CHRISTIANIZED MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS. 673 



time devotees regarded grottoes of this sort as the burial places of 

 holy bodies, and scratched up the ground in them for the cure of 

 their diseases. 



A megalithic monument in France of similar character is repre- 

 sented by the church of S^e'pi Saints (of Seven Saints), in the hamlet 

 of that name, which was built between 1702 and 1744, probably on 

 the site of an older chapel. There is nothing remarkable in the 

 church itself, which is in the form of a Latin cross, oriented in the 

 orthodox direction, with a simple rustic steeple of some beauty. The 

 arms of the cross constitute two chapels, in one of which is the 

 sacristy, while the other one covers the crypt, which gives the 

 church all its interest. On going down into this crypt one may 

 realize without difficulty that he is in a real dolmen which has been 

 converted into a place of worsliip. Tavo large granite tables resting 

 on vertical slabs appertain to the primitive monument. A fourth 

 support, now masked, apparently closes the end of the chamber. 

 The chamber is rectangular, and its walls are filled in with stone- 

 work. It is divided by an openwork wooden partition provided with 

 a door into two unequal parts, of which the front one is a sort of 

 vestibule, and the other, with a floor sunk about a foot, is the 

 chapel proper. It is dimly lighted, and at the end is a stone altar 

 planked in front, over which is a niche containing seven small statues 

 in a line, made in the most rudimentary style, and painted in colors 

 tarnished with age. These represent the seven saints whose remains 

 tradition says were found in the dolmen, and in honor of whom the 

 church is named. These personages are likewise represented in the 

 church by more imposing and more freshly colored wooden statues, 

 but pilgrims prefer to pay their devotions to the old, faded, miracu- 

 lously discovered statuettes below. The dolmen has probably, as 

 Luzel affirms, been a cherished holy place from antiquity, and Chris- 

 tianity has simply given a sort of consecration to the pagan tradition. 

 It is the subject of numerous legends, the most famous of which 

 is the Breton story of the Gwerz des Sept Saints, which makes it of 

 divine origin, and is in other respects almost the exact counter- 

 part of the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. — Translated for 

 the Popular Science Monthly from the Revue Mensuelle de VEcole 

 d'' Anthropologic. 



The English Physical Society visited Eton in February, and were wel- 

 comed by Prof. T. C. Porter, who spoke of the value of the classics, on which 

 Eton College prides itself, in education ; and expressed the belief that others 

 as well as himself desired that this reverent tradition of the classics should 

 be preserved at the school ; "at the same time they would agree with him 

 that there was no better supplement to classics than a fair knowledge of 

 the natural sciences." 



VOL. LHI. — 46 



