80 



" discovery is the first found in Bath that may be said to be of 

 " Christian or rather Biblical character, and certainly the only 

 " important one of similar character found in Britain." So far for 

 the letter with its ingenious conclusion. This brought forth one 

 or two other letters from another antiquary, written from a 

 distance, in which an equally hasty suggestion was made that the 

 stone described was probably the portion (lower shaft) of a Saxon 

 cross of which two other portions were in the Museum of the 

 Institution. 



Having inspected the carved stone myself several times and 

 looked at the pieces of Sculpture in the Museum, I could not 

 possibly reconcile either of the above statements with the actual 

 facts of the case. Not deeming myself sufiiciently competent to 

 controvert the views set forth by two such authorities, a lucky 

 chance presented itself, or rather a Deus ex Machind appeared in 

 the person of Professor Sayce, who accompanied me to the Roman 

 Bath where this interesting stone is fast being injured (if not 

 destroyed) by exposure to the action of the weather, stated his 

 impressions as to the Sculpture at the time and has since written 

 to me on the subject.* 



The following communication clears up the whole matter and 

 brings conviction to every reasonable mind : — 



" I have not had time before to write down for you my notions 

 about the curious altar-like stone found last summer in the Cross 

 Bath, which we examined together a few weeks ago. I believe it 

 must have come from a chapel dedicated to -^sculapius, a deity very 

 likely to be worshipped in the neighbourhood of the hot springs. 

 The serpent entwined around a staff, which is engraved on one of 

 the faces of the stone, is his well-known symbol. The dog repre- 

 sented on another face was also associated with .^sculapius. 



* It is but fair to add that on January 8th a note from the writer 

 of the first letter states that " he has altogether changed his views as 

 to this Sculpture." < 



