14 ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, OCC. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



rated uith the various collections to which they belono-. 591 descriptive labels have been 

 addcf!, iu d 224 printed numbers attached to the objects, besides the usual registration 

 numbers. 



The preparation for press of the catalogue of English medals, has been chiefly carried on 

 with the assistance of tiiis department, and much assistance has been also rendered to the 

 publication ofAssu'ian insciiptions. 



II. — Acquisitions. 



Among tiie acquisitions of this department, the most important are two collections of 

 considerable extent and interest. 



I. The valuable collection of Aiitiquitier, and Ethnological, remains, formed by th.e late 

 Henry Christy, Esq., f.s.a., f.g.s. That gentleman bequeathed his extensive collections, 

 together v\itli a sum of money to trustees, by whom the buik of the collection has be.m 

 oflered on certain conditions to the British Museum, and accepted. The collection is 

 peculiarly lich in early remains from the Drift, antiquities discovered in the caves of the 

 south of Fiance, stone im|demeats and weapons from all parts of the world, Mexican 

 antiquities, and other remains of an ethnologicd character. It has not yet been removed 

 from the house in Victoria Street, formerly occupied by Mr. Christy. ^ 



II. A collection of antiquities illustrating what the donor has termed '" Primitive 

 Worship," in various parts of the world, and connected with the fascinus, the evil eye, and 

 Natuie worship. This collection has been formed and presented by George Witt, Esq., f.r.s. 



Neither of these collections has as yet been received by the officers of the Museum, and, 

 therefore, any more detailed account of them will be reserved for a future year. 



The other acquisition^ of the department are 1,033 in number, and may be classed as 

 follows : — 



1. Egyptian. — A leather inscribed roll; a papyius containing a mathematical treatise 

 composed by a scribe named Aahmes in the 33d year of a monarch whose period is not 

 knov\n, and seven other p-ipyri. 



A sepulchral tablet of a functionary, dated in the reign of Thothmes IV. 



A small collection of Egyptian antiquities of various kinds, comprising a number of 

 sepulchral figures, a bronze v;ise of rare form, a ring bearing the name of Rameses II., and 

 other objects of interest, presented by the Trustees of the Christy Collections. 



Ihree bronze buckets with figures in relief, a bronze head-dress inlaid with gold, and a 

 poition of a figure of the goddess Thoueris carved out of smoky quartz* 



A sandstone tablet, with an inscription in the ^thiopic character, from Maharakah in 

 Nubia, and fragments of pottery from Elephantine, presented by the Rev. Greville J. 

 Chester. 



Monuii ental insciiption in Coptic for John, a deacon of the city of Kos, from Antinoe, 

 presented by J. Manship Norman, Esq. 



Two gnostic gems. 



2. PJianician. — A shell of Tridacna elomj^ata, probably from the R-ed Sea, elaborately 

 carved with ornaments and figures, and simdar in style to specimens of the same kind found 

 in Assyria, the Greek Islands, and Etruiia ; it was f(«und in a tomb near the so-called 

 "Tomb of Rachel," near Bethlehem. Also a collection of pottery from the same tomb^ 

 presented by the Rev. Joseph Barclay, ll.d. 



Casts from two Hebrew ini^criptions, presented by M. de Saulcy. 



3. British and Mediaeval. — 1 he Foreign illustrations of this section have been increased 

 bv the following acquisitions :~~ 



Twelve Implements of worked reindeer-horn, from a rock-shelter at La Madelaine, 

 (Dordogne,) and a series of flint implements of a Drift type from the cave of Moustier, 

 (Dordognc,) presented by Henry Christy, Esq., and M. Edouard Lartet. 



Implements of flint and bone from the cave at Aurignac, (Haute Garonne,) excavated and 

 presented by M. Edouard Lartet. 



A series of long cores and flakes from Pressigny-le-Grand, (Indre-et-Loire,) collecied and 

 presented by Henry Christy, Esq., and John Evans, Esq., f, u.s. 



A collection of cores and flakes of jasper, quartz, and various siliceous stones, found at 

 Jubbulpore, Bengal Presidency, presented by Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., on behalf of the late 

 Lieutenant Swiney. 



Specimens ef flakes or arrow-heads of stone found near Grahamstovvn, South Africa, pre- 

 sented by Sir Charles Lyell, Bart.,; and a similar collection from the neighbourhood of Cape 

 Town, piesented by Edgar L. Layard, Esq. 



The British series has received the following additions : — 



A collection of flint implements found in Yorkshire, presented by the Rev. W. Greenwell. 

 A series of flint flakes from Lough Neagh, Co. Antrim, and four scrapers of flint from 

 Icklingham, Suffolk, presented by John Evans, Esq., f.r.s. 



A flint scraper found at Leeds Castle, Kent, presented by C. Wykeham Martin, Esq., 



M.P., V.P.S.A. 



A stone celt found in Co. Antrim, presented by Dr. Nathaniel Hunter. A flint celt from 



the 



