First Conversazione. 



11 



FIRST CONVERSAZIONE. 



The attractions of the Temporary Museum in the " Modern 

 School " of the College were so great that it was past eight o'clock 

 before the President of the Society (Sir John Lubbock) took the 

 chair in the " Bradleian," which was kindly lent for the purpose, 

 and the company assembled to listen to the papers announced in the 

 programme. The Chairman first called upon the Rev. T. A. Preston, 

 who gave an interesting 1 address on the " Echinus, or Sea Urchin/' 

 illustrating his lecture by a shell and several diagrams, which showed 

 the wonderful anatomy and economy even of this comparatively low 

 organization. 



Next, Mr. S. B. Dixon read a paper on " Some Uses of Flint 

 Implements/' directing attention to the Neolithic Period, as to this 

 period must be assigned all the specimens hitherto found in this 

 neighbourhood. His principal object was to show that the imple- 

 ments of our district are analogous to those now in use, and we may 

 reasonably infer that the makers and users of them were no further 

 advanced in civilization than are the aborigines of New Zealand and 

 the Islands of the Pacific. Still as we have advanced to the present 

 high standard from so low a starting point, a similar progress and 

 development may be in store for them. 



Then Rev. A. C. Smith read a paper on "British Stone and 

 Earthworks on the Marlborough Downs," but previous to doing so 

 begged to introduce to the Meeting an archaeological map, on a 

 large scale (six inches, linear measure, to the mile), which (though 

 not yet quite completed) he had been above twenty years in making : 

 and during that time had ridden over several thousand miles, tra- 

 versing each district in every direction, and examining every acre of 

 ground in his search for ancient remains. The map was intended 

 to show, as accurately as possible, the exact position of every barrow 

 or other earthwork and stone-work of British times which still exists 

 on the downs between Marlborough and Devizes : indeed, some of 

 the barrows so marked now exist only on the map, as the ploughshare 

 has within the last twenty years completely obliterated their locality, 

 and others are gradually disappearing before cultivation. The map 



