of art--carvings, sculptures, enamels, alabaster libraries,
obelisks, sphinxes, colossal bulls. Ecbatana, the cool summer
retreat of the Persian kings, was defended by seven encircling
walls of hewn and polished blocks, the interior ones in
succession of increasing height, and of different colors, in
astrological accordance with the seven planets. The palace was
roofed with silver tiles, its beams were plated with gold. At
midnight, in its halls the sunlight was rivaled by many a row of
naphtha cressets. A paradise--that luxury of the monarchs of the
East--was planted in the midst of the city. The Persian Empire,
from the Hellespont to the Indus, was truly the garden of the
world.

EFFECTS ON THE GREEK ARMY. I have devoted a few pages to the
story of these marvelous campaigns, for the military talent they
fostered led to the establishment of the mathematical and
practical schools of Alexandria, the true origin of science. We
trace back all our exact knowledge to the Macedonian campaigns.
Humboldt has well observed that an introduction to new and grand
objects of Nature enlarges the human mind. The soldiers of
Alexander and the hosts of his camp-followers encountered at
every march unexpected and picturesque scenery. Of all men, the
Greeks were the most observant, the most readily and profoundly
impressed. Here there were interminable sandy plains, there
mountains whose peaks were lost above the clouds. In the deserts
were mirages, on the hill-sides shadows of fleeting clouds
sweeping over the forests. They were in a land of amber-colored
date-palms and cypresses, of tamarisks, green myrtles, and
oleanders. At Arbela they had fought against Indian elephants; in
the thickets of the Caspian they had roused from his lair the