division 2. At first sight it may seem strange, that such a covering should have been adopted in sultry Egypt: but the reason for this is obvious; men of every rank were despoiled in childhood of their hair, the reticulated groundwork to which the hair was fastened allowed, therefore, the natural heat to escape, and afforded sufficient protection for the head, surpassing in coolness and in comfort the modern turban. Women wore their natural tresses, carefully braided and plaited. They used ornamental combs and studs and pins of considerable value; they had mirrors also wherein to gaze, or rather circular plates of lustrous metallic composition, though little beauty is associated in our mind with Egyptian features. Bones and vases of alabaster, of ivory, wood, and shells, varied the toilets of noble dames; they contained unguents and perfumes, used for the hair or at the bath. Remains of ointments are still to be observed, and a vase in the museum of Alnwick Castle still preserves its fragrance. Among scent-bottles, several of Chinese manufacture have been found in tombs pertaining to the era of the Pharaohs. Egyptian ladies further stained their eye-brows and eyelashes jet black, with a metallic substance; the vases, ornamented boxes, or bottles, that held this metallic substance, still remain; they may be seen, with numerous articles belonging to the toilet, in cases XX. and XXI. Notices of Egyptian customs are derived from paintings on their tombs; such paintings indicate that women dined with their fathers and husbands; that water was brought to wash the hands in covers and basins of costly material and elegant shape; that when the guests were seated their heads were anointed and adorned with chaplets of flowers, a wreath being thrown at the same time around their necks, and a lotus flower given into the hand of each. That further, single flowers and choice garlands were arranged on stands, from which to replace the others when need required; that rooms of state were perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, and costly aromatics, and that the master of the feast returned thanks to the presiding deity, whom erroneously, and yet faithfully, he desired to honour. Thus much we learn from paintings of remote antiquity, and travellers rejoiced in the knowledge which they acquired. It was reserved for the present day to bring from out a private tomb at Thebes, genuine Egyptian bread, which had lain there for at least twenty centuries. This wondrous relic is preserved in cases XXXIII.-XXXV., and he who seeks for it will see, not bread merely, in the form of round cakes, but a small duck trussed and laid upon them, the whole upheld on a small rectangular stand of papyrus. Near the stand, and taken from other tombs, are biscuits, cakes, and figs, grapes and dates, with ears of wheat and barley, in which, however old and shrivelled, the vegetative spark has remained unquenched. We must not forget the Egyptian vases in cases XL. and XLI. Many of these are elegantly formed; they bear a strong resemblance to the ranks of Grecian artists, both with regard to embellishment and shape; they are, however, purely Egyptian, and were adopted in the vallies of the Nile as early as the time of the the third Thothmes, a monarch who lived about 1490 before the Christian era, and is presumed by Sir G. Wilkinson to be the Pharaoh of the Jewish Exodus. Their colours and hieroglyphics prove them to have been of gold and silver, or of the last inlaid with gold; others of less costly materials are often tastefully engraven, and studded with precious stones; and how curious is the fact, that glass, of which the origin is assigned by all writers from the time of Pliny to Phoenician mariners, may be seen among Egyptian relics of great antiquity. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson discovered minute representations of glass-blowing painted on tombs, pertaining to the era of Örsirtasin the First, at least sixteen hundred years before the time of Pliny. Captain Hervey found a glass bead inscribed with the name of one of Egypt's Kings who lived in the sixteenth century B. C., the specific gravity of which is precisely that of English crown-glass. Thirty complete mummies, besides coffins, occupy the middle of the room. An indescribable feeling passes over the mind, while contemplating the remains of persons once great on earth, and beloved by their friends, who walked, perhaps, in the streets of Thebes, when this country was inhabited by a wild and barbaric race. We may glean much concerning the history of each from their inscriptions. Maut-Emmen, a priestess of Ammon, occupies a place near the door; beneath, and in case LXXVI., is a mummy of the Græco-Egyptian period-that of a female named Cleopatra, of the house of Soler. A Greek youth occupies case LXXIV.-1; his portrait, painted in rough style on cedar, preserves, most probably, a faithful transcript of his features. Case LXVII.-1, exhibits no small degree of taste in its adorning: it pertains to Kalbti, a priestess of Ammon. A gilded mask covers the countenance of this lady; a gilded plate her breast, to which are attached wooden models of her arms and hands; her fingers are adorned with rings and bracelets, and beside the coffin are trays containing the tresses that once adorned her head. An inner coffin, case LXX.-2, is believed to contain a Pharaoh of the eighth century previous to the time of Abraham. It is well that a warlike people watch with untiring vigilance over the spot which contains the mummies of that ancient patriarch and his wife; they would otherwise be exhibited in the Egyptian room of the British Museum. An auditor in the palace of one of the Pharaoh's occupies case LXV., division 1. His name was Pefaakhous-Anch-hun-Neper. How little did that distinguished officer contemplate, when treading the royal halls, that Egypt would become the basest of nations!that, borne by strangers from the sepulchre of his family, he would be gazed at beneath a glass case by the descendants of those wild races whose sea-girt isle was known only in one of its remotest parts to Phoenician merchants trading there for tin! Pass we now into the Bronze Room III., with its miscellaneous collection, among which bronze articles are suggestive of much that is connected with far-off times. The Greeks and Romans delighted in bronze statues. Athens, Delphos, and Rhodes, contained three thousand each; and con cerning Rome, history relates that their numbers were even greater than those of men. Ancient sculptors wrought in bronze as well as marble. Lysippus, under the patronage of Alexander, executed six hundred works in this metal. Tenodorus, in the time of Nero, perfected his memorable statue one hundred feet in height. We owe the knowledge of these facts to men who preserved the records of past ages. We look upon works of art, and admire their magnificent proportions or exquisite finishing, but we know nought concerning the anxiety and thought, the days of labour and nights of watchfulness, that were endured by those who then laboured for posterity. An extraordinary Italian artist, Benvenuto Cellini, has preserved a faithful record of the process through which his Perseus and Medusa attained perfection. His patron, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, desired to possess a bronze, cast of one piece, hollow, and of five ells high, while at the same time he expressed a doubt that it would be possible to comply with his wish. Cellini, therefore, who could not brook the slightest reflection on his ability, set himself diligently to work, till at length, after many impediments had been overcome, the mould was sunk into a pit beneath the surface, the furnace was made hot, and the metal thrown in. Rain fell in torrents on that day, the wind howled fearfully, and at the very moment when all was ready for casting, Cellini's shop nearly caught fire, and he became so extremely ill, that after giving his workmen the necessary directions, he left them in great sorrow, and went to bed. A violent fever came on, which rapidly grew worse and worse, and threatened a fatal termination: Cellini even gave himself up for lost, when an ill-looking man entered the room, and began to exclaim in a dismal voice, "Alas! poor Benvenuto, your work is lost!" "No sooner did I hear those words," said Cellini," than I shouted aloud with a bitter and melancholy cry, and, leaping out of my bed, began to dress in the greatest haste, driving my maid-servants and the boy who offered to assist me, in all directions. Regardless of the fever that was raging in my veins, I rather flew than ran to the furnace, where the men, in whom I had confided, were standing idle, and the metal had concreted. "Fetch a load of young oak, for firewood,' I exclaimed, with furious gestures, and as the fire blazed up, I threw in a mass of pewter, about sixty pounds weight, to render the metal moro clear and fusible. The workmen, surprised at my sudden re-appearance, bestirred themselves wonderfully, till at length a loud noise was heard, with sudden flashes, as if a thunderbolt had burst. We looked at each other with some alarm, till it became evident that the cover of the furnace had burst and blown off, and that the bronze began to run. I then caused half my pewter dishes and porringers, in number about two hundred, to be thrown into the furnace, and presently had the inexpressible delight of seeing that my mould was filling. Oh! the exceeding joy and thankfulness of that moment! I knelt down, and in the presence of my workmen offered up this prayer:-O Lord, I address myself to Thee, who of Thy divine power didst rise from the dead, and ascend in glory to heaven, I gratefully acknowledge Thy mercy that my mould has filled. I fall prostrate in Thy presence, and with my whole heart I give Thee thanks."" The cast which thus narrowly escaped destruction was perfect in all its parts. Remember this anecdote when looking upon works of ancient art: it will enable you more fully to appreciate them. Statues and busts, which testify the ability of the ancients in this branch of the fine arts, occupy various cases. Such of the former as adorned the cities of Greece and Rome, were mostly melted during the middle ages, others escaped the ravages of northern barbarians, and exhibit specimens of exquisite beauty; many were concealed beneath the volcanic ashes and lava that overwhelmed Herculaneum and Pompeii. Etruscan or Vase Room IV.-By this name I introduce you to the tombs of an ancient people of uncertain origin, inhabiting a great portion of modern Lombardy, and the western coasts of the peninsula proper, far south as the Tiber, with its yellow sands. It may seem strange that tombs belonging to remote antiquity should be conspicuous in national museums. But the reason may be readily explained. They are valuable sources of historic information, inasmuch as it was customary to place within them rare and costly articles, and even food, as marks of respect and affection; to embellish, also, the interior with drawings and inscriptions having reference to domestic habits or warlike achievements. The tombs of Egypt and Etruria were especially distinguished in this respect. We have seen many that pertained to the former, and of the latter several thousand tombs have been already opened. Paintings, sculptures, and inscriptions, adorned the walls, and each contained weapons, tripods candelabra, bracelets, rings, and mirrors, coins, earrings, and scarabæi, with gems of exquisite workmanship. Early as the days of Julius Cæsar, Etruscan tombs were rifled of their treasures; in modern times large sums have been realized by dealers in the works of art abstracted from them Some of the most exquisite productions, such as necklaces and chaplets, worn by Etruscan ladies of high rank, have adorned Italian dames; the Princess of Canino appeared at a magnificent ball with jewels taken by her husband from a tomb under his estate. Dancing figures and flute-players, even Bacchantes, are often selected as appropriate for funeral decoration. This seems strange, yet so it was. Antiquarians, who threw open to the light of day tombs which contained the dust of nobles who mingled in the warm converse of life two thousand five hundred years since, beheld with astonishment joyous figures and gaudy colours, fresh as if the work of yesterday. But silence, as that of the grave, seems to brood within them; an impenetrable mystery rests upon inscriptions that none may read. Learned men have solved the hieroglyphics of Egypt, but no one has yet deciphered the written language of Etruria. Minerals, sponges, corals, and star fishes, comprised in the Zoological Department, however beautiful and curious, must be passed over with a rapid glance, as also many of the insect tribes, attractive though they be for time will not suffice. Reptiles are rather repulsive than agreeable to contemplate, though often wonderfully formed and well fitted for their various locations. Pass not, however, the Frilled Agama in case VII., found FRILLED AGAMA. only in the warmer regions of the old world and Australia; his small body is adorned with wing-like appendages capable of being opened or folded at pleasure; not designed, indeed, for flying, but to support the creature like a parachute, when leaping from branch to branch in quest of insects. A frill invests his neck, resembling the ruffs of courtly dames and nobles, and this he raises when excited by fear or pleasure. Nor is it improbable that the harmless little being may spread forth his tippet, which extends five inches in the form of an open umbrella, in order to alarm his enemies, more especially as he has no other means of self-preservation. It is pleasant to linger in the eastern Zoological Gallery, to look at the large table cases which contain the shells of molluscous animals; and then at stuffed specimens of birds that adorn the walls. In the former, what exquisite variety of mingling hues, what elaborate tintings and architectural designs; not springing at once to life and light like flowers, but embellished and painted by the occupant. Take, for example, the common cowrie. Many a costly specimen is preserved in calnets; but would you know what thoughts of love rest often on the cowrie shell, look at one of them on the chimney piece of some widowed mother, dusted daily, and with her best china cups on either side. She will tell you that it was brought by her sailor boy, when he last came home from the hot country. Changes of form and colour which the Cypraea exhibits at different stages of growth are so dissimilar, that many conchologists have imagined that they pertained to different species. You ask why? Because the young mollusc forms his shell by successive layers of highly vitrified enamel, till a superb arch of many strata, varying in colour and design, becomes apparent. Lovell Reeve, whose invaluable works on conchology furnish information that is nowhere else to be met with, mentions that the first stage of advancement produces a simple shell resembling a long drawn out Bulla, which we shall presently see; the outer lip is thin, and the colour diffused in bands and waves. This done, the shell becomes more solid, lip and columella thicker, teeth become developed, and a strong coating of livid colouring matter is laid on. Another process succeeds; the teeth are strengthened, the sides thickened with a rich coating of enamel, and the beauteous dome is rendered complete by colouring matter disposed in lines, or waves or dots of various hues and patterns. Still more wonderful is the well-substantiated fact, that when a cowrie grows too large for his shell, he spreads over it some powerful solvent, which causes it to become thin and dull. At length no trace remains; the inhabitant has no other covering than a membraneous mantle; but in the course of a few days a thin layer of glutinous matter is secreted, which shortly obtains the fragile consistency of shell lac, and thus the cowrie builds up his house. Cases XXXI., XLVIII. contain some richly varied specimens of bivalve shells. Many of the occupants have a band of hair-like filaments proceeding from their bodies, by means of which they adhere to rocks and pieces of wood. Such is the case with the Pinna Marina, a common inhabitant of the Mediterranean, who safely moors herself beneath the waters. The byssus has been manufactured into articles of the finest quality. Every shell, however small, has its own history-its beautiful adaptation to existing circumstances. The solen is provided with a foot, by means of which she is enabled to move from place to place. The snail progresses by an undulatory motion, dependent on an exquisite variety of muscles. The cockle is provided with a digging instru ment, and buries herself in the sand or mud, breathing through long tubes that reach into clear water. Pholada are provided with small accessory pieces for boring rocks and wood, and this is the method they adopt :-They stand firmly on the one foot which nature assigns them, and make the shells revolve upon the surface till a perforation is commenced; this is progressively enlarged by the rasp-like action of the rough exterior, and although the shell is continually worn away, it is as constantly renewed. In no one department of natural history is the contrast between minuteness and comparative vastness more strikingly displayed. Shells perfect in all their parts, beautifully tinted and adorned, yet small as grains of sand on the sea shore, may be compared with giant clam shells inhabiting the Indian ocean, the largest of known bivalves. When young, the creature fixes itself to rocks by means of its tendinous foot, but when the shell is fully grown this precaution is no longer needful; the byssus is broken asunder, and the groove filled up. Here are fine specimens of this giant clam under one or two of the table cases. It is surely difficult to leave this portion of the great Museum, where objects of the deepest interest await us at every step: but go we must. threw a clear and steady light on the history of ancient Egypt 66 Hear you not a voice speaking from yonder figure, looking as if rock-bound, and destined to endure for ages? 'My name is Memnon," says he, "signifying a conqueror, of ancient Egypt; my birth place Thebes, that glorious city. Through each one of her two hundred gates went forth ten thousand fighting men. You behold in me the representation of that great Egyptian monarch who made the nations of the Mediterranean tremble some fourteen centuries before the Christian era. And yet there is nought of harshness in my countenance. Men praise me as a master-piece of some Egyptian sculptor: they admire the beauty of the execution, the sweetness and the mildness of my features; but it matters not to me. I speak for him whose representative I am. Even the ruins of my ancestral palace eclipse the glory of all kingly dwellings. Four avenues, extending further than the eye could reach, bounded on either side by sphinxes exquisitely wrought, were terminated with porticos of gigantic proportions. My hall of state was adorned with one hundred and twenty pillars six fathoms round, of majestic height, interspersed with obelisks which Time has not been able to demolish. Painting de which her disciples used preserve their beauty and their lustre. What see I now around me? Tablets from the rifled tombs of those who graced my court; noble ladies, and men of high degree; even the tombs themselves. Nay, the swathed forms of priests and priestesses who ministered in my temples have I seen carried past me with jokes and unseemly laughter! "I look down upon you, people of many languages and nations-barbarians I may call you, for such were your forefathers, when my country was pre-eminent in arts and armslook in your turn on me; ponder well my history, and remember that the same Almighty hand which laid low the pride of Egypt, will equally visit those who are proud and stout of heart." Who can look unmoved by feelings of admiration and delight, on the beauteous assem-veloped her utmost power, and still the colours blage of birds that occupy the side cases? Here is the great vulture of the Andes, whose expanded wings measure eleven feet across, soaring among his native mountains, twentytwo thousand feet above the level of the sea, and often carrying off in his fell swoop such animals as are unable to resist him; and there are hoopoes, gentle and affectionate creatures which live on the nectarean juice of flowers, and are associated with whatever is most beautiful and perfect in the vegetable kingdom. Exquisite little humming-birds contained in the XLIV. case, natives of America and the West Indies, excite universal admiration. Everyone stops to look at them, and with good reason. Some present inimitable plumage, resembling rubies, others gold, others again are emerald tinted, others of the deepest purple. The humming from which they derive their name, is produced by the rapid movements of their wings. They chiefly remain near the tropics; but though occasionally no larger than humble bees, Lyell relates that one of these tiny creatures was seen hovering over the blossoms of a fuschia during a snow storm. We must come again, and yet again, to visit the Mammalia Saloon, the Geological section, and that of Vegetable and Animal Remains. Egyptian Sculptures also, for although fraught with interest to lovers of antiquarian lore, their sameness of expression and want of freedom, renders them less generally pleasing. We must pause, however, before the Rosetta stone, because our countryman, Dr. Young, derived from it suggestions relative to hieroglyphics, which Champollion and others followed up, till they were enabled to decipher those mysterious looking characters and symbols, which Thy words are true, O kingly statue! It is well to think of them amid the stunning tide by which we are surrounded, where the beauteous works of art are proudly shown, and inventions, which have no parallels in history, are brought to bear on the happiness of myriads. We have yet to see the elaborate sculptures in bas-relief, brought from beneath old mounds near the junction of the Tigris and the Zab, which local tradition points out as covering the ruins of Nineveh, whose streets resounded with the voice of the prophet Jonah, calling upon men to repent. The great winged human-headed bull, brought by the enterprising traveller Layard to this country, is a symbolic figure, equally with that of the winged lion. That traveller records that he used to contemplate for hours these mysterious figures, and muse over their intent and history. What more noble forms could have ushered heathen men into the temple of their false gods? What more sublime THE HUMAN-HEADED BULL. images could have been borrowed from nature by men who sought, unaided by the light of revealed religion, to embody their conceptions of the wisdom, power, and ubiquity of the Supreme Being. They could find no better type of intellect and knowledge, than the head of the man; of strength, than the body of the bull or lion; of the power of existing everywhere, than the wings of a bird. These winged and human-headed creatures were not the off spring of mere fancy; they awed and instructed races that flourished three thousand years since. Kings, priests, and warriors, passed through the portals which they guarded, long before the wisdom of the East had penetrated into Greece, and furnished its mythology with symbols. They were concealed beneath huge mounds, most probably before Romulus and Remus laid the foundations of imperial Rome. The darkness of twenty-five ages has brooded over them, and now they stand forth once more in their ancient majesty. The Lycian Room now attracts us. Asia Minor has also yielded contributions to our national museum in this eventful period of the world's history, when it seems that hidden things must be brought to light. In the neighbourhood of poor Turkish villages, amid the representatives of different races and superstitions, all mingled together under the followers of Mahomet, antiquarians discover the sites of ancient theatres, carved marble blocks over grown with trees and shrubs, or rock tombs bearing Greek and Roman inscriptions. Here bas-reliefs from the tomb of Xanthus. No. 1.-This tomb stood on a considerable eminence, near the ruins of the theatre; a prominent object, for the forgotten city itself covered the summit of a precipitous hill, rising abruptly from a plain washed by the rapid torrent of the Xanthus. If that old tomb could speak, it would tell concerning the desperate resistance that was offered to the troops of Brutus in the war that followed Cæsar's death of ruined homes, and the carrying away of many a wretched family. Such is war, and the injuries which it inflicts. The memorials that occupy our thoughts are nearly every one inscribed, like the prophet's scroll, with mourning, lamentation, and woe. Adjoining the bas-reliefs is a perfect monument, where the admirer of horses may see an armed figure, in a chariot drawn by four horses. This is Paiafa's tomb, a Persian chief of Lydia. Among the Xanthian marbles, the most attractive are statues of draped females. They are beautifully executed; their attitudes are those of nymphs or goddesses borne rapidly through the air, the wind agitating their garments; and their journeying across the sea suggested by marine emblems. Another day must be devoted to the Elgin Saloon, containing sculptures from the Parthenon. Seat yourselves, however, before the friezes; there are numerous benches whereon to rest, and while looking at those works of the sculptor Phidias, you will not think that Flaxman expressed himself too strongly when he said, "The horses seem as if alive; they roll their fiery eyes, they gallop, prance, and curvet: the veins of their legs and faces appear distended; their bony forms are well defined; ana the elasticity of their tendons may be readily observed." Elegant too are they, moving with deer-like lightness; and though the relief is not above an inch from the back-ground, and they are considerably smaller than nature, it is scarcely possible to realize that they are not alive. We shall, perhaps, scarcely find much more to inspect in this gathering together of ancient sculptures. To artists they are subjects of engrossing interest, and we may chance to see young men employed in copying them. Observe, however, a beautiful relic in No. 199*. It is a bronze urn found in a tumulus on the road leading from Port Piræus to the Salaminian ferry and Eleusis. The marble cover is in No. 199**. At the time of its discovery the urn contained a quantity of burnt bones, a small alabaster vase, and wreath of myrtle in gold. No inscription gives to posterity the slightest trace respecting the individual to whom the bones pertained; nor yet whose brow was graced with the myrtle wreath. Some have conjectured, although without sufficient reason, that they are the "all which now remains" of the talented and beautiful, yet unworthy, Aspasia. Widely different was Tryphera, a young lady of great loveliness and unblemished reputation. Her sepulchral monument occupies No. 366, and a votive tribute commemorates her virtues: Adorn'd of late with flowing locks of gold, |