294 
tect, might be left in the most entirely un- 
touched state, until his arrival. 
The graves at Mouzie offered three kinds 
of coffins :— 
I. Stone coffins of a single piece, nar- 
row towards the feet, and containing no 
seeds. 
II. Brick coffins, containing seeds. 
These were about six feet long and twenty- 
one inches wide, but slightly narrowed to- 
wards the foot. Fourteen bricks, about 
twenty-two inches square, composed them. 
Each of the sides and the lid were formed 
of three bricks ; two others were placed at 
the extremities, and the three which com- 
pleting the number fourteen, forming the 
bottom of the grave, rested on cement. At 
the place for the head, which was support- 
ed by no particular pillow or bolster, was 
a round cup-shaped cavity, hollowed out 
in the cement, containing about two hands- 
ful of seeds, whereon, as upon a cushion, 
rested the occiput of the skeleton. The 
bricks, formed of very fine clay, superior 
to that now used in the country, are with- 
out any edge or mark of the mould, but 
still such as that no antiquary can refuse 
them the name of Roman Bricks. 
HI. Coffins, made of rubble (moëllon), 
larger than the former kind, and also con- 
taining seeds, 
In the same field, were found a single 
brick, marked with the three letters LVP, 
about ten lines in height, also a monumen- 
tal stone of white marble, bearing the mo- 
nogram of Christ; a ring, a medal, some 
remains of lachrymatories, and a Roman 
weight. The graves contained no armour ; 
no popular tradition whatsoever was at- 
tached to this cemetery, which had remain- 
ed completely unknown till the period 
when the ground was dug up; but an aque- 
duct and some mosaics have been found 
near the field. These different circum- 
stances, joined to the evidently Roman 
formation of the bricks, the beauty of their 
substance and their dimensions, which be- 
long to a higher antiquity than the period 
when they were made of a coarser mate- 
rial and narrower size, the rectangular and 
slightly diminished form at foot of the se- 
INFORMATION RESPECTING SEEDS FOUND IN ROMAN TOMBS. 
pulchral cavity, and finally the absence 
an elevated bolster for the head, have 
M. Andierne to refer the tombs in questi 
to the third or fourth century of the Christ- 
ian era, that is, the period when the Ro- - 
man sway extended over our country. — — 
On reaching the spot, M. Andierne pro- 
ceeded to open the tomb of which, accord- | 
ing to his directions, the investigation had — 
been carefully reserved for himself. It was — 
of the second kind, that is, made of brick. — 
Ia lee m & 
had ransacked previously to his e 
He carefully collected all those which lay — 
in the sepulchre that he opened, both be- — 
low and above the brick that supported the — 
head of the deceased. They seemed bo 
belong to a very few different kinds of — 
plants, but having no one at hand pe 
33 
could determine them, he deemed it better 
to lay them aside till such an opportunity 
* 
should arrive. Observing, however, two - 
days after, that a considerable number of 
these seeds began to germinate in the p- — 
per that contained them, M. Andierne » 
termined on sowing them immediately 1 
two flower-pots and in a plot prepared i 
purpose, in the garden of M. Rousseai, — 
nurseryman at Bergerac. He returned to 
this town on the 10th of August, and found 
that a great many of the seeds had prs 
up, some of the plants even being in flower d 
and fruit. There were— : 
1. Heliotropium Europeum, one T 
men of which, with a very strong ® 
branching stem, exceeded sixteen ge : 
in height, and was covered with flower — 
and seeds. ; al 
the blossoming twigs, which he was © . 
kind as to give me. : d 
2. A isl many plants of Medicago ht 4 
pulina, which were, however, of mus 
growth, two of these, which M. Wr 
presented to me, were in flower, 
was in seed. Hc 
3. A single specimen of the a 
Bottle (Centaurea Cyanus) ; iso 
see 1t. xd 
4. A single specimen, which did 
