54 PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS OF

I.II.D.D.D. NEPT. L. VERVS. AVG. PR, PROV. GER. ET BRIT. ET IIEKE.V. APOL. ES. ET C. LVC. ET UER, BUIT. F.V.S.L.L.M. which may be read, — In honorem Doimts Divince Deo Xeptuno Lucius Vents Aurjustalis Procurator Provinciarum Germaniie et Britanniiv et Ilerennia ApoUinaris c suo et Caius Lucius et Ucrennius Britannicus filii rotian soherunt hvti libentes merito. It appears that L. Verus was the Imperial Procurator for the Provinces of Germany and Britain, and tliat his life was endangered on a voyage from one province to tlie other. He called on Neptune to rescue him, and promised to dedicate a valuable present to the god, if his life were preserved. On reaching home he fulfilled his vow, his wife, Ilerennia ApoUinaris, uniting with him in this expression of pious gratitude, the cost of which they defrayed out of their common property. They moreover showed their parental regard to their two sons, Caius Lucius and Ilerennius Britannicus, by associating them with them- selves in what they considered as a becoming act of devotion, and possibly the acerra was carried at the sacrifice by C. Lucius, the elder son, in the manner beautifulh* represented on Trajan's Column at Rome. The date of tliis box is probably about a.d. 200. A similar acerra, with a Medusa's head at one end, made, however, of bronze, formerly belonged to Paciaudi and Count Caylus, and it is now the property of John Disney, Esq. of the Hyde in Essex. Mr. Yates also exhibited a plaster-cast from a Roman comb, lately found at Mayence. The original is said to have been purchased there by an English traveller. In the middle of the comb, between the two rows of teeth, is a bas-relief representing Jupiter between Mars and Mercury. Under it is the inscription, — I. M. M. o. M. which may be read, Jovi, Marti, Merciirio, optime meritis. A similar comb of bone, with a bas-relief representing the three Graces, is now in the possession of Mr. Bocicke, of London. This sculptured relique also was found at Mayence. Mr. Yates also gave an account of the discovery of a gold tore at Stanton, in Staffordshire, midway between Blore and Ellaston, in a field near the Stone Pits, about a foot beneath the surface. It was found early in the year li^^.jo, and had been shown to 3Ir. Yates in July last by the Rev. 11. Bainbrigge, of Stanton. As far as is known the field had never before been ploughed or dug. It was stated that when the finder first perceived the treasure, like a glittering serpent, to which possibly the elasticity of the object gave apparently a quivering motion, liis alarm was so great that he ran home, and it was some time before he could summon up courage to return to the field and secure the prize. The weight is i> oz. IS dwts. •'iif gr. ; the length 1 metre, 10 centim. (ah. 3 ft, 'J. in.) The section of the twist is a cross ( + )• The extremities are hooked about L' in. in length, gradually increasing in size towards the ends which are cut ofi' olituscly, as bIiowii by the ronreseiitations of the extremities of a gold tore in the Hritish MuHcuru, given in Mr. Jiirch's Menjoir " On the Tore of the Colts," in this ' .St-e ('uyluM, lU'ciK^il, tome iv. p. 'JHI, pi. IK! ; iiikI .Mtihciiiii Di.siK-iikiiiiiii, part ii. Ix>D(lun, 1JM8. p. 177- IHO, pi. 7H.