COUNCIL FOR 1872 . 
9 
tion is to be maintained, this can only be done by a continued 
interest and support on tbeir part in tlie various branches of 
science taught vdthin its walls. 
To Professor Phillips the Council are much indebted for many 
valuable suggestions kindly made during the past year, to pro¬ 
mote the further usefulness of the Society. 
To the Eev. John Kenrick, one of the first members of the 
Society, and an honoured vice-president, the Society are indebted 
for a valuable collection of British, Eoman, and Mediaeval 
Antiquities, secured by him at a considerable cost, and kindly 
presented to the Society. A more particular statement in 
reference to this donation to the antiquarian department of 
the Museum will be given in the report on this department. 
Antiquities. —In the department of Antiquities the Eev. J. 
Kenrick reports that the excavations for the new Eailway 
Station have been continued during the present year, and have 
afforded additional proof of the existence there of an extensive 
Eoman Cemetery. Besides Sarcophagi of gritstone, without 
inscription or sculpture, two sepulchral monuments of consider¬ 
able interest have been brought to light, one that of ^lia 
.zKliana, represents, according to the interpretation of some 
antiquaries, the silicernmm, or meal taken by survivors after a 
funeral, in the opinion of others, an ordinary family meal as 
emblematic of the domestic relation which death has terminated. 
The other monument, to a Decurion of the Colony of Eboracum 
establishes the fact, not known before, that this city had a 
municipal constitution in Eoman times. Some smaller articles, 
such as vases of pottery, containing ashes, and others of domestic 
use, have been added to the Museum, a much larger number, 
probably, having passed into private hands. In the department 
of mediaeval antiquities, the most remarkable addition has been 
a portion of a cross found at Eipon, near the site of the old 
Monastery, inscribed with the name of a presbyter, and exhibit¬ 
ing a symbolical ornament common in the N. E. of Scotland, 
but rare or unique in England. 
The most important addition that has been made to the 
Department of Antiquities during the past year is the collection 
