Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-01-25
IMAGES OF DEATH
L visit 10 POnhpeii.
From the London Telegraph. J

Who that has an object before him ever
grows tired in Pompeii As I have said,
the aspect of the local museum is smart.
1t glistens, it CLEANS with its polished
oaken fittings and glass cases. The pots
and pans, the fishhooks and stirrups, the
calcined loaves and fruits and nuts that
have almost, but not quite, brought me
face to face with the people of A. d. 70
are from carbonization black, but they are
comely. The whole room looks bright
and cheerful, yet on every side are there
mementoes of DEATH sudden, violent, and
terrible Ranged round the walls are
skeletons of men, women, infants, horses,
mules, dogs, cats, and poultry, all dug
from the ruins Stay, the little sucking
pig yonder, that was found in the bakers
oven, escaped violent end He had
been mercifully stuck to death before
they scored and trussed him for the bake
house. His tender cracking, the gristle
of his snout, his ears and eyes have long
since been resolved into dust aud ashes,
but the osseous structure Of the tiny crea-
ture is yet perfect, even to the bones of
the pettitoes and the vertebra of the once
curly tail. Plum sauce and not pumice
stone should have crowned the funeral
pyre of that little pig. How brown and
shiny he must have been growing, how
nice he must have smelt, when the black
rain of ashes came down upon him and
covered him up for eighteen centuries.
But the middle Of the museum what is
there in the midst Of the museum? Sud-
den, violent and dreadful death, the aspect
Of which is almost supernaturally revealed
to us, but which bears no appalling look
| boya rara1y l,op,vp oivilinp who
ing once been over 4 field of cattle. say
three days after the slaughter, exhibited
the slightest desire to make Il second time
that journey full of horrors. Yet there is
nothing shocking, and scarcely anything,
appearance of the images of death ranged
trnte figure of the man who, from the
aquiline outline of his countenance, is
known rs the Roman, and who is girt with
money-belt. His death must have been
from asphyxiation. His head reposes on
countenance is one Of deeply thoughtful
are closed, but rather profound medita-
eleven or twelve summers, who has tulnbl-
there in moment. Aud the r0gazza, fhe
or, seventeen her face turned little on
one side, SO that you can see her sweet in
nocent features, and her hair fixed in girl
ish coquetry. These images of sudden
and violent death are all nude but when
they were stricken down by death they
wore the garments of their time and rank
1apt in1, had ~, L.,
ed and made to vanish in n moment. But
the aqua Gahante, the boiling vapor per-
meating the pumice, the scorim and the
ashes formed round each body fine paste,
which received the imprint of the corpse
which 1t surrounded This paste after
some days dried, and became a sharply
defined mould, and then came the eight.
cen centuries of entombment. The bod
les decayed, the bones fell away from lig-
aments which turned to dust, but the
sharp mould remained. retaining every
detail of the external form of what had
once beer human. And one day Caya,
liere Fiorelli, experimenting the proofs
of the "scavi, was told by one of his
workmen that with his pickaxc he had
struck into Il cavity apparently of con,
siderable dimensions. The cavity was
sounded, and by and by some vestiges Of
mortality--a vertebra. ii bone of tarsui
or metGcGrpus was brought to the sur
face, 1t istantly occurred to the astutC
mind Of Cavaliere Fiorelli that humm
body had once filled that cavity, and thai
the long-since indurated mass OF pumic,
and ashes had formed mould whicl
should present IN exact imprint of his dis
integrated corpse. Liquid plaster o
Paris was brought aud poured through
the aperture of the cavity. TIE plnste
was allowed to harden, and then the sur
rounding mould was gently removed, an,
these astonishing transcripts of life sud
denly turned into death were revealed
In only one Of these bodies. strangel,
resuscitated-if the paradox can be par
doned-by means of a bucketful Of llque
. fed plaster of Paris, are any sigus of aeut
= physical suffering visible. There isn re
J. production Of the body Of dog which
with collar round its neck, was fouu,
by the side Of the vestibule of patrici
q ans house. The poor dog has died hard
= it has rolled over in its agony and lies o.
S its back, its mouth open, its limbs vic
$ lently contorted The stretched out fore
! paws are crossed almost in an attitude G
It supplication and the whole frame
e twisted and wrenched in Il manner SUI
n gestive OF fearful pain having been sufiel
o cd ere the relief Of death came.