Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/257

Rh THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE. 170 ])robably, it was added by the Herald to his collection of precedents. Bronipton and Knyghton record only the solemn concourse of kings and prelates by which the obsequies of St. Hugh were attended. ^ntt'quttirS nnti USarfkS of "afrt eyljiMttlS. By the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, through Mr. Babington. — A bronze celt of the simple wedge-shape type, flat, without lateral flanges. It was found atDuxford, Cambridgeshire, and was presented to the Museum of the Society by C. Thornhill. Esq. — Two massive iron fetter-locks, recently found in a gravel-pit at Bottisham, near Cambridge, at a consider- able depth. They were considered as bearing some resemblance in fashion to padlocks of iron, supposed to be of Anglo-Roman construction. Mr. Babington presented also impressions from an engraving recently prepared under his direction, and exhibiting the Roman roads traversing Cambridgeshire. By Mr. Empson. — A Romano-British vase, of dark-coloured coarse ware, with one handle ; it was stated to have been found at Bath, near the Victoria Park ; also, some other fictile vessels. — A collection of remarkable ancient Mexican ornaments, of gold, discovered in or near the margin of the Lake Guativite, on the summit of a mountain ridge about eight leagues from Santa Fe. The lake had been accounted sacred by the aborigines, who were accustomed at certain seasons to throw into it treasures and offerings to their deities. Numerous precious objects have thei'e been found, some of which were in the possession of the late Duke of Sussex. Those exhibited by Mr. Empson consisted of small grotesque idols, or amulets, of gold ; an interesting ornament in the form of a cross ; and some plates, supposed to have formed part of the decorations of the dress or armour of Montezuma. A singular gold idol, or grotesque ornament, of similar character to those in Mr. Empson 's possession, is engraved in the Vetusta Monumenta (Vol. v., plate 32). Mr. Empson exhibited also an ovoid box of silver filagree, of very elegant workmanship, described as having been in the possession of Horace Walpole, and supposed to have contained a paschal eg;g, sent by the Roman Pontifl" to Henry VIII., a purpose for which, by its dimension, it seemed well adapted. — Also, several Oriental weapons, of curious character. By Mr. Westwood. — A rubbing from the curious sculptures on the font at Darenth, Kent, which had claimed the attention of several antiquarian writers. The subjects present a singular mixture ; they comprise Pavid playing on the harp ; — the baptism of an infant by immersion ; — a Sagitta- rius ; — a crowned king holding a short stafl", surmounted by a disc ; — three strange monsters and another beaten by a man. Some antiquaries have regarded these strange representations as partly sacred and partly cabalistic, whilst others would trace a symbolical import. Air. "Westwood considered the date of the costume to be the twelfth century. Each of the eight compartments is enclosed by plain columns, bearing rounded arches, which spring from regular Norman capitals, and with raised ornamental bosses. The decorative details are apparently of the Norman time ; and Mr. Westwood pointed out especially the precise similarity of design, in some of the foliated tails of the monsters, to the foliage of the drawings in Cott. MS. Nero, C. iv. These sculptures are mentioned by Mr. Denne, in his remarks on the antiquity of the Church of Parenth, and its curious