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and beneath this bed of shells there is a quantity of rich dark 
mould, with some reddish earth which has the appearance of 
being burned. A few human bones, and some bones of small 
animals, were found in the earth beneath. 
Outside the circle of stones, and on the very edge of the 
cliff, near the western angle of the mound, there was found 
a rudely-formed grave, containing a human skull, with the 
bones of the arm, leg and thigh, which apparently had never 
been disturbed; the bones of the back, ribs, &c., could not 
be discovered. 
There are several remains of entrenchments and smaller 
mounds in the neighbourhood. 
Circles of stones are found enclosing many similar bar- 
rows in Ireland. At New Grange, near Dowth, in the 
County of Louth, the circumference of one measured about 
four hundred paces; and in a barrow near Drogheda, an 
engineer officer found a gigantic skeleton, a pair of elks’ 
horns, and a spear, in an upright position: the horns 
were above the skeleton. There are many barrows in the 
neighbourhood of Drogheda, which, if opened under the 
direction of competent persons, would probably lead to 
many very interesting discoveries. 
The President gave an account of a singular appearance 
of the clouds, observed on the 16th December, 1838, at the 
Observatory of Trinity College, Dunsink. ‘They appeared, 
for at least the last four hours of day light, to be arranged 
in arches which converged very exactly to the N. E. and 
§. W. points of the horizon; while the breaks or joints in 
these arches were directed, though with less exactness, to 
two other horizontal points, which seemed to be always op- 
posite to each other, but ranged from N. W. and S. E. to 
N. and S. Conjectures were offered with respect to the 
cause of this appearance. 
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