remains were found, was also found the coin of Trajan, which if it could be at all relied on would fix the date a very early one. A small brass coin of Hadrian was found in an urn in a bustum at Bartlow, which would go some way to strengthen the idea that they were nearly coeval, but the foregoing must be taken only as a conjecture. Another conjecture may be also hazarded with respect to the ornaments No. 15: may they not have been the bosses of a buckler or shield, the iron rivets through the centre indicating that they have been fastened to something, and may not the rings have been attached to the inside of the shield, for the purpose of fastening straps thereto for the arm to pass through?
April 24.
Mr. C. R. Smith read a note from Mr. John Green Waller on the possibility of restoring paintings on walls covered with many coats of whitewash. Mr. Waller states his opinion to be that the paintings frequently found on the walls of our churches and designated "fresco," are in reality nothing more than distemper, for the cleaning of which he suggests the use of vinegar, carefully applied with a brush alternately with water, to modify its action and prevent the acid from injuring the layer of plaster containing the paintings.
Mr. Thomas Farmer Dukes, of Shrewsbury, presented two drawings of painted glass existing in that town. The one from the window of St. Mary's church, which contains the greater portion of the painted glass formerly in the eastern window of old St. Chad's church, represents the genealogy of our Saviour. At the bottom is depicted the patriarch Jesse, as large as life, being six feet in length. He is in a deep sleep, reclining upon a cushion. From the loins of this figure proceed a vine, the branches of which extend nearly over the entire of the window, enclosing within small oval compartments the descendants of Jesse down to Joseph. Under these paintings there appear amongst others the representations of Sir John de Charlton, Lord of Powis, and his wife Hawis, who seems to have been the donor of this window sometime between the years 1332 and 1353. Mr. Dukes remarks also that the representation of the Lady Howis differs in its details from a drawing taken from the window by Sir William Dugdale in 1663, and understood to be now deposited in the Heralds' College, wherein it appears that the lady's robe is surmounted by armorial emblems. This painting has been engraved by Carter. The other drawing is from a piece of glass in Mr. Duke's possession, and represents Alexander slaying Clitus.
Mr. Dukes also presented a drawing of an ancient wooden chapel at Melverley, about ten miles from Shrewsbury, and nearly adjoining the conflux of the rivers Severn and Virniew, and a sketch of the remaining portion of an octagonal font, bearing an inscription in Greek reading forwards and backwards the same, "ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ." This fragment, it appears, was accidentally rescued from destruction by a gentleman passing by the church of Kinnerley in Shropshire, at the moment when some workmen were breaking the font to pieces for the purpose of repairing the church-yard wall; but its preservation was accomplished by an offer of money, when the men permitted it to be removed to a place of safety. This inscription, Mr. Duke observes, appears not only upon various fonts, but is inscribed also upon ewers, dishes, and other kinds of vessels used in baptismal ceremonies both in England and on the continent, as at St. Martin's church, Ludgate; Dulwich college; Worlingworth, Suffolk; at a church in Cheshire; at various places in France, and at St. Sophia at Constantinople. It is likewise engraved upon a capacious basin at Trinity College, Cambridge, which is used by the collegians for washing the fingers after dinner.
