NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS 163 



The excavation of some Etruscan tombs at Narce, Chiusi, 

 Cervetrii, Vulci, Bizentium, Ascoli, Civita Castellana, Orvieto, 

 Corneto and Tarantum, undertaken for this section, resulted 

 in a splendid series containing a number of unique specimens. 



Among these six Etruscan sarcophagi of stone representing 

 the defunct reclining on his bier^ excavated at Civita-Musarna, 

 near Viterbo (third century B. 0.) are a striking feature. These 

 collections are the gift of the late Dr Pepper, of Mrs Hearst 

 and the American exploration society and of the Hon. John 

 Wanamaker. The Dillwyn Parrish collection has been enriched 

 by a collection of demotic papyri, which will be added to its 

 already important series of ancient manuscripts. 



An expedition sent to Crete on behalf of the museum by the 

 American exploration society, in the summer of 1901, under the 

 direction of Miss H. A. Boyd and Miss Wheeler resulted in the 

 discovery at Gournia of a Mycenaean town of about 1200 B. C. 

 Paved and drained, albeit narrow streets, houses, a shrine and 

 a palace were brought to view, and many objects of pottery, 

 bronze, stone, etc. were discovered. A complete series of en- 

 larged photographs illustrate in the museum this important 

 discovery. 



Two of the most valuable and interesting exhibits of the 

 museum are deposited in the section of glyptics to which the 

 western wing of the first floor of the Museum building is 

 devoted. One consists of an exceedingly valuable collection of 

 engraved gems and amulets presented to the university by Prof. 

 Sommerville; the other a completely equipped Buddhist temple, 

 also the gift of Prof. Sommerville. 



The glyptic collection represents the life work of its donor, 

 and covers epochs of gem engraving from the earliest eras to 

 the present time. They are so arranged that visitors may, 

 through the medium of these beautiful engraved stones, 

 cylinders, seals and Gnostic tokens, inform themselves intelli- 

 gently on the science which these gems of all epochs so notably 

 exemplify. 



A large number of objects from Buddhist temples, secured 

 by the donor in his travels through the Orient, have been 



