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A good specimen of the costume of a female of the higher classes is here given, from an effigy of a lady of the Ryther family, in Ryther church, Yorkshire, engraved in Hollis's Monumental Effigies. She wears a wimple, covering the neck and encircling the head, the hair of which is gathered in plaits at the sides, and covered with a kerchief, which falls upon the shoulders, and is secured by a fillet passing over the forehead. The sleeves of the gown hang midway from the elbow and the wrist, and display the tight sleeve with its rows of buttons beneath. The mantle is fastened by a band of ribbon, secured by ornamental studs. The lower part of the dress consists of the wide gown, lying in folds, and completely concealing the feet, which have been omitted, in order to display the upper part of this interesting effigy to greater advantage.

CHILCOTT, THE GIANT.

1815. Died at Trenaw, in Cornwall, a person known by the appellation of Giant Chilcott. He measured at the breast six feet nine inches, and weighed four hundred and sixty pounds. One of his stockings held six gallons of wheat.

DR. LETTSOM'S REASONS FOR DISMISSING A SERVANT.

The Doctor was in the practice of carrying the produce of his fees carelessly in his coat-pocket. His footman being aware of this, used to make free with a guinea occasionally, while it hung up in the passage. The Doctor, having repeatedly missed his gold, was suspicious of the footman, and took an opportunity of watching him. He succeeded in the detection, and, without even noticing it to the other servants, called him into his study, and coolly said to him, "John, art in want of money?" "No;" replied John. "Oh! then, why didst thou make so free with my pocket? And since thou didst not want money, and hast told me a lie, I must part with thee. Now, say what situation thou wouldst like abroad, and I will obtain it for thee; for I cannot keep thee; I cannot recommend thee; therefore thou must go." Suffice it to say, the Doctor procured John a situation, and he went abroad.

HANDBILL FROM PECKHAM FAIR IN 1726.

Our ancestors just 133 years ago had but limited opportunities for gratifying a taste for Natural History if we may judge from the supply of animals deemed sufficient to attract attention in 1726:—

"Geo. I. R.

"To the lovers of living curiosities. To be seen during the time of Peckham Fair, a Grand Collection of Living Wild Beasts and Birds, lately arrived from the remotest parts of the World.

"1. The Pellican that suckles her young with her heart's blood, from Egypt.

"2. The Noble Vultur Cock, brought from Archangell, having the finest tallons of any bird that seeks his prey; the fore part of his head is covered with hair, the second part resembles the wool of a Black; below that is a white ring, having a Ruff, that he cloaks his head with at night.

"3. An Eagle of the Sun, that takes the loftiest flight of any bird that flies. There is no bird but this that can fly to the face of the Sun with a naked eye.

"4. A curious Beast, bred from a Lioness, like a foreign Wild Cat.

"5. The He-Panther, from Turkey, allowed by the curious to be one of the greatest rarities ever seen in England, on which are thousands of spots, and not two of a likeness.

"6 & 7. The two fierce and surprising Hyænas, Male and Female, from the River Gambia. These Creatures imitate the human voice, and so decoy the Negroes out of their huts and plantations to devour them. They have a mane like a horse, and two joints in their hinder leg more than any other creature. It is remarkable that all other beasts are to be tamed, but Hyænas they are not.

"8. An Ethiopian Toho Savage, having all the actions of the human species, which (when at its full growth) will be upwards of five feet high.

"Also several other surprising Creatures of different sorts. To be seen from 9 in the morning till 9 at night, till they are sold. Also, all manner of curiosities of different sorts, are bought and sold at the above place by John Bennett."

SOMNAMBULISM.

Some years ago a Hampshire Baronet was nearly driven to distraction by the fact that, every night, he went to bed in a shirt, and every morning awoke naked, without the smallest trace of the missing garment being discovered.

Hundreds of shirts disappeared in this manner; and as there was no fire in his room, it was impossible to account for the mystery. The servants believed their master to be mad; and even he began to fancy himself bewitched. In this conjuncture, he implored an intimate friend to sleep in the room with him; and ascertain by what manner of mysterious midnight visitant his garment was so strangely removed. The friend, accordingly, took up his station in the haunted chamber; and lo! as the clock struck one, the unfortunate Baronet, who had previously given audible intimation of being fast asleep, rose from his bed, rekindled with a match the candle which had been extinguished, deliberately opened the door, and quitted the room. His astonished friend followed: saw him open in succession a variety of doors, pass along several passages, traverse an open court, and eventually reach the stable-yard; where he divested himself of his shirt, and disposed of it in an old dung-heap, into which he thrust it by means of a pitchfork. Having finished this extraordinary operation, without taking the smallest heed of his friend who stood looking on, and plainly saw that he was walking in his sleep, he returned to the house, carefully reclosed the doors, re-extinguished the light, and returned to bed; where the following morning he awoke as usual, stripped of his shirt!

The astonished eye-witness of this extraordinary scene, instead of apprising the sleep-walker of what had occurred, insisted that the following night, a companion should sit up with him; choosing to have additional testimony to the truth of the statement he was about to make; and the same singular events were renewed, without the slightest change or deviation. The two witnesses, accordingly, divulged all they had seen to the Baronet; who, though at first incredulous, became of course convinced, when, on proceeding to the stable-yard, several dozens of shirts were discovered; though it was surmised that as many more had been previously removed by one of the helpers, who probably looked upon the hoard as stolen goods concealed by some thief.

KILLED BY EATING MUTTON AND PUDDING.

Teddington.—"James Parsons, who had often eat a shoulder of mutton or a peck of hasty pudding, at a time, which caused his death, buried March 7, 1743-4, aged 36."

CORAL REEFS.

Coral reefs are produced by innumerable small zoophytes, properly called Coral-insects. The Coral insect consists of a little oblong bag of jelly closed at one end, but having the other extremity open, and surrounded by tentacles or feelers, usually six or eight in number, set like the rays of a star. Multitudes of these diminutive animals unite to form a common stony skeleton called Coral, or Madrepore, in the minute openings of which they live, protruding their mouths and tentacles when under water; but suddenly drawing them into their holes when danger approaches. These animals cannot exist at a greater depth in the sea than about ten fathoms, and as the Coral Islands often rise with great steepness from a sea more than three hundred fathoms deep, it would seem that a great alteration must have taken place in the depth of the ocean since the time when these little architects commenced their labours. Throughout the whole range of the Polynesian and Australasian islands, there is scarcely a league of sea unoccupied by a coral reef, or a coral island; the former springing up to the surface of the water, perpendicularly from the fathomless bottom, "deeper than did ever plummet sound;" and the latter in various stages, from the low and naked rock, with the water rippling over it, to an uninterrupted forest of tall trees.

"Every one," says Mr. Darwin, "must be struck with astonishment when he first beholds one of these vast rings of coral rock, often many leagues in diameter, here and there surmounted by a low verdant island with dazzling white shores, bathed on the outside by the foaming breakers of the ocean, and on the inside surrounding a calm expanse of water, which, from reflection, is of a bright but pale green colour. The naturalist will feel this astonishment more deeply after having examined the soft and almost gelatinous bodies of these apparently insignificant creatures; and when he knows that the solid reef increases only on the outer edge, which, day and night, is lashed by the breakers of an ocean never at rest."

Coral being beautiful in form and colour, is sought after for purposes of ornament; and its fishery or gathering gives employment to many persons in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, and other places. In the Straits of Messina, the rocks which yield coral are from about 350 to 650 feet below the surface of the water. The coral here grows to about the height or length of twelve inches, and requires eight or ten years to come to perfection. In the general mode of fishing for coral, the instrument used consists of two heavy beams of wood, secured together at right angles, and loaded with stones to sink them.

MILITARY HATS IN OLDEN TIME.

No. 1, Charles I. No. 2, William III. No. 3, Nivernois. No. 4, Kevenhuller. No. 5, Ramilies. No. 6, Wellington.

WHY A MAN MEASURES MORE IN THE MORNING THAN IN THE EVENING, &c.

There is an odd phenomenon attending the human body, as singular as common: that a person is shorter standing than lying; and shorter in the evening when he goes to bed, than in the morning when he rises.

This remark was first made in England, and afterwards confirmed at Paris, by M. Morand, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in France, and by the Abbot Fontana likewise.

The last-mentioned person found, from a year's experience, that ordinarily in the night he gained five or six lines, and lost nearly as much in the day.

The cause of which effect, so ancient, so common, but so lately perceived, proceeds from the different state or condition of the intervertebral annular cartilages.

The vertebræ, or joints of the spine, are kept separate, though joined by particular cartilages, every one of which has a spring. These yield on all sides, without any inflexion on the spine, to the weight of the head and upper extremities; but this is done by very small and imperceptible degrees, and most of all when the upper parts of the body are loaded with any exterior weight. So that a man is really taller after lying some time, than after walking, or carrying a burthen a great while.

For this reason it is that, in the day and evening, while one is sitting or standing, the superior parts of the body that weigh or press upon the inferior, press those elastic annular cartilages, the bony jointed work is contracted, the superior parts of the body descend towards the inferior, and proportionably as one approaches the other, the height of the stature diminishes.

Hence it was, that a fellow enlisting for a soldier, by being measured over-night, was found deficient in height, and therefore refused; but by accident being gauged again the next morning, and coming up to the stature, he was admitted.

On the contrary, in the night-time, when the body is laid a-bed, as it is in an horizontal situation, or nearly so, the superior parts do not weigh, or but very little, upon the inferior; the spring of the cartilages is unbent, the vertebræ are removed from one another, the long jointed work of the spine is dilated, and the body thereby prolonged; so that a person finds himself about half an inch, or more, higher in stature in the morning than when going to bed. This is the most natural and simple reason that can be given, for the different heights of the same person at different times.

A SENSIBLE DOG REFUSING TO BAIT A CAT.

A dustman of the name of Samuel Butcher, residing at Mile-end, who kept a large dog, having taken it into his head to divert himself and others, a few days ago, by the cruel sport of cat baiting, which the dog refusing to perform to the satisfaction of his master, was beat by him in a most brutal manner, when the animal at length, in retaliation, flew at his unmerciful keeper, and inflicted very severe wounds about his face, limbs, and body, in some instances tearing large mouthfuls of his flesh quite clean out, and at one time clung so fast to the man, that before he disengaged from him the animal's throat was obliged to be cut. The man was promptly conveyed to the London Hospital, and there died of the injuries he received.

A HORSE GETTING HIMSELF SHOD.

A horse having been turned into a field by its owner, Mr. Joseph Lane, of Fascombe, in the parish of Ashelworth, was missed therefrom the next morning, and the usual inquiries set afoot, as to what could have become of him. He had, it seems, been shod (all fours) a few days before, and as usual got pinched in a foot. Feeling, no doubt, a lively sense of proper shoeing, and desirous of relieving the cause of pain, he contrived to unhang the gate of his pasture with his mouth, and make the best of his way to the smithy, a distance of a mile and a half from Fascombe, waiting respectfully at the door until the bungling artist got up. The smith relates that he found him there at opening his shed; that the horse advanced to the forge and held up his ailing foot; and that he himself, upon examination, discovered the injury, took off the shoe, and replaced it more carefully, which having done, the sagacious creature set off at a merry pace homewards. Soon after, Mr. Lane's servants passed by the forge in quest of the animal, and upon inquiry, received for answer—"Oh, he has been here and got shod, and is gone home again."

MAN WITHOUT HANDS.

The following account is extracted from a letter sent to the Rev. Mr. Wesley by a person named Walton, dated Bristol, October 14, 1788:—

"I went with a friend to visit this man, who highly entertained us at breakfast, by putting his half-naked foot upon the table as he sat, and carrying his tea and toast between his great and second toe to his mouth, with as much facility as if his foot had been a hand, and his toes fingers. I put half a sheet of paper upon the floor, with a pen and ink-horn: he threw off his shoes as he sat, took the ink-horn in the toes of his left foot, and held the pen in those of his right. He then wrote three lines, as well as most ordinary writers, and as swiftly. He writes out all his own bills, and other accounts. He then showed how he shaves himself with a razor in his toes, and how he combs his own hair. He can dress and undress himself, except buttoning his clothes. He feeds himself, and can bring both his meat or his broth to his mouth, by holding the fork or spoon in his toes. He cleans his own shoes; can clean the knives, light the fire, and do almost every other domestic business as well as any other man. He can make his hen-coops. He is a farmer by occupation; he can milk his own cows with his toes, and cut his own hay, bind it up in bundles, and carry it about the field for his cattle. Last winter he had eight heifers constantly to fodder. The last summer he made all his own hay-ricks. He can do all the business of the hay-field (except mowing), as fast and as well, with only his feet, as others can with rakes and forks. He goes to the field and catches his horse; he saddles and bridles him with his feet and toes. If he has a sheep among his flock that ails anything, he can separate it from the rest, drive it into a corner, and catch it when nobody else can. He then examines it, and applies a remedy to it. He is so strong in his teeth, that he can lift ten pecks of beans with them. He can throw a great sledge-hammer as far with his feet as other men can with their hands. In a word, he can nearly do as much without, as others can with, their arms. He began the world with a hen and chicken; with the profit of these he purchased an ewe; the sale of these procured him a ragged colt (as he expressed it) and then a better; after this he raised a few sheep, and now occupies a small farm."

THE THIEF CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP.

A man having, some years since, stolen a sheep at Mitcham, in Surrey, tied its hind legs together, and put them over his forehead to carry it away, but in getting over a gate the sheep, it is thought, struggled, and, by a sudden spring, slipped its feet down to his throat; for they were found in that posture, the sheep hanging on one side of this gate and the man dead on the other.

COSTUME OF THE LADIES IN THE TIME OF THE PLANTAGENETS.

The ladies' costume may be seen to advantage in the annexed engraving from the Sloane MSS., No. 3983. A wimple or gorget is wrapped round the neck, and is fastened by pins at the sides of the face, which are covered above the ears; a gown of capacious size, unconfined at the waist and loose in the sleeves, trails far behind in the dirt. The under-garment, which is darker, has sleeves that fit closely; and it appears to be turned over, and pinned up round the bottom. The unnecessary amount of stuff that was used in ladies' robes rendered them obnoxious to the satirists of that period.

In Mr. Wright's collection of Latin stories, published by the Percy Society, there is one of the fourteenth century, which is so curious an instance of monkish satire, and is so apt an illustration of the cut before us, that I cannot resist presenting it to my readers. It runs thus:—

"Of a Proud Woman.—I have heard of a proud woman who wore a white dress with a long train, which, trailing behind her, raised a dust as far as the altar and the crucifix. But, as she left the church, and lifted up her train on account of the dirt, a certain holy man saw a devil laughing; and having adjured him to tell why he laughed, the devil said, "A companion of mine was just now sitting on the train of that woman, using it as if it were his chariot, but when she lifted her train up, my companion was shaken off into the dirt: and that is why I was laughing."

CORPULENT MAN. NOTTINGHAM, 1819.

November 10.—Death of Mr. Henry Bucknall, confectioner, Chandlers-lane, aged forty-nine. He was excessively corpulent, weighing more than twenty-five stone, and died very suddenly, immediately after eating a hearty breakfast. In Lord Howe's memorable engagement, on the 1st of June, 1794, he had served as a marine on board the Brunswick. His interment, at St. Mary's New Burial-ground, on the 14th, drew together a large concourse of spectators. The coffin was of enormous size, and nearly equalled the body in weight. It was made of excellent oak, was 6 feet 8 inches in length, and 2 feet 11 inches across the breast; the bottom was 2½ inches thick, the sides 1½, and the lid 1. The whole, including the body, considerably exceeded five hundred-weight.

TAKING A MAN TO PIECES AND SETTING HIM UP AGAIN.

"Don John, of Austria," says Staveley, "Governor of the Netherlands for Philip the 2d of Spain, dying at his camp at Buge (Bouges, a mile from Namur), was carried from thence to the great church at Havre, where his funeral was solemnised, and a monument to posterity erected for him there by Alexander Farnese, the Prince of Parma. Afterwards his body was taken to pieces, and the bones, packed in mails, were privately carried into Spain, where being set together with small wires, the body was rejointed again, which being filled or stuffed with cotton, and richly habited, Don John was presented to the king entire, leaning on his commander's staff. Afterwards the corpse being carried to the church of St. Laurence, at the Escurial, was there buried near his father, Charles V., with a fitting monument for him."

ORNAMENTS OF FEMALE DRESS IN THE TIMES OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS.

Fig. 1 is a necklace of beads, each bead being cut so as to represent a group of several, and give the effect of many small round beads to what are in reality long and narrow ones. Fig. 2 is a necklace of simpler construction, consisting of a row of rudely-shaped beads, its centre being remarkable for containing a rude attempt at representing a human face, the only thing of the kind Hoare discovered of so ancient a date in Britain. Fig. 3 is another necklace, consisting of a series of curious little shells, like the hirlas horn used by the Britons, which are perforated lengthways, and thus strung together. Fig. 4 is a pin of iron, supposed to have been used as a fastening for a mantle; it is ornamented with two movable rings. Fig. 5 is a small gold ornament, checkered like a chessboard, and suspended from a chain of beautiful workmanship, which, in taste and execution, bears a striking similarity to our modern curb-chains. Fig. 6 is an ear-ring, a bead suspended from a twisted wire of gold. Fig. 7 is a brass ornament, and Fig. 8 a similar one of gold: such ornaments are usually found upon the breasts of the exhumed skeletons of our barrows, and were probably fastened on their clothes as ornaments. Their cruciform character might lead to a doubt of their high antiquity, if we were not aware of the fact, that the symbol of the cross was worn, as an amulet or ornament, ages before the Christian era.

LARGE EEL.

Lately, near Malden, an eel was taken, measuring five feet six inches in length, seventeen in girth, and weighing 26 pounds, the largest of the species ever caught, or described in natural history.

PERSEVERING DOG.

A boast being made of the obedience of a Newfoundland dog in fetching and carrying, the master put a marked shilling under a large square stone by the road side, and, having ridden on three miles, ordered the dog to go back and fetch it. The dog set off, but did not return the whole day. He had gone to the place, and being unable to turn the stone, sat howling by it. Two horsemen came by and saw his distress, and one of them alighting removed the stone, and finding the shilling, put it in his pocket, not supposing that the dog could possibly be looking for that. The dog followed the horses for upwards of twenty miles, stayed in the room where they supped, got into the bed-room, got the breeches in which the fatal shilling had been put, made his escape with them, and dragged them through mud and mire, hedge and ditch, to his master's house.

CURE FOR CORPULENCE.

A few years ago, a man of about forty years of age, hired himself as a labourer, in one of the most considerable ale-breweries in the City: at this time he was a personable man; stout, active, and not fatter than a moderate-sized man in high health should be. His chief occupation was to superintend the working of the new beer, and occasionally to set up at night to watch the sweet-wort, an employment not requiring either activity or labour; of course, at these times, he had an opportunity of tasting the liquor, of which, it appears, he always availed himself; besides this, he had constant access to the new beer. Thus leading a quiet inactive life, he began to increase in bulk, and continued to enlarge, until, in a very short time, he became of such an unwieldy size, as to be unable to move about, and was too big to pass up the brewhouse staircase; if by any accident he fell down, he was unable to get up again without help. The integuments of his face hung down to the shoulders and breast: the fat was not confined to any particular part, but diffused over the whole of his body, arms, legs, &c., making his appearance such as to attract the attention of all who saw him. He left this service to go into the country, being a burthen to himself, and totally useless to his employers. About two years afterwards he called upon his old masters in very different shape to that above described, being reduced in size nearly half, and weighing little more than ten stone. The account that he gave of himself was, that as soon as he had quitted the brewhouse he went into Bedfordshire, where having soon spent the money he had earned, and being unable to work, he was brought into such a state of poverty, as to be scarcely able to obtain the sustenance of life, often being a whole day without food; that he drank very little, and that was generally water. By this mode of living he began to diminish in size, so as to be able to walk about with tolerable ease. He then engaged himself to a farmer, with whom he stayed a considerable time, and in the latter part of his service he was able to go through very hard labour, being sometimes in the field ploughing and following various agricultural concerns, for a whole day, with no other food than a small pittance of bread and cheese. This was the history he gave of the means by which this extraordinary change was brought about. He added, his health had never been so good as it then was.

WORSHIP OF THE SUN AND MOON.

The Sun was first worshipped, probably, as a bright manifestation of God, but soon began to be regarded as the Deity himself. The Moon, in the absence of the Sun, and next in splendour, would succeed it in superstitious attention. And so we find the Romans, as well as the Saxons, dedicating the first and second days of the week respectively to these "great lights." Formerly, festivals were held on the appearance of a New Moon; and in some parts of England it is still customary to bless it, and in Scotland at the same time to drop a courtesy. And in times not long past, the influence of the Moon was considered to be so great as to regulate the growth of air, and the effect of medicine, and to cause steeples and other elevated buildings to bend from their upright positions.

A SEA ABOVE THE SKY.

This belief is curiously illustrated by two legendary stories preserved by Gervase of Tilbury. "One Sunday," he says, "the people of a village in England were coming out of church on a thick cloudy day, when they saw the anchor of a ship hooked to one of the tombstones; the cable, which was tightly stretched, hanging down from the air. The people were astonished, and while they were consulting about it, suddenly they saw the rope move as though some one laboured to pull up the anchor. The anchor, however, still held fast by the stone, and a great noise was suddenly heard in the air, like the shouting of sailors. Presently a sailor was seen sliding down the cable for the purpose of unfixing the anchor; and when he had just loosened it, the villagers seized hold of him, and while in their hands he quickly died, just as though he had been drowned. About an hour after, the sailors above, hearing no more of their comrade, cut the cable and sailed away. In memory of this extraordinary event, the people of the village made the hinges of the church doors out of the iron of the anchor, and 'there they are still to be seen.'—At another time, a merchant of Bristol set sail with his cargo for Ireland. Some time after this, while his family were at supper, a knife suddenly fell in through the window on the table. When the husband returned, he saw the knife, declared it to be his own, and said that on such a day, at such an hour, while sailing in an unknown part of the sea, he dropped the knife overboard, and the day and hour were known to be exactly the time when it fell through the window. These accidents, Gervase thinks, are a clear proof of there being a sea above hanging over us."—St. Patrick's Purgatory. By Thos. Wright. 1844.

THE PAPYRUS.

Paper as we now have it, that is to say, paper made of the pulp of fibrous materials, pressed into thin sheets, dried, and, when intended for writing or printing purposes, sized, is of comparatively modern introduction to Europe and Western Asia; although the Chinese appear to have formed paper out of silk pulp, mixed with the inner pith of the bamboo, as early at least as 95 A.D.:—not from time immemorial, as some authors have stated, because the circumstance is well attested, that in the time of Confucius, the Chinese wrote with a style on the inner bark of trees.

PAPYRUS ROLL, FROM A SPECIMEN IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Before the invention of paper, the surfaces employed for writing upon were numerous. Surfaces of lead or other metal; tables covered with wax, skins of animals,—(parchment in fact)—all were used; but no one of these was ever so extensively employed as the Egyptian papyrus, whenever the latter material could be obtained. So soon, however, as the Saracens in the seventh century conquered Egypt, the exportation of papyrus was at an end; and writing surfaces became so scarce in Europe that many ancient documents of great value were erased in order to render them adapted for being written on once more. Thus perished many treasures of antiquity.

As the Saracens closed the avenue of supply for the ancient papyrus, so they compensated to Europe for this deprivation by discovering the manufacture of ordinary paper—at least paper made in the ordinary modern fashion,—though the material was cotton, not linen. This discovery was made some time anterior to the year 706 A.D., for at that period a manufactory of paper existed at Samarcand. In the eighth century the Saracens conquered Spain, and introduced into the Peninsula, amongst other arts, that of the manufacture of paper, which art was a long time finding its way into other parts of Europe,—in Italy not until the eleventh or twelfth century. The vast amount of papyrus which must have been employed in Italy, may be inferred from the number of rolls or scapi of this substance discovered in Herculaneum and Pompeii; also from a perusal of many existing documents bearing directly or indirectly on this branch of commerce. Even so late as the commencement of the sixth century, Cassiodorus congratulated the world on the abolition, by King Theodoric, of the high duty on papyrus from Egypt; and he spoke in high flown terms of the great utility of the material. The latest papyrus roll known is of the twelfth century, containing a brief of Pope Paschal II., in favour of the Archiepiscopal see of Ravenna.

SYRIAN PAPYRUS WITHOUT FLOWERS.

SYRIAN PAPYRUS WITH FLOWERS.

The various species of papyrus plants belong to the natural order "Cyperaceæ," or sedges, of botanists; a main characteristic of which is a certain triangularity of stem. The method of constructing a writing surface from these stems was as follows:—The available portion being cut off (it was seldom more than twelve inches in length), and split, or, more properly speaking, unfolded into thin sheets, which were glued together transversely in such a manner that the original length of the papyrus stem became the breadth of the future sheet; the length of which might be increased at the pleasure of the operator. Frequently the manufactured scrolls were more than thirty feet long. As different methods prevail in the manufacture of our ordinary paper, so in like manner there were different processes of fashioning the papyrus into shape. The rudest manufacture appears to have been that of Egypt, and the best papyrus sheets appear to have been made in Rome during the Augustine Æra. The preceding sketch represents a papyrus roll, copied from a specimen in the Egyptian Room of the British Museum.

Considering the numerous pieces entering into the composition of the roll, of which our illustration represents a portion, the lines of juncture are remarkably well concealed, only a sort of grain being visible. The surface, moreover, is smoothed, and its colour very much like that of India paper. The hieroglyphics are coloured as is usual, red is the predominant tint, and the colours are no less well demarcated and separate than they would have been on glazed paper.

Our preceding wood-cuts represent the Sicilian or Syrian papyrus, hitherto termed cyperus papyrus, in two states of development—one with flowers, the other without. In order that inflorescence may take place, the plant requires to be well supplied with water.

EXECUTION IN 1733.

Friday, March 9—Was executed at Northampton, William Alcock, for the murder of his wife. He never own'd the fact, nor was at all concerned at his approaching death; refusing the prayers and assistance of any persons. In the morning he drank more than was sufficient, yet sent and paid for a pint of wine, which being deny'd him, he would not enter the cart before he had his money return'd. On his way to the gallows he sung part of an old song of "Robin Hood," with the chorus, "Derry, derry, down," &c., and swore, kick'd, and spurn'd at every person that laid hold of the cart; and before he was turn'd off, took off his shoes, to avoid a well known proverb; and being told by a person in the cart with him, it was more proper for him to read, or hear somebody read to him, than so vilely to swear and sing, he struck the book out of the person's hands, and went on damning the spectators and calling for wine. Whilst psalms and prayers were performing at the tree he did little but talk to one or other, desiring some to remember him, others to drink to his good journey, and to the last moment declared the injustice of his case.

DOG FRIENDSHIP.

At Bishops Stortford there were two dogs, which belonged to nobody, and lived upon the quay of the river or canal there. They took the greatest delight in rat hunting, and when the maltsters went about at night to see that all was safe, these dogs invariably followed them. Their mode of proceeding was very ingenious. As soon as the door of the malt-house was unlocked, one rushed in and coursed round the warehouse, not chasing any rat which might start, but pursuing its way among the malt. The other stood at the door and snapped at the rats as they endeavoured to escape. The one standing at the door was known to kill six rats, all of which had rushed to the door at the same time. The next room they came to, they would change posts; the one which hunted before, now standing at the door and seizing the prey. By this means the dogs killed in the malting-houses of one maltster alone, upwards of 2,000 rats in the course of one year. One of them on one occasion killed sixty-seven in less than five minutes. They seemed to pursue the sport simply for their amusement.

ALL HUMBUGS.

Just as a strolling actor at Newcastle had advertised his benefit, a remarkable stranger, no less than the Prince Annamaboo, arrived, and placarded the town that he granted audiences at a shilling a-head. The stroller, without delay, waited on the proprietor of the Prince, and for a good round sum prevailed on him to command his Serene Highness to exhibit his august person on his benefit night. The bills of the day announced that between the acts of the comedy Prince Annamaboo would give a lively representation of the scalping operation, sound the Indian war-whoop in all its melodious tones, practice the tomahawk exercise, and dine à la cannibal. An intelligent mob were collected to witness these interesting exploits. At the conclusion of the third act, his Highness marched forward flourishing his tomahawk, and shouting, "Ha, ha!—ho, ho!" Next entered a man with his face blacked, and a piece of bladder fastened to his head with gum; the Prince, with an enormous carving-knife, began the scalping part of the entertainment, which he performed in a truly imperial style, holding up the piece of bladder as a token of triumph. Next came the war-whoop, an unearthly combination of discordant sounds; and lastly, the banquet, consisting of raw beef-steaks, which he rolled up into rouleaus, and devoured with right royal avidity. Having finished his delicate repast, he wielded his tomahawk in an exulting manner, bellowed "Ha, ha!—ho, ho!" and made his exit. The bénéficiaire strolling through the market-place the following-day, spied the most puissant Prince Annamaboo selling penknives, scissors, and quills, in the character of a Jew pedlar. "What!" said the astonished Lord Townley, "my Prince, is it you? Are you not a pretty circumcised little scoundrel to impose upon us in this manner?" Moses turned round, and with an arch look, replied, "Princh be d—d! I vash no Princh; I vash acting like you. Your troop vash Lords and Ladies last night; and to-night dey vil be Kings, Prinches, and Emperor! I vash humpugs, you vash humpugs, all vash humpugs!"

REDUCING WEIGHT.

A gentleman, of great respectability in the mercantile world, who weighed thirty-two stone nine pounds, put himself upon a strict diet of four ounces of animal food, six ounces of bread, and two pounds of liquid, in twenty-four hours. In one week he lost thirty pounds weight, and in six months he was diminished the astonishing quantity of one hundred and thirty-four pounds. His health and spirits were much improved, and considering his remaining size of twenty-three stone, he was very active.

ANECDOTE OF A SERPENT.

Lord Monboddo relates the following singular anecdote of a serpent:—"I am well informed of a tame serpent in the East Indies, which belonged to the late Dr. Vigot, once kept by him in the suburbs of Madras. This serpent was taken by the French, when they invested Madras, and was carried to Pondicherry in a close carriage. But from thence, he found his way back again to his old quarters, though Madras was above one hundred miles distant from Pondicherry."

ENGLAND BEFORE THE ROMANS.

Before the Roman invasion, the dress of its chieftains consisted of a close coat or covering for the body, called by Dio a tunic, and described as checkered with various colours in divisions. It was open before, and had long close sleeves to the wrist. Below were loose pantaloons, called by the Irish brigis, and by the Romans brages and bracæ; whence the modern term "breeches." Over their shoulders was thrown the mantle or cloak, called by the Romans sagum, and derived from the Celtic word saic, which signified a skin or hide, and which was the original cloak of the country. Diodorus tells us that it was of one uniform colour, generally either blue or black, the predominating tint in the checkered trousers and tunic being red. On their heads they wore a conical cap, which derived its name from the "cab," or hut of the Briton, which was of similar form. On their feet were shoes made of raw cow-hide, that had the hair turned outward, and which reached to the ankles. Shoes so constructed were worn within the last few years in Ireland; and we engrave two from specimens in the Royal Irish Academy. One is of cow-hide, and drawn together by a string over the foot; and the other has a leather thong, which is fastened beneath the heel inside, and, passing over the instep, draws the shoe like a purse over the foot. It is of untanned leather.

ROMANS IN BRITAIN—DRESS OF NATIVE FEMALES AT THAT PERIOD.

The British gwn, from whence comes the modern "gown," descended to the middle of the thigh, the sleeves barely reaching to the elbows: it was sometimes confined by a girdle. Beneath this a longer dress reached to the ancles. The hair was trimmed after the Roman fashion; and upon the feet, when covered, were sometimes worn shoes of a costly character, of which we know the Romans themselves to have been fond. An extremely beautiful pair was discovered upon opening a Roman burial-place at Southfleet in Kent, in 1802. They were placed in a stone sarcophagus, between two large glass urns or vases, each containing a considerable quantity of burnt bones. They were of superb and expensive workmanship, being made of fine purple leather, reticulated in the form of hexagons all over, and each hexagonal division worked with gold, in an elaborate and beautiful manner.

THE CATACOMBS.

ROME.

Amid the ruins of stately temples, and numerous remains of the "Eternal City," there are no objects which have such great and general interest as the subterranean churches, dwellings, and places of sepulchre of the early Christians, which perforate, by a network of excavations, the neighbourhood of Rome.

The great increase in the extent and magnificence of Rome during the times of the Republic, led to the formation of quarries in the surrounding parts. The peculiar nature of the soil has caused the excavations to be made in a manner similar to that used in the working of coal, iron, stone, lime, &c. The useful material has, in fact, been cleared away, leaving long ranges of dark caves and passages. After the stone had been removed from these underground quarries, it was, for many centuries, customary to work out the sand for the purpose of making cement. Vitruvius has stated that the sand obtained from the Esquiline pits was preferable to any other. Ultimately the quarries and sandpits extended to a distance of upwards of fifteen miles on one side of Rome. Parts of this large range of excavations were from time to time used as burial-grounds by such of the Romans as could not afford the cost of burning the bodies of their dead relations. And, in addition, the Esquiline hills became infested by banditti, and was from these various causes rendered almost impassable.

In these excavations, it is said, that not only persons, but cattle, contrived to support existence; and although it was well known that large numbers were lodged in these dismal dwellings, their intricacy and numberless entrances rendered them a comparatively secure retreat. It is related that attempts were made to cover the galleries with earth, in order to destroy those who were concealed within.