igures standing
upon concentric balls; antique Persian sets in cream-coloured ivory
decorated in colours and gold, kings and queens on elephants, knights on
horses, and bishops on camels; Burmese sets with royal personages seated
on chairs of state; and some very remarkable English porcelain, Wedgwood
ware, and Minton pottery sets.

Several finds of Scandinavian chessmen, made, probably, in the twelfth
century, have been made in the island of Lewis. From these and other
sets met with in other places much has been learned about the evolution
in the game.

The queen does not appear to have been introduced into the game until
the eleventh century. The castle has undergone many changes; its older
name of "rook" was derived from the Persian word _rokh_, a hero. No
doubt all the pieces were then carved personalities, well understood
from king to pawn. In the modern forms of Staunton and London Club
patterns the knight alone retains its semblance in the horse's head--a
poor substitute for the beautifully carved warrior on horseback seen in
some of the older sets.

Draughts, or dames, is also a game of antiquity; and in the British
Museum there is a set said to date back to the Saxon period. Some of the
old boards are interesting relics, and the sets of carved draughtsmen,
now scarce, are beautiful works of art.

Backgammon is one of the older kindred games, frequently played on the
interior of the chess board which was for that purpose marked with
twelve points or fleches in alternate colours. In this game dice were
used, and some of the old dice cups are very prettily decorated.

Cribbage played with cards and a board is said to be essentially an
English game. Some very remarkable cribbage boards were made many years
ago, many of metal, others of wood and ivory; one exceptionally
interesting piece, a brass cribbage board, in the Victoria and Albert
Museum, is engraved: "MR. CHRISTR ELLIOTT AT WINBORROW GREEN, SUSSEX
1768."

Cards, of which there are so many curious types among the old examples
found in many homes, were introduced into the West of Europe from the
East about the fourteenth century. At first they were hand drawn and
coloured, then printed from wood blocks, being subsequently printed from
blocks and plates engraved on the types which were gradually
standardized. Some very interesting collections of old cards have been
made, one of the most complete being that of Lady Charlotte Schreiber,
now in the Depart