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 attention (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, Nosocomium, 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—Morotrophium, 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 play formed, by order of the French government, 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.[1] Q.
Edinburgh, March 1817.
ON "SITTING BELOW THE SALT."
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 dignities, 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 practice 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.
In addition, therefore, to the proofs which have been adduced in your first Number, I beg leave to call your attention to the following extracts, which have escaped the notice of J. M.; and which, besides shewing the universali-
- ↑ The reader may find much information upon this interesting subject, in Beckmann's History of Inventions, vol. 4.
