Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1853-02-25
Ruins OF NIneyeh.

At the recent meeting of the British As
ISOLATION, at Belfast, Sir David Brewster said
he had to bring forward an object of SO in.
credible nature that nothing short of the
strongest evidence was sufficient to render
the statement at all probable. 1t was no less
than the finding in the treasure house at Nj
neyeh of rock crystal lens, where it had for
about twenty-five centuries lain entombed in
the ruins of that once magnificent city, 1t
was found in company with several bronzes
and other objects of value. He had exam
med the lens with the greatest care and tax
en- It's several measurements. 1t was not en-
tlreIy circular in its aperture, being I.6O
inch in It's longer diameter, and LAO inch
IN Its shorter. Its general form was that of
plano-convex lens, the plane side having
been formed of one of the original faces Of
the SIX sided crystal of quartz, as he had as
certalned by its action on polarized light
this was badly polished and scratched. The
convex face of the lens had not been ground
in dish shaped tool in the manner in which
lenses are now formed, but was shaped in a
lapidary's wheel or in some such manner
Hence 1t was unequally thick; but its ex-
IRENE thickness was one-titth of an inch. It's
f"col length being four inches and half
1t had twelve remains Of cavities which had
originally contained liquids or condensed
gases; but ten Of them had been opened
probably in the rough handling which it had
received in the act Of being ground: most of
them therefore had discharged their gaseous
contents. Sir David concluded by assigning
reasons why this could not be looked on as
an ornament but true optical lens. He al
$50 exhibited specimens of the decomposed
glass found in the same ruins, which had
contained manganese, but which had separat-
ed from the slick, and thus caused the partial
decomposition of the glass.
Since the meeting at which the above dis
coverles were announced, letters have been
received in Paris from NJ. Place, the French
Consul at Mosul, which report further exca-
vatlons and successes among the mounds of
Nlneyeh. Among the recent gains from
this rich mine of antiquities, besides large
addition of statues, bas-relefs in marble, pot
terry and articles of Jewelry which throw
light on the customs and habits of the in
habitants of the ancient city, the French ex-
plorers have been able to examine the whole of
the palace of Khorsabad and its dependencies.
In so doing they are said to have eludcidat-
ed some doubtful points and obtained proof
that the Assyrians were not ignorant of any
of the resources of architecture. NJ. Place
has discovered large gate, twelve feet high
which appears to have been one Of entrances
to the city, several constructions in marble;
two rows of columns, apparently extending a
| considerable distance; and the cellar of the
palace, which still contains regular rows of
jars, which probably have been filled with
wine, as at the bottom of these is still de-
posite of violet color. The operations
have not been confined to the immediate vi
cinity of Khorsabad, but have been made at
several places within ten leagues thereof on
the left bank of the Tigris. Monuments,
tombs, jewelry, and some articles in gold and
other metals and in stone have beeen found.
Dzizran, there is a monument which consist
Of a number of colossal figures and of Sc
ries of full length portraits of the Kings of
Assyria-of all which discoveries photogra-
phic copies have been taken Boston Tra-
Weller.