc- was Hans Liitzelburger ;
him Avas intrusted
to
tory letters Avith them ; for they were not only that master-piece, the full-length of Erasmus under
sons of a famous painter, but their uncle Sigmund a triumphal arch, standing Avith his right hand on
(the same Avliose honest beard we described, as a terminal figure ; and he engraved the great
figuring in an Augsburg sketch-book) Avas now an scholar in a way that must actually have satisfied
artist of repute at Bern. And at Basle there Avas the loving soul of Johann Froben.
no lack of employment. The printing-presses Avere Both as designer and painter, Ambrosius has
busily at work and their chiefs were ripe scholars
;
only been remembered for the sake of his younger
and patrons of art. They had just lost Johann brother. His known paintings are few and little
Amerbacli, avIio first adapted the Italian into our esteemed. One is a tasteless imitation of Albert
OAvn modern type, and avIio Avas himself an editor of Durer’s Greater Passion ; another, far better, con-
the Fathers. But there remained others as eminent. tains the portraits of two boys in yellow their faces:
We need only mention one, Johann Froben (Fro- are rather flat and unshapely (say the critics), yet
benius). Holbein’s portrait of him is here said to simple and engaging in expression. His decora-
be lost ; but two old copies of it remain, at Basle tions belong to the same school as his brother’s
and at Hampton Court. His noble brain was a and, like him, he inherited his father’s skill in
jewel in an ugly setting. His portrait has scanty handling the silver point. On the 24th of February,
hair to sIioav, and that only at the back of the 1517, “Ambrosz Holbain,” painter, of Augsburg,
head his homely features and Avrinkled brow are
;
Avas admitted into the guild, Avhere painters, saddlers,
bare. Yet Ave can see beauty in his face, when we and barbers were enrolled together. Nothing more
think of Avhat Ave have read of him. He was a appears of him, except the date of 1518 upon a
single-hearted man, more bent upon perfecting his drawing.
books than making money by them. When Eras- Three more years elapsed before the guild re-
mus committed to him his new editions of his OAvn ceded Hans Holbein. It may very Avell be that
Adagia, and of the New Testament, the happiness he Avas then leading a roving life. There are
of Froben Avas approaching its climax. One autumn tokens of his having painted at Zurich about this
evening, in 1513, a messenger came to him, avIio period ; and one of the three years was probably
was soon discovered to be Erasmus himself. Fro- spent at Lucern. In the latter toAvn there once ex-
ben’s excitement may be imagined he Avould
: isted many church-paintings by him, the Adoration
hardly trust him out of the house, or let him go of the Shepherds, and other scenes of the life of
back to Louvain. Erasmus returned to the house Christ. But his principal labour there Avas em-
year after year, for months at a time and settled
;
ployed upon the house of the Justice (Schultheisz),
there finally in 1521, until Froben’s cleatli in 1527. Jakob von Hertenstein. What between oil and
This Avas probably the only man Avhom Erasmus fresco, he filled it inside and out. But not a trace
eAr er loved and lamented Avith all his heart. His or memorial of his Avork remains, except one small
friendship must have been more precious than fragment of fresco, a study of one figure, and some
Meier's and Ave find that Holbein Avorked for
;
slight sketches made by an amateur. The house Avas
him in 1516, perhaps before he painted the portrait pulled down in 1824. Dr. Woltmann observes that
of the burgomaster. it is only of late that the Germans have held wall-
In designing for book ornamentation, two of Hans painting in any esteem. The Council of Basle told
Holbein’s competitors were his brother and TJrs Holbein (in 1538) that his art Avas far too precious
;
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] THE POULTRY OF FRANCE. 233
to be lavished on old walls. And Dlirer, when he him to be the lawful king. This curious subject
had designed Maximilian’s car of triumph in the has been treated by Francesco Ubertini (a pupil of
Townhall of Nuremberg, left all the execution to Perugino), and by others, says Dr. Woltmann
his scholars. In spite of this northern distaste for but the “ unhandsome corpse ” makes an ugly blot
frescoes, Holbein completed several ; but by damp, in all their pictures. Not so in Holbein’s. Here
or fire, or vandalism, all have perished. the dead father upon his kingly chair, in his
is set
A portion
of the fagade of Hertenstein’s house robes, and the crown on his head, —
a figure of
was adorned with the Triumph of Ccesar, freely bearded majesty, like Charlemagne in his tomb at
adapted from the copperplate engraving of Andrea Aix-la-Chapelle.
Mantegna ; and here we see one channel of Italian —
In the chapel was a pastoral scene a herdsman
immediate connection with Holbein.
influence, in visited by a vision of the child Jesus, surrounded
On the spaces left by the windows, above the by the Fourteen Need-helpers, who are personages
Triumph were scenes of Greek and Roman story
, ;
of a German In the dwelling-house were
legend.
among others that of Lesena, the girl who bit off hunting and battle pieces and, above all, the
;
her tongue rather than give evidence against Har- Fountain of Youth, where the old and halt and
modius and Aristogeiton this is the study that
: blind were seen washing themselves young and
still remains. But the chief subject of the facade fresh again.
was a romance from that rnediteval treasury the Dr. Woltmann’s restoration, fairer, perhaps, than
Gesta Romanorum. By the will of a dead king the reality, has proved for us such a palace of
(runs the tale), it was found that two of his sons Armida, that we did not know how to leave it.
were disowned by him ; the third was to be his We must now wait another month, before we
heir ;
but he had forgotten to add the name. One present Holbein as a Master Painter to our
of the strange judges of legendary times decreed readers; and if any of them should be induced,
that all three should shoot at the dead king’s body, meanwhile, to read Dr. Woltmann’s book for
as at a target. Two of them shot ; but one turned themselves, we feel that we shall have done them
his head away, and thereupon the judge proclaimed good service.
THE POULTRY OF FRANCE.

By W. B. Tegetmeier (Editor of the “ Poultry Book.”)
HE systems pursued in the culture of poultry in with the weight of bone and valueless parts, the
T France and England are strangely in oppo- whitest skin and fat, and such as show signs of
sition to the characteristic traits of the two nations. rapid growth and early maturity.
In France attention is almost solely given to the At one of these exhibitions held at the Palais
practical value of the birds,and methods of feeding de l' Industrie at Paris, between two and three
,
are adopted which are far superior to those followed thousand specimens of fowls, ducks, geese and
in this country ; the result being that the turkeys, all trimmed ready for cooking, competed
generality of the fowls found in the markets of for the prizes offered for the encouragement of this
Paris are of much better quality than those seen in branch of rural economy. The first prize for fowls
the shops of the poulterers of London. was a gold medal and the sum of 4,000 francs.
On the other hand in England a country that — After the awards, the judges, consisting of the
prides itself on the practical character of its pursuits, president of the Corps Legislatif for the district of
more especially those that bear upon the production La Bresse, two inspectors-general of agriculture,
of animal food —poultry, as a rule, are badly cared four farmers, and four dealers in poultry, had
for,and, excepting the comparatively few first-class specimens of the various breeds cooked and tested
Dorkings that are to be seen in the shops of the practically, when the cost of feeding, age of
west-end London poulterers, the supply of table specimens, market price, and loss of weight in the
fowls is alike scanty and inferior. various jwocesses of cookery, tenderness and sapidity
It is true that of late years the establishment of of flesh were taken into consideration.
poultry-shows in this country has led to great im- The best idea of the great value attached to
provement in the different breeds ; but the charac- poultry as a supply and source of food in France,
teristics that have been mainly attended to have may be obtained from a consideration of the
been those of showing purity of blood, and regularity statistics of the subject, as compiled by M. de
of marking in the plumage, rather than such as Lavergne, one of the most trustworthy of the
render the fowls more valuable as table poultry. French agricultural authorities. The annual value
At the English shows we rarely see prizes offered of the eggs produced in France is estimated by him
for the best fowls, considered with especial reference at no less than 125,000,000 francs, or £5, 000, 000.
to their value on the table. In France, on the The poultry he values at an equal amount. Sup-
contrary, shows of dead fat poultry are held, at posing these estimates to be correct, and there is no
which large prizes are offered for the best specimens, reason to doubt their accuracy, the consumption of
those with the largest proportion of flesh compared eggs and poultry would amount to 5s. per head
;
234 THE POULTRY OF FRANCE. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
annually for the whole population of the French hardy in abundant layers of fair-
constitution,
empire. In Paris a very exact account of the sized with a broken plumage of black and
eggs,
consumption of poultry and eggs is kept. In the white, largely developed tripartite combs, and
year 1862, the value of the poultry sold in that abundant feathered crests. The crests of the cocks
city amounted to £800,000 that of the eggs to
;
consist of long pointed feathers, whilst the topknots
nearly £500,000. At the present time England of the hens are more compact and rounded. In these
imports one million of eggs daily from the Conti- days, when the hideous and unnatural chignon is
nent. It may he asked what are the conditions fashionable, surely we may imagine appendage
this
under which poultry are reared to so much greater would be highly esteemed. In one respect the hen
advantage in France than in England 1 Does it has the advantage over her human imitator, her
arise from the different social condition of the chignon is always one of her own growth.
people, the arrangements of the markets, or the The Creve-Coeurs, or celebrated fowls of Nor-
varieties of poultry generally cultivated 1 All these mandy, closely resemble the Houdans, but their
causes have their share. The division of the plumage is much darker, and in the most valued
land into numerous small holdings, gives a much species is entirely black. Moreover, the comb differs
greater facility for poultry-keeping than exists from that of the Houdan, being two-horned or
where large farms are chiefly the rule. It cannot bicorned. CreAê Occurs are most valuable table-
be too strongly impressed on poultry amateurs that fowls ; they furnish a large proportion of the best
very large numbers of fowls kept in one locality fowls for the Paris markets.
never do well. In France there are no such The La Fleche have been aptly described as long,
establishments ; the vast supply of fowls and eggs weird, hobgoblin-looking birds. They differ very
to the Paris markets, and of eggs to England, being- much from the tAvo varieties just described, being
all derived from poultry-yards where comparatively exceedingly hard and close feathered, and long in
small numbers are kept. The arrangements exist- the leg. If the Houdans be compared with our
ing for the sale of poultry in London are of such a' Dorkings, the La Fleche should be classed with our
character as of necessity to prevent the meHopolis Spanish ; though, as profitable layers and valuable
being well supplied, inasmuch as they offer no induce- table-birds, they are far superior to the Spanish,
ments for the agriculturists to send dead fowls to which, unfortunately for profitable purposes, have
the markets ; for if a farmer kills a number of been of late years reared in England mainly as a
good poultry for the London market, he has to con- fancy or ornamental fowl, one offering a striking
sign them to a salesman on whom he has no check contrast of Avhite face, red comb, and black plumage
whatever, and who takes whatever share of the rather than as a full-sized bird, valuable as an
proceeds he chooses to retain. Under these con- abundant layer of large eggs.
ditions it is not surprising that farmers do not find Neither the La Fleche nor the Creve-Coeurs haw
it profitable to rear fowls for the London markets. been found to possess the extreme hardihood of the
The best fowls that we have in the metropolis Houdan, though all of them must be regarded as
are those bought up when young by the higglers of valuable additions to our stock of domestic fowls.
Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, then fatted, killed, care- To render this article of the greatest practical
fully plucked and trussed, and brought by the value, I am desirous of calling attention to tlxe method
vendors themselves to the wholesale markets ; but of fattening fowls that is followed in France, as
these first-class capons, as they are called, usually it is very different from that adopted in England.
cost the consumer from five to ten shillings each. For this purpose, I Avill avail myself of a very good
The varieties of poultry kept in France as profi- paper Avritten by Mdlle. Millet iiobinot, one of the
table stock next demand our attention. It may be highest authorities on all subjects connected with
stated that the French poultry-rearers have not French poultry, condensing her account so as to
been in the habit of paying any great degree of bring it within the compass of the present article.
attention to what is known in England as purity of Mdlle. Kobinet says that the fowls to be fattened
breed, nor to uniformity of marking in the plumage. should not exceed six or seven months old, and
They have essayed to obtain fowls with small, that the pullets should be put up before they have
delicate, though firm bones (which in good specimens laid, should be in good condition, and Avell fed,
do not exceed one-eightli of the weight of the bird), from their birth up to the day on Avliich they
white skin and fat, early maturity, and aptitude to are cooped. Mdlle. Kobinet regards cramming as
fatten. Nevertheless, several very distinct breeds the most economical and effectual mode of pro-
are cultivated, and from their great practical value ceeding. The foAvls to be fattened are placed in
are rapidly rising into repute in England as valuable coops in which each has its own compartment.
and profitable fowls. Specimens of the best of these The coop is a long narrow wooden box, standing
breeds are admirably figured in the coloured plate. on short legs ; the outer walls and partitions are
The parti-coloured cock and hen in the foreground close boarded, and the bottom is made with rounded
represent the celebrated Houdan breed ; the black spars 14 in. in diameter, running lengthways of the
pair behind them, the Oreve-Oceurs ; and at the top coop ; on these spars the fowls perch. The top
of the plate are specimens of the no less celebrated consists of a sliding door, by which the chickens
fowls of La Fleche. are taken out and replaced. The partitions are
The Houdans, which may be characterized as the eight inches apart, so that the foAvls cannot turn
Dorkings of France, are large, compact birds, very round. The length of each box is regulated by the
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] OUE WINTER VISITORS. 235
number of divisions required, the cocks and pullets, pressed together with the gnllet ; this causes the fowl
and the lean and the fat lots, not being mixed up to cough, but it is not of any serious consequence, and
indiscriminately, because their rations differ, and with a little care is easily avoided. The fowl when
the new comers would disturb the old settlers by fed again held with both hands under its breast,
is
their noise. The floor below the boxes is covered and replaced in its cage without fluttering and so
;
with ashes or dry earth, which is removed every on with each fowl. The chickens have two meals
two days with a scraper. in twenty-four hours, twelve hours apart, provided
The food is chiefly buckwheat meal, bolted quite with the utmost punctuality: if they have to wait,
fine. This is kneaded up with sweet milk till it they become uneasy if fed too soon, they suffer
;
acquires the consistency of baker’s dough ; it is then from indigestion, and in either case lose weight.
cut up into rations each about the size of two eggs, On the first day of cramming only a few pellets are
which are made up into rolls about the thickness of given ; the allowance being gradually increased till
a woman’s finger, but varying with the sizes of the it reaches twelve to fifteen pellets. The crop may
fowls ; these are subdivided by a sloping cut into be filled, but before the next meal the last must
“ patons,” or pellets, about two and a half inches have passed out of the crop which is easily ascer-
long. Aboard is used for mixing the Hour with tained by gentle handling. If there be any food in
the milk, which in winter should be lukewarm. it, digestion has not gone on properly ; the fowl must
This is poured into a hole made in the heap of then miss a meal, have a little water or milk given
flour, and mixed up little by little with a wooden it, and a smaller allowance next time ; if too much
spoon as long as it is taken up ; the dough is then food be forced upon the animal at first, it will get
kneaded by the hands till it no longer adheres to out of health and have to be set at liberty.
them. Some say that oatmeal, or even barley-meal, The fattening process ought to be complete in two
is a good substitute for buckwheat-meal, but or three weeks, but for extra fat poultry twenty-
Mdlle. Millet Itobinet is not of that opinion. five or twenty -six days are required ;
with good
Indian corn-meal may do, but it makes a short management you may go on for thirty days ; after
crumbly paste, unless mixed with buckwheat-meal, this the creature becomes choked with accumulated
when it answers well if cheap enough ; but buck- fat, wastes away, and dies. The fowls are killed
wheat is a hardy plant, which may be grown instantaneously by piercing the brain.
anywhere at small cost. After plucking and trussing, the chicken is
In cramming, the attendant has the buckwheat bandaged, until cold, to mould its form ; and if the
pellets at hand with a bowl of clear water ; she weather is wai'm it is plunged for a short time into
takes the first fowl from its cage gently and care- very cold water. A fowl takes usually rather more
fully, not by the wings or the legs, but with both than a peck of buckwheat to fatten it. The fat of
hands under the breast ; she then seats herself with fowls so managed is of a dull white colour ; then-
the fowl upon her knees, putting its tail under her flesh is, as it were, seen through a transparent,
left arm, by which she supports it ; the left hand delicate skin.
then opens its mouth (a little practice makes this It must not be imagined that the sixbject of
very easy), and the right hand takes up a pellet, Trench poultry and poultry-keeping is exhausted in
dips it in the water, shakes it on its way to the open the previous pages. There are in addition to the
mouth, puts it straight down, and carefully crams breeds that I have described, several other very
it with the forefinger well into the gullet ; when it good varieties, such as the Gueldres, the fowls of
is so far settled down that the fowl cannot eject it, La Bresse, &c. ; but I have already reached the
she presses it down with the thumb and forefinger assigned limits of my article, and must refer those
into the crop, taking care not to fracture the pellet. who required fuller information to the ninth and
Other pellets follow the first, till the feeding is tenth numbers of the “ Poultry Book,” where
finished, ‘in less time than one would imagine. It they will find the subject of Trench poultry treated
sometimes happens in cramming, that the trachea is in extenso.
OUR WINTER VISITORS.

HE periodicalphenomenon connected with the forty-eight may be considered winter
species
T migration of birds has long attracted the at- visitors. Not
the least remarkable circumstance
tention and aroused the curiosity of mankind. connected with these winter visitants is the un-
Poets and philosophers of every land and age have erring punctuality with which they arrive on our
drawn endless similes and illustrations from these coast ; year after year returning to their winter
mysterious movements of the feathered tribes ; and haunts in the same week, and often within a day
we read in the oldest record of the human race, or two of then accustomed time. This wonderful
that “the stork knoweth her times.” Out of 361 regularity to fixed times and seasons is most ap-
distinct species of birds (numbering all which have parent on the Eastern coast of our island, for it is
a claim to take a place in our British Avi-fauna) on these shores that the tired wings of the count-
—
236 OUR WINTER VISITORS. [Nature and Art, December 1, 18G8.
less thousands of weary wanderers first close after exhibit peculiar restlessness and anxiety at their
their long flight over the many miles of wild and accustomed migratory season ; and this restlessness
stormy sea. is shown even when they have been long removed
“ We hear the beat
from all the associations of their wild existence.
Of their pinions fleet, It by no means follows that those birds which
As from the land of snow and sleet first leave our shores in the spring for their
They seek a southern lea. northern breeding-ground are amongst the first to
“We
Of
hear the cry
their voices high
—
return the reverse is often the case. The Grey
Plover and Whimbral, both birds of passage, are
Falling- dreamilythrough the sky,
But their forms we cannot see.”
amongst the last to leave our shores. have We
seen them in considerable flocks as late as the end
It is mainly during October that this great of May. The Grey Plover breeds far up within the
movement Southward takes place, and it is in Arctic circle, and its nest has rarely been found.
that month we may almost daily expect the arrival The breeding-grounds of the Whimbral are more
of some one or other of the varied tribes of the extensive —
from the north of Scotland to the most
Northern bird-army, which will now for some northern districts of Europe. Both these species
months find a home in the more genial climate of may again be found, in small parties, on our coast
our island, till the warm suns and bursting vege- in August. The Redwings invariably leave before
tation of spring again impel them northward to the Fieldfares. We
have repeatedly observed large
their summerbreeding-haunts, in the Norwegian flocks of the latter on the east coast during the
pine-forests, or amidst the dreary solitudes of the second week in May.
Lap falls. As yet how little do we understand the The Redwings return about the last week in
spring of that mysterious instinct which induces October, the Fieldfares about the same time. Red-
these many thousand of winged creatures, with wings never sing in England, and their winter notes
such unerring punctuality, to make twice a year so are very different to their summer song. Those
long a journey, —
in the spring northward, often to who have listened to the wild, sweet notes of this
far up within the Ai'ctic circle, and again in the bird in its native pine-forests, poured forth hour
autumn leading them back again to the middle and after hour in the calm beauty of a northern summer
southern districts of Europe. All we can know night, will understand why it has earned the
is, that sobriquet of the Swedish nightingale.
“ There is a Power whose care It is a wonderful fact, and showing the great
Teaches their way along that pathless coast, power of endurance on the wing that these mi-
The desert and illimitable air, gratories j)Ossess, that they can in one flight thus
Lone wandering, but not lost.”
bridge across the Northern Ocean. The distance
Fortunate it is for the poor birds; that they have from the nearest part of the coast of Norway to the
these thousands of square miles of “happy hunting- east coast of Yorkshire, say Flamborough Head, is
”
—
grounds to retreat to wild solitudes where the about 380 miles and calculating the speed of a
;
foot of man seldom enters —

untrodden save by the strong-winged bird, as the Woodcock, Fieldfare, &c.,
nomadic Lap and his reindeer nature’s own wild — at the average rate, for the journey, of sixty miles
gardens, where many a lovely arctic plant is “ born an hour, they would occupy between six and seven
to blush unseen.” There in peace they can devote hours in the passage. But it is more surprising
themselves to the duties of incubation, and then still that the smaller species of birds, as the little
with renewed strength and numbers, again marshal Golden-crested Wren, are able to make this stormy
warmer clime. How strong
their ranks to seek a passage. Thousands of these exquisite and delicate
must be the motive which induces our migratory littlecreatures arrive on our eastern coast about
birds to make these long journeys for be the ;
the second week in October, usually preceding the
—
weather stormy or fine the season open or severe Woodcocks. When we look
at the small wings and
— when the time comes for their appearance, so delicate, fragileform of these little wanderers, we
surely, within a day or two, shall we find them in are lost in wonder at their marvellous endurance,
their accustomed winter haunts. It would be an and the instinct which has guided their tiny flight
interesting sight could we watch the departure of across these many miles of the wild North Sea.
one of these large flocks of birds from the pine- How many thousands of times must those small
”
fringed shores of the North. It is seldom, however, wings have beaten the “ cold, thin atmosphere
that these great migratory movements can be before they closed to rest on the shingly beach of
observed by man, as they almost invariably take England Spurn Point is a great rendezvous for
!
place during the night. We might suppose that the Gold-crests before proceeding inland, and we
many of these birds, as the little “ Gold-crested have seen them in considerable numbers on the
Wren,” the and Redwing,
Fieldfare, all such birds, Lincolnshire side of the Humber. Mr. Morris, in
in fact, as feed during the day, would
find some diffi- his “ British Birds,’’ relates the fact of a flock of
culty in breaking off their regular habit of retiring Gold-crests alighting on the rigging of a vessel
to roost at sundown ; but this migratory passion fourteen miles from hind, off’ Whitby. The Red-
must, indeed, be strong and all-powerful, thus to wings, and other birds of passage, have also been
overrule their ordinary habits. It is a well-known known to settle in large flocks on the rigging of
fact that birds of passage kept in confinement vessels in the North Sea, no doubt finding it a
— ’ — ;
Nature and Art, December 1, 18GG.] ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. 237
pleasant break in the journey. It is no unusual Flamborough. Amongst them we find many rarer
circumstance for the keepers of our lighthouses to visitors, as —Sabine’s
Larus Sabini ), Little
Gull. (
pick up birds of various species dead at the foot of Gull ( Larus minutus), Manx Shearwater ( Pujfmus
the lantern ; —
attracted, like moths to a candle, by Anglorum), Greater Shearwater ( Pufjinus major),
the strong glare of these night-beacons, they dash Pied Flycatcher (.Muscicapa luctuosa), Crossbill
in full flight against the thick glass, and are killed. (Loxia curvirostra ), Little Tern ( Sterna minuta),
We remember, two years since, the circumstance of and many others.
a woodcock dashing right through the glass of the We all can sympathize with our feathered
Flamborough lighthouse, which is a quarter of an visitors in their long night-wanderings over wintry
inch in thickness. It was picked up quite dead seas ; for we also are like birds of passage, ever on
and terribly mutilated, from amidst the lamps. the wing about life’s stormy sea, journeying towards
Independent of our regular winter visitants, we the unknown and distant land ; and,
have at this season many casual acquaintances,
“ He
wlio, from zone to zone,
who, from one cause or other, wander to our coasts.
Guides through the boundless sky their certain flight,
We have now before us a list of birds shot during In the long way that we must tread alone,
the present autumn in the neighbourhood of Will lead our steps aright.”

By the Rev. W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S.
III.— WILD-BOAR HUNTING.
HE frequent allusions to the chase of the wild more than twelve miles long A
strong rope,
!
T boar which occur in the writings of Greek called it apSojy, passed through the upper portion of
and Latin authors show with what ardour this sport the dictuon. The net was kept upright by a number
was followed by ancient sportsmen. The danger of forked stakes, called otciXikeq (ancones), of unequal
incurred, the courage, patience, and skill necessary sizes, according to the nature of the ground. (2)
to ensue success which the chase of the wild boar —
The nets termed i room answering to the Latin
always calls forth, rendered this sport peculiarly —
plug a were much smaller than the last named ;
attractive to the ancient Greek and Roman. The they were set, as their name implies, in roads,
description of the Calydonian hunt, so graphically paths, narrow openings between bushes, in game-
given by Ovid, though told in highly poetical lan- tracks, he. They appear to have been pretty much of
guage, is scarcely an exaggeration of the hazardous the same form as the dictua. (3) The apicvse were
nature of this species of chase —
“ periculosce 'plenum very different in shape from the other two, and
opus alece ” —
to borrow a well-known expression of were much the smallest. In form they resembled
the bard of V
enusia. a woman’s head-dress, having a wide mouth, and
Before I attempt to give some account of the gradually narrowing to a point. They corresponded
made of hunting the wild boar pursued by the with the cassis of the Romans. rope ran round A
ancients, it will be desirable to take a survey of the mouth of the net through nooses or rings,
the implements employed in the capture of wild which served to close the entrance when game
animals generally. Nets, of course, were very entered it.
necessary. There were three principal kinds in use Other instruments necessary for the chase were ja-
amongst the sportsmen of ancient Greece and velins (uKovTin)] boar-spears (/Too/3dA.m ) j short swords,
Rome ; and although it is not easy to learn their for defence in case of an attack from wild animals ;
exact form and mode of use in every particular brush-hooks, for clearing away spaces in thickets
for the descriptions given by Xenophon and Julius wherein to set the nets traps (iroloarpaftai, or
—
;
Pollux are not always very clear still it is quite troeaypai, described in Part II.) ; running-nooses
possible to get a fair general idea of their structures (apTrtSorcu), like the “ gin,” or “ grin,” perhaps, of
and uses. The nets employed in h unting were our modern poacher bows and arrows, &c. The
;
(1) the ciKTva, (2) the ivofiici, and (3) the apxue q. hunter of the hounds (kvi pys-rjc) was the important
—
The bcKrva which corresponded to the Latin retia person. He was accompanied by various attendants
— were long, sean-like nets, used for encircling to whom especial duties belonged such as net- —
covers, or for setting in the open country. Xeno- carriers, trackers, markers, watchers for the game
phon recommends all these kinds to be made of when it got into the net, keepers of the iipKvc, to
fine flax from Phasis or Carthage. The size of the draw the ropes and close the purse-net. The quali-
mesh and strength of the strands in each varied in fications of a good lmntsman were, that he should
relation to the game which it was required to take. be young, about twenty years of age, and fond of his
So, with respect to their length, they varied from ten employment. He was to be of light frame of body, and
to thirty fathoms, beyond which, Xenophon says, active a good runner
;
a sharp, clever fellow, fond
;
the ctKTva were difficult to manage ; but Plutarch, of danger and hard work ;
self-confident, vigilant
in his “ Life of Alexander,” speaks of hunting-nets able to stand any amount of fatigue, never giving
— ——
• — : —
238 ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. [Nature and Al t, December 1, 186t>.
in before the capture is made. He Avas to go to and there, casting themselves about into a large ring, they
the field clad in alight dress (y<-uu') reaching down surround the deer, and then every one of them receives a
peculiar stand, and there unbinding his fagot, ties the end
to the knee ; the dress was not to be Avhite, nor of
of his cord to the other who is set in the next station ;
any conspicuous colour distinguishable by the prey then, to support it, sticks into the ground each staff about
at a distance the chlamys (y\dpuc), or scarl, he
;
the distance of ten feet one from another. Then they take
was to wrap round the left arm when in pursuit of out feathers which they bring with them, dyed in crimson
for this very purpose, and fastened upon a thrid, which they
a Avild animal. The boots were to reach half way
tie to the cord so that, with the least breath of wind, they
up the calf of the leg, and were to be fastened by ;
are whirled round about. Those which keep the several

strong bands ; and he was to carry a short, thick stands withdraw, and hide themselves in the next covert.
staff in his right hand. In addition to the imple- After this th6 chief ranger enters within the line, taking
ments of chase already mentioned, there was the with him only some hounds which draw after the herd, and,
coming near Avith their cry, rouse it. Upon which the deer
feathered line, linea pinnata called, from the terror
,
fly till they come towards the line, where they turn off
it tvassupposed to instil into the prey, formido, or towards the left, and still gazing- upon the shining and
metua. To this Seneca refers shaking feathers, wander about it as if they were kept in
“ Nec est mirum, cum maximos ferarum greges linea with a wall or pole. The chief ranger pursues, and calling
to eA7 ery one by name, as he passeth by their stand, cries
pennis distincta contineat et in insidias agat ab ipso to them that they should shoot the first, third, or sixth, as
:
effectu dicta formido.” (Be Ira., ii. xii.)

he shall please ; and if any of them miss, or single out
The formido Avas principally used in the chase of any other than that which was assigned by the ranger, it is
deer, but it was also employed in that of other counted a disgrace to him by which means, as they pass
:
by the several stations, the whole herd is killed by diverse

animals. Feathers of different birds and of various hands.” (Wase’s Preface to his translation of Gratius.)
hues Avere tied to long ropes, and placed in open
spots in avoocIs, in order that the game may be Javelins (aroma) and boar-spears (irpofioXiu)
scared away from thence into the nets. To this Avere necessary weapons of tlie chasethe former
;
there are many allusions in ancient authors. were generally made of ash or beech-wood, tough
The following lines from Gratian shoAV that the and compact, each Avith a broad, sharp bronze or
iron head; to the centre a leathern thong was
formido Avas considered a very effectual instrument
firmly fastened, by means of which the javelin Avas
in aiding the capture of Avild animals :
hurled. The ctcontion Avas usually employed in the

“ Sunt quibus immundo decerptae vulture plum® capture of stags and other animals Avhich may be
Instrumentum operis fuit et non parva facultas.
Tantum inter nivei jungantur vellera cygni
shot at a distance. The boar-spear was made of
Et satis armorum
est. Hase clara luce coruscant cornel-wood, Avith a strong, sharp iron head, into the
Terribiles species ab vulture dirus avaro
: holloAv portion of which the shaft was fitted. The cut-
Turbat odor silvas, meliusque alterna valet res.”- ting portion was called the obelisk ffjtXiaKog ) ; it had
Cyneg. 75 — 80.
shai’p Avings on either side, broad at the upper part,
which may be thus translated :
and gradually becoming narrow till it disappeared

“ Tbere are those who use with great success as an in- in the point, or tongue (yXiocrrrp). At the end of
strument of the chase, feathers plucked from the filthy the hollow iron part of the spear, just in front of
vulture. Only let these be mixed with the downy feathers
of the white swan, and other weapons will be unnecessary.
the wings, were tAvo projecting teeth of strong iron
Let this terrifying object glitter in a bright light, Avhile (o 'woorree), one on each side ; the object of which
the dire smell from the feathers of the greedy vulture taints Avas to prevent the irritated animal reaching the
the woods. The feathers are more successful if placed hunter by pushing its body along the spear. It
alternately.”
was held in the hand, and Avas not fitted with
Nemesian speaks of the utility of the feathered leathern thongs.
words
line in the following : — Xenophon gives many instructions about boar-
“ Linea quin etiam, magnos circumdare saltus hunting : he recommends either Indian, Cretan,
Qu 33 possit, volucresque metu concludere prajdas, Locrian, or Spartan dogs ; the two former were
Dig-erat innexas non una ex alite pinnas. noted more especially for their great strength and
Namque ursos magnosque suus eervosque fegaces courage ; the latter for their good noses. The net
Et vulpes acresque lupos, ceu fulgura cosli
principally used in the chase of the Avild boar was
Terrificant, Unique vetant transcendere septum.”
Carm. Venat. 303 308. — the apKvr or purse-net. It was, of course, made of
“ Let the line, too, which can surround large woods and
very strong cords, and of large meshes. The traps
terrify the swift prey, bear inwoven within it feathers from
Avere similar to the deer-traps. The hunters Avere
various birds for, like the thunder of heaven, they alarm
;
to go in company, in order that one might assist
bears and huge wild boars, swift stags, foxes, and savage another in case of accident, in so perilous a chase.
wolves, and prevent their passing the feathered barrier.”
“ When they have come to a place likely for a boar, they
It maybe interesting to observe that this mode must bring up the dogs quietly, letting one of the Spartan
of hunting with the feathered line was practised by dogs loose, and keeping the other tied, and go round about
the place with the loose dog. When this dog has found
the Sicilians about 200 years ago.
traces of the boar, they must continue their course along
“ When the nobles or gentry are informed which way a the track. There will be many indications of the boar to
herd of deer passeth, giving notice to one another, they guide the hunters ; marks of his footsteps on soft ground ;
make a meeting. Every one brings with him a cross-bow, pieces of the shrubs broken off in thickly wooded parts ;
or a long bow and a bundle of staves. These staves have scratches of his tusks on the large trees. The dog pur-
an iron spike at the bottom, and their head is bored with a suing the track, will generally come to some woody spot,
cord drawn through all of them. Their length is about for the animal commonly lies in such places as are warm in
four feet. Being- thus provided, they come to the herd ;
winter and cool in summer. When it reaches the beast’s
— ) —
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS. 239
lair, itbegins to bark, which, however, does not often rouse actually red hot ( Biairvpoi when he is irritated, for other-
the boar. It will be necessary, therefore, to take the dog wise he would not singe the tips of the dog’s hair when he
”
and tie him up with the others at some distance from the misses a blow at their bodies !
lair, and stretch the nets at the entrance to the thicket,

Perhaps no poet of classical antiquity surpasses
hanging the meshes upon the forked branches of the wood.
The net must be spread in a circuit extending outwards Ovid in the animated description he gives of the
to some distance, placing branches of trees as supports on famous Calydonian Hunt. The picture of the
each side within, in order that the rays of light may wild boar which the angry Diana sent to ravage
penetrate through the meshes as much as possible into that the country round Calydon, because (Eneus, king
circuit, and that the part within it may be as clear as
of that city, had neglected to sacrifice to the god-
possible for the animal when he rushes towards the nets.
The rope that runs round each net must be fastened to some dess, is drawn with much spirit in a few striking
strong tree, and not to bushes. The open passages hard by lines. The mighty forest rising from the plain, its
must be stopped up, in order that the boar may rush into trees growing for ages, never thinned by man
one or other of the nets.” (Xen. de Apris Venandis, cap. x.)
“ Silva frequens trabibus quam nulla ceciderat setas,”
The hunters are then told to return to the dogs, amid whose tangled brushwood the great wild
and unloose them, and to proceed with javelins and boar had his lair ; the neighbouring valley, with
spears in hand. One of the most experienced is its rivulets of water, and pool surrounded by
to go ill advance and cheer on the dogs, the rest to willows, ridges, rushes, and tall reeds, to which
follow at short intervals between each of the party, place Meleager and his comrades, lecta manus
for if the enraged animal made an attack upon a juvenum, tracked the monster ; the placing of
close body, he would be sure to wound some of them. the nets, the unleashing of the dogs, the search for
The dogs are then to .start the boar from his lair ; foot tracks, the ardour which filled the hearts of
and the hunters to throw their javelins at him, and the hunters, the sudden rush of the wild boar from
to pelt him with stones, and to try to drive him the marshy places of the pool, the breaking and
into one of the nets. If the boar refuse to push crashing of the trees of the wood by the animal’s
forward into the net, some of the most skilful of impulse, the shout or “view halloo” of the party as
the hunters are to go up to him and press on him he started off, the casting of javelins, the dispersion
with their javelins, and try to make him pull the of the dogs, the accidents to the hunters, are all
rope that went round the net to its utmost stretch. most charmingly described by this prince of Latin
If, notwithstanding all their efforts, the animal poets.*
refuses to stretch the rope, and is resolved to turn The flesh of the wild boar was held in very high
back, then one of the party must take his boar- estimation both by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
spear and go up to him, “holding the spear with It was the chief dish of a grand Roman supper
the left hand on the fore part and his right on the (caput ccence), and was often placed whole upon the
hinder, for the left directs it, and the right impels table. P. Servilius Rullus is said to have intro-
it ;
the left foot must be in advance, corresponding duced this fashion, which in Pliny’s time was in
with the left hand, while the right is behind in use daily. It is alluded to in the well-known lines
accordance with the other hand.” The feet are of Juvenal :
to be placed about as far apart as in wrestling, and “ Quanta est gula, quae sibi totos
in this way the hunter is to advance with left side Ponit apros, animal propter convivia natum.”
forward, “ looking straight into the very eye of the Sat. i. 140.
boar, and watching every movement of his head.” “ How

great is that appetite which places before itself
There is danger lest the animal by a side thrust of whole boars, animals especially created for banquets.”
his head should wrest the spear out of the hunter’s The wild boars from Umbria, fed on acorns,
hand ; should such a catastrophe occur, the hunter were in high repute for their excellent flavour, as
is recommended to throw himself flat on his face, were those of Lucania and Tuscany. Still there
clinging to whatever is below him ; for if the boar was difference of opinion as to the respective gusta-
fall upon him in this position he will be unable to tory merits of this animal. Horace says, Lauren-
seize liis body, on account of his tusks being turned tine boars were bad which had been fattened on
up (!) ; but if he attacks him standing erect, lie reeds and aquatic plants.
must neceesarily be wounded. We
are next told “ Nam Laurens malus est, ulvis et arundine pinguis.”
that the boar will endeavour to raise the hunter up, Sat. ii. 14, 42.
and that if he cannot do so, he will trample upon
But Martial speaks of them approvingly. Pliny
him with his feet. At this critical juncture Romans kept wild boars
informs us that the rich
another hunter must come up close to the animal,
in Vivaria. (“Hat. Hist.” viii. 78.) The flesh of
and, by irritating him, draw his attention off
the wild boar was considered superior to that of
from his prostrate companion on to himself. The
the domestic hog, though anything in the shape of
other must then jump up, spear in hand, and try
pig delighted the eyes of the old Romans. Martial
to thrust it in above the shoulder-blade of the boar,
(Ep. viii. 22) is very angry with Gallicus for
pressing against it with all his might ; the spear-
asking him to dine off wild boai', and setting
guards will prevent the boar from reaching the
before him a home-fed pig.
hunter.
“ Invitas ad aprum ;
ponismihi, Gallice, porcum,
“ So hot are the boar’s tusks,” adds Xenophon, “ when Hybrida sum, si das, Gallice, verba mihi.”
he is just dead, that if a person lays hairs upon them, the
hairs shrivel up, and when the boar is alive they are # “ Quarterly Review” for October, 1865.
— ; — ; !:
240 WANDERINGS IN THE BYE- WAYS OF LONDON. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
“ You invito me to dine on wild boar, Gallicus. You and now quite fat with the produce of oak trees, second
set before me a bome-fed pig-.
you can take me in.”
I am a mongrel, Gallicus, if in fame only to the wild beast of YEtolia which my —
friend Dexter pierced with shining spear, lies an envied
prey for the fire. May my Penates grow fat on the smell,
The cooking of a wild boar appears to have been and my cheerful kitchen blaze with hills of felled timber
an expensive matter. Martial thus laments his but my cook -will consume a whole heap of pepper, and
having to return a present of this animal, sent him will mix Falernian wine in her mysterious sauce. Return
by his friend Dexter :
to your master, my fire is not large enough for you, O
most expensive wild boar I must be hungry at a less cost.”
!
“ A wild boar — the consumer of many a Tuscan acorn, (Ep. vii. 27.)
WANDERINGS IN THE BYE-WAYS OF LONDON.

IKE the, voyager on a vast roaring river, who, the halls being so spacious and magnificent.” The
L toil-worn, runs his bark
or tributary stream for rest
up some quiet creek
and repose, we often
jewels of the Crown, as well as those of the nobility
and families of wealth, were lodged here for se-
turn from the living, rushing stream of headlong curity. The Knights Templars, like certain nations
bustle, ever flowing through the streets of busy of the earth and the order of Jesuits of the New
London, to ramble amongst the half-forgotten nooks World, appear to have increased their power and
and corners to be found scattered here and there in influence until a culminating point being reached,
localities little known, save perhaps to the ubi- their prosperity as rapidly declined as it had grown.
quitous old-clothes man and the regular explorer. We find that on the suppression of the order in
There are other places which, although better 1312, the Temple and all its accessories were
known and more frequented, still have associated granted to Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke,
with them matters of interest too often unobserved by Edward II., in the sixth year of his reign ; but,
and unrecorded. It is our intention, therefore, to com- alas for the mutability of human affairs and the
municate from time to time through the columns of fickleness of royalty we find him, two years after,
!
“ Nature and Art ” the result of our explorations making a grant of the property to his uncle,
and researches. There are few localities where the Thomas, earl of Lancaster, who in his turn appears
transition from rattle and turmoil to peace and to have derived little benefit from the accession, as,
tranquillity may be more rapidly brought about being convicted of political offences, it passed from
than in the immediate vicinity of the Temple. him, and again was taken possession of by the
As there is said to be but one step from the sublime Crown. One “ Hugh Despenser, junior,” appears
to the ridiculous, so is there one short lane leading shortly afterwards to have had the greater portion
from throngs to solitude ; and as the pert chirping of the Temple property granted to him, for life
sparrows flit through the spray of the Temple but he, like his predecessor, could not rest in
fountain, as it flashes and tinkles pleasantly peace, but was found guilty of treasonable practices
beneath the trees, or preen their smoke-stained in the reign of Edward III., when, from all the
feathers on its brink, it is difficult to realize the possessions of the Knights Templars having been
fact that one of the most crowded thoroughfares granted to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem,
of the town lies little more than a stone’s-cast from by the decree of the Council of Vienne, in 324, 1
you. the Temple passed into their hands and they, in ;
The old “ Knights Templars,” from whom the their turn, for a consideration of ten pounds per
place derives its name, no doubt thoroughly appre- annum, conveyed it to a body of lawyers, who
ciated the advantages which its river-side site con- removed from Thavies Inn, here established them-
ferred, when they emigrated from the ancient “ Pre- selves, and, as it is needless to say, have since held
ceptory,” long held by them on the south side of their own by force of the nine points of the law.
Holborn, and which stood where Southampton Quoting from an old English song
Buildings now stand ; and it is remarkable that
“King Solomon had temples, with pillars made of
these extraordinary men, the poverty of whose order brass
was once so notorious as to have led them to adopt But our Temples of lawyers all temples surpass
a seal representing two men riding on one horse, For there’s brass enough in them to prove Solomon an
ass.”
should have so rapidly, and almost unaccountably,
acquired immense wealth and power ; for we find, So the lawyers having once fairly taken their
when they purchased all the tract of land on the stand, there was little chance of Templars, or even
banks of the Thames lying between Wliitefriars Saracens, ever getting them out again and it is to ;
and Essex Street, in the reign of Henry II., be hoped that, even should their shortcomings be
they then possessed fifteen thousand manors in their only half as numerous as they are popularly re-
own right. It appears that on taking possession presented to be, the daily sight of the beautiful
of their newly-acquired estate, they at once caused and venerable church of St. Mary, standing close
a splendid building, under the name of the New to thevery office doors, will incline them to deal mer-
Temple, to be erected, in which we learn, “ Parlia- cifully with their clients. The poet Gay appears to
ments and general councils were often held, from have had at least one faithful friend amongst the
— ] -
Nfcture aud Art, December 1, 18CG. THE WIN TEE FINS ART. EXHIBITIONS. 241
gentlemen of the long robe. Addressing him, he each other something which they evidently see
says :
— below. Wepass through the iron gateway and
join the investigators. What think yotr is the
“ Come, Fortiscue, sincere, experienced friend,
Thy briefs, thy deeds, and e’en thy fees suspend object of their solicitude? — “ The black-gowned
— ;
.
Come, let us leave the Temple’s silent walls form of some briefless barrister who has drowned
Me, business to my distant lodging' calls. himself in a fit of despair ? ” —
“ some love-lorn
Through the long Strand together let us stray,
fair one, who has sought a long repose amongst the
With thee conversing I forget the way.”
brown autumn leaves floating in the quiet pool V’
There is much uncertainty and doubt connected “ lost money 1 ” —
“ a dead rat 1
”
No ; something
with the very early history of this truly ancient —
more lively than any of these salmon ; silvery,
church, and there are some curious traditions glittering salmon, alive. There they are, sure
relating to it. Weever, in his “ Funeral Monu- enough ; juvenile salmon, it is true, but not “baby
ments,” says :
salmon ; ” either swimming here and there, resting
“On the credit of British Story,’ the Temple was ori-
‘ on the stonework of the fountain’s foundation, or
ginally founded by Dunwallo Mulmutius, as a place of poised in mid-water, with winnowing fins and
refuge and sanctuary for thieves and offenders, about the prying eye, in search of insect food. “ How came
year of the world 4748 and Dunwallo himself, with ether ”
;
they here 1 Simply in this wise. In January,
British kings, is reported to have been buried here.”
1865, a gentleman, zealous in the cause of “ pisci-
So much for tradition —history, and records culture,” brought some impregnated ova to the
touching the authenticity of which there can be no fountain, and, with the assistance of the gardener,
reasonable doubt, trace the existence of the of investigating habits, it was put in ; but not
building back to a period as early as 1185, at without an accident causing a general upset of the
which date it was formally dedicated to the Virgin whole consignment. Cat and sparrow risks stood
Mary by Heraclius, patriarch of Jerusalem, who gloomily in the path to success but, in due time,
;
was sent on a mission to this country by Pope the tiny brood came forth and sported gaily in the
Lucius ITL, in order to induce King Henry II. to sunshine, with which even the Temple is sometimes
accept the throne of Jerusalem, and who, during his visited. Aspring and summer have passed, 1865
visit, was some time a guest of the Knights Templars. has sunk in the great store of expended years, and
But as we gossip on thus touching the past, we 1866 will be soon called on to abdicate in favour of
must not altogether lose sight of the present ; for a new monarch yet young Salmo Salar still
;
there, beside the fountain in which we saw the continues to dwell in the Temple fountain, which
Temple sparrows practising hydropathy, stand the may now fairly, by the reasoning adopted by honest
gardener and his friend, rigidly scrutinizing the Fluellen, be placed on an equality with his much-
depths of the basin, and eagerly pointing out to beloved Wye, “ as there are salmons in both.”
T HE W I N T E R PINE A R T EXHIBITIONS.
rjIHE superstitions of art fade as the shadow of its pre- may claim to be so considered, and very few of the works of
JL scriptions.It is no longer essential that exhibitions the more distinguished contributors do justice to their name
of pictures should be confided to public bodies, or societies or fame. An exception may be probably admitted in the
of artists, and it has ceased to be believed that pictures portraits, by Mr. G. F. Watts, of Alfred Tennyson and Robert
may be only shown to the public in May. Art that itself Browning, alike exquisite in feeling and heroic sentiment,
—
knows no season perennial in its bounties should be — and which may be worthily classed for excellence, though
perennial in presence too. The old tradition lived long- not for size, with the best works of the artist. Mr. Watts is
enough. People who are sufficiently unfashionable to attend often “ caviare to the general;” but that the head of the
operas at Christmas or to eat gooseberries all the year laureate has merits of poetic feeling, ideal elevation, and sen-
round, may well have picture galleries open in November. timent, it would be difficult for the most obtuse to deny. Ex-
The taste for art does not hybernate. The three millions ception might, perhaps, be taken to the artifice of execution,
of unfashionables who remain in town, are not likely to enjoy and the lowness of tone in which both these pictures
the solace of art less when trees are bare, and the outer appear, and which last is in apparent simulation of the
world is submerged in fog, -or for the contrast so presented Yenetian manner but we are content with the result, no
;
between the real world and the ideal one represented in matter how attained. Gennaro, a third contribution, is
art. Good pictures are always enjoyable to people of taste ; much inferior. Mr. Thos. Faed, R.A., and Mr. Goodall,
but never so enjoyable as, when heightening the pleasures of R.A., are represented respectively by “ Music hath Charms,”
life, they serve to transport even from unpleasant reality to and “ Hagar and Ishmael,” both works in the artist’s most
a realm of very happy illusion. usual and characteristic manner but of small interest.
;
Among the five or six exhibitions of greater or lesser mag- !

|
The first represents a boy playing on a whistle, at a cottage-
nitude opened during the past month, the collections of Mr. door a tall hoydenisli girl, verging on womanhood, ap-
;
Gambart, and of the Water Colour Institute, both in Pall parently listening to and enjoying the dulcet strains of her
Mall, and that of Mr. H. Wallis in Suffolk Street, are brother’s pipe. There is nothing either in sentiment or
chiefly noticeable. Of the last it is barely too much to say treatment to make this work especially attractive, and in
that it would by no means in interest or excellence discredit point of fact it is as little interesting as any performance
the Royal Academy. «• by so distinguished an artist could be.
No exhibition, winter or otherwise, would probably be
Mr. Gambart is less fortunate in his display than on complete without one of Mr. E. M. Ward’s burlesque illustra-
previous occasions. He has no remarkable picture in his tions of the “ Vicar of V T
akefield,” the “ French Revolu-
collection, unless, indeed, Mr. Sandys’s portrait of Mrs. Rose tion,” or “ Goldsmith’s Life.” On the present occasion,
VII. ll
242 THE WINTER FINE ART EXHIBITIONS. Nature and Art, December 1, 18(>6
we are furnished with a picture of Goldsmith’s experiences F. Pauwels, Marcus Stone, Erskine Nicol, and Auguste
as a doctor, as set forth in Foster’s biography. It is sufficient Bonheur.
to say, that it is as exaggerated and unlike the event
.
“ Calling the Condemned the Interior of the Bastile,”
:
as it must have happened as it can be. The artist has, by L. Muller, is a signed replica of the world-famous and
with great accuracy, given the doctor purple silk small- often engraved picture in the Luxembourg. To us, this
clothes, a scarlet roquelaire, and wig, sword, and cane, as picture is the most complete epitome of the horrors of the
described by Mr. Foster but his art and accuracy have alike
;
Revolution ever achieved. Neither in the pages of Carlyle,
ended with this inventorial piece of imagination. Gold- in the Memoirs of Madame Campan, nor in the narratives
—
smith looks a mere puppet a stuffed dell and the rest of
;
of Michelet, Lamartine, or Louis Blanc, do we gain so clear
the figures are simply insipid and characterless abstractions. an insight into the misery and horrors of the Directory, of
Mr. Yal. Prinsep has three works of comparatively small —
the excesses of the Jacobins the long sad story of suspense
size, of which the best are “ Going to Mass,” and “ Mar- —
and cruelty, suffering, and slaughter as this scene of the
guerite.” These are both able, even powerful, studies, with- condemned in the Bastile. The soi-disant minister of
out great character, but marked by considerable vigour of justice steps forward and calls the names of the victims,
execution, free handling, and a perception of the more subtle who cower and attempt to conceal themselves, or hide
requirements of art rarely manifested. their identity by mingling in the crowd. Through the open
The portrait of Mrs. Rose, by Frederick Sandys, is in door there is a glimpse of heaven’s sun, and of the wretches
point of executive merit a very fine pendent to that of an struggling’ with gaolers and their fate. One figure of a
elder Mrs. Rose painted and exhibited some two or three Girondist, seated sad and contemplative in the foreground,
years ago. Mr. Sandys has evidently, for example, gone to is in itself a poem, in its despair, calm, and isolation. The
the Augsburg school, and has studied, with no common work of which this is a transcript is one which reconciles us
earnestness, the realism which Holbein, among more to the mission and services of art in an age of mediocrity, in
familiar exemplars, illustrated so wisely and well. Without which so much of its purpose is lost or misunderstood.
any assumption or pretence to that elevation which is mani- Of the two pictures contributed by Gerome, “ The Marchand
fested in Mr. Watts’s Rt. Browning’, and which has drawn its d’Habits” is the finer and more important, and is in finish
inspiration from an Italian soil, Mr. Sandys has attempted, of execution, simple realism, and verisimilitude, equal to any
and it may be also said, has achieved, a portrait that would work he has ever exhibited. An Arab bandit, a true son of
not have discredited Holbein in earnest and literal fidelity, the desert, is cheapening a Damascus blade, which he is
though graced by tie resources of modern execution, acces- purchasing from a Jew salesman. He is examining the
sories, and draughtsmanship. The texture painting is a weapon with a workmanlike air, as one to whom good steel
marvel of fidelity and the lace which adorns the bodice of
;
is of priceless value, and as jealous of its smallest flaw ;
the dress, the pearls, the satin itself, and the flowers with some of his companions, eager in speech and zealous of
which the lady trifles, are rendered with an accuracy of advice, crowd round him ; and the Jew, by voice and gesture,
colour and verisimilitude that it would be difficult to trace deprecates the disparagement of the would-be purchaser.
in the works of another modern artist. The hands, moreover, The men, the dresses, and the architecture, are all Eastern,
are exquisitively drawn, and are, with the face and neck, and the scene might be laid in Damascus itself. There is,
not less admirable and natural in colour than the subor- moreover, about the whole picture, an air of reality that
dinate accessories. Among the more really meritorious asserts the resources of the artist and the very purpose and
works are a landscape, representing, apparently from the province of art ; and seems to suggest a glimpse into the
local colour, a scene in Cheshire, called “Reflection;” a life and character it represents, rather than the simulation
shepherd with sheep being in the foreground. This is an of a mere painting.
exceedingly well-painted and natural work, marked by H. Merle is represented by a picture of “ Marguerite trying
truthfulness and a love of nature. Mr. Goodall’s “ Hagar on her Jewels,” which lays claim to especial merit of
and Ishmael” is the sequel on a smaller scale of the large colour and conception but is somewhat more formal and
;
picture exhibited in the Academy this year, and represents statuesque than pictorial. Marguerite, perhaps a little too
the mother at another stage of her journey giving her son girlish, is exquisite in expression and sentiment, and the
water to drink. Mr. J. E. Hicks is represented by a matron old woman her companion is portrayed with admirable
teaching a child to walk, called “ A Mother’s Love Mr. dramatic feeling. The Mepkistopkeles, represented in the
Watson, by “Tkel Barber’s Shop,” “The Tailor,” and background, though rendered in the traditional manner, is
two others the first being the best. Mr. Spencer Stanhope
;
powerfully painted and the whole picture, without being
;
gives a scene, or has intended to give a scene, of poachers an entire success, is a masterpiece of art, and narrowly
at a grouse drive, which is doubtless fine, but invisible. escapes such entire x>erfection as would have made it a
But the best of the works of less known artists is “ The world-famous illustration of the world-reputed poem. The
Breakfast,” of Mr. G. A. Storey, representing four little hands are well drawn the flesh is admirable in colour the
; ;
children at their morning meal under the supervision of execution, without being vigorous, is accurate and free and ;
their governess. Quaintness and simplicity of treatment the management of the background is marked by con-
give considerable value to this picture, and without pre- siderable skill, both in colour and composition. A large
tence it may be characterised as a very charming and work, life size, “
Vincent de Paul taking the Place of the
St.
attractive work. Galley-slave,” and “Neapolitan Peasants before the Farnese
Palace at Rome,” by L. Bonnat, are compositions of the
highest possible merit in their respective manners. They
Mr. Wallis’s Collection graces the rooms of the are both freely handled, and are’ marked by a vigour and
British Artists’ Society in Suffolk Street. The superiority dash of execution, a technical skill, and mastery of colour
of private enterprise in catering for the public could scarcely and material of the most daring kind. The large picture is
be better illustrated than here. Walls oftentimes too liberally as vigorously drawn as if by Rubens himself free and bold, in
;
stocked with mere damaged canvas, are now rich as the colour and technic skill not unlike Velasquez, and the story
gardens of Alcinous in the choicest fruits of pictorial art. it tells is most vividly expressed. The smaller work, scant
The exhibition may be also said to represent the cream of in material, is an illustration of the power of handling and
the French and English Continental and insular studios for treatment to compensate for paucity of subject. few A
the year. It includes two works by the great Gerome, one peasants bathing in an Italian sun, before the door of a
a masterpiece two by L. Bonnat worthy a place in any
; palace, which recalls every association of magnificence and
exhibition in the world a replica of the famous picture of
; —
wealth, that is the story but the scene is photographic in
;
the interior of the Bastile, by C. L. Muller ; a large work of accuracy, and superadds the charm of colour and of charac-
undeniable merit, “ The Return of Columbus,” by E. Long ; ter to its air of literal fidelity.
three landscapes, by B. W. Leader, which fairly vindicate The works already specified mark the Continental school,
the claims of our own school of landscape ; two charming which is further represented by a fine historic composition,
cabinet pictures by Meissonier ; and several more or less by F. Pauwels, of Ghent, with a representation of a religious
important contributions by R. Ansdell, A.R.A., E. Osborne, ceremony restoring the orphan children of Lierven Pyn, chief
—
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] THE WINTER FINE ART EXHIBITIONS. 243
minister of Ghent, to the honours and social position of than former essays of the same kind. “Interior of a Bath
which their father had been deprived by the malice of his at Damascus,” “ An Antique Gateway,” and “ A Tailor’s
enemies ; by an indifferent picture of a Highland shepherd Shop at Cairo,” are among the studies, and of these the
—
a very theatrical Highlander indeed by Rosa Bonheur and ;
last is certainly the best.
by contributions by Tenkate, Schlessinger, W. Bougereau, Mr. D. H. MacKewan, Aaron Penley, and J. W. Whym-
Victor Cha'vet, H. Koelckoek, Verboeckhoven, C. Bisschop, per, stand among the foremost representatives of land-
Beranger, and H. Frere. Among the more noticeable scape ;
and Mr. Penley’s “ Buttermere Lake, Cumber-
English works are “ Sir Iludibras and Ralpho in the Stocks,” land,” painted on the spot, may be cited as one of the most
by J. Pettie, A.R.A a “Fine Naval Scene,” byH. Dawson,
;
honest and vivid drawings from nature, and perhaps the most
junior, representing the Lords of the Admiralty visiting wholly meritorious work, in the collection. It is charac-
Sheerness and contributions by Richardson, Creswiclc,
; terized by the most fastidious realisim and purity of treat-
Cooper, Dodgson, and other well-known artists. ment, and is calm and serene as nature’s self. The water
Among the landscapes, three, “ Morning and Evening on is expressed without affectation or trick, and the local
the Ledr,” by Leader, may be noted as falling little short, in character of the hills which shut in the mere, are most
atmosphere, treatment of water, aerial perspective and authentically preserved. A scene in Wales, by the same
fidelity, of the works of the greatest landscapists. The last, artist, called Llyn y Cwm-Fynnon, near the Llanberis pass,
the finest work, is as perfect in its representation of still is a similarly faithful transcript of native scenery, broad
—
water a difficulty ordinarily with artists as can well be— in its handling, accurate, and unaffected, and yet indicating
conceived. Mr. Marcus Stone is represented by a picture of that artistic discrimination which Fuseli has asserted to be
“ Royalists seeking Refuge in the House of a Puritan,” rather the imagination of the landscapist.
thin, yet marked by true refinement of feeling ; and Mr. G. Mr. Campion displays extreme versatility in his essays,
D. Leslie has several works of great excellence, and finish. and presents us with marine views, sketches of military trains,
—
In a collection so large numbering nearly five hundred architectural vistas, coast scenes, and studies of figures, all
pictures and drawings —
it is impossible in one brief notice drawn with more or less freedom and vigour, but of very
to do justice, especially where all the works appear to have varying excellence. Of the two which hang just within the
gone through the crucible of taste, and to have been doorway, No. 19, “Boat pushing off,” is by far the best;
selected with much more than ordinary skill and discrimina- being- free and spirited in composition, good in treatment, and
tion. Two very conspicuous and most successful pictures tolerably vraisemblable. Mr. W. W. Deane, whose works
by Mr. E. Long-, and two or three sketches by Mr. E. Nicol, are always welcomed with pleasure, is not so strongly re-
in his usual manner with works by Dobson, P. F. Poole,
;
presented as he has been, but has one or two drawings
Faed, and artists not less eminent, are passed from lack of expressive of his artistic care and fastidious feeling. Mr.
space, but with a most complete recognition of their merit. Harrison Weir sends five or six frames of small sketches,
and drawings of birds, a lion, pigeons, and dogs. The last
is especially excellent ; the animals represented are ad-
The Institute of Painters in Water Colours mirably contrasted, most effective in pose, drawn with
has opened its usual winter exhibition, and Messrs. Row- great anatomical care and skill, and instinct with life and
botham, Campion, and Hayes, are, as heretofore, its largest verve.
contributors. Among the associate members, Messrs. Guido Among the other contributors who may be pleasantly
Bach, Chas. Cattermole, J. M. Jopling, and R. Richardson remembered are Mr. W. Telbin, Skinner Prout, James
figure strongly; but the collection is by no means striking Fahey, Henry Warren, and E. Richardson. Mrs. Wm.
in interest or artistically attractive by virtue either of Duffield may be especially recalled with admiration and
matdriel or treatment. pleasure, as presenting some out-of-door studies of heath in
Of the more conspicuous works are two large studies, flower, which have never been surpassed for delicacy of colour,
“The Interior of an Artist’s Studio,” by L. Haghe, repre-
senting the same room from different points of view, and
truth, and patient — —
even loving tenderness of delineation.
under varied aspects of light. The studio is full as a

curiosity shop of all the bric-a-brac accessories of modern Among the other Art Memoranda of the month,
art. Armour, carved oak furniture, vases, flowers, guitars, the sale of three or four valuable pictures at Mr. Gurney’s,
easels, lay figures, tapestry, damask hangings, &c. These in St. James’s Square, and of the celebrated “ Black Wedg-
paraphernalia, as might be assumed, are admirably rendered ;
wood,” of Mr. Thomas De la Rue, may be recorded. Among
but we cannot help condemning- the waste of ingenuity dis- Mr. Gurney’s pictures were the very fine portrait of
played in the treatment and representation of so uninterest- Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador to the court of James I.
ing- a shrine. A studio is but a studio, and the same skill and the enemy of Sir Walter Raleigh ; a Holbein of Henry
employed might have perpetuated with equal success the YIII. in an imperfect state ; and an authentic-looking
interior of some grand cathedral, or Mediaeval hall in Flanders portrait, artist unknown, of Henry VII. The rest of the
or Italy, which would have lent additional value to the collection included some modern pictures of no especial merit,
artist’s execution, and graced his labours by grateful recom- and a very fair example of Vandyck in portraiture ; but was
pense of intrinsic interest. As a mere study the pictures not otherwise remarkable.
are admirably painted with great care, and the artist’s —
Mr. De la Rue’s china sold at Christie & Manson’s
characteristic technic ability. from the 12th to the 20th inst., inclusive Comprised,—
Mr. Hine, so at home among boats and Brighton fisher- perhaps, the largest collection of Black Wedgwood that has
men, and who seems “native and to the manner born” when his yet fallen into the hands of any single person, and some of the
theme is the sea, contributes again sketches of his favourite very finest examples of the great potter’s art. The collec-
subjects; but has also tried “fresh woods and pastures tion also included a vast number of articles in the well-
new.” He represents us with some sketches in the neigh- known blue and white wares, with one or two in white and
bourhood of Swanage and Eastbourne. These are rendered sage green but was greatly inferior in this respect to that of
;
with his usual care and skill, and one “ near Swanage,” a Mr. Mayer, the well-known collector at Liverpool. The
little more ambitious than ordinary, is marked by great purity examples of black ware were some of them of large size, and
of colour, and is more than moderately successful. Mr. included busts and statuettes so large, sharp, and ornate, as
Rowbotham shines as of yore in his calm lake scenes, and to create surprise that such works could have passed
in those Italian views in which blue water, vines, feluccas, through the furnace. Among the more remarkable of these
and Italian peasants seem so essential an element. Mr. were a life-sized bust of De Witt, some 25 inches high,
Rowbotham is nothing- if not pretty, and is on the present exquisitely sharp in its delineation, and modelled with
occasion both pretty and vapid but he offers two or three
; great anatomic skill ; a bust of Seneca, also life-size, ;
views less mannered, and therefore more interesting than and nowise inferior in executive excellence, as well as being
usual. M. Carl Werner’s Eastern scenes are by no means of classic simplicity and design and a statuette, after the
;
unfamiliar but his sketches on the present occasion are

; antique of a sleeping boy, about 15 inches in length. The
marked by more finish, and have less bravura of manner detail and modelling of this figure are probably equal to
it 2
; ;
244 MUSIC AT HOME. [Nature and Art, December 1, 18'J‘J.
anything- ever attained by the potter’s art and it would he

;
(life size), Spenser, Bacon, Ben Jonson, and Cicero. The
difficult indeed to imagine it other than a piece of sculp- white and blue ware included medallions of varying shape
ture. A
longitudinal plaque or tablet, about 20 inches and design, and a vast number of oviform and other vases,
in length, containing a complex group of figures in among them some of the famous pattern which has satyr-
bas-relief, was also one of the distinguishing items. shaped handles and is ornamented with classic medallions
The design represents the burial of a Roman soldier and festoons of flowers.
and the work derives additional value from the fidelity Some of the medallions, white on blue ground, were remark-
with which the arms, dresses, and insignia have been able as being portraits of men celebrated in their day, but
studied. The dead soldier is borne in the arms of his whose names have almost dropped into oblivion. Among
comrades, under the command of a centurion ;
and it is these were the mad sailor-lord, Lord Camelford, who
not impossible that the antique design, from which the was killed in a duel early in the century Philip Egalite,
;
Wedgwood plate has been copied, served as a model or the hero and victim of the French Revolution and friend of
suggestion for the medimval painters. The execution of the Cagliostro Sir W. Hamilton; Warren Hastings, &c.
;
The
very elaborate minutiae of drapery, of the various heads, the miscellaneous items of art and bijouterie comprehended
armour, the arabesques of the shields, breast-plates, ivories, camei, Poniatowski gems, Gris de Flandres ware,
helmets, &c., is exceedingly fine, and in the best taste that Sevres china, antique porcelain, and some few bronzes
the ceramic art may attain. Among the other busts were but neither of these were exceptionally remarkable for
those of Voltaire and Rousseau, Locke, Grotius, Epicurus quality or taste.
MUSIC AT HOME.
JHE operatic swan at Her Majesty’s Theatre is an better than a full-grown woman of riper years but put ;
1 unconscionable time dying-. Formerly the Italians blooming adolescence into the character, and what becomes
came in with the easterly winds of March and April, and of the poet’s language ? In the musical, as in the ordinary
went out when sturdy August reapers commenced bending drama, the rule holds good that time alone can give the
to their work in a thousand English corn-fields. We have experience necessary for the perfect rendering of this or
changed all that, and the march of musical intellect ignores that heroine. Under this dispensation, we must be content
precedent as completely as it despises conventionality. The very rarely to enjoy instances of complete and thorough
song-birds of Southern Europe are no longer in the majority, dramatic illusion. Mdlle. Titiens is, in her way, a genius as
nor do they herald the summer, but, together with the mixed far superior to the generality of prime donne as Mont Blanc
nationalities of Germany, France, and England, warble their is higher than Shooter’s Hill.
griefs and declaim their revenge while the autumnal equi- A
superb voice is an excellent thing in woman, and when
noctials are howling round the coasts. As for the laws and allied to an intellect which can grasp the full meaning of
customs regulating the beginning and end of opera seasons, such composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Gliick, Cherubini,
one may consider them overturned by the Maplesonian lever, and others, the effect becomes doubly impressive. This is
for a delightful uncertainty now prevails regarding “ last precisely what Mdlle. Titiens can do. She can discover and
nights.” Credulous people doubtless imagined they had appreciate the grandeur of such parts as Leonora, Donna
seen the final bouquet of 1866 thrown on August the 18th; Anna, Iphigenia, and, last, but far from least, Medea and ;
but that cry of exultation peculiar to Christmas time, “Here she is blessed with a physical strength which enables her to
we are again,” might well be sung in sonorous unison by the realize them with a force oftentimes terrible and over-
vocal strength of the company again assembled in the lyric whelming.
theatre. Mr. Mapleson has, within a few weeks, made two Versatility is an attribute of all true artists, and the
bold moves upon the chequered board occupied by himself great Hungarian’s claim to this distinction is beyond all
and his amiable brother manager of Covent Garden. In dispute. Those who have seen the tiger-like ferocity of her
the first place, the giant Tradition is overthrown, for, con- Medea, and the pleading- tenderness of the gentle Marguerite,
temporary with the waning November festival of Guy will assuredly acknowledge Mdlle. Titiens’ power in delinea-
Fawkes, and that kindred but more elaborate exhibition, ting- exactly opposite tones of feeling. The prima donna,
the Lord Mayor’s show, we have Italian opera. The re- now the mainstay of Her Majesty’s Theatre, has attained
maining achievement is the destruction of the proscenium the highest position in the operatic world and none but an
;
boxes, which genteel apartments were “ cells” in more than artist of the noblest acquirements could have stepped, with
one sense. From them suffering humanity could see little such an increase of fame, from Verdi’s to Beethoven’s
more than the crowns of the singers’ heads, and could hear Leonora, or from Flotow’s Lady Enrichetta to Mozart’s
but imperfectly at the best. Stage room is an object now- Donna Anna.
adays, and though the largest horse-shoe in Europe may Even as the English Mrs. and Miss are exchanged for
have lost something of its proportions, Mr. Telbin will Madame and Mdlle., so the Farisian, when he reaches the
bless the day that saw the last of these boxes. Speaking in capital of the shopkeeping nation, forswears his proper
carpentering phraseology, the proscenium is by no means prefix, and calls himself Signor. A
certain noble duke, when
“ square.” The sides lean outwards; but that was entirely his parish clergyman invited him to “pray for rain,”
unavoidable, and is, after all, a matter of small moment assented to the proposition, but added, “ It’s no use, though,
compared with the advantage gained. The autumn “ fare- while the wind is in this quarter.” In like manner let M.
wells ” were inaugurated on November 3rd, by a per- Morin, the original Faust of the Lyrique, by all means re-
formance of Gounod’s Faust, with its Mephistophelian christen himself Signor Morini ; “ though it’sno use,” while
miracles of sword-breaking and flaming wine its grand point
;
his style is so thoroughly and intensely French. We have
when Valentine and his friends scare the malicious fiend with had better representatives of the revivified Doctor in un-
their cross-liilted weapons; its tremulous and passionate love musical England nevertheless the new tenor is an acquisi-
;
scene the piteous wailings of despair, which follow when

; tion to the theatre. His voice is powerful, and his intona-
Marguerite tries to pray before the church and her burst of
;
tion true. A tenore robusto is seldom more than respectable
devotion as the curtain falls. Mdlle. Titiens, wearer of the in sentimental passages, and Signor Morini is no exception
lyric crown, and chief pillar of the state wherever she to the rule. He hurls defiance at operatic oppressors better
appears, cannot look the tender girlish Marguerite according than he makes love in point of fact, “ Diquella pira,” and
;
to Retsch’s, or any other artist’s outlines, but she can read similar specimens of vocal energy, are evidently more in his
the character and sing the music to absolute perfection. A way than songs of such rapturous tenderness as “ Salve !
slight-figured supple girl of fifteen or sixteen would, as Dinorah.” This may not bo the opinion of the “lively”
regards personal appearance, realize Shakespeare’s Juliet Parisians but it will probably bo the conclusion arrived at
;
—
Nature aud Art, December 1, 18G6.] MUSIC AT HOME. 245
by phlegmatic Londoners, who, as a sarcastic Gaul once jewellery, and sweetmeats at very reasonable prices. The
observed, “ have no ripe fruit at command but ‘ baked winter concerts are peculiar, and the distinctive marks of
apples;’” who are illuminated by a sun as dull as a red which they can boast receive full acknowledgment from
wafer and who habitually avoid the inevitable fogs by amateurs. Even at the concerts of the most celebrated
—
;
various ingenuities in self-slaughter. Pollio that Roman London musical societies something very like monotony is
pro-consul, so heartily despised by the sympathetic public, the rule. Neither of the Philharmonics can be deemed so
—
and so thoroughly hated by all tenors was the Signor’s comprehensive in its scheme of action, nor so effectual in
second and Rodolfo, in Der Freisclmtz, his third character.
;
diffusing a knowledge of art in its varied branches, as these
In the latter he was simply out of place, but in Manrico the admirably chosen entertainments. Conservatism in music
case was reversed. His Basilio in the immortal Nozze di is a principle we all honour, and standard Symphonies are
Figaro, given on 10th November, is an admirable performance. always welcome to, or, in point of fact, demanded by,
Signor Morini is not so dull and lifeless as the Basilio at j
English connoisseurs. We must have the Pastoral and
the Royal Italian Opera while, by abstaining from exaggera-
; C Minor of Beethoven, the “ Jupiter” and E fiat of Mozart,
tion, he shows himself wiser in his generation than his , and the “ Italian” of Mendelssohn. These luxuries are con-
predecessor here. He is really a happy medium between ceded and at the same time are forthcoming less generally
;
the two Italians, and (spiritually speaking) between Mozart known works of the same class by the above composers.
in the Elysian, and the British public in what was once Musical Tories will not give up their revered “ Papa Haydn,”
St. Martin’s Fields. The new Cherubino, Mdlle. Wiziak, is with his gems of clear and unaffected melody in their simple
overweighted in the part. She is very young, and has a and elegant setting. The grand old father of Symphony
clear, fresh voice but as yet is neither the actress nor
;
shares places of honour with his stalwart sons ;
and the
singer to realize Mozart’s amorous little “ knave of hearts.” strong prejudices of obstinate Britons are studiously re-
Signor Foli, good as a vocalist, and indifferent, to say the spected by Augustus Manns, a real enthusiast, a thorough
least, as an actor, played Bartolo in place of Signor Bassi. musician, and one of the most hard-working disciples of art
The great ones of the cast were all old friends. That in the Queen’s dominions. Hero-worship is uncongenial to
mysterious moral pressure known as “general desire” many, but to recognize conscientious efforts for the advance-
necessitated a morning performance on the 14th of the ment of music and the cultivation of pure taste is both a
month. It was rendered memorable by Mr. Santley’s privilege and a pleasure. The originator and conductor of
—
perfectly safe descent from master to man from Don Gio- these concerts chooses a hard and difficult path; but in
vanni to Leporello. As a genuine comic performance, it is working out his mission so perseveringly, he gains the
equal to his Fapageno, and this is saying- much. respect, esteem, and confidence of all those capable of dis-
Mr. Tully was to be pitied for being called upon to select, criminating between good music and a vulgar commonplace
arrange, pervert, and convert music to that sermon in five substitute. The multitude are doubtless content to refresh
acts, the Faust of Drury Lane. Gounod not being available, themselves at somewhat turgid streams of melody, but by
the musical director naturally bethought him of Louis persuasion they may be led upwards towards that sparkling
Spohr’s Faust, which was found too heavy for the sub- fountain into which the fabled Orpheus perhaps dipped his
scribers of the Royal Italian Opera. Mr. Tully, moreover, lute.
raked from the ashes of the past a few not very interesting In addition to the performance of standard works, well
fragments by Sir Henry Bishop. These musical illustra- —
and not so well known, the winter concerts are distin-
tions to an adaptation of Goethe’s play, brought out at guished by the constant production of absolute novelties,
this theatre in 1826, could never have procured for Sir not as regards the recent date of their birth, but in that
Henry his complimentary appellation, “ the English Mozart.” refreshing sense of never having been previously given in
Mendelssohn is the third, and Weber the fourth composer this country. Mr. Manns can point to a voluminous list of
pressed into this service. The four musicians have nothing- symphonies, overtures, and other compositions, which have
in common and in the pasticcio compiled from their works
;
been heard for the first time in the Sydenham music-room.
there is exactly the unsatisfactory effect that was to be Modern Germany is frequently represented, and this season
anticipated. All Spohr would have been too rich and heavy, a certain prominence has been given to Robert Schumann,
and all Bishop decidedly too light and unsatisfying there-
; a genius beyond all doubt, and one of the most independent
fore did the Drury Lane conductor select from both, and composers the world has yet seen. No one would suspect
attempt to leaven the incongruous mass with Mendelssohn’s Mr. Manns of being a thorough believer in the “ music of
superb chorus, “ Lo, what crowding, whirling, crushing!” the future” —a Wagnerite, for instance; but that he has a
from the Walpurgisnacht. Great composer as Spohr was, deep sympathy with Schumann’s compositions is evident.
and as Mendelssohn considered him, he loses by comparisons —
Three of his symphonies No. 1 in B flat, No. 2 in C Major,
of this kind. The grand old Capellmeister’s opera is —
and No. 4 in D Minor are now familiar to the Saturday
principally made use of. The overture (one of his best), public. In one of the interesting programme-notes signed
two choruses of witches, one of students, the Festival A. M., the representative of those initials predicts that,
Chorus and Polonaise, and the twilight song in G Minor, when Schumann’s music is “known” in England, it will as
were pressed into the service. One of Mr. Tally’s choral a natural consequence be “ loved.” The signs of the times
conversions is that of a trio for equal voices into a choral hardly point to that sanguine conclusion, and the probability
“ Hymn to the Virgin.” Poor Sir Henry’s intentions are is that, ere the composer is thoroughly loved in this country,
likewise flouted by a certain song made popular by Miss Mr. Manns will have attained a patriarchal age second only
Stephens, the Marguerite of 1826, being transformed into a to that of Methusaleh. We shoirld “ love” Schumann as we
“Chorus of Seraphs.” Miss Poole sings the romance in G love the old classics, if we could always follow him as easily.
Minor and Mr. W. Harrison appears as Valentine, “ with a
; It is not our fault that poor Robert Schumann wrote such
song,” as they used to say in ancient playbills. The song wild and wayward music that his lovely subjects are, as a
;
is Weber’s, from Fu/ryanthe, and Mr. Harrison sings it as rule, held up and thrown away again before we have time to
tunefully as he can, and finds the complacent public still revel in their beauty that continuity is so seldom and con-
;
kind and compassionate. The choral and instrumental fusion so frequently forthcoming and that the marvellously
;
music, considering that Drury Lane is not an operatic rich stores of his knowledge were so often directed into tor-
theatre, is very creditably performed. tuous paths whither ordinary perceptions cannot follow him.
Saturday is once more an interesting day at the Sydenham There is no disguising the fact that a certain degree of
Academy of the Fine Arts, otherwise the “ People’s Palace.” weariness is ordinarily felt by the majority of those who
The leaves are off the oak, elm, and chestnut trees in the listen attentively toSchumann’s symphonies. The Scherzo
Company’s garden, and the winter concerts are “on” in the in the “CMajor” everyone must “love,” because they can
Company’s music-room, which, by the way, requires to be follow it as perfectly as any ever written. Scherzos, as a
enlarged. Mr. Manns will reign supreme until forced to matter of course, give composers less opportunity of becom-
abdicate in favour of Christmas festivities, when pantomime ing vague and indefinite than other movements, but the
in the transept is found remunerative, and the nave is trans- change here from obscurity to distinctness is refreshing as
formed into a huge bazaar of cheap toys, equally inexpensive that from “ black letter” to gigantic “ posters.” Mr. Manns
;
246 MUSIC ABROAD. [Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
turns occasionally to the rescue of the hitherto much neg- piece,” as the facetious Barnard hath it, was, however, in-
lected Franz Schubert. A notable instance of this service complete. Why not Agatha, Mr. Brown, and Anna, Mr.
to the cause of good music was the production of an entr’ acte Jones ? The programme-framer judiciously stopped when
in B Minor, another in B flat Major, and a romance for he came to the ladies but this is as much of a compromise
;
mezzo-soprano, from the music to the drama of Rosamunde. as most sensational contrivances for “ Softly sighs the voice
;
Mdlle. Enequist (who made her debut in England at the of evening,” and “ If a youth,” are both sung by female
winter concerts some seasons back) sang the romance, which characters in the opera, and are both played by masculines
was encored. Anything more gracefully and tenderly melo- in the orchestra. As the incantation approaches, a bell is
dious than the second of these entr’ aetes was never imagined, heard “ behind the arras,” like the groan of the perforated
and the three pieces were received with enthusiastic expres- Polonius and an invisible Mellonian minion turns down
;
sions of applause not often indulged in by the undemonstra- the gas throughout the theatre. The blood of the audience
tive visitors. For Rosamunde, Schubert also wrote three does not, however, run cold enough yet, and to honour Weber
choruses and some ballet music, but it is unfortunately lost. still further, a scientific Jupiter in the orchestra dispenses
The winter concerts are as essentially instrumental, and magnesium lightning, which turns Mr. Mellon, Rodolph,
valuable schools of art, as those held in the transept during Caspar, Zamiel, Messieurs the Evil Spirits and Phantom
the summer months are essentially vocal, and unserviceable, Stags, the bullets, and, strange to say, the thunder, quite
except to form a point of concentration for a crowd of ex- blue. The gaslight, and with it confidence among the
travagantly-dressed people, who care not what they hear, so audience, is eventually restored, as the Huntsman’s Chorus
that they find themselves before the fashionable sing'ers of —
concludes this selection extremely well put together by
the season. The winter concerts are for students, amateurs, Mr. Mellon, but rendered amazingly absurd by such em-
and those to whom music is an absorbing delight and the ;
bellishments. The power which is, or those that be, may
summer meetings suit to perfection others with whom music possibly feel inclined to accept suggestions for the further-
aforesaid is a mere fashion and a preliminary to that extra- ance of “ realism” misapplied to operatic selections. Why
ordinary institution, the Promenade. The orchestra of the not have had the soloists down in the front, and in costume ?
Crystal Palace is faultless, and this season has been con- Mr. Winterbottom as Zamiel, crimson to the bassoon Mr. ;
siderably augmented. The present series commenced on Hughes as Caspar, in his shirt sleeves and forester’s tights ;
October 6th. the Phantom Stags in property antlers, instead of Coldstream

Mr. Arthur Chappell finds St. James’s Hall a counterpart shakos ;
Mr. Brown as Agatha, in petticoats and long-
of that productive field described, in the juvenile legend, plaited back hair, and Mr. Jones as Anna, similarly adorned ?
as “ Tom Tiddler’s Ground.” He commenced that satis- — —
Mr. Mellon has done much very much for good music in
factory employment of picking up gold and silver on his “ classical nights ” throughout the season, and has
November 5th, the first night of the Monday Popular Con- worked hard to deserve public support ; but this is an ex-
certs, ninth season. Herr Straus, Herr Louis Ries, Mr. periment he will not surely repeat. Let us hope the
H. Blagrove, and Signor Piatti, formed the quartet party. Phcenix will not rise next season from the ashes of that
Madame Arabella Goddard was the pianiste, and Mr. Santley sensational bonfire lighted at Covent Garden on the 5tli of
the vocalist. Herr Straus (who was heard for the first time November. Mdlle. Carlotta Patti left the theatre on the
at the Crystal Palace Concerts) played Bach’s Prelude, and 3rd of the month, and is gone haply to show provincials or
Fugue in G Minor. foreigners how to sing English ballads. What was meant
At Covent Garden, Mr. Alfred Mellon, after nobly uphold- by the ruminative scream commencing the second verse of
ing the banner of legitimacy, has condescended to hoist the Mr. Mellon’s unfortunate composition, “Cupid’s eyes,”
flaunting' rag- of “sensation.” Many have hitherto looked posterity must determine. Until the mystery is explained,
upon the English conductor as one who did his best to stem those who are not idiotic enough to applaud what looks like
this torrent which overwhelms music as well as the drama a miserable, senseless, inartistic trick, may question the
and such persons will assuredly regret he did not continue propriety of any such devices. Mdlle. Fanny Jervis, a
the struggle. young pianiste of most refined taste, and with the specialty
This may or may not have been the first time such effects of a delightfully liquid touch, made a most promising first
were allied to high-class music but the exhibition made on
;
appearance on Monday, the 1st of October.
the singularly appropriate evening of Guy Eawkes-day was The enterprising Mr. Mapleson, so say several of rumour’s
not complimentary to Weber and his Ber Freischutz. The tongues, has bought his way into the vacant space where
first surprise awaiting the public was a programme made Miss Linwood’s Leicester-square Gallery once stood. He
out in orthodox theatrical form, as follows : —Zamiel by is supposed to contemplate building a theatre which shall
Mr. Winterbottom Caspar by Mr. Hughes Rodolph by Mr.
; ;
cost .£100, 000, and is supposed, moreover, to have secured
Reynolds Evil Spirits by Messrs. Hawkes, Antoine, and
;
the services of Mr. E. A. Solomons, architect of the New
W. Winterbottom Phantom Stags by the band of the Cold-
; Prince of Wales’s Theatre at Liverpool, and the Prince’s,
stream Guards Charmed Bullets by Mr. Horton ; Distant
; at Manchester. We are bound to add that the report
Thunder, &c. &c., by Mr. Seymour. This “ good cast for a obtains but scant credit.
MUSIC ABROAD.
T
A Vienna the principal musical event lately has boon
the grand concert got up for the benefit of the
widows and orphans of those Austrian soldiers who fell in
Imperial Family, together with a great many other princes,
from “foreign parts,” now stopping in Vienna. At least
four thousand persons were in the audience part of the
the late war. The presiding genius on the occasion was edifice, while above twelve hundred vocalists occupied that
Herr Herbeck, the celebrated Oapellmeister. The executants devoted to those who took an active share in the proceedings.
were the members of the Vienna Association for Male Voices, The programme consisted of justly popular choral com-
and those of most of the other Associations of the same positions, but it was not these which had attracted the vast
description in the Austrian capital, assisted by the bands of assembly so much as the desire .to alleviate in some degree
the two infantry regiments, named after the Grand the sufferings of those whose husbands and fathers had
Duke Franz Ferdinand d’Este and Count Kehvenhiiller, sacrificed their lives for their country. Indeed, the alacrity,
respectively. The concert-hall was the building known as nay, the feverish anxiety, with which the public has come
the Winter Riding School, fitted up expressly for the oc- forward all over Germany to advance the sacred cause of
casion. As might have been foretold, the attendance was charity is something deserving- of the highest praise.
something extraordinary. Every nook and corner was full, One of the latest additions to the company at the Imperial
and in the Emperor’s box were nearly all the princes of the Opera-house is Fraulein Aglaja Orgeny, for a time attached
—
Nature and Alt, December 1, 1866. MUSIC ABROAD. 247
to the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden. She became a either, without an Italian company paying a visit to the
favourite with the patrons of Mr. Gye, but she has not been banks of the Spree, though there is no regular Italian
so fortunate as to please the Viennese public much. Her troupe, as is the case in London, Paris, and Vienna.
arrival had been heralded by paragraphs in the papers to the This is the only particular in which Berlin is behind the
effect that she had quitted the Royal Opera-house, Berlin, three other great European capitals named. It will have
from patriotic motives. Being the daughter of an Austrian been seen that the operas cited above are all well-known
officer, she had refused to take part in the performance got works. The only absolute operatic novelty produced at
up to celebrate the victories of the Prussian armies. The Berlin lately, is one in the shape of a three-act musical
public, however, have chosen to judge her by her vocal farce ; words and music by Herr Adolph Larronge. The
abilities, rather than by her patrotic sentiments, and their music is exceedingly original and clever.
verdict has not been as favourable as it might have been. A gentleman who has greatly contributed towards pro-
She appeared as Amina in La Sonna/nibula, and as Margarethe pagating among the Berliners a taste for music of a high
-
in Gounod’s Faust, and the general opinion appears to be class, lately celebrated the 25th anniversary of the concerts
that she is better fitted for the concert-room than the stage. —
established by him that gentleman is Herr Liebig. The
True that in La Sonnambula, a too lavish use of black concert ho gave on the occasion in question attracted
colour round her eyes gave her a most ludicrous appearance around him troops of friends and admirers anxious to testify
as she rose from the couch in the Count’s apartment, their gratitude for what he has done in forwarding the
causing a titter to run through the house, rendering her interests of art. Herr Liebig deserves all the honours
nervous, and completely spoiling the finale of the second act. shown him. Thirty years ago, anything like good musical
True, also, that she was suffering from the effects of recent
-
—
entertainments leaving out of consideration the Opera
indisposition when she sang in Faust. Still, if we make was scarcely to be found in Berlin. The principal “ enter-
every allowance for these two contretenvps, Fraulein tainments ” of this kind were the concerts given in the
Orgeny’s prospects in Vienna are not the most brilliant. j
gardens attached to the suburban coffee-houses, and such
Herold’s opera of Zartvpa has been revived, but is not likely The performers consisted of some half
1
like localities.
to remain long in the bills. The subject does not attract as dozen wretched fiddlers. The sole exceptions were the
it used to do when the famous tenors, Wild and Erl, sustained concerts of the military bands, and even they were not
the part of the hero. The public, like Sir Charles what they how are. It was not till Johann Strauss, the
Coldstream, are rather “used up.” They do not take the Walz-King, as he was termed, had visited the Prussian
same interest as formerly in pirates and such small deer. capital with his orchestra, and shown the public in the
Since Meyerbeer caused a cemetery full of nuns to rise concert-room of the Theatre Royal, for six shillings a head,
from their graves and dance about the stage, and Herr how dance-music should be played, that better days began
Richard Wagner treated his audience to choruses of to dawn in Berlin for this kind of composition. But it was
phantom sailors, one poor ghost has but a bad chance. not long ere, in Gungl’s and in Kroll’s, Berlin could boast of
The Baroness Pasqualati, a lady highly esteemed in the possessing orchestras not a whit inferior to Strauss’s.
-
higher circles, has opened the Harmonie Theatre. Her pro- Herr Liebig, too, when founding his concerts, assigned a
gramme includes light operettas. The first specimen she prominent position to dance-music. It was only little by
presented to her patrons on the opening night was a trifle little that he introduced classical music into his programmes.
entitled Her galcgnte Candidat, founded on the French piece But the classical element soon ousted every other, as easily
L’AbbS galant. The music, by Conradin, contains several and as naturally as the young cuckoo drives the smaller
numbers distinguished for their freshness and originality. fledglings from the nest into which he has been dropped, in
The applause at the fall of the curtain was general. the form of an egg, by the parent bird. Herr Liebig was -
One effect of the war upon art in Germany has been no less anxious to improve his band than to elevate the
that the theatres at Cassel, Wiesbaden, Frankfort, and character of his entertainment. He was fortunate enough
Hanover, have become Prussian Theatres Royal, with a to secure the performers he required. This enabled him to
subvention from the Prussian government which latter,
;
offer the public, not merely the very highest and most
in a pecuniary view, will probably be no great loser by the classical works, but to do so in a style inferior only to that
transaction for, if the attendance should happen to fall off
; of the Royal Orchestra itself, if indeed inferior to that. Of
at any of the above establishments, Herr von Htilsen, the all the various orchestras in Berlin, there can at any rate be
Intendant-General of the Theatres Royal, Berlin, has no doubt that Herr Liebig’s stands next to the Royal
merely to send a “ star ” or two from head-quarters to Orchestra, and on all grand occasions its services are
Cassel, Wiesbaden, Hanover, or Frankfort, as the case secured by the Singacademie and Stern’s Association. The
may be, and the public will again flock to the comparatively public have not been backward in doing justice to Herr
deserted edifices. Meanwhile, Herr Niemann, one of Liebig’s exertions ; and the popularity of his concerts has
the best tenors in Germany, has taken advantage of the increased so greatly that he gives one somewhere or other
new state of things which annulled his contract with the in Berlin nearly every day. It is easy to understand what
management of the ex-king of Hanover, to conclude an a beneficial effect he exercises upon public taste by putting
engagement with that of the Royal Opera-house, Berlin, it in the power of the friends of true art, who are prevented
where he will prove a great acquisition, and share with by the high prices of admission from attending the concerts
Herr Wachtel the first tenor parts. There is plenty for of the Royal Band, to enjoy, for a comparative trifle, the
both to do the programme having been more varied this
; best and noblest productions of the great masters of classical
season than any previous one. For instance, among the instrumental music. But, while honouring the mighty com-
operas performed since the Royal Opera re-opened its doors, posers of the past, Herr Liebig is not neglectful of the
-
may be mentioned La Dame Blanche, Chiillaume Tell, II representatives of the present ; and more than one young-
Trovatore, Tannhauser, Les deua Journdes, Joseph in composer of talent is indebted to him for his first intro-
Egypten, Faust, Le Postilion de Longjvmeau, Fra Diavolo, duction to the public. But what has more particularly
Robert le Diable, L’ Africaine, Rienzi, Les Huguenots, tended to render Herr Liebig so popular, is the total absence
Omar und Zimmermann, Le Prophete, and several more of aught approaching charlatanism in whatever he does.
besides. Most certainly the greatest fanatico per la musica Such a man is an honour to the art which he professes.
cannot complain either of the quantity or the quality of what The Royal Orchestra has commenced its series of Symphony-
is offered him by the Royal Opera-house, Berlin. The Concerts for the season. In obedience to a generally
company, too, is excellent, counting among its members expressed wish, the directors have determined on giving a
many artists not only of German but also of European certain number of old and less well-known operatic over-
celebrity, and many more, who if not quite so famous, tures. The first specimen selected was the overture to the
might almost lay claim to be so. It must, moreover, be opera of Tigranes, by Righini, which was produced for the
borne in mind that the performance of opera is not first time in Berlin in the year 1800. As a curiosity,
limited to the Royal Opera-house. Operas are given, and it is interesting, but cannot be said to possess any very
in'good style, too, at Kroll’s theatre, at the Wilhelmstadt great intrinsic merit. The principle, however, on which it
theatre, and at the Victoria theatre. Not a season passes, was included in the programme, is a good one.
; ,
248 THE DRAMA. [Nature and Art, December 1, 18GC.
In Munich, also, great activity is displayed in musical been well trained, but time and hard work have not failed
circles at the present moment.
The campaign has been to impair her voice somewhat. Her first part, that of
opened by the Musilcalische Academie, which gave a fine Norma, was a decided success, however. But her greatest
performance of Mendelssohn’s St. Paul. Very shortly, the hit has been Desdemona in Otello. She particularly dis-
Oratorien-Yerein will introduce Handel’s great work, Saul, tinguished herself in the exquisite and well-known Willow-
to the Munich public, who never yet enjoyed an opportunity Song “ Assisa a un pie di salice.”
-
,
A young French tenor,
of hearing- it the Stringed Quartet of members of the
;
M. Ketten, about whose voice some most wonderful stories
Royal Orchestra will commence their exceedingly popular were current, has made his debut in Crispino e la Comare
Soirees ; and the Liedertafel, under Professor Schdnchen, as Ernesto. A
short time ago he was merely an accom-
execute Mendelssohn’s choruses to Antigone. One of the i
panyist at the Theatre-Lyrique. Here some influential per-
most distinguished amateur composers of the day, Count sonage became acquainted with him, believed he possessed
Ludwig Stanlein, has just written a new work, a Sextet for powers equal to those of a Rubini, a Mario, or a Sims Reeves,
two Violins, two Violas, and two Violoncellos, which fully and procured him the chance’ of appearing at the Italiens.
equals any of his former efforts in the domain of classical That M. Ketten can boast of good natural capabilities is an
chamber-music. undoubted fact but equally certain is it that, if he wishes
;
In Paris, the musical season may be said to have been to turn them to advantage, he must go through a course of
inaugurated with the opening of the Italiens, the opera hard study. The diamond as yet requires a deal of polishing.
selected being La Sonnambula, andMadlle. Adelina Patti im- At any rate, it will be some years before M. Ketten can hope
personating the heroine. “ Well beg'un, half-done,” is a even to approach the three great artists mentioned above.
good maxim ;
and M. Bagier gave evidence of his sound Gluck’s Alceste has been revived, with an immense flourish
sense by commencing his season with a work which, though of trumpets, at the Grand Opera, where it was last repre-
old, is still universally popular, and with a fair vocalist who sented in 1861. Mad. Viardot-Garcia was then expressly
is such a favourite as Madlle. Adelina Patti. Her reception engaged to enact the part of the heroine, now sustained by
was most enthusiastic, and she sang magnificently. Her Madlle. Marie Battu. This opera was first produced at
acting, too, was fully on a par with her singing. Her second Vienna, in the year 1767, and in Paris in 1776, but was
character was that of Annetta, in Crispino e la Comare. It never as popular in the latter capital as any one of the four
was the first time that she had sustained it in Paris, and other operas which Gluck brought out there a fact attri- —
she made a great impression. The Parisians are in ecstasies, buted not so much to the music as to the unsatisfactory
and declare it to be the best thing she has yet done. This libretto. Speaking of the latter, Jean-Jacques Rousseau de-
is foolish; for, as it is impossible to manufacture Dresden clared that he knew no other opera in which the passions
china from common clay, or ottar of roses from ordinary were less varied than in Alceste that the whole plot turned
wild flowers, it is beyond the power of any artist to achieve —
upon only two sentiments affliction and terror and that ;
greater things, or even as great, with such music as that the composer must have been sorely pressed to prevent his
written by the Brothers Ricci than with that due to the music from becoming lamentably monotonous. On the pre-
pens of composers like Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer, and sent occasion Alceste has been got up, under the superinten-
Rossini, to say nothing about Mozart. To assert that Madlle. dence of M. Hector Berlioz, very magnificently but, despite ;
Adelina Patti’s Annetta is superior to her Rosina, Caterina, all the recalls and applause the first night, it is not likely to
Norma, Amina, and Zerlina, is an absurdity. But novelty have an extremely long run in fact, people say that M.
;
adds many fallacious charms. In a little time the Parisians Perrin is already looking out for something to replace it.
will become more reasonable. It is not much to the credit According- to report, Auber, that ever-youthful octo-
of Ivl. Bagier’s management that Madlle. Adelina Patti was genarian, is busy on a new opera, Le premier Jour de Bonheur,
but indifferently supported. She has since appeared in Lucia the libretto of which is from the practised pens of MM.
di Lammermoor and DonPasquale. Another of M. Bagier’s Cormon and D’Ennery. It is to be produced, at the Opera-
prime donne this season is Madlle. Emma Lagrua. When Comique, in May, the month of the Great Exhibition.
very young-, she sang, fourteen years ago, at the Grand According to another report, Strauss has paid ,£60,000 for
Opera, in Le Juif Errant. Great things were then predicted the right of giving a series of monster concerts at the
of her by the French critics. Since that time, she has visited Exhibition and, according to a third, Rossini has finished
;
England, Russia, Italy, and America, leading the nomad life the scoring- of his Petite Messe Solennelle, which has been
peculiar to vocalists, Arabs of the desert, commercial tra- performed twice, with pianoforte accompaniment, at the
vellers, and Queen’s messengers. She sings well, and has P house of Count Pillet Will.
THE D RAMA.
rTlHE theatres are in full play, and we believe we may add mothers and the artificial little urchins simulate their parts
;
J- in full pay, although the strenuous efforts of the sen- as well as their elders. It is also a new variety in such
sational dramatists, enterprising managers, inventive scene- plays to get rid of the very much used but unserviceable
engineers, and scenic artists do not seem to have resulted passion of jealousy. The fair bigamist is provided with a
this season in producing, at any theatre, one of those second mate — we cannot strictly say husband —who ’
is
decisive pieces which, like the “ Colleen Bawn” or “ Peep of utterly impassible. Nothing can make him jealous, though
Day,” will last a whole year. Indeed, there are perceptions the lady gives hundreds of pounds away to a shabby vaga-
of the sensational drama somewhat palling on the public bond under the plea of charity. The audience somehow
taste, such as it is. The unhappy lady who has married a seem more inclined to smile than weep with the lady heroine,
second husband, not being quite certain that the first is though embodied by so comely, graceful, and clever a person
dead, and who is placed in very equivocal situations by the as Miss Herbert, who is unexceptionable in her attire, her
appearance of a vagabond who is unusually familiar with poses, and her faintings. It may be that the audience are
her, no longer seems to excite the deep commiseration of so wicked as to laugh at bigamy but they seem too deco- ;
the audience. They seem to think her a disreputable or rous and too jolly for that. It may therefore be that the
foolish person and it is in vain she faints, and shrieks, and
; actress, with a great deal of intelligence, lacks that power
weeps, in white muslin. Indeed, the genius of modern dra- of personation and embodiment of the character which ex-
matists is so ingenious that they heighten the event by cites sympathy by its truth and apparent unconsciousness.
producing two exceedingly well-trained children to pile the Or it that, whilst the distress is excessive, the mode
may be
agony as by their unconscious babble they betray the of getting out of it is so easy, by the expression of a few
mother’s secret. They have the newest toys to play with, truthful words, that folks will not let their sympathy be
so that they may realize the scene to all the fashionable juggled by mere silliness. Whatever the cause, the drama
THE DRAMA. 249
called “Hunted Down, or the Two Lives of Mary Leigh,” of drama, somewhat perhaps enlarged and strengthened,
does not produce the old kind of effect. It is skilfully resumes its position at the leading theatres. We say
enough manipulated by Mr. Boucicault, whose dramatic resumes, because it really is of the same species as the
manufactory must be in full work just now. It is founded, “ Heir-at-Law,” “Speed the Plough,” and the “Road to
as it is supposed, on a novel by a popular living authoress, Ruin,” which so delighted our grandfathers and grand-
though the story, that of a man marrying a woman mothers and is free from the caricature and extravagance
;
for her money and running away from her, is very much |
which have made them obsolete. It has their vivacity and
older, and has been put on the stage sixty years since, as healthy human character, and deserves to be the staple of
may be seen in Cobb’s “ Wife of Two Husbands,” produced modern dramatic delineation.
on November 1st, 1803, at Drury Lane Theatre. This old At what ought to be the real home of the English drama,
piece was, however, itself taken from a French drama by a Drury-lane Theatre, the version of the German epic drama,
Mons. Pixerecourt, the Boucicault of his day. So popular “Faust,” is still running, and di-awing, from the name of
was it that no less than three translations were made into its original author and the pictorial and stage effects, nightly
English one of them being by Miss Gunning. Such, how-
;
audiences sufficient at all events to meet the expense of the
ever, is the larceny of the stage, that no doubt the French hordes of witches, market-people, students, and soldiers who
author stole it from some earlier play, and the modern literally crowd the enormous stage. As a spectacle it is
novelist and dramatist have probably taken the story from good, though not surpassingly so. Mr. Phelps’s Mephisto-
some more recent version of the Parisian stage. Whatever pheles was expected to be something as markedly excellent
the merits of modern story-tellers or playwrights, it certainly as his Sir Pertinax MacSycophant or Bottom the Weaver; but
does not consist in invention of original plots, though they it is not. There is, indeed, little scope for any expression
have considerable ingenuity in weaving a more interesting but a continued dry sneer at the World and his particular
web out of old materials. victim, who, in spite of his philosophy, is a very great silly
It as a relief to pass from the close and artificial drama and something worse. Mrs. Yezin has been praised as
of this kind —
oppressive from its criminal odour and fetid Marguerite but as the character only requires a cherub-
;
—
with a very far-fetched kind of morality into the more faced Gretchen of some sixteen years, she cannot fulfil our
natural atmosphere of an English domestic story like that ideas of Retsch’s outlines. The pantomime at Christmas will
of “ Meg’s Diversion,” at the tiny Royalty Theatre, by Mr. probably suspend the great German drama, to the relief of
Craven, who wrote the genial little piece, and acts the many who pi-efer the broadest jollity to a sombi-e piece
hero himself. Whoever has seen his “ Milky White,” or where the poetry and philosophy are necessarily eliminated
the “ Post-boy,” or any of his domestic dramas, will know to produce cumbrous stage effects.
with what perfection he delineates a domestic circle of At the Olympic Theatre there has also been something
homely English life, and creates a story and an interest by like a resting on a great name in the production of a well-
developing- the feelings of his dramatis personal as wrought known amateur drama by Mr. Wilkie Collins, in which Mr.
upon by circumstances. He delights in portraying middle- Charles Dickens (who was ably supported) performed the
class English life and this he does with the humour of a
;
principal part. It has had a scene or two added, and is
Wilkie- and the delicacy of a Mulready. In the paresent in- certainly well-written, admirable for its original intention
stance his hero is a simple-minded, uneducated country- but hardly elaborated enough for the public stage. All the
townsman, who has come in to property, but still retains a foi-cible emotions are rather described than acted. It was
very modest notion of his own qualities and capacities. A not new to many who had seen it performed by the celebrated
country wit and beauty, charmingly played by Miss Patty Amateurs. It is now called “ The Frozen Deep,” and to
Oliver, unrefined but not unfeminine, makes a butt of him, those who do not know it, we may briefly say it represents a
and, through the misrepi-esentations of a designing father and band of Arctic voyagers snowed up, and ultimately escaping.
sister, excites him to a declaration, and jilts him. The skill Amongst them are the accepted and rejected lovers of an
exhibited by Mr. Craven, both in the drawing and the acting hysterical young lady, who is clairvoyant, and foresees at
of the hero, is truly dramatic. It is never over-strained it
;
home what takes place in the icy regions. Miss Foote
is never false, though it is moving. There may be, indeed enacted this young lady with great force and grace. As the
—
-
for nothing is perfect to a critic’s eye — a leetle too much piece continues in the bills and was duly applauded, wo may
of his excessive goodness, and the least bit of self-conscious- suppose it is a genuine success.
ness of it, in the autlior-actor. It has been well said, he At the Princess’s one of those elaborated dramas wherein
should act more to his stage-companions, and less to his some remarkable scene is to afford pictorial illustrations to
audience. Nor is this chai-ming picture of English life con- all the available walls in London, has been produced to suc-
fined to one character. Several others are well sketched in ceed the “Huguenot,” which has not sustained its popularity
by a firm hand and with an observing knowledge of cha- to the enormous length that the “ Streets of London ” did.
racter. The idea of a sublimely self-sufficient gentleman, The subject this time is Mr. Dickens’s historical stoi-y of
who exercises a pseudo kind of libei-ality, and would educate “ Barnaby Rudge, ” though the drama seems rather to be
a poor girl for his wife, or marry a widow that he might founded on an American stage version than on the novel
train up her children so as, he expresses it, to create models itself;
and instead of the half-witted boy and his sagacious
of perfection according to his own standard, is ingeniously raven being- the prominent figures, Miss Migg-s, transformed
conceived, and marked in a satirical way without exaggera- into a Yankee girl, is the heroine. She is played by a comely
tion. The selfish boor of a father, his own better-educated actress, Mrs. J. Wood, who has won her celebrity by a
but more worldly brother, and the minx of a sister, are all pretty, intelligent countenance, which she seems resolved .by
capitally delineated, we must also add, exceedingly well no means to disfigure. It is evident that on the American
played, by the very clever company Miss Oliver has got stage this version of Miss Miggs is deemed the chief
round her. Nothing can be farther removed from the coarse, atti-action of the piece called “Barnaby Rudge;” but
criminal, and mechanical drama called sensational, though there being- no such notion here, and the novel and its
it has really no exclusive right to that epithet ;
for this writer being profoundly esteemed, there was a slight re-
little drama is highly sensational, if that term includes the sentment at this unceremonious treatment of the English
affecting strongly the emotions. Indeed, it adopts the [
author. This, as is the foolish custom at this theatre, was
reigning stage fashion to some extent, and realizes in one resented as a personal insult to “a lady and a stranger;”
scene Mi-. Calderon’s popular picture of “ Broken Vows.” but an audience know nothing of performers except as
This is tastefully done and very well delineated by the scene- artists, and criticism has nothing to do with sex or private
painter, Mr. Cuthbert it is, however, the background of
; acquaintance. Mr. Yining, who is otherwise a clever and
this scene, which is entirely his own, that proves him to be sensible manager, seems determined to provoke a trial of
a genuine artist. We wish we could say that this little the issue as to the right of hissing in a public theatre.
piece, so charming both in its writing and its acting, was as The state of the drama shows that audiences are quite in-
attractive as the coarser dramas. We trust, at all events, different and critics lenient enough, and that a little whole-
that it fills the theatre nightly, and rewards the tasteful some opposition would be beneficial. The scenery of this
manageress for producing it. It will be well when this class piece is remarkable for its effects. There is a fire equal in
— ;
250 .REVIEWS. Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.
extent, though not in excitement, to the one which made the Her Majesty’s Theatre has been taken possession of by
“Streets of London” so popular; but much better are a sunset Mr. Falconer, who has opened it with a five-act drama
and a moonlight, which have really artistic effects of light and entitled “ Oonagh or, the Lovers of Lisnamona.”
; It is
shade, truthful and novel. The sunset has moving clouds and founded on some Irish novels but more particularly on
;
a changing light, with all the effects of a lurid sunset after Carleton’s “ Fardourougha, the Miser.” On the first night
a spring tempest. The moonlight has very nice gradations of its production it was so monstrous in its proportions,
of tone, and is softly beautiful. Mr. F. Lloyds has a and so profuse in its dialogue, that it completely wore out
glowing imagination and great ingenuity as a scene contriver the audience, which melted away each act, until scarcely a
as well as a scene-painter. fourth of those who hailed it (and a speech of Mr. Falconer’s)
At the Strand, two comediettas have been produced. “ In with good-natured expectation, were left. at midnight; and
the Wrong Box,” a very trifling piece direct from the French. very few indeed at one o’clock, when the green curtain once
No doubt, in the original, Mons. Ravel plays one of his again went down. The story, is intensely Irish, the acting
impudent blundering men, who mistakes one woman for fair, the scenery picturesque, and the music tasteful but ;
another, and reveals his own designs. There is nothing in the talking so discursive and excessive that it seemed to
it. The other piece is of a far higher order, being an adapta- flood everything else. We presume it has been materially
tion and improvement of one of Goldoni’s little comedies, condensed and curtailed, as it continues to be acted.
called “ Neighbours.” It is cleverly Anglicised by Mr. Oxen- At the Adelphi, the last new drama of “ Ethel ” has been
ford but still the quaint Italian structure peeps through,
; suspended, as it is announced, in consequence of the illness
and is indeed predominant. A peppery old father conduces of Miss Kate Terry. That lady, however, is advertised to
to his own
daughter’s elopement. The imbroglio is inge- appear in a new drama, by Mr. Tom Taylor and Mr. A. W.
nious, the dialogue vivacious, and the characterization, Dubourg. In the mean time, a very young actress, of the
though bordering on caricature, is humorous. It has, name of Neilson, remarkable for her modest grace, has
however, a refreshing flavour, from its perfect freedom from essayed the stagy character of Victorine in the drama of
a French taint of forced ingenuity and sordid vice. that name. The complex ingenuity of subsequent dramas
At Sadler’s Wells a very pretentious drama has been makes the old piece seem very bare and crude.
produced, called “The Purpose of a Life,” in which the Those who like to combine exercise with their theatrical
Yelverton case is partially dramatized. Miss Marriott, as amusements, may take an evening walk over Westminster
the heroine, is made to declaim as to the power and excel- Bridge, and see the performance of a company under the
lence of the histrionic art ; an introduction, probably owing management of Mr. Nation, at Astley’s Amphitheatre. The
—
to the author being an actor. -Mr. Stephenson, of the play is a dramatic version of Mr. Dickens’s last novel, “ Our
Adelphi Theatre. Mutual Friend,” and is called “ The Golden Dustman.”
REVIEWS.
From Calcutta to the Snowy Range. By an Old Indian. the East. The
vision presents the English sahib, in
first
(London : Tinsley Brothers.) his helmet of pith, or felt with air-chambers, his light suit
and white shoes, smoking his Manilla cheroot on a cane
N times when steam-travelling and we were young, we chair, with his legs elevated in front of him, and drinking
I were mostly contented with entertaining a general im- brandy and lelatee-panee (which is, being interpreted,
pression that British India was excessively hot, that the brandy and soda-water) ; or travelling in his comfortable
food of its inhabitants principally consisted of rice and first-class railway carriage, constructed so as to admit of
curry, and that the English there resided in houses called the formation of couches in the interior or riding forth to ;
bungalows, and were waited upon by numerous servants, enjoy the sport of pig-sticking in the jungle, or shooting the
each of whom performed, only one -species of duty. We varieties of game offered to him, without the necessity of
rarely took the trouble to reflect upon the vastness and taking out a license, from teal to tigers. The second evokes
magnificence of the enormous Asiatic realm of which we the shaven Hindoo, or turbaned Mussulman, in his gay
hold the sovereignty. Until the now almost forgotten shawls, rich silks, or white and coloured cotton costume,
Waghorn and his followers simplified access to the East, sitting, monkey-fashion, on his haunches ; rejecting meat
the knowledge of its picturesque old cities, with their altogether in the first instance, and pork in the second
temples and palaces, constructed in the most delicate and taking- off his red or embroidered slippers when a European
fancifully-beautiful style of architecture and enriched with would remove his hat refusing to allow the young and
;
the most profuse ornamentation, was, with few exceptions, lovely among his females to appear in public ; in fact, living-
confined to the learned and gallant sons of the Old Lady of in a totally un-English manner, both in aspect and reality.
Leadenhall. We
had heard but little of its scenery, varying The journey from Calcutta to the Snowy Range is no
from the cold grandeur of the snowy Himalayas to the longer, as formerly, effected altogether in the dak marry, or
alternating fertility and aridness of the plains and dense Indian post-chaise, a one-horsed vehicle of about the dimen-
luxuriance of the tropical forests. However, year after sions of a London four-wheeled cab, and made so as to
year, the men of art and the men of trade laboured together admit of the passenger’s reclining at full length in the in-
to rend the veil and to open the quasi sealed book, until at terior, but, as far as Delhi, by the railway, which is now
last the Indian mutiny loosed the floodgates of information, completed for a distance of 1,019 miles. Of some of the
and terribly brought the country before our notice. Interest railway arrangements our “ Old Indian” complains sadly,
was excited among all classes in the scenes where those but good-humouredly ; and we will extract his description
horrors were enacted ; and a work like the one before us, of a first-class carriage, for the benefit of whom it may
giving an amusing narrative of progress, and vivid sketches concern :
of the most prominent places on the grand route from “ train, as it stands drawn up by the platform, with
The
Calcutta to Simla, in the hill country, under the snowy its bright-polished engine shining brilliantly in the sun, and
range of the Himalayas, is still likely to be welcomed, with snorting impatiently in puffs of curly steam, is at a first
sincere pleasure, by the reading public, as well as by those glance uncommonly like a railway- train in England or any-
persons about to travel to whom it is specially addressed. where else. But a new-comer would soon discover a
What a double panorama is suggested to the modern difference. The carriages are, to begin with, very much
Anglo-Indian by the title of this book One of its divisions
! stronger, larger, and loftier, and are protected from the sun
raises memories of the matter-of-fact, unpicturesque, yet by a double roof— the upper one a few inches removed from
quaint and characteristic Anglo-Indian life the other, of
;
the lower, and projecting slightly on either side. Then, to
all the gorgeous, though somewhat dilapidated, romance of every window there are, in addition to the glasses, Venetian
;
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866.] REVIEWS. 251
blinds, and to thefirst-class carriages frequently sun-shades At Delhi the traveller must betake himself to a dak
besides ventilation is also specially and very necessarily
;
gharry, and, after a fatiguing journey of 138 miles, will be
provided for indeed, as far as is possible, the carriages are
:
invigorated by breathing the fresh air of the hills ; leaving
built for the climate. But what avail double roof, Venetian “ the interminable dreary level of the plain, seen lying like
blinds, or sun-shade, against the terrible sun of an Indian a mirage far away in the distance below,” and gradually
summer Then the carriages become, as it were, red-hot
!
rising among “ rocky ravines, bright sparkling waterfalls,”
and entering one is like going into a heated furnace. You “smiling green-clad slopes,” towards the snowy range
soon assume a listless, half wrung-out appearance, and keep beyond, of which he will enjoy occasional glimpses.
yourself amused by mopping up the perspiration, as it freely Our author concludes with some lively notes on Simla,
pours from you. The very seat is hot to the touch and ;
the queen of Indian sanitaria, which he reached in the dead
you refrain from leaning back, lest your coat stick to the of winter, but where “ balls, picnics, archery, amateur
varnished panel. If, as is devoutly to be wished, no ladies theatricals, and professional concerts follow each other, in
are present, you relapse into the free-and-easy, take off the the season, in quick succession where chalet-like dwellings
boots from your swollen feet, denude yourself of coat and are “dotted about on crags or half-buried in redundant
waistcoat, unfasten your soaked collar, and hang it up to foliage;” where “lofty ranges of mountains tower in the
dry, put your feet at a comfortable angle on the opposite far distance, covered with eternal ice;” where “romantic
cushion, elevated, if possible, to a level with your nose, steeps” and “ deep green valleys” charm the exhausted
light your cheroot, and, stimulated by a ‘peg’ (which is fugitive from the torrid lowlapds.
brcm&y-sfotab and belatee-panee), dreamily subside into a Eight coloured illustrations and a map add to the value
patient endurance of the miseries of a long' Indian summer of this well-conceived and well-written handbook and we
;
railway journey.” think that the reader who follows the “ Old Indian” through
Having traversed, in this fashion, the plains of lower his journeyings and sight-seeing will obtain an excellent
Bengal, with their rice-fields and fantastic tropical vegeta- idea of the most interesting portions of our Eastern
tion—broad-leaved plantains, fan-like palms, and graceful dominions.
—
cocoa-nut trees we cross the sacred Ganges by a bridge of
boats, and reach Benares, the most holy city of the Hindoos,
with its well-known ghauts, or flights of steps, rising from Travelling in Spain in the Present Day. By Henry
the river and thronged with bathing, praying, and sleeping Blackburn. (Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, 1866.)
devotees, and the Great Mosque of Aurungzebe towering
above the Hindoo temples and dense piles of buildings. We owe Mr. Blackburn’s experiences of Spanish travel
Thence, by Allahabad, at the confluence of the Ganges and to the charming of the Franco-Hispano billsticker one —
—
Jumna also considered especially sacred to Cawnpore of— of the very newest we should imagine, of the cosas de
sad memories, where we pause to contemplate the handsome —
Dspaha who inveigled him and his party across the
memorial erected over the well down which our murdered Pyrenees from Biarritz. —
Their tour made as rapidly as
countrywomen and children were thrown. Then to Luck- villainous transport, and as uncomfortably as worse com-
now, the theatre of so much display of British valour, with —
missariat and continuous imposition could insure lasted
its immense yet fairy-like palaces, terraced tombs, and three months, and cost them fifteen shillings per head per
“ world-renowned Residency—which stands now in its day. Beyond the very useful wrinkle, that those who
solemn ruin, a monument alike of the bravery and devotion seek Spain in autumn should take winter clothing, and
of that handful of heroes who held it for five months suc- some valuable hints for travellers in his appendix, the
cessfully against overwhelming numbers, and of the self- author has added little to our store of knowledge ; and, to
denying heroism of the women and children who died un- do him justice, he makes no such pretence. We
are not of
complainingly in its cellars.” those who believe there are deep-seated mysteries and
From Lucknow we reach Agra, celebrated for its Taj beauties in Spanish land and Spanish character. On the
Mahal,* the most splendid and most beautiful mausoleum in contrary, we believe that what is worth knowing about that
the world. Passing under a mosque-shaped gateway of red most untempting country has been known for some time;
sandstone, and walking down a pathway ornamented by and that what is worth seeing has been seen, thoroughly
alternate basins of water and parterres of flowers, and studied and exhaustively described by generations of
shaded by rows of dark cypress trees, we find ourselves in writers, among the most recent of whom are Lady Tenison,
front of an edifice of pure white marble, surmounted by a Mr. Owen Jones, Mr. Ford, Mr. O’Shea, and that sketcher
dome of the most graceful form, with a gilded crescent at of sketchers, Mr. George Sala. We agree with Mr. Black-
its summit. We enter this, the loveliest conceivable hall burn that Spain is in no state of transition at all (unless
of death, and can realize the intention of its founder to there be such a thing as transition backwards), and that
imitate the abodes of bliss in Paradise. In the centre, sur- centuries may elapse before sufficient material for a new
rounded by a screen of marble trellis-work, are the tombs of book of travels will have accumulated within her borders ;
the Emperor Shah Jehan and his consort, Arjunand Banoo, and while we admit also the argument in his preface, that
side by side. Walls, screen, and tombs are all inlaid his own was, from a publisher’s point of view, superfluous,
with precious stones— cornelian, lapis lazuli, agate, and the we must congratulate him on having so fairly escaped from
—
like in the most exquisite workmanship. The slightest a false position.
whisper uttered there is re-echoed in the mighty dome above — —
The tour a regular Britannic scamper took in, on its
with marvellous effect. Our author observes “ I see it : southward direction, Burgos, Madrid, Cordova, Seville, and
stated in a Persian translation of a description of the Taj, Cadiz thence, touching at Malaga and Yalencia, the home-
;
that even unimaginative persons have been known to burst ward course was shaped through Saragossa and Barcelona.
into tears on entering the building.” From Agra we arrive It were singular, indeed, if each of these points had not
at Delhi, “ the famed capital of the Moslem kings,” situated afforded an opening for literary as well as for artistic
in the midst of the ruins of old Delhi, which “ extend some sketching and of these the party availed themselves. We
;
ten miles to the south-east and south-west. More or less have a Madrid bull-fight, as might be expected, with a
over this large extent of ground lie scattered the wrecks of reprint of a “correct card of the ring-,” which, to the best
palaces, forts, graveyards, and tombs .... as each suc-
: of our memory, is a novelty. Toledo, Cordova, Granada,
cessive conqueror came, he seems to have sought to excel and Seville, all offer occasion for brief and modest gossip,
his predecessors in works of grandeur and majesty.” The currente “ cicerone,” on Christian and Moresque art while
;
seat of the Grand Moguls in the late rebellion has shared the morning, noon, and night of every day, are pregnant
their fate, though its remains still attest their former lavish- with reflections on the seediness and seemingly gradual de-
ness and sense of beauty. civilization of Spain and the Spaniards, which, despite the
protestations of the Salamancas, the Pereiras, and the Petos
* Supposed to have been designed and built by a French- shows no symptom of being arrested by stock-jobbing or
—
man, Austin de Bordeux, 1630 1647 and to have cost;
railway-making. The following bit of character, which
.£3,000,000. reminds us forcibly of Mr. Sala (whose Spanish studies are
252 OLLA PODRIDA. [Nature anil Art, December 1, 18'ill.
shortly to be re-published), is ail amusing specimen of the

A Rubric Edition of the Booh of Common Prayer with Titles
lighter portions of “ Travelling in Spain.”
— —
“ As for the middle class the shopkeepers their non- and Borders designed and drawn by R. B. Holmes,
chalance was most amusing. We went into a confectioner’s F.S.A., and engraved on wood by O. Jewitt. (Riving-
one day to purchase some chocolate, and were deliberately
tons.)
told that, if we liked to get it down from a high shelf, we
could have it no assistance was offered, and we had to go
: There is no book which has furnished such an oppor-
empty away. In another "place we had been selecting some tunity for decorative display as the “ Book of Common
photographs and prints, and suddenly found that we had not Prayer.” Its typo, binding, rubrication, initial letters,
time to conclude our purchase that day. Never shall we borders, illuminations, and pictorial illustrations, have
forget the air of relief with which the man shut up the each in its turn engaged the attention of the artist.
•
portfolios and lighted his cigarito. If wo would but leave We have Prayer-books in which not only the borders and
him in peace, and come mafiana,’ he would be for ever
‘ illustrations, but the whole of the letterpress, are copper-
grateful.” plate engravings. A specimen of this is to be found in one
Small wonder then that countless acres of this nature- engraved by John Baskett, and published in 1717.
favoured land lie idle, while irrigation- works, planned by the The desire for decoration in ecclesiastical matters has
Paynim before his expulsion from Europe, are yet unfinished ;
latterly rather inundated us with ornamental Prayer-books.
or that priceless stores of chemical and mineral wealth We have had all kinds, good, bad, and indifferent, from the
effloresce vainly from her plains, or slumber unwrought and spiritless imitations of mediaeval illuminations, where colour
unprofitable (since Roman days) in her thousand hills (laid on without taste or discrimination) has been supposed
Each traveller but adds one more to the heap of proofs that to compensate for vulgarity and want of meaning, to the
this “to-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow,” “to the refined and artistic productions, where ornament and illus-
last syllable of recorded time,” is a better-fitting key than tration have kept their proper place and have not been
the oft-tried one of religion, to the mystery of the poverty obtruded on the eye to the distraction of the minds of those
and degeneracy of Spain. who would confine their attention to the text.
—
Mr. Blackburn and party- for truth and gallantry demand One of the latter kind has just come under our notice, and
that the share the ladies had in the joint performance should we have much pleasure in inviting the attention of our
not be ignored— have extensively and advantageously availed readers to it. It is published by Messrs. Rivington the ;
themselves of the co-operation of their able predecessors ;

titles and borders are from the designs of Mr. R. R. Holmes,
and their richly-bound pages, decorated with a score and E.S.A. Though these may appear to have been founded
more of beautiful wood-engravings, after John Phillip, R.A., on mediceval illuminations, especially in the titles, they are
E. Lundgren, Walter Severn, and other artists of no small all original, and show good taste, feeling’, and refinement on
excellence, will be welcomed in the drawing-room if not in the part of the artist. Many of the borders are particularly
the study. pleasing.
OLLA POD RIDA.

Art-teaching by Correspondence. — gentleman on the pupil being- first ascertained, drawings are selected for
whose sound judgment we rely, writes as follows : him as nearly as possible of the right strength, and sent
“ In the artistic portions of your periodical much space with written instructions for his guidance in working. His
has been deservedly, and I doubt not to many of your copies from them are reviewed by the master, and returned
readers very beneficially, devoted to instructions in painting with practical hints for the correction of faults. When
— in water-colours by Mr. Penley, in oils by Miss Constance desirable, drawings are prepared, expressly, for individual
Clarke. The public will, I am sure, be thankful for all the pupils, and sent to them in the successive stages of pro-
valuable directions which these talented contributors have gress their copies being in each stage examined, commented
;
given. They will tend to create a love for the art itself, on, and re-transmitted by the Post.
and to facilitate its practice. The method of teaching by
written communication, however, is by no means new. It
The Art Union of London have in the hands of the
engraver the national pictures “ Here Nelson Fell ” and
has been successfully followed for many years by a well- “ The Meeting- of Wellington and Blucher,” and have just
known and accomplished artist, Mr. William's, of Upper
acquired (for engraving) the beautiful work by Mr. Armitage,
Park Place, Southampton; and the efficacy of the system,
lately exhibited at the Royal Academy, and called “ The
as carried out by him, has been thus very strongly attested
Parents of Christ seeking Him.”
by the first of living art-critics
We cannot help drawing the attention of all admirers of
“ Dear Mr. Williams,
1
— I like your plan of teaching by Chromo-Lithography to the Society’s splendid specimen of
letter exceedingly and not only so, but have myself adopted
;
the art by Messrs. Hanhart, after Birket Foster, called
it largely, with help of an intelligent under-master, whose “Wild Roses.” Copies were given, some years since, as
operations, however, so far from interfering with, you will prizes, but are now to be had, besides one chance in the
much facilitate, if you can bring this literary way of teach- general drawing-, by the three-g-uinea subscribers of the
ing into more accepted practice. I wish we had more year 1867.
drawing-masters who were able to give instruction definite No more curious illustration of the diffusion of the art of
enough to be expressed in writing many can teach nothing
; design and the value to that art of the elegant process by
but a few tricks of the brush, and have nothing to write, whose aid we are enabled to deck our pages with high-class
because nothing to tell. works, could be given than the pictorial almanacks of the
‘
—
“ With every wish for your success a wish which I
period. The Insurance offices long enough ago inaugurated
make quite as much in your pupils’ interest as in your own the custom ; traders of all sorts have followed it ; and per-
— believe me always, faithfully yours,
“ J. Buskin.
1
haps the gem of all possible almanacks has now been issued
“
by the indefatigable Mr. Bimmel. Albeit comparisons are
‘
Denmark Hill, November, I860.’ odious, we must say that this exquisite production, com-
“ To those who maybe inclined to doubt theefficiency, or prising a dozen of the most comical little fancies, chromo-
the ease and convenience, with which a master may by cor- lithographed in the daintiest manner, is from a French
respondence direct the studies of a pupil, it may be well to atelier. Let the London houses look to their laurels. Fas
state in a few words the method adopted. The power of cst ab hoste doceri.
WV3IAN AXH SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, Tv’.C.

SPECIMEN OF SHIELDS AND LETTERS FOR CHURCH DECORATION.
BEHOLD THY KING COMETH

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Published and Sold by DAY & SON (LIMITED), 6, Gate Street, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, and 43, Piccadilly.
Lja)ooocxjouomj«joooufxvjoou^g
x/->: x .on t ic < x x r)
B I Z Z AND HER FOES.

By Mbs. S. C. Hall.
IN THREE CHAPTERS. CHAPTER I.
HERE is no use in putting I wish for a stone in a stocking, and him and me on
”
it off any longer, ma’am,” the fair green of Ballynatrent !
said the cook “ the upshot

;
Now this was a hasty admission on the part of
of it will be, we shall be our excellent cook, which she would not have made
murdered intirely, if we in cold blood. It is by no means an uncommon
don’t get a yard-dog :
thing to find Irishmen in that, or indeed I am sorry
those skelping, keeking, to say, in any class of life, stammer and fidget, and
flying here and there, look confused, when you intimate that they are
’talian greyhounds — poor natives of the Green Isle ; and I am ashamed to
shivering ’atomies, I call confess that I often meet with Irish gentlemen,
’em — all legs and no body —such
shadders as them who, if they do not deny their country, are too
are no more use for watch-dogs, no, not so much ready to deal it a vigorous kick, as if by spurning
as that little hairey- walker Weazel, with a head so the land of their birth they elevate themselves ; but
like a dandelion, that if I blowed it hard enough, not so with Irish-women their eyes sparkle, and
I could tell what’s o’clock.” their cheeks flush, and their sweet voices (none
There was a pause ; cook noted the unconvinced the less sweet for the intoning their enemies call
expression of my face, and resumed “ brogue ”) speak out frankly what they feel and
“ So exposed as the place is, ma’am standing ! — believe— that with all her faults, there is no country
“ darling
in a corner, and not a hap’orth to hinder the stable in the world to be compared to their own
—
and all belonging to it. Oh, ma’am dear, what are Ireland.” I reverence that love of native land. I
ye saying about the Po-leese 1 I’d take an oath this need not tell my readers, young or old, to what
blessed minute on all the books that ever war shut country our cook belonged ; you could not hear the
or opened, that the last of them blue-bottles that sound of her voice, you could not look into her soft
ever rounded the corner of the Gloucester- road, grey eyes fringed by long black lashes, you could not
was this day week. You know, ma’am, we have expei-ience her desire to oblige, no matter at what
two of them ’talian greyhounds, and you yourself personal sacrifice, without knowing at once that 'she
calls them Ninon the Wise and Folly the Foolish, was a daughter of the “ Emerald Isle.” Every one
well, I opened the gate to see if I could see the said she was too handsome fora cook, but what was
milk coming down the road, and to keep Folly in, I better, she was a grateful and affectionate servant,
lifts her in my arms, when she takes a flying leap ready, as she declared, at any time “to go to the
”
after the tollman’s magpie, when up he sidles world’s end through fire and water to serve me or
“ Who 1 the magpie, cook 1 ” mine.” That I did not require, but I should have
“No, ma’am, the Foleese ; ‘ Don’t agitate yourself, been glad, if she had put things in their right
good woman,’ he says, ‘ the weather’s too warm for places, and did not make a flat-iron do duty as a
agitation, stand still, and call the little beast door-weight, and oblige the door-weight to act as a
you’ll never catch her.’ ‘
Do your duty,’ I says, coal-hammer: the housemaid once declared she made
‘you’re long and lane enough to catch a dragon-fly,
— —
her bed with the fire-shovel that was a libel. But
let alone a ’talian greyhound, “ baste,” indeed ! — the remarkable thing about our cook was her
—
only wish I had the basting of you and how dare ! stoutly denying she was Irish “ Irish she had no
: !
you call me “ good woman ” 1 I says, for I was ’

call to them, her grandfather indeed might have
struck dumb by his impidence, and hadn’t a word been born there, or her grandmother, but that did
in my head ; and with that, before I could draw my not make her Irish, she hated the very sound of the
breath, he takes off his hat, that isn’t a hat, but a brogue ” After such a declaration, she was par-
!
‘
shiney,’ and says, I ask your pardon, I did not
‘
ticularly careful to call plates “ pleets,” lisping her
intend to call you out of your name.’ Oh, didn’t words as finely as her own mincing-machine minced
VOL. II. VIII. B
2 BIZZ AND HER FOES. Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
meat it was very sad and very wrong to tell that

: a one else in the world, who don’t know when they
untruth, more especially as the genuine love of her are sarved or saved. But what put me past myself
country would break forth naturally. Sometimes she intirely, was that more than two hours after, as I
would come to me with a tale of Irish distress which was hindering the white sauce from coming to a
brought tears into her fine grey eyes, and apologize bile, a tattering ring shakes the back gate. I
in this way —
“ Sure, the craythurs are in such
: thought it was the Wenham Lake, which runs to
misery, that my heart aches fit to breaking, at the waste before you can look round you, so I takes my
way they’re in ; and you, madam, are so fond of sauce m
my fist, and makes a rush at the gate, and
your own country people, that though I have no call sorra a thing was there, but that aggravating
to the Irish, I thought you would like to know the poleeseman. I beg your pardon, madam
‘
(that ’
trouble that’s on them.” There is a strong pre- was his word), madam he says, but I am curious
‘ ’ ‘
judice against Irish servants in England, but that to know if the big thin dog is mother to the little
was no excuse for cook’s untruth ; it was the blot in thin one.’ I don’t know how I kept the sauce off
her character. him, the great omadawn, and me so busy ” !
I was always glad to catch her tripping on this “ What a good, wise creature that Ninon is,” I
subject, and the allusion to the mode of warfare exclaimed “ another reason, Mary, why we should
;
practised on “ the fair green of Ballynatrent,” was not have a vard-dog.”

evidence of country so decided, that, very mali- “ Oh, as you plase, ma’am,” said cook, exchanging
ciously, I asked her to tell me “ where the fair the air narrative, for the air dignified, and preparing
green of Ballynatrent was situated,” upon which to jiass from the verandah to the kitchen ; “ as you
she blushed and turning away answered, — plase, ma’am, of course ; it ’s just as you and the
“ It’s a, place I heard tell of once, ma’am dear — master jilazes, only if all I’ve said this very half-
place, and its ways, my grandmother often discoursed minute don’t prove what cruel want we are in of a
about ; but sure any place would do, if I could only yard-dog, why it don’t, that’s all I suppose I must !
get a good throw at him, the lazy sneering scamp lose mee bits of clothes, and the little property in
adding “ and now, if you plase, I’ll go on with mee box, the caddy spoon, and punch-ladle that
my trouble : belonged to me grate grandfather, who was a man !
“All was leaping her heart out

this time, Folly As sure as the sun shines, we shall be all murdered;
after that ugly Mag., that kept on whistling with the dark nights too, and the end of the world so
its eye cocked on the top of the great toll-board. nigh.”
Ninon the Wise, who well knew the differ between I made no answer. Cook lingered, twisting up a
her master’s Avhistle, and the whistle of a Brompton refractory honeysuckle, still anxious to carry her
magpie, stood as grave as a judge inside the rails. point.
At the minute, a cart came out of the great gate at “ I really do notwant any more dogs, cook ; it
Eagle Lodge, and my heart was in my mouth, for I was only yesterday you said the house was poisoned ‘
”
saw no escape for Folly, and I could have spitted with them.’
the poleese man as I would a goose, and he standing “Oh, then, ma’am dear, sure I don’t want
twisting a straw in his mouth. another in the house, only outside, to purtect the
“ Can’t you run ? I says, and not see the dog
‘ ’ ‘
property. Sure, I’ve shown you this very minute,
massacreed in the sight of your eyes 1 what’s the how exposed the corner and stable is, and the
like of you for 1 I says ; I could not stii’, for all
’
poleese dear at a brass farthing a piece and that !
the breath was gone out of my body, and my heart whistling magpie, distracting one’s mind with its
leaping like a fish after a fly. Well the words ! nonsense, and the carts going the road, as if it be-
wer.e taken out of my mouth as much as the breath, longed to them, and that poor darlin’ Ninon
I may say, by seeing Ninon, the stately crature, obleeged to take police duty on herself, or see her
make one bound like a stag across the road, and comrade massacreed.”
seize Folly by the scruff’ of her neck, from among
‘ “ And is a yard-dog to cure all these unpleasant-
the horses’ feet, and drop her inside the gate, and nesses, cook 1 ”
the magpie whistling all the time, not caring if the “ Oh, ma’am, if it’s laughing at me ye are, I’m
poor foolish dumb animal had been scrunched under done I’ll say to Hatchment,
;
Don’t talk to me ‘
the cart wheels ; and if she had, I’d have wrung the about your dog, sir, if you plaze, though you have
head off her, or my name’s not Mary Ogi’eman ” ! been so good as to offer her to my mistress, and she
”
Here was a tangle Mary Ogreman, our rosy ! such a Avonderful Avatch.’
cook, two Italian greyhounds, a magpie, and a “No, Mary,” I interrupted, Avitli admirable
policemen, all about a yard-dog ! gravity, “ Iam by no means a good Avatch.”
“ And what did the policeman say to Ninon’s “ You ma’am;,
oh, ma’am dear, sure I never
!
sagacity 1 ”
“Well, I don’t know, ma’am; I don’t think he
evened the like of that to you, you indeed 1
”
“You have just said I Avas a Avonderful watch.”

—
'
understood it at once, only his two eyes grew like “I’d not contradict you, ma’am, but if the words
the bull’s eye of his own lantern, and he standin’ in came out of my mouth, it was not me that said them ;
the middle of the road, until the carter cries, Lave ‘

it was Hatchment’s dog Bizz, the baste, I meant
the way, will ye, or I’ll be over you as well as the was the watch, and a wonderful Avatch intirely she
dog,’ and he not over the dog at all who was ! certainly
“ I
is —by all accounts.”
squealing and grumbling at her presarver, like many am very glad to hear it.”
X.'l I I I I
•
. | ||(i .\|-t ,.l.|
g ro)r,jlten-l<w«:
P&K&i?
jtri'0*rt^
'' irs’i!s^\ j
'
*'*•
r.
— !
Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.] BIZZ AND HER FOES. 3
“Just the sort of clog we want, that will stand everything else scuffled about through them but
no nonsense, want no looking after not all as one ;
there,ma’am, 1 have done my duty honest, if we’re
of our dogs, ma’am, that crave as much attention as all robbed and murdered, its no business or fault of
babies ; sure if Ninon only wets her feet, she’ll come mine. I could swear the lock of the back gate,
to me to dry ’em before she goes into the drawing- had a nail in it on Sunday morning and I’d be
:
room and if an insect bothers her too much, and

! glad to know how the coke-box, two trowels, and a
she can’t get him, by reason of his earning his bread blacking-brush were spirited off the bottle-rack in
on the back of her neck, or right under her chin, the yard. If Bizz, the baste, —
but I’m done !
”
she’ll give me no rest or pace till I take down her Whenever poor cook’s suggestions were set aside,
comb and brush, to have a hunt for him, and she she assumed an air of pathetic, yet offended dignity,
knows the sight of the comb as well as myself that was highly amusing, and after the passion,
Now Bizz is altogether different from that she’s a : whined out a running accompaniment.
pure-blooded, smooth-coated bull-tarricr ; that’s what “ I know my place, I’m only a plain cook, roast
she is ; her grip is the grip of a vice, her legs are and boiled (“ biled ” she pronounced it), soup, fish,
bandy with strength, and though she has lost one poultry or game, bread or mint sauce, lobsters and
eye, and her ears are riddled —
indeed one is as good crabs, and vegetables in all dressings, could under-
as gone —
through tearing by cats, rats, and things, take a cow and butter, feed pigs, hatch chickens,
she do be after day and night, in shores, and out of and cut the red heads of turkeys, agin the world ;
shores; known she is to all rat-catchers, that would I never blazens myself, I’m only a plain cook, but
give their eyes for her, and though she’ll do them a scorn baking, ever since them dirty Germans set up
good turn now and agin, when they’re hard up for a their yeast against honest barm I’m only a cook,
!
dog, she wouldn’t, Hatchment says, call one of them and a woman, and know I’m of no account beyond
mastei’ —
not she. She wouldn’t stay here, poor Bizz, my kitchen, and as clean a scullery as ever mortial
the baste ! only she has got a liking for me entered I’d never have mentioned the dog, ma’am,
!
Hatchment is certain of that.” only you have a laning towards animals, and
There was a pause cook returned to the charge.

:
Hatchment says, he’ll ’tice her into a bag somehow,
“ Talking of cats, ma’am, sure anything that and drown the poor faithful creature if you don’t
would circumnavigate those cats, that destroy the have her.”
garden, would be a blessing unspoken the walls are
: “Drown Bizz!” (she had long been of my
as thick with cats, as an old kitchen with beetles. acquaintance, though by no means one of my dog
hy, the cats flick their tails and grin at our dogs : friends.) “ Drown Bizz why, if she is so valuable,
!
it’s heart-breaking, so it is, to see the voilets and why drown her 1
”
b 2
4 BIZZ AND HER FOES. [Nature and Art, January 1, 18G7.
—
Mary O’Gorman or as I am ashamed to say, she’d tear theQueen on her throne in pieces,
”
if she
Mary Ogreman, as she chose to anglicise her name- heard her Majesty talking about her eye !
stumbled a great deal over the “ reasons ” her friend On the potato-basket I saw frequently the re-
Hatchment had for wishing to get rid of this ugly —
verse of the medal the split lip quivering over the
paragon of canine fidelity ; but the “ reasons ” were white fang, the keenly fiery eye, darting its arrows
cogent since he had given up his yard, he had no
: here and there from beneath its “tan” eyebrow,
place “ convnnient” to chain Bizz in. She was an the blunt upturned nose, the bandy fore leg, and
ugly customer in his shop, where, seated on the top above all the sturdytail, strong, muscular, and
of a potato-basket, she was ever ready to do battle inflexible. Experience had taught me in time two
with any one, or any thing, on the least provocation. peculiarities in this queer dog she never picked a
:
Fond, indeed, I am of dogs, which (cunning things) quarrel with another dog, she held herself above
they know so well, that many a homeless cur, of her species ; if attacked by any combative lady, she
low degree, has followed me home, while the moi’e would prove her breeding, and fight as became her
aristocratic dogs, who never go abroad without an bull-blood, but a dog-quarrel must be forced on her,
escort, sniff, and wag their tails, while regarding me and she was never uncivil to well-dressed or com-
for a minute or so ; with their deep-brown, or grey- monly customers.
respectable One morning I
green eyes, seem to say with mute eloquence, “We wanted some pink Asters, and walked over
to order
know you, you love us and we love you.” Yet to Hatchment’s for the purpose. Bizz was on the top
frequently as I passed Hatchment’s, and was of the potato-basket as usual, and as usual I spoke
tempted to order some pretty pot of mignionette, or to her ;
the only reply she ever made to a salutation
line hyacinth, or snowy and succulent celery (for to a good customer was to draw up her lip and
Hatchment dabbled in flowers, and was eminent wink. She did so with more graciousness than
as a greengrocer), for a considerable time, the sight common, indeed she winked twice, and I felt almost
of that fiendish-looking dog, perched like grim inclined to pat her, when I perceived two boys
death on a potato-basket, often scared me away. I peeping at her through the vegetables piled behind
did not mind her torn ears, nor her ugly, yellowish, where she sat (the shop was double fronted).
bandy legs, nor that horrid broken-down nose “ I have never got so much as one cabbage-leaf
peculiar to her family. I pitied her poor blind eye, for my rabbits, since she took to the shop,” said one
which, half closed, had a penitential look, and gave rosy-cheeked fellow; “the governor says I may have
an expression of gentleness to that side of her face, the trimmings, but if we only look at them, she’s
at once tender and touching —
if that side happened out upon us. I wish she was dead.”
to be turned to the street. I felt as if I could “ Oh, my eye Isn’t ,slie ugly though ?” observed
!
1
order whatever I pleased, but the other side might the other urchin. Now whether Bizz caught the
have belonged to another dog ; there was a split in offensive exclamation or not, I cannot tell, but
her upper lip, directly over one of the whitest and she sprang from her elevation, and would certainly
most determined-looking fangs, I ever saw in a 1
have punished the author of the obnoxious sound,

dog’s head; that was the side of her bright keen eye, if both boys had not managed to bolt into the
and when it “ eyed ” any one intently, the lip moved tailor’s shop, next door, and shut themselves in.
and twitched in a nervous disagreeable manner, so But Bizz had good reason to hate the boys that
that the ugly “gap,” closed and unclosed, as if it congregated in Steward’s Grove. Where the legions
sneered “ Ah, ah do you understand 1 I’d like to
! came from I never understood unkempt raga-;
bite you.” Her coat was jet black, and shone like muffins some of them, whose clothes hung together
satin it was a coat any dog might be proud to wear.
; by a miracle, and whose lungs were as strong as a
I suppose everybody has heard of the Irishman brass trumpet others were better dressed, but to
:
who said “ the most eloquent feature in a dog’s face the full as mischevious, with demrrre-looking slates
was its tail.” Now Bizz’s tail could hardly be called and satchels, intent, I am sorry to say, on upsetting
“ eloquent,” but it was determined it stuck out
: Hatchment’s baskets, and in the melee stealing his ,
stiff and curveless, nearly on a line with her back, apples and oranges. One fellow more daring than
it seemed too stern and too sturdy to wag there was the rest would “shy” (I believe that is the term) a
;
no wag in it, it might have been made of cast-iron. piece of wood or a stone at Bizz, and run away,
Bizz disdained conventionalities, she would not wag certain that she would pursue him, and then as
her tail because other dogs wagged theirs. No, Mr. Hatchment was much too unwilling to move
she stiffened it into perfect indifference, neither quickly, the other lads would assault* the nuts or
elevating nor lowering it, but let it be, a firm and apples, or whatever they could get at. The poor
independent tail. The first time I saw her on the dog had as many bumps 'and scars as ought to have
potato-basket, she looked very different from what won her a medal, for those marks were indications
she did when on guard in her master’s cart. of her guard over her master’s property. Bizz had
Once, I happened to be at her blind side when no worse foes than the mischievous boys of Steward’s
the cart stopped at our gate, and I asked Hatchment Grove.
“ how his poor dog lost her eye.” I shall never But the cats It was generally believed that a
!
forget the alarmed look he cast on the dog, as he cat, whose kittens Bizz had disposed of in a sum-
advanced close to me, and said in a very low tone, mary manner, had scratched her eye out ; that,
“ Madam, don’t ask before her, she can’t bear it, it added to the natural antipathy of terriers to the
hurts her feelings so, I’m glad she didn’t hear you ;
feline race, engendered in Bizz the most deadly
;• —
Nature and Art, January 1, 18G7.] BIZZ AND HER FOES. 5
hatred to and every cat in the neighbourhood

cats, you near our shop again, and then I’ll make you
knew it. As
long as Mr. Hatchment combined the remember who stole the sheep’s head;” or by the
sale of coke with greengroceries, and was owner of a baker exclaiming, “ Mr. Hatchment, I’ll give you
—
yard and a shed only a little distance from his shop sixpence if you’ll give me a fair throw at your dog,
of which I shall have to speak hereafter — Bizz had and I’ll forgive her (after the throw) for the rolls
charge of the yard, and it was no uncommon thing she stole.” Ay, Bizz had an ample abundance of
to see a dozen cats ranged on the top of the shed, foes, and I really believe her only true friend was
our cook “ Why 1
”
with their hair on end, and their tails like bottle- ! you will say, and in reply I
”
brushes, all yelling and spitting in chorus, Bizz in say, “ Patience !
a state of insanity, now running along on two legs, After the little display of cook’s eloquence on be-
then on three, then springing in the air in the hope half of Bizz, I determined to walk to Hatchment’s,
of catching even the tip of a cat’s tail. It was and ascertain why he was so anxious to get rid of
curious to observe how the different cattish dis- the dog, which he had often told me was of more
positions manifested themselves. One grimalkin use to him than “ Mrs. Hatchment, or any two
might be seen standing with arched back, elevated boys he ever employed.” And though cook was an
tail, and nails sticking into the mortar; another excellent creature in many ways, and an admirable
crouching like a tiger, with widely -staring eyes, as cook, yet the fact of her denying her country kept
if waiting for an opportunity to spring on its foe me in continual doubt as to her veracity ; whatever
”
another moving with a crab-like movement, sly and cook said, I felt the question, “ Is that true 1
sidling ; another rocking backwards and forwards ; Mr. Hatchment, however, in reply to my state-
but all animated by the same antagonistic feeling —
ment of what I had heard, said, “ Yes, it was so
towards Bizz. At her bark in Steward’s Grove exactly, and sorry he was for it; he did want to find
(supposing it only the bark of “kindly welcome” a good home for poor Bizz. Somehow Mrs. H. and
to her master, for she was too determined a dog to Bizz had got on bad terms. Mrs. H. was a good
be noisy), every cat left off washing her face, or woman, and a good wife, though as crooked as a
lapping her milk, or caressing her kittens, or even bad parsnup about anything that crossed her brain,
watching the sparrows on the wall, and bristled in and Bizz had crossed her brain very often, and she
a state of warfare. If the poor dog ever had said true, he could not afford to keep the dog any
peaceful desires, if she was ever inclined to doze in longer.”
the sun, she was sure to have her combativeness I could not help smiling at this, for I believed
called into action by the butcher’s boy stopping and that Bizz had a way of keeping herself. Hatchment
exclaiming, “Ah! there you are! Let me catch understood my smile and continued :
6 FLAMBOKOUGH HEAD. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1807.
“ Yes, ma’am, so long as I had the shed and yard, animal ” Hatchment was obliged to leave
which Bizz considered her own, having brought up the sentence unfinished, as Bizz had attacked a
three litters there, she stayed there, because also, small boy who was vainly attempting to get at
she was chained, which I did out of mercy to the her blind side, which was turned towards a basket
neighbours’ cats, and if she did not like the dinner of oranges.
Mrs. H. gave her, why she got no other ; but since “ The greatest little thief in Chelsea,” Hatchment
I gave up the yard, when Mrs. H. does not please called him, and then when he saw that Bizz had
her in the cooking, she goes straight to our butcher’s bruised one of his poor red shanks, without how-
and walks off with whatever piece of meat pleases ever breaking the skin, the good-natured green-
her best, and takes it into Brompton churchyard to grocer gave him an apple not to cry.
eat it quietly. She’s as fleet as a roe, and once in the
“ Please, shy’ stammered out young impudence,
churchyard, she knows the boys dare not follow her “ I’ll hold the other leg to liery if ye’ll give me an
”
and indeed they don’t bother much about catching orange !
her, for they know, sooner than have her badly used, “ There never was such a watch,” continued
I’d pay for the meat, and that’s what Mrs. H. can’t Hatchment, after dismissing the imp, with the
stand. Last 'week there was three shillings in the threat of a sound thrashing ; “ never Your yard is
!
week’s bill against Bizz, for sheep’s head and trotters. too well walled for her to escape, so she could not
”
I gave in to the head, but “ trotters is what I get into trouble with any of the butchers, and she’s
—
know the dog’s above Bizz is above trotters and ! — equal to any three policemen, by day or night.
the butcher and I had words about it, and Mrs. LI. The corner is very much exposed poor Bizz, poor
:
put in her word as well, and she said Bizz or she brute, she’s worth her bit any day.”
must leave the house. Now, ma’am, I think it I asked Hatchment if he had had her from her
would not be the thing to let Mrs. H. go, and puppyhood, and then he told me her history as far
keep Bizz so, if I don’t get a home for the poor
;
as he knew it.
FLAMBOROUGH HEAD.
By John Cordeaux.
EW places on our English coast will so well re- stone rock oveilooking Filey Bay, —
no easy walk
F pay
Flamborough.
a visit as the noble Yorkshire headland of
To the lover of nature it offers many
on a warm July day, particularly as it is nearly all
cross-country work and over broken ground ; and
and varied attractions, in the grand scenery of its although, looking across the Bay, the two light-
coast-line, the countless thousands of sea-fowl which, houses placed near the extremity of the headland
during the spring and summer months, frequent its appear at no great distance, yet, following the line
sea- washed cliffs for the purposes of incubation, of coast, we shall find it take us six good miles to
and the beauty and variety of the wild flowers which reach them, and thence ten more to the western
everywhere deck end of the Speeton Cliffs.
“ The zigzag paths and juts of pointed rock.”
And now for a few minutes, as we stand here on
this north cliff of Bridlington, let us observe the
To the archaeologist it offers an additional attrac- line of coast. How is it that bold promontory of
tion in the remains of the famous fortification known chalk before us retains its proud position compara-
as Hanes’ Dyke. tively uninjured by the storms of thousands of
The best way to see Flamborough is on foot. We winters which have broken against it ; while the
shall, therefore, inthe course of this paper, take our land on which we stand is gradually, but surely,
readers along with us in a walk round the headland, year by year, receding before the encroachments of
more especially to observe the habits of its numerous the sea? It is that the entire length of the York-
tenantry, the sea-fowl. We
shall not, however, shire seaboard, from Spurn Point to a mile beyond
find them in any great numbers till we arrive at our pi’esent position, is composed of what geologists
their great haunt, the lofty mural precipices of term the “ Boulder clay,” a dark clay containing
Speeton for constant persecution has all but driven
;
some large fragments and innumerable smaller por-
them from the lower range of cliffs on the southern tions of water-worn rocks thickly embedded in its
side of the promontory. substance. The higher portion of these clay cliffs
Let us suppose ourselves then, early on some fine is capped with and gravel, and an occa-
fine sands
summer’s morning in July, at Bridlington Quay, a sional bed of clay and peat marking a fresh-water
few miles south of Flamborough, properly equipped deposit, —
the site of an ancient lake, long since
for a walk, —
a stout stick in hand, a good landscape drained dry by the sea, which has for ages been
glass slung across our shoulders, and not forgetting slowly eating up the land. Thus, in the whole
a well-filled sandwich-case. We
will follow, as length of this coast, we find no solid rock until we
near as we are able, the line of coast until we reach reach this limestone headland. The sea constantly
the western extremity of that grand wall of lime- washing the base of these clay cliffs undermines
Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.] FLAMBOEOUGH HEAD. 7
them, and the rains and frosts of winter cause land- birds are called which are continually passing and
slips,breaking off great masses from the top. Thus repassing us as we walk along.
the land gradually recedes, and the sea marches There is one of their colonies. Yousee the holes
forward at the computed average rate of two yards are bored in a narrow vein of sand, running between
and a half in a year. Thus, it is said, two miles the chalk and “ boulder ” clay. These holes they
have disappeared since the Roman occupation of excavate with their sharp beak and claws, occa-
Yorkshire, one since the Norman conquest. In old sionally to the depth of two or three feet, and at
maps of the county, villages are marked, the sites the further extremity they deposit four or five pure
of which are now buried “ many a fathom deep,” white eggs, in a nest made of hay and feathers.
and nothing but their names remain to testify that And we may conclude that they will succeed in
once man lived there. Not far from the present bringing off their young in safety, for those holes
Spurn Point stood the ancient town of “ Raven- are placed in such a totally inaccessible position as
spurn,” a place of considerable importance at a to defy the attempts of the most persevering bird-
period when Hull was a poor fishing village. Ed- nester.
ward IY. landed there in 1471 ; but Ravenspurn, But what is that little bird with the bluish grey-
like many another long-lost Yorkshire village, has coloured back, black and 'white tail, and the dark
left scarce a tradition to mark its site. streak through the eye, which keeps flitting before
The Plamborough promontory is composed enus from one stone to another, jerking its tail up and
tirely of close-grained chalk rock, containing layers down when it alights, and then flying forward
of flints. the northern extremity of that great
It is twenty or thirty yards, perching on a stone, and
reef-like chain of hills which, commencing on the going through the same performance 1 It is the
south coast of England at Beer Head, runs north- Wheatear, a summer visitant to this country. We
eastward through Suffolk and Norfolk, crops out should probably find its nest carefully concealed
prominently again in the Lincolnshire and York- under some of those large stones which project
shire wolds, and finally tei'minates in the sea at from the clay, and from under which the soil is
Plamborough. partly worked away. It is constructed of hay, wool,
The mass of chalk which composes the headland moss, and hair, and contains five or six pale blue-
is capped with an immense thickness of the “Boulder green eggs. Formerly hundreds of these little
clay,” and this clay contains fragments of nearly all birds were taken with horse-hair nooses by the
the older rocks, from the immense “boulder-stones” shepherds on the south-country downs, and sold
to the small rounded water’-worn pebble, ages since as an article of food.
floated down on the glacial sea from the mountains We now come to a sudden break in the cliffs,
of Cumbria and the far north, before the “ "Wold” the termination of a deep natural valley, which
hills had finally emerged from the water. As we runs inland, gradually decreasing in depth, and
walk along the cliff top towards Sewerby, we see how thus trending upwards till lost in the central high-
last winter’s storms and frosts have detached large land. The crest of the opposite hill is crowned by
masses of clay and gravel, which lie in great dis- a low and somewhat broken embankment, the
jointed masses on the shore. These landslips are famous “ Danes’ Dyke;” for to the Danes does
already covered with vegetation. Amongst the popular tradition ascribe this remarkable work,
plants most conspicuous are the “Bladder Campion” although it is probably of much older date.
and jungle-like patches of the “ G-iant Horse-tail.” Whoever were the original constructors of the
Two miles north of Bridlington the chalk rock first embankment took advantage of the natural for-
shows itself above the level of the coast, and from mation of the country, and used this deep and
this point the cliffs gradually increase in height till narrow ravine as a fosse to protect the salient face
we reach the head, and thence to Speeton, where of the work. This valley runs in a line leading
they reach their greatest altitude, 436 feet above nearly directly across the promontory, and about a
high-water mark. mile and a quarter from its southern termination
Opposite Sewerby Hall the footpath turns across is lost in the “ Wold.” From this point the em-
the fields in the direction of the village; but, regard- bankment is made much stronger, and protected in
less of the notice which informs us that “ all tres- front by a deep artificial ditch, from which the soil
passers will be prosecuted,” let us keep straight has been taken to form the earthworks, still,
forward. How glorious is the view this fine however, taking advantage of any natural variation
summer’s morning Early as we ai’e, others are
! in the surrounding country which might add to its
out before us, for the mackerel season has com- strength. Even now in most places, and after the
menced and the boats are out in the bay, with all lapse of so many centuries, the work of the original
hands busily employed in line-fishing. Far to the labourers remains so pei'fect, that, well manned, it
south we see the long line of the Yorkshire coast, would present a serious obstacle to the advance
till it is lost in the distance beyond Hornsea. From of an enemy. The northern termination of the
our elevated position we are able to form some idea “ dyke” is on the opposite side of the promontory,
of the encroachments of the sea, from the time when and it is there carried to the very brink of a preci-
the coast-line was probably level with the extreme pice 300 feet deep so that the flank could not be
;
point of the headland. turned except by sea. It is the lines of Torres

These sand cliffs are a favourite resort of the Sand Vedras on a small scale. The total length of the
Martin, as those small mouse-coloured swallow-like “ Danes’ Dyke ” is about three miles from coast to
FLAMBOROUGH HEAD. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1807.
coast. Trees clothe the sides of the trench, adding for there is a large heavy-looking bird, with out-
greatly to the wildness of the scene. At the stretched neck, flying swiftly low down near the
northern end they are stunted and gnarled, and —
surface of the Avater at this distance, not unlike a
with branches twisted by the rough northern breeze ;
Avild goose. Noav it has settled in the sea, and not
but at the southern and well-sheltered termination, more then four hundred yards from our position.
they are tall and uninjured. The old earthworks are Out with our landscape glass, and let us have a
gay with golden gorse, and light green masses of tall look at him as he sits Ioav and long in the water, a
herbaceous plants and bracken, amongst which most very pirate craft in appearance. It is a cormorant.
conspicuous by its height is the Weld, or Reseda Noav he commences fishing, diving under the Avaves,
Luteola a plant which furnished our ancestors with
,
and often, when necessary, going doAvn a great
a yellow dye. Let us descend into the valley, and depth in pursuit of the fish, which seldom escape
climb the opposite hill. Hark to the sweet, wild song him. Noav he emerges again, but at a considerable
of the linnet, as he sits with his carmine breast show- distance :
you may count thirty to forty slowly,
ing bright in the clear sunshine, on the topmost spine from the time he dives to his re-appearance. He
of that gorse-bush. A blackbird rises from the has caught sight, however, of our telescope, which
bracken, and dashes deep into the plantation, utter- he perhaps mistakes for the barrel of a gun, and is
ing its well-known alarm note, which sounds to us off, Avitli the same Ioav rapid flight to another part
like the word “chink, chink,” quickly repeated. of the coast. That little bay which we are ap-
The rabbits are scudding in and out of the bushes proaching forms the South Landing ; and thence
and high over-head a single lark, is trilling forth its a road leads across the promontory through the
song of praise. All nature is rejoicing in the bright fishing village of Flamborough to the north shore.
sunshine of early morning. Mingling with the A number of small boats, used principally for
songs of the birds in one grand chorus, comes the crab-fishing, aredrawn up on the beach. In the
ceaseless murmur of the waves on the pebbly beach. centre of the bay are a number of gulls ; let us
And now, as we climb the height and stand at the bring our telescope to bear upon them, and endea-
foot of the earthen mound, a solitary carrion crow, vour to determine their species. You perceive
a very raven in size, rises slowly from the dell, three distinct sorts in the little company. Those
and we wish for a gun to bring the black marauder four or five large ones swimming somewhat apart,
down. He has been breakfasting on a young rabbit, with the yellow bills, are “Herring Gulls;” but
which we find partly devoured amongst the green further on are several smaller gulls, not unlike the
bracken at our feet. As he sullenly sails away in Herring Gull in appearance, but with greenish-grey
the direction of the Sewerby woods, he reminds us bills— they are the “common” species. Yonder
of the days when Denmark’s grim raven banner again is still a smaller one, Avith a black head and
floated out from behind these strong intrenchments, red bill — it is the “Black-headed” or “Peewit”
over the ranks of blue-eyed, fair-haired warriors, who Gull, as it is sometimes called. Those “ PeeAvit
ravaged the pleasant Yorkshire valleys to the very Gulls” breed in colonies on the shores of some of
walls of York. And here they could fall back with the inland “ meres,” and the eggs are considered a
their plunder, and renew their strength for fresh great delicacy. There again are tAvo gulls larger
inroads, and, with their backs to the sea, their than any avc have seen, sitting apart on that
dragon-prowed galleys safely moored in the little “ boulder-stone,” which has rolled from the cliff
bay (now the North Landing-place), Avait for fresh top, and now lies partly embedded in the sand, and
supports from their countrymen. Here Ida, the surrounded by the tide it is covered all over
:
“flame-bearer,” and his sons, with a great host of with trailing masses of the common bladder sea-
Angles, marched to the conquest of Northumbria. weed. Bring the glass to bear upon them, and you
And now let us leave “ Danes’ Dyke,” which we Avill then perceive that they have the upper parts
shall cross again to-day at its northern termination, of the plumage black, except the head and neck,
and keep close along the coast, and as near as which are white. We know them for the “ Great
we can to the edge of the broken cliff. And very Black-backed,” the largest of our British gulls
picturesque and showy are these broken cliffs of their Avings Avhen expanded covering ti ve feet
diluvium, for at this season their weather-worn nine inches from tip to tip. They are of an ex-
sides are gay with many wild flowers. Here we clusive disposition ; do not mix Avith other species
see bright yellow clusters of the Kidney Vetch, (generally being found in pairs on exposed portions
and the Great Yellow Bedstraw, contrasting with of the coast) ; and are by far the least frequently
the pale pink flower of the Trailing Rest-harrow. met with. On the Avaste ground near the landing-
There again are the purple heads of the Field place, as also on the road leading up to the village,
Scabious, and the larger ones of the Great Knap- are drawn up the herring-boats, the property of
weed, with white clusters of the Bladder Campion. Flamborough fishermen. All are gaily painted and
Where this landslip has left the top of the cliff in order for the herring season, which Avill soon
with only a slight covering of soil, is a growth commence. About the first Aveek in August, the
of more lovely plants ; —the Tufted Centaury, with boats are taken down on wheels, launched and
its delicate pink flowers, thick clusters of the YelloAv fitted out in the little bays known as the North
Stonecrop, creeping along the exposed surface of the and South Landings, and soon the principal portion
rock, and a profusion of pale blue Harebells. of the inhabitants of the little fishing village will
But stay, let us look from the flowers to the sea; be gathering in the harvest of the deep.
; —
Nature and Art, January 1, 18f>7.]

FLAMBOROUGH HEAD. 9
After leaving the South Landing-place at Flam- is wrapped in mist and spray, or during the drift of
borough and climbing the hill, we pass on our left a northern snow-storm, the light would be of little
—
a low mound perhaps the last resting-place of a avail to warn off the storm-tossed mariner. To
—
Brigantian chieftain and not far from the tomb provide for this emergency, a small station has been
of the old warrior, and close to the edge of the cliff, built close to the cliff, from which an 18-pounder is
a “ third-class target,” which a persevering volun- fired every quarter of an hour. Many of the
teer has constructed out of some old iron plates, migratory birds which arrive on our coasts in the
the relics probably of a steamer which has gone to winter months, as woodcocks, redwings, widgeons,
pieces on these rocks. Half a mile further, and &c., are picked up dead at the foot of the lantern
we stand near the extremity of the headland and ;
dazzled by the light, they dash like moths against
here let us wait awhile, the better to view the the thick glass, and are killed. On one occasion
grand scene. The extreme point of all we cannot one of these thick glass plates was broken by the
reach, for that is now partly separated from the force with which a wild duck dashed against it.
mainland by the slipping of the upper clay cliff. But we must press forward, as we have yet a
It represents an immense block of almost isolated long line of coast to explore. Yonder are a small
rock, of a diamond shape. On its northern side, flock of terns, familiar as they are to visitors at the
the ceaseless wash of the waves has excavated a sea-side, under the name of Sea Swallows ; not
grand natural arch and in each of the little
;
unlike small gulls in appearance. Mark their mode
bays which flank the central mass is an immense of feeding as they fly along in line, one behind the
column of limestone, which in the course of ages other; now one, now another dashes downward,
has become detached from the parent wall, marking making a visible splash in the sea, but not alighting,
the slow encroachment of the sea on the lit^'d and then rising again resumes its flight, each time
chalk cliffs. Stretching directly out from the head probably capturing some minute object floating
is a long reef, barely covered at low water, and near the surface. How different in their flight and
thickly overgrown witli seaweed and tangle, which colour are those black-and-white birds, with the long
floats backwards and forwards with the flow of the red bills, which, as we approach the cliff, rise
.
sea over the reef. The water at a short distance rapidly from the water below by their pied
:
from the coast is a deep green but close in-shore,;

appearance and sin-ill whistle we know them to be
the constant friction of the waves on the white Oyster-catchers. They have been busily cleaving-
limestone is continually rubbing off minute particles open with their strong bills and feeding upon the
of chalk, which gives the water quite a milky mussels on the reef below.
appearance. Thus in the course of ages the water Passing a beautiful bay shut in by lofty cliffs,
wears away the softer portion of the cliffs, leaving and containing, near its entrance, two remarkable
those great isolated pillars standing as monuments insular masses of rock, called the “ King and
of its eroding power. Queen,” we next come to the North Landing. At
We shall find that this northern shore presents the bottom of a steep descent, the northern termi-
a very different aspect to the more sheltered southern nation of the road which crosses the promontory,
coast, along which we have been hitherto walking ; aredrawn up a long array of gaily- painted pleasure-
for it has been exposed to the full .sweep of the boats, in greatdemand during the summer by the
storms of ages, and everywhere on its rugged preci- hundreds who visit Flamborough from the' neigh-
pices bears marks of battle with the waves.
its bouring watering-places of Bridlington and Filey.
Here the coast forming a lovely bay
recedes, Perhaps no portion of the coast exceeds in beauty
there again, standing out in a bold promontory, its this lovely hay.In the cliffs, both to the east and
sides broken into deep fissures and caverns, in some west, many of the finest sea-caves which penetrate
places worn completely through, forming a giant the rocks may be explored. One remarkable cavern,
archway, or like the vaulted roof of a cathedral. called “ Robin Lythe’s Hole,” is easily accessible at
Then again, we find, as at the head, great masses low water. Many years since the rocks about this
of cliff standing solitary, and surrounded by the bay, as also those near the lighthouse, were the
sea ; and there they yet may stand for thousands of resort of thousands of sea-fowl —
we may now
yeai\s to come to break the wild fury of the north- walk for miles along the coast and
see but few, until
ern storms. The base of these cliffs is excavated we reach their last retreat, the almost inaccessible
into deep holes and caves, some of them, like range of the Speeton cliffs.
“Robin Lythe’s Hole,” of great extent and beauty, The rapid decrease of the sea-fowl on this coast
and which will well repay the trouble and diffi- is much to be regretted, and is, we are sorry to say,
culty of exploring. Those heaps of broken spars attributable in a great measure to the almost con-
and planks saved from the waves, remind us of the stant persecution of the birds by parties who visit
insecurity and danger of this iron-bound coast. Flamborough during the spring and summer for the
Thanks to the precautions taken, it is seldom we sake of “having a shot at the sea-fowl.” As the
now hear of a wreck. The lighthouse, situated on “ cheap excursion ” trains from the
manufacturing-
an eminence overlooking a beautiful bay, is 87 districts increase in number, so certainly will the
feet high, its light being 214 feet above the level of birds decrease. Indeed, it is impossible to walk
the sea. The apparatus revolves once in six minutes along the cliffs on any fine day during the summer
it is triangular, two sides displaying a white flash, months without hearing the constant x-eport of
and the third a crimson one. But when the headland guns, fired by men and boys fi-om boats below ;
10 FLAMBOROUGH HEAD. [Nature and Art, January 1, 18(57.
and we are constantly distressed by meeting tlie wonder how they ever retain their position until
so-styled sportsmen on their return from a too the young are hatched. Providence, however, has
successful battue with clusters of Guillemot and ordered that although they are very thick at one
Puffin, &c., swinging from their guns. Thus the end, they gradually taper to the other, which, com-
birds have been ch'iven away from the lower ranges pared with other eggs of the same size, is very
of cliff, and it is plain, if the present senseless narrow, so that when disturbed by any cause,
and cruel persecution is continued a few years they roll round on the small end as on a pivot
longer, that the neighbourhood will be deprived, in without falling off. If we carefully inspect those
the eyes of all true lovers of nature, of its greatest long rows of Guillemot, we may possibly discern one
attraction. Besides the thousands of birds which of that closely-allied species (perhaps after all it is
are thus annually destroyed and carried away by only a variety) called the “ Kinged or Bi’indled
“ excursionists,” a large number are wounded and Guillemot.” This bird closely resembles the common
disabled, and it is not unusual to see wounded one, only differing from it in having the eye encircled
birds struggling in the water unable to rise. This by a narrow white ring from which a streak of the
slaughter is carried on at a time when many same colour extends down the neck. The Kinged
thousands of sea-fowl have young ones to support G uillemot is considered a rare bird at Flamborough.
and rear ; and what must be the fate of the young On the same ledge with the Guillemot are three or
when the parents are shot? Not satisfied with four birds, not unlike them in appearance, but with
shooting at them on the wing, we have seen the upper parts black instead of dark brown. The
merciless wretches fire into the birds as they sat bill, however, is the distinguishing feature ; it is
crowded together on the narrow ledges of rock, much stronger and thicker than in the Guillemot,
totally regardless of the misery and pain which that with a white furrow across it, and a white streak
one discharge alone may cause to the many they will extending from the base of the bill to the eye.
only partly disable and cannot secure. After passing This peculiar beak marks them at once as “ Razor-
the North Landing-place we shall find the cliffs bills.” We may also know them by their
resembles the word “ urr urr,
”
gradually increase in height, and when we reach the cry, which or
northern extremity of “Danes’ Dyke,” we look down “ orr,” while the call of the Guillemot resembles
a precipice nearly 300 feet deep. It is only by the noise made by a policeman’s rattle, and sounds
keeping, as we have done, along the summit, and like the word “ girrrrrrr.”
following the ins and outs of the coast-line, that Yonder, again, are two Puffins or Sea Parrots
we can fully enjoy the grandeur of the scenery. Let sitting together, at the mouth of one of those crevices
us get over the slight fence which seems to protect in the cliff. Coitld we see the bottom of the crevice,
the cattle from falling over the precipice, and, lying we should probably find a single round egg, grey
down on the green sward, crawl to the edge and spotted with brown. The eggs which are thus con-
look over. What a magnificent scene Hundreds of
! cealed at the bottom of narrow and deep holes are
feet below, the green water breaks against the cliff seldom taken by the “ cliff-climbers.” What a grave
but at this height the wash of the waves is scarcely look the birds have as they sit facing each other,
audible. Bight and left stretch the giant walls of their great red, yellow, and blue beaks giving them
white limestone, their surface scarred and broken quite a top-heavy appearance. Those gulls with the
by long exposure to the weather, and furrowed and grey-blue backs, white head, wings, and tail, so
seamed by narrow ledges and ridges, which form many of which we see sailing slowly backwards and
secure resting-places for those long rows of forwards, halfway down the cliff side, may be easily
Guillemot while hundreds now are wheeling and
;
recognized by their cry, which somewhat resembles
screaming far below, dwarfed in size by the distance their name, “Kittiwake.” The Speeton rocks are a
and the stupendous character of the scenery. Let well-known breeding-place of the beautiful Kitti-
us try and obtain a better view of the birds and : wake gull. We may see some of the young birds
this we may do by crawling to the edge of a pro- on the ledges below ; and so unlike are they to the
jecting portion of the cliff, which will enable us to old birds in plumage as to have been taken for a
look directly down upon them as they sit on the distinct species.
ledges of the opposite rock. Yonder birds sitting That blue bird, with the white patch between the
nearly upright, with the dark brown head, neck, and tail and back, which has just dashed over the cliff
ripper parts, and the white breasts, are Guillemot, top, is the “Kock Pigeon,” and nearly resembles our
and form by far the greatest proportion of the many well-known domestic “ Blue Kock.” There is little
inhabitants of the rocks. Their eggs, as well as doubt that all our domestic breeds of pigeons have
those of the other sea-fowl, are much sought after as sprung from the wild Rock-doves. They breed in
an article of food, and great quantities are taken in considerable numbers in the sea caves below, and
the spring from the ledges by the “ cliff-climbers,” from their wild and shy nature and rapid flight fall
who descend from the summit by a rope ; several less readily victims to the roving gunners. The
of the neighbouring villagers obtaining a part eggs, which exactly resemble those of the domestic
livelihood by this dangerous occupation. The eggs bird, are. placed in the most inaccessible parts of
of the Guillemot show an almost endless variety the caves, in shallow nests constructed on ledges
in shade and markings, and it is almost impossible of the rock.
to find two alike. Placed as they are on the narrow We have now reached the highest part of the
shelves of rock, without any nest, we may well Speeton cliffs ; from this point the chalk range
;
Nature and Art, January 1, 1807.]

GOOD TASTE IN DECORATIVE ART. 11
runs inland, and underneath crop out the blue of plantations. Far to our right is the sea and
clays of Speeton, rich in fossils. From this point Bridlington, and still farther to the right the
we hare a magnificent view of Filey Bay and range of the Yorkshire Wolds. N ow we look across
the white houses of the distant crescent, beyond a highly-cultivated country; green turnip-fields and
which, running out into the sea, is the long sand- waving corn have replaced the gorse commons and
stone promontory known as the “ Brig.” heath-covered hills ; and the Stone Plover and
Here our ramble for the present must terminate. Great Bustard have given place to the Partridge
Over the hill on our left is the little village of and Wood-pigeon yet the natural features of the
:
Speeton from whence we can take the rail to country remain much probably what they were
Bridlington, or, if we prefer it, follow the highroad, centuries ago. Brigantes, Bomans, Banes, and
and continue our walk across the Wold hills and Normans have all lived and toiled and fought on
through Bridlington proper to the Quay. Let us, the land before us, and have passed away and ;
however, sit down awhile, and, after eating our we, sitting here on this hill-side this summer
sandwiches and lighting the friendly pipe, watch afternoon, are the representatives of the mixed
the blue smoke curling upwards and whirling away races, units in this great working toiling nation,
in little rings and eddies in the summer air. Sitting too glad to get away for a few days from the toil
here on this hill-side, what a glorious prospect of sea and noise of cities, to return strengthened and
and land stretches before us ; from this spot we can refreshed for our work. After all, Nature is the
overlook nearly the whole of the promontory. best physician, and
Yonder are the lighthouses, and nearer the little
village of Flamborough, with its red-tiled houses “ If thou art worn and hard beset
and grey weather-beaten church. We cannot at this With sorrows that thou wouldst forget ;
If thou wouldst read a lesson that will keep

distance distinguish the old castle, little of which
Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep,
remains to remind us of the former power of the Go to the woods and hills ! No tears
ancient family of Constable. Nearer still we can Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.”
trace the line of the Banes’ Byke, with its groups
THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TASTE IN DECORATIVE ART.

By J. B. Waking, F.R.I.B.A.
MONG all the subjects a writer could select born with more natural sensibility in art than others,
A an essay, there is perhaps not one which
for
is more open to criticism and dispute than that of
yet is it a quality, even with them, to be disciplined,
educated, and improved ; and Burke, in his intro-
taste. The old classical maxim, “ de gustibus non duction to “ The Sublime and the Beautiful,” justly
est disputandum,” is just one of those assertions remarks that wherever the best taste differs from
which immediately lead to a discussion in which ;
the worst, he is convinced that the understanding
both parties insist on the cogency of their respective operates, and nothing else, and that men of the best
arguments and conclusions, because both fed them taste by consideration come frequently to change
so vividly, however incompetent they may be to those early and precipitate judgments which the
reason on them logically. Whilst admitting, then, mind, from its aversion to neutrality and doubt,
that in a certain sense, each individual taste, loves to form on the spot.
amongst a great variety, may be right, and fitted for “ Itknown,” he continues, “ that the taste is improved
is
the person who adopts it ; yet among all these various exactly as we improve our judgment by extending our
;
expressions of perceptive power, some are un- knowledge, by a steady attention to our object, and by
frequent exercise. They who have not taken these methods,
doubtedly right, some wrong ;
and although tastes
if it is always uncertainly
their taste decides quickly, but
may differ to an infinite extent, and we should they who havecultivated that species of knowledge which
;
never dream of laying down infallible rules for makes the object of taste, by degrees and habitually, attain
their guidance, yet we would point out, that certain not only a soundness, but a readiness of judgment, as men
important underlying 'principles are applicable to do by the same methods on all other occasions.”
them all, and are the only true tests by means of All the great writers on the subject, ancient and
which we can decide as to what extent each par- modern, insist on the necessity of cultivating taste
ticular taste is bad or good. In a broad and before it can be termed good and be trustworthy
general sense, we hold that good sense and good yet nothing is more common at the present day,
feeling must form the foundation of all good taste, than a ready presumption and a thorough self-
whether it is evinced in morals and manners, in fine satisfaction in deciding on matters which require
or in decoi’ative art ; and although these two funda- in truth the utmost delicacy of perception, and can
mental qualities are not absolutely requisite in only be properly judged of by persons of special
matters of lesthetic taste, yet they must not be education in art, and who have undergone that
absent if that taste is to receive its highest develop- discipline which professional study requires.
ment. For it is certain, that though some persons are Although we admit that many foolish and
12 GOOD TASTE IN DECORATIVE ART. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
frivolous persons are met with, who, untrustworthy perfectly educated architect. It is with great
in all other matters, still evince much good taste in pleasure that we quote verbatim the sensible and
their houses, in dress,and in ornaments ; yet this earnest remarks of Mr. Owen Jones ; who, in his
ishut a superficial quality, and, unless combined introduction to the “ Handbook of the Alhambra
with good sense and good feeling, leads only to a Court, at Sydenham,” forcibly points out the in-
mere sensual perception of external fitness in form congruity of “ Greek porticoes, nondescript internal
and colour, in the lowest departments of art. But putty decorations, Louis Quatorze furniture, cinque-
such as these, we may be sure, would never command cento ornaments, floral papers and floral carpets, in a
attention or respect for their decisions in the Fine London mansion of the nineteenth century.” “ The
Arts or in the cognate realms of philosophic decorative arts,” he continues, “are of one family, and
inquiry and criticism. When sensibility is com- must go hand hi hand with their parent, architec-
bined with the power to create and execute, it con- ture; the effort to revive the one will help the other.”
stitutes what is termed genius when it is combined
:
“ In all ages but our own, the same ornaments, the same
with sound judgment and good feeling, we meet system of colouring- which prevailed in buildings, pervaded
with good taste and, as Goldsmith has tersely put
; all other works, even to the humblest. . . . It is far
it in his Twelfth Essay, both, in their degree, are different with ourselves. We have no principles, no unity.
“ composed of Nature, improved by Art of feeling The architect, the upholsterer, the paper-stainer, the weaver,
;
the calico-printer, and the potter, run each his independent
tutored by instruction.” Sir Joshua Reynolds, also, course each struggles fruitlessly ; each produces in art
;
in his seventh discourse, combating the idea that novelty without beauty, or beauty without intelligence.
taste a natural power of selection in every indi-
is . . . Men do every day, and every hour of the day, place
vidual, and not to be gainsaid, declares that, if their intuitive knowledge on questions of art in opposition
to the opinions of those who have made them their especial
such were the case, “ the arts would lie open for
study. This can never be prevented. Art is the patrimony
ever to caprice and casualty, if those who are to of all, but it is the more necessary that it should be regulated.
judge of their excellences had no settled principles . . . No improvement can take place until all classes,
by which to regulate their decisions, and if the merit artists, manufacturers, and the public are better educated
in art, and the existence of general principles is more fully
or defect of performances were to be determined by
recognised.”
unguided fancy.” These observations of writers on a
art forwhose judgment, knowledge, and taste we In these observations we cordially concur, and
have the very highest respect, though originally would especially plead for extended education
intended to apply to the fine or liberal arts, are amongst the people, in matters of art, by means of
equally true as regards matters of taste in orna- schools in which all branches of fine and industrial
mental design. art may be taught, and by the publication of cheap
In all subjects of this description, harmony, or standard works on such subjects among which,
;
fitness of the parts to the whole, forms an essential besides those already noticed, we recommend Mr.
requisite. Good sense, also, is absolutely requisite W. Burges’s “Cantor Lectures,” Dr. Dresser’s “Art
in their general design, and good feeling is shown of Decorative Design,” and the Reports of II.
in their special application. Redgrave, R.A., on the Exhibitions in London and
After these opening remarks on Good Taste in Paris of 1851 and 1855. The general principles laid
general,we proceed to consider its constituents in down in the last work are excellent, though at times
matters of decorative art. Mr. M. Digby Wyatt, perhaps too rigidly enforced. For example, the
in a very excellent lecture on “ The Principles author would not allow the constructional forms of
which should determine Form in the Decorative one material to be applied to another therefore, the
;
Arts,” has briefly summed them up as consisting arch form suitable to stone or brick, would be con-
in Yai'iety, Fitness, Simplicity, and Contrast. To sidered inapplicable to wood. It is clear that, if such
these we would add, as of the highest importance, a doctrine were carried out thoroughly, architectural
Harmony. Other qualities, of a more material design in iron and wood must become monotonous
and technical nature, which we have always to and poor indeed. Wenote this instance specially,
consider are Form, Colour, and Effect ; and in because its adoption has led to much poverty of
these particular constituents of design it is that design, in wood particularly. The round and semi-
we seek for the qualities first enumerated, and, circular forms, it should be remembered, are not only
according to the presence or absence of them, we constructional, they are general throughout Nature
are justified in determining how far any work from the shell to the rainbow and are, above all
;
under notice characterized by good or bad taste.

is others, ornamental in character and fitted for decora-
The main points which lead to the production of tive purposes, as may be seen from examples in all
works evincing a correct taste, however widely styles of art. Originality of design mainly depends
they may differ in themselves or in their styles, are on freedom of individual action ; and in matters of
as follow :
taste, after a proper education has been obtained, each
In the designer, a good natural feeling or sensi- artist becomes a law unto himself, and must stand or
bility inmatters of Form, Colour, and Effect, com- fall according to the value and merit of his work.
bined with good sense. In future numbers we propose to give illustra-
In the work itself, simplicity yet variety, contrast tions of the principal processes used in the orna-
and yet harmony. mentation of buildings, furniture, etc., representing
The application of all these qualities and methods examples beautiful in themselves, interesting to
should logically be the province of the true and the public, and useful to decorators generally.
:
V
Xatiii-e and Art.Ja.iiuaiyl.l8G7.
Nature aiul Art, January 1, 1S67. ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 1;

No. VI. GROUP OF FIR TREES DRAWN FROM NATURE.
W ITH new year I had almost been induced

tlie
commence a series of studies more ele-
to
mentary in character than any as yet introduced
be conveyed. It is a matter of importance to the
general effect, that the bearings of the principal
lines should be studied and remarked upon. For
into the pages of Nature and Art but upon ;
instance, it is as Avell to note, if the perpendicular
more mature consideration, it appeared to me that stem of one tree is accompanied by another that
perhaps it would be better to steer a middle course, is taking an angle or curve in a certain direction,
and meet the wishes of the general public, than to Avhat influence the change of line has upon the eye ;
address myself exclusively to the more limited class whether it is, or is not, too abrupt ; or if the two
who practise and delight in water-colour drawing. compose so agreeably as to give a pleasing effect.
It gratifying to find there are so many to whom
is I like much to linger before groups of trees, young
this is such a source of pleasure, and who
work or old, whether clothed or not clothed Avith foliage,
look for its periodical publication with considerable and by change of position to see the many varieties
interest ; and I cannot but infer that this is the of forms they take, and which of the many would
fact, from the numerous letters constantly received produce the most pleasing composition. There is
from strangers, relative to my several contributions real pleasure in this — much to be learnt and much
with the accompanying instruction. to be put in practice. Lessons may be had in
I confess I doubted whether the reproductions of many localities whence lessons could scarcely be
my original drawings would be presentable, so expected to be gleaned, and our daily converse
many thousands having to be printed, and by the Avith a common-place scene may be thus fraught
steam press too but it is encouraging to find this
;
with increased interest and pleasure.
difficulty better and better overcome by the extreme The ability to draw naturally leads to observation
care and study exercised in making the means of detail and generalization, it being evident that
sufficient to the end. This is very evident from the this cannot be exercised without a corresponding
great improvement in the colouring of the last reflection upon everything presented, as to con-
subject, where the tints, Avith one exception only struction, growth, character, and use. Hoav far
(the green tint on the shadowed side of the hut, this is desirable, every one must judge for him-
which should have been more grey), are really good, self. 1 can only say, that to myself the enjoy-
and admirably suited for the learner to copy. The ment is beyond expression ; and often when walking
sky and distance are quite satisfactory. It is, I over what would be considered a monotonous and
think, due to those who seek for guidance and in- dreary plain, Avith a canopy of dull leaden clouds,
struction from these examples, that I should express I am struck Avith beautiful undulating lines,
much confidence in anticipating increased truthful- varieties of tone and tint, Avith receding distances
ness in every succeeding number. and aerial perspective, that produce much to be
The present subject is of a different character, admired, thought upon, and studied. The infinitude
being such as I have been solicited to introduce by of Nature demands the highest mental exercise and
subscribers, consisting only of a group of Fir Trees, the perfection of Art, and we only are to blame if
the like of which may be met with in almost every Ave do hot see in her every phase something (I
belt or plantation of the saipe species. It was would rather say everything) from which to glean
draAvn upon the spot, and selected for the clear instruction, and to derive contemplative pleasure.
manner in which the light and shadow Avere de- In writing thus, it must be clearly understood
veloped, giving to each branch, or portion of it, an that the motive is to lead others to exercise a
individuality peculiarly its own, and yet so expressed similar attention to Nature in her generality, and
as to favour breadth of effect and harmony in the not to suppose that it is only upon scenes of
entire group. Such “bits” or “ studies ” require grandeur and acknowledged loveliness that our
but little time to produce, although nothing can be admiration should be called forth. Doubtless the
more useful or profitable than a sketch-book filled character of such favoured spots is calculated, from
with the different classes of trees presented to us its exquisite combinations, to arrest the attention
in our every-day walk. of the most unobservant but it is also from every
•
I much recommend the practice of carefully and description and feature of landscape, as well as
freely drawing each tree with the black-lead pencil, from various accidental groupings of figures, cattle,
especially with reference to the main stems, noticing trees, buildings, vessels, &c., that the lover of
Avell their direction or inclination from the perpen- Nature and Art should derive constant delight
dicular, and how the several lines affect each other combined with instruction. Something can be
in giving a graceful disposition of form, because it gathered from all we see, if the information con-
is only by a due observance of these combinations veyed is really sought for.
that an impression of elegance and refinement can j
In commencing the outline of the present group
14 ON TIN. [Nature and Art, January 1, 18G7.
of trees, the central stem should be drawn first, When the shadows are finished, and the several
noticing carefully the direction of inclination from characteristics of the stems, with their limbs and
a perpendicular line. This must be correct. After knotty projections, are correctly placed, the colours
this, give the stem nearest to it to the right, placing may be introduced, by washing them in without
a dot at the proper distance for the bottom, and hesitation, not being too particular to take them
another for the top. By this plan the lines cannot up to the exact markings of the outline. This,
fail of being true in position. The tree to the left indeed, has to be avoided, to prevent stiffness or
must follow, by placing the dots both for the bottom the semblance of solidity, instead of multiplicity of
and central part of the stem at its junction with leafage.
the lower cluster of foliage ; then the branches from In the example, the sky was washed in at the
its right side. The outer stem to the left may also last, in order that the lights might be so placed as
be drawn after the same manner, and afterwards to render the effect agreeable, as well as valuable to
that to the right, with the several leading branches the group, and give (what should always be sought)
those more receding can now easily be adjusted, by breadth. All the colours were put on in rather a
observing the direction in which they lean. liquid condition, and the brush so filled as to impart
In a previous number I gave instructions for them freely, without being blotchy or overcharged.
drawing trees, precisely after the same manner as It is a good plan to try the colours first upon a
above ; but it is desirable for pupils that the method spare piece of paper, to judge of the tint, and
of producing outlines should be constantly brought practise the manner of touching before proceeding
before them. with the drawing. This will insure a greater
The foliage of the nearest and central tree should chance of success.
have its several forms and clusters completed first Colours to be employed,—for the
then the tree to the left; and afterwards the
small one to the right, as well as the rest of them
Sky —Cobalt.
mingling behind. In the original drawing the —
Clouds Cobalt, sepia, and a veiy little lake.
whole of the shadows were •pencilled in firmly and Foliage Gamboge, indigo, lake but the trees
;
behind must have cobalt added, to give a more

distinctly, with close and rather long lines, but
In vapoury tone.
the distant shades were more loosely given.
sketching from Nature, it is always as well to The colours mentioned above are to be used in
adopt the most ready means of producing the effect, combination, taking more or less of one than of the
for which I find the assistance of pencilled shadows others, as the character of the tones may require.
extremely serviceable. The next subject will be a lake scene.
0 N TIN.
By AV. B. Lord, Boyal Artillery.
T is not our intention to use this title figura- animals there discovered directed commercial enter-
I tively or in its popular sense, as by so doing prise to their vast stores of natural wealth, and
we should be committing ourselves to a task which thus, step by step, led to the important position at
we have no intention of performing, viz., that of present occupied by those regions. The chance
”
explaining how the “ world’s great main-spring discovery of gold in California by Captain Sutter,
acts on the countless “wheels within wheels,” and later on in Australia by Hargraves, are more
which move the puppet man from pole to pole, and recent and familiar examples of the same cause of
send him either leaping in the air or grovelling in progress ; and there is no doubt that the discovery
the dust, just as the gold and silver strings with of tin in the Scilly Islands, by a band of wandering
which he is bound may chance to vibrate. We Phoenician voyagers, led to a repetition of their
touch lightly on the
shall therefore, in passing, just visits, and ultimately to the establishment of a
materials from which some of these “strings” are regular trade between them and the inhabitants of
made, contenting ourselves with “tin” in its literal, the western extremity of England. Weare informed
sense, leaving “ metal more attractive ” to those that, about GOO years before Christ, Pharaoh
who prefer its fascinations. It is both curious and Nechao, king of Egypt (the same who slew Josiah,
interesting to trace the operation of those wise king of Judah), ordered some Phoenicians to set
and inscrutable laws which govern the spread of out from the Red Sea, to go round Africa, to pass
civilization, and to mark how some coveted pro- by the Straits of Hercules, to penetrate into the
duction, to be obtained only in a far-off land, sets northern seas, and to bring him an exact account
the human tide flowing in that direction. The of the voyage. About this time, therefore, if not
vast tract known as “ Rupert’s Land,” constituting before, it is not unlikely that the Phoenicians,
the Hudson’s Bay Company’s territories, might have finding, by the voyage of their countrymen, that the
remained for ages the hunting-grounds of the western or great Atlantic Ocean was not so tempes-
savage, had not the abundance of fur-bearing tuous and un navigable as their forefathers had taught
— “
Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.] ON TIN. 15
them to believe, were either then or soon after ore-seekers, as for countless ages such spots have
tempted to undertake a northern voyage and coast- ;
been the natural depositaries into which the heavy
ing along the banks of Spain and France might first granules have been washed and drifted by the Hoods
discover the British Isles, and, upon discovery, which have helped to break up and disintegrate the
begin to trade, which was the principal end of all matrices in which they were originally imbedded.
their voyages. The term “ Cassiterides,” so often So large is the quantity sometimes associated
applied in old writings to the localities from which with this broken-up detritus, that we have often
the tin was brought, appears to apply to the Scilly heard it asserted by old and experienced tin-
Islands, the coast of Cornwall, and probably to streamers, that unworked ground had been known
the western portion of Devon, just as though con- to yield from the space covered by an ox, when lay-
stituting one group of islands, for which, by the ing on it, enough tin to pay for the animal. It has,
discoverers and early visitors, these apparently however, become extremely difficult to find tracks
sea-girt stretches of land were no doubt taken •
and of tin-ground unexplored, numbers of those now
it appears probable, as Bocliart states, that the undergoing treatment have been streamed before,
word Britain was derived from “ Baratanac,” the and are, therefore, called “old men’s” workings.
name given to tin in the Chaldee and Arabic Minute granules of gold are occasionally found as-
languages, adopted also by the Phoenicians. It has sociated with the fine tin, and we have seen small
been argued, that, as the whole of England was quills used by the men in which to hoard them, A
included under the head Britain, the fact of pin with a moistened point is rrsually made use of
tin being found in such a limited portion of it to withdraw the precious particle from its baser
could scarcely have conferred a name on the entire associates. Before a regular system of underground
island and its dependencies. It must be borne in operations were had recourse to, there is no doubt
mind, however, that in all probability the Scilly that a large quantity of ore was extracted from the
Islands, and perhaps the extreme west of Corn- soft granite formations in which minute veins or
wall, were the only portions of England visited (at string courses are frequently found.
least for some considerable period) by these early The ease with which open cuttings in the sides
pioneers of commerce. of hills could be worked offered strong inducements
From the scant nature of ancient records on the to extract the mineral in this way. Diodorus
subject, no very precise idea can be formed as to Siculus appears to have been thoroughly aware of
the state of civilization in which our forefathers its being thus found. “ These men” (the tinners),
were found on their first discovery ; and however he writes, “ manufacture the tin by working the
humiliating it may be to look back on the past, it grounds which produce it with much skill ; for,
is much to be feared that the official report given though the land is rocky, it has soft veins running
”
of the “ manners and customs of a certain tribe of through it, in which the tinners find the treasures
North American Indians, by an officer sent on a which they extrac(, melt, and purify. Then shap-
mission amongst them, would have equally applied ing it by moulds into a cubical figure, they carry it
to the aborigines of the Cassiterides. “ Manners oft' to a certain island lying near the British shore,
wrote he, “ they have none, and the customs which which they call Ictus. For, at the recess of the
prevail are of a very unpleasant character.” Savage sea between the islands and the mainland, the
man—whether hunting in the prairies and forests of passage being dry, the tinners embrace the oppor-
the Far West, roaming amongst the huge ferns of tunity and carry the tin over in carts to the Ictus
New Zealand, or, with matted hair and grotesquely or port ; for it must be observed that the islands
painted skin, dancing a wild corroberry, demon-like which lie between the continent and Britain have
in the fire-light beneath the gum-trees of Australia this peculiarity, that when the tide is full they are
can look but to one inevitable future and whether ;
real islands, but when the sea retires they are so
near at hand or far off, just as surely as the arrow many peninsulas. From this island the merchants
shot into the air returns to earth, so surely will bring the tin of the natives and export it into
time, trade, and civilization sweep him, step by Gaul, and finally through Gaul, by a journey of
step, from the face of the globe, to give place to new about thirty days, to tire mouth of the Rhone.”
races, leaving, as ages roll on, mere scraps of tradi- The source from whence this much coveted
tion, buried weapons, and rude barbaric ornaments, treasure was obtained by the Phoenician traders was
as traces of his past existence. long by them kept a profound secret, fearing lest, by
The brought by the Phoenicians,
articles of trade its becoming known to the Romans, the trade would
brazen or bronze wares (which would include
viz., salt, become too general and less remunerative to them-
tools, weapons of war and the chase), and crockery, selves. Speaking of the tin-bearing islands, Strabo
were exchanged with the natives for tin, lead, and says — From these islands the Phoenicians had their
skins. The tin, in the form of granules and water- treasures of tin, and were exceedingly jealous of their
worn pebbles of the ore .{oxide of tin for, except — trade, and, therefore, so private and industrious to con-
in very rare instances, it is not found native or ceal it from others, that a Phoenician vessel, thinking
malleable), was obtained by roughly washing the itself pursued by a Roman, chose to run upon a
beds of the rivulets and water-courses, much as the shoal and suffer shipwreck rather than discover the
tin-streamers of the present day collect it. The least track or path by which another nation might
marshy valleys and moorland tracks between the come in for their share of so beneficial a commerce.”
granite hills also yielded a rich harvest of tin to the It is said that the captain’s patriotism was, on
16 ON TIN. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
returning to is own country, rewarded by having

1 1 weight is 65 lb. ; length, 2 feet 11 inches ; width,
the whole of his loss made up to him from the 11 inches; and thickness, 3 inches. The up] >er
public treasury. surface is perfectly flat, and the under side of a
The rases to which the tin obtained from the slightly rounded or boat form, forked at each end.
natives by the Phoenicians was applied were ex- This would admit of their being conveniently
ceedingly numerous, as not only were nearly all placed on the bottoms of the boats or coi’acles used
the tools, cutting instruments, and weapons of war for their transport. The four handle-like projec-
made of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), but tions would serve to carry them by, just as a hand-
the fetters of prisoners and the mirrors of the barrow is borne. These would also form most
ladies were ol this material. Mention of these convenient points of attachment for the lashings of
latter articles is made in the twenty-eighth chapter the pack-saddles, on which (in pairs) they were
of Exodus, eighth verse —
And he made the laver carried by mules or horses the thirty days’ overland
of brass, and the foot of it of brass, and the look- journey from the coast of France nearest to Britain
ing-glasses of the women.” These looking-glasses, to the mouth of the Rhone, where they were
or mirrors, were in common use amongst the early again shipped and conveyed to Gades or Cadiz,
Egyptians, who usually carried them in their left the great emporium of the tin trade in those days.
hands to the temples when attending worship. On Thus writes Diodorus, just before the Christian
the Jewish people quitting Egypt, it is probable era, B.c. 8 :
—
“ The Phoenicians in ancient times
that they carried these mirrors, together with their undertook frequent voyages by sea in the way of
little ornaments and musical instruments, with traffic, as merchants, so that they planted many
them colonies, both in Africa and in the western parts of
’Mid the strings of the harps Europe. These merchants, succeeding in their
They hung on the trees, undertakings, and therefore growing very rich,
The sad wind whistled wearily. passed at length beyond the Pillars of Hercules into
From very early ages the Phoenicians were the sea, called the Ocean and first they built a city
;
famed for their skill in the art of dyeing, and called Gades near to the Pillars of Hercules, at the
,
there appears some doubt as to whether the crimson sea-side, on an Isthmus in Europe.”' In Ezekiel,
xxvii. 12, the early trade in tin and other metals
or scarlet colour spoken of as the Tyrian purple
and held in such high estimation by the ancients, is thus mentioned :
—
“ Tarshish was thy merchant
was 'not produced by the use of a solution of tin, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches
rather than from a shell-bearing mollusc, much as with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy
modern dyers use it to obtain those colours per- fairs.”
manently in stuffs and woollen cloths. Homer informs us that Cinyras, king of Cyprus,
There are several islands on the Cornish coast, presented a corslet to Agamemnon, which he wore
from which the tin might have been shipped off on his departure for the Trojan war. “Next he
as described. St. Clement’s Isle off Mousehole, placed around his breast a corslet which Cinyras
St. Michael’s Mount, and Love Island were all well once gave him to be a pledge of hospitality, for a
adapted for the reception of the mineral, or the great rumour was heard at Cyprus that the Greeks
ingots produced by smelting it but the weight of
;
were about to sail to Troy in ships, wherefore he
evidence is in favour of St. Michael’s Mount being gave him this, gratifying the king. Ten bars indeed
w twelve of
the principal port of shipment, and the Ictus, [of the corslet] were of dark cyanus,
referred to by early historians. Mr. Edwards, gold, and twenty of tin, and three serpents of
who has devoted much attention to the question, cyanus stretched towards the neck on each side,
maintains, with much apparent reason, that, by an like unto rainbows.” On the tin deposits of Britain
error in the translation of Diodorus, the name has becoming known to the Romans, there is little
—
been changed, and that Ilctin the ancient Cornish doubt that they at once availed themselves of the
for Tin Port —
is the true rendering. Be this as it discovery,
them
and employed the natives to mine for
a medal of the reign of Domitian, together
may, there can be no question that many of the ;
statements made by Diodorus have been fully sub- with implements, &c., of the early Roman period,
stantiated by discoveries and investigations. The found in an ancient tin mine, being strong evidences
massive block of tin dredged rrp near St. Mawes, of Roman supervision. Improved and more exten-
at the entrance of Falmouth harbour, is of such a sive operations appear to have been conducted under
remarkable form, and corresponds so exactly with Roman rule, and large quantities of tin were for a
the description given by him of that exported by very long period obtained for the purpose of alloy-
the Phoenicians, that we give a translation of his ing with copper to form the bronze for which they
were so celebrated. Kenrick, in speaking of it,
account.
“ The inhabitants
of the Promontory of Belerium says, — “ This bronze, which is one of the oldest
[the most western part of Cornwall] cast the tin alloys of copper we are acquainted with, contains
into the form of astragali.” This astragalus form about ten or twelve per cent, of tin.” It has been
is best understood by calling to mind the shape of found by analysis that this is just the composition
a common knuckle-bone, or the cross section of the of the bronze instruments found in the sepulchral
truck wheel or sheave of a block, which represents barrows of Europe, of the nails which fastened
the ingot. An exact model has been deposited in
the Loyal College of Mines, in Jenny n Street. Its * Lead.
n
Nature and Art, January 1, 1£G7.] ON TIN. 17
the plates to the roof of the treasury at Atreus, in The thin sheets of iron, after being rendered
Mycenae, and of the instruments found in the tombs perfectly clean and free from adhering oxides, by
of ancient Egypt. diluted acids and bran water, are dipped in molten
The bronze coins and ornaments found by us tallow, and then plunged into a bath of fused tin,
during our researches amongst the ruins of the which adheres to and completely covers them. Tin
“ House of Lamachus,” in the ancient Chersonesus, is a most important ingredient in the manufacture
are almost identical in composition with the tools of pewter, gun-metal, bronze, (fee. A
vast number
and instruments discovered at Thebes whilst the ;
of small wares, such as hooks, handies for pots,
weapons of war and the chase, brought to light on tacks, with tin to preserve them
&c., are coated
opening the tumuli, with which many of the from rusting. Tacks are tinned by first cleansing
hills and breezy downs of England are covered, them in diluted acid, then placing them with frag-
contain the same formula. ments of the metal and sal ammoniac in an earthen-
The Saxons do not appear to have taken a stand ware bottle over a strong charcoal fire. On the
in Cornwall until the reign of Athelstan ; and but coating of tin being complete, they are washed and
little interest was taken in mining either by them finally dried in hot sawdust or bran. Nearly all
or the Danes, and no great impetus seems to have the cooking utensils throughout the East are of
been given to it until after the Norman conquest. A copper, and it is requisite, in order to avoid the
great portion of the trade was then conducted by unwholesome qualities of that metal, to tin their
the Jews, who, no doubt, contrived to enrich interiors.
themselves almost as much as the Phoenicians had This is done by first rubbing the surface bright,
done in their day. King John appears to have then heating it over the fire, and when sufficiently
interested himself in the welfare of the tin miners, hot rubbing the fused tin with powdered resin
and to have granted charters for the better regula- quickly and evenly over it a handful of cotton or
;
tion of mining operations. Edward

seems to I. linen rag forms a convenient rubber. A
mineral
have aided in confirming some of the measures known as wolfram is often found associated with
instituted by John, which led to the separation of the ores of tin, and from its gravity and peculiar
the Devonshire from the Cornish miners. character, being a double tungstate of manganese
The leaden seal of the ancient tinners of Corn- and iron, great difficulty was experienced by metal-
wall, found in a field near Bath, and now in the lurgists in separating it. Mr. Oxland at last solved
museum of the Royal College of Mines, in Jenny the difficulty by treating the ores in the furnace
Street, was probably of this period and from both
;
with carbonate of soda. A chemical change at once
sides being exactly alike, it has been surmised that took place. The tungstic acid seized on the soda
it was struck with a view to its attachment to some and formed a tungstate of soda, valuable as a
important charter relating to tin mining. The two mordant or fixer of dyes, whilst carbonic acid was
figures represent “tinners,” one with a pick and set free, and the scoria or slag carried off the
the other a shovel, working in their stream work ; other elements of the objectionable compound ; so
the running water being indicated by the lion’s head chemistry steps in to aid the arts. There are a
between them (not an unusual emblem amongst the great number of sources now from which tin is
old gem cutters). The legend may be thus ren- obtained, amongst which may be mentioned Banca,
dered,— ^-S’COM-VNITATIS STANGNATO : the trade of which colony belongs to the Dutch,
CORNYBIE. No medal or seal like it is, so far as Chile, Mexico, Australia, Spain, Bohemia, (fee., (fee.
we have been able to ascertain, in existence and ;
The mountain ranges between Galicia and Portugal
how it should have found its way to the vicinity of are exceedingly rich in the ores of tin, only needing
Bath is a problem open to the curious for solution. commercial energy and capital to render them highly
As time passed on discoveries continued to be made, remunerative. Many of the names relating to tin
and more extensive subterranean workings con- and its treatment have been handed down from
ducted. Regular lodes of tin, associated with other very remote ages to the present day. The lord or
metals, were from time to time discovered, and the landowner’s dues are still spoken of by those con-
extraction and treatment of their products nected with tin mining, as his dish, from a dishful
gradually improved on ; and although other coun- of ore, out of every sixth or eighth (according to
tries possessed tin mines, its exportation continued agreement), measured from the pile of ore, being-
to be considerable. Yet, strange to say, all the laid aside for his benefit. The term. Jews house tin,
’
so-called tin plates (which in reality are only applied to the masses of roughly smelted metal
thin iron sheets dipped in molten tin), used in this occasionally discovered by the miners in old
kingdom up to 1665, were sent from Bohemia or workings, was first given from the Jews having in
Saxony and although about this time an attempt
;
early ages the supervision of the furnaces. The tin
was made to introduce the manufacture regularly, coinage, as it was called from the French word com,
and one Andrew Tarranton, who was sent abroad a corner , consisted in the chipping off of one corner
for the purpose, succeeded perfectly in discovering from each block of metal for assay, before the arms
the process, and manufacturing many thousands of of the Duke of Cornwall were stanqied on them ; up
plates on his return, superior to those imported, to 1858, a duty of four shillings per cwt. was levied
yet no manufactory was established until between as a royalty due to the duke. This inconvenient
1720 and 1730, when the first was put in opera- and troublesopie custom was abolished during the
tion at Pontypool, in Monmouthshire. present reign, and a perpetual annuity, grounded on
ii. c
13 DESCRIPTION OF AN EGYPTIAN STATUE. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
a ten years’ average, substituted. Few metals used buys with it, have tin in their composition, as have
in tlie arts have a wider range of usefulness than the pipes through which it passed, the engine by
that now under consideration. The cannon which whose mechanism it was raised, and the tap which
thunders forth a nation’s triumph, the bells which governed its flow the tea-kettle, too, as it sings
;
ring out the wedding peal so joyously, or with solemn cozily on the hearth, as if from sheer self-satisfaction
note peal the last requiem of the departed, are in- at the brightness of its own burnished jacket, owes
debted to tin for their sonorous quality. The the privileged position enjoyed in the snug warm
penny you cast to the crossing-sweeper, and the corner to tin, as do many human tea-kettles who
half-pint measure containing the porter he probably have cause to sing as contentedly as he.
DESCRIPTION OF AN EGYPTIAN STATUE LATELY ADDED TO

THE COLLECTION IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
HE statueis in gritstone, and represents a young of the conventional stiffness than is usiial in the
T man
standing, a son of Rameses II. It is Egyptian statues. The shoulders, the arched instep,
50 inches high on a base of 6 inches. He has no the swell of the stomach, show more knowledge of
clothing except the apron round his waist. The anatomy than is any of the earlier
to be seen in
left leg is forward. Both arms and the fingers hang statues in the Museum
while if it is compared,
•
straight down, and they press to his sides two poles particularly in respect to the legs, with the sitting
or standards as tall as himself. The head of one is statue of Oimenepthah II., which is close beside it
a cylinder ornamented witli two asps ; the head of in the Museum, we shall see that, in the very next
the other is a group of three small generation, art was declining and the sculptors were
standing figures now broken, a falling into bad taste.
goddess with two gods. On each The name of the young prince is
standard is the name of Rameses spelt with three characters. (See fig. 2.)
rv© II. (See fig. 1.) The square pillar The first is probably an anvil, in the
% yVWW\B
L
which supports his back had been form of two half- spheres, with the force
Fig. I- mended in two places, probably by ofMES; the second is an owl, with the
the original sculptor. On this and force of MO
;
and the third is a sceptre
on the base are several lines of hieroglyphics stating having an animal’s head on the top,
that he is the king’s son. The stone is hard, and on with an uncertain force, perhaps INE, a hook, as
the figure highly polished, but disfigured in two it is the crook usually held in the hand of the
or three places by coarse pebbles. Egyptian gods and priests ; it is still the camel-
His hair is a crop, without the large lock peculiar liook of the Arabs of Mount Sinai, and it seems to
to the king’s sons, shown in the bas-reliefs the: be the letter N
in the names of the towns Mendes
beard short, and now broken away. The muscles are and Hermonthis. Hence the name of the young
remarkably well marked better so, perhaps, than
;
prince may perhaps be Mesmoine. But, as the
on any other statue of that age. The face, nose, first of these characters has had other and various
and all the limbs are delicate and youthful ; the forces given to it by various scholars, it may be
chest wide, the waist slender, the stomach rising as well to show why I think it had the force of
with a swell ; the knee good, showing the division MES. This can be done by showing that it will
between the patella and the tibia. The ankle is bear that force, and no other
less good. The nails are scarcely marked on either that we know of, in the chief
fingers or toes ; the left thumb is too short. The places in which it is met with.
right leg is badly formed, from the difficulty of Thus, it is the first, and only
reaching it with the chisel, as it is withdrawn into disputed character, in the name
the recess between the standard and the wall which of Meshophra Thothmosis (see
joms the left leg to the supporting pillar. The fig.3), which Manetho reads
statue is quite perfect —
except for the loss of the as Misaphris, and in that of
beard, of the three figures on the top of one of the his successor, which Manetho
standards, and of one of the two square pieces with reads Misphragmuthosis.
as
Fig. 3.
which the pillar behind had been repaired, and for Then itforms one out of a pair
a hole broken through the wall which joins the of titles which often precede a king’s two names.
right-hand standard to the supporting pillar. (See fig. 4.) Champollion guessed that
The delicate youthful face is clearly meant for a it might be a diadem, and translated
portrait, but perhaps without close approach to a the title “Lord of Diadems,” because 1 3
likeness, as the manly beard which once adorned that title is met with in Hermapion’s
^
the chin proves that some departure from exact- Greek translation from an obelisk.
ness was allowed to the sculptor. But, neverthe- But the hieroglypliical character there meant is
less, the face, and indeed the whole figure, has less certainly an asp, of which we see a golden image tied
:
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Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EGYPTIAN STATUE. 19
to almost every king’s forehead. Moreover, in the Greeks took their name Rhadamanthus, the judge of their
Hermapion’s translation we meet with the following infernal regions. On the same line, immediately following
the break in the stone, is mention of the young man’s
words “ King, lord of all the earth (whom the Sun
:
mother, who is said to be deceased. In line No. 3, on the
approved), the king brave in war (whom Ammon right side of the supporting column near the bottom, is
loves and the All-shining has tried) for a king for mention of his sisters, called “ The Royal Daughters.” But
ever.” Now it will be observed that the words here of the greater part of the inscription I do not venture to
give a translation, though many of the single words are well
placed within parentheses are translations of the
known.
two well-known names of Raineses II., and the titles
Samuel Sharpe.
which precede them can be nothing but the pair of
titles above spoken of, which invariably accompany
one another. The first title, “ Lord of all the [An acomplished correspondent lias favoured us
earth,” is Neb-to, which we usually translate with the following notes, which we have great
Lord of the world and the second may fairly be pleasure in laying before our readers.]
understood as being Neb-misi, Lord of battles. Misi
is the Coptic for battle hence the sound for this
The following are the chief facts known about
character, which we obtain from the name of King
the prince, Shaaemuab.* He was son of Rameses
11. and the queen Hesit-Nefrit, the third wife
Meshophra Thothmosis, agrees with that which we
obtain by translating Hermapion’s words into
of that monarch. Shaaemuab held the important
office of sem, or chief of the priesthood of Ptah, at
Coptic. Lastly, as to what our character repre-
sents. Ernes is the Coptic for an anvil. Theo-
Memphis, and seems to have instituted some new
philus, in his Diversarum A rtium Schedida, iii. 1 0,
forms in the worship of the Apis bull. Shaaemuab
describes the Roman anvil as in the form of three
was the fourth of the -111 sons of Rameses II.,
half-apples. Our character is like two half-apples ; and enjoyed great honour and dignity amongst
and if we suppose that the anvil was, in the first his contemporaries. As early as the thirtieth
yeai*, at least, of his father’s reign, he was appointed
instance, a simple block of solid iron, the lieavy
blows upon it would soon flatten the top and make Governor of Memphis, and celebrated the festivals
of the god, Ptah, or Vulcan, with great splendour.
it swell out on all sides into some such form as the
above. Hence we see that the three arguments The discoveries of M. Mariette, at the Serapeum at
agree in giving to our character the force of MES. Memphis, and of the immense subterranean galleries
of the mummies of the Apis bulls, show that this
First, its place in Manetho’s names, Misaphis and
prince, whose mummy was found in one of the sepul-
Misphragmuthosis ; secondly, its forming part of
chral chambers, was buried with his gold and other
the group which Hermapion translates “ Brave in
war,” which may be represented in Coptic by Neb- ornaments in one of the tombs, in the fifty-fifth
misi, Lord of battles and thirdly, by its resem- year of the reign of his father, whom he did not
blance to an ancient anvil, in Coptic, Ernes. survive. His mummy was found mutilated ; but
at what time, and under what circumstances, did
This is a long discussion upon a single hiero-
glyphic, but it may interest the reader to see how not appear, as the plunder of the tombs was as
rife in the oldest days of the Egyptian monarchy
the force and meaning of such characters are to be
learned. as now. The inscription is extremely obscure,
Hermapion’s sentence above quoted contains the and consists of the fact of an address to Osiris on
very words which we find written in hieroglyphics behalf of the deceased prince Shaaemuab, con-
upon the two standards held by our young prince. taining certain mythical allusions to the final judg-
On the standard in his right hand we read, “ The ment in the Hall of Truth and Justice, and other
priest, the lord of the world [king’s first name],
statements scattered throughout sepulchral prayers
beloved by the various gods of Egypt.” On the and adorations, comparing that prince to Horns,
other standard we read, “ The son of the Sun, lord the son and avenger of Osiris. The same observa-
of battles [Amunmai Raineses], beloved by Osiris, tions the lateral inscriptions (left and
apply to
lord of the region of the dead.” The two names right sides),which are also obscure and difficult to
here placed within the brackets may be translated understand. The inscription round the plinth or
by the words quoted above from Hermapion. pedestal on which the statue stands, A 9, 10 B 11, ;
12, is the text of a well-known chapter of the

DESCRIPTION OF THE HIEROGLYPHICS. Ritual, the 54th of Lepsius, Todtenbuch, Taf.
—
No. 1. The inscription on the right-hand standard. It xxii. c. 54, where the rubrical heading entitles it,
may be translated, “ The priest, lord of the world [first “ of giving breath to a person in Kar-
The chapter
name], beloved by the various gods of Egypt.” neter or Hades.” There are two other chapters,
—
No. 2. The inscription on the left-hand standard, “ The
(55, 56), on the same subject, with the texts
son of the Sun, Amunmai Rameses, beloved by Osiris, lord
of Amenti or, of the region of the dead. These two are similiar to the 54th; especially the 56th, which
the only lines that I venture to translate throughout. closely resembles the inscription of the plinth.
Nos. 3—7 are on the flat top of the base. The left foot The meaning of the chapter is as follows “ Oh :
stands between No. 3 and No. 4. No. 3 begins with the

Turn or Tomos, the setting Sun, give me the sweet
young man’s name, “ The royal son Mesmoine.”
Nos. 9-12 are a continuous sentence round the four breath of thy nostril. I am the great elder who
sides of the square base.
The supporting column has six lines of hieroglyphics. * It will be observed that our friends differ in their in-
No. on the back, begins “ Dedicated to Osiris, Ro-t-amenti,
1, terpretation of the hieroglyphs denoting- the name of the
or ruler of the place of the dead. From this title of the god person represented.— Ed.
20 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. f Nature and Art, January 3, 18G7.
dwells in Unnu. I have watched the egg of the the general contour, the figure resembles very much
great cackler or goose of the god Scb ; I grow, it the inhabitants of Lower Nubia; as does the colour
grows ; I live, it lives ; I breathe, it breathes.” |
of the material, particularly the head and arms,
This same mystical form is found on a statue of the complexion of the inhabitants of Thebes. For
Senmut, an officer of the court of Thotlimes III., this purpose, and for its durability, it is supposed,
in the Berlin Museum, and is often repeated on this description of stone was chosen. The features
sarcophagi and other objects, apparently in refer- are well defined, and the countenance has nothing:
ence to the reanimation of the dead. The mystic of the African type, — a circumstance which goes
meaning here hidden, unless it be an allusion to far to corroborate the notion which has la/tely been
the mundane egg of the Orphic writers, is un- entertained of the foreign origin of the family of
known. Rameses. The arms are well formed, and the
fasciculi of the deltoid, arising from the acromium
scapulae, better defined than in any other Egyptian
[The learned curator of the Soane Museum, statue in the Museum. The hands are rather
Mr. Joseph Bonomi, F.R.S.L., F.R.A.S., has kindly small. The left leg is advanced in the attitude of
offered a few remarks of which we gladly avail marching, with which leg, it may be observed, it is
ourselves.] to this day customary to make the first step. The
The front and profile views of the statue are not knee of this limb is particularly well formed. The
ancle is rather thick, and the foot heavy ; the instep
such as would be conveyed to the mind through the
exceeds a little the height prescribed by the canon
eye, but they are what architects call geometrical
in use at the period, that is to say, one-nineteenth
elevations drawn by actual measurement, so that
of the whole height of the figure.
the dimensions of any part may be known by appli-
cation of the compasses to the scale. It may be interesting to the reader to know how
The front elevation is in outline, for the greater the inscriptions on the statue have been so faithfully
facility of measurement, and the profile gives the given in the accompanying plate. The first opera-
precise colour of the stone, which a conglomerate,
is tion was to obtain, by means of wet absorbent paper,
in which flints and pebbles occur cemented together an impression of each legend or line of hieroglyphs.
in nature’s workshop by sand and rust of iron. This was afterwards faithfully copied by reduction
Notwithstanding this very adverse material, it according to scale ; and this drawing, being handed
has been fashioned into the figure of a man, and over to the photographer, has been unerringly
may be considered one of the best specimens of copied by the rays of the sun, and transferred to
Egyptian sculpture in our national collection. In the stone.
By H. Ward.
PART III. BASL E continued.
”
—
H ANS HOLBEIN
(nooit reiscle 11. Holbein
his earliest biographer, the
never travelled to Italy
naar
Dutchman
Italie), said
Carel van
Leonardo’s the talk of the whole artist world
might well have travelled to Holbein in the shape
of copies. The original itself seemed at one time
Mander,+ and 'words have been repeated by
his destined to cross the Alps. Francis I. saw it
others ; but Dr. Woltmann declares that here again when he entered Milan in 1515. He coveted the
they have blundered. Let us appeal, says lie, to treasure, grudged it to the Dominican refectory,
far more trustworthy witnesses, the works of the and ordered the whole upper wall to be packed oft'
artist, and these will speak plainly of a visit to to Paris ; but it was found that it would only come
Lombardy. This counter-assertion may be true away in pieces. Disappointed of the painting, he
but Dr. Woltmann has hardly proved it. He does tried to secure the painter ;
and Leonardo was at
not point out any change in the artist’s colouring last tempted to migrate to the palace of St. Cloud,
he only dwells on the increase of the old southern but only to die there in the king’s arms, in 1519.
influence, in matters of feeling and composition, Thus the great artist’s career was limited to Italy
and in the modelling of the figures. He does, and she retained the crowning fruit of it but the ;
indeed, instance a few direct imitations ; yet he academy, which he had founded at Milan, must
allows that most of these were made from the en- have had copies to spare for the northern admirers
gravings of Mantegna. The chief witness on his of the Last Stopper, besides the one which we know
side is a Last Supper, derived from that of to have’ been made for Francis I. The picture was
Leonardo da Yinci an cl surely such a work as
;
completed just before Holbein was born; and he
may have been familiar with the design from his
* Holbein und seine Zeit von Dr. Alfred Woltmann.
:
childhood, for there were many channels through
Erster Theil. Mit 31 Holzschnitten und einer Photo-Litho-
grapliie. Leipzig, 1866. which it could have reached him. Not to speak of
f Het Sehilderboeck. Haarlem, 1604. merchants and politicians, the Alps were then pretty
constantly crossed by German students, to and isolation here effected by St. John’s turning aside
is
from the universities of Pisa or Bologna, and by to repeat the words to St. Peter, who has risen,
men connected with the new art of printing. In and is bending his noble head, with his hand upon
Milan itself there were three or four German St. John’s shoulder. The picture is altogether a
publishers between 1474 and 1520 ; and some of fine one, though very inferior to that of Leonardo.
the draughtsmen, whom they employed for initial Of all the works preserved in the Basle Museum,
letters and title-pages, must have been quite capable the best, according to the portrait-painter Sandrart,*
of making a tolerable outline of the composition. is one designed apparently for an altar-piece, and
Or, finally, Burgkmair may have brought a copy divided into eight scenes of the Passion. Sandrart’s
home to Augsburg, when he returned from Italy in vivd voce account of it, in 1644, so moved the
1508. Elector of Bavaria, that he offered to buy it at any
Dr. Waagen suggested, some years ago, that the price ; but the Council of Basle refused to discuss
early biographers may have been mistaken. It is the bargain. Dr. Waagen compares this work with
not at all improbable. Our only quarrel with Dr. the Basilica of St. Paul, by the elder Holbein, and
Woltmann is that he is so positive about the he descries a close resemblance between them, both
Italian trip, without showing the necessity for it. in the execution of the parts and in their tabular
Having traced his hero fairly enough to Lucerne, in arrangement. He says that one can nowhere more
1518, or thereabouts, and having still a few months distinctly trace how young Holbein’s style was
on hand, he pushes him across the lake, and over developed out of that of his father. He is pro-
the pass of St. Gothard, and so by Bellinzona to bably quite correct when he pronounces it to be a
Milan, and shows him Leonardo’s masterpiece in all youthful work, arguing from the inequality of the
the freshness of its short-lived beauty. He doubts, composition, six of the scenes being either over-
moreover, whether he may not take him on to crowded or caricatured, whilst the other two are
Pavia, in order to study architectural painting almost perfect. But he is just as probably mis-
from the facade of the Carthusian convent there. taken when he detects the father’s influence in the
But he is content with hinting the feasibility of choice of colours, and in the manner of laying
this scheme, and he returns with him to Basle, them on ; for they have not only suffered from
where he regains his better judgment. —
chemical changes, but also as recently discovered
Holbein’s Last Supper, painted on wood, was —
documents prove from restoration. Thus the
broken up, probably by the fanatics of Basle, in arguments must be chiefly based upon the character
1529. Some portions were lost; but the larger of the designs. Dr. Woltmann considers that this,
ones were preserved by Holbein’s true friend, though one of the earlier, is not one of the earliest
Bonifacius Amerbach. They are now pieced works of Holbein. Some of the compartments are
together, and form No. 21 of the Holbein Gallery very striking, as one may see from Merian’s ex-
in the Basle Museum. No. 5 is an earlier Last cellent lithographs. The Arrest, Christ before
Supper, on linen, which we barely mentioned in Caiaphas, and the Crucifixion, may be overcrowded,
our first article. The two works naturally chal- but each has a fine scenic effect. The composition
lenge comparison ; and No. 5, in spite of its youth- of the Entombment is taken from that in the
ful defects, has been the more tenderly treated of Borghese Palace at Borne, painted by Baphael for
the two. The personages, say the critics, are here Perugia, in 1507. Baphael himself was partially
more clearly, though coarsely individualized. Judas indebted to one of Mantegna’s engravings, of which
receiving the sop, is abject and self-condemned, yet he made a copy before forming his own design.
unrepentant ; whilst St. Peter is glaring at him, But the resemblance is too close to be merely due
with both fists doubled upon the table. In the to a common source. Holbein must have seen a
later work (No. 21) all the caricature is reserved copy of Baphael’s picture. The dead body lias
for J udas. He sits on the spectator’s side of the been foreshortened, in order to suit the narrow
table, griping the money-bag, and displaying a harsh compartment but the mode in which it is borne
;
profile of the lowest Jewish type. Lavater * has on the shroud, with dependent arms and legs, is
chosen this to illustrate his ideas of sordidness. borrowed from Baphael ; and so are the bearers,
Mrs. Jameson complains that Judas is made a foul even to some details of costume. The Christ of
protagonist in the scene. Only eight of the other Baphael is divine in death ; that of Holbein is
Apostles are preserved otherwise, perhaps, he
: more distorted by suffering. Holbein’s figures of
might not appear so prominent. In Leonardo’s the Virgin and St. John, standing apart, are com-
picture lie is shrinking back ; a more refined con- paratively insignificant but the principal design
;
ception of the wretch, whose “ little grain of con- is noble, and adapted in the spirit of a great
science ” drove him mad. Holbein has only thought master.
of the kissing traitor, with his hard mouth screwed Still more noble, and far more original, we
to desperation. Christ has just spoken the words, believe, the Agony in the Garden.
is The story
“ One of you shall betray me,”
and his face and the could not be better told. The three Apostles are
action of his hands are manifestly after Leonardo ; sleeping in the foreground ; St. Peter supporting
and so is his half-isolation on his right hand. The his head with one hand, and having let a short
sheathed sword slip out of the other. Bound a
* “ Essays ou Physiognomy,” vol. i., p. 186. London,
1789. * Author of Tcutsclie Akademie in 1679.
22 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
rock in tlie background approaches the guard led have escaped the notice of his early biographers.
by Judas, but not near enough to disturb the His treatment of other sacred subjects is very
feeling of the scene. Christ is the very image of Italian, as might be expected the more marked
:
agony and prayer. The bones of his clasped hands coincidences may sometimes be purely accidental.
start out, his kneeling form is bent with earnest- Thus, a Nativity is lighted by a glory proceeding
ness, and his eyes are fixed upon the sign of the from the body of the child. Correggio has a
cross in the heavens above him. painting with a similar effect but, as Dr. Wolt-
There is one jôint here worth observing, before we mann remarks, Correggio’s Nativity is six years
proceed further. The usual symbol of the agony later than Holbein’s. The idea may have been
is the cup. This was suited to the dark ages, when suggested to both painters by some old illumina-
the scriptural figures of speech Avere slavishly tion, or both may have taken it immediately from
rendered by the artist. Some of our reader’s will a certain passage in one of the apocryphal gospels.
scarcely believe that the Holy Ghost, on the day We will now conclude the subject with noticing a
of Pentecost, used to be depicted as a dove with figure, the modelling of which the German critics
literal tongues of fire —
such tongues as the poor derive directly from Leonardo. It is one of the
artist could devise namely, so many red lines
;
many matters that can not be absolutely settled ;
extending from the open mouth of the dove to the but Ave are still waiting with curiosity for the
heads of the disciples. In those days the cup was opinion of Mr. Wornum.
a recognized symbol and it was suspended in the
;
The great physiognomist Lavater has declaimed
air, without any regard to the laws of gravity. against the figure in question with rotund pom-
But when the later painters adopted it, they altered posity. He declares that Holbein, in painting
its significance by placing it in the hands of the such a repulsive abomination, has “ discarded all
angel. This converted it from a cup of bitterness taste, forsworn all love, and disowned all humanity.”
iuto a cup of consolation. In such a shape the two Dr. Waagen retorts by saying that Lavater is a
ideas are quite irreconcilable ; whereas the cross mere “ FEsthetiker,” unable to raise himself above
conveys them both, in accordance with all the the prejudices of sentimentalism. Now, Lavater
traditions and sentiments of Christianity. Holbein is too solemn, no doubt ;
still he is not quite
may have followed some previous example of the wrong. Holbein’s Dead Christ must be something
Agony but the fact remains, that he showed a finer
;
to be shuddered at. The picture is life-size, and
taste than most painters, whether of Italy or said to be wonderfully real. Holbein was essentially
elsewhere, when he made the angel floating high a realist but his extraordinary strength of mind
;
above Christ, and holding a cross, as a symbol both and his native instinct for beauty generally kept
of the death to be undergone and the triumph to him above vulgarity and apart from all that is
be achieved. horrible. It Avas impossible that he should paint a
Such is Holbein’s great series of the Passion. sickening work of butchery, such as the old German
We can hardly agree with Hr. Woltmann in pre- miniaturists made out of the scourging of Christ.
ferring another series, which consists of ten pen- But Ave think that, for once, he has been untrue
and-ink drawings, shaded with Indian ink. They to the feelings of high art. Even in Mechel’s
are more mature, more equally sustained, and engraving, the Dead Christ is almost too painful.
possibly more original ; though here again the bio- It is the corpse of a man Avho has died a violent
grapher has to mention the name of Mantegna. —
death every muscle made convulsively distinct,
Being little more than outlines, they cannot of the toes cramped, and the fingers distorted lying —
course rival the painted series in point of effect •, alone and almost naked, as if he were uncared for,
and we should say that they are also inferior under a low vaulting. There is nothing about him
in passionate expression. They are masterly to remind one of our Saviour, except the marks of
designs for glass-painting or for tapestry ; but the spear and the nails. It is evident that he is
their pictorial beauty is decidedly marred by their stretched upon a surgeon’s table, though Holbein
heavy frameworks of Renaissance columns and has placed a little drapery upon the board. In
arches, especially in two instances where medallions fact, he had made such an admirable study, that he
are tastelessly introduced. We need not describe was seduced into making a finished picture of it,
them, nor recommend Mechel’s engravings to the and adding the inscription, “ Jesus Nazarenus Rex
reader. He
has only to enter the British Museum, Jud. H. H. 1521.”
and turn into the King’s library, and on one of the We admit that Ave have been very serious this
screens he will see repetitions of seven of them, all month ; but our next and concluding article will
from the hand of Holbein himself. be much more chatty, and deal Avith the personal
Hitherto we have met with no very cogent character of the artist and his friends at Basle.
argument why Holbein should have necessarily We shall only have to give a detailed notice of
studied Leonardo at Milan. The same arguments one painting ; but that one is the Madonna,
would carry him on to Perugia to study Raphael ;
painted for burgomaster Meyer, which is said to
and if he reached Perugia, he would not have be suggested to every German by the mention of
omitted visiting Florence ; a fact that could hardly the name of Holbein.
Nalun- ;i ml All .•!:> ui::irv
Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.] THE METEORIC SHOWER OE NOVEMBER, 1866.
THE METEORIC SHOWER OF NOVEMBER, 1866 .
By J. Carpenter, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
W E should do Nature poor j ustice if we were

consecrate all our lays and devote all our
attentions to those of her works and wonders that
to Suppose the observer at London estimates its angular
altitude at 65 degrees above the horizon, while
the one at Brighton estimates that altitude at
are comprised within the area hounded by the 55 degrees. Now, if upon a base line, A
B, we
surface the little globe we inhabit, to the
of
exclusion of those grander creations and more
sublime phenomena that are to be witnessed in the
boundless space above and around us. fitting A
opportunity for breaking new ground is offered by
the beautiful and seemingly marvellous display of
celestial pyroteclmy which attracted so large a
share of public attention on the night of the 13th '
of November last ; and we take advantage of the

j
occasion to mingle in our columns the researches of

the naturalist with the observations and inductions
of the philosopher.
It may be thought that the numerous accounts of
and comments upon this meteoric shower which ap-
peared in the daily newspapers at the time have
exhausted the subject, and that hence there is no measure off a part, C D, upon any convenient scale
more to be said concerning it. But a newspaper (say an inch to 10 miles), which shall represent the
communication is an ephemeral production read — distance between London and Brighton and if we
;
one instant and forgotten the next ; and, moreover, draw a line, C E, inclined to the base line at an
much as has been said in this form concerning angle of 65 degrees, and another line, D E, inclined
meteors, a great deal has been left unsaid ; and we to the base line at an angle of 55 degrees, they will
have, therefore, no fear of not finding “ ample room meet or intersect at a point, M. Then, if we drop a
and verge enough ” for the few remarks it is our perpendicular from M to the base line, the length
pleasure now to lay before the reader. of this line will represent the height of the meteor,
Our talk is to be of meteors. What, then, is a upon the same scale as that which we chose for
meteor? In popular parlance, it is known as a our base line. By means analogous to this the
“shooting” or “falling” star, and in very many heights of a large number of meteors have been at
minds an impression prevails that when these various times determined, and it has been found,
bodies are seen to dart across the sky, some of the within very small limits of error, that the average
fixed stars have really “ shot from their spheres height of meteors at the middle of their flight is 62
we have more than once been asked by innocent miles ; their height at commencement being about
querists why the stars are called fixed, when every 10 miles greater and at disappearance about 10
now and then they are seen to fall ? It is, there- miles less than this.
fore, necessary to inform all who have a notion of Falling stars, then, have nothing to do with the
this sort in their minds, that there is no connection members proper of the starry firmament. This
whatever between shooting stars and the fixed stars fact, by showing what they are not, helps in a
of the firmament, and that there is nothing whatever very small degree to a knowledge of what they are.
in common between them. The fixed stars are stu- Of course, a lot of theories, more or less fanciful,
pendous suns like ours, possibly the centres of plane- have been proposed to account for them. They have
tary systems, billions of miles distant from us; while been supposed, since they are known to make their
shooting stars are tiuy little bodies, varying from a appearance within our atmosphere, to be the result
few grains to a few pounds in weight, and, com- of some sort of gaseous exhalations to which that
paratively speaking, only a few miles above the atmosphere gives birth ; they have been held to be of
earth’s surface. Do you wonder how their height electrical nature, something like electric sparks ;
is measured? We will endeavour to show you. they have been thought to be darted to the earth
Those who have brought a little trigonometry away from the sun and for a long time they were held
;
from school with them will not require to be told to be small fragments of matter ejected from the
that the angular altitude of a meteor, observed at volcanoes of the moon. But each and all of these
two distant stations, is all that is required for the hypotheses involved conditions that the meteors do
purpose of determining its height. The principle not fulfil ; and hence, one by one, they have been
of the means by which this is effected may, how- abandoned. The generally received theory of the
ever, bemade intelligible without much geometry. present day, and it is one which is satisfied by all
Suppose one observer at London and another at the phenomena which these bodies present, is that
Brighton simultaneously observe a particular meteor. they are small masses of cosmical matter circulating
24 THE METEORIC SHOWER OF NOVEMBER. 1866. [Nature and Art, January .1, 1867.
about the sun —tiny little planets, in fact, —and less dense than at the earth’s surface. The resist-
coming at times within the earth’s atmosphere ance offered would be equal to a pressure of at least
sometimes falling to the earth in the form of those 52,000 pounds and if the stone travelled tAventy
;
mysterious, half metallic, half stony little masses miles with this resistance before it, sufficient heat
that we call aerolites. would be developed to raise seven millions of pounds
But if they be mere lumps of metal and stone, of Avater one degree- of temperature. The greater
why do they shine out with such star-like brilliancy 1 part of this intense heat is communicated to the
Are they always in a burning state, or do they take displaced air, and hence the stone may be said to
fire only when they come within our atmosphere 1 be in a soi’t of hot blast furnace. If only the one-
The latter is undoubtedly the case the earth’s
;
hundredth part of the developed heat be received
atmosphere is the cause of their inflammation. It by the stone, it would still be more than amply
would seem at first sight probable that this combus- sufficient to fuse and dissipate any materials of
tion had a chemical origin ; that the meteors were which it maybe composed.
composed of some highly inflammable matter which We have here an example of one of those beauti-
is ignited by combination Avith the chemical com- ful “provisions of nature” with Avhich the universe
ponents of the atmosphere. An idea of this kind is filled.
— —
“Were it not” we are again quoting
pre\’ailed some years ago, but it is no longer neces- Dr. Joule for the atmosphere which covers us
sary to resort to such a supposition ; for the ignition Avith a shield, impenetrable in proportion to the
of the scraps of meteoric matter is amply accounted violence it is called upon to resist, Ave should be
for by the mechanical theory of heat, according to continually exposed to a bombardment of the most
which that ignition is a consequence of the immense fatal and irresistible character. To say nothing of
resistance the bodies meet with in our atmosphere, the larger stones, no ordinary buildings could afford
and hence of the enormous friction and consequent shelter from veiy small particles striking at the
heat produced thereby. Upon this point we cannot velocity of eighteen miles per second. Even dust
do better than quote the words of Dr. Joule, one flying at such a AT elocity Avould kill any animal ex-
of the famous exponents of this beautiful theory of posed to it.”
mechanical heat. Our extract is from a lecture Question begets question Avhen Ave cross-examine
delivered at Manchester some twenty years ago, inexhaustible nature; and we are prompted to
when this theory Avas first dawning upon philo- inquire Avhat is the nature and composition of
sophical minds : these celestial fireworks 1 By analysis of their
“ From the velocity Avith which shooting stars light, by means of the prism, Ave find that the burn-
travel, there can be little doubt that they are small ing matter is sometimes of a metallic and some-
planets Avhicli, in the course of their reA7 olution times of an earthy or stony nature, and this in a
round the sun, are attracted and drawn to the measure identifies them Avith the stony-metallic
earth. Deflect for a moment on the consequences masses that Ave knoAv to have falleu from the skies.
Avhicli would ensue if a hard meteoric stone Avere It is pretty Avell established that there is a close con-
to strike the room in which we are assembled Avith nection between meteors and aerolites the one class ;
a velocity sixty times as great as that of a cannon of bodies merging imperceptibly into the other; and,
ball. The dire effects of such a collision are effec- therefore, in analysing the aerolite Ave may reckon
tually prevented by the atmosphere which surrounds upon gaining at least a probable knowledge of the
our globe, by Avhicli the velocity of the meteoric constitution of the meteor. Chemists and mineralo-
stone is checked, and its living force converted into gists have frequently and Avith great care analysed
heat, Avhich at last becomes so intense as to melt aerolites and meteorites, and they have found that
the body and dissipate it in fragments too small, their composition is nearly always the same. Their
probably, to be noticed in their fall to the ground. structure, microscopically examined, sIioavs them to
Hence it is that although multitudes of shooting be composed of minute globules, which suggest the
stars appear every night, feAv meteoric stones have idea of an originally vanorous condition and their ;
been found, those few corroborating the truth of component matter is identical with that of earthly
our hypothesis by the marks of intense heat which rocks and minerals. Sulphur and carbon, silica
they bear on their surfaces.” —
and alumina, iron metallic and magnetic, with —
It seems anomalous that so soft and subtle a bed other metals, such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, tin
of matter as the air presents, especially in those and copper, have been recognised among the materials
exalted regions, should offer such a powerful resist- of Avhich they are formed ; but —
a fact striking and
ance as to strike fire from a body coming into col- significant —no new material, no substance unknown
lision Avith it ; but the anomaly vanishes Avlien Ave upon the earth has ever yet been detected among
bear in mind that this resistance is proportionate to the elements of their composition. Such a fact
the velocity of the body’s flight, and that this points to a unity of composition in some at least
velocity, in the case of meteors, is upon the average of the members of our planetary system, and
about thirty miles in a second of time a speed— favours the supposition of a common origin to all
almost beyond human conception. Suppose, for that family of bodies of Avhicli the sun is the grand
example, that a meteoric stone six inches in centre and chief.
diameter dashes into our atmosphere Avith a velocity We will pass now to the consideration of those
of only eighteen miles in a second ; and suppose periodic displays of meteors, that, from the abun-
the atmosphere at fifty miles high to be 100 times dance in Avhicli these bodies manifest themselves on
; ;;,

THE METEORIC SHOWER OP NOVEMBER, 1866.
such occasions, have received the name of “ Star the year, that is in certain points of her orbit, and
Showers,” and one of which we have so lately, and this explains the annual recurrence of showers on
under such favourable circumstances, had the good certain days. The majority of the rings, of which
fortune to witness. It is well known that there there must be a goodly number, have the meteoric
are certain nights in every year that are remarkable particles distributed evenly throughout their circuit
lor the regular recurrence of large numbers of shoot- —
but the November ring the ring we cut through
ing stars ; perhaps the most famous date being the —
every November is not of such equable density
10th of August, when, according to the Irish for its component particles and masses are very
legend, Saint Lawrence sheds his fiery tears. The thickly clustered in one part, and scantily dispersed
next important date is comprised between the 11th over the remainder. This November ring has been
and 14th of November ; and it is with the shower made the subject of a great deal of research and
;
of this period that we are specially concerned. A what astronomers call its “ elements,” or its
cursory examination of the long lists of meteor dimensions, position, &c., have been determined
records that have been collected from the histories with considerable accuracy. In size, it has been
of past times and of all countries, does not fail to found to be slightly less than the orbit of the
show that, whereas a display more or less important earth; revolving about the sun in a period of 354
takes place every year between the above dates, days, or 1 1 days less than the earth’s period. The
there are yet certain years when, according to these direction of its motion is opposite to that of the
ancient records, the display reaches an extraordinary earth, and the orbit is inclined to the earth’s
magnitude and the meteors appear in stupendous orbit by an angle of about 17 degrees. The portion
numbers. One of these occurred in the year 902, of the ring which constitutes the thick cloud of
when the Aglilabite King, Ibrahim bin Ahmad, bodies, is about one-fifteenth of its circumference,
died, and “the stars scattered themselves like rain or in linear measure about 40 millions of miles,
to the light and to the left.” Another is recorded while the breadth of the cloud is about 100,000
in the year 934 ; another in 1002 ; and another in miles. The disposition of things and the course of
1202. The chronicles of the Kings of Portugal matters which produce the periodic grand dis-
make mention of another in 1366, which so terrified plays, may be made intelligible be the following
the people of that country that they thought the diagram.
end of the world had come. The all-recording
Chinese tell of others in the years 1533 and 1602.
In 1799 occurred the brilliant shower witnessed by
Humboldt and Bonpland at Cumana in South
America, and so well described by the former in
his Relation Hislorique. The year 1832 is also
marked by a shower which pioneered the splendid
one of the following year this latter is the last
:
great meteoric display preceding that which we

have so lately observed.
Now it became evident, upon close examination
of those and other such-like accounts, that grand
November displays take place three times in a
century, or at intervals of about 33 years apart
and the last having happened in 1833, it was
reasonable to expect a return in 1866; but inas- In this diagram the continuous circle represents
much as each of the former great showers appear the orbit of the earth, and the dotted ring the zone
to have been anticipated by a slighter one in the of meteoric bodies, with the cloud of them collected
year preceding, observers anxiously watched the at one part of it. The earth is going one way
night of the 13th of November, 1865, for this pre- (indicated by an arrow) and the ring of meteors
cursor, and were rewarded by a sight which, another (indicated by an opposite arrow) ; and the
although far below that of 1866, was still extra- orbit of the meteors is inclined to that of the earth.
ordinary ; about a thousand meteors being counted Now, it will be plain that if the ring moved at
between midnight and five o’clock the following exactly the same speed as the earth, we, the earth,
morning. should meet it at the same point of its circuit
This may be a proper place to put and answer the every year ; but as it moves fastei- than the earth
questions, why these showers occur on particular days it is equally plain that the part which we cut
of the year! and why such an extensive display should through in one November has gone by 11 days
take place every 33rd November 1 It is assumed, before we come to the point of intersection in the
and there are very good reasons for admitting the next November, and hence we perceive that we
correctness of the assumption, that there are a cut the ring every year in a new place. In the
number of concentric rings of these meteoric course of years, we naturally fall in with the thick
bodies circulating about the sun ; orbits, in fact, part of it, and then it is that we get the great
every part of which is thronged with meteoric meteor showers ; this encounter taking place everv
particles. The earth, in its annual course about 33 years. The reason why we have showers on
the sun, cuts through these rings on certain days of two or three years at the end of every 33-year
26 THE METEORIC SHOWER OF NOVEMBER, 1866. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
the cloud or group of particles is

cycle, is because noon wore on that the clouds broke up and dis-
we have pierced it in one place
so large, that after persed, and the chances of seeing the display bore
one year, it has not got completely out of our a favourable aspect. The evening, with a few
course by the next year, and so we meet it again exceptional intervals of cloud, was superbly clear ;
and pierce it in another place it does not get

: but during the early hours, there was little to
out of our way in the eleven days’ grace we indicate the advent of the spectacle that the later
give it. hours were to bring with them. From nine to
We, then, dash into the midst of this crowd at the eleven o’clock only 25 meteors were noted not :
rate of 18 miles a second, and its member’s fly on more would be seen
than on any ordinary
all sides around us with a flight of the same speed. November night. But when, at about the latter
The reader will now
be prepared to understand hour, the constellation Leo, the throne of the
why all the meteors in any particular shower seem radiant point, came above the horizon, it was
to stream from one point of the heavens the — evident that a celestial sight of no ordinary cha-
“radiant point,” as it is termed. It is because this racter was to be expected. First, at the rate of
point is the part of space towards which the earth about one a minute, afterwards at the rate of four
in its orbital course is moving and the meteors
•
or five, the fiery shafts silently flew forth in all
appear to come from it, just as, if we were walking directions from their common point of departure j
through an avenue of trees, the individual trees now horizontally and straight as Euclid’s line, now
would appear to be coming from the end of the verticallyupwards like an earthly rocket, now down-
aven ue or as, if we were running through a crowd,
•
wards in a graceful circular curve. Thus, between
all the people composing it would seem to be eleven and twelve o’clock, 1 68 meteors appeared
coming from the direction of the spot to which we blit itwas not until after midnight that the display
were going. The “ earth’s way,” as the direction commenced in earnest. The average number of
of the earth’s motion is termed, at the time of the meteors per minute up to that time did not exceed
November displays is in a line with a star in the three but by half-past twelve this average rose to
;
constellation Leo and hence all the meteors on

,
70, or more than one a second. Then there was
these occasions seem to radiate from that star. a lull for a few minutes, and after that, the num-
It is time we said a few words upon the par- bers steadily increased, till the average stood at
ticular shower which has called forth this article ; 118. Then clouds came on and threatened to put
but there is little to be added to what we have an end to the scene ; but they cleared off' after a
already written, save in the way of mere descrip- few minutes, and at about a quarter-past one the
tion. Those who had the good fortune to observe maximum of the shower was reached the average :
the shower will not want a detailed account of the at time being 122 meteors per minute.*
that
appearance the meteors presented ; and as those Whether a greater average occurred during the
who did not witness it can gain a far better notion slight interval of cloud, it is of course impossible
of their appearance from an illustration than from to say. From time the numbers rapidly
this
any word picture we can paint, we have pre- declined, till, few short spurts of greater
after a
pared a chromo-litliograph in which we have numbers, the average fell to 70 per minute at
depicted, as truthfully as possible, the asjaect of a half-past one, 50 per minute at a quarter to two,
—
region of the sky the north-west at an instant — and 20 per minute at two o’clock. At half-past trvo
when the meteors were at the thickest of their again a slight spurt increased the average for a
flight, which was at about a quarter-past one in the minute or two, and at three o’clock it stood at 10.
morning of the 14th. A
more “sensational” Still it decreased until between four and five a.m.,
picture might have been produced by the insertion when only 40 meteors in all Avere counted.
of a larger number of meteors ; but this would have The Avliole number registered at Greenwich
entailed a sacrifice of truthfulness, for not more throughout the entire display, amounted to 8,485.
meteors than we have shown were at any one Allowing for the cloudy moments, we may say that
instant visible in any area of the sky equal to that the total number of meteors passing over the sky
included in our illustration, although quite as many of Green Avich, from nine p.m. on the 13th to five
as we have included actually were seen. Of course a.m. on the 14th, Avas about 10,000. No av from
it is impossible to reproduce by any art-process this it is evident that, grand as Avas the pheno-
the glowing brilliancy of a luminous body, like the menon, it must have been very far short of the
bright nucleus of a meteor ; the soft radiance of the sublimity of previous shoAvers. Admitting the
trains of the meteors, also, shining with their possibility of exaggeration in some of the ancient
greenish-blue light, can scarcely be adequately accounts, such as that of the shoAver of 1366, in
represented in a drawing. which we are told “ that the sky and air seemed to
It was a rare coincidence that in the cloudy be in flames, and even the earth appeared as if
month of November, a clear night should happen
on the occasion of an event that occurs once only * The numbers we give are those determined at the Royal
in 33 years. The previous night was hopelessly Observatory, Greenwich, where every care was taken by an
cloudy ; had the shower occurred then, as was organised system of observation, in which nearly a dozen
partly anticipated, it would have passed unseen in — observers Avere employed, to secure as accurate a record as
possible of the various phases of the shower, and of all data
England, at all events. The morning of the 13th it might afford. The hours we have cited refer to Green-
also gave little hopes ; it was only as the after- wich mean time.
ABT NOTES FKOM PAEIS. 27
ready to take fire,” we carmot admit exaggeration reader will deem it worth while to “make a note
in suck an account as that of Humboldt, of the of” this in his or her diary.
shower of 1799, in which it is stated, amongst The meteors themselves were not so imposing in
other illustrations, that, “ from the beginning of the magnitude as some that have shown themselves on
phenomenon there was not a space in the firma- former occasions. The greater number of them
ment equal in extent to three diameters of the were about equal to stars of the first and second
moon, that was not filled at every instant with magnitude ; comparatively few of them attaining a
falling stars.” Again in the year 1833, the meteors brilliancy equal to that of the brighter planets
were compared in numbers to snow-flakes in a Venus and Jupiter. Their colours varied slightly;
snow-storm at the thickest part of the shower ; and the majority were of a yellowish-white, while some
when their numbers had considerably diminished, bore a bluish and others a reddish tinge. The
it was reckoned that 34,000 passed over the sky in most beautiful of their features were, as usual, the
the course of air hour. One observer gave a sketch luminous trains or streaks that marked their path
of the appearance of them, of which sketch the through the air. Some of these trains extended to
accompanying cut is a copy. 90 degrees in length, and a few of them remained
visible for several seconds after the extinction of
the nucleus they were mostly of a greenish colour,
:
and, in one or two cases, after they had disappeared

a smoky trail remained behind for several minutes
and then gradually dissipated. These trains have
been thought to be mere ocular deceptions, arising
from the retention of the image of the meteor on
the retina of the eye, upon the same principle as a
lighted stick quickly waved before the eye gives us
the impression of a continuous line of light but ;
this idea is now given up, and it is generally

assumed that the train is composed of tiny particles
of the dissipating meteor left behind in its rapid
course through the air. Even this explanation is,
however, open to a little doubt.
But we have passed our allotted limits of length,
so we must bring our gossip to a close. If Mons.
Whether the comparative poorness of our shower Coulvier Gravier’s supposition mentioned above be
is to be attributed to the thickness of our atmo- correct, we may have a better shower to talk about
sphere, shutting out of view the fainter meteors ; next November ; if this does not “ come off,” we
or whether we did not pass through the thickest may rest assured that we have seen the last
part of the meteor cloud while the radiant point meteoric display that is likely to occur for the next
was above our horizon, we cannot say. It has been 33 years. The year 1899 will witness the recur-
suggested by one authority on this subject, M. rence of the event, and, as this is the season of
Coulvier Gravier, that we may expect the real good wishes, we cannot do better than wish every
maximum of the 33-year epoch in the November of one who has perused these columns health to
the year we are just entering, 1867. Perhaps the see it.
ART NOTES FROM PARIS.

By G. W. Yapp.
TPHE artists of France have just performed an important only, the sculptors in that of sculpture, and so on. The
A electoral duty, namely, the choosing- of two-thirds of the number qualified to votewas about four hundred, and those
Admission Jurors for the Fine Art department of the who did not find it convenient to attend personally were
Exhibition of 1867. The original arrangement was, that allowed to send sealed voting-papers under cover, with their
one-third should be elected by the Academy of the Beaux- names, to the superintendent of the Beaux-Arts, who is at
Arts, one-third by those artists who had received a first- the head of that department of the Exhibition. The number
class medal or its equivalent, and the remaining third by the of votes recorded were, of painters 147, sculptors 70,
Imperial Commission but the Academy has not yet forgiven
; architects 33, and engravers 25; in all 275, which, making
the Government for taking from it the management of the due allowance for absentees, cannot be considered a small
School of Art and the annual Exhibitions, and positively proportion. The number of Jurors to be elected, two-thirda
declined to have anything to do with the matter the — of the whole, were, in painting 16, in sculpture 10, in archi-
Academy would be Caesar or nothing ! tecture, in engraving, and in lithography, 6 each. The
This being the case, the Commission turned over the following names of the painters elected by theirpeers will show
Academy third to the general body of decorated artists and how this experiment in self-election has succeeded : —
Baudry,
medalists, and the result is such, that no one can have any Bida, Breton, Brion, Cabanel, Couture, Framjais, Fromentin,
just reason to complain. It must be premised that each Gerome, Gleyre, Hebert, Ingres, Jalabert, Meissonier, Pils,
artist voted only for the Jurors in that department in which he and Th. Eousseau. This list includes several members of the
had gained his own honours, the painters in that of painting Academy, all the professors in painting of the Ecole des
28 ART NOTES FROM PARIS. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
Boaux-Arts, representatives of the Old School as well as of has been placed in the gallery of Egyptian and Ninivite
the New, and artists in all styles, history, genre, and land- antiquities it is an immense amphora, about six feet high
;
scape, classic as well as picturesque. The other lists ai e as-

and ten feet in diameter, hewn out of a block of coarse-
strong in good names, or nearly so, as that of the painter grained stone, and bears strong marks of antiquity the ;
Jurors. The Government nominees are principally officials form, though imperfect, is not .ungraceful, and there are
connected with arts, connoisseurs and literary men, amongst traces of ornament about the handles. As an object of art
whom are the Marquis Maison, M. P. de St. Victor, M. Ad. it certainly is not remarkable, but it is very old and probably
de Beaumont, Vicomte H. Delaborde, M. Charles Blanc, M. unique, and likely to remain so.
de Longperier, M. Theophile Gautier, and M. Soulie, keeper The Louvre is busy preparing for the Exhibition year the ;
of the gallery of Versailles. galleries of ancient sculpture have been closed for a con-
The Imperial Commission has revised its regulations considerable time the frescoes in four of the rooms, executed
;
cerning the admission of works of art in the most liberal by Romanelli in 1660, are being restored by M. Baize, and
spirit ;
instead of requiring works to be sent in during the a fifth is being decorated by M. Matout and M. Biennoury.
month of October last, artists are to make application in A fine and highly decorated room in the new Louvre is being
writing, giving title and description of their works, which, prepared for the larger works of the old French masters,
when known to the juries, will be admitted or rejected Lebrun, Poussin, Lesueur, and others and the grand stair- ;
without previous displacement, the decisions to be made by case, which will eventually form a principal way to the
the end of the present year. Those works admitted on galleries, is being constructed, but it is doubtful if this work
written application will not have to be sent in till the 25th will be completed for the coming year. The reconstruction
February, and those which the juries desire to examine of the further end of the great picture gallery, and of the rest
previously, by the 20th January. The artists are well of the river front which connects the Louvre with theTuileries,
pleased, as they should be, with these arrangements the
;
is proceeding with extraordinary rapidity in the latter portion;
only subject of complaint is the comparatively small amount will be the new Salle des Etats, in which the Sovereign meets
of space for the art productions of France during the last the members of the two legislative bodies at the opening of
eleven years. The space is certainly not too large, and the each session and when this is finished the present salle in
;
sifting must be severe, but even the Chavvp de Mars will not the new Louvre will be devoted to pictures. The Pavilion
accommodate the whole world of art. de Flore, the corner of the Tuileries on the river side, is
It must be explained that the juries mentioned above are nearly finished, as regards the exterior, and both this and
only for admission of works, not to award the prizes the ;
the two faces of the new gallery adjoining are profusely
appointment of the prize juries has been deferred by decree decorated with sculpture.
until the others have finished their duties. The sculptural work of the facade of the new Opera house
Those who are not accustomed to large galleries will be is just commenced, and this and other parts of the building
surprised perhaps to hear that the famous Louvre does not will give employment to an immense number of artists, in-
contain more than two thousand pictures ;
of these 560 cluding some of the most eminent in France. Besides the
belong to the Italian, 620 to the German and other Northern grand composition of the entablature, the principal fa<;ade
Schools, 700 to the French, and 25 to the Spanish School. will be decorated with medallions of Cimarosa, Pergoleso,
Amongst the works of the Great Masters are 12 by Raphael, Bach, and Haydn seven busts in bronze gilt are to be placed
;
3 only by Correggio, 18 by Titian, 13 by Paul Veronese, 9 in bull’s-eyes, Mozart occupying the central place with
by Leonardo da Vinci, 8 by Perugino, 22 by Rubens, as Beethoven, Auber, and Rossini to the right, and Spontini
many by Vandyk, 17 by Rembrandt, 40 by Poussin, 16 by Meyerbeer, and Halevy to the left and on the return of
;
Claude, and 11 by Murillo. the facade, busts of the librettists Quinault and Scribe.
The Raphaels will presently be increased by the appear- The lateral fa 9 ades are to receive twenty-four busts of com-
ance of a picture which has gone through strange vicissitudes posers, commencing on the one hand with Monteverde and
the work represents John the Baptist as a boy, seated on ending with Verdi, and on the other beginning with Cam-
the trunk of a ti’ee, with the right arm raised, and the legs bert and closing with Adam. In the principal vestibule,
apart. The picture has been much injured and retouched, Italian, French, German, and English music are to be re-
but the face is said to be intact, and such as no one but presented by seated statues of Lulli, Rameau, Gluck, and
Raphael could paint, the drawing and expression full of Handel, the latter, though born in Germany, being, as it is
force and elegance, and the landscape superb. It was en- said, claimed by England as her own. Every part of the
graved by Valee, and is also to be found in Landon’s work, new Opera house, available for the purpose, will be decorated
No. 324. Passavant says that it was given by Louis XVIII. with sculpture or painting.
to a village church, but being injured by dampness it was The new church of the Triniti is approaching completion,
returned to the Due de Maille, who had placed it there by and promises to be the most sumptuous of all the modern
the king’s orders after the death of the duke his heirs
; religious edifices of Paris the original estimates amounted
;
found it in a loft, and knowing nothing about it, let it go to very nearly ,£160, 000. The sum set apart for the deco-
with a lot of lumber, and it was sold for fifty-nine francs to rative paintings is equal to ,£6,000, and that for sculpture
a picture-dealer, who soon discovering the pearl he had to <£7,680 the tympans of the nave and the gablets have
;
picked up, had it repaired, and offered it to the Government been painted by M. Jobbe-Duval and M. Barrias, the Lady
for 60,000 francs it was, however, claimed as belonging to
;
Chapel by MM. Emile Levy and Delaunay, and M. Baize has
the State, the dealer only receiving a sum equal to the price executed several works on faience slabs the sculpture has ;
he had paid for the work, and what he had expended upon been entrusted to MM. Cavelier, Maillet, Crauk, and Car-
it, and restored to the Louvre — where it has actually been peaux, all able artists, for the four principal groups ; M.
lost for nearly forty years. Such is the account of the re- Guillaume, member of the Academy, has executed four
covered Raphael, and it is curious enough to be true. statues and two other sculptors, MM. Doublemard and
;
The Louvre has made another acquisition an English

: Dantan, junior, have other commissions. Two of the most
picture presented by a French amateur, M. Callon, and signed eminent artists in stained glass, MM. Oudinot and Nicod,
G. Ferguson, 1610 the first, it is said, of our School in the
; are engaged on the windows. The Municipal Council
gallery, though we think we remember seeing one, if not evidently intends that the new church shall be a chef-
more, by Bonnington, but perhaps he is classed as a d’oeuvre.
naturalized French artist. The subject of the picture in But a still more important work is spoken of : the district
question is Dead Poultry and Game we could have wished
;
of the Champs Elysees has no church of importance, and it
something a little more classical, and yet where could the is said that it is under consideration to erect, near the Arc de
Louvre have obtained a Reynolds or a Gainsborough ? Little Triomphe, a Gothic cathedral on as grand a scale as any of
could G. Ferguson have dreamed of the honour that awaited the most remarkable edifices of the middle ages. This
him and his fowls, two centuries and a half after the latter on has a touch of the marvellous the Imperial Govern-
dit ;
had been made objects of art. ment is not very likely to undertake a work which, judging
The great vase from Amathus, supposed to be the only from the time the repairs of Notre Dame have taken to
remaining relic of the famous temple dedicated to Venus, execute, would scarcely be completed in the present centurj'
; —

ART NOTES FROM PARIS. 29
besides, Gothic architecture is not the forte of our ingenious receptions, with the gallant saying, that “ a court without
neighbours. ladies was like a garden without roses.”
From an announcement set forth by the Academy of the This once royal quarter now shelters one of the most
Beaux- Arts, it would appear that an important work is con- hard-working sections of the Paris population, and here,
templated in connection with the coming Exhibition. A amid the art-workmen of the present day, will be the
lady, Mademoiselle Esther Le Clere, has, in the name of her repository of the chefs-d’oeuvre of their ancestors. Tho
late brother, who was a member of the Academy, founded a materials of the museum already exist in part, and accessions
prize of one thousand francs for the best architectural will pour in rapidly the city already possesses some curious
;
project on a subject to be given by that body. The Academy collections, ancient plans and pictures, medals and an-
proposes, for the session of 1867, a grand Monumental tiquities, and a special bureau has been established at the
Bridge, situated in the centre of a great city ;
the bridge to H6tel-de-Ville for all business in any way connected with
be two hundred metres long by thirty metres wide, con- art, ancient and modern. The municipal authorities paid
necting an island with the two opposite quays of a river. not long since 35,000 francs for the Legras collection of
On the island is to be a monument in commemoration of a leaden medals, badges, and tokens. We
shall watch the
Universal Exhibition of Industry connected with the bridge growth of the Retrospective Museum of Parisian Art with
by appropriate decorative elements. The competition is much interest.
confined to natives of France under thirty years of age, and It is said that many illustrations of Paris Art, now in the
will be divided into two stages after the customary manner museum Hotel Cluny, will be transferred to the Hotel
of the
here with respect to architectural designs sketches are to bo
;
Carnavalet, and they will scarcely be missed from the former
sent in by the 18th of the present month of December, and which overflows with riches and increases them daily. It
on the 20th they will be exhibited publicly, and the members has just received a very valuable legacy M. des Mazis,
:
of the architectural section of the Academy will at once late of Mayenne, has left to the Cluny Museum a large
proceed to select the six designs which they think best. collection of the artistic iron-work of the sixteenth century,
The authors of these chosen designs will be required to send including many beautiful damascened coffers. The same
in complete plans and elevations in March next, when they gentleman has left a fine collection of arms to the Museum
will be exhibited and adjudged. The successful work is to of Artillery, and a magnificent silver-gilt plateau, decorated
remain the property of the Academy, but the author is to with enamels. M. Mazis’s museum was estimated to be
have the right of reproduction by photography or otherwise. worth more than a million of francs.
The terms set forth above can only apply to the Pont-Neuf, The restoration of the old chateau of Saint Germain, and
which touches, as everybody knows, the point of the old the intention of forming there a museum of Gallo-Roman
island, the Paris of Charlemagne and Dagobert, and which antiquities, has already been alluded to in our columns and ;
has been for many years in a very bad condition. The another historical museum is about to be formed at Pierre-
project may, however, be a mere speculative one on the part fonds, the famous ruin near Compiegne, which has been
of the Academy, though the commemoration of an Industrial restored by M. Viollet le Due. The latter will probably bo
Exhibition is certainly out of keeping with those classic devoted to gallic art of the Middle Ages, and thus form a
principles of which it deems itself the sole conservator. continuation as it were to the museum of Saint Germain.
The attention paid to the applications and the history of The magnificent collection of arms and armour belonging
art is quite as great as that which is devoted to the Fine to the Louvre and to the Emperor’s private museum has
Arts pure ;
the collection, exhibition, and illustration of already been sent to Pierrefonds, and it is said that the new
objects of ancient art workmanship form in fact one of the galleries will be open during the Exhibition year.
most remarkable features of the time. The City of Paris A curious question connected with ancient art has just
determined some time since to establish a museum of its own been accidentally solved. The apartments of the Palais
antiquities, and, after some trouble, it has succeeded in de Justice at Nancy have been decorated for a long period
purchasing, for the sum of .£36,000, a place for its reception. with a number of pieces of very curious old tapestry, which,
The Hotel Carnavalet, now the property of the City, has according to local tradition, ornamented the tent of the
much artistic and historical interest of its own the famous
; rash and unfortunate Duke of Burgundy, Charles-le-
Abbe of Clagny, Pierre Lescot, furnished the designs, which Timiraire, who lost his life in the frozen lake or pool of
were carried into execution by Jean Ballaut, in the middle Saint-Jean, when besieging the capital of Lorraine anti- ;
of the sixteenth century Jean Goujon sculptured the

;
quarians had pretty well decided that rumour was a story-
principal ornaments, most of which still exist, though not teller when M. Achille Jubinal, author of a History of
all in situ, or quite intact, and are thoroughly worthy of the Ancient Tapestry, discovered in the imperial library of Paris
artist. Ballaut’s work was afterwards continued by the a manuscript, No. 7,406, entitled —
“ Declaration de plu-
:
architect Androuet du Cerceau and in 1634 Francois

;
sieurs pieces de taipisseries que quelqidung ijeit longtemps d
Mansard completed it, and took some curious liberties Vienne ” in fact, a description of these very pieces of
with the arrangement of Goujon’s sculptures, part of tapestry sent to the Duke of Burgundy by his ambassador
which he removed from within the vestibule to the outer in Austria. The subjects of two of the pieces are described
face of the building, where they still remain. The Hotel in the following quaint terms Grant dibat qui fut jadys
:
Carnavalet was not the original name of the mansion which en la court de la royne Vinus, entre Jemiesse et Vieillesse,’ ’
was built or rather begun by Jacques des Ligneris, Seigneur and “ Condamnation de Souper etde Banquet, sur laplainte
de Crosnes, and President of the Parlement of Paris it ; portie par Diner en la court de dame Experience.” It
afterwards passed to another family, and then into the appears that Supper and Banquet were both condemned to
possession of Franqoise de la Baume, Dame de Carnavalet. be hanged. If the good people of that age found supper
But the chief historical interest is of a later date: the bad after a mid-day meal, what would they think of tho
Hotel Carnavalet was for many years the residence of habits of the present century ? This subject is not certainly
Madame, or to give the lady her full names and honours, peculiarly artistic, yet a writer named Nicole de la Ches-
Marie de Rabutin de Chantal, Marquise de Sevigne, whose neraye founded a play upon it which was performed in Paris,
salon was the rendezvous for all the savants and wits, besides before Louis XII. The town of Nancy ought to pay civic
a few of the witlings, of her time. honours to M. Jubinal, who has thus raised their tradition
The mansion stands in the rue de la Culture Sainte- to the rank of an archaeological fact.
Catherine, in the old Court quarter of Francois Premier, of An essay, or, to quote the title as given by the author,
which the now calm Place-Royale was the fashionable “ Considerations on the Principles and History of Bas-relief,”
piromenade, the Mall, the Court garden, the scene of the read by M. Guillaume, the eminent sculptor, and director of
triumphs and flirtations, the intrigues, the duels, the the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, at the late annual meeting of the
insolences, and the puerilities of that gay, bedizened throng five Academies of the Institute, excited great interest and
of beautiful women and brave coxcombs that buzzed around has since been published by the author in the Moniteur des
a monarch who was declared to be as groat a hero in Arts. The paper is long, but well repays perusal. It cannot
pleasure as in war, and who made one grand step in social be said that we moderns show any remarkable ability in
improvement by the introduction of ladies at the royal sculpture generally but perhaps there is no branch of the
;
30 ART NOTES FROM PARIS. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
we are further in arrear of the ancients than

art in which in ancient works the adherence of the subject to the back-
The opinions of an artist of the experience of
in bas-relief. ground isalways well maintained, the result of whioh is a
M. Guillaume are peculiarly welcome. Bas-relief, as M. solidity which harmonises well with architecture, and whioh,
Guillaume says, has no type in nature it is a form created : united with simplicity and power, gives a monumental
by art but it is a convention so natural that it has appeared
; character to sculpture.”
at every epoch of art, and amongst all civilised nations. M. Guillaume designates the genius of the Greeks, “ full
Bas-relief is essentially monumental and decorative, and can of poetry and logic,” as specially calculated to make them
scarcely be separated from architecture as a part of which it pre-eminent in this branch of art and he quotes their legend
;
first appeared. Its first object is decoration its second to ;

of its invention as having a deep significance. Dibutade, a
express facts and ideas by means of the human figure. “ The potter of Corinth, say they, created bas-relief by placing
first condition,” says M. Guillaume, “is that, as ornament, —
clay within a space already prepared thus intimating that
it should properly fill the space allotted to it according to the art proceeded fundamentally from drawing. “ The
the rules of art. Setting aside the consideration of Dorian and Ionian schools, with different aspirations, in
ornament, and looking at bas-relief only as a means of their turn gave it impulse but from the first essays to the
;
representing subjects by means of the human figure, it must chefs-d’oeuvre of the Parthenon, from the jutting fronton
be regarded in the light of an inscription. It is a style of even to the small sketches freely traced with a light point
wilting, a language which, conforming to a certain extent on marble vases and funereal urns, the uninterrupted
to the rules of lapidary style, abridges and condenses ideas, tradition of the artist was the concise clearness of the
reduces them to the most simple form, and appeals to the idea, the simplicity of the plans, and the perfection of the
eye by the aid of instinctive or understood abstractions with contours. In their hands (the Greeks’) the bas-relief is a
concision and clearness.” language concise without obscurity, and of severe elegance ;
“ To be clear and concise,” repeats M. Guillaume elegance, which by the manner of presenting the subject,
emphatically, “ is, in short, the law of bas-relief. Everything the luminous purity of the form, and the intelligent pre-
in the composition must, in the first place, submit to this servation of the expression, realizes in a plastic form the
principle.” These dicta will scarcely be questioned and ;
most delicate qualities of the art of speaking well. And
when we reflect how modern sculptors have misunderstood, the sculptors thus produced exquisite works, the contem-
or how far they have diverged from, these principles, it is plation of which delights the imagination, while the study
not surprising how rare is good or even inoffensive bas-relief. of them will ripen our judgment.”
M. Guillaume points out the error which existed in archaic M. Guillaume points out how the Romans failed to seize
times, when the upper part of a figure was often shown in the true principle of bas-relief, made it subservient to the
full-face, while the lower was executed in profile, and political and religious demands of the moment, applied it to
remarks, that in the best epochs of the art the sculptor con- pomps and triumphs, and produced generally nothing' but
fined himself almost invariably to profile. Speaking of the showy ornaments. They missed the conventional sense of
conventional methods of representing some of the elements the art. But M. Guillaume says, that the theory of the art
of the design, he adds :
—
“ Water and flame may be was never entirely lost, in spite of the imperfections of its
indicated by undulations as to smoke and clouds, they
;
application ;
and the image-makers of the middle ages,
cannot be fully represented in bas-relief the positive spirit : although wanting the sense of beauty possessed so eminently
of sculpture refuses to represent the impalpable. This by the Greeks, executed bas-reliefs on true principles, but
applies to sculpture in general but we note the fact here,
;
the artists of the renaissance were so carried away by the love
because the accessories are more important and play a of painting and the application of perspective, that sculpture
greater part in bas-relief than in the round.” M. Guillaume suffered severely, and bas-reliefs grew to be nothing more
insists on the rule that bas-relief should never include more than pictures in sculpture. Deploring the failure of the
than two or three superposed planes in the composition, and great artists of Italy and France with respect to bas-relief,
points out how the Greeks sometimes diminished the M. Guillaume pays a just tribute to Jean Goujon, who, by
thickness of the figures in front in order to prevent their the force of his own genius, broke through the false practice,
shadows diminishing the effect of the figures in the rear, and “ produced works which, as regards the skill in the
and indicates the frieze of the Parthenon as furnishing treatment of the plan, rival the finest productions that
the most admirable examples of this and other artistic Athens has bequeathed us.” This is only justice to the
arrangements. great sculptor, who, in an age of passion, violence, and false
In dealing with the subject of light and shadow, M. taste, seemed to have possessed the gift of almost absolute
Guillaume touches on the question of coloured sculpture. purity and grace. It is only necessary to study one of his
He says —
“ Finally, the bright and contrasted colouring
: nymphs of the Fountain of the Innocents, to see that the
which the ancients applied to monumental sculpture was not sculptors since his time are at least as far inferior to him
intended to l'ival what was actually painted, but simply to in this respect as he was to the Athenians.
augment the clearness of the figures, and to give them a The distinctive difference between painting and sculpture
fixedness independent of the play of light and shadow.” in bas-relief is well expressed in the following lines :
This view is equally a recognition of the value of colour in “ Bas-relief starts from a positive imitation of objects,
bas-reliefs, and a condemnation of it in the case of isolated while painting depends upon the optical illusions so that,
;
statues, the conditions of which are diametrically opposed if design applied to the latter is an incessant employment
to those of bas-relief the play of light and shade which
;
of the rules of perspective, the design appropriate to bas-
produces confusion in the conventional composition being relief is in its essence purely geometrical.”
the glory, the harmony, the life of the statue. In spite of the talent of the artists, the principles of bas-
The young sculptor would do well not to forget the follow- relief were utterly neglected in Italy under the influence of
ing simple warning :
—
“ As bas-reliefs are executed in marble, Bernin, and in France under that of Lebrun, and the evil
in stone, in terra cotta, in ivory, in metal, each of these had grown to its height when accident turned back the
substances has its own exigencies and capabilities, and, so current into the right direction. “ David, in founding his
to speak, a peculiar genius which the artist should study to teaching on ancient sculpture, forced back bas-relief into
take advantage of.” the true path. About the same time the admirable works
“This art always,” says M. Guillaume, “bears the imprint of the School of Phidias were discovered at Athens. Still
of a certain archaic and conventional character. Its effect later, Lord Elgin carried a considerable number of these to
is to give power and fulness to whatever it represents. In London, and the models were multiplied by casts happy —
some of the finest Athenian school we find
works of the concurrence of events which, by the force at once of
figures whose proportions and forms are expressly made reason and examples, carried back bas-relief to the purest
more robust and less slender than those of statues. Lastly, source.”
REVIEWS. 31
THE WINTER EXHIBITION OP THE SOCIETY OP PAINTERS

IN WATER-COLOUR.
Nonr last wo noticed the Fine Art Exhibitions which had in number, and withal very strong and successful. The “High
I opened their doors when we went to press. Not least Street of Conway,” for instance, by Mr. Collingwood Smith,
in our regard, “The Old Water-Colour Society” now claims is a wondrous piece of perspective and in “ The Canino
;
a few lines and it is pleasant to note that the old acquaint-

;
Real, Toledo,” Mr. E. A. Goodall has succeeded in producing
ance, still strong and hale, shows little, if any, of the sere one of Kthe most effective bits conceivable with the fewest
and yellow leaf. The gaps that time and secession have lines and the thinnest washes of colour and with these
;
made in its ranks are worthily filled up, while veterans we may range the “Prague” of S. Read, who has carefully
enough are on its muster-roll to constitute alone a strong sketched and lightly tinted the eminently picturesque forms
force. seen from the Nepomucene Bridge in that city.
That manual power and mental grasp still abide with the The lover of nature condemned to winter amid the fogs
old fraternity none may doubt who scan the wild and tem- of Thames may here come and dream of country life among
pestuous “ Deathride” by Mr. John Gilbert, or the same the charming *works of Mr. J. J. Jenkins, who draws his
artist’s “Siege of Calais;” or James Holland’s “ Llynn inspirations from the many well-loved scenes at Wargrave,
Idwal,” a magnificent drawing-, in which the desolate Shiplake, and thereaway or with S. P. Jackson, who seems
;
majesty of a mountain wilderness is felicitously conveyed to work the same ground with no less truth of feeling and;
with most artistic concealment of all artifice or the younger

;
the “Summer Twilight” of the latter and the “ Knolo
Coxe’s “ Arenig, from Lake Crwyni,” to which the lover of Park” of the former are among the many examples of their
wild nature shall turn and return or E. Duncan’s poetic
;
fascination. More sensuous —
and fascinating too, in another
“ Snailholm Tower,” gauntly frowning over a lonely Scottish —
way are the high-coloured, warm-toned performances of
moor or Alfred Fripp’s “ Ruin on the Roman Campagna
;
Mr. G. H. Andrews, whose “Dort” and “St. Bennett’s
or Branwhite’s g-rand gallery work, “An Old Lock” (this Mill” are splendid examples the dancing- ripples and
;
claims to be seen two or three yards off ) or, again, ;

glistening- leaves of Naftel and the elegant yet forcible
;
Duncan’s “Snowdon, from Lake Llydaw,” and T. M. figure studies of Miss Gillies and H. P. Riviere.
Richardson’s great “ Benvenue.” The fourth screen is a constellation in which shines
In the class, again, who thus capture the eye and the Birket Foster, with three studies of “Skies” and three of
intelligence by tours de force must be numbered Mr. Culling-- “Trees,” to praise which would to us seem almost an im-
ford Smith, with his broadly-treated “ Scene at Watendlath,” pertinence. With him are William Callow, Joseph Nash,
that picturesque mountain village that is perched among Henry Gastineau, Frederick Tayler (whose glossy-coated
the Borrowdale Fells, high up above the better-known steeds are the delight of the equestrian order), and the
Lodore. Mr. Alfred Newton thus arrests us by his “Cucullin —
masterly cattle-painter, Brittan Willis an able recruit from
Hills,” where the wrestle of the dawn with a sea-mist is —
the ranks of the oil-painters all in fine form. They are a
surprisingly rendered and so, perhaps, we might go on,
: strong array and such favour does their elegant art now
;
until no room was left for a word about masters of another find with the public that the comparatively few works they
order. offerfor sale are very rapidly absorbed, to decorate the
The men who more delicately weave their spells are many |
drawing-room and the boudoir.
REVI E WS.
Recollections of the East. By a Subaltern. Day and episodes in a young officer’s Indian career. They commence
with his arrival, when he is beset by a crowd of obsequiously
Son (Limited), London.
salaaming natives, who present their “characters,” and be-
HE individual who can return from the East without seech the sahib to take them into his service, volubly utter-
T interesting reminiscences must be remarkably devoid of ing the while a thousand protestations of their punctilious
imagination, or powers of observation and comparison. The honesty and everlasting faithfulness ; and they terminate
religionist will have his memories of dreamy mosques and with his departure, when he hurries on board ship, pursued
fanciful pagodas, sacred to the prophet of Mecca or the by the same, insisting- that their just demands upon his purse
frolicsome Ivrishnu. The sentimentalist -will muse over the have not been liquidated. We
have “ our station,” “ our
departed glories of marble and gem-bedizened palaces, and bazaar,” “ our band-stand,” “ pay-day,” and numerous other
people them again with gorgeous Rajahs and lovely Oashme- comical, yet artistically conceived pictures. There is the
rian girls. The artist will meditate upon airy pinnacles and “ frightful position of Stumpkins,” who, when out tiger-
delicate arabesques, upon picturesque groupings in bazaars, shooting-, without the old-fashioned but comparatively secure
and the thousand charming combinations in form and colour elephant, “ in a second, sees the panorama of his life pass
of a life totally new to him. The naturalist will think of before his bewildered brain ” and the difficulties encountered
;
all the delights afforded him by animal and vegetable king- by Lanky, in the less perilous but still dangerous sport of
doms, so different from those of his own more temperate pig-sticking. Wehave the battalion on parade in the misty
climate. But the recollections with which it is our present morning-, and the same on the march, their solar topees
purpose particularly to deal are those of the humorist, just visible through the clouds of dust, and a few palm-trees
returned from serving Her Majesty in British India. Ours towering above bayonets that glisten in the fiery sunshine.
shall be memories of brandy-pawnee and pig-sticking, There is always, we may observe, in these drawings an ex-
cricket with the thermometer at 100°, and regimental pression, ranging from the satirical to the merry, upon the
messes with the punkahs swaying over the tables and the sun’s countenance as though he was chuckling over the
;
turbanned kitmutghars standing- behind their perspiring torments he was inflicting upon the intruders into his
masters’ chairs. We have before us, in a handsomely bound favoured domain. Wehave “ our theatricals,” too, in which
book, well adapted to lie on a drawing-room table, a series the gentle heroine is represented by a shaven warrior ; and
of excellently-executed photo-lithographs, in which a number “ our ball,” whereat some two or three fair ones have to
of striking scenes of Anglo-Indian life are represented with waltz by turns with about nine times their number of
delicious humour, yet with perfect fidelity. Our military languid cavaliers.
artist carries us through a succession of most amusing Our artist has managed to convey, with all his fun, an
32 CORRESPONDENCE. [Nature and Art, January 1, 1867.
admirable impression of the heat and aridness of India in partake, and the dangers and discomforts to which he will
the hot season and has really depicted most vividly, con-
;
be subjected. Let him, however, beware of not balancing
sidering the slightness of the sketches, the characteristics of
-
the latter duly against the former, lest, after, his arrival in
the country. His faces, too, both of natives and English- India, he should too late discover the life, depicted in
men, are wonderfully distinct and natural in their features such softly glowing tints in the warm light of his fancy,
and expression. The solemn, wise-about-nothing sort of to be very much too hot for him. These pictures are
aspect of the former, and the half-ennuye, half-discontented exceedingly humorous but the atmosphere of a room at 90°,
;
look of the latter, who, at the same time, do not appear by even with every appliance for keeping the place cool, is no
any means incapable of enjoying life, are both accurately joke ; and the mosquitoes and flies, which may be observed,
portrayed. especially in one of the sketches, buzzing about the head of
Bombay appears, from internal evidence of the costumes the youth, as he vainly courts repose upon his couch, are
of the natives and aspects of the scenery, to have been the most irritating realities. If they be properly studied, and
presidency in which these sketches were taken. Any young their delineations of pain carefully considered with those
gentleman, who may be ambitious of proceeding thither as of pleasure, we do not think that these drawings, though we
an officer of the army, may be enabled to derive from them pronounce them, can be said to represent the existence of an
a very just idea of the sports and luxuries of which he may Anglo-Indian altogether under too seductive an aspect.
NEW MUSIC.
ESSRS COCKS & CO., of New Burlington Street, have
M sent us for notice three recent songs by Mr. W. T.
Wrighton, and Mr. F. Godfrey’s tuneful valse “ Helena,”
straightforward, unaffected melody, together with accom-
paniments of the easiest possible description. His melodies
are generally tender and expressive, and his treatment of
about the latter of which and its capital introduction there them asrefined as it is correct. “ They tell me I am quite
can be no two opinions. forgot ”is precisely the ballad “ of the period.” The
Mr. Wrighton has a very enviable reputation as a com- melancholy sentiment of the words (by Mrs. Evans Bell)
poser of “ drawing-room ” ballads. Much is implied by this realized in the music, and the composition (in B-
is fully
term of classification and the musician who can observe
;
suitable for a mezzo-soprano, or even a contralto.
flat) is
the hard conditions dictated bv the pretty tyrants of modern “ Grieve not for me,” a song which last season was made
society, and, at the same time, produce something meri- popular by Madame Parepa, is in G, six-eight time. It has a
torious in its way, is decidedly markworthy in his genera- range between E and F-sharp, and is available for either
tion. Mr. Wrighton does not write for posterity, and male or female voices. In “A wearied dove ” Mr. Wrighton
sacrifice himself upon the unremunerative altar of high art, is not particularly original, as far as subject goes. The
but endeavours to meet the exigencies of the day by fashion- modulations are smooth and pleasing, and the delightful
ing ballads, which shall possess a certain charm of simple, motivo in D-minor must charm all.
CORRESPONDENCE.
To the Editor of Nature and Art. my hare was seated on its haunches, and its two fore-feet were
Sib, — To those who are fond of natural history, the resting against a pane of glass, so that the noise I heard
-
proceeded from its drumming against the glass with its paws.
following incident showing the fondness of animals for
music may not be unacceptable. Some, it is well known, I can but consider that the animal was pleased with the
have the greatest detestation of it, the canine species sounds, or why should it have been attracted so to the spot
amongst the numbers, as our ears can too well testify to from which they emanated ?
but I never heard of it occurring before in a case such as I As happens in most cases to pets, so was mine no ex-
am about to relate. Some few years since I had a hare which ception, for it met with an untimely end. I was one Sun-
I turned out in a large walled garden : it was what is usually day evening playing to a clerical friend, when we were
termed a tame hare, though wild enough when any one startled by a screech from the hare, which was making its
entered the garden. I was amusing myself one night, as way evidently to the accustomed spot. I flung up the
was my wont to do, on the harmonium, which was placed by window, calling out “The hare, the hare ” but my friend
!
the side of the parlour window looking into the garden. and I, candles in hand, searched in vain so we presumed
;
After playing a short time, I was rather startled at

- it had escaped from the claws of the cat, which had been
hearing a tapping at my window. I stopped for a while, alarmed by the window being thrown up. Next morning
and then resumed my playing but I had scarcely recom- I was dressing, when I saw pussy stealing its way towards
;
menced when a repetition of the same noise occurred. “Well,” a carrot-bed, and, as it passed up one side, the hare jumped
said I to myself, “ I can’t stand this so I shut up the instru- out on the other. I loaded my gun as promptly as possible
ment and sat down by the fire to read. In about half an and went into the garden, but puss did not wait for a
hour after I opened the instrument again, and had not been at warm reception. I went out for a ride, after breakfast,
it many minutes before the same noise occurred ;
so I bade and returned about one o’clock, and as I looked out of my
good bye to my amusement for that day. On the following parlour-window I saw a cat asleep on the steps opposite,
night I again commenced playing with the same result, and, opening the window gently, I shot the supposed enemy
wondering what could be the cause of the noise and being of my musical pet. I now flattered myself that the danger
obliged to cease in consequence. This state of things was over but, in my sleep that night, I thought I heard a
;
occurred for three or four consecutive days, when the mystery screech, and from that time to this I saw no more of my
was made apparent. I was as before playing when the hare for I had either shot the wrong culprit, or some other
noise recommenced, and I thought I saw a movement at the
;
cat, of equally epicurean taste, had carried it off —

and, no
window, and looking towards it I found to my surprise that doubt, feasted “ right royally.” G.
I
B I Z Z AND HER FOES.

By Mbs. S. C. Hall.
IN THREE CHAPTERS. CHAPTER II.
LET my coal-shed to a very the other effected the entrance, for well he knew
plausible, good-for-nothing that the poor mother would go to her pups. He
Mr. Hatch-
fellow,” said calculated,” added Hatchment, “ on the strength of
ment, “
promisedwho her maternal feelings.
everything, and never “ "When he got the little beast outside, he pinched
kept his word he was ;

and ran with it to my house, and Bizz in full chase.
an Irishman, but I do not Of course the policeman turned out the other pups,
desire to reflect on the entered, ami locked the door. As there were four
—
country some of my best pups, poor TBizz had enough to do to carry them to
customers are Irish, and I shelter, for two had crawled into a pool of water.
only wish I had double the number. He brought “ The men did not find the goods they expected,
Bizz with him she was a slight young thing then,
;
but I regained possession of my shed. I never saw
a pretty, shiny, active dog, and in time had her or heard of her master since, and the poor thing
second litter of pups ; he never paid his rent — attached herself to me, chiefly because I saved the
offered to forgive it to him ; he would not resign last of the pups from drowning. She is a wonder-
possession, but kept the key, though there was ful watch, and if Mrs. H. or I left her in charge of
nothing in the shed but a few sticks. our dinners, she’d die dead of starvation before she
“ I ought to have told you, ma’am, that when set a tooth in anything, even sheep’s heads, which
first he came to the place I gave him five shillings are her favourites ; but once out of the house, she
for the dog, but when she had pups, Mrs. H. found knows no law, only to take and keep what she
her inconvenient, and so the fellow said he’d take fancies.
care of her for me in the shed. When things went “You know the best and the worse of poor Bizz
—
bad with him, and I heard since that the dog now, ma’am there she is, an ugly customer, but
;
never belonged to him nohow, as the lawful owner as good a watch as ever winked at a thief. She
left her in his care, and paid a shilling a week, or likes to have a yard of her own, and it’s all the
something more, for her board and lodging, he — better if she can’t get out of it.
would go away and leave her there without food “ G-o to the lady, Bizz, and be as faithful to her
or water. I used to thrust her in some through a as you’ve been to me !Mrs. H. will see the loss
hole, but I dare not go near the door, which she before the month’s out in apples and oranges, and
understood she was to guard The fellow had put
! want a dog in that time as badly as now she wants
her up to all sorts of tricks. to get rid of one ; but,” he added, forgetting his
“ One evening, a pair of policemen came with a usual politeness, “ that’s the way with the women,
search-warrant ; they had information that some —leastways in greengrocery. She’s turned as hard
stolen goods were in the shed, and they set about against the dog as a frozen turnip ; she’s shut, her
breaking open the door, but the poor faithful 'eyes against the good, and opened them on the bad
animal, who was reduced to a skeleton, had de- wider, and forgetting past services, is the worst foe
termined to withstand them to the last. One of the the beast has, —
worse than cats or boys. But don’t
men wanted to shoot her, for she looked all teeth mind it, Bizz, if the lady won’t have you, I’ll give
and but I would not consent, and it was a
fire, you as easy a death as if you’d been a lady’s lap-
sight howthose two great men were kept at bay dog all the days of your life.” *
by that small dog, until one of them bethought him Bizz looked up a.t her master’s round, rubicund
of a stratagem the hole through which I used to
;
face, into which he was endeavouring to impart an
push her food was close to the straw where her expression of sentiment, as if she said in her hard,
pups lay, so he proposed that his companion should —
dry way “ Don’t be a fool, Hatchment,” and
withdraw a pup, and pinch it to make it cry, while with another wink at me, she curled herself round
VOL. II. IX. D
34 BIZZ AND HER FOES. [Nature and Alt, February 1, 1867.
the top of the potato-basket, while her keen eye as her more active life at the corner of Steward’s
shone like a star above her determined tail. Grove. Not that she was forgotten by her foes
“ Please, ma’am, am I to send over the dog and the greengrocer and butcher boys seldom passed
the potato-basket?” inquired Hatchment, as I was the yard gate without drawing a stick across it,
leaving the shop. in a manner peculiar to boys, accompanied by
”
Now, whenever I am undecided about anything, “ Hallo, Bizz, old girl !how’s your sheep’s head ?
I fall back with the most wifely meekness upon my or, “ Bizz, my beauty, how’s your eye?” This
superior, so I answered, “ I must ask my husband, Bizz found very hard to endure, and I have seen
and will let you know.” her tearing the wood of the gate with her sharp,
“ ” said the greengrocer, while a bright smile
Oh ! strong teeth, anxious to revenge the cruel insidt.
illuminated his good-natured face, “it’s only to tell The cats, too, found her out, and would sit on the
him I’m going to drown the dog, and he’ll have her, wall aggravating her, so that cook had to spend a
I know that. Bizz, you’re sure of a good home considerable portion of her time in dislodging them.
now, old girl, for life.” Bizz and cook used to hold confidential communi-
Hatchment was right. cations together, in cooing sort of whispers, and in
The following day, Bizz and her favourite potato- what was an unknown tongue to all but me, who
basket were installed in the little yard, the potato- observed that whenever cook murmured to Bizz
basket in comfortable shelter, and, lest she might “ Thurum pogue,” the animal would stand on its
escape through the coach-house or stable into the hind legs, and endeavour to lick her face or hands.
Gloucester Hoad, the communicating door was I spell the words perhaps not correctly, but as it is
locked, the yard being considered by cook the pronounced. “ Thurum pogue ” means in Irish
weak point of our premisees, as she pronounced it. “ Give me a kiss.” I would have asked in the
The manner in which cook altered, and refined, most direct manner if Bizz was Irish born, but 1
and elongated the English language, in her desire knew cook would deny it, and the manner in which
to be considered English, would have been ex- the dog pricked her ears at an Irish voice, and
ceedingly amusing, if it had not in time, as I have screamed and jumped with delight when a passing
already said, quite destroyed my belief in her organ (patronized slyly by cook,) ground out “ St.
veracity that made me uncomfortable. ® If I used
: Patrick’s Day,” told a tale poor cook would not
an Irish phrase, or relieved an Irish child (she was have liked to tell. Dogs are frequently affected by
as steel against a full-grown Irish pauper, but a particular tunes. I have one of the beautiful dogs
ragged child melted her heart), she would turn of Malta, who, after washing, looks like a heap
away, muttering, “ May the heavens be your bed of snow-flakes, and this creature, by name Tiny,
when the time comes ” or, “ The Lord blesses the
! recognises “ God Save the Queen” with determined
dew that falls on the young corn.” Tears would loyalty, joining in, if not in excellent tune, certainly
rush into her great grey eyes, at any tale of distress in good time ; she takes no notice of other music.
connected with Ireland. It was the time of the Even so did “ St. Patrick’s Day” excite the patriot-
cruel famine which fell upon my poor country, and ism of “ Bizz, the baste.” Indeed, I once caught
I received subscriptions, to assist in even so small cook dancing a jig to this very tune, which she
a way the good Samaritans who came forward whistled sotto voce, to Bizz, snapping her fingers,
to aid their fellow-creatures in their time of sore “ covering the buckle,” “ heeling and toeing ” it, to
need. Our servants, and the servants of many of perfection, while Bizz capered on her hind legs
my friends, brought me their mites, and children, opposite to hei', changing sides with marvellous
now grown to be brave men and good women, by dexterity. The other servants were out for a
' rigid self-denial heaped their pennies together, and holiday, and cook thought I was in the green-house.
not only gave a donation great for their small She had brought Bizz in to tea, and after tea,
means, but continued their half-penny or penny a doubtless wished for a little national exercise. It
week despite all temptations, until thei’e was no was a scene never to be forgotten, particularly the
longer need of help. Cook’s donation was very conclusion, when Bizz sprang from off the ground
liberal, and she thus, so to say, excused it :
into cook’s arms, and they hugged each other with
“ I’m sure I’ve no call to the country, or the every demonstration of affection. Bizz winked,
country to me, only in memory of my dear grand- and absolutely moved her tail in a near approach
mother. I ought to do my best, for it’s no rest on to a wag, and then there was such “ cooing” and
my bed I’d get if I thought one of her people whining, and “ cushla machreeing,” as I never
wanted anything I could send ; you’ve no right, heard before
ma’am dear, to be evenin’ the country to me. I’d After this, I felt that Bizz and cook were united
never have come to live with an Irish lady, if I’d by the memory of some early companionship or
a’ thought she’d lay claim to me.” affection, which was kept a profound secret from
“ Well, cook, it is very easy to remedy that now.” me, though I half suspected it was known in a
“ Oh, don’t I beg your honour’s pardon. I did
! degree to Platchment.
not think you’d get that maning out of it, only I Certainly the dog was a character. At first, she
never could bear any one to take me for Irish, just licked her lips at the Italian greyhounds, as she
out of my grandmother.” used to do at the cats, and they, pretty things !
I do not think that Bizz enjoyed the security arched their necks and tossed their heads disdain-
and tranquillity of her new quarters half as much fully, as they passed the trellised gate, which,
— —
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.] BIZZ AND HEE FOES. 35
though prevented any assault, did not prevent

it machree, or avourneen, she was on her hind legs in
their eyeing each other but in a short time Bizz
;
a moment, her rough nose thrust through the bars
understood that they belonged to the premisees, and of the garden gate, and her red tongue extended to
took them under her protection, a guardianship its full length, in the endeavour to lick my hand.
particularly ignored by Ninon, who believed she If I went still farther, and sang a few bars of “ St.
could protect herself. Folly was a desperate little Patrick’s Bay,” her queer face shrivelled up into a
fool. I only wonder now she passed through life at grin, and she dodged about on her hind legs,
all :she was always getting into difficulties. One evidently expecting me to do the same ; until
day she sprang into the dripping-pan, and scalded doubtless offended at my declining her as a partner
her pretty feet with the hot grease another time ;
in a jig, she would drop down suddenly, and shrink
she ran up the steps, and jumped into the water- back to her refuge in the potato-basket. Despite
butt, where she would have been drowned but for [
her confinement, I really think this would have
Bizz, who, having seen the accident through her been the most tranquil time of Bizz’s life, if she had
got up a tremendous outcry, and when cook
trellise, not been roused and irritated by the boys in the
opened the gate to ascertain the cause, made a rush road and the cats on the stable-tiles ;
they tor-
up the steps, dashed right into the butt, and effected mented her terribly, and did so with impunity, as
an immediate rescue. Of course cook made the she could not get at them she was well-fed, and
:
most of that piece of sagacity. Had it not been for many a time during the day, and especially in the
Folly’s delicate and exceeding beauty, I could not twilight, cook stole into the yard, to hold converse
have tolerated her stupidity and absurdity as long with her favourite.
as I did but beauty cannot make a long stand
;
So matters continued until one morning as I
:
against real disadvantages ; she was a most helpless was passing from the front to the back garden, a
anxiety, and was devoid of affection.
totally I rough voice from the road called out without
gave her away at a person who already
last to ceremony or introduction,
“ My lacly, that’s my dog ”
possessed two pugs, a skye, a Bussian poodle, and !
a huge mongrel Newfoundland. I forget her name, I went to the gate, and asked the man if he had
birt I remember she was always called “ the dog spoken to me. The reply was :
lady,” and very fond she was of Folly. “ Ay, indeed, my lady, —
the dog in your yard is
The untiring watchfulness and sagacity of Bizz —
my dog, I know her by her wicious woice ; there
interested us more and more she declined our
: isn’t such another all over the world ; and by the
caresses, and was quite independent of sympathy, same token her name is Bizz.”
but whenever I whispered Thurum pogue. or cushla I replied that the dog was ours ; it was given to
d 2
!6 BIZZ AND HEK FOES. [Nature anil Art, February 1, ISC 7.
us by our greengrocer Hatchment, who had a right reputable looking felloAv having been at any time
to dispose of her as lie pleased. her friend and neighbour. I withdrew a little Avay
The man sturdily persisted “that the ‘baste’ from the storm that I fancied Avas brewing (for I had
was his, and he’d have it, if there was law or never noted patience or forbearance among cook’s
justice to be had in England,” and he placed his Advenes), observing in an undertone that “she had
hand resolutely on the gate, which, as usual, was better speak to her friend inside, than outside the
locked inside. house, for that the tollman and his magpie were
I told him he should not have the dog unless he listening to all that passed.” But the poor woman
—
proved his right to it ; just as I said so, cook, who
had only heard my voice and only seen a rabbit-skin
Avas quite crushed. In a moment she was on her
knees at my side, clinging to my dress, and
cap above the rails, came from the kitchen, straight Coo
struggling for words at last she managed
:
o to
to the gate. Instantly, an exceedingly rough and say
dirty hand Avas thrust through the bars, exposing “ Send him aAvay, oh, mistress dear, send him
also a thick and bony Avrist, accompanied by a shout away. I Avouldn’t let the door of your house be
so loud, that all the dogs barked, the toll-man’s darkened Avith the likes of him oh, you don’t
:
magpie chattered, and the toll-man poked his head knoAv the pisoned drop that’s in him I’ll give —
out of his sentry-box. him my quarter’s wages, ma’am, if he’ll take an
After a AT ariety of ejaculations the A’oice sub- oath to the priest not' to come near me, only don’t
sided into words, —“ Oh, Molly O’Gorman, and is it let him have the dog my poor mother sent me it’s :
yourself that’s in it ? Molly, Avon’t you give me a thrue he brought it, but it never Avas his, as I’d
shake of the hand for the sake of old times, prove in a law court, rather than let him have her,
though you did cast me off, and never thought it though I’d die alive Avith the shame to own him for
Avorth your Avhile to inquire Avlietlier 1 Avas dead or my countryman, or to let on before the English that
alive. Oh, Molly dear, have you forgotten the I’m Irish, and he to the fore Oh, lady dear, save
!
babby-house I built you, in the grip of the dry me from the liar’s shame, and don’t let him haAê
ditcli ? —
and the magpie I reared for you, that stole the dog. She’s dead iioav, my poor mother, ma’am,
the priest’s spectacles 1 —and the hide-and- seek,’
‘
and that dog is the only thing belonging to her I
and ‘blind man’s buff,’ and the ‘jig’ Ave used to can look at or touch. I know his wickedness ; as
dance in the SAveet summer evenings, on the fair I’ll have nothing to say to him, he’d murder the dog
green of Ballynatrent ” (oh, cook cook !). “And! ! before my eyes ; he tried it once, and that’s the way
didn’t your mother send you that very puppy Bizz her lip was split. She took care of his shed,
— Avhen I Avas so broken-hearted that 1 thought I because it Avas in her charge, but she hated him,
must folloAv you to England and it’s cruel hard
: and Avas under no compliment to him in life, for I
—
you Avere, Molly my jeAvel, and I that earned that paid for her board and lodging, though it’s little I
pup that your mother sent you, T may say inside my had to pay it Avith. Send him away, ma’am dear,
skin, I took such care of it Maybe it’s the
! only don’t, don’t let him have Bizz.”
English air that’s taken the sight out of your eyes, I said, “For all this I am
but Avhat proof
sorry,
and the hearing out of your ears, and turned the have I that you are telling truth iioav ?”
tongue in your head, and the heart in your bosom, She looked earnestly in my face, and the Avords
into coAvld stone, so that you Avon’t see or hear or —
came trembling from her lips, “ I never told you
spake to the wild bird of your OAvn mountain. but the one black lie, denying my country, and sure
Didn’t I train that baste into all sorts of tricks, you didn’t believe me, and Avhat hurt was it to you ?”
and the time you broke your leg, Avhat amusement “Not to me, Mary, but to you ; it prevented my
had ye? Only the dog. And if I made a liigh- believing in you.”
wayman of myself, and if I did lose my character, “ BehcA'ing in me ” she repeated, more than
!
— oh, Molly, it was you that did it, for you Avouldn’t once that was perhaps the first moment she felt
:
spake the word that would save me, and you know, the injury untruth does the untruthful. “ And it
that at Ballynatrent, when you turned first against was out of my denying my country, you got to
me, no one could say a thing to my disadvantage, doubt Avhat I said ? ”
that might not be said against tAventy others, as “ Certainly.”
Avell as myself, —
and there you stand now, as stiff “ See that It Avas he that made me ashamed of
!
as the round toAver on the Bock of Cashel, Avithout the country, and made me turn my tongue to speak
a smile on your lip, or a tear in your eye, or a save ‘
fine English Maybe you Avon’t believe Avhat a
!
you kindly,’ to a poor craythur, who,”- and then — villain he is, because I say it but oh, ma’am dear,
;
followed a recapitulation of the same story of their if you’d take the stick from him, and let Bizz at him,
early knoAvledge of each other, mingled Avitli pro- you’d see Avhat she thinks of him, and she never told
testations of regard, and the fact of his bringing a lie in her tvhole life ! ”
Bizz over, a present from her mother, “ under his Then sloAvly rising she added, “ But believe me
skin,” for “safety.” or not, if he ever enters under the roof Avhere I am,
To this cook listened with forced calmness : the or touches that dog, which you sheltered, though it’s
shame that she should stand before me a certified my dog, I’ll make a convict of myself.” After
IrishAvoman, after all her protestations to the expressing this determination she walked into the
contrary, overwhelmed her then her pride re-
: house, regardless alike of the man’s -entreaties and
ceived a' terrible shock by such a ragged dis- reproaches.
; — ;;
Nature and Art, February 1, 18(>7.] BIZZ AND HER FOES. 37
I told him in a few words that he must leave the which is its invariable accompaniment. I believed
gate, as itwas evident my servant would hold no she was sincerely attached to us, as Irish servants
communication with him, and that from his own so frequently are to their employers. For some
showing the dog was not his, but hers. time she did not quite harmonize with the other
This seemed to him a new reading of his claim, servants, nor they with her, but that had died out.
“ Maybe I deserve her to seal her lips against me, Though Mary denied her country, she never denied
my lady, but it’s hard, so it is. We
war neighbour’s her creed, and I believe never missed an opportunity
children close to the fair green of Bally natrent, and of standing up bravely for the Pope. dear My
I wish I had never left it if she would only say
: mother’s maid (according to Mary) was a “ black
‘
T forgive, and God bless you but she was !
’
Protestant,” and certainly she lost no opportunity
always mighty high in herself, and would make no of boasting that she went over to Ireland with the
more allowance for a boy like meeself, than she great and good King William, who “ saved the
would for a girl who has the grace of God in her country from popery, slavery, and wooden shoes
heart an’ her eyes from her cradle to her grave. her prime favourite among the animals was Ninon,
Oh, lady, if you’d undertake my cause, I’d lave who, by an ingenious sleight of hand, when asked
you to be judge and jury, and abide by yer law, to drink a cup of milk to “ Dan O’Connell’s health,”
and that would be the first law I ever stood to, turned away her beautiful head, and refused to
you see, if your honour knew the rights.” lap but when aslced to drink the health of “ King
;
I do not think I mentioned that Bizz, doubtless William,” drank it with a will, and a joyous
from her Celtic blood, had an intense hatred, not wagging of her delicate tail. There were two fac-
to one individual, but to the whole police force tions in the kitchen, but that of the cook was the
despite the eight-foot wall that shut her in, she most difficult to comprehend, for while she dis-
knew the step of a policeman the moment it crossed claimed her country- she did battle for the Pope.
the road, and saluted the sound with a shrill, short, At one time the war waxed so fast and furious,
whistling sort of bark, different from her usual that I found Nitron decked in orange ribbons, and
warnings j just as p° 01 Babbit-skin uttered the
‘
the kitchen cat (it was before Bizz’s arrival) in-
words, “if your honour knew the rights,” Bizz convenienced by a huge bow of green ribbon. I
gave tongue, sent forth her police bark, and the threw both emblems into the fire, and declared that
erect form of our government protector turned the if there were any more party-quarrels, both servants
corner of the Gloucester Boad. In an instant, the should be discharged, a decision which I found gave
man started from the gate, and rushed off to the the English housemaid great satisfaction.
right, while the policeman advanced more rapidly But this nerv difficulty was far more perplex-
than usual from the left. ing, and after half-an-hour’s mental weighing and
He paused at the gate. “ I beg your pardon, measuring, I could only arrive at one conclusion,
Madam, but was that man begging 1 ” and that gave me a great deal of pain. Just as I
“No, he was not.” was again weighing for and against, cook asked
“ He’s just out after his last three months but permission to come in, Bizz followed her, and curled
;
we’ve all our eyes on him.” herself round at the feet of her legitimate mistress.
I thought within myself, that if Mary had heard Mary looked shy and distressed, as she had never
the policeman confess that the eyes of the whole looked before, and was painfully at a loss for words
force were on her “playfellow of the fair green of at length she said,
Ballynatrent,” it would rouse her sympathy far more “ Your kind feeling for me, last night, mistress,
than his eloquence. She thoroughly sympathized has saved the life of Bizz. That born villain threw
with Bizz in her dislike of the “ peelers.” poisoned food over the wall to the poor innocent
That evening, the housemaid told me cook was dog, out of revenge on me, because I would not
not well, she had gone to bed, but would not say spake to him the mean, cowardly spalpeen, to turn
:
what was the matter with her. on the dumb innocent.”

I found her door fastened on the inside, but she I was greatly shocked, and asked for proof.
“ hoped I would forgive
her for shutting herself in, She stated that one cat, who had been prowling
she would be all right in the morning.” in the yard, was dead, and another poor animal
I went and invited Bizz to come
to the yard, dying she had herself taken a bone to the chemist’s,
;
and see cook

she pondered over the invitation for
; and he was powdered with poison.
said it
a minute, then winked, and followed me upstairs The was so un-Irisli, that I was slow to
act
with much gravity, sniffed and scratched at the believe Babbit-skin had been guilty of such coward-
door, and was at once admitted. The usual ice and treachery. I told her so.
“ cooing ” and “ cushla machreeing ” “ May the Lord help your innocence ” she ejacu-
did not follow, !
but I heard heavy and bitter sobs, and more than lated “but the nature of him ever and always
;
one sympathetic whine from the poor dog. was to go through fire and water for revenge. I
I was sorely perplexed between the real regard know him to my sorrow, an’ so I ought, lie’s my —
I entertained for Mary, and the fact that her husband ” !
residence having been discovered by this good-for- I could not help repeating the word “husband !”
nothing man, it would be painful to her, and “ Not all out,” she added, “ though we war’ book
perhaps dangerous to us, if she remained in our sworn to each other, an’ we little more than children
service. I knew her pride, and the sensibility but just as I would have kep’ my word to him it
38 BIZZ AND HER FOES. [Nature aud Art, February 1, 1807.
was the Lord’s mercy that saved me. Sure I found that did the work to be buried with him, that he
he had another wife, a poor motherless girl, that he might have it handy when he met her in the next
won to go to the priest with him, in less than six world !But what I’m wanting to say is this —
weeks after she first saw him more fool she, and
! — must lave you.”
she with a tidy trifle of money ” ! There was a long pause ; rivers of tears rushed
“ Then he has a real, living wife, Mary 1 ” from those great, grey eyes, and that dear, ugly dog-
“ If you please, ma’am, he has not.” stood on its hind legs, gazing into her face with
“Why, you said just now, he had.” mute agony, until, at last, the woman sank down
“ Had isn’t has, ma’am; she’s dead, happy for beside it, and laying her face against the dog,
her it is the readiest way to get rid of a black-
! wept long and bitterly.
guard like that She sent for me to ask my pardon
!
“ I could not stand the place,” she said “ why,
;
just before she was called. ‘

For what 1 ’
i says. this very morning, when I was washing the steps,
“‘For taking Mike from you,’ she says, quite the tollman’s magpie kep’ on screaming, Good- ‘
natural,who had the best right to

‘
him.’ morrow, Paddy.’ ”
“‘Don’t mention it,’ I says, ‘you did me the I reminded her that the bird had done so these
greatest kindness in life.’ two years.
“ But you’ll have
‘
him now,’ she says, ‘
and you’ll “ But now ; moreover, I know
I couldn’t bear it
be a far better wife than I have ever been,’ she says, that man will be hung, and I’ve had disgrace
the poor, misguided craythur, who was a born slave enough out of him already. He’d never rest, either,
to him, the dirty tyrant. So I knelt by her side, till he had the dog’s life or mine He’d think as
!
where there ought to have been a bed, and I swore little of taking one as the other; sure, I know.
to her that I never would have hand, act, or part So, ma’am dear, a cousin of my own sails with his
in him, and with that a smile came like light over family from Liverpool to Melbourne next week,
her poor, white face, and her eyes shone for a and I and my dog will go with them the bad thing;
moment with a joy past telling. is, leaving you unprovided, but you have only to
“ Then,’ she whispered, and they war her last
‘
liould up your finger, and you’ll have loads of cooks.
words, then you won’t come betwixt us in the
‘
I couldn’t live here, and you knowing what you
next world.’ As if she had not had enough of him do about me And every time the dog barked,
!
in this Oh then, it put me in mind, though I

! ! or the bell rang, the terror of him would come over
don’t know why, of Sim of the Stick,’ as we called
‘
my heart, and I’d be like in a fog, or a dead woman,
him, who beat his wife regular evci-y week for forty all out, and no heart in my work not all as one as
;
years, and when he was dying ordered the shillala I used to be when I knew he was safe in prison ;
—
Nature and Art, February 1, 18G7.] A BUNCH OP PIE CONES. 39
sure, I’d do nothing but watch for a ring of the Her face was illuminated in a moment, and she
bellday and night, and afeared to answer it ; and sprang from the ground where Bizz and she had
not able to let the dog out of my sight, for if he crouched together.
wasn’t hung for me, he’d be transported for her. “ That’s it — God bless you — that’s just it.”
I knew well how you hated black lies, but I com- And then she recapitulated again, glancing at
mitted no falsity about Bizz. I told the bare truth —
me occasionally, and saying, “But maybe ye don’t
about her ; the yard did want a watch, and she’s believe me, maybe it’s thinking of the lies I tould.
as true as fire to If you’d ask me was she
flint. you are.”
—
my dog, I’d have said I think I’d have said the Mary volunteered to make a “ clean breast,” but
truth ; or, maybe I’d have thought it only a white I saw was impossible like us all, in the hidden
it :
lie. Oh, yes, I know what you’re going to say, recesses of her poor heart, something was stowed
that no lie can be white. But God bless you, away, known only to her own thoughts, that refused
ma’am, dear, for the shelter you gave her and I ! to come forth. She stumbled in her disclosures,
hope the Lord and your honour will forgive me, though I asked no questions, but listened to what
and may the power above keep all young craythurs was told, wondering at the contradictions even in
from even the shadda of a bad man, for the very her nature, and seeing amid the chaos, how her
shadda stains the snow it rests on. I’ve seen the devotion to her mother’s memory strengthened all
rose in June wither away from a blast, and drop that was good within her.
leaf by leaf, until nothing was left, but the poor The day soon came for her departure. Bizz’s
mouldy heart but that’s nothin’ to the blight of
: foes pursued her to the last ; the morning she left,
the young living soul. Wasn’t I ashamed to think she did battle with a fierce cat, which so irritated
that man and I war made out of the same sod, her temper, that for some time it was impossible to
neighbours’ children, with only one potato-garden get her into a cab, while the magpie kept croaking,
betwixt us l” “ Poor Paddy, poor Paddy ” !
“ Then, it was not that you were ashamed of At last, Bizz, encircled by her friend’s arms,
your country, Mary* that made you deny it, only drove off, bestowing on me one of her most em-
”
you were ashamed of your countryman ! phatic winks, while her lip trembled.
A BUNCH OF FIR CONES. '
By W. B. Lord Eoyal
,
Artillery.
W HAT say you to being my companion in an

expedition to the fragrant pine forests,
where the fir needles strew the ground, and form a
isrelated that the huge floating palace built by the
Emperor Trajan, as a summer residence on the
waters of Lake JSTerni, was constructed of larch and
soft brown carpet, over which we noiselessly wend cypress, sheathed with lead, fastened with copper
our way 1 Solemn stillness reigns amongst the tall nails,doubly planked, and the seams caulked with
straight columns, as in some vast cathedral, and linen rags, payed over with Greek pitch (asphaltum).
save when some passing gust sings and whistles On being raised from the bottom of the lake, this
amongst the feathery foliage, or a chance group of curious structure was found to be comparatively
busy cross-bills are encountered, twittering and sound after 1,100 years’ immersion. Tiberius
chirping contentedly to themselves, as they hang caused the naumachiariaii bridge built by
parrot-like amongst the branches, and wrench forth Augustus, and afterwards destroyed by fire, to be
the sweet seed from the scale-coated fir-fruit, few reconstructed with larch planks obtained from
sounds disturb the meditations of the explorer. Rhaetia. Amongst the timber brought from thence,
We will, therefore —
should you feel so disposed was one trunk of 120 feet in length, which is said
ramble on together, gossip as we go, and gather to have excited the admiration of all Rome. The
such bits and scraps of pine lore as good fortune painters of very early ages (in fact from the
may cast in our path, and, like our cheerful merry period at which Pliny wrote, to the time of Raphael)
little friends, the cross-bills, glean our harvest intrusted their most costly works to the wood of
amongst the cones. Few trees of the forest are the Larch, which by the great Roman naturalist is
more graceful in form, generally useful, or of more entitled immortelle lignum. Wrileking, too, in his
extensive range than the Larch. The Romans justly celebrated work on the construction of
appear to have extensively availed themselves of bridges, says that the Larch is preferable to the Pine,
their forest discoveries, and the larches found by the Pineaster, or the Fir, for constructing the arches
them during the German wars were felled and sent of wooden bridges.
from the Alps vid the river Po to Rome, for the Switzerland abounds in larch woods, and nearly
use of the builders. Pliny, in speaking of the all the picturesque chalets, fairy bi’idges, and hanging
Larch, says, “ This tree is the best of the kind that galleries, over chasms where the raging torrents
bears rosin. It rots not, but endures a long time.” lose themselves in foam and mist, are constructed
The high estimation in which this description of of the tough and trusty Larch. The wooden walls
timber was held by him was not undeserved, for it of old England, too, of which we are all so justly
40 A BUNCH OF FIB CONES. [Nature and Art, February 1, 18G7.
proud, were not, even before the days of iron inno- reach as high up the trunk as from twelve to
vation, entirely “ hearts of oak,” for we learn that thirteen feet. Into these holes small wooden
in the year 1809, larch timber, grown by his Grace spouts are fixed, through which the liquid resin
the Duke of Athol, was first used for the British flows into little vessels conveniently placed to
navy in building at Woolwich Dock yard the receive it. The south side of the tree is supposed
Serapis store-ship, the Sibylle frigate, the bottom to yield better than those exposed to the other
of a lighter, and for piles driven into the mud, points of the compass. Ovid thus writes of the
alternately wet and dry and in all the various
;
resinous firs : —
situations proved a strong durable timber. We “ Tlie new-made trees in tears of amber run,
find it recorded that the Athol of twenty-eight , Which harden into value by the sun.”
guns, was also built entirely of larch, of the same
growth, whilst the Niemen, a ship constructed at And we are also informed that when Tiberius
Caesar built his “Naumachia,” or aquatic amphi-
the same time, was built of timber from Riga. At _
theatre for exhibiting a naval action as a public

the expiration of their first course of service, both
vessels were officially examined, when the Niemen
an enormous larch was brought to Rome,
spectacle,
was found so much decayed as to be condemned which measured 120 feet in length, and 2 feet in
diameter at the smallest end. It is said that the
forthwith, the Athol was re- commissioned, completed
her second term of service, pronounced sound, and
Emperor was so much
delighted with the beauty of
the tree that he would not permit it to be used,
made a store-ship of, when, for a period of more
than thirty years she was subjected to the wear but retained it as an object for public admiration.
and tear of almost every climate. Nero, however, took a more utilitarian view of
things, and when about to erect an amphitheatre
The Dukes of Athol paid great attention to the
for himself, had it cut up for the purpose.
cultivation of the Larch, planting it on th“e rugged
slopes and mountain-sides, where land was well
The Forum on which Augustus sat was com-
nigh valueless. Some idea may be formed of the posed of larch, as were many of the Roman bridges
in his day.
unwearied industry devoted by them to larch cul-
ture when the reader learns that 14,096,719 young
Our friends the Russians are so conservative in
trees were planted in the neighbourhood of Blair
the matter of larch timber, that its exportation is
Athol and Dunkeld, covering a space amounting to prohibited. Oak you may have by paying for it
10,324 imperial acres. The trees grew rapidly, but larch is a government monopoly, not to be
lightly parted with. The consumption of American
and one felled at 95 years of age was 100 feet high,
10 feet 6j inches round the trunk at five feet from pine in this country is enormous, and serves to
the ground, and contained 368 cubic feet of timber. impart a most valuable impetus to the commerce
The Duke who first turned his attention to fir- of the British American colonies and the United
culture did well for those who were to follow, and States. The lumber trade, as it is called, is a vastly
sowed the seeds of a golden crop. The value of important one ; and the lumberers, or woodmen by
these vast plantations has been roughly estimated whom the trees are felled, hewn into form, launched
at <£6,500,000, without taking into consideration
on the rivers and sped on their way to the port of
the value of the thinnings, which would be rather shipment, are just as peculiar in their habits and
over £7 per acre. His Grace was buried in a customs as soldiers, sailors, or railway navvies.
coffin made from one of the trees he loved so well.
Bands of them are assembled in the autumn
That selected for the purpose was of stalwart months, and regular expeditions organized. Oxen,
horses, axes, provisions, and, in fact, every requisite
growth, measured 106 feet in length, and was
stout in proportion. «
for the coming campaign, is provided, and trans-
Although the Larch is now so extensively culti-

ported up the larger streams, either in canoes or
vated in the British islands, it is not an indigenous boats. Fodder for the cattle is collected on the
tree.The first mention we have of its growth in way, being purchased from such settlers as may
England is made by Parkinson in 1629, who speaks have it to dispose of. On the chosen locality being
of it as a rarity.
reached, the band, under a selected leader, proceed
Evelyn, writing in 1664, mentions a larch tree at once to hut themselves, and erect a cooking
of “ goodly stature,” growing at Chelmsford in shanty and sheds for the cattle. Bark, poles, and
Essex, but evidently considers it an uncommon fir-branclies are made available for constructing
tree. Ben Jonson thus notices it :

these rude dwellings and the stores for their
necessaries.
“ Yes, I have brought to help your vows,
Three separate labour-parties, or gangs, are
Horned poppy, cypress boughs,
The fig-tree wild that grows on tombs, usually organized. One, with the dexterity only
And juice that from the larch-tree comes.” possessed by backwoodsmen, fell the trees, sending
the white chips flying, and bringing the growth of
The substance known as Venice turpentine is
procured by tapping the larch-trees, and many
ages crashing to the earth :
—
parts of France, especially in the Brianconnais, “ Sharply sounds the ringing axe
the Valois, and the Pays de Vand, yield it in con- Far through forest glade and fell
Sadly, tolls the wood-king’s doom
siderable quantities. Large augers are used with
Forest monarch’s passing bell.”
which to perforate the trees. The holes usually
commence about three feet from the ground, and Others lop off the branches and hew the logs into
— e
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867. A BUNCH OP FIB CONES. 41
form for transportwhilst a third party, with the

;
of the Virgin Mary, which is situated in a valley.
assistance of the teams, draw them to the nearest Thence, proceeding four miles further up the moun-
river or stream, where they remain until the break- tain, he will arrive at the Cedars the Maronites,
;
up of the ice in the spring. This usually takes or the monks, acting as guides. The Cedars stand
place about the month of April. The huge logs in a valley and not at the top of the mountain,
are now thrust forth into the current, and kept and they are supposed to be twenty-eight in number,
moving onward by re-launching them when though it is difficult to count them, they being
stranded. Each tributary rivulet serves to con- distant from each other a few paces. These the
tribute its quota of floating tree-trunks to the Archbishop of Damascus has endeavoured to prove
mighty rivers flowing onwards to the sea. Down to be the same that Solomon planted with his own
these, vast rafts are conducted by the hardy crews hands in the quincunx manner as they now stand.
who know full well how to manage them men ;
No other tree grows in the valley in which they are
whose home is in the wild pine woods, and to whom situated, and it is generally so covered with snow
the rushing rapid, the giddy whirlpool, and the as to be only accessible in the summer.”
drift-laden flood are as high roads and turnpikes. In Solomon’s day Mount Lebanon must have
The port of shipment being reached, the labours of possessed immense forests of cedar, for when he
the lumber-man are ended, and his hard-earned rebuilt the temple of Jerusalem, we find that he
wages due. These, like a sailor’s prize-money, are obtained permission from Hiram, king of Tyre, to
too often scattered heedlessly, when an empty cut down the Cedar and Fir necessary from Mount
pocket and the opening lumber season send him Lebanon, and that for this purpose he sent four
back to the wilderness again. There are numbers score thousand hewers to cut down the trees. W
of the cone-bearing family which, although beautiful also read that there was a palace built by Solomon,
and most interesting, can by us, during this ramble which was called the House of the Forest of
at least, be but the subjects of a passing glance. Lebanon, from the great quantity of cedar used in
Pineasters, Spruces, White and Black Hemlocks, its construction. He is said to have paid to Hiram
and Balsam Pines, from which the far-famed twenty thousand measures of wheat and twenty
—
Canada balsam is procured, all these shall we measures of pure oil annually while the work was
pass on our journey. We cannot stay to taste the in progress, and when it was completed he ceded
spruce beer, see the young twigs boiled and fer- to him twenty villages in Galilee. Churchill thus
mented with maple sugar, watch the Indians stitch writes of the Pride of Lebanon :
their bark canoes with the tough roots, linger over “ Tlie cedar, whose top motes the highest cloud,
turpentine, or prepare pitch ; we are only wayfarers Whilst his old father Lebanon grows proud
among the trees, so must travel onwards, and see Of such a child, and his vast body laid
Those of Out many a mile, enjoys the filial shade.”
what is noteworthy about Cedars.
Lebanon have frequent notice in the Bible, and There appears some doubt as to the exact period
high value appears to have been set on them by the at which the Cedar was first introduced into this coun-
ancients. Both Pliny and Vitruvius speak of the try, and also to whom the honour of first producing
use of cedar resin in the treatment of papyrus and the plant from seed is due. Lord Holland writes
the embalming of Egyptian mummies. Diodorus his opinion that it was first introduced by his
Siculus informs us that Sesostris the Great, king ancestor, Sir Stephen Fox; but the weight of evi-
of Egypt, built a vessel of cedar, 280 cubits long, dence collected from old records and MSS. is
which was covered with gold both within and with- decidedly in favour of Evelyn being the first Avho
out. The largest cedar mentioned in ancient raised young cedar plants from cone-seed in Eng-
history is that which was used to make a galley land. He says, in his curious work on trees, that
from for King Demetrius, which was propelled by “ the Cedar is a beautiful and stately tree, clad in
eleven ranks of oars. Its length was 130 feet, and perpetual verdure ; that it grows, even where the
its thickness 1 8 feet. The question has been raised snow lies, as I am told, almost half the year ; for so
as to whether it might not have been an evergreen it does on the mountains of Libanus, from whence
cypress, but the Cedar appears to have been too I have received cones and seed of those few remain-
well known to admit of the error. Amongst other ing trees. Why then should it not thrive in old
freaks of a luxurious fancy, we find that the Emperor England 1 I know not, save for want of industry
Caligula had constructed from cedar-wood certain and trial.” That he succeeded in raising his young
magnificent vessels, which he called Liburnian ships. plants, the following extract from a letter written
The poops of these were decorated and enriched by him to the Boyal Society, dated Sayes Court,
with gems and precious stones, the sails were of Deptford, April 16, 1 684, will go far to prove.
different colours, and the interiors were most “ As to exotics,” writes he (referring to the severe
sumptuously fitted up with baths and banquet- winter which had just passed), “ my cedars 1 think
rooms, in which were splendid paintings and carved are dead." It is highly probable that they did not
work. One of the first writers of travels who gives die, and that the celebrated Enfield cedar came
any description of Mount Lebanon and its cedars from him about that time as a seedling. The Cedar
is Belon, who visited Syria about the year 1550. was not introduced in France until the year 1734,
Thus he writes “ About sixteen miles from when Bernard de Jussieu, who had been visiting
Tripoli, a city in Syria, at a considerable height up friends in England, took two young plants home
the mountain, the traveller arrives at the monastery with him safely curled up in his hat. One of these
42 A BUNCH OF FIB CONES. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
was planted on the mound in the Jardin des feet six inches from the ground, thirty-two persons
Plantes in Paris, and the other was for many danced four sets of cotillons without being in the
years entirely lost sight of, until M. Herat dis- slightest degree incommoded
for space sufficient
;
covered it growing in the grounds of the Chateau room being musicians and a fair number of
left for
de Montigny, near Montereau, a small town about spectators. This curious and unique ball-room,
eighteen leagues from Paris. when planed smooth, was found perfectly sound
“ High on a hill a goodly cedar grew wood, and measures about 92 feet in circum-
Of wondrous length and straight proportion, ference. The Mother of the Forest is the largest now
That far abroad her dainty odours threw, left standing. In 1854 the bark was removed to the
’Mongst all the daughters of proud Lebanon.”
height of 96 feet from the ground for exhibition.
The Deodara is another exotic cedar of great It measures at the base 84 feet, twenty feet from
grace and beauty. Weare indebted to the high the ground 69 feet. Its height is 321 feet, and the
mountain-ranges of India and Cashmere for this first branch is thrown off at 137 feet from the earth.
elegant addition to our parks and pleasure-grounds. Calculation gives the quantity of timber it contains
Its name is derived from the Hindoostanee word as 437,000 feet of sound inch lumber.
Devadara, or tree of the gods. The wood is strong The Father of the Forest, who lays prostrate and
and durable. Many very ancient temples which half-buried in the earth, must have been of even
have fallen into ruin, have beams and supports of more huge growth than his venerable spouse. His
deodara timber in them but little changed by time. height is computed to have been 435 feet, circum-
In certain districts the resinous splinters of deodara ference at base 110 feet, 200 feet to the first branch,
and carried at night by those
are used as torches, and at 300feet from its root, where it broke in
who amongst the precipices and jungles.
travel falling, itmeasures 54 feet round. number ofA
For another highly ornamental and, thanks to fanciful names, such as the Old Maid, the Old
acclimatization, familiar member of the Coniferse, Bachelor, the Three Graces, Ac. &c., have been
the Araucaria imbricata, we owe our gratitude to given by travellers to individuals and groups of
the explorers of the Andes. To the Araucan these curious and interesting trees, which stand in
Indians its pine-nuts yield a wholesome and sub- towering and venerable majesty, like vast mono-
stantial food ; whilst its resinous exudations are liths or obelisks reared in commemoration of the
extensively used by them, both externally and past ages of the mammoth and the mastodon.
internally, as medicinal agents. The timber is also There are certain primeval forests of pines in the
very valuable for many important purposes. The neighbourhood of Astoria, which for the mag-
trivial name “ Puzzle Monkey,” sometimes given to nificent trees they contain are scarcely to be sur-
this tree, is derived from the numerous needle- passed. The work of clearing them away for the
pointed scales which cover the stalk and branches, prosecution of agricultural pursuits would almost
offering such a serious impediment to the climbings appear a labour of ages, so closely do these huge
and frolics of those lively animals. vegetable towers stand to each other. The soil
Ib; turning for a brief glance amongst the cedar on which these forests grow is extremely fertile.
woods and their pleasant shades, the White Cedar Yet with all the rich supply of natural mould
( Thuja occidentalis) stands before us beautiful as stored up below, it is difficult to conceive how the
she is useful. Her comely daughters, although tall, assimilative powers of the trees could, even
stout, and stately as any family of daughters (even through the ages of their existence, heap up
of the forest) need to be, sink into pigmy propor- and garner the elements requisite to build them up
tions, and become veritable Minnie Warrens, when to their present stature and we are led, on behold-
;
-
compared with their colossal cousins the Mammoth ing these wonders of Nature’s producing, to reflect on
trees of California. These woodland giantesses were the races, dynasties, and nations which have passed
discovered in the year 1850, by a Mr. W. White- away during the growth of these grand old forests.
head, in a comparatively small locality about ninety- Even the very species of bird or animal by whom
seven miles from Sacramento City. Here, within the tiny cone seed from which they sprang was
little more than fifty acres, stand 103 such trees as perchance deposited beneath the fallen leaves, may,
the whole known world cannot equal. Twenty of like the Dodo, or the Dinornis, have passed away
these average seventy-five feet in circumference. and become extinct and forgotten, save by the in-
Some few years since, a huge member of this vestigator of the earth’s. secrets.
family, known as the “ Big Tree,” was felled, not by Unlike the Sanibertiana, or Rocky Mountain
the axe or saw, but by boring a complete circle of Pine, which bears cones of twelve and even sixteen
auger-holes round and into its enormous mass. inches in length, and nearly a foot round, the
Twenty-two days were occupied by five men in Sequoia gigantea, or mammoth tree of California,
completing its overthrow, by the introduction of which we have described, yields a remarkably small
numerous wedges, when the computed growth of fruit, even much less than that of many cone-bearing
three thousand years came thundering and crushing trees of this country, still not the less welcome to
to the earth. This vegetable Goliah measured 302 feet our bunch of cones, which having roughly gathered
high, and 96 feet in circumference at its base, and on our way, we present as an offering to our reader
the bark measured nearly a foot in thickness. A and companion, hoping that this is not the last
double bowling alley has been established on the ramble we may take together in search of Natiere’s
fallen trunk ; and on the stump, which stands five treasures.
;
Nature and Art, February 1, 18(>7.]

ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 43

No. VII. CRUM MOCK WATER, CUMBERLAND.

HE washes only are given in the present
first clouds. Continue the wash by adding a little light
T subject, that the pupil may be more easily red to produce a grey tone for the clouds, and deepen
toward the lower edges with more cobalt. This
initiated in the manner in which a water-colour
drawing of this description is commenced. operation should be effected at once ; nevertheless,
The character of the finished work will always if it be too light, the tones may be subsequently
depend upon the under- tints, so that it is necessary strengthened. A tint of light red, yellow ochre,
to have them of a kind most favourable for the and cobalt, is to be mixed as nearly as possible to
after-tones. I am not without hope that the the colour of the warm portion of the mountain,
example given, may serve to show clearly what the and also a mixture of cobalt with a little indigo
appearance of the first stages of a drawing should for the blue portion.
be, and how it is to be obtained. As in all the Commence at the top, with the brush tolerably
previous subjects in this Magazine, the pencil out- well filled, carefully preserving the outline, bringing
line has been dwelt upon as the greatest help in the colour from it into the body of the mountain
producing a satisfactory result ; so in the present then, on nearing the bluer portion, add the mixture of
illustration there must be the most careful attention cobalt and indigo, until the whole of the mountains
in placing each individual formation in its right are covered ; softening the colour down to the lower
position ; and not only in this, but in drawing it edge and over the warm tint for the low land and
with freedom as well as accuracy. trees. This same blue tint is to be passed over the
One thing I invariably find the pupil not to pay water, leaving the broad lights. The foreground
sufficient regard to (although it may almost ap- stones of grey tints are now to be put in with
pear to many too trifling to notice), is the manner cobalt and light red, varying the proportions to the
in which the pencil is cut. But there is more in character of tone required. After this, gamboge,
this than most persons suppose. Without a true light red and cobalt, more or less of one than of the
point, it is impossible to judge correctly of the line others, are to be employed for the herbage.
to be produced. The wood should be much cut A very light tint of the first mixture with more
away in a slanting direction, to permit of the eye cobalt added is now to be passed over the greyer
resting upon the point without interference. Neglect parts of the warm colour, and the blue must be
'
of this frequently a cause of failure, and it is not

is deepened with the cobalt and indigo. It will be seen
an uncommon occurrence that a careless oiitline that there is a warm tone on the dark mountains.
carries with it a corresponding manner throughout This should have resulted from the blending of the
the colouring. It is to be hoped this caution may fh’st tints, by one running into the other while wet
not pass unheeded, it being borne in mind that a but if the warmth is not sufficient, the first tint
clear line directs and a blurred line confuses, causing may be slightly passed over it again. The line of
much hesitation in laying on the first (and generally trees on the low land must now be washed in with
large) washes of colour. yellow ochre, light red, and a little cobalt ; also the
The Lake scene under treatment has been rocky projection at the right. The shadows of the
selected from its singleness of character, that is, stem of the tree are of cobalt and 'light red, and
from the masses being large, and their detailed when dry are to be deepened, use the same, only with
formations easily seen. These have been drawn in more of light red this tint is also to be employed
:
with the black-lead pencil to secure the proper for the dark stones. Gamboge and a little brown
forms and position of the several shadows. All pink will give the colour for the foliage ; after this,
deviations from an even surface of ground should wash a tint of yellow ochre and light red for the
invariably be marked, as they serve to denote a colour of the stem, and when dry, introduce the
variety of flowing, and (at times), continuous lines, shadows and markings on the dark mountains with
and add greatly to the interest of the work. If the the cobalt and indigo, and then another wash of
tree and foreground be equally regarded, the places the same (more cobalt) on the second tints of the
for the different tints will be found with ease. water.
The outline being correct, pass some water over It is recommended to do this drawing twice over,
the whole with a large flat brush, and while still with a view of gaining manipulative dexterity ; and
damp, lay on a light wash of neutral orange (A. having done so, to lay aside the copy and endeavour
Penley’ s), or yellow ochre and brown madder, over to reproduce it from memory. This is by far the
the drawing, to impart a warm tint. This will also best way to obtain a practical knowledge of colour,
fix the pencilling and prevent its rubbing. When as it will enable the amateur to apply it to his own
dry, again wash with water, and as soon as the wet sketches.
disappears, begin the upper portion of the sky with I take advantage of this opportunity to write
a tint of pure cobalt, carefully leaving the light a few words respecting artists’ colourmen of the
44 THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
present day, and I do so not only for the information However vivid the power of imagination, how-
of my readers, but also because it affords me a ever intricate or simple may be the subject to be
sincere pleasure to speak of them in the highest worked out, the water-colours from the above-
terms. It is to them that the water-colour painter named houses will be found equal to the task, and
is indebted for the means of carrying out his most will justify the remarks made upon them, as they
elaborate works, as well as his slighter sketches. are in every way calculated to satisfy the wishes
Indeed, there is neither hindrance nor imperfection —
and requirements of all even the most fastidious.
in the material offered to him, whereby he is pre-
vented from giving every effect of which colour is The colours most adapted for the amateur are,
capable, whether in its extreme softness and delicacy, Chinese white, in bottle Rose madder.
its richness of colour, both pure and broken, or its or tube. Crimson lake.
transparent brilliancy and depth of intensity. To Gamboge. Brown madder.
* Naples yellow. Van brown.
Messrs. Winsor & Newton, of Rathbone Place Mr. ;
Indian yellow. Brown pink.
Newman, Soho Square; Messrs. Rowney, Rathbone Raw sienna. * Indian red.
Place and Oxford Street ;
Mr. Roberson, Long * Cadmium. Cobalt.
Acre ; and Messrs. Reeves & Son, Cheapside, I * Neutral orange, f French blue.
offer many thanks for the perfection and purity of Light red. Iudigo.
Burnt sienna. Sepia.
their colours, both in the moist and dry states. * Oxide of chromium.
* Vermillion.
For permanency, for firmness of texture, evenness of
flowing in flat washes, freedom from deposit, or any Those with a * to be half-cakes, or pans.
gelatinous and slimy nature, readiness for use, per- There are other colours of much use to an artist
fection in numberless combinations, and freshness of whose works go far beyond those of an amateur.
tone, it is impossible to wish for any improvement.
They have, without doubt, reached the highest
f Messrs. Winsor & Newton make this colour.
degree of excellence to which they can be brought.
THE PARIS EX HIBITXON,

'
1867.
HE works on the Champ de Mars have been shafts beneath them. It is a source of congratula-
T pushed on with remarkable energy and
regularity ; the whole of the industrial galleries, or
tion that the report relative to the use of asphalte
within the building turns out to have been unfounded,
courts, were ready to receive their fittings in the or, at any rate, that no asphaltic floors appear, for in
course of December, the roofs glazed, the iron-work hot weather the effect of these is most fatiguing and
painted, and the floors all laid by the end of the disagreeable.
year that has j ust departed. The variety of flooring adopted in the Exhibition
The plan adopted with respect to the flooring- will offer valuable means of comparison and hints
strikes us as somewhat singular. The whole of the for the construction of museums and galleries in
passages left for the circulation of the public, those general, and it is probably with this view that the
which lie in concentric circles and divide the various Imperial commission has made use of four different
groups of the Exhibition, as well as those which kinds ; namely, common wood, oak, and cement
radiate at right angles to the former, and supply of two kinds, one being what is called beton agglo-
direct communication between the outer wall of the mere a kind of concrete trodden or beaten down,
,
building to the central garden, are laid in cement, which is largely used in Paris. The concentric
while the Industrial Courts are boarded. Again, avenues, as well as the vaultings of the ventilating
the Fine Art Courts have cement floors, while passages beneath are of the latter composition,
those adjoining, in which the collection of retro- while the radial avenues are laid in cement. A
spective art is to be placed, are floored with oak small house for the Imperial Commission is now
parquet. being built entirely of this beton, in the grounds.
Cement floors have certainly an advantage with The building will supply many valuable lessons,
respect to noise and dust, they conduct sound badly and, amongst other's, in the modes of lighting and
and having no spring the dust is not thrown up- in the tempering of the light. The arrangement
wards as it is constantly by an ordinary floor ; but of the windows is different in each portion of the
this latter advantage will probably be neutralized structure —clerestories in the great Machinery Court
by the constant movement of feet, and especially by and in the principal avenue lights in the central
;
ladies’ dresses;
and it is very fatiguing to stand portion of the roofs, in the Fine Art and Retrospec-
long on 'a cement floor. This will doubtless be tive galleries, and in the lower or outer parts of
remedied in the Picture Galleries by matting or the roof, in the Industrial Courts. With regard to
carpet, but the same cannot be the case in the the graduation or tempering of the light, opaque
avenues of the Industrial Courts, which are pierced screens are hung from the tie-rods of the l’oof of
at short intervals throughout their whole course by the Picture Galleries, so as to place the spectator
gratings communicating with the great ventilating in the shade while the light falls on the works on
;
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.]

THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867, 45
tlie walls while in the Industrial Courts velta, or will be ready inample time. The greater portion
;
awnings of a thin white material, are being placed of the rooms on the —
French side for in this part
here and there, by way of experiment, over the of the Exhibition the galleries are broken up into
avenues of circulation. It is worthy of remark salons in order to afford more wall space
,
are —
that the stuff of these awnings is rendered fireproof finished or nearly so ; the walls of the rest are
by a .chemical process. Looking at what has being lined with wood, which will afterwards be
happened at the Crystal Palace, it seems almost a covered with paper, and finally coloured. The sun-
crime that any building erected to contain works of shades are also mostly in their places. The admis-
art, or any other valuables that cannot be replaced, sion jury has had great trouble, the space being
should be constructed otherwise than fireproof. The only equal to about one-tenth of the applications ;
Fine Art Galleries of the Paris Exhibition are very but the first selection, that of known works not
satisfactory in this respect; the walls are of solid requiring previous examination, has at length been
stone, and thefloor, as already stated, of cement, so made, though the result is not yet published. The
that a almost impossible.
fire is mode said to have been adopted for increasing the
This consideration of security naturally leads to hanging space, is the erection of screens in various
the modes of closing the Exhibition at night, when pai’ts for the smaller pictures ; there is one diffi-
the grounds, cafes, restaurants, and other establish- culty, however, with regard to such a plan, the
ments will be blazing with light, and, at times, centre of the rooms having been thrown into shade
thousands of people enjoying themselves there. by the screens referred to above. There is little
There are sixteen outer doors to the building ; and doubt, however, that room will be found for all the
those of the minor entrances are now being fitted pictures that the management is very desirous of
with strong iron shutters moved by machinery, like seeing exhibited, and that our ingenious neighbours
those adopted for shops ; there is no doubt that the will see that their treasures are sufficiently il-
main entrances will be secured in an equally luminated.
efficient manner, so that the outer iron wall of the The difficulties which surround the arrangements
building will be virtually complete. Another pre- of the Fine Art department have not been enhanced
caution is taken with regard to the Retrospective by the slightest complaint respecting the composi-
Galleries, each opening of which is being supplied tion of the juries ; the Imperial Commission, as
with solid oak doors running on iron rods and pro- the readers of Nature and Art know, left to the
vided with strong locks. This must be rather with artists themselves, or rather to such of them as had
a view to protect the valuable contents of these received first-class medals, to appoint two-thirds of
galleries from peculation than from fire, for the their judges; the result has been admirable, the
walls are all of stone and the floor of oak, and the juries consist of the elite of the body. This prin-
precaution is a wise one. ciple of art suffrage, applied previously to the
The colouring of the various parts of the building annual exhibitions in Paris, has thus received the
is proceeding ; the inner side of the iron roof and seal of one of the most trying applications that
sides of the great Machinery Court, as well as of the could possibly have been made of it, and must be
principal vestibule and avenue, are being painted regarded by all unprejudiced persons as established
of a light chocolate or cafe au lait colour, and the almost beyond question. Knowing how completely
main lines, mouldings, and projections picked out unsuccessful was the old system of official and
and relieved with chocolate, vermillion, and white, academic nomination, we trust that it will be
but the effect is not striking. Something of the gradually banished from all art competitions of a
same kind has been tried on the outside of the general nature. It is not a small matter to relieve
building, but has not been proceeded with. The the world of art from all feeling, or even suspicion,
ironwork of the Industrial Courts is now being of partiality or nepotism ; a feeling which is a prolific
painted of a dull apple-green, but, with the ex- source of coteries and consequently of cabals.
ception of the avenues, there will be scarcely any of The great central zone, or rather series of zones,
it visible when the fittings are all up. This remark —
devoted to industrial products of all kinds from a
does not, however, apply to the British Department,
which will be much less enclosed and boxed up.
—
block of coal, to a chronometer perhaps one of
the most perfect examples of skill and science
The walls of the Picture Galleries are painted of a —
combined is in a more advanced state than that
dull Pompeian red, with a broad frieze of a geo- of its mechanical brother beyond, or than those of
metric pattern in grisaille. The ma/rquise around its artistic sisters of the inner ring. In the French
the inner garden has blue-grey pillars, mounted on department nearly all the courts are formed, and
bold cream-coloured stone plinths, the lines of the several of them are nearly ready for the decorator
columns being relieved with bright chocolate, in the cases in which the gold and silver smith and two
harmony with the roof ; but the final touch is not or three other classes of exhibitors will show the
yet put to this verandah, which will have a good products of their cunning arts are in their places,
effect when the enclosed garden is planted. and only require glazing and painting ; those which
Quitting the central garden, let us take a glance are in this forward condition exhibit careful ar-
at the actual condition of the preparations in the rangement, and there is no doubt that our neigh-
three zones of the Fine Arts, Industry, and bours will be still more remarkable than ever, on
Machinery. the present occasion, for the symmetry of their
The first, and inner one, will be filled last, and installations as well as for the beauty of their
46 THE PARIS EXHIBITION. 1867. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1S67.
products. In some cases the effect of these courts erections without, so that the general effect when
will be rendered more complete by the introduction all isfinished will be in no way interfered with by
of oak parquetted floors in the avenues and spaces the arrangement.
not covered by the cases. Everybody who visited The general preparations of the immense Ma-
the Exhibition of 1862 will remember the admir- chinery and Process Gallery, including an amount
able effect of the tiled and mosaic floors laid down of Avork which it shows great courage to have
within the courts of some of our great porcelain undertaken in so short a space of time as was
and pottery manufacturers. allowed for it, are almost completed. Along the
The portions of this section of the building whole of the central line of this court, which, be it
devoted to the Foreign commissions, also mostly remembered, is nearly five thousand feet in cir-
exhibit great activity much of the woodwork of the
;
cumference, have been set up two rows of cast-iron
Belgian, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Turkish, pillars, not very wide apart, and connected above
Egyptian, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese courts transversely as well as longitudinally with lattice
being almost completed, and in some, the Egyptian girders ; at the sides, a little below the upper
for example, heavy articles of exhibition which surface of the girders, are large iron brackets,
have to be built up, are being proceeded with. intended to support the driving shafts and pulleys
In general, in order to obtain as much wall space for the machinery in motion and on the top of the
:
as possible, there are too mauy high partitions, and, girders will be a gallery, more than ten feet wide,
consequently, in those parts there will be little per- for the convenience of visitors, who will thus be
spective and effects of coup d’ceil ; but some of the enabled to make the tour of this important portion
commissions, and that of Russia in particular, have of the Exhibition, and view the machinery and
avoided too much enclosure. The Russian depart- more prominent processes very advantageously.
ment will be remarkable for its openness and, con- This gallery was a happy thought, for, as the public
sequently, unobstructed view and light ;
it stands must otherwise have been excluded from this
at the side of one of the great radial avenues, and central portion on account of the driving ma-
its limit is marked by a bold and highly effective chinery, it will make a very large addition to the
ornamental wooden railing, cut by hand in the means of circulation. There will also be a passage
peculiar style of the country, the bases of the plain below between the columns of the gallery.
iron columns of the building being enclosed in In some parts of the Machine Court, solid
massive woodwork corresponding with the railing, foundations are being constructed for engines and
and mounted on octagonal stone plinths ; but the other heavy objects, but not very much has yet been
most characteristic constructions belonging to done in that way, and a vast amount of work
Russia are in the pare, to which we shall presently remains to be accomplished. The future progress in
proceed. this part of the Exhibition will be greatly aided by
The last department at which we arrive in the auxiliary measures adopted by the Imperial
making the circuit of the building, commencing with Commission ; a temporary railway is being laid
France, is that of Great Britain, and that at present down around the building and a similar line of rails
is an empty space. We know that English work- is being placed just within the Machine Court itself,
men do not allow the grass to grow under their and which will also be carried all round these :
feet whenthey do begin, but we trust that all our two railways will be connected by means of small
preparations are so wel considered, that commenc-
I branch lines at right angles to them and of which
ing last we may be ready first and, as the space
;
the turn-tables are being fixed. Pieces of machinery,
devoted to the United Kingdom is the largest by goods, and materials arriving by rail at the station
far, next to France, we shall be pleased to find it just outside of the pare, will thus be carried directly
not too much subdivided, and, consequently, pre- into the building to the very spot where they may
senting a more imposing whole than its neighbours, be required. The time that will be saved and the
and at the same time presenting a little more interruptions that will be avoided by this arrange-
general design than has usually been apparent in ment are most important considerations ; the scenes
our exhibitions ; the jewel is certainly the main that occur in other parts of the grounds at present,
attraction, but the setting can never be carelessly where it takes three or four horses to pull a one-horse
arranged without derogating from the effect of the cart out of mud-holes, will thus be happily avoided.
work. The sappers are marking out the floor, on Without the building the new feature of the
which may now be read the names of many well- Alimentary Court with its mile of covered terrace,
known firms. or boulevard, is beginning to assume its intended
Leaving the Industrial Galleries for the great appearance. The whole of the fronts of the French
outer Machinery and Process Court, we find refreshment establishments are in place and ready
evidence of the hand of the British Commission, a for the painter and glazier they form two immense
;
portion of the exterior Alimentary Gallery having ranges, and are in all, about eight hundred feet
been taken into the Machinery Court by means of long, and thirty-tAvo feet broad. They include a
a wall beyond the circumference of the latter by : grand cafe ; a restaurant on the same large scale ;
this arrangement considerable space will be added a Diner de V Europe, that is to say, not exactly a
to the Mechanical department at the expense of the table d'hote, but a dinner, of which the bill of fare
Alimentary Gallery, which we presume does not and the price are fixed, but which is served at any
require it. The wall will be covered by the moment; a Buffet de I’Univers, which, if as Avell
THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. 47
organized as some of those at French railway nature ;

in this case the building is of stone, the
stations, will be an estimable boon to those whose whole of both sides being divided into compart-
time is precious, and who have some respect both for ments which will be glazed only in front, like those in
their purses and stomachs and, lastly, a Strasbourg
;
the Jardin d’Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne.
beer-house. The counters for the managers of This aquarium is connected with a lake, and from
these establishments are now being set up, and, the latter starts a small canal which pursues a .
before this comes under the public eye, some of tortuous course through the grounds passing secretly
the establishments will be in operation for the con- beneath the roads and pathways, crossing and en-
venience of those whose fate compels them to spend livening the plantations and flower-beds by the flow
much of their time within the yet inhospitable and sparkle of its silvery stream, till it reaches the
building and its pleasure grounds, where Boreas, great lake at the other extremity of the pare.
Aquarius, and Jack Frost at present revel and At the further end of this lake is a large mass of
reign alternately, and use weak mortals most artificial rock, over which a cascade will fall, and
unceremoniously. On the English side there is no upon it stands an iron lighthouse of considerable
silver gridiron yet, nor any corner even for a snack height this is for the exhibition of the electric light
:
or a draught, but there is a promise of something and now ready to receive its lantern. Another
it is
to come, in the form of a strip of Avliite calico on lighthouse erected in the grounds at no great
which appears the word Buffet in conjunction with
,
distance from the former will allow of a comparison
the names of Spiers & Pond, and Bass & Co. the ;
being made between the old dioptric and the new
space thus marked is not so extensive as those electric system.
covered by the French establishments, but its The small model church, which stands in tbis
frontage is not much less than a hundred feet in quarter of the grounds, is finished exteriorly, and
length. But this is only one of three or four presents a very pretty object : complaints have
British places -of refreshment to be provided. The been made that it exhibits no style, or rather a
Russian and the Swiss restaurants are also being mixture of all styles, bitt this is an unfair charge, as
built. the mixture of style is one of its objects ; there are
Out of doors the work is naturally not so much semicircular, Early Pointed, and other shaped
advanced as it is within the building, and it is windows, brackets, niches, and colonnettes belong-
extremely fortunate that the walls of the most ing to various periods, and the same is the case
important buildings are nearly all completed, for inside as well as out; but then it must be re-
the sharp frost which has set in renders mortar and membered that the object is to show ecclesiastical
cement very intractable servants as well as in- construction, decoration, fittings, and furniture of
efficient. Of all the novelties to be found in the all styles, though in normal positions. In spite of
gardens of the Exhibition, the aquariums will be the mixture, the architect has produced a pleasing
amongst the most remarkable, and particularly that general effect, —
that is to say, as regards the ex-
to be devoted to “ herrings and other salt fish,” as terior, for the interior is not yet in a condition for
a comic French writer once described the denizens criticism —
the principal thing to be complained
of the ocean. The tanks in which they are to be of being, that the most ornamental face of the
exhibited are constructed entirely of iron and glass. building is so near the lake that there is some little
A large artificial cave was first formed by throwing danger of taking an unintentional bath while
up a talus all round the spot ; the sides of this cave studying architecture. There is no doubt that this
were then lined with rockwork, and a number of model church will be one of the most attractive
pillars of the same placed at intervals on the floor. objects in the grounds.
Over all this was laid a roof composed of iron and On one main avenue leading to the
side of the
glass, leaving two openings through which flights chief entrance of the building, and opposite the
of steps lead to the cave, and a central space for Oriental Pavilion of the Emperor of the French, a
the visitors. The aquariums are placed all round, solid rectangular building, with pointed gables,
and on the glass roof of this central area. There are which, in the language of the place, is the Pavilion
also terraces near the upper level of the tanks, while de la Peine d’ Angleterre, is rapidly approaching
at the two ends the roof of the cave forms, are plat- completion. This royal lodge consists of one large
forms of considerable size ; it will be seen that by apartment in the rear, with two smaller ones at right
this arrangement visitors will be able to watch the angles to the former in the front, and presents one
movements of the fish from almost every position, of the most positive contrasts imaginable to the
above, beneath, and around. The large contents of Byzantine structure opposite to it. They are neither
this aquarium rendered the supply of sea water a of them yet far enough advanced to describe more
matter of serious consideration, and therefore a particularly, except that one structure consists
system of aerating it has been adopted ; the water entirely of right angles, while the outline of the
of the aquarium will run over and form a cascade, other has scarcely an angle in it, and while one is of
it will then be received in a well and pumped back wood, to be highly decorated, the other is of solid
into the aquarium, and by this means it is hoped stone, relieved by red bricks, and covered by
that the creatures will be maintained in good con- three decorated timber roofs. Near the English
dition without a very large supply of fresh sea water. Pavilion stands the chimney-shaft and the foun-
The arrangements for the exhibition of fresh dation of the boiler-house —
a very large one, to be
water fish and reptiles are of a totally different fitted with the patent conical tube boilers of Messrs.
48 THE PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
Galloway & Son, of Manchester, for the supply of sides, instead of their tails, to the public, those for
steam to the engines which are to drive the ventilation and
for the complete surveillance of the
machinery in the British department. This will be whole of the stable by the men who sleep, like the
the largest boiler-house in the grounds ; and the palefreniers of the great Paris omnibus establish-
design for it is derived from a Mohammedan ments, in niches six or eight feet from the ground,
temple. The Emperor of the French sets up his will be examined with great interest by English
standard over a Turkish Kiosk, and Great Britain visitors. The decoration of the buildings is also
places her steam boilers in the mosque of Syeed interesting, the false roof of the stable and other
Oosman What is the mixture of half-a-dozen styles
! parts are carved and pierced in the peculiar semi-
in a model church after this % oriental style in vogue in Russia, and the gables of
Not far from these Imperial tents, over which the the houses are decorated in like manner. The
standards of France and England will float as method of construction, for which the axe alone is
bravely as did those of Francis and Henry on the used, and the system of corking and stopping the
Field of the Cloth of Gold four centuries ago, seams, deserve the serioirs attention of colonists
stands a building, presenting a further contrast ; it and emigrants. The exhibition of the malachite
is an odd-looking structure, and is to be occupied products of the Imperial factories gave great
as a Swiss refreshment-room, the attendants to be interest to the Russian department in the Exhi-
dressed in their national costume. The Swedish bition of 1851 ; but the admirable illustrations to
Commission will have a smaller establishment in which we have referred of the buildings and habits
their quarter of the park. of the Russian people should, and doubtless will,
This portion of the ground is crowded with attract at least as much attention.
buildings ; there are three jfliotographic establish- The Swedish Commission is also erecting similar
ments all of considerable extent, and one very model buildings illustrative of the architecture,
large the International Club-house will be ready
;
mode of construction and habits of the country, in
in a few weeks to receive its subscribers ; and the times past as well as in the present day, including
theatre, after two reverses of fortune — theatres are a complete reproduction of the house occupied by
Avell accustomed, however, to ups and downs, — has Gustavus Vasa, at Ornacs, in Dalecarlia, with all
its outer walls nearly completed. the furniture, some of which is authentic. But the
The buildings of the Egyptian and Tunisian Swedish portion of the 'pare will demand further
Commissions make a great feature in the grounds ; notice, at a future period,when the works are more
the former have already been described in Nature advanced. A
small steamer, model of those used
and Art, and the latter must wait another oppor- on the Swedish lakes, brought to Havre by the
tunity. Russia has conceived a happy idea and is frigate Oroedd is now on its way up the Seine to
,
carrying it out on a grand scale and with re- Paris. But it is dangerous to touch on what is
markable skill ; three buildings are being erected expected, while every day brings some new object
in a group, two of these are dwelling-houses, and of interest bodily before the visitor to the Champ
the third and the largest a model stable, all con- de Mars.
structed of round timber, prepared in Russia, and Before quitting the limits of the Exhibition, it
put together like a puzzle by Russian workmen, is but fair to say a few words on the admirable
who themselves are picturesque objects, with their arrangements made by the Imperial Commission
red guernseys, woolly waistcoats, showing the lower for the convenience of visitors, whether they arrive
part of a shirt or tunic of striped stuff beneath, by road, rail, or river. First, for those who arrive
knickerbockers, and round fur caps. The stractures, in carriages, a long covered way is now being con-
besides exhibiting the style which has been used structed at the outer edge of one side of the park,
for centuries down to the present time, show the beneath which half a dozen vehicles may set down
peculiar arrangement of Russian dwellings and their occupants at the same moment, and from this
establishments. The ground-floor of the house is three other passages lead to side doors of the
building ; those avIio arrive by rail Avill simply haA e
r
devoted to the housing of cattle during the winter
months, the door is just large enough to admit the to cross a road, over which a roof is to be thrown,
beasts, the windows are small and square, and the and make their way into the building by means of
apartment low, having more the appearance of a a long promenoir or covered passage for pedestrians,
,
cabin in the stern of a ship, with three lights at which skirts the grounds and ends in a large vesti-
one end, than anything else ; the room above the bule at one of the principal side entrances of the
•
cattle layer is the general living-room of the peasant building; lastly, for those avIio are borne on the
farmer and his family. In one part of the latter bosom of the flowing Seine, a spacious landing-
will be erected a great stove to illustrate the place is being constructed, from Avhich visitors may
Russian mode of heating their houses, and in either ascend to the quay and there enter Exhi-
another will be the rousse corner, the little chapel, bition Park by the front gate, or they may pass
or place of the household gods. The stable is a directly into the grounds by a gate beneath the
building two hundred and fifty feet long, and aboitt pretty steel bridge lately throw® across the quay.*
twenty-four feet wide, and will contain ten horses,
types of the various breeds of Russia, and fourteen * On the quay, or rather over the strip of land at the side
of the river, two very large building’s have been erected :
choice animals of different origin. The arrangement

these are to be used as restaurants, and one of them, it is
of the stalls, so that the animals may show their said, is to be managed by English caterers.
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— ;
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.] HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. 43
By H. Ward.
PART IV. BASE E — con eluded.
N the 23rd of September, 1520, Holbein was high imagination had its usual drawback, vanity ;
O formally admitted into the Guild of his craft,

which was distinguished by the name of Heaven,
and he was consequently very thin-skinned. AVe
suspect that Holbein was much more robust. It is
being called “Zum Himmel.” He painted his own said (it may be mere gossip, but the story is proba-
shield for the hall, where it is still preserved. - It ble enough) that, on his revisiting Basle, after his-
is yellow, bearing a black bull’s head, surmounted first flattering reception in England, the upper
by a red star and over it is the inscription, Hans
;
circles offered tointroduce him to their wives and
Holbein the painter (“ der Mailer”). He was a daughters, and were disgusted at his preferring his
hearty young fellow, as we can see by Mechel’s old pot-companions. The Guild-brethren were
engraving of his self-portrait. The drawing which doubtless these pot-companions of his ; but they
he made for it has been photographed, and it has may have been something better too, true friends —
a more spiritual expression. His brain was teem- perhaps, who had helped him at a pinch. Thus the
ing with beautiful and lively fancies and if his ;
story has two sides to it. The candid biographer,
tongue was only a tithe as ready as his hand, he Charles Patin, who relates it,* adds that Holbein
must have been a famous Guild-brother. He was was a downright toper ; but he luckily gives his au-
evidently welcome to the other members of his thority for saying so ; and we shall presently show
Guild, whether saddlers, barbers, or painters ; for that the words of Erasmus, which he quotes, were
even before his formal admission he was chosen nothing but a small joke, uttered in exchange for a
(25th June) as one of the two house-stewards for the small joke of Holbein’s.
year. His colleague was a saddler, and their suc- AVe leap at once into a different sphere when we
cessors were another saddler and a painter named turn from the poor painters’ Guild to the circle of
Johann Herbster. The latter was a man of some Erasmus. He was fond of the arts, and had him-
local reputation the records of him are few, but
: self been something of a painter in his youth ; yet
they contain fresh hints for tracing the connection he was not likely to consort much with German
between Holbein and Italy. Herbster had been artists. One or two of them may have equalled
a master painter at Basle ever since 1492 and he ;
him in native genius, but his scholarship had raised
had travelled, at least as far as Pavia, in 1512. him high above their level. Not that he cared a
Now, according to a dated portrait, t he sat to straw for pomp or place indeed, he dreaded them.
;
Holbein in 1516, when the youngster was hardly Splendid oilers had been made him from many courts,
settled at Basle. The talk of such a sitter may especially from that of Rome but he preferred
;
have induced his painter to follow in the same Basle. He esteemed it a veritable “ Seat of the
Italian track ; but on the other hand, for ought we Muses,” aloof from the bigotries of Papist and
know, Holbein’s fullest acquaintance with Leonardo anti-Papist. There he lived at ease, in the house
da Vinci, and also with the Carthusian convent at of Froben the printer, making it a centre of learn-
Pavia, may have been made through the portfolio of ing and social refinement. Of all the portraits of
Johann Herbster. this “ little old mannikin,” as Albert Diirer called
The barbers do not appear at all among Holbein’s him, none pleased him so well as those by Holbein.
colleagues, as far as Dr. Woltmann’s extracts go; One of the best is that at Basle. His naturally
but a glazier unexpectedly makes his appearance. spare features are sharpened by thought and study
Thus, one of the two great northern artists took —
and his great work lies open before him, his edition
rank among ordinary tradesmen. He could never of the New Testament; yet there is a suppressed
hope to rival such great grocer-barons as the F ag- smile upon his thin lips. AVe feel that he cannot
gers of his native Augsburg. And what said the altogether subdue it, in spite of his veneration for
other great northern artist, Albert Diirer, when (in the text ; for passage after passage recalls to him
1506) he was on the point of returning home from some scholastic nonsense of the commentators. To
Venice :
—
“ Oh, how I shall freeze for the sun ! purify the text and scourge the commentators was
Here I am a lord, but at home a sponger ” Diirer his main business at Basle. But there is another
—
!
was fortunate in having a patron who could heartily book of his, a small one indeed, by comparison,
sympathize with his grievances and it was to him,
;
that is more personally connected with Holbein.
Bilibald Pirckheimer, that the simple-minded artist This is his Praise of Folly (“ Laus Stultitiae”), a
lamented his being a mere “ spunger.” His gift of work that soon ran through many Latin editions,
and has since been translated into most of the
* Holbein und seine Zeit: von .Dr. Alfred Woltmann. modern European languages. It is sometimes
Erster Theil, mit 31 Holzschnitten und einer Photo-litho-
graphie. Leipzig. 1866.
f In Mr. Baring’s collection. See Dr. Waagen, Treaswes * In his edition of Erasmus’s Laus Stultitice. Basle.
of Art, vol. iv. p. 97. 1676.
II. E
50 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
known as Moria, from the Greek word for folly rack, the dungeon, and the stake. She then re-
and dedicated to Sir Thomas More, as a fool
it is sumes her pleasing topic, the praise of herself. She
(Morns) in name, if in nothing else. The most enlarges upon Solomon and other first-rate autho-
precious copy of the work is one belonging to the rities in the most approved style of the followers of
edition of Froben (1514), preserved in the museum Huns Scotus. She takes occasion to commend one
of Basle ; it is adorned with eiglity-tliree pen-and- of her sons, her best Erasmus. Finally she extols
j
ink sketches by Holbein. |

her plump darling, the genuine swine of Epicurus’
The immense success of the Praise of Folly i sty and contrasts him with the lean scholar, so
:
would surprise the modern reader. Its mytholo- J

absorbed in his midnight studies that he mistakes
gical quips and its critical paradoxes would seem his oil-flask for his wine-bottle, and dies at his book
stale or pointless to him. Yet the spirit of the for lack of a dinner. “And so farewell,” she con-
book is modern, and reminds us of Thackeray and cludes, “ and enjoy all fruits, except that of the tree
his Book of Snobs. It was intended to satirize very of knowledge laugh and grow fat, my loving
:
different vices, and to amuse a very different public. children and beloved fools.”
The discourse is general ; the periods are rounded ; All the points upon which we have been dwell-
and the style is altogether rhetorical, often vehe- ing were illustrated by Holbein, from the first bow
ment, and sometimes coarse. But still there is _
of Folly to her last wave of the hand. Her mock
much of Thackeray’s manner, in the mingled professional airs are excellent, and so are the
cynicism and geniality with which the author gestures of her hearers, whether they are grim with
greets his brother fools, We will attempt to give idiotic attention or frantic with idiotic applause.
a very brief abstract of it, without making a literal Most of the other designs have rather disappointed
translation of any passage. A large audience is us ;
brit then we have only seen them in engravings
assembled, waiting with knit brows for some solemn and photography alone could reproduce these trifles
lecturer, —
when Folly bows to them from the of a master hand. Hr. Woltmann says that they
rostrum, and their faces expand. “ I perceive,” she were evidently dashed in at various periods of
says, “that you were expecting one of my inferior leisure. They are always carelessly, though well
professors ; but I have found time to come in person ; drawn, and the ink differs in different places. It is
and I have chosen the theme most worthy of your amusing to guess how Holbein could have under-
attention; namely, the praise of myself.” She makes stood the Latin text. We
are inclined to agree
a long exordium to prove her superiority to all the AvitliFlegner,* that he must have gone through it
Olympian deities, especially to the Goddess of with a learned friend. This may have occurred
Wisdom, who was nothing but the offspring of a during his stay at Lucerne, and on the title-page is
headache. “ If you ask me,” she continues, “ where the signature of Myconius, who was then a famous
are my temples, I answer, within yourselves. am
! schoolmaster at Lucerne. Myconius has added the
content with the unconscious worship of my inscription, “ Hanc Moriam pictam decern diebus,
votaries. When my son, the Emperor, is seated on ut oblectaretur in ea, Erasmus habuit,” which surely
his throne, I lend him my cap and bauble : the means simply that Erasmus kept this pictured
boor adores them as the insignia of divine authority; Moria for ten days, in order to amuse himself with
and I bless him, and he is happy. When my son it. Hr. Woltmann believes that somebody had
the Pontiff has set up a new idol, and its paint presented it to Erasmus, and that at his death it
glows in the broad sunshine, the boor’s wife lights came to Myconius. Our own belief is that it
her farthing candle before it; and I bless her, belonged to Myconius from the first, and that
and she is happy.” Folly proceeds to show the Holbein read it with him, and made the sketches at
supreme blessedness of vanity, whether individual Lucerne. It was then lent to Erasmus, who re-
or national. Thus, the father admires the reflec- turned it after scribbling a word in it, to which a
tion of his ugly self, in the little squeaking puppet most absurd importance has been attached. Against
which is placed in his hands. Thus, the English- the figure of the half-starved scholar, Holbein had
man brags of his fair women, his fine musicians, and printed the name of Erasmus. The latter looked
his dainty dishes. This clause, we must stop to for the fat pig of Epicurus ; he found it portrayed
remark, was not meant to be quite so ironical as it as a gross man, with one hand on a woman’s
sounds now ; for at that time England did really shoulder, and the other lifting a bottle to his mouth ;
enjoy a good reputation for music and cookery. To and to this he affixed the name of Holbein. Such
return to the lecture-room. Folly confesses that an interchange of small jokes might have been made
she is tempted, now and then, to chastise some of between the most respectable churchwardens in the
her forgetful children. She sometimes sees a grave world. And yet this is the evidence bi’ought by
judge, or graver pedagogue, stalking across the Charles Patin to show that Holbein was a sot.
market-place ; she suddenly looks round the corner Beally, if it wei’e evidence at all, it would be in his
in the shape of a buxom lass, and he catches her favour, for one might fairly argue that Erasmus, a
eye, and stumbles, and does penance in an old man of the highest social dignity, would never
market-woman’s basket of eggs. For the more treat a drunken ribald with such familiarity.
hardened reprobates who have absolute faith in Gossip is a hydra, whose filthy hands sprout up
their own wisdom, she reserves a much more awful
punishment she confronts them with one another.
:
* Hans Holbein der Jung ere. by Ulrich Hegner. Berlin.
Hence arise wranglings and bloodshed ; hence the 1827.
; ;;
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867,] HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. 51
like mushrooms. Hearn er gives two or three more have inflamed her temper and her eyes by emptying
instances of one of which is worth mentioning.
it ;
some of the bottles which have keen laid to the
Down to the middle of last century, so wasteful of charge of Holbein 1 Such things may have been
its Holbeins, there was a house at Basle, known as but we must beware, lest we, in our turn, should
the Dcmce-house. On a broad space above the first- be scattering the seeds of calumny. There is really
floor windows was painted a band of country lads nothing known against the poor woman, except her
and lasses, crowned with flowers, and dancing bad looks, her widowhood, and her big boy. As to
lustily to two bagpipers. The place had been a the date of her portrait it must have been about
tavern, people said, where Holbein had paid a long 1526-9. It was painted in oils upon paper ; the
reckoning with his brush. figures were afterwards cut out, and pasted on
But they forgot to observe, adds Hegner, that wood and in doing this the last cipher of the year
;
the whole facade, three stories high, was covered up was clipped away, so that it now stands 152-. The
to the garrets with frescoes. The decorations were boy at her side is Philip Holbein, whom his father
festive, and some of the mythological figures might apprenticed to a Parisian goldsmith in 1539 he :
have suited a wine-shop ; but, next to the dancers, has rather a whining look, but not otherwise a
the most prominent object was Marcus Curtius on bad countenance. The childish action of his little
horseback, plunging into the gulf. The oldest sister is excellently rendered, and she is shapely,
mention of the building (in 1577) merely calls it “ a though not pretty. The homespun attire of this
private house.” Some water-colour copies of it, and family group, artistically considered, is worth whole
a tracing of the original sketch, are in the Basle wardrobes of cloth of gold and the flesh-colours
:
Museum and there also remain two or three

;
are Titianesque. The were treated with
sitters
studies of separate portions,' which prove that tender care, as but not, we are afraid, as
sitters,
Holbein reconsidered and improved his plan with objects of daily concern. Holbein did not desert
his usual attention to the minutest details. This his wife he maintained her, and twice revisited
:
toilsome execution of many great works, together her ; but she never joined him in London. The
with numberless designs for jewellery, glass-paint- natural consequences followed. In 1543, when he
ing, carving, &c., must have occupied most of his was moved by fears of the plague, which were soon
hours. Year after year he worked on patiently, till to be too well justified, he had to do his best to
the plague cut him short in mid career ; and his provide for two nameless little children. But we
conceptions were rich and beautiful, his eyes fresh, are anticipating the dismal end. It lies far beyond
and his hand steady to the- last. His works ought the scope of our present series.
to outweigh a thousand scandals : they bear Our story of Holbein in Germany would be very
witness that he had a strong taste for joviality, but incomplete if we said nothing more of Bonifacius
no more than was becoming in a young brother of Amerbach. His father, the well-known printer,
the Guild of Painters. Indeed, he was probably —
had nourished one great ambition, to produce noble
more refined than any of the brotherhood. He editions of St. Axxgustine and St. Jerome. He had
was a painter of realism, but mostly in its nobler published the whole of the former ; the publication
forms ; and his art, even in undress, is com- of the latter had been interrupted by his death, but
paratively pure. Among the drawings in the it was completed by his three gifted sons. Boni-
Basle collection, those of Hrs Graf and Nicolaus facius, the youngest, was born in 1495 the same
;
Manuel, and others, are often, we are told, unfit year as Holkein,if our new chronologyis correct. He
for description ; whereas those of Holbein are very played a leading part at Basle as a lawyer and
seldom coarse, and never obscene. politician. His talents had been early developed
What a pity that such a man should have left and his tutor had more than once commended him
one blot on his memory that can hardly be cleansed to the notice of Erasmus, as a “thorough Eras-
away. We allude to his neglect of his wife. There mian.” In one respect he was superior to Erasmus :
were extenuating circumstances, no doubt, as there he was a man of high moral courage. His portrait,
always are. She was vulgar and ugly, as we see considered by some critics as the most perfect of the
by her portrait ; and in all probability she was Holbeins at Basle, displays him in the flower of
much older than her husband. Nothing has shocked young manhood; for it was painted in 1519, when
Hr. Woltmann more than discovering that she was he was twenty-four. His eyes are small, but of
a widow, with a half-grown son, when she married the purest blue ; his features are well chiselled, and
Holbein, and that her name was Elsbeth Schmidt. their vigorous beauty is heightened by the silky
These would have been valid reasons for Holbein’s curls of hisauburn beard. His manners are said
avoiding her, as long as she was widow Schmidt tohave been singularly engaging. His gifts of mind
but they became invalid as soon as she was Mrs. and body won the admiration of the day ; but
Holbein. Other excuses present themselves, as at it was the stanchness of his heart that preserved
least not impossible. He could not have been much his memory. The world has clean forgotten how
more than twenty-five at the time of the marriage : he used to lead the song and dance to music of his
and young men of genius are often more easily en- own and he has left few traces of his erudition
;
trapped than common-place people. Again, her behind him but he will long be remembered as the
;
eyes are red, says Dr. Woltmann, as if with weep- great collector of the works of Holbein. He
ing. May not the cause have been less sentimental ? bought what no one else would buy, the Bead —
She is reported to have been a shrew ; may she not Christ, for instance, which was unfitted by its stark
E 2
52 HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. [Nature aud Art, February 1, 18G7.
and when
reality for either church or banquet-hall ;
Old Testament and one of them was quite after
;
Holbein was absent in England, his wife and the heart ofown Puritans
our it was Saul ;
children found a ready friend in Atnerbacli. He rebuked by Samuel for not hewing Agag in pieces.
seems then to have made a clean sweep of the These magnificent frescoes were the wonder of a
studio. His chief prompter was friendship, but it generation but before the end of the century they
;
acted in accordance with his taste. His house at were frightfully scarred by damp. Other artists
Little Basle (on the right bank of the Rhine) was tried their colours over those of Holbein but at ;
a gallery of art. A few objects were added by his last they were all charitably covered with green
son, and the contents were purchased by the Town cloth. Out of two or three little bits, and a few
Council in 1661. They consisted of forty-nine drawings, and the town-hall account-books, Dr.
paintings, and a cabinet with thirty-seven drawers Woltmann constructs a very interesting history.
full of sketches and engravings, together with coins, But we can only commend it to our German,
ivories, and various precious curiosities. Holbein readers, together with the notice of the organ-
was represented by fifteen of the paintings, 104 of screen of the cathedral. There are other topics
the drawings, a sketch-book, the illustrated Praise which more emphatically demand our attention.
of Folly, and duplicate copies of his biblical designs In the summer of 1521, the burghers of Basle
and his Dance of Death, besides 1 1 1 of the other had plenty of local business upon their hands ; yet
wood-engravings. One of the paintings, a Last still they could not fail to be profoundly agitated,
Supper, which we described a month ago, was in by hearing of Luther’s triumph at the Diet of
fragments they are supposed to have been rescued
: Worms, and of his mysterious disappearance after
by Amerbach from the religious mobs of 1529. it. He subsequently reappeared at Wittenberg,
But we have now to tell of a much greater work, safe and sound, as all the world knows but for :
which no care could save. It was destroyed by many months even the wise heads were puzzled, and
damp, an enemy to northern art more fatal than the simple ones were driven quite crazy. At first
even bigotry. the Reformers were aghast; but they soon recovered
The 15th of June, 1521, bid fair to open a new heart, and their energies were only fevered by the
epoch in historical art. On that day Holbein re- agitation. At Basle there was a priest, who
ceived a commission to fill the new Town-hall with preached openly against the mass, and waylaid
great works in fresco. There were eleven spaces to a procession in the streets, calling the relics “ mere
be filled, six of them broad, and five narrow. Two dead men’s bones.” The bishop demanded his
of the broadest spaces were left untouched for the arrest, and his congregation, in their turn, defied
present. The rest of them were filled before the the bishop. The town council interfered, and
end of 1522. The four great subjects, which were managed to edge the priest out of the city. But
then completed, were drawn from classical story. another soon took his place and at the close of the
;
Republican virtue was exemplified by Curius year arrived GEcolampadius, the true apostle of the
Dentatus rejecting the Sabine gold. Contrasted Reformation at Basle.
with him was Sapor the Persian, a type of the Meanwhile a sort of revolution had been effected
brutal arrogance of kings, trampling on the neck of in the town council. Jakob Meyer, though a
the Emperor Valerian. zealous Catholic, had assisted in stripping the
Obscurer legends of the Greek republics of lower bishop of the last shadow of civil supremacy.
Italy furnished the two other subjects they were
: He had thus become himself the chief magistrate
scenes of self-sacrifice, in stern submission to the of Basle. But his seat was a shaky one. In the
law. In the five narrow spaces were single figures : October of the same year (1521) he was accused of
—
•
1. Christ, with a tablet in His hands, charging us taking bribes from the French king. It was
all to do as we would be done by ;
—2. David, common enough for the magistrates of a free city
harping, with a scroll over his head, exhorting men to receive a pension from one of the neighbouring
to judge righteously ; — 3. 4. and 5. Justice, Moder- princes. The members of the lesser council of
ation, and Wisdom. It will be observed that the Basle received fifteen crowns apiece ; but Meyer
large subjects were all political : and this was not had accepted a larger sum. He was compelled to
altogether owing to the character of the locality. disgoi’ge the surplus ; and he was dismissed from
At the time when these were designed, the office. This was a fine stroke for the Reformers, and
Protestants (as they were soon to be denominated) won them the Burgomastership. Meyer struggled
had made their way into the town council ; but defiantly against the stream for a few years longer.
they were by no means supreme there. Indeed, He enlisted troops for the French king, or for the
the Burgomaster was a rank Papist, no less than Pope, as he had done before and he led them ;
our old friend Jakob Meyer. The two religious himself into Italy he returned to Basle, and we
:
parties were imited for the time by political sympa- hear of him in 1529, the year of the fanatical
thies. In this year they effected their common iconoclasm, when he was the spokesman of the
object. The bishop and the aristocrats were de- Catholics. Then all records of him cease. But
prived of their last privileges. The town-hall was there a votive picture which will long preserve
is
triumphant ; and democracy, pure and simple, was his memory, and spread his fame far wider than he
depicted upon the walls. The case was altered could ever have dreamed of. This is Holbeins
when Holbein supplied the two deficiencies in most famous Madonna. To every true German
1530-1. Both subjects were then taken from the heart, says Dr. Woltmann, the Madonna of the
;
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.] HOLBEIN IN GERMANY. 53
Dresden Gallery appeals, as tlie fairest ideal of doubt but she left one member of the group
;
German womanhood. The face, all clearness and behind her. The Dresden Madonna can be clearly
light, scarce perceptibly broken by the eyebrows ;
traced back to the immediate descendants of her
the tenderly drooping eyelids, the graceful build of daughter Anna ; and Dr. Woltmann has adorned
the neck, and the dimple in the chin all these ;
its history with a pretty episode, partly conjectural,
are features to be gazed at and remembered with but partly founded upon documentary evidence.
indescribable delight. Even Mrs. Jameson * We must premise by stating that Anna’s de-
admits that her half-deified Raphael has never scendants possessed, besides the Madonna, two
surpassed this Virgin Mother. At her right hand independent portraits of her parents fine old ;
kneel the Burgomaster and his youthful son, the copies after the Holbeins, which were lithographed
hitter holding up a beautiful naked boy ; at her for our Christmas number. And now for Dr.
left isthe Burgomaster’s mother ’or mother-in-law, Woltmann’s story. Anna, the demure little
his wife, and their daughter, a girl just entering her maiden of the picture, kneeling beside her mother,
teens. This is the old-fashioned monumental was just entering her teens when the Darmstadt
arrangement.* It is not improbable that the original was painted she was just leaving them,
:
elderly woman, though represented as living, was about the end of 1529, when she was married, and
just dead when the picture was first designed, and had a new household of her own at Basle. Her
that it was literally her epitaph, intended, namely, — parents were on the point of migrating ; and her
to be placed above her tomb. most precious wedding-gifts were their portraits
Every visitor to the Dresden Gallery is struck by and the Dresden Madonna. Here she could still
—
two things, the loveliness of the Madonna and see the old household, including her former self, all
the sickliness of the child. The gossip will tell lovingly united. But for the central figure Holbein
him that the child isnot Christ at all, but a sick had chosen a fresh model. The Virgin no longer
infant of Meyer’s ;
an idea which seems to have appeared as the sublime patroness of the dead :
originated with Ludwig Tieck. To this some will she was a spiritual being, but of a softer splendour,
add, that she has set down her own beautiful boy better suited for the home of a young wife. Such
in front of her. Another suggests, and the notion is the story of the two Madonnas.
is at least more agreeable with the character of the The second volume of Dr. Woltmann’s work
age, that the design was made in memory of the may be expected before long and it may possibly ;
naked standing boy, and that the infant in arms tempt us to give a short abstract of his views (a
represents his soul. But the conjectures are all couple of papers, perhaps), on Holbein in England.
thrown away, for the infant is extending his hand Of Holbein in Germany we have little more to say.
in the act of blessing. Moreover, this picture must At the 1522 the town-hall frescoes were sus-
close of
be compared with the original for, after all, the pended, and nearly all important works of art came
Dresden Madonna, though entirely designed, and to a stand-still. The Church and State authorities
partly executed by Holbein, is not a first original. were hoarding their funds, with grim forebodings
At Darmstadt is the great treasure, the property of civil war. Holbein could find few private
of the Princess Charles of Hesse. And yet, per- patrons like Meyer or Amerbach ; and he was not
haps, both treasures are equal for the enthralling-
;
the sort of man to live quietly upon the mere alms
beauty of which we have spoken is not to be found of friendship. He could earn his own bread by
in the Darmstadt picture. She is here painted designing for publishers and goldsmiths ; but it
from an entirely different model, with more was not enough to feed his family. His father died
decided features, more marked and darker eye- in 1524 his own home was unhappy, and he
:
brows, and an expression of more forcible grandeur. began to turn his thoughts towards foreign
No one could talk here of a sickly child, for the countries. It is probable that his uncle Sigmund
child is smiling brightly. Dr. Woltmann proves, at Berne, and his other German friends, could offer
we think conclusively, that this is entirely Holbein’s him very poor prospects of employment. Erasmus
work, executed in his first period and that the ;
urged him to try England, and sent one of his
Dresden picture is later, and only Holbein’s so far as own portraits to Sir Thomas More, with a letter
the Madonna and child are concerned. These were commending the painter to his notice. The letter
new, and so was the plan of the architectural back- is lost but More’s reply, dated the 18 th of
ground :the family figures were copied by an as-
;
December, 1525, runs thus: “Thy painter is —

sistant. The latter are very fine still they are clumsy
;
a wonderful artist, but I fear that England will
when compared with the originals. The Darmstadt not prove as he hopes. Yet I will take
fertile as
picture was almost certainly placed in a church, care that he shall not find it utterly barren.”
and withdrawn by its owner when the tumults Holbein still hesitated. But matters did not
began. Its history is dark probably because it
;
mend at Basle. After 1522, there is no entry of
followed the dark fortunes of the Meyers. The payments made to him by the State, till March,
males of the family are supposed to have quitted 1526, and that is for painting two heraldic shields !
Basle soon after 1529, like many of their co- At length the important moment arrived. letter A
religionists. The mother accompanied them, no from Erasmus to a friend at Antwerp, dated 29th
August, 1526, contains the following passage.
* “ Legends of the Madonna.” Second edition, p. 102. “ The bearer of this is the man who has painted me. I
London, 1857. will not burthen thee with his praises, though ho is an
54 THE ATLANTIC YACHT RACE, [Nature and Art, February 1, 1807.
excellent artist. If lie desires to visit Quintin [Matsys, Sheriff Hutton Park, York.
the painter], and thou canst not spare time to go with the Dear Sir, — There is no doubt as to its originality, and if,
man thyself, thou canst let thy servant show him the as I understand by the review of Dr. Woltmann’s work in
house. Here the arts are freezing he is going to England
: Nature and Art of December, Holbein painted but one
to scrape together a few angels ( Hie frigent artes, petit picture of Frobenius, then our picture is that picture.
Angliam, ut corradat aliquot Angelotos).” This portrait came into oxu possession on the division of
1
a large collection of pictures belonging to a gentleman con-

The poor pun, and even the frigid arrogance of
nected by marriage with our family, and also a kinsman of
Erasmus, may be excused ; for he was evidently a the famous Lord Bacon. In this way, we became possessed
good friend of the painter’s. As for the English of some very valuable pictures. I have the inventory
angels we all know that Holbein gathered them in
,
of these pictures as made on Mr. Bacon’s death I do ;
a golden harvest. not recollect the date, but, I think, in the early part of last
century. The picture is there described, “ Frobenius, by
Hans Holbein.” There is not, and never has been, any doubt
In consequence of the statements in the second part of about the genuineness of the picture. Indeed, it is hardly
the review of Dr. Alfred Woltmann’s work, published in the necessary to tell you (even if the picture did not speak for
December number of Nature and Art, relative to the itself, by its excellence, as indubitably by Holbein, and by
supposed loss of Holbein’s original portrait of Johann his signature or monogram being painted, not, I may say, on
Froben, we received a letter from a gentleman claiming to the picture but in the picture), that the fact of what the
be the happy possessor of it. We here give his own words, picture was acknowledged to be at the time of Mr. Bacon’s
without hazarding an opinion on the subject, as we think it death, is strong evidence of its genuineness.
may be interesting to some of our readers to follow up the I am, faithfully yours,
clue of the lost treasure thus afforded them. Ed. Leonard Thompson.
THE ATLANTIC YACHT RACE.

HRISTMAS-DAY, 1S66, will long be remembered by all Mr. Pierre Lorillard, her owner, was represented by his
C who take an interest in the manly pastime of yachting, brother and Colonel Bayard Taylor, the celebrated author,
for on that anniversary of our great national festival there who also acted as judges for the Fleettving and Henrietta.
was brought to the shores of England by our transatlantic The Henrietta measures 205 tons, and has more rake to her
cousins as novel a “ sensation,” even in these prolific days masts than either the Vesta or Fleetwing, which latter yacht
of sensation novels, as the first arrival of Phoenician g-alleys she otherwise closely resembles in form, with the exception
must have been to the ancient Britons. We are indebted of having much more sheer. The Henrietta was commanded
for this sensation, with all its characteristic originality and by Captain Samuels, of the well-known clipper ship Dread-
boldness of execution, to that remarkable “go-ahead” pro- nought, and carried a crew of twenty-four seamen. Mr.
pensity which is so peculiar a feature of the idiosyncrasy Bennett was the only owner who sailed in his yacht, and
of the American Anglo-Saxon. The abstract notion of a he was accompanied by Messrs. Jerome and Ivnapp, who
yacht race across the Atlantic in the best season of the were judges for the Fleetwing and Vesta, and by Mr. Fisk,
year would, amongst an ordinary people, have sufficed to fill of the New Yorlc Herald newspaper.
Ambition’s measure to overflowing. But, desirous of even New York was naturally alive with the excitement arising
more than realizing the remark of Horace, out of this unprecedented contest for a week or two preceding
“ Plorrida callidi vincunt sequora navit*,” the day fixed for the race. The intense interest thus mani-
the American yachtsmen evidently sought to improve the fested throughout the “ Empire City ” was in some degree
difficulty of their self-imposed task, and to add to the inten- attributable to the very even chances of the three competing-
sity of the “sensation” by courting all the perils attend- yachts, although the Fleetwing was slightly the favourite.
ant upon mid-winter navigation. —
When the day appointed for the start -Tuesday, December
A brief description of the three yachts engaged in this —
11th arrived, the excitement had reached its culminating
remarkable contest is deemed worthy of record in the pages point. At every available position vast crowdshad assembled,
of Nature and Art, as much from the general interest who vociferously cheered the occasion and each preparatory
which the event has excited throughout the length and movement made in connexion with it. The vessels in har-
breadth of the land, as from the advantages which may bour and the craft plying on the East and Hudson
hereafter be derivable through having- practical data at rivers, and the villas upon Staten Island, off which the
hand, with which to compare the conditions and results of yachts lay, were gaily decked with flags. Steamers had
any future ocean races. been hired to convey the members of the New York Yacht
Establishing the tonnage of the yachts according to Club, and the numerous friends of the competitors, to
American measurement (arrived at by taking length of keel, Sandy Hook, the scene of departure for the hazardous
by which multiply extreme breadth, and the product by enterprise. The day was bright and the wind westerly
depth of hold, dividing- total by 95), the Fleetwing is 206 and favourable. The air alternately vibrated with the
tons; her length on deck being- 106 feet; keel, 93 feet; enlivening music of many bands, and the thundering sal-
beam, 23 feet 8 inches depth of hold, 9 feet 3 inches
;
voes of many salutes fired in honour of the adventurous
draught of water amidships, 11 feet 6 inches. She was yachtsmen.
commanded by Captain Thomas, of the packet ship City of At eleven o’clock the Henrietta’s racing signal was run
Neio Yorlc, and carried a crew of twenty-two men. Her up, and then the three yachts were taken in tow by their
owner, Mr. George Osgood, was represented on board by respective tugs to the starting-point. The Fleetwing took
Messrs. R. Centre and Staples, members of the N.Y.Y.C., up her position about a mile to the eastward of Sandy
and also judges on behalf of the Henrietta and Vesta. The Hook the Henrietta was nearest the shore and the Vesta
; ;
Vesta differs from her opponents by carrying 18^ feet of was stationed midway between her two antagonists. They
“ centre-board,” or false keel (like that of the celebrated waited thus until one o’clock p.m., when Mr. Fearing, the
yacht America), which can be lowered and raised as desired. starter, gave the signal and then, at the sight of a little
;
She is slightly inferior in size, being- 201 tons her length

;
puff of smoke and the booming sound of a gun, up went
on deck is 105 feet keel, 98 feet beam, 25 feet
; ; ;
depth foresails and topsails on all three. Scarcely had the wind
of hold, 8 feet 9 inches ;
draught of water, 7 5 feet, in addi- filled these sails when the second gun was fired, and the
tion to her centre-board. The Vesta was commanded by yachts’ whole spread of canvas was shaken out. Before
Captain Dayton, her crew consisting of twenty-six men. the first burst of cheering from the excited spectators had
Nn I ilin and Art.Ivbrnai l;'r>7.
—
Nature and Art, Febnmry 1, 1867.]

MUSIC AT HOME. 55
died away, the yachtsmen heard the still more congenial catastrophe so ably depicted by Mr. Dutton. On the even-
sound of the sea, hissing, rushing, and caressing their vessels ing of December 11th, the Fleetwing lost her weather
as they gathered way and cut through the foam-crested square-sail boom the day following her jib-boom was
waves of the Atlantic. Lying inshore, the Henrietta was .carried away, and she again lost it on the 16th. At 9 p>.m.
the last to catch the breeze, but quickly recovered this on the 19th, while she was running dead before the wind,
slight delay as she veered off from the land. For some she broached slightly to, when a huge wave broke on board
time the steamers and tugs escorted the yachts in proces- amidships. As her stern sunk in the trough of the sea, the
sion, the bands on board the former playing “ Auld Lang immense volume of water rushed aft washing- overboard
;
Syne.” The wind gradually rose and the yachts increased six of the eight men forming the watch in the cockpit.
their speed, the farewell cheering became fainter and fainter, The remaining two (the mate and the helmsman), as also the
and the last of the tugs, with a parting hurrah, turned two look-out men, stationed forward, escaped the awfully
homewards ; while, in responsive cheers, the crews of the sudden doom to which their ill-fated comrades were hurried.
yachts bade a temporary adieu to the United States. Day- During four hours the Fleetwing lay to, while those remain-
light rapidly declined, the sun sinking beneath the western ing on board fruitlessly endeavoured to discover the victims
horizon in a departing halo of crimson and gold and at ; among the waves which had engulfed them. Continuing-
nightfall the friends lost sight of each other until they her voyage with a diminished and naturally depressed crew,
again met in the harbour of Cowes. the Fleetwing eventually reached Cowes at 2 a.m. on
The Henrietta, showing a blue flag by day and a blue light December 26th thus arriving- some eight hours after the
;
at night, sailed along over the Atlantic course making the

;
winner.
Scilly Isles on December 24th, at 7.45 p.m., passing Hurst The Vesta, which showed a white flag and white light, had
Castle the next (Christmas) day, at 4 p.m., and arriving off remarkably favourable weather throughout her passage, and
Cowes at 5.40 p.m. the winner of this Ocean Derby, having
;
neither shipped a sea nor lost a rope. Taking a more
accomplished the voyage in the brief space of thirteen days, northerly course than her opponents, she escaped the gale
twenty-two hours, and forty-six minutes. which caused the Henrietta’ s long detention and the Fleet-
Notwithstanding her remarkably swift passage, the wing’s lamentable accident. Owing, however, to the devia-
Henrietta experienced the reverse of fair weather. She once tion of her compasses, she went considerably out of her true
lay to for ten hours in a gale, and in a subsequent calm of course, and had to bear up off the Scilly Isles, which she
ten hours’ duration she made but little .progress. After- sighted one hour earlier than the Hewietta, and to make good
wards the weather proved tolerably fine, until the Henrietta her lost ground. In addition to this, the pilot, whom she
reached the Scilly Isles, and then she encountered, in the picked up about ten miles off the Needles passage, mistook
British Channel, the fogs, mists, and gloomy weather so his course, and almost ran her ashore and wrecked her on
characteristic of our climate in the winter season. It was the rocks off St. Catherine’s ; by which error she was again
under this cheerless aspect that she reached the goal of unnecessarily delayed. She reached Cowes the last of the
victory (without the loss of a strand of rope or a shred of three yachts, arriving at 3.30 a.m. on December 26tli, one
canvas), to be greeted with such hearty, enthusiastic wel- hour and a half after the Fleetieing.
come as must have quickly dispelled from the minds of all The distances respectively Sailed in the race are stated to
on board any prejudicial notion that Englishmen’s feel- be as follows : Henrietta, 3, 040 miles ; Vesta, 3,069 miles ;
ings are influenced by the gloomy nature of their climate. and Fleetwing, 3,200. The respective maxinram and mini-
The Fleetwing showing a red flag by day and a red light mum daily distances sailed are, Henrietta, 280 and 113 miles;
at night, commenced her voyage under most unfavourable Vesta, 277 and 165 miles; Fleettving, 270 and 136 miles.
auspices, which eventually culminated in the appalling- Viz,
MUSIC AT HOME.
W
is
HEN Christmas is fairly over, and the. old
gentleman with the scythe and hour-glass
deposed in favour of that infant Hercules, the
|
J
house upside down” for the delectation of her
dancing friends without considerable inconvenience ;
she therefore chooses a quieter form of entertain-
New Year, Britannia forthwith inclines to festivity, ment, and perching Euterpe upon the grand piano-
and devotes herself to party-giving. Pantomimes forte, invites gentle and simple to worship the
and burlesques are very well in their way, but second Muse after their own fashion, that is to say,
the young people must be made jubilant at home. after the fashion of the day for to be unfashionable
;
Those who live hi Rome necessarily follow in the in music is to meet with looks of pitying wonder
wake of the genteel Romans ; and all who take from some of the brightest eyes in the world.
delight in that institution known as “ Society,” are Could society be furnished with statistics relating
called upon to do their best towards promoting what would probably transpire that
to musical parties, it
vulgar little boys, partial to sliding, term “ keeping during the last quarter of a century these enter-
the game alive.” Matrons who, with their daughters, tainments have increased a hundred-fold. There
sail intotwo or three salons per evening, or even are soirees musicales, where court beauties all a-blaze
one per week, are required to occasionally throw with diamonds, find themselves face to face with
open their own apartments ; and persons who operatic stars in the evening dress of private life for ;
partake of hospitality as represented by quadrille the loving and confiding Margherita does not always
bands, bon-bons, ices, and champagne, must offer wear her hair in long plaits, neither does Mephis-
similar delights in return. Festivity may not be topheles appear in scarlet hose when he sings his
hydra-headed, but it takes varied forms, and a (strictly speaking) fiendish serenade. There are
few remarks upon the comparatively mild delights also the musical parties of middle-class life, where
of a “ musical evening ” may not, perhaps, be con- volunteers take the place of hired mercenaries and ;
sidered out of place. Materfamilias having no where Mendelssohn’s First Violet pales before a
Harlequin’s wand at command, cannot “ turn the jewel of such exceeding brightness as the fashionable
5G MUSIC AT HOME. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
Eloribel’s last ballad.The strong-lunged and vulgar Brown’s place to tell his charming vis-cl-vis that
drones in the London beehive have likewise their Mr. Henry Smart wrote an exquisite song called
vocal and instrumental festivals, though invitations “ Hateful Spring,” with a difficult accompaniment
thereto are given verbally, and the descriptive term that Mr. J. L. Hatton’s “ Rainy Day” admits of no
“sing-song" is substituted for “soiree.” The con- compromise in the latter particular; or that Schubert
sumptive nightingale Violetta’s AIl fors e lui, float- and Mendelssohn composed songs which more than
ing from the marble halls of Belgravian squares into repay any one for the trouble of really studying
the midnight air, helps to prove music a resource them. He imparts no such information, but pro-
with the “ wealthy and curled darlings of the land;” duces “ Mopings at Daybreak,” and “ Midnight
the echoes of the latest specimen of Ethiopian Maunderings,” by some feebly twinkling, though
serenade!- pathos (or bathos) behind the drawing- fashionable star of the musical firmament, and
room blinds of Hai’ley, Gower, or staid Queen they are forthwith ordered of him. “ Counter
Anne Street, suggest that the divine art is held in Songs,” that is to say, compositions calculated to
equal esteem by the comfortably situated middle meet the views of those who have no deep feeling
classes ; and is it not recorded by a thousand whatever for music, and who are anxious to dis-
wandering minstrels that even the dwellers in the charge their individual obligation with the least
most sordid slums, have, in common with their possible trouble to themselves, must be in what are
betters an ear for music and a mind to cultivate it ? called, singularly enough, “ easy keys.” Five flats,
Poor Euterpe has sometimes little reason to or the same number of sharps, by way of signature,
admire the taste of either patrician or plebeian, are abominations in the eyes of young ladies ; and
and certainly deserves better treatment than she an accompaniment made up of anything but the
frequently experiences at the hands of that section simplest chords is almost inadmissible. The supply
of the community which may be designated the of any kind of trash is generally equal to the
happy medium between high and low. We are all demand ; and mediocrity, at the best, flourishes
at liberty to accept the dogma, “ a little knowledge exceedingly at soirees musicales.
is a dangerous thing,” with a certain degree of We hear much in the present day of “ missions,”
reserve. When, however, that “ little knowledge ” and it cannot surely be questioned that to the
is misapplied, in music especially, it conducts natural daughters in a family circle is chiefly confided the
taste on the downward road with alarming rapidity, honour of music as an art. The responsibility is un-
and promotes something more than a toleration of consciously accepted, and its importance decidedly
things known to be meretricious in every sense of undervalued. Young ladies possess, unknowingly,
the word. an immense power either to advance or retard the
The ladies, “heaven bless ’em !” as a jocose con- progress of true taste, and it is in home circles
temporary ecstatically observes, cannot, perhaps, that everything noble and beautiful in the world
be expected to dive deeply into the art of music of sweet sounds should be most eagerly sought after.
but even skimming over the surface after the most Fathers and brothers, as a rule, neither sing nor play
approved custom, they might surely gather up more the pianoforte, but they frequently listen, and their
precious waifs and strays than they do. Alittle taste must be influenced by what they constantly
counsel is needed, but is, unfortunately, seldom hear. There are cheering exceptions to every rule,
forthcoming. Of what artists themselves might do and the newest valse, vocal or instrumental, is not
for the advancement of music we shall hereafter the summit of every maiden’s ambition. While
speak ; but at present the maids of merry England all tacitly admit singing and pianoforte-playing as
are by no means indebted to the great body of duties owed to society and while, as we have
;
concert vocalists for information as to where the already said, the vast majority take the least possible
best songs, native and foreign, are to be found. trouble in rendering this suit and service, there are
Assuming a young lady with a soiree musicale in some who set about the work in an earnest and con-
view, and in search of a song how is she guided in
;
scientious manner. Why should a composer submit
her choice when face to face with a thousand sheets of to the indignities heaped upon him by his delightful
spoiled paper in a music-shop 1 She, very probably, young tyrants 1 Whyshould his accompaniments
could count all the song- writers she ever heard of be mercilessly “vamped,” as they oftentimes are,
on the fingers of one white hand ;
and as for and why should not his unfortunate unities be
estimating the worth of a ballad by looking at properly respected 1 Why, on the other hand,
it, that is impossible. She could not, to save her should his lilies be repainted, and his fine gold —
life, purse her rosy lips and softly whistle the —
the pride of his fancy be re-gilded, either by
melody, supposing propriety sanctioned such a pro- professionals or amateurs partial to ornamentation ;
ceeding ;
and as for the accompaniment, that is and why in any case should not his intentions
very often a sealed book at first sight. Aurora is be always religiously respected 1 Admirers of
far more likely to require of Brown, Jones, or music are plentiful as blackberries in October, but
Robinson behind the counter, “ a pretty song with devotees in private life do not abound. Those
an easy accompaniment,” than simply a “ good who take up music as a matter of course will con-
one,” without any such stipulation. Obliging at- descend to everything indicated above ; but true
tendant Brown understands the dainty maiden at lovers of the art will do nothing of the kind. They
once, and lias quires of something worse than give the composer credit for some kind of thought
mediocrity conveniently at hand. It is not assistant and mental power ; and first endeavouring to dis-
“
Nature anil Art, February 1, 1867.]

MUSIC AT HOME. 57
cover his meaning, next set about translating it in music is confided to public singers. VvLiat vocalists
a fair, candid, and painstaking spirit. The minority might do in the cause of the art they profess, and
who decline any vocal commonplace that happens to what they do, are two very different things. They
be fashionable, and turn their attention to better might, and should, lead popular taste into the proper
compositions, have their reward. Music is, to them, channels, and by their choice of songs inculcate a
a repose and a consolation, which time cannot love for compositions in which something like mind
weaken, and they have the satisfaction of knowing and thought exist. They might also creditably
that many of their friends rely upon their judg- employ themselves in fanning that divine spark, of
ment, and respect them for their integrity. which we see so little, but which, nevertheless,
At the generality of musical parties, vocal at- flickers through every page of good music and set
;
tractions are far more potent than instrumental and ;

examples worthy of themselves, as well as of in-
in common justice a protest may be made against calculable service to their fellows. The concert-
the very undignified jmsition which that friend of room gives the law to the drawing-room, and it is
man and woman, the pianoforte, is made to accept. the fault of the professional singers themselves, if
Pianoforte solos form part of the soiree scheme, but persons really interested in music are forced to
society sometimes very unmannerly in reference
is deplore this fact, in place of congratulating them-
to the unfortunate pianist. Conversation in the selves upon it. Artists are not ethereal beings,
private boxes of theatres is not the only sign by neither can they afford to postpone the making of
which the elite proclaim their contempt for the hay till the sun ceases to shine ; but it is certainly
iisages of common politeness for in ordinary way,
;
possible for them to do more for the art, and as
the commencement of a crack-brained fantasia or much for themselves, by following other rules than
a dreamy nocturne seems to quicken the loquacious those at present in force. We, as a great little
powers of every one in the room. One of the Abbe Corporal was pleased to observe, are “ a nation of
Liszt’s acrobatic transcriptions is allowed no better shopkeepers,” and not averse to the turning of
chance of making its mark than a delicate, fanciful, honest pence. This is an indisputable fact ; and as
and tender Impromptu of Chopin —
that angel of some lords of broad acres may be prevailed upon to
melancholy.” It is useless for the presiding genius sell their game to a shopkeeper, so it is just possible
at the instrument to pound away at octaves and a vocalist of the highest reputation may, for a con-
ar-peggios, for the odds are too great, and resignation sideration, be induced to affix his or her sign manual
becomes a virtue. The lady or gentleman friend of to a song or ballad decidedly not of the highest
the family may adopt the word forte for his oi- school of art. It might, perhaps, be too bold to
lier motto, but the remaining guests will not be assert that any form of “ refresher ” is ever offered
outdone, and take “ fortissimo ” for their watchword. by a publisher to a vocalist, and still bolder to affirm
“ Thanks,” and “ charming,” are the terms of that pecuniary compliments are paid by music-shop-
acknowledgment and admiration indulged in by keepers, and accepted by the stars of the musical
those who have not heard a note of the solo ; and hemisphere. The outer world may not say point-
the discomfited pianist emerges from this kind of blank that professional singers are paid by publishers
social purgatory with, possibly, a settled resolve to to force unmitigated trash down the public throat,
“ assist ” at musical parties no more. Forbearance but the outer world aforesaid is at perfect liberty
comes too late, and common consideration is entirely to put its own interpretation upon certain practices
at fault when active tongues stop at the last instead now too much in vogue.
of at the first chord of a pianoforte piece. The A sentimental ballad by the fair Gabrielle
vocalists have things their own way at musical Virginie, or by Floribel, makes a very palpable hit,
evenings, and those who undertake to do their best and forthwith commercial enterprise pricks up its
for Mendelssohn, Stephen Heller, or even Mr. ears. More sentimental ballads from the same
Brinley [Richards, may consider themselves fortunate “ eagle plumes ” follow in quick succession. They
if one or two in the assembly pay the slightest are put prominently forward in the music-shops,
attention to them. The intelligent “ wallflower ” and pertinaciously introduced, to the exclusion of
nearest the instrument is occasionally a consolation better compositions, in the concert-room. That the
to the pianist in these seasons of affliction, for it singer with whom they are identified may have lost
may happen that the masters and mistresses of his or her voice is a matter of no moment, so that
houses devoted to soirees prefer to indulge in “ big- he or she be still sufficiently popular to take these
talk” about big people, while a little lady or gentle- things from platform to platform in London and
man with a great soul is being sorely troubled the provinces, and “ make them go” at all hazards.
by garrulous dowagers, coquettish maidens, and Presently initials (not printed) appear upon the
plethoric old gentlemen, with no more love for title-pages, and what do the letters L. S. D. in
music than for butterfly-catching. Good example loving companionship mean 1 Why should the
does not always proceed from the quarter expected, singer’s name be written and the composer’s printed ?
and the habits of those who attend musical parties If merely a graceful recognition of the musician’s
must greatly change before the common justice genius be intended, there are others equally de-
above referred to, is rendered to the piano soloist. serving of the honour.
Those who in the course of a season make the Another unfortunate dispensation is that which
somewhat wearying round of concerts and matinees, makes some persons composers as well as vocalists,
cannot fail to perceive how greatly the dignity of and gives them the opportunity of trying to
58 CAMOENSIA MAXIMA (WELWITSCH). [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
popularize their own inventions. Instances both gorgeous pantomime. M. Emile Jonas’s Avant les
native and foreign might be quoted of this double Hoces, called by Mr. Gilbert a Beckett, the English
gift vested in one person, though, unhappily, in very librettist, Terrible Hymen is about as vapid and
,
unequal degrees. Herr Streichart is all very well j

meaningless a the English public were ever
trifle .as
when engaged in the cause of Mozart or Beethoven, called upon to tolerate. But two persons are con-
but when, on every possible occasion, he bursts into cerned in rendering M. Jonas’s inspirations Mdlle. :
songs of his own composing, Herr Streichart does Linas Martorelli plays Marie, a bride elect, and
mot advance civilization to the best of his ability. Signor Gustave Garcia, Pierre, the stronger vessel,
So, from one of the most popular English tenors, on the road to matrimony. Pierre is decidedly
his countrymen have a right to expect greater con- weak-minded, and Marie the reverse. The fun
solation than that to be derived from his personal (save the mark !) consists in a change of costume,
efforts in ballad-writing. Singers who are also and poor Signor Garcia is in vain called upon to
composers will naturally give their own songs be comical in his handsome companion’s drapery,
whenever and wherever they possibly can ; and this Pierre speaks broken English, and this does not
must be accepted as one influence at work against improve the situation. Signor Garcia sings, well,
the more frequent introduction of good music into and so does Mdlle. Martorelli but both are out of
;
the concert-rooms. place in Terrible Hymen, which, fortunately, takes

It will surely be admitted that the native school little more than half an hour in representation.
boasts of many young sopranos, whose names are Of the Forty charming Thieves we have nothing to
constantly seen in matinee programmes, but almost remark except to be taken prisoner would inevitably
invariably in connection with one or two songs, be to renounce the respectable world, and join their
which are made to last' for a season, and which are band. Mr. Tom Holder made his debut as an
repeated everywhere without the least apparent oratorio singer in Elijah, at the Sacred Harmonic
compunction. A fair-haired English Miss (all Society’s concert in the last month of the last year.
honour to her for despising the Mdlle. apostasy), Mr. Holder had a cold, and undertook the tenor
begins the season with vocal reflections on the part at a short notice ; but Mr. Holder made a dire
blessingswhich follow a “ Genial vernal shower mistake in undertaking the music at all. He will
continues in precisely the same strain, and carols have another opportunity of asserting his claims to
on to the end of the fashionable months, without be regarded as something more than a respectable
advancing any new theory whatever. All this is tenor when Mr. Mapleson re-opens his magnificent
infinitely monotonous, infinitely inartistic, and in- theatre ; but Mr. Holder has so much to learn that
finitely damaging to the interests of music. From his chances of distinction are very doubtful. That
the German sopranos we cannot get the lovely songs he has disappointed expectations,- is beyond doubt,
of Schubert and Mendelssohn, but are obliged to and that those expectations were raised upon totally
put up with vocal valses, none of them comparable false grounds is tolerably evident. The public tire
with Yenzano’s, which poor Madame Gassier sang of hearing a singer practise. The best thing for
so well. The best songs, either English or foreign, any one in need of such training is to go through
are unfortunately not those ordinarily met with at it in private, and avoid theatres or concert-rooms
concerts, and the complacency with which artists during the course.
pass over, neglect, and contemptuously ignore the At a concert given by Mr. Henry Leslie at St.
thousand good compositions within reach, and waste James’s Hall, on January 5th, Mr. Santley sang,
their talents on inferior songs, is to be sincerely for the first time, a sequel to the “ Stirrup Cup,”
deplored. by Signor Arditi. Sequels are seldom impressive,
A resume of recent musical events will, of or at all equal to the original songs, and “The Gift
be brief.
necessity, Mr. Alfred Mellon at Covent and the Giver ” is no exception whatever to the
Garden (for during the reign of Harlequin the old rule. On Saturday the 12th, a series of Promenade
name of the theatre may be spoken), has clearly Concerts was commenced at Her Majesty’s Theatre
proved that anything will do as a prelude to a — of which more anon.
CAMOENSIA MAXIMA (WELWITSCH).*

HE African continent, perhaps, of all the large richest in vegetable wonders and curiosities ; and
T continents,is, although unlike South America the well-known adage, “ ex Africa semper aliquid
and many parts of tropical Asia, covered with novum,” is, with the progress of exploration,' con-
dense forests of almost innumerable species, forming tinually being realized. Two very singular and
impenetrable masses of luxurious vegetation, the interesting plants have already been illustrated in
this work, viz., the Welwitschia mirdbilis and the
* Dr. Welwitscli, the celebrated African traveller, who Tree- Aloe and, to recall some other remarkable
collected this plant and from whose specimens our plate was
forms, the branched Palm ( Hyp/uene Thebaicd), the
taken, had promised to furnish us with an article upon it
but, unfortunately, he has been by indisposition prevented
Baobab (Adansonia diyitata), and the thick-fleshy -
from so doing. stemmed vines ( Vitis Bainesii and V. macrojms)
; ; ;;

MUSIC ABBOAD. 59
might be mentioned. Our plant, however, is not ornamental tree with fern-like leaves, is the typical
from the arid region characterized by the above- genus of the tribe. Camoensia of itself forms a
mentioned varieties of the vegetable kingdom, but subtribe with three leaflets on each stalk, a broad
from the high elevated forests of the Golungo Alto, upper petal, narrow distinct lower petals, and
in Angola, where, according to Dr. elwitsch, it W numerous ovules. The following is a popular de-
adorns the loftiest trees on the margins of the scription of the species represented on the plate. A
forests, causing the traveller to pause in amazement tall, smooth, climbing shrub, with drooping branches
before its grandeur. It may truly be called the leaves on stalks about two inches and a half long
queen of the Leguminosae or pea-flower family, of leaflets of the leaf almost destitute of stalks, about
which it is a member, outrivalling as it does in the four inches long and one inch and a half broad,
size and magnificence of its flowers all its relations margin uncut flowers in pendulous 6-12 flowered
;
from all parts of the world. Even in Australia, racemes, ten inches to a foot in length ; calyx,
where, in some districts, this family is the pre- or outer covering of the flower, six inches long,
vailing feature, and is, in proportion to the other with its segments turned backwards ; petals white,
families, more largely represented than in any bordered with gold, the upper one much larger
other region of the globe, only one, Clianthus than the others. The ripe pod is about the size of
Dampierii (now frequently seen in our green-houses), that of a broad bean, but with a thicker and harder
whose flowers are infinitely smaller, though more shell. The plant is reduced one half in the plate.
brilliantly coloured, can vie with this noble plant.' One other species only of the genus is known
It is to be sincerely hoped that an opportunity may also from tropical Africa, but nearer the equator,
soon occur of introducing it; and this difficulty and a very handsome plant, but falls into com-
once overcome, it would spread rapidly throughout parative insignificance by the side of its more showy
the country, for members of this family are, as a congener.
rule, easy of cultivation and propagation. Not long ago a coloured drawing of Camoensia
The position assigned to this genus in the family was shown at one of the South Kensington Hor-
by Bentham, and Hooker is in the Sophorese, dis- ticultural Society meetings, and a hope expressed
tinguished from the neighbouring tribes by having that ere longO it mighto be introduced to our con-
not more than ten uncombined stamens. The well- servatories it is to be desired that it may.
:
known Sophora Japonica of our gardens, a large W. H. F.
MUSIC ABROAD.
S the old gentleman, according to the fable, discovered have to adopt it, even against their inclination, if they
A very, very long ago, thanks to the donkey which he
could neither ride, drive, nor lead without exposing himself
would exercise their functions fairly and with advantage to
the cause of art. So much in answer to the assertion that
to the reproaches or incurring the raillery of the persons Der Maslcenball is not a first-class production. With
he met upon the . road, there is certainly no pleasing regard to its being composed by an Italian, those musical
everybody, or, to put it in a forcible, though somewhat patriots, who, on that account, object to its figuring in the
familiar form “ what is one man’s meat is another man’s
: German list of the Imperial Opera-house, forget, probably,
poison.” As a rule, when the Viennese have nothing else that, for the moment, Germany cannot point to any living
to do, they abuse the management of the Imperial Opera- operatic composer of any note. Granting, for the sake of
house for hot providing sufficient novelty. Now they are argument, that Herr Bi chard Wagner ever composed an
absolutely finding fault with it for supplying them with that opera worth hearing, even that gentleman’s warmest
commodity. Sig. Verdi’s Ballo in Maschera, or Masken- admirers will hardly deny that the last specimen of the kind
ball as it is entitled in the Viennese playbills, has been
,
from his pen was his Lohengrin. All that has followed it
produced at the Karnthnerthor Theater of Vienna, and a has been a series of abstruse experiments, without any
number of foolish individuals immediately raise a cry that vitality upon the stage. Yet, at the present date, Herr
an act of leze-majesty has been committed against German Bichard Wagner is the sole representative of German com-
art ; that a wrong has been inflicted on the “national” posers witb a reputation abroad. Whatever may be the
opera. For our own part, we certainly consider the failings and shortcomings in the more recent operas by
management acted very wisely in enriching its German Verdi and Gounod, these gentlemen are undoubtedly the
operatic repertory with a work which has everywhere proved most talented among existing operatic composers. It is not
so successful as Der Maslcenball. Whether that work simply to a love of what is foreign, to a mere caprice of
satisfies all that critics are justified in requiring', is a fashion, that they owe the position they have achieved in
question that must, probably, be answered in the negative. Germany. Of all the German operas produced during the
But in the domain of music, more, perhaps, than anywhere last twenty years, the most bigoted admirer of the country
else, novelty is indispensable. The number of really that gave birth to Mozart and to Beethoven, to Meyerbeer
classical operas, and of operas traditionally so called, is and to Mendelssohn, would be sorely puzzled to adduce a
very far from being large enough to constitute an entire single act equal, in melodic invention and dramatic effect,
repertory ;
the consequence is, that new works must be to the second or third act of Faust the fourth of II
added to the best among the old ones. When any par- Trovatore the third of La Truviata ; or the second of TJn
ticular period, like the present period in Germany, proves Ballo in Maschera. This may be mortifying- to German
unproductive in the way of operatic chefs-d’ ceuvre, that pride, but it is the truth. The reader must not, however,
which is relatively best must be picked out, and the public conclude, from such a state of things, that German com-
content themselves with it. This standard of merely posers have been, or are idle. On the contrary, they all
relative excellence is the only standard applicable to the burn with eagerness to achieve theatrical triumphs, and
German lyric stage at the present moment, and critics will I
their zeal in composing operas might be taken as an example
60 MUSIC ABROAD. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.
of industry even in an ant-hill. At its numerous “ Court ” sprang from the little importance attached to the words,
and “ Municipal ” theatres, or theatres supported by the and the absolute superiority attributed to the music.
reigning- sovereigns or the Corporation, respectively, What a different view is taken of the matter by the French.
Germany has, perhaps, produced, during the last twenty While in Italy, a libretto, after being once set to music,
years, five times as many new operas as France, and at becomes common property, it belongs, in France, to one
least as many as Italy in the same period. These said composer and one theatre. Germany follows in the foot-
German operas, on their first representation at Munich, or steps of France. The system of recomposing a libretto
Leipsic, or Darmstadt, or wherever they first beheld the which has already inspired a musician of any note, pos-
light of the lamps, are greeted, as a matter of course, with sesses, perhaps, as a set-off against great disadvantages,
shouts of applause by local musical patriots, and recom- only one advantage : it urges each new composer to ex-
mended by the local critics to the world at larg-e as great traordinary exertions. If he would achieve any success
and effective novelties, which cannot fail tb become with his second-hand subject, he must not simply equal, he
exceedingly and universally popular. Nearly all, however, must surpass, the first composer, and drive him entirely from
meet with a decidedly cold reception in the very first town the stage. Voltaire’s celebrated maxim, “ II farrt tuer
where the manager is bold enoug-h to try them. Even in quandon vole,” is particularly applicable in this case. Two
the fortunate locality where they were produced, they settings of the same text cannot well subsist side by side
survive their first triumph for but a strangely short time. upon the lyric stage. Rossini’s Barbiere di Seviglia drove
Despite the acquirements and skill, despite the labour away Paisiello’s once popular work; Donizetti’s Elisir
and enthusiasm that characterize these scores, the utmost threw Auber’s Philtre in the shade ;
while Donizetti’s
they achieve is a succes d’estime. The reason of this is, Burgomaster of Saardam had to yield to Lortzing’s Czaar
almost invariably, to be found in the want of talent und Zimmermann. In the above cases there is nothing to
either creative musical power generally, or dramatic power be said the victors have so completely excelled their pre-
—
;
more especially on the part of their composers. It is un- decessors, that no one, qirobably, would desire to restore the
doubtedly Yerdi’s talent, his energetic and well-defined latter to their original supremacy. But this is not always the
talent, which gives him the superiority over so many more case it sometimes happens that, because more modern, or
;
hig'hly accomplished German composers, who, as mere stronger in certain effects, one opera has crushed an older one,
musicians, must certainly be ranked above him. Let the loss of which cannot be contemplated without regret.
Verdi’s operas be for ever banished from the German stage, There have been two such instances lately Gounod’s Faust
;
provided modern Germany can fill rrp with something as has shelved that by Spohr, and Verdi’s Ballo in Ifascliera,
good, the void which would be thus created. Until it can do eclipsed Auber’s Gustave. At the Karnthnerthor Theater,
so, however, German art-bigots should cease reviling- those the former work was exceedingly well played and sung by
persons who take a pleasure in the Italian maestro’s pro- every one concerned. Mdme. Dustmann was exceedingly
ductions, in default of anything- better. Even in his most good in the part of Amalia Friiulein von Murska made a
;
careless works, Verdi always has some happy thoughts decided hit as the Page Oscar, especially in the third act
peculiar to himself; and his broad, but sure touches, fre- Herr Walter, as Count Richard, was no bad substitute for
queiddy invest the dramatic situation with a degree of Graziani, who played the part during the Italian season and ;
warmth and power, to which the most learned and most Herr Beck gave more than usual importance to the prominent
deeply calculated turns of modern German composers never part of Rene. An interesting- revival at the same theatre
attain. has been that of Boieldieu’s famous opera Le Petit Chaperon
With regard to Verdi’s Maslcenball, it may not be rouge, or, in German, Rothlcappchen. This opera is already
generally known that Scribe’s libretto, Gustave, ou le Bal half a century old. Very few modern opera-goers know
masque (on which Sig. Verdi’s book is founded), was much concerning it, and therefore a word or two about it
originally intended for Rossini, who was charmed with it. may not be unacceptable. Despite the title, the equivalent
Eventually, however, satiated with fame and tired of work, of our own Little Red Riding-hood, the plot has nothing in
he left Paris without having written a note of the music. common with the old fairy tale, save a distantly figurative
Scribe then offered the book to Auber, who at first thought relationship. Rothkiippchen is in the opera an innocent
the plot “ almost too dramatic.” As we all know, he peasant-girl, possessing in her red hood a sure talisman
afterwards composed on it one of his most graceful and against any attacks that unprincipled men may make against
popular scores. M. Veron, under whose management her. There is no actual wolf lying in wait for her, but a
Gustave was produced, says that it was nearly a .failure on bright specimen of the allegorical species, in the shape of a
the first night, owing to one trifling fact, on which no one certain Baron Rudolph, a practised and consistent 'roue.
had bestowed a thought. The characters, it appears, were For him, it is as easy a thing to conquer girls’ hearts as it is
properly dressed in the Roccoco costume of the time of for Red Riding-hood to be virtuous, seeing that he also pos-
Louis XV., a costume better adapted for light pieces than sesses a talisman, a ring so brilliant that it completely
for serious ones. The celebrated Mdlle. Mars had long before dazzles, bewilders, and overpowers every girl who beholds
refused to play tragic parts in this dress, because she knew, it. The Baron waits for Red Riding-hood in the forest, as
by sad experience, that any exhibition of emotion wasfollowed she is going- to visit an old hermit. But the power of the
by an avalanche of hair-powder, which infallibly provoked ring is utterly annihilated by the red hood. Wild with fury,
the mirth of the audience. The singers in Gustave soon the Baron hastens to reach the hermitage, where, disguised as
perceived that they dared not allow their feelings full scope. the Hermit, he again awaits the maiden. Her position is now
They were stiff and formal, instead of being warm and growing rather perilous, when the real Hermit enters ;
impassioned, and moved about under the constant dread recognizes in Red Riding-hood a long-lost niece of the
of being interrupted precisely in their best scenes by peals Baron’s, and unites her to Count Roger, who, clad as a
of laughter. This naturally lent an icy coldness to the shepherd, has already won her heart. The great simplicity
performance, and nearly ruined the opera. On the next night, of the plot, and the utterly needless infusion into it of the
hair-powder was banished from the Swedish court at least — superhuman element, are rather at variance with modern
on the French stage. taste that mongrel being- the Hermit is an especial nuisance
;
Many persons have expressed surprise that Verdi should the audience tolerate him, nay, perhaps, they rather admire
have chosen a subject already used as an operatic libretto. —
him, when he passes at the back of the stage like Zamiel
He has only followed a plan at one time exceedingly common from Der Freischutz turned virtuous— on every occasion that
in Italy. Indeed, less than a century ago, it was a regular vice threatens virtue but when, in the last act, he becomes
;
thing- for several composers to set the same book. There is personal and sentimental ; when he bewails his lot and ex-
not, for instance, a sing-le book written by Metastasio presses a fervent wish that he may speedily die, there is not,
which has not inspired half a dozen musicians. Many com- probably, a single person present who, if he could, would
posers, like Hesse, for example, even set the same libretto not see the worthy and venerable bore’s desire instantly
over and over again. The practice in question, which, gratified. Boieldieu expended several years of ceaseless
however, has become less common in Italy for a long labour upon Rothkappchen. But he cannot have regretted
period, though it has never been entirely discontinued, it, for the success of his work was as lasting as it was
; ; ;
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867. ]

MUSIC ABROAD. 61
triumphant. Still, everything- here below has an end, and various representations of it there, &c., was distributed
at last the magic hood began to be somewhat threadbare. g;ratis among the audience. The scenery was magnificently
At the present day, the music has lost the magical power it painted by Herren Gropius and Lechner, and the costumes
once exercised ;
for the Europe of 1867 it is, with the were models of refined taste. Advantage was, moreover,
exception of a few pieces, tame and a trifle wearying. It is taken of the great progress in the stage machinist’s art
a strange fact, however, that the first person to degrade Le to impart additional effect to the fairy portion of the story.
petit Chaperon rouge from the proud position it occupied on All persons concerned — leading artists, chorus-singers, and
the French stage was no other than Boieldieu himself, who, —
musicians exerted themselves to the utmost, and with its
with La Dame blanche, brought out seven years after Le three hundredth performance Die Zuuberflote may be said to
petit Chaperon, surpassed all that he had ever done before. have entered on a new career of success and popularity.
That a composer should, in his fiftieth year, produce a work There has been no lack of concerts, and very good concerts ;
superior to any he has previously given to the world, is but they do not call for any particular notice.
certainly a noticeable phenomenon. Rossini’s last opera, Der Freischutz is said to be a very great success at the
Guillaume Tell, is a most striking instance of this but ;
Theatre-Lyrique, Paris. It may not be generally known
then in Guillaume Tell Rossini’s style underwent a complete that this opera was first introduced to the Parisians in
transformation. In La Dame blanche, on the contrary, 1824, at the Odeon, and performed one hundred and forty-
Boieldieu remained perfectly true to himself and to his two times in the course of one year, though very nearly
style, only his fancy was richer, warmer, and more active proving a complete failure on the first night, in consequence
than it had been at any other epoch. His music, too, was, of a series of ludicrous blunders and unfortunate contretemps.
for the first time, characterized by its geniality, whereas it The first tenor was so hoarse as to provoke the continuous
had previously been distinguished simply for its good taste hilarity of the audience, and the Hermit sang so out of tune
and gracefulness. And to what was this remarkable change that the curtain had to be dropt before the opera was con-
due ? To the influence of Rossini, -whatever French critics cluded; then the mise-en-scene was something marvellous.
may say to the contrary notwithstanding. It was precisely In the first act, where, according to the French version, the
between 1818 and 1825 that France, after so long opposing fortunate marksman has to shoot a dove, the unlucky
and decrying Rossini, began to acknowledge his genius, carpenter charged with this part of the “business” let
which gradually but surely subjected France to its power ;
fall, instead of it, the eagle or vulture, which Max brings
and there is not the slightest doubt that Boieldieu, like less- down with the charmed bullet he obtains from Caspar. Our
gifted men, was unable to withstand the charm exercised by readers may imagine the hilarity of the audience at beholding,
the great Italian master. At the Kiirnthnerthor Theater, instead of a delicate dove, a misshapen feathered mass, more
Rotlilcappchen has not been a brilliant triumph. But then like a turkey-cock than ought else, fall upon the stage like a
it requires not only to be well sung it must be well acted
;
lump of lead. The manager, mad with passion, could hardly
also and, unfortunately, good acting- is something of which,
;
be restrained from assaulting the offending carpenter. At
as a rule, German operatic singers are supremely ignorant. length he was mollified, and told the man that the vulture
M. Hector Berlioz has been to Vienna to superintend the was not to appear till the scene between Max and Caspar,
production of his Damnation de Faust, which went off with and moreover, that it ought to flutter about a little before
great eclat. The chorus and orchestra, conducted by Herr sinking finally to the ground. Fully resolved to carry out
Herbeck, consisted of four hundred performers. Mdlle. these instructions to the very letter, the carpenter procured
Bettelheim was Margaret Herr Walter, Faust and Herr
; ;
a long piece of string, and fastening his plumed monstrosity
Meyerhofer, Mephistopheles. For the words in the Chorus to it, waited patiently above the stage, for Max to fire. At
of Demons, who employ in the original version a language last, the long-expected shot was heard, and the carpenter
known only to themselves and Beelzebub, others were slowly let down the vulture. He kept swaying it, however,
substituted belonging to an earthly, and, therefore, more so long to and fro, that Caspar, who has to stick one of the
prosaic idiom, as some apprehension was felt lest, if this
.
feathers in Max’s cap, could wait no more, but, jumping in
were not done, the risible faculties of the Viennese would be the air, seized the bird by the tail, and forcibly pulled it
exposed to an ordeal which they would have some difficulty towards him amid inextinguishable shouts of laughter from
in undergoing. A grand banquet was given by M. Berlioz all parts of the house. The hundred and forty-one represen-
previous to his departure. Another artistic celebrity, also, tations wT hich followed this first one must not be entirely at-
has lately visited the Austrian capital. We allude to attributedto enthusiasm forthe music. There were verymany
Fraulein Mary Krebs, whose playing has fairly taken persons who could never see, or rather hear, anything in it,
the Viennese by storm. and a certain celebrated composer even went so far as to
Perhaps there is, at the present day, no art institution in assert that all that was requisite to manufacture an opera
Europe, that is, in the whole world, where so much laudable of this kind, was to dip a camel’s-hair brush in ink, and
activity is to be found as at the Royal Opera-house, Berlin. then spurt the latter over ruled music paper. The “ Hunts-
The company is so strong, that not only is the management man’s Chorus ” became, nevertheless, for Paris, what the
enabled to give performances every evening, but we may with “Bridesmaid’s Chorus” was for Berlin; and we know it
truth affirm that every performance is at least worth drove Heine from that capital. In one French paper
hearing. As a specimen, let us take a week at hazard, and of the period there was an advertisement for a man-servant
we find that on the Monday there was Der Freischutz ; on who did mot whistle the “ Huntsman’s Chorus.” In 1835,
Tuesday and Sunday, L’Africaine on Wednesday, Rienzi; M. Crosnier produced Der Freischutz at the Opera Comique,
on Thursday, Stradella on Friday, Le Nozze di Figaro ; where it was played sixty successive nights. In 1855, it
and on Saturday, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with ‘was brought out by M. Perrin for the first time at the
Mendelsshon’s music. Among the artists engaged in these Theatre-Lyrique, and enjoyed a run of one hundred nights.
chefs-d’ oeuvre were Mesdames Lucca, Harriers- Wippern Among the novelties promised at this theatre may be
Fraulein Borner, Fi-ieb, Grim Herren Wachtel, Niemann,
;
mentioned Deborah, words by Plouvier, music by Demin
and Betz. The Berliners are proud of their Opera, and Duvivier ; Sardanapale, words by Beck, music by Joncieres ;
they have reason to be so. There has not been any positive Cardillac, words by Nuitter and Beaumont, music by
novelty in the repertory, but Mozart’s Zaubetfiote has been Dantresmes and Romdo et Julie, by Gounod.
;
played for the three hundredth time, -with “ entirely new The great attraction at the Italiens is still Mdlle.
scenery, dresses, and decorations,” to adopt the time-honoured Adelina Patti, who, luckily for M. Bagier, has recovered from
form of expression peculiar to London playbills. The per- her late indisposition, and resumed her parts in Regoletto
formance was regarded as a kind of art solemnity, and and L’Elisir d’Amore. Pacini’s Saffo has been revived for
everything done by the management to render it worthy of Mdlle. Lagrua, but it has not proved a success —Herr
the immortal music. Before the curtain went up, a paper Joachim has been playing with immense success. He is the
containing a mass of interesting information regarding the lion of the —
moment in all musical circles the rehearsals
opera, such as the names of all the artists who sang the princi- of DonCarlos are being actively continued at the Grand
pal parts at the Royal Opera-house, Berlin the dates of the ;
Opera, under the direction of Verdi himself.
62 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, February 1, 1867
REV I E WS.
The Autobiography of the late Sabno Salar, Esq. Com- hood,” and then returned him more than half dead, limp,
prising a Narrative of the Life, Personal Adventures, and faint, and bleeding to his native waters.
Death of a Tweed Salmon. Edited by a Fisherman. Day “ Although too weak to move, I retained my senses, and
and Son (Limited), London. heard the younger man say to his companion
“ Why, John, what made
‘
you throw that poor little dead
ROFUSELY as the subjects of salmon-fishing-, salmon- beast into the water again ? ’
P breeding, and salmon law have been written about for “

’Deed, was the reply, yon beastie’s just a smolt, an’
‘
‘
many years past, the ingenious author of the little work before there’s a fine for killing sick like.’
us has contrived to treat them in a novel and most attractive “ But you killed a parr just
‘
now ?
’
manner. His pages, which are clearly the result of sporting “ ‘

Ay.’
experience, careful study, and love of nature, profess to “ But you call this a parr
‘
’
?
record, from dictation, a salmon’s personal experiences from “ Deed, an’ it’s the fau’t of those
‘
who gie the same name
the egg to the fatal landing-net, and present the fish’s own to twa different fishes.’
views of the natural history of his race, and of the ways “
What do you mean ?
‘
’
and works of his friends and enemies. The waterside “ A’ mean that there’s a wee fish ye killed
‘
just noo cae’d
sketches are the most diverting things of the kind that have “ the parr,” an’ it’s a fish of itself, an’ has melt an’ roe as
come under our notice for many a day, and we need make no every ither fish has, an’ ye’ll find it in rivers an’ burns, an’
apology to the reader for extracting at length “ The abune waterfalls, an’ in mountain tarns, where no saumon
misadventure in search of Saumon ”
Baillie’s ‘
Roe.’ ever yet was seen or could get, an’ it’s streekit an’ barred
“I was lying listlessly one day in summer thirty feet all the same as the young sanmon-parr and it’s just the ;
beneath the surface, beyond the influence of the rapid confusion of ca’ing the twa by the ae name that’s raised a’
stream above, in the fathomless pool called The Pot, some the fash that’s made about the “ edentity,” as they ca’ it,
’
half-mile below Merton Bridge, a boat, kept in its place by of the parr with the young- saumon.
“ Then you believe that the parr 'is
1
two light oars, floating above me, when the fragments of a not the young of the
’
conversation reached my ears, which by degrees absorbed my salmon ?

“ If ye ca’ the young saumon the parr, the parr is the
attention. A river-keeper was detailing to his employer the ‘
circumstances connected with the capturing of a poacher. young saumon but there’s anither parr that has a better
;
“ Ay, sir,’ he said,

‘
but that saumon-roe is a sair
‘ right to the name, an’ it’s a pity that twa fish should be bund
to hae but ae name betwixt ”
temptation mony a guid mon has been beguiled by it. A’
;
them.’
ken ane, a baillie a’ took him mysel. ’
;
The Salmon’s way of accounting for his own rapid growth
“‘How came 'that ? Tell us all about it,’ was the must be the last of our quotations.
reply.
“ A’ was watching, mebbe six months syne, up in the
‘ “ I have heard wonder expressed that so small a fish as
Pavilion Water; the fish were thranging sair upon the the smoult should, in a few short months, increase from the
spawning-beds, and weel a’ kent they were thrang on the weight of three or four ounces to that of frequently twice
bank abune the Whirlies. A’ was hidden in the wee brae as many pounds. But where is the wonder ? My mother,
just abune the brig, and a’ hadna’ been there mebbe twa who was murdered on the spawning-beds before half her
hour, when a’ see "a mon come daintily alang. Looking eggs had been deposited, weighed twenty pounds ; the
carefully this way an’ that, an’ seeing naebody, he just out wi’ noble kipper, her companion, half as much again. What
the gaff, an’, screwing it on to the end of his walking-stick, would be the weight at more than two years old of a dog-,
stepped lightly into the water. It wouldna’ be mickle offspring of parents such sizes ? And was ever puppy fed
abune his knee, an’ the back fin o’ meir than ae great fish as we were fed? No!- Fortes creantur fortibus. Large
was plain to be seen on the bank before him. ’Deed, but he animals and large fishes produce large offspring, and when
wasted little time in selection, an’ varra little ceremony he I left the sea and again ascended my native Tweed in July,
treated him with. In a second the gaff was in a puir half- I weighed nearly seven pounds.”
spawned beastie, an’, lugging her ashore, he started aff het
foot towards Melrose. A’ up an’ after him an’ for a weighty
The portions of this now connected autobiography, which
appeared from time to time in the pages of “ Macmillan’s
mon he made mickle running. Wh
en he saw me he droppedf
Magazine,” are already familiar to a large circle of appre-

the fish, but no stopping to pick it up, a’ just kept on under
ciative readers, and we may safely predict that very general
the railway brig, down the meadows, by Ailwand Foot,
favour will attend their publication in a new form, and with
under Melrose Brig, an’ there, as he was creeping- up the
important additions.
steep bank, a’ grippit hold of him ahint ; a’ grippit hard, an’
he turned and said, “ Sandy, lad dinna grip sae hard ; ye’ll
!
rive ma breeks.” “Ay, Baillie,” said I, “is that you?

How cam’ ye to do it ? ” And he said quite solemn-like, The Light Blue. A Cambridge University Magazine. Yol.
“ Sandy ” he said, “ it was neether the need nor the greed,
!
II., No. 1. January, 1867. Cambridge, London, and
but joost the saumon-roe ! ” “ Ech, Baillie,” a’ said, “a’ Oxford. Rivingtons.
wadna’ have believed it of ye, but it will be dear saumon- ”
roe to ye.” And sae it proved, for he was fined five pund,
We are glad to see that the conductors of “Light Blue
” have successfully stemmed the perils of a first volume, and
and ither harm cam’ of it.’
have entered upon their second in high spirits a piece of good ;
On the very high authority of “ Salmo Salar ” the author fortune which many a well-considered attempt to found a
elects to differ here and there from naturalists and sports- University periodical has not attained. The contents of
men who have preceded him ; but without a trace of the Vol. II., No. 1, are varied and of promise. The political
asperity which, singularly enough, is sometimes adopted in paper at its head, entitled “ The Prospects of the Con-
their prolusions by followers of the gentle art. On the servative Party,” is judicious and carefully balanced.
vexed question, for instance, whether a parr is a salmon, or Mr. Swinburne’s poetical excesses are ably and temperately
in other words, “ when is a parr not a parr,” he is at treated, more in sorrow than in anger. A series of papers
utter variance with the legislature, which has endorsed the on University topics is well inaugurated by one on
opinion of many savans that the fishes are indentical. Cambridge classical honours, and the author has suf-
“ Salmo ” reports as follows, a conversation between two ficiently at heart the fame of his alma mater, and the future
anglers, one of whom had hooked him during his “ Smolt- of her sons, to pronounce that she might advantageously adopt
;;: — - ;
Nature and Art, February 1, 1867.] CAROLS AND VALENTINES. 63
portions of the Oxford system. look for good things We The Bcmiage Club Papers. Edited by Andrew Halliday.
from the writer of “ Walter Boothe,” a new serial story, Tinsley Brothers.
which, it strikes us, will develop interestingly. The Book
Notices, and the carefully edited University Chronicle, are This elegant production is creditable alike to the worthy
not the least valuable features of a magazine, whose Savages who have so well furnished forth its pages, and to
career, judging from the specimen under notice, will be the publisher who bore the charge of the adventure in his
watched with interest by Cambridge men both young and department, and thus enabled the Club to comfort speedily
old. and substantially under her bereavement, the widow of a
lamented comrade. The “ Savage Club,” so called after
Richard Savage, is an institution of which, though many have
A Century of Bonnets : Linas on the Burns’ CommemoroMon —
heard- few, but the initiated know much. It was perhaps —
as well that the ferocity indicated by its title should be
of 1859. The lhvnerul of Canning, and other Verses.
authoritatively disclaimed for the body by the clever editor
By Jacob Jones, author of “Rural Sonnets,” “Inez
as follows : —
de Castro,” “The Anglo-Polish Harp,” etc., etc. London: “ It has been recklessly stated in a respectable journal
Alfred W. Bennett, 1866. by a writer, who knowing nothing of us has either been
misled by false reports, or prompted to wild imaginings by
Mb. Jacob Jones is not afraid of challenging compari-
the terrors our name, that we are a set of ill-conditioned
sons. When
he enters the “ spot of all spots,” videlicet
malcontents, dwelling in the very centre of Bohemia that
the “Shrubbery at Southend,” he salutes it as wooing the
our Club is a sort of literary cave of Adullam, into which the
“fav’rite sons ” of contemplation, and proceeds to enumerate
disappointed and the discontented have retired to set up their
four of them, thus
backs at every thing that is good and noble and worthy to
“ Again the knoll : where Milton might have dream’ d. be admired. There could not be a greater mistake. No-
* # # # % thing could be further from the truth. The qualification for
Where Shakespeare might have drunk at Nature’s shrine admission to our Club is to be a working mam in literature
or art and a good fellow. If a candidate answer these require-
Or Collins nursed the ecstacy divine ,
Where first I sang, that Poland shall be free ‘

’ ments he will be cordially received, come whence he may.”
;
Where later, for her woes, I shed ‘

a tear.’
” The list of literary contributors comprises the well-known
names of T. Hood, T. W. Robertson, E. L. Blanchard, and a
The last lines allude to two Lyrics by Mr. Jones, as he host of other gentle savages less familiar to the public. Thirty
informs us in his notes. We are sorry to say that the illustrations of more than average merit include specimens
information was needed. We are sorry, also, to learn that his of Harrison Weir, Gustave Dore, George Cruikshank, Ernest
Iphigenia did not obtain the Newdigate at Oxford in 1819 : Griset, and the last work of Paul Gray, whose premature
it is quite equal to many successful prize poems. This death was a subject of the deepest regret to his friends.
first gush of youth has been fairly rivalled by later effusions ; The typography, the paper, and the binding are all excellent,
and if any of our readers happen to look into Mr. Jones’s and the success which has attended the “ Savage Club
present volume, they will probably not be disappointed. Papers,” has rendered any vaticination of ours superfluous.
CAROLS AND VALENTINES.

By H. W.
“ \ NDso now farewell to the mistletoe,” said the king of King. — “She
will find plenty of partners, we warrant.”
iX Twelfth-night. The paused
king' and then continued, more gravely .—
;
“ Nay, let it hang a little longer,” quoth the queen “'Dance-music is good; it tickles the brain, and sends the
“ there are some berries left which look tempting to the blood tingling down into the feet but it cannot touch the :
poor girls. You and I, indeed, have had enough of it. We heart like that solemn pastoral music which accompanied
have pleased the youngsters for a night, and now our reign the singing of our chorister boy, cousin Carol.” *
is over.” —
Queen. “ Played by our guest in the mask with V. H.
“ Stay,” said the king, “ we cannot lay aside our majesty on it. Charming, indeed But who was V. H. ? ”
till daylight. We
shall soon change the throne for the — !
King. “ This is the season of mumming, and we must

desk ; but, meanwhile, play out the play, and let us speak not pry under the mask too curiously. A. guest like V. H.,
of our princesses. Wassel, methought, filled the cup with moreover, is welcome in any season, with or without a name.
the grace of her Saxon godmother, the daughter of Hengist As for young Carol, his utterance was hardly smooth enough
she stood before me like a second Rowena, saying', Was- ‘
for singing. His younger brother, who will take his place
hail, my lord king and I pledged her, like a second
!
’
next Christmas, promises (we are told) to have a voice better
Vortigern, my kingdom for a kiss.” suited to music. Let us hope that the music may be as
Queen .
—
“ Wassel always makes herself at home at a good.” Again the king paused. “It is idle,” he resumed,
Christmas gathering, and I took care that her bowl should “to dream of fresh hollies, before the present ones have
not be too potent. Yet still those boisterous lads, Misrule grown stale but their time must now be limited.”
and Gambol, began to get unruly ; and so I made Wassel — ;
Queen. “ They will all be swept away on the 2nd of

empty her bowl and use it for snap-dragon. But I was quite February.”
—
sorry for poor Cis I mean for Princess Mince-pie.” King. —
“ True, Candlemas Day belongs to the full fes-
—
King. “ Surely she had dancing enough did not all the tivity. But when the day arrives, mind you do your sweep-
—
:
”
boys ask her for ? ing briskly. For look,’ saith Herrick in his Hesperides
1
Queen. — “All, except the one she had counted upon— the ‘
For look how many leaves there be
son good Mistress Horner.”
of
King. — “ We remember
Neglected there, maids, trust to me,
now. Neighbour Jack must it
So many goblins shall you see.’
learn that blushing in the corner will never win our sweetest
of princesses.” A warning as ‘ grimly ’
as Ma/rgaret’ s Ghost, and well suited
Queen. —
“ And then, in the middle of the dancing, that
round little rascal, Plum-pudding, got in her way, and threw * The speaker evidently alludes to the music of The
her over. I put her to bed in the sulks, poor thing. How- First Christmas Ca/rol, lately published by Robert Cocks &
ever, she will be all the readier for the dance another night.” Co. Ed.
64 OLLA PODEIDA. [Nature and Art, Pebruary 1, 1867.
to the grimly month, when the sky is lead, the air is fog,
‘
’
She leant on her elbow, —a vision was there,
and earth and water are mingled mud and ice. No holidays A child with a mitre of gold on his hair
then no pretty gifts for the maidens of the mistletoe ” A violet rochet this boy-bishop wore,
;
Queen. —
“ Please'to remember poor St. Valentine
!
And the light seemed to flow from the crozier he bore.

King. —
“ Avaunt Cannot womankind get through the
!
!
But over his rochet were cheeks full of smile,

shortest month of all without the help of a lazy Boinish
And under his mitre were eyes full of guile,
saint P”
Queen. — “Tour most gracious Majesty ” And roguish the laughter that mixed with his lay,
“ Awake for I bring thee first-fruits of the day
We
!
King “ Craves pardon of his queen. were wrong

!
in every way. We are bound to keep up our festive character;

’Tis a sigh,' — from the heart of a poet it came
—
;
And I charge thee to read, in St. Valentine’s name !”

and, moreover, we have ourselves received many a kindness
from the lord of filagreed note-paper. Indeed, a reminder —
The maiden arose, but the nearer she drew,
has already reached us.” The taller and fuller the bright vision grew
—
Queen. “ The present is so absurdly premature that I And the mitre was changed to a crown like a
;
king’s,
forget to be jealous.” And the rochet flew back into violet wings
King. —
“ There is no call for either frowns or laughter. And, quickening the air with the breath of desire,
;
We speak of designs that have been sent us for approval —

He leant on his sceptre a cresset of fire.
nothing- more. They were loaded with the perfumes that have
often refreshed us in the bills of the Lyceum or the Hay-
She knew him—her
master —
she knelt at his feet,
!
And faster, though softly, her white bosom beat

market there was no mistaking the breath of Bimmel.”*
Queen.
;
—
“ We presume that they are sentimental.”
And she gazed at the tablet he held in his hand,
King. —
“ From top to toe no figures of fun, we assure
:
But many may read it, yet few understand.
Oh, master of hearts, stoop again from above,
you. They closely resemble those dancing flowers of the And again let her read it by torchlight of Love !
pantomime, that have more than half supplanted the old

grotesques. The flowers are prettily drawn and coloured, Whenthe echoes of the queen’s harp had died away, the
and the French-looking fairies that wear them will please king spoke, and his voice was like the voice of the Sphinx of
many a love-lorn youth. For ourselves, however, we have Stodax-e :
— “We
see the maiden and her poet still sitting
never sent a sentimental valentine.” apart, after years of shilly-shallying and they are ex-
Queen. —
“ Would it offend your royal ear if I sang you changing valentines, not of honey but of gall.”
;
one of that description ?” Then the qxxeen said, laughing, “ Oh, false prophet for
—
!
King. “ By no means It will tune our head for the

!
they are sitting, happily united, under the long torch of
pillow.” hymeneal Cupid.”
So saying, the king leant backwards in his easy chair, King. —“ The words of your lay sounded familiar to me
while the queen bent over her harp, and sang the following but surely there should be more of them. The boy may
lay to a tune of the future : grow as serious as you please at the end, but he ought to
be a little more sportive at the beginning.”
THE BOY BISHOP. —
Queen. “Even so a few lines have been omitted.”
King. — ;
“ I begin to think I can guess who sent them.”

The maiden awoke in the silence of night,
For the depth of her chamber was gleaming with light :
' Queen. —“ I am sure I know who received them.”
The queen touched her secretaire, and a hidden drawer
sprang out of it and she drew forth a rose-coloured
;
* Bimmel’s Animated Flowers, drawn by J. Cheret, fox- envelope. She turned towards the king. Their eyes met,
specimens of which, as shown on the opposite page, we are and they both rose from their seats and each seemed to ;
indebted to Messrs. Bimmell. hear solemn music in the distance.
OLLA P ODRIDA.
On Water-Filters.-—-The sources of water-supply to house, in order to test its efficiency. This ought to be done
London are at present subject to so much defilement, and it by the filter-sellers.” The verdict is most favourable to
is likely to be so long before that evil is remedied, if ever it Spencer's magnetic carbide filter, but hardly so much as it
can be, that the study of the means of purifying drinking deserves. British Medical Journal.
—
water that is, pure water from a foul supply is a subject — ^n the time of the Bomans Algeria supplied the
of importance to all, and one on which medical men are very
likely to be called upon to advise. The current number of gourmets of the Empire with truffles and some other
the Popular Science Review contains an excellent article on gastronomic delicacies; at the present moment it serves
the subject, discriminating the various merits of the moulded amongst other things, as a valuable kitchen-garden for
cax-bon filter, Danchells animal carbon filter, Dahlke’s
France, and supplies the citizens of that empire with new
silicated carbon filter, and Spencer’s magnetic carbide filter.
peas, potatoes, and asparagus, before even the hottest
The article, which is well worth x-eading, is by Dr. Divers, part of the south of France can get les Primeurs, as early
a very able water-analyist and although we could have productions are called in Paris, ready for the market. The
;
wished for more definite conclusions, we can understand peas and asparagus of Algeria are not so fine as those of
that there is a great difficulty in speaking very positively as France, especially the latter, for which French growers are
to comparative merits. His final conclusion is, that
renowned. But in February, when French asparagus is
“ In the magnetic carbide filter of Spencer, the cistern- selling at the rate of twenty, thirty, and even forty shil-
lings per small bundle, that of Algeria can be had for less
filter of Danchell, and the silicated carbon filter, we may
possess with tolei-able certainty the means of freeing water
than a third of the money. In the third week of February
last year, Algerian potatoes were worth, in the central
from matters injurious to health. The uncertainty lies in
the fact that the particular filter used by a person may be market of Paris, half-a-crown a pound, when those pro-
imperfect as a mechanical filter, and may have become duced in France were twice that sum. At the same time,
inefficient as. a purifier from dissolved organic matters,
Algerian peas were selling in Paris at half-a-crown a pound,
unless, as regards the latter point, it be a Spencer’s filter,
shells included so that a good dish of petits pois at this
;
and have only been used with water of tolerable clearness season would have cost about two guineas. Algeria also
(such as that supplied to London), and not largely charged supplies France with a large quantity of oranges those of —
with carbonate of lime in solution. Hence arises the —
Blidah being very good lemons, citrons, pomegx-anates, and
dates, for all of which there is a considerable demand.
propriety of having a filter examined after being placed in a
I
'' •Mur ;iU f l Ali.iVoi'Uai'v J

— — r — —
BIZ Z AND HER FOES.

By Mbs. S. C. Hall.
IN THREE CHAPTERS. CHAPTER III.
years elapsed, had its own peculiarities. The Italian greyhounds

M "vri H
1 1 -
1
and the memory of “ Bizz I have mentioned were as opposite in temper, dis-
and her Foes ” faded into position, and intelligence, as if they had been of
the indistinct past. Cooks, separate and distinct species. Ninon was a grave,
in their varieties, came thoughtful, wise animal, gentle and attentive to
and went not many,
: every member of the family, but devoted to me,
though, for I generally and to me only. She would remain in the library
manage to obtain good without motion during the five or six hours that I
o servants, and mine have
. . r i- N 1
bent over my desk. No one could tempt her from
been fairly contented with my side; even if a strange cat looked in at the
a good service. But Mary’s shadow, as it were, window ; Ninon remembered I was not to be dis-
would sometimes arise, and I wondered how she turbed. Her eyes would flash fire at the cat and
had fared in her new country. I thought how de- her beautiful frame quiver with excitement but ;
lightful were her quaintness and oi’iginality, and she would neither stir nor bark, unless I whispered,
then remembered how I had never believed in her, “Up, and at her.” That was enough; at one
and how that of itself had always given me a bound she cleared the intervening cliaii', and once
painful sensation yet, with time, even that :
she charged so violently against a closed window,
memory grew dim The dear old Rosery too ! that the broken glass wounded her head severely.
became a thing of the past ; young artists, in But the moment I wiped my pen, or placed it in
poetry as well as painting, who had met and the little vase of water kept for the purpose, she
talked over their future, beneath the shadow of our knew that my morning’s work was done, and
grand old Mulberry, had grown into the glories of sprang about the room with manifest joy. She
a present time, winning and wealing laurels that welcomed my friends with stately approbation arid
will be ever green in history. The greyhounds as much cordiality as she considered it right to
mouldered beneath the turf over which they had bestow on any one except her mistress ; but she
bounded another race of cats sat on the stable
;
disliked strangers, and kept up a sort of undertoned
roof, and defied the garden walls another gene- ;
remonstrance at their being admitted. She was
ration of boys swarmed in Steward’s Grove, and very particular as to dress, sniffing at anything
rubbed their sticks against the garden rails. The that was old or shabby, and rejoicing if I put on
Rosery, alas was ours no longer ; we had found
! what was new and handsome. She always exa-
a home more fresh and tempting, twenty long miles mined herself in the cheval glass, and twinkled her
from London, having a lawn without blacks, and ears about, as if she desired to see whether they
trees and gardens fresh and fair, where, moreover, looked best in repose or in action. She would
there was abundant space for pets of all kinds literally smirk and smile at herself in the glass,
pets, that augmented in interest the longer they showing her teeth, that were even and perfect as a
were known. To many people a dog is but a dog, row of oriental pearls, with evident pleasure she
and a cat a cat :
—
would fetch and carry, “ die for the Queen,”
:
A primrose by tho river’s brim, and take nothing out of the left hand. When
A yellow primrose was to him, spoken to, she held her head on one side with
And it was nothing more !
an air of consideration, and comprehended with
I pity those who can neither observe nor analyze wonderful sagacity whatever instructions were given.
“ Ninon, I am going to be very busy,” sent her to
the various shades of animal character. 1 have
had dogs of all kinds; sometimes two or three born her place on the rug ;
—
and if I added, “ When I
of the same parents, fed in the same way, equally have done, we shall go for a walk or a drive,” she
caressed, and in like manner educated ; yet each would look up with a peculiarly pleased expression.
VOL. II. x. F
G6 BIZZ AND HER FOES. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
But the creature so perfectly understood my words, exactly alike, yet two were fools, and one was
that said “ drive,” though several hours had
if I wise.
elapsed, she would spring up when my task was Ninon was such a noble creature that she was
done, and, instead of rushing out, would wait never displeased at any amount of caresses
patiently until the brougham came round, to take j
bestowed on her relatives but she would not
;
her place in her own comer. If I had promised suffer them to accompany us in our road walk.
her “ a walk,” she would cry at the hall-door until —
The garden and the meadow yes, but not the—
it was opened, then leap and spring over the lawn, road she would look at me, and whine, and then
:
as —
greyhounds only can leap and spring, never drive them home. She knew as well as I did that
losing sight of the door out ofwhich she knew I they would spoil our walk, and that we could not
should come. enjoy anything, if we had to keep a perpetual
Folly and Jessy were lovely to look at, ex- watch on Folly’s and Jessy’s movements. There
quisitely formed, with large, luminous hazel eyes. was a time when Ninon did not object to their
Ninon was larger, of the colour which is called company in a drive; but once Jessy sprang out of
“blue:” she treated these two favourites with great the window, and, being much hurt, yelled and
kindness and consideration, but never with the screamed in my lap all the way home. I do not
respect she manifested for a dear wise dog named know what was Ninon’s opinion of the accident,
Bose in fact, she considered the two little grey-
: but she held down her head and looked ashamed
hounds what poor cook would have called “ born and distressed, and she never would take another
naturals.” They received strangers with the same drive with Jessy. If Jessy went in, she went
wild demonstrations of jov they bestowed on their out her resolution was made, and she adhered to
;
friends ; it was impossible to teach them any tricks, it.
or induce them to notice any sound — except the Besides being the most consistent of dogs, she
dinner-bell ; and I really think the only affection was so honest She would neither thieve, nor'
!
they felt was for chicken bones. The great suffer others to do so. It was grand fun to set her to
honest Cochin-China cock craned his long neck at watch the breakfast table. J essyand Folly, Mouton
Folly’s senseless gambols, and a grey bantam always and Mince (the latter, two unprincipled Angora
drove Jessy screaming away from the wire-work that cats) were ever on the qui vive to steal what they
protectedhim and his glossy wives from intrusion, could ; —

as to Jessy and Folly, they would devour
and through which that silly dog twenty times a anything from cats’ meat to candles. So sometimes
day would endeavour to poke her nose. Now these putting Ninon as sentry and “on honour,” I
three greyhounds lmd been educated and treated watched the proceedings from outside. First came
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.]
BIZZ AND HER FOES, 67
Ninon’s warning growl, which plainly meant, when he read under the shadow of our acacia trees,
“ take care ” then a rush on the part of dogs and Rose would sit for ten or more minutes with her
;
cats to pillage, and on Ninon’s to restrain ; then at nose on his knee looking at him with her small
last a regular melee. Ninon, who occupied the dark eyes, patient as Grizel, and then, in addition
middle of the table, rapidly dealing a snap here to her nose, would put up her paw, and wait again.
and a snarl there, succeeded pretty well in keeping When these arts failed to woo the notice she
off the cats, but the two greyhounds were generally coveted, shewould go behind him, place her two
too much for her so the fear that she might lose
;
paws on the back of the iron seat, and then in a
her temper, and inflict a severe bite on one of moment snatch off his hat, and gal lop with it to
them, always, sooner or later, brought me on to the the other end of the lawn. That was certain to
field to terminate the skirmish. commence the game of the romps she loved so well.
There was no doubt that Folly was a greater fool Rear, faithful Rose You ought to have passed
!
than Jessy, for Jessy was sly: the latter had your winters in the stable, with the horse you
sufficient intelligence to be very cunning, stealing understood, or with the wee pony, who was not
and hiding things she fancied, but Folly took what much bigger than your dear self the winter :
she desired, openly, and never hid even a bone. kennel did not sufficiently protect you against the
They all differed from grand old Rose, a fine cold, and you became rheumatic, and died before
noble dog, such a dog as you make an out-door your time but we had happy days and happy
;
companion and friend of, in the country who walks

;
rambles together, over Weybridge Common, and
with you, sympathizes with you, and does all but among the brushwood and hollows of St. George’s
talk, and gets through even a little of that, in its blithe and pleasant hill. Other rambles we had
own way. She was a cross between a retriever and nearer home, when the Italian greyhounds were
a Newfoundland. She would not kill rats herself, taken for “ change of air ” to the Chertsey meadows,
but she used to watch their haunts in the bank of where the ruins of the fine old abbey can be traced
the pond, and take a little, grubby, rat-catching beneath the waving grass, or up and about St.
terrier, whom she patronized (he was a visitor, not Anne’s Hill, where I looked out for the proud
an inmate), to the holes, show them to him one castle of Windsor, while you tried hard to catch a
after another, and leave him to do the dirty work hare, or even a rabbit; but they were too swift for
himself. She loved her master dearly, and always you, my own old Rose You grew fat and heavy
!
endeavoured by her gentle, dignified caresses to while you ought to have continued slim and
attract his attention but, like most of his sex, the
; genteel. I loved you for the sake of her who
knowledge of his power made him exercise it, and gave you to us, and because you were like the
68 BIZZ AND HEB FOES, [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
friend of mv childhood —black Charger. Charger Who had dared to hurt him 1 Charger and he
was once dreadfully mauled by the butcher of couldn’t have fought 1” “No, Charger was as
Garrick’s big clog' —
and we thought he must have smooth as satin.” The arrival of the smith, who
died. I considered myself very ill-used because my was also somewhat of a clog-doctor, solved the
mother would not let me
up with Charger
sit mystery he related the whole affair with eloquence
:
at night I cried myself to sleep, curled up like a

: and emphasis, and gave a sorry account of the state
cat in the window-seat, and fancied the sea moaned of Bull’s shoulder, which was supposed to have
in sympathy with my sorrow But Charger re-
! been broken. It was well known how the brute
covered, and then his steady friend and firm ally, had fallen upon poor Charger, so he had very little
—
Neptune, a colossal Newfoundland, as large and sympathy from our household and Neptune’s
;
in general as dreamy as a calf, a giant among dogs, health was drunk that night in the servants’ hall,
who seldom barked, or ran, or wagged his tail, but with I fear more than three times three, the senti-
lay “ i’ the sun in summer ” on the square stone ment which accompanied the toast being “ May —
that topped the steps leading to the hall-door, and we all have as true a friend when 'needed !”
in winter, on his own particular mat in front of the Generally speaking, if clogs are not sagacious, it
old clock in the hall :
—
this great dog entertained is to be attributed to a defective education. Those
the deepest feeling of revenge towards the dog who neglect to cultivate relations with the animal
that had so grievously ill-treated his friend, and kingdom lose a great deal of what assists to cheer
when poor Charger was able to limp up the hill of and invigorate life.
Garrick, which was more than a mile from Graigue While my

greyhounds and Rose, and a new
(the dear old home of my young days), Neptune importation, a lovely little white Lion dog of
accompanied him, cold and silent and stately as Malta (with various other beasts and birds), formed
ever, step by step with his lame friend, and they a very happy family at our country house, a puppy
soon discovered the great bull-dog, nodding in the was given to me with the assurance that it was a
sun before the butcher’s house. Charger was a beautiful Skye, a “ Blue” Skye. Her rough little
little in advance of Neptune, and when Bull saw jacket was decidedly “ foxy ” —
but my kind friend
him, he arose, and shook himself, and glared, persisted in the assurance that she was a “ Blue
advancing a step or two, as though to say, “ Oh, Skye,” all her relatives were “ Blue Skyes ” and
it is you, —
I will soon finish you, puppy.” But she could not fail to be a “ Blue Skye.”
;
Neptune stood between them, not suffering the It was hoping against fact. Every day I looked
bull-clog to touch his friend, and meeting the charge at her, I trusted in her turning
“ blue;’’ but no, the
like a hero. The bull-dog was fierce and active, but fox deepened, and the hair grew fast and furious,
independent of his great strength, Neptune’s throat hard, sticking-out hair. She certainly had beauti-
was protected by a brass collar, and his thick, ful eyes, and a lovely little round head, but it was
shaggy coat was a natural armour of defence. far nearer akin to a spaniel’s than to a Skye’s there :
The dogs fought like tigers, the bull-blood was had been a mesalliance somewhere. The short-
thoroughly heated, and the Newfoundland knew rounded nose told a history, and some went so far
the value of his weight and size yet the odds as to stigmatize my
“ blue” foxy Skye as a “ cur.”
;
would, for all that, have been dead against Nep, This was hard to bear, for I always prided myself
who was aged, while his antagonist was in his on the respectability and purity of my different
prime, but for the protecting collar. The bull-dog canine families. I know “curs” are wonderfully
held on to it like grim death, wondering, doubtless, intelligent and affectionate and I have sheltered
;
that his opponent was not strangled both dogs were : many a one. I once carried off a cur triumphantly
punished, but Neptune would have certainly closed from a conclave of boys who had broken its leg,
Bull’s fighting calendar, only that the fight was put and were debating whether it should be “ swum,”
an end to by the butcher and the smith, the — or “ danced “ swum” I am told means drowned,
butcher anxious for the safety of his dog, and Mr. and “danced,” hung. I carried it across Hyde
Bow, the smith, determined that Neptune should Park at three o’clock, until we (doggie and I) got
not be “ kilt intirely.” Charger, we heard, stood a hackney coach poor, little, dirty, screaming
:
calmly at a distance, looking on now he was not a : thing ! but when I laid it on my lap, and the
clog to do that when his friend was spilling his best creature looked up in my face, with such an ap-
blood in his cause, if it had not been previously pealing look, half agony and whole trust, I felt
arranged between them, that Charger should keep I could have carried half a dozen, if so rewarded.
out of the fray it was the more remarkable as
: I cured that cur, but did not keep it I found it a
:
Charger was generally pugnacious, hearing the sound good home at our milkman’s, and saw it frequently ;
of battle afar-off, and rushing into the combat in and to confess the truth, the “blue” “foxy” Skye
true Irish fashion, without waiting to investigate was a little like my long-ago cur of the “ Long
the question of rights or wrongs. Neptune must Water.” I had not made up my mind what to do
have had great influence to compel his remaining with her, when, with admirable sagacity, she placed
stationary. The dogs were away the entire day, herself She adopted our excellent gardener she
! :
and when Nep was discovered with unmistakable fixed her affections on him, before she had quite
marks of recent combat on his person, and Charger shed her first teeth, and from that day to the
in the very act of licking his wounds, the household present moment —
and she is a very old dog now
surged into great commotion. “ Where had he been ? Effie has never —
I really may say never— left
— —
: —— !
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.' BIZZ AND HER FOES, 69
him day or night. She had two strong passions sweet grass by starlight, moonlight, or in the
she loved her master, and hated donkeys. In the dark.”
middle of the darkest December night, if a donkey, The memory of those sweet and happy years has
for whom its gipsy master opened the gate, taken me away from my story.
trespassed on field or lawn, that dog would insist We had been at Firfield more than five years,
on her master’s uprising and going forth in the when, rather at an early hour for visitors (though
darkness to eject the intruder. With wonderful some, I confess, are wickedly inconsiderate, and
instinct she would lead the gardener to where poor think far less of breaking up a morning’s pen-work
Long-ears was enjoying a late supper, and, had her than they would of breaking a teacup), the servant
strength but equalled her inclination, she would brought a large card into the library, “ Mrs.
have torn him limb from limb. I must say the Smith ” engraved on it in large letters, amid a
gardener returned her devotion, for a more in- foliage of flourishes; there it was, “ Mrs. Smith,”
dulgent master never lived ; she grew handsome as plain Smith, without the aristocratic “ y.” The
she grew up, and her eyes were wonderful, so large name is by no means uncommon I heard the ;
and bright, but she never became “blue.” other day there are 407 “ Mrs. Smiths” in Brighton
We passed seven happy years in that sweet “ The lady told me to say,” observed the servant,
valley of the Thames, and there is not a shadow on with the becoming gravity of a well-bred domestic,
its memory Latterly, Efiie ceased to be annoyed
! who never evinces sympathy with, or for, anything
by the donkeys ; it so chanced that we did an act -— “the lady told me to say it was Mrs. Smith and
of kindness to a poor gipsy woman, who was a box.”
stabbed (she said accidentally) while sleeping in her “ Mrs. Smith and a box,” I repeated.
tent. The young surgeon of our village, with the “Yes, ma’am, that was the message.”
tenderness and benevolence that belonged to his Mrs. Smith, a well-developed female, handsomely
nature, saw her, and finding how much she required, dressed, but with a greater variety of colour in her
came to us to help her. When she recovered, and garments than I consider good taste, stood in the
before her party struck tents for other quarters, the middle of the drawing-room, a large square box
gipsy woman, with her little brown baby in her with a prominent brass handle on the top by her
arms, went round to those who had been kind to side.
her, to thank them. She looked at me, and I at her.
When she came to me, her great luminous eyes “Ah last, “don’t you
then,” she exclaimed at
filled with tears, she kissed my hand repeatedly know me, ma’am l Sure I’d know you among a
while kneeling at my feet, thousand. God for ever bless you, me lady.”
“The pretty lady,” she said, “won’t believe The unmitigated brogue, the soft voice, the
what the poor gipsy could tell her of the lines loving expression of those lai’ge grey eyes, told me
on this palm, which are so filmed over, hard who it was, though the form was so increased in
though some are, and crossed too, my pretty lady, size and portliness.
but filmed over, by God’s blessing. Sleep sweet on “Ah, you know me now, ma’am, and you’ll
your pillow, you and the good master, you have know her too, though she’s not in it, — that is, the
never lost hammer or nail, berry or brush, since you whole of her, —and quiet enough now, poor thing !
passed under your own oak-tree at the great gate, only she has her foes still, the moths and the
and you never shall, lady, nor pigeon or chick, duck cockroaches stir her up, though I’m watching them
or hen, no, not so much as a flower, my pretty constantly, bad luck to them !”
lady :and more, neither mare nor foal, nor even She pressed a spring, and clown went the front
the great ass with the mark of the Christian, my and sides of the box, and there sat Bizz within the
pretty madam, on its shoulders, will ever open your rim. of her potato-basket, stuffed, poor animal, not
gate again to taste the sweet grass so the little
: with sheep’s-heads, as of old, but with I know —
sharp dog and its big master may rest by moon- not what and certainly to great perfection the
! :
light, or starlight, or no light. Never again ! split remained above the white tooth, one eye —
for your gifts to the poor gipsy woman, and your was closed.
care, and the sunshine you brought into her poor “ Yes,” I said, “
if that open eye could but wink,
tent, have circled round your house, and you need it would indeed be Bizz to the life.”
never turn key or bolt door, while here you bide.” “ She had a long life, and a happy death ac-
Whenever that woman Myra Stanley and — — cording to her kind, ma’am,” said my ci-devant
her tribe visited the green lanes of Addlestone, cook, while turning the box into a better light,
she always paid me a visit, as one lady would to “ and might have been alive now, only she hated
another, not to tell fortunes or to beg, and certainly niecers worse than rats or cats. I told her often
not to steal, though I think my poultry-pens were they war her fellow crayshures, but she wouldn’t
a great temptation to her ; she always regarded mind me, and one day, she tried to take a bite out
them with, wistful looks, and then as she turned of a little nigger’s leg, who was stealing yams
away, invariably said —
“But you never lose if she’d had a tooth in her head to do it with, he’d
anything, and never will, never will, my pretty have remembered it— but, poor thing, she couldn’t
madam ” and we never did. After
! Myra Stanley’s hould her grip, and he slipped away, and grinned at
recovery Effie and her master rested in peace. No her, the little aggravating blackamoor And the !
“ donkey, mare, or foal ” attempted to “ crop the disappointment and the passion choked her ; but her
70 BIZZ AND HER FOES. [Nature aud Art, March 1, 1807.
time was up, and she died, as she had lived, in the with her accent 1 —
her warm, earnest heart was
cause of duty. Still she was, though only a dog, clinging to the associations of her early poverty and
off the same sod as myself, —
my mother's (the struggles, cherishing the very skin of that battered
heavens be her bed !) present to me, when she was old dog, and believing (God bless her for her
a fractious puppy, —
but I didn’t mind that, she — belief in human sympathy !) that I should enjoy
was made of the clay of the ould country me own ! seeing the glitter of her prosperity, and the moth-
faithful friend ! Often on the rowling sea, I eaten skin of what (and 1 mean no disrespect to
thought of this day, when I should let you see the Mr. Smith) she certainly loved best in the world.
—
remains of her, bring her to you, ma’am dear, to I was too bewildered for some minutes to ask
have a last look at her, just out of gratitude.” questions. At last I said, “We
should be happy to
She stooped to pat the dog’s head, and muttered see Mr. Smith, if at any time he visited the
the “ cushla macliree” over it so tenderly: it was neighbourhood,” and then I admired Bizz, and
strange to hear such a radiantly-dressed woman stroked her coat, and said how well the character of
speaking with such an accent it was all natural : the dog was preserved.
and right for “ Mary ” to have the brogue, but I “ Aye, sure, —
but she’d have grown out of your
cannot describe my perplexity when I looked at knowledge without the white tooth. I had that
“ Mrs. Smith,” while her words rolled out in the —
put in, and indeed Mr. Smith has great patience
richest Munster ! entirely on account” —
but at that moment Mrs.
“The rats,” she said, “ the villains, they found Smith caught sight of a juvenile cockroach, who
her out on the passage there’s nothing escapes them
;
was seated on the top of Bizz’s very shiny nose.
murderin’ ruffians of rats; one would think they “ There’s one of them ” she exclaimed, while !
had a spite against her I don’t know how they

;
making a plunge at the doomed insect, “to think of
got into the cabin, but they did, and many a long her foes keeping it up that way, when I may say
night have I sat on the box, with a soda-water- she has no body, and no breath. You used to say,
bottle in my stocking ready for them, (oh memory ma’am,” she added reproachfully, “ that Bizz made
of the ‘fair green of Ballynatrent ’) shouldn’t
! 1 foes by her bad temper :
”
—
sure, there’s no temper
have saved a hair of her, if I had not watched in her now, and they won’t let her alone !
over her day and night. If Avas a treat to look at Mrs Smith’s face ; there
“ I’ve been greatly blessed, ma’am I’m married might be a little assumption of dignity, yes, dignity
;
to as good a man, and as kind, as ever stepped in her manner, carried out by her handsome
in two shoes, an independent gentleman he is now, presence, but the happiness, the simple, womanly
and I’ve been able to send new vestments to the happiness of seeing a friend, and being able to open
priest of Ballynatrent, and had a tombstone put her full, national heart to one who she knew would
above my dear mother, that as long as a shamrock understand her, swept away all her pomposity.
springs from the soil will tell what she was, and Looking earnestly into my face, and laying her solid
where she is, for I never rested until she was prayed fingers, cased in mauve kid, on my arm, she said,
out * and 1 heard the end of him you knew about “ Ah, do now, ma’am, please to call me Mary, it
three years ago, come Candlemas. So I could come would sound so sweet there’s no one calls me that
!
back without fear or trembling, and my master noAv. Mr. Smith is so anxious to keep up my
longed for the old country.” dignity, he always calls me Mrs. S.”
There was a pause it was difficult to realize the
;
Then she told me about her servants, and Avhat
transformation. Mrs. Smith busied herself with her jewels cost, and dwelt loAungly and proudly on
crumbling camphor on the remnant of the dog’s her husband’s goodness and station ; yet I saAv she
tail which stuck out as usual “ quite natural,” had something to say about him that hung fire,
the voice, the sweet, loving eyes yes it was a something that she could not quite frame words to
reality, but not without romance.
!
I do believe she disclose, —

at last out it came, “ he hated, the —
had put on all the finery she possessed in the very Irish ! ” Yes, it Avas quite true, “ he hated them, he
exuberance of her desire to do me and herself always said he’d neAêr marry an Irishwoman; he
honour. Could that enlarged woman, glittering in told her so often.”
chains from which depended such “ knobby “ But,” I said, “ lie did marry an Irish-
nuggets” as it would have been dangerous to woman.”
show in a crowded thoroughfare, in bracelets of A
queer expression came over her face. “ He
astounding size, ear-rings of wreathed ferns, and in does not know it,” said Mrs. Smith.
that unmistakable Australian brooch, composed of “ Hot know it 1 ” I repeated.
a palm-tree, and a tuft of such foliage at its base, “ Sorra a bit,” Avas the reply.
as would have driven a botanist insane -could — I thought it perfectly unnecessary, yet I said,
that woman, surrounded by such an atmosphere of “ Oh Mary, you should havê told him.”
wealth, and looking so solidly happy, and fresh, It was her turn to repeat, and she did so.
iioav
and rich, have been the cook, who denied her “ Told him I shouted it at him, till I was a’most
!
country !It was more like a trick in a pantomime, black in the face, —
and plenty besides me did the
than the revival of old times. Yes, her position same: good-natured mothers, avIio wanted him for
was evidently changed, and why should I quarrel their own girls.”
“ And he did not believe ”
it !
* Out of Purgatory. “ He never heard it : he’s stone-deaf, hasn’t

; Natan? aa.l Ah
;:
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.] CEREMONIES OE THE GREEK CHURCH. 71
heard a sound Lord laid out for me, a pool’, ignorant, half heart-
man. He often says
these
—twenty
poor dear
he says, ‘I’d die
‘Mrs.
years,
S.,’ broken girl and it all came about through the
!
happy, if I could hear the sound of your sweet fever Mr. Smith had, and none of his servants
—
English tongue, only once’t,’ he says, the dear, would go near him but me. Day and night I tended
kind, innocent, good man.” him for weeks, and when he got to be himself again,
“ But you should have made it known to him he made me Mrs. Smith, and taught me to talk on
somehow.” my fingers which I can do now famous. I think
“ Don’t I knowthat 1 He should know it, but he’d die if he thought I was Irish, and I’m sure if
lie doesn’t, there’s neither a black nor a white lie he heard me spakeing this blessed minute, setting
in it. I tould him hard and fast, and often enough, a case lie was to the fore, he’d think it was French,
both before and since we were married. His or Italian, or German, I was talking, and where’s
cousin once’t, out of a spite to me, wrote it down the great odds 1 Sure, I hear it’s the fashion now,
on paper that I was Irish, and Mi'. Smith ordered for ladies and gentlemen to read, write, talk, and
him out of the house there and then ” ! spell, every language in life except their own, and
“ But could not you write it?” that’s the cause (as I hear) of all the bad English
She crimsoned over cheek and brow in a that do be in books. They’ll all have to be sent
moment. to Ireland, I’m thinking, to learn raid English ;
“ Oh, ma’am, sure if you’ll remember you know that is, the people that do be making the books, I
I couldn’t. Sure you might think of the milk- —
mean, and sure,” she added with one of her sly
tallies, and the marks I made on the wall of the smiles, “ I wouldn’t wonder if you made one out
larder against the butcher’s book. Sure, if I of
”
could write, wouldn’t you have got a letter to tell ‘
Bizz and her Foes.’
you about poor Bizz ? and the good fortune the
CEREMONIES OF THE GREEK CHURCH.

N' most ancient part of the Kremlin at
the orthodox communion, and at the baptism of every
I Moscow
is an old sacristy, and there is kept orthodox Russian subject.
the original vessel which brought the chrism or ,
The ceremony of baptism, like all the ceremonies
anointing oil, from Constantinople, and which, by of the Greek Church, is very beautiful, and ought
the orthodox of the Greek Church, was believed to to impress those who go through its performance
contain a portion of the precious ointment used by with a sense of its solemnity. The godfathers and
Mary Magdalene. This vessel is a copper bottle or godmothers proceed with the child to the church,
vase, silvered over and ornamented with mother-of- and are met at the door by the priest: he gives the
pearl. child the sign of the cross on the forehead, and pro-
In the same sacristy there are two large silver nounces the benediction, saying, “The Lord preserve
boilers and a third of larger dimensions, which thy going out, and thy coming in ” The sponsors
!
were a present from the Empress Catherine ; in present four lighted candles, which the priest puts
these there is, during Lent every year, made, or upon the font ; he then consecrates the water, by
consecrated, a quantity of oil as a chrism this is : dipping the cross into it ; he then, after the use of
done as a ceremony of great solemnity by the incense, leads the sponsors, with candles in their
Metropolitan of Moscow, assisted by his clergy. hands, in a procession round the font ; having cir-
The chrism is compounded not of oil alone, but of cumambulated the font three times, the sponsors
about thirty different ingredients— oil, and essential give the name of the child in writing the priest
oils, white wine, gums, balsams, and spices,— and to attaches the name to one of the images of the
the whole are added a few drops from the “alabaster,” church, and laying it on the breast of the child, asks
which is the title of the bottle of chrism from “whether the child believes in God the Father, Son,
Constantinople. When the whole is duly prepared, and Holy Ghost ? ” The answer “ yes,” is given
and consecrated by the ancient forms and ceremonies, three times, and the sponsors then turn their backs
a few drops from the mass are again put into the to the font, as a sign of their aversion to the next
ancient “alabaster,” and by this practice, sixteen three questions, which are, “Whether the child
silver bottles, similar to the ancient one, are filled, renounces the devil 1 Whether he renounces his
and the original stock of precious ointment is duly angels 1 Whether he renounces his works ? ” They
preserved. This sacred oil is called “ Mir,” and have to answer to each question, “ I renounce,”
these bottles are sent to the different bishops of and spit three times upon the ground, in token of
Russia. It is used for the following ceremonies malediction. On turning again to the font, they
the Emperor at his coronation is anointed with it are asked by the priest “ Whether they promise to
it is used at the consecration of all churches of the bring up the child in the true Greek religion 1”
72 CEREMONIES OE THE GREEK CHURCH. [Nature and Ait, Mar oh 1, 1867.
A satisfactory reply to this being given, the priest with gold crosses, and a copy of the four Gospels is
puts his hand upon the child, and blows three times, placed upon it. The bride and bridegroom took up
.saying, “ Get out of the child, thou unclean spirit, a position in front of this, with lighted tapers in their
and make way for the Holy Ghost.” After this he hands, and the officiating priest asked, “Alexander
cuts off four small locks of hair from four points, Alexandrowitch, hast thou a good and unrestrained
forming a cross on the head ; these locks he wraps Avill, and firm intention to take unto thee to Avife
tip in wax, and throws into the font ; the priest this woman, Marie Feodorowna, Avhom thou seest
takes the child, naked, and plunges it into the water here before thee 1 ” The CzareAvitcli replied, “ I
three times, uttering the words of the Sacrament, have, most reverend sir.” The priest again asked,
“ I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of “ Hast thou not promised any other woman V’ And
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Complete im- the answer was, “ I have not promised another.”
mersion is the practice of the Greek Church, so a The same questions were put to the bride, after
pretty large font is necessary. which came the benediction then the deacon said
;
The ceremony of baptism contains two sacra- the Ectinia, into which were introduced the following
ments the second is called the “Baptismal Unction.”
: words for the occasion “For the servants in God,
:
This is done with the sacred oil, which is prepared in the Czarewitch, Grand Duke Hereditary orthodox,
the sacristy of the Kremlin, and which is believed to Alexander Alexandrowitch, and the Grand Duchess
—
contain a portion however minute of the “costly — orthodox, Marie FeodoroAvna, now joined together
pound of ointment.” The child receives the Holy in holy Avedlock, and for their salvation.” number A
Ghost through the virtue of this baptismal unction. of prayers Avere then repeated, and tAvo crowns Avere
As this ceremony is always performed at baptism, brought on a tray ; the priest took one, and, making
it renders confirmation unnecessary in the Greek the sign of the cross with it over the head of the
Church. The priest anoints the mouth, eyes, ears, bridegroom, said, “The servant of God, Alexander
hands, and feet, as well as the back and breast. The Alexandrowitch, is crowned for the handmaid of
mouth is anointed, so that it may only speak God, Marie FeodoroAvna, in the name of the Father,
that which should be spoken by a child of God and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” The
the eyes, that they may only see good ; the ears, Czarewitch kissed the crown, and one of the Gargons
that nothing may pass through them to the mind des Noces held it over the head of the bridegroom
but what is pure the hands, that they may do no
;
during the remainder of the ceremony. similar A
wrong and the feet, that they may walk in the
;
service was performed with the other crown and
way of life. He then puts a grain of salt in the the bride, and it Avas also held over her head till
child’s mouth, and in token of the hopes of purity, the end. A
benediction was then given “ O Lord
—
he dresses it with a clean shirt, and repeats the our God crown them in like manner Avith glory
!
Avords, “ Thou art as clean, and as clear from and honour.” The croAvns in this rite have nothing
original sin, as thy shii’t.” A small cross of lead, to do Avith the rank of the couple crowns are used
silvei', or gold —according to the means of the at every marriage ceremony.
;
There Avas a slight

parents — is put round the infant’s neck : this is difference in the tAvo crowns, which may be worth
carefully preserved, becaiise the rites of Christian noticing that held over the bridegroom had on
;
burial are denied to any avIio die Avithout them. it the figure of Christ, Avhile that over the bride
”
Sponsors are considered so nearly related, that they had a figure of the Virgin. The “ Prokimenon
are not permitted to marry. noAV follows, —
“ Thou hast put crowns of precious
Marriage is also a very elaborate ceremony, and stones upon their heads ; they asked life of Thee,
its celebration occupies a considerable length of time. and Thou gavest them a long life for Thou shalt;
Some details of the late marriage of the Czarewitch give them the blessing of eternal life ; Thou shalt
Avill convey a good idea of forms gone through, for make them glad with the joy of thy countenance.”
they are exactly the same as those of the poorest Then comes the “ Epistle of the Office,” Eph. v.
individuals. 20-33. The priest then reads the Gospel ; that
The Metropolitan and principal clergy of St. chosen was the second chapter of St. John’s gospel,
Petersburg came to the door of the chapel, there which relates the marriage in Cana, ending Avith
to receive the marriage procession. One priest held the 11th verse. An anthem, “Glory be. to Thee,
a candlestick with three tapers, Avliich was so ar- 0 Lord, Glory be to Thee,” is sung before and
ranged that they produced only one flame this was ;
after the Gospel. The “ Common Cup,” containing
in token of the Three in One another held a basin
;
wine, is now given by the priest to the bride and
of holy water, and a bay-leaf to sprinkle it Avitli bridegroom, who each drink out of it three times
and the Metropolitan held in his hand a golden in remembrance of the marriage in Cana.* Up to
cross about ten or tAvelve inches in length. The this point of the ceremony the contract may be
bride and bridegroom Avere sprinkled Avith the holy broken off, but uoav comes the most important part
water; they Avere then blessed by the Metropolitan, of the rite, which makes the marriage indissoluble,
and each kissed the cross in his hand. for the Greek Church never permits of divorce.
As a woman cannot enter within the enclosed The priest covers his right hand Avith his robe, and
place of the altar, a temporary altar is put up on on it the bride and bridegroom place their right
the outside of the screen, for the ceremony of
marriage to be performed. This is nothing but a * In the Jewish form of marriage a cup of Avine is drunk
small reading-desk, covered with cloth embroidered by the bride and bridegroom.
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.] CEREMONIES OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 73
hands, and with the crowns still over their heads, relate, in your books of travels, that we believe no soul can
the priest slowly leads them three times round the go to heaven without it. Now, I wish you to understand
what it really is and to explain to your countrymen, upon
;
altar. This part of the ceremony is understood to my authority, that it is nothing more than a declaration or
typify that the pair are thus to walk together
|
certificate concerning the death of the deceased.’ Then

through life, and the Divine Presence along with laughing, he added, I suppose you commit all this to paper
‘
:
them, which is here typified by the priest, as the and some future day, perhaps, I shall see an engraving of
this ceremony, with an old archbishop giving a dead man
representative of God ; the mystical three times is
his passport to St. Peter.’
symbolical of the Holy Trinity. While this is “ The lid of the coffin being now removed, the body of
doing, the choir are singing, “ Exalt, O Isaiah, for the prince was exposed to view and all the relatives, the
;
a virgin has conceived and brought forth a son, servants, the slaves, and the other attendants, began the
Emmanuel, God and man ; the East is His name ; Ululation, accoi-ding- to the custom of the country. Each
person, walking round the corpse, made prostration before
Him do we magnify, and call the Virgin blessed.” it, and kissed the lips of the deceased. The venerable
The two ai’e now bound as one in the ties of holy figure of an old slave presented a most affecting spectacle.
matrimony. The priest takes off the bridegroom’s He threw himself flat upon the pavement, with a desperate
crown, saying, “ Be thou exalted, O bridegroom, degree of violence, and, being quite stunned by the blow,
like unto Abraham, and blessed like unto Isaac, and remained a few seconds insensible ; afterwards, his loud
lamentations were heard, and we saw him tearing off and
multiplied like unto Jacob. Walk in peace, and scattering his white hairs. He had, according to the custom
do all according to the commandments of God.” in Russia, received his liberty upon the death of the Prince,
Taking the bride’s crown he says, “And thou, 0 but choosing rather to consign himself for the remainder of
bride, be thou exalted like unto Sarah, and rejoice his days to a convent, he retired for ever from the world,
saying, Since his dear old master was dead, there was no
‘
like unto Rebecca, and multiply like unto Rachel ;

one living who cared for him.’
rejoice with thy husband, and keep the ways of “A plate was handed about, containing boiled rice and
the law ; and the blessing of God be with thee.” A raisins —a ceremony we are unable to explain. The face of
couple of prayers then follow, after which the couple the deceased was then covered with linen, and the Archbishop
kiss each other three times, and the ceremony may poured consecrated oil, and threw a white powder, probably
lime, several times upon it, pronouncing some words in the
be said to be ended. Russian language these he afterwards repeated aloud in
;
In the Greek Church some of the clergy are Latin, Dust thou art ; and unto dust thou art returned.’
!
married and some are monks, but a monk cannot The lid of the coffin was then replaced, and after a requiem,
celebrate the ceremony of marriage it is only a
‘
Sweet as from blest voices,’ a procession began from the
;
church to a convent in the vicinity of the city, where the
married priest who can do so. For this reason the
body was to be interred. There was nothing solemn in this
Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, who is a monk, part of the ceremony. It began by the slaves of the de-
could not officiate. ceased on foot, all of whom were in mourning. After the
Dr. Clarke, in his “ Travels,” gives such a graphic slaves followed the priests, bearing tapers then was borne ;
account of the funeral of Prince Galitzin, that it the body, on a common drosky, the whip of the driver
being bound with crape afterwards proceeded a line of
may be taken as a fair description of the burial ;
carriages, of the miserable order before described. But,

ceremonies. instead of the slow movement usually characteristic of
funeral processions, the priest and the people ran as fast as
“ On the 28tli of May, we again saw Plato * in great
they could, and the body was jolted along in a very in-
pomp, at the burial of Prince Galitzin, in Moscow. This decorous manner. Far behind the last rumbling vehicle
ceremony was performed in a small church near the were seen persons running, quite out of breath, and unable
Mareschal Bridge. The body was laid in a superb crimson
coffin, richly embossed with silver, and placed beneath the
to keep up with their companions.” —
Clarice's Travels,
vol. i.,c. ix.
dome of the church. Upon a throne, raised at the head of
the coffin, stood the Archbishop, who read the service. On In the present day, funeral processions are
each side were ranged the inferior clergy, clothed, as usual,
managed with more decorum a special vehicle is
in the most costly robes, bearing in their hands wax tapers ;
and burning incense. This ceremony began at ten in the used for the coffin a decorated pall is thrown
;
morning. Having- obtained admission to the church, we over it; and every person in the street takes off
placed ourselves among the spectators, immediately behind his hat to it as it passes.
his Eminence. The chanting had a solemn and sublime Such are the three great events of life birth, —
effect it seemed as if choristers were placed in the upper
;
part of the dome, and this perhaps was really the case. The
marriage, and death —
and the ceremonies of the
words uttered were only a repetition of Lord, have mercy ‘ Greek Church connected with them.
upon us or, in Russian,
!
’
Ghospodi pomilui
‘
When the !
’
The illustration represents the ancient vase which
Archbishop turned to give his benediction to all the people, brought the “ chrism ” from Constantinople, and the
he observed us, and added, in Latin, Pax vobiscum ‘
to ’
figure is that of Philarete, the Metropolitan of

!
the astonishment of the Russians who, not comprehending

;
the new words introduced into the service, muttered among- Moscow. There are four Metropolitans in Russia,
themselves. Incense was then offered to the pictures and and the oldest is, by right of seniority, the spiritual
to the people and, this ceremony ended, the Archbishop
; head of the Church. Philarete at present enjoys
read aloud a declaration, purporting that the deceased had that honour he is 83 years of age although weak
; ;
died in the true faith, that he had repented of his errors,

in body from age, yet he is in the perfect use of his
and that his sins were absolved. Then turning to us, as
the paper was placed in the coffin, he said again in Latin, mind, and has a very bright, genial expression of
‘
This is what all you foreigners call the passport ; and you face. The Prince of Wales, during his late sojourn
at Moscow, visited this venerable prelate, and the
* Plato was the name of the Metropolitan of Moscow at
dress shown in the illustration was that worn on
that time, in 1800. the occasion.
74 A GOSSIP ABOUT AMBER. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1807.
A GOSSIP ABOUT AMBER,

By B. Lambert.
MBER, one of the most beautiful fossil pro- sharp knife; and becomes negatively electrical by
A of a bygone age, possesses, apart
ductions
from its intrinsic value as an art material, the
friction. Its chemical formula is C 40 H32 0 4
distillation it yields succinic acid, that being its

By .
greatest possible interest to the student in the leading characteristic. It fuses in air at 550° Fahr.,
sciences of Entomology, Botany, and Geology. and does not drop, like copal under similar circum-
How was it formed, and whence does it come 1 stances, but burns with a yellow flame, leaving
are questions which were debated in days long a shiny bituminous mass, which is used in the arts
anterior to the Christian era. Its translucent aspect as a basis for varnishes.
and wealth of glowing colour have been utilized by Amber was held in high estimation in periods of
the bards of every clime in the construction of the most remote antiquity, Its electrical property
their most charming imagery, whilst on its electric was first commented upon by Thales of Miletus, who
characteristic there hasbeen erected a goodly super- flourished 600 years B.C. The substance -was on
structure of all-pervading superstition, the trace of that account called by the Greeks electron, a name
which may be found in the folk-lore of the Western which was, however, equally applied to an amalgam
nations. composed of gold and silver ; and it is from electron
The geographical distribution of amber would that our word electricity is derived.
appear to be tolerably extensive, but the largest Nearly all the Greek and Latin authors have
quantity is found on the southern shore of the something to say about electron. By some it was
Baltic, between Mem el and Konigsberg, where it supposed to be produced by the rays of the setting
is cast up by the action of the ground swell after sun on the surface of the earth, resulting in an
northerly gales. Under similar circumstances it is “ unctuous sweat,” which was washed off by the sea
found on the coast of the Adriatic, on the Sicilian and further elaborated in its depths. By others,
seaboard, and on the beach in our own counties of that a piece of water, called Lake Electron, was
Norfolk and Suffolk. Mining for amber in beds of situated in the gardens of the Hesperides, and that
brown lignite is carried, on in Prussia with varying amber fell into the water from the poplar trees by
success, and good pieces, both as regards size and which its banks were lined; and not a few believed,
quality, are occasionally found in excavations all with Sophocles, that amber was the tears shed for
over Europe, che British islands not excepted. Still, Meleager by the birds called Meleagrides, in some
amber continues to be, par excellence, the gem of far eastern country. The prevailing idea, however,
the sea, by which it is yielded up in sparing in the first century of the Christian era, was, that
manner, and then only when in tempestuous mood. amber was a vegetable product, distilled from trees
The origin of amber has been for ages a fertile at one time indigenous to the places where the
subject of discussion ; and theories of the wildest substance was found, — an idea which is elegantly
—
character- but on that account not the less beauti- elaborated by Ovid in his notice of the death of
ful as imaginative conceptions —have been started to Phaeton. The story is, that the sisters of Phaeton
account for the singularity of the phenomena by being overcome with sorrow for his untimely death,
which it is surrounded. There can be no doubt, wandered over the surface of the earth, loudly
however, that amber is the indurated resin of lamenting their bereavement. Having reached the
extinct Coniferse, and is moreover the product of banks of the Po, and one of them desiring to recline,
different species of coniferous trees. Judging from the discovery was made that they were gradually
the variety of objects found impacted in amber, being transformed into trees ; and as the bark finally
the inference is clear that the forests of northern closed on their heads, tears burst forth —hardened
Europe were, at the epoch of its production, of a —
in the sun- dropped into- the river, and were by it
very different character to those of the present day. borne to the Latian matrons ; so that, according to
A tropical sun must have poured a flood of light Ovid, amber was the tears of the sisters of Phaeton.
and heat on luxuriant vegetation instinct with life, In the Old Testament Scriptures amber is men-
extending over the present bed of the ice-bound tioned in the book of Ezekiel ; but the greater num-
Baltic ; and no better sermon in fossils can be read ber of biblical scholars agree that the word does
than the history of that epoch, as exhibited in the not mean amber proper, but a metal similar to, if not
plants and insects imbedded in the clear juice rvliich identical with, that named by the Greeks electron.
flowed from the stems of its forest trees. This want of clearness in nomenclature has been
Amber is found in masses, irregularly shaped and, productive of much confusion, and appears moreover
generally speaking, of a small size ; the colour varies to have been very prevalent ; as, for example, in the
from exceedingly pale straw to deep orange. In Hindu mythology, where amber and ambergris are
clearness it is obtained of all degrees, from trans- made interchangeable terms. It is extremely difficult
parency to opacity. It is exceedingly light, having to judge whether the ancient Hindus had three
only a specific gravity of 1-07 ; has a conchoidal different substances which they denominated amber,
fracture ; is brittle, but can be easily cut with a or only two. Inclining to the opinion that there were
—
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.] A GOSSIP ABOUT AMBER. 75
three categories, they would be “Golden” amber, was ordered, in all probability to gratify the whim
“Water” amber, and “Black” amber. There is of a reigning beauty, and certainly to procure an
very little doubt that by the first is meant fossil article of the merest luxury, furnishes a fair
or true amber, and by the second and third amber- example of Nex-o’s reckless munificence.
gris. Frequent reference is made to the exquiste It would be too much to expect from uninstructed
perfume of amber ; but seeing that true amber has man, that such a peculiar product as amber should
little or no perfume, in comparison with ambergris, not have been invested with supernatural attributes.
the latter is doubtless indicated. Moreover, the Its property of attx-acting light substances after
described colours of the last two sorts, —
viz. grey and friction was so suggestive of life, as to lead observers
black, point to ambergris, that substance being ge- to the most astonishing conclusions. That a frag-
nerally black and soft when expelled from or found ment of inert matter should have the power of
in the sperm whale, and gradually acquiring light- attracting, and not only so, but of holding another
ness of colour, hardness, and pungency, as it is tossed fragment of matter equally inert, was so obviously
about on the surface of the sea. The Hindus knew opposed to natural law as to leave no doubt in the
that both amber and ambergris were waifs of the mind of any rational being that some intelligence of
sea- and their assumption that black amber was another mould, some fairy or some wayward djinn,
the excrementitious matter of some large fish was had evinced consummate taste in the selection of a
singularly near the truth. material for its dwelling. Hence, in the fairy
As far back as the beginning of the Christian literature of Persia, one of the abodes of the Pei-is
era, not only had definite ideas, consistent with rea- is called Amber-abad ; hence the amber moon of the
son, been formed as to the origin of amber, but an Hindu, and hence too the various superstitions
active trade in the article had arisen, in order to current among the northern nations connecting-
supply the Italian market. Pliny says, “ There can amber with faii-y pranks and witches’ spell. Among
be no doubt that amber is a product of the islands of the ti'ibes inhabiting the southern shore of the
the Northern Ocean, and that it is the substance by Baltic, this belief was naturally prevalent, as the
the Germans called G he.sum.” After indicating- mysterious circumstances attaching to the appear-
more particularly the locality, he tells us that amber ance of amber were kept continually before them,
is produced from a marrow discharged by trees be- and so, without possessing any vei'y definite notion
longing to the Pine genus, like gum from the cherry, on the subject, the substance was associated in their
and resin from the ordinary pine that it is a liquid
;
minds with the manifestations of witchcraft, in
at first, gradually hardened by atmospheric action ;
which they firmly believed. This view of the
and he adduces in proof that it is the juice of the matter is fully borne out by the plot of a story
pine, the allegation that it emits a pine-lilce smell entitled “ The Amber Witch,” written by the
when rubbed, and that it burns with the odour and pastor of a district in Pomerania, and published
appearance of pine wood. The precise locality of in the year 1843. The time is the period of the
the northern amber country was about the same Thirty Yeai’S war, and although there are a good
period laid down by Tacitus, who, in his description many actors in the drama, including a vei-itable
of the tx-ibes of the vEstii, says they are the only witch, the whole of the complications of the plot
people that gather amber, which by them is called complications which nearly had a disastrous termi-
Glessixm, and that it long lay disregarded among the —
nation for the heroine arise from the circumstance
debris thrown ixp by the sea, ixntil Roman luxury of the poor pastor and his daughter having dis-
created a demand for the neglected substance. It is covei’ed a vein of amber, from the secret working
interesting to note that the name of the tribes de- of which they derive a considerable, and, in the
scribed by Tacitus as ambei’-collectoi-s, is still pre- opinion of their neighbours, a most mysterious
served in that of the palatinate of Esthonia, in the revenue. The daughter, in the stillness of the
kingdom of Prussia. During the reign of the night, is seen by malevolent eyes in quest of the
emperor Nero, the demand for amber as a material hidden treasure, and, seizing the incident, the real
for ai-ticles of pei’sonal adornment must have been witch succeeds in fastening the authorship of her
vei'y great. The Romanladies, like their fair evil deeds on the pastor’s daughter-, who is therefore
sisters of later periods, were not insensible to the called the Amber Witch. The story is well told,
delicate beauty of amber ornaments, but, on the and the name will not be easily forgotten, as it is the
contrary, held them in the highest possible esteem ;
title of an opera by the late Mr. Vincent Wallace,
and some idea lxiay be formed of the extent to by whom the leading incidents of the tale have
which ostentatious display was carried by the been wedded to most charming music.
members Imperial court, from the fact
of the If the superstitions connected with, amber were
that the Emperor despatched a messenger to localized in the Baltic provinces, the natural ex-
the amber country, in order to pi'ocure a lai’ge pectations of the investigator would be satisfied ;
supply of the article, and with such success but the interest with which the subject is clothed
that the nets and other paraphernalia of the is greatly increased wheix it is found that the centre
gladiatorial arena wei-e studded with pieces of the of the belief in the supernatural efficacy of amber,
much-coveted material. The jom-ney from the as far as ancient records and modern relics enable
Tiber to the Baltic, by way of the Adriatic and the us. to judge, is to be found in Scotland, the in-
Danube, must have been an undertaking of serious habitants of which country seem to have had the most
magnitude ; and the fact that such an expedition unlimited faith in what may be faiily denominated
76 A GOSSIP ABOUT AMBER. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
amber-power against witches, against fairies, against belief in all the varieties of amber-power is attested
the too critical gaze of man, and even against the by the vitality which characterizes the remains
grand heritage of the human family Death. The — thereof in the present year of grace.
Scottish for amber is “ lammer.” Lammer beads Up to a comparatively recent period, amber was
are held at the present day by the Scottish peasantry employed as a remedial agent in the practice of
in peculiar veneration. When strung on red thread, medicine. The elder Pliny extolled its virtues, and
they were supposed to be a charm to repel witchery although it has now noplace in the Pharmacopoeias of
worn by children, they were considered a certain this country, suffering humanity has not long enjoyed
preventive of dangerous illness, and were deemed immunity from its empirical exhibition. Formerly
particularly potent against the spells of witches and it was in great favour as a stimulant, being the
evil machinations generally. A

set of lammer beads principal constituent of eau de luce. This cele-
was at one time an ordinary present from a mother brated essence was a volatile preparation of oil of
to her daughter on the night of her marriage ; so amber with ammonia ; evaporated to thickness, it
that, being worn about the neck, her husband might was used removing stains from cloth, and when
for
the more be charmed with her beauty ; but the diluted was applied as a stimulant in fainting-
it
most extraordinary form which the belief in amber- fits. As a medicine, amber was used in a variety
power seems to have taken in the minds of the of forms, ranging from unsophisticated powder to
Scottish people, was that of attributing immortality the most elaborate products of distillation. In
as the result of its internal administration. Faint Salmon’s “Pharmacopoeia Londinensis,” published
traces of this singular belief may be discovered in in 1678, amber, whether “white or yellow,” is de-
the records of ancient times, but nowhere is the scribed as “hot and dry, binding, cephalick, car-
error so distinctly and particularly set forth as in diack, hysteric.k, and analeptick,” and we are told
the following lines, collated from an old number of that it stops catarrhs, cures epilepsies, apoplexies,
the “ Scots Magazine,” respecting the virtues of lethargies, and megrims, scurvy, green sickness,
lammer-wine : — jaundice, and ulcers ; that hysterical fits, palsy,
convulsions, and falling sickness yield to its virtues,
Drink ae coup o’ the lammer-wine,
An’ the tear is nae mair in your e’e. and that it is eminent against measles, small -pox,
An’ drink twae coups o’ the lammer-wine, spotted-fever, plague, pleurisy, palpitation of the
Nae dule nor pine ye’ll dree. heart, and other malign diseases ; in fact, amber would
An’ drink three coups o’ the lammer-wine, appear to have been a general specific in all the ills
Your mortal life’s awa.
that flesh is heir to. It is possible that our self-
An’ drink four coups o’ the lammer-wine,
Ye’ll turn a fairy sma’. complacency may be disturbed by the reflection that
An’ drink five coups o’ the lammer-wine, no further back than three generations, such an
O’ joys ye’ve rowth an’ wale. expose of medical practice should have been received
An’ drink sax coups o’ the lammer-wine,
with favour by the profession ; and if anything
Ye’ll ring- ower hill an’ dale.
An’ drink seven coups o’ the lammer-wine, could compensate us for not having being born
Ye may dance on the milky way. in the “good old times,” it would be a perusal of the
An’ drink aught coups o’ the lammer-wine, old dispensatories, the pages of which bristle with
Ye may ride on the fire-flaught blae. atrocious compounds, grimly intended as so many
An’ drink nine coups o’ the lammer-wine,
aids to stricken humanity in the fight which it is
Your endday ye'll ne’er see;
An’ the nicht is gane, an’ the day has come continually waging with disease. Amber was not
Will never set to thee. only used as a medicine, and as a volatile essence
having some similarity to our Eau de Cologne, but
Aid the idea is further developed in the following-
it was also worn as an amulet or charm against par-
verse from a poem called “ The Marmaiden of
ticular diseases. There were many ailments in the
Clyde.” The mermaid, while performing her toilet,
prevention of which it was deemed efficacious ;
relates in song the story of her noble parentage
particularly, the plague, the ravages of which were
of her having been decoyed to the river-side by a
greatly dreaded. As a charm against this scourge,
deer of which she was in chase ; of her being there
amber was worn by all classes of people, from the
benighted and seized by a “ stalwart Gowe,” who
meaner sort up to the highest dignitaries of the
plunged with her into the flood, and gave directions
Church. It would appear that the mere wearing of
for her transformation into a mermaid :
the charm was not sufficient to preserve an in-

An’ talc my bi-ide, my bonnie bonnie bride, dividual from the fatal malady, but that some pre-
To the dwerch the wicht can say, liminary ceremonies were essential to that end.
An’ wash awa the changeful life
That lives in upper day ;
The piece of amber employed should be “translucid,”
And dip her first in the Norroway sea, and previous to being hung about the neck should
She’s mine for evermare ; be “ rubbed on the jugular artery, on the hand
And dip her syne in the lammer-wine, wrists, near the instep, and on the throne of the
Alike then sea and air.
heart after all which, it was supposed to be a cer-
some effort of imagination to conceive
It requires tain preventive of the plague. Whether it was so
a period when any considerable portion of the in reality, is matter of opinion
,
but if the feeling
;
inhabitants of Scotland could believe in an elixir of immunity from danger lent greater nerve and
of immortality. That they did so, however, there boldness to those who, themselves untouched,
is no room to doubt ; and the strength of their ministered to the necessities of the afflicted, the
! ;
Nature and Art, Match 1, 18C7 ]

A GOSSIP ABOUT AMBER. 77
belief in amber-power lias not been without its of another piece soft on one side and hard on the
uses. other. The principal argument in support of the
As already observed, the origin of amber has at theory that amber is an organic distillate from
all times been a bone of contention among the vegetable remains, resulting from subterranean or
learned. The substance has been examined and solar heat, is the largeness of many pieces, which,
re-examined under every conceivable light. Its beyond question, remain in their original con-
all
chemical constitution has been ascertained, its dition the inference being that their size precludes
;
mechanical structure and optical properties observed, their acceptation as an exuded resin from a living
and the organic remains preserved in its embrace tree. ‘It being, however, admitted that our know-
have been closely scrutinized, with the sole result ledge of the amber trees is of the most incomplete
that the balance of testimony is in favour of its character, and there being nothing improbable in the
being an exuded vegetable juice, and that its supposition that the forests of that remote epoch
recognition is surrounded with difficulties. Baron '
were tenanted by gigantic forms, the argument is
Liebig is of opinion, or rather he thinks it probable, more specious than real. On the contrary, what
“ that amber is a product of the decay of wax, or lends most weight to the pitch theory, is the
of some other substance allied to the fats or fixed peculiar appearance which some specimens present,
oils,” basing his assertion on the presence of succinic as if they had at one time been in a state of fluidity,
acid, that being one of the products of the oxidation during which the heavier particles had gravitated,
of stearic and margaric acids and Berzelius asserts
;
leaving the upper section perfectly clear. Thus, one
that there are two resins in the constitution of section of a lump may consist of fatty or mottled
amber. Sir David Brewster says that his obser- amber, almost or entirely opaque, while the other
vations on the optical properties and mechanical section may be composed of the purest material, as
condition of amber, by means of polarized light, regards colour and transparency; the two sections
“ appear to establish beyond a doubt, that amber is have an appearance of perfect homogeneity, and the
an indurated vegetable juice, and that the traces of deposition of the fatty part seems to be marked by
a regular structure indicated by its action upon wave-lines, as if the mass had been subjected to
polarized light are not the effect of the ordinary strong air-currents when in a fluid state. A ppearances
laws of crystallization, by which mellite has been such as those just described are obviously antago-
formed, but are produced by the same causes which nistic to the theory of gradual exudation, and can
influence the mechanical condition of gum-arabic, only be reconciled with it on the hypothesis that
and other gums which are known to be formed by the flow of clear resin had been intercepted by
the successive deposition and induration of vegetable some foreign body, such as a spider’s web, and
fluids.” The evidence on which it is assumed that that the fatty or mottled appearance is due to the
amber is a vegetable resin, analogous in its formation incorporation of such foreign body with the clear
to gum-arabic, &c., is cumulative, as, apart from the vegetable juice. In many specimens possessing this
wood, leaves, flowers, and fruit found enclosed in duplex character, there is evidence of structure in
amber, and recognized as having belonged to the fatty part, a circumstance which invests the web
coniferous trees now extinct, the substance has theory with some amount of probability.
been found impacted in the wood which has been The observation of succinic or amber insects has
placed by microscopists as a Pinus. The forms of been diligently attended to by many eminent ento-
the lumps, now as tears, then as stalactites, and mologists, and several interesting collections have
generally in pieces of irregular mould, as if the been made by those curious in such matters. The
juice had been run into bark-crevices, exactly tally beautiful state of preservation in which some speci-
with our experience of exuded resins. The mens are found, extending even to the retention of
structure of the cylindrical specimens tells of the the natural colours, has enlisted the curiosity of
successive flowings of a limpid juice over a partially thousands of persons totally unconnected with the
indurated surface, and the perfect state in which pursuit of science, persons who could give no
the delicate wing-tracery of insects is preserved, better reason for the indefatigable manner in which
seems to point to their having been enveloped in a they hunt after rare examples, than those contained
cold limpid fluid, and not in a hot viscous mass in Pope’s well-known lines
such as amber would have been if the product of Pretty ! in amber to observe the forms
vegetable remains acted upon by terrene heat. Of worms
hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grub, or
There must have been several descriptions of amber The things we know are neither rich nor rare,
trees, to which the differences which have been —
But wonder how the d 1 they got there.
observed in density and colour are referable. The Concerning how they got there something has
colour of Sicilian amber is generally deeper than already been said, and as far as the rarity of succinic
that from the Baltic, and it is stated that in insects is concerned, Pope was unquestionably,
Germany an experienced amber-worker can dis- wrong, as they open to us a new chapter in old-
criminate between pieces found on different parts world history. The beauty of the envelope pre-
of the coast. Nor is amber invariably found in a sents to us, in all the vividness of life, the insects,
hard state, as there is an instance on record of a the beetles, and the lizards which swarmed in the
gentleman having received from a friend located on primeval woods ; whilst the completeness of the
the Baltic coast, a piece -so soft as to take an im- collection renders their acquisition a matter of the
pression of his seal ; and the same individual speaks greatest moment to the comparative entomologist
78 THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
to liim they are both rich and rare, and his appre- conduct of the bargain, and be able to withstand
ciation of them could not be better expressed than the flattering allusions to his imperial descent with
in the following metrical version of one of which Ali or Hassan will plentifully bespatter him.
Martial’s epigrams :
There are many very fine examples of carving in
A drop of water from the weeping' plant amber to be found in the Boyal collections of
Fell unexpected and embalm’d an ant; Europe. In the loan collection at Soiith Ken-
The little insect we so much contemn sington may be seen an octagonal casket, the pro-
Is, from a worthless ant, become a gem.
perty of her Majesty the Queen, the oblong plates
The whole of the forms, both of insects and carved with figures emblematic of the cardinal
animals found in amber are recognized as forest virtues ; and in close proximity there is a larger
denizens, and it has been remarked that they bear casket of architectural design, chiefly remarkable
a sufficiently close resemblance to existing species for the variety of colours in the amber used in its
to enable a satisfactory inference to be drawn reconstruction. It is ornamented with statuettes,
specting their habit. Many strange objects impacted twisted pillars, and quaint panelling, the work-
in amber have been at various times offered to manship being Flemish of the early part of the 17th
collectors ; but close scrutiny has generally revealed century. A very elegant piece of modern carving
a well-executed fraud. Not in this category, but in amher was shown at the International Exhi-
still so strange as to excite the gravest doubt, is a bition of 1862, in the shape of a vine branch, with
piece of amber containing a fish, in the Hope leaves and fruit but such works of art must
;
collection at South Kensington. The material is always be scarce, owing to the difficulty of pro-
formed into the handle of a seal, and the tail of the curing lumps of amber of sufficent size and purity.
fish is concealed by the ruggedness and opacity of The only purposes to which amber is applied in the
the amber where it enters the metal mounting. O useful arts is in the manufacture of varnishes for
The singularity of this specimen consists, firstly, in carriage-builders and photographers. That used for
the fish ; secondly, in the marked difference between the panels of carriages is expensive, and is a long
that section of the amber enclosing the tail and time in drying ;
but, on the other hand, it is
the clearness of the remainder in which the body is the hardest and most invulnerable of any known
exhibited ; and lastly, in the evenness of the set of varnish.
the object. It is very desirable, in the interest of Any gossip on amber would be incomplete were
science, that this piece of amber should be sub- not allusion mad.e to the preference which in all
jected to microscopic examination divested of its ages has been given to amber colour by the ladies.
1
metal mounting ; and until then, all that can be Sometimes it is in hair, and at others in dress;
said about it is —
“ Curious if true.” but whatever form the fancy might assume, amber
The uses to which amber is put are not very has always been to the daughters of Eve “ a thing
numerous. As a material for art carving, nothing of beauty,” and its golden straw-colour a “joy for
can be more beautiful. The principal market is ever.” It is amusing to read, by the light of
Constantinople, where it is made into pipe mouth- modern experience, the strictures of Pliny on the
pieces, and articles of female ornament, such as amber extravagances of his day, as, not only is
beads. The Turks and Armenians are acknow- the expensive luxury denounced, but he cudgels
ledged to be first-rate judges of amber, and a Domitius Nero soundly for bestowing the name
connoisseur could enjoy no greater treat than a stroll upon the golden tresses of his wife, sarcastically
through the Bazaar at Stamboul, where the amber- remarking, that “ as fine names are never wanting
workers are located. Bor a pair of chibouk for bodily defects, a third tint has been introduced
mouth-pieces of moderate dimensions, but well of late among our ladies, under the name of amber-
matched sums varying from £20 to
as to colour, colour.” Verily, fashion repeats itself, as the golden
£50 demanded whilst for a chaplet of
will be ;
tresses which Nero so much admired, and which
beads, three shillings the drachm would not be con- Pliny so sedulously vilified, are, as far as colour is
sidered exorbitant, although that amount might be concerned, precisely those which linger in the
fractionally reduced, should the purchaser have the memory of the modern Benedict as being the
nerve and patience to devote a day or two to the crowning glory of his guardian Angel.
THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.

By Centubion.
HE African variety of the Elephant has received, the animal presents, and to collect such observations
T iucomparison with his Asiatic congeners, but of its habits as are really trustworthy, is the
little notice from modern naturalists, despite the writei’’s aim in penning the following brief account.
numerous points of interest which his history and The African Elephant, the Eleylms Africanus of
peculiarities offer to the observer. To glance at a Cuvier, which, with the exception of certain regions
few of the historical details which the study of of limited extent, like Egypt, in which it is not
;

THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT. 79
found, is spread over the whole of that continent, but as we advance further into less-frequented
varies much in size, and to a certain degree in hue, regions, these herds increase greatly in numbers.
in different localities. In South Africa, where The young remain unusually long in company with
these animals have been most attentively observed, their dams. During the breeding season terrific
they ranged, in former times, over vast tracts of combats often take place between the males * the ;
country, from the belt of forest land which fringes old or vanquished bulls roam about alone or in
the coast line of Natal, to within a few miles of pairs. These are the “ Schelm ” Elephants of the
Cape Town ; but of late, since the population has Dutch hunters, and, like the “ Hogues ” in Ceylon,
become more widely spread, and since the use of are the most dangerous to encounter. Elephants
fire-arms has increased, the Elephant, ever the are particular in frequenting the freshest and most
first to retreat before the advent of man, has here verdant parts of the forest, their favourite spots
nearly disappeared. Nor is the decrease confined to being often in secluded situations, far away from
the limits of the colony ; for far across the border water. + In these cases they leave their mid-day
the numbers are steadily diminishing, partly from haunts at sun-down, and commence their march to
the animals retiring to less-frequented regions in the the water, which, perhaps, is 12 to 20 miles distant
interior, partly, no doubt, owing to the reckless arriving here an hour or two before midnight,
destruction of females and young, as well as of they quench their thirst and cool their bodies by
males, at all seasons alike. spouting over them huge volumes of water, and
The following average dimensions of a South then assume the path to their forest solitudes once
African Elephant, and the accompanying description more. The bulls frequently lie down on their sides
of its appearance, may be quoted as a good example at night and sleep, the place usually selected being
of the African variety in general. The height of the side of one of those huge ant-hills, here so
the males may be taken at 12 feet at the shoulder, plentiful. The deep impression of the under tusk may
that of the females about 8 or 9 feet, and the be often found in these situations but the females,
;
average length of the animal from 18 to 20 feet. and even the males, in exposed positions usually
The head is more round, and the forehead more sleep standing, resting themselves against a bank or
convex, than in the Asiatic variety, and the huge the trunk of a tree.
ears, often 6 feet in length, overlap at the back of Their food consists of branches, leaves, roots
the head, and reach far down the legs. The of trees, and bulbous plants. The power they
difference in physiognomy between the two varieties, exert in felling and rooting up trees of large size is
though difficult to define, is very marked and cannot remarkable, so also is the readiness with which they
fail to attract the notice of any one familiar with the secure tempting branches in positions seemingly
Indian type. Unlike the Asiatic animal, in which the most inaccessible. Bearing themselves on their
the male only is provided with tusks, both males and hind feet, the fore-legs resting against the trunk of
females in Africa possess those appendages, which a tree, they manage to bring down leaves and
they use extensively in ploughing up the ground in branches from heights almost incredible.
search of roots and bulbs. These tusks are either It is singular also to observe that, even where the
nearly straight or curved upwards the latter being
,
Elephants roam in vast herds like one noticed by
the most usual form. The toes are five on each Dr. Livingstone, on the banks of the Zambesi,
foot. The teeth present certain marked differences consisting of 800 animals, and covering an extent
from the Asiatic variety, and in some degree of more than two miles, the destruction of vege-
resemble those of the American fossil Elephant, or tation is almost imperceptible. This no doubt is
Mastodon. The skin is a dark iron-grey, rough due, as the Doctor suggests, to the care with which
and destitute of hair. As we approach the equator they select their food, but it contrasts strongly with
(at least in the vicinity of the coast), although the frightful havoc which a single animal will com-
food is more plentiful, the Elephants appear to mit on cultivated ground. This careful selection of
decrease in size, and to carry less formidable tusks. food, which is most noticeable in the larger animals,
Observers, on both the east and west coast, speak of is doubtless not only necessary to their healthful pre-
8 to 9 feet as the average height of a full-grown servation, but it prevents that vast destruction of the
bull Elephant in Equatorial Africa, and state also materials of sustenance, which their size, and the large
that the tusks weigh from 50 to 60 lb. In South amount of food they individually require when in
Africa, 100 lb. is not an unusual weight, and. one in captivity, would lead us to infer. The mutual re-
possession of the late Mr. Gordon Gumming weighed lation between animal and vegetable life is perhaps
173 lb. Near the equator, too, the Elephants are more marked in places, like Equatorial Africa, which
often of a darker hue ; white Elephants (which are the disturbing influences of colonization have never
in fact Albinoes) have never, we believe, been met reached ; and We find consequently that the varieties
with in South Africa, although instances have been of the larger animals are here placed amid vegeta-
observed further north, on the borders of Abyssinia. tion, the differences in which are so marked, that
Dr. Barth, in his “Travels in North Africa,” speaks
of having met with black, grey, and yellow varieties. * Captain Drayson, E.A., in one of his South-African
The habits of the African Elephants may be thus sketches, mentions the fact of a portion of a tusk, 5 or 6 inches
long, having been found in the flank of a bull Elephant and
briefly sketched.
which had evidently been broken off in one of these
Near the Gape Colony, they are found in small encounters.
herds, under the leadership of one or more bulls ; f G-. Cumming’s “ Five Years of a Hunter’s Life.”
80 ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. [Nature and Art, March 1, 18G7.
the presence of particular trees and shrubs may purposes. Some very fine ivory is, however, brought
be taken as indications of the presence of some from a small tract of country situate, almost directly
particular beast. under the equator, on the Gaboon river. These
The scarcity of suitable food and of water would tusks, which are rather small in size, are of a dark
appear to be the only checks nature has set to the coffee-colour, in many cases almost black on their
extension of the elephantine race. The animal’s outside, the interior being what is termed techni-
vast weight, and the impenetrability of its hide, cally “ green ivory,” which, when once bleached, is
enable it to pass unresisted and unscathed through supposed to retain its colour more perfectly than
the desert thickets. It fearlessly breasts the any other kind. The largest tusk in Mr. Gordon
strongest streams. Climbing on its knees or Cumming’s Museum weighed, as we have already
squatting dog-fashion on its hams, few slopes are stated, 173 lb. but one is mentioned by Cuvier as
;
so steep as to arrest its progress ; while, as Sir E. having weighed 350 lbs. and another, weighing 800
;
Tennent has remarked in reference to the Ceylon lb. (i), is said to have been recently in the possession
Elephant, “ no altitude appears too lofty or too of an American house. This firm sent to the
chilly for it, if it but possesses the luxury of a Exhibition of 1851 the largest piece of sawn ivory
boundless supply of water. of which we have any record. It was 11 feet long
Elephants are long in reaching maturity, and, and 1 foot broad. Above 1,000,000 lb. of ivory
like all such animals, probably attain a considerable are stated to be consumed annually in England
age but on this point it is hopeless to seek for
;
alone, the price varying, according to quality, from
reliable information. The Ancients, we know, had ,£15 to £40 per cwt. More than half of this
wonderful tales of the longevity of these creatures. quantity is probably derived from Africa.
Philostratus asserted the Elephant lived 400 years, It has been sometimes asserted that the pro-
founding his belief on the story of one with a par- portion of brain in the African type is considerably
ticular mark, having been captured by Juba, king of less than in the Asiatic, and that the intelligence
Libya, 400 years after an engagement in which the and fitness of the animal for domestication are less
’
animal had lied to Mount Atlas. Pliny gives them developed but there appears to be no sufficient
;
an average life of from 200 to 300 years, on the ground for such a belief. Dr. Livingstone, in his
authority of Aristotle ; and the Romans, in the time recent work on the Zambesi, has pointed out a passage
of Gordian, chose an Elephant for the symbol of in Livy, which clearly proves that the Elephants
eternity. Setting, however, these fables aside, there used in the Punic wars were captured and trained by
is satisfactory evidence that the Asiatic Elephant the Carthaginians, and were not brought from the
frequently attains a considerable age, nearly a East, as had been sometimes suggested with a
century in a state of domestication, and there is no certain show of probability. Medals, too, of the
reason to believe the African variety to be shorter- Roman Empire, which have come down to us, repre-
lived. Blumenbach, indeed, has placed their pro- senting the performances of the animals in the
bable average age at 200 years. amphitheatres, so plainly depict the characteristics
It is singular that, while in South-east Africa the of the African type, as to leave no doubt of their
carcases of Elephants which have died a natural origin.
death are never found, in the Gaboon country the In Mr. F. Buckland’s Second Series of “ Curio-
supply of ivory is, according to M. du Chaillu, sitiesof Natural History ” is a passage which,
almost entirely procured from the bodies of animals although it refers to the Asiatic species, throws
which thus die in the forests. This leads us to the some light on the market-value of these animals at
subject of the animals’ tusks, the
“ Elephants’ the present time.
teeth” of commerce. Not only are the tusks of
the African variety generally of a far larger size “An Elephant,” he tells us, “will fetch from £500 to
than those of the Asiatic, but the ivory itself shows £600. The young ones are preferred, as they require less
food and are more manageable. There are no full-sized
a remarkable difference of composition, containing Elephants at present in England, and one would probably
a far larger proportion of gelatine, which, in many fetch at least £1,000. A dead Elephant will fetch from £20
instances, renders it less fitted for manufacturing to £50, according to size, any day.”

By Aabon Penley, Professor of Landscape Painting at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
No. VIII. CRUMMOCK WATER, CUMBERLAND.

fjJULL instruction was given in last month’s carefully attending (with another impression before
Jl Nature and Art for the first washes of the me) to every detail of pencilling, so that those
Lake Scene, which I now present the finished
of persons who undertake to copy it may be enabled
drawing. That it may be carried through to continue the colouring without confusion or
without deviation from the first intention, I have difference.
worked upon the actual Chromo-lithograph itself, There is much softness and simplicity of treat-
* .it.inv 1 1 \r! ,
M;u ,
«
,
li J .UJ( 1
I
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867-1 ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 81
ment in the drawing —breadth

being its charac- deepened with brown madder and indigo, the
teristic. Therefore, when
adding to it the touches being put on with decision. It is necessary
warm grey shadows, all dark touches will have to observe the breadth of light in this tree, or the
to be avoided, otherwise it will not exhibit that general effect will be in danger. The deepest
serene atmosphere for which our English Lakes touches have burnt sienna added. Law sienna
are so deservedly renowned. Although repose and gamboge are employed for the grass in the
constitutes the feeling of the scene, yet it is by foreground, with an occasional addition of indigo
no means wanting in variety either of form or where the tone inclines to green rather than to
colour. There is, indeed, much diversity much — citron.The several stones and rocks are cobalt,
for the eye to dwell upon, as it scans the broken brown madder, and brown pink the ;
last colour
surfaces of Led Pike on Crummock Water, and the only being required for the very warm and deep
High Style and Haycocks on Buttermere. It will touches. Yellow ochre and rose madder supply
now be seen how valuable those pencilled outlines the orange tones, and also serve for the stem of the
have been in establishing truthfulness of form and tree where it is of a light and warm hue. The
position, giving to each spur of the mountains its markings or touches in the foreground must be
true character and formation, so that the appro- placed at the extremity of the different tints so as
priate tints can be applied unhesitatingly to the to impart clearness and brilliancy, and secure a
several shadows of its component parts. crispness of effect.
The clouds are touched upon with rose madder The water should now have .a warm wash of rose
and indigo the tint to be used very liquidly.
;
madder over the darkest side, and also at the front.
After this is done, proceed to put in the shadowed When dry, two more washes of cobalt and a very
side of the rocks on the near mountain (Red Pike) little Chinese white are to be touched on hori*.
carefully following the pencilled outline. There zon tally, leaving the several lights. After this, go
are two degrees of shadow made with cobalt and over the part from near to the boat with raw
rose madder, both of which are to be introduced sienna and a little cobalt, to give a transparent
tenderly. The greenish and isolated spur has a tone, and with a little more raw sienna put on the
little yellow ochre mixed with the cobalt and rose few lines of ripples when the other is dry. The
madder ; lake must be substituted for rose madder boat and figures are coloured with cobalt and light
ifthe pupil has not the latter. glazing A
that is, — red ;
vermilion being added for the red coat.
—
a thin wash of colour of raw sienna and a little Indigo is for the cap of the foreground figure, and
gamboge is next to be put on the grassy surface, vermilion and rose madder shaded with sepia
while, in the warmer parts, the tint is made with are mixed with the reds for the coat.
raw sienna and rose madder. The principal endeavour of the learner should be
The distant mountains are principally shaded to keep the whole of the forms throughout, from
with indigo and cobalt, and the lighter spaces first to last, clearly defined. I have been careful to
warmed with light tones of rose madder. The red give a subject for illustration that bears this stamp
tint also of theright portion of the mountain of manipulation %w ell knowing its import, and
iu light, obtained by one or two washes of rose
is more especially in works intended for the portfolio.
madder over the first tints. Each of the divisional In this drawing the effect has been produced
markings or forms will require strict attention, for without any washing off, and is simply the result of
the reason that distances are determined by them. laying on the colours with care and neatness.
The line of trees in the middle distance must A few words as to the design and construction of
now claim attention ; and cobalt, with a little yellow our drawing may be of much service in explaining
ochre and Chinese white, be mixed for the grey how light and shadow, as well as contrast of tones,
shadows of their colours. The cobalt should be are dispersed systematically so as to produce a
largely the predominant, and the less there be pleasing balance of effect. The sky has in it but
of the white the better, or the effect might be little actual blue, which will be found at the top to
chalky. The warm tone and general character of the left side ; this softens into warm grey to the
the trees must be given by raw sienna, with a little right and deepens into a bluer tone as it reaches
cobalt and rose madder for the shadowy parts. the mountains, while it weakens gradually into
In doing this, the forms should be gracefully given light broken clouds, interspersed with white on the
without regularity of either shape or size. The lower part over the dark mountains. The water is
treatment of such a passage as this is generally the reverse of the sky, the dark side being under
found by the learner to be difficult, because much the light of it, and the light side under the dark
taste, and even skill, is required to prevent stiffness. clouds, so that the highest lights may be said to
The rocky projection to the right is of cobalt, rose have exchanged places. This is also the case with
madder, and yellow ochre, with a little brown pink the mountains. The breadth of warm colour on
added for the darkest parts. Red Pike is taken across the drawing on the fore-
The foliage of the large fir tree is done with a ground, and the blue-tone of the mountains in contact
mixture of Indian yellow, burnt sienna, and indigo with the light sky, is in a less degree repeated in
used in some substance. The forms are to be the darks of the line of trees, and the separate spurs
attended to very accurately, so that the clusters at the bases of the large mountains. The breadth of
may fall into their several masses and take their warm colour is diffused over the distant foliage, and
proper shapes. The stem in its dark parts is joins the foreground which is brought to a focus
ii. G
82 THE DUDLEY GALLERY. [Nature and Art, March 1» 1867.
upon, tlie white bit of rock near the tree’s foot, give a little animation to the scene as well as
against which the figure is placed. As the princi- positive colour.
pal weight of the drawing is in the tree and stones Believing class of drawing to be more
this
of the foreground to the left, it was requisite to instructive thanany other under the term of pure
give strength to the other side, only in a less landscape, I purpose to continue it, and in my
degree, for which purpose the boat and depth of next subject to pursue again the plan of treating
shadow on the rock were introduced, and they will the preparatory and the subsequent stages in
be found to have given the balance sought. The separate papers.
foreground figure and the boat with figure serve to
THE DUDLE Y GALLERY.

EW of us are in danger from admiring over the future of the school. And we think we may
F much. It is easy, by wilfully taking a view
unsympathetic with that in which a picture or other
congratulate ourselves (who are dependent for so
much enjoyment upon, the rightness of this choice)
work of art has been conceived, to misprize even that the pictures about us offer a striking proof
the greatest artists, whose habitual style of thought that ai’t is making steady way in England. Every-
and power are well known. But this charming where among them we find evidences of the right
gallery is filled, for the most paid, with the works of thing having been tried for meretricious prettiness
:
new men who bring us new wares, and therefore and facile sentiment are more rare than in many
—
demand from us a stricter attention a more gene- collections of greater renown. On entering the
—
rous construction where we see in them “ good room, almost every one must be struck by the
thought,” even if inadequately expressed. general harmony of colour resulting from so many
Besides, in art, the seeing makes the sight. Most well-toned pictures ; and, on examining them more
good pictures are of infinite suggestiveness ; nor is closely, one sees at once that they are almost all
the artist bound to have intended all the effects the founded upon some 'scheme of effect, oftentimes
exercise of his spiecial gift produces on other men. novel and beautiful, and always applied from nature.
Eor the works of a true artist have this in common Here we will diverge for a moment to point out
with the works of nature, that they are of universal the influence for good the study of the art of the
speech and relevance, having besides a meaning and Chinese and especially of the Japanese (those
language of their own, known only to the maker of masters of effect and colour) has had upon our
them. Therefore, having recognized in any work school. This, we can imagine, may appear para-
the presence of that mysterious.mid divine intelli- doxical to those who only see distortion and quaint-
gence which we call imagination, it is pleasant ness in the Avork of these ancient peoples hut Ave;
to give ourselves up to the impressions produced are sure of our ground in appealing to all serious
by it, reserving criticism of its faults and short- students of art to bear testimony to the value of
comings (if it should not reach to our ideas) for their teaching.
some other time; surely our dull climate affords And noAV let us see what we may find in the
many a grim day for such a purpose. Not that we pictures, pandering about from one to another
—
deprecate criticism especially technical criticism without any guiding plan of examination, and
between artist and
artist. But now and again we acknowledging once for all the merit of many Ave
think itwell to be pleased by what is well done, leave unmentioned. H ere, for instance, let us look
and to leave what is ill done out of the question. at Mr. Poynter’s “Snake-Charmer” (No. 586). Mr.
This preface is to excuse beforehand a criticism Poynter’s pictures are ahvays among the most in-
which is to be almost all praise, and deprecate the teresting in any exhibition. There are few men in
just wrath of those righteous ones who would have England who could have drawn and designed a
offenders punished, whatever else befall. And first picture like this with such certainty and intelli-
we will praise the pleasant room, not too large, and gence. It is full of knowledge and original study.
clearly lighted throughout. This exhibition has The snakes glide and flow round the dancing
quickly earned popularity, with all men who have feet in real snake lines. The orange drapery is
work to show, but have not yet attained a place in admirably planned and painted, and the round
the secure niches of the established societies. And limbs of the girl are of exact truth. Then, Iloav
here, more than anywhere else, we may look for good are all the details of the scene. Observe
signs of the tendency of our school, since the the pretty shape of the fuming incense-pot ;
gallery is chiefly filled by the works of young men, and again, the bright butterfly, a beautiful half-
of whom many are still in pupilage to some great thought and a most skilful invention of colour.
enthusiasm for the works or teaching of one or other Mr. Poynter has another picture here (No. 313) of a
of the masters of the art. And from the direction great curve of coast, beset by a gusty flaw of wind and
this admiration most generally takes, we augur of rain. This is is a Avonderfully true effect of rent
—

THE DUDLEY GALLERY. 83
grey sea and flying rain. Beyond the shower one again, and the truce of night will be over. Mean-
sees the fair weather, but glimmering very pale and while the passes above the great city, making
moon
far away. Especially to be admired is the drawing to herself a pageant of the silver clouds, and, one
of the surf line clinging round the low green head- might think, reclaiming the spot for nature, minded,
lands and darkened hills. It would be pleasant to by the silence, of the time when no man dwelt by
have this picture of the fresh west wind in one of the marshy river and the wild swan built among
our gas-dried London rooms. But there is another the reeds of its islands. Many a sight of misery
picture of Mr. Poynter’s that we should also like to and wrong has she seen since that ancient time ;
hang up in some pleasant corner near a window. It and one fancies she must mostly love the quiet
is only of a cat stealing across a quiet gravelled walk, pauses of the world when men and their works are
but it reminds one of so many pleasant country still, and are as if they were not. To our minds
sights and sounds, that one becomes dreamy and this picture will this interpretation of
bear out all
idle merely by looking at it. its sentiment ;

and pleasant to find that on
it is
Let us pass on to Mr. Goodwin’s “ Grey Day in the side of art it is sound and learned. The draw-
Yorkshire ” (No. 238 ). It a good example of this
is ing of the sky is very fine, and the great lines of
young artist’s serious power. If we miss some the picture well composed. The tone is good if —
quality of high idealism in his work, we find not exquisitely so —
and the colour of the halo round
in it evidence of an unusual grasp of the facts of the moon very delicately caught. It is well and
nature, and of an almost passionate delight in their vigorously painted, and seems done with one impulse.
representation. The blots and lines of colour are Mr. Severn has other works here, and we advise
placed firmly where they are to take their part in our readers to study them to find what may be
the effect, and with a certainty very unusual in so found therein ; for Mr. Severn has the gift.
young an artist as we understand Mr. Goodwin to Mr. Henry Moore’s “Strenshall Moor Mid-day” —
be. The tone of all his pictures is rich and power- (No. 326) is a very beautiful sketch. There is a
ful, and, in this one particularly, is of admirable sense of stir and gladness in it. The scene is wild
truth. The scene is only a little pool among the but not unkindly. One sees that the afternoon
—
Yorkshire hills one bank wooded, the other green will be fair after theshowery morning. There is
sedge and peat-land. We
can see it is summer nothing in the gallery more excellent for natural
there now ; but it is a place more known of the and delightful colour than this picture, and we
winter. The trees under their robe of leaves are would call the attention of amateurs to the power
knitted and braced against the strife of the moor- of right tone to harmonize all tints and dignify
land winds. In the deep green of the heavy grass the most commonplace subject.
the feet of the heron plash cool when the hill-sides “Old Morton Hall, Cheshire” (No. 377), painted
are hazed with heat. Hither come few men, or by Mr. Walter Crane, must be a delightful old house,
creatures that dwell with men ; the cry of the wild and Mr. Crane has evidently felt it to be so. The
birds or the sound of the sighing wind that brings picture is also noticeable for the clever use made of
up the cold grey shower are the voices that befit it a black-and-white cow, to repeat and carry through
best. It is a place that reminds us that nature can it the black and white of the old stud-work house.
get on very well without us and was not only made If the sky were a little sweeter in colour, we should
for our beholding. In all his work Mr. Goodwin class this work very highly.
seems to choose this side of nature it is a great : Of Miss Spartali’s three pictures, we like that
and solemn one. of the “ Lady Prays’ Desire ” (No. 606) the best, in
Now let us look at Mr. Ditchfleld’s pretty idyls. spite of the somewhat weak drawing. It is through-
He seems enamoured of fair lawns and the quiet of out imbued with high sentiment and most noble
green places. There are no brambles, or poor folk, grace. See, for example, how the delicate hand is
or bluebottle flies in his lands. They are really placed against the cheek. The colour also is of
sweetly pretty places, and we imagine that, perhaps, such unusual harmoniousness, that we pass over the
if we had very pink cheeks and a nosegay in our slight unskilfulness of execution, and will only say
button-hole, and a lovely young lady with still thatwe trust this young lady may soon attain the
pinker cheeks to make love to, and if we were both mastery in her art that her genius demands for its
of us painted upon a fan, we might some day be expression.
accounted fit to dwell within their borders. As it Mi'. Ford Madox Brown’s large work, which he
is, Mi Ditchfield must pardon us for only taking “Cordelia’s Portion” (No. 249), is undoubtedly
1
. calls
in them a sort of fanciful interest. They must be the most noteworthy figure picture exhibited here.
views in the “ Pays du tendre,” and we should like It illustrates the line,
to have them as such, particularly as there is great “ The truth, then, be thy portion.”
skill in their execution. Let us go back again,
however, to waters that drown and airs that stir The true dramatic crisis has here been taken,
with storms sometimes. when Cordelia, conscious of powerlessness to defeat
Mr. Arthur Severn’s “ Moonlight on the Seine” the plots of her sisters, adheres with despair to her
at Paris (No. 248) is a fine and largely-treated study foolish quibbling answer, like some gentle creature
of night. The strong river and the white glittering that cannot strive.
town are sunk deep in the shadow. There are no Here is a great subject, and, we venture to say,
lamps alight, for it is late, and soon it will be day greatly treated. Of its faults we will resjiectfully
o 2
84 THE DUDLEY GALLERY. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
speak presently, but for the present let us consider lovely the clear green of Cordelia’s robe. How
the intelligent and skilful arrangement, the lovely rich the black and orange striped robe of Regan,
colour, the wonderful expressiveness of the heads, and how inventive the varied black of her hair
the delicate inventive detail. Cordelia is one of folded into the bosom of it. The head of Albany
those typical characters for which each man finds is fine in colour also ; and if the arm of Goneril is
an embodiment according to Iris experience and not very well drawn, it is very fair. All through
idiosyncrasy and so, if one is pleased to say this
; the picture there are beautiful inventions of orna-
is not the Cordelia of his own musings, we feel ments and patterns, and a power of realizing the
that the question does not admit of argument, and costume of the remote time to which the story
would therefore only point out that this figure re- belongs. We could write much more upon this
presents the agony of a creature fine and gracious, subject, but we think we have said enough to send
firm to bear, most gentle to protest, of few loves, oi r
I readers to the picture itself. If, having seen
but many charities, of clear wise counsel, but of little it, they do not like it, we feel that no eulogy of
craft. And such was Cordelia. If you think she had ours can change their opinion for Mr. Brown’s
;
blue eyes, not brown ones, or that her hair was of work has no conciliation for a hostile critic : we
a paler gold, or that it fell in simpler braids ; if know ofnone that excites greater opposition nor ;
there are these or a hundred other differences be- is any a more constant source of delight to those
tween your conception and the artist’s, you may who do admire it.
object but the character of Cordelia, we aver, is
: In great contrast to the passion and dramatic
here adequately embodied. About those of the intensity just described is Mr. Field Talfourd’s
other personages, no attentive person can be in very lovely idyl of the “Summer Sea” (No. 215).
doubt. Lust, cruelty, craft, pride, all furious hates, Here everything is of the simplest. There is no more
make pale the face of Regan, and burn in the fierce work than just explains the effect. The subject is
eyes of Goneril ; see, too, her fleshy white arm only an old boat drawn up upon the sand, under a
and sensual hand. Albany is noble by contrast, —
low bank and the sea. And yet it is perhaps the
and is, perhaps, the redeeming point in this part of most suggestive work in the whole room. In the
the picture as he is in the play and Lear, with the
;
first place, it is Simplicity is a quality
really simple.
coming madness gleaming in his eyes, is again a great so. often that one begins to suspect the
affected,
study of character. He is arrogant and self-willed, word ; but true simplicity is one of the greatest
for lie has long been a king. Brave he is, and qualities a rvork of art can possess, and can only
somewhat cruel violent, but not vindictive. You
;
be produced by clearness of idea, complete design in
can find no lines of cunning in his gaunt face, all colour and composition, and a mind capable of har-
haled by weather and fierce feasting. That he monious thought.
should not do what he would, bewilders him. You If you examine this little picture, you will
see him here blinded by rage against the inex- begin to perceive how many things might have
plicable opposition to his pleasure that Cordelia’s been put into it which are not there. It
misunderstood answer has raised up. His eyes do seems impossible to have escaped sea-gulls, or
not see in her his daughter, but a stumbling-block distant cottages, or fishermen, or (more dangerous
to be cast out of the way. His strong hands would still) their children. Why
is there nothing but
smite her, if so weak a creature could stand at bay. this old boat and the pausing sea ? Without a
Albeit, he is not wont to be harsh to the feeble, and guiding idea, such a picture could never have
—
-
we may judge from the vigorous eyebrows and
if been composed no canon of taste could have
—
;
large mouth he, too, “ has knowen love and his taught the artist that these simple lines are all
service,” as Chaucer says. that are required. Now that it is done, we know
There are, no doubt, things in this picture which that any living object, or object suggestive of neigh-
require some explanation. Why, for instance, has the bourhood, would have disturbed the mute com-
nose of the child been snipped off by the frame? But panionship of boat and water, as they take their
probably the artist who has carried so fine a work ease in the summer calm. There is something very
to such a point had some good reason for this. As touching in this sturdy little boat, lying at the edge
to the colouring, there can only be one opinion of its of all the great sea, nearly within reach of the soft
technical perfection. It may be reasonably held foaming and warm shallows of the waves. The sky
that, in such a scene, the embroideries and details also is at rest ; the small clouds and films of
would be little noticed, and that, in represent- haze are, for the moment, anchored in the fair blue
ing such extreme emotion, it is right to follow weather that shows between the banks of lieat-fog.
this natural law of perception, and even to force All the artillery of tempest is there but it is the
;
the face and hands of the personages into a promi- armistice of summer. This picture is charmingly
nence which all who have witnessed any great crisis painted, with few colours, and apparently few
of human life remember to have been its most touches. The warm haze is wonderfully true, and
striking characteristic. Mr. Brown has not chosen the loose sand-bank exactly right in hue. Mr.
this effect, and we must take him as he comes before Talfourd has never, we understand, exhibited
us. There is gain in beauty of colour and interest landscapes before. The loss has been ours.
of detail, by the treatment he has adopted. How
[
Xatnre and Aft March
.
1
— ;
Nature anti Art, March 1, 18G7.1 AN HERALDIC PUZZLE AND ITS SOLUTION. 85
AN HERALDIC PUZZLE AND ITS SOLUTION.

By G. Chapman, F.S.A.
—
W HEN
• National
we visit of a large
Museum we
the
usually come away
with a general idea of the whole, but rarely with a
collections 4.
5.
Brabant. Sable, a lion rampant or.
Breux, Brittany . —
Chequy or and azure,
a bordure, gules, over all a cantar ermine.
clear notice of any one individual object. Each G. Lacy Earl of Lincoln.
,
*
— Or, a lion rampant
specimen has probably, however, its special interest purpure.
if properly studied and, as an example, the
;
7. . — Azure, a lion rampant or. This
reader is invited to bestow his attention for a time occurs once. No
such coat is known, and
upon one single article, among the almost countless it is, doubtless, a mistake of the artist for
treasures now exhibited at the South Kensington No. 4, Brabant.

Museum.
The object we select is a small metal box, covered
with enamels, of which the accompanying coloured
Having determined to whom the coats of arms
drawing affords a most faithful representation. belong, we pass on to the most interesting con-
Placed as it is in the crowded cases of the Museum,
sideration of all, —
the historical associations of
the eye of the visitor rests upon it for a moment,

the casket. The reader will not fail to see that,
in order to identify the person lor whom this
and passes on to others, little knowing the
casket was made, it is necessary to find some one
interest that it would yield if its history were
worked out, —
a threefold interest Heraldic, — who, if not actually entitled to quarter all these
coats of arms, was connected, by marriage or
Historical, and Artistic.
otherwise, with all these noble families, and would,
And here we digress for a while to remark
therefore, not hesitate to place them together on a
how little justice is commonly done to the study
of heraldry ; its real importance in history,
monument, casket, or the like. This has been the
genealogy, and other kindred subjects, being gene-
puzzle, and many have been the unsuccessful
guesses at Various members of the
its solution.
rally overlooked, and its follower being accounted
different families have been thought of but, on
a mere trifler in a pretty, amusing, but very useless ;
closely examining their pretensions, some flaw was

study. A
most instructive essay might be written
in refutation of this popular error.
discovered in their title to the original owner-
Perhaps the
present article may be regarded to some extent in ship of the casket, — till at length the riddle was
read, and a claimant uniting the requirements all
that light ; an apology for the study of heraldry !
It may first be mentioned that reliquaries, or

was found in the person of William de Valence,
1.
ecclesiastical caskets of Limoges enamelled work, of
Earl of Pembroke, son of Isabella of Angouleme
the2. thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, are of (widow of John Plantagenet, king of England), by
frequent occurrence ; but that domestic caskets her second husband, Hugh X., Count de la Marche.
3.
(jewel or money-cases), of which the present is one
To show this, it becomes necessary to sketch her
of the most beautiful and valuable of the period in
biography and connexions.
existence, are much more rare.
Isabella of Angouleme was the only child and
The dimensions of the casket are as follows :
heiress of Aymer, Count of Angouleme, surnamed
Taillefer, the vassal of John, King of England and
7 inches wide, 5 inches from front to back, and 2f
Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine. She was,
inches deep, on legs f of an inch long ; so that it
stands in all 31, inches high. It is of copper gilt,
when a child, betrothed de Lusignan,
to Hugh
entirely covered, as is seen, on the top, front, back,
surnamed Le Brun, the Hugh IX.,
eldest son of
and sides with coats of arms in enamel, arranged the reigning Count de la Marche, fellow crusader
in the manner that was anciently termed diapree,
with Cceur de Lion and she was, agreeably with
;
or lozenge-wise. the custom of the times, consigned to his family for

The number of different coats of arms is six, with her education.
a portion of a seventh, probably a mistake of Chancing to meet her liege lord, John King of
the enameller. They ai'e repeated all over the England, on one of his occasions of visiting his
casket, each occurring thirteen or fourteen times, French dominions, he was much struck with her
great beauty ; and she, seeing him captivated, and
in all 79 coats.
The arms are now considered to be as follows being carried away by the flattering prospect of so
the chief doubt having been as to the sixth grand an alliance, refused to acknowledge her
marriage contract with Count Hugh, and was
Valence .— Barry of twelve argent and azure, married to the king at Bordeaux, on the 24th
an orle of martlets, gules. August, 1200. She bore him five children prior
Engolesme or Angouleme Lozengy or and . — to his death in 1216 ; and the following year she
gules. returned to Angouleme; and in 1220, or therea-
England. —
Gules, three lions passant gardant bouts, was after all married to her first and constant
in pale or. lover, Hugh, then tenth Count de la Marche. To
8G LANDSEER'S LIONS, (Nature and Art, Match 1, 18G7.
him she bore live sons and three daughters, and 4. Brabant. — The arms of the husband of his
died in 1246. He died in 1249. great-niece Margaret, daughter of Edward
All the children of her second marriage, except I., namely, John, Duke of Brabant, who
the eldest, who succeeded his father, were sent to married in 1290, and died in 1312.
her son, Henry III. of England, who provided 5. —
Dreux, Brittany.- The arms of the husband
magnificently for them ; and these, his brothers of of his niece Beatrice, daughter of Henry
the half-blood, are connected with most of the III. ; namely, John, Duke of Brittany, who
grievances of his troubled reign. died in 1305.
The eldest son was Hugh.

6. Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. —
The arms of Henry de
Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who died without
The second, Guy de Lusignan, who was killed at issue male in 1312. His grandmother,
the battle of Lewes. Margaret de Quincy, married for her second
The third, William de Valence, Earl of Pem- husband, Walter Marshall, Earl of Pem-
broke, so well known in English chronicles. broke, the uncle of William de Valence’s
The fourth, Aymer de Valence, Bishop, of wife, Joan de Monchensi.
Winchester.
A fifth son, Geoffery de Lusignan, Lord of These facts show, almost beyond doubt, that
Hastings, is mentioned in Speed’s Chronicle ;
the casket was made for William de Valence, Earl
but he is believed to be identical with the of Pembroke; in which case we are able to assign
second, Guy de Lusignan.* to it the date of the latter part of the thirteenth
century. It may, however, have been executed for
These sons of Queen Isabella were named from Aymer de Valence, his son ; in which case the work
their places of birth; those called “de Valence”
were born at her lord’s castle of that name, the
—
would be referred a little later, probably a year or
two after the father’s death, or, at latest, to some
others at his more celebrated castle of Lusignan. time before the death of Henry, Earl of Lincoln, in
William de Valence, and he alone of the sons, so 1312 ; for, if made for the son, we should assume it
far as we can discover, bore one of the coats on the to have been by the same artist as executed the
casket. famous monument of William of Valence in West -
Supposing then the casket to have been made minster Abbey, which is enriched with similar
for this son of Isabella of Augouleme, the coats of enamels. F or the present only, we dismiss the artistic
arms placed upon it are accounted for as follows :
consideration of the casket ; its workmanship is
undoubtedly French, probably of Limoges; a very
1. Valence. —
His own arms. He was killed in line example of that class of enamels known as
France in 1296. His only surviving son, cliampleve. In a future article it is proposed to
Aymer, succeeded to the earldom, and died give an account of the different kinds of enamels,
without issue in 1323. illustrated with drawings ; a brief history of the
2. —
Angouleme. The arms of his mother’s father, art, and a description of its processes, so fir as they
Aymer, Count of Angouleme. are known ; and reference will then be made again
3. England. —
The arms of his nephew, Edward I. to the drawing accompanying this paper, when it is
hoped that the reader will find the casket yield
* See Art de verifier left Dates, ii. p. 383. some further interest.
LANDSEER’S LIONS.
N the centre of the great square of the capital of the ordinary ways of life and say that for a day or a
I England, in the high place of national honour, month, or series of months, one will cultivate ideal
round the base of the monument which commemo- thought to some special end. When men constantly
rates the most characteristic achievement of our live in the presence of a spiritual world, where the
race, are four great masses of bronze wrought into phenomena of life are habitually regarded as the
lions, proud emblems for all future Englishmen, of mutable types of some divine quality, we may hope
courage and endurance and stately honour. If we to find an art capable of clothing an abstract idea
say that we do not think Sir Edwin Landseer, to in clear, tangible form. In the present day such
whom we owe these fine works, has risen to the a- thing is almost hopeless, for in this matter taste
height of such high argument, we in no way impugn and knowledge will not serve a man as guides. It
his power to do other things. No man need be is not given to us of the modern time to create
ashamed of failure in such an undertaking. It would such forms as the terrible creature that watches,
seem almost as if the creation of great emblems was calm, invincible, imperishable, within the walls of
only possible in certain states of society and to our Museum. Who would see what the terror of
certain races of men. The perfect abstract form of a lion is, the terror of strength remorseless and
any idea can only be reached when success is the just, may there find sufficient reason for saying
crown of many efforts. One cannot step aside from that our English lions are not of the greatest art,
;

MUSIC AT HOME. 87
nor indeed in any way fit to rank with, the works be as perfect as anything modern art has produced.
in which national conviction has expressed itself The paws are not successful ; they may be true to
in certain ages of the world. They are lions such as nature, but they are not right in art. They are
we have seen in our menageries, but not the British not sufficiently modelled or marked, and have a
lion. Their manes, too, are rather soft and woolly look of being swollen. We fancy, also, that if the
— one does not see those large divisions where, when place of the claws was more sharply marked, the
the great beast frowns, the hair divides and seams. truth would have been better expressed ; for, if we
Again, the uniform coloixr of the bronze does not remember rightly, there is a line of dark hair
render the terror of the fangs, and we think the behind the fringe of white in which the claw-
expression of the mouth somewhat grimacing. sheaths are set. Taking the lions, however, for
The muzzle, also, is perhaps a little shai'p for so what they are, we must grant that Sir Edwin has
large a work,which must necessarily be seen against worked here as well as he ever did. They have
a great background of confused objects. The eyes all his facility, his elegance of taste and sound
and forehead are certainly imposing, and wonder- knowledge of the form to be rendered. The forms
fully true to nature ; the position of the ears are not of that typical perfection which makes us
forcibleand yet unexaggerated, while the drawing forget the individual. There is an attempt to
of the head and neck generally is very exact. render them vast by suppression of small details ;
The finest part, however, of these statues is the but this has not been steadily kept in view, and
back and loins ; this portion is really grand, and, if the lines are rather blurred than sublime.
the tail had been carried a little more out, would
MUSIC A T HOME.
N OTHINGl venture, nothing have,” is an old
saying generally included among the wisest
of our English saws. “ Fortune favours the bold,”
musical mincemeat of poor Bossini in the most
approved and ruthless fashion.
quadrille
Of a truth the
has somewhat altered since the early
is another, and in both of them Signor Arditi and days of Musard and his “Echos” and “Danois”!
the musical commonwealth, late of Her Majesty’s
, Mdlle. Agliatti, a new singer, “debuted” in Lon-
Theatre, must have implicitly believed. Imitating don on the 12tli, and vocalized at intervals to the
the tactics of the old fighting Homans, they formed end of the brief season. Mdlle. Agliatti at present
themselves into a kind of harmonic wedge, and set carols indifferently well, but mademoiselle is young,
about forcing a certain theory or conviction upon and in youth there is much promise. Miss Madeleine
the modern Britons, namely, that Promenade Con- Schiller, with a delicate touch despite cold hands,
certs are good for them at any time of the year. and with a heart that evidently warms to the
With Signor Arditi as “foremost man,” this musical “tchunes” of Hibernia, played Moscheles’ “ Pecol-
phalanx commenced a campaign against British pre- lections of Ireland” unaccompanied by the orchestra;
judice on Saturday, January 12th, and withdrew and Mr. T. Harper, the champion trumpeter of the
from the contest on Saturday, February 16th. civilized world, gave, “ by particular desire,” Dr.
The “ Orchestral Popular Concerts,” as they were Arne’s “ Soldier tired.” The trumpeter mayhap
termed, were given on Tuesday, Thursday, and was fatigued or the instrument refractory, or the
Saturday evenings ; and if the promoters are not crispness and certainty of execution to be expected
to be congratulated on the pecuniary result of the and desired did not, on this momentous occasion,
enterprise, they may be, at all events, complimented appear; nevertheless is Mr. T. Harper the trumpeter
upon their courage in taking the theatre and the re- par excellence. Signor Arditi treated the be-
sponsibilities in the face of most formidable opposi- nighted Londoners to an orchestral fantasia, “ Sou-
tion. Promenade Concerts do not, and, probably, venir d’une Nu.it d’Ete h Madrid,” by the Russian
never form part of our Christmas holiday- time
will, Glinka. The music of the extreme North Avas put
”
festivities ; and though the extensive “ welkin of upon its trial at several succeeding concerts, but
Her Majesty’s frequently rang with applause, the was found wanting in interest and coherency. The
equally extensive area was seldom, or never, incon- not strikingly melodious “ Scythian ” found a
veniently crowded. The first concert was “popular” stanch friend in Signor Arditi, who did all he
in every sense of the word. Signor Arditi “con- could to make the Russian’s music understood and
tributed ” a new polka ; a new quadrille on airs appreciated. The third “ Orchestral Popular ”
from Possini’s Guillaume Tell a new song called (Jan. 17th) was entirely classical, and eminently
“They ask me why,” and sung by Signor Eoli; acceptable to connoisseurs. Beethoven’s Pastoral
and the valse “L’Estasie.” The active chef Symphouy, a Scherzo and Finale of Schumann,
d’orchestre scores cleverly, as his valse proves, Dr. Sterndale Bennett’s exquisite overture “ The
writes very independently, as his song clemoD- Wood-Nymphs,” Mendelssohn’s violin Concerto (M.
strates, and, in the course of his quadrille makes Sainton), and AYeber’s Concert Stuck (Miss Schiller),
88 “ VENUS’S FLOWER-BASKET.” [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
with airs of Mozart and Handel by Mdlles. Lieb- available for the superscription, “ Sung by Madame
hart, Agliatti,and Signor Foli, were all included in or Miss So-and-so,” or the autographs representing so
the programme. These particulars of two of the much per copy. Old ballads are, in some people’s
“ Orchestrals ” will prove the vigour of the manage- estimation, “ beautiful for ever,” like the arch
ment. Mdlle. Sinico, and Miss Fanny Jervis, a enameller’s favoured subjects ; but others in genteel
pianiste of no ordinary stamp, subsequently ap- life seem to consider them eligible for the kind of
peared. At the second classical concert, Spohr’s treatment old friends sometimes meet with. They
'magnificent Symphony commonly known as “ The may be honoured and appreciated in private, but
Power of Sound ” was performed in a manner not they must be cut dead or be favoured with the coldest
quite intended by the grand old musician. of shoulders in public. It is somewhat hard that
Ballad Concerts are again in the ascendant, and the time for cleansing the gems of old English
with them is specially identified Madame Sainton- melody from the dust of succeeding ages is so
Dolby. Amateurs were at first sanguine enough systematically put off, especially as the dust afore-
to believe that the cause of old English ballads said accumulates with alarming rapidity. It was
would be advanced at these remunerative enter- originally presumed, and naturally enough, that
tainments. That musical antiquarian, William the so-called “ ballad concerts ” would rescue some
Chappell, and his “ fellow-student,” G. A. Mac- of the loveliest melodies ever written from absolute
farren, have done their duty in pointing out the oblivion ; but their mission is apparently the
beauties of the true English school but concert ;
popularizing of a few songs which in ten years will,
vocalists apparently find it more profitable to sing probably, be remembered to the same extent that
the songs of Queen Victoria’s time than those of Mr. Balfe’s Blanche cle Nevers is now. Beal lovers
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Madame of good music do not sigh for concerts composed of
Sainton-Dolby gave a ballad concert on the 16th Elizabethan melodies entirely, varied by fantasias
of January at St. James’s Hall. Whittakers and on the virginal, but they would be glad to see the
Shield’s names appeared in the programme for a relics of antiquity treated with the consideration they
song each, and Bishop’s for two. The very long deserve. The concert vocalists are perhaps afraid
and dreary intervals between these illustrious that old and new ballads introduced in equal propor-
strangers were filled up by Nelson, Lemmens, tions would result in the humiliation of the former.
Blumenthal, Claribel, G. Hodgson, Virginia The old might pale before the new, but the experi-
Gabriel, Weiss, Glover, Boscovitcli, Luders, and ment would be worth a fair, open, and candid trial.
Miss Philp. Mr. W. Chappell should collect The admirable Winter Concerts are progressing
every copy of his heretical book which lovingly satisfactorily, and vague rumours are already
proclaims the old English ballads worthy of accept- pointing to the possibility of a new music-room as
ance, and serve them as Hon Quixote’s clerical part of the forthcoming restoration at the Crystal
friend did his library of romances ; for it appears Palace. Messieurs les Directeurs will, perhaps,
the aforesaid ballads are to be henceforth quietly have a little consideration for those unfortunates
dropped in favour of modern inventions. Has who do not occupy reserved seats, for their privi-
the hideous and pertinacious spectre which one leges have been much curtailed of late. The
calls “ Shop ” nothing to do with the contemptuous “ lower fifteen ” appreciate a comfortable seat as
ignoring of the national ballads by the singers of highly as the “ upper ten;” and if any new arrange-
the present day 1 “ Once I loved a maiden fair,” ment may be in contemplation, it is to be hoped
“ Cold’s the wind, and wet’s the rain,” “ Ah the ! the plain “ guinea season-ticket ” holders may find
sighs that come from my heart,” and such-like, are room to rest and be thankful, and to bless the
perhaps very well in their way; but they could not executive body with as much fervency as they
be marked three or four shillings, and are hardly have occasionally anathematized it.
“VENUS’S FLOWER-BASKET.”
(Euplectella speciosa.)
By W. B. Lobd Royal Artillery.
T is not among the endless variety of floral there are treasures as exquisite as any of them,
I gems which deck the forest and the plain, or scattered amongst the teeming gardens, or stored
the glittering ores and crystals of the earth, that up in the great reef-caverns beneath the rolling
our search for forms of perfect grace and loveliness billows of the sea.
need be confined and however charming and ad-
;
The sponges, corallines, anthozoa, medusae, sea-
mirable the wax-like petals and feathery fronds of weeds, and the countless other productions of the
the choicest flowers of the Tropics may be, or deep, each have their types of beauty; myriads of
however radiant the mineral from the deepest mine, tiny ocean flowrets and fruitlets hang from rock
ttli
I
<Tmi
[ITatme and Art ,Ma;rctl.l 867
.
VENUS'S FLOWER-BASKET.” 89
and ledge, waving their thousand fringes and one or more crabs in the interior of this, to them,
gorgeously-shaded tentacles in the deep blue water; “ crystal prison,” out of which escape is just as im-
whilst fish vying with the rainbow in their radiance possible as from a capsuled bottle. Many differences
of tint and banded beauty, flit bird-like in restless of opinion exist as to the mode by which the crabs
play amongst the ocean leaves and blossoms. Many first obtained an entrance. There appears, how-
of the shells and molluscs are so perfect and ever, little doubt that this is effected whilst the
exquisitely beautiful, that from the very infancy of sponge is in an immature condition, and before the
art they have remained the favourite aud unsur- cover is woven. There is a young specimen which
passed designs from which the greatest triumphs we have examined in the British Museum in this
of ornamental work have been executed. The incomplete state, and it is questionable whether the
wandering explorer and naturalist, who gleans his basket-like tube is ever covered until it has reached
harvest amongst the reefs, coral sands, and lagunes maturity, when, although the sponge appears to
of far-off islands and little-frequented coasts, like cease growing in an upward direction, the power
the plant-hunter, who seeks his prizes in the vast possessed by it to secrete the silicious matter of
’
forests of distant lands, from time to time lights which the network is composed, remains unim-
on some new and unknown marvel of nature’s handi- paired ;
and, like a skilful artisan as he is, he at
work wherewith .to delight not only the scientific once repairs neatly such injuries as his crystal palace
world, but even those least susceptible to the charms may. sustain.
of nature. Such are the subjects of our illustration, Dr. Gray has in his possession a specimen in
which, being the result of photography, faithfully which a repair of this kind has been effected. A
show the form and structural arrangement of these hole appears to have been broken by some acci-
exquisite sponges (for sponges they are), although dent in one of the sides, about halfway between
the clear crystalline transparency of the lace-like the point of attachment and the crown. A new
network of which they are built up, as though spun network of fibres, in bunches, has been substituted
by fairy craft, is such as to defy the efforts of art to for the broken ones, of form much like the original
represent. Cornucopia-like in form, crowned with a structure.
cover of elegant design, they have been appropriately The peculiar curved or cornucopia- like shape
named Venus's Flower-baskets, or the Euplectella spe- usually, although not invariably, assumed by these
ciosce of the naturalists. This beautiful production baskets, has also given rise to much speculation
is a native of the warm and genial seas washing the amoDgsttlie scientific. Dr. Gray is of opinion that
shores of the island of Zebu, one of the Philippine the weight of the crab, when crawling through the
group, where it was first discovered and brought to interior of the tube, may influence the direction in
light by fishermen, about a year since, and is said which the basket is found to incline. He says :
to inhabit very deep water, forty fathoms or there- “ As the crab becomes imprisoned in the cavity, it
abouts, where these sponges fix themselves to the will be constantly walking up and down the tube
sand, or other suitable point of attachment. All to procure food, and by so doing it will most likely
the specimens which we have seen appear to have bend the tube on one side so that the free end of
;
grown on a deposit of coral and shell-sand, and the tube may become bent down nearly to the level
have small shells entangled amongst' the mass of of the base.” Whether is this the true solution of
fibres at the bottom of the sponge. That they at the enigma, or, like the goblet forms of some
times attach themselves to other substances, there species and the rounded contour of others, may
can be no doubt, as Mr. Wright, of 90, Great Russell not the cornucopia form, after all, be that most
Street, to whose courtesy we are indebted for the common to E. speciosa ?
subjects of the illustration, states that there is now It appears to be the prevailing opinion amongst
in Germany a piece of timber brought from the island the fishermen by whom the Euplectella is taken,
of Zebu, on which are ten specimens, a. rich haul— and by whom it is known as the Rigederos, “ that
for the fortunate fisherman who discovered it. it is the work of two insects (meaning probably
The first specimen obtained by Mr. Cumming the crabs found in the tubes) at the bottom of the
(now in the British Museum) was both bought and sea;” and a French correspondent, in writing
sold by him for <£30 others have been purchased
;
recently to the authorities of the British Museum,
at from £10 to £15 ; whilst of late, from fresh expresses his opinion that the Euplectella is the
discoveries having been made, they have become work of the crabs.
comparatively cheaper ; but are still costly enough There are many reasons why this opinion
to render a successful search for them highly re- should be received with the greatest caution.
munerative. Some specimens we have seen have In the first place, we know of no crustacean
a portion of the sponge, of a brownish colour, still possessing a like power of silicious secretion and
adhering to them those in the illustration are the
: construction. Then the crabs which are found in-
crystal frames only. closed are not always of the same species, or even
No doubt the careful search which will be genera. Dr. Gray is of opinion that one which he
set on foot by the inhabitants of the coast, examined through the meshes was a Pagurus, of
when their value in the market is known, will go which the hermit, or soldier-crabs, so frequently
far to clear up some of the mysteries now hanging- found in whelk and other univalve shells on our
round their growth and formation. One of these own coasts, are examples.
is the almost invariable presence of the remains of On many of the coasts of the tropical seas, crabs
90 VENUS’S FLOWER-BASKET.” [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.
of this description, are of a very large size, and Tetliia ingalli (Bowerbank) fig. 8, from T. robusta,
;
unceremoniously seize on any tenantless shell of an Australian sponge.

convenient form they can discover, seeking a new The form of some of these, especially that of
habitation as their growth increases, and leaving fig. 3 and the two latter, ai e such as to make us
-
the old one for another tenant of less ambitious devoutly thankful that these highly useful creatures
requirements. Crabs with habits such as these the sponges confine the manufacture of their spicules
would not fail to investigate a hollow tube of such to microscopic minuteness, or using them for toilet
a tempting appearance as the young, growing, and purposes would be anything but an agreeable oper-
coverless Euplectella would present ;
and what ation ; but flint is not the only material of which
more probable than that, as the tube became a number of very curiously formed spicules are
perfected and the lid partly made, the crab or formed ; some sponges are most abundantly fur-
crabs might still continue to inhabit it, until the nished with them, but composed of carbonate of
orifice being at last closed up, Cancer had to remain lime.. It has been, however, observed, that al-
a captive. His cast-off shells, like old worn-out though certain sponges have their surfaces covered
garments, would remain sealed up with him, and with the carbonate of lime material and their in-
give the idea that many crabs, instead of one, had teriors literally crammed with silicious spicules,
there resided. j
they do not naturally accompany each other, and
Crabs do strange things at times, it is true, as are not secreted in common. The forms of the
we shall probably state in a future communication. |
sponges of commerce are too well known to need
But a Venus’s Flower-basket, we opine, is a work description, and although the life of a sponge may
of too high an order for crustacean constructive- be a matter prosaic in the extreme and utterly
ness to grapple with. Sponges, on the other hand, devoid of the sensational element, there is much in
we know to be workers in flint of the very highest it to interest the thoughtful observer of nature.
order ; forming perfect tubes as their spicules, Sponges are generated by what are called gemmules
the external covering, like that of the wheat-straw or minute atoms of gelatinous substance formed in
or bamboo cane, being of pure silica, and the the interior of the parent. These, as the flowing
lining of a material allied to, if not actually, tide is absorbed and again expelled by the count-
Tceratode, noticed by Dr. Bowerbank, and by him less orifices or oscula which cover the surface, are
spoken of as “ one of the most elastic and durable borne away with it, in association with the thou-
[
animal substances.” No combination of material sands of minute atoms from which the nutritious
could be more pei’fect and comparatively inde- particles or organisms have been strained by the
structible than this, combining, as it does, extreme perfectly-formed structure through which they
flexibility with an almost indestructible surface. hare passed. These tiny sponge-seed are in some
The material of which these crystal-
silicious species covered with minute cilia or hair-like
like tubes arecomposed is deposited in a series of down ;
others come forth mere gelatinous atoms,
concentric layers round a central tubular cavity, but possessed of rapid locomotive powers, moving
which gradually grows less as the spicules arrive at here and there with surprising agility and
mature growth (vide fig. 9, plate 2, which repre- speed. These after a short time become attached
sents the adult or full-grown specimen of Spongilla to a favourable object ;
their secretive members
Jluviatilis under microscope, after having
the are formed, and they remain, unless disturbed, in
been subjected to heat, in order to char the con- the position in which they first established them-
tents of the interior, and so make them’ more selves.
evident). There are two theories to account for the absorp-
Fig. 10shows a portion of a young and immature tion and expulsion of water by the sponges. That
specimen from S. lacustrinus, treated in the same of Dr. Grant favours the belief that the vast
manner in order to show the greater size of the numbers of moving and vibratory cilia lining all the
internal cavity and membrane lining it. The canals and cavities and bending their tiny arms
researches of Dr. Bowerbank, to whom we are like waving corn, thus set up a disposition in the
indebted for our microscopic views, go to show water to flow ever onward through them. Dutrochet,
that the silica is secreted by a double membrane, however, attributes it to the law of endosmose a ,
the inner surfaces of each alike possessing secretive very familiar example of which may be found by
powers. It will be seen that the Euplectellas are filling a common bladder with carbonic acid gas,
not the only sponges by many which secrete this when, after a short time, the gas, although of much
curious flinty material, at times elaborated in the greater weight than atmospheric air, will pass
most beautiful and curious form. Fig. 1 is from through the pores of the bladder and admit air.
E. aspergillum (Owen) fig. 2 from a species of
•
We leave the reader the option of selection between
Euplectella deposited in the museum of the Jardin these theories, contenting ourselves by repeating
des Plantes Paris.
,
Fig. 3 is also from E. asper- that the sponge is fed and nourished by that which
gillum : whilst the curiously-hooked double grapnel the flowing tide brings within the reach of its
or anchor form of spicule found in fig. 4 is from influence. Unlike the Actinia and some other
an undescribed sponge found on the coast of stationary inhabitants of the deep, it has no arms
Sicily. Fig. 5 is from Halichondria incrustans or tentacles with which to reach forth and secure
fig. 6 from a spongeous mass found about the its prey ; therefore it makes of itself a living filter.
base or roots of E. Cucumer (Owen); fig. 7, from The sponges, as a rule, are marine productions,
“
Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.] VENUS’S FLOWER-BASKET.’’ 91
although there are certain kinds found in fresh growing from the ledge of a sunken rock. “Alas !”
water. Like many other inhabitants of the deep, said poor Phipps, “ there is a sea treasure indeed, I
the sponges thrive best in the warm genial seas of wish I could get it.” One of the good-humoured
the tropics, and perhaps in no part of the world are black divers who accompanied him, anxious to
they to be found in greater variety and perfection oblige his commander, shot rapidly down to the
than among the Australasian islands. The West coveted specimen, and just as rapidly returned with
Indies and the Mediterranean also yield them in it, exclaiming, “ Feather safe, fine feather ; hut
considerable quantities; those of commerce being plenty hig cannon down where feather live .” This
chiefly from the two last-mentioned sources. Our report, as may be readily imagined, made the sink-
colder seas, although containing their sponges, are ing heart of poor Phipps leap again. Blackey was
by no means rich in them. Dr. Bowerbank despatched to the regions below to have another
enumerates twenty-four genera as being found on look, and returned with the glorious news that
the shores of Great Britain. These differ much there were “ plenty hig boxes too, and lots of this,”
from the huge vase or chalice-shaped Pin sponges exhibiting his hands filled with silver. Now the
( Raphidophora patera) found in the Indian Ocean. captain was in his true element, and there lay his
We have seen some of these which would readily work cut out for him. He Was quite equal to the
hold from three to four gallons in their cup-shaped occasion, for from that deep gulf, far down among
cavities. Yenus’s fans ( Gorgonia flabellum) are the corals and the sponges, where it had lain con-
there, too, found on the coasts of Bermuda, large cealed for moi*e than half a century, he brought to
enough for the toilet-table of a giantess, and fit light thirty -two tons of silver bullion, besides large
companions for the huge sponge goblets above quantities of gold, pearls, and other valuables. We
referred to. The sea- feather, or plume coral, is find that Phipps was knighted by James II. He
found sprouting, like some ocean fern-leaf, from the was also appointed sheriff of New England, and
rock- cave’s edges, far down in the clear, tranquil took command of a large expeditionary force against
water, amongst the reefs, and we shall see how one the French. We
afterwards find him in command
of them proved a guide to fortune, station, and of a fleet fitted out to oppose the French in Canada,
nobility. Thus goes the tale, which, unlike many and subsequently taking part in the border warfare
such, has the inestimable advantage of being strictly of the period, as a leader of note. And at this
true. point of his career we bid adieu to Sir James
In the year 1G50, one Phipps, a blacksmith of Phipps, and the feather which led him on to fortune.
Pemaquid, in New England, was blessed with a Amongst the endless objects of interest which
son, who was christened William, and who, in very each hour passed on the sea brings to notice, few
early life, manifested much ingenuity and a passion are more curious than the family of Medusidce
for ship-building. Yery shortly after the term of
“ There’s not a gem
his apprenticeship to a shipwright had expired, he
Wrought by man’s art to be compared to them;
built a vessel for himself, which he navigated in
Soft, brilliant, tender, through the wave they glow,
person, and hearing it reported that a Spanish And make the moonbeams brighter where they flow.”
merchant ship freighted with bullion had sunk in
the neighbourhood of the Bahamas, he at once be- The rippling waves as they divide beneath the
took himself to the scene of the disaster, and made good ship’scutwater, the dipped oar-blade, and
the most determined but fruitless efforts to recover the fisher’s net, glisten in the moonlight like molten
the lost gold. Treasure-seeking now appears to metal, and the boat’s track is marked out as in
have become a fixed occupation with Captain liquid fire. We are passing through myriads of
Phipps. In the year 1683 we find him employed Noctiluca miliaris, members of the order we are
by the English Government to discover another lost glancing at. From the most minute and micro-
Spanish ship of immense value. This he failed to scopic size to the most gigantic dimensions do these
do, but was convinced that perseverance in the strange organisms exist, and there appears no known
search would be ultimately crowned with success. limit to the vast size to which they can grow»in the
For five years he was unsuccessful in his applica- tropic seas. The ponderous jelly-like masses at
tions for funds to renew his investigations, when the times cast by storms on our coasts, or left by the
Duke of Albemarle, the then Governor of Jamaica, receding tide on our beaches, are as mere pigmies
not only believed in the assurances of Captain to the huge creatures of this class found in the
Phipps, but furnished him with ample means and Indian seas ; and if northern latitudes were as con-
fitting apparatus for his new expedition. How he genial to their rapid and prodigious development as
reached the scene of his labours ; how every lagune the warmer seas of the East, the Tcrahen might not
and gulf between the reefs was searched in vain, prove as great a myth as has been generally supposed.
until hope well-nigh vanished, we need not dwell Thus Mr. Telfair writes of one he saw washed on
on here. No wreck could be discovered, and he shore near Bombay, in 1819, which, as he says, must
had almost determined to abandon the undertaking have weighed many tons :
—
I went to see it when
in despair, when, after a day of more than ordinary the gale had subsided, which was not for three days
fatigue and anxious exploration amongst the coral after its being cast upon the sand ; but it had
rocks, his boat’s crew were rowing him slowly and already become offensive, and I could not distin-
dejectedly back to his ship, one of the sailors I guish any shape. The sea had thrown it high above
directed his attention to a beautiful sea-feather ||
the reach of the tide, and I instructed the fisher-
92 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, March 1, 186"
men, who lived in tlie immediate neighbourhood, to portion, a cubic inch of watermust contain 64 ; a
watch its decay, and if any osseous or cartilaginous cubic foot, 110,592; a cubic fathom, 23,887,872;
part remained, it might be preserved it rotted, ;
and a cubical mile about 23,888,000,000,000,000.
however, entirely, and left no remains. It could From soundings made in the situation where these
not be less than nine months before it entirely dis- animals were found, it is probable the sea is up-
appeared, and the travellers were obliged to change wards of a mile in depth but whether these sub-
;
the direction of the road for nearly a quarter of a stances occupy the whole depth is uncertain. Pro-
mile, to avoid the offensive and sickening stench vided, however, the depth to which they extend be
which proceeded from it.” Vast fields of medusae but 250 fathoms, the above immense number of
are at times encountered at sea, extending for one species may occur in a space of two miles
miles in every direction. square. It may give a little conception of the
We have had an opportunity of sailing through amount of medusae in this extent, if we calculate
some of these vast assemblies, and examining the length of time that would be required, with a
them. On one occasion, in the Indian Ocean, we certain number of persons for counting this num-
encountered incalculable numbers of the red ber allowing that one person could count a mil-
:
species, the “ Brit” or “Bret” of the whalers. lion in seven days, which is barely possible, it
Nearly the whole of one day was occupied in passing would have required that 80,000 persons should
through fields of these curious organisms, whilst the have started at the creation of the world, to com-
whales, who were following up and feeding on the plete the enumeration at the present time.
floating millions, came up to blow in all directions Some species of these strange organisms, as the
around our ship, tossed their flukes in the air, and Acalephce, or sea-nettles, possess the power, of
resumed their banquet, regardless of our close stinging severely those who incautiously handle
proximity. them. Some are remarkable for the length and
Dr. Scoresby has made a curious calculation in beauty of their long twining tendrils and delicate
order to show the innumerable number of medusae crystalline fishing-lines. “ The Portuguese man-of-
at times found inhabiting comparatively limited war,” in all her grace and loveliness, lures us on to
spaces of ocean. He says, when speaking of a voyage with, and gossip about, her, but the task,
specimen of olive-green sea he was engaged in although a pleasant one, must be postponed until
—
examining: “The number of medusae in the olive- our next expedition to the gardens and pleasure-
green sea was found to be immense. They were grounds of the sea.
about one-fourth of an inch asunder ;
in this pro-
REVIEWS.
India, Ancient and Modern. Delineated in a Series of understand how
widely the fancies of man’s mind are varied
Water-colour Drawings made on the Spot by William by local influences.As he penetrates into the narrow
Simpson. The literary portion of the work by J. W.
streets and bazaars of the towns, under the carved bal-
conies and fretted work of the flat-roofed houses, he will
Kaye. Day & Son (Limited), G-ate-street, Lincoln’s Inn not perceive the slightest vestige of European manners.
Fields. Every sight, sound, and smell will be essentially the pro-
perty of the East and even the method of sitting adopted
;
rpO the student of the beautiful the first views of India by the natives will appear particularly strange to him, as
A. must be full of delight. He may imagine himself to they neither sit upon chairs like ourselves, nor cross-legged
be transported to some realm of enchantment, as he finds like the Turks, but squat upon their ankles after the fashion
himself, for the first time, among the vivid verdure of the of monkeys. And it is decidedly mirth-inspiring to the new
fantastic tropical foliage, or opposite the graceful dome arrival, to see two of them thus sitting together in one of
and slender minarets of some fanciful Eastern edifice. the low stalls of a bazaar and chatting volubly, while they
Both nature and art are here adorned in fashions, charm- negotiate the sale of grain, or of an earthenware pot or
ing in themselves, and interesting from the completeness shawl or while the one, in his capacity of barber, is occu-
;
with which they differ from those of the Western world. pied in shaving the head of the other, leaving only the tuft
The broad-leaved plantains, with their clusters of yellow of hair by which the angel is eventually to convey him to
fruit, the fan-like palms, the tall cocoa-nut trees, the Paradise.
feathery bamboos, the wide-spreading banyans, almost The crowds in the streets will be in numerous and
resembling the Druidical oaks of old England, with their picturesque varieties of Eastern costume. Some will be
dark twisted tendrils drooping, like bewitched rain-drops, attired in tawdry silks and brocades more will be dressed
—
to the ground,- the tamarinds, guavas, and hosts of other
;
in white or coloured cotton, with turbans and red slippers

trees, present to him Dame Nature in a dress totally more will be black and naked except a scanty covering
new to him unless he has studied the specimens in the
; round the waist. Then there will be Baboos, or Hindoo
palm-house in Kew Gardens, or in that which was the gentlemen, frequently employed as scribes and the like,
pleasant tropical compartment of the Crystal Palace. in long white robes, with their heads only covered by
Then, as he comes upon a little temple nestling in a grove their own short, curly black hair, and their bare dusky
of trees, from whence fly bright green parrots scared at his legs and feet in European patent leather shoes Parsees
;
intrusion or approaches the grander structures of Eastern

; with their eccentric chimney-pot-resembling- head-pieces
art, with their airy forms and delicate embellishments, or women with rings through their noses and heavy silver
massive proportions and quaint ornamentation, he will ornaments on their arms and ankles, dressed in a style
; ;
Nature and Art, March 1, 18C?.] REVIEWS. 93
which renders them like perambulating- bundles of old infest the villages,and the multitudes of hawks, vultures,
window-curtains none but women of the lowest class, and
;
and carrion birds of divers kind, which swarm in the neigh-
those generally old and ugly, being permitted to be seen bourhood of the abodes of men, and kindly supply the
abroad. Then, perhaps, he may meet a cavalier in a com- want of drainage, and it may be conceived that nature in
bination of snowy-white and gay or gorgeous garments, India is exceedingly animated. To the hot winds succeed
mounted on a saddle like those used in an English circus long months during which the air is so stagnant that it
for the daring feats of horsemanship, on a white horse with seems scarcely possible to breathe, unless it is put in motion
his nose, hoofs, mane, and tail painted pink or a native
;
by the punkah swaying from the ceiling when even an
;
conveyance resembling a gig with an awning, covered with ordinary sheet is too heavy a covering as slumber is courted
bells and jingling ornaments. Rude carts, drawn by bullocks, at night, and loose trousers and shirt of the lightest muslin
will nearly block up the narrow thoroughfare, and the tout have to be worn instead. But at length the cool weather
'ensemble of the scene will be completed by the creaking of comes, when with a puggeree, or cloth bound like a turban
the ungreased cart-wheels, the incessant beating of tom- round the wideawake hat, the sunbeams can be endured,
toms, ringing of bells, and Babel of voices with odours of
;
and Anglo-India arises from summer torpor to balls, races,
burnt wood, rancid oil, and stagnant ditches. The romances theatricals, and dinner parties. Then may the traveller
of the “ Arabian Nights’ Entertainments ” will be recalled betake himself to view those grand old. edifices, which
to his mind, and afford him a glimpse of the inner life of Moguls and Rajahs have left to attest their magnificence
this new world presented to his notice, and he may rejoice and cities such as Benares, Delhi, and Lahore, where palaces
in being perfectly rid, for a time, of black hats and crino- and temples for the living and shrines for the dead vie with
line. one another in costliness and beauty.
Even however, he seeks the European habitations, he
if, The scenes of Bible history will be vividly brought to
will still findmuch to astonish him. He will behold well- his recollection as he journeys through the country. The
appointed English carriages driven by native coachmen in rude agricultural implements, the yokes of oxen, the wells
Eastern costumes and, up country, the European bunga-
;
from which water is drawn in leathern buckets by the hand
lows, with their high- thatched roofs, painted clay walls, and (pumps as well as drains being unknown luxuries in India),
verandas are sufficiently characteristic. Indeed, existence the women on the housetops, the process of two women
would be impossible in such a climate without considerable grinding at the mill, which may be constantly observed in
modification of our English manner of life. At Meerut, for all parts of India, and numerous other customs, are won-
instance, which is a large station in the North-west pro- derfully suggestive of those pictures with which we have
vinces of Bengal, at nearly a thousand miles’ distance from been familiar from childhood, but which appear to be drawn
Calcutta, for eight months in the year the sun renders im- from life so foreign to our own habits. Much of the scenery
prisonment in the house compulsory from about seven in is extremely picturesque. Sometimes the road traverses
the morning till six in the evening. It is possible, certainly, richly- wooded tracts almost resembling English parks then
:
to struggle through the scorching heat, with a pith hat, two it crosses vast plains, covered with the white rice-harvest or
or three inches thick, upon the head, and an umbrella fields of corn, sugar-canes, or tobacco, relieved by villages
and, under the influence of strong excitement, men have embowered in groves of palm-trees. Here the men may be
been known to brave the effects of the sun with impunity ;
seen smoking their hubblebubbles, or rude hookahs, as they
but confinement to the house must be the normal condition. loll lazily upon their couches at the doors of their mud
Here, in the season of the hot winds, the air comes from huts, or perform their ablutions by throwing water over their
the arid deserts of Caubul, like the blast of a coke-furnace swarthy carcasses from brass pots, while their little naked
when the door is opened, at times laden with storms of hot children tumble about in the dust of the road, or stare at
and penetrating sand. But the window-sashes are removed the stranger with their great, bright, black eyes. Then,
and a species of mats called khuskus-tatties substituted for perhaps, we enter the shades .of some gloomy forest, whose
them through which, kept constantly damped by water
;
impenetrable depths harbour tigers, wild boars, jackals,
thrown over them by the bibisti, or water-carrier, from his porcupines, monkeys, and various species of deadly serpents,
pig-skin, the air blows into the house cool and fresh. When and, again emerging upon open plains, come to the banks
rains succeed, for a brief interval, the air is deliciously of the sacred Ganges, or some tributary stream, where the
eool and fragrant. The parched vegetation springs up to alligators lie basking in the sun on the yellow sand-banks,
luxuriance in a single night but myriads of reptiles and
;
and in which to bathe when living, or to be cast when dead,
insects likewise rejoice in the change. Black ants half an is the most important article of the religious practice of
inch long, with curly tails, overrun the bath-room another ;
millions. But the old method of travelling through the
species of ants take wing and, in numbers, terminate a country by dak gharrie, or one-horse post-chaise, is becoming
short existence by immolating themselves in the candles or as much an affair of the past as the stage-coaches and post-
soup at dinner. Centipedes drop from the roof of the chaises of England. The dak bungalows, too, or resting-
veranda, snakes make morning calls, and nature generally places erected by Government to supply the place of inns,
awakes to diverse existence, in which the Briton appears in will probably fall into more desuetude than our own old
the light of an intruder into a domain the inhabitants of post-houses ; for the last can still carry on an impoverished
which exhibit their animosity by tickling him in the shape existence by the aid of market-days and commercial travel-
of flies, stinging him as mosquitoes, and alarming him as ling. The railways that now run throughout the length and
venomous reptiles. breadth of British India will convey the traveller, reclining
A lady in England would probably make strenuous objec- too luxuriously to take more than the most fleeting glances
tions to the presence of little green lizards and bloated at the panorama of varied scenery he is so rapidly passing,
spiders, with hairy legs, on the walls of' her drawing-room ;
from one salient point to another. In fact, we believe that
but in India, their society is welcomed for the havoc they tourists will soon be found to scamper through the more
commit among the mosquitoes and flies. The almost im- strikingly interesting cities of Hindostan, as through those
perceptible white ants, as is, of course, well known, will eat of the Continent, doing the lions thereof with similar ardour,
anything, from boots to lath and plaster and in an old
;
and contenting themselves with such views of the rest of the
bungalow inhabited by the writer of this article, they ac- country as can bo obtained from the window of a first-class
tually excavated their way up a door-post to the height of railway carriage, when they are not absorbed in a newspaper
about six feet, and then cut through the woodwork and con- or book. Now enjoying fresh sensations, now bewailing
structed a kind of hanging-palace of earth, some three novel miseries, they will hurry from the holy Benares with
inches in length, and one in thickness, in which they de- its golden temple and celebrated ghauts, or landing-places, on
posited their king and queen, two fat white grubs, of half the banks of the Ganges, thronged by their bathing, praying,
an inch in length. Then there is the notorious musk rat, sleeping, or gossiping crowds, to Cawnpore, with its marble
which, by simply running over a securely corked and sealing- monument over the well of terrible memories from Agra,
;
waxed bottle of wine, can impart to it such a disgusting with its gem-bedizened Taj Mahal, to Delhi, with its sub-
flavour of musk as to ruin it entirely. Add to all this insect lime ruins and present grandeur ;
from Lahore, with its
and vermin life, the packs of ill-bred and mangy curs which “ mausoleums and shrines, magnificent and numberless,
94 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1867
where death seemed to share equal honours with heaven,” pression of the scenes which he has made it his occupation
to Cashmere. to portray.
“ Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere,
Withits roses the brightest that earth ever gave,
Its temples, and grottos, and fountains as clear A Fox’s Tale, a Sketch of the Hunting -field. Day and Son
As the love-lighted eyes that hang over their wave ? (Limited) London.
Oh to see it at sunset, when warm o’er the lake,
!
This is a most worthy pendant, by the same author, to

Its splendour at parting a summer eve throws.” “ The Autobiography of a Salmon,” of which we expressed
But to pursue the path travelled by Moore’s sweet “ Lalla such unqualified approval in our last. “The Fox’s Tale ”
Bookh,” on her romantic love-errand, it is necessary to get is an unaffected narrative “ by one of themselves,” of the
far beyond the range of English mechanical and engineering joys and sorrows of the Vulpine race, interspersed with
science. Bugged mountain-passes must be crossed by hard, sketches of the characters and characteristics of a hunt and
old-fashioned means of travelling, before the loveliest valley hunting-field, but with no tinge of the fast or trace of
in the world can be reached. But, really, it would scarcely slang to mar its agreeable flavour. It would seem im-
be astonishing within the next few years, to see the an-
-
,
possible to have compressed into less than one hundred
nouncement of an excursion Peninsular and Oriental boat, pages more or prettier cabinet studies of landscape and
in connection with the railway, dak gharrie, and palkee dak, figure than we have found here. The life of a vixen and
or journeying by palanquin, to Cashmei'e and back, proceed- her cubs in haystack and gorse, the gentleman farmer,
ing thither by Calcutta, stopping at Ceylon for prawn curry the master of hounds, the huntsman and his aides, the field,
and cocoa-nut chutney, and returning down the Indus to and the meet, are all sketched with singular brevity and
Kurrachee. precision, and “ the Bun,” with its every incident, is so
Meanwhile, however, we are happy in being able to re- felicitous that we defy any lover of the country and the
commend to those of our readers who do not possess the op- sport to lay it down unfinished. Poor Renard, indeed, tells
portunity, or the ambition, to extend their tours so far, yet his story so well as to enlist our sympathy, and the reader
are interested in this great, glittering Eastern realm of ours, is excellently well pleased with the dramatic artifice
a means by which they may most agreeably gratify their albeit a true story —
by which the editor avoids so unpleasant
very laudable curiosity. Mr. William Simpson, who recently a catastrophe as the fall of the curtain over a scene of
exhibited at the German gallery, his admirable collection of blood.
water-colour drawings of India, Thibet, and Cashmere, is
about to publish them, reproduced by the chromo-litho-
graphic process, with an account of the country under its Manuel_ Pratique et Baisonni de V Amateur de Tableaux.
historical, religious, and other aspects ;
and we cannot con- By Dr. Lachaise. Paris. 18mo.
ceive anything calculated to give a more complete idea of
the scenei’y and life of our Asiatic dominions than A very useful work by a well-known art critic. The
these pictures. A specimen of the forty-two monthly manual, which contains a large amount of information
in a small compass, includes an excellent chapter on the
parts of which the work will consist, is now before
1
the full history of art valuable hints on the distinctive character-

us, containing six fac-simile drawings, of ;
istics of all the schools and of the principal masters on the

size of the originals, and preserving their brilliance of ;
colouring. We have the “ Chitpore Boad, Calcutta,” means of judging whether a picture is really an original, an
imitation, or a copy, and whether it remains intact or has
a very good specimen of the native part of the town,
and affording an accurate notion of Indian customs, from been submitted to the tender or other mercies of the
the artistic skill with which characteristic details have
restorers ;
on the perils of public and private sales, and the
laws and regulations relating thereto and on the preser-
been inserted in the picture such as the man in the corner
:
;
vation of pictures, and the precautions necessary to be

cleaning his teeth with a bit of stick, and the illustration of )
observed in their restoration.

the manner in which mothers carry their children. Then we
Dr. Lachaise naturally devotes a considerable part of
have the “ Lanka Cave, Ellora,” one of the most artistic of
this work to the French school, and a short extract from his
all the excavated works of the Brahmins and the “ Summer
;
observations under that head will give an idea of his views

Palace on the Lake of Oodeypore,” a beautiful structure of
white marble, picturesquely situated on an island, to which
relative to the painters of the nineteenth century : —
the Bana goes in state, accompanied by his hareem, in an “In the eighteenth century French art went through
enclosed barge cotton-boats on the Ganges, and’two scenes
: three marked phases. The first was that of gallantry or
of Cashmere life, occupy the remaining places. The style courtly politeness, personified in Watteau, and. which was
of the accompanying literary portion of the undertaking, by endowed by a veritably official character by the creation, in
Mr. J. W. Kaye, the accomplished author of “ Christianity the Academy of the Fine Arts itself, of a section of painting
in India,” and the official editor of the Canning Clyde, and
-
,
entitled Fetes galantes. The second, quite as distinctly
other papers bearing upon the Indian Mutiny, is in every defined as the first, was the reign of pure sensuality, and
way worthy of the really exquisite sketches it is designed had for its leader Francois Boucher. The third, still
to illustrate. The illuminated dedication to Her Majesty, marked in the corner, as it were, with the same stamp, that
printed in many colours from an oriental design of rare of love, accommodated itself to the feeling of the time, and
elegance composed by Mr. Owen Jones, is not the least re- exhibited, in the works of Fragonard, a tendency towards
markable feature of the work. Mr. Simpson remained for sentiment. Greuze and Prud’hon, without forming a school,
three years in India, during which he visited nearly every place took up the moral and the poetic side, and remain the
of interest in the great continent, from Cape Comorin to Pesha- masters of the transition. In truth, the poetic transfor-
Wur and some of the picturesque regions beyond the British
;
mation through which France was then passing, and which
frontier, as Cashmere and Thibet, as we were informed in |
culminated in 1789, occupied all minds and demanded of
the publisher’s preface to the descriptive catalogue of his j
art something more than the frivolities with which the pre-
exhibition. He enjoyed peculiar advantages for seeing the j
ceding century was satisfied.
country under its most favourable aspects, as he was “ From the epoch we have named, painting seemed to
invited by Lord Canning to join the vice regal camp on the have no other mission but that of inspiring the masses with
triumphal march through the scenes of the defeated re- feelings of abnegation and disinterestedness, with the senti-
bellion during which tour numerous great durbars, or
;
ment of liberty and devotion to their country. The Oath of
levees of Indian princes, were held, some of which are j
the Horatii, Belisarius asking alms, and the Death of the
depicted among his drawings. Altogether, we think that Sons of Brutus, placed David at the head of those who could
it would be impossible to find a country more adapted for comprehend the powerful aid which painting could give to
the exercise of the artist’s taste and skill, from the beauty new ideas, and made him the chief of a school which had
and variety of its scenes, both of nature and art ; or an great iclat but which did not sufficiently understand its
,
artist more capable of giving a correct and pleasing im- own origin to see that, in matters of art as in politics, to
;
;

OLLA PODRIDA. 95
destroy is not to create, or to escape a despotic spirit which which it derives from imagination, it also presented its
rendered it hostile to whatever was produced beyond its wanderings, and showed that without certain principles art
own breast. This school, in fact, had scarcely received the would be but an allusion or pure fantasy. The school may,
public sanction, and proved that art was in a bad road moreover, quote, in opposition to its detractors, names
when it felt itself called upon to regenerate art, treated with before which all men of sense must bow, and historical pages
disdain all its predecessors, and carried fatuity so far as not worthy of the imperishable glories which they are destined
only to give insulting nicknames to many artists then held to celebrate. If all the works produced by the pencils of
in esteem, but to carry one of its own adepts, Drouais, these chiefs leave something to be desired, it is equally
in triumph to the Pantheon, forgetting that the Tarpeian incontestable that in the greater part of them many of the
Rock is not far from the Capitol. most essential conditions of art are exhibited in a high
“ Thus the public mind no sooner recovered from the degree. . . Let us then render justice to this school
.
astonishment created by this school, than it beg’an to doubt let us admit that it too often sacrificed spirit for theory
if art consisted in nothing more than the good drawing of a that in order to reach the mind of the masses it contented
figure if the models of the atelier, covered with Greek and
;
itself with drawing correctly, even to hardness that it did
;
Roman tunics, and wearing sandals borrowed from the not sufficiently occupy itself either with the seductions of
opera, really presented a fair representation of the antique ;
colour or the effects of chiaroscuro ; that it therefore
if stiff, outstretched arms could really assume any other often remained formal and cold but let us admit that it
;
—
position in fact there were not wanting opponents with the possessed great skill in composition, a well-expressed in-
boldness to proclaim that the respect professed by David tention and a constant effort to raise itself to the level of
and his school for the antique was simply a mannerism the brilliant period which it had to traverse, great care
under which they hid the barrenness of their imagination with respect to details, and a practical skill which enabled
and the uncertainty of their object. it to triumph over the difficulties presented by given official
“ The doubtonce admitted, was soon chang-ed to certainty, subjects and the strange costumes of the period.”
and the law of retaliation was so rigorously applied to
the school in question, that the very expressions it had used Every one will not of course agree, as we do generally,
against its predecessors were now turned against itself. with the above appreciation of the school of David, but all
Does the school of David merit the neglect, nay the must see that Dr. Lachaise has studied his subject with
disdain, with which it is treated at the present day ? No ! care and, we may add, success.
a thousand times, No In the first place there was reason
! A chapter at the end of the volume will be highly
for its existence, in order to rid the domain of art of frivolity, acceptable to connoisseurs ; it contains a list of the most
prettiness, and conventionality, and it did its work in a important works of art in all languages, to be consulted, not
satisfactory manner only, it persisted in the means when
;
only on the subject of painting in general, but on that of
they were no longer necessary. Further, if in attempting to each school taken separately.
reduce art to absolute theories, it deprived it of those charms
OLLA PODRIDA.
The Pictures for the Academy are beginning to Douglas, tender and true,” by Bernard Althaus“ The Bells
;
assume shape, and some of them are already being much of Aberdovey,” words and accompaniment by George Linley
talked about. Most notable is Mr. Frith’s, which will and “ Gathered Treasures,” words by Tom Hood, music by
be one of the great, if not the greatest picture of the Elizabeth Philp.
season the subject is “ Evelyn visiting Whitehall on a
;
The dance music of M. Marriott is within the means of
Sunday, a few days before the death of Charles the comparative beginners at the pianoforte. There are no
Second,” and shocked at the dissolute exhibition of quadrilles now of the Henri Herz and Dos Santos type, and
manners by which the king is surrounded. Mr. Elmore pianists need not anticipate finding their capabilities very
will exhibit the first-fruits of his visit to the East severely tried in quadrilles, valses, &c. Mr. C. Coote’s
last winter. It will be' a telling subject, and will be descriptive quadrille is, in plain terms, easy to play, and
familiar to all Scripture readers. Although ’tis old as the good to dance to. Some years ago M. Rene Favarger’s
East itself, and still daily to be seen, it is strange that none fantasia on “ Oberon ” at once established his credit as an
of our many artists, who now travel so far for subjects, an-anger of the “brilliant, but not difficult” order. This
have ever treated it. John Phillip is recovered from his new specimen of his talent now before us is a very favour-
severe illness, and has three pictures on hand for the able instance of what may be done to secure .a brilliant
Academy. O’Neil has two fine subjects, one an incident in effect without putting serious difficulties in the way.
the life of Luther, and the other an incident connected with j
M. Blumenthal’s quaint and original march may be re-
Titian. Leighton has four contributions getting ready and ;
commended to all classes of pianists, and is by no means
Prinsep will have a Yenetian interior. John Burgess is difficult. Amongst the younger English musicians Mr.
preparing a successor to his “ Bravo Toro ” of last year, by Arthur Sullivan holds a very high position. Latterly he
which his established repute will not suffer. has become more widely known as a song- writer, and we
In the Water-Colour Exhibition, Mr. Louis Haghe will can pay him no higher compliment than to predict that
have a very fine picture, an interior of a monastery at many of his compositions will live in the future when other
Rome. % commonplace productions are entirely forgotten. “ Thou
&
New —
Music. We have received the following songs and are lost to me ” might be sung by a contralto or baritone.
pieces from Messrs. Boosey & Co. “ The Express Quadrille,”
: Its companion is in A flat, and ranges to the G above the line.
by Charles Coote “
La Vie Parisienne Valse, sur l’Opera
;
“ Strangers yet ” is in E flat, and in all probability will
d’Offenbach,” par C. H. R. Marriott; “La Vie Parisienne rival in popularity some of Claribel’ s most famous songs.
Quadrille,” by the same arranger; “ Marie Valse,” par S. It is signed by Madame Sainton-Dolby, and is a remarkable
Hugh Baillie (Colonel Royal Horse Guards) “ Ralouka,
;
instance of the steady increase in the market price of these
Marche Turque,” composee par Blumenthal; “Fantasie sur things. Four shillings is demanded for Lord Houghton’s
la Priere et Chasse du Freischutz,” par Rene Eavarger; tender and graceful words, and the fair Claribel’ s setting
“Riding thro’ the Broom,” “Strangers yet,” and “Only thereof. “ Only a Lock of Hair ” is expressive and flowing
a Lock of Hair,” by Claribel “ She is not Fair to outward
;
in the melody, and is adapted for a tenor voice. The song
View,” and “Thou art lost to me,” by Arthur Sullivan; is in B flat, and ranges upward to A, first line above.
“Come Home, Father” (Christy Minstrel ballad) “Douglas, ;
Messrs. Robert Cocks & Co. have issued the under-
96 OLLA PODRIDA. [Nature and Art, March 1, 1807.
mentioned publications: —
“Rosabella Yalse,” by Adam clever. Two of the latter, who are attached to this troupe,
Wright; “Bon Soir Galop,” by Fred. Godfrey “Blossoms
;
climb and clamber about a light bamboo scaffolding in St.
of Thought,’' by Robert William Pearse; “The Wishing Martin’s Hall, after the manner of the late chimpanzee at
Cap,” a song by VV. T. Wrighton; and “ Sing me that the Crystal Palace; and one of them, owing to the accidental
song again,” a serenade by G-uglielmo. “ Blossoms of breaking of a cane from which he was hanging, was for a
Thought” are original preludes for the pianoforte, and few moments in great danger. Bamboos, however, are
some of them indicate the composer to be gifted with real tough and fibrous, and the courage and presence of mind,
musical feelings. There is a certain originality about the fortunately belonging to the Japanese as well 'as to the
greater number of these studies. In Band-master Godfrey’s English fraternity, saved the performer from death, and the
galop, a very short song is introduced, the melody being spectators from a sad shock.
founded on the “ Coldstream Guard’s Yalse.” The galop, of Asi-Kitchi-San’s “ butterfly trick ” is the crowning glory
good.
its class, is Mr. Wrighton can write expressive and of this remarkable entertainment. He tears a small piece of
plaintive ballads ; but he is not so happy in treating the rice-paper into the shape of a little white butterfly, and
“ Wishing Cap ” description of subject. The words are by with the current of air from a fan keeps it moving in the
Charles Mackay. exact imitation of the insect. He talks to it in evidently
—
The Japanese Jugglers. Novelty, though sometimes persuasive and facetious language, and at length it quietly
very startling, is not always genuine but in the ease of the
;
settles on the top of another fan carried in the left hand.
Japanese troupe, now flying paper butterflies and spinning —
The artist, for a thing of this kind is artistic in the highest
tops at St. Martin’s Hall, it is eminently so. The party of degree, —
manages two with equal success and anything
;
middle-aged men, young women, and children, from the more delicate, pretty, and really marvellous as an imitation
country of the Tycoon, twelve in all, began enlightening the of nature, it is impossible to conceive.
Saxons, at a private performance, on February 9th. Herr Ernst Schulz, a physiognomist and a very
Asi-Ivitchi-San is the artist and the gentleman of the party, remarkable man, gave a lecture, or private performance,
and his butterfly trick must be seen to be believed. The on the 29tli of last November, to an invited few at the
Japanese manner is easjr and almost carelessly self-possessed,
,
Egyptian Hall. He has since been lost to sight, but
though undisfigured by any show of vulgar confidence. under the suggestive title, “ Masks and Faces,” his
Native dignity, and a calm consciousness of excellence in entertainment is now heralded to the London public. We
some branches of their art, the males of the company have a few broad, abstract, ideas of physiognomy, and
certainly seem to possess. Gaensee, “top-spinner to the know that raised eyebrows express surprise, that when
Tycoon,” and Asi-Kitchi-San are especially intelligent-look- lowered they help to indicate anger, and that a curled lip
ing. “ Beauty is but skin deep,” and hardly that, with the implies scorn and contempt. It is, however, reserved for a
actresses of Japan but then in England we can ensure the
; philosophical mind, and extraordinarily mobile features,
finest complexions in the world for if the white and pink of
;
such as Ernst Schulz possesses, to demonstrate how truth-
nature are not forthcoming, the artistic substitutes are to be fully human nature and temperament may be illustrated
procured in Bond Street. The Japanese ladies are sallow, by one man. Grimace is despised, and caricature quietly
and, in comparison with their masculine companions, sleepy- put on one side by this student of humanity, who creates
looking. To this rule there is one exception, namely, a effects which could hardly be credited, and never descends
young girl with an almost European complexion. After to violence or vulgarity. Ernst Schulz presses down his
twelve simultaneous salaams from the entire and richly- hair, turns his collar down, and settles his marvellously
dressed party, this fair-skinned maiden puts on a head-dress plastic features into a representation of semi-imbecility
something- like an exaggerated mitre, and dances after the absolutely startling from its simple truth and fidelity. He
rather ungainly fashion of her native land. There is nothing does not show us a maundering idiot, which picture to a
of the languid, dreamy, and poetical “ Almee ” spirit in this certain extent must always be repulsive, but he brings us face
performance but, on the contrary, a decided angularity of
; to face with a simpering fool we all immediately recognize
movement. The peculiarity of the dresses is their extra- as a common object in every-day-life. The lecturer’s facial
ordinary richness and roominess ;
and the neatest figure in illustration of the “phlegmatic” temperament, the purse-
Japan is apparently doomed to be encased in habiliments proud man, and the “ pious person” are living photographs
which would fit a Celestial Chang. of the highest artistic excellence. Herr Schulz, in the second
The Japanese bring their own music, and lamentations part of his lecture, treated of the “ Lights and Shadows of
will not be general when they take it back again, for it is Character betrayed in the Beard,” and here made use of some
very irritating to the susceptible European nerves. Tone peculiarly cunning arrangement by which he threw a shadow
seems no particular object time but imperfectly understood;
; on his face of the exact shape and size required for the
and tune not at all. The very thin strings of a distressing “ military moustache,” the “millionaire’s whiskers,” or the
kind of banjo are sometimes twanged by the ladies’ fingers, “ diabolical beard.” The portrait album was rather a
and sometimes worried by a wooden implement, neither a mistake, inasmuch as the bodies of the subjects were badly
miniature cricket-bat nor a spoon, but something of both. drawn and painted. Herr Schulz, of course, put his head
There is also a small toneless drum, and a drum major, who through the canvass, and perhaps he treated the “ working
divides his time between this excruciating instrument and man” somewhat unkindly. By the assistance of dresses
an invention in the shape of a vivandiere’s spirit-keg. He and the mysteriously arranged light, he finished with a series
taps both with two sticks, but extracts nothing like sweet of typical portraits. A Tyrolese, an American Indian, and
sounds from either. A running fire of the songs of Japan a specimen of Bosjesman female beauty, were included
accompanies the various performances, and one of these in this section of a highly intellectual entertainment.
vague effusions is given with most amusing seriousness by He sits at a table, and manages the complexion, whiskers,
the youngest of the three children. Gaensee’s top-spinning and beard-imitating apparatus with unerring certainty
is a wonderful exhibition of its kind. He throws the tops and without assistance. It may bo some artful com-
in the air and catches them, still spinning, on a cane “sends
; bination of mirrors and reflectors that enables him to
them to sleep,” as Young England says, now on the edge throw the light, flesh-tint, beard, and moustache on his
of a sword, and now on the top of a fan, and, in point of face at the same instant. Whatever may be his means at
fact, does precisely what he pleases with them. command, the result is extraordinary, and Herr Ernst
Both conjurers and acrobats are, as was anticipated, Schulz’s entertainment is a thing to be seen.
: ;,
April 1, 1867.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE E ART FI.
By J. Carpenter, F.R.A.S., of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
HE Mosaic record of the form the various planets of the system that the :
Creation tells of the period earth and planets at the time of their quitting the
when “ the earth was with- sun were in a liquid, burning state, and that by
out form and void.” With- degrees they cooled ;
while in their liquid state
out this authoritative testi- assuming their spherical form. But this hypo-
mony, the evidence of our thesis is in many respects untenable principally,
;
senses alone would lead us because it assumes the sun to be already existent,
to the conviction that the whereas any explanation of the origin of the solar
materials of which the world system must include that of the principal member
composed must have ex-
is secondly, because it is insufficient to explain the
isted, at some time,
form different from that in
in a mechanical conditions of the system. The theory,
which we now find them. In the smaller pheno- however, deserves notice, as having induced inquiry
mena of nature we are for ever witnessing a constant into one more probable.
succession of changes taking place a perpetual — Kepler, and others among the early astro-
mutation in form and nature occurring in the same nomers, imagined that the sun and stars the suns —
material substances. All is transitory, nothing is of distant worlds —
had been formed by the con-
Unite. Everything that is has already existed in densation of celestial vapours Kepler basing his
:
some other form before, and will exist in yet another supposition upon the phenomena of the sudden
form again. The operations of natural laws vary bursting forth of new stars upon the margin of the
quantitatively, but not qualitatively; and if the law —
milky way the only celestial appearance then
of transformation governs the lesser works of the known which seemed to be of vapoury nature.
Creator it governs the greater also the earth, like : But when the telescope fathomed the depths of
every object that exists upon it, must have had an celestial space and revealed to our knowledge the
origin from some simpler and more elementary existence of those mysterious patches of hazy
form of matter. Guided by the light of modern luminosity that received the name of nebulai
science, let us endeavour to discover what that strong evidence was afforded of the possible
origin was. validity of the old astronomer’s supposition. It
Our earth is but a small and insignificant member may be necessary to inform those who are un-
of a vast planetary system, all the components of initiated in the details of celestial nature that these
which must have had a common or a contempo- nebulae are faint patches of diffused light which
raneous origin to inquire into the origin of the
: abound in great numbers all over the heavens ;
earth we must embrace in our inquiry the assuming an infinite variety of form, and looking
formation of the whole solar system. The first like little wisps or spots of thin cloud, or fog, in
physicist who attempted a solution of this question the field of the telescope. The earliest telescopes
was the celebrated French naturalist, Buffon served to discover but a very few of them it was :
although several romantic theories for the for- only when the immense and powerful instruments
mation of the earth alone had been put forth by of the elder Herschel swept every nook and corner,
the fantastic cosmogonists, Burnet, Whiston, and as it were, of the heavens with their stupendous
Woodward. These, however, scarcely need mention eyes, that their exceeding abundance came to be
here as much as is worth knowing concerning
: recognised. This giant among observers found no
them is to be found in popular shape in Goldsmith’s less than 2,500 of such nebulae, and yet he over-
“ History of the Earth and
Animated Nature.” looked the thousands that have been detected by
Buffon’s hypothesis supposed that the sun existed various subsequent astronomers.
at some period of remote antiquity without any During the earlier course of his nebular re-
attendant planets, and that a comet, dashing searches, Sir William Herschel appears to have
obliquely upon it, ploughed up and drove off a inclined to the opinion that all nebulae were in
portion of the solar matter sufficient in bulk to reality remote clusters of stars, so remote and so
VOL. II. XI. h
98 THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
thickly clustered as to affect the eye only by their as we have an example of in our solar system.
—
united lustre -just as a handful of sand thrown on This theory has ever since been known as Laplace’s
the floor would look only like a dusky patch to an nebular hypothesis. When its illustrious author
eye so distant that it could not perceive the put forth his conjectures he did so, to use his own
individual grains. Some of them were clearly words, “ with the deference that ought to inspire
resolvable into their component stars with high everything that is not a result of observation and
”
telescopic power, and it was thought that a sufficient calculation ; at the same time he expressed his
increase of optical power would resolve the whole conviction that the striking coincidences of all the
of them. But as his familiarity with their features planetary phenomena with the conditions of his
increased, he was led to an opinion analogous to hypothesis, gave his conjectures a probability
that of some of the older astronomers that was, : strongly approaching certitude.
that they were immense heaps of some vapoury or It is not easy to give an intelligible description
elementary matter out of which stars were, in the of such an intricate subject as the nebular hypo-
course of countless ages, formed by a process of thesis within the limited confines of a popular
condensation, such as the attraction of one pai’ticle article ; nor is it necessary : those who wish to
by another would produce. With this theory in pursue it in all its details will hardly resort to a
his mind he was led to classify the various periodical like ours for their information, as they
descriptions of nebulse that had passed in review know, or would soon learn, where to find the
before him, according to a plan or scheme of pro- original work in which it was put forth. All that
gressive development sorting together into one
: is necessary, is to give the reader such few of the
grade all those of a certain extent of diffusion, and leading features of the theory as will suffice to
those of a more condensed nature into another. explain its principle.
His first class included the extensively diffused and Laplace supposed, then, that the whole solar
shapeless nebulosities that are faintly discernible system was once a huge nebula, with a slight con-
and traceable over large areas of celestial space; densation in the centre, like many which we now
his second embraced those that exhibited a stage a find scattered about the heavens ; and that it was
little more approaching a regular form ; and so on endued with a rotary motion around its centre.
through about thirty classes, the latter of which (It must be borne in mind that a nebula as
included those in which the condensation had extensive as the limits of the solar system would be
proceeded so far as to give them the appearance of a very small one compared to many hundreds of
planets or nebulous stars. Between the descriptions those that are known.) He supposed that in the
of the members of one class and those of another, process of condensation, combined with the effect
there was not a greater difference than to quote
— — of the rotary motion, this nebula threw off or
his own words “ there would be in an annual abandoned certain of its outlying portions from
description of the human figure were it given from time to time first throwing off a zone or ring of
:
the birth of a child till he comes to be a man in his matter which was to form the remotest planet of
prime.” :
—
He further adds “ the total dissimi- —
our system Neptune :then condensing a little
litude between the appearance of a diffusion of the more and casting off a second, within the former,
nebulous matter and of a star, is so striking, that —
which was to form the next planet Uranus then a :
an idea of the conversion of the one into the other third to form Saturn a fourth to form J upiter ; a fifth
;
can hardly occur to any one who has not before him to form Mars ; a sixth to form the earth, and so on.
the result of the critical examination of the These various concentric rings or zones of matter,
nebulous system which has been displayed in this he supposes, themselves broke up and condensed
(his) paper.' The end I have had in view, by and formed little nebulse, revolving about the
arranging my observations in the order in which central one which Was left when all the above
they have been placed, has been to show, that the were cast off, and which of course constituted the
above-mentioned extremes may be connected by sun itself ; and these little nebulse, throwing off, in
such nearly allied intermediate steps as will make their turn, successive lesser rings, which were to
it highly probable that every succeeding state of form the satellites of each, the whole of the
the nebulous matter is the result of the action of detached portions, the earth among the rest, in the
gravitation upon it, while in a foregoing one, and course of time —immeasurable time condensed —
by such steps the successive condensation of it has into globular form, that form which all bodies left
been brought up to the planetary condition.” free to take their own shape, naturally assume.
The observations of Herschel paved the way for One exception only to a globe occurs in the solar
the speculations of the illustrious Laplace. system, and that is the ring of Saturn, which
Herschel, from the evidence afforded by his ob- Laplace considers to be an exception that proves
servations, explained how, by the mere action of the rule, inasmuch as it gives a strong confirmation
gravitation, a chaotic mass of primordial matter was of the probability of the original ringed condition
probably transformed into a body of definite form of the various members of the system. The reason
and dimensions, though still of a somewhat diffused why this annulus is not found in other cases is that
and nebulous nature : Laplace demonstrated how the mechanical conditions requisite for the perma-
the known laws of gravitation could, from such a nent maintenance of a ring form would be very
planetary mass of diffused matter’, produce a system seldom fulfilled. Lest any one should be inclined
of bodies revolving about a great central one, such to doubt the possibility of the solid earth and all
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH. 99
its kindred planets ever having been a mass of of astronomy’s sister sciences stepped in within the
vapour, we may state that if all the matter com- past few years,we might even say months, to lend
posing the whole solar system were so spread out her aid to the solution of the mystery. This
and diffused as to he equally distributed over an area science and that branch of it to which we
is optics,
as large as the orbit of the planet Neptune, the are about to allude is the newly-found means of
expanded matter would be so light and thin as to discovering the chemical constitution of celestial
exceed in rarity atmospheric air ; its condition in bodies by analysis of the light they emit. Every
such a state has been compared to the infinitesimal one knows that when a beam of light passes
density of what is called a vacuum in the receiver through a prism of glass and falls upon a wall, it is
of an air-pump. A
ton weight of matter that formed into a beautiful luminous band tinged with
would fill the space of a cubic mile must be as thin all the colours of the rainbow ; this luminous band
as a gas ; but if that ton of matter could be con- being known as the prismatic spectrum. But it
densed into the space of a cubic foot, it would be a may not be known that this spectrum is not the
material denser than iron. same for every sort of light ; that a different one
When we consider the fact that the nebular is produced, according as the light emanates from
hypothesis of Laplace satisfies nearly, if not one luminous source or another. For instance, a
actually, all the conditions that we observe in the solid body in combustion will give one species of
solar system ; when, too, we regard the character spectrum, while a flame of a particular gas will
of its exponent, his stupendous mathematical give one of a totally different class, and the light
achievements, and the improbability of his pro- emitted from a metallic substance in a state of
posing a mere fantastic scheme without satisfying fusion another. So that if an astronomer applies
himself of its validity on all points, we shall have a prism to the eyepiece of his telescope while
no difficulty in appreciating the assertion of the observing any celestial body, he can tell something
illustrious Arago, that the ideas of Laplace upon of what the chemical constitution of the body may
the constitution of the solar system “ are those be. The sun has been found to be a solid body, in
only that by their grandeur, their coherence, and a state of incandescence, surrounded by the in-
their mathematical character can be truly con- tensely heated vapours of a variety of chemical
sidered as forming a physical cosmogony.”* substances. The fixed stars have been found to
But sceptics had a good reason for disbelieving resemble the sun generally, but with slight vari-
this theory. It depended solely upon the existence ations attributable to a difference of some of the
of this nebulous matter, of which the only evidence elements composing them. Now, if the nebulae
was the visibility of patches of nebulous light were clusters of stars, it would be found that their
scattered about the heavens ; and many of those light would yield spectra analogous to those of
were undoubtedly proved, upon scrutiny by power- the stars ; but, on the contrary, many of them
ful telescopes, to be nothing but remote clusters of yield spectra which leave no doubt whatever
thickly aggregated stars, so remote and so closely that they are composed of immense masses of some
clustered that they were visible to the dimmer gaseous or vapoury matter. The observations of
vision of less powerful instruments only by their this class are exceedingly difficult and delicate, and
united lustre. Why
should not all the so-called the subject is as yet comparatively in its infancy ;
nebulae be clusters, which future and yet more but all that has been done, as yet, goes to support
powerful instruments would resolve into their the nebular hypothesis, by at least proving that all
component stars 1 The question was one fraught the nebulse are not remote clusters of stars.
with interest to speculative astronomers. One of But, thanks to the scientific achievements of the
the brightest nebulae in the skies, that in the past quarter of a century, we have yet another link
sword-liandle of Orion, although its brightness between the facts that we observe, and the theory
indicated a proximity that would have allowed its by which we would explain them. That the
component stars to be seen with comparative foundations of our earth were laid under the
facility, nevertheless baffled all attempts to resolve action of a fervent heat, is a fact of which the
it, until at length the stupendous telescope of the igneous rocks that form those foundations yield
Earl of Rosse was completed and turned upon it. abundant testimony and whence was such a heat
:
Then, as was thought, it succumbed, for the Earl of derived 1 This question carries us on to another,
Rosse declared, upon the authority of his obser- for we are led to inquire, what is heat 1 few A
vations, the greater part of the nebulae to abound years ago we should have been told that it was a
with stars, and to exhibit the characteristics of subtle fluid pervading the inter-atomic spaces of
resolvability strongly marked. With the supposed matter now we learn that it is only one of the
:
resolution of this nebula the last stronghold of the many phenomena of motion. The “mechanical
nebular hypothesis was thought to have been over- theory of heat,” —
“ the great philosophical doctrine
thrown. of the present era of science,” as it has been justly
Thus the matter stood twenty years ago, and termed, teaches us that heat is nothing more than a
thus it might have remained till now, had not one species of motion amongst the atoms or molecules
of bodies. Arrest the motion of a cannon ball by
# It is a noteworthy fact that the French Bureau des
Longitudes has significantly expressed its opinion concerning
placing a target in its path and what is the
;
Laplace’s views by republishing his original notes, in the consequence ? The ball is raised to a fiery heat
last volume of its Annuaire ~~ that for the present year. by the concussion. We
rub our hands briskly
h 2
100 THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH. “’[Nature and Ait, April 1, 1807.
together, and they become warm. A blacksmith and it is in this cooling process that we are to look
beats a bar of iron with his hammer, and it for a cause for the diversity of geological features
becomes red hot. Why is tins'? We appeal to that the surface of our planet presents to view.
the “ mechanical theory,” and we are told in reply We may reasonably suppose, and the heated
that — whenever motion (i. e. force) is arrested, the state of the earth’s interior supports the sup-
motion of the mass becomes transferred to the position, that the first portion of the globe to cool
atoms or molecules composing it, and this molecular was the exterior. The cooling and solidification of
motion is heat. this portion would result in the production of a
And now to apply this to our subject. In the solid shell enclosing a molten nucleus, somewhat as
collision, or condensation, or aggregation of the we now find to be the case. Now between this
particles of matter that the nebular hypothesis solid shell and molten interior there would be a
affirms to have produced the various bodies of our constant succession of conflicting actions the :
system, an immense amount of motive power must shell, contracting as it cooled, would squeeze up, as
have been arrested and inasmuch as this great store it were, the interior the interior, in its turn
:
—
;
of force could not be lost or turned to nothing, it solidifying, would expand for all substances expand
appeared as heat, and an intensity of heat was in passing from the molten to the solid state and —
generated sufficient to reduce the whole mass to a thrust outward the confining shell ; then, contracting
state of fusion. To quote the words of one of the as it further cooled, it would shrink away from the
most famous exponents of this new philosophy shell which, now unsupported, would fall in upon
Dr. J. It. Mayer —
“ Newton’s theory of gravitation, the retreating nucleus. By actions like these, the
whilst it enables us to determine, from its present smooth surface which the planet might otherwise
form, the earth’s state of aggregation in ages past, have retained would be broken up and distorted
at the same time points out to us a source of heat mountain ranges would be formed by the ejection
powerful enough to produce such a state of of the molten interior through the broken shell
aggregation, powerful enough to melt worlds ; it continents be jwoduced by the alternate thrustings-
teaches us to consider the molten state of a planet out and fallings-in which the shell would be subject
as the result of the mechanical union of cosmical to ; and all those irregularities be occasioned which
masses, and thus to derive the radiation of the sun manifest themselves in the igneous foundations of
and the heat in the bowels of the earth from a the globe.
common origin.” And, as an example of the Fire on the one hand, and water on the other, are
amount of heat this collision of cosmical masses the two elements to which all the geological
would produce, Dr. Mayer cites that, supposing the features of the earth are referable. With the
earth to have been formed by the union of the two second of these elements we have no concern in
masses only, coming together from a great distance this sketch, for it is tolerably well known that its
by the influence of their mutual attraction, the action pi’oduced those deposits which constitute the
generated 'heat would have been sufficient, if the
' secondary and tertiary formations of the geologist,
masses had been of nearly equal size, to raise the and which we may regard as superstructures reared
temperature of the whole body to from 3 0,000 to iqion a foundation that had a fiery origin. In-
—
40,000 degrees of the centigrade scale twenty credible as it may appear to those who look at the
times the temperature of the melting point of present condition of the world they inhabit, there
iron ; and the greater the number of parts thus can be little doubt that that world was once a fiery
brought into mechanical combination, the greater globe, glowing possibly with a fervour comparable
the quantity of heat that would be developed. with that of the sun as we now behold it, though of
“The form of the earth is its history ; ” and far less significant size. How many centuries — how
this form indicates with mathematical certainty many hundred centuries —have elapsed since this
that it was once a more or less fluid body ; the was the case ? We have an
approximation to the
flattening at the poles being precisely of that period, but it may be enormously in error. Sir
extent which a liquid mass rotating at the speed of William Thompson, from a calculation of the rate
the earth would be subject to ; and the igneous of cooling of earthly bodies, assigns for the cooling
phenomena of the earth’s crust, and the store of of the crust of the earth, from a state of fusion to
heat yet embowelled in its interior, are ample evi- its present temperature, a period of 98 millions of
dence that its former fluid condition was that of a years. And if this incomprehensible interval has
molten mass rather than that of an aqueous elapsed since the earth took its finite form, how
solution. great, how
stupendous, must be the lapse of time
But, assuming this to have been the origin of the that has intervened since the matter of which it is
primary condition of the earth, there must have composed, wandered through space a chaotic mass
been a time when the igneous body began to part “ without form and void ” \
with its heat, by radiation into surrounding space

1
Naum- ami Ai-t.ApHl I.WW7.

— —
Nature and Art, April 1, 18G7.] ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 101

By Aaron Penlet, Professor of Landscape Painting' at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
No. IX. A SPUE OF BEN LOMOND.
1HIS is the first sunset drawing introduced into before the amateur directions for copying the
the pages of Nature and Art. The effect present subject upon Loch Lomond. It is only in
is that of a summer’s evening when the sun has the first stages of progression, and yet sufficiently
just sunk below the horizon, leaving the heavens coloured to give a somewhat true and pleasing-
illumined in softened, but still golden, light. At impression.
this particular time such an amount of warm I have said much — —
but not too much upon the
reflection is diffused over the landscape as finds its necessity of having a correct and well -drawn outline
—
way to the feelings of most people at any rate, of before thinking of commencing to colour. I will
all are nature-loving, and who delight in the now only say, let it not be neglected. After the
study and practice of transmitting her effects to paper has been washed with clean water and a
paper. We all like warmth of colour —
it is natural large brush, prepare some rose madder (or crimson
to do so there is something cheering and exciting
;
lake) and yellow ochre in two different tints
in it ; and for this reason, apart even from that the one inclining to a roseate hue and the other to
mingling of harmonizing and contrasting hues, a a light amber; and, while the drawing is still damp,
sunset effect is always looked upon with pleasure. commence at the top with the red tint and join the
To give a simple, yet an agreeable illustration, I yellow midway, then add the red just above the
have avoided any complicated arrangement of mountains, and also over them as far as the water,
clouds, whereby the pupil would be confused, and where again change for the yellow, passing over the
have sought to produce a breadth of effect and middle distance and foreground to the right, and
singleness of character which will tend to show the then again taking more red over the immediate
blending of tones peculiar to the sunset. I have also front. While in its wet condition, take a piece of
selected for study a description of scenery calculated blotting-paper, folded once or twice, and touch with
to convey instruction and manipulative dexterity its sharp edge upon the white light on the stones
the latter being requisite, truly requisite, for the by the water’s edge, which will remove the colour
expression of intention. And this being the case, very softly, and regain the white of the paper.
I cannot advocate too much a neat and careful This method of obtaining light is frequently put
method of handling the brush, or a careful study, into practice when fleecy clouds or a mackarel sky
before applying it, of what has to be done, and of are to be represented. When this first blotting in
the manner in which it is to be done. little A (or washing in) of colour is dry —quite dry —
the
halting, with some thought upon “ the why and the drawing should be turned upside down, and the
wherefore,” will greatly help to success, whereas yellow portion of the sky passed over with clean
the want of it will always be accompanied by water, and then a tint of cobalt, with a little
failure. An esteemed friend of mine, who really is rose madder (or lake) introduced into it, and
an excellent amateur artist, once told me that im- carried to the top of the sky. This will give the
mediately he began to put on the first wash of the grey warmth of tone seen above. After this, make
sky, it was “ a case of sal volatile, he felt so some tints of the amber, roseate, and blue hues,
nervous.” That this is a general feeling I can pretty and apply them over the mountains, observing
well testify, having witnessed it so constantly in where the several changes occur. Take care not to
my numerous pupils ; therefore I the more earnestly let the blue mingle with the orange tone, which
recommend the exercise of thought, first upon the would completely spoil the purity of colour, but let
matter and then upon the manner of treating it. it rather amalgamate with the roseate tint, where
In addition to all this, cleanliness is most desirable, it will unite agreeably into the soft clear greys,
and should be observed in respect to the Colour- away from the influence of sunlight. Attention to
box, Brushes, and Paper. Tire first should (at least these contrasting as well as harmonizing varieties
in my opinion) always be sponged clean, and wiped must be observed, as by them the effect of lustrous
with a pallette cloth after finishing the day’s paint- light, if I may is preserved.
so speak, The water
ing. It will then be ready for further use, and the will also receive lightwashes from these colours.
most delicate tints may be produced without danger The warm yellow tones of the middle distance, as
of unnecessary mixture. The brushes should also well as the grass, are to be put in with yellow
be washed and put into form by passing them ochre and a little rose madder. The grey shadows
through the pallette cloth. As for the paper, too (warm in character) must also have their first
great care cannot be taken in keeping its surface washes placed correctly, and somewhat strongly,
free from dirt or abrasion of any kind ; and, to with the edges decided and clear.
preserve the equality of texture, bread will be found At this stage, when the whole of the above flat
preferable to india-rubber in making corrections. tints are satisfactorily done, it is desirable to wash
With these prefatory remarks, I begin to place all over them with a soft brush and clean water, to
102 THE DRAMA. AUDIENCES AND PERFORMANCES. [Nature and Art, April 1, 18G?.
remove the colouring matter from the upper surface crimson lake (not rose madder). For the middle
of the paper. If properly washed, scai’cely any of distance and grass in the foreground use gamboge,
the colour will come off nor should it, the object
: raw sienna, and sepia. The stones are also con-
being simply to produce a more perfect blending, tinued in their darker touches and shadows with
and to adapt the paper better to receive every cobalt, yellow ochre, and lake, which colours
subsequent wash. I find the safer plan to do this are also to be employed for the stems of the trees.
successfully is to place the drawing a short time In the foliage of the nearer trees there is much
before the fire, so that the colour may become diversity, and it is requisite to observe the exact
hardened, and have some hold upon the paper, and character of the green tints, giving them precisely
then the washing may generally be depended upon. according to the copy, as their position is of much
Different papers, however, have much to do in this value to the effect of the whole drawing. Gamboge,
respect, as well as the granulation of surface. A burnt sienna, and indigo, with the addition of
very fine texture, much sized, does not absorb the lake for one of them, are to be the colours for
colour so well as a more open grain with less size : these several gradations or varieties of hues. The
therefore too smooth a .surface should be avoided. brush should be tolerably well filled for putting in
On the other hand, too rough a grain will not admit these washes. The road is to have a slight wash of
of the brush giving that clear and decided handling cobalt and rose madder over the front part, in
so much to be desired —
at all events, by the tyro- order to send the light upon it to that part by the'
in water-colour painting. trees.
The washing having been accomplished, other Beyond the foregoing instructions I say nothing,
tones have to be passed over the mountains (and thinking it as well that, in themore immediate
sky if too light), with precisely the same colours, details, the pupilhad better exercise the knowledge
giving to each part the tint of which it partakes. already attained. In a future number I purpose
The trees in the middle distance are of a variety of giving the same drawing in its finished state, when
tones, produced from cobalt, yellow ochre, and I shall speak of its composition at some length.
THE DRAMA. AUDIENCES AND PERFORMANCES.

OME of the reflective people who go to the gentleman the intensity of an Edmund Kean,
S more to oblige others than them-
theatres or the grandeur of a Kemble. They have also
selves, are beginning to make philosophical in- read, as a part of the literature of the country, the
quiries as to the kind of entertainments they find dramatic collections ; and thus unprepared for the
there. The majority are not so inquisitive, and modern drama, it seems to them a mass of either
take the goods the managers provide for them vicious intrigue, outrageous exaggeration, or in-
without much inquiry or criticism. Of course comprehensible nonsense. It may be said, if this is
when a London man goes to a theatre and pays, he the impression produced on our country cousins,
goes because he has some liking for the class of how is it that they throng the theatres and contribute
entertainment announced ; and therefore, if he so very largely to their support 'l There are two
does exercise any judgment upon it, it is not upon replies to this assertion. First, provincial persons
the species, but the individual specimen of it are very chary of giving absolute judgments ; and,
which he witnesses. Having selected a theatre secondly, there are such influxes every hour of
which announces a burlesque or a pantomime, he them into London that it is the succession of visitors,
confines his comparisons to the performance he sees. and not the repetition of visits, that constitutes
There are, however, large numbers of persons and — our great London audiences. There are also many
they consist generally of those from the country metropolitans who are in the same condition as the
who, having to “ do ” the theatres in a few days, go country visitors, as living in the suburbs, and only
haphazard into them, taking the performances as occasionally going to the theatre though they are
;
they may chance to turn up. It is this class of somewhat more influenced by the actual per-
playgoers, though they have little critical capacity formance, and proportionally drawn by the par-
and no experience, that is most dissatisfied with ticular entertainment announced. Still, both classes
the theatres ; and if they happen to be of the of these kinds of visitors are in the main actuated
educated order, such as country magistrates, local rather by the idea of “ going to the play,” than
professional people, or clergymen, it is from them by any other motive, j
that the deepest cry issues of the decline of the Although, then, country and suburban visitors
British drama. In their youth, when they were form a very large proportion of theatre supporters,
more capable of enjoying and less inclined to yet there are still a large class of jiersons who are
criticise, they recollect seeing some peerless actor, regular habitues and frequenters of them. The
some extraordinary genius ; and to this standard they million who dwell within a two-mile radius of St.
rack every performer, expecting from a walking Paul’s still furnish a large proportion of theatre
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.] THE DRAMA. AUDIENCES AND PERFORMANCES. 103
frequenters, and these, each in his degree, are flooding of the managerial mind. The “ Ticket-of-
critics, and discriminate after their fashion very Leave Man ” succeeds
;
and there
is no end of
precisely on the performances. They lead and, burglarious plays. “ Lady Audley’s Secret ” is
indeed, generally make the demonstrations on the dramatized, and all the authoress’s novels are put
part of the audience. But even of these many are on the stage. An old comedy which has a literary
only occasional visitors, and therefore are perfectly but no theatrical repute, revived in mere despair,
passive. The young butcher and Matilda Mary attracts, and all the most celebrated of a like
Anne at the play have other thoughts in their kind are produced. In the theatre, all is tentative
heads than the precise amount of intelligence Mr. that is original ; but the staple of the stage is a
Phelps displays, or than even tlie exact amount of manufacturing to pattern.
vivacity shown by the Harlequin and Columbine. To manufacture is the genius of this age ; and
Still, the majority of London play-goers have a he who does not manufacture may become famous,
standard of excellence, and expect a fulfilment of but he never will become rich. The premium of
it, and if the English drama has any patrons who at millions is given to successful manufacture ; but no
all affect its performances, it is this class, which is, man without multiplying talent can be a million-
however, subdivided into many departments. The naire by his own efforts. The tenor singer may earn
chief divisions are the youths of the lower class, large sums, but the spinner of popular melodies
who frequent the galleries, and the young men of will make infinitely more. The dramatists ai'e
the upper class, who frequent the stalls and the pits, beginning to learn this ; and therefore their entire
according to the capacities of their pockets. The aim is to be popular. They no longer conduct
boxes are more frequented by families ; and mater- themselves as literary men, but avow they are
familias is anything but critical on fine-art matters, manufacturers. Mr. Boucicault is the least literary
so that her children are pleased. As it is only by and the most successful of stage-play manufacturers;
analyzing audiences that we can come to the and he not only knows how to manufacture, but he
rationale of stage performances, we have indulged has a complete commercial knowledge in the
in this dissertation. There is of course a great vending of his wares. He gets every penny out of
action and reaction in the matter of public them. It must be owned, his scientific knowledge
amusements. The manager is anxious to attract, of the construction of dramatic wares is very exact
and the audiences expect to be pleased. In ful- and ingenious. He has carefully studied what
filling these efforts, many mistakes are made, and tells on the stage ; he is very diligent in collecting-
theatrical management becomes a very tentative interesting material ; he is most unscrupulous as
occupation. Certainly many pieces have achieved regards taste in using it. It is not that he writes
extraordinary runs that no one anticipated. It dramas that exemplify human nature, or reflect
was a mere experiment that brought Mr. Sothern human events, or even human probabilities ; but
before a London audience ; and we well recollect that he knows how to excite the mind of his
that, in the theatre he was to appear at, great audience, and put them in a state that the grossest
doubts were expressed as to his success. That he impossibilities will be received for facts. He is at
would be endured was doubtful, yet the town, present the first of stage manufacturers. Many
including those presiding young men of the pits others emulate him ; but they have not his finish.
and galleries, so took to him that he performed the “ Arrah na Pogue ” was finished so completely that
same character every night for a year. When the it seemed to have something of the creation of
“ Colleen Bawn ” came out, there was nothing in it literature in it ;
but it had not. Mr. Tom Taylor
to show it would become the most popular piece of has more of literary power and he has not yet
;
the time ; and even now it is difficult to say Avhy it quite come to studying nothing but stage effect.
was so. Taste, however, in matters of amusement, His characters say, as well as do, something. Yet
“vires acquirit eunclo and this vis is commonly in this author the artisan manipulation is becoming
called fashion. What many admire, all wish to see. far more apparent than the art work. His last
Theatrical people, whom many suppose to be the production at the Haymarket, “ A
Lesson for
most reckless of mortals, are, on the contrary, the Life,” is extremely mechanical, although the first
most cautious and careful in professional matters. two acts are manipulated with great skill. The
A successful modern manager is the most pains- last act is absolutely coarse work probably the
:
taking of men ; actors the most punctual. Neither chief actor has set his clumsy hand to it to make
military nor commercial men are more exact in the relief higher ; but, in so doing, he has become
their business matters. Nothing will induce a fulsome and exaggerated. The manufacturing-
manager to voluntarily run the risk of the failure of system is strongly shown at the Lyceum Theatre ;
a piece ; nor will any actor of repute take a part he although it is rather in the accessories than the
thinks likely to be damned. Neither of them has drama that the handicraft is exercised. Here the
any very strong perceptive powers as to the capacity stage business is faultless. The scenery in “ liouge
of an untried drama ; nor of an entirely original et Noir” is all of the best kind of manufacture.
part. They are almost wholly guided by facts. Ditto the costumes. Ditto the upholstery. Ditto
A successful French melodrame will be played at the realities of all kinds. Ditto the acting. Conse-
every theatre in London, and become a model for all quently it is impossible to find fault ; but it is equally
dramas until some other piece of a totally different impossible to be interested. Like the domesticated
kind unexpectedly arises, when there is another game sold in the markets, it is fresh, it is plump, it
104 INGEES. Nature and Ait, April 1, 18G7.
looks that pheasants and partridges should ; but

all way.” It comes all then to this the millions can
:
it is flavourless.Truly the feasts of the Barmecides only be supplied by manufacture and noble art,
are not confined to taverns everywhere we have
! — ;
which is but another name for the highest

all the outward show of literature, drama, art ; but excellence,— is only the produce of some one rare
—
we test them and lo they are a mockery.
! mind; esteemed by the few of a congenital nature;
And why is it that riches can command every- and only gradually and gently disseminated to
thing but excellence 1 Truly because excellence is the many. Whether the many can ever be so
scarce ; and the thorough appreciation of it almost enlarged and so elevated as to at once see and
equally so. The nightingale sings in the bush ; and approve the highest, cannot be discussed here.
if nightingales were to become the rage, they would All that is sought in these desultoiy utterances
be manufactured by thousands ; but the incessant is to show that the present state of the stage grows
little warbler in the artificial bush in the conserva-

tory or at the theatre, would be a very different
—
out of circumstances perhaps out of uncontrollable
circumstances ; that it is no better and no worse
thing to the lonely songster at the edge of a moor off than other branches of art and literature
warbling to solitude and a distant listener. Yes! and that the drama of the present day is as much
everybody wants to make money, in order, as he a manufacture as clocks and watches are. There is,
thinks, that he may have everything else. But the however, this vast difference, that the stage is more
multitude can only be supplied by manufacture ; at variance with the mind of the age than the
and nature is still so kind that she gives her setting watch machinist is, because in matters which bear
suns, her nightingales, and her balmiest airs to the the semblance of art, the soul seeks for delight, and
poor ploughman, who “ homeward plods his weary is not satisfied with utility.
INGRES.
ULL of years and honours the greatest of the at Toulouse, where the boy was receiving his
F
He
French painters has gone down to his grave.
survived his favourite and most devoted pupil
education, he got this prohibition withdrawn ; and,
later still, the parent consented that young Ingres
scarcely three years for Hippolyte Flandrin died,
;
should be a painter, fhe youth went to Paris, and
it will be remembered, in the spring of 1864. placed himself under David, who was then at the
The distinction which Ingres had attained and height of his fame. He was nineteen years old
the success he had achieved are well known to when he obtained the second prize from the
those who are interested, however little, in the Academie des Beaux Aids ; and not long after-
Art of France. But the
struggles of this painter’s wards he took the first prize, through the merits
youth—struggles prolonged, indeed, into middle of his Embassy to the Tent of Achilles. Such
age — the fierce controversies as to his claim early successes may seem to belie the statement
to honour and fame these are not so widely
: that his upward course was a course of struggle ;
known. With the mention of his name there but it should be remembered that in those early
rises in our minds the image of the great artist, days the school of David was in the ascendant
incontestably successful ; the artist whom a king of and the trying days for that school were still to
the house of Orleans, and an emperor of the house come. When the tide began to turn, and a
of Bonaparte agreed to distinguish ; who was made different class of painters became popular in
a grand officer of the Legion of Honour and a —
France, it was urged that M. Ingres the obscure
senator of France. But the name of Ingres is not —
young man from the country had been too pro-
less truly associated with the toils of years, and fusely rewarded ; and if the decisions of the last
with wearisome struggles for recognition, made few years could have been reversed, reversed they
almost alone and in the face of the most powerful would have been. In 1808 he painted a portrait
opposition. Ingres found no royal road to fame of Napoleon, which was purchased for the Hotel
and fortune he beat out his own track painfully
: des Invalides ; and when that work was finished he
and laboriously, and in the midst of profound dis- left Paris for Borne. It was his intention to
couragements. He was born at Montauban, on remain in Rome four or five years ; but that
the 15tli September, 1781 ; and he showed a taste period was greatly exceeded, on account of the
or a talent for painting when he was a very young coldness with which the works he sent to France
child but his father had designed that he should
: were received in his native country. At Rome, in
devote himself to music. The fathers of men of 1813, he married ; but his worst days were still to
genius generally have some cherished plan for come. From that time forward, for some years, he
their sons, which they at last reluctantly abandon : was dependent for his daily bread upon the sale of
and so it was with the father of Ingres. Fearful pencil sketches. Nevertheless, this period saw the
lest his own wish should never be realized, he beginning and completion of some of his best
actually forbade his son to draw or to paint. But pictures. They are known chiefly in Italy; or, at
, “ —
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.] A FEW NOTES, HISTORICAL AND HERALDIC, ON THE LION. 105
all events, they were at the time of their pro- endless and wearisome discussions to which his
duction, though the knowledge of them has now pictures gave rise,and which so long as he remained
reached the country of his birth. In 1820 M. in Pai’is he could not altogether avoid. Truth was
Ingres moved to Florence, where he painted the on his side. It was great, and he knew it would
Entry of Charles V. into Paris, and the Vow of prevail. So he could afford to wait the issue, and
Louis XIII., both of which are in the cathedral of give himself to work. It was from Rome, we
Montauban. The Apotheosis of Homer which is believe, thatM. Ingres sent his great picture of
generally regarded as his master-piece, was painted Stratonice —
the famous picture bought first by the
when the artist was back again in Paris, in the year Duke of Orleans, then acquired by M. Demidoff.
1827. Perhaps it represents, as well as any single and afterwards in possession of the Due d’ Aurnale.
picture can, the range and power of his genius About 1842, the painter returned to France, and
liis ideal composition, his correct drawing, his sober from that time till 1855, he was busily engaged in
colouring. Yet the claims of this picture to praise painting. At the Universal Exhibition held in
were, at the time, fiercely contested ; though now Paris in the last-mentioned year, he was fortunate
the great classic artist had his own band of enough to have a room assigned entirely to his own
supporters, who made a good fight on his behalf. works ; and a noble display they made of all that
In Paris Ingres established a school, to which is most graceful and pure in allegorical or in simply
those young students who had the best judgment religious painting.
and taste, or the wisest advisers, quickly resorted. Since 1855 M. Ingres has painted less than in
Hippolyte Flandrin joined this school on his arrival the days of his middle life ; yet his brush has not
from Lyons ; and he was never slow to avow his been idle. The Source, a girl’s figure entirely
obligations to its master. As a man the pupil “ undressed,” attracted the notice of everybody
loved M. Ingres as an artist he almost adored
: and the admiration of artists, at the International
him. And if we desire a more impartial testimony Exhibition held in London in 1862. It was said
to the beneficial influence of Ingres than the to be a portrait, very much “ idealized,” of the
favourite pupil and attached friend himself could daughter of his concierge.
give, we find it in the words used by the Vicomte In these latter days no voice has been lifted up
Delaborde to describe that influence C’est un
:
— to contest the great painter’s supremacy ; and,
honneur pour le peintre de I’Apotheose d’Homere though many artists in his own country stray from
d’ avoir forme le peintre de Saint- Vincent de Paul, the broad clear lines he has laid down for them to
et cet honneur est d’autant plus grand que les follow, there are few who would not admit the
exemples fournis au disciple ont, en instruisant excellence of his teaching and of his own practice.
celui-ci, moins denature son propre sentiment, King Louis Philippe named him a knight of the
moins compromis l’independance de sa pensee. M. Legion of Honour, and subsequently a commander.
Ingres a pu transmettre, et il a en eflet revele, a A sovereign yet more apt to distinguish genius and
Flandrin les secrets de l’ampleur et de la finesse to reward it, promoted him to the rank of Grand
dans I execution, d’une correction severe dans les Officer in 1855. In 1862 that monarch named
formes.” him a senator of France he could bestow no
:
In 1834, and not five years before that date, as higher compliment upon the veteran painter.
has been incorrectly stated, Ingres was appointed Happy in his domestic relations, at peace with the
director of the French Academy at Pome, on the world, and soothed with the thought that full
resignation of M. Horace Vernet. Some of his recognition had after many days been made of his
friends thought it a pity for him to leave France genius and laborious efforts, Jean-Auguste-
just as his name (so they thought) was becoming Dominique Ingres died, in his eighty-sixth year, on
more famous and his teaching more honoured. the 14th of January, leaving the classicists, who
But Ingres accepted the situation and, if the truth
;
had so long clustered round him, in grief and in
were known, he was probably glad to escape the embarrassment where to find a new ieadei.
A FEW NOTES, HISTORICAL AND HERALDIC, ON THE LION.

HE probably wide spread existence of the supposition of such existence. The subject is an
T Lion, in the early ages of man’s history, is a interesting one, both to the student of history and
point which appears to us to have been somewhat to the naturalist, as affording presumptive evidence
overlooked by the numerous writers who have of a former prevalence of the species which must
undertaken to describe the so-called “ Monarch of have exerted an important influence on the ex-
the Forest.” The intimate acquaintance with the tension alike of the human family and of other races
peculiarities of these animals, which we observe of the animal kingdom,* in regions wdrere all
in the works of ancient artists, and of writers # M. Jules Gerard estimated the destruction of cattle by
sacred and profane, though it may not wholly each lion in Algeria at ,£300 per annum.
determine, at least appears strongly to favour the Another French writer (M. Chaissaing) calculates it at
106 A FEW NOTES, HISTORICAL AND HERALDIC, ON THE LION. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
traces of its presence (in the shape of organic fact of the figures being invariably in profile, and
remains or otherwise) have been lost. in outline only, the spirit and with which
fidelity
Let us turn in the first instance to the writers of we think, be allowed by
the lions are rendered will,
the Old Testament of every period, from the days every close observer to be remarkable, and to
of the patriarch Job to those of the Babylonish contrast strikingly to the disadvantage of many
Captivity, twelve centuries later. Biblical comment- “Studies from the Life” of artists of later date.”"
ators enumerate five different terms thus applied by It must be remembered that in those days
those writers ; viz., gur, a Lion whelp ; chephir, a Clialdsea was not the wilderness it has since
young Lion just leaving his parents ; ari, a young become, but teemed with a busy population, pos-
Lion just paired ; sachel, an old Lion ; laish, a sessing a degree of civilization and refinement,
fierce (or more literally a black) Lion.'" such as recent discoveries have at length enabled us
Thus we have in Ezekiel, chap. xix. “ She : in some measure to recognize and understand.
brought up one of her whelps
‘
{gur), and it ’ In ancient profane writers, the same fact is ob-
became ‘
a young lion ’ {chephir), and learned to servable. Let us take the frequent allusions to the
devour men.’' Lion which are to be met with in the Iliad without ;
And in Numbers “ The people shall rise

xxiii. : going to extremes, like the learned commentators of
up like a great lion, and lift himself up as ‘a whom Swift wrote,
“ Who
young lion {ari) he shall not lie down till he eat
’ view
of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.” In Homer more than Homer knew,”
And in 2 Sam. xvii. 10 “ Whose heart is valiant
: we must allow, with a recent critic, “ that there is
as the heart of a lion ” {ari). not a single passage among the many in the Iliad
Again in Job iv. 10 “The roaring of the lion
: relating to the Lion, which contains anything that
fierce lion {laish), and is not true to nature,” and “ that whenever and
‘
{sachet), the voice of the ’
the teeth of the young lions ” {arim).

’
‘
wherever the bard lived, lions must certainly have
And in Proverbs xxvi. “ slothful man saith : A been tolerably plentiful.”
there is a lion {sachel) in the way, a lion (sachel) is The writings of Aristotle are another example in
in the streets and in chap. xxx. “ lion {laish), : A point wherever he may have acquired his infor-
;
which is the strongest among beasts.” mation (and this we presume will ever remain an open
Many more passages might be quoted, but the question), his description of the Lion is, save in a
above are, we think, sufficient to show, not only few details, correct ; and as such, differs widely
an intimate acquaintance with the peculiarities of from the absurdities he has recorded of other equally
the Lion on the part of the sacred writers, but also common animals, as the camel and the elephant.
that the similes they used (the points of which are It is frequently assumed that many of his details
partly lost in the translations) were assumed to were drawn from the pages of Homer and Hesiod,
have the force of familiar incidents to those to and the resemblance is certainly often very close ;
whom their writings were addressed. we may cite his account of the Lion’s slow and
The Assyrian antiquities are an example of the deliberate retreat when attacked, turning himself
same familiarity with the Lion, among ancient about at intervals, to glare on his pursuers, the
artists. If due allowance be made for the material simile used by Homer to describe the retreat of
in which these bas-reliefs were executed, and for the Ajax from the Trojan host :
“ Qt]pl loiKMQ .
1 sheep every day 1 ox every month 1 horse every two

; ; ’EvrpoTTaXi'Copevog bXiyov yovv yovvog apei[3o)v.’’
months, besides many camels, and a considerable number II. xi. 486.
of human lives for each adnlt lion during his career. He
quotes the probable destruction, under the first three heads Aristotle (quoting, however, most probably, from
alone, in two departments of Algeria, at <£27, 000 per Herodotus) asserts the existence of lions in Europe
annum. Neither will these accounts appear exaggerated, in his day.
if we bear in mind the immense loss of human life and the
As a further example of intimacy with the
frightful slaughter of cattle, in certain districts of India,
by wild animals (chiefly tigers and wolves), in despite of
minuter we would instance
details of the subject,
the large sums paid annually as rewards for their destruction. the small claw on the Lion’s tail, the existence of
# Lions’ whelps (gv/rim) when small are, as the writer can which was denied by modern naturalists, until the
vouch, playful and affectionate, though very destructive fact was vouched for by Blumenbach ; but which
pets.
appears in the Assyrian remains, and is alluded to
When between one and two years old, they begin to kill
on their own account (chephir), and according to M. Jules by Homer. t The writings of Aristotle no doubt
Gerard, at two years are able to strangle a horse or camel.
He adds, the destruction they then cause is frightful they ;
* The spirit of the originals is, generally speaking,
appear to kill in order “ to lea/m to hill.” altogether lost in the fac-similes of the bas-reliefs which are
The Lion attains maturity at eight years, and when he given in popular works on these antiquities.
first pairs appears peculiarly daring (ari). When he gets f The following remarks on this point, in Mr. F.
old and unable to pull down game, he frequents the Buckland’s entertaining volumes of “ Curiosities of Natural
neighbourhood of villages and becomes a man-eater History,” Third Series, may not here be out of place.
(sachel). Both in North and South Africa, black lions, “ In the Proceedings of the Zoological Sooiety, September
i.e. those with dark tips to the hairs of the mane, are 11th, 1832, we find it recorded that a specimen was ex-
reputed the most fierce. Recent naturalists incline to the hibited of a claw, obtained from the tip of the tail of a
belief that size, colour, &c. depend on locality and the young lion from Barbary. It was first seen on the living
nature of the cover the animal frequents, rather than on animal by Mr. G. Bennett, who pointed it out to the keeper.
difference of species. They secured the beast, and while handling the claw it
; —
Nature and Art, April 1, 18G7.] A FEW NOTES, HISTORICAL AND HERALDIC, ON THE LION. 107
formed the groundwork of Pliny’s well-known our national heraldry, that we must be permitted to
account of the animal ; most of the additional devote a few words to this point.
information given by the latter writer consisting of The Lion appears to have been a favourite alle-
the absurdest fables. In the case of the Lion gorical device, in the earliest times. A
golden
these marvels have always appeared to us somewhat Lion was the emblem of the tribe of Judah, a
remarkable, when we keep in view the habits of silver Lion was the badge of the Macedonian
personal observation for which the Roman naturalist conqueror. Lions (not tigers) were, we are told, the
was proverbially noted, and the number of these insignia of many early Indian dynasties,* and the
animals which it would, seem were then brought —
“ ruddy Lion rampant,” of Scotland -though we
to Rome. Thus he relates having himself witnessed may not be prepared, like certain Scotch anti-
the triumphal entry of Marc Antony, in a car quaries, to refer it to the days of the mythical
drawn by lions;* and a few years later, 800 of king Fergus, centuries before the Christian era
these animals are said to have been brought from — can unquestionably lay claim to great antiquity.
the province of Numidia to the Roman arenas in It is remarkable that, with the exception of the
the course of a few months. The works of Pliny Eagle, the Lion is the'only living creature figured
and other writers of his day, in their turn, doubtless in the early Rolls of Arms. Lions have so been
furnished the marvel-loving minds of our forefathers borne by the sovereigns of England, from the time
with abundance of pabulum. Not only do we find when first they possessed armorial insignia. A,
traces of their stories in the writings of Bossewell, Lion was the ensign of the native princes of
G-willim, and other old heralds, but the illustrations Wales; t of the kings of Norway, of Denmark, of
of many mediaeval MSS., and the carvings in some Leon, of Bohemia, of Hungary ; of the counts of
of our older cathedrals, abound with conceits of Holland, of Hainault, of Eu, &c. &c. It occurs,
evident classical origin. in like manner, in the arms of the most powerful
The Lion, however, plays so important a part in English barons.
The Lion was at first represented by heralds as
came right and was brought under the notice of the
off, rampant, i.e. in the attitude of combat only, and as
Society. formed of corneous matter, like an ordi-
It is such was typical of all the nobler attributes,
nary nail, being solid throughout the greater part of its
courage, fortitude, magnanimity, &c. The colours
length towards the apex it is sharp, at the other end it is
;
hollow and a little expanded it is flattened, throughout its

;
were varied heraldically, possibly as much for the
entire length, which does not quite amount to three-eighths sake of increasing the armorial significance as for
of an inch. Its colour is that of horn, but it becomes dark the pui'poses of distinction.
even to blackness at the tip. Its presence or absence does Lions in a walking position Were termed herald-
not depend on size, as the Lion in Paris, on which it was
ically Leopards, a practice which continued as late
found, was of considerable size, while that belonging to the
Society, from which this was taken, was small and young ;
as the fifteenth century, and which has given rise to
nor upon sex, for, although it was wanting in the female in many mistakes in the descriptions of the Royal
London, it existed in the Lioness in Paris.” Mr. Buckland Arms of England. Two Leopards or Lions
adds, “it is evident from their smallness, their variable
leopard, gold on a red ground, were thus the Royal
form, their complete envelopment in the fur, and especially
from the readiness with which they are detached, that these Arms until the reign of the first Richard, when a
can fulfil no very important design, let it be what it may.” third Lion was added thereto, and the shield
Ho expresses his own belief that the .claw is no more than a became what it has since remained.
bit of the ordinary scarf skin of the tail, which, confined
In addition to the Lions in the Royal Arms, these
to its place by the. dense hairs which form the tuft at the
end of the tail, is prevented from falling out of its place,
animals were frequently assumed as royal badges or
and in time becomes hard and horn-like —
Cwiosities of
.
devices, and adopted in the arms of royal retainers.
Natural History, Third Series, vol. i. p. 220. Thus the sable Lion of Hainault was a badge of
* Lions are occasionally depicted in the Egyptian remains. Edward III., being the arms of his queen, Philippa
One instance, which is specially noticed by Sir G. Wilkinson,
of Hainault, and as such, it appears in the coat
represents figures hunting with tame lions in place of
hounds. This, if we accept the examples on these remains armour of many old English families. A
sable Lion,
“ the black Lion of Powys,” was also the arms of
as sober representations of fact, and not as having been
occasionally vagaries of the artist’s fancies, was but an Madoc ap Meredyth, and the device of his de-
instance of that skill in domesticating animals by which scendant Owen Glendower ; hence its frequent
oats were taught to retrieve wild fowl in the fens, and apes
occurrence in Welsh armoury. The gules Lion
to assist in the labours of the husbandman. It is curious,
however, to note that this familiarity with the Lion does in the arms of Scotch families, usually points to
not seem to have led to the depreciation of his powers and some intermarriage with Scotch royalty ; but in
attributes observable in the writings of some recent travellers. English coat armour it would seem to have origi-
The Lion was, on the contrary, a favourite symbol of power nated in the fact of its having been a favourite
and majesty among the ancient Egyptians. Many examples
of this being the case occur in the hieroglyphical inscriptions badge of the Lancastrians (the Lion of Leon, the
which have been brought to light of late years. may We arms of Constance, daughter of Pedro the Cruel,
instance one at Beitou-Ally, in honour of Rameses II., given and wife of Henry, duke of Lancaster) ; and thus it
by Rosellini, and quoted by Mr. Birch, in his “ Introduction was probably often adopted by families on the
”
to the Study of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs :
“ O perfect god, very terrible, * Pocoek’s “ India in Greece.”

The sh-ong Lion ; mighty lord f The names of the Lion in Welsh, in Gaelic, and in the
Strangler of hostile lands. Scandinavian dialects, appear to us to indicate that the
Fallen are the Tahennu [European] to thy blade,] cognomen, and probably the idea of the animal, was derived
Killed lies Phut [Asia] under thy sandals,” &c., &c. from a Latin source,
108 THE COCOA-NUT PALM. [Nature and Art, April 1, 180 7.
Lancastrian side.* The silver Lion of Suffolk, cruelties of the Mahomedans in the North of India
borne by the Howards, of which Scott speaks, caused them to become men of war, and they called
themselves Lions, which in them language is Singh.
“ Who in field or foray slack
Saw the blanch Lion e’er fall back ” Every Sikh now calls himself by this name.
Dhuleep Singh is the Lion Dhuleep, and his father,
was, in like manner, a favourite device of Edward Runjeet Singh, was, in like manner, the Lion
III., and descended to the Howards through the Punjeet.
Mowbrays. Neither was this symbolical use of the No more appropriate pictorial illustration of this
Lion confined to the AY estern nations. e have an W paper could have suggested itself than a chromo-
example of the contrary in the modern inhabitants type after one of Mr. Vernon Heath’s now famous
of the Punjab. The Sikhs were so named from the photographs. Our artist has very happily availed
Hindostanee verb sihia, to teach, and they claimed himself of the facilities kindly placed at our dis-
to be men of peace, from being taught ; but the posal, and done injustice neither to the subject nor
the eminent modeller. With this brief allusion to
* This badge (a Lion rampant, gules) was adopted by the
the speciality of our magazine, we must now bring
Duke of Lancaster in token of his supposed claim to the
crown of Leon. A
glance at Sir Bernard Burke’s “Ency-
our notes on these, “ the chiefest of all terrestrial
clopedia of Heraldry ” will show how frequently the charge animals ” (as the old Herald Gwillim terms them),
occurs in English armoury. to a close.
THE COCO A-A U T PALM.

( Cocos nucifera.)
MONGST the pleasant memories and “green home for the brief period of their existence, and by
A spots ” scattered here and there along the
path of the traveller to distant lands, few will
death and decay help to furnish the materials for
the sustenance of succeeding generations of plants.
perhaps have made a more lasting and pleasing- At length man appears on the scene and claims
impression than his first visit to a grove of cocoa- the little kingdom Nature has prepared and made
nut trees; and the cool refreshing rustle of the ready to his hand. Thus it is that the innumerable
long graceful fronds as they ripple and wave feather- coral islands dotting the tropic seas are formed, and
like before the fresh trade wind, is a sound so these are the favourite homes of the cocoa-nut tree.
unlike most others, that, once heard, it is rarely There are other situations in which it grows and
forgotten, but comes back in far-off scenes like some where its cultivation is carefully attended to ; but
old familiar tune or the voice of a dear friend. the cocoa-palm loves the sea breeze as heartily as
The coral reef, reared from the ocean’s depths an ancient mariner, and thrives best within its
by the labours of myriads of tiny coral insects, influence, rarely arriving at perfection at a greater
year by year and age by age, growing ever upwards, height than six hundred feet above the sea level.
at last reaches the surface, and the crisp-green Numbers of coral isles, formed as we have described,
waves break in snow-white foam on the mighty are perfectly destitute of water, and contain neither
barrier which the legion of pigmies have built up to wells nor springs. These islands, beautiful as they
dispute their dominion. Sea- weed, drift-wood, the are, would be perfectly uninhabitable had not a
dead echini, the broken empty shell, the stranded bountiful Providence provided a substitute in the
fish, and the thousand and one waifs and strays ever deliciously cool fluid yielded by the young cocoa-
drifting with the tidal currents, accumulate on the nuts, of which any quantity can be obtained by
new-formed rock all these in time decay or break
: climbing. Each nut, when of the proper stage of
up, but are ever added to, until at last, wave- growth, contains about a pint of liquid, cool as
borne in its tough and buoyant husk, a cocoa-nut water from the depths of a cavern, and possessing a
arrives, germinates, and sends its roots far out combination of acidity and sweetness most piquant
amongst the congenial elements with which it is and highly refreshing. Sheltered from the noon-
surrounded, and, watered by the tropic shower and tide sun by the fern-like canopy overhead, and
the surf-spray, shoots boldly up, towers aloft, with a cluster of freshly-gathered nuts before him,
becomes a tree, and in due time bears fruit, which, the traveller will scarcely fail to remember
when matured, falls, and again germinates like tire Thomson’s lines :
parent. The passing sea-fowl and migratory birds,

tempted by the havens of rest thus afforded, “ Shelter’d amid the orchards of the sun,
alight to recruit their weary pinions, bring seeds Where high palmetos lift their graceful shade ;
Give me to drain the cocoa’s milky bowl,

of trees and plants from far-off islands and
And from the palm to drain its fresh’ning wine :
continents, undigested in their crops ; these, too, More bounteous far than all the frantic juice,
spring into life, bear seed, flourish in their new Which Bacchus pours .”
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.] THE COCOA-NUT PALM. 109
The range of this invaluable tree is very extensive, raspings, red coral dust, and several other matters
it is found in Africa, the East and West Indies, equally useless. These once coveted treasures are
South America, and the countless islands of the now by no means as rare as they used to be, being
Southern seas. There are many varieties of cocoa- easy of obtainment in the Seychelle Islands, the
nuts, each distinguished by some well-marked place of their growth. Attempts have been made
peculiarity in Tahiti (one of the Society group)
: to introduce this description of nut into the Isle of
there are six kinds, each known amongst the France, and there appears no reason why they
natives by some distinct name in Ceylon four
;
should not thrive there. The palm bearing it is
well-marked varieties exist. The Buddhist priests said to require 130 years to bring it to maturity;
generally contrive to have a number of the choicest thiswe are somewhat sceptical about. Cups made
kinds in the neighbourhood of their temples, as from the shells are in high repute amongst the more
they not only, like the monks of old, keep a bright wealthy natives of India, by whom large sums are
eye on the good tilings of earth, but secure a stock expended in gold and precious stones for mounting
of the best nuts as propitiatory and alms-producing and ornamenting them. The religious mendicants
offerings to the passing wayfarer. The Tembili, which of Ceylon set a high value on these shells, and use
is a very well-formed handsome nut, of oval form them as alms-boxes, believing that there is some
and bright rich orange tint, is usually selected for attractive influence possessed by the nut-shell
this purpose ; there are also sub-varieties of this which draws the contributions into
irresistibly
nut. The Naivasi is slightly heart-shaped, of them. If this were 1’eally so how great would be-
lighter colour than the preceding, and bears an come the demand for sea cocoa, -nuts, even in this
edible husk when the outer skin is stripped off, the
: enlightened island In favourable situations the
!
rind within turns to a pale red colour, and is fit for palm bearing the common cocoa-nut grows to from
use. There is another kind which bears a somewhat sixty to eighty feet in height, but rarely exceeds
small and round nut ; but in colour much like the from one to two feet in diameter at the base.
Tembili. The fourth description is the common An upright cocoa-nut tree is nearly as great a
cocoa-nut, too well known to need description. In rarity as a black rose or blue dahlia; almost every
the cabinets of the curious there are frequently angle of inclination may be seen among the trees
preserved specimens of what has been called the forming a grove, the prevailing winds often in-
Double, or sea cocoa-nut ( Ladoicea Seychellarum ), fluencing their line of direction. The roughness of
and in old days the most marvellous medicinal the bark covering the trunk throughout its length
virtues were attributed to it, and nuts of this kind is caused by the progressive falling off of the fronds
were considered unfailing antidotes to all kinds of or leaves as the tree shoots upwards, the tufted
poison their origin was veiled in obscurity, as
: crown alone retaining the living foliage. Here the
those obtained were either picked up floating at graceful fern-like leaves may be seen in every stage
sea or on the coasts of the Maidive Islands, where of growth and development, the lower tiers drooping,
they were washed by the tides and currents. At those above spreading out feather-like, whilst the
one time the most extravagant sums were asked centre stands up plume-like in all its beauty. The
and obtained for them. A
merchant-ship, with nuts grow in clusters, and from forty or fifty to two
her freight and stores complete, has been given in and even three hundred in different stages of
exchange for one. £400 have been refused, and development, may at times by careful examination
it isrecorded that the Emperor Bodolph the Second be counted on one tree. Many members of the
caused an offer of 4,000 florins to be made for one palm family produce incredible numbers of blossoms
which chanced to be for sale ; but that sum being on the spathes, which are thrown up amongst the
considered insufficient, the precious nut passed into leaflets of the crown. The sago palm of the Orinoco
other hands. has been said to have produced eight thousand fruits,
The natives believed that the trees producing whilst one spathe of the date palm has been com-
these nuts grew at the bottom of the sea, and were puted to contain over twelve thousand male flowers.
enchanted palms, which vanished the instant the The spathe of the cocoa palm is often nearly four
adventurous diver attempted to reach them; others feet long, and six inches in circumference. The
believed that huge griffins resided in the&e magic annexed cut, on a diminished scale, will serve to
groves, visiting the land at night for the purpose of show the form of the blossoms, and the manner in
supping on elephants and tigers, and spending their which they are encased. In favourable seasons these
time during the day in luring ships within their plumes of flowers are shot forth every four or five
reach, when they at once made a meal of the weeks, and as the blossoms pass away the young
mariners navigating them. Instant death was the nuts are formed progressively, affording a store from
portion of any secretive native who failed in at which a hungry or thirsty man may provide and
once handing over to the king such nuts as he refresh himself all the year round. When the sap
might find on the coast. These, when sold by of the palm is sought for the manufacture of toddy
royal aixthority, proved by no means an insignificant and some other products, the soft young fronds,
revenue. The kernel of the nut was the part in together with the flower spathe, are bound together
which the miraculous medicinal virtues were with ligatures in order to prevent the development
supposed to reside ; and the most ridiculous and of the blossoms. A
puncture is then made at the foot
anomalous ingredients were mixed with it for use, of thespathe with an instrument called a toddy-knife,
such as the antlers of deer pounded, ebony and numerous taps administered to the neighbour-
110 THE COCOA-NUT PALM. Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
hood of the cut with its handle to set the sap flowing. “ crown bowls of punch,” the toddy is fermented
An earthen chatty-pot is then suspended in a suit- and distilled. An inferior spirit is often made from
able position for the cool sweet juices of the tree to both rice and sugar, being merely flavoured with
slowly drain. At early morn, before the sun pours

down his consuming
rays, the toddy-drawer with
monkey-like agility again ascends the tree, lowers
down his well-filled pot at the end of a string (vide
cut), and replaces it with an empty one. From
two to six pints, according to the state of the
weather and other conditional circumstances, are
'
generally collected as theresultof one night’s running,

but the trees thus treated yield no fruit. The toddy
or tarce thus obtained was the palm-wine, of the
poets. Immediately after collection it is extremely
sweet and cool in the course of very few hours a
;
change takes place, and a peculiarly agreeable acidity

takes the place of its former luscious condition. In
this state it is deliciously refreshing, but in four-and-
twenty hours it becomes quite sour. To make arrack cocoa-mrt juice, but the imposture is easily detected
or rack as it is sometimes called, so celebrated in by the experienced. Vinegar is made by allowing
the old days of deep potations, Yauxh all Gardens, and the toddy to stand in earthen jars fitted with
Nature and Art, April 1, 18G7.]
THE COCOA-NUT PALM. Ill
covers for about a month the liquid, after being

: soon causes a flow of oil. This on rising to the
carefully strained, replaced in the jar's, and a little
is surface is carefully skimmed off with shells from
red pepper, a small piece of the fruit of the gamboge the beach, and preserved for use. When no more
tree, and a pod or seed-vessel of the horse-radish, oil is to be obtained, the remaining mass is thoroughly
which in the East is a tree ( Hypertanthera moringa), pounded, folded in green banana leaves, made into
are added to each vessel of fluid. In about five weeks secure packages, and laid amongst the deep reck
vinegar of most excellent quality is the result. pools in the sea, where they are securely retained
From the sap, before fermentation, when boiled to a by placing heavy lumps of coral rock upon them.
syrup Avith quick-lime, and roughly crystallized, the This prepared paste or “ Kora,” as it is called, re-
material known as Jaggery, or native sugar, is made. tains its goodness for a very long time, and is a food
Great quantities of this are both exported and con- extensively consumed, ’and to which the Islanders
sumed where it is made for the manufacture of the are very partial.
commoner kinds of confectionery. So much for the There is another native inhabiting these cocoa-nut
sap of the tree. isles, who, although no cook, consumes his share, or
The fruit is consumed in an almost endless variety perhaps rather more, of the tree treasures. This
of ways, and not one single portion of it, or of the Avorthy is the “ On Ou,” or great robber crab ( Birgus
palm it grows on, is without a use. The young, latro), who, miner-like, excavates deep galleries in
green, undeveloped nut, as we have before stated, the coral sand beneath the roots of the palms or other
contains a rich store of cool and delicious drink which, trees in the vicinity of the cocoa-nut groves, sallying
when habitually partaken of by the fair sex, is said forth in true brigand-like manner to feast on the
by the elderly dowagers of the East to render the fruit. Strange tales haAre been told of these ma-
complexion permanently clear, remove all wrinkles, rauders climbing the tall stems of the cocoa trees,
and, in fact, like a Madame Kachael of the vegetable for the purpose of detaching and casting down the
world, make beautiful for ever. However painful nuts. We are not prepared to say that certain
it maybe to our feelings to cast doubt on this very varieties may not have been known to do so; our
agreeable little belief, experience in countries where own experience, however, leads us to believe that
cocoa-nuts in every stage of growth are easy of ob- such nuts as fall to the ground constitute the
tainment, compels us to state that beauty even in ordinary spoils appropriated by B. lalro. These
these favoured lands is not invariable ; that com- his enormously powerful and heavy nippers enable
plexions are not always clear; and that wrinkles are him to husk, and rend from their tough coverings
no rarity. Perhaps some heedless fair ones neglect with surprising facility ; and it is only necessary to
to avail themselves of the potent virtues of the nut examine a cocoa-nut husk with tire nut enclosed, as
Quien sabe ( who knows ) 1 W
e tread on dangerous they are brought to this country, to be convinced
ground : so will proceed. that our nut-eating friend must be a sort of crusta-
This same liquid, when duly prepared, makes an cean Hercules to be able to drag it forth. And so
indelible black dye ;
the young nuts which contain he is, for the tenacious, wire-like network of cocoa-
it also hold within their soft rich crusts, veritable nut fibre in which the prize is enveloped is split
vegetable Blanc Mange, so delicious that one is and rent asunder as though Avith large iron pincers,
tempted to habitually carry about a spoon in some and. the brown nut set free. The end on which the
convenient pocket, wherewith to extract the delicacy. three well-knoAvn holes, or monkey'sface are situated
,
A number of very excellent dishes are made from is then attacked, and a succession of heavy raps
it. When a short time has passed a species of pulp rapidly delivered with the large claw. A
breach is
of firmer consistence is formed, constituting quite a thus soon made into which the narrow nippers are
different kind of food, and allowing for the scope of inserted, and the SAveet, white, oleaginous kernel
more ingenuity on the part of the cooks; in the deftly scooped out.
South Seas it is often worked up with the Taro root B. latro is not only a gourmand, but a utilitarian :
[Arum esculentum ) into balls as large as thirty- so he cards up the masses of coir, the result of his
two-pound shot, and baked in the earth ovens of the rending operations, almost as fine as tow, and then
natives. The kernel of the nut when ripe, and in transports them to the inmost recesses of his burrow,
some respects resembling the condition in which it to form a sort of bed on which to recline, as Avell as
is usually eaten in this country, is treated in a a convenient covering and protection Avhen debarred
variety of ways for the preparation of food, and the from the pleasures of society during the progress of
manufacture of oil, in which it abounds. A per- shell-shifting. The Islanders are fully aware of his
fumed oil in high repute amongst the native beaux provident habits, and often take advantage of the
and belles of some of the Islands, together Avith a stores of coir thus collected, making use of them
substantial and durable article of diet, is thus made. for the various purposes to which fibre of this kind
The kernels of a large number of nuts are scraped is applied. Nature has wonderfully and wisely
, and rasped fine, and pressed through the close fibres provided for these creatures, during periods hi which
of a sort of bag formed by the natural cloth en- they remain comparatively torpid, stores or magazines
veloping the embryo nut clusters and young fronds. of oil, which they carry beneath their tails. Those
A sort of soft paste being thus obtained, certain of some of the large crabs have been known to yield
highly perfumed grasses, roots, and chips are pro- over a quart of excellent limpid oil.
cured and Avell stirred in ; the vessel containing the Nocturnal visits are from time to time paid to
mixture is then placed in the sun, the heat of which the sea> but we are Dot of opinion that, as some
112 THE COCOA-NUT PALM. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
writers have stated, these journeys are performed long, needle-shaped instrument, with one end barbed
every night. In the breeding season some time is like the head of a diminutive arrow or double-
spent by them in and about the salt water pools of bearded fishhook, and the other with a ring turned
the reefs, and the juvenile crabs appear to remain in it;
with this the beetles are either transfixed in
there until strong enough to seek their fortunes their holes or brought forth on the barbs and
with their larger brethren amongst the diggings killed.
beneath the tangled roots. When the natives The cocoa-nut oil and nut trade throughout the
desire their capture they set resolutely to work and Eastern and Southern seas is of great extent and
dig them out, much as the game-keepers of importance. It has been estimated that the annual
England proceed with secretive, perverse badgers. importation of merchandise at a place comparatively
Unfortunately for the crabs they are good to eat, little known, except by traders (Samoa), in ex-
and are therefore ruthlessly dragged from their change for cocoa-nuts and oil, amounts to £30,000.
retreats, ignominiously bound with cords (a very A vast number of the Polynesian and other islands
necessary precaution by the bye), and carried off furnish incredible quantities of both nuts and the oil
into captivity. Some of them grow to a monstrous obtained from them ; whilst in the Eastern seas,
size, possess nippers of the most formidable de- Ceylon, the Malabar coast, the Seyclielle Islands,
scription, and often snap the coir ropes with which the Mauritius, and many other islands enjoy an
the crab-hunters tie them, as if they were pack- extensive trade either in one or both productions.
threads. There are times when a change of diet A number of methods more or less primitive are had
appears congenial to our friend, when he levies recourse to for the obtainment of the oil. In some
indiscriminate war on all the shell-bearing molluscs localities the kernels of the nuts are cut up and
he can lay his claws on. He extracts them from boiled in large kettles, then pounded in a hollow
their snug shell castles with all the dexterity of an tree trunk with a heavy pestle, again boiled, and on
accomplished shell-fish dealer, and then, not content the- oil rising to the surface it is collected ; the
with having eaten up the tenant, he performs a sort contents of about seven nuts thus treated yield a
of grotesque and triumphal march with the empty quart of oil. In Ceylon and many parts of the
house in his claws as if for the purpose of inciting East Indies the quaint contrivance represented in
other crabs less nefarious in their dispositions to the the annexed cut is made use of for crushing the nut
perpetration of crimes of a like character on the
: kernels ; the upright portion in the centre is a sort
whole B. latro may be considered by no means a of round-bottomed cylinder (not unlike a short
respectable member of the family of crabs, and cannon or mortar) hewn from a block of basalt or
well deserving of his name. He, however, is not other hard and suitable stone in this the end of a
;
the only robber of the grove, there are several heavy beam of Bauhul wood is set at an angle and
species of coleopterous insects ( Oryctes Rhinoceros kept constantly travelling round by the bullocks at
especially) whose larvse feed on the embryo leaf-buds the end of the yoke-piece. Well do we remember
of the palms and are at times exceedingly de- our first introduction to one of these contrivances,
structive to the trees, not uncommonly causing and the perplexity and difficulty we experienced to
their death. These destroyers hollow out; their reasonably account for the unearthly shrieks and
galleries through the substance of the rolled up fiendish sounds we heard when shooting in the
bud, and feed on the succulent young fronds jungle. Forcing our way through the tangled
before they expand, thereby greatly disfiguring thicket, and trailing monkey ropes, expecting to
them. The most generally known of these burrow- discover it was hard to say what ; an open space
ing grubs is the Tucuvia or Grugru, which is about between the trees was reached and the whole
.
two inches and a half or three inches long, and mystery was solved. We beheld a native oil-mill
thick in proportion. It has a hard, black head, with the patient old buffaloes plodding onwards on
and a strong pair of sliears-like jaws but woe be
;
their endless journey. We did not, with the head-
to the luckless colony of Grugrus which may long valour of Don Quixote, proceed to attack our
chance to be revealed to the prying eye of the epi- mill, but sat quietly down on a stone to make a
curean “ black fellow.” They are not long allowed sketch of it, which we, in our prosaic way of
to pursue their mining operations, but are lugged viewing matters, thought the wiser course of the
forth from their retreats, and either fried crisply two.
like Epping sausages in cocoa-nut or with a
oil, When the extraction of the oil is undertaken by
little lime-juice squeezed into an empty cocoa-mit merchants or European firms, ponderous iron
shell, made an extempore meal of, by firmly seizing machinery is erected and used to express it, when
the bead-like head between the finger and thumb, about two gallons and a half of oil are obtained
dipping the grub daintily in the lime-juice, and from one hundred nuts. Besides that used for
then disposing of the treat, much as we deal with a home consumption, very large quantities are ex-
nicely-shelled prawn and with equal gusto. An ported to England, the United States, and other
ingenious method is adopted by some cocoa-mit countries, where it is made use of for a variety of
growers to rid the trees of the destructive beetles ; purposes, the manufacture of soap and candles
a number of boys are employed to carefully search amongst them. Agreat deal of soap thus made in
for the orifices in the bark ; into these, when found, America is sent back to Polynesia to be again
they dexterously insert a kind of beetle-spear, bartered for more oil. The dry cocoa-nut chip, after
with which each lad is provided ; this spear is a the oil is expressed, is sometimes used as a food for
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.]
THE COCOA-NUT PALM. 113
pigs and poultry, and is an excellent manure. water-pipes used for irrigation, Ac. The thatch
The trees are not uncommonly cultivated with great covering the houses is laid with the prepared mid-
care ;
heavy ripe nuts being selected for planting. ribs of its leaves, and secured with cord twisted
The young shoot forces its way through one of the from the cocoa fibre ; the nets and fishing lines
eye-holes, and when the youug trees are about three are also made from it ; beautifully woven baskets,
or four feet high they are with a little salt placed in usually filled with freshly-gathered nuts for the
pits prepared for their reception. day’s- consumption, are made from the plaited
A strange notion prevails amongst the cocoa-nut strips of the leaf ; and cocoa cloth protects the fresh
planters that the groves are much benefited by green fruit from the sun. Torches are made by
having walks arranged and conversations carried on binding together a sufficient number of dry leaflets,
amongst them. “ The cocoa-nut tree loves to hear the end of the mid-rib serving as a handle to hold
the sound of footsteps and pleasant voices,” say them by ; the trunks of the fruit-bearing palms
they the idea is a very poetical and pleasant one
: growing in and about native villages often have
in its like many others of that
way, no doubt, but, numbers of the dry leaves lashed fast to them, so
order, has its practical disadvantages, as any that on any prowling urchin, on plunder bent,
sauntering, gossiping group would find out to their attempting to climb the tree, a sharp rustling
cost should a ripe well-developed cocoa-nut drop sound is made and the culprit at once detected.
“ plump down” on the top of one of their heads. A number of methods are had recourse to for
In such a case we are disposed to think the nut ascending the tall stalks of the palms, according to
would have the best of it, and the thoughts of the the district in which they grow. By some persons
luckless saunterer, should any be left to him, they are climbed by fastening the two ankles
would change, like those of Newton when the pippin together with a strip of tough bark, making it act
fell, “ from mirth to gravity.” as a support by causing it to partly embrace the
In moderately favourable situations the cocoa tree ; others cut a row of notches just lai’ge enough
palm commences bearing at from ten to thirteen to admit the end of the great toe, and thus make a
years of age, and remains at full maturity for between sort of staircase of the tree. In some localities a
fifty and sixty years, producing, at a rough calcu- band is cast round both tree and native, when the
lation, one hundred nuts annually. The tree then soles of the feet are applied straight against the
usually begins to deteriorate and fall off in its trunk, and he literally walks up. The toddy-
yield, continuing in this failing condition forabout drawers often throw coir ropes from tree to tree like
twenty years, when bearing altogether
it ceases huge spiders’ webs, and then travel about on them
and shortly dies. It is rather curious that wood of much as an overgrown spider would do. An
the best quality should be obtained from trees in endless variety of beautiful mats are woven from
this state ; the Porcupine wood of commerce is the split leaflets, whilst floor-cloths, bags, and
thus procirred, as is the timber of which many of rubbers are made from the fibrous coir of the nut
the war clubs and other matters of equipment husks and the envelopes of the young fronds. In-
possessed by the natives are made. The palisades of credible quantities of coir are now used in this
their fortified villages, the beams, uprights, and country. The mighty cable, the tough and trusty
rafters of their huts and council chambers are hawser, and the buoyant life-line are of this
made from the trunk of the cocoa tree, as are the curious fibre, some of which may perchance have
ii. i
Ill THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
been filched from the stores of our dishonest, write on with a stylus, much as papyrus was
miserly old friend, Birgits Latro, Esq. The cups, written on by the ancient Egyptians. The Pia
bottles, and drinking-vessels for native use are of Pia, or gum which exudes from the tx ee, is used by -
cocoa-nut shells, ingeniously freed from their the ladies of the islands to dress their hair with,
contents by pouring out the milk, filling them with and both the root and flowers are extensively xised
salt water, and burying them in the hot sand of the as medicinal agents. Many of the canoes used
beach, when the kernel decomposes and is removed amongst the coral islands ai’e composed of cocoa-nut
through one of the eye-holes. Many of these wood ; this, when properly grooved and bored, is
natural vessels are polished with powder made stitched together with twine made from coil a -
from the burnt kernel and elaborately carved. slender young palm trunk is set up as a mast, with
When mounted with silver they are often used in a rigging of coir coi’dage a cai’go of nuts, oil,
:
this country as sugar basins and goblets. Some of lamp-black, vinegar sugar, and arrack is securely
1
the Islanders construct very curious xeolian harps stowed away, with nut food for the voyage,
from the stretched fibres of the leaves ; these they
“ The Indian’s nut alone
either place about their huts, or on the stems of the
Is clothing-, meat and trencher, drink and can
canoes, in order that the breeze may play through
Boat, cable, sail, and needle all in one.”
them. The leaf of the cocoa palm is often used as
an emblem of authority, and carried by those The fresh breeze fills the mat sail, and tin-ills in
empowered to collect any special tribute and in ;
plaintive cadence through the harp, the cocoa wood
some districts an offer of marriage is made by paddle steers the course, and the little Argosy dashes
presenting a cocoa-nut to the chosen fair one. The away through the broad suixlight, amongst the crisp-
lateral leaflets are
used to count prayers on, just blue waves with her gleanings from the palms. So
as a rosary is made
use of. When arranged like we bid her and the reader adieu until we meet again
the leaves of a book, these leaf strips are used to to collect together another of nature’s cargoes.
THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867.

By G. W. Yapp.
HEExhibition arrangements have now entered tram-ways, which make the complete circxxit of the
T upontheir last stage, and on the day that interior of the great oxxter gallexy or machine
these lines reach the public eye the doors of the court, oxxe on each side. Had the plan of the
Industrial and Artistic Congress will be thrown bxxilding beexx rectangular, the railway would
open, accoi-ding to promise. Considerable doubts xxxex-elyhave been carried xxp to the exxtx-axxce of the
have been l-aised upon this point, but with no j
xxxachixxe coxxx-t, and coxxtinxxed stx-aight tlxroixgh it
good reason, for the prepai’ations are at least from end to exxd.
as forward as those of any previous Universal In an artistic point of view the effect is equally
Exhibition, and, as regards the structure itself, ixnfortunate ; the present edifice is all facade ; and
far more so. what ax-chitect, engineex-, or artist woxxld xxxxdertake
The building, its glazing, painting, and flooring, to render four thousand feet of frontage beautiful,
were all finished in ample time for the com- or even simply elegant, xxnless he had several yeax-s
mencement of the exhibitors’ fittings, and nothing axxd a x’ich tx-easury at his disposal 1 As it is, half
left to a later moment but the gi-and vestibule, now a dozen modes of coloxxx-ing have been tx-ied, the
completed, the entrances and the decoration of the prevailing tints varyixxg from white to dax-k xnax-oon
exteriox-. or chocolate ; bxxt the coloxxx-ixxg had little effect
Of the general arrangement of the building we xxpon its boiler-like sides, axxd the Coxxxmission has
have already spoken, and see no ground to alter apparently determined to give a xxxxifornx coat of
our view. The adoption of a curved outline was a coloxxx-. A lax-geportion is xxow painted with a
grand mistake ; it allows of no vistas, prevents any metallic paint which vexy nearly x-esembles in effect
fine perspective effect, produces a most unpleasant black-lead : whether axxy other coloxxx s will be xxsed-
sensation in the smaller walled gallei'ies, in which to brighten xxp the work does not appear. The
the sides advance or x-ecede from the eye, de- only hope is that the introdxxction of gay flags axxd
stroy all l-epose, and cause an immense deal of other accessox-ies will dx-aw the eye away from the
extra trouble in the ax-raxxgements. To select one body of the bxxilding and the gx eat pillars are
;
-
glaring ixxstance thex-e is an admirable system of

: now being dressed with vexy bold flagstaff's with
sex-vice railway and tram-ways the line is broxxglxt
;
coloxxred escxxtcheoxxs axxd lax-ge gold knobs when :
ixito the park close xxp to the buildixxg itself, is each of them has its bxxxxtiixg, the genex-al ap-
coxxtixxued round the whole of the extex-ior, and is pearance will be ixxtinitely improved.
placed in coxxnection, by xAeans of txxx-ntables at As already stated, there is xxo grand nave, no
nearly the whole of the sixteexx doors, with two magnificent avexxxxe in the bxxildixxg ; the only part
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.] THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 186V. 115
in 'which anything of the kind has been attempted whatever may be the relative values of the two
isin the grand vestibule, or principal radial passage, plans, there is too much light shut out in both
which leads from the chief door to the inner cases. As regards the industrial portion of the
garden, and is bounded on one side by the French Exhibition, the modes adopted by the tAvo com-
and on the other by the British section of the missions are in all respects the antitheses of each
Exhibition. This vestibule is more than three other. The French department presents, with few
hundred feet long, fifty feet wide, and nearly exceptions, a series of courts, or salons, each with a
eighty high ] but there is nothing imposing in its design and plan of its oavii, and in some in stances
appearance. Its roof is of iron, and nearly flat, and presenting a very artistic appearance ] but they are
the light is almost entirely inclosed from each end, somewhat intricate, and a casual visitor Avill be
so that the clerestory windows being at a great extremely likely to miss many things that he would
height from the ground, the lower part of the like to see. On the English side, partitions are the
vestibule is too sombre ; and when these windows rare exception, and the view is nearly uninterrupted
are filled, as they are intended to be with specimens all over the court. Standing in almost any position,
of French and English stained glass, the vestibule the Aisitor Avill be able to say at a glance, “Ah !
will have more the air of an ecclesiastical edifice there are the beautiful Indian carpets and splendid
than of a crystal palace. shawls ; I see the colonial riches cropping up
Our neighbours are not to be blamed for the there ; there is the cut glass ] there again are the
failure in these particulars, and certainly we have noble vases from Staffordshire]” and soon] the —
good cause for modesty in matters of art ; but it is Avorld is all before him where to choose, and the
important that failures as well as successes should pathways are clear and straight. Surely that Avhich
be carefully recorded for future guidance. The con- is desirable in life in general is advantageous in an
struction of such huge buildings can never be a exhibition in which no man can see everything, and
common event, and therefore each lesson is the more every one has his peculiar inclinations. There Avill
precious. be no uniformity on the English side, except that a
The French, however, have so much ability in very large proportion of the show-cases Avill be
ornamentation, that where the materials or the forms black relieved with gold, and that all' the counters
are not unmanageable, they rarely fail to produce a will be covered with maroon-coloured cloth. The
gay and pleasing effect. The inclosed court and management of the space above the avenues of
garden of the Exhibition, for instance, offered them circulation presents the same contrast. On the
a fair opportunity, of which they have availed them- French side most of the courts are covered with
selves. The surrounding Avail is painted in panels, neat white awnings, and the same plan is adopted
and the upper part relieved by a course of imitation for the main avenues throughout] so that the roof of
rose-coloured marble, which is exchanged for green the building will scarcely be seen, and the latter
marble over the doors leading into the building •
will be mostly masked. The English Commission
the veranda, or marquise, which surrounds the has no awnings, either over courts or avenues ]
garden, is also light and pretty, and apple-green from the top of the cases and counters all is clear to
curtains are iioav being fixed on rods between the roof-lights, except where tall objects tower
the pillars, to protect the visitors on the sunny above their neighbour’s, or Avhere some splendid
side. The garden within is now laid out geome- product of the loom is raised to show its beauties,
trically, with one main walk down the centre and and the tempering of the light has been managed
three crossing right angles ; the centres of
it at in a singularly happy manner. In place of white
the four chief flower-beds are occupied by long calico, which at first is too glaring, but soon be-
basins, from which numerous jets of water will comes stained and baggy, each glazed compartment
enliven and refresh this floral retreat from the in the roof has its own blind made to fit, stretched,
Picture Galleries and Retrospective Museum. tightly beneath it. These blinds are not Avhite, but
The French and English Commissions have unbleached, and have a diaper pattern all over them,
entered upon a spirited competition in the matter Avith a garter ornament in the centre, in Avhich the
of fitting and decoration, and the Avork on each cyphers of Her Majesty and the emblems of the
side is now
sufficiently advanced to allow of a few various portions of her dominions alternate with
critical notes on each. In the first place, the each other. The effect is admirable ] and the plan
walls of the French Picture Galleries are painted adopted in the British section will render it the
of a low-toned redj those of the English Gallery, of best ventilated portion of the Exhibition, which is
a neutral green off rather olive tint. The former a very important point.
have nearly opaque screens half the width of the The original colour of the iron-work in the
galleries, hung from the tie-rods of the roof thus Industrial Galleries was chocolate, and it still
;
throwing the centre of the galleiy into shade, remains so, except on the British side, Avliere it is all
Avliile the light falls on the walls through white visible, and where it would not have harmonized
aAvnings extending from the screens to the walls. Avitli the colour of the cloth selected ] so the Avhole
In the English Galleries a Avhite awning stretches has been repainted of an olive tint, like the walls
nearly across, and meets opaque screens at the of the Picture Galleries.
sides. Here we have two systems which contrast There is much to do between this time and the
fvith each other, and the experience of Avliich Avill opening day, and some complaints about the slow
be valuable. The general opinion at present is, that service of the railways on this side of the water
I 2
116 THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1867. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
but the work is well advanced, and there is no reason other countries, present a long architectural front.
why there should be more than the usual pressure That of Sweden is solid, like the wall of a fortified
at the last moment. town ; bold arches with overhanging penthouse
Every department on the British side is in full ac- roofs, odd spires, and castellated work, all speak of
tivity, —Home, Indian and Colonial, Machinery, the middle ages. Denmark faces her with a frontage
Manufactures and Art. In the machine section of northern renaissance ; large flat arches with pine-
heavy pieces and foundations are appearing every- apples or grapes pendent from the keystone, give
where and no less than three steam cranes are
;
the court rather a Bacchanalian air. Portugal also
employed on the rails there. The red jackets of the presents a long fa§ade in woodwork, with arches of
Koval Engineers recall the exhibitions at home; the same form, but with ornaments, again, of a
and the other day these were relieved by the blue totally different character.
cloth of a few of the Royal Artillery, sent over The geography of the Exhibition is curious.
probably in charge of some of our specimens of From Germany, passing through Switzerland, .we get
armament. into Spain and Portugal then to Greece, Denmark,
;
In the industrial courts the cases spring up with Sweden and Russia, and Italy. The last-named com-
surprising rapidity, and some of our friends here mission is not quite so far advanced as some of its
were struck with the method adopted they saw the
: neighbours, but promises to make a goodly show.
soldiers mark outthe floor with a red line, and Beyond Italy are the Danubian Principalities, Tur-
paint an Anglo-Saxon name in the space; presently key, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunis. Each of these
they saw arrive on the spot a number of pieces of countries makes a thoroughly characteristic ex-
timber of various shapes and sizes, and the day after hibition ; each has a frontage of the same length,
perhaps there was a skeleton case in the place, and though the depths of their courts vary from two to
sheets of plate glass being inserted between its twenty or more feet, and all are ready, or will be
empty ribs. The effect on the minds of our neigh- by the opening day.
bours seemed to be, an impression that there was a The Danubian Principalities have never before,
considerable chance of Great Bi’itain occupying that we recollect, taken part in a Universal Ex-
an excellent position in the field, if not of her hibition, and we do not know whether the decoration
absolutely distancing her competitors in the adopted is strictly national, but it is very showy
honourable race. and effective ; the fagade is composed of a series of
France, Austria, Prussia, Belgium, and other arches, and the decorations consist of interlaced
countries, have adopted much the same system work, and foliage in brilliant colours on a dark-blue
upon the present, that they did on former occasions, ground.
and, with the exception of what we have already The next court is at once recognized by a tablet
said respecting the first-named, demand no special bearing the Sultan’s cypher in gold on a scarlet
mention at present ; but other commissions present ground, and the court, which is of considerable size,
remarkable novelties in the way of ornamentation. is laid out with a series of small shops, like those of
The Russian court, for instance, which is quite the bazaars at Constantinople, on one side, and with
ready as regards its furniture, presents the most counters, stands, and etageres on the other. The
complete arrangement in the building, the whole of decorations of this court are not yet finished, but
its cases, tables, and stands, though varied in shape, the framework and such ornamentation as is exe-
are in the same national style, and form an cuted have the true Oriental air.
admirable exhibition in themselves ; the work is the Egypt occupies a much narrower space than that
perfection of solidity, simplicity, and good taste ;
of its suzerain, but its fagade is highly chai’acteristic,
and, moreover, thoroughly national. It is the usual and almost completed ; the ornaments are of the
custom of the country to leave the whole of the kind with which we are well acquainted, and the
surface of the wood of its natural colour, but to whole is being brilliantly coloured.
colour the interstices and undercuttings; audit was The next slice of the Exhibition is divided between
intended to do the same here ; but the work itself Morocco and Tunis, the former appearing for the
has attracted so much attention, that M. Grigorovitch, first time in such an exhibition. Here we have
the Commissioner, has, with the advice of several the horse-slioe arches, and a perfect blaze of colour ;
artists, determined to leave the furniture as it is, in each commission has divided its space into two or
order to exhibit the design and workmanship in its three pavilions, all of which are covered within and
purest condition. without with geometric patterns of the most brilliant
Sweden and Norway stand back to back with hues, surmounted by inscriptions and paved with
Russia, and Denmark faces the former. Each of parti-coloured cements. The painting in these
these will exhibit a mass of highly characteristic courts has been executed by native artists, whose
woodwork, but of a totally different class. It should Oriental figures and garments have been a source of
be mentioned, by way of parenthesis, that as each great curiosity with the visitors. The group thus
country has a long strip of space bounded by radii summarily noticed, presents very curious features
of the building, each presents a very long facade, and striking contrasts, and will certainly form one
and this hasbeen taken full advantage of by very of the most interesting portions of the Exhibition.
many of the commissions. Russia only marks her Between this gay troop and Great Britain there
frontage by a low wooden railing and a seines of lies only ’America, which makes but little show yet.
banner frames ; but Sweden and Norway, and several The frontier of the British department will vie in
Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.] THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 1807. 117
splendour with its neighbours ;

here the India approaching completion. It has a graceful dome and
Board is setting Tip its cases, and the shawls, muslins, a tall minaret, with the muezzin gallery. Two of
embroidery, and carpets of our Indian possessions the angles of the building have circular pavilions pro-
need fear no rivals under the sun. England herself, jecting boldly from the main structure, and these,
too, promises to show more art than usual, or rather as well as the door and windows, are profusely
a greater proportion of art than usual, especially in decorated with arabesque ornamentation. It is a
connection with house and ecclesiastical decoration. complete reproduction of the Eastern mosque, down
The Art-Manufactures court is beginning to take to the small grated window, whose office seems
shape, and promises to be rich in decorative work rather to exclude than to admit light.
in wood, metal, and terra-cotta; but the great show Behind the mosque of his suzerain stands the
of works in the last-named material is to be found imposing group of buildings of the Pasha of Egypt,
elsewhere. In the great machine court, two speci- which have already been partially described in the
mens of the new Museum at South Kensington, now columns of Nature and Art. The interior of
being erected, attract attention, and the pieces of the Great Temple is being covered with copies
terra-cotta are much admired for their colour and of the mural paintings of Upper Egypt, and the
the sharpness of their outlines when finished, : exterior is elaborately decorated in colours, the
these architectural specimens will be sixty feet high. caps of the columns of the front representing the
Another kindred work is just commenced in the face of the goddess who seems to have held in
garden; namely, the temple to shelter the boilers Egypt the place of the “ goddess Juno with the
which are to supply the machinery of the British cow’s fail' eyes.” The building which is to in-
department with steam. The boilers are all in their clude an Eastern cafe and the Yiceroy’s pavilion, is
places, and the columns, which are of terra cotta also appi’oaching completion, and will present a
and each in one piece eight or nine feet high, very rich mass of Oriental decoration analogous to that
slender and highly decorated, are now being set up. of the Sultan’s mosque. Still further in the rear is
If the other parts of the structure are as good as the the Fellah dwelling, with its cattle-shed, which is
columns, —
and the mass of pieces of terra-cotta seem intended to exhibit the habitation and arrangement
to promise that they will be, —
this temple will be of a peasant dwelling of Lower Egypt at the
one of the attractions of the park. present day. The Itussian and Swedish structures
Close at hand is the Queen’s Pavilion, as it was are now almost completely finished, and create
first named, or the English Cottage, as it is now great interest ; but as these have already been
generally called. It is neither a royal pavilion nor described in our columns, notice of the details
a cottage, but it is a characteristic building, exhi- connected with them must be deferred to a future
biting the features of English domestic architecture, period. One of the most conspicuous buildings is
the materials of such structures, such as cut bricks that of the Bey of Tunis ; it is a structure as large
and tiles, and the methods of construction. Until as the town-hall of a great city, and will contain
the work is a little further advanced, it is impossible not only a museum, but workshops, a collection of
to say what will be the general effect ; but the wild animals, and a divan for the Bey, should he
details which are finished hold out good promise : visit Paris. It is rectangulax with small cupolas
-
—
,
there are five stacks of chimneys, one square, the on each side of the fagade, and a bold flight of horse-
others clustered ; and nothing can exceed the ele- shoe-shaped steps leading to the grand entrance.
gance of these monumental chimneys, which are ex- At the other end of the park the Dutch Com-
tremely complicated in form and beautifully sharp mission has just completed a special gallery for its
in outline ; they are, moreover, capped with terra- pictures, and a workshop in which the process of
cotta shafts, some white and others red, which are cutting and polishing diamonds is to be exhibited.
singularly graceful. Workmen are now busy The Swiss, too, are hard at work on their picture
decorating the front with encaustic tiles and tile gallery.
mosaics, which are at once novel in style and gay The French electric iron lighthouse has the
in effect. framework of its lantern in place, and forms a
In the French part of the park the Renaissance very striking feature in another corner. This will
house is now a very picturesque and beautiful not be the only electric lighthouse in the park ; the
object ; it is a large structure, with a rusticated English Commission has brought over the frame-
basement of imitation stone beton agglomere — two , — work of another, in wood, which will be erected
main floors, and a dormer story. In the front is a immediately, so that two systems will be sub-
projecting bay with gable, and at one corner a mitted to the judgment of the assembled world.
large tower, which will probably support a belvedere; The reserved garden or, in other words, the
,
the roof is sharply pitched and overhanging, the horticultural portion of the Exhibition, exhibits as
dormer windows are very bold, and beneath is an much, not more, progress than any other
if
elegant veranda or balcony. The whole framework portion the hothouses and conservatories, one of
;
of the house is of oak, charmingly designed, and very large size, are neai’ly all finished, and some are
put together in a most artistic manner, and the being glazed they amount to twenty or more in
:
whole of the woodwork is unmasked, the interstices number, and are of all forms and sizes.
between the timbers being very small and filled in The two great aquariums are also finished as
with plaster, party-coloured white and grey. regards the main portions of their structure ; and
The Sultan’s mosque is another elegant building now that the whole of their arrangement is visibly
113 THE PARIS EXHIBITION OF 18G7. [Nature and Art, April 1 18G7.
,
they are even more remarkable than the accounts avenue, which limits the French section, being called
of them led us to expect. They will contain an the Rue d’A Ig'erie), Rues des Pays Pas, de Belgique ,
immense number of specimens, and the two de Prusse, d’ Autriclie, d’Espagne, de Russie, d Afrique,
systems of construction — one consisting of a deslndes, et d’A ngleterre. In like manner the two
series of niches in the sides of a large cavern, great roads in the pai’k are called the Avenue
while the other consists entirely of iron and glass, d' Europe and the Ghemin circulaire des deux Mondes.
open to inspection from the sides as well as above The secondary promenades are called Avenues and
—
and below will oiler useful means of comparison. the lesser A llees, and are named after the French pro-
,
The cavern system, as adopted in the aquarium of vinces, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, Tunis,
the Javelin d’ Acclimatation, certainly shows small Morocco, Japan, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary,
creatures to considerable advantage, but it has the Brabant, Zealand, Holland, and other places. The
great disadvantage of presenting only one face to Imperial Commission has also commenced fixing
the world, so that only a small number of persons indications, outside the building as well as in the
can see at a time. The other system, on the central garden, of the countries to be found in the
contrary, will accommodate the largest possible vicinity of each of the avenues within, the names of
number of visitors. The canal, lakes, cascade, and all the countries contained in each part being
all works connected with the aquariums are ready. inscribed in very conspicuous characters.
While speaking of the aquariums and their Another arrangement which men of business and
tenants, we must not forget to state that a number others will appreciate, is the establishment of a
of the great carp from Fontainebleau are to appear regular post and telegraph office, with paste restante
in a lake in this garden. Some of these fish are attached ; there will also be a branch office in the
very old and of enormous size, and it is a question Club-house, which is situated at another extremity
whether they will take a great interest in the of the park.
Exhibition; but the Fontainebleau carp are amongst The waters of the Seine have not been friendly
the lions of France, and of course the Exhibition to the Exhibition. The river was so full for weeks
would not be complete without them. that little or nothing could be carried on by the
There will be many other attractions in the water-side ; two immense sheds were, however,
—
garden large collections of living birds, a number
: erected some time since, and they are now being
of liummiiig-birds, it is said, amongst the rest ; a filled with gigantic marine boilers, and other ap-
botanical diorama, in which representations will apparatus connected with nautical matters, By the
pear of rare trees and plants which cannot be shown side of these marine sheds are several smaller ones,
otherwise; and lastly, though not at all consequently, which are intended to contain yachts, pleasure-boats,
the jewels of the French crown. These will be and models.
exhibited in an iron and plate-glass case, which will In connection with the general arrangem ent, it may
be let down at night into a strong safe sunk in the be mentioned that more than five hundred pages of
ground. In the centre of the garden will be a the catalogue are in type in the office of M. Dupont,
pavilion appropriated to the use of the Empress. the printer for M. Dentu, the concessionnaire,
The shrubberies and flower-beds are being planted and the sheets, as fast as they appear, are, in pur-
and arranged, and the greater part of the walks suance of an arrangement with the Commission and
are already gravelled and in fair condition, so that M. Dentu, being translated into English, and set up
there is little anxiety about this part of the Exhi- by Messrs. J. M. Johnson & Co., of London. This will
bition. be the first instance of the whole of the catalogue
Another recent visit has furnished us with yet of an universal exhibition being published in any
more memoranda. Stained glass is now being placed other language than that of the country in which
in the clerestory windows on the French side of the the exhibition occurred. Another very great ad-
grand vestibule ; the floor is being paved with tiles vantage will be that each of these catalogues will
composed of concrete and asplialte, black, with be published in sections, each section containing
white figures. The model church lias also two or the whole of the exhibitors of all countries in the
more painted windows in place, and the interior is same group. This is a collateral advantage arising
being brilliantly decorated with sculpture and out of the arrangement of the contents of the Ex-
colour. hibition systematically as well as geographically.
To the above may be added a few observations of Lastly, we may state that the opening of the last
general interest. The great extent of the building preliminary act of the Exhibition has been marked
and grounds has given rise to an interesting by the opening of two or three of the French cafes
nomenclature. Of the sixteen radial avenues in the and an Austrian beer-house; and in a few days, after
building, one is the grand vestibule, mentioned taking a walk in the avenue of Tunis or the alley
above, and the others have been named as follows : of Japan, the visitor may lunch in Russia, dine in
Rues de France, d’ Alsace, de Normandie de Flandre,
,
Great Britain, and take his coffee in France.
de Lorraine, and de Provence (an extra secondary
FLOEAL DECOEATION OF CHUBCHES. 119
FLORAL DECORATION OF CHURCHES.

By W. & Gr. Audsley, Architects.
EASTEE.
HAVING
with the
in the December number of Nature
and Art given general hints in connection
Floral Decoration of Churches, and
importance, a special decoration should be made to
occupy the space over the altar, and any amount of
care and attention be given to its construction.
directions with special reference to the Festival of As white is the Easter colour, the ground of all
Christmas, we have now to say a few words on the devices should be composed of it. Cold and colours,
decorations suitable for the Easter Festival, which such as red and blue, may be introduced within the
must be taken as a short appendix to our former outlines of the floral designs, for the purpose of
article. throwing out the leaf-work and giving solidity to
All the general hints, or those pointing out the the forms ; but the general ground should in all
methods of arranging and applying Floral enrich- cases be white.
ments to buildings of the several styles of church The design in the centre of the accompanying
architecture which we gave in our Christmas essay, plate will supply an idea for a reredos deco-
hold good with reference to Easter, as do also the ration suitable for the generality of churches.
directions for the construction of the devices and The groundwork may be of strong white drawing-
general decorations: therefore it is unnecessary paper, or cloth stretched on a wooden frame. The
to reiterate either here. cross in its centre to be formed of choice green
Easter occurs too early in the year to enable us and variegated holly-leaves, with large red, and
to use many flowers in the decorations. Therefore small white, camellias. The main lines of the side
they have still to partake of the Christmas character compartments and the border round the whole may
and be composed, for the most part, of evergreens. be of holly or laurel, with the sprigs in the tri-
It is advisable to use holly more sparingly than at angular spaces of fir, as shown, terminating in red
Christmas, with which season it is so closely as- camellias or roses.
sociated the other common evergreens, such as
: The walls of the chancel to the height of the top
laurel, box, fir, &c., may be used ad libitum. For of the reredos maybe decorated in several ways and
the smaller and more choice decorations, holly, in any degree of richness.
from the beautiful and crisp character of its leaf, Wherethe chancel is not large and expense not
should still be used ; but the variegated species should an lower portion of the walls may be
object, the
be preferred, being lighter and more cheerful than covered with white hangings suspended from rods
the sombre green. temporarily fixed up. These hangings may be
In Easter decoration all the varieties of flowers ornamented with coloured devices, such as small
that can be procured may be used ; those which grow Greek crosses, sacred monograms, and symbols,
out of doors or are more plentiful being adopted stencilled (in size or thick varnish colour) at
for the general decorations, those from the green- intervals all over them, or with a powdering of
house being applied to the enrichment of the small floral ornaments composed of leaves and
Sanctuary. flowers stitched on. The upper edge of the
For the Easter Festival it is not so usual as at hangings should have a border either of coloured
Christmas time, to carry decoration through all stencilled ornament or of appropriate texts in-
portions of the interior of a church but there is no : scribed within coloured lines, similar to that on
reason why the same amount of enrichment should the centre compartment of the reredos, Fig. 2.
not be provided. "Whatever may be done for the Other ornamental or inscribed bands may be
body of the church, it is important that, at Easter, introduced horizontally at equal distances between
the chancel should be decorated richly, and with the the top and bottom of the hangings, the powderings
choicest materials. On no account should artificial being placed in the spaces between them. The
or everlasting flowers be used. Let everything par- bottom should either finish with a coloured fringe
take of the true character of spring, that season or with a broad border of leaves stitched on in
which is in itself a type of the Resurrection from some simple pattern. It will of course be under-
the Dead. stood that, if it is found expedient, these hangings
In the decoration of the chancel, the greatest care may be confined to the east wall of the chancel,
should be bestowed upon the reredos and the walls, extending over the spaces on both sides of the altar.
&c., in close proximity to the altar. "Where there Instead of the hangings, an arcade of evergreens,
is a rich reredos permanently fixed, it will only be after one or other of the designs shown on the plate
necessary to decorate its architectural features with (Figs. 5 and 6); may be adopted; or a diaper pattern
flowers and leaves ; and, if there should be a cross may be used, as taste and circumstances direct.
in sculpture or inlay in its centre, a circular wreath Designs for diapers were given in the plates illus-
of choice flowers may appropriately be suspended trating our Christmas article.
by two very fine wires, so as to surround the centre The upper portions of the chancel walls may be
of the cross. But, where there is no reredos of any decorated by horizontal bands of evergreens, me-
120 THE FATE OF DR. LIVINGSTONE. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
dallions, Ac., as recommended for Christmas. The Phoenix, the Peacock, and the Lion. These may
medallions must now, of course, contain the ap- be depicted on banners, shields, or medallions.
propriate devices for Easter. The Creek Cross is Banners and Shields may be used in exactly the
still the most appropriate form of the symbol for same manner, and to the same extent as at Christ-
medallions and general purposes, but the floriated mas. They may be ornamented with the following
Latin Cross is the most suitable for the decoration devices in gold and colours the various forms of
:
of the space over the chancel arch or east window. the Greek Cross, the Latin Cross Eleury, the
Although the Latin, or Calvary, Cross was out of Agnus Dei, the monograms of the Saviour’s
place at Christmas, it becomes one, of the important Name with or without crowns over them, the
symbols for Easter. The true Eastern Cross, before-mentioned emblems, the entwined triangles,
however, is that variety which is termed the and any Easter texts, as in Fig. 4.
Resurrection or Victory Cross. It consists of a A chancel or rood screen is a most appropriate
cross placed on the top of a tall staff or spear and beautiful feature at Easter. It may be made of
which has attached to it a small white banner, light wooden framework, and be covered with ever-
Fig. 1. This cross may be placed as shown on the greens enriched witli flowers. Shields and banners
plate, viz., issuing from behind the reredos, or two may be used to add colour and effect to it, and a
of them may be used, one on each side of the richly coloured and gilded Cross Fleury should in
reredos aud altar. In almost all representations of all cases surmount the centre archway.
our Saviour’s Resurrection He is depicted bearing In the decoration of the nave, our directions for
this form of cross in His hand. Christmas may be followed in the general details,
Other emblems sometimes adopted for Easter, on although it is not necessary to ornament that por-
the authority of the early Christians, are the tion of the interior so fully at Easter.
THE FATE OF DR. LIVINGSTONE.

To the Editor of Nature and Art. easily suggested to the native mind, to involve in grief the
friends of the traveller, who may be safely pursuing his
Sir, —
It was not my intention to have written for publi- journey. Sometimes a more, clever or less timid servant
cation anything concerning the reported murder of Dr. Living- will profess to be the bearer of important letters which ho
stone but, liavingbeen requested by several friends as well as
;
will show to none but the person they are for, and thus is
by yourself, to express my opinion respecting the credibility assisted on his way by natives and by colonists until the
of the statement made by the fugitives to Dr. Kirk, I do not imposture is discovered. Many cases of this kind have
feel that I should be right in withholding it from those who happened within my own knowledge or that of my friends.
may flatter me by attaching some value to the few remarks My own life has been made the subject of a bet, and the
I have to offer. Perhaps it may be best to state the im- first person who met me on my return greeted me not less
pression on my own mind at once, and then to cite such heartily because my safety proved him the winner of the
incidents as have influenced me in forming- it. wager. The safety of Mr. Chapman and myself was at one
I should be loth to abandon all hope of any African time almost despaired of and in the Ccvpe Advertiser of
;
traveller until his death were certified by evidence that left December 17th, 1863, it was stated, on the authority of a
no room for doubt and in this I agree with Sir Roderick
;
letter from the governor of Senna, that Dr. Livingstone,
Murchison, who, in his letter read by Sir Henry Rawlinson who had started for Lake Nyassa in August with a party of
at the late meeting of the Geographical Society, refers to the only five Makololo, had been murdered. Another report
many travellers who have returned safely after having was that he had been dangerously wounded in a fray but ;
—
been reported dead in many cases by deserters from their the editor very sensibly appended a remark that Dr. Mellor,
service, who, to account for their return, would not hesitate who arrived in safety with the letters, had also on a previous
to concoct a plausible fiction. occasion been reported dead.
At the same time, I must confess my fear that the melan- These instances will be enough to show that the reported
choly intelligence is true outweighs my hope that it is false ; fate of Dr. Livingstone is still open to doubt ; but on the
and this because, from my personal knowledge of Dr. Kirk, I other hand I cannot see sufficient inconsistency in the short
cannot think that, with the opportunity of cross-examining abstract of the narrative already published, to warrant an
nine men who all protest they helped to inter the body, he imputation of untruthfulness. Dr. Livingstone had pre-
would have failed, between the 5th and 26th of December viously been deserted by, or had dismissed, the servants who
last, to. have broken down the evidence had it been unaccompanied him from India. The buffaloes brought from
truthful. Still, I know how cleverly and circumstantially the same country in hope that they would withstand the
the natives can get up the history of such a scene and, until
;
attacks of that deadly cattle pest the Tsetse fly, had died.
Dr. Kirk’s letters containing the details of the narrative He was still accompanied by the Johanna men, and had most
arrive, or further confirmation be obtained from him, I probably also hired native porters to carry his necessary
would not quite despair of the life of the great explorer. stores. Little or no regularity of march would be attempted.
There is hardly a traveller that I have known in Africa Rough and narrow foot-paths would wind through forest or
whose death has not at some time or other been reported. low bush. The Doctor, it is said, with half his party, was
Perhaps his native servants, terrified at his audacity in in advance when the attack took place. Probably those who
pushing onward toward some tribe renowned for prowess were behind would hear the noise of the affray even before
and ferocity, actually believe that he is hastening to his they came in sight of it. Only one man professes to have
death, and that it would be madness to involve themselves seen the fatal blow, and he might easily escape the observa-
in his fate. Their own fears gradually convert themselves tion of the parties intent only on the conflict in which they
into a self-deceptive certainty, confirmed perhaps by some were engaged. That they returned at night is by no means
rumour that may overtake them as they return. Or, if not impossible and, being Mahometans, they would be more
;
so confirmed, their tale, truthful enough perhaps up to the likely than native Africans to think of burying their leader.
time they left, needs only the addition of a few incidents, Perhaps the murderers left little that could be brought away
THE FATE OF DB. LIVINGSTONE. 121
as relics but the statement that the body bore but one
;
in astonishment the humanity of their liberators with
wound favours the inference that, from some cause, they the brutality they had hitherto experienced, and these
had not indulged in the barbarous gratification of mutilating people eighty-four in number became the nucleus of the
their victim. intended mission village. Other parties were followed up ;
In one instance of the massacre of a peaceful village by a the drivers, many of them agents for Portuguese in Tette,
band of Matabili, while Mr. Chapman and I were returning were detained, but eventually escaped, and a collision took
from the Zambesi, the two or three survivors, who had place with the Ajawa tribe, who were returning in triumph
escaped through being absent, told us that at nightfall with a long string of Manganja captives.
they not only approached the Matabili army, but actually The mission was settled among the Manganja tribe, ^vho,
.
came near enough to talk to them, having full confidence after the departure of Dr. Livingstone, appealed to Bishop
that they could escape before men starting suddenly from Mackenzie to assist them against the continued raids of the
the blazing camp-fires could become sufficiently accustomed Ajawa. At first he declined, but at length, moved by the
to the darkness to see them as they fled. natural feelings of humanity, consented, with the full appro-
Still later, when crossing the desert at the end of the bation of his colleagues. I do not pretend to decide whether
rainy season, the anticipated drying up of the scanty pools it be wrong for a clergyman to engage in war; but if he erred,
obliged us to push the oxen across the intervening spaces he, as well as the Doctor, in the liberation of the slaves, did
at a rate which the Damaras, enfeebled by recent fever, so on the right side and I fancy that few Englishmen
;
could not keep up with. We could not send them in advance placed in the same circumstances would have done otherwise.
till a track had been marked by the passage of the wagons ; The Bishop, in his journal for August 27th, 1861, states, as
and the convalescents, attended by a number of healthy his reason for consenting to lead the Manganja force, that
men, were allowed to follow at their own pace while we they were attacked by marauding and murdering parties of
waited for them at each successive water. The country was, Ajawa, who were constantly burning their villages, slaying
at that time, full of the edible roots on which they chiefly their men, and carrying off captives to bo sold to traders
live ;
and, faring well as they came along, they were in no from Tette. At the same time, he says that the Manganja
hurry to overtake us. At length, they failed to come up to were nearly as bad and using this opportunity he stipu-
;
us but, anticipating no danger, we left food for them at

; lated that, in return for his services, they should cease to
each halting-place, and on reaching the B5-tlet-le river, sell their own people or encourage slave traders amongst
Chapman paid the headmen of the villages in advance for them. He says that on the 13th, with the unanimous con-
supplies to be furnished as they came up. Henry Chapman sent of his party, he proceeded to meet the enemy, and,
joined us at the Lake Ngami, and a wagon with provisions appointing Waller to command in the actual fight, went un-
was immediately sent back to their assistance but, alas
; ! armed with him to seek a parley with the opposing chiefs.
only two men and two women were found alive. They, The attempt failed; but in the succeeding battles the Ajawa
being a little in advance of the rest, had slept separately, were defeated, and among the spoils were found shields of
and returning in the morning had found their unfortunate the Mazite, who had joined them. The Manganja, in spite
country people lying murdered at their bivouac. A party of of the efforts of the English, behaved in victory as savages
marauding Matabili had penetrated into the country we had will, and violated their agreement by killing or retaining in
deemed perfectly secure from them, and eighteen or twenty captivity a number of women and children in consequence
;
men and women of our little party had become their victims. of which, the Bishop refused again to lead them, though in
In terror and bewilderment the survivors resumed their the following January (1862), he was compelled to punish
journey, when the murderers, revisiting the scene of a petty chief who had attacked a party sent to explore a
slaughter and finding fresh foot-prints, followed and robbed path T>y which to bring up the ladies, who had arrived at
them of their little ornaments but satiated apparently with
; the Zambesi with the intention of joining the Mission. The
blood, allowed them to depart, charging them to tell Chap- unfortunate death of Bishop Mackenzie and Mr. Burrup,
man who it was that had killed his people. in consequence of hardship and exposure, took place soon
These Matabili, who, under the despotic chief, Moscle- afterwards.
katse, have for more than thirty years been the scourge and Dr. Livingstone and his expedition had meanwhile ex-
terror of the native tribes to the south of the Zambesi, are plored Lake Nyassa and its western shore and in about
;
of the same stock as the Mazite, or Amazitu, mentioned by 11° 40' S. he fell in with a few Mazite, who, failing in their
Dr. Kirk. Both arc offsets of the Asiazulu, or Zulus, attempt to terrify him, became themselves alarmed and fled,
occupying the country of Natal and it would be interesting
; though others gave much trouble both to the land party and to
at some other opportunity to consider, in connection with the Dr. Kirk, who was at that time in charge of the boat. The
—
southward migration of the Kafir tribes pressed onward, country around was desolated by these savages, and strewed
probably, by the progress of the Arabs in their rear, —this with the skeletons of their victims. The fountain-head of
reflux of the Zulus to the North. The Mazite crossed the the slave trade seemed to be there. Two Arabs had built
Zambesi near Shupanga, perhaps ten or fifteen years ago, a dhow upon the lake, and were running her, crowded with
and spreading the terror of their name by indiscriminate slaves, regularly across it and it is said that 1,900 from
;
massacre as they passsed northward, settled, at last, in the this locality pass annually the custom-house at the Arab
country to the west of Lake Nyassa, in latitude between port of Zanzibar, exclusive of any sold to the Portuguese.
11° and 12° south. Mr. Horace Waller, who was one of the On the melancholy events which led to the abandonment of
mission under Bishop Mackenzie, tells me that during the the Mission, the prostration of most of the party by fever,
war the Mazite took part with the Ajawa, and that some of the death of Mrs. Livingstone (herself the daughter of
their shields were found either on the field or in the huts Moffatt the missionary pioneer), and of the accomplished
they abandoned. young geologist, Bicliard Thornton (induced by the hard-
If the Mazite have in reality committed the crime, as we ships of a journey undertaken to procure animal food for
have too much reason to fear, the cause of their hostility his perishing friends), and on other sad details, I have not
to Dr. Livingstone may be traced to his endeavours to space to dwell. My object in citing the foregoing facts has
suppress the slave trade. It will be remembered that in been to show the possible cause of the hostility of the
January, 1861, the Oxford and Cambridge mission reached Mazite ; and they afford, I think, sufficient evidence that a
the mouth of the Zambesi, and were met by Doctor Living- feud not likely to be forgotten already existed between the
stone, who acted as their guide and adviser. A short trip Mazite and the English, even if the predatory habits of the
was made to the Kovuma, a river to the northward, but former were not sufficient to incite them to attack the weak
the party returned to the Zambesi, and in the steamer and overburdened party "with which Dr. Livingstone (tra-
Pioneer commenced the ascent of its tributary the Shire velling from the east coast, and having already passed the
(or Sheeree). Here intelligence was received of the recent northern end of Lake Nyassa) was traversing the borders of
passage of various gangs of slaves, and another gang, bound their country. It is not improbable, too, that their hostility
to Tette, arrived soon after Dr. Livingstone had reached the would be fostered by persons interested in. the continuance
village. The black drivers took to flight as soon as they of the inhuman traffic he so strenuously endeavoured to
saw the faces of the English, and the captives contrasted suppress. For the majority of the real Portuguese whom I
122 ANTS AND APHIDES. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
have known in Tette,*' I think I may say that they would and self-sacrificing, indignation at the wrongs they
his
regard with the same horror as ourselves a dastardly- suffered led him not unfrequently to injustice towards the
attempt to make the savage an instrument of assassination, colonists, the majority of whom would look with abhorrence
and will look on the reported murder of the Doctor with equal to his own on such outrages as individuals occasionally
equal indignation but on this point I would refrain from
; might be guilty of. As to his disregard of personal interest,
dwelling till the expected letters of Dr. Kirk inform us of it is sufficient to state that, in addition to the funds supplied
the details he has been able to collect. him by the Government and by sympathizing friends, tho
The career of Dr. Livingstone as a traveller and a greater part of his own property was spent in the prosecu-
philanthropist needs no eulogy from me, neither am I the tion of the course he considered it his duty to pursue.
man from whom it ought to be expected but as one who,
;
While there yet remains a ground for hope, I would fain,
for however short a time, has travelled with him, I may in common with the friends of science and philanthropy,
express my admiration of his many excellences, and pass as indulge it to the utmost. If, as I much fear, the report is
lightly as possible over the failings which served as foils true, all privato differences must be merged in heartfelt
to them. sorrow for the great explorer. If not, no one will rejoice
His energy and perseverance as an explorer could not fail more heartily to welcome his safe arrival, or to meet him
to be appreciated by every one, and his self-reliance and in England, than,
power of adapting himself to new emergencies were shown Sir, yours truly,
when, having been led by false reports to dismiss from his T. Baines, F.R.G.S.,
expedition men who with heart and hand were helping him Late Artist of the Zambesi Expedition,
to their utmost, he applied himself energetically, if not
altogether successfully, to the various tasks thus heedlessly 20, Northumberland Street, West Strand,
devolving upon him. 14th March, 1867.
His life may be said to have been devoted to the cause of March 18th . —
The detailed letters from Dr. Kirk have
the native Africans, among whom he lived till he almost arrived,and state that the party, having crossed a marsh at
identified himself with them. Warm-hearted, generous, the north end of Lake Nyassa, were passing through a
wooded country when tho attack took place. Still later
* Tette is the chief town on the Zambesi river, in Portuguese information from Dr. Kirk will be read at the meeting of
territory, nearly 300 miles from the sea. the Royal Geographical Society on Monday next.
EE VI E WS.
Les Insectes. Par Louis Figuier. Ouvrage illustre de 605 given these preliminary and somewhat dry, though neces-
figures. Paris and London : Hachette & Cie. 1867. sary, particulars, we now come to the Ants and Aphides
themselves.
F we glance at the animal world in its entirety, we find The study and pursuit of insects have from a very early
I that its various members range themselves under five period in the history of civilization possessed great fas-
principal divisions, which are known to naturalists as sub- cinations for lovers of nature. The wonderfully complex
kingdoms. Beginning with the lowest, we find such forms as construction of these creatures, their singular habits, their
the sponge and infusorian animalcules, which possess little extraordinary varieties, their almost human intelligence,
more in the shape of digestive organization than an extem- their remarkably arranged homes, their brilliantly coloured
porized stomach; these, with some others, form the first sub- garments, their peculiar sounds, and, above all, their as-
kingdom Protozoa. Then we find the polyps, sea-anemones, tounding metamorphoses in piassing from their juvenile to
jelly-fishes, hydrte, and corals, forming the sub-kingdom their mature condition, have given them an interest to the
Calenterata. Next in order we have those soft creatures, student of natural phenomena such as no other animals
generally provided with an outer covering of shell these ;
present. In no department of entomology are all these
constitute the sub-kingdom Mollusca. The worms, spiders, qualities of insects seen in a higher degree of perfection
leeches, centipedes, and insects belong to the sub-kingdom than in the group of bees and wasps, to which the singular
Annulosa. Lastly, we have quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and little creatures we are about to describe belong. In this
reptiles, which, being provided with a backbone made up of order we have numerous examples of the beautiful hues,
what anatomists call vertebrae, are styled Vertehrata. It is strange habits, and remarkable instincts of the insect, and
with the sub-kingdom Annulosa that we have to do in the few of its members exemplify our remarks more fully than
present article. The creatures belonging to this section of the ants ( Formicidce ).
the animal world are distinguished from all others by There are not many of our readers to whom the common
having the body divided less or more distinctly into a ant ( Formica rufa) is not familiar. Who in his summer
number of rings or segments, which are placed end to end. rambles through the fields has not fallen on an ant-hill
They comprise a number of sub-groups, called classes, which a little mound of earth rising from the level plain —
may readily be distinguished by well-marked features. It is veritable subterranean city, full of life, and busy with the
to one of these classes we are about to introduce our thousand labours of an industrious population ? Who has
readers, —that of Insecta, or insects, as they are generally not seen the little, brown, active creatures running to and
styled. An insect may be defined to be a six-legged, air- fro apparently in confused bustle, but really moving ac-
breathing, ringed animal, having its body divided into three cording to a system of rigid discipline that would do credit
separate parts, head, chest, and belly, and being usually pro- to a human populace ? Who has not watched their
vided with wings. This definition is, we believe, unimpeach- movements and wondered at their industry and ceaseless
able, and having given it, we may therefore pass on to the activity ? The ant is an insect of the gregarious type it ;
particular divisions of the class in which the species forming lives in colonies,- and like the common bees and wasps
the heading of this page hold their place. Insects are of differsfrom its fellow species in many particulars of organi-
—
two sorts, those in which the mouth is made for suction zation and mode of life. The reader who desires to follow
and converted into a proboscis, and those in which the jaws out the subject should consult tho beautiful volume which
and their corresponding parts are separate from each other, has just been published, and on which we found this article.
so as to admit of chewing and eating movements. Now the But we shall try and give a general account of the economy
Aphides belong to the former, and the Ants to the latter of the ant-hill in these pages. Ants, like most insects
the one coming under the order of Bugs ( Hemi/ptera ), and the which live in colonies, are divided into three kinds, males, —
pther to the tribe of Bees and Wasps (Hymenoptera). Having females, and workers or neuters of these the two first are
;
i
Katui'e and Art, April 1,
1
186? .] ANTS AND APHIDES, 123
alone provided with, wings, and this is why there is such a must look as exhibiting the qualities of insects to which we
general impression that tlie ant is wingless. The body in all have already referred. It is they who construct the ant-
cases is borne upon three pairs of slender limbs, the antonnm hill, guard its various entrances, provide the “lying-in”
or feelers are jointed, and have great freedom of motion. chambers for the females, take caro of tho eggs till their
The mandibles or jaws are horny and powerful, and serve as conversion into larvre, and afterwards feed and watch them
teeth and weapons of offence. The males are somewhat with tho tonderest solicitude, till in course of time winged
larger than the workers, and the females are of greater size males and females appear, and the period of swarming
even than the males. Their larvm, or young, when in the occurs, as in the case of bees.
caterpillar condition, spin a delioate silken envelope forming Amongthe many remarkable proofs of the ant’s intelligence,
tho coooon. Finally, to complete the general characters of the construction of its habitation is not the least interesting.
our ant, it is not provided with a sting as is generally The ant-hill varies in point of architectural features ac-
supposed, but is oapable of secreting a pungent and acid cording to the speoies; but in tho case of the species to
fluid, known as formic aoid, whioh it drops into the little which we have alluded (Formica rufa), it assumes the
wound inflicted by its scissor-like jaws, thus producing a typical shape, and presents itself as a little hill or mound
considerable deal of itohing or formication (formica, an ant), rising some inches above the surface. It is composed of all
as it is termed. The worker ants, which are both sexless sorts of debris which the ant finds in its chosen spot, — bits
and wingless, are those whioh engage in all the important of wood, fragments of leaves, grains of corn, pieces of other
labours undertaken by the colony. The male and female are inseots’ skeletons, little bits of broken straw, and such-like.
alone concerned with tho production of the young they may ; But this elevation is really only a portion of the ant-city,
bo seen in great numbers, in the neighbourhood of ant-hills, which extends to a certain depth into the soil. If we make
towards the end of the summer; when they have completed a careful cutting through an ant-hill, we shall see hundreds
of channels or avenues tunnelled through the ground,
and communicating with each other, and with those
which traverse the dome-shaped portion of the habi-
tation (see figure). The external apertures of these
galleries are very large, but they are carefully bar-
ricaded during the night, and on wet days, and are
thrown open in fine weather. At first these domi-
ciles consist of a single channel hollowed in the
earth, but gradually the number increases. The
wor7cer-ants tunnel away unceasingly, and carry out
the excavated earth in the form of little pellets, till
at length a complete labyrinth is formed, corridors,
chambers, and halls, often communicating by means
of vertical passages, make their appearance, and
finally we behold a large central chamber supported
by rude pillars of earth, and into which the several
passages lead. It is in this latter that we find most
of the ants when we open an ant-hill. Generally these
hills measure from about a foot to a foot and a half
high, and are equally broad ;
and some writers who
take a higher view of the ant’s intelligence than we
do, look upon them as true fortresses in which- each
tunnel has a distinct and foreseen relation to its
fellows, which are defended by various ingenious
devices of construction, and which are always care-
fully guarded.
Wo come now to another page in the history of
—
these insects, to that which describes the production
and nursing of the young. The females, who usually
occupy a special part of the colony, seem, contrary
to the views of those who slander the gentler sex, to
live together in the most perfect harmony. In course
of time they lay a number of extremely minute, white,
spherical eggs, and with this operation end their
duties to the colony. To the workers is consigned
tho important labour of incubating the eggs, and
rearing and nursing the young. They take charge
of the ova the moment they are laid, and remove
them to chambers specially arranged for their recep-
tion. A certain amount of warmth is required for
the development of the eggs into larvae, and this is
procured by removing the ova in fine weather from
the cells, in which they have been detained, into the
open air. There they are exposed to the sun’s rays
— care being taken that too high a temperature is not
—
imparted to them for some time, and then the
ever-active workers remove them to the nurseries.
It is this process we see going on in summer time
when we disturb an ant-hill. Myriads of the busy little
SECTION OF AN ANT-HILL.
insects ;may be seen rushing about laden with little white
grain-like bodies, of which they take the greatest care,
their metamorphoses, they leave the colony, and flying into and eventually succeed in carrying beneath the surface.
the air, perform the functions allotted to them the males ;
These white, grain-like bodies are the larvm, and as some
thereupon ceasing to exist, and tho impregnated females of the earlier observers fancied they were grains of cereals,
dropping their wings and returning to the original colony, seeds, and such-like, the ant acquired a reputation for
or forming a new one, and depositing the ova in a place thriftiness and providence which it certainly does not
prepared for the purpose. But it is to the workers that we deserve. In about fifteen days the eggs are hatched, and
121 ANTS AND APHIDES. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
the larvae make their appearance as little whitish, semi- remember what the insect is like, and still fewer know
transparent, ovoid worms. They possess a head and body, aught of his history. Ifany one who plucks a rose from a
the latter being- divided into a number of rings or segments rose-bush takes the trouble to look at the stem and leaves,
which are unprovided with feet. Their mouth is a sort of —
he will, in nine cases out of ten, find it covered almost to
retractile proboscis, in which we may see the rudiments of —
swarming with small green insects, generally devoid of
the future mandibles, but at this period of their existence it wings, and of a hue resembling that of the leaf. They are
is only employed for sucking. They feed upon the peculiar curious, though hardly handsome objects, and the observer
honey-like fluid provided for them by the workers, who pre- finds them so sluggish in their movements, that so far from
pare it in their stomachs, and then disgorge it for the attempting to make their escape they allow themselves to be
nourishment of the young. The most sedulous attention is crushed in hundreds beneath his fingers. If the observer is
paid by the worker-nurses to the larvae, the latter, as we have sharpenough in pointof perception, he will find that theleaves
already stated, being constantly removed from their under- on which these insects have rested, are covered over with little
ground chambers to the outer ‘surface of the ant-hill, where drops of a miniature dew which has a sweetish honey-like
they receive the genial influence of the sun, and thus further flavour, and if he pushes his inquiries further, he will discover
their metamorphosis. The nurses, too, advance this pheno- that the insects and the drops stand to each other in the rela-
menon by gently irritating, rubbing, and distending the skin tion of cause and effect. The aphides leave this deposit on
of the larva with their palpi. Soon this metamorphosis takes the plants, but. how ? This is the question which the earlier
place. The little larva spins its temporary greyish-yellow naturalists, Linnaeus, Bonnet, and Pierre Huber, were long
silken coffin, and becomes a nymph, or pupa. Gradually seeking to answer. But we may fairly presume the ants had
beneath the veil under which Nature conceals her mysterious answered it for themselves in even pre- Adamite ages. The
operations, the larva is transformed into a nearly perfect aphis presents at the extremity of its abdomen, a couple of
ant, the proboscis disappears, and is replaced by a set of little moveable tubes which appear to bo connected with a
horny jaws, the skin changes its colour, assumes a sugar-secreting gland, and if we carefully watch these, we
reddish-brown tint, powerful and strangely organized limbs shall see from time to time that a small gelatinous drop exudes
are formed, and the head and its appendages increase in com- from their open ends, and falls upon the leaf. Now it also
plexity of structure. These singular changes all take place, happens that in nearly every case where aphides are clustered
and yet the creature remains motionless and death-like, and upon a stem or branch, a few ants may be seen running
when the metamorphosis is complete, the nurses once more nimbly here and there among their lazy neighbours, and if
commence their labours. They now tear away the curtain we look closely, we shall see that the ants are not there by
and disclose the perfect insect or imago, as it is scientifically accident, but that they have come in search of the little
termed. Nor do they cease their tender exertions. They sugary droplets which exude from the abdominal tubes of
still continue to watch over the welfare of the new-born, the aphis, and of which they appear to be immensely fond.
till they are able to take their own place in their little sphere This, then, is the secret of the affection which the ants have
of existence. for the aphides — the latter are a sort of milch cattle which
On the subject of the habits of the ant, M. Figuier supply them with food. Frequently the ant waits patiently
is very eloquent ;
and, although he is in most instances till the aphis drops its sugary secretion, and then it licks
supported in his statements by higher authorities, he oc- it up greedily. But it also often occurs that it stimulates
casionally treats us to tales which the light of experience the aphis to give out this secretion, in order to satisfy its
and of scientific observation has shown to be fallacious. desires.
Still he is always interesting, and generally instructive. The careful observations of Pierre Huber* proved, beyond
Speaking of the dealings of the ants with each other, ho gives question, that the ant knows that by gently touching the
them credit for the practice of a higher philosophy than that abdominal tube of the aphis it can cause the latter to eject the
which guides mere human actions. If, he says, an ant is peculiar fluid, which is secreted in its gland (see Plate). And
fatigued, a comrade takes him upon his shoulders. Those that it makes use of this knowledge is a certain fact, which
whose thoughts are too busy with their labours to induce has been over and over again corroborated by naturalists.
them to search for food, are carefully fed by those who are The ant doesn’t endeavour to irritate the aphis it simply
;
loss occupied. When an ant has received an injury, the first touches its tube with a gentle stroking motion which seems
of his fellows that meets him takes him in charge like a to soothe the gorged insect and promotes the discharge of
good Samaritan, and conveys him to his home. When he the saccharine droplet. In fact, the aphis appears to enjoy
discovers a rich mine of food, he does not selfishly keep the this process of milking, and the ants, to use a modern
information to himself, he tells his companions, and forthwith expression, utilize it. The next feature in the relationship
all join in the festivity. If one of these insects is hungry of these two insects is the bondage of the aphides. Singu-
and cannot procure food, his neighbour, like the Homan lar as the fact may seem, it is still perfectly true, that the
daughter of old, feeds him from his own substance dis- — ants capture the aphides, bear them away, often on their
gorges a drop of saccharine fluid which his hungry companion backs, to their underground dwellings and keep them there,
quickly devours. It appears that in all these cases the not indeed as prisoners of war, but as a Southern planter
feelings and ideas (if we may use the expression) of the ants used to keep his slaves, or as we keep our cattle. They treat
are conveyed to each other through the antenn®, which by them with no harshness, nor do the captives appear to
rubbing against each other seem to give expression to their suffer any discomfort from their captivity. They are
sensations. Finally, to conclude this portion of our subject, provided with chambers of their own, and save that they
we may state that the age of the ant is unknown, but there are compelled by their masters to yield the delicious se-
appears to be no doubt that it may live for several years. cretion which they value so highly, they fare in all respects
Its food is chiefly fresh and decayed fruits, flowers yielding as well as any member of the strange community in which
honey, &c. but the ant will eat dead animal matter, and
;
their life is passed.
will even attack other insects and devour them. There are many other traits in the ant’s nature which well
Apropos of the food on which the ants subsist, is the deserve attention, but to which we cannot refer here.
second division of our article, that which refers to the Those interested in the matter should pursue the study
Aphides, or plant-lice, as they are generally styled. The practically to pursue it profitably. Indeed the whole
ants and aphides are in no way related in the sense of insect world is peopled with creatures, each of which should
affinity ; the former are mandibulate or chewing insects, have a history of its own, were insect intelligence to re-
whilst the latter are haustellate or suctorial. But there is ceive its due. But as few of us can be practical naturalists
nevertheless a very intimate relationship — that of captor beyond a limited extent, and as many are desirous of
to slave — existing between them. Still the relationship is knowing the leading principles of the science of entomology,
a friendly one. There seems to be no example of harsh and some of the curious facts in the history of insect
treatment on the part of the masters, and the serfs ap- instinct, we cannot do better in conclusion than say that in
pear to be tolerably contented with the lot that has fallen
to them. There are, we imagine, few of our readers who * Recherclies sur les Mceurs des Fourmis indigenes, a work
have not seen the aphis, and yet we dare say very few often quoted in M. Figuior’s pages.
i
THE GREAT TOWER OF THE PAGODA WAT-CHING, AT BANKOK.
—
Native .and Art, April 1, 1867.]

REVIEWS. 125
M. Figuier’s volume they will find reading to their heart’s there is no man more fitted for the purpose in fact, there
;
content. Although in some respects (we allude more is no other man who has had the necessary education to
particularly to the department of physiology) the work has enable him to produce such a work. We have men deep in
defects, yet, taken all in all, it is one of the finest, fullest, classical architecture there are plenty who know all about
;
and best illustrated popular treatises on entomology we Gothic; Byzantine has numerous students; ancient Egyptian
have yet seen. is well known but the trans-Indus architecture has been
;
studied by few, and these few would all point to Mr.

Eergusson as being the man with the greatest amount of
knowledge, and as having s done more than any other
A History of Architecture in all Countries, from the earliest to work out the subject. He spent a great many years in
times to. By James Eergusson, F.R.S.,
the present day. India, during which his leisure was devoted to visiting and
&c. &c. John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1867. —
drawing drawing being the best of all means for studying
this subject —
all the important architectural remains of that
Thetime is not so very long since architecture was taught country. By this means he made himself master of the
as being wholly comprised in five orders. There were the various styles, and all their details, so that he has been
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite, and the Tuscan. The able to classify them, and this classification includes as
Gothic might have been mentioned but the authorities of
;
many orders as the “five” of the last generation. It is
the time would only tell you that, being so very barbarous, this complete knowledge of oriental architecture, coupled
it ought not to be included in the word architecture. How with an equally extended acquaintance with that of the
wonderful is the change. The Gothic has completely taken Western world, which makes him the man fitted to write “ A
the place of the five orders, so much so, that some of the History of Architecture in all Countries.” All previous
most modern architects know little more of them than their works which pretended to this title were written by men
names. With this change there has also come the knowledge who had studied only some particular style which formed
that there were many other styles of architecture in theworld, the piece de resistance in their book, and the rest of the
all of them as important as those of Greece and Rome. It subject was served up as corner dishes, perhaps a mere
is now clear that the architecture of Greece cannot be fragment being made to represent the art of a vast
properly understood without a previous study of Egyptian geographical space, which we now find to be covered with
on the one hand, and of Assyrian on the other. Gothic examples of the highest value. But the present work goes
appears in Venice allied to Byzantine, and the Byzantine on a different idea which Mr. Fergusson thus expresses in
;
again is allied to the Arabic. The Assyrian and Persian lead his preface :
“ It is, so far as I know, the first attempt to

write a universal history of architecture in
which each style shall occupy exactly that
amount of space which the extent of its build-
ings or their merit would appear to justify.”
Let us now consider how the accomplished
author has carried out his programme. Of
course such a work cannot exhaust eaoh style
—
it does not pretend to do so, —
but with
these volumes you can sit at home, and turn-
ing over their ample leaves, each illustrated
by beautifullyminute woodcuts, you may wander
over the world and, like a traveller, visit all its
buildings of celebrity. You may explore the
interior of the Great Pyramid, and understand
its construction as well as if you were on the
spot. You may ascend the Nile, and visit Thebes
and its temples. Jerusalem and the Holy Places
are an easy pilgrimage. The Acropolis can be
scaled, and the Parthenon measured St. Sophia ;
can be looked at without the usual demand

for “ bucksheesh.” You may peep into the
Caves of Inkerman, and pay a flying visit to
Moscow a few pages turned over, and you are
;
at Bagdad looking at the tomb of Ezekiel. The

—
Birs Nimroud the now accepted Tower of
—
Babel is ready for inspection, and so your
enthusiastic guide leads you to India, with its
wonderful rock-cut temples, and the elaborate
and beautiful ornamental shrines which are to
be found in every part of it. Now, on to Siam,
and you have the beautiful temples which
Mouhot, the French naturalist, was the first to
discover, in his search after the wonders of
insect life, through the jungles of that country.
At the last meeting of the British Association
Mr. Thomson exhibited the plans and numerous
photographs of the Great temple of Nakhon
—
Wat one of those which Mouhot first came
VIEW OE EXTERIOR CORRIDOR, NAKHON WAT. —
upon and these are in part reproduced on Mr. Fergusson’s
From a Photograph by Mr. J. Thomson . pages, so that the reader may form an idea of this wonderful
remnant of ancient architecture. After looking in at the
us into India, and the study cannot be arrested till we have Great Temple of the Dragon at Pekin, an easy jump takes
included the architecture of Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, and you over the Pacific, to Mexico and Peru, and their very
China. All are allied by links which it is necessary to strange Sun Temples, some of which are like Egyptian
recognize before the history of architecture can be under- pyramids, and others with strong Buddhist analogies about
stood. them, leading to the idea of a connection between the old
This is the task which Mr. Fergusson has undertaken, and and new world, which Mr. Fergusson thinks may have existed
126 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
by way of China, and possibly tlfrougli Behring’s Straits in much uncertainty about the meaning of historical docu-
tho fifth century. ments, the architectural facts and the argument founded upon
In making this round of the globe, visiting “ all them stand untouched, and by these written stones it has
countries ” where there are remains of buildings, you will come to pass that a man understanding the writing, has
find that your cicerone is not a dull, dry matter-of-fact been able to overthrow an error believed in for ages to ;
architect, knowing nothing but the knowledge which is make what the regular sources of history had failed
clear
peculiar to his hobby. On the contrary, the architecture of to do and thus to establish the value of architecture as a
;
each country is treated in relation to the race of people, and study in relation to the “ science of mankind.”
to the requirements of their religion or life. In the preface, Mr. Fergusson intended to give a greater importance to the
the author claims that if he were to state the most Druidical remains than he has done, and he was at the
important feature of his work, it would be its “ Ethno- trouble of a journey to Carnac in Brittany, to see the
graphy.” He says : wonderful monuments there. The questions involved
“ My impression is that, unless the essential affinities of made evident that justice could not be done without going
it
styles are perceived, and their application can be traced, the beyond the purpose of the present work ; thus the matter
history of architecture is a mere memoria technica for con- is left within the limits due to its importance, and the
necting buildings together but whenever their true relations
;
author awaits some other opportunity to give full justice to
are grasped, their history rises to the dignity of a science. the architecture of the Druids.
Myconviction is, that when properlyappreciated, architecture There is one very interesting chapter on the ancient
will be considered as important in tracing the affinities of Celtic architecture of Ireland. The author seems to think
races as language ; and that, in many cases, it is even more that the style did not come by way of England from Europe,
so, because more fixed and more easily read, while it is but that its origin must be sought in the East, and that it
quite as essentially characteristic. So deeply impressed am must have reached Ireland by some very early and
I with the importance of this element, not only to the art of independent source. This is in keeping with the traditions
architecture, but to the science of mankind, that I feel of the country, and also with the fact that when Augustine
that if I have been enabled to place it in a clear and arrived from Rome, he found that Christianity had got to
intelligible form, I shall not have lived or laboured in vain.” our islands before him. How it came is one of the dark
Probably there are few who are prepared for such claims points in our primitive history: birt the generally received idea
on the part of architecture. The most of people generally is, that it was by way of Ireland that Columba carried it
think that buildings are produced anyhow, or, if there is a over to Iona, and that it thence spread all over Scotland,
style about different periods of architecture, that it is very and as far south as York. It was in virtue of this pre-
general and vague, and not at all to be depended upon. conversion that York so long contended for the Primacy of
But it is a great and important principle that there are not England against the claims of Canterbury.
more reliable records in history than the buildings of a The principal interest is, of course, in the two first
country. The manner in which men have built houses, volumes, which treat of the ancient architecture of the
temples, and tombs, the material of construction, the world. The third and concluding volume begins with the
ornaments and sculptural decoration, are in every land Renaissance as the commencement of modern architecture,
among the most trustworthy arguments which history can and from that point the subject is brought down to the
produce. They are the fossils of their several periods. present day.
Inscriptions may be interpolations of a later date, or The quantity and quality of the woodcut illustrations
written falsehoods of the time ;
books are generally the cannot be too highly praised of this our readers may judge
:
written records of a man, or expound the views of some for themselves, for, through the kindness of the publisher,
set of men at a given moment. This architecture never is. we are enabled to give a couple of the drawings which add
So far as it goes, as a record, it must express the truth so much interest to Mr. Fergusson’s pages. One is “ the
regarding the ideas, the wants, and aspirations of an epoch. great Tower of the Pagoda Wat-Ching, at Bangkok ; ” and
The details of a building, its arrangement of parts, its the other is a “View of Exterior Corridor, Nakhon Wat.”
mouldings and itsornaments are as certain data as is the The last of these was quite a discovery on the part of
structure of plants in botanical classification. Mouhot, and so great wa.s the interest felt in it, that an
No better illustration of the foregoing proposition could —
amateur photographer Mr. J. Thomson— penetrated into
be given than the discoveries which Mr. Fergusson made the jungle, and has brought home a most complete set of
about Jerusalem. There was a building there called the photographs of this vast and wonderful temple. These
Holy Sepulchre, and there was another called the Mosque of photographs produced quite a sensation at the last British
Omar. When Mr. Fergusson began to consider the character Association’s meeting, for the style of architecture can
of these buildings, he was struck with the pretended name scarcely be identified with any other in the East. The
of the “Mosque of Omar,” and his knowledge of oriental square pillars of the corridor in the illustration seem more
architecture at once told him that no Mahomedan ever allied to the Erectlieum than to any Indian building. The
raised it for a mosque. A more minute investigation es- temple, although Buddhist, has the story of the Ramayana
tablished the fact, that it could not have been built before sculptured all along its corridors, a circumstance which
the time of Diocletian, and not later than that of Justinian. indicates the existence of Hindoo ideas in this part of the
Intermediate came the reign of Constantine, and it was world at a very early date.
known that Constantine had built a House of Prayer, which We must acknowledge our thanks to Mr. Murray for
he commanded “ should be erected round the Saviour’s having placed it in our power to furnish our readers with
tomb on a scale of rich and lavish magnificence, which two such beautiful illustrations of these last and most
should surpass all others in beauty and that the details
;
important discoveries in ancient architecture.
of the building should be such that the finest structure in
any city of any empire might be excelled by it.” Such were
Constantine’s orders, and no building in Jerusalem except
the Dome of the Rock realizes them. It is one of the Hours of Work and Play. By Frances Power Cobbe.
finest examples of richness and lavish magnificence in the
London N. Triibner &
: Co., 1867.
world, and it is from its detail of ornament and con-
struction, a building of the age of Constantine. Here on Of the fourteen papers composing this book, twelve are
this architectural stronghold Mr. Fergusson takes his stand. reprints from high-class magazines, whose pages they have
Eusebius and other historians have been brought into the adorned during the last three years. Any eulogy of ours
controversy. Old monks and pilgrims who have left upon Work of the worthiest and Play of the most sparkling
writings in early days have been appealed to ; and all order, which originally found favour with the conductors,
these historical and written data have been quoted on each and doubtless with the myriad readers of such periodicals
side, with that air of triumph which indicates that they are as MacmAllan, Fraser, Temple Bar, Once a Week, or The
authorities confirming the most opposite opinions ;
but Atlantic Monthly, may seem somewhat after date but we ;
in the midst of this long and heated controversy, with so will nevertheless congratulate Miss Cobbe on the popularity
;

REVIEWS. 127
slie will acquire through this republication. The authoress Only some snowy Alp, whose huge outline we recognize,
of “Public Morality and its Teachers,” “The Indigent towers into the upper air while the lights gleam here and
;
Class,” “ The Fallacies of Memory,” “ The Shadow of there, from hearth and cloister and student’s cell, the rays of
Death,” “ A
Lady’s Adventure in the Great Pyramid,” and genius shining through the night of time. We are a
“ The Fenian Idea,” has fairly won new laurels for her sex thousand millions of men and women and babes living now
in its triumphs have of late years been
an arena, where upon earth but of those who are gone before on whose dust
;
many and In extracting specimens of her grave

signal. ,
we tread and of those who may be dwelling now in the
;
and gayer moods, we face a certain small risk of being stars which glitter in our wintry sky, we know almost as
blamed for serving up rechauffdes but the majority of our —
much, and that is not knowledge, but conjecture.”
readers will, we are sure, thank us for the following quo-
We
cannot here find room to quote very pathetic passages
tation from a delightful essay on “ The Fallacy of Memory,”
we had marked in “The Diablerets,” piquant comicality
to recognize which they must have read the New York
from “ The Lady’s Adventure in the Great Pyramid,” or
Galaxy of May last. elegant satire from “The Humour of all Nations.” Suffice
it for us to say that these sparkling pages prove their
“ The conclusions to which this brief review of the
authoress to possess a depth of feeling, a keenness of
failures and weaknesses of memory must lead us are
observation, a store of knowledge, and a polished style,
undoubtedly painful. To be deceived a hundred times, and
which place her, and will maintain her, if she so please, in
misled even in important matters, by a wrong estimate of
the foremost rank of modern essayists.
our powers, seems less sad than to be compelled to admit
that the powers themselves are untrustworthy. To be weak1
is to be miserable,’ in this as in all other things but to ;
find Memory weak is to be not only feeble in the present,

Papers on Picture Flaying at the National Gallery. By an
but to lose our grasp of the past. That dear past the !
past by whose grave we are standing all our later life,

Artist. Trubner & Co., 1867.
is doubly lost to us if we must cover it up in dust and The titles of this series of essays, “ Annibale Caracci,”
oblivion. To know that what we deem we recall so vividly “ Bravo Boxall ” “ Salvator Rosa,” “The Academician on
!
is —
but a poor, shifting reflex hardly of the thing itself, Time and Dirt,” “The Dealer on Toning down,” “The
|
only of our earlier remembrance of the thing this is sad — Connoisseur on Process,” “ The Philosopher on Effect,”
and mournful. Almost more terrible it seems to confess the “ The Committee and the Job ” will afford an intelligent
fallaciousness of the great traditions of History, and in the reader a notion of the tenor and spirit of the pamphlet
waste of waters, over which we are drifting, to behold the they compose. Those who can relish a hearty diatribe may
barks of past centuries no longer stretching their sails in our wile away an hour or two very pleasantly over the “Artist’s”
wake, but growing hazy and spectral in the mist of doubt, pages, which, while they teem with abuse, in good set phrase,
till some we deemed the richest galleons in that mighty fleet of the powers that be, and suggest to an unprejudiced
fade from our eyes, and are lost for ever in impenetrable mind the idea of a hobby-horse run wild, yet evince
cloud. These things cannot be evaded or averted. On our a considerable acquaintance with the subject, an honest
generation of mankind has come the knowledge of an abomination of jobbery, and a deep and fervid love of art
isolation, such as younger races never felt, and perhaps that goes along long way to palliate excesses of expression.
could less have borne. The sweet, childlike companionship In the course of the last autumn several important pictures
with Nature, the reasoning beasts and birds, the half-human in the National Gallery were subjected, imder the direction
fauns and dryads and nymphs and river gods, the gnomes of Mr. Boxall, Mr. Wornurn, and other employes, to a very
and sylphs and fairies ; the peopled sky of angels, and ordinary process of cleaning, and, as those authorities
—
nether world of demons and of ghosts all are gone from us. fondly imagined, with very excellent results. The principal
We are alone, we of this poor human race, so far as we have ones were a Salvator Rosa landscape, commonly called
any knowledge or even definite fancy, among intelligent “ Mercury and the Dishonest Woodman,” formerly the pro-
beings. Between us and our dumb brute slaves there is a perty of Mr. Byng, and “ The Chateau of Stein,” the largest-
gulf, which no longer is bridged over by any earth-born or landscape ever painted, by Bubens. When the Gallery was
heaven-descended race. Science, as she marches round us in opened after the recess, we were there, and so it is to be pre-
wider and yet wider circles, leaves ever a hard and barren sumed was the author of the pages before us but oh in what ;
!
track behind her, on which no flower of fancy may bloom different moods. While we, in Boeotian blissful ignorance,
again. And at this hour she tells, or threatens to tell us yet were applauding what we were pleased to think the suc-
—
more that if we would know the parents from whom we cessful exertions of the authorities to unveil the long-
came, whose Paradise-home yet seems the cradle of our obscured beauties in their charge, there was present one, to
infancy, we must retrace the world’s course not for six whom (pictorially speaking) a cleaner is a nightmare, and
thousand years, but for ages of millenniums, and find them dirt a religion and who muttering mentally, we may
;
—
at last not beautiful and calm, conversing in Eden with the imagine, such phrases as “ desecration mutilation! spasm
—
!
sons of God but simious-browed and dwarf of limb, of destructiveness Vandalism noodles nincompoops ”
! ! ! !
struggling with the mammoth and the cave-bear in the straightway returned home to. give vent to his feelings in a
howling wilderness of an uncultured world. Is not this protest, and a series of essays which are very instructive and
enough ? Must we also relinquish those Elysian fields of interesting even to those who like ourselves differ toto ccelo
History, where the great departed yet seemed to live in with the main proposition he seeks to establish.
bowers of amaranth and never-fading fame ? Keeping the On the subject of picture-cleaning he opens his case as
—
landmarks of the ages the wars and the dynasties ; keeping follows we extract the passage at some length, for though
:
the great heirlooms of wisdom, in books, in art, in temple many of our readers have heard of the practice, its attendant
and picture and poem and statue, must we relinquish those risks, and of the controversy which rages periodically about
thousand lesser marks which have served to render History the propriety or wrongfulness of it, few may be aware upon
real and dear to us, and have brought the mighty Dead, not what the question hinges.
as silent ghosts and faintly-descried shades, but as living “ On a picture that has been painted for centuries dirt to
and speaking men before us ? Must we be content to some extent must inevitably adhere but this, if the work ;
know, that only the outlines of the ancestral pictures of our has not been ignorantly covered with bad varnish or oil,
house are true, and all the colours which make them will be so small in quantity as not to materially interfere
beautiful, retouched and falsified ? Perchance it must be either with the effect of the work or the pleasure and profit
so. Perchance the loneliness of human nature must needs derivable from it by spectator or student. Still, the re-
be more impressed on us as science advances in the field of moval of this dirt would unquestionably be a gain, provided
historical criticism, as in the fields of mythology and it were done without damage to the paint ; but ‘ cleaners
’
physiology. The past is becoming like a twilight scene in a almost always take off, with the dirt, that delicate coat of
mountain land, where the valleys are all filled with mist, and colour by which the great painters imparted finish to their
wood and waterfall and village spire are dimly shadowed. works, termed glazing.’ Their process of painting was
1
128 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, April 1, 1867.
broadly this on a ground more or less dark and trans-

: surrounds the place, and, leaning over its bridge, a rod, with
parent they modelled the picture in tints formed by mixing customary adjuncts of fool and worm (see Johnson),
‘ ’ ‘ ’
white lead with coloured pigments, thus producing an effect trusts to provide fish for dinner ; whilst, thinking of the
which, as compared with their ultimate intention, was same meal, a man, crouching in the foreground, with dog
crude, cold, opaque, and technically speaking, dead
‘
and gun, has designs on a covey of unconscious partridges.
coloured.’ To this pale preparation they imparted life, Far into the dim distance stretch rich level meadows,
warmth, harmony, and richness of tone by repeated coats fenced with pollard and stream whilst in mead nigh at
;
or glazing-s
‘ of colours more or less transparent and a
’
;
hand stand cows relieved by milkmaids one still busy, the—
picture thns produced has the additional and invaluable other bending her steps towards home. To the left, starting
quality of luminousness, resulting from light and opaque for market, with brisk but heavy trot, two horses draw a
tints shining through colour rich but thin. Now it must be ‘
lumbering wain, in which is seen a bonny, smiling, buxom
’
evident that pictures produced by this complex process can Flemish dame, in hat, red cloak, and gown of blue whilst ;
be injured at will. Let the owner or curator consider a huge brass pitcher of warm milk, a barrel of portly size
lightness or paleness a merit, and the glazings are at once (sad sight to temperance eye), and unlucky red calf, trussed
”
torn off as dirt.’
‘
in bucolic style, all four feet together, bear her company.
Our author next proceeds to indict the late and present Guiding the team sits, postilion fashion, on near horse, a
keepers of the National Gallery, their aiders, abettors, and happy peasant, who turns the vehicle, at the moment caught
accomplices of every degree for that they, under pretence
; by Rubens, into a shallow, brown, bi-awling brook, the
of removing the accumulated filth of ages (which in a second disturbed waters of which flash with golden sparkles to the
count ho charges that they themselves imposed in the shape horses’ tread. Briars and tall weeds, wonderfully touched,
of varnish), did skin, flay, and destroy no less than one pic- sprawl over trunk and bank, and fill the foreground; whilst,
ture per annum since 1843, and thus inflicted wanton devas- perched in a bush to the extreme right, is an assembly of
tationupon taste and art. early birds, varied in kind, and deep in after-breakfast
The following peroration rather reminds us in style and debate as to the influence of soil on the flavour of worms ;
solemnity of the celebrated one of Burke against the but a kingfisher, disdaining such small talk and disgusted
unfortunate Governor-General Hastings. Perhaps it is at impertinent proximity of biped with gun, takes wing for
more than adequate to the occasion that has evoked it, fresh streams and gudgeons new. Such, in brief, is some-
but we quote it as a specimen of the intensity of party. thing like the story told by this wonderful delineation of
seventeenth century rural Flemish life, which, modelled in
—
“ Against this Vandalism we raise our voice against this Rubens’s customary manner on a transparent ground of
ignorant destruction of works which can never be replaced lightish yellow hue, was finished, tone and form, with free
we protest in the interests of art, of the nation, and of the use of transparent colour, now ruthlessly torn away and ;
world. —
As Mr. Boxall in contempt of the overwhelming although the uneducated eye, unequal to discrimination
evidence against the National Gallery process of ‘cleaning,’ of Rubens’s handiwork from ‘ cleaners’ brown or toned ’
given before the Committee of 1853, in contempt of the facts varnish (of which more anon), may think the picturo
then deposed to by Mr. Morris Moore, Mr. William Coning- ‘
renovated,’ the connoisseur, gifted with clear vision by
liam, Sir David Brewster, Mr. David Roberts, R.A., and years of study of art and nature, too, in all their forms and
other competent witnesses, with reference to the nature of moods, knows that it has been converted into so irreparable
‘glaze’ and the irreparable injury caused by its ignorant a wreck, that the great Rubens, could he see it, would bo
—
removal in contempt of the universal condemnation of the filled with unquenchable disgust, and would overwhelm
—
Vandalism of 1852, by the press has thought fit to re- with indignant reproach the noodles and the nincompoops
‘
’
commence this method of destruction, thereby not only through whose dense ignorance so gross a desecration has
depreciating the value of public property to the extent of —
been permitted nay, more wonderful still, superintended.”
thousands of pounds, but causing injury which no money
—
can repair wo demand in the name of the public, that all Now, to whom do we — and perhaps even the artist-author
operations that come under the head of ‘cleaning’ be at — owe our thanks that we can follow, and confirm the
cleaner, the
relish,
once stayed, and that no more pictures be removed from foregoing interpretation ? To the well-abused
public sight until Parliamentary inquiry has again probed reverent, competent “ flayer ” who has exhumed for the
this matter to the root.” painter, the poet, and the public a thousand beauties that
have not been seen or dreamt of since the picture made its
We devoutly hope that the accomplished author may be first appearance in the gallery. Had we any passion to
disappointed of a Parliamcntry committee, which would be bestow on the matter, we would as roundly as the “ Artist
utterly abortive, because, as neither committees nor in- does, invoke the shade of the great Fleming to support our
dividuals can elucidate the composition and nature of the view of the case, and to offer thanks to those who have so
glazing of any yet ‘unflayed’ picture, or find out the late made his excellent work manifest among us. Truly no
appearance which any one painting presented when it left Parliamentary committee will reconcile such absurd optical
the easel of the master, it would seem to us that no re- difference as exists between us and our author.
ference can settle how much paint or glaze, if any, has been For him there are evil times, perhaps, in store. No com-
or will be taken from any picture in the cleaning process, mittee can deprive him of that exquisite feeling for colour
along with the hallowed, harmonizing dust which the in- which he shares with Mr. M. Moore, and a few others a ;
decisive Eastlake is censured by our author for approving, feeling as refined, and sensitive as the touch of the blind or
but for which all these pages are a plea. No one invariable the ear of a Beethoven. Yet it is by what he deems the
rule could be laid down on the subject save that dirt should uncultured hordes of Noodledom, that committees or
be immoveable and in denying that the operations on the
;
governments may yet again be swayed, and picture after
Rubens and the Salvator would justify such a rule, we picture may be “flayed” at the bidding of “idiots and
differ, with regret, from the Artist. “boors,” who must see what they have paid for, because
We have pleasure in extracting his agreeable commentary they cannot evolve it from their imaginations while the few ;
on the former work, not suppressing the castigation levelled and fatally endowed connoisseurs weep outside in sympathy
at ourselves and all the other noodles of the world at its with each wounded glazing. Let us hope that consideration
close : for those who have not that inner sense which can appre-
ciate the beautiful through primary, secondary, and tertiary
“This noble landscape represents, not sunset (for this formations of dirt, may in time allay the irritation of the
effect see smaller landscape by Rubens, No. 157), but a sensitive artist,and that he may make a little more allow-
sultry autumnal sunrise. To the left is seen the ch&teau ance than he now seems disposed to do for the views and
actions of those who do not walk with him. It is not
(still, we believe, standing) sheltered by tall trees with rich
October tinge of leaf. On the terrace, taking the morning necessary for a person to be a noodle, or a nincompoop, or a
air, stroll Rubens and his wife whilst the lazy maid,
;
jobber, or a rogue, because he happens to be a public official,
holding their infant child, sits indiscreetly down. A moat I
or happens not to be a professional connoisseur.
THE HARMONY BETWEEN THE MOSAIC AND EGYPTIAN
COSMOGONIES.
The Substance of a Lecture delivered at a Meeting of the Syro-Egyptian Society, on the 14th of February.
By Joseph Bonomi, F.R.A.S.
HATEVER may be the respecting the constitution of the universe, the

opinions now permitted origin and conquest of evil, and the future destiny
at the Vatican respecting of the soul. These three subjects of stirring
the Copernican system, it interest must have occupied the minds of the
is presumed that there is thoughtful and the intelligent in all countries and
no Oxford or Cambridge at all times. That they did do so more profoundly
Doctor of Divinity who, in ancient Egypt than elsewhere, the monuments
in this latter half of the abundantly testify, there being scarcely a single
nineteenth century, be- object, from the largest temple to the smallest
lieves that the truth of article of domestic utility, without its inscription,
Scripture is in the least affected by the discovery more or less bearing reference to one or other of
of the earth’s motion, for the very sufficient reason them.
that the Bible was not designed to teach mankind I will now proceed to explain how the diagram
astronomy. So likewise, for the same excellent (Fig. 1) is a picture of the universe as understood
reason, if it should be proved satisfactorily that the by the ancient Egyptians, and how it is in accord-
accompanying Egyptian diagram of the constitution ance with certain statements in the Bible on the
of the universe is in perfect harmony with certain same subject.
statements in the Bible on the same subject, however 1 must first, however, draw attention to its posi-
much both may be at variance with modern science, tion, which is at the head, inside of the sarcophagus.
the truth of Scripture will not be assailed or It is important to notice this circumstance, because,
injuriously affected by it ; on the contrary, it is by placing this subject at the head, the ancient
hoped that the monument from which the diagram designer of the work meant it to be understood
is derived may come to be regarded not only as a that it should take precedence 0 f every other
j
most ancient and valuable comment on those par- subject ; in fact, that it should be, as its place
ticular statements, but also as a corroboration of declares it to be, the “ berashith ,” “ the beginning,”
that Scripture which declares that “ Moses was or, as this firstword in the Bible might be more
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” closely translated for our purpose, at “ the heading,”
The ancient document from which the diagram itftn signifying “ head.”
(Fig. 1) is taken is the alabaster sarcophagus in All persons in the least familiar with Egyptian
the Museum of Sir John Soane. As some of my representations know that the zigzag lines represent
readers may not be acquainted with that im- water. It is to be observed that, in *he midst of
portant piece of antiquity, I will digress so far the expanse of water (a a a a), is a plain part (b),
as to say that it was discovered about fifty years unoccupied by zigzag lines. I shall hope to convince
ago by Belzoni, in the tomb of a Pharaoh who the reader that the ancient Egyptian artist meant
reigned, according to Mr. Samuel Sharpe, about this plain part to represent the firmament, which is
1,200 years before our ei a ; that it is carved out

-
stated in Genesis to be “ in the midst of the waters.”
of a single block of a semi-transparent marble, Above this plain part, as the picture now stands,
of the same kind and from the same place as the is the figure of a man curiously convolved. This
alabaster box spoken of in the Gospels; and that it figure (c) represents the earth. He is curled up in
is a large chest in the shape of a mummy, sculptured this remarkable position to convey the idea of the
inside and out with significant figures and hiero- circular figure of the earth, —
not, however, as a ball,
glyphical writings, setting forth the notions enter- but as a disc, fixed like an island in the ocean or
tained by the most learned people of antiquity surrounded by the sea. Thus the earth was con-
—
VOL. II. XII. ic
130 THE HARMONY BETWEEN THE [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
ceived to be by all the ancient world ; and so, in at the same time certifies the intention of the artist
Psalm xxiv., it is said to be “ founded on the respecting the meaning of the convolved figure.
seas and established on the floods ” and (in ;
That the ancient contriver of this picture of the
Psalm cxxxvi. 6) “To him that stretched out universe intended it should be contemplated from
the earth above the waters.” Other quotations, the present point of view is rendered perfectly
both from the Bible and Apocrypha, might be certain, because the hieroglyphics accompanying the
made, all tending to convey, respecting the earth, two figures can only be read in this position.
the idea set forth in this ancient document. Moreover, that we should not be mistaken as to
In further confirmation of this notion of the the quality of the person who holds up the sun
earth, namely, as being surrounded by water, I above the earth, the ancient scribe has written
will refer to a map of the world as known to the her name Neith or Netpe in front of her. The
Israelites before the time of Solomon (Fig. 2). It name is composed of the first three hieroglyphics,
is enlarged from a woodcut in a little book called the vase, which is an N
the half-circle, which is a
;
“ Texts from the Holy Bible Explained.” * T ; and the horizontal bar with a pointed deflection
The Garden of Eden is represented at the sources at each end, which is a P. This last sign is an
of the Tigris and Euphrates. Josephus (Ant. i. 13) emblem of the heavens, and may be taken as a
considers the Gihon as the Nile, and the Pison as determinative; that is to say, as determining the
the Ganges; and Yirgil (Geor. iv. 288) makes the quality of the thing named, as Neith, the heavens.
Nile rise in India, as if it were the same as the We find both the first and last characters of
Ganges. Thus, says the author, the ancients this goddess’s name amplified in the hieroglyphics
thought that the Gihon flowed round the western over the head of the large figure engraved on the
half of the world into one branch of the Nile, and floor of the sarcophagus. (See Plate 16 of “The
the Pison flowed round the eastern half, through Alabaster Sarcophagus of Oimenepthah I.,” now in
the Ganges, into the other branch of the Nile. It Sir John Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’ s-Inn Fields.
was not before the reign of Darius that it was Longman, Green, & Longman London, 1864.) There
:
discovered that the Persian Gulf was joined by she is in the act of spreading her arms to receive
water to the Bed Sea, or that there was any ocean the body of the king, which was deposited in the
to separate the Ganges from the Nile. That the coffin. More usually, however, this goddess is in
earth was believed to be circular we learn from the attitude of stretching over the earth, as in the
Isaiah, f That this circle was thought to be cover of the Hartwell sarcophagus ;* in the zodiac
bounded by water we learn from Job.;}; Homer on the ceiling of the temple of Edfu and other
called this boundary-water the river Oceanus temples; and in that stone sarcophagus in the
(Odyssey, xi. 638). In the map, Jerusalem would British Museum, where she is represented likewise
be supposed —though this is not indicated to — as mother of the planets. Here, however, she is in
stand very nearly in the middle of this circular the character of su stainer of the sun in the firma-
earth, and Ezekiel (xxxviii. 12) describes his nation ment.
as dwelling in the very middle spot of the earth. § Within the contour of the figure representing
I recollect being shown by a Greek priest a stone —
the earth the first two hieroglyphics viz., the seat
in the Greek Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as —
and the eye are those which stand for Osiris. The
marking the very centre point of the earth. rest of the sentence intimates that from this place
To be quite sure, however, that the ancient —
the spirits that is to say, the souls —
of the human
designer of the diagram (Fig. 1) meant the curved race depart and return; in allusion, probably, to
figure to represent the earth, we will turn the the doctrine of the Metempsychosis, which is illus-
picture and view it from the opposite side. trated in another part of this interesting monument.
As it is now placed, a little figure of a woman (d) And now, to contemplate the rest of the diagram,
will be perceived standing on the head of the we must restore it to its former position. The
convolved figure; that is to say, in this pictorial presence of the deities here figured in the boat I
language, standing on the top or highest point of take to be good circumstantial evidence that the
the earth, and holding up the sun (e), and as we now plain part in the midst of the waters was meant
view the picture, holding up the sun above the for the firmament, and that is, because the artist
earth, in that plain part, which thus acquires an has represented the gods as dwelling and moving
additional claim to be considered the firmament, and therein. These figiu’es and the scarabseus in this
part of the diagram refer particularly to an Egyptian
* “ Texts from the Holy Bible Explained by the Help of dogma respecting the soul, and bear no further
the Ancient Monuments.” By Samuel Sharpe. Day & Son, reference than that just stated to the subject under
Limited. 1866. consideration.
f Isaiah xl. 22 “ It is he that sitteth upon the circle of
:
Now, as the picture stands, from the base rises

the earth.”
the upper part of the figure of a man (f), gigantic as
J Job xxvi. 10: “He hath compassed the waters with
bounds, until the day and night come to an end.” Other- compared with the other figures. He is extending
wise, literally rendered, “ He drew the circle on the face of his wide-spread arms to sustain the sacred papyrus
the waters, as a boundary between light and darkness.”
boat of the gods in the firmament. The Greeks
§ At Delhi there is a high iron pillar of great antiquity,
which is believed to be the centre of the earth and this iron
;
column is considered the spindle upon which it turns. Delhi * “The Triple Mummy-Case of Aroeri Ao.” London:
si Dilhi, from dil, the heart or centre. Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans. 1858.
Eg.l.
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.] MOSAIC AND EGYPTIAN COSMOGONIES. 131
and Romans represented the gods in chariots but ;

band of which in this form could be made
dots,
as in Egypt the Nile is the principal highway of to seiwe as the upper and loAver boundaries to the
the country, the Egyptians depicted them in a subjects treated of in this most interesting docu-
boat. This gigantic figure is a personification of ment, and, at the same time, to convey to the mind
the great ocean that was supposed to sustain the something solid and strong, such as granite, which
firmament and all things therein, and it is remark- is typified by the dots he has so industriously
able how closely it corresponds to a metaphorical engraved in eveiy part of it. In other words, he
sentence in Habakkuk “ The deep uttered his
: would have you to understand that, although
voice, and up
hands on high.” There is
lifted his metaphorically or poetically speaking, it might be
no representation in all Egypt, no sarcophagus in said that the sun was sustained in the firmament
any museum of Europe, and no papyrus in the by the queen of heaven, as this Egyptian goddess
British Museum, as far as I am aware, that will is called in Jeremiah xliv. 25,* yet, in prosaic truth,
bear the interpretation which you have just heard it was fixed in something firm and hard, like the
attributed to this diagram. granite boundaries of his own country. The tAvo
And now, if it were required to reduce to lines, leading ideas present in the mind of the author of
or, hi other words, to present to the mind through the Book of Job, when he compared the sky to a
the medium of the eye, that remarkable statement molten mirror, + are precisely those which are
in Genesis respecting the position of the firmament, embodied in this diagram ; for the strength and
namely, in the midst of the waters,” and to
‘
‘
solidity of the bronze are here expressed by the
render pictorially in one and the same view that presence of a dotted granite border, that holds and
other statement in the Psalms respecting the earth binds all space together, and the absence of dots in
as “ founded upon the seas and established upon the firmament (b) favours the idea of light and
the floods,” I am at a loss to conceive how it coidd expansfreness conveyed by the polished and reflect-
be better done than it has been by the ancient ing surface of the mirror.
Egyptian artist. To do this the more effectually, Just where this band of dots (the second aspect
he has employed both plan and elevation in the of the firmament) is joined to the former, in the
same picture in a way common to Egyptian repre- midst of the waters, the artist has again placed the
sentations, and no doubt universally intelligible at sun (m), represented as setting or sinking, below
the time and in the country, where this pictorial the surface of the waters, as signified by the hori-
language is, as it were, the very root of the more zontal line which joins it to the boat. If you will
ordinary written one. now travel in this “ path of the sun,” as it has been
For instance, when it was required to explain to very happily designated by Mr. Sharpe, in the
the spectator that the food offered to the dead Avas letterpress to the “ Sarcophagus of Oimenepthah,”
properly set out, according to custom, on tables you will arrive at a door or gate (o, p, q, r), which
spread with the fresh green leaves of a particular forms the left-hand boundary of this picture of the
species of reed, it was done as represented in universe.
Eig. 3. The leaves are to be regarded as lying flat At the upper pivot (x) of this gate is the figure of a
on the table, and on the top of them each particular cobra serpent, to personate Isis (as the hieroglyphics
article of food is shown by a means which could not inform us). She presides over the upper pivot in
have been accomplished, in one view, in a true the upper firmament, while at the loAver end of the
optical representation. Again, if it were required gate is another cobra serpent, put for Nephthys,
to show that palm branches Avere strewn in the who presides over the lower pivot (z) inserted into
path of the mourners, it AAras done in the way the lower firmament.
described in Fig. 4. So in the diagram (Eig. 1), It may not be unworthy of remark, in proof of
to explain that the figure of Osiris is put for the intelligent thought displayed in even the
the earth, the goddess Netpe, or the heavens, is smallest particular, and the painstaking execution
represented in elevation as standing on the head of of this remarkable work, that the upper pivots of
Osiris, who is “in plan.” In other words, she is all these gates are represented as cylindrical, while
standing on the highest part of the earth, to sustain the loAver pivots are conical, as they Avere and are
the sun ; and because it Avas necessary to place the to this day in all the gates and doors of the city of
sun in the firmament, and above the .earth, it was •
Cairo. The lower pivot is conical, because of the
of course essential to show that the picture must pressure of the gate and consequent tendency to
be viewed from another base; and hence the figures sink the upper pivot, having no such tendency, is
;
of Netpe and of Osiris are reversed, and the hiero- cylindrical.

glyphics belonging to these figures are made to be This great door, then, whose pivots are fixed in
read from the same point of YieAv. Again, for a the upper and lower firmaments, I venture to say
like reason, because it was necessary to show that is alluded to in the Book of Job (xxxviii. 8) as one
the firmament and all it contained was supported of the mysteries of creation, and, as we may infer
by the great ocean of space, the gigantic figure from this ancient document and from the form of
personifying this vast sea was necessarily placed at qitestion in which the words are addressed to the
the proper base of the picture. It uoav remains to
show in this same picture the firmament under “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed,
#
toburn incense to the queen of heaven.”
another aspect.
f Job xxxvii. “ Hast thou with him spread out the sky,
:
The Egyptian artist has chosen to do this by a which is strong', and as a molten looking-glass ? ”
132 ON SKETCHING FKOM NATURE. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
Patriarch by the Almighty himself, is to be revealed which now we see was likewise entertained by the
in the after-life of the tomb. The words are, “ Or ancient Egyptian contriver of this illustration.
who shut up the sea with doors?” With the band of dots which forms the right-
Now, on looking over the plates in the book of hand boundary of the diagram terminates the
the Sarcophagus, we find that similar gates separate material world, and the first chapter in this most
the chambers of Amenti or Hades : these gates are interestingmonument.
also alluded to in the same chapter of the Book of In conclusion, it is curious to remark with what
J ob (xxxviii. 17), and likewise in the form of question, a religious tenacity these old notions of the structure
“ Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? of the universe were maintained. The Ptolemaic
or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death ?
” system, which, as we see, was mainly derived from
The pivots of these gates are fixed in the same these more ancient Egyptian ideas, became so
band of dots, again intimating firmness and solidity universally established and religiously maintained,
of substance, in which light those seventy learned that even one hundred years after the publication of
men who translated the Hebrew Scriptures in the Copernican system, which asserts the movement
Alexandria, most certainly regarded the word P’pl, of the earth, the amiable and excellent man Galileo
which we, from the Latin, render by the word was persecuted for demonstrating its truth till the
firmament, as bearing the same meaning. So, day of his death, which took place in January, 1642,
likewise, in the second century of our era, was the exactly one year before the birth of our celebrated
firmament regarded by the astronomer Ptolemy, countryman, Isaac Newton. So rapid has been the
whose system, as I learn from a recent translation progress of science since the invention of the tele-
of Dante by Mr. Pollock, was adopted by that scope and other appliances, that now, it may be
celebrated poet. By both astronomer and poet the said, every observatory in the world can furnish
sun and planets were supposed to move round the mathematical and ocular demonstration of the
earth in solid crystal spheres, an idea which finds earth’s motion.
some support in a passage in Ezekiel (i. 22), and
ON SKETCHING FKOM NATURE.

No. X. A SPUR OF BEN LOMOND.
THE few forms of which this subject is composed skilfully intertwined that none but the artist could
A are muchvaried in respect of lines, every suppose the effect could proceed from such a primi-
portion of them partaking of undulations, with tive cause. It is nevertheless perfectly true that
the exception of the central spur of Ben Lomond distance is frequently more the result of lines
and the several detached and fallen rocks by the than of colour, although of course the latter must
water’s brink. The serpentine outlines of the ever be the true interpreter of the former. The
many divisions of grassy mounds seem to play into groups of trees at the end of the loch are also of
each other in easy and graceful contours, while at different sizes and forms, but so managed as to
the same time they admit of considerable alternation carry out the flowing undulations in the com-
of light, shade, and colour. Opposed to them are position of lines : this is obtained by having
the perpendicular trees, which rise in some signifi- reference to the several heights, to which particular
cant height before the background, and convey to attention is called. The stones at the water’s edge
it the idea of softened and hazy atmosphere. in the foreground are arranged somewhat in the
Their stems are all of different length, breadth, form of an ellipse, and yet so varied in size and
and inclination, thereby affording little chance of form as to preclude the possibility of such an
formality. The position of each stem at its impression. The angular shape of the central
junction with the ground will be found to bear the mountain is, by contrast to the curved lines below,
line of beauty, and help to show the several pro- made to rise up with increased grandeur, and is
gressive stages of distance in their immediate suggestive of bleak and rugged wildness. Its
locality. This point is seldom attended to with a height is made more apparent from the trees by the
proper degree of thought or care that it ought, water, over the stones, being placed immediately
although by a due observance of the varied lines of underneath the summit ; thus giving its full
a foreground, the eye is led on step by step until it dimension from the base. The dark or rather
finds itself carried into the middle distance, and, blue range of hills below, in front, assist by their
receding still further, becomes lost in a far-off continuity in giving a certain impressiveness to the
haze. one solid mass ; while the outline of the distant
This mingling is often the result of well-disposed mountain, so different in character, still adds to the
lines, growing, as it were, out of each other, and so precipitous and rocky steeps of the principal
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.]
“ STRAY SCRAPS FROM ODD LARDERS.” 133
object of interest. One particular more I would the broad shadows upon the mountains are to be
wish to be well noticed, and that is the form of the washed on with a thin colour, made of cobalt and
long soft cloud abov.e the mountain. If it were of rose madder, carrying it under the blue tones and ;
any other shape than it is, it would necessarily while it is drying, it will be advisable to put on
have attracted undue attention, whereas by its the horizontal tints upon the water with the same
simple, though slightly broken horizontal line, both colour. The next thing to be done should be the
mountains have their peculiarities strongly and more detailed shadows on the mountain, and
clearly developed. Thus far have I thought it afterwards the blue tones of the low line of hills,
necessary to speak of the manner in which the which should be of cobalt, a very little gamboge,
several lines of the picture are composed, and how and Chinese white the gamboge being to impart
;
these in their varieties obtain value the one from a slight green tone to the blue, and the Chinese
the other. It is from the want of study in this indi- white to give a opacity in order that it may
little
vidual branch of the art that much real pleasure in show more over the under tints.
readily The
the contemplation of Nature or of a picture is lost. warm citrine tints of the grass are of raw sienna, -
The intention in the working out of the scene too mixed with rose madder in the redder parts, and
frequently escapes general observers, who, as a rule, a little cobalt where of a greener hue. All the
do not imagine for one moment that the principles trees in the middle distance are a modification of
of art run so deep as to call forth the most intense gamboge, lake, and cobalt, and will require careful
efforts of the mind before they can be presented in painting :their reflections are put in with the
all their excellence, and convey a just and reason- same. The foreground trees are to have the
able idea of Nature —
of Nature under her many garbs markings of the clusters of foliage distinctly put
— of Nature in her numberless and varied effects. on with gamboge, burnt sienna, and indigo, the
With regard to colour, a general 'warmth brush being held rather uprightly, and the colour
pervades the whole drawing, which is cheered by imparted by lifting the hand at each touch from off
the line of small blue hills in the middle distance. the paper, for the purpose of causing the forms to
This blue tint must not be too suddenly introduced, show out with decision and crispness for nothing-
otherwise it would be unharmonizing if I may use ,
ought to appear blurred or softened. When the
the term but rather should it be insinuated upon
;
whole of these forms are given satisfactorily, the
the purplv tone of which the general mass of intermediate spaces are to receive their washes,
shadow is composed. This blue tone is also being careful to leave such lights as are requisite,
carried into the lower and shadowed portions of otherwise there will not be any gradation. For
the trees, and in a less cold degree upon the rocks. the two yellowish trees, gamboge, burnt sienna,
I have said less cold degree, which means that and indigo are to be employed, varying the
there should be a little red added (crimson lake). quantity of each according to the proper tint. The
The presence of the white stone in the foreground centre tree is shaded with cobalt and lake over
is very necessary to give depth of tone to the other the first tint. A
little cobalt and lake may also
light portions of the drawing ; indeed all high be put over the deepest shadows of the others, to
lights are of the greatest importance as well as all impart a slight grey tone. In like manner the
the deepest touches, because they form so many darkest touches are given upon the grass, and
points of attraction, upon which the eye will be a few lines upon the water, keeping them hori-
sure to rest. zontal. These are intended to represent the surface
In carrying the colouring of this subject to com- of the water.
pletion, the sky should receive the line of cloud It would be far more profitable to recommence
with a soft yet decided edge, as this will give this subject entirely, following out the directions
considerable space beyond the mountains. There given in the last number, and only having the
are two tones of clouds at the top edge, being former chromo-lithograph as a guide rather than
of yellow ochre and rose madder, and that about making it the copy. In adopting this method the
the mountains partaking of more rose madder and learner will, in time, better comprehend how all
a very small portion of cobalt. These tints may be finished water-colour drawings are begun and
passed over the mountains. After they are dry, carried through to completion.
“STRAY SCRAPS PROM ODD LARDERS.”

W HETHER roaming
forests of the Tropics,
among
journeying through
the frozen wastes of the Arctic Regions, the arid
the luxuriant amongst the islands of the
traveller will not fail to
marvellous wisdom of the Providence who has
Pacific, the observant
be struck with the
flats of Africa, the fern-clad hills and valleys of placed ready to the hand of man the food best
New Zealand, or away on the clear blue sea, calculated to supply his need in the climate in
134 “ STRAY SCRAPS FROM ODD LARDERS.” [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
which his lot may and endowed him with

be cast, siderable local importance trade in betel-nut ex-
the ingenuity requisite to render it available. The clusively, not only furnishing cargoes to ships, from
oil-bearing fish, seal, and whale consumed in such the continent of India, but indirectly supplying
quantities by the fur-clad Esquimaux, during the the Chinese markets (where these nuts are valued at
long bright night of an Arctic winter, serve to from three to four dollars the pecul,* according to
supply food oi'fuel to keep the lamp of life burning. quality), through Benang, whither the cargoes are
Heat he must both generate and maintain to live : first sent. The export from one of these Aclieenese
he therefore wisely clothes himself in the worst towns amounts to about sixty thousand peculs
conductors of heat he can procure ; builds a dome- annually ; the total supply collected from the
shaped, wind-tight cell of snow blocks, which soon various ports of shipment on the whole line of the
freeze together like solid marble ; and subsists on Betel -nut Coast is estimated at ninety thousand
food rich in carbon. His rude lamp, with its moss peculs per season, commencing in May and ending in
wick, is oil-fed like its owner. The Polar bear and August.
Arctic fox, too, in their warm winter coats, wander The nut is the produce of the Areka palm
amongst the ice-floes and along the wild inhospitable ( A reha Catechu), which is one of the most beautiful
shores in search of such oil-bearing food as good members of the palm family, shooting its slender
fortune may cast in their way. Until at last come stem straight up to the height of from fifty to sixty
milder winds. The wild-fowl, in long wedge-shaped feet, when a splendid mass of dark green leaves is
flights, wing their way high overhead, pealing forth thrown out like a huge plume of feathers. These
their clarion-like calls, palms produce their nuts but once during the year,
“ Hawnk ! lionk ! and for’ard to the nor’ard is the at which time they present the most beautiful and
trumpet-tone.” attractive appearance that can be well imagined
the fruit’ hangs in clusters at the ends of the long,
The rend and crash like distant thunder,
ice-fields
away; the birds chirp and twitter tough stems from which it is suspended. It is of an
as they drift slowly
elongated oval form, about the size of an egg, and
once more amongst the birches and ground willows ;
of orange colour, contrasting charmingly with the
the tiny flowers peep forth along tire hillsides ;
spring has arrived, and the reindeer can be hunted,
rich green of the palm leaves. Each nut is en-
veloped in a thick fibrous coat ; on removing which
the salmon speared at the falls of the unchained
the kernel is found within, covered with a much
river, and the ptarmigan shot with arrows or
slighter and more delicate integument, each husk
trapped amongst the whortleberry bushes ; thus
containing one nut only. These, when removed
yielding an agreeable change of diet with the
change of season and temperature. To those who from their coverings, are usually of an irregular,
conical form.
inhabit many parts of India and other countries
Notwithstanding the supply of indigenous food-
within the torrid zone, where no real winter is
yielding products tobe found in most countries,
known, animal food is not a necessary. With a
very earliest ages been eagerly
luxuries have from the
little rice, fruit, juarree ( Holcus Sorghum ) flour to
“ aps,” or “ chupatees,” lands
sought for in far-off and as the ancient
make their thin pancake-like ;
and the beloved betel-nut to chew, defiance is bid to Homans revelled in imported dainties, so the
Chinese, and those who trade with them, visit
hunger whilst a few light cotton cloths, differently
;
distant islands in search of the Beche-de-mer
folded, constitute head-covering and clothing. Bam-
“Trepang,” or sea-slug {Holothuria edidis). These
boos, mats, and grass, judiciously arranged, form a
uninviting, slug-like creatures are in great request
lint sufficiently commodious for sleeping purposes
in the markets of China as an ingredient in the
and as a sun-shade, all culinary operations being-
composition of the gelatinous soups and dishes
conducted in the open air.
in which the Celestials so much delight. With
That betel-nut chewing enables those who
pickled sharks’ fins, little squares of salt pork, and
are addicted to it to endure a larger amount of
preserved bamboo shoots, the Beche-de-mer makes a
bodily fatigue than they could support without
dish perfectly irresistible to a Chinaman. There
it, there can be little doubt. A
small quantity of
are six kinds of slugs generally sought for, the best
the nut is placed with a little lime on the leaf of a
being those obtained by diving amongst the reefs
pepper vine ( Piper betel ; this, after being rolled
into a pellet of convenient size, is placed with the
and rocks where they are known to resort ; others
are taken either by torch or moonlight in the
finger and thumb far back in the mouth, and is
shallow pools, whilst the inferior kinds are gathered
there retained, staining the saliva of a bright-red
by hand from the rocks at low water. The
colour.
various kinds, when selected and arranged according
The trade in this curious article of consumption
to their quality, are cleaned, carefully cut open,
isof vast extent throughout the Eastern seas, and
the ports of Sumatra, Cochin China, and some
cooked in large caldrons in the water which they
themselves yield, and are then thoroughly dried
other localities, are annually visited by the merchant
fleets for its collection. The sea-board of the on shelves arranged in sheds constructed for the
Acheen country, which is under the government purpose. Large quantities of wood are expended
of the Itajali of Acheen, is perhaps the most in the process, as the slugs require very perfect
important trading point, and is pretty generally * A “ pecul” consists of 133g lbs., and is a weight gene-
spoken of as the “Betel-nut Coast;” and the rally used amongst the Malay and Javanese traders. It is
inhabitants of many towns and villages of con- equivalent to the
“ tan ” of the Chinese.
) ;
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.] STRAY SCRAPS FROM ODD LARDERS.” 135
preparation before shipment. Some idea may be abundance went far to prevent cannibalism ; for
formed of the number of these strange dainties although many of these fertile isles literally teem
collected by the slug-hunters, when we inform our with the richest of vegetable productions, and the
readers that one trader obtained amongst the surrounding seas swarm with fish, a lurking regard
Fejee group, in exchange for various comparatively for roast meat prevails, and in the absence of short
inexpensive articles of barter, 25,000 dollars’ worth pig, long pig is at times partaken of. The Taro
in seven months ; and the importance of the trade root ( Calaclium esculentum), the bread fruit, the
in a commercial point of view may be estimated by various edible fern roots, Pteris escidenta amongst
the return made on one voyage peeuls of slugs
collected, 1,200; cost of outfit, 3,500
—
dollars;
the number, the sweet potato (Battuta convolvidans),
and many other vegetables and tuberous roots, are
return on sales, 27,000 dollars. The value of Beche- cooked in the primitive ovens of the natives ; whilst
de-mer ranges between ten and sixty dollars the the cocoa-nut affords food, drink, fishing-nets,
pecul, according to quality. clothes, cordage, oil, and timber.
The edible nests of the cave-swallow (Colloccdlia In many of the Australasian islands and
esculenta are also extensively collected, and have New Zealand vast quantities of sea-fowl (the
been known to realize their weight in silver when sooty petrel, or mutton-bird, especially) are
sold in the Chinese markets. These nests are, like captured for food by the sealers and natives.
the slugs, made use of in the preparation of soups, These birds visit the islands annually in vast
for which purpose they are in very high repute. flocks, arriving generally about the latter end of
The rocky cliffs on the coasts of the islands of November, for the purpose of depositing their
Borneo, Celebes, and some others of the Eastern eggs, of which each hen bird lays one or two,
Archipelago, contain numerous caverns frequented about the size ofordinary goose-eggs and somewhat
by these edible-nest-building swallows, the roofs similar in flavour. The cock bird takes charge of
being covered with their nests in different stages of the nest during the day, and the hen by night,
forwardness. The source from whence the clear taking in turn the duty of going to sea for food,
gelatine-like substance of which they are composed Berfect warrens, like those of rabbits, are formed by
is obtained, remains doubtful. The birds, in flitting, these birds, who burrow into the soft earth for a
past the moist, slimy, half-tide rocks, appear to gather distance of two or three feet, and there form their
something from the surface ; this may be some nests. Some of the islands are so thickly and com-
almost microscopic marine production which the pletely honeycombed by these feathered miners as
bird only can perceive and utilize, or perhaps to render walking a very unsafe proceeding. The
certain molluscs inhabiting these seas may secrete collection of the eggs and young birds from the
this substance. The newly-constructed nests are depths of the holes is a task usually assigned to the
of the greatest value, whilst those containing eggs native women, who not uncommonly find a snake
are considered not so good; the old nests in which a coiled up where the young petrel should be. When
brood of young birds has been hatched being of the a large catch is determined on for preservation and
lowest quality and least esteemed, from the number the obtainment of feathers, a number of bird-
of feathers often associated with them. The sea- hunters assemble, and construct a sort of hedge or
slugs are procured along the shallow reaches and fence a short distance from the beach, and just
inlets of the innumerable islands dotting the before daybreak, when the birds about to proceed to
Eastern seas, even as far as the inhospitable and sea to feed are out of their retreats, a sudden rush
savage Andaman group in the Bay of Bengal. is made by the whole assembled party of bird-
Many valuable discoveries have from time to time catchers, who with the most hideous yells and cries
been made by the Beche-de-mer traders. drive the throngs of waddling, flapping victims, who
The dreaded Buccaneers were for many years cannot rise from the ground to fly, towards the centre
simply food-liunters, who derived their name from of the fatal barrier, where a deep pit has been pre-
Boucan, a term applied to a rough species of grate or pared for their reception ; into this they are forced,
hurdle used by them to barbecue or jerk the flesh layer on layer, until they literally suffocate each
of the wild cattle they hunted. These men were other in their vain endeavours to escape from the
bound together by strange laws, made by them- treacherous pitfall. The feathers, when plucked
selves. Each hunter selected an especial comrade who from the birds, are worth about threepence per lb.,
shared his good or evil fortune, performed half the and it requires the joint plumage of about twenty
labour, and on the death of either, the survivor to produce that quantity. Thirty bags of feathers,
became the possessor of the common stock of arms constituting the cargoes of two trading boats, were
and other valuables. Quarrels with the Spaniards obtained by the sacrifice of 18,000 birds. A
and others led them to institute the formidable portion of the birds are preserved by dry smoking,
league known as the “ Brethren of the Coast,” and are extensively made use of. Some of the
who, in their day, made even kings quake on their New Zealand tribes, by whom this bird is called
thrones, and high admirals tremble. The inhabit- the “ Titi,” have recourse to a most ingenious and
ants of a great number of the islands of the Eastern effective method of preservation for it and some
seas are indebted to the early navigators for the other articles of food. The petrels, after having
introduction of the pig, which, finding abundant been carefully plucked, have all their bones removed
and congenial food, multiplied rapidly and formed they are then cooked over the fire in large shallow
large herds, soon became wild, and by their dishes or platters, made from the bark of the
136 “STRAY SCRAPS FROM ODD LARDERS.” [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
Totara tree, and when sufficientlydone ai’e placed manna, and it appears to have been known to both
in the natural bottles or basks formed on a species them and the Arabs in very early ages one kind, ;
of sea-weed like a huge variety of the bladder- called Guzunjbeen, is in pretty general use ;
it is
wrack ( Fucus vesiculosus) of our own coasts; the obtained from a shrub called Guz, a species of
heated fat from the birds is then poured in and the tamarisk. The same description of manna is in
sea-bottle securely tied up. Provisions treated in some disti'icts called Toofra. It is known by that
this manner remain perfectly good for a very long name, and is common at many ports on the Arabian
time, being completely excluded from both air and coasts, and throughout the tract of country sur-
moisture. rounding Mount Sinai. The manna is usually
Eels and other fish are preserved in the collected during the months of June and July,
same manner. The New Zealanders have some amongst the tamarisk thickets, where it drains
curious and superstitious notions regarding eels, from the ends of the thorns, and falls on the dry
their capture, and preparation ; they say “You
: leaves and small sticks which have fallen to the
must wash your hands before going to catch them, ground ; it then congeals into hard masses, and is in
and also on returning, and the bait must be prepared that condition gathered for use. The Arabs use it
some distance from the house ; there must be a as a substitute for honey, eating it with their bread
distinct fire for cooking the eel, for which you or other food. A thorny tree, known as the Camel
must have a special tinder-box ; your hands and thorn, growing in the north of India and Syria, is
mouth must be washed both before and after also manna-yielding, producing the description
partaking of them, and should it be necessary to called A l haj, or Persian manna. Beiruk honey
drink from the same stream from which the eels is in reality manna, and is obtained from the Ghrab
are caught, you must have two vessels of water, the tree, which is not unlike a stunted aspen. There is
one to drink from, the other to dip from the also a kind found in the country of Uzbecs, said to
stream.” be procured from a small tree with a jointed trunk.
Among the hunters of Africa, an elephant’s The Ashur plant of the Arabs yields a kind of
loot, baked in a deep hole beneath the camp manna known as “ Arab sugar,” or Shukur el
fire, is esteemed a great delicacy, as is a buffalo’s ashur. There is a description, also, in high repute
hump, with the skin on, prepared much in the throughout Persia as a medicine, obtained from a
same manner, by the hunters and trappers of peculiar willow growing in low, moist valleys.
North-West America. These hardy explorers and A tree of the oak family, found in Mesopotamia,
fur-hunters prepare a very portable and wholesome produces its manna, yielding the largest quantity
food, called Pemmican, which is thus made : where gall-nuts are most abundant, The Manna
Buffalo’s flesh is cut into convenient flakes and Brigantiaca is the produce of the larch, whilst the
flat layers, like long, thin steaks ; these are either cedars of Lebanon furnish a kind of their own,
hung in the sun or near a slow fire until dry, when These various descriptions are supposed to be the
the dried meat is ground between two stones until result of punctures made in the trees by an insect
sufficiently fine ; a bag is then made of buffalo-hide called Coccus manniparus. Large quantities of
with the hair side out, and pulverized flesh, after manna were at one time imported into this country
being thoroughly mixed with hot fat, well pressed from Sicily and the south of Italy ; but compara-
in ;
the bag is then securely stitched up and the tively little is now consumed. This is the produce
Pemmican allowed to cool and harden. When re- of three varieties of thecommon ash ; two kinds
quired for use, it is cut from the mass like hard are most common Ornus Pur opera and Fraxinus
sausage-meat, and either eaten cold, or, when rotundifolia. To obtain the manna from these,
mixed with flour or meal, a sort of thick porridge, incisions are made in the bark of the stems with
called “ Itobiboo,” is made from it. knives prepared for the purpose. The first cut is
The vast clouds of locusts, which in some made near the ground, and others, at two inches
countries both darken the air and devastate apart, two inches long and half an inch deep, are
the land, are eaten greedily by nearly every- proceeded with at the rate of one cut per day
thing possessing life ; men, animals, birds, fish, in each row of incisions, working gradually
and insects all join in the locust feast. The upwards. Immediately below these longitudinal
provident savage lays by a store nicely smoke- wounds, T-shaped cuts are prepared for the reception
dried to consume at his leisure, with such tuberous of the ends of leaves, gathered from the tree, which
roots or other underground productions as his sable act as conductors to carry the sap clear of the
spouse, armed with her sharp-pointed grubbing- trunk, and admit of its dropping into Indian fig-
stick, can procure for him. Manna, too, is a leaves placed on the ground to receive it. These fig-
substance, the name of which has been rendered leaves have the peculiar property of drying with
familiar to all by the mention made of it in the their edges curled up, rendering them extremely
Scriptures. In the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, useful for the reception of the sap, which soon
the fifteenth and following verses, reference is made hardens in the sun and air. We
have often seen
to the miraculous supply of this food to the wander- them used by the Indian devotees to place offer-
ing Israelites. Josephus says: “The Hebrews ings of honey and native butter in, to lay before
called this food manna, for the particle man in our their idols. August is the month usually selected
language is the asking of a question. What is this ? for tapping the trees, and dry, warm weather is
[Man hu .) The Persian writers often mention most favourable for the operation, as rain dissolves
; ;
Nature and Ait, May 1, 1867.]

ESPARTO AND ITS USES. 137
and destroys the congealing mass of produce. The species of spider, are all made meat of. Earth is also
manna collected from the bark by scraping, after at times eaten to allay the pangs of hunger, until
having run in long tears down the trunk, is con- good fortune reveals something more nutritious
sidered very inferior to that caught in the fig-leaves, and bark has been found no bad material to fall
and is sold at a lower price. It has been supposed back on when other bread-stuff has proved scarce.
that during a peculiarly still state of the atmosphere The hide from boots, shoes, and moccasins has, on
the sweet exhalations from certain plants and trees many occasions, served to prolong the lives of ship-
may become again condensed and fall to the earth wrecked mariners and wandering hunters. Not-
in the form of dew, and there are many phenomena withstanding its splendour and wealth, the densely-
connected with these honey-like showers extremely crowded city is, after all, the region in which
difficult to account for in any other way. starvation in its greatest horror is more to be
Snakes, the larva of a large burrowing wood beetle, dreaded by the friendless outcast than in Nature’s
the iguana or fringed lizard, bats, and even a peculiar —
own kingdom the unreclaimed wilderness.
ESPARTO AND ITS USES.

( Gramen spartum, Plinii ; Stipa tenacissima, Linn.)
N no point is Nature so hardly pressed as in the room enough for all. For example, it enters
O pursuit of vegetable
increases apace,
fibre.
and must have the wherewithal to
The race of Adam largely into the composition of the elegant panels
of our carriages, as well as of papier-mache in its
be clothed. We
read and write, muse and think, varied artistic forms. It is moulded into cabinet-
with increasing energy, and must have paper as a work, twisted and otherwise fancifully dealt with
vehicle for our mental pabulum. So, in order to ornaments for the drawing-
in the production of art
supply the wants of a civilization unparalleled in room and boudoir. It is substituted for bones in
its extent and unsurpassed in the multiplicity of cutlery, for hair and bristles in brushes, and so on,
its necessities, Science and Art, Manufactures and through every department of formative art. Some
Commerce, are allied as an army of attack on fibres there are which, from their abundance and
Nature’s varied and abundant products. But, peculiarity of structure, have been dedicated to
although the quest be keen, and our knowledge of particular uses ; such as jute, as a substitute for
the uses of substances so extended as practically to hemp in ropes, and in the manufacture of coarse
obliterate the word “waste” from our vocabulary, north-country sacking but this is not where the
;
the demand for vegetable fibre still waxes instead shoe pinches. That which is so eagerly desired is
of wanes, and the earth, both in its wildernesses and a fibre capable of being easily cleaned, dressed,
cvdtivated places, is ransacked for something known, bleached, spun, and woven into the goods of
and, failing that, for something new. Men of science, Manchester and the stuffs of Bradford something :
skilled in the indicia of plants, naturalists hunting that shall come in aid of cotton and flax, shall dye
in untrodden solitudes, soldiers in cantonments in well, and generally submit in a satisfactory manner
some out-of-the-way corner of the globe, traders and to all the processes preliminary to its conversion
voyagers of every class, make up the army of, obser- into raiment. Nor would its mission end here ;
vation. The field comprises the western and for after having draped the dusky forms of the
southern coasts of Africa, the subtropical regions of Egyptians and Syrians in blue, the Eastern Asiatics
America, the islands of Polynesia and Australasia, in white, the sable Yenuses of the Gold Coast
and the whole of the lower portion of the vast in colours brilliantly incongruous, and made the
Asiatic continent; but the conditions on which the ladies of the temperate zone “ beautiful for ever,”
great prize can alone be won are so complex that a it must return, perchance in shreds, with the
new material fitted alike for fine textile and felting- robustness of its early constitution mellowed by
purposes, practicable in respect of cost and supply, age, to be pounded and torn, recleaned, rebleached,
remains undiscovered. fabricated into paper, and sent forth, again and
It must not be assumed, however, from the again, as the servant of an intelligence as grand as
failure to secure a high-class fibre, answering in it is inscrutable.
every respect to the requirements of modern manu- Who has not heard of the lamentations of the
facturing science, that the diligence and labour paper-makers, whose wailings on the paucity of rags,
bestowed in the search have been expended in vain. and the total absence of fibre suited to their re-
On the contrary, many useful sorts, as well as some quirements, were followed by mortuary dirges on
of exceeding beauty, have been brought to light and the decline and fall of their beautiful manufacture
utilized in a variety of ways, and when the protean whilst, as a contemporaneous fact, there continued to
shapes which fibre can be made to assume are con- bloom and die on the arid plains bordering the sunny
sidered, it will be obvious that there is verge and Mediterranean, a perennial plant, containing within
138 ESPARTO AND ITS USES. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867,
its wiry stem no less than 73 per cent, of fibre, conditions of the plant ; possibly because it grows
eminently suited to their wants. This plant is the abundantly on a portion of their own territory, the
Gramen spartum, Plinii, Stipa tencicissima, Linn. By natural resources of which the French Government
the Spaniards it is called Esparto, and by the French are most anxious to develop. The province of
Alfa. It is placed by botanists among the sedges, Oran, in Algeria, is that in which the traffic in
and is indigenous to the southern shores of Portugal, Alfa is mostly concentrated. There it alternates
Spain, and Italy, as well as to the coast of Northern with the Dwarf Palm and Asphodel, and it grows
Africa, from Algeria to the confines of Egypt. It luxuriantly from the coast up to the minor peaks
grows in tufts like a rush, is perennial in habit, of the contiguous mountain ranges. The crop
attains a height of from 18 to 30 inches, according should be gathered in the months of April, May,
to situation, and, having a basis of silica and iron, and June, varying according to the forwardness of
flourishes on arid soil. Its principal habitats, the season ;
the object being to secure the plant
however, are Spain and Algeria, from which while yet green, yet as near as possible to ripeness.
countries a supply sufficient for all present demands If gathered too green, the fibre is deficient both in
may be drawn with ease. There is probably no quantity and strength, whilst if allowed to ripen
pjlant within our knowledge which possesses so fully, the constituent elements of silica and iron are
remarkable a history as that now under review. established too securely in its structure. The best
Pliny, that most careful and observant of natural- time for collecting, according to Pliny, is between
lists, gives a surprisingly accurate description of the Ides of May and those of June, a statement
the Spartum, and enumerates the uses to which it which has been fully confirmed by, modern practice.
was put in his day. He speaks of it as a morbid On the best method of gathering, the ancient
production — “ confined to a single country only; for philosopher is equally in accord with our own
in reality it is a curse to the soil, as there is observations. The plant, he says, is twisted round
nothing whatever that can be grown or sown in its levers of bone or holm oak, to get it up with the
vicinity.” He describes the species of spartum greater facility. It has been proved experimentally,
found in Africa as of stunted growth, of no rise that this is the best mode of reaping the crop,
whatever for practical purposes ; and, altogether, having a due regard to the succeeding harvest, as
he seems to entertain a very poor opinion of the cutting not only injures the plant, but altogether
African variety. It is interesting to note the endangers its vitality, thus rendering the labour of
similarity of uses found for the plant in the days collection exceedingly severe, as the workman must
of Pliny to those prevailing in our own. Then, both pull and stoop as he traverses the ground.
as now, the peasantry stuffed their beds with it, The modus operandi is very simple. Providing
and, no doubt, obtained as springy a couch as is himself with a stick of moderate thickness, the
yielded by our own native heather. It was used labourer grasps a handful of Alfa, twists it round
made into
as fuel, torches, woven and plaited into the stick, and, by a sharp pull with both hands, dis-
summer garments for the shepherds, and manu- engages the stalks at the articulations. Securing
factured into shoes which, under the name of the bunch under his left arm, he pulls away until,
Alpargates, are still extensively used by the poorer no longer able to hold the produce, he throws it
inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula. It was also down to be tied into a bundle called a Manada,
very largely used for cordage ; and we have the and proceeds with his work de novo. These bundles
authority of Mr. M'Culloch for the statement that are then ranged in the field to dry, a result which
cables made from Esparto, were some years ago —if is usually attained in a week, during which time
to
—made
they are not still preferred in the Spanish navy
similar stores from hemp. Merely to
the Alfa loses about 40 per cent, of its weight. The
bundles, or Manadas, are then packed into bales
enumerate the articles of utility into the construc- and carried to the port of shipment. It is not
tion of which Esparto entered, would in fact be a improbable that, in course of time, the propagation
recapitulation of the utensils and appliances ap- of Alfa with a view to increased supply may be
pertaining to the domestic economy and manu- requisite in places suited to its growth, as it is only
facturing industry of the Spaniards and Cartha- in particular areas that its preparation for export
ginians. Pliny most appropriately designates his can be conducted, on account of the cost of carriage
Gramen spartum a marvellous plant ; and the to practicable shipping points on the seaboard. At
reflection is by no means a flattering one that, present the demand from England and France is
notwithstanding his painstaking researches, and exclusively on behalf of the paper manufacture ;
the uninterrupted use of the plant in the same but should the application of the fibre be extended
districts through centuries of time, we should have — and there is no reason why it should not be so
failed to bring our chemical knowledge to bear on with great advantage, its culture will become an
its constitutional difficulties, until our need became important branch of Algerian husbandry. Arrived
so exigeant as to render further neglect well-nigh in this country and stored at a paper-mill, the
impossible. Manadas should be ranged so as to allow of the
During the past ten years the French have been roots and tops being pulled, an operation which
indefatigable in the prosecution of researches in clears the Alfa, from a good deal of waste substance
the utilization of Alfa as a paper-making fibre, and adhering more or less to the stalks. It has now
it is to the savans of that country that we are the appearance- of dried rushes, firm and wiry to
primarily indebted for a knowledge of the economic the touch, and as unlikely-looking a material from
f Jiatm*e ;ui <1 Apt.Jfar 1
Day & Son, (Limited) Litli
i
,
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.] THE AMERICAN WATER- WEED. 139
which to manufacture white paper as can well be white cream than anything else to which it can be
imagined. Nothing, however, can be simpler. likened. Nowthe shutters of the washing cover
After having been opened and well shaken out, the are withdrawn, in order to thoroughly eliminate
stalks are thrown into a boiler containing a strong the “ bleach.” That done, and the stuff finished
solution of caustic alkali, and are boiled until a as regards sizing and tint, a valve in the bottom of
handful can be twisted asunder with ease. It has the engine is drawn, the prepared Alfa plunges
now parted with a good deal of colouring matter, into the stuff chest at the head of the paper-
and is ready, after having drained sufficiently, to machine, and, in less time than is consumed in
—
be broken and washed operations which are recording the fact, is ready for the hands of the
carried on simultaneously in what is technically printer.
known as a “ washing engine,” an elliptical trough Nearly allied to Esparto is the Stipa pennata ,
having the machinery on one side of a partition, Linn., or feather-grass, which adorns the verdant
jilaced down the centre of the engine, but termi- banks and lane-sides of this country. History
nating at some distance from either end the effect
;
saitlr that the nodding plumes, which are its most
of this arrangement being that the material in the striking characteristic, were at one time used by
engine is made to flow round the partition, or British ladies in the embellishment of their head-
“ midfeather,” by the rotary action of the ma- dresses. Whether we shall ever clothe our agricul-
chinery. The Alfa now gradually assumes a light tural hinds in Alfa jackets and Esparto shoes, this
yellowish tinge, and with the introduction to the deponent sayetli not; but even though the plant be
engine of a cpiantity of chloride of lime the process never used in England beyond its present limits,
of bleaching commences. Meanwhile the Alfa is the reader will agree with us, that the humble
being drawn out into fine short filaments by the African rush, known in botanical nomenclature as
triturating action of the machinery. Gradually all the Stipa tenacissima, Linn., is one of the most
colour departs, and, as it flows round the engine, remarkable and beneficent members of the great
the stuff more nearly resembles a duct of snow- vegetable family. B. L.
THE AMERICAN WATER-WEED.

(Anacha/ris alsinastrwn.)
By the Rev. W. Houghton.
OST
M of our readers are doubtless acquainted
with the form of the remarkable plant
which made its appearance about seventeen years
recent.
again
The attention of botanists having been
turned to this plant, Mr. Babington, in
December, 1847, read a paper before the Botanical
ago in our rivers and canals, and which in some Society of Edinburgh, “ On Anacliaris alsinastrum,
places has become, from its rapid increase and the a supposed new British plant.” This paper was
difficulty of keeping it in check, quite a nuisance. published in the “ Annals and Magazine of Natu-
The history of the introduction into this country ral History,” Second Series, No. 2, February,
of Anacliaris alsinastrum is not known. Botanists 1848 and there was added to it a synopsis of the
;
are, for the most part, agreed that it is a stranger, species of Anacliaris and Apalanthe, by Dr. J. E.
and that it belongs to North America, but the Planclion ; the paper was also illustrated by an
mode of its advent into England and Scotland admirable engraving. When Dr. Johnston (the
remains a mystery. The plant appears to have first discoverer) read Mr. Babington’s account, he
been first observed by that excellent naturalist Hr. immediately recognized in it the weed he had ob-
George Johnston, in the month of August, 1842, in served in the lake of Dunse Castle, where he again
the lake of Bunse Castle, Berwickshire, which found it in great profusion, as well as in patches
lake is situated upon a tributary of the Whiteadder down the Whiteadder in its course to the Tweed.
river, an affluent of the Tweed. “ Dr. John- About the same time the Anacliaris made its ap-
ston sent specimens to Mr. Babington, but little pearance in Nottinghamshire, in the river Lene, a
was heard of the aquatic intruder till it was tributary of the Trent, “ growing in great pro-
found by a lady, Miss Kirby, in certain reservoirs fusion for about a quarter of a mile in extent.” It
adjoining the Foxton locks, on the canal near was the same year observed abundantly in the
Market ILarborough, in Leicestershire this was in
: Watford locks, Northamptonshire, “ on the same
the autumn of 1 847.” The plants were all females line of canal as the Foxton reservoirs.” In the
and were found in considerable abundance, growing year 1849 it was observed in profusion in the
closely matted, together. The reservoirs had only Trent, near Burton ; it was noticed near Rugby in
recently been cleaned ; consequently the appearance 1850, and in the Cam in 1851. Mr. Marshall, of
of the weed in them had most probably been Ely, in his first letter to the “ Cambridge Inde-
140 THE AMEBIC AN WATER- WEED. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
pendent Press,” * thus speaks of it re- :

— A or seeds might find their way into the clefts of the
markable plant has recently made its appearance in wood, and if but one seed or one fragment retained
the rivers Ouse and Cam, and already abounds to its vitality in some moist cranny till it reached its
such a degree, as not only to impede navigation, but, final' destination, I verily believe it would be
what is of far more importance in this fen country, sufficient to account for the myriads of individuals
to threaten injury to our drainage.” In Letter III. that now exist in England.”
he speaks of it “ growing in dense submerged But it is useless to speculate ;
the real mode of
masses, distinguishable at once from all other its probably never be known.
introduction will
weeds by its leaves growing in threes round a And now we have to account for the presence of
slender stringy stem. The colour of the plant is a the male plant in this country. Hitherto all the
deep green, the leaves are about half an inch long, individuals observed have been females; but Mr.
by an eighth wide, egg-shaped at the point, and Bentham and Dr. Oliver tell me that the male
beset with minute teeth, which cause them to plant has, they believe, made its appearance some-
cling. The stems are very brittle, so that when- where in the neighbourhood of London during the
ever the plant is disturbed fragments are broken last summer. This is not very pleasant news, for
off. Although at present it cannot propagate the one sex was troublesome enough. The question
itself by seed, its powers of increase are prodigious, as to how the Anacharis came into the Cam is
as every fragment is capable of becoming an in- easily answered :
dependent plant, producing roots and stems, and

“ In 1847 a specimen from the Foxton locks was planted
extending itself indefinitely on every direction.”
in a tub in the Cambridge Botanical Garden, and in 1848
Mr. Marshall speaks of it as having been a great the late Mr. Murray, the Curator, placed a piece of it in
source of annoyance to the watermen of the Cam, the Conduit stream that passes by the new garden. In the
to sluice- keepers, to rowers, and to swimmers. following year, on Mr. Babington asking what had become
of the stick which marked the site of the plant, he was
Since that gentleman published his pamphlet
informed that it had spread all over the ditch. From this
on this water-weed in 1852, the Anacharis has point it doubtless escaped by the waste-pipe across the
spread far and wide, and has now become common Trumpington road into the 1 Vicar’s Brook,’ and from thence
in almost every canal, stream, and pond; causing, into the river above the mills, where it is now found in the
in some cases, a very great amount of incon- greatest profusion. In the case of the Cam, then, we see it
proved to demonstration that the short space of four years
venience to navigation, besides choking up our fish-
has been sufficient for one small piece of the Anacharis to
ponds, &c. &c. multiply so as to impede both navigation and drainage.”
The rapid spread of is easy
the Anacharis
enough to account for, when we
consider how, on I first noticed this weed in the Shropshire Union
the one hand, the kingdom is intersected with Canal about two miles from Newport, about ten
rivers, canals, and streams, which often commu- years ago; it grew in dense patches here and there.
nicate with each other, and how readily the smallest Since that time, till within a year or two ago, it
bits of the weed grow without any root at all. grew to such an extent as to destroy almost all
But the question as to its mode of introduction other aquatic vegetation. In the “struggle of
into this country is not so easily answered. I ought life,” the Potamogfetons, the Myriophyllums, and
to say that some botanists have affirmed that it is the Water Ranunculuses, disappeared, leaving the
no foreigner at but a true native ; but this idea
all, Anacharis almost the sole occupant of the water.
is improbable. The Anacharis alsinastrum is the It used to flower abundantly from July to the end of
Elodea Canadensis of North America, where, with September, in several places in the canal, but within
other species or allied genera, it is common in the the last two years or so the Anacharis has almost
rivers. From North America, then, it is most disappeared ; and when I wanted specimens in
probable our plant originally came ; but how did it blossom last autumn for examination, I had to go
get here 1 for them to another branch of the canal, four miles
There are, as Mr. Marshall says, “ various ways distant, as I could find none where formerly they
in which a plant may be imported. botanist, A were so abundant. The Potamogetons and Myrio-
in the ardour of that botanical instinct which pbyllums have since returned. What has been the
prompts him to surround himself with as many as cause of the disappearance of the Anacharis ? That
possible of the beautiful and varied foi’ms of vege- the swans eat great quantities of this weed I have
table life, might have introduced it ; but we have repeatedly seen; but then there was the same
no evidence that such has been the case, although number of swans in the canal when the weed was
botanists have been known to do such things.” so luxuriant. Pond
as the Lymnei
snails — eat the —
The same writer thinks it most probable that the weed; and whether has been unable to bear up
it
Anacharis was introduced at or about Rugby with against the repeated attacks of swan and snail, I
American timber, during the execution of some of know not probably to this cause in part, and
:
the numerous railways which meet at that point. partly to the fact that quantities are taken out by
“ We know,” he adds, “that in North America the the canal-keepers and by nets, we must attribute
timber is floated down the rivers, in which case its disappearance.
fragments of the American weed would cling to it, The Anacharis is one of those plants in which
the so-called “circulation” may be conveniently
* See Mr. Marshall’s Pamphlet on “ The New Water- observed. This curious movement of the chloro-
weed.” London W. Pamplin, 1852.
:
phyll granules, so familiar to microscopic observers
; - )
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.]

PETEE VON COENELIUS. 141
in the Characece, may be readily seen by placing a the water, where it terminates in three or six small spread-
ing segments. Male flowers unknown as yet in this country,
leaf on a glass slide with a little water, and viewing and seldom observed anywhere. Flowers summer and
it under the microscope with the quarter or the autumn.”
eighth-inch objective.
It is one of the three genera which form the The specimen from which the accompanying
family Hydrocharidece the Frog-bit (Ilydrocharis illustrationwas made was gathered last autumn,
morsus-rance) and Water soldier ( Stratiotes aloides in Warwickshire, by Mr. It. S. Ohattock, of Soli-
being the other two. The genus Anacharis, or hull, an accomplished amateur artist, and drawn by
Elodea, as some botanists prefer to call it, is thus him for this Magazine.
characterized by Bentham, in his admirable “ Hand-
book of the British Flora” : — Explanation op the Plate.
“ Stems submerged, branched, and leafy flowers sessile, Fig. A represents the Anacharis as it grows submerged,
;
the little pink flowers appearing above the surface of the
the males with nine stamens, the females with a long, thread-
water, natural size.
like perianth-tube. Style adherent to the tube, with three
notched or lobed stigmas. Ovary one-celled, with three Fig. a, a flower magnified, showing the perianth of six
parietal placentas. A
small genus, exclusively American.” segments, the three stigmas, and the three abortive stamens.
Fig. 6, the same, stripped of the petalous part of the
The specific characters are thus described by the
same author :
— perianth, showing more clearly the stigmas and stamens.
Fig. c, the two-lobed spatha enclosing the lower portion
“ A dark green, much- branched perennial, entirely floating of the perianth-tube, magnified.
under water. Leaves numerous, opposite or in whorls of Fig. d, a section of the bottom of the perianth-tube,
three or four, sessile, linear, oblong, transparent, three or showing ovary with its three contained ovules, magnified.
four lines long. Female flowers, the only ones known in
this country, sessile in the upper axils in a small two-lobed
Fig. e, an ovule, magnified.
spatha ; the slender perianth-tube often two or three [some- Fig. /, transverse section of portion of stem, showing
times five or six] inches long, so as to attain the surface of arrangement of leaves round it.
PETER VON CORNELIUS.

HE great German painter who died during the played the creative force of the young Cornelius.
T month of March was then in the eightieth
year of his age, for he was born in September,
Niebuhr wrote about him, in after years, “ Cor-
nelius is an earnest enthusiast for Goethe perhaps ;
1787, in the town of Diisseldorf. His father was none more so certain is it that Goethe has inspired
:
director of the museum at that place ; and thus, no other person so fully and so powerfully.”
from his earliest days, the young Cornelius was The artist was but nineteen when he produced
associated with the arts. His desire to be a painter another and a kindred work,—the illustrations to
was not repressed or reproved by his parents, and the “ Niebelungen Lied.” Thus, national subjects
in his seventeenth year he had already begun his early took possession of his mind. But they were
studies in art with much promise of future excel-
1
not to retain exclusive possession. In Rome he

lence. It was then that his father died; and as would be subject to classic influence, and to Rome
there devolved upon him and upon an elder brother — the goal of every painter’s first ambition Cor- —
the care of mother and young ones, it was a ques- nelius desired to go. He was twenty-four years
tion whether he ought any longer to think of pur- old, however, before the project could be matured ;
suing the painter’s profession. It was suggested and, when at last it was carried out, he intended to
that he should adopt some handicraft which might make a very long sojourn in the classic capital. He
prove more quickly remunerative ; but the diffi- found congenial society there. Young and aspiring
culty was surmounted, and he clung to art. Good fellow-artists gathered round him, —
Schnorr, Veit,
fortune came to him sooner than to most men, for and the brothers Schadow. There too, and always
some of his earliest designs attracted notice and in close companionship with Cornelius, was a
were admired. The study of the antique, incul- greater spirit than any of these, —
Overbeck, the
cated by Winckelmann, had not entirely engrossed pure, the noble, the refined the Fra Angelico of
:
his attention. He had fallen, rather, under the our time. With Overbeck Cornelius dwelt, in an
influence of a modern writer, —
the greatest Germany old convent, and in the simplest style. The two
has produced. The comprehensive, the all-embrac- friends were nicknamed St. Faul and St. John.
ing genius of Goethe acquired a lasting power over Cornelius, with his ardour and energy, his compre-
him that genius which grappled with the noblest
: hensiveness and tolerance, was the St. Raul Over- ;
subjects, and never disdained to treat even of the beck, with his rare gifts and loveable graces, but
smallest details of any branch of art, as witness — with a power less practical than that of his brother
the dramatic criticism in “Wilhelm Meister.”
”
A artist, was the St. John.
series of designs illustrative of “ Faust first dis- Cornelius took part in the decoration of the
142 PETER VON CORNELIUS. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
Villa Bartoldi, and had to thank the Prussian have admired the correctness of the drawing, and
.Consul-General, whose residence that villa was, the dramatic expression of the whole, we stop to
and the Prussian Ambassador, Niebuhr, for patron- notice the crudeness of its colour, our respect for
age and influence kindly exerted. The Crown the painter should not be lessened. His attain-
Prince of Bavaria was able to bestow upon the ment was high but his attempt Avas higher. And
;
rising painter a more substantial reward than any this is right. For in all art,
he had before received. This royal German, being
greatly impressed with the promise Cornelius
“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a Heaven for ?”
showed, proposed to carry him off to Munich to
decorate the favourite city, —
the greatest and most Fifteen or twenty years were occupied upon the
costly “ Ludwig’s Lust.” At first Cornelius hesi- decoration of Munich. Besides the frescoes in the
tated —he doubted, perhaps, whether he had been Glyptothek, and the great compositions in the
long enough in Pome —
but evidently this was
; Church of Ludwig, there Avas executed by Cor-
such an opportunity as might not occur again. It nelius, in the Pinakotliek, a great work illustrative
was well to take it while it offered, and Cornelius of the history of art. When all these things Avere
decided to do so. He had looked with no exclusive done, the artist took some leisure, and visited
eye upon classic art ; but he knew that Italy was Paris and London. Another great opportunity
the best school for him, —
the school in which lessons Avas soon to fall into his hands ; and that was a
varied and valuable might best be learned. For commission from the King of Prussia to compose a
there, in Italy, on ground that is dear to both, the “ Christian Picture Cycle ” for
the decoration of
lover of the mediseval meets the lover of the an- the Campo Santo or Royal Mausoleum, destined to
tique the heroic painter may there learn tender-
: form one of the Avings of the neAv cathedral. “ The
ness ; the religious painter, strength. Cornelius Four Riders of the Apocalypse” one of the de- —
had, on the whole, profited by the time he had signs executed for this place of burial is one of —
spent in Rome ; and he was full loth to leave it. the most characteristic of Cornelius’s works ; per-
It may be, however, that he left it just at the right haps the most powerful of all. It is not beautiful;
moment. Had he stayed longer, he might have lost it is not attractive ; it would never be popular
that German character which some of his best works Avith the admirers of conventional sentiment, bor-
— his best of all indeed —
now possess. Looking at rowed graces, and namby-pamby mediocrity. But
the gigantic attempts to reproduce the form and it is strikingly original. It is a thoroughly Ger-
presence of the antique, made when Cornelius went man work. The weird poAverof the North is in it.
to Munich, immediately after his residence in Rome, In painting it, Cornelius went back to the early
one is inclined to think that he did not return to traditions ; and the spirit of his own race nerved
Germany too soon. him for the task. There is something of a savage
In the Bavarian capital there was much to be strength about it ; but instead of its being the work
done. The decoration of two large halls in the of an untutored mind, the brain that conceived it,
Glyptothek was confided to Cornelius. One of and the hand that wrought it, had learned lessons
them is styled the Hall of the Heroes ; the othei', enough from the masters of old days, and were but
the Hall of the Gods. The compositions placed by noAv drawing forth from the sources Avhich had
the painter in both are intensely classical, using always been within the artist himself.
the word rather Avith reference to form and letter We have briefly spoken of the chief Avorks of
than to the spirit, and not exactly in the sense in Cornelius. Only the barest record of his life is it
which one Avould say that the compositions of uoav possible to give. He died at a ripe old age,
Ingres are classical. The German painter Avas when he had gained the love of many, and the
more successful when he took Michael Angelo for respect of all. Members of his school are scattered
his model, and did for the Ludwig’s Kirche at over Europe ; some of them famous already. Even
Munich what had been done for the Sistine Chapel. in England his influence is not unfelt. Through-
“ God the Creator” and “Christ the Judge” two — out his career Cornelius Avas a prophet Avho was by
great compositions in this Munich Church are — no means without honour in his oavii country.
works which Avill much to perpetuate the
do very Bavaria and Prussia loaded him Avith rewards
painter’s fame. They
are two, and by far the most and, so long ago as 1838, he had the satisfaction to
important, of a great series illustrating the Chris- knoAv, by his election as a Foreign Member of the
tian creed. “Christ the Judge” is perhaps the Institute of France, that he was duly esteemed in
noblest of his efforts. Never Avas he more ambi- that land from whose verdict on art questions there
tious than in planning this Avork ;
and if, when Ave is, in these days, no appeal.
Nature and Art, M.yl, 1867.] THE MICEOSCOPE. 143
THE MICROSCOPE.
U NDER this heading we propose to give, from
month to month, a series of notes upon the
progress made in microscopic research and the
a sac composed of a more or less structureless, not
very well defined membrane, containing a soft
semi-fluid substance, in the midst or at one end of
improvements recorded in microscopic appliances. "which lies a delicate vesicle ; in the centre of the
Every one has a microscope nowadays, and, what latter is a more solid particle. . . The gre-
.
is more, nearly every one who possesses an instru- garinida are devoid of mouths and of digestive
ment turns it to some account in the investigation apparatus, living entirely by imbibition of the
of various forms of animal and vegetable life. juices of the animal in whose intestine or body they
Hence a good many of our readers must be anxious are contained.” * The character of these creatures
to know what other microscopists than themselves in the perfect reproductive stage has not been made
are doing, and this information we purpose giving out, sothat the foregoing description embraces
them. Our subject naturally divides itself into two pretty nearly all we know about them. It is evi-
sections, one relating to the discoveries made with dent, however, that they could not exist on hair
the assistance of the microscope, and the other to under any circumstances. However, it must be
the new forms of apparatus devised to facilitate the admitted that many specimens of hair contain both
study of microscopic objects. We shall treat of animal and vegetable parasites. The animal para-
the discoveries first. site is the common pediculus ; the vegetable
The event of greatest novelty, though not of varieties belong to the Algse (sea-weed tribe) and
greatest importance, in the recent history of micro- the Fungi (mushroom tribe). The pediculus ac-
scopy, is the discovery of the so-called gregarinicla companies living hair only ; it requires the warmth
in the false hair of which ladies’ chignons are com- of the human body as one of the conditions of its
posed. This startling discovery, which was first life, and therefore it cannot exist in the hair from
announced in England in the pages of the Lancet, which such ornamental appendages as chignons are
was subsequently commented on by the Daily Tele- manufactured. The egg-cases might be thought to
graph, after the usual fashion, and not only gave remain, but it is not so. The process of cleansing
rise to a feeling of considerable dissatisfaction and to which the hair is submitted completely re-
annoyance among ladies, but had the much more moves them. But that they are present iu the
serious effect of materially damaging the chignon crude hair which comes to the manufacturer is
trade, and throwing many poor people out of honest undeniable, for in a specimen of the refuse from
employment. A
professional journal like the one of the hair machines examined by us, the
Lancet should not have permitted the insertion of particles of hair tvere found in many instances to
the paragraph describing the gregarinida of hair. have these empty egg-capsules attached to them.
The individual responsible for it must either have As to the vegetable parasites we doubt their
been very ignorant of zoology or must have pan- being of much importance. No doubt fungi are
dered to the never-dying desire of penny -journalism productive of many serious hair diseases ; but,
for something sensational. The examination of so far as we have been able to determine, these
the infected hair, which was conducted by several species are not present in the hair of the chignons.
microscopists of eminence, has proved incontestably It is, however, a fact, that in many samples of hair
that there are no such things as gregarinida to employed in the manufacture of chignons, a number
be found in hair. The original account in the of minute particles, evidently not part of true hair
Lancet describes the gregarinida as proceeding from structure, may be found. These, Avhen first placed
the common pediculus of the louse and attaching under the microscope, appear to be vesicles, which,
themselves to the hair, and it certainly conveyed under a high magnifying power, seem to be divided
the impression that they were a species of insect. into two, four, or eight compartments. This is a
Nothing could be more absurdly erroneous than feature which calls to mind the elementary Algse, to
this. Not only have no gregarinida been found which, no doubt, the particles belong. Beyond
in the pediculus, but even did they exist in this this stage in their history we have not examined
insect, or were they discharged from it, they this parasitic, growth ; but two or three micro-
could not possibly live upon the hair. They scopists interested in the matter have caused these
are the very lowest form of animal life, lower elementary particles to go through the whole course
than even the sjtonges or the infusorial animal- of their development by placing them in a solution
cules. “ They are the inhabitants of the bodies, of sugar and water. The observations of such
for the most part, of the invertebrate, but also of specimens shows that they are undoubted algae,
the vertebrate animals, and they are commonly to since they present the usual spores and antheridia.
be found in abundance in the alimentary canal of There is no reason to believe that, even if present
the common cockroach and in earthworms. They
are- all microscopic, and any one of them, leaving * Huxley, “ Lectures on the Elements of Comparative
minor modifications aside, may be said to consist of Anatomy.” Churchill, 1864.
141 THE MICROSCOPE. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
in the chignons, they could possibly germinate, I are found in the little vesicles of which plants
and thus pass from the artificial to the natural hair. are built up, but one of them is engaged in rotation,
This is all that can be fairly said in regard to the the central fluid being always stationary. The phe-
”
notorious “ gregarine discovery. nomena of the circulation in plants may be seen by
The microscope has recently been employed with any of our readers possessed of a good microscope,
advantage in the study of physical geology. Sec- by placing under a moderately high power a semi-
tions of fossils have frequently been examined under faded leaf of that common canal weed, the Ana-
high magnifying powers, and many important points charis alsinastrum. In France M. Chatin has been
have been thus made out ; but till quite recently working at the anther, that little powdery seedlike
the microscope was not employed in the examina- body which is found at the top of the stamens of a
tion of rocks. Mr. David Forbes, F.R.S., has flower. This was formerly considered to possess
called attention to the fact that rocks which it is only two envelopes or linings ; but with the aid of
difficult otherwise to distinguish from each other the microscope M. Chatin has been able to distin-
maybe readily discriminated when thin sections are guish a third coat. In our own country the veteran
placed in the field of the microscope. He himself Gulliver has been continuing his researches upon
has found this method of inquiry of the highest the microscopical structure of plants. Quite re-
importance in the course of his numerous investi- cently he has been examining the appearances of
gations into the metallurgical value of various pollen-grains. The pollen is the fine soft powder
minerals. Mr. Sorby, F.R.S., has also, we believe, which is discharged from the anther above men-
employed the microscope to discern the intimate tioned, and which one sees so abundantly distri-
structure of metals and minerals, and is still en- buted over the inner parts of the flower in the lily.
gaged in researches of this kind. In the field of Professor Gulliver has examined the pollen-grains
palaeontology (the science of fossils) the microscope of a large number of plants, and he has found not
has lately thrown much light on inquiries which only that their particles have, when magnified, a
could hardly have been completed without its definite shape and outline, but that these are gene-
assistance. Mr. Carruthers, of the British Museum, rally peculiar to each plant. This discovery is
and Mr. E. Bay Lankester have made out some important, for it sIioavs that by means of the
interesting points of structure by submitting thin microscope Ave may often determine the exact
slices of fossils to microscopic examination. The species of a plant by a portion of its pollen sufficient
former has been engaged in examining our fossil to rest upon the head of a pin.
plants, especially those from the coal formations, In the study of the structure of the loAver
and has considerably modified what were before animals, the employment of the microscope is in-
regarded as orthodox views. The latter has, dispensable. In this branch of anatomy a good
with the assistance of the microscope, been able deal has been recently achieved. Tavo neAv and
to show that a fossil fish examined by him is curious species of wheel animalcule have been dis-
quite new to science. Of course, his conclusion covered by Mr. Henry Davis, and described by him
is in some measure based upon the general form to the Microscopical Society. Hitherto it Avas
of the fossil, but the microscopic evidence is thought that only one wheel animalcule ( Melicerta
equally important. It so happens that in the had the power of constructing a habitation for
family of fossil fishes known technically as the itself Mr. Davis has shoAvn that this opinion is
Ceplialaspidce there is one division the bones of not correct, since he has seen the species he has
which possess small irregular cavities with lines discovered arranging the minute pellets one by one,
proceeding from them. These cavities are called and fastening them together by means of a glutinous
lacunas, and in order to see them a very finely- substance into a veritable domicile. The little
ground thin slice of the bone must be placed under animalcule appears to be provided with a micro-
the microscope. In trying to discover the species scopically bearded chin, which is employed in the
to which his specimen belonged, Mr. Lankester process of domestic architecture. The brain of
submitted a delicate section to microscopic exami- that singular animal, the cuttle-fish, has been ex-
nation, and he soon perceived that these lacunas were amined under the microscope by Mr. Lockhart
not only present, but were large, and “very densely Clarke, and appears to be a Avonderful piece of
packed, arranged at right angles in the different nervous complexity. It has been always considered
lamellce of the bony material, so as to produce the that the cuttle-fish is the highest of the animals
appearance of cross-hatching.” * This discovery devoid of an inner skeleton but Mr. Clarke’s
;
removed much of the difficulty of the diagnosis, researches, though of too special a character for
and helped, with the external characteristics, to further notice here, sIioav that the brain of the
indicate the true relations of the fish, which Mr. cuttle-fish is of a higher stamp of organization than
Lankester has named Didymaspis (cdovfioc, twin, was formerly supposed.
and danic, shield). Silk-worm culture is not simply an interesting
In the department of botany microscopists have pursuit for the dilettanti, it is a business of as much
not been idle. Herr Reichert has been exploring importance to the countries in Avhich it is folloAVed
the circulation of the sap in plants, and has pointed as any of the staple manufactures. Of late years,
out that of the two distinct portions of sap which hoAvever, a sad blight has fallen on the French silk-
Avorms, and has materially damaged the silk-trade.
* The Geological Magazine, April. , To discover the cause of this was of the most vital
Nature and Art. May 1.
—
OUR BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 145

Nature and Art, M.y 1, 18(7.]
interest,and therefore several French chemists and One M. Donne’s experiments is extremely in-
of
microscopists undertook the examination of the teresting. He took a hen’s egg, and having pierced
diseased and healthy worms. The result has been it with a red-hot needle, and allowed a portion of
the discovery of the exciting cause of the disease. the contents to escape, he lilled the space left by
It has been found that the infected worms contained, the evacuated contents with distilled water. Sealing
scattered through their tissue, a number of minute up the aperture hermetically with wax, he left the
bodies, probably spores or germinating particles of egg exposed to a temperature of from 17° to 24
some low vegetable organism, and which have been of the centigrade thermometer* for about live
termed pebrine corpuscles. They are of a peculiarly days. He then removed the seal, and placing a
vibrating character, and if they happen to be present drop of the egg-fluid under the microscope, he found
in the egg, they are sure to be found in the body it swarming with minute organisms termed vibrios.
of the future caterpillar. It was thought that they These are either animal or vegetable science has
;
were gregarinida, but such a supposition is incorrect. not determined which but they are certainly living
;
That they are vegetable spores, which are capable creatures, and if they were not derived from the
of producing fermentation, and thus of decomposing atmosphere, which generally contains their eggs in
the vital fluids of the silk-worm is clear, from an abundance, they must have proceeded directly from
experiment made by M. Becliamp. M. Bechamp the decomposing matter of the egg. M. Donne’s
removed some of the fluid from a caterpillar in- facts are the most difficult to refute which have yet
fected with pebrine corpuscles, and placed it in a been put forward, and go nearer to destroy our
solution of sugar and water. The result was that belief in Harvey’s maxim, omne vivimi ex ovo, than
alcoholic fermentation soon took place. Though any which have been yet presented to us.
not directly referring to microscopy, it may be Adulteration is another subject concerning which
mentioned that the source of these pebrine corpuscles the microscope provides us with useful information.
has also been discovered by the French observer It was frequently had recourse to by Dr. Hassall
we have named who states that it is the wet or during the labours of the memorable Lancet
moist mulberry leaves with which the worms are Commission, and only the other day it was em-
fed. “ He took a number of worms from good ployed for a similar purpose in France. M. T.
healthy eggs, and divided them into two batches. Boussin has found that almost all the French soft-
One of these he fed with mulberry leaves, and to soaps, which should consist of potash and the acids
the other he gave leaves highly charged with of fat, are extensively adulterated with starch.
moisture. He found that all those of the batch Starch consists of extremely fine particles of an
fed with dried leaves passed through their meta- ovoid shape, and presenting a number of concentric
morphoses ; whilst those in the other series coats. M. Boussin suspecting the presence of
perished.” * adulteration in the soaps examined by him, placed
There is no subject which has of late attracted a small portion in the field of a microscope, under a
more attention from savants, especially in France, power of a quarter of an inch focus. He soon per-
than that of spontaneous generation. In its investi- ceived the starch granules in very lai’ge number,
gation the microscope has been extensively used, and presenting their characteristic shape, wrinklings,
and, according to both advocates and opponents of and series of consecutive layers, t
the theory, has furnished very valuable evidence. We
have already disposed of the space allotted
Besides M. Pouchet, the great supporter of the to us in discussing the results recently achieved in
doctrine of heterogeny, the theory has found a new the labours of microscopists. The second portion
advocate in M. Donne, who, in a recent number of of our subject, therefore —
that relating to the ad-
the Comptes Rendus of the French Academy, calls vance made in the invention of microscopic ap-
attention to certain experiments made by him, and paratus and appliances —we must defer to our next
which lie thinks establish beyond all question that number.
—
organisms living vegetable and animal forms
spring directly from decomposing animal matter.
* Equivalent to about 62° and 75° of Fahrenheit’s ther-
mometer.
# Popular Science Review, April, p. 237.
f See the Chemical News, April 5th.
OUR BRITISH BUTTERFLIES:

Their Structure, Habits, History, and Foreign Relatives.
By Arthur Gardiner Butler, F.Z.S.
PART I.
N a former paper we have endeavoured to show colouration ; and as it appears to us that the study
I how closely some foreign butterflies resemble of British Butterflies, with regard to their structure,
our own : we now propose to point out how far habits, &c., has been but imperfectly worked out,
some allied species excel ours in beauty of form and we shall strive to do something towards the attain-
ii. L
14G OUE BEITISH BTJTTEBFLIES. Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
ment of a more thorough knowledge of these beau- flies.* It feeds upon wild carrot ( Daucus carota),
tiful insects. The lovely butterfly that comes first fennel (
Anethum fceniculum), milk parsley ( Pence -
on our lists is known to naturalists as the Papilio danvm palustre), and other TJmbelliferse.
Macliaon of Linnaeus, but more popularly under the The bright yellowish green, slightly
chrysalis is
titleof the Swallow-tailed it exceeds all the other darker in some parts, and is generally found
British forms in size, and, when flying near the attached to grass stalks by a thread round the
ground, its sailing, rook-like flight gives it the op- middle, and a small web at the end of the
portunity of exhibiting all its beautiful and simple tail. When the butterfly is nearly ready to
colours to great advantage. emerge, the pattern and colouring of the upper
Never shall we forget the day when our eyes first wings and body may be distinctly seen through the
feasted on that glorious sight —
the Swallow-tailed thin shell-like covering. The wings are then
upon the wing. It had been a drizzling, misty always very small and thick. At the time of trans-
morning, and even as we left home the fine sleety formation, the chrysalis first splits longitudinally
rain came down in fitful showers, which, contrasting from the head to the end of the thorax. The
with the warmth of the atmosphere, annoyed us hairs of the back are first seen to appear through
—
with their prickly chillness a tiling, by the bye, the narrow opening, and gradually the head begins
well calculated to produce sneezing-fits. did We to rise encumbered by its imprisoned antenna!
not dare to hope for butterflies, though we did which, in the chrysalis, lie along the edges of the
occasionally come across some few stragglers of wings. Then the thin envelope cracks at the sides,
the poor hardworking honey-bee, carrying their the under anterior portion is forced away from the
sweet burden through the damp, heavy atmosphere upper part, the legs begin to appear two at a time,
having arrived at a clover-field, we stood watching the antenna' are released and brought forward, and
the wide expanse of purple flowers, when an object the long proboscis is uncoiled ; the opening
met our view, soaring aloft, then sweeping the field gradually enlarges, and the insect, bringing its legs
like some small bird of prey in search of a victim. into action, soon draws itself from its place of
As it approached, we could perceive that its wings confinement; and, can we add, “flies away to
were of a yellow colour and it soon settled not
;
enjoy the pleasures of sunshine and nectar.” Not
many yards from our feet. One moment and it so ;
there is much to do yet ere it can attain to
would be a captive to open our umbrella-net,
: such aerial joys. Its wings are now small,
rush forwards, and swing it round, was the work of shrivelled, thick, and heavy with moisture ; there-
an instant. But “there is many a slip,” says the fore our butterfly runs up the nearest wall or
old proverb —
a brother’s net met ours with a crash, upright stem, and, hanging its wings downwards,
and we perceived that the fluttering prisoner was sits quietly for several minutes, and now those
his prize. That very morning a second specimen beautiful organs of locomotion begin to increase in
was beneath his net, but, in his excitement, lie size so rapidly, that a sharp eye may even detect
raised the gauzy prison, and away soared the freed their growth. If closely examined at this stage, it
insect into the now blue sky, and rapidly disappeared will be seen that the nerves, or veins of the wings,'
from sight. are filled with a liquid which, being forced into
Strangely enough, all the Swallow-tailed butter- them, radiates through exceedingly minute nervelets
flies that we have seen on the wing have come over the entire surface of the wing which, being ;
across our path whilst collecting at Herne Bay, a formed of two delicate and distinct tissues, is at
place not mentioned in any list of localities for the this time slightly swollen, balloon fashion and ;
insect. One year we saw seven specimens, and thus, in about twenty minutes, the wings attain
several others have been both seen and chased by the required dimensions. When they are nearly
us during subsequent visits to that place. full-grown, the insect commences to open and shut
The genus Papilio, to which this species belongs, them, which prevents them from clinging together ;
is a widely distributed and most beautiful one. after which it remains perfectly quiet until they
Many of its forms very nearly approach the Swallow- are firm and ready for flight. The butterfly
tailed in pattern and coloration but as, in the
;
then commences to flutter (some moths will do this
present series of papers, our object is not merely to for many minutes), and, after taking a wheel in
point out similar forms, we have chosen, as a repre- the air, as if to satisfy itself of the reality of its
sentative of this species, a very beautiful insect newly-acquired powers, it flies away to the enjoy-
from New Grenada, which is described and figured ment of life and pleasure.
by Mi Hewitson, in
1
. his “Exotic Butterflies,” under The wings of the genus Papilio possess a more
the name of Papilio P)ioxippus. perfect set of veins than those of any other group
The caterpillar of the Swallow-tailed is green, of butterflies, and, on that account, they have been
having each segment of the body encircled by two so frequently employed to explain the names of
black bands, the hinder band with a row of six their various branches, that it would be useless for
orange spots. The head is furnished with a reddish us to repeat the oft-told tale. We
would therefore
forked appendage, which, when the creature is refer all inquiring minds to “Westwood’s British
terrified, emits a strong-scented fluid and by this
;
means it is said to protect itself from the attacks

* The disagreeable odour of caterpillars is a great pro-
of those destructive parasitic insects, the ichneumon- tection from the attacks of birds, lizards, and many other
foes.
A rt May 1. 1867,
-
[
N atcu?e ancl. ,
— —
Nature and Art, May 1, 18G7.]

THE VALE OF CASHMERE. 147
Butterflies,” where they will obtain any extra feelers,by means of which the tongue is partially
information they can require. Our figure is concealed when at rest, are singularly small and
traced from the wing itself, which we had pre- curiously constructed.
viously denuded of the scales in the following The caterpillar may be found from June to
manner :
August. The chrysalides can be obtained for a
With a preparation of gum-lac, dissolved in few pence from almost any dealer in objects of
spirits of wine, stickyour wing down upon a jnece natural history. The perfect insect appears from
of card. When it has thoroughly dried, which May to August, and may be taken in fens near
will probably be in an hour or two, dip a camel-hair Cambridge, Norwich, Yaxley, Burwell, and
pencil in a solution of gum-arabic, and work it Hornsey Whittlesea Mere, at Pulborough, in
;
carefully about, over the surface of the wing. This, Sussex, and at Herne Bay, in the Isle of Tlianet.
after a short time, will remove the scales; after
which wash the wing in clean water, and repeat the Explanation op Plate.
process for the other side. By this means you may Fig. 1. Papilio Machaon (Linn).
render the wings of butterflies quite transparent, ,, 2. ,, ,, ,, (underside).
and the veins may then be clearly seen.* ,, 3. ,, ,, ,,
(caterpillar on food-plant).
The scales themselves, upon which the colouring „ 4. „ „ „ (chrysalis).

5. Wings, showing the nervures.
of all butterflies and moths entirely depends, are ,,
,, 6. Head, magnified.
in this species exceedingly variable in outline, as 7. Palpus, magnified.
,,
will be seen by reference to the plate, where all ,, 8. ,, denuded of scales.

the forms which we have been able to detect are ,, 9. Club of antenna, magnified.
10. Tip of antenna, highly magnified.
figured. ,,
,,
11. Proleg, magnified.
The legs of the Swallow-tailed are long and 12. Middle leg.
„
bristly. The two front pairs are furnished with a'
„ 13. Hindleg.
central pad-like appendage the proboscis, or ; „ 14. Scales on the wings, &c.
tongue, is long, wiry, and black the palpi, or prismatic or red scale.
a,
;
yellow scales, c commonest form.
b, c, e,
* Great care is required in preparing these wings, as the d, blue scale.
substance of the alary membrane is so brittle, especially in /, g, black scales h, yellow.
butterflies of the family Satyridce, that it is next to im- i —
p, black ;
;
o, p, marginal leg scales.
possible to avoid breaking them. ,, 15. Papilio Dioxippus , (Hewitson, New Grenada).
THE YALE OF CASHMERE.

By William Simpson.
l A SIT MERE,like many other places, has more perfect paradise upon earth. Abul Eazel, the
C J than one etymology. The usual idea is that
it is derived from Khush which means happy or
Mahomedan
hundred years
historian,
ago, describes this country.
who wrote about three
He
,
satisfied hence Cashmere is called “ The Happy

;
says, “ Violets, roses, narcissuses, and innumerable
Valley.” The Emperor Baber, in his Memoirs, flowers, grow wild.” “ The whole of Cashmere
gives another derivation. He says that “ the hilly represents a garden in perpetual spring.” Well
country of the Sinde, or Hindus, was formerly may it be said,
inhabited by a race of men named Ivas, and he
Ifwoman can make the worst wilderness dear,
supposes that, from a corruption of the name, the
Think, think what a lieav’n she must make of Cashmere !
country of Cashmere was so called, as being the

country of the Kas, the denomination mir or mere Among the many associations connected with
being still united with the names of several geo- this romantic and beautiful locality, it is no new
graphical divisions, such as Jesalmeer, Ajmeer, &c.” one that Eden may have had its place somewhere
The derivation from Khush is that generally ac- about it. “Cush” is the Hebrew word for Ethi-
cepted, because to every one it seems appropriate opia; and the Ctihon, the second river of Eden,
that it should be called “ The Hajrpy Valley.” It “ the same is it that compasseth the whole land of
realizes many of the features which Hr. Johnson Ethiopia.” It could not fail to strike any one
gave to the Happy Valley of Basselas. It is looking at the map of Cashmere, that here is a land
“ com-
enclosed like a cup between high and picturesque of Khush round which the Indus flows, and
,
”
mountains, whose beauty is celebrated, not only passeth a correct description of the geographical
is
through Asia, but all over the world. The soil is fact. it is a holy place is declared by Abul
That
so fertile, that it might be called a garden ; add Eazel “ The Hindoos regard the whole of Cash-
:
to this garden, lakes, rivers, fountains, holy shrines, mere as holy land ; forty-five places are dedicated
every variety of hill, many of them high in the Vishnu, three to Brahma, and
to Siva, sixty -four to
region of eternal snow, and to all these a tem- twenty-two to Hurga, the wife of Siva. In seven
perate and a delightful climate, and you have a hundred places the figures of snakes are carved,
148 THE YALE OF CASHMERE. [Nature and Art, May 1, 18(>7,
which they also worship.” These remains of the trasted with the cowardice and cruelties of the
worship of the serpent* are very curious, ancl much Indian mutineers.
might be made of it as an evidence but it is not ;
The reputation of the people of Cashmere is not
the purpose of the present article to express an good. Their character is proverbial. The following
opinion upon either one side or tire other. These will indicate that such is the case “ If you meet a
:
statements are cpioted to show the interest which snake, do not put it to death, but do not spare a
attaches to this part of the world, and they may Cashmerie.” “ Do not admit a Cashmerie to your
serve to explain why the tendency of thought in friendship, or you hang a hatchet over your door-
our own time is to make this central region the way.”
cradle of the human family. Near to this the “ Many fowls in a house will defile it,
Hindoo places among the unapproachable heights And many Cashmeries in a country will spoil it.”
of the Himalayas the heaven of Maha Deo from ;
whose throne + of gems there Hows the sacred Ganges, I cannot give the data of these sayings, but it is to
reputed to be one of the rivers of Eden by Jose- be hoped that they are the exaggerations of pre-
phus, in which the worshipper purifies himself judice. The government is very Oriental and
both bodily and spiritually, and desires that, after exacting in the matter of taxes, and the people are
death, his body may be thrown into it, as into the kept very poor. When the Punjaub became
way to heaven. British territory Cashmere formed a part of it, and
Cashmere itself is “holy land.” To the north is it was sold to Gholab Singh. To raise the ne-
the Hindoo Koosh. To the ear accustomed to the cessary amount of rupees he founded a system of
language of India this word Koosh, or Kooshie, taxation, which endures to the present day. The
requires no explanation it is in constant use to
: great body of the inhabitants are Mahomedan, but
express satisfaction or happiness. It was from this the Government and the Bajah are Himloo ; hence
more northern direction that the Hindoo went south, another source of objectionable laws. Maho- A
with the then simple worship of the Vedas, with medan will eat beef, but the Hindoo law makes it
the Soma j nice and the Cusa grass. The G'/icesdins, death to kill the sacred cow. The follower of the
or Chaldeans, seem to have been some peculiar prophet is allowed to eat fish, but the worshipper
order of priests or Brahmins, and modern specula- of the thirty-two million of gods will not permit
tions point to the region of the Hindoo Koosh as the dwellers of the water to be eaten. As the
the source from which they wound westward to the reason of this last restriction is curious and illus-
Euphrates* A
passage from the “Mahabharat” trative, it should be told.
will show what were the ideas of this early people. The first morning after arriving at Srinugger,
It is from an address by Chrishna to Arjuna :
my boatmen brought me some fish, and on talking
with them they explained that they had been
Hereafter, ne’er shall be the time, when one of us shall
cease to be. fishing by means of my name otherwise, they said
;
The soul, within its mortal frame, glides on through child- that they would be put in prison no native dare :
hood, youth, and age, fish on his own

account, but the sahibs were an
Then, in another form renewed, renews its stated course exception to this law. This law turned out to be a
again.
All indestructible is he that spread the living universe
result produced by a belief in the doctrine of the
;
And who is he that shall destroy the work of the Inde- Metempsychosis. When Gholab Singh died, the
structible? Brahmins declared that his soul had transmigrated
Corruptible these bodies are, that wrap the everlasting soul into a fish hence the law to save the rajah in his
;
The eternal, unimaginable soul.
For he that thinks to slay the soul, or he that thinks the
new state of existence from being hooked and
soul is slain,
devoured. When my boatmen brought me fish
Are fondly both alike deceived. It is not slain — it slayeth again I always made a pretence of being very
not wanted to know if they had caught the
particular,
It is not born — it doth not die ;
past, present, future, know Bajah, and expressed decided objections against
it not
Ancient, eternal, and unchanged, dies not with the dying
breakfasting off the father of the present ruler of
it ”
frame. Cashmere and Jummoo. If “ cold missionary
could have been added to this transmigrated Bajah,
The associations and ideas of those ancient days what a choice bill of fare it would have made !
contrast strongly with the realities of the present. This association of ideas I could not explain to my
The ideal Greek of Homer and the reputed cha- boatmen but whenever I made inquiries about the
;
racter of his modern successor are no less at variance fish, a sly smile of satisfaction appeared on their
than is the Hebrew of the Law and the Prophets faces, indicating that they were pleased at my
with him of later times. So with the people of ridicule of such an absurd law.
Hindostan the pure religion of the Vedas appears
; The trade of the country is very much fettered
in all its simplicity in opposition to the thirty-two At the passes leading from
by the heavy taxes. all
million of gods, which form the Hindoo Pantheon
Thibet there are custom-houses, where a large duty
of the present. The Pandean heroes must be con- is levied upon the pushm, the fine w’ool from which
the shawls are manufactured. This wool is all

* The serpents are called in the ancient language the
brought in from the countries to the eastward, and
nagas in Hebrew the serpent is the nachash.
Cashmere owes its celebrity for shawls to its being
f “ A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, pro-
ceeding out of the throne,” —
Rev. xxi. 1. simply the outlet of this product. There is also a
— -
Nature and Art, May 1, 18G7.] THE VALE OF CASHMERE. 149
duty upon the shawls when they are sent out of from the unnumbered lotuses surrounding it.
the country. Tea comes overland from China by We pulled the leaves of the lotus, and used them
Thibet, and pays a heavy- duty when it enters as umbrellas ; and when we could catch one of
Cashmere. It comes in large square paper packages, the seed-vessels, it was hauled on board. It is
and from its shape it is called “ brick tea.” It is like a cone, base upwards, full of seeds, which
in great demand among the more wealthy, and if are very like green peas, not only in size, but in
you go to inspect the stock of the shawl merchants, taste. Finding them very tempting to the palate,
while you are looking over his goods, he regales we continued eating as we went along. The boat-
you with “ the cup that cheers.” In preparing the men, seeing that these seeds were liked, helped
tea for themselves they put spices in it, but they us to all they could reach. We
became veritable
have found out that the “ Sahib log ” prefers it “ Lotos Eaters,” and were told that we should forget
without these condiments, and so they prepare it our own country. The reply to this was simple.
“ For
accordingly. The Nautch girls are very fond of such a place as Cashmere who would not
this beverage, and always refresh themselves with send their own country to oblivion 1” We
con-
it during their performances. The hookah is also tinued to eat this fruit of forgetfulness. There may
an indispensable necessity but this is not peculiar
;
be something somniferous in the seeds, or perhaps
to one class in India from a queen to a coolie
: it might be the heat, or the locality —
a beautiful
they all “drink” tobacco. “Drink” is the idiom lake, along which we moved among flowers “ like
by which they express the imbibing of smoke. a garden,” islands, trees, hills, snowy peaks “ sun-
During my visit to the Happy Valley, Colonel set flushed.” No paradise could equal it. Who
Seymour and Greatrex, of the Bays, arrived, and cared although the whole outer world might be
they determined to have a Nautch on a grand forgotten in such a land of beauty 1
scale. One of their objects was to realize, partly “ Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind,
for my benefit, the past times of Xoormahal and ; In the hollow lotos-land to live and lie reclined
to accomplish this, it was to take place in the very On the hills, like gods together, careless of mankind.”
building in the Shalimar in which Moore places
the scene of his story. At the time there was
We had attained to “ Nirwana,” we had reached
the final state of absorption into bliss, which is the
only one copy of “ Lalla Bookli ” known to be in
heavenly existence of Buddhism. The Mahomedan
Srinugger, and it was in great demand for a couple
enjoys in the celestial regions a supreme exaltation,
of days before the Nautch. On the afternoon of
that day I found myself sailing over the Dali, or
which he calls “ Kief.” When the Hindoo enters
lake, with General Van Cortland
t,
Avho was the
— —
Go-lok the heaven of Vishnu he will enjoy a
beatification, which he believes in as “ Moksh.”
British resident for that season in Cashmere. Moore
must have read up his subject most carefully, for But the heaven of cows could not possibly surpass
the moksh of the lotos-eater on the Lake of Cash-
his description of the lake is very truthful. He
describes it as being “ like a garden,”
mere. And who would run the risk of that
dreadful bridge Al-Sirat, when Kief can be reached
“With the rich buds that o’er it lie, without walking on the edge of a razor 1 Let any
As if a shower of fairy wreaths
Had fallen upon it from the sky ”
man become a lotos-eater on that lake, and he will
!
cease to have any doubts about the original site of

The most striking feature
is the lotus ; it is a the Garden of Eden. He will never attain to the
large flower, with rose-coloured petals, and a large true knowledge of good and evil till he has eaten
round flat leaf, which generally lies floating on the the seeds of that plant. Who
could refuse to eat
surface of the water. They were at the time in such fruit, so pleasant to the eyes as well as to the
full flower, and portions of the lake were entirely taste 1
covered by them, so thickly, that the water was not Moore gives the following extract from Forster
seen, and it looked more like a field, or, as Moore descriptive of the Shalimar :
expresses it, “ like a garden,” than the surface of a

lake. The mass of colour produced by such a —
“ One of the Delhi emperors I believe Shah Jehan —
constructed a spacious garden called the Shalimar, which is
number of flowers is very fine, and for several abundantly stored with fruit-trees and flowering shrubs.
evenings at this season the sunsets were particu- Some of the rivulets which intersect the plain are led into a
larly gorgeous. The sky made great efforts to canal at the back of the garden, and flowing through its
centre, or occasionally thrown into a variety of water-works,
rival the rose-coloured lotus on the lake •
and the compose the chief beauty of the Shalimar. To decorate this
effort was not confined to the sky, the spot, the Mogul princes of India have displayed an equal
“ Silent pinnacles of aged magnificence and taste, especially Jehan Gheer, who, with
snow
Stood sunset-flush’d,” the enchanting Noor Mahal, made Kashmire his usual
residence during the summer months. On arches thrown
and the lower ranges of hills came out in strong ov#r the canal are erected, at equal distances, four or five
suites of apartments, each consisting of a saloon, with four
crimson. I have seldom seen more beautiful sun-
rooms at the angles, where the followers of the Court
sets than those which I saw on the Lake of Cash-
attend, and the servants prepare sherbets, coffee, and the
mere. Our way over the lake was past the “ Isle hookah. The frame of the doors of the principal saloon is
of Chenars,” as Moore calls it. It derives its name composed of pieces of a stone of a black colour, streaked
from the Chunar tree, a number of which grow on with yellow lines, and of a closer grain and higher polish
than porphyry. They were taken, it is said, from a Hindoo
it. The ruins of a mosque ai’e still to be seen on
temple, by one of the Mogul princes, and are esteemed of
the island, which has a charmed look about it, great value.”
150 THE VALE OE CASHMERE. t Nature and Art, May 1, 186?.
The principal building in the garden at the and here very spot where, according to the
Avas the
present day has a verandah on two of its sides, and story, the love-sickNoor Mahal had also been a
they are constructed of a black-coloured marble, performer, and sung
with yellowish streaks ; so it is probable that they
“ If there be au elysium on earth,
are the “ pieces of stone ” to which Forster alludes. ’
It is this, it is this.’
In the illustration of the Nautch these architectural
remains are seen; the pillars, capital, and lintels There were the houris of paradise added to make
are all of this material. The building is quite our “ kief” complete and perfect. There was a
surrounded with the water of the canal, and a delightful dreamy reality, with at the same time a
multitude of jets d’eau were playing, which pro- feeling of abstraction about it. We had ceased
duced a most refreshing coolness. We bathed, and to belong to the nineteenth century we were aAvay :
had a combination of a swim and a shower-bath back at some distant period of time. Moore’s stoiy
among these jets at the same time. We had dinner was realized before us ; it was a waking, tangible
in one of the verandahs, and by the time it was dream. Had a jin or a genie appeared, no one
over darkness had set in, and those employed in could have thought him out of place. Had Ave been
the Nautch had got the whole place illuminated. asked about the Arabian Nights, Ave Avould have
This is done in India in a very simple and effective expressed our perfect faith in the truth of the Avhole
manner, by a lot of small cups, called chirdgs, into thousand and one stories. We Avere Avilling to
which there is a wick, and some oil. These chirags believe in Ormuzed and Ahrimanes, and all their
Avere placed all round upon the lines of stone form- armies of angels. The Peris of Paradise Avere
ing the quay of the canal, and the effect, with the —
not a matter of mere faith they were realities
jets of water playing between them, was very fine. before us. The spell was complete, and acknoAv-
At one spot they had placed some of these lights in ledged by the whole of our party. It is a good
little niches behind an artificial waterfall, so that thiug to be thus taken out of yourself to cease to —
they were seen through the Avater as it fell. This be, as it were, for the time; and I here again thank
had a very fairy-like look about it. my friends for the sweet delusion of that never-to-
Our friends had engaged all the best and most be-forgotten night.
celebrated dancing-girls in Srinugger for the occa- Dancing-girls seem to have belonged to all parts
sion, and they had all arrived. Each girl has her of the East, and Avere in existence in the most
oavii baji-wallahs, or musicians, which attend her— ancient times. They are the only class of women
generally about three performers. These, on this in the East avIio receive wliat may be called “ edu-
night, made a very large orchestra. We sat down cation ;” they have to begin when children, and are
at one end of the verandah, and Avhile Ave had carefully trained. Every rajah keeps a number of
coffee and cigars the Nautch commenced. them to entertain himself and visitors. In many
I had repeatedly seen Nautches before in various parts of India they are attached to the temples, to
parts of India, and I had formed the usual opinion sing to the god, and perform at the ceremonies
of them, that they were dull, wearisome perform- these girls are called “ Moorlees.” The Greek and
ances ; but I must declare that the display of this Etruscan vases are familiar illustrations of dancing
evening Avas an exception to all that I had seen. women at religious ceremonies. In the Bible we
The Cashmere music, instruments, and performers, find that “ Miriam the prophetess, the sister of
are much more like our ideas of music than Avhat Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand and all the ;
one hears in other parts of India. No doubt but Avomen went out after her with timbrels and Avith
this had the effect of taking away the monotony dances.” The dance and the song always go to-
which everyone complains of at such exhibitions. gether; the dance is a series of movements of the
Add to this that the dancers had high claims to body, meant to express more fully the meaning of
beauty; the Avomen of Cashmere have long been the words sung. It is suiting the action to the
celebrated. It has always been to the harems of word. It is far more like acting, than our Western
Delhi what Circassia is to the seraglios of Con- ideas of dancing. The feet are only used to jingle
stantinople. Many of the women are as Avliite in the bells attached to them. It would be difficult
the skin as if they had been born in Europe. in a short space to give an idea of the songs which
“ Goolee,” the name of the principal performer of they sing ; their character differs very much they ;
the evening, could boast of the roses on her cheeks. range from mere doggerel to the songs ot Hafiz.
She was the Noor Mahal of the evening, and well There Avas a very favourite song called “ Angrezzie
she merited the title. I can never forget that mat balo beebee,” which means “ Don’t speak
night. On talking it over afterwards, Ave all con- English, Girl ” It would be difficult to explain avIiv
!
fessed to have been under the same spell of enchant- it was a favourite, but the same difficulty would
—
ment. Perhaps it was the lotos-eating or perhaps be found to explain Avliy many of the popular songs
the good dinner which we had just disposed of at home here are favourites. This particular one
produced the effect ; perhaps it was the fairy-like might rank, for poetic merit, Avith “Jim Ctoav ;” and
effect of the place, Avith its fountains and lights. like that once celebrated melody, it could be easily
All was heightened by the music and the beautiful altered by impromptu verses. The great favourite
creatures moving before tis. There were the asso- Avas “ Taza ba taza,” and it is really a fine song ; it
ciations of the scene ; we had been imbibing the is by Hafiz; the ideas are good, and the words are
magic of “ Lalla Rookli on our Avay over the lake,
’
musical. The refrain of it is an illustrative speci-
— ;
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867. ]

SIGN-PAINTERS AND SIGNBOARDS. 151
men of what seems thetendency of Oriental rhyme “ Hum jins, ba hum jins, purwhz ;
the words are “ Taza ba taza, non ba nou,” which Kubootro ba kubootre, baz ba baz.”
means, “ Fresh and fresh, new and new.” The By this repetition, every syllable seems to rhyme,
peculiarity the repetition of the same sound,
is
and the style must be well adapted for lyric
producing as it were, a rhyme within a rhyme; poetiy. These lines may be translated as,
reminding one of that richness of effect which they
produce by a repetition in their wonderful orna- Kindred souls together walk :
Dove with dove, and hawk with hawk ;

ment, not only in architecture, but in shawls and
all their gold and silver work. There is an oft- or, in the words of the old proverb, “ Birds of a
repeated verse from Hafiz, which will still further feather flock together.”
show this feature of Oriental rhyme. It is,
SIGN-PAINTERS AND SIGNBOARDS.*
ALTHOUGHwhen
distant date)
signboards, in these modern days, are very
unimportant objects, time was (and that at no very
they were far otherwise. When streets
made a member
J.
who also
of the Royal Academy at its foundation,
Baptiste Cipriani, a Florentine coach-painter (nb. 1785),
became a Royal Academician of London, S. Wale,
were unnamed and houses unnumbered, when the majority R.A. (ob. 1786), painted the celebrated Falstaff * and
who
of passers-by in even the busiest thoroughfares were unable other signs, the principal one being a full-length of Shak-
to read, and when particular trades were grouped in colonies speare, about five feet high, which was executed for the
in particular localities, it was necessarily a desideratum to door of a public-house in Little Russell Street. It did not
give every shop a name or token by which it could be dis- hang long before it was taken down, in consequence of the
tinguished and customers referred to it. Reading, as we act for removing signs and other obstructions from the
have just remarked, being a scarce accomplishment, to write London streets, and such was the change in public appre- 1
up the owner’s name would have been of little use. Some, ciation consequent on the new regulations, that the sign
indeed, whose names offered the chance, advertised them by was sold for a trifle to Mason, the broker, in Lower Gros-
a rebus, such as the hare and bottle for Harbottle, and two venor Street, where it stood at his door for several years,
cocks for Cox a custom not uncommon in the days of the
; until destroyed by the weather and rough usage. Lamb
Romans, not only on signboards which were then in common was another sign-painter of note, so also was Gwynne,
use, but on the votive tablets of the dead. Others, whose originally a coach-painter, who acquired some reputation for
names no rebus could represent, adopted the tools of their his marine pieces. R. Dalton, Keeper of the Pictures of
calling, or pictorial objects and as the talents and ima-
;
King George the Third, had been apprenticed to a sign and
ginative powers of the artists were, it may be presumed, coach-painter, so also had Kirby, afterwards drawing-
rather limited, colours were often introduced, in heraldic master to George the Fourth when Prince of Wales. Wright,
parlance, for a “ difference.” Size, quaintness of design, the marine painter, Smirke, R.A., and many others might
and costliness, were also eagerly sought after for the sake be also named.
of distinction. Besides these, we have the “ great professors,” as Edwards
Of the sign-painters of the middle ages, we have little calls them in his “Anecdotes of Painters,” at the head of
information ;
but about two centuries back, Harp Alley, whom stands Hogarth, whose “ Man loaded with Mischief ”
Shoe Lane, and similar localities, appear to have been the (a drunken wife, a monkey, and a magpie) may still be seen
head-quarters of these artists. Here Barlow, Craddock, at 414, Oxford Street, where it has been for many years
and others, whose names are now forgotten like their works, included among the fixtures in the lease of the premises.
had their studios, and produced some good signs, both R. Wilson, R.A., painted the “ Three Loggerheads ” for an
carved and painted. A few signs, however (according to ale-house in North Wales, which gave its name to the village
the Spectator), were produced by artists of a superior class. of Loggerhead, near Mold. George Morland, Ibbetson, and
The latter were often coach-painters, who united both David Cox, executed a few works of this kind. Harlow is
branches of art. The panels of the unwieldy coaches of our said to have painted a front and back view of Queen
ancestors in these days, as well as of the sedan-chairs then Charlotte for the New Inn, Epsom, to settle a score he had
so much in use, were often a mass of costly blazonry ; and run up. The portrait was in Sir Thomas Lawrence’s most
when these herald-painters turned their attention to sign- courtly style, and signed in the corner T. L., Greek Street,
painting, they generally produced something good. Soho. When Lawrence heard this, he is said to have flown
Such was Clarkson, to whom Mr. J. T. Smith, the anti- into a rage, and declared that if Hai'low were not a scoundrel,
quary, assigns the beautiful sign of Shakspeare, which he would have kicked him from one street’s end to another,
formerly hung in Little Russell Street, Drury Lane, and for whereupon Harlow coolly remarked he trusted that, when
—
which .£500 were paid, certainly a handsome price, when Sir Thomas should have quite made up his mind about the
we remember the beggarly remuneration too often given for matter, he would choose a short street. Herring is reported
both artistic and literary work in those days. Such also to have painted some signs —
the “ Flying Dutchman,”
was Catton ( obiit 1788), who painted several good signs, Cottage Green, Camberwell, and the “White Horse,” at
particularly one of a lion, for his friend Wright, a famous Doncaster. Among others, Millais is said to have painted a
coach-builder of Long Acre. This picture, after weathering “St. George and Dragon” for Vidler’s Inn, Hayes, Kent;
many a storm, was still visible in J. T. Smith’s time. A Horace Yernet, also, has the name of having produced more
“ Turk’s Head,” also by Catton, was long admired as a than one in his younger days.
mercer’s sign in Covent Garden. J. Baker (ob. 1771), who So, also, in former times, eminent artists occasionally
studied under the same master as Catton, and who was
'*
Near the West Gate, Canterbury. The reader may
* “History of Signboards.” By J. Larwood and J. C. remember the display of popular feeling caused by the
Hotten. London Hotten, Piccadilly.
: 1866. removal of this relic a couple of years back.
152 SIGN-PAINTERS AND SIGN-BOARDS. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
condescended to these trifles.In the Museum at Basle are or azure would soon become the “Red or Blue Lion.” We
two paintings by Holbein, said to have been intended as a have examples of such a practice in old signs like the
sign for a school. A Correggio in the Sutherland collection “ Talbot ” (the crest of the Talbots), the “ Bear and Ragged
(Mule and Muleteer) is understood to have been painted for Staff” (that of the Warwick family), and in family arms,
an inn sign, and a similar story is told of the “Bull” of as the “Beaufort Arms,” the “ Courtenay Arms,” &c.
Paul Potter * in the Museum at the Hague. Watteau Sometimes the signs had a party significance. Thus,
painted a îgn for a milliner, on the Pont Notre Dame, which the “Red Lion” was a favourite badge of the Lancastrian
was deemed worthy of being engraved. Many more faction, being the arms of Constance, the daughter of Pedro
examples might be given : but we must turn to the signs the Cruel, King of Castile and Leon, and wife of Henry IV.
themselves. Hence its frequent occurrence in English coat-armour,
The remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii present us hence perhaps also its popularity as a sign. In some cases,
with many of the signs in use among the Romans thus, we ;
as our authors suggest, when combined with the Castle, it
have a goat, the sign of a dairy, a mule turning a mill, may have had no reference to heraldry, but have been a
apparently that of a bakehouse a boy receiving a castiga-
;
copy of the brand of Castile and Leon on the wine-casks,
tion with a veritable birch, evidently denotes a school. and used as an indication that Spanish wine was “ to bo
Some of these were painted, but more frequently they were had within.”
terra-cotta relievos let into the pilasters of the shop front. The “White Hart,” the “Falcon,” the “Cannon,” and
Another sign of which we have frequent notice in Latin many kinds of Lions, were all in their day royal badges so ;
writers is the Bush, whence wo derive the proverb of later were the “ Swan,” * the “ Greyhound,” and the “Antelope.”
days So also was the “ Welsh Dragon,” which seems to have
“ Good wine needs no bush.” been a favourite sign with apothecaries, possibly from its
being the alchemistical sign for the drug mercury. The
Itwas usually of Ivy, a plant sacred to Bacchus. This custom “ Caduceus,” under the name of the “Brazen Serpent,” was
was copied by our mediaeval forefathers, and as late as the a favourite sign with the booksellers of the sixteenth
days of Taylor, the water-poet, a bush on a pole appears to century, not only in England, but also in France and
have been one of the commonest indications of a tavern. Germany, and thus often occurs as a colophon in old
Many examples occur in the works of Wouvermanns, and books. Crosses f were also in common use, probably from
the custom is still occasionally resorted to in the backwoods these emblems being the distinguishing badges of different
of America and up the country in South Africa, where a knightly orders; thus, the Knights of St. John wore white
bundle of straw or grass on a pole advertises accommodation crosses, those of the knights of St. Lazare were green, those
for man and horse. In the Tudor days these erections of the Templars red, those of the Teutonic knights black.
were known as “ ale poles,” and appear to have been often Religious signs were very common in the fifteenth and
very elaborately ornamented, as in the “ ale stake ” in front sixteenth centuries. The “ Virgin,” which may still be seen at
of the “ Nag’s Head in Chepe,” in the prints of the entry of Ebury Hill, near Worcester, was a favourite sign. Taillemant
Mary de Medici. de Reau speaks of a miraculous tavern-sign of the Madonna
The barber’s pole is another mediaeval sign, for both the in the Rue Notre Dame, in Paris, which was seen to shed tears,
pole and its use are figured in more than one MS. The and which was removed by order of the archbishop of Paris.
patient who was to undergo phlebotomy had to grasp the Others of these old signs appear to modern notions to trench
pole to make the blood flow more freely, and as the pole on the blasphemous, though examples of this kind may still
was liable to be stained with blood, it was painted red. be met with abroad. The early booksellers, whose trade
When not in use it was hung outside the door with the lay chiefly in religious books, delighted in figures of saints ;
linen bandages round it, hence in later times it came to be but at the Reformation, when the Bible became in great
painted with stripes of red and white, or blue and white. request, it appears to have become the popular symbol of
It was stated in a debate in the House of Lords, in 1797, the book trade. Adam and Eve, the Deluge, Old Pharaoh,
that there was a statute then in force, requiring barbers to Abraham’s Offering, Balaam’s Ass, and many other scrip-
show a blue and white pole, and surgeons (barber surgeons) tural subjects occur as signs for various places in the
a similar pole, with a brass basin and a red flag or rag. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, having probably been
basin alone is still used for a barber’s sign in Scotland, suggested by the old mysteries and miracle plays, which by
while in Holland the three gold balls seem a favourite device the way were often reproduced in shows long after the Re-
with the perruquier.
The three balls, now gilt, but originally blue, were a part
—
formation. The “ Salutation,” so common why we knownot
—
-
in seaport towns, originally represented the angel saluting
of the arms of the Medici family, from whose states came the Virgin Mary. It was changed by the Puritans into
most of the earliest dealers in pawns. Pawnbrokers appear, the “ Soldier and Citizen.” “ Heaven ” was a place of
however, occasionally to have used other devices. Balls of entertainment near Westminster Hall, on the site of the
various colours were used by dealers in medicine, fortune- present Committee-rooms of the House of Commons. Pepys
tellers, and quack doctors, possibly from their resemblance
mentions in his diary having dined there in the winter of
to the divining crystals to which such magic properties were 1660. “ Paradise ” was another house in the same neigh-
attributed. At night they used lamps of the same colour bourhood and “ Hell ” and “ Purgatory ” were two under-
;
as the balls on their signs, whence most probably the red ground passages or cellar’s.
lamps of our chemists’ shops. The true signs, however, The well-known sign of the “ Man in the Moon ” is sup-
were either suspended from an iron bar, or hoop f fixed to posed to have originated in a kind of semi-religious legend,
the front of a shop, or to a post or obelisk before it, or and therefore requires a brief notice here. The idea is said
depended from a small triumphal arch spanning the approach. to have been suggested by the incidents given in the Book
The ironwork in these cases was often very elaborate. of Numbers, xv. 32 et seq. Not content with having stoned
Coats of arms, crests, and badges, were used at an early the man, the legend also transported him to the moon.
period as signs. One reason for this no doubt was that, in Other writers imagine that the legend refers to Cain, who was
the Middle Ages, the houses of the nobility both in town asserted by popular superstition to have been transferred
and countrjq when the family was absent, were used as
.
to the moon. Whoever he may be supposed to represent,
hostelries for travellers. The family arms always hung in the man in the moon with his bundle of thorns, his lantern,
front of the house, and the most conspicuous object in the and accompanying dog, has not only had a fair share of
arms probably gave a name to the establishment among signboard popularity, but has been celebrated in innu-
travellers innocent of heraldic lore, with whom a lion gules
merable songs.
* Intended for a butcher’s shop. The Swan was used as an emblem of Luther, hence
*
f Hence such signs as the “George (Saint) and Hoop,” its occurrence in place of a vane on the steeples of Lutheran
the “ Mitre and Hoop,” the “ Cock and Hoop,” “ Hen and churches.
Hoop,” &c., all of which we find mentioned in the fifteenth f Both the cross and the chequers were Roman trade-
century. signs, the latter apparently for gambling-houses.
—
Nature aud Art, May 1, 1867.] SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS, SUFFOLK STREET. 153
We must, however, now pass on to humorous and mis- military towns, was probably a snug recess in the town
cellaneous signs, selecting them at random from the curious walls, devoted to suttling purposes. have
It is also said to
and entertaining volume before us, which, though containing been a round hole in the wall of the debtors’ prison in the
notices of nearly 2,000 signs, is still confessedly incomplete. Fleet, through which they were permitted to receive alms,
The “ Pig and Whistle ” was an old and favourite one.
-
broken victuals, &c. # The “ Toby Philpot,” the authors
It is figured in the Harleian MSS. (fifteenth century), and explain by the following extract from the Gentleman’s
still Macclesfield, Coventry, and other
lingers at Chester, Magazine, December, 1810, which we commend to the notice
old towns. In one of the stalls of Winchester Cathedral, of lecturers on “total abstinence.”
is a carving of a sow sitting on her haunches blowing a “ Died at Ewes farmhouse, Yorkshire, Mr. Paul Parnell,
whistle while another plays a fiddle, close by a small porker farmer, grazier, and maltster, aged 76; who during his life-
is attentively listening to the maternal performance. A time drunk out of one silver pint mug upwards of .£2,000
good deal of learning has been displayed in endeavouring to sterling worth of Yorkshire Stingo being remarkably
;
account for this device, some writers supposing the name to attached to Stingo, home-brewed, of the best quality. The
be a corruption of the “ Pix and Housel,” or of the “ Pig calculation is taken at twopence the cupful. He was the
and Wassail.” Others claim for it a Dano-Saxon origin, bon-vivant whom O’Keefe celebrated in one of his Baccha-
“ Pige-Washael,” “Our Lady’s Salutation.” The Scotch ”
nalian songs, under the name of Toby Philpot.’
‘
also assert it to be their own, pig being a pot and whistle Those of our readers who are acquainted with the rural
a name for small change. Possibly, as Mr. Hotten observes, parts of the Isle of Wight may have noticed that the “ Bugle”
it was after all but a freak of some mediaeval artist, a re- is there a common sign with wayside inns, and often
mark which may apply equally well to the old Hampshire associated with the figure of a Ball. This Mr. Hotten tells
sign, the “ Cat and Fiddle.” Animals in boots appear to us is traceable to the old English word Bugle, applied to
have been originally used by shoemakers, in Holland, where the wild cattle at one time plentiful in many parts of our
they are still common as signs. One may be seen on a Island. The letters of the alphabet from A to Z were,
tavern in Rotterdam with the following legend forty years back, the sign of a tavern known as the ABC,
j
“ In den golaars don ezel zeer kloek. in Clare Market. “Great A” occurs as an inn sign in
Norfolk. “Little A” was a tobacconist’s in Leadenhall
Yerkoopt men tobak, brandewyn, en kraplcoek.”
Street; Z, the initial of Zinzibar (ginger), was a grocer’s
“ This is the valiant jackass in boots. sign. We
have also the “ Sneezing Cat,” the “ Flying
Here sell we tobacco, brandy, and gingerbread.” Monkey,” the “ Ass in a Bandbox ” (at Nidd, near Knares-
borough), the “ Hunchbacked Cats ” (at Lille), the “Gaping
There is a Puss in boots near Dudley, and a Goat in
boots in Fulham Road, Chelsea.
Goose” at Leeds, the “Loving Lamb” at Dudley, the
“ Cow and Snuffers ” at Llandaff, “ Old Careless ” at Staple-
The “ Good Woman,” represented by a lady minus her
ford, “Slow and Easy” at Lostock, “Spite Hall” at
head, was a figure much used by oilmen,* and is said to have
Brandon, “ Old No ” at Sheffield, the “ Monster,” the
originally depicted some decapitated female martyr, though
“ World’s End,” the “ World Upside Down,” the “ Finish,”
since construed into a satire on the sex. The “Honest
Lawyer,” a gentleman of the long robe, in a similar pre-
and many more. We
must, however, ourselves make a
finish in commending to the reader’s notice the lines in
dicament, is also recorded as existing. “Nobody ” was the
“No-place” Gay’s “ Trivia,” which are still applicable to many an old-
sign of Trundell a well-known ballad-printer.
fashioned town, both at home and abroad,—
may still be found in Plymouth, “ No-where ” on a public-
house in Norwich, and “ ”
Why-not on one at Essington, “ Mark well the signs, for signs remain
in Staffordshire. The “ Hole in the Wall,” so common in Like trusty landmarks to the walking ti'ain.”
* Possibly as having some reference to the Parable of the *

The “ Hole in the Wall” is the familiar name for the
wise and foolish virgins, a favourite subject in the old refreshment room in the House of Representatives, at
“ mysteries.” W ashington.
SOCIETY OP BRITISH ARTISTS, SUFFOLK STREET.
A WRITER
in one of the daily journals has given great that there is much
to favour such an idea. It is this want
offence to the artists who exhibit in this institution ;
of first principleswhich makes art-criticism so vague and
and they have reason to be offended. It is not the province unsatisfactory. Painters paint from the most opposite sets
of a critic in art to go at his work like a Red Indian, and of ideas, and critics, praise or condemn from equally con-
scalp the feelings of the men whose works he chooses to tradictory points of view. Even Ruskin complains, and
attack. Criticism may be healthy enough without violating does so with a tendency to wailing, that he cannot restore
the laws of good breeding between man and man. It is an this harmony of thought, which he considers so necessary
old saying, that “ all the trees in the forest do not grow for the full development of painting and architecture.
alike ” neither are all exhibitions of equal merit.
;
There When a Ruskin fails, who will attempt to produce cosmos
is only one Royal Academy and the Exhibition in Suffolk
;
from the chaos of our present ideas on art ? If artists
Street does not pretend to be the royal favourite of Tra- are to live, they must paint and if artists paint, critics
;
falgar Square. Still, the place contains some good works, must give their opinions. The simple conclusion is in
and bears evidence of the labour of honest men and the ;
favour of forbearance. Where there is no infallible canon
fact that such men are endeavouring to live by those which we all acknowledge, let none of us individually
labours, ought to disarm such tomahawk attacks as that to dogmatize and above all remember, that the painter’s work
;
which allusion has been made. is the bread-and-butter of himself and his children.
It must be confessed that our ideas of the purpose and Having no universal church of art whose doctrines
object of Art are a little uncertain at the present day. The override everything else, we may be said to derive all the
principles of Art are quite as loose and unsettled as those advantages which belongs to dissent, in the shape of almost
relating to the doctrines, and rites of the Church, or to the infinite variety. Every mind seeks out in Nature its own
constitution of a Reform Bill. It may be possible that shrine, and there presents through the labour of the mind
religion, politics, and art are not unconnected Ruskin has
;
and the hand the devotion of the heart. And our exhi-
long held that such is the case, and it must be confessed bitions are all illustrations of this diversity of feeling and
154 SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS, SUFFOLK STREET. [Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.
thought. The collection in Suffolk Street is not an ex- this would be a first-class work. The critic is hard to
ception to this rule. Every shade of thought is repre- please one picture wants flesh-colour and careful painting,
;
sented. Suppose that we notice the pictures with some and the next has a little too much again of both these
relation to the various sets of ideas and modes of thinking qualities the middle course of perfection, particularly in
:
which are prevalent. art, is hard to attain. These remarks indicate the criti-
The Allegorical has long been, and always will be, a welcome cism Mr. Roberts’s “Tedious Sermon” (33) is liable to.
style. The countrymen of John Bunyan cannot object to It might be a little less distinct, and the faces not so much
that mode of art and in the present exhibition there is a
; cut out as they appear still, this is a good performance,
—
very clever water-colour not much more than a sketch of —
;
full of good honest work and study. The pictures by the

“A Wayfaring Man” (1029), )by Miss F. Claxton the ;
Brothers Burr are so very much alike, in almost every quality,
wayfaring man suggesting the universal man, who is a that what applies to one applies to both. They all indicate
wayfarer here below on this earth. Of the Ideal there are a masterly power and vigour ; the touch is put on with that
some examples may witches be included under this head P
; ease, indicating an experience of hand and correctness of
If so, Mr. M’Culloch’s “Tam O’Shanter” (116) might be eye, which is always so delightful to the lover of art. “ The
noticed the whirl and motion of that exciting moment
; Rehearsal ” (114), by Monro, although rough in its
J. C.
when Meg passed the “ Key-stone o’ the Brig,” is well execution, contains many good
points. “ Never had no
conceived and effectively rendered. Historical subjects are Laming” (430), by Mr. Hayllar, is an out-of-the-way sub-
plentiful and various. Mr. Heaphy’s picture of General ject to pick up, and a very good one it is it is not every
;
Fairfax and his Daughter (238) shows some good work ; the man that can catch a new idea to paint. The picture is
principal figures are very good, and the foreground incident very well rendered. A word of notice is due to Mr. Dowling,
of the hen and her chicks, one of which is passing over the who is, so to speak, a stranger come among us, and gives
edge of the general’s sword, suggests the position of danger “An Incident in the Siege of Gloucester” (566). “The
which the principal figure is placed in at the moment. It is Holiday ” (558), by Miss Walker, is a pleasant subject, and
not easy to repeat the story of a picture by the subordinate ac- the work upon it will stand a careful looking into.' Over
cessories. A very little more finish and power in this picture the fireplace in the large room there are a number of very
would give it a title to high place. “ The Beau’s Strata- beautiful little bits of painting they are too numerous to
;
gem,” by E. C. Barnes (115), from its treatment belongs particularize.

rather to the historical class than to what the French call Suffolk Street has always been strong in landscape, and
“ Sujets de genre.” It is well painted and well done in Mr. Pyne is what might be termed the Turner of the place.
every way, its fault being that it is a little too theatrical; This eminent artist has generally been ranked next to
Though much more satisfactory is his small picture to the Turner among British landscape painters, and some very
lines from Tennyson (382), generous marks of appeciation by the great master are
recorded as having been given to his all-but rival. Land-
“ Break, break, break, scape art has the two very opposite modes of treatment
On thy cold grey stones, 0 ”
Sea ! the realistic and the ideal. Turner and Pyne have practised
both. The one is the foundation of the other. In both
This is really quite an original picture, all painted in Turner has been the greatest man but in the production of
;
greys with the exception of the shawl, which might be called light, and of light grey aerial effects, Pyne has always
only a deeper grey. The solitary figure standing- by that ranked next to the great master of English landscape
simple beach raises an interest which is never felt in the painting. This power is still visible in the pictures which
larger pictures ; one does not even see the lady’s face, but Mr. Pyne exhibits, but he is not what he used to be.
the desire to see it is produced, and he would be a dull spec- Perhaps this is the result of accident if so, all lovers of
;
tator who would only desire to see the face. A walk along our own school of landscape will be glad. “Florence from
a beach like that must be by one who has something to a Villa on the Arno” (17) comes the nearest to the old
engage her thoughts, and to see the heart and to know its style of this artist : there is light, delicacy, and power.
utterance- is the sum of the interest produced by this Detail in the distance is not lost by atmospherical effect
strangely fascinating picture. The painting is simple and it is a picture in which you can mentally walk from the
broad the brush has left the colour thick and pulpy. To
; foreground into the middle distance, and on to the hills
the right of this picture is a very fine one, in which grey is beyond. —
Of the realistic school, which almost all our
again the predominating tone (383), by Haynes King. So landscape men are now, more or less Mr. E. Pettitt’s —
far as painting goes it might be said to equal the other, but Avalanche (417) is a good example, full of careful study
the single figure excites little or no interest. Miss Beales from nature much of the detail is lost by being hung so high
:
gives a picture of this same class in water-colour (918), but but high as it is, one can see the minute finish of the middle
if it had been a little less pre-Raphaelite in its treatment distance and foreground, and we may take it for granted
it would have been more effective. “ Giorgione ” (948), by that the distance is equally so. A Steam Tug towing a
J. D. Linton, is allied to this type of subject. One feels an vessel into Howtli Harbour (424), by E. Hayes, is a very
objection to this picture because it does not belong to the fine picture, the effect in the sky is glowing and expressive
English school of water-colours the juicy quality of a free
;
of atmosphere. On the Lledr (193), by J. Syer the stream
;
—
wash of colours is absent, one has to look close, to see if of light on the hill-side is finely felt and rendered this ;
it is not done with crayons still, one must not overlook the
;
artist has a fine, free touch, which is seen to great advantage
fact that it is a very fine work, carefully and very beautifully in the rocks and water. Lime Burning (574), by G. Cole,
done the faces are masterpieces of delicate touching. There
: is very effective, the blaze of light bursting out on the
is no very distinct line between this class of picture and darkness, and its play upon the figures is most cleverly
that of ordinary life subjects the historical, sentimental,
; managed, and the result is a good picture, which has the
and everyday scenes, or rustic pictures, melt into one additional merit of being out of the common. In the water
another, no line can be drawn ; so the latter class may colours, Mr. Soper has a masterly view of Brighton from
be considered as following to those just noticed. Mr. the Dyke Road (984). The greys in this picture form its
Hemsley’s “ Village Postman” (86) tells its story particu- great charm, but the drawing and composition is of high
larly well. Although rather a hackneyed subject, the pic- merit. A Highland Raid (934), by A. C. Gow, has good
ture is not so in the slightest degree. The action and expres- action and clever painting. The Nosegay (973), by A. H.
sion of the young lady tells what she is expecting. Papa Marsh, indicates the true feeling of an artist, the holly-
has got his letters, and is already deep into them ; the hocks and flowers are finely touched. Coming Clouds
relationship is indicated by the dog, who runs back to see (1012), by IV. F. Stocks, is a bit of poetic treatment.
what detains his mistress. The postman is a very good Our space comes to an end sooner than our interest in
figure, and has an expressive face a little more flesh-colour
; the Exhibition, and we regret, therefore, that many an
in the face, and a little more careful painting here and there, honest work, perhaps no less worthy than those we have
— painting which Mr. Hemsloy evidently could do, and — mentioned, must perforce pass unnoticed.
;
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867. ]

MUSIC AT HOME. 155
MUSIC AT HOME.
HE gentle Orpheus, emancipated from his winter trance, decree that “ two of a trade ” shall seldom agree upon all
T once more strikes the operatic lyre, and declares the points, but upon one Messrs. Mapleson and Gye are in sweet
musical season in full progress. Philharmonics, “ old ” and accord they both predict that crowds of foreigners will
;
“ new ” Sacred Harmonic and Choral Societies, and all

;
cross the Channel, and tarry awhile in murky London. We
miscellaneous entertainments of sweet sounds, are very well certainly manage International exhibitions better than they
in their way but the “ season,” in the strictly conservative
;
do in France, little as we were disposed to admit the fact
sense of the word, commences on the opening night at the
1
in 1862 and it may presently appear to the enlightened
;
Boyal Italian Opera, or Her Majesty’s Theatre, as the case Hottentot, the Lapland connoiseur, the musical Maori, and
may be. That all-important signal, the preliminary tap of other intelligent and unprejudiced foreigners “ from all parts
the baton on the foot-lamps, was given by Mr. Costa on .. of the globe,” that we are not behind the Gauls in the organ-
Tuesday, April 2nd. Mr. Gye certainly began well with ization of our Italian Operas. Mr. Mapleson prints his
Norma for the inaugural opera, and Madame Maria Vilda as voluminous prospectus in blue ink, and the blue-veined
the Priestess. Of all the new comers in 1866, she alone aristocratic spirit flashes through the document from end to
made a strong impression, a result due to her superb voice end. Her Majesty’s, once the “ King’s,” Theatre, “ instead
and faultless singing, for in the-matter of acting she was of copying, still leads the way,” says Manager Mapleson,
considerably below the standard. The clear, ringing, sil-
1
therefore must a grateful world bow down before the Druid-
very voice, and the wonderfully facile execution, are here ical establishment in the Haymarket, and look upon the
again ;
but the dramatic Norma is almost as far off as stuccoed temple of Bow Street as nothing more than a
before. Lucrezia Borgia we may expect to see repeated, musical mushroom. Like another “ herald Mercury on a
and the particular ordeal for the artist to pass through will heaven-kissing hill,” or like the bird of la belle France in
be Leonora, in Beethoven’s Fidelio, an opera included in full crow, may the faithful (in their mind’s eye) perceive the
Mr. Gye’s scheme for 1867. Strange to say, Madame Vilda manager of the “ old house ” revolving on its gigantic venti-
had no bouquets cash at her sandalled feet and as those
;
lator, and proclaiming to the four winds of heaven the
compliments are now so indiscriminately bestowed, she did services to civilization effected within the walls beneath.
not, perhaps, regret their absence. Two of the five gentle- Chignoned beauties in the drawing-rooms of Belgravia the
men singers engaged for 1867 made their debuts in Faust, blest, and of South Belgravia, nde Pimlico, will elevate their
performed on the 4th. M. Petit, the Mephistopheles of the pencilled eyebrows when they read, in the document referred
Lyrique, sings and acts with true French determination. to, of George Frederic Handel’s Italian operas having been
He absolutely writhes before the cross-hilted swords which given in the old theatre, burnt down in 1788 and will be
;
upset his demoniac composure ;

and he adopts all those equally surprised to find, that Bossini, as conductor of his
attitudes expressive of defiance, bravado, and sarcastic con- opera Zelmiru, Jxeld the baton over the wife of his bosom
templation, which are theatrically associated with the scar- while she played the leading part. Mr. Mapleson enume-
let-clad emissary from the lower world. He plays with the rates the composers and singers who have made or increased
transformed philosopher as the sleekest of cats does with a their reputation at Her Majesty’s, and dwells, with pardon-
mouse ; plausibly attentive to the ancient Martha, provok- able pride, upon the fact of that fascinating creation, the
ingly condescending to the lachrymose Siebel and he defies
;
Ballet, having been cradled in the old house. Candidly
the entire crowd in the market-place with contemptuous speaking, Mr. Lumley’sbold successor, has striven hard and
energy. M. Petit may be accused of exaggeration, but conscientiously in behalf of high art, and certainly has
n’importe, M. Petit is picturesque, and able to thoroughly glorious traditions to fall back upon. Verdi’s I Lombardi,
realize the meaning of the “Dio dell’ or,” and the serenade near akin to a novelty after a sleep of fifteen years, is the
“La che fai l’addormentata.” Signor Graziani’s, or Mr. opera for the first night, April 27th and the announce-
;
Santley’s still fresher laurels, will not pale before the genius ment of La Forza del Destino is evidently intended as a
of Signor Guadagnini, who makes but a languid Valentino. set-off against the attraction of Don Carlos at the other
L’Africa/ine introduced Signor Cotogni, another tuneful house. Spontini’s La Vestale i s to continue the classic
stranger, who has latterly been brought into excessive pro- chain already commenced by Medea and Ipliigenia. A young
minence by the success-mongers of Paris. He is, pro tern., Swedish soprano, Mademoiselle Christine Nilsson, with a
the swarthy Nelusko, who, with the adored and adorable brilliant Parisian reputation, will try on the mantle of Jenny
Selika, sinks into the long sleep under the fatal Mancanilla Lind here in London. With Mademoiselle Enequist, too,
tree. The manager has secured the 'privilege of bringing as a concert vocalist, the northern regions will not be badly
out in London M. Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, and Signor represented.
Verdi’s Don Carlos. Mademoiselle Adelina Patti is to sing A. serious loss has fallen upon the musical world in the
the “ gentle Capulet’s ” sorrows; and Mademoiselle Pauline death of Alfred Mellon, at a comparatively early age. No
Lucca is to be the Elizabetta di Valois of M. Gounod. The orchestral conductor in this country, or elsewhere, had a
exquisitely poetical garden scene in Faust has, of course, more complete and intimate knowledge of all the great scores
led ixs to expect great things of M. Gounod when he tunes and no man of the time was his superior in that indescribable
his lyre to the strongest of all human passions —
love. All tact by which large orchestras are held together, and full
remark upon the forthcoming, opera would be mere specu- justice is done to the noblest compositions of the old masters.
lation, but upon one point the thousand tongues of rumour As a composer, Alfred Mellon was but little known but as
;
seem unanimous, and that is, the omission of the balcony as a really practical man, thoroughly versed in every detail of
designed by that wonderful dramatic architect who rests his profession, his name was a “ household word.” He was
peacefully at Stratford-upon-Avon. There will be a Nurse, popular in every sense of the term, not only with the valse-
but to that “ ancient lady,” as Mercutio calls her, young loving public of the promenade concerts, but with amateurs
Juliet will not cry “ Anon, anon,” and steal back to the of far more cultivated taste.
'
With Alfred Mellon at the

balcony under which Eomeo waits to speak his last good head of some most important societies, it was felt that we
night. Signor Felice Bomani, Bellini’s librettist for I Capu- had a countryman as well, if not much better, able to con-
letti ed i Montecchi, ignores William Shakespeare, and duct classical works than many foreigners whose names
makes the lovers meet in the “ marble halls ” of the period. might be quoted. He worked long and perseveringly for
Musical curiosity is thoroughly awakened as regards Verdi’s the high position he was enjoying at the time of his death ;
Don Carlos, and there is every opportunity for the composer and it will be long before the whole of the void he left will
to make another strong and enduring impression upon the be adequately filled. He studied at Stuttgardt, under one
English public. of the strictest but best of masters, Herr Molique and it
;
The laws of human nature and the spirit of commerce is not perhaps generally known, that in his younger days he
15G ANTICIPATIONS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY. [Nature and Art, May 1, 180?.
played several operatic parts at the Birmingham theatre, The concert was chiefly remarkable from a faultless per-
among them were Figaro, and that nondescript travelling formance of Bach’s Triple Concerto, for pianoforte, violin,
nobleman of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, the Count. The last and violoncello, by Mr. Charles Halle, Herr Joachim, and
concert he conducted was that of the Musical Society of Signor Piatti.
London on the 20tli of March, and the concluding item of The Sacred Harmonic Society is in full and vigorous
the programme was the late Vincent Wallace’s overture to action, irnder Mr. Costa’s direction. Mr. Benedict con-
Maritana. Precisely a week afterwards he died, and on the ducted his own “ Legend of St. Cecilia,” and has now
following Tuesday hundreds of musicians, literary men, and witnessed its triumph in London as well as at Norwich and
actors bared their heads as they stood by his grave in the Liverpool.
Brompton Cemetery, and listened to the choristers singing The “Monday Popular” season closed on the 8th, and
funeral anthems. was signalized by a magnificent perform-
this final concert
The old Philharmonic Society lias no longer the assistance ance of Bach’s Concerto in D Minor, for three pianofortes,
of Professor Sterndale Bennett as conductor. At the first entrusted to Madame Schumann, Madame Arabella Goddard,
concert of the season, on March 11th, Mr. W. G. Cusins and Mr. Charles Halle. The Winter Concerts at the Crystal
passed through the ordeal satisfactorily, and that, too, in Palace are stopped for the season. At the twenty-third of
the face of reasonable prejudice. The Philharmonic Concerts the unequalled series, two movements from an unfinished
have hitherto been conducted by men known through their symphony in B Minor, by Schubert, were played for the
works, and it was unquestionably a great surprise to find first time in England, and no orchestra was ever engaged
such a young and comparatively untried man at the head of upon more exquisitely melodious and beautiful music. For
what is generally looked upon as the chief musical society most of our knowledge of jSchubert wo have to thank Mr.
of the metropolis. Every succeeding concert has apparently Manns, who certainly never did a greater service to pure
demonstrated that the choice of the Philharmonic powers art than in bringing these two “ things of beauty ” from a
has been judicious, and Mr. Cusins is to be congratulated cruel obscurity into the strongest light. The “ Grand
on a piece of good fortune that -seldom happens to so young Opera” Concerts are at hand, but for the partial consolation
a man. of those who feel severely the cessation of symphonies and
Mr. Manns of the Crystal Palace has broken the ice in great instrumental works, there are the newly organized
London, and, it is to be hoped, will frequently take up his Wednesday Concerts in the music room, where good things
proper position on the metropolitan platforms. On March are played by the ordinary band of the company, and where
28th, he brought the now famous Saturday Concert Band it is intended that young soloists, both vocal and instru-
to St. James’s Hall, at the bidding of Mr. Arthur Chappell. mental, shall constantly be presented to the public.
ANTICIPATIONS OP THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

N our last, we intimated respecting the healthof John playing and singing. The number of figures is very great,
I had too fondly hoped to be
Phillip, -what all his friends and after the eye has wandered about, admiring not only the
true, that he was out of all danger, and so far on the way to beauty of the colour, drawing, and touch, but at the same
health again, as to be at work on his Academy pictures. But time the beauty of the women, and the bright dresses of that
before our words were published death had, in a manner, period, it falls upon a carpet littered, over by a number of
rendered them untrue for he died on the 27th of February.
;
dogs of the “King Charles” breed. Some of them are
A day or two before the sad event he had called upon his friend lapping milk from a silver dish, a number of very small
Mr. Frith, and, while in the studio of the latter, was attacked pups are attempting to use their legs, which are yet feeble,
by paralysis the stroke was so heavy as to render recovery
;
— they have not got over the nine days which open the
hopeless from the first. John Phillip is now known by his canine eyes. One of these blind pups has a prominence
celebrated pictures of Spanish subjects, so much so that he evidently meant to satirize the moral blindness of the
was called “ Spanish Phillip.” His Chat round the Brasero monarch, -whose name he bears. The portrait of the king is
was exhibited last year the Young Murillo was exhibited in
;
beautifully painted but perhaps the most telling point is
;
1865, and La Gloria in 1864. These were his very finest Evelyn, who stands gazing at the scene, evidently impressed
works, showing that the man was, as an artist, in his with deep emotion.
prime. It was intended to have sent two of the pictures Elmore’s picture will illustrate the passage in Luke,
which he had been at work upon to the Royal Academy, but “ That which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be
this was found impracticable so one or two other works not
;
proclaimed on the housetops.” It is still a custom in the
exhibited before will be sent. One of his last works was a East for the women to gather on the tops of the houses,
portrait of Colonel Crealock this he was so pleased with
: where all the scandal of the place is retailed ; and when any
himself that he sent it as one of his contributions to the one has got a bonne bouche of this kind, the hands are
Paris Exhibition. Mr. Frith’s great picture of this year is clapped as a signal for the other gossips to come and hear
already historical. It was while consulting about its merits, those personalities which human nature everywhere seems to
and while giving that brotherly advice and criticism which delight in. As this is a picture which illustrates a scriptural
even such masters of the brush are used to give and take, text and a characteristic of the East, Mr. Elmore has not
that the attack first seized Phillip. A week afterwards he limited himself to any particular locality or period of cos-
was no more. tume. It is the East, and that is enough. The view of the
Frith’s picture represents Evelyn, who describes in his housetops, all white and shining, is something quite new, and
diary that he visited "Whitehall, and was amazed at the most beautifully managed. Mr. Elmore’s power of painting
scene at court, and that aweek aftenvards the ldng was dead: the figure, particularly the female face, is such that it
Evelyn has entered, accompanied by two friends, one a man requires no laudation from us.
in the middle time of life, and the other younger. The day is Mr. O’Neil’s picture of the way Titian spent a leisure
Sunday, and before them is a picture of one of the worst hour, is a very happily conceived subject. He is in a barge
periods, in point of morals, which the court of this country —
with some friends ladies and gentlemen and in the —
ever presented. Gambling is going on the king is sur- distance may be seen the well-known features of Venice,
rounded by the celebrated beauties of his time
;
the — which point out the locality of the scene.

duchess of Portsmouth, and the Italian cardinal’s daughter The other picture, an incident in the life of Luther,,
—
being most prominent while some French musicians are represents him as a monk, and a very young man ; so that
;:
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867.] MICHELET’S “ L’OISEAU.” 157
we have not the fully developed face which we are familiar Bachel. Mr. Horsley’s principal picture will be “The
with as that of the great reformer. Under the ecstacy of his Duenna and her Cares.” Mr. Cooke vibrates as usual
devotions, he is reported to have swooned on trying to get
;
between Yenice and Dutchland. Mr. Nicol finds a vent for
to his assistance, it was found that the door was looked so ;
his Irishman this season at a Eailway Station. Mr.
that force had to be used, and the monk who came to his Calderon has sent a large picture called “ Home after
assistance, knowing Luther’s love of music, called in the Victory,” from the times of the civil war. Mr. Yeames also
chorister boys, and made them sing a favourite chant, which sends a large contribution called “ The Dawn of the
had an almost miraculous effect in restoring consciousness. Eeformation.” Mr. Armitage has two pictures. Mr.
This is the point taken for the picture, and it has been Pettie has a subject called “ Treason,” and Mr. Watts .
most admirably and honestly worked out. life-sized picture of Eve. The President sends full-length
Mr. Faed has again been distilling sentiment out of the portraits of the Duchess of Sutherland and Lord Stanley.
every-day life of the humbler spheres of society and with ;
Eumour has it that the coming exhibition will be more
his usual success. When hung in the Boyal Academy, few than usually attractive. There are a great many works, not
will pass the figure of the tall blind man without a touch of only of promise, but of ripe fulfilment, by the men whose
sympathy. What the fisherman and his wife and children number is too large to be included in the body of the
evidently feel, the spectator of the picture is also, by the Academy.
artist’s power, made to feel. Such a result is a high The hanging committee for this year is composed of
achievement of art. Cope, Lewis, and Bichmond. As it is generally supiposed
Mr. E. M. Ward has a picture of Juliet and the Friar that the “ hanging committee ” perform the whole of tho
this with his Amy Robsart of last year would indicate that onerous duty of selection, as well as hanging, it may be
he has made a change in his class of subjects. It is information to state that such is not the case. There is a
right that a lady should select heroines for her pictures, and “council” of eight, with the president of the Academy as
Mrs. Ward has selected this year Joan of Arc. Creswick chairman: and all the works are submitted to them.
will have a number of pictures. Ansdell has a very large They divide the pictures into three classes, “ Accepted,”
canvas, the subject of which is “Shipwrecked Friends,” the “Doubtful,” and “Bejected,” and the initial letters of
friends being a sailor and a handsome Newfoundland dog;
-
these potent words are chalked on the back of each. The
there are, in this picture, some sea-gulls very finely hanging committee then commence their labours, and 'their
rendered, which will delight all lovers of the deep. He function is the placing of each picture upon the walls.
will also have three small Spanish and Scottish subjects. The council meet a second time to inspect the exhibition,
Millais has a picture of Jephtha's Daughter, the fine and they have the power to affirm or to change the positions
qualities of which are much talked about. Mr. Maclise allotted by the hanging committee the “ Doubtful ” class
;
will have two subjects from Shakespeare, scenes from being held as a reserve to fill up space or to substitute in
Othello and Eichard the Second. Mr. Goodall sends a case of need for subjects not acceptable to the final
subject picture of Eebekah, and a figure life-size — —
of tribunal.
MICHELET'S “L’OISEAU.”*
LIOPS have their memories, as well as the woods and by H. Giacomelli. The name of this young artist is not
S fields of our youth from the humble village sweet-shop
; entirely new
to us. The pages of the great French Bible,
to the pompous undertaker’s. Few who have had any deal- now in progress, are divided into double columns by his
ings with the latter can ever pass his door without a shudder. ornamental designs and these exhibit as much invention,
;
But the memories connected with many other shops are of a in their own way, as the cartoons of Gustave Dore himself.
more mixed character. A
hard-faced man will sometimes But Giacomelli is more than a bold and fanciful decorator ;
halt at a toy-shop, not to purchase, nor yet to recall his he can do more than study leaf and flower, and arrange
own days of rocking-horses, but to stare at some sixpenny them in tasteful folds and clusters he can put life and
;
doll with a look that must puzzle the young woman at the character into living creatures. He is a sort of French
counter. Memories, in short, are seldom gay. We
have just Bewick among the birds and his pencil can render the
;
brought a fit of the dumps upon ourselves, by recalling our cruel grace of a watchful falcon, or the busy bee-like flutter
first pleasant visits to Messrs. Hachette. We
have to of a humming-bird. He gives us many a picturesque
reckon the time back by births and deaths; and it seems episode. Here we see a rush of herons upon a wild autumn
strange that it should only be seven or eight years ago. wind there we meet a desperate owl, abroad in the daylight,
;
We were then attracted to the window, no doubt, by the hunted and dizzied by the clamorous crows. His favourite
powerful Dantesques of Gustave Dore. But what enticed scenes are meadows, or wayside brooks, or cottage gardens,
us up to the counter was a simpler picture book, a tale with their sparrows and finches or the coppice of the
;
about the mishaps of a little girl ( Mulheurs de Sophie), by nightingale, or the grove of the woodpecker and all their
;
the Comtesse de Segur. It was a good florin’s worth, and varieties of herbage and foliage are detailed with charming
helped us to make French amusing to a young scholar. Our fidelity. He has also a good eye for landscapes of broader
nursery soon became stocked with the rose-coloured library effect, whether the marsh of the bittern, or the eyry of the
(Bibliothique rose), and a volume of the Children’s Week eagle but for these we must refer our readers to the book
;
(La Semaine des Enfants) twice made a happy New Year’s itself. The whole series, we are told, will soon appear in
gift. The books are still on our shelves, not without their a new English edition, about to be published by Messrs.
memories and, before we began to offer a formal welcome
; Nelson.
to another much more important issue from the same firm, We have chosen our two larger specimens (the second of
we could not help stopping to say a word in favour of our which will appear next month) from the scenes in the
old favourites. hedgerow and we may here express our thanks to Messrs.
;
Let us now turn to the book immediately before us. It Hachette for kindly having placed them at our disposal.
is an eighth edition of L’Oisea u, by Michelet, illustrated Master Blackcap, it will be observed, is not in his most
impassioned mood he is not pealing forth those ecstatic
;
* “ L’Oiseau.” Par J. Michelet. Huitieme edition, illustree strains of courtship, which have often made him called the
de 210 vignettes sur bois, dessinees par H. Giacomelli lesser nightingale ;
he is only cheering his mate with a
Paris Librairie de L. Hachette et Cie.
: 1867. little quiet melody, as she bends over her nest to brood
158 MICHELET’S “ L’OISEAU.” [Nature and Art, May 1, 18Gf.
once more upon her treasures. She will press her soft breast sustained, has nothing to do but to let himself be borne
upon them, feeling' a strange pleasure in the pain, till she upwards. The storm comes, and raises him into the calm
can hear a faint chirp within them ; she will help her chicks, ether. The poetical metaphor is true of him, and him
one after another, to break through the shell, and then alone, —he sleeps upon the storm.” His bill is powerful,
Master Blackcap will have four or five more mouths to but his feet are weak, and partially webbed. He could not
feed. All this, we are apt to assert, is known only to our fight the eagle, but he could defy any pursuit. He can
human selves and we complacently repeat the lines of
; cross the Atlantic in a day. Yet he is not without his
Gray,— cares. His hard eyes are restless, as he sails about,
“ ’Tis man alone that joy descries, watching for his prey. He can dart upon the fish like
With forward and reverted eyes.” lightning ; but his feathers will not bear much wetting ; so
that he cannot plunge under the waves, like the Gannet.
But some animals must enjoy pleasures of memory, or else He has one resource :. he makes the Gannet work for him.
the dog would not “ hunt in dreams,” and so let us allow When the latter (poor Booby, as the seamen call him) rises
that the brooding bird may, in her turn, enjoy pleasures of with a herring in his bill, his master often swoops down on
hope. The notes of her mate, too, may convey more than him, strikes him, makes him let go his hold, and snaps up
a blind thrill of consolation to her, during her long hours the fish before it falls into the sea. Giacomelli has
of watching. We are not clever enough to understand his drawn two figures of the Frigate-bird the one perched on
:
song, any more than we can understand the debates of a a rock, with his wings in a short interval of repose ; the
rookery. But if one observes a great community of rooks other rushing' over a surging moonlit sea, in the full
breaking up in the morning, after caw-caws of every variety “ triumph of the wing-.”
of intonation, and following their several leaders to the Michelet very properly rebukes the Frigate-bird as a
right and to the left, whilst others remain at home to guard bully but he absolutely mouths when he comes to the
;
the nests, one can hardly doubt there being many meanings downright bird of prey. One day, says he, in examining
in a caw. As for ourselves, we hold that a bird’s language an anatomical collection, he came across the model of the
consists of much more than a love-note or two, a call-note, head of a viper. He was scandalized at Nature she had :
and an alarm note. Surely the gentle pair before us are so carefully provided her hideous child with the means of
looking- forward to their joys of hatching and rearing ; and killing. There was not only an armoury of pointed and
we cannot see why they should not be holding some sort of poisonous fangs, but a magazine to supply the broken ones.
converse about them. Almost equally painful, he continues, are one’s impressions
Michelet’s book is an eloquent rhapsody on the bird, its when one examines a bird of prey. His beak may strike
place in creation, its beauty and song, and its services to death home at once but his talons too often fix a writhing
;
man. He naturally begins ab ovo : and our specimen bears victim, which dies with a prolonged agony. The vulture,
the heading of his first chapter, “ L’oeuf.” In the nest indeed, frequently becomes a respectable member of society,
chapter he treats of the first development of the wing. for he turns scavenger but the eagle, Michelet concludes,
;
At its threshold the artist has placed the unshapely ice- is only fit to figure upon the banners of emperors, and
bergs of the Antarctic pole, streaked with sharp white other brigand chieftains. He is a fitter emblem for them
fantastic outlines ; the barriers of a primaeval world, than they may imagine for he is by no means a type of
;
sentinelled by solemn spectres in the form of birds. These true nobility. He whets his iron beak upon the timidest
are the penguins, bird-fislies, as the author calls them, and meanest of animals, the hare or even the mouse ; and
that have stretched their fins into scaly dwarf wings, and ho drives his young ones abroad, sometimes before they are
all to no purpose. In this solitary realm of ice they look well able to cater for themselves. The raven meets with
gigantic and imposing ; but they are poor harmless more grace from Michelet. True, he is naturally a bird of
creatures. Further on we see their northern cousins, the prey, and he was the emblem of the old Northern war-god.
Great Auks, watched by two sly Arctic foxes. They may But he can make himself at home with the modern
easily escape, if they are near the sea, and unencumbered citizen and he displays a fund of grave humour.
;
We
for, though lubberly birds, they are still able-bodied fishes. will pause for the present, after telling a short anecdote of
But we should tremble for the fate of a poor mother- him. There was one at Nantes, says Michelet, who used to
bird, such as we see on another page, squatting gravely, console himself for his broken wing by playing tricks upon
with her young one, just as gravely squatting, between her the dogs. He would sit on his door-step, looking' up and
ungainly feet. They both seem to be plunged in thought, down the street. Wretched mangy curs might go by as
and would take some time to shuffle off a yard or so. The they pleased. But whenever he saw a stately hound, or a
penguins are of various heights, from 1 foot to 4 feet. sleek lap-dog, he would pounce right on the animal’s back,
The tallest bear an absurd resemblance to short-legged and give him just two good digs with his beak. The dog
gentlemen in long white waistcoats. One might suppose would slink off, howling and crestfallen and then Balpho
;
them, says our author, to be near relations of their would resume his seat with an air of satisfaction, as grave
neighbours, the seals ;
whom they rival, not by any means as ever, and looking quite incapable of engaging in such a
in intelligence, but at least in good nature. When they facetious pastime.
first beheld man, they looked at him with placid wonder-
ment, and never thoug’ht of moving away from him. The
sailors returned the stare, almost as ignorantly, though not
quite so innocently. At their first glimpse of the penguins,
ranged on some sandy island, they had taken them for a
row of charity-school girls in white pinafores. They soon
taught the poor scholars their first lesson, the fear of man.
From birds with mere flappers we turn to a bird which is
nothing but wings. Michelet describes a stormy night on
the Atlantic. “But the black weather begins to clear,”
(he continues);
“ day returns. I see a little speck of blue
in the sky. Happy and serene region, which has been at
peace, up above the storm. In this blue speck, at the
height of ten thousand feet, floats a slight figure upon
enormous wings. A gull ? no, for the wings are black.
An eagle ? no, for the bird is small. It is the daring
voyager that never furls its sails, the Frigate-bird. With a
body hardly larger than a dunghill cock’s, he stretches out
his wings over a span of 14 feet. Such a bird, so
ICO REVIEWS, ETC. [Nature and Art, M..y 1, 1867.
REVIEWS. TO A SWALLOW.
The Rail and the Rad; or, Tourist Angler' s Guide to Waters From the Danish of Wilster.
and Quarters Thirty Miles round London. By Greville
I.
F. (Barnes). London: H. Cox, 346, Strand, W.C. 1867.
Little Swallow, whom the summer brings,
mHE little work before us is exactly that which it professes Thou hast travell'd from afar so long :
I to be, viz., “ A Tourist Angler’s Guide.” It is the first Whither wilt thou go, to rest thy wings ?
book of a series, and contains much highly useful information AVhom wilt thou enliven with thy song ?
as to the various fishing stations to be found on the border

II.
lands of the Great Eastern Railway, between London and
Waltham, together with the railway fares, distances, places Round about the meadow art thou wheeling,
of refreshment, boundaries, club charges (day and annual), Where the buds are bursting into bloom :
description of water, fish, and a host of other matters of Doubting where to hang thine airy dwelling :
equal interest and importance to the brethren of the gentle Half a stranger in thy native homo.
craft.
III.
It is, we are informed, the author’s intention to furnish
the public with a “Wander Book,” of the same description, Yonder, through the tender lime-tree leaves,
for all the lines of railway leading- from metropolitan din, Seest thou not a low and narrow door F
smoke, bustle, and restlessness, to the margins of pleasant Nestle there, beneath the cottage eaves ;
streams, where the speckled golden trout leap to still, ;

Twitter there, till summer-time is o’er.
deep, shady pools, where the greedy pike lurks in ambush
among the waving- rushes and tufted reeds and to where IV.
;
the weary son of toil may woo Nature in her most choice Never’ need thy brooding heart be beating-,
and attractive garb, drink in fresh air and new life, hear the Though a lattice open near thy nest :
soaring lark sing, inhale the perfume of sweet hedge-flowers, Thou wilt only hear a voice repeating,
and when the day of pleasant relaxation is at length ended, “ Where the swallow builds, the roof is blest,”
find his way safely and expeditiously back to the struggles
and turmoil of this work-a-day world, all the better for the V.
trip, refreshed and re-invigorated. “ Greville F.’s Guides” —
Speed thee, speed upon thy winged ways ;
cannot fail to be received as a most acceptable addition to Seek the roof above yon oottage door :
our sporting- literature. Then, if there thou bringest happy days,

Oh, how I shall bless thee evermore.
H. W.
Elijah the Prophet. A

Poem, by G. Washington Moon,
F.R.S.L., Author of “The Dean’s English.” Third
Edition. London Hatchard & Co., 187, Piccadilly, 1867.
:
In a Review, in the columns of the Builder, of Mons.

We once met an Englishman, an author of remarkable Daly’s “ Revue Generale de T Architecture et des Travaux
publics,” we find notice of a most interesting communication
talents and strong poetical feelings, who scarcely knew Elijah
to that editor from his countryman, M. Perrin, General in
by name. His childhood had passed without his ever hear-
the Siamese Army and Mandarin of the third class there.
ing- how the ravens fed the prophet by the brook Cherith.
He had himself used the phrase of the “ still small voice,” Our subscribers will be pleased, probably, to observe how
but its peculiar beauty was half lost to him, for he knew the imposing illustrations of the Siamese architecture in our
—
nothing of the context, that passage of marvellous sub- recent review of Mr. Fergusson’s great work may serve
also for the description given by the gallant general. We
limity. To such a man a fine modern poem on Elijah
might have proved a sort of revelation but it would be therefore extract the passage from our contemporary.
;
hard indeed to find a poet equal to the theme. Mr. Washing- “ He says that none would believe the numbers of marble
ton Moon has, this time at least, been tempted out of his
monuments, temples, palaces, columns, and staircases at
proper sphere he has essayed the almost hopeless task of
:
D’Ancor-viat. I assure you, believe me or not, that the

‘
expanding the grand old prose into Spenserian stanzas.

most celebrated of ancient or modern monuments are but
Fine specimens of bathos might easily be selected from
barracks near those I have seen here our palaces, our
any of the twelve cantos, but the honest enthusiasm of ;
basilicas, the Vatican, the Colosseum, are dog-kennels by

the preface disarms us. We admit, moreover, that the the side of them.’ Marble was the material of all around.
author is now and then seized with a transiept fit of inspira-
The natives informed the general that these magnificent
tion on these occasions he generally breaks loose from the
:
trammels of the Spenserian stanza. Our readers must be

ruins covered an area of ten leagues by twelve. He asks,
What city can this be P Of what empire was this the
satisfied with one example, —
the description of the chariot
‘
capital ? I have seen temples in a good state of preserva-

and horses sent to translate Elijah :
tion, except the vegetation that has encrusted them, which

“ Ethereal, yet visible for bright;
do not measure less than a league around. They have
Unto intensity through purest light forests of marble columns the whole is of marble. All
;
Indwelling, was that chariot of the skies. the walls are sculptured and ornamented. The first effect
The horses, too, were creatures not of earth ;
these monuments produced upon me was stupefaction. I
Their necks were clothed with thunder, and their eyes, wished to enter a temple which appeared well preserved.
Starry with beauty, told of heavenly birth. It had eleven flights of steps, and I know not how many
No harness fetter’d them, no curb nor girth flights each to arrive only at the first of the five peri-
Restrain’d the freedom of those glorious ones ;
styles ”
! Recovering-, the general ascended the steps that
Nor traces yoked the’jchariot at their heels, led to a high tower, and then he ascended the tower, and
It follow’d them as planets follow suns thence surveyed the ruins, where he saw mai-ble enough
Through trackless space in their empyreal courses ;
upon the ground, and below the ground, that could rebuild,
For lo the fiery spirit of the horses
! in the fashion of giants, all the cities in the universe.
Was as a mighty presence in the wheels, “ The educated natives know not to whom to impute this
And in the dazzling whirlwind which behind them flow, ruined city ;
notwithstanding that their literature goes
And caught Elijah up as sunlight drinks the dew.” several centuries back further than ours.”
— — — —
FALCONRY IN THE OLDEN TIME.
X the olden days of “merrie look to have a gentle hand kept on her, and her
England” the royal pastime keeper to be courteous and full of patience.” The
of hawking was the sport, points of a good falcon are also minutely described
—
:
par excellence of the upper

,
“A full black eye, with large lids a round head,
;
ten thousand. No knight somewhat full on the top a short thick beake,
;
renowned in chivalry armed blew as asure ; a reasonably high necke barbe;
for the tournament with feathers under the clappe of the beake a good
;
greater zeal than that with large breast, round, fleshy, strong, hard, and stiff-
which the English noble, bonded, for she gageth'her breast most at her en-
in the reign of “gentle counter.” How happily the same bird is described
Jamie,” prepared to test his skill in falconry. by Virgil :
It was a pleasant and right manly

and, sport, “ Quam facile accipitersaxo sacer ales ab alto
according to the chroniclers of the olden time, Consequitur pennis sublimem in nube columbam,
was most often sought for in the woods of Comprekensamque tenet, pedibusque eviscerat uncis ;
Turn cruor, et vulsse labuntur ab asthere plum®.”

Tottenham and the marshy lowlands surrounding
Muswell Hill. It is a sport now nigh forgotten, Thus rendered by Dryden :
but at one time how absorbing With what!

“ Not with more ease the falcon from above
enthusiasm the old writers linger on the subject :
Trusses in middle air the trembling dove,
Then plumes the prey, in her strong pounces bound
“ I count my toil and traivale but a game, The feathers, foul with blood, come tumbling to the
I deeme the days not long or spent amisse, ground.”
If so I may unto my fancy frame
This book of mine, which all of hawking is ; The “staying” power, to use a sporting phrase,
Than which there can be found no bettor blisse, of a high-bred hawk is almost incredible. It is
In my conceit, to such as love the glee,
confidently asserted that 150 miles have been tra-
And force the fields where bravest pleasures be.”
versed on the wing within the hour, and that 100
Thus, in the year of grace 1611, spoke quaint is a common performance. During these long flights
George Tuberville, a man who could not only tell much protection is afforded by the peculiar forma-
a hawk from a hernsaw, but who was a very adept tion of the eye, which is provided with a thin, half-
in the gentle sport of falconry. His book of transparent fold of skin, called the “nictitating” or
“ Falconrie, or Hawking,” published by Purfootôf winking membrane, which serves to clear the sur-
London, is a perfect gem, black -lettered though it face and protect the vision from the sun. Their
may be every particular worth knowing is there
;
length of life is also remarkable, if we may believe
recorded, and recorded in a style which marks the the statement that, in 1793, a venerable falcon was
keen sportsman as well as the intelligent observer. found at the Cape of Good Hope adorned with a
Tuberville mentions seven kinds of falcon the — golden collar inscribed with the royal name of
“ Gentle King Jamie,” and dated 1610. Although
Gentle, the Peregrine, the Barberie, the Gerfalcon,
the Sacer, the Laner, the Tunican and goes on to;
this bird had reached his 184th year, he is stated
say, “ Among them all, for her noblenesse and to have been strong and vigorous.
hardy courage, and withal the franckness of her Many curious anecdotes are related by Tuberville
mettell, I may and do mean to place the falcon and others as to the peculiar habits and strange
gentle in chief. She is called gentle from her customs of the falcon. We
may select, as the most
courteous conditions and fashions.” The gerfalcon wonderful, if not incredible, that which is recorded
is described as a bird of great force, a gallant hawk concerning the hawks of Norvega, and which cer-
to behold, strong-armed, fierce and hardy of nature, tainly marks them as the most conscientious birds
and difficult to be reclaimed. “ A
gerfalcon will of prey. It is stated with much solemnity that, at
VOL. II.— XIII. M
162 FALCONRY IN THE OLDEN TIME. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867,
the close of a long day’s .sport in winter, these each attended on by a noble of high degree. A
provident creatures invariably preserve alive the last book more curious even than Tuberville’s is “ The
bird which they have taken, in order that it may Book of St. Albans,” written in 1481 by Dame
serve to keep their feet warm during the frosty Juliana Berners, the noble prioress of the monas-
night. When morning comes, with a rare sense of tery of Sopewell. This lady loves”to dwell upon
the justice of the maxim “ one good turn deserves the most minute particulars. She shows how the
another,” they not only set their captive free, but young hawks ought to be taken when they become
mark well the course he takes, so that they may “ Branchers ”
;
how they should be blindfolded, so
not hunt in that quarter again and by accident as not to injure them how they should be cast off
;
return evil for good. and reclaimed ;

and how their true breeding may
Notwithstanding all that has been written about be determined by their mounting mid-air in
the art of falconry, grave doubts still exist on a a succession of small ci rcles until the quarry is o’er-
very important point. How does the falcon deal toppecl, and the fatal stoop may be accomplished.
the coup de grace to his quarry, when stooping 1 Is Gervasse Malcolm, another of the ancient writers,
the blow vertical or oblique 1 dealt with the front who calls the sport “ a princely and most serious
or hind talon 1 The best-received opinions seem to delight,” admonishes the readers “to gaze at hawks
be in favour of the latter mode of despatch and ; with a loving and a serious eye, so that they
certainly the formation and calibre of the hinder become familiar.”
talons favour the idea : the “ pedibus uncis” of At and in every country, the hawk
all periods,
Yirgil is also highly descriptive. Another point in appears to regard the heron as his common prey.
dispute is whether the heron ever impales the In the “ Speculum Mundi,” written at Cambridge
falcon on his sharp upturned beak, the idea being in 1635, Sir John Shaw says, “The heron is a
that it has not sufficient tact to practise such large fowl that liveth about waters, and that hath
cunning fence. Old prints, however, such as that a marvellous hatred to the hawk, which hatred is
of “How to flye the Hearon according to Martine,” duly returned.” And what sings Somerville?
show the heron confronting the hawk with both “ Unhappy bird, our fathers’ prime delight,
beak and claws, which favours the idea that the Who fenced thine eyrie round with sacred laws
latter sometimes shares the fate of merry Die Nor mighty princes did disdain to wear
Vernon’s favourite Cheviot. —
Thy waving crest the mark of high command —
It maybe regarded as conclusive that the sport With gold and jewels, and bright gems adorned.”
of hawking was first introduced by the Saxons Then, indeed, the heron was a royal bird, held
during the fourth century, and that in process of sacred ; he is now no better than a proscribed out-
time the birds became of great value. We read cast, dear only to the painters, who love to aid,
how, in the tune of Edward III., a hawk was with his gaunt form and ashy hue, the dim solem-
held to be of such value that a holy bishop excom- nity of evening lights and silent pools.
municated a sinner for stealing one which he found Henry VIII. loved sport right well, and built
perched at Bermondsey. During the middle ages, a palace for his falcons. In his rSign the hills of
also, they were considered as a badge of rank, and Hornsey and valley of Tottenham abounded in
were much loved by the nobility, who were wont game of every description, and were the scene of
to take them to church ; not always, however, many a royal hunting party. How easily may the
with impunity ; for we find Sebastian Brandt, in splendour of such a scene be pictured The noble!
1485, complaining that “the whole church was cavaliers and beauteous dames of England, each
troubled by their outrage.” In our present age with a band of retainers clad in the bright Lincoln
of wealth and extravagance, we listen with wonder green ; and the anxious falconer encouraging his
to such prices as £2,500 for a “ yearling but is birds and keenly watching for the quarry. Then
not that quite eclipsed by £1,000 for a cast of fancy shows us the stately heron resting on the
three hawks, a price by no means uncommon in marshy low ground, musing, as it were, over his
the time of my Lord Orford. That nobleman kept bygone greatness ;
then, suddenly becoming aware
up a regular and expensive establishment for his of danger, slowly expanding his enormous wings
birds. He allotted to each hawk an attendant, and seeking safety in flight. And now the woods
and sent them to travel during the moulting resound with the ringing, “La la sensa !” “ Leigh
season ; and their average cost to him was about ho !” “ Leigh cass !” as the iinhooded falcon is. cast
£100 each per annum. This, however, sinks into off in quick pursuit. How they wheel round and
insignificance when we read of the princely style round each other in successive aerial circles, each
with which the sport of hawking was carried on in striving to mount the higher. The heron at
the Celestial Empire, There, according to old length, as if wearied, takes his course straight up
Marco Polo, the emperor was wont to go forth while the falcon’s instinct teaches him that the
with 10,000 falconers, 1,000 men to watch, called circle is the slow though certain path to victory.
“ toscaors,” and 5,000 gerfalcons
;
each bird Now for a moment both birds float poised in mid-
having a tablet of silver on his feet inscribed with air, as if husbanding their strength for the final
its owner’s name and surrounded by this grand effort. One instant more, the sunbeams glance
;
array the mighty potentate reclined in his costly brightly on the falcon’s azure neck, as arching it
chamber, covered with cloth of gold, fondling his prepares to strike, and then the fatal stoop
twelve gerfalcons, each one of priceless value, and Such was this princely pastime in the olden days.
XatTiiv an<l *\rt,.Juue 1.1867.
Nature ami Art, June 1, 1867.] ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 163

No. XI. STUDY OF STONES ON THE NORTH SIDE OF TALIARIS, NEAR LLANDILO, SOUTH WALES.
mHERE are few details in the foreground of a progression, but would remark that the principal
X pictureof more value to its effect than thing to be observed throughout, is to leave the
detached groups of stones, large or small. In no whole of the lights clean, sharp, and well defined.
other objects do we find greater diversity of colour, To effect this, a true pencil outline is imperative ;
although composed of the same material j and it is without it there cannot be a successful result. As
quite true that, although masses from the parent regards the colouring, the student must determine
rock lie side by side, yet each and all vary in tint those parts that are warm and those that are cold,
to an extraordinary degree. This offers us every that is, which tones are inclining to the yellow,
desirable change of tone whereby our foreground orange, red, lake-purple, or blue-purple, to grey or
can be enriched ; and groupings of stones are no blue. It is only by a true balance of each that
less valuable for the introduction of colour than agreeable impression can be made, so that it is to
for the distribution of light and shadow ;
for, be hoped this matter will have some consideration
being often the medium of some concentrated before commencing with the colour. The sky is
light, they become, as it were, the key-tone or focus produced simply with cobalt and a little lake.
of a whole drawing this, however, will depend
: The light tints on the stones are obtained with
greatly, or, I should rather say, entirely, upon the YELLOW OCHRE, BURNT SIENNA, LAKE, and COBALT,
character of the subject. The introduction into a in different proportions, agreeable to the tint re-
scene of large stones (fallen or surface stones) quired. All the shadows are done with burnt
should always be the result of knowledge as to sienna, lake, and indigo, varied, —
and a little
their possibility of getting there and I mention ;
gamboge introduced where the deepest touches are
this from the fact of their sometimes being a kind seen, because it causes the other colours to hold out
of stereotyped adjunct to a foreground, quite irre- with greater power from its being a natural gum
spective of the geological character of the site. and having a glossy quality. The herbage is of a
This is an error so common, that the artist can at mixture of gamboge, burnt sienna, and indigo,
once detect between a truthful sketch and a tricky more or less of one than the other, and lake in-
deception practised by a tyro. It matters little troduced upon the indications of heather. The top
what the subject may represent, if there be a strict of the hill and the small loose stones must be
adherence to reasonableness throughout, without coloured in with cobalt and light red, and the
bringing into notice any foreign objects totally at short grass of yellowish tone is of yellow ochre
variance with the scene. Nothing shows greater and brown pink, and in the greener parts a little
ignorance than this ; and I feel it would be an indigo added.
omission on my part, where I not to give a word The foregoing instruction will be found sufficient
of caution against so great an error. to enable the learner to copy with accuracy the
The group of stones given for our subject is a subject before him. I have introduced it into the
part only of a sketch drawn and coloured on the pages of Nature and Art for the purpose of giving
spot. It will be found to combine variety of an insight into the manner of portraying masses of
angular forms, and much divei'sity of colour, as well fallen stone, thinking the season for sketching from
as great force of light and shade. In drawing Nature is coming on, when many will seek for con-
groups, or even single stones, of this description, verse with scenes of beauty, grandeur, and interest.
great attention should be paid to the general out- I take this opportunity of giving an extract from
line, and the several angles which are presented to a letter received from a subscriber to Nature and
secure an appearance of a broken surface and of Art, and I do so to clear up any misapprehension
stone-like fracture. In almost every instance there that may be felt by others upon’ the same point.
must be a crispness of edge to each part, without —
“Sir, May I, as one of the numerous admirers of your
softening or melting of one into the other. How- sketches in Nature and Art, be permitted to call your
ever slight the washes may be in the lightest parts, attention to a want in your instructions which I fancy must
yet they must all have clear and decided edges. be more or less felt by a great number of those who seek
for instruction from them ? I allude to manipulation.
Indeed, if they do not, the consequence will be a “ In looking at the ‘ copies ’ one is struck with the effect
semblance to dough or putty instead of to stones. produced by innumerable dots or specks overlaying the flat
It is also of great importance that the breakage of tints, sometimes of the same, but not seldom in other
divided portions should be properly and very colours. No allusion is made to this dotting in the letter-
attentively cared for, inasmuch as this is peculiar press, and the student is left to wonder whether the same
effect is expected to be arrived at by flat washes (no men-
to each class of stone.
tion being made of other modus operandi), and if recourse is
In a subject so local as this I have selected, I only had to this treatment of the subject, in order to supply
shall not enter into minute detail as to its stages of some defect in the matter or manner of painting.”
M 2
164 A REMINISCENCE OF THE PYRENEES. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
The “ numberless specks ” referred to arise from constantly impressing upon the mind of the artists
the tact of the several tints being obtained from a who copy my drawings upon stone,how requisite it
point of lithographic chalk instead of by Hat washes isthat this granular character should be overcome,
put on with the brush. It is a defect that cannot itbeing likely to mislead those who are desirous
be entirely overcome, where there is any gradation of profiting by the several studies presented to
of tint to be given ; so that where they are seen to them.
exist in a sky or elsewhere, they must be regarded I have thought it as well to bring the above
as meaning to convey the idea of so many flat tints, remarks before the readers of Nature and Art, in
and should be copied simply as such. There is, order to remove any false impression they may
however, an improvement even in this and I am ;
have entertained upon the subject.
A REMINISCENCE OF THE PYRENEES.
T fell to my lot some time back to spend nine number of thoroughly painstaking traqueurs who
I or ten months in the midst of the Pyrenees. will carry out the directions of the hunter. All
And not content with pursuing the beaten track the Pyrenean watering-places furnish excellent
of tourists, and visiting spots well known to all guides for ordinary excursions ; but something more
travellers in that delightful region, I was resolved, than a mere guide is necessary for izzard-hunting.
if possible, to get a glimpse of some of the wilder The party on the occasion in question consisted
and more inaccessible passes which are familiar to of a Midlothian laird, an English clergyman, and a
those only who dwell in the neighbourhood, and Mons. de G. who were to join two French officers
,
are reported to be grander and more beautiful than already in the mountains on a similar expedition,
those usually visited. In the month of July an with Baranne, an excellent chasseur who was ,
opportunity offered. A
party was made up for engaged for both parties. We left St. Sauveur at
chamois-hunting. The “ chasse aux izzards ,” as it six o’clock on a glorious July morning, on horse-
is called in the Pyrenees, is a frequent source of back, and rode to Cauterets for breakfast, which
occupation and profit to the hardy mountaineers on the landlord of the Hotel de France furnished in
both sides of the frontiers; and those visitors who excellent style. By the way, it may be well to
are not daunted by some little danger and a good remark that, in almost all French towns, there is
deal of fatigue, and who enjoy an excursion where a Hotel de France, and that in almost all cases it
they can for the time at least shake themselves is found to be good. At Cauterets, which is one
free from the restraints and conventionalities of of the best hunting-quarters, we met our guides
civilization, would do well to avail themselves of and traqueurs, and held on our way on foot
such occasions as may offer.* through the wonderful scenery to the south-west of
The izzards however, are generally very wild,
,
that place, by the baths of La Raillere to the Pont
and growing every year scarcer, so that it is very d’Fspagne, a route well known to all Pyrenean
possible to go out many times into the higher tourists for its picturesque beauty. Up to this point
ranges without ever being rewarded even by the a large number of those who had breakfasted with
sight of one. The two great desiderata to secure us at the table-d’hote of the Hotel de France
are, a really experienced hunter who knows
1st, accompanied us, but they now turned off to the
the haunts of these animals; and, 2nd, a sufficient south-east, towards the Lac de Gaube, the largest
of the Pyrenean lakes, situated at the foot of the
* The identity of the izza/rd with
the chamois of the Alps Vignemale, one of the highest peaks of the range.
has been disputed by some naturalists but on no sufficient
;
grounds. They are evidently the same animals the differences

We turned across the Pont d’Fspagne to the south-
west, along the mountain path leading to Panti-
;
are so slight as to be accounted for by the variation in

climate. The izzard weighs on an average about 45 lbs. cosa. The scenery is beautiful beyond description
There are two methods of hunting it. One is stalking, as in
Scotland, and this, from the nature of the ground, is very
— rich in the luxurious foliage of the south. Acres
are covered with rhododendrons now in full bloom,
difficult and fatiguing, and much more uncertain than the
other, in which the shooters are posted in favourable spots,
with a dark-green background of pine forests, above
and the izzards are driven towards them by traqueurs. If which the mighty granite peaks tower bare and
the sport be pursued in the winter or autumn, the game is jagged to the clouds.
found much lower down on the hills, and the fatigue is much On emerging from one of the long stretches of
less. In the summer you have more settled weather, and
perhaps better chance of game but you must be prepared
forest, we were strangely reminded of home by the
;
for severer physical trial, both from the greater height sound of the bagpipe, which seems to be indigenous
you must ascend, and from the intense heat to which you to most mountain districts; but here it is a very
are inevitably exposed. feeble instrument compared to its big brother of
— ;
Nature and Art, June 1, 18fi7 ]

A REMINISCENCE OF THE PYRENEES. 165
our northern hills. As we reached Marcadaou there is danger of precipices or crevasses, are lashed
i.e.,the shepherd’s hut which goes by that name together with ropes. There was but one of these
the mist came on very thick, and the air struck ugly features on our route ; the glacier here was
damp and chill as we halted half an hour for a almost perpendicular, and at its foot was a half-
meal of goat’s milk and bread; and it was felt that frozen tarn, into which we must have inevitably
it was time to push on, if we were to reach our rolled if we had made a false step. However, this
resting-place for the night before dark. obstacle safely surmounted, we passed directly after-
Leaving the Pantieosa road to the right, we now wards from France into Spain, by a small breche in
struck off nearly due south, following the course of the mountain wall, which bounds the two kingdoms.
the Gave, a river on the left. It was an ascent From this spot a most magnificent scene opened on
all the way ; vegetation grew more scant, and soon our view in wildness and savage sublimity I have
:
neither rhododendrons nor pine forests were to be never seen it excelled, and rarely equalled, even in
seen, but in their stead huge boulders of rock, with the Alps. In front of us, some three or four miles
here and there a grassy spot, affording scanty herbage across, and perhaps seven or eight in length, lay an
for the goats which form the chief wealth of the elliptical valley, shut in by a serrated wall of rock,
mountaineers. The valley seemed to terminate in which looked at a distance almost like a battle-
a cul-de-sac, with no apparent egress ; and no vestige mented fortalice. This valley was entirely snow,
of a dwelling, not even of a hut, was visible. Here, containing within its area no less than seven frozen
however, was to be our camping-place for the night. tarns. Beyond the crest of the encircling peaks, to
The guides pointed out as our nest a hole formed the south, stretched four ranges of mountains loftier
by two masses of rock, with another which had still, some black with pine forests, others like the
fallen from above resting upon them as a roof, the waves of the sea, tipped with white foam, and
entrance in front blocked up with a few rough others, again, bare jagged granite peaks, gradually
pieces of timber. It was a queer place for a night’s melting away into the hazy plains of Arragon,
lodging, but it was the best, for it was the only one towards Zaragoza. .
to be found. A
dinner, however homely, is always Traces of izzards had been found all along mu-
welcome after such a climb as we had had to our track, but no game had been seen as yet. After
mountain cave; and as soon as we had discussed pausing awhile to gaze on the wonderful scene
this needful refresher, we were not sorry to stretch around us, we pursued our way cautiously down-
our weary limbs on the platform of rock, covered wards into the snowy valley beneath and now, a
;
with an old cloak or two, which made our bed. signal being given by a hunter on the heights above
But, alas for sleep or comfort those same cloaks
! us, that izzards were in sight, all were instantly
swarmed with tieas, and proved one among many ensconced behind the rocks but the game went off
;
enemies to repose. to the left, and we saw them ascending a glacier,

At eight, p.m., while discussing some goat’s milk and disappearing through a breche in the granite
and bread, we were joined by Baranne and the two wall which formed its boundary. As soon as all
French officers, who had been out hunting all day trace of them was lost we toiled on, till we came
without success. These made up our whole party upon a few rocks rising like an island out of the
to about fourteen, and closely packed we were in sea of snow here we bivouacked and breakfasted.
;
the miserable hole that formed our refuge from the Another half hour’s climb brought us to the l-ocks
cold. Sleep is not easily won in such uninviting which Baranne had pointed out as a suitable place
quarters but in spite of fleas, in spite of the per-
;
of concealment. Here we waited four terribly long
petual jabbering patois of the shepherds, who hours, a period more trying, if anything, than the
arrived one after another and proceeded to cook time we had occupied in our ascent; for now the
their evening meal in spite, too, of the smoke from
;
sun was high in heaven, and the heat was over-
the fire, which found vent only by a hole in the powering. There was no possibility of shelter, and
natural roof, we did manage to get an hour or two, we soon began to find our faces blistering and our
if not exactly of sleep, yet of rest; and at daybreak, eyes growing almost blind with the intolerable
about four, a.m., a wash at a spring which gushed glare. We began now to think of retracing our
from the rocks just behind our cave, soon freshened steps, when suddenly seven or eight izzards came
us for another start. Now we got a clear view of bounding across the glaciers towards some rock in
the scene, which the last night’s mist had partially front of us, but as yet far out of gun-shot. The
concealed, and a wild one it was, not unlike, though traqueurs here made a great mistake, and entirely
on a smaller scale, to the well-known “ Chaos ” near spoiled our chance of killing an izzard. Instead
St. Sauveur. of descending, one on the right, the other on
It was nearly five o’clock when we got fairly off the left of the game, they both came down the
for the spot where we were to await the izzards. same glacier on the right side, thus leaving the
Our course lay nearly south, directly across the left open to them ;
if they had done as they
mountains, towards Pantieosa ; we soon came upon ought, the izzards must have been driven to pass
—
what to me was a new feature the glaciers. Hard directly in front of the rocks where we were
as stone, and slippery as glass, to cross them is no posted, and in all probability within rifle range.
child’s play. Every step must be cut with a In consequence of this error on the part of the
hatchet, and the feet planted firmly in the holes traqueurs, the game escaped by a lower glacier,
the whole party move in single file, and, when and made off by the side of one of the tarns to
166 THE DESERTS OF PERU, AND THEIR WEALTH. [Nature and Alt, June 1, 1867,
the top of the mountain, whence they had been and remained in charge of one of the guides.
scared. Meanwhile E. and myself, with another guide,
On this unsuccessful termination of our chasse, walked on as fast as we could to Cauterets, which
—
we made the best of our way back a process not so we reached at half-past seven, p.m., having left our
easily effected as described was, however, some-
;
it post on the Arragon mountains at half-past three,
what easier than in the morning, for the sun’s power p.m., thus accomplishing in four hours a distance of
had now melted the surface of the snow, and we at least twelve miles over glaciers and rocks, by a
were enabled to get a footing more readily. It most fatiguing road for the greatest part of the way.
took us an hour to reach the breclie into France, Thus ended our “ chasse aux izzards ,” in which, if
during which I missed my footing once, and shot unsuccessful in killing game, we had the satisfaction
like a sky-rocket about forty feet down a glacier, of seeing the animals in their native wilds, and
happily without any other inconvenience than the were amply repaid by the magnificent scenery
trouble of having to retrace my steps. On passing through which we passed, and the pleasing excite-
the highest glacier we lost sight of our friend, ment which broke the monotony of a usually
Monsieur De G-., who was completely knocked up, uneventful life.
THE DESERTS OF PERU, AND THEIR WEALTH.

By. William Bollaert, F.R.G.S., &c.
HOSE who youth have traversed and hunted

in directly from the sea, in which gold veins are
T in the Pampas or the Llanos, ascended to the occasionally found. The by their dis-
siliceous rocks,
high table-lands, and explored the deserts of South integration or wasting away, are the prime sources
America, become attached to those regions. I of the sands of the deserts then come the por-
:
must own to the fact, that I have an affection for phyries, which contain copper veins. The wearing
—
the Despoblaclos the uninhabited and uninhabitable away of this latter rock gives rise to another sort
deserts —
having resided in and about those of Peru of debris. The long-continued scorching heat of a
in particular for some time. tropical sun ; the air, particularly when impregnated
I have already in “Aspects of Nature in Peru,”* with saline matters from the sea, and occasional
and “The Flower Spots of the Desert, ”f adverted dews, are the destructive agents of the rocks.
to desert matters, but principally of a local character. On various parts of the coast the dioritic, and
In the present I purpose to treat the subject of perhaps granitic, and porphyritic rocks have broken
the Peruvian deserts in some detail, and endeavour through the argillaceous limestones and other strata
to give an account of the more salient objects of in these silver is found in veins, as well as in
interest found there. nodules of all sizes in the breccia of the argillaceous
The term desert is a general name for rainless, limestones. On the sea-coast are observed many
stony, and sandy regions ; the hojjelessly barren sandy shelly plains, some of them entirely made
tracts across them are known as travesias, and up of of species now living in the ocean
shells,
when entered upon for the first time, produce a pro- there thus showing that these are plains of eleva-
;
found sensation of melancholy on the European tion, and not of very ancient date ; indeed the
traveller. process of elevation is going on. In some of these
The whole of Peru is traversed in its length by plains the shelly deposit is many feet in thickness,
the Andes, a portion of one of nature’s colossal walls and it is quarried, calcined, and used as lime for
running from the Arctic to the Antarctic ; formed by building purposes. Where I have observed such
huge upheavals of igneous matters, and which still very large quantities of dead shells in these pro-
show their signs, in the numberless dormant and bable plains of elevation, I could only find but
active volcanoes, j utting boldly out of the Cordilleras. very few live ones on the shores washed by the sea.
On their flanks repose stratified rocks, once horizon- Have the shell-fish migrated m
consequence of the
tal, but now heaved up. On the east, in Peru, region having been disturbed, say by earthquake
are the more gently descending lands, stretching elevatory action 1
to the Amazons and Plata ; westwards are the Here and there rather large collections of bones
narrow, abrupt, and broken slopes, which, as they of the whale are found on the shores of the Pacific,
approach the coast of the Pacific, show extensive some much above high-water level. My
old friend
lines of desert plains, and high escarped and dan- and fellow-traveller, Mr. George Smith (of Inique),
gerous rocky shores. In a general section from tells me that near the port of Junin, N. of Iquique,
west to east, large districts of mountain ranges rise he lately found bones of whales at an elevation of
more than fifty feet above sea-level, and buried
* “Intellectual Observer,” December, 1862. under ten or twelve feet hard, rocky debris. On the
f “ Intellectual Observer,” April, 1863. margins of some of these shelly plains, and where
J ;
Nature and Art, June 1, 1867. THE DESERTS OF PERU, AND THEIR WEALTH. 1G7
sea-water may percolate, or get into hollows, wooded and pasture lands that stretch off towards
chemical changes go on rapidly, and much sulphate La Plata and Brazil.
and carbonate of lime and other salts are found. We come now to the other great element, namely,
When the sea-water is left in hollows and splits the atmosphere we may say, that the lav/s of the
:
amongst the rocks, solar evaporation causes the winds are the bases of the distribution of sterility
deposit of sea-salt. At Huacho, 11° 8' S., large and fertility.
quantities are formed and exported. The warm tropical winds or trades from the east
When we pass these mountains of the coast, par- are moist, and, blowing against cooler land, they
ticularly in South Peru, we come upon extensive deposit their moisture in rain ; consequently, the
table-lands, from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level eastern side of South America is the moist side,
of the sea. Such a one is the extensive Pampa de and the western the dry a very great extent of its
;
Tamarugal, in the Province of T arapaca, where we coast being completely desert. However, in the
find so much common salt, nitrate of soda, and borate winter season in Peru, the gentle north-west winds
of lime. However, here the saline bodies, I suppose, from the Pacific bring some little moisture to the
have found their way by percolation with water, land. America generally is said to be the forest
from the volcanic Andean regions, where there continent, and where there is some lack of moisture,
are immense plains covered with salt (the salt most there are the great pampas, llanos, and prairies
probably of volcanic origin), one of which I saw where the winds are still dryer, there are the
stretching from 19° 30' S., for about two degrees deserts, as those of California, coming south to
of longitude, and to near the mines of Potosi. Peru ; the whole of its coast is in this state ; in the
In the desert, from the port of Islay in 17° S., north is the extensive desert of Sechura, in the
to the city of Arequipa, a distance of 90 miles, the south that of Atacama.
sandis mixed with a white dust, in all probability Dana well observes that the great truth is taught
thrown out of the volcanoes in that district. The us by this air and these waters, as well as by the
decomposition of the trachyte of the valley of lands, that the diversity about us is an exhibition
Yura and A requipa, yields sub-carbonate of soda, of perfect system. If the earth has its barren ice-
used in the manufacture of soap. Each 5,000 fields about the poles, and its deserts no less barren
square yards of soil is valued at £200, and every towards the equator, they are not accidents in the
six weeks a harvest of sub-carbonate of soda is making, but results involved in Nature’s scheme
reaped. Between the port of Arica in 18° 28' S., from its very foundation.
and Tacna, there is a desert of 50 miles across. Sand, then, is comminuted rock of any kind but ;
On examining the sand here, I found it to be common sand is mainly of quartz ; thus, according
made up of small but perfect crystals of quartz, to its locality, it forms sand-bars, sand-drifts, sand-
which shine brilliantly in the sun. What is curious hills or dunes on sea-shores, and moving sands of
is, that there are apparently no quartzose rocks in deserts ;
it is of this last form that an illustration
the vicinity of this desert. Can these crystals be is offered.
volcanic 1 The Peru * consists of a line of
rainless coast of
On the route from Tacna to Arequipa, between desertsfrom near Tumbez in the north, to the river
Locumba and Moquegua, it is reported that numer- Loa in the south, a distance of some 1,500 miles.
ous recent marine shells are seen in the sand, and The same characteristics belong to the coast of
this track is some considerable distance from the Bolivia, comprising the coast of the great desert of
sea and much above it. At Paita, in 5° 5' S., Atacama, which extends into the north of Chile.
I noticed cliffs which are from 300 to 400 feet The width of these deserts are from a few miles to
above sea-level, composed of horizontal layers of sixty or eighty, as the branches of the Cordilleras
sand containing shells, and was informed that as approach or recede from the shores of the Pacific.
far as twenty-four miles inland similar arrangements Were it not for the stupendous background which
of sand with shells were to be met with. gives to every other object a comparatively diminu-
I have been describing localities along the desert tive outline, the sand-hills might often be called
coast of Peru, and a few leagues inland. Nearer mountains. One such example may be seen in
or farther we come to the real bases of the Andes, the rear of the town of Iquique, in 20° 12' S.,
and having arrived at a certain elevation, we which, when surveying the district with Mr. George
find vegetation between mountain ranges, which Smith, we called “ The Elephant,” its outline
diminishes as further altitude is obtained. We having something the appearance of that animal.
traverse the passes of the Cordilleras, and descend This long line of sterile country is intersected
slightly into the high table-lands, or the Thibet of by small streams, the distance between which
the New World, where we find many lakes, in- is seldom less than twenty, and in one case is a
cluding the large one of Titicaca, surrounded by hundred and twenty geographical miles. The
rough pastures. During the summer months, nearly narrow slips on the banks of a stream are peopled
every day after meridian, there is lightning and in proportion to the supply of water, resulting from
thunder, with, at times, rain, hail, or snow which ;
the little rain and the melting of spare quantities
cause the ravines to convey water to the lower of snow and ice in the Andes. Under the Incas
country. Hereabouts spring up the mighty mountain the system of irrigation by lengthy aqueducts, and
masses of the Ilimani and others. Continuing in
an easterly direction, we descend to the wondrously * See General Miller’s Memoirs.
168 THE DESERTS OE PERU, AND THEIR WEALTH. [Nature and Art. June 1, 1867.
manuring with guano, was carried to great per- 1827, he was sent with a note from my companion,
fection,and the population in these desert places Mr. Geo. Smith, to Santa Rosa. He did not return
was more considerable than at present. Between as was expected, and on the 6th we received
the streams are the Travesias or real deserts, where information, that it was supposed he had run off
neither bird, beast, nor reptile are seen ; where, in into the interior. Nothing more was heard of him,
all probability, a blade of vegetation never grew, until 1845, when his skeleton was discovered at
and where the only indication that the desert has some distance from the track between Huantajaya
been trodden before, is an occasional cluster of and Santa Rosa, and in the pocket of his waistcoat
human and the remains of beasts of burden
bones, a reply to Mr. Smith’s note. I have been somewhat
which have perished. When the traveller becomes particular in giving these details, which have but
fatigued, or his animal jaded, he dismounts, and if lately come to my knowledge, as it is possible this
the sun shines, he spreads his poncho between the may be the first information the friends of
fore and hind legs of his mule, and lies down under- “ William” may have of his untimely fate.
neath the only shade to be obtained in the shrubless Two persons employed at the nitrate of soda
waste. works were lost in the neighbouring desert, one a
In some places the deserts are thickly studded Mr. Blackadder, going from the port of Pisagua to
with Medanos ; these are mounds of sand raised by Iquique, a distance of about forty-five geographical
eddying winds, that extend their influence several miles, the other a Herr Wagen, going from
leagues from the mountain ridges. The Medano is Mejillones to Camilla.
in the shape of a crescent the interior face is at
;
I am obliged to my friend, Mr. George Smith, for
times very many feet in height and nearly perpen- the following extracts from his journal of January,
dicular, the outer front sloping like a glacis, and the 1863. He had left Iquique for Mejillones in search
horns diminishing to a fine point. Whatever may of a new port, between that place and Pisagua, for
be its dimensions, it always assumes this form, the embarkation of nitrate of soda produced at his
until, upon approaching nearer the line of mountains, refineries in the interior.
it gradually loses its symmetry. The Me,demos The dangers and difficulties encountered by
from their repeated shiftings create a labyrinth ex- Cateadores, or mine-hunters, or other explorers and
tremely irksome even to vaqueanos or guides, who travellers in the countries under consideration,
have no clue by which to direct their course, and will be understood by the incidents detailed :
it is not an uncommon occurrence for the most ex-

perienced to lose their way.
“ 15th January. —Mariano Oviedo and my son William
came down the cuesta, or mountain track, leaving the animals
My old and esteemed friend, the late Col. C. Wood, halfway I, in the mean time, had arrived at the bottom, on
;
of the Chilian army, on the occasion of the retreat the very rocky shore, before them, and had examined the
locality, appearances of the anchorage, and landing, both of
of the patriot forces from before the Spaniards, in
which were very bad. On an elevation some hundred feet
1823, became separated from his party, and was above the water there was room for only one establishment.
lost for two days and a night amongst the Medanos. “On returning to our pascana (resting-place), we heard
He had neither food nor water for himself or horses. the cry of ‘ Mi ahago’ (I am drowning) ; and on looking
He informed me that he did not suffer much for around, we saw our guide, Antolin Barreda, some hundred
or more yards out at sea. At the moment, we knew not
want of food, but the want of water to quench his
what to do, and the only chance of saving the poor fellow’s
burning thirst was intolerable, producing at last a life was to try to carry out to him the end of a number of
dying-like torpor. The first day he pushed on sogas, or woollen ropes, tied together, taken by force from
rather rapidly in and out of the sand-hills, ofttimes an Indian we found amongst the rocks loading some donkeys
dismounting, and climbing to the summit of one with guano.
;
“El valiente Guillermo* (William Smith), volunteered to
when at the top, there were higher ones in advance swim out to him, dragging the sogas along the surface
and all around. Night came on, when he took up of the water. He did his task in masterly style, and
his quarters. He travelled about slowly the reached the man within a few feet, when we found to
second day, leaving to the sagacity of his horse his our horror that the sogas were at full stretch. I had the
end on shore, which I held over the sea beneath as far as I
extrication from this dilemma, until, fortunately,
could reach, without falling over the cliff into the sea.
about night-fall, he arrived at lea. Guillermo, finding the man so completely bewildered as not
In my journals for November, 1826, I find it even to hold out his hand, which might have been reached,
noted that a sailor about twenty-two years of age, called to me to let go the soga, which I did with heart-
calling himself “ William,” arrived at the silver rending reluctance. Guillermo then put the end of the soga
mines of Huantajaya, in the province of Tarapaca, * Shortly afterwards, Guillermo Smith entered the Peru-
where I was then stationed. He had run away from vian army, in which he is at present a major of Artillery.
his ship, an English whaler, the Mary, or the He commanded one of the Blakeley guns, carrying a shot of
Warrens of London, which had put into the 450 lb., in the Ayacucho battery at Callao, when the
Spanish fleet attacked that place on the 2nd of May, last
port of Iquique. His ship had sailed without him,
year (1866). He was fortunate enough to inflict most
so we took him into our employ, when he informed serious damage on two of the Spanish men-of-war one ;
us that before he went to sea, lie had been a waiter shot went through the steam-chest of the Villa de Madrid,
at the “ Green Man and Still,” in Oxford Street. killing, wounding, and scalding some thirty of the enemy.
On the 30th November he went with two mules The Spanish fleet was beaten, and had to sheer off. The
badly-damaged portion went off in the direction of the
from Huantajaya to the mines of Santa Rosa,
Philippines to refit, but had first to make the Sandwich
situated in a high mountain in sight of the former Islands in their way for temporary repairs the other portion
;
place, returning safely. On the 4th December, took the route round Cape Horn.
— —
Nature aud Art, June 1, 1867. THE DESERTS OF PERU, AND THEIR WEALTH. 169
into tho man’s hand, and returned with all speed to the with plenty of brandy in it. Height of the cuesta, 1,765
other end, which was floating some twenty yards from the feet. Got again to Sal Obispo.”
rooks. He then commenced tugging, with all his strength,
to drag the man towards the shore but the strength
;
On my journey from Peru to Chile by the coast
required was too much for him, and, when nearly exhausted, in 1827, mainly in search of reported masses of
a heavy sea rushed in round the rocky point, foaming in all meteoric iron existing in the great desert of
directions. Poor Guillermo was covered by it for so long a Atacama, leaving Paposo, traversing Mai Paso, a
time that my heart sunk within me, fearing he would rise
very dangerous and rocky track overhanging the
no more. Of course he let go the soga to save himself, and
when his head did appear above the water, he called to me sea, I came to Hueso Parado, where I fell in with a
for assistance, saying that he could not stand another sea. party of Indians I had hoped would have crossed the
I was soon stripped and calling to him to keep up his
; desert, but their journey was only along the coast.
spirits, made the best descent possible over the broken
The subject of the meteoric iron haunted me, and
rocks. With anxious eyes upon him, I waited the result of
a few moments, and saw that he had yet strength to reach on my companions observing, that if I were a
the shore. I was partly in the water, ready to strike out if Vaqueano del Desierto (a good desert traveller) I
necessary. With some trouble I got him up the rocks, might cross the desert of Atacama, and about a spot
where he remained for some time unable to move, and called Huanaquero, find one of the Reventasones ,
throwing up the sea-water he had swallowed.
“ All this time our poor guide was insensibly beating the outbursts, or mines of pure iron, I decided at once
water with his hands and, for all that I could do, I could
;
upon the exploration and giving my mule a good
;
not get him to keep them under water, and use them in drink of water (for in all probability it would be two
making way for the shore. He knew nothing whatever of or three days ere the animal again had one), I
swimming, but most surprisingly kept his head above water
started alone upon a track running E. 1ST. E., and
for more than an hour, and at last gradually disappeared.
This was a most appalling sight to see a fellow creature so was informed that after travelling some twenty-five
long in the water, and having no means at hand to save him. or thirty leagues I should come upon the track from
One more soga would have done it. This dreadful
. . Copiapo to San Pedro de Atacama, about Baquillas ;
accident will cause us to remain on this inhospitable shore then pursuing this track northerly come to
to-night, as we are all depressed with fright and gloom, and
not fit to get up the cuesta, which is so steep and long.
Huanaquero Grande, the position of one of the
“ At 6.30 p.m. we make the best meal we can upon what Reventasones. Should I find no one there, I was
the drowned man’s ass had pleased to leave. In our to continue onwards to Peine, the other Reventason.
absence, the ass got hold of our alforjas (saddle-bags), and I had travelled about three hours, when I found
helped itself to nearly all, but has not drunk the brandy: so
that instead of the track I thought I was on, I had
far we are well off. No doubt we shall* have plenty of
beastly, blood-sucking, black bugs of the Pampas, called in
got among others, going in all directions, which on
Peru, Bincliucas or Chvrvmachas (Reduvius), for bed-fellows careful examination proved to be those made by
to-night. troops of Huanacos in their search for water and
“ 16th January.— Passed a very fair night, considering-
pasture. In a word, I was lost, and had got also
the stony description of our beds and at daylight prepared
;
for our return to Sal de Obispo by another track, sending

amongst half-moon-shaped sand-hills. Out came my
our animals to meet us in the cuesta- top. Started alone
. .
compass, and, as well as I could, I commenced
for the caleta (inlet), to the N. about two miles, and I never travelling westward to the coast. I was perplexed
had a more hard task, many of the passes being so dangerous, indeed, working my way in and out of the sand
with thousands of difficulties. I arrived there with Guil-
hills. Having got up one of them with difficulty,
lermo, who overtook me, but I was completely done up. I
sent him off to meet the rest of our party on the top of the in consequence of the looseness and depth of the
mountain, and to send down an Indian with water and sand, I hoped to see the mountains of the coast ; but
something to eat. The Indian presently arrived with water- arriving at its summit, beheld yet another in ad-
sent by Oviedo, but had heard nothing of Guillermo so I ; vance of me. I descended in a thoughtful mood,
sent him back immediately, and determined to stay upon
sat down, smoked a cigar, and came to. the wise
this melancholy shore until the morning —
when I expected
conclusion to let my mule have its own way.
—
a mule from Oviedo my only companions sea-birds and
vinchucas. Mounting, and throwing the reins over its neck, the
“ I had observed some of the Vinchucas walk off full of
animal began ambling cautiously in and out of the
my blood, but did not feel their bites. Being completely sand-hills. When, about dusk, we struck the coast
tired out, and suffering from thirst, I tried a bathe in the
sea. I felt relieved, and then crept under a large block of
track, thankful indeed was I for having thus escaped
rock, which was supported at both ends, leaving just room being lost in the terrible desert of Atacama, another
enough for me to creep in, and upon rounded stones I passed victim to science.’"
the time, asleep and awake, until about midnight. It was I will now proceed to say something of the
moonlight, and with great effort I made a start for the
wealth accruing to Peru, in consequence of the
cuesta. I never had so hard a job in my life. The side of
the mountain was so steep, that I could only climb a few rainless character of its shores on the Pacific.
yards and then rest awhile to recruit strength and breath, In the north, near Tumbez, the coast is washed
and again struggle forward. The ascent was so steep, that by the great river Guayaquil ; but coming south
to rest myself I had to lie on my back with outstretched
the want of moisture is soon observed ; from eight
legs and arms, and even so I was not safe, as I found myself
sliding down on more than one occasion, which movement
to ten years pass without rain, but when it does
awoke me from profound sleep, into which I invariably fell
the moment I stopped to rest. I came at last to a narrow # See report by Dr. R. A. Philippi to the Government of
path, and on this I found a secure resting-place, and there I Chili of his explorations in the desert of Atacama in 1853,
slept until about 8 a.m. on the 17th. When Osorio hove in where he describes his falling in with specimens of the
sight, coming down the mountain with the animals to my meteoric iron of Atacama. Trans. Geographical Society,
relief, I was about half-way up and could not move another 1855.
step. I drank a bottle of water, and we proceeded. At “History of Meteoric Iron of Atemaca, by W. Bollaert.
the summit we had a meal. Mine was three cups of tea
'
Journal of Meteorological Society, 1858.
170 THE DESEETS OF PEETJ, AND THEIE WEALTH. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
rain,such quantity, that certain places are

is this rise in 1854-5 to the lengthened revolution of
inundated ;
which there is a spontaneous
after General Castilla against the then president, General
vegetation, of pasture, flowers, and fruit. Close Echenique, in which Castilla was successful but ;
upon this state of things, follows the great desert of it threw the whole country into ferment and war.
Sechura, of nearly one hundred miles across.. The In the province of Tarapaca, I was present at two
atmosphere is calm, surprisingly clear, and, during fights of the opposing parties, in which blood was
the day, excessively hot. spilt. The use of huano in Europe and the United
The quantity of fish in the waters of this portion States, independently of increasing the yield of
of the Pacific, and the still large numbers of huano- crops, it is asserted has even tripled the value
producing birds, may give some idea of the still of some sorts of lands. It may be said to be
greater number of the latter in former times, when the political ruler in Peru, and in the “ good old
they could so deeply cover the Lobos Islands in times,” would have been canonized as a saint. The
6° to 7° S. Did rain but fall in this or other por- Peruvians have a saying, that although the huano
tions of the coast of Peru, there would be no huano ; is no saint, yet it works miracles in more ways
however numerous the birds, their droppings must than one.

have been washed into the sea. In 8° 30' S. are the But for the excessively desert character of the
huano islands of Guanape. country, there would be no salt, nitrate of soda, or
We now arrive at the extraordinary deposits of borax. Some 125,000 tons in 1865-6, of refined
huano at the Chincha Islands. There are three, nitrate of soda (selling in Europe at £12 to £13
the North, Middle, and South, in latitude 13° 30' per ton), and a quantity of boi’ate of soda and lime
S. The North island is the largest ;
a mile in is annually (the borate by special permission of the
length and half a mile wide. In 1862 the South government) shipped, principally to England, from
island was examined, when no portion of the huano the province of Tarapaca. Mr. George Smith, the
had been touched. A
plain exists on this island early originator of the nitrate of soda trade, has
covered with the bodies of seals, which, on being calculated that the nitrate of soda ground covers
turned over, were found to be converted to a large some fifty square leagues, and a hundred pounds
extent into huano; some of the borings gave 105 weight being allowed for each square yard, there
feet of solid huano. About 1840, the first ship- still remain sixty-three millions of tons on the
ments of this substance were sent from Peru. Eor ground ; and at the present rate of consumption,
years past the quantity annually exported is about there is a stock for about 1,000 years.
500,000 tons, giving employment to say 700 ships. Iquique, the principal port of shipment for this
The net proceeds per annum of huano to the valuable article, when I first knew it in 1825, was
Peruvian government is about three millions composed of a few fishermen’s huts. For some
sterling. A
late survey gives for the quantity still years past it has had a population of some 5,000
remaining at the Chincha Islands over seven inhabitants, and has lately, in consequence of its
millions of tons, which, at £6 per ton net proceeds, great commercial importance, been declared a
amounts to £42,000,000. The value of the huano ciudad, or city. This spot is a complete desert
trade to the shipping interest alone, averages annu- the water drunk there is distilled from that of the
ally a million sterling. It will be seen by the Pacific Ocean ; still every comfort and even luxuries
following that huano exists in other localities on are to be obtained. There are two churches, a
the coast of Peru, and the quantity still there is, in theatre, club, newspaper, and a good circle of society.
The coast valley of Cahete yields sugar to the
TONS. amount of £200,000 ; Pisco and Yea, 70,000 jars of
The Chincha Islands - - 7,000,000 brandy, 10,000 barrels of wine, 800,000 pounds of
The Lobos Islands - 4,000,000 cotton, and 40,000 pounds of cochineal. Other
The Guanape Islands - - 3,000,000 valleys in the south produce sugar, wine, olive oil,
Chipana -
500,000 &c. The northern valleys yielded much cotton,
Point Lobos - 1,500,000 and more was expected in future. I will not par-
Huanillos - - 2,000,000 ticularize here the produce in silver of such mines
Pavellon de Pica - 3,000,000 as Pasco, the exports of alpaca and sheep wool,
Puerto Ingles, &c. - 1,500,000 hides, &c.
In 1859, the Peruvian budget showed a revenue
22,500,000 of 21,893,180 dollars (five dollars to the pound
sterling); of these, 15,875, 352 were from the sale of
Showing a net value to the Peruvian government
huano. The expenditure was 20,387,745 dollars,
of about 138 millions sterling.*
showing only a surplus of 1,505,435 dollars the
There can be no doubt that there are other ;
army and navy of a state (containing only 1,880,000

collections of huano, exclusive of more ancient
souls, including all the Indians), alone requiring
deposits, known as Costra or Caliche Huano, some-
11,877,306 dollars ! This was under the military
thing like that of Ichaboe.
President, Castilla. The customs exports of Peru
The possession of the huano deposits mainly gave
for 1862 amounted to 22,492,259 dollars, but
* See Illustrated London News, February 21, 1863, for 26,000,000 is nearer the truth, as there is still
some admirable drawings, from photographs, of the Chincha some smuggling of precious metals out of the
Islands. country, to escape paying duty.
[Nature and Art, June 1.1867.
Mature and Art, June 1, 1867.] OUE BEITISH BUTTERFLIES. 171
The traveller who may arrive in Peru during of adulterated sulphate of quinine, £7 the ounce.
the hot summer months, will be astonished at the He mentions that the desert portion of Peru is
aridity of the coast. He will see a few shrivelled free from terciana, but it is found in all the valleys
Tilandsias, some species of Cacti, Cardo Santo and ravines where there is water and where there is
( Argemone Mexicana
)
and if the sea-shore is ex-
;
vegetation ;
for at all seasons vegetable matter is
plored, the horny Salicornia, some species of Salsola, more or less in a state of decomposition there.
Sesuvium, and the long Macrocystis Humboldti The vegetable malaria is more concentrated and
or Sargasso. The great desert line of coast is cut deadly in some localities than others. He had to
here and there with valleys and ravines, in which remain with a party of eight, a day and two nights
the traveller may rest, his sight having been nearly in the valley of Tambo ; seven took the dreaded
blinded by the reverberation of the sand upon tro- fever, volatile organic matter being conveyed into
pical vegetation, and where he can assuage his thirst the system through the medium of the gastric, re-
with cooling fruit of the Granadilla (Passiflora spiratory, or other organs.
lingtdaris), the orange, and other fruits, and repose Terciana is not endemic on the high table-lands,
his limbs under the shade of the plantain tree. but appears again on the eastern slopes. For many
I have adverted to the more interesting objects years past quinine, in its various preparations, has
connected with the Peruvian deserts ; but there are been administered in Peru, with its well-known
unpleasant occurrences, as the earthquake and the salutary effects.
terciana or ague. At Tacna 18° S.. 1,400 feet above the level of the
The volcanoes, dormant and active, are mostly sea, and a little inland, the mean temperature is
on the western or Cordillera side of the coast these ;
about 64° Fahr. ; the greatest heat in the shade is
are one of the great signs of subterranean chemical 90°. On the sea-shore, in latitude 20° 12', the winter
action. The other is the terrible earthquake, mean heat is from 62° to 67°; in summer 72° to
resulting from the underground explosions, causing 78°, but mid-day in the sun it is scorching.
the destruction even of whole cities ; some, situated A short time after the foregoing was written, a
on the sea-coast, as Callao, were once washed entirely Spanish fleet stealthily took possession of the
away by the waters of the Pacific rolling in a Cliincha Islands, on account of some old and
gigantic earthquake wave, which, on retiring, trifling claims on Peru, and ere the Spaniards gave
swept all into the deep. The city of Arequipa has them up, got nearly a million sterling out of the
been totally destroyed five times, from 1540 to Peruvian government.
1784. The Spaniards next went to Valparaiso, but
The next drawback to a residence in the valleys finding the Chilenos would not give them the satis-
of the coast of Peru, is the terciana or ague. I faction they required, bombarded it, a defenceless
nearly became a victim, having caught a bad sort city, destroying in particular the public buildings.
all
called the atabardillada, at Pica, in the province The Spanish fleet then sailed north to Callao in
of Tarapaca, at over 4,000 feet above the level of May, 1866, in the hope of destroying that port and
the sea. The treatment then (1826) was doses of its fortifications ; in this, however, they got very
powdered Peruvian bark in old wine, and lemonade. much the worst of it, the more disabled portion
The and fever would in time disappear, but
chills running off to the Philippine Islands, the other
occasionally fatal dysentery would follow. Quinine portion round Cape Horn. Peru and Chili are
was not then known in that region. still at feud with Spain, and Spain will have to
Dr. Hamilton, who practised in Tacna as early apologize to those Republics, ere peace can be
as 1825, says he paid, as the wholesale price at Lima re-established.
OUE BEITISH BUTTEEFLIES:

THEIE STRUCTURE, HABiTS, HISTORY, AND FOREIGN RELATIVES.
By Arthur G. Butler, E.Z.S., Assistant, Zoological Department, British Museum.
Part II. Rliodocera Rhmvai. The Brimstone.
HIS on our lists,

delicate butterfly, the second of repeating the same regular journey over and over
T is, wherever it most common
occurs, one of the
of British insects it is by no means rare upon the
again for hours together, therefore, though the
collector should miss his insect the first time it
;
Continent, and may be met with in great numbers passes him, he need not despair of eventually
in some parts of India. Few insects can be more capturing it, if he but remains in the same place
attractive to the eye than this species when upon for a few minutes. Of this fact we had practical
the wing ; its flight, though rather more rapid and proof the very first time that we saw the insect
powerful, very much resembles that of the well- alive, and hi the neighbourhood of London.
known Pieris Brassicce, or common white butterfly The Brimstone is at its prime towards the middle
of our gardens ; like it, the Brimstone has a habit of August. In order to see it to perfection it is
172 OUR BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
necessary to leave the noise and bustle of town, whilst in Papilio Machaon they lie close together.
and choosing, if practicable, a clover field in the Again, the termination of the cell* is in this species
vicinity of some large wood, we are not long in concave instead of convex, but a careful eye will
detecting its golden glories upon the wide-spread readily detect these and many other points of dis-
purple carpet, for in such spots as these our yellow tinction between the two insects ; so we need not
friend especially delights. enter into a more detailed description of them here.
What luxury, whilst scenting the delicious The scales are somewhat variable in shape, but
perfume of the clover, watch those sulphur-
to not nearly so much so as in the preceding species ;
coloured fairies fluttering from flower to flower in this may be partly owing to the uniform colouring
search of their sweet food ! of the insect. The legs are short, hairy, and thickly
Having taken our at the Brimstone’s
fill clothed with scales ; as in the swallow-tailed, they
restaurant, we may
enter the wood where we again are all made use of in walking, t The antennse
perceive these butterflies in pursuit of beauty. The (horns) are flat, and in form something between a
charm of the female of this species depends upon its cricket-bat and a canoe-paddle ; the annulations
greater delicacy of colouring, the male having the are not very distinctly marked and are rather wide
advantage in richness of hue. apart. The proboscis is black and flattened ; it
The males far exceed the females in number coils up very much like a watch-spring, and is
(this seems to be usually the case with common protected by a pair of moderately large palpi, which
species), and consequently the competition in matri- when strongly magnified, form beautiful microscopic
monial affairs is something dreadful. We have objects ; they are clothed with long yellow scales,
taken seven Brimstone butterflies at one stroke of excepting at the upper outer margin, where the
the net, and six of them proved to be males. The scales are short, and of a blue-grey colour, varied
genus Rhotlocera, to which this species belongs, with red points.
contains a great variety of beautiful forms, in aril of The caterpillar of Rhodocera Rhamni may be
which the prevailing colour is yellow. have We found from May to July ; the perfect insect leaves
figured one of the’ most curious, the Rhodocera the chrysalis during the following month, and may
(Gonepteryx) Wallichii, of Doubleday 3 it is a native be met with until towards the end of October, when
of North India, and by no means a common insect. it hybernates, and appears again in February, the
A figure of this species, showing both sides of the females then continuing until May. The males, if
wing, will be found in the “ Proceedings of the taken in the spring, are frequently so much shattered
Zoological Society ” for 1865, under the name of and chafed, that they are utterly useless as specimens
Gonepteryx Urania. The eggs of the Brimstone for the cabinet, although they may still be of value
butterfly are of a conical form, with ribs sculptured to cut up for microscopic objects. This beautiful
on the sides. The caterpillar, when fully grown, is insect is common and generally distributed in the
green, finely speckled with black, and with a pale south of England ; it is scarce in the midland
lateral line ;
it may be found upon buckthorn counties, and does not occitr in Scotland.
(Rhamnvs catharticus and alder buckthorn ( R
frangula). The curiously-shaped chrysalis is sus- Explanation op Plate.
pended by means of a central girdle and a web of
Fig’. 1. Rhodocera Rhamni (male).
fine silk at the extremity of the tail ; its colour is
, ,
2. ,, ,, (female).
bright green varied with yellow. 3. Underside (male).
,,
The only well-known variety of the Brimstone „ 4. Ditto (female).
is found in the south of Europe, India, Madeira, ,, 5. Wings denuded of scales, to show the veining.
Part of antenna, magnified.
it differs from the common form in having ,, 6.
<fec.;
„ 7. Proboscis, or tongue, attached to part of head.
the greater portion of the front wings suffused with 8. Chrysalis.
,,
orange. It has, however, been described as a ,, 9. Caterpillar on food-plant.
distinct species under the name of Cleopatra but , ,, 10, 11, 12. Legs, magnified.
the fact of its having been bred from the same ,, 13. Palpus, magnified.
14. Different forms of scales.
batch of eggs with R. Rhamni has effectually ,,
„ 14a. Commonest form of scales.

proved itsidentity with this common species.
,, 15. Rhodocera Wallichii (Doubleday, North India).
By reference to our plate it will at once be seen »
that the arrangement of the veins upon the wings

* The large clear space from which most of the veins
of this insect differs considerably from that in the
branch off.
Swallow-tailed ; the nervules at the front margin f In several large families of butterflies, the prolegs are
(costa) of the upper wings being all widejy separated, only rudimentary.
Nature and Art, .June 1.1867.
Nature aud Alt, June 1, 18(57.3 NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGRAVING. 173
NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGRAVING.

I. WOOD-ENGRAVING.
T may not be too much to say that of all the preservation of works of design that the art of
I important discoveries and inventions which engraving presents its highest claim to our recog-
have marked intellectual progress that of engraving nition and gratitude. Wood-engraving was early
is entitled, all circumstances considered, to the applied to the production of books of history, and
first rank in general estimation. As a vehicle of instruction in religion, and other branches of
of design claims precedence, in point of utility
it knowledge, printed from blocks, and consequently
and In the latter
influence, over painting itself. called “ Block-books.” The blocks themselves,
art we have only one picture for each laborious before many years elapsed, suggested the employ-
effort of the artist ; but when the engraver has ment of moveable types, the most essential condi-
performed his work, copies almost without limit tion of the art of printing, properly so called. In
may be taken from it, to spread their influence illustration of the momentous results which have
far and wide, and through countless ages of time. attended this invention, it may suffice to say that
For prints upon paper are more durable than the first Bible printed from moveable metal types
paintings, whether upon pannelled walls or upon appeared in 1450 ; and that about seventy years
canvas and their value, as preserving the linea-
;
afterwards the spirit of inquiry thus promoted had
ments of the great art-products of every school given to the Reformation the form arid substance
and age for a distant posterity, cannot be over-esti- which were to insure its practical and enduring
mated. What the world has lost of the teachings effects.
of ancient Art for want of this vehicle will at once Speaking in a general sense, engraving may be
be understood and acknowledged. Whilst some said to be of —
two kinds, Xylography, or Wood-
fragments of the sculpture of the Greeks still re- engraving, from it/Aor, wood; and, Chalcography,
—
main at once the marvel and the instructors of a or Copperplate-engraving, from yaAi'oe, copper.
—
remote age achievements of theirs in painting have The distinctive difference between the two is that
been entirely lost to us whereas, so far as design
;
in wood-engraving the lights are cut away, leaving
and composition are concerned, these might have the lines forming the design in relief; whilst in
been preserved for our delight and edification had copperplate-engraving the lines composing the de-
the process of engraving been then known. sign are incised, leaving the surface untouched on
M. Monier, painter to the King of France, and those parts which are to remain white on the
professor of painting and sculpture in the Royal paper. The “ working off,” or printing, in the two
Academy at Paris, in his “ History of the Arts,” cases necessarily differs also. A
wood-engraving
published towards the close of the seventeenth is worked at an ordinary printing-press, like the
century, remarks upon the important influence type of a book, the ink being passed over the
which the multiplication of works in painting, relief surface, and afterwards impressed upon the
sculpture, and architecture had upon the revival paper whilst in the copperplate the ink is rubbed
;
of the Arts in countries which were not, like Italy, into the incised lines, and then, by means of a
stored with great original examples of A rt, ancient roller press, transferred to the paper. Steel-en-
and modern. “ Engraving,” he says, “ has con- graving is but a modification of copperplate, the
ferred the same advantages upon painting as upon object of employing the material in question being
architecture, and has given solid instruction to its superior hardness, and its capability of giving a
several painters. This may be remarked of the greater number of impressions than copper.
prints of Marc Antonio, engraved after the designs Of the two processes, wood-engraving is the
of Raphael, which have taught the true manner more ancient, the date of its origin being a
of designing to several very considerable painters. matter of dispute, which has formed the subject of
By the help of those prints, for instance, the illus- many a ponderous tome of antiquarian lore. Down
trious Poussin made great progress when in Paris to a comparatively recent period, the opinion gener-
as a youth. It was here this great painter so ally received by that class of winters who are
happily imitated the style of Raphael and the content to copy without inquiry whatever comes
ancients.” Another example of the kind may be readiest to hand, was, that the art of wood-engrav-
cited in our own Reynolds, who was first incited to ing was invented in Germany. In the eighth
the cultivation of the arts of design by some prints edition of the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” for in-
which he employed himself in copying. But the stance, published so late as 1856, we find it stated,
influence of Italian Art throughout Europe, more without hesitation or qualification, just as it was
particularly in England, France, the Low Coun- stated in the fifth edition o£ the same learned com-
tries, and Germany, through the means of engrav- that “ for this inven-
pilation, fifty years before,
ing, isvery striking to all who study the history of tion appears we are indebted to the brief-makers,
it
the various schools of Art. or makers of playing-cards, who practised the Art
It is not, however, in the reproduction aud in Germany about the beginning of the fifteenth
174 NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGRAVING. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
century,” adding in a note, “such playing-cards, being apparently printed by means of stamps, or
however, were in use in Germany” (the writer blocks of wood, iu the same manner as the cotton
does not state whence obtained) “ as early as the
*
prints of Europe of a more recent date. Again,
year 1275.” the Portuguese missionaries, on their first visit to
To those who at all consider the state of anarchy, Japan, in 1549, found the art of block-printing in
darkness, and misery which prevailed in Germany use there 3 and Alvaro Sunedo, in his “Relatione
during the whole period of the Middle Ages (a state della Cina,” states that “ the Chinese, according to
of things which compelled the Hanseatic League to their works, claim to have used the art during a
establish itself, in order to afford points of refuge period of sixteen centuries.” To conclude with this
for the ordinary interests of trade), and the low con- branch of the case the learned Baron Mearman, in
dition of Arts and Letters, which was the natural a paper in the “ Origines Typographic,” quotes a
accompaniment of this national debasement, it variety of passages from a “ History of China”
might very naturally occur to doubt the proba- written by Abusaid, in Persian, a.d. 1317, from
bility of this barbarous region being the seat of an amongst which may
important and interesting invention, calculated in
it
to cite the following : —be sufficient for our purpose
All the books edited by
a greater degree than any other to foster the arts the persons in question” (alluding to those Chinese
of peace, and promote the intellectual advancement savants whom he names), “are written in a beauti-
of the world. But, apart from the suggestions ful hand, so that each page may be transposed in
of common sense, there have been made, within the same handsome characters to the blocks with
the last half-century, a vast amount of curious which the men of learning are always at great
researches, the result of which tends to show that pains to collate their manuscripts, attesting by a
the original seat of the art of wood-engraving was private mark on the back of each block their appro-
very distant from that so unhesitatingly accepted bation of it. They next commit these blocks, or
by the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica 3 ” and that its tables, to the best engravers, and finally complete
course was not from the dreary wastes of Central the whole by numbering the pages.” The Persian
Germany to the more enlightened West and author then goes on to describe the systematic
South of Europe, but from the ancient seats of manner in which these blocks were preserved in
civilization in the far East, through northern Italy, cases under seal which would argue it to have
3
and thence through Western Europe into Germany. been an old-established practice, and not one of
In other words, it is contended by recent writers, recent adoption.
Papillon, Singer, the late Mr. Ottley, and others, But, indeed, the art of taking impressions in
that the use of this invention is of remote date in black or coloured inks from seals, or stamps, en-
China and Japan ; and that it was through Venice, graved for the purpose, by way of authenticating
which, as is well known, carried on an extensive deeds, and, amongst the Chinese, paper-money itself,
commerce with those countries, and was the me- isunquestionably of the very highest antiquity in
dium of communication between them and the the East, and was probably derived thence by the
commercial ports of the West and North of Europe, Romans, amongst whom we have abundant ex-
that it was introduced amongst us. amples of the like kind. I 11 later times we find
On the other hand, in opposition to this view, it Charlemagne and the Frankish monarchs pursuing
has been gravely contended that there is no evi- the same practice, with seals or stanqis, which were
dence to show that the Chinese themselves were probably first made of wood. It seems difficult to
acquainted with this art as early as the thirteenth suppose that the obvious uses of such an appliance
century, much less of their having communicated should have been through a long series of ages in
such knowledge to the Venetians. great manner overlooked, and that it should all
It has been urged that Marco Polo, in his cele- this while have been restricted to the sealing or
brated account of China, written in 1295, after his stamping of documents.
return to Venice, makes no mention of this art Having said thus much in support of the claims
amongst the many wonders of the country which of the East to the first use of this art, the next
he dilates upon ; and it is urged from this that the question that arises is how it found its way from
art did not at that time exist amongst the Chinese. thence into Europe. The probability is, as has
To this, however, is to be replied that this very been already suggested, that it was imported
silence upon so important a subject would have through the then great emporium of Oriental
been unaccountable, — indeed, could hardly be sup- commerce, Venice, whence it afterwards found its
posed to have occurred, — supposing the art to way into Central and Western Europe, through the
have been practised in China, and unknown in Low Countries, and the ports of the Hanseatic
V enice ; but that it may be at once naturally and League.
satisfactorily accounted for on the supposition that We have already observed that in all probability
wood-engraving was already well known, and com- the art was known and practised both by the
monly practised, not only in China, but in Venice Chinese and the Venetians in the time of Marco
also. Polo, at the end of the thirteenth century 3 and
With regar'd to the early use of this art, or of what goes a great way to support this impression,
the appliances which are involved in it, it may be so far at least as Venice is concerned, is a very
observed, as is very well known, that the printed curious decree of the Venetian government, which
stuffs of the Chinese are of very remote antiquity, was published, printed from an engraved wooden
Nature and Art, .Tune 1 ,
18 (57-3 NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGRAVING. 175
block, in setting forth “the decay into

1441, other relatives. He
again joined the army, and
which the and mystery of making cards and
art was killed in battle —
his sister dying of grief
printed figures had fallen,” and, for the restoration shortly afterwards at the age of twenty. Such is
of this “ art and mystery,” and the encouragement a brief abstract of the narrative given by
of native talent, prohibiting the importation of Papillon, as copied by him from the written
“ playing-cards and works of art printed or painted statement in the book itself. “ Some years after-
on cloth or paper.” It may be not unreasonably wards,” concludes the writer of this statement,
insisted that an industrial art of this kind Cbuld
“ the generous Count de Cunio gave this copy of
not have been invented or first introduced, have at- the ‘Actions of Alexander,’ bound as it now is, to
tained to a considerable amount of remunerative my grandfather ; and I have caused the. leaves to
practice, and have eventually fallen into decay so be inserted, upon which, by my orders, this history
signally as to call for Government intervention was written.”
for its protection, except in a series of years mea- It is certainly unfortunate that this curious
sured by generations, if not by centuries. Let us volume, which Papillon states he saw in 1758, has
hazard the conjecture that the first cards used in not been since discovered by any one who has
Germany, say, in 1275 the earliest date named in— written on the subject ; and the whole story of it
the note of the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” were — has consequently been denounced as apocryphal by
imported from Italy that the Germans afterwards
;
many writers who appear not to have studied the
commenced making them for themselves, some of evidence in the matter with sufficient care. Strutt
which in course of time found their way into the and Bryan, for instance, when writing the prefaces
North of Italy, and were the cause of exciting the to their respective dictionaries of painters and
jealousy of the Venetians, which manifested itself engravers, appear to have read Papillon’s narrative
in the above-cited decree of 1441. so curiously that they charge him with giving it all
As it tends to support the claim of Italy to upon the hearsay evidence of the Swiss officer, -and
priority over other European nations in the use of never having seen the book himself whereas he
;
this art, the account given by Papillon, although clearly states that he had seen the book and closely
unsupported by corroborative testimony, is de- examined it.
serving of attention. Accepting his statements Ileinecken, who espouses the claim of Germany
as authentic, they establish an instance of en- to the invention of wood-engraving, contemptuously
graving on wood as early as the year 1285. dismisses Papillon’s statement as utterly unworthy
Papillon begins his narrative by telling us of credit, and argues upon the names and dates
that in 1758, when employed in the way of his mentioned in it, to prove its impossibility. These
trade in papering the walls of a room in the arguments, however, have since been investigated
house of a Swiss officer whom he names, at at length by Zani and Ottley (“Origin and Early
Bagnense, near Mont Range, he was shown by the History of Engraving ”), and the result of their
latter a volume containing nine wood-engravings, researches is to establish the existence of all
representing events in the life of Alexander the the principal persons mentioned by Papillon in
Great (which he minutely describes), the work of his narrative, together with many corroborative
a brother and sister of the name of Cunio, and circumstances ; and they consequently come to the
which were dedicated to Pope Honorius IV., who conclusion that the stoi-y of the works of these
occupied the Papal chair during the years 1284-5. Cunij is true.
The story of these young amateur artists, as related With the exception of the playing-cards of
in a MS. statement which had been inserted in the Venice, and the illustrations of the achievements
volume in question by the Swiss officer, its pos- of Alexander the Great by the gifted Cunio,
sessor, is rather a romantic one. It appears that we have no account, even traditional, of the early
they were the twin children of the son of a certain practice of the art of wood-engraving in Italy. It
Count de Cunio, by a Veronese lady allied to the is to the Western and Northern states of Europe
family of Honorius IV., whom that young noble- that we must look for its application to nobler
man had married clandestinely, and contrary to the uses ; and here again, in apportioning the honours
wish of his friends. This marriage was annulled, of the achievement, authorities are at variance.
and the husband was compelled by his father, the Authorities of the class to which the “ Encyclopaedia
Count de* Cunio, to espouse another lady ; but the Britannica ” belongs tell us very confidently that
twins were nevertheless brought up and carefully whilst we are indebted to the brief-makers, or
educated in his house, their stepmother loving playing-card makers, of Germany for the invention
them as if they had been her own children. of wood-engraving, we are indebted to them also
Already at the age of thirteen they were highly for applying their newly-discovered art to the pro-
accomplished in Latin, geometry, music, and duction of the block-print books, which early in
painting; at the age of fourteen the boy went the fifteenth century came to take up the ground
with his father to the wars, where he was wounded, previously occupied by the ancient missal, with its
and knighted by his father on the field of battle. artistic miniature decorations. But the late
It was after his return that, jointly with his sister, Mr. Ottley dissented from this position ; con-
Isabella, he commenced those designs of the actions sidering that, although the arts of painting and
of Alexander, engraving them on wood, and of engraving may have been practised throughout
which he presented copies to Pope Honorius and Germany long previous to the commencement of
176 THE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
tlie fifteenth century, “ the honour of having first indeed, which a comparison of some of the best of
contributed to theirimprovement belongs more these with others professedly and indisputably
especially to the artists of the Low Countries, and executed in Germany will tend not a little to
others who inhabited the western countries of support.” He then mentions three block-books
Germany.” which he considers entitled to this distinction,
The wood-engraving at present known,
earliest namely, “The Poor Man’s Bible” ( Biblia Pau-
having a date, is one discovered by Heinecken, in perum), the Book of Canticles, and the Speculum
the Chartreuse, at Buxheim, near Meiningen, one Humarii Salvationis, or “ Mirror of Human Sal-
of the most ancient convents in Germany, and on vation,” and the illustrations of these he considers
that account called the “ Buxheim Print.” It to have been all by the same artist, and to have
represents “ Saint Christopher carrying the Tnfant been produced in the order in which he names
'
Jesus across the Sea.” This print bears an in- them. But the history of some of these block-
scription in Latin, with the date 1423. On being books, with reference to the many important
brought t» England it became the property of the questions they tend to elucidate, would of them-
Earl Spencer. Another very old block -print selves fill an article for which, perhaps, we may
supposed to be older than the Buxheim print in — one day find space. Meantime to suggest the
the possession of the same noble lord, is one connecting link between the block printing and
representing St. Bridget writing, and from in- printing by moveable types, to which we have
ternal evidence would seem to have been executed already casually alluded, may
be stated that the
it
by an artist of the Low Countries, in the latter “ Speculum Humani Salvationis

” is remarkable as
end of the fourteenth century. having the text of one edition printed in great
The same authority considers that some of the part from moveable characters, and in others
block-books may be of as early date as 1420 and ;
entirely so and that it was so printed in the
;
he argues that “ those of them whose pretensions edition issued by Laurence Coster, of Haarlem.
to antiquity are not unattended by some claims to The question of the first use of moveable metal
our approval as works of art, appertain more types —
whether by Guttenberg, at Mayence, or
properly to the ancient schools of Holland and Poster at Haarlem —
is still a matter of fierce
Flanders than to those of Germany, an opinion, dispute.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA—THE BUDDHIST.

By William Simpson.
HERE is some uncertainty as to whether supernatural means ; such were the eight hairs
T Brahminism or Buddhism is the oldest religion which were enshrined in the Rangoon Dagopa, in
of India ;
there may have been a previous religion : Burrnah and the same may be said of the cele-
:
one more Brahminical form of

allied to the present brated relics in Ceylon, of which the most famous
worship, than to that founded by Buddha ; but if is the tooth of Buddha. This is now preserved by
there was, no architectural remains of it are left. our government, and guarded as the Palladium of
There are some remains, said to be Druidical and ;
British power in the island it is kept in the city of
;
there are some to which the word Cyclopean is Kandy, the capital of Ceylon.
applied. With the exception of these, and they are A Dagopa is also called a Chaitya, but they are
but few, the architectural history of India begins perhaps better known by the word Tope. This
with the era of Buddha, which is now generally word is identified with those of Northern India
accepted to be b.c. 543. from its use by recent writers. In Cabool and the
That is the date of Buddha’s death ; the event region around Peshawur there are numerous
took place at Kusinara, a town supposed to have Buddhist remains, which are known by this name.
been somewhere to the east of Benares. After the Tope is said to be the same as the Pali Tliupo, and
incremation of the body, the ashes were divided the Sanscrit Stupa, a “mound” or “tumulus.”
among seven princes, who had collected armies in The most ancient of these are exactly like an
order to fight for the sacred remains ; for they inverted cup ; the more modern vary considerably
considered that there “ was nothing so precious in in shape. The Sarnatli Tope, near Benares, rises
the world as the relics of Buddha.” Over each of high like the spire of a Hindoo temple some are ;
these relics Hagopas .were erected, and an eighth bell-shaped and the great Dagopa at Rangoon is
;
was built at Rajagaha over another relic. In this like the upper part of a sherry decanter. They
we have the most important practice of Buddhist are always round the base may be square or
;
—
worship the adoration of relics ; and the most octagonal ; but the upper and main part of the
—
important feature of its architecture the erection of structure never is so. The Mahawanso, one of the
Hagopas to contain and preserve them. There ancient books of Ceylon, describes the erection of
are some relics of Buddha which were got by one of these buildings, and it gives what must
[Nature and Art, June 1.1867.
North
ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA.. BUDDHIST.

;
Nature and Art, June 1, 18G7.] THE AECHITECTURE OF INDIA. 177
seem —
in these days of “ competitive designs
”
for Dr. Clarke, when describing the vast quantities
public buildings —
a very curious manner in which of tumuli in the southern part of Russia, points
the architect of that period submitted his design out the same identity between them and the
to the king. “ The bricklayers were assembled by pyramid. He says, “ whether under the form of a
beat of drum
and the Rajah inquired from the
;
mound in Scandinavia, in Russia, or in North
architect, what form dost thou propose to
‘
in America; a barrow in England a cairn in Wales
;
construct the Chaitya 1 The architect, taking

’
and Scotland, or in Ireland ;
or of those heaps
some water in the palm of his hand, dashed it into which the modern Greeks and Turks call Tepe or ;
a golden vessel full of water and pointing to a ;

lastly, in the more artificial shape of a pyramid in
hemispherical bubble of air, which stood for a Egypt, they had universally the same origin.”
moment on the surface, he said, I will build it in ‘
(Vol. i., p. 277.) From such authorities we may
that form.’ ” The drawing of the Thuparamaya accept as conclusive, that from the mound or cairn
Dagopa (lig. 6) will show the form of those erected came the Tope and pyramid ; and very strong
in Ceylon, and it will indicate how the architect evidence could be adduced to show that the dome
carried out the design which he produced for the and spire are only another growth —or perhaps
Rajah Dutthagamini. The long slender stone —
extension of growth from the same source ; the
pillars, with large capitals, which surround the universality of the dome on all eastern tombs is
Dagopa, are peculiar to this design. almost enough in itself to identify it with the Tope ;
The identification of these Dagopas or Topes with this is a tempting subject, but it would be out of
the pyramids of Egypt can scarcely be resisted our purpose to follow it farther.
both are essentially sepulchral in their character ; It may be worth adding at this point that the
and both are mounds of building covering or elevation of the Birs Nimrod, or Borsippa, given in
inclosing human remains, the only difference being Rawlinson’s “Herodotus,” which is now the ac-
that the external form of one is square and pointed, cepted Tower of Babel, or at least the probable
while the other is circular and dome-shaped. type upon which that Tower was built, is only
Although there can be no doubt about the greater a variation of the pyramid or Tope.
antiquity of the pyramids, yet these Buddhist Near to Bilsah, in Central India, there must
remains in India are undoubtedly the more literal have been, in Buddhist times, a vast city, and
descendants of the most ancient type of tombs, whose existence is only revealed to us by the ruins
that is, the tumulus or mound of earth heaped of a number of Topes. On a small hill at the
over the burial place, remnants of which are found village of Sanchi-Khan-a-Kerri, stands what is
all over the world. “ In India the Buddhists generally called the Bilsah Tope ; it is the central
conformed to the long -established practice of one in this group, smaller ones being scattered
burning their dead, and the tomb became not about for some miles. It is, speaking roughly,
the receptacle of a body but of a relic. As in upwards of one hundred feet in diameter, and about
mediaeval Europe, the sarcophagus became a stone fifty or sixty feet in height. The plan and section
altar. No one can doubt that the Tope is the (fig. 1 and 2) of it given in the plate will convey an
lineal descendant of the Tumidus ; but wherever
. accurate idea of this most interesting specimen of
it was an object of veneration by the Buddhists, Indian architecture. It is about the oldest building
it was so as containing some relic of some saint, in India, according to Cunningham, who thinks
not as a sepulchre covering the mortal remains of that “ the Tope was itself in existence in b.c. 443,
either king or priest.”* that the massive stone railing was erected in the
This opinion of Mr. Fergusson’s is confirmed by reign of Asoka between 260 and 250 b.c., and that
General Cunningham in his work on the Bilsah the gateways were erected in the reign of Sri
Tope ; he says, “ It appears also that Stupas had Satakarni between the years 37 and 19 A.D.” Its
been erected over supreme monarchs prior to construction was of bricks, with mud for mortar,
Sakya’s (Buddha) advent, for Sakya particularly and an outer casing of dressed stones, the whole
informs his disciple Ananda, that, over the remains being covered with four inches of cement. It is
of a Chakravarti Rajah, ‘they build the thupo at a now a complete ruin, covered over with long grass,
spot where four principal roads meet.’ It is clear, bushes, and eveiy weed which a tropical climate
therefore, that the Tope or Tumulus was the
‘ ’
can produce. From numerous sculptures of Topes
common form of tombs at that period. In fact, on the gateways, as Avell as from other sources, we
the Tope, as its name implies, is nothing more than know that there would be an erection on the
a regularly built cairn or pile of stones, which was summit, which is now denominated a “ tee.” This
undoubtedly the oldest form of funeral memento.” is sketched into the section with dotted lines.
(P. 11.) A sculptured Tope is given in the plate (fig. 3), and
These quotations indicate the very ancient over it is the “ triple canopy.” A
Dagopa from the
genealogy of this architecture, and its importance caves of Ajunta is also given (fig. 6), which shows
as a means of throwing light back on the earliest the Tee and the three umbrellas ; they are often
times, not only of Indian races, but over the other represented, as in this last, by figures like an
parts of the world where a cairn of stones or a inverted saucer. This is an indication of a later
mound of earth was the primitive form of burial. style, all the most ancient pi’eserve the character of
an actual umbrella, such as that from the sculpture
* Fergussoifs “ History of Architecture,” vol. ii., p. 478. at Bilsah ; garlands hang from the latter, and
II. N
178 THE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
between the canopies in the Ajunta one, small Bxxddha, such as the wheel, and the sacred trees ;
angels are carved supporting them. There is a Topes are also to be foxxnd with people worshipping.
difference between these two Topes in the xvay the Some of the ordinary avocations of ancient life are
umbrellas are arranged. The dotted lines over the represented, and these are unchanged as to xxtexxsils
section of the Bilsah Tope (fig. 2) will show how ox' mode of performance evexx ixx the present day,
they may have been arranged over it. The showixxg how permanent ax'e the maxxxxei’S and
meaning of these umbrellas will be best understood cxxstoms of the East.
from the following quotation from the Maliawanso, The purpose of these gateways and the passage is
on the dedication by the Raj ah Dutthagamini of axx important point ixx Buddhism. It was a
the Maha-Thupo in Ceylon. He said, “ thrice over ceremonial part of their worship to circumambulate
do I dedicate my kingdom to the redeemer of the one of these buildings, and they did so mxxttering
world, the divine teacher, the bearer of the triple prayers and holy iixvocatioxxs ; this was done in
canopy; the canopy of the heavenly host, the lxonoxxr of Buddha, because he is a “ Clxakx-avarta-
canopy of mortals, and the canopy of eternal Rajah,” or King of the Wheel; this is also the
emancipation.” These words manifest the deep explanation of the “ Px-ayixxg Cylinder,” which the
signification of the umbrella as a symbol of Bxxddhists of Thibet whirl as a xxxode of prayer.
Buddha. This importance is also indicated by its The wheel was also called the Wheel of the Law ,
universality as an emblem. It was used in because it evolved, or revolved, the faith (dharma)
Thesmophorian and Eleusinian mysteries, and in of Bxxddha, and it was symbolical of the movements
the rites of Bacchus ; Hesychius says under the of the heavexxly bodies. This circumambulation is
woi’d oxide, “a vine, a convex tent, a pointed also performed by the Malxonxedans rouixd the
umbrella under which Bacchus sits.” As the Caaba at Mecca. As the followex-s of the prophet
dome of St. Peter’s may be allied with the Tope, so have xxo explanatioxx of this ceremony, it may
the baldaquin may be possibly connected with the perhaps be a remnant of the old Buddhist ideas,
“ chattar ” (umbrella), which is still one of the axxd this is confirmed from the fact that there was a
insignia of royalty in the East. systenx of pilgrimage from Ixxdia to Mecca, long
In the ground plan of the Bilsah Tope (fig. 1 ) it before the tixxxe of Mahomet.
will be seen that there is a passage all round it, Fi’oixx the lxoix-discovexy of relics ixx the Bilsah
with a gateway at each of the cardinal points. Tope, Cunningham arx-ived at the coixclusioix that
The passage is formed by a very peculiar structure, it was dedicated to the supreme Bxxddha. He says,
which is now known as the “ Buddhist Railing ” it “A Tope is propexly a religious edifice, dedicated
—
; :
is evidently founded upon a previous wooden con- emphatically to Buddha either to the celestial
struction, and its peculiar form is used as an Adi Bxxddha, the gx’eat Fix-st Cause of all things, or
ornamental feature, not only on the sculptures of to one of his emanations, the Manushi, or mortal
the Bilsah Tope itself, but it is to be found in all Buddhas, of whom the most celebrated, and the only
the most ancient of the Buddhist rock-cut temples historical oxxe, is Sakya Mxxxxi, who died b.c. 543.
in fact, the use of this “ rail ” as an ornament is in In the Topes dedicated to the celestial Bxxddha
itself a proof of a certain antiquity wherever it is the ixxvisible Being who pervaded all space no —
found. In the present case it stands as a piece of deposit was xxxade ; but the Divine Spirit, who is
architectural construction, and it is the only ‘
Light,’ was sxxpposed to occupy the interior, axxd
example of it known in India in every other
: was typified on the oxxtside by a pair of eyes, placed
place it is found merely as a sculptural ornament. oxx each of the foxxr sides either of the base or of
It is formed of upright stone posts eight feet eight the crowix of the edifice. Sxxch is the great Chaitya
inches high, over which there are laid long stones, or Tope near Kathmandu, in Nepal, dedicated to
about two feet four inches in depth between
;
Swayambhxxnath (the Self Existexxt), ixx which the
each of the upright posts there are inserted three eyes are placed on the xxpper part of the bxxilding.”
horizontal stones, or slabs, convex in section ; these (“Bilsah Tope,” p. 7.) It was oxxly the great Tope
have sockets cut for them in the posts, exactly as if at this place which was dedicated to the “ Divixxe
they were pieces of wood (see drawing, fig. 8). Spirit;” the other’s, of which there are many, con-
This mode of mortising could never have been tained vases which, from their ixxscx-iptions, preserved
adopted by people with stone as their building the ashes of holy mexx. One of these had an inscrip-
material ;
while it is exactly the way in which such tioxx stating that it was the “ (Relics) of the eman-
a wooden structure would be formed. cipated Kasyapa Gotra, the missioxxary to the whole
The gateways are also expected after a wooden Hemawanta (Himalays).” The Buddhists wex-e
style of constrixction ; tlxey ax’e formed of square great propagandists, and there are other Topes at
pillars about eighteen feet high ; this supports thx’ee Bilsah which preserved the remains of xxxen who
lixxtels which extend beyond the pillars, axxd had earned a holy repxxtation as missionaries to the
betweexx these lintels are a series of small pillars Himalays. In sending xxxissioxxs they took effective
which act as supports the lixxtels are cxxriously xxxeans to accoxxxplish their pui’pose they did xxot
—
:
;
cxxxwed upwards ixx the middle (see drawing send a single pex’son, bxxt sent a sort of colony a
fig. 4), axxd although they rest xxpoxx the sxxppox’ting whole body of nxoixks. It was thus that they con-
pillax’s they are mox’tised into each other as if they vei'ted Cashmere, and wheix they had attained their
were blocks of wood. The whole of these foxxr pxxx-pose there, a similar regiment of propaganda
gates are carved all over ; there are symbols of were pushed oxx to Thibet, axxd converted that
— ; ;
Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA. 179
country. It was by similar means that Ceylon was means staff, which exactly describes these pillars.
converted. The word “ emancipated,” in the in- They were often surmounted by the figure of a lion.
scription, means that the individual had attained As the Tope led us back to the mound or cairn,
to Nirvana, or final absorption into Buddha. This these columns lead us also back to the primitive
is the Buddhist idea of ultimate bliss, because it time when it was the custom to set up a stone, and
frees or emancipates them from the pains of birth write upon it all the words of the law. This was
and existence. the practice in the time of Moses, and it can be
It was the belief in re-birtli, and the desire to traced through all the nations of antiquity.
be emancipated from such liabilities, which led to Mr. Buskin refuses to consider iron as one of the
asceticism and monasticism. The numbers who materials of architecture, but although inclined to
devoted themselves to a holy life seem to have agree with the principle, we must in the present case
—
been very large “ the land glittered with the refuse to be guided by it, so that we may be able to
yellow robes,” such being the colour worn by the include the celebrated iron lat at the Ivootub (the
Buddhist monks. They had places to live in ancient Delhi) under the term architecture. Delhi
together, called “ Viharas,” of which no more (the word comes from dil, the heart) claims, like
than one or two fragments only are left in —
Delphi, to be the terrai umbilicus the centre of
India. The most important remains of this kind the world, and it is believed by the people of India
of building are at Anuradkapoora, in Ceylon, and that this iron pillar is the spindle upon which the
are called the Maha Lowa Paya, or “ Great Brazen world revolves. It is a tall shaft, not less than
Monastery.” It was covered with a roof of brass, twenty feet high, fixed into the ground ; it is sur-
and probably this was gilt. There are only a few rounded by the remains of an old temple, said to
upright granite pillars now standing, and upon them be Hindoo; but the capital on the top of the lat
stood the Viliara, built in nine stoi'ies of a pyramidal clearly indicates that it is as old as the Buddhist
form. Fergusson is inclined to the idea that this —
period- possibly even older ; and, if so, it becomes
must have been the original style of building from the oldest architectural fragment in India. The main
which the architecture of southern India took its point in this iron pillar is, that its claims are so
rise. To it, for instance, we may trace the high, similar to those of Delphi, Jerusalem, and Mecca,
many-storied temples in the form of a pyramid of all of them being called the
“ centre of the earth.”
which the gateway at Madura is a good example. —
This is generally explained at least, in the case of
This is confirmed by some of the sculptures on the —
Jerusalem -that it was very near the centre of the
gateways at the Bilsah Tope. (See Plate, fig 5.) then known world ; but a more likely explanation
It seems to represent an ordinary house of the would be, that they were all centres of a religious
time, and we may accept it as figuring the style of —
system they were centres to turn to in prayer
the domestic architecture of the period. Certainly Jerusalem and Mecca are so to this day. By thus
no dwelling is built in India at the present day in giving a religious and symbolical signification, we
the least resembling the one on that sculpture. But give a more reasonable character to the title which
if any one will compare it with the details of the such places claim.
temples of southern India, a very great resemblance In Ladalc, at the present day, the Buddhists, or
will be seen, particularly in the circular and oval Lamas, build Topes, and in the villages they seem
form of the upper windows. This was evidently often to be more numerous than the houses of the
built of wood, and it is the type from which this living. In the language of that country, they are
peculiar form, so common in all southern archi- called Chock-Tain and Dung-Tain, words which
tecture, is likely to have had its origin. The whole mean “ holy receptacle,” and “bone-holder.” (For
of the house in the sculpture was evidently of wood the form of these erections see Plate, fig. 9.) They
under the windows, where the man and woman are also build a very peculiar erection, called by them
looking out, is the Buddhist railing, which is the a “ Manie.” This is one of Buddha’s many names.
great feature of the period. —
This house small It is in the form of a dyke ; in section it might be
fragment as it is of the building of that time about ten feet square, the top being pointed like
renders Mr. Fergusson’s conjecture highly probable, the roof of a house ; in length, they vary from a
that the “ Great Brazen Monastery ” was erected in few feet to a quarter of a mile. The whole of the
a similar style, and that the architecture of southern upper surface is covered with flat stones, upon
India is the descendant of this manner of building. which is inscribed the celebrated mystic Mantra,
There is only one other species of Buddhist “ Aim Mani Padmi Hoong.” The Lamas engrave
architecture of which it will be necessary to take these stones, and pious people buy them, as an offer-
notice in this article —
that is, the old Lats. They ing to Buddha, and place them on these Manies. On
were, erected by Asoka, about the middle of the the tops of hills, and particularly on the highest
third century, b.c. Asoka had embraced the points of passes, they erect cairns of stones ; these
Buddhist faith, and he put up these pillars to they also call Manies. The stones are thrown
contain the declaration of Buddhist faith, which together, just like the cairns on places where a
is called “ Dliarma.” They are found in many murder or unusual death has taken place in Scot-
places of India, but the best known are those in land. Into these stones they insert pieces of wood,
the fort at Allahabad, and in the Purana Keela at to which they attach small flags or banners, with
old Delhi, now called Feroze Shah’s Lat. They prayers written upon them. They are also very
are tall, slender, round columns. The word lat fond of putting horns upon them ; some are quite
n 2
180 THE MICROSCOPE. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
covered with the horns of the various animals of “ Each day Diana furnished from her toils
the country. This seems to have been a very The horns of Cynthian goats, her sylvan spoils
These did the god with wondrous art dispose,
ancient practice. There were horns on the altar And from his forming hand an altar rose
of the Tabernacle, and Callimachus, in his hymn With horns the strong foundations closely laid,
to Apollo, describes a similar mode of constructing And round with horns the perfect structure made.”
an altar (Dr. Dodd’s Translation.)
THE MICROSCOPE.
I N our last number we gave a short outlinear in viewing the object. Until quite recently, how-
JL sketch of the progress recently made in the ever, the binocular was little better than an inter-
application of the microscope to the arts and sci- esting toy, for it was impossible to employ it with
ences, and of the advance made in histological any but the very lowest powers but since the ;
discovery. In the present article we propose to application by Messrs. Powell and Lealand of an
notice some of the more remarkable improvements ingenious modification of Mr. W
enliam’s binocular
and inventions in microscopic apparatus and appli- prism, the binocular can be used with the very
ances which have of late been described in the highest powers. We ourselves have examined an
pages of our scientific contemporaries. In doing object with the binocular microscope with as high
this we shall divide our subject into four or five a power as the 1-1 6th of an inch, by the assistance
distinct sections, which, if more or less artificial of the contrivance alluded to. The great difficulty
as divisions, are still useful for the purpose of which Messrs. Powell and Lealand had to overcome
description. All who are familiar with the com- was that of obtaining an image by the whole aper-
pound microscope are aware that it consists of three ture of the object-glass in each tube of the instru-
separate parts— the tube or body containing the ment. This, however, they effected (fig. 1) by
object-glass and eye-piece, which together constitute interposing an inclined disc
the magnifying apparatus ; the stage, or plate of of glass with parallel sides,
brass, upon which the object intended for examina- so that one set of rays from
tion is placed ; and the mirror, which, for ordinary the object is transmitted
purposes, is concave, and reflects through the object directly through it to one
the light which falls upon it either from the sun or eye, while the other portion
from some other source of light, such as a lamp. of the rays is twice reflected,
So much, then, for the general plan of the instru- and thus sent along the
ment. Supposing now it be desired to examine an second tube to the other eye.
object, it is obvious that the object must be found, It is unnecessary to enter
and when found must be suitably mounted on a into further details here, as the figure will suf-
piece of glass before it can be placed upon the ficiently explain the modus operandi of this
microscope stage for investigation. These pre- ingenious appliance.
liminary remarks, then, show that our subject Of binocular microscopes for both students and
ranks itself under four distinct heads— (1) that of amateurs the best and cheapest is that which has
the microscope itself : its recently constructed been made by Mr. Collins, of Titchfield Street, for
varieties ; (2) the collection of objects ; (3) the Professor Harley, of University College(fig. 2). This
mounting of the objects ; and (4) the illumination is a fine and solid instrument, and is characterized
of the objects. Now under these different divisions by a piece of apparatus which saves the observer a
we shall proceed to discuss the merits of some of great deal of trouble and inconvenience. Instead
the important appliances which have recently been of the simple drawer containing the prism, Mr.
invented by microscopists. First, of the micro- Collins employs an oblong box, one portion of
scopes themselves. Two forms of the microscope which contains the prism and another a part of the
are now in very general use — the instrument with polariscope. The second part of the polariscope
the single barrel, technically styled the uniocular, lies beneath the stage, so that it can at once be
—
and that in which there is a tube for each eye the brought into play. The advantage which this
binocular. It would take us too long to go into addition gives Mr. Collins’ instrument is this, that
the principles of stereoscopic vision upon which the without any loss of time an object may successively
latter of these two microscopes depends ; but we be examined binocularly, uniocularly, and with the
may mention generally that the advantage of the polariscope. Another convenient accessory to this
binocular over the uniocular consists in the fact microscope is the sliding bar upon which the two ob-
that it gives the eye a representation of the object jetives, 1-inch and -j-inch, are placed. By simply
in solid relief, whilst the uniocular gives merely a moving them either to the front or back a low power
flat picture. The appearance of solidity given by is substituted for a much higher one, or vice versd.
the former being, in great part, due to the circum- A new class of microscope has recently made its
stance that both eyes are employed simultaneously appearance under the various titles of sea-side
;

THE MICROSCOPE. 181
microscope, traveller’s microscope, pocket micro- the traveller’s microscope, is a handsome instrument
scope, &c., and which has advantages of its own. in form somewhat like Messrs. Baker’s. The three
Fig. 3.
legs upon which it rests, however, have this advantage

over Mr. Baker’s, that they are fastened into a semi-
circular collar, in which the body of the microscope
swings, instead of into the central leg. The object
Fig. 2.
of this is to enable the worker to employ the micro-
scope either in the inclined or vertical position
It frequently happens that the naturalist or the without the trouble of altering the foot. The
physician requires to examine some objects under accessory apparatus supplied with this microscope
circumstances when it is impossible to have access is of the usual description. To this class also
to an ordinary microscope. To provide against such belongs a Liliputian microscope, which Mr. Highley
emergencies the instrument referred to has been has appropriately named the waistcoat piocket
prepared. There are four separate forms of it. The microscope (fig. 5). It is not an instrument which
first we shall describe is that made by Messrs. Baker, we should recommend for the purpose of research
of Ilolborn (fig. 3). When packed in its case, it but it is certainly a wonderful miniature. When
takes the shape of an average-sized tourist’s tele- packed in its German silver case, it measures about
scope, and is suspended by a sling which passes three or four inches in length, and is not more than
over the shoulders. When taken out,
three legs unfold from a central pivot
on which the tube swings, and form
a tripod stand, the larger leg bearing
the stage and mirror. It is focussed
roughly by sliding the tube as in a
telescope ; but the finer adjustment
is provided for by a screw and spring
attached to the central leg. When
required to be placed vertically, these
smaller legs screw into the instru-
ment and constitute a tolerably firm
foot. Asecond form of this class of
instrument is made by Messrs.
Murray & Heath, of J ermyn Street,
and is shown in fig. 4, where A and
C show the instrument in the ver-
tical and inclined position. Mi’.
Fig. 4.
Highley, of Green Street, Leicester
Square, supplies two distinct varieties of the portable three-quarters of an inch in diameter. It is pro-
microscope. The first, which we believe he styles vided with an object-glass which divides into inch
and quarter-inch powers. The cut shows its general into a box 8 inches by 61,-, and 4 inches deep, and
form J is the body, B a draw-tube to increase its
;
isprovided with a condenser on the Webster plan,
length, D is the eye-piece, and C is a little animal- and with a polariscope. The application of the
latter is ingenious. The ray of light is polarized
by reflection, the place of the ordinary flat
mirror being taken by what is termed a
“ polarizing bundle.” The analyzer is situate
in the body of the microscope.
rig. Of compound microscopes the above are
the chief forms lately introduced to the public.
cule cage. Mr. Highley has also constructed an In the class of simple microscopes we know
instrument which lie lias termed the “ complete of only one novelty. This is the instrument
known as “ Dr. Lawson’s Binocular Dissecting
Microscope” (fig. 7). It is intended for the use
of naturalists and anatomists, and is somewhat
peculiar. Its stage is in the shape of a trough,
and is made of gutta-percha. To this the animal
or structure intended for dissection is pinned
down under water. Beneath the stage is a plane
mirror, which reflects light to the object under
notice through a small glass plate inserted in the
bottom of the trough. The sides of the case draw
out and form arm-rests, and the lenses are placed
on a sliding horizontal bar, which in its turn is
attached to a vertical rod, which has a telescope
movement. The top and sides “ let ” down, and
contain the knives, needles, forceps, scissors, &c.,
requisite for dissection. The lenses are not simply
convex lenses, but are portions of the periphery
of a large lens, thus preventing all distortion.
—
When a small object say a worm or the eye of
an animal, is dissected under water, all the parts
are seen with the aid of this instrument standing
out in relief, and magnified so that the operator
has no difficulty in recognizing the several tissues,
&c. Readers are aware that in the older forms
of dissecting microscopes the absence of the bino-
cular arrangement, giving a rather flat picture of
the object, renders the difficulty of dissection often
very great.
Having disposed of the microscopes themselves,
we come now to the second portion of our subject,
microscope ” (fig. 6). This is a piece of neat work- the new methods of illuminating microscopic
manship, and has certain intrinsic merits. It packs objects ;
and in the first place we may speak of the
Fig. 7. Fig. 8,
;
Nature and Art, June 1, 18G7.] THE MICROSCOPE. 183
Bocket microscope lamp (fig. 8). This is manu- pierced with a number of apertures of different
factured by Mr. Collins, and is a companion to the sizes,and its use is to cut off superfluous light
microscope which every microscopist must find of so as to give an object the exact amount of
benefit. It consists of a firm circular brass foot, illumination it requires and no more. But it always
from which rises a solid rod which bears the lamp, happens that a slightly smaller or greater quantity
condenser, and reflector. The lamp is one of the of light than that which the aperture of the
paraffin kind, but is of such construction that danger diaphragm supplies is required. To meet this want,
of explosion is avoided. The reflector and bull’s- Mr. Collins constructed the apparatus represented
eye lens, as well as the lamp, are moveable up and in the adjoining illustration. Beneath a cap of brass,
down upon the vertical rod ; and are so arranged which is placed below the stage, are arranged four
that when placed in proper position with regard to moveable shutters connected with a level’, which in
each other, the whole three (lamp, reflector, and its turn is worked by a milled head. By turning this
condenser) may be elevated or lowered without latter the shutters may be opened or closed to any
—
much re-adjustment an immense saving of time —
extent the aperture always retaining its original
for the worker. The illustration will explain the —
form and thus the precise quantity of light re-
details. quired is allowed to fall upon the object.
It is usual, when examining

transparent bodies, The illumination of opaque objects is generally
to place between the mirror and the object a com- conducted with what is known as a bull’s-eye con-
bination of lenses calculated to throw a very bright denser. This is simply a very large magnifying
stream of light upon the object. This combination lens which, when placed between the object and a
is termed an achromatic (non-colouring) condenser, lamp flame, causes a bright spot of light to fall
and hitherto it has been nothing more nor less than upon the latter. In the case of very minute ob-
an inverted object glass, a very expensive appli- jects, however, viewed Avith high powers, the bull’s
ance. Lately, however, an amateur microscopist eye cannot be used, and until lately it was impos-
(we believe one of our constabulary), Mr. Webster, sible to examine very minute bodies as opaque
devised an arrangement of lenses which not only objects. The obstacles in the way were removed by
supplies the place of the old condenser, but give a contrivance invented by Mr. Smith, an American
also what is known as dark-ground illumination microscopist, and which is now manufactured by
Fig. o.
(fig. 9). It consists of a double concave lens Messrs. Powell and Lealand, of Euston Boad (figs.
cemented to “ a very deep crossed lens ” fixed in a 11 and 12). Mr. Smith made the object-glass its
brass tube or body which fits beneath the stage of own illuminator by piercing a small hole in the
the microscope. A
circular disk provided with upper part of it, and fixing opposite to this, and at
curvilinear apertures and “ stops ” is also attached a certain angle, a disc of glass; a lamp being placed
to it, and when used displays the object in white near the aperture the light falls on the disc of glass,
upon a black ground as shown in the figure, and is reflected by it upon
thus giving to such the object; the light then coming back from the
structures as the shells object, and traversing the disc, reaches the ob-
of the Foraminifera servei-’s eye. The microscopist sometimes finds
an appearance of great that, whilst there is only sufficient light to illu-
beauty. This is the mine his object satisfactorily, there is too much
W ebster condenser as light around the object — the illuminated field of
first introduced ; but Anew, in other words, is too glaring. To obviate
it has been much im- this, Mr. H. J. Slack has recently devised a plan
proved by the addition which has been carried out effectually. He intro-
of Mr. Collins’ gradua- duces a sort of shutter into the eyepiece. By
ting diaphragm which ,
Avorking this lie can so contract the field of view
we now venture to de- that it merely incloses the object. Thus, Avliilst
scribe (fig. 10). The perfect illumination is obtained, the eye is protected
ordinary diaphragm supplied with microscopes from the injurious influence of a brilliant stream of
is a circular plate of bronzed or black metal light.
”
We come now to our third section, that relating The figure gives a general idea of the contents. But
to the mounting of objects. By mounting is meant we may mention that, besides the glass slides, the
placing an object on a glass slide, fixing it in some cells, covers, fluids, cements, spring-clips, &c., the
preservative substance, such as glycerine or Canada case contains a turn-table, spirit-lamp, and brass
balsam, covering it with a piece of thin talcdike table for heating the slides. Similar in form, but
glass, and fastening this down with cement. In very different in contents, is the case known as Dr.
performing these several operations under the old Lawson’s student’s mounting-case, also made by Mr.
method the object was often displaced owing to the Collins (fig. 14). This is intended for the medical
want of some contrivance for keeping it in situ. student, and contains, besides all the usual acces-
This difficulty has been overcome by Dr. Maddox, sories, cements, and so forth, the peculiar liquids em-
who has given us what he terms a “spring-clip.” ployed in injecting the finer bloodvessels, a syringe,
This is a piece of wire bent in the shape of a letter- razor, and certain chemical reagents. Messrs.
clip, and which, when placed upon the glass slide, Baker have just added to their list of apparatus for
exerts a firm pressure on the thin glass covering the mounting a very convenient little air-pump, which
object, and thus keeps it in position till the cement deserves the notice of microscopists (fig. 15). It
consists of a good syringe, fixed under a wooden

table, on the upper surface of which is a metallic
plate pierced by a small aperture. Over this latter
rests a cell of solid glass, some inches in length and
height. In using this instrument to remove air-
bubbles, the microscopist places the slide on the
metallic plate, covers it with the glass cell, and by
a few pulls of the syringe exhausts the air.
The last novelties we have to notice are those in
relation to our fourth section — Collecting. First in
Fig. 13. order comes Mr. Collins’ collecting-case (fig. 1G), a
used to fasten it is sufficiently dry. A useful little
case has been recently made by Mr. Collins, and is
called by him the “amateur’s mounting’-case‘
(fig. 13). It is nothing more than a neat cabinet

containing a number of compartments, in which are
stowed away all the paraphernalia of the worker.
handy tin box, with hinged cover, and which is either

suspended by a sling passing over the shoulders, or
is fixed in an ordinary tourist’s bag. It contains
three large bottles for water animals, and three or
four tubes, with corks, for insects, &c., besides a
small net, which, when used, is attached to the
ferule of a stick which accompanies the case. Mr.
Higbley makes a smaller case, or rather pair of
cases, which are intended to be stowed away in the
naturalist’s pocket. Ills net is mounted in spring-
steeland packs into a very small space. Mr.
Baker’s pond-stick (fig. 17) is somewhat like that of
Fig. 14 .
Mr. Highley and Mr. Collins. Removing the
; ! ;

ICING CHASSELAS. 185
ferule a second stick draws out, thus increasing

the length ; and to this is fastened a ring, into
which the bottles contained in the case, and also
a useful weed-knife, are screwed. The diffe-
rences between the sticks and nets of the three
makers are of trivial importance ; but we are
not quite certain to which of them the right to
priority of manufacture belongs. Some say
Mr. Highley was the first to use a stick of the simultaneously exhibited in public by him and by
kind, but it is certain that the contrivance was Messrs. Baker.
KING CHASSELAS.
By G. W. Yapp.
W ANDERING about tho pleasant country watered by

the Seine, the Marne, and their tributaries, during
the few happy summer days which that severe mistress, duty,
to enable them to travel up to Paris or elsewhere, in
close carriages, without perspiring or spoiling their com-
plexions Walnuts are not by any means to be despised
.
allows to her desk-bound sons, I found myself in the and “wine and walnuts” has become a standing phrase,
curious old town of Moret, situated just beyond the extreme but there was metal still more attractive, not very far off
verge of the forest of Fontainebleau. Moret was formerly and I, with certain young lasses of my kin who accompanied
a walled city with advanced works, situated on an island in me, determined to extend our walk, and visit the birthplace
tho middle of the river Loing which bounds it on one side of the Roi Chasselas ! You will not find the name of this
some portions of the old walls still remain, but the island is monarch in the regal tablets of France he is neither;
now covered by a flour-mill, which does a good deal more Merovingian, Capet, nor Bourbon, yet lie is invariably called
work, and probably makes a great deal less noise, than the Chasselas of Fontainebleau, and he reigns at the present
old bowmen and men at arms who formerly inhabited the moment as regally as ever. Whoever else may be at
place. At each. end of the road which passes through the table, he invaria.bly fills one of the highest places the;
middle of the town, in a line with the double bridge which proudest men acknowledge his virtues the chastest lijos
;
spans the river and connects the island with the opposite are always ready to embrace him, and children dote upon
shores, is a curious old gate-way, in excellent preserva- him ;
who then a happy monarch if it be not King Chas-
is
tion ;
and adjoining each of them are remnants of the old selas of ? We therefore bent our steps
Fontainebleau
military buildings that sheltered the garrison, not only towards the place of his birth, and there we found him, not
from the weather, but also from the winged or other on a throne, not at the head of an army, not sitting at tho
messengers which the restless spirits of the feudal ages council board, but hanging on a wall
might attempt to send into old Moret. In order that any But we are proceeding a little too fast our walk was not
—
;
wanderer like myself, coming suddenly upon the place from a short one the calendar had gone forward to “ jolly old
the river side, should have no doubt concerning his where- October but Sol seemed tobe retracinghis steps and picking
abouts, the name of the town is painted on a tablet fixed over up some of the time he had lost in August we knew that ;
tho gate at that end, just as Smith or Brown place their King Chasselas loved sunny weather, so we expected to find
names over their shops, an uncommon but after all a very him with a joyous face. We
made our way towards a little
natural act. One of these gate-towers was the scene of a place, containing about a house and a-half perched upon a
sad catastrophe about two years since. It is in the occupa- hillock, and known, probably to the extent of two miles in
tion of an inn-keeper whose establishment adjoins it, and every direction, by the name of Veneux. From this we
one of the upper apartments was used as a dining-room for looked down upon Saint Mammes, a small town spai-kling
visitors. Three or four artists and literary men were col- in the sunbeams in the midst of emerald meadows at tho
lected there in a joyous group when the whole of the floor “ meeting of the waters ” of the Seine and the Loing.
gave way, and the party was precipitated into the room Certainly Saint Mammes has chosen a very pretty summer
below ;
they were all much hurt by the falling of the heavy seat, yet it struck us, as we looked on the very fresh grass
beams and flooring upon them, and two out of the number, around, that he must be liable to occasional attacks of
if not more, eventually died of the injuries they received, rheumatism.
a sad warning against trusting the soundness of such old Turning our backs upon Saint Mammes and the meadows
constructions when not under the care of competent sur- where “ the bright waters meet,” we found ourselves ap-
veyors. proaching another place whose name is not quite so well-
Moret possesses a very beautiful and curious church, and known as London or Paris, and which must have been
also the remains of one of those refuges of widowed queens christened when letters wero scarce, or the days short.
— the chateaux of the Reines Blanches —
of which there are Its full name is By and we did not hear that it was
;
so many in various parts of France. Another of the lions ever abridged by way of endearment. We made for By,
of the place is an old house in the high street, on which is as we had been instructed, by the high road, but we
a slab informing visitors that Napoleon the First slept there missed it, and to our small regret, for we found ourselves in
on his way from Elba in 1814. a huge orchard, or rather, in a wilderness of orchards, a
On the occasion of my visit to Moret, early in October, world of fruit, an ocean of lusciousness. It is needless to
tho first thing that attracted the eye was not the Chateau say what fruits grew there, but it may be mentioned that
of the Reine Blanche, or the church, or the old gate while rich purple and waxy green grapes hung in luxurious
towers, but walnuts. The streets were all walnuts, spread profusion on all sides, we indulged in a few bunches of
out on sacks, horse-cloths, and almost every possible richly ripe currants, and might have revelled in specimens
kind of cloths, that their brown jerkins might be dried of every fruit in season. For a mile or more the road into
in the sun, after removal of their green overcoats, and —
which we had accidentally wandered and which we pro-
(sulphur not being used in France to bleach walnuts), —
pose to call for distinction, “ By-the-Bye ” was lined on
-
; —
186 KING CHASSELAS. [Nature and Art, June 1, 18G7.
each side, as far as the eye could reach, with orchards, and of straw or wood is also in use. The grapes grow from
the ground was literally so covered with apples and pears, very near the ground to the top of the wall, and the vines
that fruit seemed to be considered worthless, a notion are so carefully trained, trimmed, and tended that at a
which was not, however, to be long entertained in face of distance the walls have almost the appearance of those
the fact that a small army of road makers was engaged in trellice and grape paper hangings which, under certain
making' still firmer and neater the already firm, hard, well- favourable conditions, may help even the occupant of a
kept road of “ By-the-Bye.” When we had wandered and garret to fancy himself in the country. But this nearly
wandered to our heart’s content upon this fruity thorough- geometric arrangement is saved from monotony by the
fare, thinking- that perhaps the small attendance of birds in endless variety of nature, for, even if form be brought
the forest of Fontainebleau might be accounted for by the under absolute rule, colour and the play of light are happily
superior attractions of luxuriant By-the-Bye, we began to still free. Even the walls in the public roads where the
cast our eyes around for the “towers” of Rosa Bonheur’s aspect is good are covered with delicious fruit, and the vines
castle which we knew to be near at hand. The search was are only protected by a slight fence of laths or wire, which
a short one, for just as we were emerging from this great almost any arm could easily reach over and in the streets
—
;
orchard street, a tall tower a real tower, as we had been the luscious crop seems in danger from every passer by,
told and did not believe, —
rose before us, and there, on one but King Chasselas is evidently respected in tins his chosen
of its faces, we saw a clock dial about the size of that of the dominion.
Horseguards, and the initials in solid brick, of the famous While the grapes are hanging on the wall, they are con-
painter of the Horse-fair, Chevaliere of the Legion of stantly supervised, and women may be seen in all directions
Honour. The tower, which has quite a feudal air, is tacked busily removing with a small pair of scissors all, the
on to a comfortable old-fashioned house, and the large damaged berries they can find, and, when the bunches are
—
studio windows the Great Northern Lights as they may ripe, they are plucked with the greatest care. They are not
—
be called together with the apparent extent of the grounds placed in masses, but gathered into neat, small, white
and out-houses, bear witness to the tastes and pursuits of baskets that do not hold more than two pounds each, or
the famous Cli&telaine. With a pleasant feeling, in which thereabouts, and they are then carried home as carefully
we hope no envy mingled, that talent sometimes met its re- as delicate porcelain. The method of conveying them is
ward, we gave a hearty (mental) cheer for Rosa Bonheur — curious a man carries on his back a light wooden frame,
;
—
a Salve Rosa and proceeded on our way. By one of those consisting of two sides and four shelves open behind, and
unaccountable slips we had almost, from old association, having each only a narrow lath towards the porter’s back
written Salvator Rosa; but we saw the mistake in time, and to prevent the baskets from slipping through each shelf
;
thus escaped a terrible solecism. holds four of the baskets and the frame, consequently, six-
Where By ends, we never quite made out, but there, teen in all. When they reach the home of the dealer, each
—
wherever it is, Thomery begins and Thomery is just as —
bunch is again examined being held by the stalk while any
fruity as By, although far more “ wally ” and less orchard bad grains that remain are removed with the scissors
like. Along the highroad both of By and Thomery, and in and the grapes thus prepared for sale are laid out in trays on
every street of both, there is not a bit of wall open to fern leaves to dry in the sun, before being packed for
Phcebus’s bright glances that is not laden with fruit. Here market. The day of our visit was the first on which one
no shops are visible, only walls pierced with doors and of the growers had sent any grapes to market, and the price
windows, and covered with lattices and fruit the road-side
;
of the commonest description was four sous (less than two
inn is a small vineyard the tailor is set in a square frame
;
pence) for a French pound, which is one tenth heavier than
surrounded with leaves and clusters, and we saw the black- the English. The finest kinds, with berries as large as
—
smith hammering with might and main in a parlour we can damsons, whether white or red, were selling on that day at
call it nothing else — whose wall was brilliantly white fifteen sous a pound, but the price often reaches as high as
beneath a treasure of verdure and fruit. The walls and twenty, and even twenty-five sous. The damaged grapes
lattices are unlike any other fruit- walls and lattices we have are, of course, sent to the press, but it need scarcely be
seen elsewhere : it is evident that the former are lime- stated that the district is not more famous for its wine
washed, and the latter painted every year, in order to than is the country that produces Champagne or Chambertin
destroy those smaller creatures which love fruit as well as for dessert grapes one object of cultivation is sufficient for
;
we do, and rudely, though perhaps sensibly, generally help the attention of each district. The grapes are sent to the
themselves first. Among the fruits are conspicuous those Fontainebleau and Paris markets in small baskets or boxes,
magnificent pears which are to be seen in the Palais Royal, these again being packed in large open sided crates or cradles,
somewhat in shape and size like legs of Welsh mutton, with and a walk of half-an-liour through a bit of the forest of
others of more modest bulk and even more tempting ap- Fontainebleau brings one to the Thomery Station, a little
pearance. As corpulence tends towards the earth, and rural establishment which seems to have been set up for
pears are not persistent in their attachments, shelves or the express purpose of the despatch of full packages of
slight frames, filled, in with wire or net work, are placed grapes, and the return of the empty ones. A few passengers
just beneath the lowest branches to break their fall as we
;
take or quit the rail there, but it is evident from the manner
passed we saw several ripe monsters reclining calmly in the of the officials that they regard them as interlopers or
splinter netting thus spread out to catch them. strays.
But at Thomery the vine assumes the supremacy, and The Anacreontic agriculturists are far from being in good
even the most luscious, melting pear must hide his diminished and when we referred to the inundation
spirits this year,
head in presence of that fruit which Anacreon so loved, but which had occurred only a day or two before, and which
which so cruelly requited the poet’s affection and sadly re- had left its marks visibly imprinted on the walls of the
warded his mellifluous praises, by sticking in his throat. lower parts of the neighbourhood, one of the good women
Almost every yard of ground at Thomery is covered with who was busy giving the Chasselas their last toilet, said
rows of walls or espaliers, and there it was that we found with a heavy sigh, “ Ah! Monsieur, it has been indeed a terrible
King Chasselas of Fontainebleau hanging in all his glory. season for us the rain nearly washed the fruit off the vines,
;
Chasselas isthe name of those magnificent grapes first and then to complete the mischief, the river rose upon us,
grown at or near Fontainebleau and now at Thomery, its
;
and some of the gra/pes were actually under water ! ” It is
little dependency By, and a village called Champagne on the impossible to magnify the terrible importance of this com-
opposite side of the Seine. The espaliers are only about plaint, or the melancholy tone in which it was uttered.
three feet, and the walls about six feet high, and the latter King Chasselas under water Of what import in com-
!
are so placed that the sun shines upon one of their faces parison to the good people of Thomery, was the washing
from the time of its rising till about one o’clock in the day away of hay-stacks, and corn sheaves, and the ruin of green
and the other side is always bare, for no parasite may crops. corn, make no hay, and raise no
They grow no
diminish King Chasselas’ s means of subsistence. The top mangold-wurzel :Chasselas are to them meat, drink,
the
of the wall is covered with a slight overhanging roof, but and clothing, and it is not in human nature to avoid being
another mode of protection in the shape of a hanging shelf rather more interested in number one than in number two
MICHELET’S “ L’OISEAU.” 187
or number twenty. Long may it be before the ill-mannered cheese coloured walls, for they would create dust, and
Seine and its mischievous little chit, the Loing, again wet the harbour all kinds of creeping things which could not be per-
feet of King Chasselas, and place him in danger of a chill, and mitted in the dominions of King Chasselas. The only re-
may the good old lady of Thomery live a thousand years, semblance we can find for Thomery is a charming village
and never again see a grape under water. Even without scene at the Opera, and nothing was required to complete the
the Chasselas, Thomery would be well worth a visit, for it illusion, but bands of peasantry in silk and muslin, and
is unlike any other place we ever saw in France. There is strains of delicious music. Surely, there must be a day in
no dirt in its vine-clad streets, we saw not a single dunghill, the year when the good folks of Thomery put on holiday
not a ditch or puddle, not a pig or a duck, though here and attire, keep high revel in honour of Bacchus and Pomona,
there a few genteel fowls of choice breeds, as clean and triumphantly bear King Chasselas (in the form of the largest
orderly as well bred ladies and gentlemen. There was bunch of grapes of the season) to a throne hung with roses,
scarcely a weed anywhere, or a single straw out of place, perform before him the true danse des vendangewrs, and
and yet Thomery is anything but formal. It is as irregular pledge each other in huge bowls of rosy juice fresh from the
as an artist could desire, only there are no fine stilton purple berries, unfermented, unadulterated, unalloyed.
MICHELET’S “L’OISEAU.”*
(Second Article.)
W E could not easily find a prettier head-piece for this

our second article than what Giacomelli has designed
for the title-page of the Second Part of “ L’Oiseau.”
lower group will be best appreciated by a mother who has
had human chicks of her own to feed, the nursery-maid
being out of the way. She will mark how the mother-bird
There may be weakness in one or two of the bramble is hurrying home with her prize ;
and how two of those
shoots but, on the whole, it is a dainty wreath.
; The feathered children have scrambled out, each eager to be
first
;
while a third halts on the edge of the nest, less
* “L’Oiseau.” Par J. Michelet. Huitieme edition, illustree hungry, or more afraid of toppling over. They will soon
de 210 vignettes sur bois, dessinees par H. Giacomelli. follow their parents into the copses or meadows, and hunt
Paris Librairie de L, Hachette et Cie.
: 1867. for themselves amongst leaves or feathered grasses. We
;
188 MICHELET’S “ L’OISEAU.” [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
need only turn the pages before us to find them at their busy quarter of an inch long will appear as large to the eye of
game. As we look at one of the scenes, we remember an old the long-tailed tit as the common mouse does to the eye of
room which we have not entered for ever so many years. man when held as near as it can be seen.” Thus, in the
There is a bright morning sunshine on the turf and orchards at winter-time, they ferret out the eggs of vermin
shrubbery outside ;
but the glass door of the room is where no gardener could possibly detect them. The other
darkened by a pair of cherry trees in full blossom. The members of the same family, whether clad in black and
youngster within, poring over his book, suddenly looks up ;
yellow or in bright blue feathers, are almost equally sharp-
he has been startled by a rush and chatter and there they
;
sighted and useful and the thefts which they commit are
;
are, five bold dashing birds, hooded with black and breasted very trifling. Yet these friends of the countryman are
with yellow they are twittering and fluttering one above
: strung up by him, and borne in triumph to the sparrow-
another, or swinging head downwards from a spray, and clubs ; together with blackbirds and thrushes, which have
sending a shower of blossoms right and left. He watches consumed more slugs than fruits and together with the
;
them, half sorry for the rifled bough but he would give up
;
finches, including even Goldie, who lives by clearing the land
whole days of flowers and all hopes of cherries for the sake of weeds and thistles. Can it be said that they order these
of catching “ ae blink o’ the bonnie birdies.” “That may matters better in France ? Not a bit, we fear. We have
be all very fine for you,” some market-gardener will reply, somewhere read of French rustics whose only notion of a
“ but I don’t moil and toil in my orchard just to pamper up wild bird was a magpie. And in the present volumo
a flock of idle titmice.” Oh, hard-headed Rusticus, what are (p. 397) a diatribe against idle shooting begins thus :
the labours of thee and thy cart-horse compared with those “ There are many kinds of birds that no longer halt in their
of the father of eighteen tits ? And whilst working for passage over France. One may see them, high out of range,
them, is ,he not also working for thee ? True, he has a straining their pinions, and saying to each other, Onward,‘
reckless way of picking at a worm in the bud yet strike the

;
hasten onward keep aloof from the land of death, the land
!
balance, and he may prove to be the best labourer on thy of destruction.’

”
grounds. But we are appealing to a practical man, who At the end of this diatribe Giacomelli has placed one of
only believes what he sees, and cannot see very far. And his elegant tail-pieces. It is the stump of an old double-
thus the slaughter of the innocents still goes on, in spite of barrelled gun, with two dicky-birds perched on the lock,
letters to the Times on the great subject of little birds. singing “ Oh be joyful.” It prefigures a millennium which
The question is really great, for it is permanent ; whilst is stillfar distant. Whenever it does arrive, it will bring
the Luxemburg affair is already beginning to pass over. cold comfort to the game birds. They will soon disappear
Michelet enters upon this part of his discourse with becom- when they cease to afford a good day’s shooting so that ;
ing gravity : something after this fashion. The greedy each of them literally falls for the benefit of his kindred.
—
husbandman, as Virgil justly terms him, the husbandman One cannot easily defend amateur butchery on high moral
—
blinded by his greed grudges to his friends what he lavishes
upon his foes.
grounds. Excuses may be found, but none that are worth
Not a grain for him who, in the rainy searching’ for. The one thing certain is that we English-
season, turned every leaf over and over, and routed up the men are not likely to lose our sporting instincts till we turn
nests of the larvae! but sacks of corn for the full-grown vegetarians. For the present, then, we leave the pheasant
insects, and whole fields for the nomade hordes, which the to tiie sportsman ; but we do exhort him to leave the
birds would at least have decimated ! Wherever the bird swallow to us. It was meant to be something better than
has been outlawed, the insect has avenged him. In the isle a flying target. Again, the farmer must be forgiven if he
of Bourbon a price was set upon the head of the martin : knocks over a few sparrows and yellow-hammers at harvest-
he disappeared, and the locusts took possession of the time but he ought to be shamed out of encouraging the
;
island. A similar scourge swept across North America varmint chaps who snare and poison by wholesale. Lastly,
when they doomed the starling, the defender of the maize. how about the schoolboy F We
agree with Howitt (in his
Even the sparrow protects more than he destroys and he ;
excellent “ Country Book ”) that it is useless, if not unde-
has been recalled to Hungary, after years of proscription, sirable, to warn a boy against clambering after eggs, but
in order to check the ravages of the cockchafer. The latter that he may very easily be taught the unmanliness of kid-
insect, in its grub state, devours the roots of the grasses napping the callow young. The most experienced bird-
and “ I have seen (says Michelet) a meadow in Normandy fancier cannot foster them as their parents would have done,
where the entire surface was dried up, and could be rolled and what can be expected from their still ruder foster-father ?
off the subsoil like a carpet.” And why was this ? Because They are half-forgotten at school-time, and wholly forgotten
they had effectually scared away the crows. The deadliest at cricket-time ; and they get alternately starved and
enemies of the northern harvest pass the winter under- crammed, and suffer tortures before they die. Even the
ground. They lie there in the shape of eggs. A few are fledglings rarely thrive. We
remember too well our own
touched by frost, but most of them are beyond its reach. jays and jackdaws. We
hope that our descendants will be
In spring they swarm into life, and maintain it at the better schooled, and therefore less brutal.
expense of the farmer. This is the time for the rook, who There are two birds that already owe a great deal to
plucks up the withered grass, and destroys the destroyer. literature, in the shape of nursery rhyme. Every child
And as for the creeping things upon plant or tree, no purge knows the “ Courtship and Death of Cock Robin,” and also
is so good for them as the mother titmouse, who can the kindly legend that tells how “ the robin redbreast and
scarcely keep her score of young beaks quiet with three the wren are God Almighty’s cock and hen and we doubt
hundred worms a day. whether Science will ever protect the gentle pair more effec-
We have just been quoting the statistics of Michelet, tually. Once, and once only, we have seen a wretched
who seems to have mustered the beaks of two broods of the urchin shoot a cock-robin. He did not know what he was
titmouse together. It is quite true that, in the course of doing, for he was half crazy with the desire of killing. It
the summer, there have sometimes been more than twenty was almost the first time that he had held a gun in his hands,
in one nest, all agape for caterpillars. That hole in a and the skylarks had been deriding him for half an hour.
woodland tree, where the brave nest-mother sits hissing and He turned round against the nearest object, and fired. As
pecking at the schoolboy’s finger, ought to be held at least the shot left the barrel he beheld a picture that appealed to
as sacred as our game preserves. It is a lion’s den, but —
him too late the tragedy of an instant. On the topmost
only for our enemies. It swallows flocks and herds twig was a female bird, bending down towards her mate,
that would otherwise have blackened and shrivelled up who stretched up to her from another twig, his whole frame
the leaves, and hung the branches with hideous webs. quivering with song the instant passed, and he dropped.
:
And as each successive brood leaves home, the growing tits His young murderer was heart-stricken. “ I only hope
by no means leave their appetites behind them. They soon that it is not a robin,” he cried, as he ran to pick it up.
rival their parents in hopping along the twigs after the Many of the feathers were “dyed doubly red” (like the
grub, and in stretching their wings after the moth. Their lips of Fair Rosamond when Queen Eleanor struck them),
powers of vision are microscopic. It is stated by Mudie but there was no mistaking the native colour of the breast.
(British Birds, 1854, vol. i., p. 405) that “ an insect a "We ourselves helped to dig his grave, and we have never
190 THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH GALLERY. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
forgotten the pang with which we buried poor Robin under our second article on the birds of Michelet and Giacomelli.
our cherry-trees. We will descend to earth like the skylark. But first we
But oh, for those days of our youthful eyes and ears, will take one more turn in mid-air. There are buzzing
when the copses sprang and rang around us tenfold more —
sounds in an odd corner of our brain faint echoes of the
lustily than now. They are long gone by and so are
;
Greek bird choruses, with burthens of popopopopoi and
many later days which we wasted in pottering about the tiotiotiotinx. But we are not about to offend our fair readers
neighbourhood of Gray’s Inn. Not that we disdain the with the originals, nor yet with our own schoolboy versions.
square where we so often watched the white pigeons wheel, We only wish to assert, that our adjuration of Aristophanes
and settle, and flutter ahead of the creeping cats. Still less was much less out of place than it might seem to be. We
that we disdain the garden where the black rook wooes his have frequently been reminded of him whilst perusing
“ Ethiop queen ” with a courting stick as black as them- “ L’Oiseau.” The Frenchman, like the old Athenian, shoots
selves and where they bear it aloft between them to patch
;
political arrows from behind his feathered stalking-horse.
his ruined castle, founded under the eyes of Sir Roger de Hence his abuse of the aristocratic eagle, and hence his
Coverley. But both rook and pigeon are as town-bred as praise of the plebeian woodpecker. He considers the latter,
the tailless sparrows and we have often grown sick of
;
with his red cap of liberty, to be the beau ideal of the
them all, when our blood was seething with the May fever. French workman. To complete the resemblance, continues
Then the nights seemed sultry before their season and we
;
Michelet, he is calumniated. He is reported dangerous to
would often toss on the pillow counting every crow of the the State whereas he actually deserves a pension, and the
:
filthy fowls in Fulwood’s Rents, from the hoarse Cochin at title of Keeper of the Woods and Forests The episode of
!
one end to the shrill Bantam at the other. But lo a bolt ! poor Pecker in love is very amusing. In fact, Michelet is
out of bed, a cab, and an early train, and we stand on the never dull and, after all, he is really earnest in behalf of
;
Surrey hills The atmosphere sparkles to our lips like

! his nominal clients. Earth cannot do without the little
champagne, and washes the soot out of our nostrils. We birds ;
yet she treats them most ungratefully. That is the
can smell the sweet white turpentine, oozing from the fresh- main drift of his argument and he pleads the cause with
;
tufted branches of yonder pine-trees. We can hear the force and pathos. But ever and anon his solemnity
distant cuckoo, though a long sweep of beech wood lies borders upon the burlesque and we half expect to hear
;
between us, resounding with the strokes of the woodpecker. him cry, Remember what happened in the days of
We can see everything the lark like a mote in the sun-
: Aristophanes Remember how the John Bright of Athens
!
beam, and the quaint bee-orchis at our feet. Our senses awoke the birds to a sense of their rights and how they
—
;
have returned, what lack they yet ? There is a white built Cloud-cuckoo-town between heaven and earth, so that
house down by the bridge, and there is a look of fresh eggs no rain could fall, and no smoke of sacrifice could rise,
about it ; but we shall not linger there long. We know a until both men and gods were starved into submission.
glen with a mossy bank, fit for King Arthur in the isle of Our spirit is only a short-winged bird and its flight is
;
Avalon. We
will sleep there till the nightingale awakes us ;
over. You may see a fellow to it, fair reader, in the ac-
so close, perhaps, that we can catch the glance of his eye, companying design by Giacomelli. It has no great cloud-
and see the feathers on his throat swelling and sinking in cuckoo-town to show you nothing but the corner of a green
:
the moonlight. Such things have been, and may be again. lane. Its one humble nest is hidden there so cunningly,
But now, by the Birds of Aristophanes, what with visions of that we doubt whether you can see a stick of it. Be content
boyhood and visions of manhood, our wits have gone wool- with admiring the leaves and ferns and we shall be sorry
;
gathering in the sky, and building a rare Cloud-cuckoo- if they have not a double charm for you, when you think
town and the printers have, all the time, been waiting for
; of the happy home beneath them.
THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH GALLERY.

1HE fourteenth annual exhibition of works by French and to some degree, but these points of view seem to us fewer
1 Flemish painters is now open at No. 120, Pall Mall, in France than in England. For with all the badness and
and we recommend such of our readers as care for art to wilfulness of our English painters, they generally show us
take the opportunity of again studying the merits of these something of themselves, and, in the absence of real art,
admirable schools, and comparing their works with those so which is impersonal, this individuality is more interesting to
lately displayed on the same walls by English artists. In our mind than the mere outside formula of correct style
this last investigation, it is right to remember that these without the genius which it ought to embody. No school
pictures take pretty nearly the same rank, with regard to has ever laid itself out for great works more determinately
the chef-d’ oeuvres of the two foreign schools they represent than the French, and yet we would hardly say that its
as those in the late Winter Exhibition did to our English successes have been in great works. It falls short of beauty
school. For the most part they are what may be called for want of reverence ;
of heroism, because it is too
the common places of the studio, the cui'rent accomplish- self-conscious of pathos, because it is too clever
;
and it;
ment, the clever essay. Some indeed are replicas of larger is a curious reflection, that of this great self-glorifying
pictures which have brought the artists well-earned renown, French school the chief outcome, the thing well done, better
and some few are by men whose genius is never absent, and done than by other men, is the representation of naivetd,
whose smallest work shows the divine quality as certainly what we may call the prettiness of gentleness and ignorance
as their greatest. We
think the prevailing impressions — of ignorance in the sense of innocence. The quick
produced by the two sets of pictures are, good method and sympathetic French nature may be one reason for this ; the
want of light in these, and uncertain and often blundering constant presence of children and old people in the daily
method but superior intention of colour in the English and ;
life may be another ;
the exquisite taste which is the
we think also that to the English may be awarded the national attribute may be another, pointing as it does to
superiority in individuality. For, although these pictures the beauty of unaffected graces (much more readily
are various, and full of accurate imitation of things the perceived where grace is reduced to a science). Still, the
most diverse, there is to be traced in most of them a fact is curious and points to the limitation of human
following of one or other of the masters who are celebrated endeavoursby the unalterable apportionment of human faculty.
in the school, so that the studies of natural things are made The greater mass of mankind can but get to a certain point
from certain points of view. This is of course inevitable on the high hill of art; only those to whom, as the old fable
THE FRENCH AND FLEMISH GALLERY. 191
says, the gods have given wings, may attain to the shining j
should be compared with those by some of our English
summit ;and though all other wisdom should be ours, it painters, to estimate rightly what has been sacrificed,
will not help us in this matter. The French are probably and what gained. We do not much like the tone of the sky
the most skilful and ingenious people on the face of the in this picture, which, for the rest, has so much of the im-
earth, and have from time to time invented the very worst pression of the Fontainebleau scenery that every one seems
and most inartistic things of which we have any knowledge to recognize the exact spot.
in modern Europe. For instance, it was to this nation of “Fast Asleep,” by Bonnat (13), is a strongly-painted
great warriors, renowned philosophers, and clever women that little picture of a child, in an Italian costume, asleep upon a
the idea first came that a crown would look more stately on a bank by the wayside. It is evidently a study, but so good,
periwig, and that the delicacies of millinery would mix both in feeling and execution, as to make it the more
with the insignia of royalty. It would however be out of place regrettable that the painter should have tendered as a back-
here to pursue the reflection this anomaly suggests and be-
;
ground, a smear of dirty colour which takes all light and
sides, it is a somewhat ungracious subject for an Englishman reality out of what would otherwise have been a charming
to enlarge upon, seeing that we have as far as lay in our power work. Again, we wonder how it is that in France where
imitated these fashions for the last hundred years so we : there is so much pleasant sunlight, sunlight is banished
will proceed to examine some of these pictures, taking the from pictures.
well-arranged catalogue as our guide. No. 1, is worthy to “The Authoress,” by Bisschop (17), seems virtuously
head the list, for it is both characteristic and interesting, and conscious of her interesting occupation, and we feel sure she
belongs to a class of work of which we have no example in is writing some good little sentimental book fit for good
England. It may be styled “ classic genre,” and seeks to people at Amsterdam. She is very well painted, however,
interest us in classic life, by showing that men and women and the colour of the old red desk, perhaps more choice and
in those days had much the same manners as ourselves and luminous than anything in the room.
not (as the great art does) rousing our sympathetic recognition “ The Signal” and “Le Jeu de l’Orca,”by Coomans (28 and
by showing that they had the same passions. Nevertheless it 29). It is fortunate for English Art that two such elaborately
is both a pretty and interesting side of things ;
and the bad pictures are almost impossible in our school for they
;
pictures of Alma-Tadema are capital examples of what may must have taken some time to do, besides some knowledge
be done. This one, called the “Visit to Delia,” is not so and practice as well as prepensity of thought and associa-
good as his other, called “The Honeymoon in the reign of tions. And the absence of a market in England for such
Augustus” (2), which we will notice presently. It re- affectations would have mercifully preserved any one inclined
presents a morning call at the house of a fashionable to them from acquiring the skill necessary for their produc-
beauty, by what are apparently intended for that clique of tion. We speak so strongly because it is possible that the
poets and statesmen of whom Horace sang so pleasantly prettiness of the subject may mislead some careless observer
and sweetly. The 'expression and character of the heads into a certain complacency when looking at worthless per-
do not, however, deserve much notice. The painting of the formances, where everything is as untrue as it is fade and
flesh is hot and baked looking, and the hands and feet show stupid. “The Little Boy washing his Feet in the House
none of the high-bred delicacy one wishes to suppose must Fountain” (29) is the only really graceful thing in them,
have characterized the hands and feet of the most luxurious and that is taken from the antique. Nos. 34 and 35, by
society in bath-loving Rome, where so much time and care Caraud, are also bad, though the subjects are full of
was spent upon their adornment. Italian hands also are interest. One can scarcely paint the gardens of Le petit
almost always finely shaped. But the realization of a Trianon with a figure more or less like Marie Antoinette with-
habitable room in ancient Rome, of the ordinary look and out attaining some interest, but here the interest stops with
use of the frescoed walls, couches and bronze work, brooches —
the first glance the vacant face of the queen, and the cin-
and gold chains, which we generally see only behind the dery, sunless garden invite no further examination. As to
glass of museum cases, is most ingenious and nearly Louis XYI. making locks, one only thinks it was a very good
wonderful. How pretty the bronze stove and chaffing- occupation for him, not without wonder how he managed
dish, so exquisitely drawn, and beautiful as a ground for the to learn to do it.
other colours, the black tesserm of the pavement. The dark We may speak of “ Church-time ” (53), by M. Albert
blue fan against the lighter blue robe is a charming detail de Yriendt, and of (54) “ The Return of the Crusader
of colour, and the couch is altogether pretty. We have before Guillebert de Lannoy from the Holy Land, who relates
said that we do not care much about its occupants the ;
his adventures to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Bur-
fault in the execution of this picture is that the touches are gundy,” by Julien de Vriendt, as if they were by the same
too hard, and many of the small lights out of tone. artist, so much are they alike in sentiments and point of
The “ Honeymoon ” (2), to which we before referred, is in view. M. Julien de Vriendt is, however, much more skilful
many ways a better picture. It is a good composition, and than his namesake. They both seem to be pupils or imita-
the drawing is large and fine in style. The colour, though tors of the great Belgian artist Leys, that splendid colourist
still not good, is much less coarse in the flesh than the who has found his field in the pageantry of mediaeval
other ;
and the imitation of still-life, besides being of life, but who, by his profound and serene expression,
astonishing power, is far more harmonious and in tone. We always holds to the great Art. But his very greatness
would point out especially the marvellously, solid, and makes him a dangerous guide to weak men. His ideal
metallic bronze tub in which the oleander grows, and the treatment betrays them to phantoms and lay figures, and
beautiful tinting of the white marble seat. Throughout his knowledge of colour gives them a terrible power over
there is to be found beautiful and ingenious arrangements of blue and red. There is something of mania in these
colour— as the under dress of the woman for instance and — works. “ Church - time ” has all the manner of the
there is some grace in the action of the hands. But we school, but, alas none of the matter. Two very dull-looking
!
cannot be expected to take much interest in the loves of ladies in very fine dresses appear to be going with reluc-
-
these mature persons, whose charm must at any period have tance into a Gothic Church. A nun pulls a bell-rope with
been a matter of singular personal taste. provoking assiduity. And we can no longer wonder at the
“ Deer in the Forest of Fontainebleau” (11) is by Rosa Reformation if this is in anywise a true presentment of the
Bonheur, and of course is a very good piece of painting. It religious observances of the middle ages. The other
is, however, a slight work as far as thought is concerned, picture is really pathetic. Poor Isabella of Portugal is
and has not much original impression. We seem to have there represented, shut up in a sort of Gothic pew with an
met these deer in a good many pictures before. The fawn ineffably dreary-looking Crusader bent upon telling his
looking round the group is very good, however, and has story, while her attendants and subjects contemplate her
something new in its wild, obstinate, fierce eyes. In all the dreadful fate, through the bars, with terror and dismay. One
works of this gifted artist we see real mastery. The beauties sees that she will yawn in a minute there is no help for
;
are chosen, and so are faults. There is no hesitation in her, and Guillebert de Lannoy will go on. It is already
the broad touch which sweeps out a thousand delicacies, sun-set, but they will light lamps presently. Whoso has
and attains solidity and relief. The painting of the ferns heard a military story knows that it may not be averted.
— — :
192 THE TWO WATER-COLOUR SOCIETIES. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867.
If she might sleep, it were well ;

but Isabella of Portugal slides in the frozen gutter, some throwing snowballs all ;
must be worthy of her ancestry, and sit bolt upright to the “the business” (to borrow a word from the theatre) is
end of the tale. She has a beautiful gold dress, however, there, but they are not boys. They are too much alike, in
and the Crusader is as like a bore of the fifteenth century the first place, and all good boys they lack animal intensity,
:
as we can imagine. the busy eagerness of mischief, in their waywardness

Nos. 73, 74, and 75 are the work of one of the completest lacking the loyal humble admiration of the weak for the
geniuses that France has produced— Edouard Frere. We say strong, by the utterly absurd merriment which is the privi-
completest, because we think that in his works may be traced lege of their age. Nor can we find much attempt to render
that harmony between his most spontaneous sympathies the beauty of lythe young forms, bright eyes, and curly heads,
and his aim in art, which makes us recognize them as ex- yet this picture has the merit which genius alone can confer
—
pressions of true emotions not perhaps of the greatest, but — it is equally free from affectation and false excitement as
still the emotions of a living mind. Nothing in his pictures from coarseness and common-place.
in any way contradicts or disturbs the dominant sentiment. “ Art and Liberty ” (80) is by Gallait, one of the most
The vei-y absence of great qualities in the drawing and admired and successful of modern painters. For ourselves,
colour adds to their gentle humanity. One is with an equal, we have never put this accomplished artist among the first
as it were, and willing to be pleased with simple pleasant he seems to us to have all sorts of knowledge and no intui-
things. All ideas of strife and the pride of emulation are tion he knows all about anatomy and heraldry; archeology
;
forgotten, looking upon these artless, tender paintings, with and expression the proper things to group to tell his story,
;
their hesitating touch and half-understood effects. We may and all about paints and mediums, but he does not seem
well forgive him his black shadows, when he gives us ex- to us to have any special gift of expressing all this know-
pression so subtile and gracious to think of, as he has in ledge. The clean, bright painting of this picture would be
“The Reprimand” and “The Invalid Doll” (73 and 74). enviable to a scholar, but not to a master. The sentiment
In “The Reprimand” we see two little bodies who have is appropriate, but affects us as little as the accuracy of a
been getting into trouble, committing some of the crime of sermon or prize poem. Everything is well and scientifically
—
such wee folk' letting out the calves or chasing the ducks, drawn, but without fire or sense of movement. Albert
or, with many deep-laid plots, creeping through the hedge Diirer has the noble, but rather helpless air of a tenor hero
to where the ripening peaches make the garden sacred at the opera. But it is so thankless a task to point out the
perhaps even scuffling with their little round fists, in which shortcomings of what has at all events been competently
case, we venture to say that the combat was not a very fierce done, that we will say no more.
one, and after the adjudication of the wonderful old grand- “ Louis XIV. and Moliere ” (82), by Gerdme, is un-
father, who sits at home all day in the shadowy house, they doubtedly very fine. The superiority of the desig-n and
will trot off into the sunlight again, hand in hand. For, arrangement of colour to the execution shows, however,
you these two have been toddling about all the
see, that it is a duplicate work ;
while the expressions are
summer day. The little lad stands sturdy and tired, hot very subtile in intention, but not carried out as finely
from the sun, the collar of his blouse thrown back from his as they no doubt are in the larger picture, which is now
tender brown throat, and his eyes still half dazzled with the exhibited at Paris! The faces of the king and Moliere, for
light, and the chubby, gentle little woman, who has crept instance, are rather blurred, and the eyes of all the per-
to her well-known refuge at the old man’s knee, is already sonages want vivacity. The cardinal is the best figure,
getting drowsy, partly with compunction and partly with though somewhat coarse as an expression of priestly arro-
rest. The old man is a kindly, punctilious old fellow, quite gance. The colour of his violet robe makes a charming
earnest and particular about the misdeeds of these two harmony with the white and gold of the room. It is always
minute culprits. It is impossible to express how much there a great advantage to an artist when his subject allows him
is of tenderness and deep sympathy in this picture, which, to people an existing scene with interesting or historic
while recognizing its shortcomings as a painting, we would personages and there is no doubt that this picture has
;
rather have than almost any in the Gallery. “ The Invalid gained immensely in reality from the fact that the king’s
Doll” (74) has much of the same excellence, but 75, called room at Versailles looks now almost exactly as it did when
“Leaving School,” is by no means, to our thinking, a suc- the great Louis might be expected to enter it at any
cessful effort. It is a large picture, and the defective moment. In creating ghosts a good solid array of facts are
workmanship tells more unfortunately ; and again, it is a invaluable. The painting of velvets, and gold, and court
picture of strong action, which is not the forte of the artist. splendour in this picture is most remarkable it is not —
It represents a troop of boys rushing out of school into the noble and triumphant, as it would have been in a Venetian
grey, snowy air, some tumbling clown the steps, some making —
work, but it is in rare good taste it is French, in fact.
THE TWO WATER-COLOUR SOCIETIES.

rilHE new society, or, as it is now called, “ The Institute ing and various other processes have not been carried out
JL of Painters in Water-Colours,” has given this year a to any extent, but the sheep and the figures in the boat are
lesson to our societies connected with the Fine Arts, by most beautifully done. Mr. Gallait’ s works are small
all
electing' foreign honorary members. All learned societies copies of two of his large historical pictures
—
“ The War-
and academies in every part of the world elect men of rant of Execution read to Counts Egmont and Horne ” (49)
celebrity belonging to other countries. This practice should and the “Oath of Vargas” (55). Mr. Gallait’s power of
have been carried out by the Royal Academy, and no doubt correct and careful drawing is here seen it is as thoroughly
;
but it would have been followed. But the honour of giving carried out as in his large pictures. One of the principal
this worthy example has been seized by the Institute, and they pictures in the French section of the International Exhibi-
have elected Rosa Bonheur, Henriette Brown, Meissonier, tion of 1862 was by Henriette Brown, of two Sisters of
Gallait, and Madou. Rosa Bonheur exhibits “A High- Charity nursing a sick child. She sends a similar subject
land Lake” (52). It was only lately that this gifted lady to this gallery ;
and we hope that she, as well as the other
made her first attempt at water-colours during a visit to
;
honorary members, will continue to favour us in future
this country she was so struck with the qualities produced years with further contributions. E. G. Warren has left
by the English school of water-colours, that she was tempted his corn-fields and beech-trees and gone to the coast, from
to try her hand, and the picture here exhibited is one of which he sends “ The Battle of the Waters ” (226) ; a wild,
her first efforts. The technical qualities produced by wash- stormy picture, with the wind almost visible in it. The
Nature and Art, June, 1867.
THE TWO WATER-COLOUR SOCIETIES. 193
scattered fragments of wreck look like the slain of the and colour without muddiness or
flickering softness, light,
battle-field, and they tell how fierce the shock has been the ;
blackness. Still one cannot help wondering at such a title
as “ November 11th, One o’Clock p.m.” (16). It reminds
masses of rock have been very carefully studied. Mr. Haghe,
the vice-president, is well represented this year. His one of the inimitable parody which Professor Aytoun,
under the name of “ Mr. Dusky,” made uponRuskin’s style
j
principal contribution is a pair of very fine drawings, to

which he has given the appropriate titles of “ Lawless of writing; Mr. Dusky’s criticisms was
in fact, one of
and “Peaceful Times” The last of upon a picture which he at first thought represented a
Times” (223) (234).
these is “ Cavaliere d’Arpino Painting the Frescoes in the scene under the conditions of effect which would indicate
that the hour of the day must be “ two o’clock p.m. ;” but a
|
Cloisters of the Convent of St. Onofrio, Rome.”

.
The
feeling of peace and repose could not have been better more minute inspection made it clear that this was an error,
and that the true time represented was twenty- three minutes
|
suggested than it is by this quiet cloister and its pious

past two p.m. This was out-Ruskining Ruskin, and Mr.
|
inhabitants, who have left the strife and struggle of the (
world to end their days in the shade of this retreat. The Hunt’s title has a very strong resemblance to it. At the
—
decoration of the place by the Cavaliere the incident selected
j
same time it must be confessed that it is a very wonderful

—
i
by Mr. Haghe also helps to confirm the title of the picture ;

!
picture. The clearness and brightness of effect is unrivalled
for the cultivation of Art —
and all human cultivation as in the room. So fine is the work of every part, that one
well — can only advance for the benefit of man in peaceful
|
j
cannot help regretting that the foreground had not been
times. The other picture tells its story equally well. A |
differently treated it looks like a child’s work
: it is poor ;
lawless and armed band have entered a house which, from and unfinished. Compare it with the foreground of “ Dur-
ham, from Pelaw Wood (258), by the same artist, and it
”
j
its architecture, might be an Italian villa. Its inhabitants |
are defending themselves as best they may and although

;
will be seen that he can give force and effect to that part
succour is seen coming, yet the spectator is left in fear for of his picture. This last will rank, and that with great
the result to the lives of those attacked. The action and advantage too, beside Birket Foster’s “York” (263).
Fine as Foster is at foliage, he would find it difficult to go
|
painting in the figures of this picture are admirable, and

beyond the group of trees in Hunt’s picture. “ The Old
|
the grey tones of the architecture display Mr. Haghe’ s I
peculiar forte. Carl Werner’s Egyptian subjects are very Breakwater” (150) and “ Old Shoreham Bridge” (156) are
successful this year. Out of the many which he exhibits, about the finest works which Mr. Foster has ever exhibited.
T. R. Lamont’s two pictures are well drawn, but there is a
j
the first we come to in the catalogue (22) is a very good illus-

tration of Mr. Werner’s powers he draws carefully, is almost
;
scratchy look about them which, were it got quit of, would
j
greatly improve the effect. “ The Puerta de la Sangre,

photographic in detail, effective and powerful in light and
—
shade, and rich in colour all qualities of the highest value Toledo ” (92), by E. A. Gooaall, is a very good drawing.
Most people will very naturally be pleased with the title
J
to such drawings. Mr. Tidey gives four large and well-

drawn illustrations of the four seasons. “ The French and the subject chosen by Mr. Bradley, namely, “ The
Advocate for Woman’s Rights ” (82) is a happy title; the Happy Mother ” (201).
advocate seems as strong-limbed as she seems strong- “Crimea — Sounding a Retreat” (71), by Frederick F.
minded. Mr. Hine has taken possession of the Downs, j
Shields, is well drawn and painted it is no fancy picture,
;
and made them quite his own. What soft lovely greys he but very real in its character. The bugler belongs to the
97th, and it is scarcely fair to any regiment to select it
|
gets over the simple outlines of this geological formation. (
“ On the Downs near Folkington, Sussex,” (310) is a good as an example of retreat. The 97th did retreat from the
specimen of his powers. Mr. Hine is equally fond of the Redan but it was with no dishonour. They were the first
;
beach, where he likes to study cliffs, rocks, boats, sea-weeds, I

who entered that work, although their colonel and major
and oyster-pots, &c. “ Coast near Beachy Head ” (204) is a fell, the one mortally wounded, and the other dead, in the
highly successful effort. “ Nuremberg ” (70) by Skinner

-
attack.
—
I
Prout, There are a great many works in this exhibition whose

quality and character scarcely require to be noticed such ;
“ Quaint old town of toil and traffic, as John Gilbert, T. M. Richardson, Frederick Tayler, E.
Quaint old town of art and song, Duncan, James Holland, &c. &c., whose reputation we are
Memories haunt thy pointed gables all agreed upon but a new man has lately appeared among
;
Like the rooks that round them throng.” them, about whose powers there is the very widest possible
difference of opinion. According to his admirers, his
This is about as good a picture as Mr. Prout ever pro- pictures are about the only works which can be called art
—
duced a busy scene brightly painted. “ Waiting for the in the present day in fact, art is not the word, they are
:
Pantomime ” (295), by G. Green, is full of capital character shrines at which to worship, and the artist is a prophet, or
and drawing. “In the Plaza de Toros, Seville ” (196), by at least a canonized saint. With others this admiration seems
W. W. Deane, is a picture showing great advancement small ; one of the greatest delusions of the time they are lost in ;
as the face of the queen is, the likeness is evident. Mr. Penley, wonder at the bare idea of such works being even included
who contributes such able articles upon painting to this under the term pictures. Believers in Spiritualism, the
periodical, is strongly represented by a large number of Davenport Brothers, Mrs. Thwaites, or Mr. Burne Jones,
drawings painted in his best style. We most cordially would seem to some to be equally ridiculous. Here are High
advise his readers to go and see for themselves how well, and Low Church in art. Here are the extremes and who is ;
and with what good effect Mr. Penley carries out the in- to decide ? Well may the outer world doubt all rules of
structions which he gives to others. Space will not permit criticism when they find artists themselves so wide in their
a further notice of many most meritorious works in this judgments. Mr. Burne Jones’s works are certainly curious
exhibition.
l
productions and it is said that the members of the Society
;
In the Oljd Water-colour Room, one of the first pictures were very much astonished at themselves when they first
which attracts notice is Carl Haag’s “ Happiness in the i
saw his works upon their walls. Possibly there is a certain
Desert ” (417). It is one of the very best works Mr. Haag want in modern art, and it is too much made up of light
j
has yet done the shadow of the camel from the sun and '
and shade, drawing and composition, mechanical power and
—
;
moon both faint, the one dying and the other coming into dexterity possibly it altogether wants the higher and
— ;
i
existence, each neutralizing the other is a particularly fine more spiritual qualities of relationship to man’s moral and
feature in this picture. If happiness is to be got in riches, religious nature. Mr. Jones does make an attempt at these
the reported price of this picture would indicate that Mr. higher attributes, and the devotion of his ardent and
Haag can find “Happiness in the Desert” as well as the worshipping admirers may be interpreted as a protest
Arab family he has so wonderfully represented. Alfred W. against their absence from modern art. Whether he has
Hunt wants the great range and power of Turner ; but attained them, or will be the star of a new school, or not,
there is almost no man of the present day who can get we will not try to decide; time itself will make the point
some of that great painter’s qualities of aerial grays, '
clear.
xnr. o
194 REVIEWS. [Nature and Art, June 1, 1867
REVIEWS.
Rough Notes by mi Old Soldier during Fifty Tears’ Service, to the extreme of cold in Canada, where he distinguished
from Ensign G. B., to Mayor-General, C.B. London Day :
himself in the suppression of the rebellion. He then
returned to the fierce sunshine of a West India station,
& Son, Limited.
where he observes “ the grave-yard was under the men’s
HESE two volumes contain tlie record of a thorough windows, a very remarkable and interesting view,
T soldier’s life; vigorously, clearly,and simply narrated. and well chosen by the authorities to keep invalids
in remembrance that the garrison was deposited there
It appears almost marvellous that their author can have
come unscathed through the numerous perils which he every seven years.” Such was the spirit of this old soldier
recounts. He seems to have walked through life over red- that in 1854, after forty-two years’ service, he could not
hot plough-shares, as it were, of battles, tempests, and rest content with the command of his regiment at serene
pestilences. In fact, this autobiography of Major-General Cephalonia, but applied for and obtained the 1st battalion
George Bell, C.B., conveys a most vivid impression of the of the Royals, under orders for active service in the East.
exceedingly active service entailed upon our soldiers by The scene presently changes to the Crimea, and here stories
our numerous and distant dependencies. In 1811, the which we have heard before, but which come fresh to us in
author having obtained an ensigncy in the 34th Regiment all their abomination, make us wish for Sir Thomas Picton,
of the Line, assumed the cocked hat and feather, jack his tree, and a coil of stout red tape. We read of
boots, and white breeches of the period.
“ Men in the trenches twenty-four hours at a time,
During the next
three years he was engaged in the thick of the fighting soaked to the skin ; no change when they came up to their
in the Peninsula. Among the battles and sieges which miserable tents, hardly a twig now to be got to boil their
he describes, the storming of Badajoz stands prominently bit of salt pork ; short of rations, too, for want of trans-
forth as a splendid instance of the indomitable valour of port ; everything cheerless, the sick lie down to die in peace
the British soldier. The story has been told before, but in the miry clay, they have no energy left. Thousands
it is worth re-telling in its magnificence of horror. “ Here might have been saved but for the red tape.”
now,” writes our author, “was a crushing and most des- Again, “ Aration of green, raw coffee berry was served
perate struggle for the prize the bright beams of the out to the men and officers a mockery in the midst of all
;
—
;
moon were obscured with powder smoke the springing of their misery ;
nothing to roast coffee, nothing to grind it.”
mines, powder barrels, flashing of guns and small arms, “ Inspected the brigade. Found the men in tatters, but
—
rendered our men marks for destruction death’s grasp their powder dry their old clothes tied about their half-
;
naked frames, and old knapsacks bound about their legs.”

was just on the remnant of the brave, a total annihilation
of humanity on our side, when the troops who had escaladed
“We seldom see any of the red tapists in our camp.” * * *
“ I proposed, when there was some snow on the ground, to
the castle made a dash at the breach, and with one loud
cheer for England, and a sweeping volley, and another put runners on the arabas in the sleigh fashion, and get up
mad shrieking yell, rushed on with the bayonet, and provisions from Balaclava, a simple matter, and easily
cleared the bloody gap for those belcfw, who now rushed accomplished. Oh no ; it did not emanate from the
!
in, driving the French from every point —

and Badajoz was proper quarter, and was poohpooed ; I was a meddler, and
so on. In three days the camp might have been amply
won.” But unfortunately he is compelled to state after-
—
wards how this courage was tarnished. “ For two days the supplied with abundance of stores from that wretched
town was in possession of the victorious, and it may be Balaclava.” Besides the narrative of his campaigns, the
as well to draw a veil over the misdeeds of men stained author gives interesting accounts of numerous journeys,
with the blood of their comrades.” He ascribes much of which he has undertaken for his own pleasure, to Rome,
the carnage to the neglect of the Government in providing Naples, Athens, and other places. Altogether, from the
the army with proper besieging- tools. Indeed it is variety of the scenes, and strong interest of the incidents
lamentable to read that troops, displaying such devotion, through which he carries us, the book can scarcely fail to
were constantly suffering from insufficiency of food, clothing, be entertaining as well as instructive. Written by a
and the munitions of w'ar. The recital of these miseries soldier as gallant, as successful, and, if it be a necessary
evokes, as we may imagine, the grand old shade of Picton qualification, as old as themselves, it seems to us just the
and the following familiar receipt for dealing with the red- work that the military hierarchy who are so insolently in-
tape worm tolerant of civilian suggestion might find an excuse for
“ Sir Thomas Picton told his commissary one day, that —
reading and inwardly digesting so that the experiences of
if he did not find rations for his men, he would hang- him
the Peninsula and Crimea may not be lost, in the event of
on a tree. The commissary became very indignant at this England being unhappily plunged into another European
insult (as he termed it), and went off to Lord Wellington war. In a few years we may have forgotten the warning
to complain. After hearing the whole story with wonderful which impressed us so deeply when we were first made
complaisance, he said, ‘ Did Sir Thomas really say so ?
’
acquainted with the mismanagement of matters in the last
‘
Yes, my lord, those were his very words.’ Very well,
‘ war.
you had better get the rations, or you may be sure he will
keep his word. I can do nothing for you good morning-.’
:
The commissary returned and found the rations for his Proofs in Support of Lieut. -Col. Richards’ Claims as chief
brigade.” Promoter and Originator of the Volunteer Movement of
We renew our acquaintance, in the Peninsula, with 1859. Swift & Co., London.
Maurice Quill, the witty doctor, one of Lever’s delightful
characters and we are presented with many pleasant
;
Most people probably consider, without bestowing much
sketches of Spanish life, besides the stirring accounts of thought upon the matter, that our unpaid army arose from
assaults, charges, marches, and bivouacs. Subsequently the a spontaneous ebullition of national ardour, evoked by the
General served for many years in the East Indies, enduring exigencies of the period. Many are, perhaps, glad to for-
all the annoyances of flies, fever, mosquitoes, and ther- get sinister prognostications and ridicule thrown upon the
mometers at 130°. He was ordered to “ Rangoon, with its movement at its outset, and the doubts, very frequently
3,000 pagodas, its stockade, shipping-, war boats, high and expressed, whether men would turn, at stated periods and
towering talipat and cocoa trees, Poonghee houses, and the by beat of drum, from their offices, counters, or farms, to
great burnished temple topping all,- and standing in the gird bayonets upon their thighs and to shoulder rifles. It
midst of this forest of fairy-like land of enchantment” to — was a common observation that, even if the youth to
fight the Burmese. He was next exposed for seven years -whom the promoters of the movement addressed them-
MUSIC AT HOME. 195
selves should be discovered to possess such an amount of or passive acquiescence, found means to ventilate, through
martial energ-y, the figure they would cut in military array the press and otherwise, his propositions, that the
would be rather mirth-inspiring’ than soldierly. In fact, volunteer corps should be organized and drilled throughout
ten years ago, hardly the boldest ventured to predict per- the United Kingdom, and that, although we were styled a
manency for the institution of volunteering in time of peace. nation of shopkeepers, our ancient military spirit still
The pamphlet before us has been -written to urge the existed. In the spring of 1859, Colonel Richards persuaded,
appropriateness of an expression of national gratitude to not without difficulty, Admiral Sir Charles Napier to pre-
Lieut.-Col. Alfred B. Rickards, on his retirement from an side at a meeting convened in St. Martin’s Hall. That
active command in the force. It asserts that “ to Colonel meeting crowned the enthusiast’s work. The speeches
Richards is due the merit of having practically initiated the uttered at it were endorsed by the press, and found an
movement in the face of discouragement and difficulty echo in the hearts of the people of England and in twenty-
;
which would have daunted and silenced a man less devoted six days a War Office circular gave the people’s army an
to the cause which he had taken in hand,” and therefore We
official existence. agree with the author, after perusing
invites “ the nation, and especially the volunteers, whom he the ample evidence adduced in his pamphlet, that this
has done so much to call into existence, to respond to this effect can be justly ascribed to his hero, and to his hero
appeal to their patriotic gratitude as Englishmen.” Here only, and our acquiescence follows in his claim that such
we find how one man, patiently struggling against ridicule eminent service demands public and positive recognition.
MUSIC A T HOME.
TI1HE huge vessel commanded by Manager Mapleson' former is again triumphant, as Rosina in II Ba/rbiere di
X slipped its moorings, and commenced the perilous Seviglia, and on the night of her re-appearance was invited,
voyage of 1867, to the flourish of many brazen trumpets in more cordially than ever, to tread upon the neck of the
Verdi’s I Lombardi. Signor Verdi himself has taught us to prostrate public. Neither real nor comparative novelty is
believe in better things than those contained in this musical yet the order of the day at Covent Garden.
story of the Crusades ; and I Lombardi, in the present year Euterpe has gained a new home in Langham Place, and
of grace, is somewhat disappointing to all infatuated people lostan old one in Long Acre. St. George’s Hall, the peculiar
who quail at the crash of super-abundant brass, and sigh for and chosen resting place of the new Philharmonic Society
gentler strains. The opera is chiefly remembered through is both commodious and admirably adopted for musicial
the air “La mia letizia ” for the tenor, Oracte. On the purposes. Dr. Wylde is evidently no Tory in matters of
opening nights of the season Mr. Tom Holder deputized for art, for the welkin of St. George’s has already rung’ to
Signor Mongini. The great feature of the cast is Mr. songs made popular in Music Halls. The home to be
Santley’s Pagano, a magnificent performance both as henceforth reckoned among the things that were, is St.
regards singing and acting. Le Nozze di Figaro has, of Martin’s Hall, which will be converted into a theatre, and
course, been again brought forward with a Cherubino opened to the public before the next Pantomime season.
neither so good nor so bad as some of her predecessors in In this gloomy, cold, and depressing apartment, Madame
the part. Madame Demeric Lablache is perhaps grateful Lemmens-Sherrington made, if we remember truly, her first
for many kind things said about her by members of the appearance as a concert vocalist, in the time of the Hullah
fourth estate but she can hardly have appreciated a
;
Class celebrations. Through various vicissitudes has the
delicate attention paid her by a morning luminary, on building passed, fire being the greatest, and Masquerades,
Monday, May 20th. Referring to a representation of Amateur Performances, Japanese ditto, Aztec ditto, and
Lucrezia Borgia on the previous Saturday, the friend to
, political meetings the least.
truth and the conscientious critic admitted a certain The Grand Opera Concerts, at the Crystal Palace, are in
“piquancy” in Madame Demeric Lablache’ s Orsini, next progress, and at the first of them Signor Bottesini went
stated as his deliberate opinion, that the piquancy aforesaid through the ordeal of playing a Tarantelle of his own, with
“was somewhat overstrained,” and concluded his reliable the same chance of making it heard, that he would have on
criticism with the declaration that the overstrained piquancy Hampstead Heath. To all but those immediately at hand,
was approved of by the audience. Unfortunately for the the Tarantelle was literally a sealed book, and a profound
censor’s veracity, Madame Demeric Lablache did not play secret. For the first and second concerts the vocalists
the part on that particular evening. She, perhaps, would were from the Royal Italian Opera ; and for the third,
have given London exactly the Maffeo the commentator from Her Majesty’s.
saw in his mind’s eye ; but Madame Trebelli Bettini stood Miscellaneous, concerts, both morning and evening, are
in the way, and overturned all the pleasant theory advanced announced on all sides ;
and from the mass of gaslight
by the critic who so unhappily deceived himself in trying to entertainments may be selected for very honourable
enlighten others. On the night alluded to, Madame mention, that given by Mr. C. I. Hargitt, at St. George’s
Giacconi, a new Lucrezia Borgia, was introduced to the Hall, early in May. Mr. Hargitt brought forward some of
London public. The lady came, and saw, but did not the earlier works of Beethoven, and deserves the thanks of
conquer; for the British lion is an animal of strong connoisseurs for so doing. Miss Madeline Schiller, a few
prejudices, and refuses to acknowledge the merits of a nights afterwards, tendered her contribution to the fashion-
Lucrezia with a comparatively weak voice, and with a able concert season, and played Chopin’s fanciful Polonaise
superlatively weak idea of acting. It was hardly probable in E flat delightfully. Miss Schiller is not yet a great
that another great, or even notably good, representative of player, in the sense of the word, but she has the where-
the terrible Duchess would be allowed, if able, to divide such withal to make her one, and is endowed with a marvellously
honours with Titiens the magnificent. Herr Rokitansky is delicate touch— when she chooses to proclaim the fact. A
not so good a Falstaff as he is a Marcello ; but he is a slight tendency to exaggeration, both of tone and sentiment,
genuine artist, and has a magnificent bass voice. is now the only blemish upon this singularly-gifted young
Operatic London must have its “pet” or “pets,” and lady’s playing. Miss Schiller must have been greatly edified
that one huge shell will hold two sweet kernels is tolerably with the statement made in a daily paper as to her having
evident at the Royal Italian Opera, where Mdlles. Adelina performed a solo by Stephen Heller as an encore, when the
Patti, and Pauline Lucca exercise most despotic rule. The piece in question was Weber’s Rondo, “II Moto Continuo.”
; —
196 CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A. [Niilux-e and Art. June, 18G7.
CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A.
T is sad, perhaps ominous, to close our number with an fancy, too, how Stanfield must have treated Windsor Castle
I obituary notice but the passing- away of so thorough
;
and Park in one year Alpine passes in another the Back-
; ;
a British workman as Clarkson Stanfield demands one from woods and Niagara in another but facts and memory help us
;
every fine-art-professing periodical. This much-loved when we have to speak of the glories of “ King- Arthur ”
gentleman died on the 18th of May, in his seventy-fourth in 1833, for it was on the occasion of our first visit to a play
year, full of years and honours, and we may almost say in and to the then three-and-sixpenny pit of Drury Lane that
harness, after a long season of merited popularity. He was “ His Majesty’s Servants ” enacted to our delight “ The
a sea boy, and it were superfluous' to say more of his marine King’s Seal,” “ The King’s Word,” and “ King Arthur.”
works than that they have for more than a quarter of a The bill is before us now —a thrice royal programme
century been the delight of his countrymen and an honour never repeated. About time he was working for
this
to the Academy which, indeed, adopted him some time after the Sutherland family on a noble series of Italian
the million had set their mark of approval upon him. The scenes which ornament their great house at Trentham.
commonalty of the Far East and the New Cut had bestowed He was made an associate of the Royal Academy in
their s-weet - voiced tributes of joy and thanks upon 1832, and member in 1835. His career as a scene
Mr. Stanfield for some years before the dilettanti of the painter was not, however, terminated by his absorption into
British Institution voted him prizes, or the Royal the Academy for we remember well how he assisted the
;
Academy annexed him. He was painter to the Coburg Covent Garden manager Maeready in a grand spectacular-
theatre in 1822, and there illustrated the spectacular pieces edition of Henry V., in 1839, with the beautiful works
which made that play-house famous, and the “transpontine “ Before and after Agincourt.” In 1842, his last the-
drama” an institution and a bye-word. The next year he atrical triumph was the “ Acis and Galatea,” scenery
painted the scenery for the Drury Lane pantomime, entitled which he painted for the then director of Drury Lane, and
“ Harlequin and the Flying Chest.” In 1824 he revelled in which truly took the town by storm. Since that period
the sensational scenery demanded by “ Der Freyschutz,” and Stanfield’s name has been familiar to the thousands who
it is in the memory of old playgoers and professionals that have annually flocked round his beautiful canvases on the
his “ Wolf's Glen,” a “ set piece ” constructed with all the walls of .the Academy. When we mention “ The Battle of
advantages at the disposal of the Drury Lane stage, was Ischia,” “The Day after the Wreck,” “French Troops
a remarkable and most successful effort. In 1825 Stanfield crossing the Magra ” —
an episode of the first campaign in
began a series of dioramas, which formed for many years Italy; “The Battle of Roveredo,” “The Abandoned,”
as necessary and popular a feature of the Christmas panto- “ Wind against Tide,” “The Victory towed into Gibraltar-
mimes as are the transformation scenes of our own period after the Battle of Trafalgar,” “ The Siege of St. Sebastian,”
and we are disposed to think that the beautiful cloths on and“ The Bass Rock,” we name but a few. There is, of
which the future academician displayed some of his finest course, not a collector of any importance in the country
fancies were far more artistic, if not so terrible, as the who has not if possible acquired a Stanfield and where the ;
chemico-engineering triumphs of lime-lighted stage car- Stanfield is, it may always be observed to bo in a place of
pentry for which our pits and galleries annually award honour. His “ Skirmish off Heligoland ” (No. 199 in the
to Messrs. Beverley, Cormack, Slowman, and others their present year’s exhibition of the Royal Academy), a picture
much-desired ovations. Even now we remember with plea- full of atmosphere, and painted with unrivalled delicacy,
sure one of these dioramas. It figured the progress from is evidence that the master’s faculty was strong to the last;
her cradle of a man of war, and Stanfield, of course, threw and it is to be hoped that ere long our National Collection
himself heartily into the work. We seem as we write to at Charing Cross will be enriched by some specimens of this
hear the deafening shouts of delight as the pictures admirable marine painter, if they be only to range with
followed each other across the Proscenium. We can those by the gigantic Turner which already figure there.
OLLA PODRIDA.
Work and Play. — be an aggravating incident
If there not where you please, but where, when, and how it pleases.
in this very trying world, it assuredly that of being
is — Hours of Work and Play, by Frances Power Cobbe.
mounted on a non-progressive donkey, unarmed with any The Humour of Various Nations. There are three —
available whip, stick, spur, or other instrument of cruelty! —
classes of people in society,. those who radiate spirits,
and wholly at the mercy of a treacherous conductor, who those who reflect spirits, and those who absorb spirits.
pretends to belabour your beast, and only makes him kick, The Radiators are few, the Reflectors sufficiently numerous,
and keeps you behind your party, when you have every but the Absorbents, alas nearly enough to balance them
!
reason in the world to wish to retain your place in it. Only both. The height of the thermometer of cheerfulness at
one thing is worse ;
a mule which carries you through a any social gathering might be predicted beforehand by any
whole day of weary Alpine climbing, just too far from all one who should carefully estimate the numbers of the
your friends to exchange more than a scream at intervals. guests to be ranked under these respective classes. Are
If there chance on such an excursion to be ten pleasant there no Radiators ? Then it is as useless to gather
people of your party,, and one unpleasant one, whom you Reflectors as to fill a room with mirrors and expect them to
particularly wish neither to follow nor seem to follow, it is be bright without the introduction of lamps. Are there
inevitably that particular, objectionable person whose mule two or three Radiators ? Then Reflectors may be multiplied
your mule will go after, and press past every one else to get with advantage, almost ad infinitum ; and even a limited
at, and drag your arm out of its socket if you try to turn it number of Absorbents, carefully stowed away in corners,
back, and finally make you wish that an avalanche would will not do much harm but this must be managed with
;
fall and bury you and the demon-brute you have got under caution, for even the brightest of Radiators placed at dinner
you in the abyss for ever. On horse-back you are a lord between two Absorbents, will often fade away, and merely
(or lady) of creation, with the lower animal subject unto “ twinkle, twinkle,” like a very “ little star ” indeed, for the
you. On mule-back, or ass-baclc, you are a bale of goods, rest of the evening. Ibid.
borne with contumely at the will of the vilest of beasts ;

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Part II. Stag-hunting in the Time of Xenophon 65 Charlesworth’s Transparent-covered Collec-

Rambles among the Crim Tartars beyond the

By Rivington’s Rubricated Cambridge Prayer

58, 89, 122, 159, 189, 244, 246

The Old Masters at the British Institution 60

Scene on the Logier River, Zambesi. The full-

its Culture in England. By W. B. Teget- Olla Podrida 64, 96, 252

Illustrated ) . . . . . . .16 The Welwitschia mirabilis. Plant of the Hykam-

Baines, F.R.G.S. ( Illustrated ) . . . .39 The Whistling Sand-Grouse op India. By W. B.

The Ancient Records op France

Marks and Monograms, Pottery and Porcelain

Reviews — ieut. Oliver’s Madagascar and theMalagaslcy 56

IV CHEOMO- AND PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHS, &c.

Oil-Painting without a Master ;

A Dish of Nuts. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery 214

Graphotype. ( Illustrated) .....

Royal Museum, Kew. ( Illustrated )

The Resources, Products, and Industrial His-

Gardening in connection with Architecture.

Our Winter Visitors. By John Cordeaux . .

CHE0M0- AND PHOTO -LITHOGRAPHS, ETC.

Hawking in the Olden Time . . Frontispiece Whistling Sand-Grouse . . . Faces p 105

Ancient Greek Fishermen . . . Faces p . 5 Articles de Paris 123

Butterflies, British and Foreign .54 . .

Jakob Meier, and Anna Sheckapurlin his Wife

The Prussian Needle Gun and Snider-Enfield 91

CONTENTS OP VOLUME II.

The Paris Exhibition, 1867. By G. W. Yapp 44, 114

Art. By J. B. Waring, F.R.I.B.A. .11 . .

On Sketching from Nature. By Aaron Penley, Carols and Valentines. By H. W. (Illustrated) C3

On Tin. By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery . .14 A Gossip about Amber. By B. Lambert 74 . .

The African Elephant. By Centurion 78

ADDED TO THE COLLECTION IN THE BRITISH The Dudley Gallery 82

Flower-Basket (Euplectella speciosa).

The Meteoric Shower of November, 1866. By (Illustrated.) By W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery . 88

Art Notes from Paris. By G. W. Yapp

The Foundations of the Earth. By J. Carpenter,

A Subaltern’s ” Recollections of the East 31

The Savage Club Papers

Jacob Jones’s Century of Sonnets

The Cocoa-nut Palm. (Oocus nucifera.) By W. B.

A Fox’s Tale ......

Lachaise’s Manuel Pratique et Raisonne do

Floral Decoration of Churches

Countries . . . . . .125 The Harmony between the Mosaic and Egyptian

G. Washington Moon’s Elijah the Prophet 160

Soldier 194 Peter von Cornelius 141

The Yale of Cashmere. By William Simpson. ( Illustrated ) . . .

(Illustrated) . . . . . .14V The Architecture of India. The Buddhist.

Anticipations of the Royal Academy .156 The Microscope. Illustrated 180

King Chasselas. By G. W. Yapp

CUB0M0- AND PH0T0-LITH0GBAPHS, ETC.

Mary 0’ Gorman Faces p. 2 Grove of Cocoa-nut Palms, Ceylon . Faces p. 108

The “Fleet wing” Catastrophe 54 A Nautch in Cashmere 147

Varieties of Sponge Spicules 89 “Le Nid” 188

ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN FIELD SPORTS.

to it. But, in the opinion of an uncivilized people,