ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN BROOCH.
The characteristic and beautiful ornament, usually designated the shell-shaped brooch, and equally familiar to Danish and British antiquaries, belongs to the Scoto-Scandinavian Period. In Scotland many beautiful examples have been found, several of which are preserved in the Museum of Scottish Antiquaries. From these we select the one represented in the annexed engraving, as surpassing in beauty of design and intricacy of ornament any other example of which we are aware. It consists, as usual, of a convex plate of metal, with an ornamental border, surmounted by another convex plate of greater depth, highly ornamented with embossed and perforated designs, the effect of which appears to have been further heightened by the lower plate being gilded so as to show through the open work. In this example the gilding still remains tolerably perfect. On the under side are the projecting plates, still retaining a fragment of the corroded iron pin, where it has turned on a hinge, and at the opposite end the bronze catch into which it clasped. The under side of the brooch appears to have been lined with coarse linen, the texture of which is still clearly defined of the coating of verd antique with which it is now covered. But its peculiar features consist of an elevated central ornament resembling a crown, and four intricately-chased projections terminating in horses' heads. It was found in September, 1786, along with another brooch of the same kind, lying beside a skeleton, under a flat stone, very near the surface, above the ruins of a Pictish house or burgh, in Caithness. It measures nearly four and a half inches in length, by three inches in breadth, and two and two-fifth inches in height to the top of the crown. Like many others of the same type, it appears to have been jewelled. In several examples of these brooches which we have compared, the lower convex plates so nearly resemble each other, as to suggest the probability of their having been cast in the same mould, while the upper plates entirely differ.
STREET CRIES OF MODERN EGYPT.
The cries of the street hawkers in Egypt at the present day are very singular, and well deserve a place in our repertory of curiosities. The seller of tir'mis (or lupins) often cries "Aid! O Imba'bee! aid!" This is understood in two senses: as an invocation for aid to the sheykh El-Imba'bee, a celebrated Moos'lim saint, buried at the Imba'beh, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Cairo; in the neighbourhood of which village the best tir'mis is grown; and also as implying that it is through the aid of the saint above mentioned that the tir'mis of Imba'beh is so excellent. The seller of this vegetable also cries, "The tir'mis of Imba'beh surpasses the almond!" Another cry of the seller of tir'mis is, "O how sweet are the little children of the river!" This last cry, which is seldom heard but in the country towns and villages of Egypt, alludes to the manner in which the tir'mis is prepared for food. To deprive it of its natural bitterness, it is soaked, for two or three days, in a vessel full of water; then boiled, and, after this, sewed up in a basket of palm-leaves (called furd), and thrown into the Nile, where it is left to soak again, two or three days; after which, it is dried, and eaten cold, with a little salt. The seller of sour limes cries, "God make them light [or easy of sale]! O limes!" The toasted pips of a kind of melon called 'abdalla'wee, and of the water-melon, are often announced by the cry of "O consoler of the embarrassed! O pips!" though more commonly, by the simple cry of "Roasted pips!" A curious cry of the seller of a kind of sweetmeat (hhala'wee), composed of treacle fried with some other ingredients, is, "For a nail! O sweetmeat!" He is said to be half a thief: children and servants often steal implements of iron, &c., from the house in which they live, and give them to him in exchange for his sweetmeat. The hawker of oranges cries, "Honey! O oranges! Honey!" and similar cries are used by the sellers of other fruits and vegetables; so that it is sometimes impossible to guess what the person announces for sale; as, when we hear the cry of "Sycamore-figs! O grapes!" excepting by the rule that what is for sale is the least excellent of the fruits, &c., mentioned; as sycamore-figs are not so good as grapes. A very singular cry is used by the seller of roses: "The rose was a thorn: from the sweat of the Prophet it opened [its flowers]." This alludes to a miracle related of the Prophet. The fragrant flowers of the hhen'na-tree (or Egyptian privet) are carried about for sale, and the seller cries, "Odours of paradise! O flowers of the hhen'na!" A kind of cotton cloth, made by machinery which is put in motion by a bull, is announced by the cry of "The work of the bull! O maidens!"
THE BLACK PESTILENCE.
The black pestilence of the fourteenth century caused the most terrific ravages in England. It has been supposed to have borne some resemblance to the cholera, but that is not the case; it derived its name from the dark, livid colour of the spots and boils that broke out upon the patient's body. Like the cholera, the fatal disease appeared to have followed a regular route in its destructive progress; but it did not, like the cholera, advance westward, although, like that fearful visitation, it appears to have originated in Asia.
The black pestilence descended along the Caucasus to the shores of the Mediterranean, and, instead of entering Europe through Russia, first appeared over the south, and, after devastating the rest of Europe, penetrated into that country. It followed the caravans, which came from China across Central Asia, until it reached the shores of the Black Sea; thence it was conveyed by ships to Constantinople, the centre of commercial intercourse between Asia, Europe, and Africa. In 1347 it reached Sicily and some of the maritime cities of Italy and Marseilles. During the following year it spread over the northern part of Italy, France, Germany, and England. The northern kingdoms of Europe were invaded by it in 1349, and finally Russia in 1351—four years after it had appeared in Constantinople.
The following estimate of deaths was considered far below the actual number of victims:—