NATURE 



[Afaj 2, 1872 



angles to the other two, and ahnost conncctinL; them with 

 traces of a fourth ; all ha\e been covered under one 

 mound. In " Lcs Oottes de Flouharnel." where the 

 gold ornaments were found, are traces of rude sculp- 

 ture. I need hardly add that none of these archaic 

 markings are in relief, as is the case with the celts shown 

 in Sir Henry Dryden's drawing from Gavr' Innis, Fig. 15:'. 

 Flowing labyrinthical lines seem characteristic of the 

 Kerozille dolmen-mound, whilst straighter lines forming 

 network are peculiar to Kercado. On the summit of the 

 neighbouring dolmen of Runusto are some cup-markings 

 which bear a veiy fair resemblance to the constellation 



of the Great Bear together with the Pole Star. The 

 iolmi-n i-n/ri!iu--:s in the long barrow close to and north of 

 the Kerlescant alignments, one of which is figured {■i'tde 

 tig- 139)) were doubtless fashioned artificially, at least I 

 think Mr. \V. Lukis, who has described them, will bear me 

 out in this assertion. It is indeed a monstrous pity that 

 the Socicte Polymathique du Morbihan should have 

 permitted such an interesting structure to be destroyed. 

 1 should not have taken the trouble of bringing the fore- 

 going notes to tlie notice of the public in your pages had 

 it not been for the great stress laid by Mr. Fergusson on 

 the fact of the marked distinction made by him between 



Fig. I. — Alignments of Amorpholiths, Kerm 

 Front Sketch hy Cnj>i. S. P. Oliver, R.A. 



the Locmariaker monuments and those in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Carnac, the latter of which he asserts 

 cannot be dissociated from the Carnac alignments. 



In a communication addressed to the Anthropological 

 Institute, I endeavoured lately.'to prove that the hewn and 

 sculptured stones of Locmariaker were of a different type 

 from the rough and shapeless blocks of Carnac, which latter 

 I ventured to distinguish by the name of " Amorpholiths," 

 and for that very reason disassociated the dolmen-mounds, 

 such as Kerlescant, Kercado, and Mont S. Michel, from 

 the lines and avenues, excepting the iinckambeird barrow 

 at the western extremity of the Kerlescant lines which 



appear to lead up to it. An endeavour to classify the 

 Dolmen-mounds of Brittany is appended herewith. 



11. As to the fallen menhir, which Fergusson asserts 

 lh-!oi!gs to the dolmen named DoI-au-Mai'cJui>id, and which, 

 in his idea, was in reality two obelisks and not one ; the 

 accompanying trustworthy plans and elevation of the re- 

 nowned monolith ought to prove to the most sceptical 

 that the remains in question are without doubt fragments 

 of one huge monolith, which was, moreover, artificially 

 fashioned, and, possibly, originally actually polished. 



I confess that I was disappointed when I found that 

 the Carnac lines were summarily disposed of by Fer- 



FiG. 2. — Portion of the Kermario Alignments from the North. 

 From Sketch I'j CnJ-t. S. P. Oliver, R.A. 



gusson in nine pages, whilst over fifty are devoted to 

 AveburyandStonehenge ! (althoughhetcrmsthe former the 

 most remarkable group of megalithic remains, not only in 

 France, but perhapsinthcwhole world); also at not finding a 

 single illustration of the said lines beyond the maps, which, 

 valuable as they are, give no idea to the reader who has 

 not actually visited the spot, of the size and style of the 

 amorpholiths. I enclose a view of the Kermario avenues, 

 looking west, premising that the more distant stones are 

 the largest, and that they decrease in size towards the 

 foreground, the perspective diminishing the effect of this 

 difference in the size of the stones. 



III. Why does the celebrated dolmen (Fig. 126) of 



Kcrcouiio appear under the name of Kni/cniho ? Louis 

 Galles gives the etymology of this place as "village du 

 souvenir^ 



IV. Not much faith can be placed in Mah^'s (not 

 Male) representation of an ideal demi-dolmen. Fig. 129. 

 In his " Antiquite.'i dii Morbihan," it is ideal, and has no 

 local habitation or name. 



V. P. 349. The Veucti are styled Vcnetes, and p. 356 

 fibrolite * is printed Iribolile— printer's errors ! With re- 



* La fibrolite est un silic-ite anhydre d'al 

 etre rattachee h Usillimaiiite (de? Cloizeaiu 

 .aire et inarbree de vcines et de ta'-'^-^ ' 

 opaque ; quelqiies Cchantillons 



umine : elle doit par ses caracteres 

 ;). Couleur blanc-laiteuse soiivent 

 grises ou couleur de rouille. A peu 

 itrent une certaine translucidit6. 



