of this supply; and just in that degree in which the
existing supply is really a necessary part of our equipment, so
archaeology, which looks for more, is necessary to our gaiety.

[Illustration: PL. VII. Lady rouging herself: she holds a mirror and
rouge-pot.
--FROM A PAPYRUS, TURIN.]

[Illustration: Dancing girl turning a back somersault.--NEW KINGDOM.]

In order to keep his intellect undulled by the routine of his dreary
work, Matthew Arnold was wont to write a few lines of poetry each day.
Poetry, like music and song, is an effective dispeller of care; and
those who find Omar Khayyam or "In Memoriam" incapable of removing the
of burden of their woes, will no doubt appreciate the "Owl and the
Pussy-cat," or the Bab Ballads. In some form or other verse and song are
closely linked with happiness; and a ditty from any age has its
interests and its charm.

"She gazes at the stars above:
I would I were the skies,
That I might gaze upon my love
With such a thousand eyes!"

That is probably from the Greek of Plato, a writer who is not much
read by the public at large, and whose works are the legitimate property
of the antiquarian. It suffices to show that it is not only to the
moderns that we have to look for dainty verse that is conducive to a
light heart. The following lines are from the ancient Egyptian:--

"While in my room I lie all day
In pain that will not pass away,
The neighbours come and go.
Ah, if with them my darling came
The doctors would be put to shame:
_She_ understands my woe."

Such examples might be multiplied indefinitely; and the reader will
admit that there is as much of a lilt about those which are here quoted
as there is about the majority of the ditties which he has hummed to
himself in his hour of contentment. Here is Philodemus' description of
his mistress's charms:--

"My lady-love is small and brown;
My lady's skin is soft as down;
Her hair like parseley twists and turns;
Her voice with magic passion burns...."

And here is an ancient Egyptian's description of not very dissimilar
phenomena:--

"A damsel s