of minute parts. Hence it is employed in the engines for dividing mathematical instruments, &c. See OSCILLATION, PenDULUM, SUSPENSION, &C.

MEDAL. This word has generally been supposed to be derived from Metallum, from which we have the English term metal; but it may admit of some doubt whether the derivation is correct, as the word appears to have too comprehensive a sense to particularize a piece of gold, silver, brass, or copper, impressed with figures to convey to posterity some great historical occurrence, or to perpetuate the memory of a person who had rendered the state in which he lived an essential service.

We are indebted to the very ancient inhabitants of the world for this method of immortalizing their most important acts and most exalted characters, a method, the discovery or invention of which, would do honour to an age enlightened by arts and literature, then unknown. Had the same inclination to preserve those indelible mementos prevailed throughout the countries which prompted the making of them, we should have possessed a series of valuable information now for ever interrupted, to the constant regret of the historian, who is compelled to wander in a maze of conjecture, caused by allusions in the works of ancient writers, that were well known to the public at the time when they were made, but all clue to which is entirely lost. The satisfaction demonstrated by the learned of every nation on the accidental discovery of an unknown medal, sufficiently evinces their importance; if the relief is tolerably perfect, or the inscription nearly or quite legible, every individual becomes an enthusiast in research, and it has frequently happened that an important blank in chronology, history, or geography, has been unexpectedly and satisfactorily filled by this means. One very material circumstance contributes to render ancient medals valuable, which is their undoubted anthenticity; in short, they are the historical acts of kings and states, the durable gazettes of antiquity; they inform the world that at such a period a monarch ascended a throne, a victory was achieved, the foundations of a city were laid, or a temple erected, and they sometimes introduce to our notice persons, towns, and buildings, which have not been mentioned by any of the ancient writers extant.

Viewing medals in this light, it is a matter of some surprise that collections have

not been formed in every age and country, that they have not may be inferred from the extreme rarity of some particular descriptions; had collections been universal, surely a much greater number of medals must have reached us, making due allowance for decay, violence, melting, and losses during foreign and civil wars. Mr. Pinker ton inclines to think the world entertained but little regard for the medals made by the numerous small states using the Greek characters and language, supposing that their numbers rendered them of little value; this idea is extremely probable if extended to the mass of mankind; but as there ever has been individuals of superior taste and acquirements scattered in every soil, we might have imagined the aggregate of those persons sufficiently great to preserve a larger number than is now to be found.

Many ingenious speculations might be formed as to the origin of medals; it is not, however, safe or pleasant to wander in the shades of antiquity without guides, or a ray of light, we must therefore be contented with the few facts which have been gleaned by writers on this subject. From those it appears, that we are principally indebted to the Romans for the preservation of the most valuable Greek medals; indeed, that ambitious people did themselves more honour by their successful study of the arts of Greece, than by the conquests they achieved in every part of the globe then known; with minds elevated beyond the paltry consideration of envy, they not only collected the medals of that country, but directed their artists to imitate the beauty of their reliefs, and the gracefulness of their outlines. The encouragement thus afforded by the various governments of Rome, created a spirit of emulation amongst the higher orders of the public, and collections were formed, to which every subsequent cabinet has been more or less indebted.

Whether the medals possessed by the curious at that period were methodically arranged, so as to preserve the chronology of facts, cannot now be ascertained; but we are very certain that numbers of great value and importance must have been irrecoverably lost since the time alluded to, and that the series, in many cases, has been interrupted by the havock committed at each conquest of the mistress of the world. The philosopher and the historian will ever dwell with regret on that long mental night which enveloped those happy regions

where science and the arts had flourished, and whence their influence had diverged to surrounding nations; but they must exult in the recollection of the gradual return of day, which at length reached its meridian, and exhibited a grand picture of learning and the liberal arts. Upon their revival the study of medals became an object of primary importance, and Petrarch appears at the head of those who justly appreciated their value; sensible of the spirit of emulation they were calculated to inspire, he sent the Emperor, Charles IV., several made in honour of great and good men, with an invitation to imitate their conduct.

Alphonso, King of Arragon, acted upon the principle recommended by Petrarch, and carried a collection he had ordered to be made, constantly with him, in order that he might remember the qualities which caused their being struck. Examples like those were not without imitation in succeeding periods, but the most noble and magnificent consequence was the Cabinet of Cosmo de Medici, which was for a long time the admiration of Europe. Keysler, who saw this collection in 1730, asserts, that "with regard to the number of old coins, they reckon at present three hundred and twelve medallions, among which are forty-five of silver. The largest copper medallion is a Julia, the consort of Septimus Severus. The copper coins of the smaller size amount to about eight hundred, and those of the larger size to one thousand eight hundred. The middle sort, by the French called Moyen Bronze, are two thousand two hundred, and this collection is the most valuable and curious, containing a great number of Greek coins. Among the silver pieces are eight hundred consular ones, and upwards of two thousand others. Here are six hundred pieces of gold, and sixteen medallions of the same metal. I was assured by Bianchi, that the largest gold medal weighs one hundred and sixteen Louis d'ors, and represents the Emperor John Palæologus VI., who assisted at the Council of Florence.

The number of medals in gold, silver, and copper, struck in honour of cities and countries, amounts to fifteen hundred. The gold and copper ones of this assortment are the most curious. The whole collection consists of fourteen thousand ancient, and eight thousand modern medals. Of the latter there are nine hundred of gold, and two thousand of silver, amongst which

the largest is that of Cosmo III., and upwards of three thousand in copper.

This collection eclipsed every other, though there were many of very great extent in different parts of the continent; nor have the learned of England been deficient in their exertions to procure those useful evidences of past transactions. Camden, who first engraved medals for his valuable works, is supposed to have been one of the first collectors; to whom may be added, Sir Robert Cotton.

Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I., possessed thirty thousand coins and medals. Archbishop Laud gave five thousand five hundred coins to the Bodleian library. The Earl of Arundel, celebrated for his taste in selecting specimens of antiquity, had an excellent collection of medals; and Evelyn enumerates the Dukes of Hamilton and Buckingham, Sir Thomas Fanshaw, Sir William Paston, Sir Thomas Hanmer, Messrs. Sheldon, Selden, and many others, as having in their possession cabinets of medals. Charles I., a monarch who would have done more to improve the state of the arts in England than all his predecessors, had his reign been happy, collected a vast num. ber, which were lost after his dethronement; and his historian, Lord Clarendon, endeavoured to rival his royal master in this interesting pursuit, which appears to have been in some degree a favourite one with Oliver Cromwell.

Charles II. entertained a similar partiality for medals, but his successors have entirely neglected them, and suffered their subjects to set them an example which it is much to be wished they had followed. Amongst those were Sir Hans Sloane, the Earls of Pembroke and Winchelsea, and several others, mentioned by Haym, who wrote about 1720. Since the above period our general knowledge of medals has been considerably increased, and the skill with which the most recent collections were made, does infinite honour to the penetration and acumen of our medallists, who are frequently enabled to detect fictitious pieces, which have been made with sufficient art to impose upon foreigners. Several noblemen and gent emen now possess rich cabinets, and the British Museum contains a superb collection derived from numerous sources.

Medals have from necessity been uni formly struck on copper, variously mixed with other substances, silver, and gold, the most ancient of the latter metal are evidently in its native state, neither purified

or combined with copper, though there are some which are supposed to be of gold and silver. Philip of Macedon caused the gold used for coining in his dominions to be made of the utmost purity, and in this particular he was imitated by Alexander the Great, and others nearly his contemporaries. The Romans profiting by the experience of ages, and perceiving that the purity of the metal improved the beauty of the impression, determined to use it in as perfect a state as possible; the silver coins of that people were less pure, and became at length greatly debased.

The pure brass medals, and the red, or copper, called by the ancients Cyprian brass, were generally covered by platina. The best mixture was electrum, composed of one fifth of silver, and the remainder of gold in some instances this was a natural combination, in others artificial. Pinker. ton says, the earliest Lydian coins, and those of particular states of Asia Minor, are of this description, as are those of the Kings of the Bosphorus Cimmerius, during the imperial ages of Rome. The Egyptian coins, made when that country was under the dominion of Rome, were at first of good silver, but degenerated afterwards; indeed lead, and even tin, have been used for the purposes of money.

The shapeless coins of very great antiquity were mere fragments of metal, the value of which was regulated entirely by weight, and this method extended to the comparatively worthless substance, brass. The silver coins of Greece, first known as bearing marks, are those with a tortoise on one side, and indented on the other; it is extremely doubtful when these coins were made, but they are supposed to have been from the celebrated mint of Ægina, where, according to some writers, the first coinage of money took place by command of Phidon, King of the Argives. Herodotus asserts, that the Lydians invented the art of impressing figures on their coins, whether correctly or not, cannot now be decided. Phidon is said to have lived about eight hundred and fifty years before the Christian æra, and the tortoise is known to be the badge of the Peloponnesus.

The drachma, or eighth part of an ounce, was the leading denomination of the Greciar money, and their coins were generally named from their weights, though sometimes the case was reversed; the silver drachma was equivalent on a medium to nine-pence sterling, and the Romans con

sidered their denarius as of the same value with the draclima. The didrachm of silver was double the amount of the drachma; the tridrachm was three drachmas, and the tetradrachm, the largest of Greek silver coins, except the tetradrachm of the Eginean standard, is equivalent to five shillings of our money.

The silver drachma was divided into several denominations, as the tetrobolion worth a modern sixpence; the hemidrachm, or triobolion, the diobolion, the obulus, the hemiobolion, the tetartobolion, and the dichalcos; the latter was worth about a farthing and a half. Very few of those minute silver coins have reached us, and others are mentioned by Greek writers, which were still less, and are consequently entirely decayed, or have been overlooked or neg lected for the larger species.

It may be proper in noticing these coins, to mention the figures impressed on some of them, for instance, Pallas and Proserpine on the tetradrachm, and the troizene; the cistophori had the mystic chest of Bacchus, with a serpent rising out of it; but the Athenian coins were the most numerous, though the execution of them was indifferent. The first copper coins extant are Syracusan; those of Greece are the chalcos, originally of very inconsiderable value. It does not appear that gold was used for this purpose in Greece before the reign of Philip of Macedon, and Athens was destitute of this description of money at the commencement of the Peloponnesian war; Sicily had set the example in this respect, the government of which island had issued gold coins four hundred and ninetyone years before Christ. The Xpos, or Philippus was a didrachm, the common form of gold coins of very remote times, and was equal in value to one pound sterling. The Philippus was divided into four parts, and there were still smaller coins of this precious metal. The sixfucos of Alexander and Lysimachus was of greater value than the Philippus, and is said to have been worth forty shillings of our money. Some of the Egyptian monarchs quadrupled the Xpusos, consequently their coins equalled four pounds.

The Romans estimated their money by weight, as the Greeks had done before, but they differed from that people in adopting silver for their coins, as they used copper, not in preference, but from necessity. The Roman pound was twelve ounces, consisting of four hundred and fifty-eight