374 Chronicles of Science. [July, 



writing, therefore, belongs to a rather later period than that usually- 

 termed Pre-historic — to which we usually confine ourselves ; but, as 

 will be seen presently, inscriptions have recently been found on 

 cromlechs, which may have some light thrown on them by a study 

 of Eunic lore ; therefore we have thought it right to call attention 

 to this masterly publication. Kespecting the Oghamic inscriptions, 

 to which we shall have further occasion to refer, Professor Stephens 

 remarks, "First and earliest, in my opinion, are the monuments 

 bearing the Ogham-marks. Some 300 of these pillar-stones have 

 been found in Ireland, which country bears the same relation in 

 this respect to the other Keltic lands as Sweden does to the 

 Northern as to the Eunes. The great mass of the Ogham stones 

 is in Ireland, the great mass of the Eunic stones is in Sweden." 

 Thus, we suppose, the Irish Kelts were at one time the most 

 civilized people in Europe. As an example of their writing we have 

 reproduced a figure (Plate, Fig. 4) of an Ogham stone from Dunbel, 

 Kilkenny, the characters on which have been interpreted to mean 

 " Sacred stone of Eochaidhe of the Excavations." The student 

 must consult Professor Stephens's work to be able to appreciate its 

 importance and interest, and to learn what light Eunic writings 

 throw on doubtful points of history and tradition ; but some idea 

 of the difficulties which the author has surmounted may be gained 

 by our stating that he has tabulated and correlated upwards of fifty 

 distinct Eunic alphabets. 



In the ' Proceedings of the Eoyal Irish Academy,'* which has 

 been published during the past quarter, are some important archaeo- 

 logical papers by Mr. E. A. Conwell. The first is an abstract of 

 his account of an " Examination of the ancient Sepulchral Cairns on 

 the Loughcrew Hills, County of Meath (Part 1)," which gives just 

 sufficient details to excite curiosity and interest. These cairns are 

 thirty in number and vary considerably in form, dimensions, and 

 completeness. Of some, very few stones are left, those missing 

 having been apparently quarried away within a comparatively 

 recent period. Taking the one marked H as being of perhaps the 

 greatest interest, we find that its remains are between five and six 

 feet in height and eighteen yards in diameter. The covering of the 

 interior chambers has disappeared, with the exception of about half 

 a dozen large overlapping flags, which are still to be seen in their 

 places over the western and northern crypts, and give a good ex- 

 ample of the mode of roofing. The plan is cruciform, the central 

 chamber being a rude octagon. From the passages and crypts the 

 author collected several hundred portions of human bones and 

 skulls, fourteen separate teeth, and eight portions of jaws with teeth 

 remaining. He also obtained a remarkable collection of bone im- 

 plements (4,884 pieces) ; beads of amber, glass, and bronze ; with 



* Vol. ix., part 4. 



