642 HOME AND HOUSEHOLD. 



where they can, in time, collect many curiosities, which will be 

 an unfailing source of entertainment. Whatever retrenchment 

 is necessary, make it an infallible rule to add a few good books 

 to the home each year, for it is a wise economy. An early 

 cultivation and love of good reading have saved many a boy 

 from the enticing snares of the saloon, many a girl from a light, 

 frivolous life. 



Through the medium of books, vast chasms of ages may be 

 spanned, and an acquaintance becomes possible with the mighty 

 intellects who lived, moved, and had their being when the world 

 was young. Socrates, Plato, Demosthenes, Solon and his wis- 

 dom, Pericles arid the brilliancy of his age, may all be ours, even 

 though that wondrous thing, the spirit, has vanished like the 

 morning dew. 



BEDROOMS. 



"Blessings," said Sancho, "on the man who first invented 

 sleep. It wraps a man all about like a blanket." 



In this day of books upon anatomy, physiology, and hygiene, 

 it is unnecessary to repeat to the intelligent reader the trite 

 saying, " Bedrooms should have plenty of fresh air and sun- 

 shine." Even the Greeks and Romans were conversant with 

 this truth ; and although we know but little of their sleeping- 

 apartments, in their devotion to physical beauty they under- 

 stood that pure air was an important agent, and it was the 

 groundwork upon which they built the models which are still 

 a source of admiration and delight. The Egyptians slept on 

 their day-couches, which were long and straight, made of bronze, 

 gold, and ivory, and inlaid wood, richly cushioned. When 

 these were not used, mats took their place, or a low couch 

 made of palm boughs, and a wooden pillow with a hollowed-out 

 place for the head to lie in. The Greeks and Romans borrowed 

 their ideas from the Egyptians, and we have slight knowledge 

 of their manner of sleeping. Among Roman remains have 

 been found beds that were mere slabs of stone, with a hollowed- 

 out place for a pillow. 



During barbaric life in western and middle Europe, all former 

 convenience and elegance perished ; and it was an advance in 

 civilization when benches became beds, and when people began 



