LD BREASTPINS FOUND AT POMPEII.]

The street running westward between the baths and the Forum presents
nothing remarkable, except that in it are the signs of the milk-shop
and school of gladiators. There is also an altar, probably dedicated
to Jupiter, placed against the wall of a house; above it is a
bass-relief in stucco, with an eagle in the tympanum. Eastward of the
Forum this street assumes the name of the Street of Dried Fruits, from
an inscription showing that dried fruits were sold in it; and, indeed,
a considerable quantity of figs, raisins, chestnuts, plums, hempseed,
and similar articles were found. It is now, however, usually called
the Street of the Augustals.

Near the point at which this street is intersected by that of
Eumachia, running at the back of the east side of the Forum, there is
a remarkably graceful painting of a youthful Bacchus pressing the
juice of the grape into a vase placed upon a pillar, at the foot of
which is a rampant animal expecting the liquor, apparently meant for a
tiger or panther, but of very diminutive size. This picture is one
foot five inches high and one foot two inches wide. It probably served
for the sign of a wine-merchant. Corresponding with it, on the other
side of the shop, is a painting of Mercury, to render that knavish god
propitious to the owner's trade.

We will now proceed to the Street of Abundance, or of the Merchants,
formerly called the Street of the Silversmiths. This is about
twenty-eight feet wide, and bordered on each side by foot-paths about
six feet wide, which are described as made in several places of a hard
plaster, probably analogous to _opus Signinum_. At the end next the
Forum it is blocked up by two steps, which deny access to wheel
carriages, and is in other parts so much encumbered by large
stepping-stones that the passage of such vehicles, if not prohibited,
must have been difficult and inconvenient.

We may here take notice of a peculiarity in this street. It slopes
with a very gentle descent away from the Forum, and the courses of
masonry, instead of being laid horizontally, run parallel to the
slope of the ground, a unique instance, as we believe, of such a
construction.

The doors of several shops in this street have left perfect
impressions on the volcanic deposit, by which it appears that the
planks of which they were made lapped one over the other, like the
planks of a boat.

Although the houses that line this street have now be