The President’s Address. 11 
also, which seems decidedly more archaic, the stones for instance 
being rough, while those of Stonehenge are hewn. Now when was 
the Bronze Age? -And what do archeologists mean by the Bronze 
Age? I ask this question because, though it has been repeatedly 
answered, there is still a great misapprehension even in the minds 
of some who have written on the subject. By the Bronze Age, then 
We mean a period when the weapons were made almost entirely, and 
ornaments principally, of bronze; that is to say of copper and tin; 
gold being rare, iron and silver still more so, or even unknown, as 
was also the case with coins and glass. Some archeologists, indeed, 
have considered that the bronze swords and daggers which characterise 
the Bronze Age are really Roman. This question has been much 
discussed, and I will not now enlarge on it, but will only say, that 
in my judgment these arms are not found with Roman remains, and 
that the Roman weapons were made of iron, the word “ ferrum ” 
being synonymous with a sword. On this point, I have taken some 
pains to ascertain the opinions of Italian archeologists. Bronze 
swords, daggers, &c., occur south of the Alps, the very patterns 
being in some places identical with those of Northern Europe. But 
I believe it may be asserted that no object characteristic of the 
Bronze Age has been found in a Roman tomb; none“have been met 
with at Pompeii, and those Italian archeologists, whom I have been 
able to consult, all agree that they are undeniably pre-Roman. If 
indeed the bronze swords and daggers were of Roman origin, they 
ought to be more numerous in Italy than in the north. Now what 
are the facts? The museum of the Royal Irish Academy contains 
no less than three hundred swords and daggers of bronze. As re- 
gards other countries, M. Chantre, who has been collecting statistics 
on the subject, has been good enough to inform me that the French 
museums contain four hundred and nine, those of Sweden (including 
poniards) four hundred and eighty, and of Denmark, six hundred, 
while in Italy he knows of sixty only. These numbers seem to me 
to militate very strongly against the views of those who would 
ascribe these weapons to the Romans. When then was the Bronze 
Age? We know that iron was known in the time of Homer, which 
seems to have been, as regards the South of Europe, the period of 
