396 THE PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF HUNGARY. 



• 

 auguration of constitutional government in Hungary. The members of 



the diet, convinced that much was still needed to raise us to the level 

 of the nations who had preceded us in the cultivation of prehistoric 

 archaeology, were judicious and patriotic enough to vote the sums re- 

 quisite not only for the purchase of classical objects, for putting our col 

 lections in better order and cataloguing them, but also for the acquisi- 

 tion of specimens illustrative of prehistoric archaeology and for explo- 

 rations in the interest of that science. 



It is very remarkable that the new development of the kingdom co- 

 incided with the Paris Exposition, where a retrospective section for the 

 study of industries reaching back to the remotest times was, for the 

 first time, added to the objects representing the achievements in mod- 

 ern art and ingenuity. It cannot be denied that the large number of 

 specimens of stone, clay, bone, bronze, &c., exhibited on that occasion, 

 excited the desire to collect analogous objects In our own country, and 

 the labors of the International Anthropological Congrfess, then in ses- 

 sion at Paris, served to strengthen this resolution. Thence arose new 

 ideas and new i)lans for enlarging the scope of our National Museum. 

 After the Universal Exhibition at Paris, the spacious hall, hitherto ex- 

 clusively used for exhibiting the numismatic collection, was provided 

 with glass cases, which already contain a remarkable collection ; a large 

 portion, however, embracing new acquisitions and interesting fragments 

 had to be deposited in drawers. When this congress is over, the new 

 additions, which are quite numerous, will be placed in an adjoining 

 hall. They chiefly comprise objects of stone, the number of which in- 

 creases very rapidly. 



I had the pleasure of showing at the Paris congress the first obsidian 

 nucleus obtained from Transylvania. Until then objects of obsidian 

 were generally thought to be of Mexican origin, because none from 

 other countries were known, excepting a few found in Italy. This dis- 

 covery was followed by another. I found in the minera logical cabinet 

 of our museum a much larger nucleus, and later I was really surprised 

 to discover in the museum of the college of Debrecziu our largest obsid- 

 ian nuclei, which had all been collected in the neighborhood of the 

 celebrated mountain of Tokay, where obsidian occurs in considerable 

 quantities. Farther east the objects and fragments of obsidian become 

 more and more scarce. We are now able to prepare a map showing our 

 obsidian finds, which are already numerous and increase from day to 

 day. This map will be made more perfect after the congress, and will 

 assist in engendering in our country a higher appreciation of all that 

 our honored guests deem worthy of their attention. But our obsidian 

 flakes are by no means equivalent to those of flint, so frequently met in 

 the north and west of Europe; and without attempting to ascribe to 

 them a too remote antiquity, we will simply state that they often occur 

 associated with objects of bronze, as proved by the discoveries made by 

 the counselor of mines, Mr. Henry Wolf, on the island of Bodrog 



