Archceologia. 151 



situated on the slope of a hill. Its extent may be imagined from 

 the fact that upwards of thirty rooms have been already traced, 

 three of which have good tessellated floors, and it has three baths. 

 An Archasological Society has printed a paper on the subject of 

 this villa, the writer of which suggests that it was the palace of the 

 "king of Britain," Arviragus, who, perhaps, never lived anywhere 

 but in the fabulous history compiled by Geoffrey of Monmouth. 



The age of the introduction of paper into Western Europe in 

 the Middle Ages has recently been a subject of considerable dis- 

 cussion, but unfortunately among scholars not very profoundly 

 acquainted with the subject. Paper was, of course, common in 

 England throughout the fifteenth century, and it was in use, though 

 it was then much rarer, in the latter half of the fourteenth. We 

 then find books made of leaves of paper intermixed with leaves of 

 vellum, which, perhaps, shows that there was not much difference 

 in value between the two articles. The last portion of the Sur- 

 renden library, collected by the Kentish family of the Derings, and 

 recently brought to the hammer, contained what is described as 

 " evidence of five marks of rent to Cobham College," formino- a 

 small roll of paper, and said to have been written in the reign of 

 Richard II. ; and also an inguisitlo post mortem on the death of John 

 de Northwode, with an extent of the manor of Thurnham on paper, 

 to which the date of 1319 is given. We are inclined to suspect 

 that there is some error about the latter at least. Paper was, no 

 doubt, brought into England from France, where it was in use at a 

 rather earlier date. We remember a few years ago examining a 

 few curious little documents in Paris ; they were shown to us in 

 the then Royal, now Imperial, Library, we believe by Champollion 

 Figeac, and consisted of bonds for money lent to Crusaders, at 

 the time of the Crusades under Richard Coeur de Lion, and the 

 French St. Louis, and several of them were written on pieces of 

 paper. We are not quite sure that any of the paper documents 

 belonged to the time of King Richard, though we think that 

 was the case ; but they were certainly not more recent than the 

 date of St. Louis's crusade. The paper appeared to be of Italian 

 manufacture. 



The researches of the geologists and naturalists in search of 

 evidence of the antiquity of man, have given rise to many strange 

 stories, and have unfortunately given a new impulse to the manu- 

 facture of false antiquities. Forged flint implements are now scat- 

 tered about by bushels, and it is very difficult to avoid being deceived 

 by them. Among the strange stories which have recently appeared 

 is a statement published in one of the local French papers, to the 

 effect that, in one alluvial deposit between Veyziat and Oyonnax, in 

 the department of the Ain, a fossil man, four metres, that is, rather 

 more than thirteen feet in height, in a horizontal position, but " with 

 his head downwards and his feet in the air." How so gigantic 

 an individual came into such a singular position, appears not to 

 admit of easy explanation, but the account is said to be authenti- 

 cated by some apparently very respectable names. 



The excavations at Silchbstee continue to be carried on under 



