VARIOUS are the customs and ceremonies of different nations with regard to the beard. A considerable part of the religion of the Tartars consists in the management of their beards; and they once waged long and bloody war with the Persians, and declared them infidels, merely because they would not cut their whiskers after the mode or rite of the Tartars. A Spartan, being once asked why he wore so long a beard, replied "Since it is grown white, it incessantly reminds me not to dishonour my old age!" Nevertheless, in Sparta there was a law to make the people shave the upper lip. The Egyptian priests shaved the head, chin, and the whole body. The Assyrians had long beards; the kings of Persia had their beards woven or matted together with gold thread; likewise the first

kings of France. Alexander

made the Macedonians shave, lest the length of their beards should give a handle to their enemies. The Greek philosophers distinguished themselves from the vulgar by their long beards. Persius used to call Socrates "Magistrum barbatum." The Romans, for a long time, wore beards and long hair; they did not begin to shave till the year of Rome 454, when P. Sicinius brought over a number of barbers from Sicily, and Scipio Africanus was the first who introduced the mode of shaving every day-to whose memory the cutlers of Sheffield ought to erect a statue of fine wrought steel. An Englishman little thinks that every year he makes 43,800 strokes with the razor across his chin, for no man in shaving, can make less than 120. In time of grief and affliction, the Romans suffered their beards and hair to grow. The Greeks,

on the contrary, in time of grief, cut their hair and shaved their beards. The first fourteen Roman emperors shaved till the time of the emperor Adrian, who retained the mode of wearing the beard. Plutarch says, he did it to hide the scars in his face. The Ancient Britons, in the time of Cæsar, shaved the rest of the body except the head and upper lip. Tacitus says the ancient Germans shaved the beard, except that on the upper lip; and among the Catti, a nation of Germany, a young man was not allowed to shave or cut his hair, till he had slain an enemy. Among the Jews, it was reckoned ignominious to shave a person's beard. It is not easy to fix with precision the time when beards were.. first shaven amongst the young Romans; the first growth was consecrated to some God-usually to the Lares. Nero consecrated his, in a golden box set with pearls, to Jupiter Capitolinus. Slaves wore their hair and heard long, but when manumitted, they haved the head in the Temple of Feronia, and put on a cap, or

Pileus," as a badge of liberty. The Chinese affect long beards extravagantly; but nature has baulked them, and only given them very little ones, which they cultivate with great care; the Europeans are greatly envied by them on this account. The Russians wore their beards till within these few years, when the Czar Peter enjoined them to shave, but was obliged to keep on foot a number of officers, to cut off by violence the beards of such as would not otherwise part with them. At last he laid a tax on long beards, which might be put into effect in this country upon whiskers and mustachios. A beard was held in high estimation in Russia in early times, for it is a law, in the Novgorodian Code, that whoever plucks hair from another's beard shall be

mulcted four times as much as for cutting off a finger. Upon the death of Henry IV. of France, who was succeeded by a beardless youth, the beard was proscribed. Louis XIII. ascended the throne of his glorious

ancestor without a beard, and his courtiers immediately reduced their beards to whiskers, and a small tuft of hair under the lower lip. The Duke of Sully, however, though he encountered ridicule, would never adopt this effeminate custom. In the reign of Catherine, Queen of Portugal, when the brave John De Castro had taken the Castle of Diu, in India, he was under the necessity of borrowing from the inhabitants of Goa a thousand pistoles for the support of his fleet; and as a security for the loan, he sent them one of his whiskers, telling them "all the gold in the world cannot equal the value of this national ornament of my valour, and I deposit it in your hands as a security for the money." ." Such was the high estimation in which whiskers were then held. The Arabs make the preservation of the beard a capital-article of their religion, because Mahomet never cut his. The Moors of Africa hold by their beards while they swear, in order to give validity to their oath, which, after this formality, they rarely violate. The Turkish wives kiss their husbands' beards, and children their fathers', as often as they come to salute them. The Mahometans wear long hair, proceeding from a patch upon the head, about the size of a crown-piece, by which Mahomet pulls them up into Heaven, it is supposed. It is the practice with the North American Indians to pluck out the beard by their roots from its earliest appearance, and hence their faces appear smooth. This fact is confirmed by Capt. Brent and others.-So much for beards! Now for the operators thereon. There were no barbers at Rome before the year A. U. C. 454. Sicinus Mena brought them thither from Sicily, The barbers' shops soon became the resort of idlers and gossips. To this purpose, Horace, in expressing what was public and no"that all the barbers torious, says, knew it!" The ancient barbers also trimmed the nails.-Formerly a lute or viol was part of the furniture of a barber's shop, which was then fre

quented by persons above the ordinary rank, who resorted thither for the cure of wounds, or, as it was called, to be trimmed,"-a word which signified either shaving or cutting, and curling the hair. The musical instruments in their shops were for the amusement of waiting customers, and answered the end of a newspaper. Some have supposed the "barber's pole" to have been derived from the pole or head; but the true intention was to show that the master practised surgery, and could breathe a vein as well as take off the beard. The present fraternity of barbers are well known for their ready wit, and

"We have only to walk in their shops and see

What witty and merry fellows the
Shavers be."

SCOTLAND.

SIR,-The subjoined article is from a very scarce and curious old work, published at Edinburgh in the year 1633, entitled, “The Abridgement or Svmmarie of the Scots Chronicles; of the great plentie of Hares, red Deer, and other wilde Beastes in Scotland; of the strange properties of sundry Scottish Dogges, and of the Nature of Salmond." As you have frequently introduced extracts from scarce old works, this may perhaps be worth reprinting: if so, I shall be gratified.

ALBUMANIA.

After describing the realm of Scotland historically and geographically, the author thus proceeds ::

"Now touching somethings concerning the same in generall. In the fi. lds, and in all places of the countrie (except the parts where continuall habitation of people makes impediment) there is great abundance of hare, red deeres, fellow deere, roes, wild horses, wolues, and foxes, and specially in the high countries of Athole, Argyle, Lorne, Loch-aber,

Marre, and Badzenoch, where is sundry times seene 1500 red deere, being hunted all together. These wild horses are not gotten but by great sleight and policie; for in the winter season the inhabitants turne certaine tame horses and mares amongst them, wherewith in the end they grow so familiar, that they afterward goe with them to and fro; and finally home into their master's vardes, where they bee taken and soone broken to their hands, the owners obtaining great profit thereby. The wolues are most fierce and noysome vnto the heards and flockes, in all parts of Scotland Foxes do much mischief in all steads, chiefly in the mountaines, where they bee hardly hunted: howbeit Art hath devised a meane to preserve the poultry in some part: and especially in Glenmoore, every house nourishes a young foxe, and then killeth the same, they mixe the flesh thereof amongst such meate as they giue unto the fowles, and other little beastiall: and by this meanes, so many fowles, or cattell as eate hereof, are safely preserved from the danger of the Foxe, by the space of allmost 2 moneths after, so that they may wander whither they will; for the foxes smelling the flesh of their fellowes, yet in their crops will in no wayes meddle with them, but eschew and know such a one, although it where among a hundred of others. In Scotland are dogs of maruelous condition above the nature of other dogs. The first is a hound of great swiftnesse, hardines, and strength, fierce and cruel upon all wilde beastes, and eager against thieues, that offer their masters any violence. The second is a brach or hound, uerie exquisite in following the foote (which is called drawing) whether it bee of man or beast; yea, he will pursue any maner of fowle, and find out whatsoever fish, haunting the land, or lurking amongst the rocks, specially the Otter, by that excellent sent of smelling wherewith he is indued. The third sort is no greater than the aforesaid raches, in colour for the most part red, with black spots, or

else black and full of red markes : these are so skilfull (being vsed by practice) that they will pursue a thiefe, or thiefe-stolne goods, in most precise maner, and finding the trespasser with great audacity, they will make a race vpon him, or if hee take the water for his safe-gard, hee shrinketh not to follow him; and entring and issuing at the same places where the party went in and out, he never ceaseth to range till he hath noysed his footing, and bee come to the place wherein the thiefe is shrowded or hid. These dogs are called sleuth hounds. There is a law among the borderers of England and Scotland, that whosoever denyed entrance to such a hound, in pursute made after felons and stolne goods, should bee holden as accessary vnto the theft, or taken for the selfe same thiefe.

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season to bee eaten. Some say if they touche any of their full fellows, during the time of their leannes, the same side which they touched will likewise become leane The foresaid spawne and melte, being hidden in the sand (as you have heard), in the next spring doth yeeld great number of little fry, so fresh and tender for a long time, that till they come to be so great as a man's finger (if you catch any of them), they melt away, as it were a gelly or a blob of water: from henceforthe they go to the sea, where, within twenty dayes, they grow to a reasonable greatnes, and then returning to the place of their generation, they shew a notable spectacle to bee considered. There are many linnes or pooles, which being in some places among the rocks, very shallow above and deepe beneath, with the fall of the water thereto, the salmond, not able to pierce through the channel, either from swiftness of the course, or depth of the discent, hee goeth so neere vnto the side of the rocke or dam as hee may, and there adventuring to leap over, and vp into the linne, if hee leap well at the first, hee obtaineth his desire, if not hee assayeth oft soone the second or third time, till he returne to his countrie a great fish able to swim against the streame. Such as assay often to leape, and cannot get over, doe bruise themselves, and become meazelled; others that happen to fall vpon dry land (a thing often seene), are taken by the people (watching their time). Some with cawdrons of hot water, with fire under them, sit vpon shallow or dry places, in hopes to catch the fattest, by reason of their waight, that do leape short. The taste of these is esteemed most delicate, and their prices commonly great. In Scotland it is straightly inhibited to take any salmond, from the 8th of September vntil the 15th of November. Finally, there is no man that knoweth readily whereon this fish liveth; for never was any thing yet found in their bellies, other than a thicke slimy humour. In the desart and wilde