THE MUSEUM OF NAPLES. 395 
A race of plumbers died at the destruction of Pompeii, for in the museum is 
a water-cock that has held water ever since. 
There is a great room filled with cases of jewelry in gold, chains, necklaces, 
brooches, bracelets, rings, cameos, intaglios, gems, musical instruments, surgi- 
cal instruments, and weapons. All of them richly wrought in designs, still the 
models of our best workmen. Vases, goblets, spoons, buckles, combs, silver- 
plate of many patterns. 
I must conclude with what is perhaps the most beautiful part of this museum. 
The collection of vases. It is the most extensive and valuable in the world. 
Seven very large rooms are filled with them. The period of their manufacture 
is beheved by the best authorities to have been shortly after the time of Alexander 
the Great. They are made of ordinary pottery and are usually of the shape of 
what we call urns. They vary in size from a common wine-glass to a height of six 
feet. Their great value lies in the historical cartoons with which they are deco- 
rated. From them the classical scholar obtains the illustrations of his study. They 
are done in brilliant colors and show the most vigorous action. The mention of 
a few of the subjects will give an idea of the value they are to modern scholar- 
ship. Perseus releasing Andromeda. Electra and Orestes mourning at the 
tomb of Agamemnon. Condemnation of Marsyas. A Battle between Greeks 
and Amazons. Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne. Hercules pursued by Apollo. 
Bacchanalian Sacrifice. Achilles with the body of Hector. Darius planning the 
Conquest of Greece. Rape of the Golden Fleece. Ajax and Cassandra, Arte- 
mis in a Chariot drawn by Stags. Here we have, vividly illustrated, all important 
matters of ancient Grecian life. Marriages, funerals, battles, races, sacrifices, 
costumes, vehicles. 
From them, and them only, we can illustrate the writings of Homer and 
Virgil. It is impossible to estimate how much has been added to our knowledge 
of antiquity by the articles in this museum. 
From a tripod upon which sacrifices were made we have a chapter of history. 
From the iron stocks, found at the barracks of the gladiators, near which three 
skeletons were found, we have another. We know that the tradesmen advertised, 
for upon a charred loaf of bread, of the same shape now used in country families, 
is the name of the baker plainly stamped. They were gamblers, for here are the 
dice. They drank deeply, for amphorae for holding wine are numerous and ca- 
pacious. For the ladies there are mirrors, combs, perfumes, and even cosmetics. 
There are tools for the mechanic, implements for the farmer. There are locks 
to keep out thieves, bits for horses, hinges for doors, inkstands and styles for 
the scribe. In fact from the innumerable objects we find that these people of 
the first century had about them a vastly higher realization of art, than we of 
America have now. That their temples, their theatres, their parlors, and their 
tombs were most richly decorated ; but that they had no windows, no bed 
chambers, no pleasant, private domesticity. 
Let us examine this collection for a moment, with a view to the changes that 
have taken place since it was hermetically sealed up for us by the kindly ashes of 
