destruction of the barrows in Greenwich Park, and that Mr. Herbert informed him he had already explained this matter in the House of Commons. "The facts of the case," Mr. Croker observed, "were briefly these. A tank or reservoir for water being required for the protection of Deptford Dock-yard and Greenwich Hospital in case of fire, a site was sought by the Admiralty on Blackheath, and selected on a spot considered to be most likely to be generally unobjectionable. The Board of Admiralty, however, finding that the expression of popular opinion was against any encroachment whatever upon the heath, which was regarded as public property, notwithstanding such encroachment would have been made for the security of public works, and that a suggestion had been offered at a public meeting, that as Greenwich Park was the property of the Crown, it was the proper place for the intended tank, the Secretary of the Admiralty was directed to communicate with the earl of Lincoln. Lord Lincoln having represented the case to the Princess Sophia, her Royal Highness' consent was obtained for the appropriation of the least frequented portion of Greenwich Park for the formation of this reservoir. The spot selected under these instructions in the park being objected to on the part of the parishioners, the works which had been commenced were stopped as soon as possible. It appears that out of the thirty-six barrows, some of which had been formerly opened, twelve barrows had been "topped" by the workmen, but upon a feeling of interest being expressed for their preservation, the workmen had not only been taken off, but ordered to replace the earth upon the same spots from which it had been removed, and a negotiation had now secured, it was hoped, another site for the tank outside of Greenwich Park."
August 14.
Monsieur Lecointre-Dupont, of Poitiers, foreign member, presented, 1. 'Séances Générales tenues en 1843 par la Société Française pour la Conservation des Monuments Historiques,' 8vo. Caen, 1843. 2. 'Bulletins de la Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest,' Années, 1844—46. Premier et deuxième trimestre de 1844, 8vo. Poitiers. Mons. Lecointre-Dupont also forwarded, through Mr. C. R. Smith, a tracing of a drawing of a very curious object in fine gold discovered two leagues from Poitiers, in March. It weighs about 1112 ounces, is 21 inches in length, 5 inches in diameter at one end, and 112 at the other. It exhibits in form a divided cone, adorned with bands, charged alternately with four rows of pellets and ornaments, formed of four concentric circles, each band being separated by fillets. It has been cast entire at once, for there is no appearance of solder or rivet, and the ornaments have been struck from within outwards. It exhibits no appearance of any mode of suspension. Mons. L.-Dupont writes, "To what people and epoch does this object belong, and what was its use, are questions to which I call your attention and that of the British Archæological Association. For my part I am tempted to assign this valuable relic to the Gauls, and I am pleased to find that M. Raoul Rochette, to whom it has been submitted, is of the same opinion. The general notion is, that it is a quiver, but in this I do not concur, believing rather that it may have been an ornament. I shall be
