435 



vated plains.' At Dowris the bog abounds in oak and other 

 timber, prostrate beneath the peat. Some of it has the roots 

 charred, which surely could not have been conveniently effected 

 in a wet swamp. The fire must, therefore, have been applied 

 before bog was there. Even in the memory of living persons, 

 that part of Dowris called Derreens, and on which the bronze 

 treasure was found, was covered with copse and underwood. 



" Abandoning all theory and speculation bearing on the 

 rapid growth of bog, the fact must be recorded that the Dow- 

 ris relics were not found in what can be properly denominated 

 bog, but in the centre of a potato garden extending down the 

 slope of a rising ground between the paddock and the moor- 

 land. A cock of hay has been left during the last winter be- 

 tween the place of the finding and the bog, so little of wet or 

 quagmire exists there even now. 



" One of the reasons assigned for supposing the Dowris 

 antiquities to have been derelict by some travelling foreign 

 merchant, is based on an opinion that Ireland formerly did 

 not produce tin, which metal is said to have entered largely 

 into the composition of ancient bronzes, and certainly was a 

 component part of the articles found at Dowris. Dr. Robin- 

 son assures us that he analysed a great variety of bronzes, 

 with such uniform results, that he supposed the identity of 

 composition was evidence of their having all come from the 

 same manufacturers. He, however, states that he afterwards 

 found the peculiar properties of the atomic compound, viz., of 

 14 equivalents of copper, and one of tin, or nearly 88 

 of copper to 12 of tin by weight, were sufficiently distinct to 

 make any metallurgist engaged in such a manufacture select 

 it. But it appears that tin did not always enter into the com- 

 position of ancient weapons, and that, even when it did, the 

 quantity varied. Thus, M. Hielm found a bronze dagger* 

 to consist of 83|^ copper and 16-g tin. An antique sword, 



* Dictionary of Chemistr}', by Andrew Ure, M.D. (title ' Copper'). 



