The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-12-04
EMPORIA NEWS.
FRIDAY. DECEMBER 4. 1874.
FOREIGN TRAVEL.
The EsrIGIsI. NJ useuuua
LoyDoN. Ociober ala, Is7l


the different departments of thC
British Museum. This Is place
where the beautiful and the uesfu
are ass Ociated with remarkable taste
and where nature and art have been
made To contribute to the grand dis.
play. There are fields of specimens
of the handiwork of the people
Of The various historic peri
ods, aud many Cf these have
been broush: to light in the old cit
les OF ancient renown through the
patronage of societies and associa-
lions. ~ well as by the special care
OF individuals. Ancient NincVah
has produced and furnished these
halls with large group of ancient
forms, mostly Ia stone, which would
rival the widest conceptions, and
which never existed as living forms
bat ia the Imagination OF the pro-
duccrs. These are Vissgcs of men
an! animals, and combinations of
the forms of both, which must have
been produced by the expenditure
of great labor with the chisei, and
s"nic of them are of mammoth pro-
portions. The Museum and the pub
lie are chic tly Indebted 10 Mr.. Ley
ard for the restoration of these
specimens, and especially those
which came from Ninevah.
The Elgin aud Phigalian marbles,
aud the Ninevah and Lycian sculp-
tors furnish group of such magni-
tude as to require much time in or
der To obtain an intelligent view OF
'heir extent and value. Greece and
Rome have contributed their fair
proportion, and among them are
some tasteful specimens which were
used in connection with the sepul-
cher and as mementoes of their
dead. But in this department the
most abundant and varied speci-
mems were derived from the pro-
auctions of ancient Egypt. There
10 large collection of Mummies,
and the linen has been renewed
from some of them to such extent
IA tn exhibit the skill that was prac-
iiced In the process of winding the
body with the larg am cunt Of cloth
which was soaked in some bitumin-
Gus substance or preservative ma
terial that was peculiar to the times
and the country which produced
them.
Old England, or England of old
en- times, has furnished larger
number of nIementoas OF the earlier
centuries than would be likely to be
expected by those who are not well
Informed in these matters, or than
expected to find ia this Museum or
clsew here. There arc many articles
at domestic or household use of old
en- times, including those OF the
most common pottery and of the
more fine materials. Some OF these
have fanciful forms upon them both
in re lcivo and in cOlors " it'll paint
The collections ia natural history
consist of stuffed birds, skeletons
of birds aud of an imals, birds eggs,
some OF which are much larger siZe
than any we are accustomed To see,
and shells OF the lower forms at an
imal life, aud OF Fossils. These are
SD systematically arranged, many OF
them being in glass cases, that the
oh server or the more careful stu
d;nt of natural history, may walk
through the halls with a proper
guide book of the Museum IN his
band, and successfully CLEAN what
ever relates To their history aud
their place in the classified scale,
without seeking any inform nion
from the attendants. IL will not be
proper for me tn neg lect to mention
one of the valuable contributions to
this department, which came from
the United States. The skeleton Of
Mastodon, II few of the defective
parts of which have been restored
by casts, is labelled, skeleton of
American Mastodon from barton
County, Missouri, u. >. A"
a room is appropriated to the
display OF u curious and valuable
collection of manuscripts anu auto
graphs, and some printed books,
which were produced in the earliest
period OF the art Of printing. This
collection il chiefly interesting as
showing The progress of the art
from the time of its Introduction.
Some of the types whic were then
used would not be regarded as Pc
culiarly desirable for use by the
publisher of THE News 1t would
undoubtedly be interesting to Il
portion OF your readers to have a
tull letter devoted to description
of the articles. in this room, but a
larger portion may regard this let
ter sufficiently long.
The collections of paintings have
been considerably diminished by
the removal of many of them TO the
museums AT Kcnsington and Beth
mel Green. These places are well
worthy OF II visit, aud would be re-
garded AS very large collections
were they not SD much overshadow-
eel by the larger collections at the
British Museum. There are well
patroniZed schools for artists at
Kensington aud BethneI Green.
a grand feature of the British
Museum is its reading room and III
brary, first used seventeen years
ago. The reading room is circle
one hundred aud forty feet in diam
eier, and one hundred and six fee
high, aud is surrounded by the 9th
ar buildings of the establishment il
such a way as TO be mostly hiddeI
from exterior view. There ar
three ranges of books upon tn
walls of this room, each of which
about nine feet high, and the tw
upper ones are accommodated b
galleries, which form complet
circular walk around the room. I'll
walls to this height are completed
occupied by hooks, except wher
they are occupied by door
The books in this room are thoI
which are set apart for reference, an
constitutes but a part of the who
library of more than eight hundre
thousand volumes. The room is {
con instructed that no interior SUI
ports were required. This ROOF