266 
who took part in the wars of Cromwell. Dr. Petrie explained 
that it was a penny of the Scottish King, Alexander III., who 
commenced his reign inthe year 1249. It was in excellent 
preservation, and, though not a coin of remarkable rarity, it 
derived some interest from the locality in which it was found. 
Mr. Bergin explained a mode of preserving rusted iron an- 
tiques, which he had been led to adopt under the following 
circumstances :—Some months ago, Professor Ormsby, of the 
United States, announced the discovery, by himself, ofa com- 
pound of one part of lard and three parts of resin well mixed, 
which he recommended as a means of preserving steel from 
becoming rusty; stating that if one side of a plate of steel 
were coated with his composition, and the other not, it would 
be found at the end of some months that the side which was 
not so protected would be covered with rust, while the other 
would be perfectly free from it. Reflecting on this fact, it 
occurred to him that if the rusty articles in the Museum were 
immersed in this fatty resinous preparation, their character 
- and appearance would be preserved for the future unaltered ; 
and, accordingly, having tried it with a rusty javelin-head, he 
found that its colour and characteristics were wholly unaffected 
by the experiment. 
The Rey. Dr. Todd exhibited some iron spears used by the 
Kaffirs and Bushmen. These weapons were presented to the 
Museum by Dr. Irwin, who had resided for several years in 
Southern Africa, and although the donation did not, properly 
speaking, come within the category of Irish antiquities, yet 
the articles resembled others of the same class which had been 
found in Ireland. These iron articles had been forged with 
stone hammers by the tribes who made use of them in war- 
fare. Dr. Irwin, who had actually witnessed the manufacture 
of some of them, stated that they were forged with stones used 
as hammers and anvils. On that account they possessed some 
