Solinus, a Latin writer who lived in the first
century of the Christian era, tells us that a
light was found in a tomb, which had burnt
there above fifteen centuries, and which fell
into dust in the hands of those who took it up.
It is said that several of these lamps have
been discovered in the territory of Viterbo in
Italy; of which that of Olybius Maximus of
Padua is the most celebrated. This had
remained burning for fifteen hundred years—
which, by the bye, appears to be the favourite
allotment of time in these matters. Two
phials, one of gold, the other of silver, both
filled with an admirably clear liquor,
nourished, without any sensible diminution, a
lamp placed between them, or, as some say,
under them. But whether this, like the others,
expired "when first they let in air," deponent
sayeth not

Hitherto we have spoken only of Italy; but
it appears that our own country has had the
honour of producing these phenomena. " It
is reported," says Bailey in his English
Dictionary (1730), "that, at the dissolution of
monasteries, in the time of King Henry VIII.,
there was a lamp found that had then burnt
in a tomb from about three hundred years
after Christ, which was near twelve hundred
years. —Two of these subterranean lamps," he
adds, "are to be seen in the Museum of
Rarities at Leyden in Holland." Rarities
indeed! But did they continue to burn in the
Museum? or had their eternity come to an
end?

The existence of these stories probably
suggested an image to Shakspeare's mind in that
solemn address of Pericles over the supposed
dead body of his queen, which he is about to
consign to the ocean:—

Where, for a monument upon thy bones,
And age-remaining lamps, the belching whale
And humming water must o'erwhehn thy corpse,
Lying with simple shells. Act III, Sc. I.

Spenser also has an Eternal Lamp —not,
however, in connexion with death, but with a
wedding:—

His owne two hands the holy knotts did knitt,
That none but death for ever can divide;
His owne two hands, for such a turne most fitt,
The housling fire* did kindle and provide,
And holy water thereon sprinckled wide;
At which the bushy teade† a groome did light.
And sacred lamp in secret chamber hide.
Where it should not be quenched day nor night,
For feare of evil fates, but burnen ever bright.
Book I., c. 12, v. 5.
* Sacramental fire.     † Torch.

Upton says that Spenser here " seems to allude
to the mystical meaning of the Wise Virgins'
lamps in the parable, which, like the typical
fire in Lcvit. vi., 'shall ever be burning
upon the altar' of love; 'shall never go out.'"
But it ought to have been added, that in this
case special directions are given that the fire
shall be suppled with fuel.

Would the reader like to know the
composition of Eternal Lamps. We are in
possession of two or three recipes, which we do
not mind imparting to him. According to
some authorities they are made of the oiliness
of gold, resolved by art into a liquid
substance. That is one way. Oil of gold is no
doubt obtainable at any chemist's shop; if
not, write to some friend or relation at the
Australian or California diggings. Another
method has been set forth, from personal
experiment, by Trithemius, a learned German
ecclesiastic of the fifteenth century. He
assures us that he had himself made an oil of
flower of brimstone, borax, and spirit of wine
which burnt many years without wasting.
It does not appear, however, that it would
burn an indefinite number of years; so that,
after all, this was not an Eternal Lamp.
Athanasius Kircher, a philosophical German
Jesuit who lived about two hundred years
ago, and who has written a great deal on the
subject of lamps, speaks of a way to reduce
the flame back into wax, so as to keep up a
perpetual supply; which would certainly be
economical. The inconsumable wick is to be
of asbestos. And here it may be remarked
that lamps with asbestos wicks have in fact
been made; which, as far as the wicks
themselves were concerned, have had some
appearance of immortality. That this singular
mineral has the power of resisting the action
of fire is perfectly well known; although it is
probable that some slight diminution in weight
does really take place, which would necessarily
end at length in the destruction of the
substance. The same author mentions a chemical
preparation of gold, which is thereby
rendered spongy, is called Salamander's wool, and
which he also recommends as a material for
wicks. Fortunio Liceto, a Genoese physician
of the seventeenth century, who strenuously
contended for the possibility of Eternal Lamps,
says, that the ancients had a secret of making
an inconsumable oil, or of constructing their
lamps in such a manner that, as they burned,
the smoke condensed insensibly, and resolved
itself into oil again. This looks like an
anticipation of those modern stoves which
consume their own smoke, and by means of
which, and Lord Palmerston's Bill, we may
hope to see the air of London purified. Liceto
contends that the everlasting fires burning on
the altars of some of the pagan divinities
were of the same nature as Eternal Lamps;
but it is well known that these fires were
sedulously maintained by their appointed
guardians, and that the punishment of death
was ordained for letting them expire.

Our countryman. Friar Bacon, believed in
the possibility of making lamps that should
burn for ever; and even the scientific Dr. Plott,
who died as late as the year one thousand
six hundred and ninety-six, entertained the
same opinion. He proposed asbestos as the
material for the wick. Indeed he conceived
that to be the only possible substance for the