Domestic Party. It is to be remarked of all
these paintings that not one of them is in oil,
the use of which for such a purpose does not
appear to have been known to the ancients;
neither are any of them, as far as I can see,
painted on canvas. They are, for the most
part, upon panels or tablets, and the material
used was a mixture of wax, resin, and other
such ingredients. There are four very curious
Monochroms hanging up in one place, which
are supposed to be among the most valuable
objects here, and which, as illustrating the
progress of the art in one of its earliest
developments, well merit a passing glance
before leaving the room. They were
discovered at Herculaneum about a hundred
years ago.

These Monochroms—as they are called—are
executed on marble, and consist merely of
outlines, corresponding with those figures which
the learner, under the direction of his drawing-
master, is taught to execute before he has
arrived at that part of the Art which is
termed "shading." Precisely what takes place
in the case of an individual is known to have
happened with regard to the Art itself, and
these pictures must therefore be referred to a
period when the production of a mere outline,
without any attempt at light or shade, or
intermediate markings of any kind, was
conceived to be the aim and object of the
painter's skill. They bear the name, in
Greek characters, of Alexander the
Athenian.

If it were attempted to give anything like
a description, or even the outline of a
description of the various objects contained in
this most marvellous Institution, this would
be the place to invite attention to the Egyptian
room, as well as to the magnificent
galleries of sculpture and cabinet of mosaics
which follow next in order. The object of
this paper being, however, merely to call the
attention of the reader to one or two of the
more prominent objects immediately
connected with Herculaneum and Pompeii, and,
if possible, to induce a desire for reading and
learning more on such an interesting, although
neglected, topic, I shall pass at once to that
portion of the edifice which more than any
other attracts the attention of the ladies—
the cabinet of jewels and other precious
articles.

The glass cases in the centre of the room
contain the objects in gold, such as bracelets,
ear-rings, necklaces, and articles of that
description, found in the course of the
excavations. The length of time which they
have passed underground does not, of course,
admit of their retaining much lustre, but in
point of workmanship and design they
present an appearance creditable to the
jewellers of antiquity. Birds, beasts, fruits,
flowers—all the emblems that figure on our
own shirt-pins and the brooches of our wives,
were enlisted in the service of the decorative
arts two thousand years ago. Here are ear-
drops in the form of a balance, the scales of
which are composed of pearls ; bracelets
formed by a row of golden balls tastefully
relieved by vine-leaves; others in the shape
of serpents with precious stones for the eyes;
signet rings engraved with various devices—
in fact, the interior of a Roman Storr and
Mortimer's. Arranged in other cases round
the walls are objects which appear to me to
be still more curious. There is, for instance,
some liquid oil preserved in a bottle. The
guardian of the room informs the visitor that
when it was first brought here he tasted it.
One is reminded of the Mammoth found
encased in ice, a morsel of which was served up
at the table of a German prince. Here are figs,
beans, raisins, eggs, preserves, fragments of
pie, loaves of bread. Upon one of these
loaves you can distinctly trace the following
letters: CERIS. Q. GRANI.... RI. SER.
They are supposed to have been marks
ordered by the police regulations of the
period, to designate the ingredients of which
the bread was composed. Do you not think
that in certain modern cities a similar regulation
might with great propriety be enforced ?
Here are more figs, cherries, plums, nuts,
bits of cake. In the next cupboard are
various articles of a domestic nature; soap,
cotton, sponges, wax, inkstands containing
dried ink, purses with coins that were never
more to make a purchase, surgical
instruments that had been used in their last
operation, corks cut ready for bottles that
were never blown, colours laid out in readiness
for the picture that was never to be
painted. The vanity of human toil sowing
where it is never to reap; the cunning of
mankind intent upon a morrow which will never
arrive; the value of small things; the
worthlessness of great ones;—how many lessons
are taught by these relics, the whole of which
would not probably have purchased for their
possessor a night's rest, or a meal, but for the
possession of which the connoisseur would
now-a-days mortgage his broad lands and
entail poverty upon his unborn descendants!
The " Caroline " which the stranger slips
into the hand of the guardian, and at which
he most probably casts a rueful glance,
will one day, perhaps, make a great and
wise man, a learned author, a profound
critic, jump for joy. Neither gold nor
entreaties will induce him to part with the
sacred treasure.

We have only time for one more gallery;
but that, I think, is the most interesting of
all. It contains, amongst other objects, the
domestic implements, or kitchen furniture,
found in the buried cities. Here, for instance,
is a stove, or cooking apparatus: it is in
the form of a square fortress, at each angle of
which stands a tower. In the centre, a pan
was let in, for the purpose of holding the fire;
while the water, which it served to heat,
circulated round the battlements, and was turned
off by means of a cock, emerging from the