THE TOMBS OT Till'. Dt BHOHAM FAMILY.

67 A novel and veiy interesting- fact lias been I'ui-tlier related l)y Mr. Broughani, in connexion with the " Crusader"s tomb," namely, the disco- very of a conical frai^ment of that remarkable kind of vitrification of which ancient Ktniria. perhaps, has supplied the largest variety of examples. It appears to resemble closely those curious ornaments found frequently with interments of the British period, and which, as antiquaries have supposed, are to be regarded as the anrjuina ova, or Druid's e^i<:'^, of Pliny "=. The talismanic virtues of that fobulous egg secured for its possessor success in his projects, with the favour of the great, and immunity from various perils. It is very curious that an object of this kind, regarded most pro- bably as endued M'ith talismanic power, as Mr. Brougham has su<ro-ested, should have been found in the grave of a Christian knight of the twelfth centiay. It would even appear not without reason that this object should have been found broken; the spell had been dissolved, and its virtues proved to avail nothing against the stroke of death. Whatever may have been the motive which led to the deposit of this fratfment in the tomb of Udard de Broham, there can be little doubt that it had been fabricated in the East. The resemblance which it bears to the ancient vitrifications dis- covered in Egypt and in Italy is striking : at first sight it might be supposed to be a frag- ment of one of those precious vials,, probably for unguents, found in Etruria, but it is to'> thick to have formed the bottom of such a vessel. The annexed woodcut represents a choice specimen from the collection of the Marquis of Northampton, and discovered at Nola. The round buckler which ap- pears on one of the incised slabs described by Mr. Brougham is frequently seen in illui^iinations. but it is rare in monumental sculptiire^ It may be seen on the arm of an effigy at Great INIal- vern, probably commemorative of William de Braci, interred there A.D. 1289. That ex- Etruscaa Jlasa rrom > U " Examples of the f,dain iiaidr, or adder Hist, of Ranl)iirv, pi. viii. trem, are represented in Douglas' Neiiia, pi. 'i Tlii.s fi<rure -s represented in Slot! nd-s XXI.; ArcluL-ol. Journ., ui. 2.Jo; Becslev's Monumental ElliKies.