/ 



284 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [anNO J 772. 



in the exergue, appear in Etruscan letters fir, or rather fvr, antie, i. e. fors, 

 fortvna, or SORS, antii, or antiat, equivalent to the Latin inscription above 

 it. The Etruscan elements seem rather better preserved than the Latin. The 

 coin is however in but indifferent conservation, though pretty much of the thin 

 silver plate remains still upon it. 



The symbol on the reverse here is the same that occurs on the reverses of 2 or 

 3 other consular coins of the Plaetorian family, with the word sors attending it. 

 The Latin inscription on this piece is extremely similar to one on a denarius of 

 the Rustian family. The symbol there is a double Fortune, or rather 2galeated 

 Fortunes, which were considered as deities by the Romans. The Etruscan in- 

 scription, on the reverse of this denarius, in the exergue, seems to allude to a 

 passage in Tully, relative to the origin of those deities denominated sortes by 

 the Romans, and to be illustrated by, as well as to throw some light upon, that 

 famous passage : and as the inscription formed of those characters, mentioned by 

 Tully, cannot well be supposed to have contained any other word than fir, or 

 rather fvr, applicable to the deity, or deities, so called, and worshipped, both 

 at Antium and Praeneste ; we may fairly suppose the Etruscan inscription to have 

 glanced at that celebrated passage. 



The medals of the Plaetorian family similar to this, Havercamp takes to have 

 been struck in the time of the civil war that succeeded Julius Caesar's death ; in 

 which perhaps he may not be very remote from truth. If it should however be 

 allowed probable by the learned, this coin, which mast be nearly of the same 

 date with that war, will seem to have preceded about 40 years the birth of 

 Christ. 



Who P. Cosinius was, whose name seems to have been handed down to us by 

 the denarius, cannot at present be known. But that the Cosinian family was of 

 some note in Rome, we may inferj not only from this curious denarius, but 

 likewise from 2 or 3 ancient Roman inscriptions, which have preserved the name 

 of that family. As for M. Plaetorius, mentioned on this, and other similar coins, 

 he was, according to M. Havercamp, questor to Brutus, one of Caesar's mur- 

 derers; and this piece appeared a little after that emperor's death. The Etruscan 

 letters were not then entirely out of use : nay, they were not totally disused in 

 some parts of Italy, and particularly at Falerii, a considerable number of years after 

 that tragical event. This we learn from Strabo, who flourished when Tiberius 

 sat upon the imperial throne. 



IX. A Deduction of the Quantity of the Sun^s Parallax from the Comparison of 

 the several Observations of the late Transit of f^enus, made in Europe, with 

 those made in George Island in the South Seas. Communicated by Air. Eider, 

 Jun., Sec. of the Imp. Acad, of Petersburg. From the Latin, p. 6q. 



This is a brief account of a calculation of the sun's parallax, given by Mr- 



