Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1904-12-16
:HlLD LIFE AMONG ROMANS.
h,sty Education. Toys and Amusemeuts-
Duties of PArents-

niou fduchtion Toys anu Amosemoo1@
Duties of Parents-
A lecture delivered by DIR. Tracy
Peck, professor of Latin literature
and the Latin language in the uni
versity extension course, was AS in.
teresting as fairy tale. To be child
less, the last of ones line, he said,
was considered calamity by the
Romans, but after the hrstborn the
action of the father soon after birth
told whether he accepted his obliga-
ton as the parent and intended TO do
for il all that was possible, or wheth-
er it was TO be exposed BE of the
"expositg " Sometimes, though it
was the viii of the father that the
child should be cast out, the tender
ness of the mother provided means
for the recognition In after years.
Children became articles of merchan-
disc, and sometimes were MANNED to
increase their value as mendicants,
a practice not yet extinct in Italy.
The recognition by the father was
on the ninth day for boys and eighth
day for girls, when the child was
sprinkled with water. incense was
burned and a sacrifice was offered
on the family alter. Other cere-
monials were rubbing the child s
fingers with saliva and presenting to
it the "bulla, or amulet, against
the influence of the evil eye, and
which the boy wore until he put on
the robe of manhood and the girl
until she was married Then, too,
the child received its name.
This naming was a very simple
matter as the girls name was her
father middle name, with the
"ius" changed 10 ia, - while for the
boy the whole list to choose from
numbered only 81 at most. The
name was made up Of, first, the in
dividual name, then the name of the
family, and, third, the branch Of the
family Where there was more than
one daughter, to the individuals
were given nicknames referring 10
some individuality. Thus Clara, she
who is heard often, and Lucy, mean.
ing she was born in the morning.
Besides this "bulla" and the saliva
charm, there were many others used
through life. Thus. one affected with
cramps had only, on an empty stom-
aoh, 10 stamp on the ground three
times nine times-that is, % times
each time repeating this. jingle,
and be would be cured, Terra pes
tenn teneto. salus hoo maneto
The games and toys were many
The girls had baby houses, flowers,
and parrots aud magpios educated in
Greek and Latin. The boys had tops,
and the girls helped to spin them,
and for marbles they had hickory
nuts There was also the game Of
morro that Italian boys still play in
our streets They also played ball,
but there j, no evidence that they
used tho bat.
The girl kept her doll until she
was married and then offered it to
Venus. In a marble sarcophagus
lately opened were tho bones of a
girl At her side lay her doll, made
of finely grained lakewood, showing
she was unmarried But in tho rings
that had dropped from her fingers
was one with clasped hands and tie
inscription which told she was en-
gagged, and there was trace on the
skull of the myrtle wreath sacred to
Venus, and on her bones were shreds
Of fine liz en-, showing she was about
20 be married and had been buried
in the wedding garments, eloquent
Indications that have come down &c
US through IL centuries.
For the first seven years the chill
dreu wcro in the mothers care.
During this ago they We're taught 10
have regard for physical health, rev.
crcnca for the gods, respect for the
law, obedience TO authority, to have
confidence in themselves and i'm
Rome as ruler Of the world Tho
formal education was carried on at
homo under tho supervision of the
mother. The instructors in tho fan .
ilios were Crooks, and tho instruc-
ton was limited 10 tho three RS
The teachers were in the three grades
of primary or prlmmatista, or lit
terator. secondary or grammaticus
or litteratus. and third or highest,
rhetor Philadelphia Ledger.
New steamship to Cuba