108 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



The lirst etlitiou of the i)olygh)t bible of Cardinal Cisneros dated 1514-1517 and 

 the only eojiy of the tirst edition of Don Quijote were shown. 



A few Jewish relies of interest were displayed. One of these was a i)reciou8 frag- 

 ment of a roll of the Thorah or Hebrew Pentateiicli of the fonrteenth century, which 

 no doubt belonged to an ancient Spanish synagogue. The fragment contains the 

 last chapters of the Book of Leviticus and the first chapters of Numbers. Another 

 book from the t'athedral of Toledo, written in rabbinical characters, had ''?■! hojnn 

 de arhol Uamado Parra van ensarfadas en nna euerda." 



There was an astrolabe of burnished bronze made by Philip II in the sixteenth 

 century, as the inscription shows. 



There was a beautiful mosque lamj) from the Alhambra, composed of four parts, 

 the upper formed by four apples in delicate openwork combining the motto of the 

 Al-Ahmares; the second below a kind of pyramidal cliimney, each face of hne, 

 engraved fretwork ; the third section is a large screen composed of four wings fretted 

 and engravotl with the Al-Ahmares motto in African characters; the fourth section 

 is fnnncl-sliajjed, having attached eight fretwork arms. Tliis lamji was ordered by 

 the Sultan Mohammed III of Granada in the year 705 of the Hcgira, 1305 A. 1). 



From the same city is an oil holder covered with very delicate work with enamel 

 inscriptions in gold of the purest Grenadine handicraft. It dates from the fourteenth 

 century. The pieces just described belong to the National Archieological Mnseum 

 of Spain. 



From Leon were shown two torch holders of four lights. They are formed of a 

 disk of plate iron with fretted ogival ornamentation. In the center of the disk the 

 sockets to remove tlie links are grouped. These date from the fifteenth to the six- 

 teenth centuries. 



The Escorial sent a very beautiful lamp of bronze and coral of the seventeenth 

 century. 



Mention may be made of the unique series of royal, ecclesiastical, and munici})al 

 seals of wax and lead, the jewelry and miniatures and the largo collection of artistic 

 ironwork for which Spain is so famous. 



The naval and military museums made an important chronological exhibit of their 

 respective subjects. 



THE world's COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



At the begiuiiiiig of the fiscal year, preparations lor tlie World's 

 Fair had been iu active progress for fifteen months, and many of the 

 exhibits liad been completed, monnted, ])rovided with labels, and were 

 being packed. ]Much progress had also been made in the construction 

 of cases, and the taxidermists had finished a number of the most 

 important groui)S of animals. 



Uncertainty as to the amount of money which would ultimately be 

 appropriated by Congress for our exhibit, and similar uncertainty as 

 to the amount of space which would finally be available in the Govern- 

 ment building, the dimensions of which had already been much con- 

 tracted from those propo.sed iu the original plan, owing to the costli- 

 ness of building in Chicago, made it impossible as yet to decide exactly 

 what would be sent. Indeed, the indefinite manner in which the 

 appropriations were made was a cause of great embarrassment, since 

 no positive plans could l)e made, and work, which otherwise (;ould have 

 been done deliberately and at moderate expense, was delayed until the 

 last moment, to be finished in haste and at greater cost. 



