14. Apollo bending his bow. Found at Paramythia. (Specimens of Antient Sculpture, I., pl. xliii.)-Payne Knight. 15. Silver boy playing with a goose. Found at Alexandria, with a number of silver coins of the earlier Ptolemies. 16. Lamp, in the form of a greyhound's head. The spout is formed by a hare's head, held in the greyhound's mouth. Found at Nocera. 17. A boy playing at the game of morra, perhaps, from a group representing Ganymedes playing with Eros; said to have been found at Foggia, in Southern Italy. Table Case D contains a number of select bronzes, among which may be noticed the bronzes of Siris-two shoulder-pieces of Greek armour found in Magna Græcia, and ornamented with groups in relief in the finest style; youthful heroic figure seated, found at Tarentum, and in the finest style; a bronze mirror in a highly ornamented frame of unusual size, found at Locri; a mirror, on which is engraved the meeting of Helen and Menelaus at the taking of Troy; a group of Boreas and Oreithyia, from a tomb in the island of Calymnos; figures and animals in relief, embossed in silver, and forming part of the ornament of an Etruscan chariot, found at Perugia; a hare inscribed with a very ancient dedication to Apollo; a bronze plate from Elis, inscribed with a treaty between two tribes; two decrees of the people. of Corcyra; an iron sword in bronze scabbard, with relief representing an Emperor, probably Tiberius, receiving a victorious general, probably Germanicus. Found at Mayence, 1848. Presented by Mr. Felix Slade. Table Case C contains Etruscan mirrors, on which various mythological subjects are engraved. Case A contains armlets, fibulæ, and various personal ornaments and trappings. Case F, locks, keys, and a variety of small implements. A circular case towards the North-East end of the Room contains a number of objects in silver. Among them is a silver bucket, on which is a frieze, in relief, representing the four Seasons. Found near Vienne, in France. (Annali of the Roman Institute, 1852. Tav. d'Agg., L.) In the circular case opposite are specimens of bronze armour, among which may be noticed the cuirass, from the Temple Collection. C. T. NEWTON. BRITISH AND MEDIEVAL ROOM. This room contains three collections :-the British, consisting of Antiquities found in Great Britain and Ireland, extending from the earliest periods to the Norman Conquest, the Early Christian, and the Medieval, comprising all remains of the Middle Ages, both English and Foreign. K BRITISH COLLECTION. This Collection is arranged, as far as possible, in chronological order, as follows: Cases 1-42. British Antiquities, anterior to the Romans. BRITISH ANTIQUITIES. 1 The remains of the inhabitants of the British islands, previous to the Roman invasion, embrace the Stone, Bronze, and a portion of the Iron period of Northern Antiquaries. They have, for convenience, been classed according to their materials, and in the order corresponding to that of the supposed introduction of such materials into this country. With them have been placed similar remains from other countries for the purpose of illustration. Cases 1-4. Middle Shelf (Case 1, 2). Antiquities found in the Drift Beds of England and France, chiefly flint implements of a peculiar pear-shaped form. These have been found with the bones of the mammoth and other extinct animals, and are believed to be the oldest remains of human industry hitherto discovered. Other Shelves. Implements known as stone celts. They appear by analogous examples, still in use among nations in a savage state, to have been mounted in wooden handles, and bound round with leathern thongs, so as to form axes and adzes. These are from England, Scotland, and Ireland. Cases 5, 12. Upper Shelves. Early pottery found in tumuli. The larger urns have contained burnt ashes; the smaller may have been used as vessels for food and drink at the funeral feast. One urn was found in a barrow on the banks of the river Alaw, Anglesea, and has been supposed to have contained the ashes of Bronwen the Fair, aunt to Caractacus, who died about A.D. 50, but is probably much older; also urns found in Jersey, Ireland, and Scotland; the Scotch and Irish are generally more elaborately ornamented than the English. Middle Shelves. Flint knives and arrow-heads, from England and Ireland; among them a stone celt, with the remains of its original wooden handle. Lower Shelves. Stone implements from foreign countries— Italy, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, India, &c. Cases 11, 12. Various stone implements, viz.:-Stone hammers, or axe-heads, pierced to receive a wooden shaft; they have been occasionally found with bronze weapons, and appear to be of a later date than the stone celts. Oval pebbles, which may have been slingstones. Small sharpening stones or hones, pierced at one end for suspension. Circular pierced disks, which have been used as beads, or as whorls for the spindle. Table Case A. A mass of breccia from the floor of a cave at Les Eyzies, Dordogne, containing flint and bone implements. Table Case B. In the central part is a large collection of implements in reindeer-horn, flint, &c., from caves in the South of France, some of them from Bruniquel, near Montauban, others from Dordogne. In the Desks are placed a series of antiquities discovered on the site of dwellings built on piles in the shallow parts of the Swiss lakes. They afford much information as to the arts, habits, and food of the ancient inhabitants. Cases 13-25. Implements and weapons made of bronze, a mixed metal, usually compounded of about nine-tenths of copper to one-tenth of tin. The sites of discovery are, as far as possible, marked on the objects themselves. Cases 13-15. Illustrations of early British Metallurgy. Lower Shelf Stone mullers or hammers, which have been employed in ancient copper mines to break the ore; cakes of copper and bronze; stone mould for making rough bronze celts, and casts of moulds for.. making bronze swords. Middle Shelf. Bronze moulds for casting celts of various forms; unfinished and imperfectly formed celts from various localities, and lumps of copper found with them. Cases 16-20. Bronze implements, commonly called celts (from the Latin celtis, a chisel), which appear to have been affixed to wooden handles. They are arranged, according to their forms, into classes. On the upper shelf, two bronze shields, found in Wales. Cases 21, 22. Middle Shelf. Blades of bronze daggers and knives, of which the handles were of wood, horn, or bone. Lower Shelf. Bronze swords, among which some fine specimens from the Thames; and ends of sword-sheaths. Upper Shelf. Bronze swords from Ireland. Cases 23-25. Bronze shield found in the Isis, near Dorchester. Two shields found in the Thames. Bronze spear-heads, some with rivet holes, in which a wooden peg appears to have been fixed; others without rivet holes, but with loops at the side, or piercings in the blade, for thongs. Bronze trumpets from Ireland. Cases 26-35. Miscellaneous antiquities of the Bronze period, and bronze implements from foreign countries; likewise a large series of urns from Germany and Denmark. Below have been placed, for want of other space, three Roman leaden coffins from East Ham, Essex. In Cases 36-12 are placed various antiquities found in England, Scotland, and Ireland, chiefly of bronze, and characterized by a peculiar style of ornament, and frequently by the presence of enamel. They are probably late Celtic, of about the time of the Roman invasion of England. Among them a shield and a helmet found in the Thames; a shield found in the Witham, Lincolnshire; a helmet without locality; horse-trappings and a sword found at Stanwick, in Yorkshire, during excavations made by the Duke of Northumberland, by whom they were presented; similar trappings from Polden Hill, Somersetshire, and Westhall, Suffolk. Table Case D. A continuation of the series of late Celtic antiquities, among which are portions of some remarkable shields from the Thames; also foreign antiquities of the earlier Iron Period. 1 ROMAN ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN BRITAIN. These differ little from the Roman remains found in other countries. Some of them were no doubt imported, but the greater part must have been made in some of the flourishing cities founded in Britain by the Romans, who were more or less masters of this country for upwards of 400 years. Table Case E. Smaller Roman antiquities found in Britain. Cases 47-51. Roman vessels of coarse earthenware, principally employed as cinerary urns. Over the Cases, two large amphora, the necks of which have been broken off to admit urns, forming rude sarcophagi. Cases 52, 53. Specimens of Roman earthenware, found on the site of kilns in the New Forest in which they were manufactured. They are generally" castaways," ill-made or imperfect. Cases 54, 57. Roman pottery of various kinds. The localities in which the specimens were found are inscribed upon them as far as possible. Underneath: Roman roof, flue, and draining tiles; also two Roman coffins of lead, found near London. Cases 58, 59. Roman lamps variously ornamented. Two specimens of earthenware with a yellow vitreous glaze. A singular vase in the form of a human head, dedicated to Mercury, from Lincoln. Underneath: Roman Mortaria, or pounding-vessels. Cases 60-63. Roman red moulded ware, commonly called Samian. The finer kind, known as Aretine ware, was made chiefly at Aretium in Italy; the coarser in Germany and Eastern Gaul, and imported into England. A fragment of a mould may be seen in Case 63; and a type for impressing a mould. Case 64. Plain Samian ware, probably the ware employed for domestic purposes. The specimens are generally stamped with potters' names. Cases 65-75. Miscellaneous Roman Antiquities. Among them may be noticed a vase turned in Kimmeridge coal, and the waste pieces found on the site of the manufactory on the coast of Dorsetshire; clay moulds for counterfeit coins; brooches and other personal ornaments; bronzes. Case 70. Antiquities discovered at Ribchester, in Lancashire. On the middle shelf, a bronze head of the Emperor Hadrian, found in the Thames, below a Roman tomb found in the Great Park, Windsor, and presented by Her Majesty. Cases 71-75. Edicts granting privileges to some of the auxiliaries serving in Britain under Trajan and Hadrian. Votive offerings, small figures, etc. In Table Case F are placed Roman Antiquities discovered in London, principally from the collection made by Mr. Roach Smith. They consist of statuettes, personal ornaments, implements of various kinds, such as knives, and styli for writing, fragments of pottery, leather sandals, and other remains of the Roman occupants of London. On a pedestal at the end of the case is a fine bronze figure from Barking Hall, Suffolk. ANGLO-SAXON ANTIQUITIES. These antiquities, which have been chiefly found in ancient cemeteries, belong for the most part to the earlier periods of the Heptarchy. They show that both burying and burning the dead were practised in England by the Saxons. Cases 76-80. On the upper shelf are black sepulchral urns, found chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk. On the middle shelf, groups of antiquities discovered together in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. On the lower shelf of these and the following Cases are antiquities discovered by Dr. Bähr in Livonia and Courland, of about the same age as the Saxon antiquities, and placed here for comparison. Cases 81-86. Various Saxon weapons, such as swords, spear-heads, and bosses of shields. A bucket of wood with bronze mountings. A bronze bucket, which was discovered at Hexham full of coins of the kings of Northumbria. In Table Case G are placed personal ornaments of various kinds, and a series of swords and spears discovered in the Thames. Among them a sword with a Runic alphabet. There is also a remarkable casket of whale's bone, with various subjects and Runic inscriptions. probably made in Northumbria in the 9th century. EARLY CHRISTIAN COLLECTION. This is a small Collection occupying one end of Table Case G, and Case 17. Among the specimens are numerous lamps with the XP, crosses, and subjects from the Old and New Testaments. The most remarkable part of it, a number of pieces of glass vases with ornaments in gold leaf, discovered in the Catacombs of Rome, has been removed to the Glass Collection in the Second Egyptian Room. In an upright Case P, in the centre of the room, are arranged caskets and ornaments of various kinds, found at Rome in 1793, and obtained with the Blacas Collection. MEDIEVAL COLLECTION. This Collection is arranged with reference partly to the material of which the objects are formed, partly to the use for which they were intended. Cases 88-97. SCULPTURE AND CARVING, in various materials, but |