145 



" to have been thus dilated, in order exactly to resemble the original 

 " whence they were taken, and which original I would thus express : 



T?» rriiya 1st line, two words, seven letters; the last a 



final, and never dilated, 

 ai'^ao n:2 \ 2d and Sd lines, two words, and seven letters; 

 Q*Ti>^r! 1N1 } the last letter to each a final Mem dilated. 

 •in "iViyy 4th line, two words and six letters. 



To supply a seventh letter in the last line, which is necessary to- 

 wards affording the complete division, and the perfect total of twenty- 

 eight, he supposes the letter n to have been omitted from the verb 

 rr^n, by Apocope ; " which could produce no difficulty as to the 

 " sense of the word, because it is of such frequent recurrence;" and 

 there was no space to admit on the medal the " letter n, which, if 

 " it had been there, would have been probably dilated." 



He therefore supposes it to have been copied from some book ; 

 and that, consisting thus of twenty-eight letters, (a perfect 

 number,) placed with a necromantic arrangement, it was fancied 

 to have been possessed of some charm, and was therefore chosen 

 as the motto of these medals, which were frequently used as 

 amulets. 



It must, however, be here remarked, that, however this ingenious 

 hjrpothesis might possibly apply to this medal, it cannot to that of 

 Theseus Ambrosius ; nor to the first of Wagenseil, nor to the An- 

 glesea medal. 



I have now summed up the evidence for and against the great 

 antiquity of these medals. I cannot get over the silence of the Fa- 

 thers, particularly when I consider the great estimation in which 



VOL. xni. u 



