THE TURKISH BATH. On a recent visit to Manchester, having an hour or two to spare, I resolved to attempt a solution to a question which had more or less puzzled me-"What is a Turkish Bath?" I was soon directed to the address where the question might he solved. Going there, I was told that an hour and a half at least would be required to initiate me into its mysteries. I surrenderedmyself to the directions of the bath attendant, who introduced me to the "dressing-room"-anot very spacious apartment, surrounded with couches, and containing the etceteras usually to be found in rooms devoted to that purpose. I instantly commenced the process of undressing, before finishing which I found that the attendant had dexterously fixed a cotton girdle round my loins, and then, open ing a door, invited me forward. I obeyed; he retired. The temperature was very warm; so much so, that when he was retiring, having said I must remain there for half-an-hour, I asked him if there was any risk of being smothered. Oh, no," he replied, "not in this room." Such a reply was something to reflect on, but in a minute or two I was very comfortable, only in the few moments of transition did the heat seem oppressive. I had been pointed to a marble slab that was fixed against one side of the room as a place to sit down upon, but it looked so cold that I felt unwilling to risk my scantily clothed person on it without a cushion, but on touching it found it quite warm, and far from being an uncomfortable couch. The apartment was about 12 feet by 6 feet; the windows were double; in one corner were apparatus for washing and scrubbing-such as wash-basin, water-taps, sponges, soap, and horsehair gloves: on the floor was a block of wood, hollowed out so as to remind me of the beheading-block in the Tower of London; in the far corner was a wonderfully complicated arrangement of pipes, evidently some sort of shower-bath, but doubtless endowed with extra qualifications, the nature of which I could not comprehend. The atmosphere was perfectly dry; not the least moisture rested on the window-panes. It seemed a long half-hour before the attendant came in; he brought me a glass of cold water to drink; then opening an inner door asked me to follow. I attempted to do so; but so hot was the air I met at the entrance that I started back thinking I was burned; it seemed as hot as I have felt it when an engine furnace-door has been opened near me. I was encouraged to go in it was a dismal-looking room, smaller than the one I had just left-a that it was necessary for him to adopt that style? It seemed no less serious when hearing a voice down stairs calling" George, George," he opened the door to respond, and was questioned as to how long he would be, replied, "Oh! more than half-an-hour yet, 1 have to shampoon him." Well, he comes and takes my arm, placing my open palm against his breast, tells me to press against him, while he not urgently works his hands over my arm from the shoulder point down to the wrist, forcing the perspiration from every pore until my arm is covered with an oily lather-then my other arm goes through the same process-then I kneel on the slab, leaning on my hands, he stooping over me working across my scapula and down my spine; then laying me on my back, with my head resting on the executioner's block, he manipulates my chest, ribs, and waist; takes each leg in turn, till the whole area of my skin has been excited to an extra display of its functions, and I am as wet as if I had just got out of a bath. I then sit up; I touch my skin; I feel at it again and again, for it does not feel like mine at all. Surely, I think, Naaman the Syrian felt like this after bathing seven times in Jordan, for this is as soft and velvety as that of a little child's. As I am sitting cans of warm water are thrown over my whole body. Then I stand up and am rubbed all over with horsehair gloves and soap and water. In a complete suit of white lather I step towards the showerbath in the corner. I nerve myself to receive a shock from a cold shower, but the stream is a warm one. "Rub the soap well out of your hair, sir," "Lean forward a little:"Now throw your head back," &c. &c. are the commands which I hear and obey with military precision. The stream gradually changes from warm to cold, but the rushing and hissing does not diminish. I can now open my eyes, and am surprised to see that from all round the bath a thousand jets of water are spirting on to my body from my shoulders downwards, I care not if I own I gasped for breath two or three times, and felt justified in doing it when a miniature Niagara was leaping on to my head and shoulders, and so many little fire-engines playing on my body. Surely I had had enough-but no; the attendant, grasping a pump-handle, treacherously invited me to stoop a little," let fall a stream of "heavy wet," from a pipe an inch in diameter, on to the top of my back, and keeping it on for a few seconds then kindly varying it to my chest and shoulders. I gladly responded to his invitation to come out, for I saw 66 66 towels in his hand. Ah! where was the skin, soft as a baby's now every pore pursed its lips as if resenting being felt or looked at-in common phrase, it had become goose flesh." But a good hard rubbing put me all to rights, and then I was ready for the dressing-room. Here with a sheet wrapped round me I might recline on a couch or walk about until I got permission to dress. Looking about me from my resting-place I saw others going through this last stage of the process-one dreamlly smoking a cigar, another languidly looking over a newspaper-one strutting about the room, every now and then arranging his drapery into more gracefnl folds, and as he passes the mirror on the wall, glancing slyly into it, doubtless thinking what a capital model he would make if any artist needed a study for a Roman senator or Grecian philosopher; but these seem gradually to fade away. A serene composure steals over me, and I feel as if I am being lifted above the bustle and strifes of a busy world. The noise of the restless traffic passing beneath the open window comes to me dull and deadened as from a great distance. I am floating slowly on a cloud, only dimly conscious that the world is below me, when I am roused by a hard rubbing across my shoulder, and a voice saying, "you may dress any time now, sir." I paid the fee that was asked of me, feeling ashamed that so little was demanded in return for so much that had been given, and I passed into the street with a cousciousness of bodily purity that I had never felt before. A MOTHER'S LOVE.-Children, look in those eyes; listen to that dear voice; notice the feeling of even a single touch that is bestowed upon you by that gentle hand! Make much of it while yet you have that most precious of all good gifts-a loving mother. Read the unfathomable love of those eyes; the kind anxiety of that tone and look, however slight your pain. In after-life you may have friends-fond, dear, kind friends-but never will you have again the inexpressible love and gentleness lavished upon you, which none but a mother bestows. Often do I sigh, in my struggles with the hard, uncaring world, for the sweet, deep security I felt when of an evening, nestling to her bosom, I listened to some quiet tale, suitable to my age, read in her tender and untiring voice. Never can I forget her sweet glances, cast upon me when I appeared to sleep; never her kiss of peace at night! Years have passed away since we laid her beside my father in the old churchyard; yet still her voice whispers from the grave, and her eye watches over me, as I visit spots long since hallowed to the memory of my mother.Macaulay. ROMAN VASES IN BLACK WARE. THE principal subjects represented on vases of ancient Roman pottery of black ware are hunting scenes such as dogs chasing stags, deer, hares, also, dolphins, ivy wreaths, and engrailed lines; and engineturned patterns. In a few instances, men with spears are represented, but in a rude and debased style of art. The principal form is the cup of a jar shape, sometimes with deep oval flutings, as on one found at Castor; but dishes, cups, plates, and mortars are not found in this ware. Some of the vases of this ware have ornaments, and sometimes letters painted on them in white slip upon their black ground, as represented in our engraving. They are generally of a small size, and of the nature of bottles or cups, with inscriptions, such as AVE, hail! VIVAS, may you live! IMPLE, fill; BIBE, drink; VINVM, wine; VIVA, life; VIVE BIBE MVLTIS; showing that they were used for purposes purely convivial. Such are the vases found at Etaples, near Boulogne, the ancient Gessoriacum, and at Mesnil. Some rarer and finer specimens from Bredene, in the department of Lis, have a moulding round the foot. Great quantities are found in England, Holland, Belgium, and France. It is found on the right bank of the Rhine. A variety of this ware has been lately found at a spot called Crockhill, in the New Forest, together with the kilns in which it was made, and a heap of potter's sherds, or pieces spoilt in the baking. The paste was made of the blue clay of the neighbourhood, covered with an alkaline glaze of a maroon colour, perhaps the result of imperfect baking; for the pieces when submitted again to the action of the fire, decrepitated and split. They were so much vitrified as to resemble modern stone ware, yet, as all of them have proofs of having been rejected by the potters, it is probable that this was not the proper colour of the ware. Almost all were of the pinched-up fluted shape, and had no bas-reliefs, having been ornamented with patterns laid on in white colour. The kilns are supposed to be of the third century of our era, and the ware was in local use, for some of it was found at Bittern. CHANGES OF FORTUNE. In 1154, Sir Stephen Forster was Lord Mayor of London. He had been long in prison and penury, on account of his inordinate profuseness. It chanced that a most fantastical widow, who knew not how to get rid of her immense wealth, saw him begging at the gate; she admired his fine person, learnt his history, paid his debts, and married him; asking of him only this one favour, that he would lavish away her fortune as fast as he could. Forster, probably from perverseness, became a sober husband and a prudent manager, and only expended large sums in adding a chapel and other advantageous appendages to Ludgate, where he had suffered so many hardships. THE POISON CUP. In the time of James I. poison was too frequently resorted to, especially on the continent, as a means of getting rid of individuals who had rendered themselves obnoxious to certain parties who were prosecuting their own private ends; and so extensively did this infamous practice prevail that there was a class of persons who were known to have studied the art of secret poisoning, and whose services could be engaged for a high reward. In order to counteract the operations of the poisoners, various devices were employed, and among filagree. It was believed that the large them was the art which the pretended ma- crystal which is seen standing out at the gicians of those days professed to have dis- centre of the lid would become discoloured covered, of making a kind of glass which at the approach of poison. The tankard is would fly in pieces if poison was poured a work of the sixteenth century, and was into any vessel that was formed of it. The presented to Clare Hall, Cambridge where cut at the head of our article represents a it is still preserved by Dr. William Butler, tankard of this sort, in which the glass is an eminent physician in the time, of mounted in silver gilt arabesque and silver | James I. CENTURY. felt hat with red and white plume, dagger, and sword. The accoutrements of the horse Leonora Caimingen, who was at that time a great favourite of the Court of Wurtemberg. In travelling thus (which was at that time the only mode), females of the higher rank only were accustomed to make use of masks, or veils, for the preservation of their complexions, that custom being generally unusual. The ancestral castle of the knights of Kalthenthal was situated between Stuttgardt and Boeblingen, on the summit of a rock overhanging to the valley of Heplach. it exists no longer. The costume-sketch which we give on are simply black, with some metal ornanext page, is taken from an original draw-ments. The young lady is the besutiful ing, having the following superscription :"Varium et mutabile semper foemina Haec suo quem amat scripsit. Georgius Wolfgang Von Kalthenthal, 1579." The group represents the above-named young knight, with his youthful wife, taking a ride. She wears a blue silken dress, with a boddice of gold brocade, trimmed with fur, and a rose-coloured silk scarf; the head-dress is quite plain, the hair being fastened with a golden dagger set in jewels. The knight's dress consists of a light green doublet, with dark green stripes; slashed hose, edged with white; yellowish leather surcoat without sleeves, riding boots of untanned leather, and grey A MAGICIAN'S MIRROR AND BRACELET. A strange blending of pure science and gross superstition is remarkably illustrated in the history of the celebrated Dr. Dee. |