153 
engraved on ivory, and almoft decom- 
pofed ; 9. A young Cupid, alfo of 
ivory, tolerably well preferved. The fame 
tomb concealed a number of different re- 
liques compofed of refinous fubftances. 
Time appears to have refpefted them :— 
1.A lionefs, holding underher paws a-dog, 
whofe fkull fhe is devouring ; 2. Another 
Sculpture reprefenting a car drawn by an 
old buck ; a little Cupid, mounted on his 
back, makes him the fignal to go on, and 
menaces him witha whip which he holds 
in his hand: on the fore-part cf the car 
appears a young woman feated, and with- 
out cloathing; onthe hind part fits an aged 
man, cloathed with along robe: this piece 
‘is full of expreffion ; 3. A filver cup, 
the bottom part of which is oxydated ; as 
likewife fome rings and metal wands, 
with réefinous perfumes ftrung together. 
The defcription of thefe different odjeéts 
cannot fail to intereft the literati and the 
artifis. Citizen Biencourt has been anxi- 
ous to impart itto them. Both have tef- 
tified their acknowledgments to him, by 
the means of Citizen Du’ Theil. ; 
A memoir of Citizen GiBELIN was 
then read, on the kind of pavements call- 
ed by the ancients /ithofrata, and moafaic 
by the moderns. This is the work of an: 
affociate member, who has been long en- 
gaged in the ftudy of antient monuments. 
After fome reflections on the perfection of 
tafte, which, among modern nations, pre- 
fides. in the decoration of the commoneft 
buildings ; after confidering the richnefs, 
the induftry, the variety of labour which 
conjoins the pure or varnifhed brick and 
marbles of every kind, to attract our eyes, 
by prefenting them in regular or grotefque 
forms ; and laftly, after having contem- 
plated the ingenious artifice ef our inlaid 
floorings, and the extreme fumptuoufnefs 
of that carpet on which we itep in our pa- 
laces with a fort of refpeét; the author en- 
‘deavours to prove that there exifts in this 
kind, a more noble {pecies of magnificence, 
almoft unknown to our artifts, although 
chance has often led us to an acquaintance 
withit. He fpeaks of thofe pavements of 
mofaic, the ufe of which was intro- 
duced at Rome towards the latter end of 
the Republic. There is fcarcely any of 
thofe countries formerly fubjeéted to the 
dominion of the Romans, where there have 
not been difcovered more or lefs intereft- 
ing remains of mofaic-work. The foil 
of France conceals a number of them yet 
untouched, which one day perhaps will 
ferve to complete that exfemble which we 
are never weary of admiring in the halls 
Proceedings of Learned Societies: 
[Sept 1 
of the Central Mufeum, if the beneficent 
{pirit which has re-animated the arts, con- 
tinues to beftow on them the fame zeal 
and the fame encouragements. 
Citizen MonGEz, always employed in 
refearches on the coftume of the antients, 
is endeavouring to diftinguith and defcribe 
the different fubftances which they made 
ufe of for their apparel, their armour, 
&c. Particular reafons have induced him 
to detach from his worka difcuffion re- 
lating to the ufe which the ancients made 
of hemp. Hefiod and Homer make no 
mention of this vegetable ; Herodotus 
fays that it refembles flax, and that it only 
differs from it in bulk and height. The 
appearance, however, of thefe two vege- 
tables is {0 ftrikingly different, that the 
Father of Hiftory muft have never feen 
hemp, to fpeak of it with fo little accu- 
racy. Helikewife informs us, that: the 
Thracians drew hemp from thenorthert. , 
countries of Europe, and that they made 
webs of it for their garments. Arifto- 
phanes {peaks of a merchant vending tow, 
and we know that the Greeks made ufe of 
hemp for the cordsge and caulking of 
veffels. But they did nor then cultivate 
it ; for Theophraftus takes no notice of 
this vegetable, and Hiero procured the 
tow of it from the northern countries of 
Europe, that isto fay, from the banks of 
the Rhodaunus, which empties itfelf into 
the Viftula, and which has been mifcalled 
Eridanus. It is from Livonia and Rufha 
that Europe fupplies itfelf with hemp. It 
is very probable that the Greeks only 
began to cultivate. it towards the com- 
mencement of the vulgar zra. 
The Romans, as well as the Greeks, 
made ule of it for cordage and caulking 3 
but it does not appear that either the one 
or the other fabricated cloth of it, if we 
may judge from the Greek and Latin wri- 
ters, whofe works have come down to us. 
Citizen Mongez has been obliged to de 
{cend from Herodotus (in his paffage re~ 
lative to the Thracians) as far as to the 
r2th century, to find a text which makes 
mention of a web or weft of hemp. It 
is, moreover, in a northern country (ir 
England) that he has met with it. ~ 
In the 13th, and following centu- 
ries, hempen cloth became comiron im 
Middle and Southern Europe. ‘There can 
be no doubt that the torn remains of 
thefe cloths, employed with thofe of linen- 
cloth, to make paper of rags, then intro- 
duced into Europe, have contributed to the 
prefervation of ancient authors, whofe 
works it became a practice to efface, in 
ule es. order 
