They were dry, and generally white; but, in some parts, where there had been marrow, they had a tinge of black.
At the bottom of the urn, under the bones, lay a Roman second brass coin, which, according to the ancient custom, had probably been placed under the tongue of the child before cremation, to pay for the ferry over the Styx. It bears the head of Sabina, the wife of the Emperor Hadrian, and the former part of the following legend, which appears on coins of the same type,— SABINA AUGUSTA HADRIANI AUG. P P. On the reverse, is the figure of Vesta, seated on a throne, with a veil upon her head, which falls down over her shoulders; holding a spear in her right hand, and the Palladium in her left, with the letters S. C. underneath.
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The urn also contained the fragment of an ornament made of thin bronze plate, gilt, a figure of which, of the size of the original, is here given. This appears to me to have been the upper part of the bulla, which was worn up to a certain age by the son of a Roman of rank and distinction. The mode of wearing it suspended upon the boy's breast is shown on numerous busts, bas-reliefs, and other ancient monuments. (See Spon, Misc. Erud. Ant., p. 299; Middleton, Ant. Erud. Mon., p. 22, Tab. iii., fig. 2; Ficoroni, Bolla d'Oro, &c.)
It was called Bulla, as is stated by the old lexicographer Papias, because it was like a bubble floating on the surface of water. In this simple form it is represented on many ancient monuments. But it was afterwards ornamented in various ways, and generally by an addition in some degree resembling a hinge, and formed with a groove along the top for the reception of the wire or cord, by which it was hung round the neck of the child. This is the part which has been, preserved in the Geldestone urn, and our specimen shows the groove for the reception of the wire or cord, as well as the holes by which this portion was rivetted to the bulla, properly so called.
For the further illustration of this part of the subject I beg to call the attention of the Society to some of the more elaborate bullæ, which have escaped the ravages of time.
