Bronze Implement found near Currie, Mid-Lothian. 97 



natural size.) The Irish specimen is described in the Catalogue 

 referred to (p. 549) as follows : — " It is all of one piece, 3| inches 

 long, If wide ; has a stout, flat stem, decorated on the surface, with 

 an aperture near the top; and has exceedingly hard, sharp side- 

 edges. The two other specimens are smaller. There is a large 

 specimen in Trinity College Museum." " It is conjectured they 

 were used as razors." 



Supposed Use of the Bronze Implement found at Kinleitli. — The 

 appearance of the whole of these bronzes, like that of the one now 

 exhibited, is manifestly suggestive of some kind of delicate cutting 

 or scraping process, not improbably the rather important one of 

 shaving ! The circular ring at the extremity of the handle of the 



Bronze Implement from Kinleith, showing how it may have been held for use. 

 (Scale, one-half of size.) 



one found at Kinleith may have been simply for its preservation 

 by suspension, as a valuable and useful instrument, and perhaps 

 ornament; and the Irish ancient "razor" has also a circular 

 opening, pierced, however, at its upper extremity, probably for a 

 similar purpose. It seemed at first rather difficult to account for 

 the peculiar and regular openings cut in the plate of bronze, by 

 which this Kinleith specimen differed in character from the Irish 

 one. I found, however, that by passing my first finger into the 

 rounded opening left between the blades, which indeed it seemed 

 vol. in. N 



Fig. 3. 



