DELPHI. 233 
been impressed with a mould or die in the 
bottom of the vessel ; and upon those Gorgonian 
heads of gilded earthen-ware which were dis- 
covered by the Earl of Aberdeen, connected by 
bronze wires, and forming a chaplet round the 
scull of a dead person in a sepulchre near 
Athens^. That the meaning of this symbol had 
never been rightly understood by our anti- 
quaries, the author endeavoured to prove by 
former observations upon the Earl of Aberdeen^ 
discovery ^ The Gorgonian head has been be- 
lieved to denote lubricity, but its real significa- 
tion is death; and it is one of the most re- 
markable circumstances concerning this image, 
that, long after its original signification (as a 
" memento mori ") was lost, it should have found 
its way, from the oldest temples of the Pagan 
world, into Christian churches ; where it yet ap- 
pears, either in their painted windows ^ or carved 
roofs ; as it also does among heraldic ornaments. 
. The remains of the fountain Castalius 
consist of a large square shallow bason, with 
(5) See the Vignette to this Chapter, No. 2. taken from an Engraving 
made by Evans, after the original in his Lordship's possession. 
(6) See ''Greek Marbles," Appendix, p. 69. Camb. 1809. 
(7) See Vignette to this Chapter, No. 3. taken from an image of 
Medusa''s head, preserved, in stained glass, in the east window of Harlton 
Church, in Cambridgeshire. 
