XXX11. THE FIRST WINTER MEETING. 



A RARE FIND. SUPERB ROMAN SWORD HANDLE. Captain 

 ACLAND exhibited a fine Roman sword handle in perfect preser- 

 vation. Upon it he read the following note : 



This very interesting example of Eoman workmanship was found by a labourer 

 when excavating for laying foundations of a building in South Street, Dor- 

 chester, in the year 1905. It was discovered at the usual depth for Roman 

 relics, between 3ft. and 4ft. It passed first into the hands of Mr. B. A. Hogg, who, 

 with his well known thoughtfulness for the prestige of the County Museum, 

 offered it to the Council instead of sending it elsewhere. So unusual a find was 

 it that many people would not believe that it was a genuine Eoman sword 

 handle, and so, as the authorities of the British Museum are recognised as being 

 the final arbiters in such matters, it was submitted to Mr. C. H. Bead, of the 

 British Museum, who considers it a most charming acquisition, and requested 

 permission to make a cast of it for their own collection, remarking they had only 

 fragments of sword handles somewhat like this one. It was exhibited at a meet- 

 ing of the Society of Antiquaries in April, 1906, and figured for the Proceedings 

 of that Society, Mr. Reginald Smith drawing attention to the excellent 

 condition of the hilt, which seemed, he said, to be of pure Roman manufacture. 

 A very similar object may be seen figured in Archceologia, Vol. XLV., p. 251, but 

 I am assured that in reality it is nothing like so fine a specimen. It is interesting 

 to note that on the monument of the Roman Centurion at Colchester, Marcus 

 Favonius, of the XXth Legion, is shown wearing a sword which has a handle 

 of an almost identical pattern. This hilt now before you is made of bone ; it is 

 sufficiently hollow to take the iron tang, which is partly visible in the circular 

 plate inserted at the end. This relic of Roman days is probably of great value, 

 and is one of the most important acquisitions to our Museum for many a day. 



ANCIENT NETTING NEEDLES. Captain ACLAND next showed 

 three bodkins for mending fishing nets, one from "lake 

 dwellings " in Switzerland, one from Abbotsbury, and one from 

 Jordan Hill, and read the following note upon them : 



In bringing these little industrial implements to the notice of the Members of 

 the Field Club, I wish first of all to thank Dr. Colley March for his kindness in 

 allowing me to act for him on this occasion, and at the same time to state that he 

 has most generously given them to the County Museum. It will be seen that they 

 all bear a somewhat similar form, and it is believed that they all have been made 

 for a similar use, though one may well claim to date from pre -historic times, and 

 the others to belong to the 20th, or at least to the 19th, century of our own era. 

 They are merely the rudest form of needle made by fishermen for mending their 

 nets. The first is a bone implement, dredged up from the lake of Bienne, in 

 Switzerland, which formerly was studded with " lake dwellings, ' ' like its immediate 



