15 
and then went on to say that he had been able to 
restore the times of these early people by means of jars 
and vases found in prehistoric graves. On these vases 
pictures of which were shown, were figures of combs, 
rings, and figures of animals. By arranging the vases, 
many of which were of highly polished pottery, in series 
he had been able to trace the changes which went on, 
and to reduce the various series to something like an 
organized system. He had obtained records from 5,000 
or 6,000 prehistoric graves, and had selected nearly 
1,000 specimens from all parts of the country, upon 
which to base his calculations. He then divided these 
specimens into fifty different scales, representing as 
many different periods of activity, and thus showed 
how he had been able to restore the definite history of 
the people, and how, though changes occurred, there 
were links joining up the whole and eventually con- 
necting the prehistoric with historic times. Some of 
the vases were of beautiful workmanship, and showed 
groups of people, animals and monstrosities. Other 
articles discovered included tiles and implements used in 
sport and war; and in one grave, that of a child, were 
found some little toys used in a game similar to skittles. 
The pictures of many-oared sea-going ships upon some 
of the vases, and pieces of pottery entirely foreign to 
Egypt, proved conclusively that the prehistoric people 
carried on a trade with other places in North Africa, 
and with the Greeks, the Venetians and the Spaniards. 
In conclusion Professor Petrie showed a picture of the 
earliest line of continuous writing—in characters known 
as hieroglyphics—of the time of Menes, and said that, 
with the aid of the records he had shown, supplemented 
by continuous writing, the continuous history of Egypt 
for nearly 7,000 years could be traced. 
On Friday, November 6th, the General Meeting 
took the form of a Conversazione at the Town Hall 
