at once to the general contents of the division.

He will be probably attracted first to two terminal statues; or statues, of which the lower parts are not developed. They occur frequently among the remains of Greek sculpture. These terminal statues were held in great veneration; and they were found placed at the corners of streets, at the doors of private dwellings, and before temples. The custom of representing Mercury with a head upon a plain column, appears to have been the origin of a fashion which the Greeks subsequently extended to their representations of other deities. The terminal figure in this division, with the winged cap, illustrates the generality of these Herma; it was found near Frascati, in the year 1770. The next remarkable object that will probably attract the visitor's attention is the figure, found at Rome, of an Egyptian tumbler, going through his performances on the back of a tame crocodile, a barbarous species of entertainment undoubtedly, but not more repulsive than that of the French ærönaut of last year, floating over Paris on the back of an ostrich. Hereabouts are placed also a small statue of the three-fold Hecate, a Diana found in the Giustiniani Palace at Rome; a bust of Jupiter, conjectured to be a copy from the work of the celebrated sculptor Polycletus, and a sphinx. Here, too, are some interesting bas-reliefs. Upon one a Bacchante (supposed to be a copy from Scopas), is represented with a knife in her hand, and holding part of a kid; upon another (part of a sarcophagus), Priam is represented praying to Achilles to give up Hector's body; upon a third (a cippus) birds are drinking; and upon a fourth (a fountain) are Pans and satyrs. Before turning to the lower shelf, the visitor should also notice in this neighbourhood a beautiful group of two dogs, found on the Monte Cagnuolo; a votive foot,

with a coiling serpent, and one or two sepulcral urns with inscriptions. Upon the lower shelf are deposited an interesting series of busts, including one of the Emperor Septimius Severus, found on the Palatine Hill; one of Hadrian, found at Tivoli, on the site of Hadrian's Villa; one from Athens, of the Emperor Nero; and one of Caracalla, found in the Nunnery Gardens at the Quatro Fontane, on the Esquiline Hill. Upon the upper shelf are two busts in relief, and the front of a sarcophagus, with elaborate representations of the Muses. Here is Terpsichore with the lyre of dancing, Thalia with the mask of comedy. And now the way lies once more forward, into the

FIFTH DIVISION.

Before the fifth pilaster is a notable piece of sculpture found in the villa of Antoninus Pius-an erect figure of the youthful Bacchus clothed in the skin of a panther; and here also is a square altar ornamented with sphinxes in bas-relief, Apollo, Diana, and various religious symbols. A colossal toe attracts considerable attention in this division. It may have been an orna. ment in the rooms of an Eisenberg of the ancients, but more probably has been lost by a god. Let the visitor pause here before the terminal bust of Aeschines the orator, who impeached Demosthenes out of jealousy for his popularity with the people of Athens, and sullenly retired, after losing his cause and being mulcted of a thousand drachmas as the accuser, to Rhodes, where he occupied himself in teaching rhetoric. Other terminal statues occur in this division. Among these, in a glass, are small terminal busts, joined back to back, of Bacchus and Libera; three yellow and red marble

heads of Libera; a yellow marble bearded Bacchus ; and the bust of a Greek poet discovered at Bitolia. Hereabouts also are, a female head, the eyes of which have traces of inlaying; a bas-relief of Antinous; a curious female head, with the hair of a distinct block of marble, fitted upon it; the head of a child from Rome; the head of Jupiter from the corner of a sarco¬ phagus; busts of Hercules and Serapis; a remarkable altar in the Egyptian style, curiously carved with the bull Apis, and Harpocrates drawn in a car by a hippopotamus. Turning to the upper shelf, the visitor will notice a satyr playing on a flute; six Amazons carved upon the fragment of a sarcophagus; and a sarcophagus found at Tusculum, with representations of Cupids bearing away the arms of Mars. A series of busts are deposited upon the lower shelf. These include busts of the wife of the Emperor Domitian ; bust of Olympia; bust of the wife of Hadrian, Julia Sabina; bust of Tiberius; and a bust of Augustus. Before leaving this room the visitor should not fail to notice a few antiquities which should particularly interest him. These form a group of relics found in this country. They illustrate the doings of the Romans in this country.

ANTIQUITIES OF BRITAIN.

The first of these objects which the visitor will remark, is a curious cylindrical sarcophagus, discovered in the neighbourhood of St. Alban's, so lately as the year 1831. It contained some Roman vases. Another sarcophagus found at Southfleet, in Kent, is also included in the collection. In this sarcophagus several interesting relics were discovered, including a vessel containing burnt bones; and purple leather shoes

embroidered with gold, and in the same neighbourhood other relics, including an earthern vessel, also containing bones, were found. The next object to which the visitor should direct his attention is the old cistern of a blacksmith, which had been found at Chesterford, in Essex, which turned out to be an ancient relic sculptured in high relief with figures of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Venus. Three or four Roman altars found in various parts of the country, one to Esculapius; a bas-relief of a Roman standard of the second legion; and pigs of lead inscribed with the names of Roman emperors. Having examined these objects, the visitor should pass at once westward into the

PHIGALEIAN SALOON,

He may here take a seat for a few moments and read the points of history which belong to this saloon, before he commences his examination of it. One year, while the present century was young, fifteen gentlemen encamped round about the ruins of a temple, known to the neighbouring inhabitants as the "columns." These columns were those believed to be the ruins of a temple of Apollo Epicurius, built by the citizens of ancient Phigaleia, in Arcadia. These "columns" were situated upon a shelf of land, high up the side of Mount Cotilium, and surrounded by a rich and various landscape. Lying scattered about were the shattered fragments of the sculptured frieze of the temple; and, with infinite labour the camp of explorers succeeded in gathering together and arranging the slabs which are now deposited in this, the Phigaleian saloon. To the sound of Arcadian music, workmen excavated in the neighbourhood of these ruins; and in 1814 the Prince

Regent obtained a grant of 15,000l. to purchase them for the British Museum.

The subjects represented by these sculptures are, the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithæ, and the war between the Amazons and Athenians-mythical struggles upon which Greek sculptors were fond of exercising their imagination. THE BATTLE OF THE CENTAURS is the first to which the visitor should direct his attention. The origin of this myth is thus described by Sir Henry Ellis: "The story of the Centaurs, it is remarked, is of Thessalian origin. The people of Thessaly were remarkably expert in horsemanship, and were supposed to be the first in Greece who practised the art of riding on horseback. Pelion, and other mountains in this part of Greece, abounding in wild bulls, these ferocious animals were frequently hunted by the people of the country on horseback, and when overtaken were seized by their pursuers, who caught hold of them by the horns, in a manner not less dexterous than daring. Hence, these hunters acquired the name of Centauri and Hippocentauri. The novel sight of a man seated on a horse, and galloping over the plains with more than human velocity, might easily suggest to the minds of an ignorant peasantry, the idea of an animal composed partly of a man and partly of a horse; and it was from this simple origin, according to some explanations, that the fable of the Centaurs sprung. We must remark, that we place no confidence in the proposed etymology of the word Centauros, and almost as little in the explanation of the story. The centaur Chiron in Homer was a model of justice, and the poet appears to have had no idea of the monstrous combination of two animals. Pindar, in his second Pythian Ode, first makes us acquainted with the Hippocentaur, or half horse and half man. Though it