the Roman occupants of Scotland is a medicine stamp, acquired by
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, along with a very valuable
collection of antiquities, bequeathed to them by E. W. A. Drummond
Hay, Esq., formerly one of the secretaries of the society. From his
notes it appears that it was found in the immediate vicinity of Trenent
Church, East Lothian, in a quantity of _debris_, broken tiles, and
brick-dust, which may not improbably have once formed the residence
and laboratory of Lucius Vallatinus, the Roman oculist, whose name
this curious relic supplies. It consists of a small cube of pale
green stone, two and three-fifth inches in length, and engraved on
two sides as in the annexed woodcut; the letters being reversed for
the purpose of stamping the unguents or other medicaments retailed by
its original possessor. The inscriptions admit of being extended thus
on the one side: L. VALLATINI EVODES AD CICATRICES ET ASPRITUDINES,
which may be rendered--The evodes of Lucius Vallatinus for cicatrices
and granulations. The reverse, though in part somewhat more obscure,
reads: L. VALLATINI A PAL{O} CR{O}CODES AD DIATHESES--The crocodes, or
preparation of saffron, of L. Vallatinus, of the Palatine School,
(?) for affections of the eyes. Both the Euodes and the Crocodes are
prescriptions given by Galen, and occur on other medicine stamps.
Several examples have been found in England, and many in France and
Germany, supplying the names of their owners and the terms of their
preparations. Many of the latter indicate their chief use for diseases
of the eye, and hence they have most commonly received the name of
Roman oculists' stamps. No example, however, except the one figured
here, has ever occurred in Scotland; and amid legionary inscriptions,
military votive altars, and sepulchral tablets, it is peculiarly
interesting to stumble on this intelligent memento, restoring to us the
name of the old Roman physician who ministered to the colonists of the
Lothians the skill, and perchance also the charlatanry, of the healing
art.
CANDLES IN THE CHURCH.
In the formulae of Marculphus, edited by Jerome Bignon, he tells us,
with respect to lights, that the use of them was of great antiquity
in the church; that the primitive Christians made use of them in the
assemblies which they held before day out of necessity; and that
afterwards they were retained even in daylight, as tokens of joy, and
in honour of the Deity. Lactantius says, speaking of the absurdities
of the wax lights in Romish churches, "They light up candles to God,
as if he lived in the dark; and do they not deserve to pass for madmen
who offer lamps and candles to the author and giver of light?" It is
really astounding to our ideas that wax candles as long as serjeants'
pikes should be held as necessary in the worship of God. That it is so
held, and that by a large class of Christians, every one must allow,
for they may have occular demonstration of the singular fact. The show
is however extremely imposing. Thirty-five thousand seven hundred and
fifty pounds of wax lights were burned every year, for nine hundred
masses said in the castle of Wittemburgh! Philip Melancthon speaks of a
Jesuit who said that "he would not extinguish one taper, though it were
to convert all the Huguenots" (Protestants).
A RICH AND CRUEL CRIMINAL.
John Ward, Esq. of Hackney, Member of Parliament, being prosecuted by
the Duchess of Buckingham, and convicted of forgery, was first expelled
from the House, and then stood on the pillory on the 17th of March,
1727. He was suspected of joining in a conveyance with Sir John Blount,
to secrete L50,000 of that director's estate, forfeited to the South
Sea Company by Act of Parliament. The Company recovered the L50,000
against Ward; but he set up prior conveyances of his real estate to his
brother and son, and concealed all his personal, which was computed
to be L150,000. These conveyances being also set aside by a bill in
chancery, Ward was imprisoned, and hazarded the forfeiture of his life,
by not giving in his effects till the last day, which was that of his
examination. During his confinement, his amusement was to give poison
to dogs and cats, and see them expire by slower or quicker torments. To
sum up the _worth_ of this man, at the several eras of his life; at his
standing in the pillory, he was worth above L200,000; at his commitment
to prison, he was worth L150,000.
FOOD OF THE ANCIENTS.
The diversity of substances which we find in the catalogue of articles
of food is as great as the variety with which the art or the science
of cookery prepares them. The notions of the ancients on this most
important subject are worthy of remark. Their taste regarding meat
was various. Beef they considered the most substantial food: hence
it constituted the chief nourishment of their athletae. Camels' and
dromedaries' flesh was much esteemed, their heels most especially.
Donkey-flesh was in high repute: Maecenas, according to Pliny, delighted
in it; and the wild ass, brought from Africa, was compared to venison.
In more modern times we find Chancellor Dupret having asses fattened
for his table. The hog and the wild boar appear to have been held in
great estimation; and a hog was called "animal propter convivia natum;"
but the classical portion of the sow was somewhat singular--"vulva
nil dulcius ampla." Their mode of killing swine was as refined in
barbarity as in epicurism. Plutarch tells us that the gravid sow was
actually trampled to death, to form a delicious mass fit for the gods.
At other times, pigs were slaughtered with red-hot spits, that the
blood might not be lost. Stuffing a pig with assafoetida and various
small animals, was a luxury called "porcus Trojanus;" alluding, no
doubt, to the warriors who were concealed in the Trojan horse. Young
bears, dogs, and foxes, (the latter more esteemed when fed upon
grapes,) were also much admired by the Romans; who were also so fond of
various birds, that some consular families assumed the names of those
they most esteemed. Catius tells us how to drown fowls in Falernian
wine, to render them more luscious and tender. Pheasants were brought
over from Colchis, and deemed at one time such a rarity, that one of
the Ptolemies bitterly lamented his never having tasted any. Peacocks
were carefully reared in the island of Samos, and sold at such a high
price, that Varro informs us they fetched yearly upwards of L2,000 of
our money.
THE EARLIEST ENGLISH BIBLE.
The first translation of any part of the Holy Scriptures into English
that was committed to the press was the New Testament, translated from
the Greek, by William Tyndale, with the assistance of John Foye and
William Roye, and printed first in 1526, in octavo.
Tyndale published afterwards, in 1530, a translation of the Five Books
of Moses, and of Jonah, in 1531, in octavo. An English translation of
the Psalter, done from the Latin of Martin Bucer, was also published
at Strasburgh in 1530, by Francis Foye, in octavo. And the same book,
together with Jeremiah and the Song of Moses, were likewise published
in 1534, in duodecimo, by George Joye, sometime Fellow of Peter-House
in Cambridge.
The first time the whole Bible appeared in English was in the year
1535, in folio. The translator and publisher was Miles Coverdale,
afterwards Bishop of Exeter, who revised Tyndale's version, compared
it with the original, and supplied what had been left untranslated
by Tyndale. It was printed at Zurich, and dedicated to King Henry
the Eighth. This was the Bible, which by Cromwell's injunction of
September, 1536, was ordered to be laid in churches.
GREAT ERUPTION OF MOUNT ETNA.
One of the most remarkable eruptions of this mountain was that which
occurred in the year 1669, which was so violent that fifteen towns
and villages were destroyed, and the stream was so deep that the lava
flowed over the walls of Catania, sixty feet in height, and destroyed
a part of the city. But the most singular circumstance connected with
this eruption was the formation of a number of extensive fissures,
which appeared as though filled with intumescent rock. At the very
commencement of the volcanic excitement, one was formed in the plain
of St. Lio, twelve miles in length and six feet broad, which ejected
a vivid flame, and shortly after five others were opened. The town of
Nicolosi, situated twenty miles from the summit of Etna, was destroyed
by earthquake; and near the place where it stood two gulfs were formed,
from which so large a quantity of sand and scoriae was thrown, that
a cone, called Mount Rossi, four hundred and fifty feet high, was
produced in about three months.
AMULETS WORN BY MODERN EGYPTIAN FEMALES.
[Illustration [++] Amulet.]
One of the most remarkable traits in modern Egyptian superstition is
the belief in written charms. The composition of most of these amulets
is founded upon magic, and occasionally employs the pen of almost
every village schoolmaster in Egypt. A person of this description,
however, seldom pursues the study of magic further than to acquire
the formulae of a few charms, commonly consisting, for the greater
part, of certain passages of the Koran, and names of God, together
with those of spirits, genii, prophets, or eminent saints, intermixed
with combinations of numerals, and with diagrams, all of which are
supposed to have great secret virtues. The amulet thus composed, or
_hhega'b_, as it is called, is covered with waxed cloth, to preserve
it from accidental pollution, and enclosed in a case of thin embossed
gold or silver, which is attached to a silk string, or a chain, hung
on the right side, above the girdle, the string or chain being passed
over the left shoulder. Sometimes these cases bear Arabic inscriptions,
such as "Ma'sha-lla'h" ("God's will") and "Ya'cha'dee el-hhaga't" ("O
decreer of the things that are needful!") We here insert an engraving
of three hhega'bs of gold, attached to a string, to be worn together.
The central one is a thin, flat case, containing a folded paper: it is
about a third of an inch thick; the others are cylindrical cases, with
hemispherical ends, and contain scrolls: each has a row of burck along
the bottom. Hhega'bs such as these, or of a triangular form, are worn
by many children, as well as women; and those of the latter form are
attached to a child's head-dress.
PERSONAL ORNAMENTS OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
The passion of the Egyptians for decorative jewellery was indeed
excessive. Men as well as women delighted thus to adorn themselves;
and the desire was not confined to the higher ranks, for though the
subordinate classes could not afford the sparkling gems and precious
metals which glowed upon the persons of their superiors, their vanity
was gratified by humbler imitations, of bronze, glass, and porcelain.
"Costly and elegant ornaments," observes Professor Rosselini, "abounded
in proportion as clothing in general was simple and scarce among the
Egyptians. Girdles, necklaces, armlets, ear-rings, and amulets of
various kinds suspended from the neck, are found represented in the
painting, and in fact still exist on the mummies. Figures of noble
youths are found entirely devoid of clothing, but richly ornamented
with necklaces and other jewels."
An immense number of these "jewels of silver and jewels of gold"
have been found in the tombs, and on the persons of mummies, and are
deposited in profusion in every museum. The accompanying engravings
will give an idea of the style and form of some of them.
[Illustration [++] Personal Ornaments.]
The ear-rings generally worn by the ladies were large, round, single
hoops (as _a_) from 1-1/2 inches to 2-1/3 inches in diameter; and
frequently of a still greater size; or made of six rings soldered
together (as _b_); sometimes an asp, whose body was of gold, set with
precious stones, was worn by persons of rank as a fashionable caprice.
Figures _c_, _d_, of gold bear the heads of fanciful animals; _e_,
also of gold, is remarkable for its singularity of form, and for the
delicacy of its workmanship; and _f_ for its carrying two pearls and
being double in its construction.
[Illustration [++] Ear-Rings.]
Bracelets, armlets, and anklets were worn by men as well as by women;
they were usually of gold, frequently set with precious stones, or
inlaid with enamel. The one marked _a_ in the annexed cut is now in the
Leyden Museum: it is of gold, 3 inches in diameter, and 1-1/2 inches in
height, and is interesting, because it belonged to the Pharaoh whom we
conclude to have been the patron and friend of Joseph, Thothmes III.,
whose name it bears. The armlet _b_ is of gold, and represents a snake;
the other, _c_, is of bronze. Rings were worn in profusion, gold being
the material chiefly selected. Some resemble watch seals of the present
day--sometimes the stone having four flat sides, all engraved, turned
on a pivot, like some seals seen at present. One of this character,
which Sir J. G. Wilkinson estimates to contain 20_l._ worth of gold,
is represented at _d_ in the above engraving. It consists of a massive
ring of gold, bearing an oblong plinth of the same metal, an inch in
length, and more than half an inch in its greatest width. On one side
is engraved the hieroglyphic name of Storus, the successor of Amunoph
III.; the three others contain respectively a scorpion, a crocodile,
and a lion.
GREAT PEAR TREE.
The most remarkable pear tree in England stands on the glebe of the
parish of Holme Lacy, in Herefordshire. When the branches of this
tree, in its original state, became long and heavy, their extremities
drooped till they reached the ground. They then took root; each branch
became a new tree, and in its turn produced others in the same way.
Eventually it extended itself until it covered more than an acre of
ground, and would probably have reached much further if it had been
suffered to do so. It is stated in the church register, that "the great
natural curiosity, the great pear tree upon the glebe, adjoining to the
vicarage-house, produced this year (1776) fourteen hogsheads of perry,
each hogshead containing one hundred gallons." Though now much reduced
in size, it is still healthy and vigorous, and generally produces from
two to five hogsheads. The liquor is not of a good quality, being very
strong and heating. An idea of the superior size of this tree, when in
its prime, over others of the same kind, may be formed from the fact,
that in the same county, an acre of ground is usually planted with
thirty trees, which, in a good soil, produce annually, when full grown,
twenty gallons of perry each. So large a quantity as a hogshead from
one tree is very unusual. The sorts principally used for perry are such
as have an austere juice.
LAW OF THE MOZCAS.
A very remarkable law prevailed among the Mozcas, one of the tribes
of the Nuevo Reyno de Granada. There, as among more advanced nations,
the king could do no wrong; but the subordinate chiefs could. These
chiefs were men, the people reasoned, like themselves; they could not
be punished by their vassals, for there would be a natural unfitness
in that; the king, it seems, was not expected to interfere, except
in cases of state offences; the power of punishment, therefore, was
vested in their wives; and a power it was, says Piedrahita, which they
exercised famously whenever it fell to them to be judges of their poor
husbands. The conqueror Quesada calling one morning upon the chief of a
place called Suesca, found him under the hands of his nine wives, who
were tying him, and having done so, proceeded, in spite of Quesada's
intercession, to flog him one after the other. His offence was, that
some Spaniards the night before had lodged in his house, and he had
partaken too freely of their Spanish wine. Drunkenness was one of the
sins which fell under the cognizance of his wives: they carried him
to bed that he might sleep himself sober, and then awoke him in the
morning to receive the rigour of the law.
LARGEST METAL STATUE IN THE WORLD.
Arona is an island on the Lago Maggiore, and has a strong castle. Upon
an eminence is a statue of bronze to St. Charles Borromeo, from whom
the hill is called, Monte di S. Carlo. The statue was erected by the
Pope in 1624, in memory of the Saint, who was Archbishop of Milan.
The pedestal of the statue is thirty-six feet high. It is the largest
metal statue in existence; and the height of the statue itself is
seventy-two feet, making a total of 108 feet. Fifteen persons may get
into the saint's head, which will also accommodate four persons and a
table on which they can dine. The cost is said to have been one million
one hundred Milanaise livres.
THE OAK OF MAMRE.
In one remarkable instance the Jews, the Christians, and the pagan
Arabs united in religious feelings. This was in their reverence for
the Oak of Mamre, where the angels appeared to Abraham: for Abraham's
sake the Jews held the place holy; the Arabs for the angels'; the
Christians, because, in their ignorance of their Scriptures, they
affirmed that the Son of God had accompanied those angels to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah. An annual fair was held there, and every man
sacrificed after the manner of his country; nor was the meeting ever
disgraced by any act of intemperance or indecency. Nothing had been
done to injure the venerable antiquity of the place. There was nothing
but the well which Abraham had dug, and the buildings which he had
inhabited, beside the oak. These remains were destroyed by order of
Constantine, in abhorrence of the _impious_ toleration exhibited
there! A church was built upon the spot, and Mamre, so interesting to
the poet, the philosopher, and the pious man, became a mere den of
superstition.
STRANGE ADVERTISEMENT.
The following appeared in the _Evening Post_, May 23rd, 1730:--
"I, Elizabeth, duchess dowager of Hamilton, acknowledge I have for
several months been ill in my health, but never speechless, as certain
penny authors have printed; and so, to confute these said authors
and their intelligence, it is thought by my most intimate friends,
_it is the very last thing that will happen to me_. I am so good an
Englishwoman, that I would not have my countrymen imposed upon by
purchasing false authors; therefore, have ordered this to be printed
that they may know what papers to buy and believe, that are not to be
bribed by those who may have private ends for false reports. The copy
of this is left in the hands of Mr. Berington, to be shown to any body
who has a curiosity to see it signed with my own hand.
"E. HAMILTON."
INTERMITTENT SPRINGS.
One of the most remarkable of these is at Bolder-Born in Westphalia.
After flowing for twenty-four hours, it entirely ceases for the
space of six hours. It then returns with a loud noise, in a stream
sufficiently powerful to turn three mills very near its source. Another
spring of the same nature occurs at Bihar in Hungary, which issues many
times a day, from the foot of a mountain, in such a quantity as in a
few minutes to fill the channel of a considerable stream.
The Lay Well near Torbay, ebbs and flows sixteen times in an hour: and
in Giggleswick Well in Yorkshire, the water sometimes rises and falls
in ten or fifteen minutes.
St. Anthony's Well, on Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh, has a similar
movement, but on a smaller scale.
In Savoy, near the lake of Bourget, is another spring of this kind, but
it differs from those which have been already mentioned in being very
uncertain in its intervals.
CURIOUS JEWEL WHICH BELONGED TO JAMES I.
In former times it was a common practice with princes and nobles to
have elaborate articles of jewellery constructed in such forms as had
a religious and emblematical signification. An inventory of the Dukes
of Burgundy, made in 1396, speaks of a _fleur-de-lys_ which opened,
and contained inside a picture of the Crucifixion. In 1416, the Duke
of Berri had "a fair apple," which opened, and contained within on one
side the figure of Christ, and on the other that of the Virgin. Among
the jewels of the Dukes of Burgundy in 1392 there were two pears of
gold, enamelled, each containing an image of Our Lady. We find similar
entries in the other different inventories of the Dukes of Burgundy:
An apple of silver, enamelled, containing in the inside a picture of
St. Catherine, in 1400; a pine-apple of gold, which contained figures
of the birth of Christ, and of the three kings, in 1467; and, in the
same year, two apples of gold, one containing, on the opposite halves,
Our Lady and St. Paul, the other, St. Peter and St. Paul--the latter
suspended by three small chains. These kinds of devices continued in
fashion till a much later period, and a very curious example, from the
collection of Lord Londesborough, which appears to have belonged to
King James I., is here engraved.
[Illustration [++] Small Skull.]
[Illustration [++] Apple.]
The whole is of silver, and the leaves appear to have been painted
green. On opening it we find in the inside the small skull here
represented above the apple. The top of the skull opens like a lid,
and inside are two small paintings, representing the Creation and the
Resurrection, with the inscription, "_Post Mortem, vita eternitas_."
The external inscription is not gallant. To give the apple externally
a more natural appearance, there are marks of two bites on the side
opposite that here represented, showing a large and small set of teeth.
STRANGE CURIOSITIES.
In the Anatomy Hall of Leyden is a drinking cup of the skull of a Moor,
killed in the beleaguring of Haerlem. Also a cup made of a double brain
pan. We observe also that No. 51 is the skin of a woman, and No. 52 the
skin of a woman, prepared like leather; No. 53 the skin of a Malacca
woman, above 150 years old, presented by Richard Snolk, who probably
had her flayed.
THE CROSS OF CONG.
The cross, of which the following is a correct representation,
possesses eminent claims to a place among our curiosities, since it
constitutes the gem of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.
[Illustration [++] Cross of Kong.]
This cross was made at Roscommon, by native Irishmen, about the year
1123, in the reign of Turlogh O'Connor, father of Roderick, the last
monarch of Ireland, and contains what was supposed to be a piece of the
true cross, as inscriptions in Irish, and Latin in the Irish character,
upon two of its sides record. The engraving affords a correct idea of
the original, as the extremely minute and elaborate ornaments with
which it is completely covered, and a portion of which is worked in
pure gold, could not possibly be expressed on so reduced a scale. The
ornaments generally consist of tracery and grotesque animals fancifully
combined, and similar in character to the decorations found upon
crosses of stone of about the same period. A large crystal, through
which a portion of the wood which the cross was formed to enshrine is
visible, is set in the centre.
FOOT-RACING IN 1699.
A remarkable foot-race was run about the year 1699, which is thus
described in the manuscript journal of a lady who was one of the
spectators:--"I drove through the forest of Windsor to see a race run
by two footmen, an English and a Scotch, the former a taller bigger man
than the other. The ground measured and cut even in a round was about
four miles; they were to run it round so often as to make up twenty-two
miles, which was the distance between Charing Cross and Windsor Cross,
that is, five times quite round, and so far as to make up the odd
miles and measure. They ran a round in twenty-five minutes. I saw them
run the first three rounds and half another in an hour and seventeen
minutes, and they finished it in two hours and a half. The Englishman
gained the start the second round, and kept it at the same distance the
five rounds, and then the Scotchman came up to him and got before him
to the post. The Englishman fell down within a few yards of the post.
Many hundred pounds were won and lost about it. They ran both very
neatly, but my judgment gave it to the Scotchman, because he seemed to
save himself to the last push."
THE CHERRY TREE.