xi SCIENCE AND ARCHAEOLOGY 83 



Bronze Weapons, etc., found in Northern and 

 Western Europe." 



It is evidence of the remarkable progress made 

 of recent years in the study of Archaeology that 

 even at so late a date as that it was a common, 

 if not the prevalent, opinion of Archaeologists 

 that our bronze weapons were Roman. 



This view was held by no less distinguished 

 an antiquary than Mr. Thomas Wright, and had 

 recently been strongly urged by him in a learned 

 and interesting memoir. Sir John and his brother 

 showed that bronze weapons were comparatively 

 rare in Italy, that they were seldom found in 

 Northern Europe in association with Roman 

 remains, and that the cases relied on by Mr. 

 Wright were (not through any fault of his) either 

 erroneously reported or at least very doubtful. 

 The most important case mentioned by Mr. 

 Wright was that of two bronze celts described 

 as having been found at Pompeii. In a sub- 

 sequent visit to Naples Sir John looked them 

 up. They were in the Pompeian collection, 

 but on getting them out of their case he 

 found that they were in their wrong box, and 

 that they were marked as from a tomb in Magna 

 Graecia ! 



In view of all the later successful development 

 of deep-sea cable laying, a letter from Sir Gabriel 

 Stokes, then Secretary and later President of 

 the Royal Society, is interesting. Sir John had 

 been asked to take part in a company for the 

 laying of a cable from Ireland to America, and 

 knowing that Sir Gabriel (or, as he then was, 

 Professor) Stokes had been consulted on this 



