42 ON THE POSITION OF LIEVRITE 



period during which the set of pigs, of which this was one, were 

 manufactured. But what of PM ? It is plain that the ordinary in- 

 terpretation of these notcB as poyitifex maximus is inapplicable here, 

 and that we must look for some other more appropriate expansion. 

 They may, possibly, stand for posuit mdihim, in the sense of " put 

 an end to," " gave up," and COS for consulatui. But I do not re- 

 collect having met with a parallel, Or, perhaps, P • M ' COS • may 

 stand for post mensem consulatum, and the phrase may have been 

 used in accordance with the ordinary ante diem {tertium, ^c.,) 

 Kalendas, ^'c, where ante governs Kalendas and diem is placed in 

 the accusative, although the context would sometimes require a differ- 

 ent case. As to CAPx\SCAS — if that be the true reading— the only 

 it conjecture, which I can offer, relates to the first two syllables, which, 

 is possible, may be for CAPITARIVS AS, scil. as for tributum, i.e., the 

 capitation tax. It is scarcely necessary to say that the tributum was of 

 three kinds : secundum capita, secundum censum, and extra ordinem. 



On the whole, I am inclined to suggest as the most probable reading 

 of the principal inscription : — 



NERONIS AVG[VSTI] EX K[ALENDIS] IAN[VARIIS] 

 QVARTVM CO[N]S[VLIS]. 



It is not improbable that the lateral inscription IVLPMCOS may 

 Stand for IVL[IAS] P[OST][M]ENSEM CO[N]SVLATVM and it 

 is possible that CAPAS — of which C • x4lS may be a repetition in a 

 shorter form — may denote that the block was one of those prepared in 

 payment of the capitation tax, whilst XXX may mark the number of 

 the pig. 



ON THE POSITION OF LIEVRITE IN THE MINERAL 



SERIES. 



BY E. J. CHAPMAN, 



PfiOFESSOE OF MINEEALOGT AND GEOLOGY IN TTNIVEESITT COLLEGE, TOEONTO. 



Much uncertainly still prevails regarding the true composition of 

 Lievrite or llvaite. The earlier analyses of this mineral, those of 

 Vauquelin and CoUet-Descotils, made the substance, essentially, a 

 silicate of sesquioxide of iron and lime. Stromeyer's analysis, which 

 followed those of the above-named chemists, gave the iron, on the 



