Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/227

 PHESERVED IN TFIK MUSEUM AT TOUL(»USK. l(i:', at Berlin). 1 have accordingly tli(tuii;lit that a description of two wheels, together ^Yith a pole-end, and a portion of the rim of a bronze car, all in the condition of their discovery, and now in the museum at Toulouse, may })ossil)ly he useful for comparison with such remains of antique chariots as may hereafter be brought to hght. The wheels here selected for description are not more than 22 inches in diameter ; each has five spokes — now hollow — which spring from the nii(hlle of the nave, and at right angles with it. The nave is of the disproportionate length of more than 14 inches, of which that half that projected to- wards the body of the car is plain, while the other half pro- jecting outwards is encircled with fillets, as are also the springings of the spokes. The passage through the nave for the axle is, at its ends, 3 inches in diameter ; but it gradually becomes wider towards its centre, so that, except at its ends, there is a Large space between the circumference of the axle and the walls of this passage. And here I w^ould remark that this space, which was evidently meant for the access of air, and thereby the prevention of such heat as a more extensive contact and friction might have elicited, proves, perhaps, that the c^r to which this wheel belonged had been made for real use, and not (as supposed of the Vatican and Perugian cars) for merely votive purpose. The felloe, now hollow, is 3 inches broad. Its edge, of 1 inch in diameter, has in its centre a cleft three-quarters of an inch wide, through which, I presume, the felloe was filled with wood, and the cleft then closed with an iron tyer, such t^^ers having been found with the Vatican car, and, in abundance, at Pompei, although no bronze remains of cars have been there discovered. I also presume that the hollows of the spokes were filled with wood passed through the said cleft ; and, likewise, that the nave ends of these wooden spokes rested on the outer walls of the bronze nave, while their other ends were fastened to the bronze felloe by transverse rivets, which at the same time connected the two faces of ihe felloe with each other, and as evinced by the position of five of the ten rivet holes remaining. The pole-end is 16 inches long, 14 of which are hollow for the reception of the pole of wood, while the extremity, or point, is solid and plain.