pipes and leaden bullets, which were found about 4 ft. above the earlier remains, indicating pretty distinctly the position of camp-fires during the sieges of Bristol in 1643-4. Dr. Fryer also contributed a short note on the composition of an Inca ornament, derived from the analysis of the metal of which it was composed.

WEDNESDAY, 2ND JUNE, 1897.

At the Council Meeting, at 4.30 P.M., an interesting ceremony took place, the occasion being the presentation to Mr. W. de Gray Birch, LL.D., F.S.A., of an Address and Testimonial from some of the members and friends, on his retirement from the post of Honorary Secretary and Editor of the Journal of the Association. The Marquess of Bute, K.T., LLD., V.P., occupied the chair, and in well chosen and appropriate words, expressive of his interest in the science of archæology, and of his long friendship with and appreciation of Dr. Birch, handed him the gift, which took the form of a handsome gold demihunter watch.

Mr. A. Cates, V.-P., said the performance of the task of editing the papers and proceedings in the large number of yearly volumes, which comprise in their pages notices of all that has, in a prominent form, transpired in archæology, has demanded much special knowledge and training; but Dr. Birch's position in the British Museum enabled him to keep in touch with all that is foremost in the antiquarian and archæological world, whether of literature or of vestigia. The appearance of our volume being periodically looked for with much interest by that section of the world's men of science who devote themselves to the study of what is old, the attainments of the Secretary marked him out in an especial manner for the post of Editor; which, indeed, required an accurate knowledge of many languages and an extensive acquaintance with what had already been done in the various departments of which the British Archæological Association takes cognisance, combined with a taste and leaning towards the task, and a method of conducting researches in a proper spirit. We all know that Dr. Birch has not been found wanting in any of these qualifications, and the Society much regrets that he (in the course of time) finds himself desirous of handing down to younger minds the task of keeping the Association current with the times, and maintaining the high standard of its Journal.

The following members subscribed to the Testimonial to Dr. Birch: The Marquess of Bute, V.-P,; The Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe, V.-P.; The Worshipful Chancellor Ferguson; Sir E. Maunde Thompson;

Canon W. Sparrow Simpson; Mr. H. Syer Cuming, V.-P.; Mr. Broad; Mrs. Kerr; Mrs. Oldham; Dr. Bensly; Dr. Fryer; Mr. Previté; A Friend; A Friend; A Friend; Mr. John Bush; Mr. Thomas Blashill, Hon. Treasurer; A Friend; Mr. J. D. Leader; Rev. Dr. Russell; Mr. R. Ferguson; Miss Russell; Mr. Arthur Cates, V.-P.; Mr. Stevens; Mr. R. H. Wood; Mr. Peacock; Rev. Dr. Cresswell; Mrs. Collier; Mr. Edward Bush; Mr. W. Payne; Mr. Park Harrison; Mr. Geo. Patrick, Hon. Sec.; Mr. A. Brent; Mr. W. H. Cope, V.-P. ; Rev. J. Cave-Browne; Mr. E. Hughes; Mr. Nathan; Dr. Russell Forbes; Mr. Prankerd; Dr. Phené, V.-P.; A Friend; Mr. Hayter Lewis; Mr. Lawrence; Dr. Woollcombe; Mr. E. Lake Walker; Mrs. Harnett; Mr. Rayson; Mr. F. G. Hogg; Mr. J. H. Wellby; Mr. W. J. Nichols; Mr. C. H. Compton, V.-P.; Mr. Sills; Rev. H. J. Dukinfield Astley, Hon. Sec.; Mr. Charles Lynam; Mrs. Lynam ; Dr. Winstone; Miss Winstone; Miss G. Winstone; A Friend.

Dr. Birch, replying in acknowledgment of the presentation, said :— "I have very great pleasure in accepting most gratefully the beautiful testimonial which many of the Vice-Presidents and members of the Archæological Association have so kindly presented to me, at your lordship's hands, on this occasion, as a memorial of very pleasing and freely-given services for upwards of twenty-two years, during which time the Society has reposed its trust in me as Secretary, and charged me with the duty of issuing to the world, as its Editor, the varied and apparently endless literary contributions of its votaries. Since the year 1872 I have attended nearly all the Annual Congresses, and there have been few meetings in these rooms for twenty-three years at which I have failed to be present. During this long period it has been a genuine pleasure to study the antiquities of our own and other lands, and to seek to maintain for the British Archæological Association that honourable and foremost place among antiquarian bodies which this Society-subject only to the paramount position held by the Society of Antiquaries—has ever occupied; and, having mastered the knowledge of these antiquities, to make it useful to the body of members who compose our ranks. It is a most agreeable feature in this Society that a Congress should be held yearly in some convenient place, and I do not know of any better means of becoming familiar with the byegone history of our land. Speaking for myself only, I have gone to the north, the south, the east, and the west on these occasions, and I have ever become more and more fascinated with the pursuit of archæology, and learned to know how little really one knows of the past. At Sheffield in 1873, and Brighton in 1885-to speak of typical Congresses only-we gathered under the presidency of your lordship's

In

illustrious relative, the Duke of Norfolk; at Llangollen, under the late Sir Watkin Wynn; and at Tenby, in South Wales, under the late Bishop of St. David's. In 1888 we were introduced, under your lordship's presidential direction and tutelary care, to the entrancing glories of the Western Isles; and at Cardiff again, at a later date (1892), we experienced to the full your great kindness and attention. All these, and many other of our wanderings, have been recorded in no less than twenty-two volumes, which in obedience to the wish of the Association I have edited to the best of my judgment, and I look to the goodly array of volumes with some amount of pardonable pride. But if the Congresses introduced to our notice many things which we should not otherwise have seen, they also have brought us into contact with many persons and many minds, and promoted that sweet converse of soul which goes to make human life a foretaste of the life to come. this, too, we are greatly the gainers; and I would say, to the younger members more especially, that there is not any better means of spending a summer week, whether as a mental or bodily recreation, than attending an Archæological Congress. This year again, Wales, the happy hunting-ground of so many antiquaries, calls us with no uncertain voice from beyond the far blue hills of Carnarvonshire to the Island of the Bards, whence those who accompany us will return with brighter light upon and broader knowledge of the past. But to no President may we look with happier eyes than to yourself; and I congratulate not only myself, as being the humble instrument of the occasion which has presented itself for your revisiting our midst, but the whole. Society for the opportunity you have given us of thanking you for coming among us. I fear that, after all, the work I have done has been done imperfectly and inaccurately; and this makes me diffident whether I really deserve such an honourable recognition of such imperfection as this."

At the evening meeting, Mr. Blashill, Hon. Treasurer, in the Chair, a large collection of rare and beautiful miniatures was exhibited by Mr. B. Nathan, many of which were of historical interest. Amongst the more prominent were a miniature of Lady William Russell, by Englehart; a miniature of Lady Penelope Fitzgerald, by Plimer; a miniature of Marie Louise, Princess of Orange; a box with enamel view of the marriage of Marie Antoinette with the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XVI; a circular miniature by Greuze; a large miniature of Madame Vestris, by Plimer; a Limoges enamel of the Virgin and Child from the Bohn Collection; in all there were some thirty-six exhibits.

A paper was read by Mr. Patrick, Hon. Sec., in the absence of the

author, Mr. T. Cann-Hughes, on "Notes from North Lancashire”, in which the ancient charters of Lancaster and the Borough seals were described; the fairs which were formerly held there, and other local customs, some of which were now obsolete, were related. The earliest existent document is that of John, Earl of Mortain, dated 1193. The Mayor's seal of the borough is believed to be of the reign of Henry IV or V, and bears in its centre three towers, each triple-turreted, with a lion passant guardant, crowned, and a fleur-de-lis. The ancient stocks of the town are preserved at the Town Clerk's Office, together with an interesting series of ale and spirit measures which are said to have been made from guns captured from the Spanish Armada.

There are very many ancient doorheads in and about Lancaster, some of them having curious designs of fish and other emblems.

The Rev. H. J. Dukinfield Astley, M.A., the newly-appointed Hon. Sec. and Editor, was introduced to the meeting and commenced his duties.

Antiquarian Intelligence.

The Dolmens of Ireland, their distribution, structural characteristics, and affinities in other countries; together with the folk-lore attaching to them; supplemented by considerations on the anthropology, ethnology, and traditions of the Irish people. With four maps and eight hundred illustrations, including two coloured plates. By WILLIAM COPELAND

BORLASE, M.A., late President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, and one of the Vice-Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London, author of Nania Cornubia, etc. Three vols. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ld., 1897).-We have set out this very long title-page in full, abridging only the list of the author's works, because it tells its own story of the contents and scope of this very important work. What the title-page omits the preface supplies, and some of that is an absolutely unnecessary apology or explanation of Mr. Borlase's qualifications for giving to the world the result of more than ten years of the careful research of a highly-trained antiquary. Part of the book is not for ordinary reading. It is a book of reference of a very valuable kind; a complete survey, classified under provinces and