230 
to the Tyrolese and the inhabitants of the Pyrenees. 1658 was 
given as the date for the origin of watches. Dr. Mantell 
mentioned that water clocks made of a tin can were still used in 
Bengal. 
The SECRETARY, in the absence of the Rev. W. T. Blathwayt, 
read the notes sent him on the “ Martel de Fer.” From these it 
appeared that this axe was found in astone coffin at Langridge, 
near Bath, about the year 1788, by the Rev. G. W. Blathwayt, 
the then rector, in whose family it has been ever since. A spur, 
since lost, was found in the same coffin. The “martel” was 
shown to Mr. Planché at Langridge when the British Archzo- 
logical Association visited Bath in 1857. He said the ornamenta- 
tion is undoubtedly Oriental, a trophy, it may be, brought from 
the Holy Wars and buried with the Crusader as one of his most 
valued weapons.: He said it was very difficult to give a precise 
date to it. The leather covering of the handle ismodern. With 
regard to the apparent existence of a hinged cover at the butt-end 
of the silver mounting, the CHAIRMAN said that there was a 
“ martel de fer” in the Tower armoury with a covered opening at 
the butt containing space for a pistol. That was of Elizabethan 
date. As to the derivation of the word “ martel,” he said it had 
the same root as the word “maul,” as in the expression “he was 
very much mauled,” i.e., knocked about ; also in the “ Mall,” in 
* Pall Mall.” The Latin “malleus,” hammer, was cognate also. 
He thought the “martel de fer” exhibited was used by retainers 
more for the purpose of breaking open the armour than for that 
of killing outright. 
Mr. SCARTH, who had been present at the meeting of the 
Association at Langridge, remembered the circumstance, and said 
that the burial had been a secondary one evidently, so that this 
weapon was not of the same date as the original interment. 
The fourth and concluding afternoon meeting of the Session 
took place at the Royal Literary and Scientific Institution on 
Wednesday, Feb. 6th. There was a good attendance of members 
