Archceologia. 307 



less than six hundred pages, to present a great store of information 

 on a variety of topics, and also to add what the naturalist will con- 

 sider very valuable — a list of the mammalia, birds, and reptiles of 

 Sweden, with descriptions of genera and species drawn from the best 

 sources, and supplemented by observations which his own experience 

 has supplied. The " Old Bushman" speaks very modestly of this 

 portion of his labours. . He says, " It is, in fact, a compilation from 

 beginning to end ; but, nevertheless, a compilation prepared with 

 an immense deal of trouble, labour, and close attention. To take 

 Nillson's Fauna in hand, and merely give a list of such animals as 

 are met with in Scandinavia would have been a very simple affair, 

 but to refer to the best authorities on the fauna of four large Northern 

 countries, as well as of Great Britain, to compare them with each 

 other, to see how far their observations tallied with my own experi- 

 ence, and then to pick out from all the best and shortest account of 

 the different species, with its easiest and most reliable specific dis- 

 tinctions, was a work of no little labour." 



We cannot doubt that naturalists will place a high estimate upon 

 the perseverance and skill with which this portion of the work is 

 carried out, and, in conclusion, we have only to commend the " Old 

 Bushman's" record of his Ten Years in Sweden to all who, from 

 whatever motive, or with whatever object, desire to obtain informa- 

 tion on which they can rely. 



ARCH^EOLOQIA. 



The Archaeological Institute has recently had under discussion 

 a question of the greatest importance to every one who feels an 

 interest in Archaeology — that of treasure trove. It would not be 

 easy to overstate the quantity of valuable antiquities which have 

 been lost and destroyed through the operation of the law upon this 

 subject as it now stands. According to mediaeval principles, what- 

 ever was found without any clearly traced legal owner was held to 

 belong to the king. Generally speaking, antiquities found buried in 

 the ground had then very little acknowledged value ; but this was not 

 the case with money in times when it was scarce, and had a very 

 high value in comparison with the ordinary articles which were pur- 

 chased with it, or even with land itself. It has been from very early 

 times the usual method of preserving money to bury it in the ground. 

 A house, general^, was not a safe place, as it was liable to be 

 entered and plundered by the numerous strong bands of robbers 

 who infested every part of the land, town or country, and this was 

 the case dowh to a recent period. The reader will remember the 

 anxiety of Secretary Pepys, as he tells it in his diaiy, when, during 

 the great fire of London, he buried his money in his own garden, 

 and still more when, after the fire, he went to dig it up. In the 

 same manner, the Romans, and the Saxons, and the ISFormans, 

 VOL. VII. — NO. IV. X 



