COLLECTANEA. ""Tis better to be brief than tedious." No. II. SHAKSPEARE. 18. ORIGIN OF CINDERELLA.-The following story, which Burton quotes from Ælian, is obviously the origin of one of our most popular mursery tales: "Rodophe was the fairest lady, in her days, in all Egypt; she went to wash her, and by chance (her maides, mean while, looking but carelessly to her cloathes) an eagle stole away one of her shoes, and laid it in Psammeticus, the King of Egypt's, lap, at Memphis: he wondered at the excellency of the shoe and pretty foot, but more, aquile factum, at the manner of the bringing of it; and caused, forthwith, proclamation to be made, that she that owned that shoe should come presently to his court; the virgin came, and was forthwith married to the king." Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. ii. p. 404. 19. HERETICAL PARROT.-Beze, in his History of the Reformation in France, Geneva, 1580, informs us of a curious circumstance that occurred at Toulouse. A parrot that had been taught to say Fi de la messe! was arraigned before the Inquisition, there condemned, and publicly burnt by the executioner. What a theme for the witty author of Vert vert! 20. THE PIG-FACED LADY.---The story of the Pig-Faced Lady, so currently related, and occasionally so firmly credited, a few years since, originated with a quarto pamphlet, printed in 1640, entitled, "The HogFaced Gentlewoman, called Mistress Tannakin Skinker, who was born at Wickham, a neuter toune between the Emperor and the Hollander, scituate on the Rhine, and who can never recover her true shape till she be married. Also relating the cause how her mother came bewitched. With a wood-cut of the Lady and her Suiter." It was sold in 1816, for seven guineas and a half! 21. ORANGE TREES.---The orange trees of St. Michael generally attain the height of fifteen or twenty feet. The usual produce of a good tree, in common years, is from 6000 to 8000 oranges. Some instances of uncommon productiveness have occurred. Dr. Webster mentions that a few years since 26,000 oranges were gathered from one tree, and 29,000 from another. 22. EGGS PRESERVED 300 YEARS.---It is asserted, that in the wall of a chapel near the Lago Maggiore, built more than 300 years ago, three eggs imbedded in the mortar of the wall were found to be quite fresh. It has long been known that birds' eggs brought from America, or India, covered with a film of wax, have been hatched in Europe after the wax had been dissolved by alcohol. 23. HINT TO CATALOGUE-MAKERS.---Mr. Nichols, in the fourth volume of his Literary Anecdotes, p. 493, mentions that Dr. Taylor, who about the year 1732 was librarian at Cambridge, used to relate of himself, that one day throwing books in heaps for the purpose of classing and arranging them, he put one among works on MENSURATION, because his eye caught the word height in the title page; and another which had the word salt conspicuous, he threw among books on chemistry or cookery. But when he began a regular classification, it appeared that the former was "Longinus on the Sublime," and the other a Theological Discourse on the Salt of the World, that good Christians ought to be seasoned with." Thus, in a catalogue published about twenty-five years ago, the "Flowers of Ancient Literature," are found among books on gardening and botany, and "Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy," is placed among works on medicine and surgery. 24. THE FIRST PIANO-FORTE.-The first piano-forte was made by Father Wood, an English Monk, at Rome, about the year 1711, for Mr. Crisp, the author of "Virginia." The tone of this instrument was much superior to that produced by quills, with the additional power of producing all the shades of piano and forte by the fingers; it was on this last account it received its name. Fulk Greville, Esq. purchased it from Mr. Crisp for 100 guineas, and it remained unique in this country for many years, until Plenius, the maker of the lyrichord, made one in imitation of it. See the Percy Anecdotes, Art. Music. 25. TWINKLING OF THE FIXED STARS.---The following ingenious reason is assigned by Aristotle for the apparent twinkling of the fixed stars. Having observed that the planets do not twinkle, but that the fixed stars do, he says, For the planets are near, so that the sight has power sufficient to reach them; but extending itself to a very great distance when it beholds the fixed stars, it trembles through the length of the way. But its trembling causes the apparent motion of the stars." See the 8th chapter of the 2nd book on the Heavens. 26. FIRST BOOKS.---The first edition of the Bible, is a vulgate in two volumes, folio, 1455; and it is believed to be the first book printed with metal types. The first book printed with a date, is Psalmorum Codex, by Fust, folio, 1457. The first book printed in the English language, is William Caxton's Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, by Raoul le Feure, folio, Colen, 1471: a copy of which was bought by the Duke of Devonshire at the Roxburgh sale, for £1060. 18s. The first book printed on paper made in England, is Bartholomæus de Proprietatibus Rerum, translated into English, and printed by Wynkin de Worde, folio, 1482. 27. PHYSIOG NOMY.---Pythagoras was the first person, with whom we are acquainted, who cultivated physiognomy. He died 497, B. C. 'He (Pythagoras) likewise surveyed their form, their mode of walking, and the whole motion of their body. Physiognomically also considering the natural indications of their frame, he made them to be manifest signs of the apparent manners of the soul." Jamblichus's Life of Pythagoras, p. 51, Taylor's Translation. 28. WOMEN FATTENED AT TUNIS FOR MARRIAGE.-.-" A girl, after she is betrothed, is cooped up in a small room, shackles of gold and silver are placed upon her ancles and wrists, as a piece of dress. If she is to be married to a man who has discharged, dispatched, or lost a former wife, the shackles which the former wife wore, are put upon the new bride's limbs, and she is fed until they are filled up to the proper thickness. The food used for this custom, worthy of the barbarians, is a seed called drough, which is of an extraordinary fattening quality, and also famous for rendering the milk of nurses rich and abundant, With this seed, and their national dish cuscasoo, the bride is literally crammed, and many actually die under the spoon." Macgill's Account of Tunis, 1811, p. 90. 29. PLURALITY OF HUSBANDS ALLOWED.---" In the tribe of the Naires, on the coast of Malabar, the men can have only one wife; while a woman, on the contrary, may have many husbands." Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, book avi, ch. v. vol. i. p. 957. A similar anomaly prevailed, according to Strabo, (see book ii.) in some districts in Media, where, he says, each woman was compelled to receive five husbands, while in other cantons each man was expected to have seven wives. raised; he built them merely for himself and his own age; they were not intended for posterity. He wished to gratify his vanity by having a beautiful city ready for the reception of those who came from far and near to admire and flatter him. Instead, therefore, of employing his treasures in constructing sound substantial edifices, he desired a town to be built at once, and raised these shells of brick, which he afterwards covered without with a stucco or plaster made to resemble stone, and supported them with massy pillars; while within, perhaps, nothing is to be seen but bare walls. In some instances, they say, the wall next the street alone was built, and thus what appeared to be the entrance to some rich temple or magnificent palace, was a mere screen to shut out a dunghill or close a vista. In this cold climate, this stucco or cement frequently falls off, and exposes the poverty of the materials underneath; thus the ideas of grandeur and magnificence, formed at first sight, are lessened on examination of the buildings, and at last exceed but little those raised by an architectural picture or a theatrical scene. On the Parade, adjoining the Town Palace, a regiment of the Guards were going through their exercises; they were a fine body of men, and extremely well dressed. Their clothes are not made by contract; but in each regiment is a proportioned number of tailors, shoemakers, and other artizans, who supply their own corps: thus the uniform of each man fits him exactly, and none of those shapeless coats are to be seen which often disfigure some of the finest men in our service. The Prussians are, in general, a tall race of people, and as their choicest men are selected for the Guards, this corps has a very imposing appearance; the pantaloon they wear adds much also to their apparent height; the gaiter is joined to it, and, being of the same stuff and color, at a distance, a greater length of limb appears to belong to them than they really possess; add to this their tall caps and high shoulders, and the apparent height will be much increased. Near the Parade is the Cathedral, a small plain edifice, little worthy of the use to which it has been destined, for here rest the remains of Frederick the Great. Under the organ, which advances into the church from one of the longer side walls, is a small chapel of polished marble closed by a grated door, in which, raised a little from the ground, the coffins of Frederick and his father lie side by side; that of the former is of silver, the other of marble: no inscriptions, no ornaments, adorn the shrine dedicated to these relics, they lie" alone with their glory." To such dead, inscriptions must have been either bombastical or mean; silence, on this occasion, speaks more solemnly and forcibly than the most labored eulogy. When the contemplation of an object is calculated to awaken ideas of noble and sublime character, the more these are left to the excitement of the imagination, the more imposing will be the effect produced; for those generated by the agency of others, are always less lively, less interesting to us, than the children of our own thoughts. Hence, when the subject is worthy of them, the majesty and beauty of the most simple epitaphs: that on Tasso, "Ossa Torquati Tasso," I had thought the most beautiful I had yet seen; but in the silence surrounding the tomb of Frederick, there is something more grand, more imposing, more affecting. The first act of Napoleon, on his arrival at Potsdam, was a pilgrimage to the shrine of Frederick, a saint worthy the homage of such a dovotee. His memory was one which, of all those handed down to us by history, Buonaparte most revered and admired. Whatever had belonged to the hero, he valued and kept as a talisman: in court or field, a sword of Frederick's hung by his side. It was Frederick's watch that marked his dying hour. Much pleased with our excursion, but not a little fatigued, it was late in the night before we found ourselves in our former quarters at Berlin. DER RITTER VON WEG, THE HUE AND CRY. IN Love's name you are charg'd hereby, Are ready marks to know the thief. Her hair, a net of beams, would prove Strong enough to captive Jove In his eagle shape; her brow Is a comely field of snow; Of flowers, both the king and queen; But from that voice, shall hear again--- T. CAREW. 30. DAMASKEENING, ITS ANTIQUITY.---Herodatus (b. i. c. 25.), speaking of Alyattes, the Lydian, says, that “he was the second of his family that made offerings at Delphi, which he did upon the recovery of his health; dedicating a large silver ewer, with a bason of iron so admirably inlaid, that it is justly esteemed one of the most curious pieces of art among all the donations at Delphi. This bason was made by Glaucus, the Chian, who first invented the way of working iron in that manner." The inlaying of iron or steel with other metals, especially gold or silver, known to the moderns under the name of Damaskeening, appears from the foregoing passage to be an art of great antiquity. Such also were the shields of the Samnites in two of the choicest battalions which they levied against Rome (see Livy, book ix. ch. lx.). Query,---At what date did this art so much flourish at Damascus, as to derive its modern name from that city? 31. AN ACCOMMODATING STOMACH.---In Bower's Life of Beattie, p. 55, a curious anecdote is related of the late Professor Reid, viz. that he could take as much food, and immediately afterwards as much sleep, as were sufficient for two days! 32. A FEW WORDS ON THE ECLIPSE FORETOLD BY THALES.---" In the sixth year, things being hitherto well near equal on both sides, they came to another engagement; and whilst they were contending for victory, the day was suddenly turned into night; which alteration Thales, the Milesian, had foretold to the Ionians, and named the year when it should happen." Herodotus, book i. It is impossible to reconcile this fact with the account which is given of the notions of Anaximander, that eclipses were caused by the stopping up of the orifices, through which the fire of the sun and moon exhaled. If Thales did really predict an eclipse, he must either have known the obliquity of the eliptic, and possessed a far more accurate knowledge of astronomy than his scholar; or he must have obtained some information of an expected eclipse from the Egyptian or Babylonian astronomers, which perhaps is not an improbable conjecture. 33. LUXURIOUS SPLENDOR OF THE EGYPTIAN QUEENS.---The establishment of the queens of Egypt must have been exceedingly splendid, for Diodorus, book i. relates, that the whole revenue of the fishing of the lake Mæris was allotted for the purpose of finding those princesses in robes and perfumes. This sum was by no means inconsiderable, for it was said (See Athen. book i.) to amount to a talent a day,---i. e. 193l. 15s. sterling. 34. THE ARCH NOT UNKNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS.---" The world indeed appears to resemble (though it is comparing a great thing with one that is small,) what are called keystones in arches of stone, which being situated in the middle of the pressure on each side, preserve the whole figure of the arch in harmony and order, and in an immoveable position." Taylor's Arist. vol. ix. p. 616. 35. AN EXTRAORDINARY ZOOLOGICAL FACT.--It is a most extraordinary fact, that in the insects of the genus Aphis, (well known under the name of plant lice,) impregnation of several generations is affected by a simple intercourse with the male. Blumenbach's words are, a single copulation in autumn, exerts a fecundating influence over many, even nine, successive generations." See p. 200 of his Elements of Natural History. 66 This fact was first ascertained by the ingenious and indefatigable observer, Bonnet, a full account of whose experiments is to be found in the first volume of his works, Neufchatel, 4to. 1779. 36. VELOCITY OF LIGHT.---It has been found, by repeated experiments, that when the earth is exactly between Jupiter and the Sun, the |