CHAPTER LVIII. 



SCIENTIFIC OBJECTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. 



AT the beginning of the seventeenth century there was at Lyons a very 

 remarkable mansion built by a man named Nicholas Grollier de Serviere. 

 This house was filled with all the most remarkable curiosities and inventions 



Fig. 874. Reading wheel desk. 



of the period. The owner belonged to an ancient family. His great-uncle, 

 Jean Grollier, had amassed a magnificent library, the best in France. His 

 father was also a celebrated adherent of Henry IV., and M. Serviere himself 



