XX111. 



gifts have come in. Among them are the following : From the Presi- 

 dent, a good specimen of Pholidophorus ornatus ; from the family of the 

 late Rev. Canon Smith, several excellent Lower Lias fossils which 

 belonged to him ; from Mr. Holt, a portion of the head of a small 

 Ichthyosaurus from the same formation ; from Mr. Prideaux, a number 

 of Rhyncondlce from the Fuller's earth. A very valuable gift, again, 

 consists of twenty or more Inferior Oolite fossils collected in Dorset and 

 given by Mr. Jukes Browne, F.G.S. The liev. H. Gundry has given a 

 specimen of Cardiaster fossarius, a very rare Greensand fossil. Turning 

 to Dorset antiquities, our acquisitions unfortunately will not occupy 

 much space in noting. But some of them are good. The most important, 

 perhaps, is a piece of Roman pavement, from South Street, presented by 

 Mr. Pope, and now laid down in the hall. The President gave us four 

 Celtic urns and a stone cover of another urn, all from Bagber. One of 

 the urns is very curious. It seems to have cracked in the making and 

 to have been spliced by the help of two pairs of holes at the edge of the 

 crack. The great antiquary, Dr. Greemvell, knows of only two other 

 instances of this kind of repair. Two more, however, have occurred in 

 Dorset, at Winterborne Stileham, near Cere Regis. (See History of 

 Dorset, 3rd edition, I., 144, 145.) The urn-cover, too, is noteworthy, for 

 it evidently was a corn-crusher before being used to close the urn. A very 

 fine black ware urn, in fragments, has been given by Mr. Hunt, borough 

 surveyor. It is 12 inches high, being 2 inches more than any other 

 Roman urn belonging to the Museum. It has been partially mended. It 

 is no wonder that it was broken, for its thinness is extraordinary, in places 

 barely an eighth of an inch. It was found a few weeks ago in Albert- 

 road, Dorchester. The President has given us a Roman pitcher from the 

 pottery site at Bagber and a very fine basalt or greenstone celt from Bere 

 Regis. This kind of celt has a peculiar interest, as like some other 

 antiquities, it of itself proves the existence of foreign trade in pre-Roman 

 times. Of course there was no wonder in this. Putting the Phoenicians 

 out of the question, some of the Gauls were found by Julius Caesar to be 

 in advance of the Romans in certain things connected with sea-going. A 

 very good flint celt was presented by Mr. Legg, a working man, who 

 scorned the idea of any kind of payment. If we had a score or two of 

 such friends up and down the county we should get on. Mr. N. Bond has 

 given a Roman patera from Creech Grange, and the Rev. J. Bond has lent 

 the lower stone of a quern from Tyneham. It is of a make uncommon, or 

 even unknown in Dorset hitherto. It has a flange round it, keeping of 

 course the meal from escaping throughout its girth, as was the ca.se 

 with common querns. There is an opening or spout through which alone 



