i8 
when touched. Much depends on the atmosphereof thepirticular 
tomb in which found. 
These parts of the country had evidently been of great im- 
portance in pre-Christian times. 
Carmel was no doubt a kind of holy place for sepulture. A 
few of the specimens in the case are from Paphos in Cyprus, and 
exhibit a particularly iridescent effect of colour. 
The central bottle, 8-|-ins. qigh, is from Tyre, and is, indeed, most 
brilliant and lovely in its hues. The top central vase is of brown 
gold with green handles. A very unique specimen is the doublo 
eye unguent glass, bound with glass thread, and having six 
handles. Note also the bronze spoon and stylus. The various 
forms are well brought out in the photograph of the case. 
The collection comprises vessels for containing oils, perfumes, 
tear bottles, &c. These glass objects must have been of great 
value at the time of their manufacture ; and no doubt have 
therefore been placed in the tombs of leading members 
of the communities, great merchants, chieftains and their 
families. Before burial the same articles most likely orna- 
mented the palaces of such persons. The glass is as well-made 
as it would be to-day, and yet it is, of its kind, probably as old as 
any known specimens. The kind of paste glass sometimes found 
in Phoenicia is perhaps the only older kind of glass existent. 
The invention of glass, as related by Pliny, was purely accidental. 
The legend is worth repeating here, on account of the fact that 
some of the specimens were secured from the identical locality 
where the making of this substance is said to have originated. 
“ Some Phoenician merchants, returning from Eygpt with a cargo 
of natron or soda, halted for a meal on the sandy beach under Mount 
Carmel, and lit a fire. While cooking, they rested their pots on 
blocks of natron ; and the glass was produced in consequence of 
the heat of the fires causing the alkali to form a flux for the 
siliceous sand.” There is some doubt about the truth of this 
story, as it requires a very great heat indeed to fuse the materials 
necessary for the production of glass. Sidon (not far from Carmel) 
was the great centre of the Phoenician glass making industry. 
THE BURMESE GROUP. 
The Burmese party, which visited the Museum on June the 
28th, were photographed (as already stated) in a group in front 
of the entrance to Surrey Mount. 
For an account of the visit see page 7. In the centre of the 
group of native ladies Mr. Horniman is seated ; and behind them 
stand the two Brahmins, Moung Neware and Moung Gyee: The 
other foreigner is a Singhalese. The rest of the group include 
