production of the colour. The generality of these beads appear to be produced, from being coloured in thin layers, afterwards twisted together in a spiral form, and then cut across; also from different coloured clays raked together without blending; how the flowers and patterns in the body, and on the surface of the rarer beads, have been produced, cannot be so well explained. Besides the suite deposited in the British Museum, I had the pleasure of presenting one of the most interesting kind to Baron Humboldt; and I have also sent one to Sir Richard Hoare, as it seemed to correspond so closely with the bead which he found in one of the barrows, and describes as follows, in his History of Wiltshire:—'The notion of the rare virtues of the Glain Neidyr, as well as of the continued good fortune of the finder, accords exactly with the African superstition. A large Glass bead, is one of the same imperfect petrification as the Pully beads, and resembles also, in matters, little figures that are found with the mummies in Egypt, and are to be seen in the British Museum. This very curious bead has two circular lines, of opaque sky-blue and white, and seems to represent a serpent entwined round a centre, which is perforated. This was certainly one of the Glain Neidyr of the Britons; derived from Glain, which is pure and holy, and Neidyr, a snake.'"

Some interesting specimens of Roman and early British glass may be mentioned here. Not long since, there were sent to the Archæological Institute, a fragment of a glass vessel, supposed to be of Roman date, discovered at Lavenham, in Suffolk. In the central part was inclosed a small quantity of liquid, half filling the cavity; it was slightly tinged with a pinkish colour, and seemed to deposit a whitish sediment.