sible, describe them? They are much like the Egyptian slabs. Some appear to be celts fixed in handles, like those found in the lake-dwellings in Switzerland, many of which I possess."

The Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson, V.P., exhibited a vesica-shaped seal of brass, apparently of the thirteenth century, said to have been recovered from the Thames, near Greenwich, Dec. 1871. The upper part of the field is occupied by the demi-figure of St. Peter nimbed and mitred, holding a cross in the right, and two large keys in the left hand. Beneath is the kneeling effigy of an ecclesiastic. Legend, +S. ANTONI.

ARCHRI. ECL. SCI. PETRI. D. POPLE.

Mr. Birch remarked that the legend was probably intended to read: Sigillum Antonii Archipresbiteri Ecclesia Sancti Petri de Pople; but he was inclined to think that the seal was not genuine.

Mr. E. Levien, Hon. Sec., exhibited several shell-celts from Barbadoes, sent to him by Sir Thomas Graham Briggs, Bart., and accompanied by the following letter, dated 23, Ryder-street, St. James', S.W. 10 November, 1871:

"MY DEAR SIR,-I now send you some Indian celts which have been sent me from Barbadoes, and which I hope you will do me the honour to accept. I should have done myself the pleasure of calling on you with them, but we leave England for Barbadoes on the 17th, and I am overwhelmed with preparations.

"Believe me, in haste, yours very truly,

"T. GRAHAM BRIGGS."

Mr. H. Syer Cuming said he felt sure the meeting would join him in thanking Mr. Levien for having afforded those present an opportunity of handling and examining the adze-blades from Barbadoes. He well remembered the time that to have seen an ancient Carib shellblade was a thing to almost boast of; and although such relics have been found in larger quantities than formerly, and numbers had of late years reached this country, they were still articles of novelty to many, and would ever remain of deep interest to the student of archaic man. A fine series of shell-blades may be inspected in the Christy collection, and another in the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury. The latter were gathered and presented by the Rev. Greville J. Chester, who accompanied the gift with the following memorandum, which is extracted from the Guide (p. 72): "In Barbadoes there is no hard stone, nothing harder than coraline limestone. The aborigines, therefore, were obliged to import hard stone implements and weapons from the other islands, or from the main continent of South America. For ordinary purposes, however, they used implements made of various kinds of marine shells and of the fossil shells from the limestone. These shellimplements vary in length from one inch and a half to six inches and a half. Some in my possession are beautifully formed. In the commonest

type the natural curve of the shell formed the handle. Discs and beads made of shell, and large quantities of pottery in a fragmentary state, have been found associated with the shell-implements. The large number of implements discovered under rock-shelters and in gullies proves the existence of a large native population in Barbadoes; and as shell-hatchets are not found in the other West Indian islands, it is clear that they are of purely local origin."

Mr. Cuming went on to say, that though in the West Indies the use of shell-blades seems to have been confined to Barbadoes, such objects were not unknown in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Dr. Pickering, in his Races of Man (p. 52), states that he saw in the Otuans, or Disappointment Islands, adzes with blades wrought of portions of the tridacna or cassis, with handles made of kneed roots; and on February 27, 1861, the Rev. S. W. King exhibited to us an adze-blade from the Ascension Isles, seven inches in length, fashioned of a piece of a tridacna gigas. Mr. Cuming produced a remarkably fine and perfect adze from the Friendly Islands, the blade nearly five inches in length, and full two inches and a quarter across its cutting edge, being formed of a portion of tridacna or clam-shell; tightly bound on to the beak of the haft with sinnet, or braided cord formed of the fibre of the cocoa-nut, or coir as it is commercially called. The stout cylindric handle is of brownish coloured wood, twenty-one inches in length. The mode in which such hoe-shaped weapon-tools were hooked on the shoulder for carriage, is well shown in the portrait of Abba Thulle, king of Pelew, engraved in Captain H. Wilson's Voyage. Mr. Cuming concluded his remarks by observing that shell-bladed harpoons were employed by the Esquimaux, of which he possessed examples formerly in the Leverian Museum.

Mr. George Wright, F.S.A., again called the attention of the meeting to some of the urns found at Sunbury; and Mr. Roberts gave his reasons for adhering to the opinions expressed by him upon the subject in his paper, which will be found in the Journal, vol. xxvii, pp. 449-52.

Mr. H. Syer Cuming exhibited two examples of the sand in which many of the Roman remains at Wilderspool have been discovered. (See Journal, xxvii, pp. 430-37.) The one forming the upper stratum looks like gunpowder, being carbonised by the conflagration which destroyed Condate; the other, or underlying stratum, which extends over several acres of the denuded Roman surface of the land, being calcined by the great heat occasioned by the disaster. The exhibition was accompanied by the following note addressed to Mr. Cuming by Dr. Kendrick : "Warrington, 28th Dec. 1871.

"MY DEAR SIR,-You some time ago expressed a wish for some of the calcined white sand from Wilderspool, and I enclose a small quantity which I have brought from thence to-day. I also send you a

specimen of the carbonised stratum of sand which is superimposed on the above. The white is whiter, and the black sand much blacker, than the enclosed, when they are in the moist state; but I have dried them for the convenience of carriage. The natural sand is of a yellow colour; but here and there, where the conflagration has apparently been more intense, it shows a paler colour, as one would fully expect. "The severe and prolonged frost which prevailed a few weeks since greatly diminished the quantity of sand required for building purposes, and there was a corresponding deficiency in the yield of relics; but we are now tolerably busy again, and I hope for increased returns, since the owner of the land has opened the north bank of the canal for the sale of its sand.

"Ever, my dear Sir, very truly yours,

"JAS. KENDRICK."

Mr. Edw. Levien, Hon. Sec., read a paper by W. de G. Birch, Esq., "On Three Lists of Monasteries compiled in the Thirteenth Century," which will be found at pp. 45-62 ante.

JANUARY 24TH.

H. SYER CUMING, ESQ., F.S.A. Scor., V.P., IN THE CHAIR.

Thanks were returned for the following presents:

To the Society, the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archæological Society, for Quarterly Journal, vol. vi, New Series, Part 58. 8vo; Dublin, 1871.

,, Royal Archæological Institute, for Journal, No. III. 8vo; London, 1871.

To the Autotype Fine Art Company, for Ancient Sculptures in the Roof of Norwich Cathedral. By the Very Rev. Edward Meyrick Goulbourn, D.D., Dean of Norwich. Part I. Imperial 4to; London, 1872.

To Thomas Richards, Esq., for Papworth's Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland. Parts XI-XV. 8vo; London, 1863-71.

Mr. J. W. Grover exhibited a small glass bottle dug up in Lombardstreet, with a quantity of charred wood which had been found round it. Mr. J. W. Baily and the Chairman thought the bottle not older than the early part of the seventeenth century, although Mr. Grover and others considered it to be more ancient.

Mr. J. W. Baily exhibited the following objects from recent excavations in the City; all of them being Roman, with the exception of the dagger last described :-Earthen lamp; lip or mouth of an earthen vessel in the form of a mask, and somewhat similar to those described

in Smith's Roman London, p. 86; white earthen household deity (one of the Penates) in the form of a child's bust, on a pedestal,—after the manner of one engraved on p. 66, vol. vi, of the Collectanea Antiqua; fragment (the lower half) of drinking vessel, Cologne ware (?); two reeded beads, one in colours; fragment of a Roman leaden coffin, with scallop-shell, and bead and reel ornamentation; five fragments of bronze; bone ear-pick, the upper part carved in scrolls and animals' heads; small dagger. Extreme length, nine inches; both edges square, and the point blunt; the hilt and pommel of hard, white metal, and probably made for a lady or a page. Late sixteenth century.

Mr. H. Syer Cuming, F.S.A. Scot., V.P., read his "Report on Ancient Remains found at Maiden Castle, co. Dorset," which will be found at pp. 39-45 ante.

FEBRUARY 14тн.

H. SYER CUMING, ESQ., F.S.A. Scor., V.P., IN THE CHAIR.

The election of the following members was announced:
Rev. Joseph Castley, Stonham, Suffolk

John Haslam, Esq., 65, Great Russell-street, W.C.

Thanks were returned for the following presents:

To the Author, H. C. Russell, Esq., B.A., F.R.A.S., for Results of Meteorological Observations. Pamphlets. 8vo, 1869 and 1870. And for Meteorological Observations in Sidney, N. S. Wales. Pamphlets. 8vo. Jan. to August 1871.

Mr. E. Roberts exhibited five leathern knife and dagger-sheaths of the fifteenth century, found in Cannon-street; also a piece of brick or tile, fashioned into the shape of a large spindle-whorl, probably used as a hobble or weight, and two bone handles for common knives. All found in the city of London.

Mr. J. W. Grover exhibited a small cadus, or amphora, found in Queen Victoria-street, of the ordinary peg-top type, having no handles, and tapering down to a round point; some spoons, a knife, and a key; and some fashioned bones, used probably as skates.

Mr. J. W. Baily exhibited two jugs, early fourteenth century. The charateristics of both are the same, the lip or mouth being formed as a grotesque head with projecting beard and ears; and with an appendage, in slight relief, on each side of the body of the jug, intended to represent arms and hands. The large jug, which is imperfect, is covered with green glaze, and is eight inches and a half high; the smaller one is covered with coarse green and brown glaze, and is four inches and three-quarters high, and is perfect. Also another jug, six