EASTERN SNUFF-BOXES. 



291 



a little spoon or shovel; after the fashion of those 

 adopted among ourselves for cayenne-pepper bottles. 

 With this they take out the pungent dust, and place it 

 upon the back of the left hand, which is closed ; and a 

 receptacle formed at the root of the forefinger and 

 thumb, from which it is drawn up the nose. This 

 plan is sometimes adopted by the Scotch. 



A Moorish snuff-box from Mogador is here engraved; 

 it is formed from a hollow bamboo, each 

 end being secured by a plug of cork, 

 capable of removal at the pleasure of the 

 snuff-taker. The surface of the reed 

 is decorated with incised lines cut with a 

 sharp tool ; and filled with red and blue 

 colour. It is a cheap, convenient, and 

 portable thing. 



European boxes present an enormous 

 variety of design; it is not possible here to 

 name a tythe of them. The luxurious 

 boxes of gold and silver, patronised by the 

 rich, or the diamond-studded boxes which 

 Eoyalty presents as "memorials" to favoured statesmen,, 

 are examples of what art and taste, united to wealth, 

 may do for so apparently simple a thing as a receptacle 

 for snuff. The plain wooden box of slight value, 

 which only accommodates the necessary wants of the 

 snuff-taker, may thus by a series of substitutes and 

 additions, the invention of goldsmith, jeweller, and 

 painter, become the most costly article a nobleman can 

 carry. 



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