Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-10-03
THosr cLEvER aREFKs.


And for me to do nothing but hopping"
THOSE CLEVER GREEKS.
If ycu turn q book upside down and look
at the letters, every s will seem much small
er at the bottom than at the top, although
when the book is properly held, both
halves appear the same size to the eye.
The upper part of the type that prints
the letters is made smaller than the lower
half to correct the fault of the eye, which
always slightly exaggerates the former
trick of the sight makes the difference seem
| greater than it really is and, of course
were il Of the same width all the way, il
| would still look uneven.
| IL greater matters the false report Of the
eye is greater. Ii q tapering monument
! like that on Bunker Hill or like the
! Obelsk in Central Park, were made with
perfectly straight sides, it would look to us
! -tor, you see, We really can not trust ouI
own eyes-as if ii were followed in lit
lie; or, as we should say in more scientific
| language, its sides would appear concave
! Those clever Greeks, who did so MANY
! marvellous things in art thought all this
| out, and made their architecture upon
| principles so subtle and so comprehensive
! that we have never been able to improve
on them since, They found that Their
beautiful Doric columns, if made with
| straight sides. had the concaye effect oil
which | have spoken; and 80, with the
most delicate art in the world, they made
| the pillar swell little at the middle and
| then it appeared exactly right.
! This swelling OF the column at its middle
was called entasis. Of course it had to be
calculated with the greatest nicely, and was
actually so very slight that it can only be
detected by delicate measurements; but il
added greatly to the beauty of the columns
! and to their effectiveness.
Then the lines which were TO look hort
zontal had to receive attention. If you
look at long, perfectly level line. as the
edge of a roof for instance, it has the APP
pearance OF sagging toward the middle.
The Greek architect corrected this fault by
making his lines rise little. The front OF
the ParthenOn. at Athens, is one hundred
and one feet three and half inches long,
and, in this, the rise from the horizontal is
about two and one-eighth inches. In
other words, there is a curvature upward
/ that makes 1t little more than two inches
higher in the center then al the ends and
the effect of this swelling upward is to
make the lines appear perfectly level. In
deed this same Parthenon-the most beau
tiful building in the world-When deli
cately and carefully measured was found
to be everywhere made little incorrect, SO
| that it may appear right which is certainly
! what may be called an architectural para
| dox. The graceful columns, which seem
/ to stand SO straight, are made to lean in.
ward little, since if they were perfectly
true and plumb, they would have the effect
of leaning outward. The pillars at the cor
ners slant inward more than the others
and everywhere the corners are made &c
! look square by being in truth little
broader angled, and lines are curved in or
| der that they shall appear straight to the
| eye Arlo Bates in st. Nicholas for Octo.
ber
BEFORE PENS.
The ehisel was employed for inscribine
on stone, wood and metal. 1t was so sharp
ened as to suit the material operated on
and was dexterously handled by early art,
| lists. The STYLE 8 sharp-pointed instrument
of metal, ivory or bone, was used for writ
ing on wax tablets. The style was insult
able for holding fluid; hence species OF
reed was employed for writing on parch-
ment. These styles and reeds were care
fully kept in cases, and the writer's had g
sponge, knife and pumice stone, compass
| es for measuring, scissors for cutting a
| puncheon to point out the beginning and
! end of each line, rule to draw and divide
the lines into columns, glass containing
These were the chief implements used for
centuries to register fac,s and events
| Reeds continued to be used until the eighth
century, though quilts were known in the
middle of the seventh. The earliest author
who uses the word "pennan for writing
pen, is Isadorus, who lived in that century;
and toward the end of it Latin sonnet
ITO Pen" was written by an Anglo
Saxon. But though quilts were known at
this period, they came into general use
very slowly; for in 1888 present of bundle
of quilts was sent from Venice by monk
with letter, in which he says: Show this
bundle to Brother Nicolas, that he may
choose a quill" The only other material
| to which we would refer is ink, the compo-
sition and colors of which were various
| The black was made of burnt ivory and the
liquor of the cuttlefish. We are not pre-
pared to say what other ingredients were
used, or how it was manufactured, but
| these ancient manuscripts prove that the
ink was of a superior description. Red
purple, silver and gold inks were also used
The red was made from vermillion and
| carmine, the purple from murex, and the
manufacture of these especially the gold
and silver varieties, was an expensive and
| lucrative business.
AN ILLUMINATED NEST.
| lDt HSSN 10 III 1lStll u Dt<lulilui dill II1H6-
Nous piece of work. The upper portion
as divided into two chambers, one for
Mother Baya while she is setting, and one
for Father Baya when he has earned the
right to rest by having provided his wife
| with food. The lower portion of the nest
is q general living-rooni for the whole fam
| ily as soon as the little ones have grown
strong enough to leave the upper chamber.
Here is home that might well be all that
the most exacting could require, but hav-
! ing provided for creature comfort the baya
| has yet to crafty its sense Of the beautiful.
| The little mother is hardly settled down
when the male bird, having put the finish
| ing touches to the nest, darts forth and re-
| turns with fresh lump of clay, which he
affixes to the inner wall of the nest. Then
! quickly away again to capture one of the
| living sparks of which there are myriads in
| the tropics The FREELY is secured to the
lump of clay, and lights up the little home
with its phosphorescent glow Another
and another are added, until the patient
little mother has light enough to cheer her
during the long dark night After that
| one or more of the animated diamonds are
fastened to the exterior, there to glitter and
fash for the delectation of the outside
world, for the baya is no selfish lover OF
| art He does not lock his treasures up in
his gallery, but is willing to share his en-
joyment with all. And what pleasure he
does give can be easily comprehended by q
slight effort of the imagination, which has
only to picture quaint little hut with
overhanging caves nesting in the gloom
of tangled tropical forest From the
caves gently wave the gayly Illuminated
bird nest lanterns, shedding a soft, happy
home light ON the poor little cottage, which
loses its Indebtedness for the time being
and is transformed into a fairy palace