STATUARY AND ARCHITECTURE. 233 would seem, to a less resolute spirit, almost insurmountable, have of late made some valuable discoveries at Athens. They have cleared away the debris on the south side of the Acropoolis, and have discovered the temple of Esculapius, where they have found many bas-reliefs representing the goddess of health, and two very beautiful marble heads, nearly perfect; also, some inscriptions of great historical value. They have also found a Byzantine cave under the rock. This circumstance reminds me of some exquisite specimens of sculpture seen by me, while in Athens, in my visit to the Acropolis. From these we return to the recent excavations at Olympia. These are carried on by a commission from the German and Greek governments. The latest discoveries announced are those made on the site of the celebrated temple of Jupiter, consisting, among others, of a Doric capital, with its abacus in excellent preservation, considered as belonging to one of the columns supporting the eastern pediment of the temple, fragments of bronze, and terra-cotta objects, also, of the marble tiles described by Pausanias as composing the roof; and a magnificent torso, supposed to be the statue of Jupiter, one of the group of figures adorning the pediment of the temple. On the last day of the year, however, a telegram was received by the king from Dr. Demetriades, announcing a discovery which has filled Athens with joy. The statue of Niké (Victory), one of the group in the pediment, has been found imbedded in the soft, alluvial soil, in an almost perfect condition-as if it had only yesterday been taken down from its lofty pedestal. It is said to be a figure of unmatched beauty and grandeur, and what gives it a higher value is that the name of Praxitiles himself is engraved on it. Thus much is as yet known, but details are eagerly waited. Archæological discovery is eagerly pursued in every part of the land, of which it may be said that not a spadeful can be turned, without revealing some new treasure of its most glorious epoch. The objects found by Dr. Schliemann have been forwarded to England, and placed in charge of the National Bank. They have been placed under the care of that institution for 234 THE SECOND TREASURY. safety, and will remain there in the strong room, until a suitable museum can be provided, when they will all be labeled, and will be exposed, in proper cases, for the public to see them. It is a fact not generally known, that Dr. Schliemann is not assisted by any fellow-enthusiast in the cause of archæology, nor is he in the employ of any society. He defrays the expenses all himself, and we may be assured that they are very heavy. It is but proper that we should allude here to the fact that Mrs. Schliemann is most ably and energetically assisting her husband in the discovery of the treasures of the ancients. The dome of the Second Treasury was broken in, a long time ago, and therefore it is better known to antiquarians; but Mrs. Schliemann has now thoroughly excavated, and explored the whole building. While her husband was excavating within the walls of the Acropolis, she undertook the excavation of this relic of the past, and the approach to it, which was formerly completely concealed, is now laid bare. Its position is close to the Gate of Lions, and it is found to differ only in slight details from the other one, known as the Treasury of Athens. The lintel over the doorway is the largest stone in the building. It is twenty feet long, seven feet wide, and eighteen inches deep, and a course of large stones of the same depth is carried all around the walls, on the same level. The diameter of the dome is a little less than that of the Treasury of Athens, but as there is an opening in the top, by which the light enters, the view is not so impressive. The inhabitants of Mycena did not seem to be acquainted with the principle of the arch, as the dome is constructed with courses placed horizontally. Dr. Schliemann, pretending that Agamemnon was buried here, calls it the Tomb of Agamemnon; others have named it the Tomb of Cassandra. The Treasury of Athens shows the most perfect condition of building of the ancients. The second, third, and fourth treasuries (there are four in all), gradually decrease in architectural skill, and we might almost say of the fourth, that it is nothing but an excavation made in the soil, speedily covered with rough stones. It is covered in such a way that a person entering it has to creep on all fours. For what purpose these buildings were created, remains a mystery. In the Homeric age, tombs are always described as "piled," or "heaped up;" they are always mounds, and the fact of the earth covering these so-called "treasuries," is a strong evidence of their sepulchral character; but the magnificently built accessories would lead to the conclusion that it belongs to a period posterior to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Hector's tomb is described as the "hollow grave." This was the primitive cell, which became developed into an unarched dome. Of this, many examples are found in the tumuli near Kertch, some of them of a very large size, and, though different in construction, they afford a good illustrative parallel. In the structures just described, we find a developed architecture which seems to have been rich with metallic decoration. Here all resemblance to the simple cell of the hollow grave has been lost, and now the foot or two feet of earth, heaped on the top, is nearly all that is left to remind us of the original mound, from which this style of tomb had its origin. i. MEXICO AND ITS MINES. SERRANO THE USES OF SILVER-COIN AND ITS ABUNDANCE-PUZZLES OF POLITICAL PACHUCA. One of the most important of the metals is the one known as silver. All the civilized nations use it for the manufacture of coin as a circulating medium, and the consumption of the metal for this purpose alone is very great. Political economists have busied themselves with the problem of the immense annual waste from the wearing away of gold and silver, but thus far they have met with no success. For large amounts, bank notes either of the government or otherwise-are in use, and have many advantages over coin. But for small amounts, gold and silver have not been replaced, and there is little probability that they will be. Their jingling makes an agreeable sound, but unfortunately it reduces the weight of the coin, and wears away, particle after particle, which cannot be saved by any process yet invented. Silver has long been used in the Arts, and its whiteness renders it particularly desirable for this purpose. Of late years, it has taken a very prominent place, especially in America, and the productions of the silver-workers border on the marvelous. At the Philadelphia Exhibition, the display of silver ware in the American section was such as to attract large crowds at all hours when the place was open to the public, and there were few visitors who did not confess themselves THE SPANISH MINERS. 237 astonished at what they beheld. There was an endless variety of silver work, from very small articles up to very large ones. Down to a few years ago, the English and other people over the Atlantic had almost a monopoly of silver work, and were justly entitled to a claim for superiority. But at present, the American workmen are equal to any competition, and some of the ornamental pieces they have recently turned out cannot be surpassed anywhere else in the world. The impetus given to this branch of Art is due, to some extent, to the abundance of silver in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas, and the desire to make as much use of it as possible. Some have feared that the opening of so many silver mines would cheapen the metal, and cause a great shrinkage in the value of that now on hand, but up to the present, no such result has been reached. Silver has taken the place of gold, for many uses, and if matters go on in the future, as they have gone in the past, the demand will long continue to equal the supply. One of the foremost silver-producing countries in the world is Mexico, and its fame extends a long distance into the past. The metal was known to the ancient Aztecs, and was worked by them, with exquisite skill, into numerous ornamental and useful articles, but among the vast mineral treasures of Montezuma, the quantity of silver was small compared with that. of gold, and gave little promise of the argentiferous mines of his territories. The Spaniards had a keen eye for valuable things, and no sooner did they find what the country contained in mineral wealth, than they proceeded at once to develop it. They opened mines wherever there were indications of silver, and so fast did they progress that it was estimated, at the beginning of this century, that operations were going on in from four thousand to five thousand localities, which might. all be included in about three thousand distinct mines. These were scattered along the range of the Cordilleras in eight. groups, the principal of which, known as the central group, contains the famous mining districts of Guanajuato, Catoree,. |