MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



641 



was given something of the form of a trial. 

 He was permitted to have no counsel, was not 

 allowed to send for papers or witnesses, and 

 was, of course, found guilty of piracy and of 

 the murder of one of his crew, and was hanged 

 at Execution Dock, with nine of his associates. 

 Bellamont fitted out another vessel to go in 

 search of the " Quidah Merchant," but news 

 came before the search began that the latter 

 had been stripped and burned by the men left 

 with it by Kidd. The treasure which was 

 secured on Gardiner's Island, with what was 

 found with Kidd on the " San Antonio," 

 . amounted to 70,000. 



Bridge of Sighs is the bridge connect- 

 ing the palace of the Doge with the state 

 prison in Venice. It was so called because 

 prisoners once having crossed it from the 

 Judgment Hall were never seen again, and it 

 was supposed that many of them were dropped 

 through a trap-door into the dark and deep 

 waters of the canal flowing beneath. 



Scarabseus, a peculiar beetle held sacred 

 by the Egyptians. Several mystical ideas were 

 attributed to it ; the number of its toes, 30, 

 symbolized the days of the month ; the time it 

 deposited its ball, which contained its eggs, 

 was supposed to refer to the lunar month ; the 

 movement of the clay-ball referred to the 

 action of the sun on the earth, and personified 

 that luminary. It was supposed to be only of 

 the male sex, hence it signified the self-exist- 

 ent, self -begotten generation, or metamorphosis, 

 and the male or paternal principle of nature. 

 In this sense it appears on the head of the 

 Pygmaean deity Ptah-Socharis Osiris, the 

 Demiurgos, and in astronomical scenes and 

 sepulchral formulas. In connection with the 

 Egyptian notions, the Gnostics and some of 

 the Fathers called Christ the scarabseus. The 

 insect during its life was worshiped and after 

 death embalmed. 



Tammany, Society of, or Columbian 

 Order, was formed in 1789, being the effect of 

 a popular movement in New York, having pri- 

 marily in view a counterweight to the so-called 

 "aristocratic" Society of the Cincinnati. It 

 was essentially anti-Federalist or Democratic 

 in its character, and its chief founder was Wil- 

 liam Mooney, an upholsterer, and a native-born 

 American of Irish extraction. It took its title 

 from a noted, ancient, wise, and friendly chief 

 of the Delaware tribe of Indians, named Tam- 

 many, who had, for the want of a better subject, 

 been canonized by the soldiers of the Revolu- 

 tion as the American patron saint. The first 

 meeting was held May 12, 1789. The act of 

 incorporation was passed in 1805. The Grand 

 Sachem and thirteen Sachems were designed 

 to typify the President and the Governors of 



the thirteen original States. The society is 

 nominally a charitable and social organization, 

 and is distinct from the general committee of 

 the Tammany Democracy, which is a political 

 organization. 



Salutation, Forms of. The custom of 

 shaking hands, which is the most common 

 among civilized nations, comes undoubtedly 

 from remote barbarism, when two men, meet- 

 ing, gave each other their weapon hands as a 

 security against treachery or sudden attack. 

 In the East and among the Slavic nations the 

 character of salutations is quite different. 

 Among the Persians, the custom of throwing 

 one's self upon the ground and kissing the 

 feet of the monarch prevails. In China, an 

 inferior upon horseback meeting a superior 

 dismounts and waits until the latter has passed. 

 In Japan the inferior removes his sandals 

 when meeting his superior, crosses his hands 

 by placing the right hand in the left sleeve, 

 and, with a slow, rocking motion of his body, 

 cries out, " Augh ! Augh ! " (Do not hurt 

 me.) In Siam, the inferior throws himself 

 upon the ground before his superior ; the latter 

 sends forward one of his slaves to see whether 

 the former has been eating anything, or car- 

 ries with him any smell at all offensive. If he 

 does, he is immediately kicked out without 

 ceremony ; but if not, the attendant raises him 

 up. In Ceylon, the inferior, on meeting a 

 superior, throws himself upon the ground, re- 

 peating the name and dignity of the latter. 

 Among some tribes of the American Indians 

 the custom is to salute by rubbing noses 

 together. This form is also common in the 

 Friendly and Society Islands, where it is re- 

 turned by each taking the hand of the other 

 and rubbing it upon his own nose and mouth. 

 The Moors of Morocco ride at full speed toward 

 a stranger, as if they intended to run him 

 down, and, on arriving near, suddenly stop 

 and fire a pistol over his head. The Arabians 

 shake hands six or eight times ; but if persons 

 of distinction they embrace and kiss several 

 times, also kissing their own hands. In Tur- 

 key, it is the custom to place the hand upon 

 the breast and bow to the person saluted. In 

 Burmah , when a gentleman meets a lady or 

 another gentleman he applies his mouth and 

 nose closely to their cheek and draws in a long 

 breath, as if smelling a delightful perfume 

 with both mouth and nose. In the greater 

 portion of Germany it is an' act of politeness 

 to kiss the hand of a lady ; but this privilege is 

 allowed in Italy only to near relatives, while 

 in Russia it is extended to kissing the fore- 

 head. On the European continent, it is usual 

 for men who are intimate friends to kiss one 

 another. The Pelew Island inhabitants grasp 



