neither are the walls much damaged. The belfry window was shattered to pieces, not one whole pane to be found in it; many other windows also suffered greatly, the glass and munnions being much shattered. The lightning entered also through two places in the roof, one near the singing loft, and struck on the top of a pillar just by it: the traces of it are to be seen from the top of the pillar almost to the bottom: there were then sitting by this pillar 2 young men, one in the singing loft, and the other under him in the church, who were both lightly scorched; he in the loft from head to foot, and the other in the face only; but it is remarkable that his hat, which hung on a nail just above him, was cut in two pieces. In the other place, the lightning entered just over the desk and pulpit, and fell in like manner on a pillar that stands in the vicarage seat; but here it was a great deal more violent, and the object of its fury was Mr. W.'s sister. On this pillar rested a large oak soil, the bottom of which was burst into 6 pieces, and one of the pieces, being a very large one, was thrown from its place to the distance of about 20 feet, and appeared to be burnt; the other pieces did not fall. Hence the lightning came down the pillar with great force, tore the seat into many pieces, knocked down his sister, and made its way through the bottom of the seat into the earth. She had pattens on, and the wooden part of one of them was broke into 3 pieces; the holes through which the ribbon is put to tie them together, were quite burnt out, and the ribbon found in the seat without the least damage, or so much as the knot loosened; her shoe was burnt, and rent from the toe to the buckle; but the buckle, which was of silver, remained unhurt; her stocking was burnt and rent in the foot, just in the same manner as her shoe, and scorched along to the garter, and two little holes were burnt through in the leg of it: her apron, petticoats, &c. were burnt through and through, and she had several slight burns on several parts of her body, besides two bruises on her head and breast, caused by the rubbish that fell into the As she was carrying out of church, she greatly complained of a deadness in her legs, which, as she could not move them at all, he supposed were broken; however they were only a little burnt, and turned as black as ink; which, by timely care, not only came to their natural colour by Tuesday noon, but could support her also to come down stairs; and, excepting a hurry of spirits, got quite well that week. seat. Not more than 10 persons out of the whole congregation were hurt, and none of them to any great degree; one young fellow, who was more frightened than hurt, remained ill a long time, but he is now quite well; the lightning touched his watch in his pocket, the marks of which may be seen on the crystal and silver part of it. Nobody remembers to have heard any more thunder, or seen any lightning after this, though the weather continued very stormy all that day; so that this thunder-storm, from beginning to end, could last but a very short time. X. Explication of an Inedited Coin, with Two Legends, in Different Languages, on the Reverse. By the Rev. John Swinton, B. D., F.R.S. p. 78. This coin on one side presents the head of Jupiter, and on the other the prow of a ship, which indicates the place where it was struck to have been a maritime town. Above the prow of the ship are 2 characters, either Punic or Phoenician. Besides these 2 there is a monogram, formed of the three Latin letters v, A, B, very indifferently preserved, in the exergue, with which the Punic or Phoenicianelements perfectly correspond. Hence the learned will easily admit the medal in question to have been struck at Vabar, a maritime city of Mauritania Cæsariensis, after that place had been ceded to the Romans, and was inhabited by them, and either the Carthaginians or the Phoenicians. XI. Remarks on Two Etruscan Weights, or Coins, never before published. By the Rev. John Swinton, B. D., F. R.S. p. 82. The first piece to be considered here is an Etruscan as, or weight, exhibiting: on one side the head of Janus, covered with a cap; and on the reverse a club, attended by the mark of the as, and a legend in Etruscan characters. Between' the two faces of Janus, the head of a buffalo, or wild ox, presents itself, as does a sort of concha marina, or sea-shell, contiguous to the cap; both of which have not a little suffered from the injuries of time. The letters on the reverse are more rude and barbarous than those of any similar Etruscan coins hitherto pub lished, which is an incontestible proof of the exceeding high antiquity of this piece. The forms of several of them are likewise somewhat different from those of the correspondent elements on all the other similar Etruscan weights, hitherto communicated to the learned world. The concha marina, and perhaps the buffalo's head, is a singularity that will anounce the weight to be an inedited coin. The piece weighs precisely 5 ounces, and 12 grains; and is, in all respects, except what relates to the concha and buffalo's head, tolerably well pre-served. The first riches of mankind were their flocks and their herds, and par ticularly their oxen. Hence the first money in Italy, from pecus, was called pecunia, and the most ancient brass coins had the figure of an ox impressed on them. Hence also the Greeks, in the days of Homer, estimated the value of their properties according to the number of oxen they were equivalent to, as we learn from that celebrated poet. For he informs us, that Glaucus's golden armour was worth 100 oxen, whereas that of Diomedes, for which it was exchanged, did not exceed the value of 9 of those animals. The figure of the ox on the most ancient money seems to have been soon converted in Etruria into the symbol of the head of that beast connected with the head of Janus, who is said to have first introduced the use of money into Italy. From what has been observed, as well as from the thickness, high relief, and extreme rudeness of the workmanship, or rather in conjunction with these, we may conclude, that our as is either coëval with some of the earliest pieces, or weights, ever used in Italy, or but little posterior to them. That the weight here considered is to be assigned to a maritime town, the concha marina, or seashell, irrefragably proves. He therefore attributes it to Volterra, which was the most ancient city of Etruria, the seat of a lucumo, and one of the most considerable places in Tuscany. It was also a maritime city, as we learn from Strabo, being seated not far from the Vada Volaterrana, near the place where the river Cæcina threw itself into the Tyrrhenian sea. Mr. S. therefore reads the legend on the reverse of this coin, FELATHERI, FELATERI, or FELATERRI;, the 5th letter being sometimes endued with the power of Theta, and sometimes with that of Tau; and a duplication of consonants, in writing, having been unknown to the most ancient Etruscans. The second piece, or weight, is a stips uncialis, as appears both from the weight and size of it, of the earliest date. On one side it has preserved the head, or rather a full face, of the sun; the workmanship of which is more rude and barbarous than that of any other similar piece that ever fell under Mr. S.'s view, and done perfectly in the most ancient Etruscan taste. The reverse had originally on it the prow of a ship, which has been so totally effaced by the inju ries of time, that only a very few exceedingly faint traces of it are now to be seen. The relief on the face-side is very high, as was doubtless at first that on the other; but the reverse being in a manner quite smoothed, nothing there remains but the vestiges of the prow of a ship, that are barely visible. However, just over the prow, we may discover clearly enough a legend in Etruscan characters, though but very indifferently preserved. That word is apparently equivalent to ROMA, and consequently the piece itself must be deemed an uncia, or stips uncialis, of Rome, though the globule, or uncial mark, has not escaped the ravages of time. That the piece in question is an uncia of Rome, appears not only from the legend on the reverse, as just observed, but likewise from another uncia of Rome, with the full face of the sun on it, as here, though done in the more modern Roman taste, now in his collection. We may therefore safely enough pronounce the coin here described a stips uncialis of Rome, of a very remote antiquity, with the Etruscan name of that capital of the world on the reverse. The Etruscan letters were doubtless the first alphabetic characters of Italy. Nay, they prevailed at Rome, and in every part of Italy, till after the regifuge. And, he is induced to conclude, that it is at least coeval with the regifuge, which happened in the year of Rome 245; or rather, that it may be a considerable number of years anterior to that event. XII. Interpretation of Two Punic Inscriptions, on the Reverses of two SiculoPunic Coins, published by the Prince di Torremuzza, and never hitherto explained. By the Rev. John Swinton, B.D., F.R.S. p. 91. These two Punic legends have been published, with 5 others, by the Prince di Torrimuzza, in his volume of ancient inscriptions, printed at Palermo in 1769. The first of these minute inscriptions, which is the first of those published by the Prince di Torremuzza, in the place here referred to, adorns a fine Punic tetradrachm, as it should seem, well enough preserved; which on one side presents the head of a woman, and 3 fishes, but on the reverse the head of a horse, behind which stands a palm tree, attended by an inscription in the ezergue formed of 7 Punic letters. The workmanship, as well as the types, is probably similar to that of the silver medals of Menæ, described and explained in a former paper. The import of the inscription, in Roman letters, he thinks is AM SEQHEGT, OF SEGEGHTH, which is but a small variation from the word SEGESTE, or SEGESTA, the Greek and Latin name of a considerable maritime city of Sicily, not far from Eryx, where money was coined, after the Greeks had possessed themselves of the place. The medal therefore adorned with this minute Punic inscription may, without any impropriety, be supposed to have been emitted from the mint at Segesta, as the Punic words, AM SEGHEGT, Or SEGEGTH, POPVLVS SEGESTANVS, appear on it, when the Carthaginians were masters of that city, and occupied all the adjacent territory appertaining to it. As no chronological characters occur on the piece considered here, the time when it was struck cannot with any precision be ascertained. That operation must however have preceded the conclusion of the first Punic war; since the Carthaginians, by the treaty of peace which terminated that war, ceded the ́whole of their possessions in the island of Sicily to the Romans. Nay this medal was probably prior, perhaps many years, to the surrender of Segesta to the Ro mans, in the beginning of the first Punic war, when the inhabitants of Segesta put the African garrison there to the sword, about 258 years before the birth of Christ; the Carthaginians seeming never to have been possessed of this ancient city, after that tragical event. The second of the inscriptions is composed of 7 letters, which he shows from the two words en 3, AM HAMMAHANOTH HAMMEHNOTH, or HAMMENOTH, POPVLVS MENENIVS, OF MENARVM POPVLVS, as we may find rendered.incontes-table by other similar coins. The medal which has conveyed down to us this inscription, through such a series of ages, is of the tetradrachmal form, and of a very considerable antiquity. On one side it exhibits the head of a woman, goddess, or tutelary deity of the place where it was struck, with 3 fishes sporting round it; and on the reverse a horse's head, under which appears the inscription. It will be almost needless to remark, that the horse's head is one of the most usual symbols on the reverses of the ancient Carthaginian coins. XIII. On a New Comet. By M. Messier, of the Royal Acad. of Sciences, and F.R.S. Translated by Dr. Bevis, F. R. S. p. 104. M. Messier discovered a new comet, the 10th of Jan. instant, 1771, about 8 o'clock in the evening; it was between the head of Hydra and the Little Dog, over the parallel of Procyon. The position of which he determined by comparing it with that star, and the star ♪ in Hydra. The observations are as follow: The 10th of Jan. 1771, at 1st Obs. 2d Obs. 10" 16 45 true time. 5 21 15 21 19 5 24 31 6 4 46 From which observation it appears, that in 3h 2m 20s of time, its motion in right ascension was 1° 22′ 45′′, and 43' 31" in declination: this comet was perceived by the bare eye. In the telescope its nucleus is bright, of a whitish complexion, and not very well defined, surrounded with an atmosphere several minutes wide, with a faint tail 5 or 6 degrees long. Its apparent motion among the fixed stars is contrary to the order of signs, from the equator towards the north pole. This makes the 12th comet he discovered and observed in 13 years past. From his further observations, M. Pingre deduced the following elements of its orbit: Ascending 8... Indication of the orbit 3° 18° 42′ 10′′ Place of the perihelion..... 8° 28° 22′ 44′′ It passed the perihelion Nov. 22, 1770, at 22h 5m 48′ mean time, at the royal observatory, motion retrograde. He adds, that the comet resembles none of those whose elements are determined on comparing its motion with the places of its perihelion and 8: it is easy to see, that it was impossible to discover it at Paris before the year 1771; and it may even be added, that it must frequently have passed in the sun's neighbourhood, imperceptible to the northern parts of the earth.' XIV. Description and Use of a New Constructed Equatorial Telescope or Port ́able Observatory, made by Mr. Edward Nairne, London. p. 107. The instrument consists of the following parts: A mahogany triangular stand, and 3 adjusting screws; a moveable azimuth circle, which is divided into degrees, and by a vernier index to every 6 minutes; above this azimuth circle is the horizontal plate, to the under part of which is fastened the vertical conical axis; on |