BRITISH ASSOCIATION, &0. 145 



of monumental stones in Ireland, inscribed with the Ogham characters ; and 

 stated that some of them were of a sepulchral or a memorial character ; 

 whilst others were termini, or boundary stones. The author regarded them 

 as Prffi -Christian in time, because the inscriptions alluded to Pagan rites and 

 ceremonies, and because no allusions can be found in them to any Christian 

 doctrine. He thought that the people who raised these monuments came 

 originally from Spain, and the more so because there were striking ethno- 

 logical affinities between the inhabitants on the coast of Ireland and the 

 Spaniards. — Me. D. O'Callaghan said it would be very interesting to know 

 whether the Ogham characters were known to exist anywhere in Spain, or 

 indeed anywhere out of the British Islands. — Pkofessoe Harkness said the 

 writing on the Ogham monuments was as rude as could be conceived. They 

 were principally confined to the counties of Cork, Waterford, and Clare. He 

 could not conceive that a race could have settled there among a rude people 

 who possessed no knowledge of writing, without spreading that knowledge 

 among the people about them. He thought that every Ogham inscription 

 indicated that the characters were of comparatively recent times. If they 

 belonged to the high antiquity assigned them in the paper, he thought the 

 inscriptions would have been much more worn. He considered that the 

 Ogham characters were the runic characters of the Danes. — Col. Lane Fox 

 defended the conclusions of the author of the paper, and expressed his 

 opinion that the monuments were of prse-historic times. He thought the 

 characters were derived from the primitive marks known to be made by 

 savages upon their arrow-heads. Mr. Tylor shewed that the Eunic alph- 

 abet belonged to the common stock of languages ; while the Ogham alphabet 

 was special and peculiar, and apart from everything else of the kind in the 

 world. The theory of Colonel Fox respecting the characters being derived 

 from arrow marks was highly reasonable. — The President (Sir John Lub- 

 bock) could not see the slightest similarity between the Ogham letters and 

 those of any other alphabet, and especially between them and those of the 

 Danes. He did not, however, think that tli& arrow-marks of the savages 

 would ever grow into letters, as Colonel Fox had suggested. The origin of 

 letters was rather a kind of picture writing. 



EERATUM. 



At page xx. third line from the top, for "he" read "his son." 



NETHBETON, PKINTEE, TEUEO. 



