zeal, that Ducange thinks Constantinople contained at one time thirty-five different charitable institutions of this nature. Those who travelled to the holy land were there received gratis into commodious hotels, and from these the caravansaries of the East have taken their origin-buildings which a few centuries ago attracted so much admiration from Europeans, accustomed to the hostelleries of their own countries, at that time at once dear and filthy. The Emperor Julian attributed in a great measure to these charitable institutions the rapid progress of Christianity, and had it in view to attempt the re-establishment of Paganism by similar means. "We pay not sufficient at tention (says he in a letter to Arsaces, sovereign pontiff of Galatia) to those means which have most contributed to the extension of the Christian superstition-I mean kindness to strangers, and attention to the burial of the poor. Erect forthwith, in all your cities, hospitals for the reception of strangers, not only those of your own faith, but all indifferently; and if they stand in need of money, let them be supplied by the imperial officers."

In the Byzantine historians, and in the ancient charters, these hospitals receive different names, as Nosoco mium, retreat for the sick-Xenodochium, Xenon, retreat for strangers Ptochium, Ptochodochium, Ptochotrophium, hospital for the poor and mendicants-Brephotrophium, asylum for indigent children-Orphanotrophium, orphan hospital-Gerocomium, hospital for old men-Pandochæum, gratuitous hotel or caravansary-Morotro phium, hospital for idiots.

In the very interesting work of Durand, entitled, " Parallele des Edifices de tout genre," we find a comparative view of the plans of a great many different hospitals of various kinds, such as those of Milan, Geneva, Plymouth, St Louis at Paris, Langres, the Incurables at Paris, the Lazaretto for persons afflicted with the plague at Milan, &c.—The great hospital at Milan, on account of its vast dimensions, and the form of a cross in which it is built, and also on account of the numerous galleries which every where surround the building, was long looked upon as the best model of hospital architecture. The architects of the different hospitals in Paris, as well as those of this country, have all taken useful hints from it. A report was

formed, by order of the French govern ment, about the year 1788, in which a committee of medical persons and architects, gave their united opinions as to the general rules which ought to be observed in all buildings of this nature. Their principal remarks are these

that all the wards should be separate-that a free communication, by means of covered galleries, should be kept up between all parts of the house -so large as to admit of the utmost purity of air, and to be serviceable, as promenades, for the convalescents.

The hospitals of this city, and of Glasgow, have been long regarded with much admiration by all visitors; and the Lunatic asylum, lately erected in the latter city, is perhaps the most noble monument of the professional talents of the late Mr Stark.* Edinburgh, March 1817.

MR EDITOR,

IN your last Number I read a short paper, entitled, " On sitting below the Salt," in which the author gives several quotations to prove that the ancient custom mentioned in the "Black Dwarf," and "Old Mortality," of placing the guests above or below the salt, according to their respective dig nities, was not a mere fabrication of the writer's brain. In common with

your correspondent, I have heard men of information, and even of antiquarian research, express their doubts as to the existence of such a custom during any period of our history.

Being an ardent admirer of the two works which have recently called our attention to this fashion of our ancestors, and as it is in these works alone, in as far as my information enables me to judge, that such a prac tice has been alluded to in modern times, I feel anxious to contribute towards the exculpation of their mysterious author, from the charge of mingling the spirit of fiction with the

voice of truth.

ty of the practice, are somewhat curious in themselves, and worthy the perusal of your readers.

I find the distinction of seats, in relation to the position of the salt-vat, familiarly known to English writers as far back as 1597, at which time were published the earlier works of Joseph Hall, successively bishop of Exeter and Norwich, and one of our first legitimate satirists. As Hall's satires have never been printed in a commodious form, they may not have fallen into the hands of the generality of your readers, and as the one which contains the illusion to the custom in question is short, and affords a good example of that writer's style, I shall insert it at full length.

"A gentle Squire would gladly entertaine Into his house some trencher-chaplaine; Some willing man that might instruct his

Last, that he never his young master beat,
But he must ask his mother to define,
How many jerkes she would his breech
should line.

All these observed, he could contented be
To give five markes and winter liverie.”
Satire VI. B. 2d.

In an entertaining old book, by Nixon, entitled, "Strange Foot-Post, with a packet full of strange petitions," London 1613, 4to, the author, speaking of the miseries of a poor scholar, makes the following observations:

Now, as for his fare, it is lightly at the cheapest table, but he must sit under the salt, that is an axiome in such places:-then having drawne his knife leisurably, unfolded his napkin mannerly, after twice or thrice wiping his beard, if he have it, he may reach the bread on his knife's point, and fall to his porrige, and between every sponefull take as much deliberation as a capon craming, lest he be out of his porrige before they have buried part of their first course in their bellies." (F. 3.)

In the works of our early dramatists there are not unfrequent allusions of a similar nature.

Thus, in the play called Cynthia's

You ne'er presume to sit above the salt." Act III. Scene I.

"It argues little (says Gifford on the above passage) for the delicacy of our ancestors, that they should admit of such distinctions at their board; but in truth they seem to have placed their guests below the salt, for no better purpose than that of mortifying them."

That this custom was not limited to our own island, but was familiar at least in France, is evinced by the following passage from Perat, who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century. In speaking of the manners suitable to men of noble birth, in regard to the different kinds of ridicule and pleasantry, he says of one species, Neque ejusmodi dicacitates nobilitatem honestant: quamvis enim clientium caterva, amicorum humiliores, totaque omnino infra salinum sti❤ pata cohors, scurrantem dominum, et (ut ait Flaccus,) imi Derisorem lecti, cachinnationibus suis insulsis adulari soleant; ii. tamen," &c.-De Inst. Nob. p. 36.

The foregoing quotations, however curious in themselves, may, I fear, in regard to the subject which they are intended to illustrate, have appeared redundant or unnecessary to some of your readers, particularly after the satisfactory instances brought forward by J. M. of the prevalence of the

same custom.

On a general view, it would form a

curious subject of research, and might throw considerable light on the manners and institutions of our ancestors, to investigate thoroughly the history of this singular fashion, and to mark the different changes which an individual of talent and enterprise was allowed to make in taking up his position at table, according to the increase of his wealth and consequent utility, and the effects of such changes on his general habits, and on the behaviour of those who were formerly his companions in obscurity.

The passages quoted by J. M. from that most curious work, the Memorie of the Somervilles, clearly demonstrate the wide distinction of rank that exist ed in this country at comparatively a recent period, between noble and ignoble tenures-between the Goodman, Rentaller or Yeoman, and the Laird or Baron. It would be an interesting inquiry, to trace the circumstances which contributed to break down the jealous barriers of feudal honours, and to point out the period and manner in which the nature of the holding came to be at last almost overlooked in augmenting or disparaging gentility.

On a more minute investigation, it would be equally curious to examine the specific distinctions which existed between the two men who were placed together, the one above and the other below the salt-vat, and to study that beautiful combination of character, by which they formed the links in the social chain which united the nobility of one end of the table, with the humble tenants of the other,-leading by an almost imperceptible transition from the meanest appendage of a feudal feast, to the mailed retainer and the plumed baron.

But I am unwilling to anticipate the observations of your correspondent, who will, I trust, make good his promise, of favouring the public with a continuation of his remarks.

In the meantime, to exercise the learning and ingenuity of your antiquarian friends, I beg leave to propose the following queries, the solution of which will tend greatly to facilitate the labours of future inquirers.

1st, Were the two great classes of society assembled at the same table, connected by means of two individuals on each side, seated together, the one as it were placed opposite to the upper or noble half of the salt-vat, the other to the lower or ignoble half, and com

bining, in their persons, the different characters of both parties? Or, 2dly, Did these opposite extremes unite in the person of an individual on either side of the table, placed immediately in front of the salt-vat? Or, 3dly, Was there no such "union of extremest things" permitted, but a vacant spacè or gap opposite the salt-vat on both sides, leaving a blank in the fair chain of gradation, similar to that which has been caused in the scale of nature's works by the extinction of the mighty Mastodon, which formerly inhabited the salt-licks of North America?

Hoping that the preceding quotations, observations, and queries, may meet with a favourable reception, if not on their own account, at least from the chance of their exciting the attention of others more able to communicate information on such curious topics, I remain, respectfully, your obedient servant, P. F.

Edinburgh, 1st May, 1817.

ON THE FALL OF VOLCANIC DUST IN THE ISLAND OF BARBADOES.

[The following excellent letter, containing an account of the fall of volcanic dust in Barbadoes, has been communicated to us by a friend.]

SIR,

In compliance with your request, I have drawn up a detail of the circumstances (as far as I was an eye-witness) of the fall of volcanic dust in the island of Barbadoes, which occurred on May 1st, 1812, and which was produced by an eruption of the volcano in the neighbouring island of St Vincent, lying to leeward, or to the westward of Barbadoes.

I was at that time resident on the north-east coast of the island of Barbadoes, or in what is termed the windward part of that island, about eleven miles from the principal town. On the shore of this district, it may be proper to remark, there is almost constantly a heavy surf rolling, produced by the trade-wind impelling the sea on a coast completely iron-bound by rocks and rocky shoals.

During the night preceding May 1st, I was awakened by what I took to be signal-guns of distress from some ships wrecked at no great distance; in a very short time the explosions became so frequent, as to induce me rather to believe that they proceeded from two vessels engaging each other. In the town, these explosions, as I

understood afterwards, were regarded as the discharges of cannon; so much so, that the garrison of St Ann's castle was kept under arms for the remainder of the night.

The explosions having ceased, nothing occurred to excite my attention during the remainder of the night; but when I arose, on the light of morning beginning very faintly to appear, I was struck with surprise on approaching the window, by seeing what I took to be a very dense black cloud threatening rain, as a thunder storm was not to be expected at that period of the year: the horizon, along the edge of the sea, was clearly defined by the morning light; but, immediately above it, the black cloud seemed to fringe the surface of the sea, and to cover the whole atmosphere. At this time I had not observed any fall of dust; but I was afterwards informed by my servants, that particles of dust had been falling for the greater part of the night, though in small quantity! On returning to the other part of the room, and fixing my eyes steadily on the window, I was greatly astonished by the gradual disappearance of the faint light which had been visible before, and in a few minutes afterwards, by finding that I had totally lost sight of the sash of the window-an occurrence which I well knew never takes place in the most stormy or in the darkest night of the West Indies. I groped my way to the window, and touched the glass without seeing it; and on opening the sash, I first perceived that particles of dust were flying about; but the darkness was so profound, that I could not discover the outline of the neighbouring hills, the trees around the house, or, in short, any one object. I soon after quitted the house, and found that the earth was covered with R dust; that it fell in a constant thick shower, occasionally with considerable 1 force; and that the windows, on the windward side of the house, were incrusted with it: but the darkness was so great, that a white handkerchief held close to the face could not be seen, and it was impossible for me to walk in the garden without the risk of striking against the trees or other large objects. I then first remarked a smell of some burnt matter, and I fancied I saw, or I really saw, on look ing upwards attentively, a lurid red appearance of the clouds, over head, through the profound darkness.

At this time, a perfect calm, and the most remarkable stillness, uninterrupted by the usual noise of the surf of the sea, was observable, and was rendered more evident by the crash of the limbs of the trees of a very large wood which was adjacent to the house, and which formed an awful contrast to the extreme stillness of the atmosphere. On holding a lantern to some of the trees, I found that the limbs of the more flexible ones were bent almost to the ground by the weight of the dust which adhered to them. The fall of dust during the period of darkness was incessant, but at some times it was harder and thicker than at others. It ceased between twelve and one o'clock. I first began to discover the sashes of the windows, and the outlines of the trees, soon after twelve; and at one I could plainly distinguish the lurid red clouds of a fiery aspect which hung low, and swept past the island; it was at this time that I was first struck by the noise of a tremendous surf, and on looking to the sea I evidently saw it lashing the shore, having, as it would appear, risen to its utmost height and fury from a state of perfect quiescence in the shortest possible space of time; as during the period of darkness not the slightest murmur of the sea could be heard.

The aspect of the country around was now become wintry and dreary; the sugar canes were level with the earth; the smaller plants were laid prostrate: and the limbs of the trees were either broken off or bent downwards, as the wood was flexible or brittle,—and the whole surface of the soil was covered with grayish ashes to the depth of an inch.

The next morning I rode to the beach, and could easily perceive, by the mark which the sea had left on the dust lying on the green sward, that it had risen to a height which had covered the whole of the sands, and reached the adjacent shrubs and grass. The perpendicular height which, to have effected this, it must have risen, I then measured, and I perfectly recollect that it was very great; as, however, I have left the memoranda, (which I penned at the time) of all the circumstances of this event in Barbadoes, I will not venture to state from memory that measurement.

If regard be had to the relative situation of the island of Barbadoes, it