Pompeii, its history, buildings, and antiquities : an account of the destruction of the city with a full description of the remains, and of the recent excavations, and also an itinerary for visitors . oil-vessel, and there wasno glass to steady the light and prevent its varying with everybreeze that blew. Still, though the Romans had not advanced so far in art asto apply glass chimneys and hollow circular wicks to theirlamps, they had experienced the inconvenience of going homeat night through a city ill paved, ill watched, and ill lighted,and accordingly soon invented lanterns to meet the wan
Pompeii, its history, buildings, and antiquities : an account of the destruction of the city with a full description of the remains, and of the recent excavations, and also an itinerary for visitors . oil-vessel, and there wasno glass to steady the light and prevent its varying with everybreeze that blew. Still, though the Romans had not advanced so far in art asto apply glass chimneys and hollow circular wicks to theirlamps, they had experienced the inconvenience of going homeat night through a city ill paved, ill watched, and ill lighted,and accordingly soon invented lanterns to meet the , we learn from Martial, who has several epigrams uponthis subject, were made of horn or bladder: no mention, webelieve, occurs of glass being thus emjnoyed. The rich werepreceded by a slave bearing their lantern. This Ciceromentions as being the habit of Catiline upon his midnightexpeditions ; and when M. Antony was accused of a disgrace- 540 POMPEII. fill intrigue, his lantern-bearer was tortured to extort a con-fession whither he had conducted his master.* One of thesemachines, of considerable ingenuity and beauty of workman-ship, was found in Herculaneum in 1760, and another, almost. Elevation of a Bronze Lantern. exactly the same, at Pompeii, a few years after. We give adrawing and a section of the former to explain its form it is cylindrical, with a hemispherical top, and it ismade of sheet-copper, except the two main pieces, M, M, * Val. Max. vi. 8. DOMESTIC UTENSILS. 541 •vvliicla are cast. The bottom consists of a flat, circular copperplate, supported by three balls, and turned up all round therim (b, b, in the section), from which rise the rectangularsupports. M, M, which support the upper part of the frame, N.
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Keywords: ., bookauthordyerthomashenry180418, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860
