196 



iud bi ter, (iuo bi cep), days great being, is represented as a 

 king or warrior, who by the axe of Bellona, the goddess or 

 allegorical representation of experience in war, concieves the 

 idea of military strategy, wisdom, and discipline, and pro- 

 duces it from his head ; and Minerva is thus the allegorical 

 representation of wisdom, firmness, and military discipline, 

 produced by the axe of Bellona, or experience in war. 



The Greeks and Romans, substituting Vulcan's axe for 

 Bellona's, seem to have spoiled the elegance of the allegory, 

 unless they meant that armour was the perfection of warlike 

 preparation. 



Sir William Betham read a paper " on the Ancient Tomb 

 recently discovered in the Tumulus in the Phoenix Park." 



This paper is here inserted without any alteration or 

 abridgment. 



" When the Report of the Committee of Antiquities on 

 sepulchral monuments recently discovered in the Phoenix 

 Park, was read to our last meeting by Mr. Petrie, I ven- 

 tured to object, at the moment, to the meaning therein as- 

 signed to the name of the hill Knock-Mary, (cnoc mapaioe), 

 the hill of the Mariners. It struck me that the troubleand ex- 

 pense of time necessary to construct this monument were not 

 likely to have been expended on the bodies of two mariners, 

 and, therefore, I suggested, that the meaning was most pro- 

 bably cnoc ma pij, the hill of the good king, or meap pij, the 

 fortunate, lively, active, or successful prince ; either of which 

 characters appeared to me to suggest a more probable origin 

 of the name than that assigned in the Report of the Committee. 



" The Rev. Mr. Otway stated, that the name of Knock- 

 maroon, another hill in the neighbourhood, had reference to 

 mariners; and that certain hills in the neighbourhood of 

 Sligo, which he had recently visited, bore like names, and con- 

 tained similar monuments, though of much larger dimensions. 

 " These statements from individuals of acute judgment and 



