AuousT 3, 188:}. 1 



SCIENCE. 



137 



u[)on Les pierres A ecuelks have shed imicli 

 light upon this obscure subject. 



Anotlier strange problem bearing upon this 

 vexed question of early religious symbols is 

 but just touched upon in this volume. We 

 refer to the use from a \ery remote period, 

 either for emblematic or decorative i)urposes. 

 of a peculiar form of cross, resembling the 

 Greek letter gamma four times repeated. p 

 This has been called by various names, i I | 

 — the ' digammated cross,' or 'gamma- -' 

 dion ; ' in the middle ages the • fylfot ; ' and 

 recently, by Sanscrit scholars, the ' swastica.' 

 M. Burnouf believes that this, also, is a primi- 

 tive religious symbol of the Aryan races, and 

 that it represents the two pieces of wood which 

 in early times were laid crosswise before the 

 sacrificial altar in order to produce the holy 

 tire, having their ends bent at right angles and 

 fastened in such a way as not to be moved. 

 Where the pieces crossed there was a small 

 hole, in which a third piece of wood w.is rotated 

 by means of a cord until fire was generated 

 by friction. This sign occurs u|)on two Roman 

 altars figured in the volume, which have been 

 transferred to tiie museum at Alnwick from 

 neighboring stations ujxju the Roman wall, 

 where they had been disinterred. Several ref- 

 erences are given to authors who have treated 

 of this emblem, — among them, to Dr. Schlie- 

 mann, who found it at Ilissarlik upon ' whorls ' 

 of baked claj- : and the statement is made, that 

 it eventually came to have a Christian signifi- 

 cation, and is found in the catacombs at Rome 

 in conjunction with the usual Christian sym- 

 bols. The elaborate study, however, by l)e 

 ilortillet. entitled Le signe de la cruix avu.nt 

 le christkuiixme. is entirely overlooked, in 

 which its occurrence is traced down from the 

 ' terremares ' of the age of bronze, in Emilia, 

 in upper Italy. 



A unique object represented is an example 

 of the so-called ' ehrisma,' the monogram 

 formed by uniting the first two Greek charac- 

 ters of the name Christ, X and P. This 

 combination had long been in use as 

 ablireviation of different words, and 

 found upon the coinage of various eastern na- 

 tions, Constantine placed it upon the ' Laba- 

 rum ' as a Christian emblem : and it is often 

 met with upon his coins and those of his im- 

 mediate successors, and upon terra-cotta lamps 

 found in the catacombs at Rome and elsewhere. 

 Three, at least, of such ancient Christian 

 lamps, have been discovered in England ; but 

 the rarity of the present examijle consists in 

 the fact that it is embossed upon the outside 

 of a little drinking-cup made of red clay. 



This pj 

 3 an \r; 



it is 'T' 



'i'his is of the very uncommon kind of pottery 

 occasionally brought to light in England, which 

 was manufactined by the Romanized Britons 

 at Caistor, in Nortlianiiitonshire, the Duro- 

 brivae of tiie Romans. It is used as an orna- 

 ment in association with a ver\- well executed 

 representation of the coursing of a hare, and 

 it is probably to be referred to about the middle 

 of the fourth century. 



Several fine specimens of ancient Roman fic- 

 tile ware from I'ompeii are delineated, as well 

 as those found in (ireat Britain, among them 

 handsome lamps and facsimiles of the potter's 

 stamps, which are often found impressed upon 

 their under side. Such stamps were also usu- 

 ally placed upon the bottom of the finest kind 

 of table-ware that was manufactured by the 

 Romans. — th.at called ' Saniian ware' from 

 the place of its origin, but of which the best 

 quality was fabricated at Arezzo, and spread 

 by commerce over the whole Roman world. 

 It is of a lustrous coral color, and often has 

 embossed upon the outside, figures of different 

 deities, or of men and animals, especially of 

 those gladiatorial scenes of which the Romans 

 were so fond. These figures were fashioned 

 in moulds, many of which have come down to 

 our own times, and arc of a high grade of 

 artistic merit. Frequently, however, the orna- 

 mentation consists Old}' of harmonious conven- 

 tional patterns, or of a scroll-work of leaves 

 and vines of much grace and beauly of design. 

 The potter's stamp sometimes contains the 

 whole name, sometimes only initials, and occa- 

 sionally it consists merely of some symbol. 

 One figured in the volume is a representation 

 of ' a tiny human foot,' which the editor thinks 

 is " probably a rebus upon the name of the 

 potter, whicii may have lieen Crassipks." 

 This is rather an unfortunate conjecture, as it 

 was a special whim of some of the potters of 

 Arezzo to have their stamps made in the shape 

 of a human foot. They are found in this form 

 containing a variety of names, as well as no 

 name at all. The writer has in his possession 

 at least twenty different inscriptions of this sort. 



It is certainly remarkabh; that only in Eng- 

 land have tiiere been found, it would appear, 

 any specimens of the actual shoes or sandals 

 worn by the Roman soldiers. One such is 

 represented from the ruins of one o,f the camps 

 that mark the line of the Roman wall. Simi- 

 lar discoveries upon such sites are recorded, 

 ami a few of these objects have been found in 

 the bed of the Thames at London. The writer 

 saw several that came to light in London in 

 1IS73, in excavating the foundation for a large 

 building in the heart of the 'citv,' On that 



