wan, probably because that bird was consecrated
to their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome,
in the meadow where Numa used to meet the goddess Egeria; the care of
which and of the worship paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal
virgins.

Their names were as follows: Clio, who presided over _history_. Her name
is derived from {kleios}, _glory_, or from {kleio}, to _celebrate_. She
is generally represented under the form of a young woman crowned with
laurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, and in her left a book:
others describe her with a lute in one hand, and in the other a
_plectrum_, or quill.

Euterpe is distinguished by _tibiae_ or pipes whence she was called also
Tib{=i}c{=i}na. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very common
with the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably to the
remarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find them
represented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species of
music that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of Horace.

Th{)a}l{=i}a presided over comedy, and whatever was gay, amiable, and
pleasant. She holds a mask in her right hand, and on medals she is
represented leaning against a pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of
which they had a great mixture on the Roman stage in the earliest ages
of their poetry, and long after. She is distinguished from the other
Muses in general by a mask, and from Melpom{)e}ne, the tragic Muse, by
her shepherd's crook, not to speak of her look, which is meaner than
that of Melpom{)e}ne, or her dress, which is shorter, and consequently
less noble, than that of any other of the Muses.

Melpom{)e}ne was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song.
She presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all
mournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which
reason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus.
She is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited,
with sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has
her mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it
has been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided
over the stage; and she is distinguished from Th{)a}l{=i}a, or the comic
Muse, by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress.
Melpom{)e}ne was supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as
w