248 Mr Ramage on the Excavations made at Pompeii, 



the niche there is in the wall a scenic mask, from the mouth of 

 which flowed another jet of water ; and on the edge of the ba- 

 sin there was found another statue of bronze, three palms high, 

 representing a fisherman seated with a small basket of fish in 

 one hand, and extending the other, in the act of raising the net. 

 From a rock completely encrusted with shells, on which the 

 fisherman is seated, another jet of water has evidently been 

 thrown. The features of this little figure are strongly marked, 

 and full of expression. Besides a Caryatides of marble, there 

 was found another figure of the same material, representing a 

 young fisherman asleep, and covered with a sailor''s mantle, such 

 as is generally worn by the fishermen of the present day. The 

 remains of the leaden pipes, with their stop-cocks, are plainly 

 seen. In this house there was also discovered a beautiful marble 

 table, of Greek workmanship. 



Many rich candelabra, bracelets, rings, ear-rings, and medals 

 have been the reward of these excavations. But the most cu- 

 rious discovery of all is that of two glass vases, one of which 

 contained olives, with the oil in which they had been placed 

 eighteen centuries before ; and the other nothing but pure oil. 

 It may not be uninteresting to give the chemical analysis of 

 these substances by Professor Covelli of Naples. 



Analysis hy Professor Covelli. 



The olives were found in a quadrangular glass vase, with a 

 large mouth. The oily substance was inclosed in a cylindrical 

 glass vase, with a narrow neck, and a small handle. 



Examination of the Olives. — The upper half of the vase con- 

 taining the olives, was full of volcanic ashes and pebbles ; the 

 olives, mixed with a kind of buttery substance, occupied the 

 lower half. They have the form and size of that variety com- 

 monly called Spanish Olives ; some of them have even still their 

 pedunculus or flower-stalk. The kernels are less oblong than 

 those of the Neapolitan species, and also more swollen ; the lon- 

 gitudinal streaks are more strongly marked. Their colour is 

 black, but mixed with small particles of a greenish matter, 

 which, with the aid of a powerful lens, it was discovered were 

 those lichens produced on organic substances in a state of putre- 

 faction ; but these little plants were not observable at the mo- 



