Nature and Art, June 1, 1866.] 
FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. • 
21 
almost as it was left by the builder, and is a re- 
markably line structure, and peculiar as regards its 
decoration. The steps surround a central column 
of granite ; on the top of the column is a simple 
capital, which supports a kind of round stone tub, 
bound with three pairs of hoops, and from this 
tub springs an oak tree, whose branches mark out 
the vaultings, and cover the surface with their 
foliage. From the angles of the walls spring other 
branches of oak foliage, which meet and interlace 
with the former. This staircas'e is engraved in a 
well-known and very useful little architectural and 
archaeological guide-book of Paris, of which, how- 
ever, we do not remember the author’s name. On 
one face of the building is an escutcheon, on which 
are represented a mason’s level and plane ; these 
are memorials of the rivalry of the houses of 
Orleans and Burgundy. The Duke of Orleans had 
adopted for his device a knotted stick, like the 
“ragged staff” of the great Earl of Warwick, with 
the motto “ Je Vennuie.” The Duke of Burgundy 
retorted by setting up a plane, meaning, we pre- 
sume, that he would shave off the knots of his 
rival’s staff, and he added, moreover, a regie, or 
level, to indicate that he intended to regulate 
matters in his own way. Monstrelet says that on 
new-year’s day, 1410, the Duke of Burgundy pre- 
sented to all the cavaliers in his suite and to the 
numerous clients under his protection, badges in the 
form of small levels, made, some of gold and some 
of silver gilt, with a small golden plummet sus- 
pended to them. These new-year badges were 
worn as decorations, so that the rejoinder to the 
bravado of the Duke of Orleans glittered, no doubt, 
on many a manly breast. It would be an act 
worthy of an iconoclast of the darkest age to allow 
such an interesting monument as this in question 
to be destroyed, and it is hoped that the Donjon of 
Jean sans Peur will be restored, and encircled by a 
public garden like the beautiful tower of Saint 
J acques in the Rue de Rivoli. 
A piece of very interesting solid Roman wall 
was discovered the other day, at a depth of about 
ten feet below the surface of the soil, in making 
the excavations for the new portion of the Rue 
Bonaparte in Paris. The workmen had great diffi- 
culty in removing this old masonry, and while doing 
so found a small, but very thick, gold coin, in 
admirable preservation. It bears on the obverse the 
head of Nero, with the inscription NERO CESAR 
AYGVSTVS ; and on the l’everse a goddess, seated 
on a curule chair, holding an orb in one hand and 
a cornucopia in the other, with the motto CON- 
CORDIA AYGYSTA. 
An interesting though not very important dis- 
covery has been made beneath the ruins of build- 
ings which were erected within the famous Roman 
amphitheatre of Nhnes. A stone was found em- 
bedded in a basement wall, aud bearing the follow- 
ing inscription : — 
T. CRISPIVS REBYRRVS FECIT. 
It is believed that the name on the stone is that 
of the architect or builder of the amphitheatre, as 
it appears by other inscriptions, previously found, 
that the Crispii were a family of ancient artificers 
of the place. In the same ruins was found a slab 
of marble, on one side of which are sculptured the 
heads of Silenus and a Faun, with a small altar ; 
and on the other a youth, supposed to represent 
Ganymed, offering the bird of Jove drink out of a 
cup. The sculpture is said so be very fine. 
Accident has brought to light a quantity of 
antique jewellery in the ruins of the chateau of 
Cerbastro, in the gorge of Ucos, between France 
and Aragon. A violent storm threw down a 
large piece of wall, and laid bare a series of 
sepulchral chambers of the Gothic period. For- 
tunately the examination was conducted with care, 
and a large quantity of jewelleiy of various kinds 
has been collected. It includes diadems, brace- 
lets, rings, pins, and small ornaments of all kinds, 
the diadems resembling somewhat the very curious 
golden votive coronets brought from Spain some 
few years since, and placed in the museum of the 
Hotel Cluny in Paris. The art works of the Yisi- 
gotlis are extremely rare, and this discovery is, there- 
fore, very interesting and important, as aiding in the 
illustration of the material civilization of the period. 
A farmer in the highlands of Riottier made a 
lucky pick the other day. He struck against 
something hard, which proved to be a thick earthen 
pot, containing a quantity of silver money. The 
coins are of the times of Henry III. and Louis XIII., 
and are likely to be of value in the history of the 
famous wine district, known as the Beaujolais, for 
the lords of Beaujeu possessed a strong place in the 
locality of which the mam el on may still be seen 
commanding the Saone and the neighbouring roads. 
The mere value of the coins as metal amounts to 
fifty or sixty pounds, and their artistic value is 
great, not only from their rarity, but also from their 
excellent condition. 
A place of burial, supposed to be a Merovingian 
cemetery of the seventh or eighth century, has been 
discovered by the Abbe Cochet, an enthusiastic 
archaeologist, at a place called Petit Appeville, near 
Dieppe. A small hill had been levelled for purposes 
of cultivation, and a number of bones discovered, 
and the proprietor of the ground having placed it 
at the disposal of the Abbe for examination, ten 
days’ work brought to light twenty sepulchres, 
containing the remains of men, women, and children. 
All the bodies lay with their head towards the 
north-west. Ten of the skeletons had black vases 
at their feet, three had bronze rings on one of the 
fingers of the left hand. Four or five had, about 
the waist, plates of chased bronze, which bore the 
remains of silver plating, while many more had 
clasps of damascened iron. But the most interest- 
ing article discovered was an ear-ring, composed of 
a large copper ring, with a pendant, consisting of a 
composition ball covered with golden scales, orna- 
mented in filigree, and having small glass tubes 
with bulbs attached. There was discovered also a 
small chain, composed of alternate links of iron 
and copper, and which had been enclosed in some 
kind of tissue. The articles discovered will be 
deposited in the museum of Rouen. 
