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   Having briefly traced the history of Pompeii, we may now endeavour to
describe the style of decoration, and the manner in which it was performed,
and to give such general information as may appear sufficiently connected
with our subject.
   In the decoration of their dwellings the inhabitants of Pompeii were accus-
tomed to colour the walls before the plaster was dry.    After having applied
a sufficiently thick coat of plaster, probably in nearly the same manner
as in the present day, a thin but well-wrought body of fine stuff was applied
to the rough surface, until a perfectly level, smooth, and even polished
face was
obtained, and one nearly as hard as marble. While this last coat was still
wet, the colours were applied, by' which means, according to Vitruvius, they
were so completely combined with the substance of the plaster, as to retain
their freshness and tone to a great age. The smallest apartments in Pompeii
were finished in this stucco, and painted in an endless variety of colours.
The sides of the rooms were usually divided into compartments, simply tinted
with a light ground, and surrounded by a border. The interior of the panel
was embellished with    a subject, sometimes a single figure, and sometimes
historical groups; but in all instances executed with good taste and much
boldness of design.
  When the ruins were first opened by the king of Naples, a vast variety
of domestic and other instruments were found, the greater number of which
were deposited in the Museum at Portici. In the same place may also be
examined, locks, keys, bolts, door-handles, and other articles required in
the
completion and decoration of dwelling-houses.   The lock-work is said to
be
very inferior in point of execution, but all the decorative parts are in
a high
style of art, and the same remark is true of all instruments capable of enrich-
meit.   It may also be observed, that the carpentry at Pompeii, so far as
can be ascertained from the specimens which remain, was simple in its con-
struction, and without ornament, the architects evidently trusting more to
the
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