Still, though the Romans had not advanced so far in art as to apply glass chimneys and hollow circular wicks to their lamps, they had experienced the inconvenience of going home at night through a city ill paved, ill watched, and ill lighted, and accordingly soon invented lanterns to meet the want. These, we learn from Martial, who has several epigrams upon this subject, were made of horn or bladder: no mention, we believe, occurs of glass being thus employed. The rich were, Preceded by a slave bearing their lantern. This Cicero mentions as being the habit of Catiline upon his midnight expeditions; and when M. Antony was accused of a disgraceful intrigue, his lantern-bearer was tortured to extort a confession whither he had conducted his master. One of these machines, of considerable ingenuity and beauty of workmanship, was found in Herculaneum in 1760, and another, almost exactly the same, at Pompeii, a few years after.

Elevation of a Bronze Lantern.

We give a drawing and a section of the former to explain its construction. In form it is cylindrical, with a hemispherical top, and it is made of sheet-copper, except the two main pieces, X, M, which are cast. The bottom consists of a flat, circular copper plate, supported by three balls, and turned up all round the rim (b, b, in the section), from which rise the rectangular supports, M, M, which support the upper part of the frame, N.

Section of a Bronze Lantern.

The top and bottom were further connected by the interior uprights P, P, between which and M, M the laminae of horn or glass were placed, and secured at the top and bottom by the doublings of the copper. Horn was the most common substance used to transmit the Eight, but bladder and other membranes were also employed. In the centre of the lantern is seen the small lamp. The cover is hemispherical, and lifts up and down : it is pierced with holes for the admission of air, and has besides the characters pricked upon it. These have been interpreted, Tiburti Cati Sum, or Tiburti Cati S. (ervus), indicating, the one that it belonged to Catus, or that it was to be carried by his slave.

A. Base. b, b. Rim of the base turned up. c, c. Interior rim, forming, with the exterior one, b, b, a channel, d, d, to receive the glass or horn side. e. Knob which fitted into a hole, g, in the bottom of the lamp, to keep it steady. F. Lamp. h, h. Oil receiver. i. Moveable cover sloping inwards, and pierced in the centre to receive the wick. 1. Tube to hold the wick, with a vertical slit to admit the oil. M, M. Supports. N. Band round the top of the lantern : it consists of a copper plate with two edges doubled down, so as to form a cavity, o, o, to receive the upper edge of the glass or horn. P, P. Interior supports, connected with M, M, by pins, 4, 4, 4, 4, shown in the separate view of M. q. Space for the born sides. r, r. Pieces of metal of uncertain use. S. Cover. t, t, t. Holes to let off the smoke. U. Handle. X. Another handle attached to a vertical rod which passes through U, and lifts by the cover, which receives the uprights, M, M, into two botches, and is thus kept steady. 3. View of the upright, M 5. Extinguisher, which is a hemisphere soldered on a narrow curved tube.

One of the most elegant articles of furniture in ancient use was the candelabrum, by which we mean those tall and slender stands which served to support a lamp, but were independent of, and unconnected with it. These, in their original and simple form, were probably mere reeds or straight sticks, fixed upon a foot by peasants to raise their light to a convenient height; at least such a theory of their origin is agreeable to what we are told. of the rustic manners of the early Romans, and it is in some degree countenanced by the fashion in which many of the ancient candelabra are made. Sometimes the stem is represented as throwing out buds; sometimes it is a stick, the side branches of which have been roughly lopped, leaving projections where they grew; sometimes it is in the likeness of a reed or cane, the stalk being divided into joints. Most of those which have been found in the buried cities are of bronze, some few of iron. In their general plan and appearance there is a great resemblance, though the details of the ornaments admit of infinite variety. All stand on three feet, usually griffins' or lions' claws, which support a light shaft, plain or fluted according to the fancy of the maker. The whole supports either a plinth large enough for a lamp to stand on, or a socket to receive a wax candle, which the Romans used sometimes instead of oil in lighting their rooms. Some of them have a sliding shaft, like that of a music stand, by which the light might be raised or lowered at pleasure. Of the two candelabra which fill page 541, One is of the simplest form; the other deserves notice on account of the ingenious construction by which it can be taken to pieces for the convenience of transport. The base is formed of three goat's legs, each having a ring at the end and a ring on each side. The centre piece is attached to the side pieces by rivets, 3, 4, round which these rings are allowed to turn, so that they lie either parallel when the candelabrum is taken to pieces, or may be made to stand at equal distances in the circumference of a circle, in which case the two exterior rings lap over each other, and are united by a moveable pin.