Vol. XXV. No. 9.] 
POPULAE S0IE1:^CE I^EWS. 
129 
these secrets (it is said), and fashion smiles again 
upon Venetian glass, as one well believes who has 
an opportunity of seeing the rich ari-ay of artistic 
objects, brilliant as gems, which fill the windows 
nf the shops on the Piazza San Marco in Venice. 
The furnaces at Murano have recovered their 
|)ii'Stige, and we gladly embraced an opportunity 
iillbrded us of paying a visit to one of the manu- 
factories. 
After prolonged study of the dainty golden 
inidesceut tumblers, the exquisite forms of vases, 
plates, goldots, etc., we certainly expected to be 
ujliered into some perfectly appointed works, 
"ueh as we had seen at Sevres and Worcester. 
lint the workshop was, in fact, a mere shed; its 
a|ii>ointments of the rudest kind ; and, though I 
".itched all the processes for an hour, and saw a 
Invcly vase made from a molten mass of red-hot 
ul.iss, still I felt that it must be an absurd mistake 
to imagine that brilliant gems like artistic work 
lild be carried on in such surroundings. Seeing 
iild be believing, however, and the hour passed 
like a few minutes as we stood beside the master 
workman, who welded his moken mass with a 
few deft touches, each one of which told to per- 
l<et the shape he was creating. 
|{ut a word as to the workshop. In the center 
(it the shed was an enormous furnace subdivided 
into ovens, whose doors stood open disclosing the 
li'ice red glow within. Stretching back of this 
iciitral furnace were 
large, rudely fash- 
ioned bake ovens, well 
lilli^d with finished 
«iirk, set there to be 
tiinpered. 
Opposite each open 
liiiiiace door, at a con- 
viiiieut distance for 
till' workman to move 
back and forth witlv 
his work, was a rough 
seat beside an iron 
stand or rest. ITiis, 
with a clumsy pair of shears and a smooth piece 
of iron, was the sole provision made for the work, 
and it was with rude implements such as these 
that th(! elegant vase I saw mtide was shaped. 
It was a little confusing, at first, when we en- 
tered, to keep our attention on any subject in par- 
ticular, when there were so many things that 
excited our interest. Xor was it easy to keep 
clear of the w orkmen, w ho incessantly pass back 
and forth to the furnace, for as the glass cools it 
becomes too hard to mould, and has to be held 
again to the fierce glow of the ovens. It was a 
little alarming to have this red hot-mass swing 
carelessly within an inch of one's nose, and to 
move to right or left was to encounter fresh peril. 
Still our curiosity as to the process gave us cour- 
age, and we decided at length to give all our 
attention to the man who seemed, by the respect 
paid him by our guide, to be the cleverest work- 
man there. 
He had just finished one vase, but told us he 
had an order to make a hundred like it. Just 
then two boys passed carrying a molten mass be- 
tween them, twisted on iron rods. This they pro- 
C('cded to pull and twist until they made a slender 
-trip several yards long, which they laid on a pile 
on the floor. As these strips of various colored 
glass cooled, they were cut into lengths of about 
six inches by another boy, and our workman 
taking up a handful said they were for his use, in 
making his vases. 
lie then put his iron rod (about a yard long) 
into the oven, and pulled out a molten mass, 
which he proceeded to manipulate. The rod must 
have been hollow, for at certain parts of his 
work he held it to his lips and blew through it, 
swelling out the mass at the end. The strips, 
though molten, kept distinct, making the pattern 
which gave the finished work such a brilliant ap- 
pearance. 
It was a wonderful experience to see this rough, 
shaggy-looking man, with the hands of an artist, 
making deft, almost subtle, touches with his rude 
instrument. Not an unnecessary touch was given ; 
he worked with swiftness, yet without apparent 
haste, and with an ease which showed his consum- 
mate skill. Just a turn here, a touch there, and a 
lovely lip was formed to the cup, giving it an ap- 
pearance of iuexpressilde elegance. Then the 
slender shaft was added, and to this the foot. 
Finally some ornaments, strawberries I think, 
were dropped upon the shaft. During this time 
the workman rose every few minutes and thrust 
his lovely creation ruthlessly into the pit of fire, 
while we watched the result breathlesslj', fearing 
some of its fragile beauty w ould disappear in the 
red glow. But nothing ever happened ; it was 
merely brought back in malleable condition, and 
ready to receive some finishing touches. Once the 
artist held a rough piece of wood against his 
work. He was not even provided with a measure. 
At last the vase was finished, and we followed 
Fig. 1. 
it to the bake oven. Then the clock struck five; 
we had spent an hour in this fascinating work- 
shop, careless of the intense furnace heat, adiled 
to a thermometer over 80" in the shade. 
THE DOGS OF ANCIENT EGYPf. 
That the dog was a favorite animal with the 
ancient Egyptians is evi lent from the frequency 
with which his figure ajipears on their monu- 
ments, where we find represented the greyhound, 
the watch-dog, and a variety of other types, ap- 
parently not difl'ering much from tliose louuil in 
the country today. In the ancient phonetic lan- 
guage of the Egyptians he was known by the 
names ouhorou, ouaouaou, or tosmoti — words simi- 
lar to those which an infant would use now. 
The dog was quite domesticated, lived in the 
same house with his master, and in many in- 
stances was as carefully tended and cared for as 
the most pampered lap-dog of the present day. 
The rulers had their favorite dogs, one of which, 
belonging to King Antef, is represented in Fig. 1, 
No. 1, which is copied from the funeral tablet of 
that monarch, who showed his aflfection for this 
favorite beast by giving liim that honorable place. 
The name of this historic animal, as engraved on 
the stone, was Abaikarttu. No. 2 is a representa- 
tion of a puppy from a Theban tomb of the twen- 
tieth dynasty ; while No. 3 is from the tomb of 
Anna of Thebes, of the eighteenth dynasty, and is 
doubtless a good portrait of a favorite greyhound 
of that estimable lady. 
A curious document has been translated, writ- 
ten by a government official stationed at a town 
in the delta of the Nile a few years after the 
death of Ram.ses 11., in which he complains bit- 
terly of the number of dogs kept by the citizens, 
— five hundred or moi-e in all, — which congregated 
in front of his house in the daytime, and at night 
attempted to prevent him from passing through 
the streets, go that he was obliged to borrow the 
dog of Nahihou — another official residing in the 
house with him — as a protection, before he could 
go out to join his friends at a drinking bout. 
Travellers in P^gypt say that a similar state of 
aftairs exists in many Egyptian villages at the 
present day. 
The dog was even worshipped as a god under 
the name of "Anubis, the Barker." There are 
numerous canine cemeteries in Egypt, and mum- 
mies of dogs, as well as of cats, ichneumons, 
ibises, hawks, and other animals, are quite com- 
mon. In Fig. 2 is illustrated one of these dog- 
mummies, recently discovered. It was that of a 
little greyhound about eighteen months old. Lit- 
tle of the body remained but skin and bone, the 
flesh having become reduced to a powder, tt was 
enveloped in a large piece of coarse cloth covered 
with a coating of bitimien. This was covered 
with a network of drieil rushes bound with a long 
cord of twisted grass, 
riie outermost cover- 
ing of the body was 
of fine linen cloth, 
plaited into the pecu- 
liar pattern shown in 
the engraving. The 
head was surmounted 
by a cardboard mask 
painte.l dark brown, 
with the eyes, lips, 
and nostrils left white. 
The mouth was left 
open, exposing the 
teeth, and the eyes were turned towards the upper 
part of the head. Similar animal mummies have 
Fig. 2. 
been found among the remains of the Incas, or 
ancient Peruvians, although there is little possi- 
