Frequently the place of the altar is taken by a niche, in which the passer-by could deposit his offering. In our illustration (Fig. 105) we see an ancient street altar which was carefully preserved when the Central Baths were built, a niche being made over it in the new wall. [Illustration: Fig. 105.--Ancient altar in new wall, southeast corner of the Central Baths.] Sometimes a large altar is found, and the Lares, with their offerings, are painted on a wall above it. Such a shrine may be seen at the northwest corner of Stabian and Nola streets, between the fountain and the water tower (Fig. 103). Back of the altar is a wall terminating in a gable (the tiles are modern) on which was a painted altar with four worshippers clad in togas, and a fluteplayer, the inseparable accompaniment of a Roman sacrificial scene; at the sides were the two Lares, represented as youths, in loose tunics confined by a girdle, holding in one hand, high uplifted, a drinking horn (_rhyton_), from which a jet of wine flows into a small pail (_situla_) in the other hand. It is remarkable that we do not find in this or similar paintings at Pompeii, any figure representing the Genius of the emperor, while in private houses the Genius of the proprietor often has a place with the Lares, and sometimes the Genius of the emperor also; in theory at least, as already remarked (p. 104), the emperor stood to all men in the relation that the master of a house bore to the household. [Illustration: Fig. 106.--Plan of a chapel of the Lares Compitales.] There is also a small chapel for the worship of the street gods on the west side of Stabian Street, near Abbondanza Street. As may be seen from the accompanying plan (Fig. 106), at the left as you enter is a bench of masonry (1), at the rear a long altar (2). In the wall at the right is a niche for the bronze or terra cotta figures of the Lares and the Genius, while the surface of the altar is divided into two parts, for the separate worship of the same divinities. A similar chapel is situated on the west side of Mercury Street (VI. viii. 14). Here also we find a bench of masonry, with two niches above it; in the middle was a block of limestone which may have been used as an altar. At the rear is a door leading into a small back room. This chapel was formerly thought to be a barber shop. It has been customary to assign to the street gods all of the shrines at the side of the street. Occasionally, however, other divinities were thus honored; and the only street altar found with an inscription is consecrated to a different deity. This altar is near Nola Street, on the east side of Insula IX. vii. On the wall above two cornucopias are painted the words _Salutei sacrum_, 'Sacred to Salus'; the goddess of health was worshipped here.