182 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 
ago, and they called it Iciodorum. They found it 
again in the year 287, when they came up to convert 
the Gauls to Christianity, — a thing which they had 
neglected to do upon their first visit. The Romans 
.brought with them a pious monk, Saint Austre- 
moine by name; and the people of Iciodorum cap- 
tured him, and he was duly roasted in accordance 
with their heathenish customs. So, as the blood of 
the martyrs is the seed of the Church, Issoire came 
in time to be famous as having the largest church 
and the best parish schools in the whole region of 
Auvergne. 
Issoire has a long, long history, which is duly 
set forth in Joanne’s “ Guide-Book.” Its story is 
one of castles and robbers and chivalry, with here 
and there a fair dame and an ancestral ghost, per- 
haps, but of this I am not socertain. Once Issoire 
fell into the hands of the famous knight Pierre 
Diablenoir, the Duke of Alengon. After plunder- 
ing all the shops, burning the houses, killing most 
of the people, and scaring the rest off into the 
woods, he set up in the public square a large col- 
umn bearing this simple legend, “Ici fut Issoire!” 
(“ Here was Issoire.”) Were it not for this touching 
forethought, we might be to this day as ignorant of 
Issoire’s location as we are of the site of Troy. 
But the years went on, the wars were ended, the 
rain fell, the birds sang, the grass grew, the people 
came back, and Issoire arose from its ashes. To- 
day it is as dull and cosy a town as you will find in 
all France. It has now, according to Joanne, a 
population of 6,303 souls, and a considerable trade 
in grain, shoes, millstones, brandy, and vinegar. 
