422 
milton’s Memoirs on Quaternions,”’ or ‘ Petrie’s Essay on the Round 
Towers,” fill a wide space in the literary and scientific history of Ire- 
land: and even if their authors were to furnish us with no further proofs 
of their great powers, we might rest contented with what they had done 
for the reputation of the Academy. 
Though it may be thought unreasonable, I still cherish the hope 
that from these veteran Academicians we may receive other papers, as 
remarkable as any which they have yet produced. If this expectation of 
mine be disappointed, other Irishmen will arise to run the same race, and 
to take up the torch which they have long borne with such distinguished 
honour. 
Since the commencement of the present year, the members of the 
Academy have welcomed the appearance of the second part of Dr. Wilde’s 
Catalogue of the articles in our Museum. I have so often given expres- 
sion to the anxiety with which I regard the accomplishment of this 
work, that I should expose myself to the charge of wearisome repetition, 
if I now dwelt upon the arguments which have been used to recommend 
it to the support of the Academy. Ineed not remind you that, previous 
to the preparation of this Catalogue, we did not possess even an inventory 
of the articles in our Museum such as would suffice for their identifica- 
tion, and enable us to check them over from time to time, and ascertain 
whether we had not incurred losses either through fraud or negligence. 
If we have not suffered in either way, our exemption has been owing 
merely to the diligence and watchfulness of our curator, Mr. Clibborn. 
But we had need of something more than a common inventory. We re- 
quired a catalogue which might serve as a manual for the instruction of 
visitors, by the help of which they might learn the nature, so far as it is 
known, of the different objects displayed in the Museum. We wished that 
those who had spent a morning in it should carry away with them anti- 
quarian information and taste, which would be profitable to them elsewhere. 
A person of ordinary intelligence, acquainted with the general nature 
of our Irish antiquities, would meet with many opportunities of bringing 
his knowledge into useful exercise. Ignorant hands have destroyed relics 
almost priceless in the estimation of the antiquary, whilst here and there 
we have seen instances of the good effects produced by even a little know- 
ledge in saving objects of interest from destruction. I will adduce an 
example, to illustrate this general observation. Some few years ago a 
person engaged in building a farm-house, near Killarney, opened a sub- 
terraneous gallery known to exist in an adjoining rath, and made use of 
all the large stones which it contained in the construction of his house. 
Had any one who took a part in this act ever visited a museum, and seen 
one or two of the Ogham monuments, of which we here possess good 
specimens, he would have noticed that several of the large stones which 
formed the crypt bore upon them long and perfectly preserved inscrip- 
tions in the Ogham character. Unfortunately, there was no one present 
who was aware of the interest attaching to these monuments; they 
were, therefore, ruthlessly handed over to be used by the masons as they 
thought fit. Some were partially dressed, and the inscriptions defaced ; 
