PART II.] [627 ] ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. ARCHEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE AT ROME. In p. 157 we briefly noticed the formation of this Institution for the purposes of archæological correspondence. From the "Bullettino degli Annali" of the Institute (an octavo volume of fifty-six pages), which has recently been published, we learn that the Society enjoys the patronage of many illustrious personages, foreigners as well as Italians, eminent for their love of antiquities. Moreover, the "Bullettino" contains much curious information connected with antiquarian researches, especially concerning discoveries made in excavating the ancient Etruscan city of Tarquinia, not far from Corneto. It had long been known that within the vast circumference of its Necropolis were scattered many remnants of Tarquinia's former magnificence. Winkelmann and other learned writers had noticed the tombs, and the painted vases (resembling those of Magna Græcia), which were occasionally found in this part of the old Etruria. But nothing very important appears to have been done until the year 1823, when some excavations were made by certain individuals of Corneto. In 1825, these researches were continued "dall' Inglese, Lord Kinnaird." Several precious articles were subsequently found by Signor Carlo Avvolta, and Signor Vittorio Massi. Two magnificent tombs, of which the walls exhibited many extraordinary paintings, rewarded, in 1827, the researches of Counsellor Kestner and Baron de Stackelberg, who, assisted by the pontifical government, have succeeded in bringing to light many valuable specimens of ancient painting. Other excavations, about the same time, furnished Signor Vittorio Massi, abovementioned, with various painted vases and different fragments of antiquity; some of these have contributed to found the collection formed by Messrs. Dorow and his associates, and the remainder is still at Montefiascone, in possession of Signor Massi. During the course of last year (1828), some indications of concealed treasures, and the importance of those vases which M. Dorow had purchased, gave occasion to more numerous and regular excavations. A vast and desert plain, extending in circumference about five miles between the territory of Canino and Montalto, and crossed by the little river Fiora, has already been regarded as the ancient Necropolis of some Etrurian city, and probably of Vulci. The adjacent grounds, belonging partly to the Signor Candellori, of Rome, and the Signor Feoli, have produced many beautiful painted vases: but the Prince of Canino (Louis Bonaparte) being principal owner of the territory, has, through his own and his princess's ge nerosity, been enabled to collect, within a few months, an astonishing number of monuments, estimable for their beauty and for the instruction which they furnish to studious antiquaries. The greater part of these objects are found in small grottoes, at the depth of a few palms under ground. The general construction of these monuments does not afford much new matter for observation; but it is an extraordinary circumstance that objects so interesting and valuable as works of art, should be discovered in such a miserable situation. A more detailed account of them must be reserved for different fasciculi of the "Annals:" here it may however be observed, that the number of vases inscribed with letters far exceeds that furnished by the excavations made in Magna Græcia, above one thousand having been disinterred within a few months. Thus the estate of Prince Musignano has become a museum of noble monuments, executed in the happiest schools of art, recalling the best ages of Grecian workmanship, while the abundance of Greek inscriptions found on the painted vases, might induce us to suppose in the soil of these Etrurian coasts some remnants of a Grecian colony. Indeed the TONAOENE ENAOAON, observed eight times on different antiques found here, might serve to indicate that the Etruscans of this place were diligent performers of the Attic games, or of games corresponding to the Athenian usage. But the beauty of Grecian art is found at Tarquinia combined with characters belonging most indubitably to the Etruscan alphabet; the names also of various Etruscan families are inscribed on monuments at this place-such as the Appian, Annian, Larzian, Minutian, and Fabian. Yet a great number of small objects, executed in gold, ivory, bronze, and stone, discovered with the painted vases, in those excavations, bespeak rather the elegance of Grecian artists than the stiffness of monuments indisputably Etruscan. The importance, however, of such rich discoveries in the supposed city of Vulci, does not authorize us to omit noticing, that many curious antiques have been found in the vicinity of Tarquinia, and in the ancient Cossa (mentioned by Pliny), and the present Orbetello. These are described in a communication from Signor Carlo Avvolta, who found in those places about two hundred sepulchral depositories, with vases and pateræ, near the remains of the dead and he remarks, that when a tripod was the first 629 Archæological Institute at Rome. object that presented itself, a vase was always discovered. We must notice another passage (among several very interesting) in the letter of Signor Avvolta, dated on the 28th of April last. "Many of the tombs and grottoes which I excavated at Montarozzi, contained the remains of human bodies which had been burnt, close to others which had not been burnt, as well as burnt and unburnt bones in the same grave: whence it might, perhaps, be justly affirmed, that the Etruscans of this region were accustomed to burn the bodies of their dead, and at the same time to inter their dead without burning them." Other excavations accidentally made near the wall of Orvieto, are described by Signor Cervelli, an accomplished painter, who mentions, in a communication dated last April, that some months before, several articles of terra cotta, ornaments, bassi-relievi, small statues, half-figures (probably of Jupiter and Priapus), vases, and other pieces, had been found at that place. And Signor Pietro Casuccini discovered, in the ancient sepulchres et Chiusi, many very beautiful remnants of former ages. The Canon Mazetti also mentions, among others, interesting antiques found at Chiusi, some urns of stone, scarabaei of cornelian, and vases of black clay but not baked. At Volterra also, and in its neighbourhood, several curious urns and other monuments of Etruscan antiquity have been lately discovered by Signor Giusto Cinci. For the account (here epitomized) of excavations made in Etruria, we are indebted to the ingenious Professor Gerhard. Some researches in the kingdom of Naples among the Italo-Grecian tombs, particularly those of Nola, afford M. Panofka a subject for an article in which he very ingeniously describes the burnt vases called salicerni found there a few months ago; a class altogether unknown at Corneto and at Canino, and distinguished for the purity of their design. From various circumstances it appears, that the ancients were in the habit of breaking those vases before they cast them on the funeral pile of their parents or friends. There also were found (what no other classic soil has hitherto produced) two cups, of which the insides display a white and brilliant varnish like the most beautiful porcelain, while the exteriors present figures painted in red on a black ground. One cup exhibits Minerva and Hercules, delineated in a fine style; the other a toilette-scene, the name of one woman being inscribed AINΕΣΙΔΩΡΑ. Fragments of a third cup found at Nola (and now in the collection of Major Lamberti at Naples), are remarkable for their excellent design, and the gilding which appears on the ear-rings, bracelets, and necklace of the principal woman, to whom another offers a casket. These three cups probably served as presents on occasion of nuptials. In the same place was discovered a vase of which the extraordinary form represented an Ethiopian in the throat of a crocodile. Two years ago the Duc de Blacas found at Nola several magnificent vases, besides the skeletons of two young children with their playthings lying near them. M. Vulpes, a celebrated physician of Naples, making some researches at Ischia in 1826, found at the feet of a skeleton a large vessel full of eggs. Another article in the "Bullettino" describes many discoveries made in 1828 and 1829, among the remains of Pompeii, particularly in the building called the House of Castor and Pollux, where several fine pictures rewarded the excavator's labour. The latest researches brought to light a door situated at the extremity of the building; hopes were entertained that this might communicate with another house, which, in this case, must have belonged to the sumptuous owner of this vast habitation, and might reasonably be expected to contain a multiplicity of curious and valuable objects. Yet it is not improbable that this doorway opens only into a small street near that called dei Mercurii, in which have already been discovered two secret outlets. In the same street many interesting objects were found near a chamber furnished with licentious paintings, which sufficiently designate the character of the house. Glass vessels, of different sizes and colours, found also in this building, serve to confirm the opinion that it was a public place destined to nearly the same purposes as our modern coffeehouses; and the indecent pictures abovementioned show that the ancients sometimes employed those drinking-glasses on very strange occasions. For the account of these discoveries our obligations are due to M. de Laglandiere. The excavations made at Rome, especially in the Forum Romanum, are described by the Chevalier Bunsen. It appears that in 1818, the Abbate Uggeri published a project on the subject of such researches: the late Duchess of Devonshire had already, in 1817, commenced the task of excavating under the direction of the celebrated Carlo Fea: in 1827, the Conde di Funchal continued the work, and lately the Duc de Blacas has resolved to prosecute it in a manner that promises the most complete success. undertaking is encouraged by the pontifical government, desirous of furnishing to the poor workmen of Rome the meaus of obtaining an honest livelihood by their labour, at the same time promoting the objects of scientific and literary research. This There is an account of excavations made in the Forum Trajanum and its vicinity; in the Via Appia, and the Vigna Giangiorgi, and the Vigna Capranica, where the Duke of Buckingham caused researches to be made, and found a sepulchre with painted ornaments, and a sarcophagus. In the Via Latina, Signor Fioravanti made some interesting discoveries; and in the Via Flaminia, at the place called Torvergata (five miles from Rome), the Vicomte de Chateaubriand, having excavated the ruins of an ancient villa, found several busts and sarcophagi, medals, and other remnants of antiquity. Signor Copranesi has disinterred some statues among ruins near Montecalvo, in Sabina; and an accidental excavation, between Frascati and Marino, has enriched the cabinet of the Prince de Anglona with many valuable articles of gold and paste. The first fasciculus of the "Annals" will contain an article communicated by Sir William Gell, on the structures called Cyclopean, in Greece, Magna Græcia, and several districts of Italy, most of which have been discovered by Sir William himself, Mr. Dodwell, and latterly by Mr. Fox. By these three English gentlemen we learn, that within little more than one year, three ancient cities have been discovered, -Lista, Batia, and Trebula Suffena. TOWER OF LONDON. We congratulate the lovers of archaeological truth that, from henceforth, there will not be a single curiosity in the Tower exhibited with a false name. The last stronghold of humbug, the Spanish armoury, has yielded to the strong and repeated remon strances of Dr. Meyrick, and the spoils of the Armada have vanished. Not that a single thing has heen removed; but the partisan, with Sir Dudley Carleton's arms engraved thereon, is no longer vouched for as the foreign general's staff; nor the leathern pavoise exalted to a consecrated banner, et sic omnia. A new name has been given to the apart ment. No public military memorial existing of our conquests in the East, Dr. Meyrick suggested it should be appropriated to that purpose. Those specimens once in the Duke of York's collection, and which belonged to the renowned Tippoo, with others, will be deposited in two glass-cases. Their number will be increased as other similar curiosities ccur, and the whole will be called "the Asiatic Armoury." Two very great rarities have been found among the effects of the late furbisher, a match-lock arquebus and a match-lock esclopette of the time of Henry the Eighth, with the H., rose, and fleur-de lis on their stocks. But independent of this arrangement, the sides of the room, and the ceiling, have been ornamented with fanciful devices, formed from the blades of swords, &c. by Mr. Stacey, in a manner highly creditable to his taste and ingenuity. ANTIQUITIES IN ESTREMADURA. Some workmen, who were lately employed 629 in digging a field near the ruins of the amphitheatre of Merida, in Spanish Estremadura, in order to lay the foundation of a house, found a great number of bones, some of which belonged to the hyæna, and some to the elephant. There were also some human bones. At a short distance from the same place, several pieces of money were also discovered, but they were so much disfigured that it was impossible to decipher the inscription on them. Besides these things, they found two vases of the beautiful marble which is dug from the mountains of the Sierra Morena, at three days' journey from Merida. These vases are in fine preservation, and beautifully sculptured. ANTIQUITIES IN THE MOREA. The French savans, in their late mission to the Morea, discovered at Olympia, hidden under the muddy deposits of the Alpheus, the remains of a temple of Jupiter, of great extent. The President of Greece gave leave to the French troops to remove any part of those precious relics, which was, however, no easy task, for it was an indispensable preliminary that roads should be opened in a very rugged spot, and that carts should be dragged over hills and marshes. The French, however, were indefatigable, and the result was, that a number of bas-reliefs, and other monuments, have been conveyed to Navarin, where they will be embarked and taken to Marseilles, or some of the towns of France most accessible to travellers and amateurs of the fine arts. ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES IN FRANCE. The Archæological Society of Dieppe, under the patronage of the Duchess de Berri, have been making some recent excavations in the neighbourhood of the town, near what is commonly called Cæsar's Camp, the actual site of the ancient city of Limes, which may be considered the Pompeii of France. The result of the first researches, made by order of the duchess, at Candicote, near the gates of the town, were the discovery of some fragments of a vase of great beauty. Those undertaken in the course of the present year, and carried on in her royal highness's presence, have revealed the existence of a Gallo Roman borough, the ruins of which are situate between the villages of Bracquemont and De Graincourt. Among other remains have been found the representation of a female figure, in terra cotta, seated on a chair, and suckling two iufants-apparently the votive offering of some lady in the straw. Hooks, nails, and other implements, with Roman tiles, &c., have been discovered in great abundance, together with a beautiful glass urn, containing a medal of Antoninus Pius. A large house, consisting of a spacious atrium, or hall, with a numerous suite of apartments branching off, has been since laid open. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. ON THE EXCAVATION OF VALLEYS. Henry T. de la Beche, esq. F.R.S. &c. has recently communicated to the Philosophical Magazine, some curious and interesting particulars respecting the natural formation of valleys. Two opinions (he observes) have been entertained by geologists, as to the causes that have excavated valleys: some contending that they have been produced by the rivers that now run in them, aided by the bursting of lakes and meteoric agents; while others consider that the greater proportion of such valleys has been formed by what has been called diluvial action, and by other causes operating at the bottom of ancient seas. It appears to me that these two rival theories may be reconciled with the facts presented by nature, and that both are, to a certain extent, correct. It would, I think, be almost impossible to deny that rivers, more particularly those discharged from the many lakes that probably once existed, have cut deeply into the land, and have formed gulleys, ravines, and gorges but again, it seems utterly at variance with the relations of cause and effect, to suppose that valleys, properly so called, could have been formed either by the discharge of lacustrine waters, or by the rivers that now run, or could ever have run, in them." "It seems to me that aqueous excavations are of two kinds : 1. Those produced by vast and violent causes not now in action. And, 2. Those resulting from the continuous and gradual operation of lakes, rivers, and other agents that have been termed meteoric: the latter series of causes operating upon valleys that most frequently owe their prior existence to the former series, and both offering very distinct appearances. Excavations of the second kind, or those produced by actual streams, present cliffs, gorges, and ravines; while the first are marked by grand and extensively rounded outlines, and by valleys of a breadth and magnitude which would seem only referable to a voluminous mass of moving waters." The author then proceeds to illustrate his opinions by various examples.-1. Valleys of excavation in Dorset and Devon.-2. Valleys of excavation in Jamaica which cannot be referred to rains or rivers.-3. Valleys of denudation subsequently cut into ravines, and otherwise modified by existing causes.4. Action of rivers in nearly level and spacious valleys. 5. Rivers escaping from plains through gorges. Under the last head, the writer says, that "the Lake of Geneva would appear once to have been much more extensive than at present, and to be only the remains of a greater lake which has been partly drained by the cutting down of the gorge at the Fort de l'Ecluse. The gorge at Narni seems to have let out the waters of a lake, the ancient bed of which now forms the plain of Terni. These examples have principal rivers now running in them: the bed of the Rhone runs through the drained part of the ancient lake, the remainder of which constitutes the existing Lake of Geneva, and the Nera flows through the plain of Terni ; and if the respective gorges through which the waters escape were again closed, these rivers would again form lakes on the surface of the plains. The great fertile plain of Florence seems once to have been the bed of a lake, the drainage of which was effected by a cut through the high land that bounds it on the west. If this outlet were closed, the waters of the Arno would again cover the plain, and convert it into the bed of a lake." "These appearances are not confined to one part of the world; it is very easy to see, from the descriptions of intelligent travellers, that they exist very commonly: I have myself observed examples in Jamaica. The district named St. Thomas in the Vale is a marked one: here we have low land bounded on all sides by hills which would form the banks of a lake, were not the waters let out by the gorge through which the Rio Cobre flows. Luidas Vale, in the same island, is a district surrounded on all sides by high land, and would form a lake, were not the waters, derived from heavy tropical rains, carried off by sink-holes in the low grounds. In consequence of this escape of the waters a lake cannot be formed, and therefore no discharging river, which should deliver the excess of waters over the lowest lip of the high land." PART 11.] Literary and Scientific Intelligence. "The celebrated falls of Niagara afford an example of a river now in the act of cutting a gorge, which, if time be allowed, may let out the waters of the lake above it. If this should ever be accomplished, the gorge will resemble those we have been describing, and show equally with them, that existing rivers may excavate gorges and precipitous channels, but that these excavations are entirely distinct from valleys of denudation. In all such cases as this, and in the minor effects of meteoric influence, we have gorges, ravines and gulleys, cliffs, taluses and landslips,-all tending to destroy the more or less rounded forms of anterior valleys which were excavated by a force acting generally and with enormous power; a force scarely referable to any other cause than a voluminous mass of overwhelming waters. "Considerable changes have been, and continue to be, effected on the earth's surface by causes actually existing. In the time of hurricanes, tropical rains effect that which an inhabitant of milder regions would scarcely credit. In Jamaica, the great hurricane of 1815 produced numerous cliffs and landslips in the mountains of St. Andrew and Port Royal. The gulleys, also, in this island are very numerous and deep, particularly in the great gravel plains. This gravel the torrents do not produce, but only tend to cut up and destroy; so also do the rivers which traverse it; the effect both of rivers and torrents being to make precipitous excavations not only in stratified rocks, but also in these beds of gravel, the origin of which must be referred to some more powerful, more general, and more ancient cause. "Although I consider that many gorges have been cut by the gradual discharge of lakes, and by the rivers that now flow in them, I by no means suppose that all gorges or ravines have been thus formed many evidently were not; and of these, some have rivers now flowing through them, others contain no stream whatever. The gorge of Clifton, near Bristol, through which the Avon passes, may be cited as an example of the first kind; if this were closed, the resulting lake would be drained in the direction of Nailsea, and exert no action on the rocks of Clifton. The carboniferous limestone districts of England abound in examples of the second kind; viz. of gorges entirely dry, or through which the rills now passing are too insignificant to have caused them. NEW CITY LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. The Library Committee have recently made a report to the Corporation, in which, after having announced that 1,050 volumes, chiefly of valuable and scarce works, have been received from citizens as donations, they state, that the collection of prints has also, during the same interval, been con 631 siderably increased by the purchase of several hundreds of prints and drawings, the number of which now amounts to nearly 2,000 prints, and 100 drawings, and are preserved in portfolios. The subjects consist entirely of metropolitan topography and portraits of eminent city characters; the former are arranged in wards and parishes, so as to form at all times a ready illustration to the various works on London in the Library; the latter (which includes a series of the Lord Mayors, Sheriffs, &c.,) are kept in books, endorsed, and accompanied by a MS. catalogue. There are, besides, various books of prints, prints and drawings in frames, and plans of London upon can vas. Of larger works, as well on the subject of London as of the adjoining counties, English history and jurisprudence, and other useful works, indispensable in every public library, the addition made to the printed catalogue, since the opening, by purchases and gifts, will be seen also to be very considerable. They include, amongst the purchases, sets of the St. James's Chronicle, London Chronicle, Lloyd's Evening Post, and other newspapers, amounting to 380 volumes; complete sets of the Gentleman's and European Magazines, in 230 volumes; Todd's Dr. Johnson's, and other Dictionaries; Pyne's Royal Residences; sets of the Peerages, &c. Amongst the gifts, the whole of the publications printed by the authority of his Majesty's Commissioners for the preservation of the public records-presented by the Commissioners; sets of the Journals of the Houses of Lords and Commons, in 142 volumes, folio; a very fine set of the Archæologia of the Antiquarian Society, in 21 volumes, quarto; &c. &c. A foundation is also laid for a Civic Museum, or collection of metropolitan antiquities and curiosities. Towards this desirable object, Mr. Cuerton has presented several Roman and other antiquities, discovered in digging the foundation of the New Post-Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand. Other articles have also been sent, found in excavating for the foundation of the New London Bridge; also several subjects of antiquity and curiosity from the late Guildhall Chapel, and other places. CAMBRIDGE, Dec. 31. The Hulsean prize was adjudged to Thos. Myers, scholar of Trinity College, for his Essay "What was the extent of the knowledge which the Jews had of a future state, at the time of our Saviour's appearance?" EXPEDITION TO THE ANTARCTIC POLE. According to intelligence from New York, the American brig Anwann, under Captain Palmer, has been fitted out for a voyage of discovery to explore the Antarctic regions, |