574 Megalithie Monuments of Brittany. 
not the art of the former epoch, enabling him to represent by 
engraving or sculpture the living things he must have seen; his 
art was confined to the ornamentation of his dress and the decoration 
by lines and dots in geometric patterns of the pottery, and after- 
wards the bronze, objects which he used. He was capable of 
long-continued plodding labor and performed herculean tasks in 
the construction and erection of his monuments. He had a religion: 
he buried his dead, depositing some of his choicest valuables in the 
grave with them and erecting over them monuments of the grandest 
and most expensive character ; these have endured until the present 
time, and are now being bought, restored, and preserved by the 
state. 
The names given to megalithic monuments as adopted in France 
are taken principally from the Breton language. 
Men means a large stone. 
Hir means on end. 
Menhir means a large stone standing on end. 
Dol means table. 
Dolmen means a table of stone. 
Lech means a smaller stone. 
Cromlech means a circle of stone. It also has a higher signifi- 
cation, that of eternity, such as is symbolized by our circlet of gold, 
or the snake in that form, swallowing its tail. 
Alignment and tumulus are modern French words, and mean, 
the first, lines of menhirs; the second, a mound of earth or stones 
usually covering a dolmen. 
The megalithic monuments of France are under the supervision 
of a governmental commission appointed by the minister of fine 
arts; of this commission Henri Martin, the historian, was, until his 
death, and Gabriel de Mortillet now is, the chief. 
he commission has authority to purchase, subject to approval, 
such monuments as it may deem worthy of conservation, and when 
purchased, they may be restored to their original condition and 
properly preserved. A certain sum of money is appropriated for 
the use of this commission, The members serve practically with- 
out compensation. The action of the French Government 1n this 
regard is in the highest degree commendable. The Anthropo- 
logists’ Society of the United States might well urge upon the Gov- 
