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DOMESTIC MANNEKS OF THE FKITSSIANS.

Indian shawl—purer and yet brigliter tlian the most splendidPersian carpet: and yet in the chastest taste. For, thoughdappled over with the brightest ultramarine, and ruby, andemerald, and amethystine purple, and topaz yellow, there isnothing like vulgär glare about them; and as the lightstruggles through the panes, the dyed beams fall on the pave-ment in many colours, tili the stones seem covered with thefragments of some broken rainbow.

The new stained Windows at Köln Cathedral are merevulgär bits of gew-gaw in comparison with these ; for there thecolours are in immense gaudy sheets rather than in mere gem-like specks as here; so that the eye is cloyed to surfeit withthe bright tawdry glare at the one place, and tickled with theexquisite chromatic variety at the other.

Still, how stränge it is that the educated retina shoulddelight in neutral colours, from which all positive tints areeffaced (such as browns and greys), and yet be pleased withsuch intense bits of vividness as these. Nevertheless, so littlecan the refined sense bear of positive colour, that, were it notthat the tints of the Strasburg windows are broken up andscattered about like flowers, the optical palate would be offendedrather than gratified by the sight of them ; for here, indeed, noone colour predominates, and as in a perfect tint all othersare mingled (your browns and greys being but combinationsof the three "primitives" in different proportions), so, at Stras-burg, the stained panes being too small for the eye to noticeeach isolated speck of colour, the general effect is a gorgeousblending of all the loveliest hues, rather than a tawdry exhi-bition of any one brilliant tint.

The other great feature of Strasburg Cathedral is thePuppet Clock, that performs a variety of mechanical move-ments at every hour, and more particularly at noon each day.

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