Roman Baths—Ancient Roman Gock.

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Chap. 9.] __- _

over and varied with Numidian borderings—unless they are covered withMosaic —if the vaulted roof be not of glass—unless the Thusian stone,formerly so rare and only to be found in some particular temple or public-building, line the cistern, into which he descends after sweating, withoutsoul or life, if the water pours not on him from silver conduits. I speaknow only of the pipes and baths of the vulgär ; but what shall I say whenI come to those of the freed-men 1 How many statues ! How many rowsof pillars supporting no weight, but placed there merely for the sake ofexpense and Ornament!” &c. &c.

No. 274 is another ancient cockfrom the third volume of Montfau-con’s Antiquities. It will serve asa specimen of the richness and va-riety of Ornament with which theseinstruments were sometimes deco-rated. The figure Standing on thehead of a dolphin, and which form-ed the handle by which the cockwas opened and closed, is supposedto have represented the Genius ofthe garden, in which the fountainwas placed. Another highly orna-mented cock, or rather part of one,is also engraved in the same work;but as it appears to be merely thatpart by which the plug was turned,it is omitted. There are severalbronze jet pipes for fountains ex-tant, and in great variety of shapes.They were sometimes plated withgold, as appears from traces of itleft on some of them.

Much additional information re-specting the use of cocks amon^ theRomans has been obtained from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii .Several have been found in the houses and baths. Some were attached topipes, fountains, and to boilers on large moveable tripods, or braziers, andalso to urns or vases, similar to our tea and coffee urns. Most of themare ornamented with lions’ heads, &e. In one brazier, the cock is quiteplain, and resembles those which are known to plumbers as stop-cocks.In some of the braziers, the grate bars are hottow, that the water mightcirculate through them, and the cocks are inserted just above the bottomof the boilers, that a little water might always be retained to prevent thefire from destroying them.

In the baths of Claudius the water ran through pipes of silver. At La-nuvium, in the ruins of a villa of Antoninus Pius , a silver cock was foundwhich served for a fountain. It weighed thirty-five Roman pounds, andwas inscribed “ Faustinse Nostree.”—(Encyc . Antiq. vol. i, 456.) I wasshown, says Breval, in his “ Remarks on Europe, ” several curious frag-ments that had been dug out of the gardens of Maecenas . Among these,were some huge leaden pipes that conveyed the water from the Claudian aqueducts into a subterraneous bathing-room. The magnificence of theplace must have been suitable, no doubt, to the immense wealth and deli-cacy of a Roman of his rank ; espeeially, if what I was assured was the

No. 274. Ancient Roman cock.