The mosque itself is esteemed the finest piece of Saracenic architecture in existence, far surpassing St. Sophia in beauty. Its view, combined with the distinguished monuments in the City of the Sultan, in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, strongly induces a belief in the accuracy of an able article in the Quarterly Review, in which the origin of the five predominant styles of architecture throughout the world, viz., the Byzantine, Chinese, Egyptian, Grecian, and Gothic are assigned respectively to the convex and concave curves, to the oblique, horizontal, and perpendicular lines. FEMALE ORNAMENT OF THE IRON PERIOD. ONE of the most beautiful neck ornaments of the Teutonic or Iron Period ever found in Scotland is a beaded tore, discovered by a labourer while cutting turf in Lochar Moss, Dumfriesshire, about two miles to the north of Cumlongan Castle; and exhibited by Mr. Thomas Gray, of Liverpool, at the York meeting of the Archæological Institute. We here annex an engraving of it. The beads, which measure rather more than an inch in diameter, are boldly ribbed and grooved longitudinally. Between every two ribbed beads there is a small flat one formed like the wheel of a pulley, or the vertebral bone of a fish. The portion which must have passed round the nape of the neck is flat and smooth on the inner edge, but chased on the upper side in an elegant incised pattern corresponding to the ornamentation already described as characteristic of this period, and bearing some resemblance to that on the beautiful bronze diadem found at Stitchel in Roxburghshire. The beads are disconnected, having apparently been strung upon a metal wire, as was the case in another example found in the neighbourhood of Worcester. A waved ornament, chased along the outer edge of the solid O FEMALE ORNAMENT OF THE IRON PERIOD. the appropriate name of beaded tores, furnishes an exceedingly interesting illustra tion of the development of imitative design, in contradistinction to the more simple and tinued in use down to a later period, perarchaic funicular tore, which, though con tains to the epoch of primitive art. Professor Playfair, in an able lecture delivered in the Great Exhibition, and since published, has raised a curtain, which displays a rather repulsive scene. He says, the perfume of flowers frequently consists of oils and ethers, which the chemist can compound artificially in his laboratory. Singular enough these are generally de rived from substances of an intensely disgusting odour. A peculiarly fetid oil, termed the "fusel" oil, is formed in making brandy This fusel oil distilled with sulphuric acid, and acetate of potass, gives the oil of pears (). The oil of apples is made from the same fusel, by distillation with the same acid and chromate of potass. The oil of pineapples is obtained from the product of the action of putrid cheese on sugar! or by making a soap with butter. The artificial oil of bitter almonds is now largely employed in perfuming soap confectionary; extracted by nitric acid and the fetid oil of gas tar. Many a fair forehead is damped with eau de mille fleurs without the knowledge that its essential ingredient is derived from the drainage of cow-houses! CURIOUS INDIAN COMB. Ar the foot of the Himalayas, and not far from the European station of Darjeeling, there is a tract of country which is still inhabited by a tribe of very ancient origin, called the Mechs; they are rapidly degenerating, and indeed may be said to be even now almost worn out as a distinct tribe. They are but rarely visited by Europeans; but Dr. Hooker inspected their district in 1850, and gives the following brief description of its appearance: "We arrived on the third day at the Mechi river, to the west of which the Nepaul Morung begins, whose belt of Sal forest loomed on the horizon, so raised by refraction as to be visible as a dark line, from the distance of many miles. It is, however, very poor, all the large trees having been removed. We rode for several miles into it, and found the soil dry and hard, but supporting a prodigious undergrowth of gigantic harsh grasses that reached to our heads, though we were mounted on elephants. Tigers, wild elephants, and the rhinoceros are said to be found here; but we saw none. "The old and new Mechi rivers are several miles apart, but flow in the same depression, a low swamp many miles broad, which is grazed at this season, and cultivated during the rains. The grass is very rich, partly owing to the moisture of the climate, and partly to the retiring waters of the rivers; both circumstances being the effects of proximity to the Himalayas. Hence cattle (buffaloes and the common humped cow of India) are driven from the banks of the Ganges 300 miles to these feeding grounds, for the use of which a trifling tax is levied on each animal. The cattle are very carelessly herded, and many are carried off by tigers." We give a sketch of a pocket-comb which Dr. Hooker obtained from one of the natives: it is, at all events, much more tasteful in its form and ornamentation than the usualrun of English pocketcombs. CURIOUS TURKISH CONTRIVANCE. WONDERFUL are the appliances by which ingenuity contrives to supply the evasions of idleness. We give one of them, as described by Mr. Albert Smith, in his Month at Constantinople." 66 Passing some cemeteries and public fountains, we came to the outskirts of the city, which consist chiefly of gardens producing olives, oranges, raisins and figs, irrigated by creaking water-wheels worked by donkeys. To one of these the droll contrivances which attracted our notice was affixed. The donkey who went round and round was blinded, and in front of him was a pole, one end of which was fixed to the axle, and the other slightly drawn towards his head-gear, and there tied; so that, from the spring he always thought somebody was pulling him on. The guide told us that idle fellows would contrive some rude mechanism, so that a stick should fall upon the animal's hind quarters at every round, and so keep him at work whilst they went to sleep under the trees." FREDERICK THE GREAT AT TABLE. The table of the great Frederick of Prussia was regulated by himself. There were always from nine to a dozen dishes, and these were brought in one at a time. The king carved the solitary dish, and helped the company. One singular circumstance connected with this table was, that each dish was cooked by a different cook, who had a kitchen to himself! There was much consequent expense, with little magnificence. Frederick ate and drank, too, like a boon companion. His last work, before retiring to bed, was to receive from the chief cook the bill of fare for the next day; the price of each dish, and of its separate ingredients, was marked in the margin. The monarch looked it cautiously through, generally made out an improved edition, cursed all cooks as common thieves, and then flung down the money for the next day's expenses. A WORD TO YOUNG MISTRESSES. Do not be in a hurry, directly you are married, to hire a kitchenful of servants. Consider first what your means will properly allow, and what will really add to domestic comfort, rather than what will gratify your own regard to appearances. Your parents may have been prosperous and possessed of sufficient means to justify their keeping many servants; but that does not make it either necessary or right that you should do the same. Perhaps they did not when they were setting out in life, which may be one reason why they can afford to do it now. At any rate, their doing so does not give you a claim to the same indulgence (if such it may be called), as it is your husband's circumstances, and not your parents', that you are now to consider. Not a few unsuccessful young tradesmen may trace their difficulties to a want of proper caution in this respect. And who is there that would not shrink from the idea of her husband being classed among the unsuccessful? Let the young wife remember, then, that much of her husband's success is in her power. As to the necessity of keeping more than one servant, I will repeat a rough rhyme which I met with the other day, when amusing myself by looking over an old copy-book, wherein my greatgreat-aunt had been taught, at one and the same time, good writing and a variety of wholesome truths : - "When I a servant had, I had one then; This was the oft-repeated writing-copy of a little girl in the year 1721. Perhaps it then proved a puzzle to her; but no doubt she afterwards understood it very well, for she lived to a good old age. And those young ones who read and cannot understand it now may ask an explanation of some elderly friend; and well will it be if they profit by the experience of others, and so avoid the countless troubles induced by needlessly adding to their expenses and responsibilities in the unnecessary hire of servants. The copy would seem to express that a mistress may be better served-that is, have more real help-from only one servant than from two, or even three. No doubt this is often the case, especially where the mistress herself is young and inexperienced. It is not uncommon for a a young mistress to hire a young servant, with the idea of "bringing her up to her own way, and so forming a servant that she will like." Ninety-nine times in a hundred this scheme proves a failure; for if the mistress is successful in training a girl, the most frequent ending is, that she wishes to exercise her newly-acquired knowledge in "better place," and the mistress is left to train another, if she chooses. Generally, however, mistress and maid being both practically inexperienced, they blunder on together for a time amidst much discomfort, until the maid thinks she has too much to do, and the mistress is persuaded to hire a second to help the first, and soon finds that a third is wanted to help them, and that with them all she has no addition of ease, but that discomfort and expenses are greatly and unjustifiably increased. How is the mistress to extricate herself from such a maze? She must believe that it is not more hands, but knowledge and management that is needed; and that one capable servant would be of more use than three, whom she cannot guide, and who cannot guide themselves. If, on commencing housekeeping, you feel that you are rich enough to hire one servant, choose a good one: she will be less expensive and more useful than one who needs to be taught everything. If your means appear to warrant your hiring two, consider whether the second is likely to prove an addition to your comfort, and whether the money that would be so spent might not be more wisely laid by for a rainy day. If you are to think twice before taking a second, think many times before you have a third. Remember that not only expenses, but responsibilities and cares, are necessarily, in some measure, increased to the mistress by each servant that she has; and that she may be better served by two than by three, and better by one than by two. PLEASURES OF THE IMAGINATION.-A man of polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures that the vulgar are not capable of receiving. He can converse with a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue. He meets with a secret refreshment in a description, and often feels a greater satisfaction in the prospects of fields and meadows, than another does in the possession. It gives him, indeed, a kind of property in everything he sees, and makes the most rude, uncultivated parts of nature administer to his pleasures, so that he looks upon a world, as it were, in another light, and discovers in it a multitude of charms that conceal themselves from the generality of mankind.-Addison. OLD CHINA. AMONG the ornaments and decorations of our modern apartments, old porcelain forms a very prominent feature. The activity shown in the pursuit of a rare piece of china, and the extraordinary price which has been frequently paid for it, are striking indications of the prevailing taste; and there is a certain degree of reputation attached to the possessor of a good collection, which is highly stimulating. Of all the pursuits of fashion, this is one of the most innocent. We have had frequent occasions to admire the female taste and judgment displayed in the selection, and we have listened to many an elegant dissertation from the sweetest lips in the world, on the beauties of a mutilated jar, until we have felt the incipient mania. Then have we pryed into every broker's store in each dirty avenue of the metropolis, in the hope of forming a collection suited to the dimensions of our apartment, and purchased with painful reference to the state of our exchequer. The proficiency of the Chinese in the chief branch of their manufactures, the state of their fine arts, and even the religious opinions of the people, may be collected from their porcelain. In the numerous private cabinets of this metropolis are specimens of the most precious kinds of porcelain, for which the Chinese have been long pre-eminent, and the manufactories of our own country experience the benefit of these models. With the advantages of more correct principles of design, the knowledge of perspective, and of the harmony of colours, we are only deficient in understanding the mixture of the materials, and the plastic part, to rival the productions of Eastern Asia in this line. The former may be made good to us by our superior chemical science, the latter will no doubt be acquired by patience and care. Every one therefore must applaud the curiosity which leads to forming such collections, and must cease to wonder at the high price at which objects of such beauty and importance have been estimated. The kind of porcelain chiefly prized is termed Mandarin or Egg-shell. It displays the greatest ingenuity in the fabric; its characteristic is extreme delicacy, and the objects on it are of the most exquisite pencilling and enamel. The marks, however, by which the Mandarin porcelain may be known are not decidedly agreed on. Some persons have ventured to recommend it by the thinness and transparency of the material; others, by the contrast of some rich colour on the outside with a green verditer within; others, again, only, and perhaps with juster reason, on the quadrangular cluster of characters inscribed on the bottoms of the vessels. These groups, it is believed, are the most ancient characters of China, changed from their hieroglyphical to a quadrate form, and are used as a court character. The inscription records the dynasty and emperor under which the specific piece of porcelain was made. The Crackle China is admired for the cracks observable in the varnish, which, it is believed, are occasioned by the vase being sudddenly exposed to a cool draught of air while the varnish is yet warm. The more thick Enamel China is less to be admired for its earth and painting, than for the freedom with which aquatic and other plants are designed on it, for the richness of the colours laid on in varnish, and the curious symbols with which it is embellished. The Burnt-in China is considered of inferior quality; but this mode of colouring gives admirable richness and effect when introduced on the genuine specimens of the old Japan, which is of massive manufacture, and admired for its weight. The Old Japan, properly so called, combines almost every quality that is separately admired in the porcelain of China. The broad flowers depicted on it are displayed in blue and red, burnt in, with the addition of a little enamel. But what chiefly gives richness to these specimens, is the bold re lief in which some of the flowers are executed, and afterwards gilt and burnished. The Chinese have discovered a fertile source for the embellishments of these different kinds, in the fables of their religion : and it is remarkable that, like the Greeks, they have chosen their earthenware to commemorate their most secret doctrines. The Chinese Emperor is said to have observed that the dragons on his crest were designed for more than merely ornament. They had a moral signification. We may affirm that many subjects depicted on porcelain have a recondite meaning. The operation of the elements on each other, to produce the first created universe, according to the material notions of the Gentiles, seems to be expressed by the combinations of the fiery dragon with the Fung Hoang, or bird of Paradise, expressive of Air; the Ky-lin, or horned dog, perhaps denoting Earth; and the tortoise-fish, or the lotus, which indifferently imply Water. |