410 



and deposited in some museum. They appeared to the au- 

 thor to be curious and valuable specimens of ancient art, and 

 are, in all probability, connected with the mythical legends 

 of the Cretan people, with whom the early inhabitants of 

 Aphrodisias were closely connected. 



The Rev. Dr. Todd, V. P. gave an account of a Stone 

 with an Ogham Inscription, which was found with many 

 others in a cave at Fortwilliam, in the county of Kerry, and 

 sent up to the Provost and Senior Fellows of Trinity Col- 

 lege. 



After having given a short account of the different kinds 

 of Ogham spoken of by Irish grammarians, and exhibited 

 the key usually given for reading the particular kind of 

 Ogham to which the inscription on the stone found at Fort- 

 william belongs, Dr. Todd proceeded to show the inapplica- 

 bility of this key to the interpretation of the inscription. 

 The whole subject of the Ogham inscriptions, he stated, was 

 one which was involved in great obscurity, and although 

 very abundant materials exist for investigating it, it has never 

 yet been fairly examined. Several treatises on the subject 

 are to be found in our ancient MSS., but no Irish scholar 

 seems as yet to have had the courage to enter upon the 

 study of them. Numerous inscriptions on stones, similar to 

 that now exhibited to the Academy, are also to be found, 

 particularly in the south and west of Ireland, but accurate 

 copies of these inscriptions are no where accessible. Dr. 

 Todd suggested this as a suitable subject for a prize, if ever 

 the Academy should return to the former practice of offering 

 a prize for an essay on a given subject. In this case, how- 

 ever, he recommended that the prize should be offered, not 

 for the best essay or theory for the explanation of the Ogham 

 character, but, in the first instance, for the most accurate 

 and best authenticated collection of copies, or fac similes, of 

 the inscriptions themselves. 



The following engraving gives a correct view of the stone, 



