The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-06-26 00:00:00

Littraturt.
REVIEW&

M ATZRIALS OF ROM•III QOZ111(8.—In these
days of applied science comes Professor Buck-
men. of Bradford Abbas,_before us with a petite
brochure, which shows railer effectively what
geology mu do for archteology, and proves con-
clusively that "they are more nearly united
than would at first-sight appear." Such, at
least, is the learned gentleman's conclusion,
alter a careful scientific study of the stones
composing the Roman stone grinding mills or
querns, which have turned up of different eras
an the career of the old world's colonists and
conquerors. The list of rocks from which
English cinema have been found to be made, is
comparstively limited, because only certain
•portione of even sandstone rocks have been
found available for mill stones; and these, in
descending eeriest, the professor finds to have
been Semen stone, of the tertiary sand-
stono—an exceeding hard sandstone of which
the "grey wethers" and the huge blocks of the
Arebury circles are examples. An example of
a quern made of this stone, found on the Agri-
cultural College Farm, at Cirencester, is now in
the possession of Mr. Cunnington. Devises,
2. Hon. stone, from the upper green sand.
Mr. Cunnington has several querns made from
this rock. 3, Bed and grey stones, from the
new red sandstone. 4. Gritstones, from the
coal measures. 5, Millstone grit, from the
carboniferom system. 6, Puddinptone querns,
from the conglomerates of the old red sandstone.
Of these last, even unfinished specimens have
been obtained abandoned in the progress of
making, over a wide arm, "and, as might be
expected," observes the professor, "puzzled
the natives not a little," for which reason "they
took no amount on 'eon.' " 7, Bed and grey
stones, from the old red sandstone. 8. Sand-
stone, from primary rocks. There were also
foreign stones introduced in the Roman period
as at the present day. No fewer than five in
the professor's collection at Cirencester, and
many of the same kind at Wroxeter, are from
Andernsch on the Rhine.

ROMAN REMAINS AT LATTON, WlLTL—Lattom
is in Wilts, six miles south of Cirencester, on
the Irmin-street, the Roman road from Oren-
-miter to Bath. An opportunity of making a
discovery was offered to Professor Buckman
through the Earl of St. Germans, and he bas
laid some of the facts connected with it, and a
description of the objects found in a fine state of
preservation before the Wiltshire Archeological
and Natural History Society. A new xater-
course to allow the waters from [Aeon to fell
into the Thames having become neoessery, it was
in the construction of this tbat the coins and
other Roman objects in question were found.
The peculiar brightness of some of the coins
of Domitian, Trajan, and Hadrian almost
equalled the fine gold ooins of Valens and
Valentinian, found by the Professor at Corinium
and "convinced me," he adds, "that they must
at least have been made of a metal similar in
quality to the Mosaic gold, with which the cheap
French jewellery, now so much used, is fabri-
cated. It is distinct from the Roman bronze
which WY mostly coined in early periods as well
as in the latter part of Roman rote here." Two
kiiide of coins in fact were found, one absolutely
bnum, the other an inferior bronze. In die-
"l4'l4l the composition of these coins, the Pro-
fessor newt the very curious and somewhat in-
portent question, whether as the Romans knew
nothing of tine as a metal, but probably ern-
Ployed CalaMi" (lino ore), we could not get a
better braes from the mixture of the earth
calamine with nipper directly 1 One observation
more deserves citation.
" Animist the iron material. I would mention lb.
bit as an evirlaDoe that the aat.quary most net n-j.-ct
articles as not being archaic h(o. th.ir IMenmes to those of our ono time, nor front the feet that the tooth of
time has failed to make meet aeon...ion on their I
structures. The bit sad the spear herM marvellously I like some of • mach later date, but they war. by being secured in the rase num reasrvsd
el com pirete m
coins, sad thus my seethed of pneervathm in iteall
• matter of interest,"

Strang* to may we happen to have in our pos..
seri= a peoeof an iron bit, dug up at Doe.
chatter protorium, amongst some Odom of
broken sherds, shown by us at the Dorelteater
raeettog of the Archaeological Isetitote,