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Chap. 14.]

portant improvements in the mechanic arts. As the earliest distinct noticeof cog-wheels is in the description of one of his machines, (see the clep-sydra, page 547,) we may as well introduce him to the reader at thispart of our subject, although we have not yet in the progress of ourwork, arrived at the period at which he flourished.

Düring the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphias over Egypt , an Egyptianbarber pursued his vocation in the city of Alexandria. Like all professorsof that ancient mystery, he possessed besides the inferior apparatus, thetwo most essential implements of all: a razor and a looking glass, ormirror, probably a metallic one. This rairror, we are informed, was sus-pended from the ceiling of his shop, and balanced by a weight, whichmoved in a concealed case in one corner of the room. Thus, when acustomer had undergone the usual purifying operations, he drew downthe mirror, that he might witness the improvement which the artist hadwrought on his outer man; and, like Otho,

In the Speculum survey his eharms. Juv. Sat. ii.after which he returned it to its former position for the use of the nextcustomer. a It would seem that the case in which the weight moved wasenclosed at the bottom, or pretty accurately made, for as the weightmoved in it, and displaced the air, a certain sound was produced, either

5 Metallic mirrors furnish one of the best proofs of skill in working the metals in theremotest times, for their antiquity extends beyond all records. In the first pages of his-tory they are mentioned as in common use. The brazen laver of the Tabernacle,was made of the mirrors of the Israelitish women, whieh they carried with them out ofEgypt . From soine found at Thebes , as well as representations of others in the sculp-tures and paintings, we see at once that these ‘looking glasses,’ (as they are called inExodus,) were similar to those of Greek and Roman ladies : viz. round or oval platesof metal, from three to six inches in diameter, and having handles of wood, stone andmetal highly ornamented and of various forms, according to the taste of the wearer.Some have been found in Egypt with the lustre partially preserved. They are com-posed of an alloy of copper, and antimony or tin, and lead; and appear to have beencarried about the person, secured to, or suspended from the girdle, as pincushions andscissors were formerly worn and are so still by some antiquated ladies. The Greeksand Romans had them also of silver and of steel. Some of the latter were found inHerculaneum . Plutarch mentions mirrors enclosed in very rieh frames. Among thearticles of the toilet found in Pompeii , are ear-rings, golden and common pins, andseveral metallic mirrors. One is round and eight inches in diameter, the other an ob-long square. They had them with plane surfaces, and also convex and concave. Se-neca says his countrywomen had them also, equal in Iength and breadth to a full grownperson, superbly decorated with gold and silver, and precious stones. Their luxury inthis article, seems to have been excessive, for the cost of one often exceeded a mo-derate fortune. The dowry which the Senate gave the daughter of Scipio, accordingto Seneca, would not purchase in his time, a mirror for the daughter of a freedman.The Anglo- Saxon dames had portable metallic mirrors, and wore them suspended fromthe waist. It is not a litle singulär that the ancient Peruvians had them also, formed ofsilver, copper and its alloys, and also of obsidian stone. They had them plane, convex,and concave. Had not the art of making these mirrors been revived in the speculumsof reflecting telescopes, their lustre could hardly have been appreciated; and theywould probably have been considered as indifferent substitutes for the modern Iooking-glass. These last are supposed to have been manufactured in ancient Tyre, and of ablack colored glass. Fluid lead or tin was afterwards used. It was poured on theplates while they were hot from the fire, and being suffered to cool, formed a backwhich reflected the image. Looking-glasses of this description were made in Venice,m the 13th Century. It was not tili about the 16th, that the present mode of coating theback with quicksilver and tin foil was introduced. The inventor is not known.Venus was sometimes represented with a vspeculum in one hand, and the astronomicalsymbol of the planet Venus is the figure of one. There is a Chemical examinationof an ancient speculum in the 17th volume of Tilloch ’s Phil. Mag.

Barbers flourished in the mythologic ages, for Apollo having prolonged the ears ofMidas to a Iength resembling those of a certain animal, the latter it is said, endeavoredto hide nis disgrace by his hair, but found it impossible to conceal it from his barberBronze razors were anciently common.

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