180 



five different modes used for completing the syllabic charac- 

 ters, by the addition of letters, were briefly explained ; and it 

 was then stated, that the old syllabic powers or names of the 

 letters of the alphabet, were completed by the addition of 

 another alphabetic character, representing the final sound in 

 the syllable. This additional character is the expletive of 

 the letter, and for it, as has been already noticed, an idea- 

 graph, determining the pronunciation of the syllable, and thus 

 equivalent to the first letter, may be obtained. 



The reason why the practice of using expletives was re- 

 tained, especially in foreign words, was the readiness with 

 which some letters were confounded in the Hieratic texts. 

 These letters had always difi'erent expletives, and a distinc- 

 tion was thus established between them, which would not 

 exist if the expletives were omitted. The hieroglyphic texts 

 in which expletives are chiefly found, were stated to be those 

 which were copied from Hieratic, or, as they are called here, 

 hieroglyphic originals. 



Mr. Huband Smith read a paper descriptive of an ancient 

 Wayside Cross, situate in the townland of Nevinstown, on the 

 northern bank of the river Blackwater, about two miles from 

 the town of Navan, in the county of Meath. One side bears 

 an inscription ; the opposite has a shield, with armorial bear- 

 ings, par^y /jer joa/e, nearly effaced. Beneath the dexter side 

 are the initial letters M. C, and, under the sinister, M. D. 

 The height of the shaft is at present three feet six inches 

 above the slab, in which a socket is cut to receive the tenon 

 upon the lower end of the shaft. This slab stands on a low 

 grassy hillock, the remains, doubtless, of an ascent of three or 

 four stone steps, which, when complete, the cross surmounted. 

 Mr. Smith exhibited to the Academy a " rubbing," taken 

 from the shaft, which shewed the present state of the inscrip- 

 tion on the front, the shield on the back, and an ornamental 

 pattern on each of the sides. He also produced a restoration 



