and engraved in the work just quoted, delineates another kind of boot or high shoe, reaching only to the ancle, round which it is secured by a band, and tied in front in a knot, the two ends of the band hanging beneath it; this shoe is very common upon the feet of these figures, and is generally worn by soldiers or the upper classes, the attendants or councillors round the throne of these early sovereigns frequently wear such shoes. No. 3, seen upon the feet of personages in the same rank of life, is here copied from a Persepolitan bas-relief representing a soldier in full costume; it is a remarkably interesting example, as it very clearly shows the transition state of this article of dress, being something between a shoe and a sandal; in fact, a shoe may be 'considered as a covered sandal, and in the instance before us, the part we now term

upper leather" consists of little more than the lacings of the sandals rendered much broader than usual, and fastened by buttons along the top of the foot; the shoe is thus rendered peculiarly flexible, as the openings over the instep allow of the freest movement. Such were the forms of the earliest shoes.

Close boots reaching nearly to the knee where they are met by a wide trowser, are not uncommon upon these sculptures, being precisely the same in shape and appearance as those worn by the modern Cossacks. Indeed, there is nothing in the way of boots that may not be found upon the existing monuments of early nations, precisely resembling the modern ones. The little figure here given might pass for a copy of

the boots worn by one of the soldiers of King William the Third's army, and would not be unworthy of uncle Toby himself, yet it is carefully copied from a most ancient specimen of Etruscan sculpture, in the possession of Inghirami, who has engraved it in his learned work the "Monumenti Etruschi;" the

original represents an Augur, or Priest, whose chief duty was to report and explain supernatural signs.

With the ancient Greeks and Romans the coverings for the feet assumed their most elegant forms, yet in no instance does the comfort of the wearer appear to have been sacrificed, or the natural play of the foot interfered with that appears to have been especially reserved for "march of intellect" days. Vegetable sandals, termed Baxa, or Baxea, were worn by the lower classes, and as a symbol of their humility, by the philosophers and priests. Apuleius describes a young priest as wearing sandals of palm, they were no doubt similar in construction to the Egyptian ones, of which we have already given specimens, and which were part of the required and characteristic dress of the Egyptian priesthood. Such vegetable sandals were, however, occasionally decorated with ornaments to a considerable extent, and they then became expensive. The making of them in all their variety was the business of a class of men called Baxearii; and these with the Solearii, (or makers of the simplest kind of sandal worn, consisting of a

C

sole with little more to fasten it to the foot than a

strap across the instep), constituted a corporation or college of Rome.

The solea were generally worn by the higher classes only, for lightness and convenience, in the house; the shoes (calceus) being worn out of doors. The Soccus was the intermediate covering for the foot, being something between the solea and the calceus, it was, in fact, precisely like the modern slipper, and could be cast off at pleasure, as it did not fit closely, and was secured by no tie. This, like the solea and crepida, was worn by the lower classes and country people; and hence, the comedians wore such cheap and common coverings for the feet, to contrast with the Cothurnus or buskin of the tragedians, which they assumed, as it was adapted to be part of a grand and stately attire. Hence the term applied to theatrical performers—"brethren of the sock and buskin," and as this distinction is both ancient and curious, specimens, of both are here given from antique authorities. The side and front view of the Sock, (Nos. 1, 2) is copied from a painting of a buffoon, who is dancing

in loose yellow slippers, one of the commonest colours in which the leather used for their construction was dyed.

Such slippers were made to fit both feet indifferently, but the more finished boots and shoes were made for one foot only from the earliest period. The Cothurnus, (fig. 3) was a boot of the highest kind, reaching above the calf of the leg, and sometimes as far as the knee. It was laced as the boots of the ancients always were, down the front, the object of such an arrangement being to make them fit the leg as closely as possible, and the skin of which they were made was dyed purple, and other gay colours; the head and paws of the wild animal were sometimes allowed tó hang around the leg from the upper part of the cothurnus, to which it formed a graceful addition; an example is given upon our 2nd plate, fig. 1, which is