These threads are invisible to the naked eye, and it takes 144,000 of
the screws to make a pound. A pound of them is worth six pounds of pure
gold. Lay one of them upon a piece of white paper, and it looks like a
tiny steel filing.
_Ancient Dials._
The dial in use among the ancient Jews differed from that in use among
us. Theirs was a kind of stairs; the time of the day was distinguished,
not by lines, but by steps or degrees; the shade of the sun every hour
moved forward to a new degree. On the dial of Ahaz, the sun went back
_degrees_ or _steps_, not _lines_.
_Skull Watches._
Diana of Poictiers, the mistress of Henry II., being a widow, the
courtiers of the period, to ingratiate themselves in her favor, used to
present her with watches in such shapes as coffins, skulls, etc., and it
became the fashion to have them made in this lugubrious style. Mary,
Queen of Scots, is said to have had several, and she gave one to Mary
Letown, in 1587, which is still in existence. It was made by Moyse, of
Blois, France, and has been thus described:—
"The watch has a silver casing in the form of a skull, which separates
at the jaws so as to expose the dial, which is also of silver, occupying
about the position of the palate, and is fixed in a golden circle, with
the hours in Roman letters. The movement appropriately occupies the
place of the brains, but is enclosed in a bell, filling the hollow of
the skull, which bell is struck by the hammer to sound the hours. The
case is highly ornamented with fine engravings, showing on the front of
the skull Death standing between a cottage and a palace; in the rear is
Time devouring all things; on one side of the upper part of the skull
are Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with the serpent tempting Eve;
on the opposite side is the Crucifixion. Inside, on the plate or lid, is
the Holy Family in the stable, with the infant Saviour in the manger,
and angels ministering to him. In the distance are the Shepherds with
their flocks, etc." The works are said to be in good order and to
perform astonishingly well.
_Book-Shaped Watch._
One of the choicest rarities of the Bernal collection is a book-shaped
watch. It was made for Bogislaus XIV., Duke of Pomerania, in the time of
Gustavus Adolphus. On the dial-side there is an engraved inscription of
the duke and his titles, with the date 1627, and the engraving of his
armorial bearings; on the back of the case there are engraved two male
portraits, buildings, &c. The watch has apparently two separate
movements, and a large bell; at the back, over the bell, the metal is
ornamentally pierced in a circle, with a dragon and other devices. It
bears the maker's name, "Dionistus Hessichti."
_Cruciform Watch._
In the family of Lady Fitzgerald, of England, there is a cruciform watch
made in 1770, and covered with elaborate drawings of a delicate
character. The centre of the dial-plate has a representation of Christ's
agony in the garden, the outer compartments being occupied by the
emblems of the passion, and the lowermost by a figure of Faith.
_Miniature Time-Piece._
The time-piece carried by Louis XIV. of France was so small that it was
set in one of that luxurious monarch's finger-rings.
_Resurrection Watch._
During the reign of Catherine II. of Russia, Kalutin, a peasant, made a
musical repeating watch about the size of an egg, which had within it a
representation of Christ's tomb, with sentinels on guard. On pressing a
spring the stone would be rolled from the tomb, the angels appear, the
holy women enter the sepulchre, and the same chant which is sung in the
Greek Church on Easter eve accurately performed. The watch is now in the
Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.
_Borrowing Watches._
Watches were so rarely in use in the early time of James I. that it was
deemed a cause of suspicion that one was found, in 1605, upon Guy Vaux.
Jonson, in his "Alchemist," tells of the loan of one to wear on a
particular occasion—
And I had lent my watch last night to one That dines to-day at
the sheriff's.
_Striking Watches._
Hon. Mr. Barrington mentions that a thief was detected by watches called
"strikers," which he says were introduced in the reign of Charles II.;
but repeating watches were worn in the time of Ben Jonson. In his
"Staple of News," we read—
—It strikes! one, two,
Three, four, five, six. Enough, enough, dear watch,
Thy pulse hath beat enough. Now stop and rest;
Would thou couldst make the time to do so too;
I'll wind thee up no more.
_Too Many Watches._
Watches were very common in 1638. It is complained in the "Antipodes," a
comedy of that year, that
—Every clerk can carry
The time of day in his pocket.
On which account a projector in the same play proposes to diminish the
grievance by a
—Project against
The multiplicity of pocket watches.
_Wearing Two Watches._
About 1770 it became the fashion to wear two watches. In a rhyming
recipe of that date, "To Make a Modern Fop," appear the lines—
"A lofty cane, a sword with silver hilt,
A ring, _two watches_ and a snuff-box gilt."
The ladies soon adopted the fashion, but as watches were still very
expensive, mock watches were often substituted.
_Minute Mechanisms._
There is a cherry stone at the Salem (Mass.) Museum which contains one
dozen silver spoons. The stone itself is of the ordinary size, but the
spoons are so small that their shape and finish can only be
distinguished by the microscope. Dr. Oliver gives an account of a cherry
stone on which were carved one hundred and twenty-four heads, so
distinctly that the naked eye could distinguish those belonging to popes
and kings by their mitres and crowns. It was bought in Prussia for
fifteen thousand dollars, and thence conveyed to England, where it was
considered an object of so much value that its possession was disputed,
and it became the subject of a suit in chancery. One of the Nuremberg
toy-makers enclosed in a cherry stone, which was exhibited at the French
Crystal Palace, a plan of Sevastopol, a railway station, and the
"Messiah" of Klopstock. In more remote times, an account is given of an
ivory chariot, constructed by Mermecides, which was so small that a fly
could cover it with its wing; also a ship of the same material, which
could be hidden under the wing of a bee. Pliny tells us that Homer's
Iliad, with its fifteen thousand verses, was written in so small a space
as to be contained in a nutshell; while Elian mentions an artist who
wrote a distich in letters of gold, which he enclosed in the rind of a
kernel of corn. But the Harleian MS. mentions a greater curiosity than
any of the former, it being nothing more nor less than the Bible,
written by one Peter Bales, a chancery clerk, in so small a book that it
could be enclosed within the shell of an English walnut. There is a
drawing of the head of Charles II. in the library of St. John's College,
Oxford, wholly composed of minutely written characters, which at a short
distance resemble the lines of an ordinary engraving. The head and ruff
are said to contain the book of Psalms, in Greek, and the Lord's
Prayer.—_Bombaugh._
_Wonderful Lock._
Among the wonderful products of art in the French Crystal Palace was
shown a lock which admitted of 3,674,385 combinations. Heuret spent one
hundred and twenty nights in locking it; Fichet was four months in
unlocking it; afterwards they could neither shut nor open it.
_Roman Stamp._
This curiosity is preserved in the British Museum. It is the very
earliest specimen of printing by means of ink or any similar substance.
It is made of metal, a sort of Roman brass, the ground of which is
covered with a green kind of verdigris rust with which antique medals
are usually covered. The letters rise flush up to the elevation of the
exterior rim which surrounds it. Its dimensions are about two inches
long by one inch broad. At the back of it is a small ring for the
finger, to make it more convenient to hold. As no person of the name
which is inscribed upon it is mentioned in Roman history, he is,
therefore, supposed to have been a functionary of some Roman officer, or
private steward, who, perhaps, used this stamp to save himself the
trouble of writing his name.
_Talisman of Charlemagne._
The Emperor Napoleon III., when Prince Louis Napoleon, was stated to be
in possession of the talisman of Charlemagne to which allusion is
frequently made in traditional history. This curious object of vertu is
mentioned in the Parisian journals as _la plus belle relique de
l'Europe_, and it certainly has excited considerable interest in the
archæological and religious circles on the continent. The talisman is of
fine gold, of a round form, set with gems, and in the centre are two
rough sapphires and a portion of the Holy Cross, besides other relics
brought from the Holy Land. This was found round the neck of Charlemagne
on the opening of his tomb, and given by the town of Aachen
(Aix-la-Chapelle) to Bonaparte, and by him to his favorite Hortense,
_ci-devant_ Queen of Holland, at whose death it descended to her son
Prince Louis, the late Emperor of the French.
_The Black Stone at Mecca._
Near the entrance of the Kaaba, at Mecca, is the famous Black Stone,
called by the Moslems _Hajra el Assouad_, or Heavenly Stone. It forms a
part of the sharp angle of the building, and is inserted four or five
feet above the ground. It is an irregular oval, and is about seven
inches in diameter. Its color is now a deep reddish brown, approaching
to black, and it is surrounded by a border of nearly the same color,
resembling a cement of pitch and gravel, and from two to three inches in
breadth. Both the border and the stone itself are encircled by a silver
band, swelling to a considerable breadth below, where it is studded with
nails of the same metal. The surface is undulated, and seems composed of
about a dozen smaller stones, of different sizes and shapes, but
perfectly smooth, and well joined with a small quantity of cement. It
looks as if the whole had been dashed into many pieces by a severe
concussion, and then re-united—an appearance that may perhaps be
explained by the various disasters to which it has been exposed. During
the fire that occurred in the time of Yezzid I. (A. D. 682), the violent
heat split it into three pieces; and when the fragments were replaced,
it was necessary to surround them with a rim of silver, which is said to
have been renewed by Haroun-al-Raschid. It was in two pieces when the
Karmathians carried it away, it having been broken by a blow from a
soldier during the plunder of Mecca. Hakem, a mad Sultan of Egypt, in
the eleventh century, attempted, while on a pilgrimage, to destroy it
with an iron club which he had concealed under his clothes, but was
prevented and slain by the populace. After that accident it remained
unmolested until 1674, when it was found one morning besmeared with
dirt, so that every one who kissed it returned with a sullied face. As
for the quality of the stone, it does not seem to be accurately
determined. Burckhardt says it appeared to him like a lava containing
several small extraneous particles of a whitish and yellowish substance.
Ali Bey calls it a fragment of volcanic basalt, sprinkled with
small-pointed colored crystals, and varied with red feldspar. The
millions of kisses and touches impressed by the faithful have worn the
surface uneven, and to a considerable depth. This miraculous block all
orthodox Mussulmans believe to have been originally a transparent
hyacinth brought from heaven to Abraham by the angel Gabriel; but that
its substance, as well as its color, have long been changed by coming in
contact with the impurities of the human race.
_The Portland Vase._
This was the name of a beautiful cinerary urn, of transparent dark blue
glass, found about the middle of the sixteenth century in a marble
sarcophagus near Rome. It was at first deposited in the Barberini Palace
at Rome, and hence is often called the Barberini Vase. Next it became
(in 1770) the property, by purchase, of Sir William Hamilton, from whose
possession it passed into that of the Duchess of Portland. In 1810 the
Duke of Portland, one of the trustees of the British Museum, allowed it
to be placed in that institution, retaining his right over it as his own
property. In 1845 a miscreant named William Lloyd, apparently from an
insane love of mischief, or a diseased ambition for notoriety, dashed
the valuable relic to pieces with a stone. Owing to the defective state
of the law, only a slight punishment could be inflicted; but an act was
immediately passed making such an offence punishable with imprisonment
for two years. The pieces of the fractured vase were afterwards united
in a very complete manner; and, thus repaired, it still exists in the
Museum, but is not exhibited to the public.
_Martin Luther's Tankard._
This interesting relic of the great reformer is of ivory, very richly
carved, and mounted in silver-gilt. There are six medallions on its
surface, which consist, however, of a repetition of two subjects. The
upper one represents the agony in the garden and the Saviour praying
that the cup might pass from Him; the base represents the Lord's Supper,
the centre dish being the incarnation of the bread. This tankard, now in
the possession of Lord Londesborough, was formerly in the collection of
Elkington, of Birmingham, who had some copies made of it. On the lid, in
old characters, is the following: "C. M. L., MDXXIIII."
_Brass Medal of the Saviour._
In 1702 Rev. H. Rowlands, author of _Mona Antiqua_, while superintending
the removal of some stones near Aberfraw, Wales, for the purpose of
making an antiquarian research, found a beautiful brass medal of the
Saviour in a fine state of preservation, which he forwarded to his
friend and country-man, the Rev. E. Lloyd, author of the _Archeologiæ
Britannica_, and at that time, keeper of the Ashmolean Library at Oxford.
This medal has on one side the figure of a head exactly answering the
description given by Publius Lentulus of our Saviour, in a letter sent
by him to the Emperor Tiberius and the Senate of Rome. On the reverse
side it has the following legend or inscription in Hebrew characters;
"This is Jesus Christ, the Mediator or Reconciler;" or, "Jesus the Great
Messias, or Man Mediator." Being found among the ruins of the chief
Druid's residence in Anglesea, it is not improbable that the curious
relic belonged to some Christian connected with Brân the Blessed, who
was one of Caractacus's hostages at Rome from A. D. 52 to 59, at which
time the Apostle Paul was preaching the gospel at Rome. In two years
afterwards, A. D. 61, the Roman General Suetonius extirpated all the
Druids in the island. The following is a translation of the letter
alluded to, a very antique copy of which is in the possession of the
family of Lord Kellie, now represented by the Earl of Mar, a very
ancient Scotch family, taken from the original at Rome:—
"There hath appeared in these our days a man of great virtue, named
Jesus Christ, who is yet living among us, and of the Gentiles is
accepted as a prophet, but his disciples call him The Son of God. He
raiseth the dead, and cures all manner of diseases; a man of stature
somewhat tall and comely, with very reverend countenance, such as the
beholders both love and fear; his hair the color of chestnut, full ripe,
plain to his ears, whence downward it is more orient, curling, and
waving about his shoulders.
"In the midst of his head is a seam or a partition of his hair after the
manner of the Nazarites; his forehead plain and very delicate; his face
without a spot or wrinkle, beautified with the most lovely red; his
mouth and nose so formed that nothing can be reprehended; his beard
thickish, in color like his hair, not very long but forked; his look,
innocent and mature; his eyes gray, clear and quick. In reproving, he is
terrible; in admonishing, courteous and fair spoken; pleasant in
conversation, mixed with gravity. It cannot be remarked that any one saw
him laugh, but many have seen him weep. In proportion of body most
excellent; his hands and arms most delicate to behold. In speaking, very
temperate, modest and wise. A man, for his singular beauty, surpassing
the children of men."
The representation of this sacred person which is in the Bodleian
Library, somewhat resembles that of the print of this medal, when
compared together.
_Friar Bacon's Brazen Head._
The most famous of all the brazen heads was that of Roger Bacon, a monk
of the thirteenth century. According to the legend, he spent seven years
in constructing the head, and he expected to be told by it how he could
make a wall of brass around the island of Great Britain. The head was
warranted to speak within a month after it was finished, but no
particular time was named for its doing so. Bacon's man was therefore
set to watch, with orders to call his master if the head should speak.
At the end of half an hour after the man was left alone with the head,
he heard it say, "Time is," at the expiration of another half hour,
"Time was," and at the end of a third half hour, "Time's past," when it
fell down with a loud crash, and was shivered to pieces; but the stupid
servant neglected to awaken his master, thinking that he would be very
angry to be disturbed for such trifles: and so the wall of brass has
never been built.
_Crucifix of Columbus._
Mrs. General Hefferman, of Animas City, is the possessor of a very
interesting and valuable relic, it being no less than the veritable
crucifix which Columbus held in his hand when he landed in America, of
which she has ample documentary evidence, if one accept the witness,
viz: the Catholic Church. It has been in the possession of the missions
and churches of Mexico and California since a very early date; and even
if originally a fraud, it would nevertheless be almost as interesting,
from its great age and as a work of art, as though what is claimed for
it were actually true. Mrs. Hefferman holds it in trust for a religious
order to which her mother belonged, and sacredly believes it a genuine
relic, as claimed. The crucifix itself is of carved wood, of what kind
no one is able to determine. The image of Christ upon it is of carved
ivory. The expression of agony depicted on the countenance and in the
drawn muscles and sunken flesh, as well as the delineation of the
anatomical structure, are triumphs of artistic skill which could not be
surpassed, if equalled, by the best artists of the present
day.—_Durango (Col.) Record._
_Scipio's Shield._
In 1656 a fisherman on the banks of the Rhone, in the neighborhood of
Avignon, drew to shore in his net a round substance in the shape of a
large plate, thickly encrusted with a coat of hardened mud. A
silversmith who happened to be present bought it for a trifling sum. He
took it home, and upon cleaning and polishing it, found it to consist of
pure silver, perfectly round, more than two feet in diameter, and
weighing upwards of twenty pounds. Fearing that such a massive and
valuable piece of plate might awaken suspicion, if offered for sale
entire, he divided it into four equal parts, each of which he disposed
of at different times and places.
One of the pieces was sold at Lyons to Mr. Mey, a wealthy and
well-educated merchant, who at once saw its value and who, after great
effort, procured the other three sections. He had them nicely rejoined,
and the treasure was finally placed in the cabinet of the King of
France. This relic of antiquity, no less remarkable for the beauty of
its workmanship than for having been buried at the bottom of the Rhone
more than two thousand years, was a votive shield, presented to Scipio
as a token of gratitude and affection by the inhabitants of Carthago
Nova, now the city of Carthagena, for his generosity and self-denial in
delivering one of his captives, a beautiful virgin, to her original
lover. This act, so honorable to the Roman general, who was then in the
prime vigor of manhood, is represented on the shield.
_Horn of Oldenburg._
The story of the Horn of Oldenburg is a type of the legends which
connect valuable plate, &c., belonging to old churches with underground
fairies. The pictures of the horn represent it as a beautiful drinking
vessel in the shape of a horn, exquisitely decorated with the finest
fanciful silver-work, in the style contemporary with the richest Gothic
architecture. The legend is, that one day, Otto of Oldenburg, being
exhausted with hunting, and very thirsty, exclaimed: "O God, would that
I had a cool drink!" Thereupon appeared before him, as if coming out of
the rock, a lovely maiden, who offered him a drink in the fairy horn. He
made off with it, and saved himself from evil consequences by bestowing
it on the church.
_Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Mask._
This interesting relic of remote antiquity is at present preserved in
the Museum of the East India Company. It was found by Colonel Rawlinson
while engaged in prosecuting the discoveries commenced by Layard and
Botta, at Nineveh and Babylon, and is supposed to have belonged to King
Nebuchadnezzar. The body was discovered in a perfect state of
preservation, and the face covered by the golden mask is described as
handsome, the forehead high and commanding, the features marked and
regular. The mask is of thin gold, and, independent of its having once
belonged to the great monarch, has immense value as a relic of an
ancient and celebrated people.
_Iron Crown of Lombardy._
When the Emperor Napoleon I. was crowned King of Italy, 1805, he placed
the iron crown of the kings of Lombardy upon his head with his own
hands, exclaiming, "God has given it to me—beware who touches," which
was the haughty motto attached to it by its ancient owners. The crown
takes its name from the narrow iron band within it, which is about
three-eighths of an inch broad and one-tenth of an inch in thickness. It
is traditionally said to have been made out of one of the nails used at
the crucifixion, and given to Constantine by his mother, the Empress
Helena, the discoverer of the Cross, to protect him in battle. The crown
is kept in the Cathedral of Monza. The outer circlet is composed of six
equal pieces of beaten gold, joined together by hinges, and set with
large rubies, emeralds and sapphires, on a ground of blue-gold enamel.
Within the circlet is the iron crown, without a speck of rust, although
it is more than fifteen hundred years old.
_The Sacro Catino._
The celebrated Sacred Catino, part of the spoil taken by the Genoese at
the storming of Cesarea, which was believed to be cut from a single
emerald, and had, according to tradition, been presented by the Queen of
Sheba to Solomon, was for ages the pride and glory of Genoa, and an
object of the greatest devotional reverence at the yearly exhibitions,
which were attended with great pomp and ceremony. Such was the opinion
of its intrinsic value, that on many occasions the republic borrowed
half a million of ducats upon security of this precious relic. When the
French armies, during the first revolution, plundered Italy of its
treasures, it was sent, with other spoils, to Paris. Upon examination,
it was, instead of emerald, proved to be composed of glass, similar to
that found in Egyptian tombs, of which country it was, no doubt, the
manufacture. At the Restoration the Sacro Catino was returned in a
broken state, and now lies shorn of all its honors, a mere broken glass
vessel, in the sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo.
_Curious Lantern._
In 1602 it is related that Sir John Harrington, of Bath, sent to James
VI., of Scotland, as a new year's gift, a dark lantern. The top was a
crown of pure gold, serving also to cover a perfume pan. Within it was a
shield of silver, embossed, to reflect the light; on one side of the
shield were the sun, moon and planets, and on the other side the story
of the birth and passion of Christ, as it was engraved by David II.,
King of Scotland, who was a prisoner at Nottingham. The following words
were inscribed in Latin on the present: "Lord, remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom."
_Carrara's Toilet Box._
Francis Carrara, the last Lord of Padua, was famous for his cruelties.
At Venice is exhibited a little box for the toilet, in which are six
little guns, which were adjusted with springs in such a manner, that
upon opening the box the guns were discharged, and killed the lady to
whom Carrara had sent it for a present.
_Executioner's Sword._