254 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



deposited over the chalk in the neighbourhood of Letchworth 

 during the glacial epoch, and to the present day survivors of 

 some of the types found earlier in fossil form. 



For the relative time to be assigned to these different periods, 

 the chart already referred to should be consulted. 



The cases contain movable sloping shelves, and the specimens 

 are mounted on wooden blocks. Wherever possible, diagrams, 

 maps, and other illustrations, including photographs, are 

 exhibited. 



Having outlined the contents of the first four cases, we reach, 

 in the fifth compartment, specimens illustrating the first evidence 

 we have of the human race in Britain, examples being shown of 

 the age of stone tools. Letchworth and district is particularly 

 rich in prehistoric remains, and, since the museum was instituted, 

 many valuable local finds have been forthcoming in this direc- 

 tion, including an ancient British gold coin of about 150 B.C., 

 which is a barbarous copy of the Greek art exhibited in the 

 beautiful gold staters of Philip II., King of Macedon, father of 

 Alexander the Great (382-336 B.C.). The Letchworth specimen 

 was found in a celery trench in September 1915. The Society's 

 collection of stone implements at present contains Flint Arrow 

 Heads, Scrapers, Hammer Stones, Pounders, Knives, and other 

 tools representative of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, 

 together with a few specimens of the Bronze and Early Iron 

 Ages. It has been fortunate in having had presented to it a 

 number of exhibits from the well-known collections of the late 

 Mr William Ransom, of Hitchin, and, in course of time, should 

 possess a representative collection of the oldest objects which 

 were indisputably made by man. 



A varied collection of Roman remains of local occurrence 

 are exhibited, such as Bone Pins and Needles, Stylos, Lamps, 

 Bottles, Samian Ware, Buckles, Armlets, Bracelets, Tear Bottles, 

 Fragments of Pottery, Unction Glasses, Coins, and other Roman 

 objects. At Great Wymondley the remains of a Roman Villa 

 were discovered, and excavated, in 1885, from which several 

 exhibits are shown. A plan of the villa is exhibited in the case 

 containing these. 



Coming to more historic times, there is being gathered together 

 a collection of objects illustrative of the development of man's 

 handicraft through the centuries, such as Mediaeval Spoons, 

 Phials, Arrow Heads, Horseshoes, Buckles, Elizabethan Tobacco 

 Pipes, Sixteenth Century Watering Pots and Glass Bottles, Wig 



