Page:Primevalantiquit00wors.djvu/196

156 are not to be found in the neighbourhood. Whenever antiquities are traced, care should be taken to ascertain whether similar objects occur in the surrounding district; for it has been found that specimens of interest have been discovered scarcely a step from the spot, where similar articles had been found some years before.

Most antiquarian objects are covered with rust, or have otherwise lost their original appearance. Articles of gold alone are unchanged, because gold never rusts in the earth. Silver usually assumes a blackish tinge. Bronze and copper in peat bogs obtain a red or blackish tint; while in the earth they usually become green. Iron, of course, becomes very rusty indeed, except in the peat bogs. Lead becomes oxydized; amber acquires a resemblance to resin, by lying in the earth; glass becomes covered with a thick coating and looks like mother of pearl. Bones are calcined, and become brown in the bogs, where they are always best preserved. Nevertheless, antiquities should never be cleaned, for they are injured by this means, and so lose much of their value. Still more should we abstain from breaking them, which those who discover them unfortunately often do, to ascertain whether they are not of gold.

A very important rule is, that all antiquities, even those which appear the most trivial and the most common, ought to be preserved. Trifles often afford important information, when seen in connection with a large collection. That they are of common occurrence forms no objection; for historic results can be deduced only from the comparison of numerous cotemporary specimens. In many instances, antiquities have a value with reference to the spot in which they are found. The law of Denmark provides that all gold, silver, and other valuables, which are found in the earth, shall be forwarded to the royal collections, and that the full value of the metal shall be paid to the finder. This arrangement, of course, does not apply to objects of wood, stone, or clay; yet it is to be wished