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cannot fail to do,) that the interior surface of the shells of many fishes possess those delicate tints which form part of the beauty of a Pearl, we are justified in believing that there is some peculiar fluid existing in a large number of fishes, which, when dried, presents a surface having that beautiful appearance which we term pearly.

RUSSIA. No. IX.

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. No. 2.

In our preceding paper of this series, we described the funeral obsequies of one of the higher classes, not because we were won by the costly array of the lordly funeral, where vanity too often would fain coquet with death, and ostentation bedizen with its tinsel the dark passage to the tomb, but because it afforded an opportunity of remarking those peculiar customs, which among the poor are neglected from sheer poverty.

The writer of this article, not many months ago, witnessed a scene of every-day wretchedness, which he cannot forbear to describe, as a contrast to the description given. In one of the principal thoroughfares of the ancient metropolis of Russia, during the Carnival week, his attention was attracted to a funeral of the humblest aspect. On a rough country cart, drawn by one miserable horse, and driven by a ragged peasant boy, was laid a coffin, formed from the trunk of a tree, rudely fashioned with the axe, and without one single emblem or ornament, except a coarse tattered quilt, half covering it, yet exposing to view the emaciated features of an aged peasant, with hoary hair and long gray beard. No mourners followed, excepting two peasant men, with an old time-bowed woman, who tottered by their side, and who wore the only mark of mourning, a rusty black ribbon bound round the head. The cart was preceded by a solitary priest, whose hurried step and restless air told that he grudged the unprofitable hour. Curiosity, think it not an idle curiosity, prompted an inquiry. The old man had dwelt in a common lodging-house for peasantry, and had gone to his rest the evening before, an evening everywhere in Russia devoted to festivity: his spirit had taken its flight whilst the din of revelry rung around him. He was unknown to those whom Christian charity had induced to follow him to his place of rest. A stranger had closed his eyes, and the chill hand of cautious charity had given him his coffin, and hollowed out his grave. The humble train passed on in silence unnoticed, or noticed but for one brief moment as the passer-by raised his hat, hastily crossed himself, and muttered the valedictory prayer.

Carriage after carriage dashed rapidly past, filled with the youth and beauty of the city, in their gala attire, hastening to the scene of promised enjoyment at the public promenade. Few cast a look towards the bier of the poor peasant,-for what had youth and beauty to do with old age, poverty, and death? The contrast was painfully striking.

Although by an oukaze, issued in 1801, the laws of the empire strictly forbid the interment of a foreigner, of different creed, within the limits of consecrated ground, the Greco-Russian Church refuses the mere ceremonial rites of burial to none. If, however, a Protestant, in his last hours, receive the Holy Sacrament, or the extreme unction, as will sometimes happen in remote parts of the country, from the ignorant, though wellmeant, zeal of those around, to secure for him a portion of hallowed earth, he is considered as received within the pale of the church, from which, under the

heavy penalty of the law, he can never secede should he chance to recover. All children subsequently born to him are legally subject to its discipline, and must be educated in its faith; and, even a posthumous child is placed in the same circumstances. Instances have frequently occurred, nevertheless, where bigoted ignorance has refused Christian rites to the body of a Protestant, though happily the instances are rare.

A distressing case of the kind recently occurred within thirty miles of Moscow. An Englishman of unblemished character, an overseer in the establishment of a Russian manufacturer, died suddenly at the works. His afflicted wife was naturally 'anxious that her husband's remains should rest besides those

it thither.

of his countrymen in the English burial-ground; but the proprietor, dreading the interference of the police, refused even the loan of a cart to convey Only a short time established in the country, she knew but little of the language, so little as to be scarcely enabled to make herself understood; every human being stood aloof;-the very peasants, influenced doubtless by fear of the legal responsibility, refused to lend their carts, though promised liberal recompense. The police urged instant burial, the master peremptorily ordered the corpse to be taken from his premises; and the desolate and friendless widow, as a last and inevitable resource, applied to the priest, "to give a little earth for charity." He refused, the deceased not having been of the Greek faith. Entreaties and bribes were alike in vain. Further delay being impossible, a shallow hole was scooped in the corner of an open field, by the Russian workmen whom he had superintended; by their hands he was laid shroudless, in his unblessed grave; his poor daughter, anxious that some semblance of a religious ceremony should mark the consigning of her deceased parent to the earth, attempted to read the sublime funeral service of our church; she sobbed through a few prayers, but overcome by her feelings fainted beneath the effort, and was borne off by her distracted mother. The hole was filled up, the business of the day went on as usual, and the bereaved family sought refuge and consolation among their countrymen in Moscow.

They sought it, and happily they found it too; nor did their wrongs go unredressed. The heartrending circumstances of the case, were, as a matter of courtesy, laid before some individuals of rank and influence, previously to seeking redress through an official channel. The Metropolitan, a man of distinguished learning, piety, and benevolence, before whom the affair was laid, directed immediate inquiry to be instituted. The result confirming the statement given, the priest and the police received each a severe reprimand; and, had a vindictive spirit, in urging to extremities, prevailed, they would, undoubtedly, have been severely punished. The end, however, was attained; the body exhumed and placed in a coffin, was brought to the English burial-ground, where it was interred with Christian rites.

It is but justice to remark, that in Russia the higher authorities are always ready and energetic in correcting the abuses of subordinates, and in affording protection to foreigners of every nation and of every creed, but there is considerable difficulty in getting access to them. If, however, these scenes are witnessed in a country where toleration is part of the national religion, what may not be expected in those whence it is excluded?

POVERTY.-That man is to be accounted poor, of whatever rank he be, and suffers the pains of poverty, whose expenses exceed his resources; and no man is, properly speaking, poor, but he.-PALEY.

ON EMPLOYMENTS WHICH INJURE THE

EYE-SIGHT. No. III.

number of readers similarly affected to himself.

If

he succeed in removing from the minds of such, any ill-grounded fears and apprehensions concerning the ultimate result of these singular affections, one great

FIXED OR FLOATING SPECKS IN THE EYE-CAUSES, object of the present article will be achieved; but a
REMEDY, PREVENTION-EMPLOYMENTS WHICH
INDUCE THE DISEASE STRAINING THE EYE-
SNOW BLINDNESS-EFFECT OF DARKNESS UPON
VISION.

WE now proceed to notice a few only of the symptoms of amaurosis, and, as far as we can, to trace its cause to an injudicious employment of the organ, (1.) Many of the diseased affections of the eye proceed indirectly from indigestion, a morbid condition of the stomach, the liver, and bowels, resulting from sedentary employment, and the consequent want of that exercise of the body which is so indispensable to the healthy action of all its parts. The fine delicate nervous filament, the retina, possesses a very remarkable property when subjected to pressure, namely, that of becoming luminous, or of conveying to the mind a luminous impression This may be seen in health and in a dark rooms, by pressing upon the eye-ball; but its inconvenient, and even alarming instances, occur when the stomach is deranged and headache is present; then the blood-vessels of the head are surcharged, and by pressure on the retina produce appearances of various forms, often a faint phosphorescent haze floating before the eye, varying in shape and colour, and sometimes of various colours at the same time. The morbid sensibility of the retina in these cases is often such, that persons have been able to read even in the darkness of night*; and it is not an uncommon remark with amaurotic patients, that an improvement in vision is observed while inflammation is present, which ceases as the inflammation subsides. These appearances are not so common as the presence of fixed or floating spots, (musca, or flies, as they are called,) which darken a small portion of the field of vision. Their presence is very common to persons of sedentary habit, after about thirty or forty years of age, often earlier, depending, of course, on the average state of health of the individual, and the wear and tear" to which he has exposed his eyes. The fixed spots sometimes co-exist with the floating, and the latter are constantly varying in size and shape, which depend on causes not well understood. These spots sometimes appear as globules, or rings, or disks; they very commonly resemble particles of soot, transparent vesicles, or minute globules strung together like beads on a thread, or small bulbs with hairs attached to them, or waving lines. With some persons they are seen in the air, or only when the eye is directed to the sky, or a white surface; sometimes they appear only in the flame of a candle or lamp, and others see them only on the ground. Sometimes one eye only is affected, at other times both. They frequently precede or accompany indigestion, or bilious headache, or constipation, while they are often absent when the health is good. These floating spots do not generally interfere with useful vision, and they frequently disappear on looking through spectacles. Such are the general features of the floating muscæ. Their cause is said by some to depend on a disordered circulation in the vessels of the retina, while others attribute the cause to floating particles in the humours or minute points in the

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cornea.

The writer of this paper is himself the subject of this disease, and, therefore, feels a more than usual confidence in addressing what, he fears, is a large This is stated on the authority of Dr. Jacob.

still more important object is to warn such of our readers who may be blessed with good and perfect visual organs how they employ them; that is, to establish in their own minds a clear definition of the use of an organ and of its abuse; they will then not have the excuse of ignorance, if, in after years, through any fault or misfortune of their own, they become amaurotic.

There is a case reported by Dr. Travers, in his Synopsis of the Diseases of the Eye, so interesting, and so much in point, that we proceed at once to lay it before our readers. It is the case of an intelligent young gentleman, written by himself, and shows clearly the origin, progress, and gradations of this disease. He says,

About a year and a half ago, the first symptoms appeared which gave me any uneasiness with respect to my sight. For several months I read incessantly, not only throughout the day, but also for five or six hours each night by candle-light, and I now perceived numerous circular motes, which, combining, formed clouds of irregular figures before my eyes. These motes always appear when I look at the sky or any light-coloured object in a strong light; they move with the eyes, retaining for some time the same position, with relation to each other, and to the centre of vision; each consists of a slightly opaque circumference and a central spot, the diameter being, as well as I can judge, about four or five minutes of the circle of vision. Sometimes films appear curved or twisted like hairs, and of the same degree of opacity as the motes. There is a collection of these films always before the right eye, but at such a distance from the centre of vision as not to disturb sight. The number of the motes seems increased by violent exercise, as well as by close reading, or a disordered state of the stomach. Sometimes for a moment a small circular black spot appears near the centre of vision, and sometimes, though not so frequently, one faintly luminous. The candle next appeared surrounded with a faint halo, which became more vivid as I continued this severe exertion of my sight. When my eyes are unusually weak, or a light is presented to them after I have been some time in darkness, instead of the halo, a globular appearance of a muddy yellow colour, surrounds the flame. retina retaining impressions made upon it. After looking About six months ago, I began to be annoyed by the at any white or bright metallic object, on turning away my eyes, I distinctly perceive its outline, in a darker shade, on any surface to which I may direct my view; the impression lasting from two or three seconds to half a minute, according to the strength of light, the brightness of the object, and the length of time for which I have viewed it. The flame of a candle leaves its image impressed on the retina frequently for a couple of minutes, the sun for a still longer time, the image in both instances being of a muddy yellow

colour.

A kind of penumbra surrounds light-coloured objects in a strong light, and prevents me from accurately distinguishing their outline. When the object is under a sufficiently small angle to be seen entire without moving the eye, it seems double; one image being such as would appear to a healthy eye, the other much fainter; thus is the moon seen, a piece of money, or the gilt letters over shopwindows. These appearances take place indifferently, whether I use either eye or both.

In a few instances, a very severe exertion of my eyes produced the appearance of innumerable black partic'es dancing before them.

When I read for any considerable time, I have a disagreeable sense of heat in my eyes, with pain in the eyeballs, extending to the lower part of the forehead. I am not constantly subject to headaches, though occasionally afflicted with them, especially if I delay breakfasting for any length of time after rising. My tongue is frequently seldom enjoy a good appetite. foul for weeks together, my digestion seems weak, and I

I ought to observe, that most of the above-mentioned

symptoms seem to have been mitigated since I came to London. Since the application of the blisters, the halo round the flame of the candle has nearly disappeared.

It appears then that the muscæ may be removed by attention to a few simple rules of regimen, by resting the eye, and giving it only a fair share of daily employment. If the general health be good, the constant presence of the floating muscæ may be regarded as perfectly harmless insects, which are solitary and will not increase; but if the health be in a low, fitful, and uncertain state, the muscæ, in common with the insect tribe whence they take their name, will increase and multiply as time goes on, and may in such case be regarded as the prelude to a still more disordered action of the visual organ.

In the first division of employments which induce this disease, we have spoken of such as are sedentary. Persons engaged in them are, like ourselves, students, writers, draughtsmen, &c.; also watch-makers, engravers, and such as are employed in some factories, as needle-workers, and those whose employments require the head to be bent over their work, by which the vessels of the eye are often surcharged with blood, and its powers taxed beyond endurance, by being strained to the perception of minute objects. The very familiar term which we have just employed, "straining the eye," is liable to the serious objection of being unmeaning, of conveying no precise idea to the mind, although the act indicated by this expression is sufficiently intelligible to all. It seems to consist in compressing the eye, by means of the muscles attached to the globe, and by this means it becomes more convex than is natural. It must, however, be admitted, that we are ignorant how it is that the constant employment of the eye, in viewing minute objects, where an unusual quantity of light is not employed, is injurious. It has been inquired, whether in these cases, the retina is in a state of excitement with morbid sensibility, a state approaching to inflammation? or whether it is the very reverse, in a state of impaired sensibility and defective vitality? Now if we may be allowed to hazard a conjecture, we should trace much of the disordered action of the eye from the above causes, to the employment of the double convex lens which is so customary with watchmakers, engravers, &c., whereby the adjusting powers of the eye are ever varying, and this, as we shall see further on, is productive of diseased action in the eye. Again, it must not escape our notice, that persons engaged in minute work, constantly employ artificial means for condensing the light by means of shades, globes filled with water, and double convex lenses, and so directing it to a small part of their work-table, while the rest of the apartment is comparatively obscure. It is notorious that minute work requires a good light, and it is probable, that the causes of disease in these cases are to be found in the second class of employments, which we are just about to consider as well as in the present class. The writer has conversed with a few intelligent watchmakers, who state that they suffer much from headache, &c., while they admit their inability to see clearly objects at great distances. It is also worthy of remark, that the writer has noticed in those persons, that the pupil is unusually small, contracted as it were to a mere speck. It would be worth inquiry, whether a clear view of minute objects is accompanied by the contraction of the pupil; this is a point which our readers can ascertain for themselves. We need not illustrate this division by cases, since the cause is sufficiently obvious, and the reader can supply instances from his own experience.

(2.) The sensibility of the retina is morbidly in

creased by causes opposite in their nature, while their effect is the same. Travellers inform us of a disease common to the inhabitants of snowy countries, which disease is called snow-blindness; and it is found necessary to protect the eyes by means of a goggle made of wood, leather, &c., with a slit opposite the pupil. Captain Parry and other arctic travellers make frequent mention of this disorder, and speak of covering the face with black crape, which proved an effectual remedy. On the other hand, persons confined in dungeons have acquired the power of distinguishing surrounding objects with the greatest facility in their obscure dwellings, wherein at their first entrance no light whatever could be detected. This power is due, in the latter case, to the peculiar mechanism of the iris, as well as to the increased sensibility of the retina. The iris is composed of two sets of muscular fibres, the one tending like radii towards the centre of the circle, and the other forming a number of concentric circles round the same centre, which centre is the pupil, whose diameter varies by the action of the two sets of muscular fibres which compose the iris. When a luminous object is seen the circular fibres contract, and the radial fibres are relaxed; and thus the size of the pupil is diminished. In dark and obscure situations the radial fibres contract, and the circular are relaxed; and the pupil is thus enlarged, so as to admit a greater quantity of light. The healthy action of the eye very much depends on the perfect operation of the fibres of the iris.

WIGS AND HEAD-DRESSES. No. II. WIGS were not generally worn in England until many years after they were in common use in Paris. The first noticed in this country was worn by Henry the Eighth's fool, Saxon; and in Shakspeare's time the players resorted to the use of them to produce effect in personating different characters; that great poet makes Hamlet say," It offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters."

In the reign of King Charles the First, long hair had become fashionable at the court, and as all were not furnished with flowing locks, it was necessary to supply the deficiencies of nature by art, and this gradually led to the introduction of the peruke, except amongst the members of the bar, who did not assume the wig until about 1670. The perukes were made to assume the appearance of real hair as much as possible, and arranged so as to flow over each shoulder and down the back; the size of these wigs continued gradually increasing through the reigns of Charles the Second and James, until, in the reign of William and Mary they had reached their fullest extent. No. 1 is a representation of the kind of wig then worn by persons of distinction. The size of these wigs was so excessive, that ten heads would not have furnished a quantity of hair equal to the contents of one of them; the curls were made to flow down the back, and hang over the shoulders, half way down the arms.

Louis the Fourteenth's wig was so large, (for the same fashion prevailed in France,) that he was said to rob the heads of his subjects to cover his own; and so great was the demand for hair in England, that in 1700, a young country girl received sixty pounds for her head of hair, and the gray locks of an old woman, after death, sold for fifty pounds; wigs in common were as much as forty pounds each. The clergy had hitherto, with some exceptions, worn their own hair,

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number of French hairdressers who had introduced themselves into this country.

At the end of the last century the wig began to fall into disuse; many contented themselves with their natural hair, in which they wore powder, and those who still retained this article of dress were satisfied with a wig of less imposing appearance; but still, in many cases, the queue was retained, and sometimes it was made of an extravagant length and thickness, tightly bound round with riband so as to resemble a solid mass rather than a bundle of pendant hair. The statue of George the Third, in Cockspur-Street, London, furnishes a good example of this appendage to the wig, but even this sinks into insignificance when compared with the queue which was formerly worn by the sailors in the Royal Navy; this reached nearly to the bottom of the back, and must have been very inconvenient to the wearer. These tails were abolished in the navy some years back, and shortly after the filthy powder worn in the hair of the soldiery was also abolished, and the hair was cut close.

The wigs of the latter part of George the Third's reign, as we have noticed, assumed a less dignified appearance, as shown in the annexed figures. Since

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As the wig had reached its largest size during the reign of William, so in the succeeding reigns, those of Anne and George the First, it was more generally worn by all classes, and was made in the greatest variety of forms. About 1720, it was fashionable to tie one-half of it on one side into a club, as in No. 3. A few years after, bag wigs came into fashion; several ludicrous specimens of these are represented in the next engravings; the first two are copied from Hogarth's plates, about 1730, and the third was in

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that time even wigs of this description have fallen into disuse, and the chief work for the peruke-maker now consists in the manufacture of natural scratches, as they are called, for the use of those whose health and comfort require such protection, and of those whose tastes deem them essential to appearances. The real wig is now confined exclusively to the bench of bishops, many of whom, however, do not wear it, and to the members of the legal profession, who cannot dispense with it.

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fashion in 1792. The bag was made of black silk to contain the queue, and was ornamented with a bow or rosette of the same. This rage for wigs was carried to such an extent, that even children were decked out in them. About 1763, the fashion of wearing wigs was on the decline, and that to such an extent, that the peruke-makers of London presented a petition to the king, in which they complained also of the vast

SELF-LOVE but serves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake;
The centre moved, a circle straight succeeds,
Another still, and still another spreads;
Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace,
His country next, and next all human race.
Wide and more wide, the o'erflowings of the mind
Take every creature in of every kind.-POPE.

LONDON:

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE,

Sold by all! Book ellers and Newsveuders in the Kingdom.

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SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CITY OF ROME. PART VIII.

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HISTORY OF ST. PETER'S. THE ancient basilica, which preceded the present Cathedral of St. Peter, was erected in 324, by the Emperor Constantine; and it has been a constant tradition of the Romish Church that the spot on which it stood was the burial place of St. Peter, after his supposed martyrdom on the site of S. Pietro in Montorio. In the middle of the fifteenth century this basilica was verging on ruin; and the reigning pontiff, Nicholas V., undertook to erect a new building "on such a scale, and with such accompaniments," to use the words of Mr. Woods, "that even the present work, with all its appendages, and the adjoining palace of the Vatican, are hardly equal to it. Three straight streets, with porticoes on each side, were to have conducted to the church. This was to have been formed on the most magnificent scale, and finished with the richest materials: adjoining would have been a palace, large enough to afford accommodation to the pope and all his court; to all the Cardinals and their attendants; to various officers of government; and, besides this, spacious apartments for as many sovereigns with their numerous suites, as could be ever at one time at Rome: add to all this, pleasure-grounds,-gardens and fountains, and a great theatre for the ceremonies of coronation." The pope died, however, and with him his vast designs. Fifty years afterwards, the project of

The coronation of the Emperor, apparently is meant. If the design of Nicholas had been carried into effect, his theatre would never have been used; for it happens that he was the last pontiff who was "importuned by the presence of a Roman Emperor."

VOL. XII.

building a new church was resumed by Julius II., who invited different artists to send in their plans. "Such a competition," continues the author of Letters of an Architect," took place on this occasion, as is not to be seen in these degenerate days: Bramante; Giuliano di San Gallo; Fra Giacomo, or perhaps rather Fra Giocondo; Peruzzio; Raphael; and J. Battista Berti, produced their designs; but that of Bramante was preferred."

Bramante began to clear the ground by pulling down a part of the old edifice in 1503; the first stone of the new structure was laid by Julius himself, on the 18th of April, 1506; it was deposited under one of the four enormous pillars which support the cupola. Bramante lived to see the whole of these four pillars raised as high as the cornice, and upon them the arches turned, upon which the great dome itself rests. He died in 1514. His patron, Julius II., had died the previous year; but the successor of Julius, Leo X., carried on the work with increased energy. "It is well known," remarks Dr. Burton, "that both Julius and Leo carried to a much greater length than any of their predecessors the sale of indulgences. The justification of such a measure was principally taken from the desire entertained by the Roman Pontiff for rebuilding the church of St. Peter: and as the Reformation is certainly to be ascribed in a great degree to the offence raised by this scandalous traffic, we may say, without aiming at a paradox, that the efforts of the Roman Catholics to beautify their Metropolitan church, contributed, in some degree, to produce the Refor

mation.'

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