around the rim,
from which rise the rectangular supports, which support the upper part
of the frame. The top and bottom were further connected by the
interior uprights, between which the laminae of horn or glass were
placed, and secured at the top and bottom by the doublings of the
copper. Horn was the most common substance used to transmit the light,
but bladder and other membranes were also employed. In the centre of
the lantern is seen the small lamp. The cover is hemispherical, and
lifts up and down: it is pierced with holes for the admission of air,
and has besides the characters NBVRTI-CATIS pricked upon it. These
have been interpreted, Tiburti Cati Sum, or Tiburti Cati S. (ervus),
indicating, the one that it belonged to Catus, or that it was to be
carried by his slave."

[Illustration: CANDELABRUM, OR LAMP STAND.]

One of the most elegant articles of furniture in ancient use was the
candelabrum, by which we mean those tall and slender stands which
served to support a lamp, but were independent of, and unconnected
with, it. These, in their original and simple form, were mere reeds or
straight sticks, fixed upon a foot by peasants to raise their light to
a convenient height; at least such a theory of their origin is
agreeable to what we are told of the rustic manners of the early
Romans, and it is in some degree countenanced by the fashion in which
many of the ancient candelabra are made. Sometimes the stem is
represented as throwing out buds; sometimes it is a stick, the side
branches of which have been roughly lopped, leaving projections where
they grew; sometimes it is in the likeness of a reed or cane, the
stalk being divided into joints. Most of those which have been found
in the buried cities are of bronze, some few of iron. In their general
plan and appearance there is a great resemblance, though the details
of the ornaments admit of infinite variety. All stand on three feet,
usually griffins' or lions' claws, which support a light shaft, plain
or fluted according to the fancy of the maker. The whole supports
either a plinth large enough for a lamp to stand on, or a socket to
receive a wax candle, which the Romans used sometimes instead of oil
in lighting their rooms. Some of them have a sliding shaft, like that
of a music stand, by which the light might be raised or lowered at
pleasure.

[Illustration: CANDELABRA, OR LAMP STANDS.]

One of those elegant table lamps, by the praise of which the p