24 
THE NATURAL HISTORY 
[LETT. 
of cattle, can render this meer so remarkable as the great 
quantity of coins that were found in its bed about forty 
years ago.-^ 
^ The circumstances under which these coins were discovered are thus 
related in the author's " Antiquities of Selborne : '' — " In the very dry 
summers of 1740 and 41, the bed of this lake became as dry and dusty as 
the surrounding heath ; and some of the forest cottagers, remembering 
stories of coins found by their fathers and grandfathers, began to search 
also, and with great success ; they found great heaps of coin, one lying on 
the other, as shot there out of a bag, many of them in good preservation. 
They consisted solely of Roman copper coin in hundreds, and some medals 
of the Lower Empire, The neighbouring gentry and clergy chose what they 
liked, and some dozens fell to the author, chiefly of Marcus Aurelius and 
the Empress Faustina. TJiose of Faustina were in high relief, exhibiting 
agreeable features, and the medals of a paler colour than the coins." 
