in Southern Russia, and at nightly
ceremonies in India. The use of pine-torches is of equal antiquity.
They consisted of long, thin sticks of pine-wood, tied together with
bark, rushes or papyrus. The bark of the vine was also used for
torches, called lophis. The golden statues on pedestals, in the hall
of Alkinoos, undoubtedly held such torches in their hands. In vase
paintings we also see a different form of the torch, carried chiefly
by Demeter and Persephone, which consists of two pieces of wood
fastened crosswise to a staff. An imitation of this wooden torch was
undoubtedly the torch-case made of clay or metal in the shape of a
salpinx. Its surface was either smooth or formed in imitation of the
bundles of sticks and the bark of the wooden torch, the inside being
filled with resinous substances.

[Illustration: STANDING LAMP.]

[Illustration: ANCIENT LAMPS.]

The date of oil-lamps in Greece can not be stated with accuracy; they
were known at the time of Aristophanes. They were made of terra-cotta
or metal, and their construction resembles those used by the Romans.
They are mostly closed semi-globes with two openings, one, in the
centre, to pour the oil in, the other in the nose-shaped prolongation
destined to receive the wick. Amongst the small numbers of Greek lamps
preserved to us we have chosen a few of the most graceful specimens,
one of them showing the ordinary form of the lamp. Some are made of
clay, the latter being painted in various colors. The Athenians also
used lanterns made of transparent horn, and lit up with oil-lamps.
They were carried at night in the streets like the torches. Sparks,
carefully preserved under the ashes, served both Greeks and Romans to
light the fire. The ancients had, however, a lighting apparatus
consisting of two pieces of wood, of which the one was driven into the
other, like a gimlet, the friction effecting a flame. According to
Theophrast, the wood of nut or chestnut trees was generally used for
the purpose.

The street running from the Temple of Fortune to the Forum, called the
Street of the Forum, in Pompeii, and forming a continuation of that of
Mercury, has furnished an unusually rich harvest of various utensils.
A long list of these is given by Sir W. Gell, according to which there
were found no less than two hundred and fifty small bottles of
inferior glass, with numerous other articles of the same material,
which it would be tedious to particularize.