3'6 AXXALS OF THE ROAD. 



IcrTopiai OavfjLao-LOLL, or 'Wonderful Histories.' The wicks 

 which were used in these lamps, he gives us to under- 

 stand upon the authority of another, were made of 

 threads drawn from a soft stone} and that there was no 

 end to their burning. This stone was found in quarries 

 in Cyprus and other places ; and why these quarries 

 ceased to yield it, w r e learn from Plutarch almost puzzled 

 the Oracles to say. Garments, it seems, made from 

 threads spun from this stone, instead of being washed, 

 were purified by fire. 



The wicks of our lamps are now made with cotton, 

 but flax was the article first used, and we find it spoken 

 of by the Prophet Isaiah. When predicting the tender- 

 ness of our Saviour's administration, he beautifully illus- 

 trates it by the well-known proverb : — ' The bruised reed 

 he shall not brenk, and the smoking flax he shall not 

 quench : ' — alluding, no doubt, to the light of a lamp 

 which, when first kindled, is soon put out. What was 

 done in those times, however, is of little practical use to 

 us in these matters ; but I hope to see some improve- 

 ment made in our road-lamps, as there has been in those 

 used in streets and rooms. Portable gas, it is said, is 

 about to be tried for the purpose. 



Roads. — Although it appears to have been a capital 

 object of Roman policy to open a communication with 

 all the provinces of their extensive empire, by means 

 of those roads which are justly considered among the 

 noblest monuments of their wisdom and their power, 



' Asbestos, no doubt. — Ed. 



