Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-02-19
prove the use of philosophical instru

l -
ments.
There are some things in art which g
to show the same point. For instance
we are acquainted with the story of AL
exander, and the llliad which he kept il
a box made Of a nutshell. Now tn
Illiad is poem as large as the Old Tes
lament. 1t is impossible to conceive TIN
Old Testimcnt written on a parchment
lroll. And if Alexander had copy o
the llliad which could be put into nut
shell, it could not have been written will
;he naked eye.
A writer of the time of Nero tells u
that the Emperor had ring, through
which he could look into the arena of the
circus and see the sword play of the glad
iators better than with the naked eye
Il this be true, Nero must have had an
opera glass.
At the Egyptian Museum, in New
York, the proprietor will show you a
gold ring, ofthc size of five dollar gold
piece. 1t is three thousand years old,
and is carvcl in lines and figures so mi
mute as to be invisible to the naked eye.
Now il this be so, how did the man make
them without magnifyins glass =
" hen you put these statements side by
side, it seems to ME the ancients knew
the telescope and the magnifying glass.
In color, too, the ancicnts had their
superiority. The Egyptians did not
write their history, but on the stucco
walls Of their temples and tombs they
painted history They painted the tai
| lor at work; the shipyard with the tools
around. and ships in the offing; the scribe
writing books, &c. For history that
postcri,y should read, they needed du-
rable colors, and they got them-they
have not faded, though thousands of years
have gone by. The pictures of Sir josh
ua Reynolds are already faded, though
, but little more than half a century old.
On the houses Of Pompeii, the own
cr's name is painted on the front in large
Hack letters Sir Humphrv Davy en-
deavorcd to analyse this color, but after
months labor, gave up in despair.
We read in the Scriptures that Moses
gave the people to drink gold mixed in
water, and the question arises, how was
] it prepared p? He could not reduce it to
dust fine enough. 1t could not be drank
,,ol,cn NOR held IN solution by acid
Moses was a learned man, but how he
made gold drinkable, it is difficult to an
sver.
There are at Rome quite a lumber of
! rovotian obclisks, and it is said to have
t,lc, wcal,s TO make an ipscription of a
faw words on one Of them. on account of
tbe hardness of tic stone. and to have
sno;1ad ,bc host tools in the operation.
I y ct the majority of the obci:sks are Gov
ero3 with inscrintjons as closely as a
nrinted nae The Fcvptiags did rot
have = knowlc,lee of stecl-but they pos
sessed the art of hardening copper, and
temncrina Il. They made knives OF
bronze which would bend from point to
hit. and spring back. Some OF these
have come down to us.
The art Of making the Damascus blades
is lost. 1t is said they were made by
welding together alternate steel and gold
wires and twisting them in the process.
Their elasticity and keenness arc almost
fabulous. We all remember the scene in
Scots novel, in which Richard divided
thick iron bar with 5low Of his sword.
and Saladin cut in two parts silk scarf
floating in the air, with bis Damascus
blade.
The steel ofHindostan is still the best
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