BED 



(ill 



BED 



penniless, but she has not changed her meth- 

 ods and the reader feels that she will find no 

 difficulty in snaring another dupe. 

 BED, in a general sense, the place where 

 ,. e ps. Th mi may include the 



heap of leaves or animal skin on which the 

 savage lies, the fur bag that serves as a bed 

 ,nno, or the rug or mattress used by 

 the Oriental. The Japanese goes to rest on a 

 strip of matting with a wooden head rest 

 which closely fits the neck. Much more elab- 

 orate are the beds of Europeans, Canadians 

 and Americans, who demand the comforts of 

 springs, mattress, linen sheets, pillows and 

 quilts or comforters, all of these being placed 

 on a frame known as the bedstead. 



K bedsteads are made of wood, brass and 

 iron, the brass and iron beds having become 



to the desire to save space is the so-called dis- 

 iipimirimi bed, which slides into a recess in the 

 wall and is kept there when not in use. Some 

 apartments provided with disappearing beds 

 have no separate bed chambers whatever. 



The Beds of the Ancients. Among the an- 

 cient Orientals there was slight difference 

 between the bed and the couch on which they 

 reclined during the day? The Babylonians and 

 Assyrian monarchs rested on magnificent beds 

 of ivory, gold and choice woods, and in the 

 writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, the 

 "Father of history," mention is made of Per- 

 sian beds adorned with gold and silver and 

 covered with rare and costly fabrics. That 

 the Israelitish king likewise had luxurious 

 tastes in this respect is indicated by a passage 

 in Proverbs VII, 16: "I have decked my bed 



DREAMS WERE NO SWEETER BECAUSE OP THESE 



At left : bed In home of well-to-do American in the Revolutionary period. In center : French 

 carved and gilt bedstead, period of Louis XVI. At right: a Chippendale bed (see CHIPPENDALE). 



popular in recent years because they are con- 

 sidered more sanitary than others. Iron beds 

 are enameled in white or colors, and when 

 to harmonize with the decorations of 

 the bed chamber are exceedingly attractive. 

 However, beds of the choicer varieties of wood, 

 such as mahogany, bird's-eye maple or Circas- 

 sian walnut, are in high favor. 



The desire to save space has also had an 

 important part to play in changing the styles 

 of beds. The old-fashioned folding bed, 

 which resembles a wardrobe when folded up, 

 has numerous modern successors in pieces of 

 furniture that are slept in at night and become 

 in the daytime library tables, bookcases, 

 chests, etc. The sanitary couch and davenport 

 lounge are also popular, as they can be used 

 in the daytime as an ordinary couch. Probably 

 the most remarkable bed that owes its origin 



with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, 

 with fine linen of Egypt." 



The Grecian love of the artistic is reflected 

 in the construction of their bedsteads, the 

 posts of which were usually graceful in design 

 and crowned with the Ionic capital (see 

 CAPITAL). These bedsteads were narrow and 

 only the headboard was raised above the bed. 

 They were generally of wood, but sometimes 

 marble or terra cotta was used. Excavations 

 in the ruins of Pompeii, destroyed by the erup- 

 tion of Mount Vesuvius in A. D. 79, show that 

 the Romans slept upon a bed much like the 

 modern wooden bedstead in structure and pro- 

 portions. Bedsteads of bronze, silver and gold 

 have been taken from the ruins; a large num- 

 ber of those excavated are adorned with pre- 

 cious woods, ivory, tortoise-shell, gold and sil- 

 ver. Some of the frames were so high they 



