3o8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



that lake, and of a good part of the finds of the Lake of Neufchatel, 

 so that he has been able to form a collection unequaled in its richness, 

 in the number of the specimens, and in the rarity of the pieces, fre- 

 quently unique, that he has accumulated. 



Wishing to give the scientific world a share in the enjoyment of 

 these treasures, he has published in a beautiful quarto volume descrip- 

 tions of the principal results of his researches, illustrated by photo- 

 graphic plates, in thirty-three of "which are represented more than nine 

 hundred and fifty of the more important pieces. I do not hesitate to 

 style Dr. Gross's the finest known collection in prehistoric archaeology, 

 for while the series in some large museums may be more numerous 

 than those of Dr. Gross, the latter have the superiority over all the 

 others of relating to a single civilization, in different ages of its de- 

 velopment, and to the same people in all the details of its intimate life 

 with an incomparable luxury of illustration. The ruins of each one 

 of our lake-villages may be compared to a Pompeii on a small scale. 

 Let us suppose fifty Pompeiis, the destruction of which took place, one 

 after another, during the ages from the primitive times of Roman 

 history to the end of the decline of the empire, and we may be able 

 to calculate what treasures of documents we might find in them where- 

 with to restore the history of industry, of art, and of civilization in 

 ancient Italy. 



The study of the larger collections of Swiss antiquities gives us 

 a very clear impression of the wealth of the lacustrine populations, 

 especially of the period known as the fine bronze age. We see in them 

 universally evidences of abundant resources, and in no case of pov- 

 erty. The inhabitants of the palajittes had at their disposal mechani- 

 cal means, probably simple, but sufficient to fix in the ground the thou- 

 sands and tens of thousands of piles on which they built their villages 

 Having an agriculture, and raising cattle, they were only exceptionally 

 obliged to have recourse for food-supplies to the more primitive art of 

 the chase. An extensive commerce brought them metals, amber, glass 

 beads, and worked objects of foreign origin. A pure taste raised their 

 artisans to the dignity of real artists. The reader who observes in Dr. 

 Gross's plates the remarkable elegance of the designs of arms, of tools 

 and ornaments of bronze, and of potter's work, like those represented 

 in Fig. 2 (Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 10), can not deny that the civilization of 

 the Swiss lake-dwellers was rich and flourishing. 



The mass of metal they possessed was considerable ; and, having 

 regard to the innumerable pices of bronze found at some of the sta- 

 tions, I believe it will not be wrong to assert that in proportion to the 

 population they had a weight of bronze at their disposal nearly equal 

 to the weight of iron, aside from the heavy castings of the large agri- 

 cultural machines, to be found in any of the most prosperous existing 

 villages of the country. A figure will give an idea of this abundance 

 and richness. M. Gross has made an account of the bronze pieces 



