we, like every other nation, not caring to pay 17. for what we can get for 138. 6d., go abroad, and our trade suffers accordingly.

And what is the remedy? I am sorry to think there is one, and one only in my opinion, and that is the strong administration of a new and strong Act of Parliament, which will effectually protect from molestation those who are willing to give a fair return for a fair wage. I have no faith in appealing to the sense of manliness of the British workman. I have no desire to suggest the abolition of Trade Unionism; but one cannot shut one's eyes to the fact that our magistrates and judges have not dealt with picketing, with threats, and with words and deeds which have frightened and intimidated the honest workman, with that wholesome chastisement which was deserved. They have rather fallen back on the excuse that the law as it stands controlled them; and so I say, give them an Act which, whilst permitting any man to ask for whatever wage he likes for his services, and which will permit him to work as many, and as few, hours as he likes, shall unquestionably prevent his interference, in the slightest degree, directly or indirectly, with the man who, not caring to belong to a trade union, is desirous to do what is right-to earn 15s. or 1. extra per week in overtime for the benefit of his wife and children and for provision for old age. A breach of the new law should result not in puny fines, which are immediately paid by the societies, but in terms of imprisonment, with hard labour, sufficient to act as a deterrent in the future.

Then, I sincerely believe, the British workman would be found more than a match for his foreign competitor; then he would work on Mondays as well as on other days; then would cease organised idleness; then the master might, as he should, rule instead of being ruled; then would the old form of apprenticeship reappear and 'technical education' cease; then could workmen's dwellings and other buildings be erected at a moderate price, enabling them to be let at low rents and still show a profit; then would the intelligent and quick workman be able to earn twice as much as the ignorant, idle blockhead who now can smile at the Saturday payplace and walk off with as much money in his pocket as is in that of his vigorous neighbour. I, with most Englishmen, have the utmost sympathy with the men in their many trials and hardships. I know that, at bottom, they are as good as any in the world; but their conduct during the last ten years has tended to alienate all sympathy with and regard for them. If this communication, written with absolute confidence that serious danger to the British workman is imminent, should lead to summary and real alteration in his methods, then I am equally sure that the danger will be averted, and that builder, workman, and client will very soon reap the advantage.

WM. WOODWARD.

STRATA IN THE ROMAN FORUM

I

A WELL-CONSIDERED method is of the highest importance in all archæological exploration. In the case of the Forum it is even more than ordinarily necessary, on account of the complex character of the excavations. The monuments are very diverse, and the traditions in regard to the more ancient of them are often confused. In addition, the many archæological strata representing twenty centuries of eventful life demand investigation-strata which often interpenetrate one another, and are complicated by the natural irregularities of the ground.

The

Some of my first excavations were comparatively simple. discoveries of the favisse of the ædes Vestæ, the altar of Cæsar, and the Niger Lapis aroused general interest, but involved no great difficulty. I was, however, already beginning a different series of explorations, one intended to reach the limits of archæological and geological stratification from the Velia to the Tabularium. A six years' previous study of the Forum had convinced me that the strenuous life of the people who made themselves masters of the ancient world had gradually changed the original form of the little valley, the cradle and arena of their political existence; and, on the other hand, that the explanation of several of their constructions there would have to be sought in the nature of the place itself.

Many of the most valuable relics of classical Rome were scattered broadcast in the Forum, some of them face downwards in the earth, or built up, regardless of their importance, into rubble walls; but the excavations have already gone far enough to prove that such ruined buildings as remain are only the last chapter of this long and precious volume of human history. Its earlier pages are still sealed to us, buried under travertine slabs or muddy deposit, or beneath mediæval paving-stones, relaid in the sixteenth century, and here and there perhaps even more recently. The historic value of all of these is as that of the sanitary whitewash which, in certain churches, records the visitations of the plague and hides the frescoes of Giotto. Enlightened archæology recognises that a single fact outweighs

a hundred theories; but it does not on that account refuse the aid of conjectural reconstruction. On the contrary, working hypotheses are constantly of the greatest service, especially in keeping present to the mind various possibilities, some of which may afterwards be verified. Such hypotheses are sometimes suggested by classical texts, sometimes by a knowledge of structures similar to those being investigated, or by a likeness of the materials to those elsewhere used. Tradition is also worthy of very careful consideration: those who accept it blindly are often nearer to the truth than those who hastily reject it. It is like an avalanche lying at the foot of a mountain. Careful search may show whether it started in a little ball of snow gathering more on its fall, or in the breaking off of a bit of rock at the summit; it would be useless to argue that it must have originated where it lies.

In 1886 there was considerable discussion in Venice as to the traditions contained in early chronicles about the foundations of the Campanile of San Marco: 'preclarum opus in his vero paludibus admirandum,' as the Maggior Consiglio called it in 1405. Sagornino was quoted as having been of opinion in the fifteenth century that they ran down beneath the Piazza to a depth equal to the height of the Tower above. Another chronicler believed them to radiate in all directions, and a third that they were so widespread as to reach to the Basilica itself. As discussion availed nothing, I dug beside the Campanile, down to the level of the platform resting upon piles. The foundations were nearly vertical, neither radiating nor greatly extended, and scarcely five metres deep. In this investigation I took count not only of the methods of construction made use of in the foundations, but also of the character of the ground supporting and surrounding them. Thus I was able to note the artificial density of the soil brought about by means of the piles, and also to see that the level of the Piazza had been raised. Under the present pavement was another, a medieval floor of opus spicatum, which is now no higher than the daily high-water mark. This anomaly was explicable by comparison with the conditions known in other parts of the Lagunes, where the clay beneath the islands is gaining in density and shrinking, sometimes several hundred feet below ground.

II

The exploration of archæological as well as of geological strata can often be made, as in this instance, while examining the foundations of a building, or, in the same way, of such parts of ruins as remain buried. The examination is made by digging small perpendicular shafts close to the walls. When, in making these, we come upon other structures, we must continue horizontally till we reach their edge, and then again descend till we arrive at virgin soil.

These sections should be made use of to gain an intimate knowledge of the number and characteristics of the strata they pass through, a knowledge which will be of the utmost service in enabling us to recognise them in the course of the stratigraphic exploration of much more extended areas.

Where the immediate object is the examination of the strata, it is well to begin, if practicable, by using some pre-existing pit or trench, first cleaning its sides until the strata are plainly visible there. The different and more absorbent nature of the soil with which such a hollow has been filled up often reveals its existence. It was thus that in January 1899 I began to study the Lapis Niger. I wished first to examine the layer of travertine chips, on which rested both the kerb which surrounds it and the Imperial pavement of the Comitium. While carefully scraping the layer of chips, I came upon a medieval well, lined with fragments of marble, in which, among other things, was part of a cancellum of the ninth century. I drained and cleared out the well, and when I dug below it I traversed many geological strata before I reached the blue 'Vatican' clay at a depth of twenty-three metres.

This well was my opportunity, for it had evidently been sunk during the middle ages through all the archæological strata which lie beneath the imperial pavement. When I removed the lining of the sides each stratum stood revealed the flooring of tufa massicciata, and the earlier floorings of gravel and beaten earth. Towards the Lapis Niger, the lower of these strata were seen to have been buried under a layer of gravel, upon which were the extensive remains of a very great sacrifice ashes, charcoal, &c. The whole had afterwards been sealed down with an artificial mass, made up of broken tufa and travertine, and of chips of black marble, the same as that of which the Lapis Niger is composed. Above this mass were layers of rough earth used to raise the level of the Comitium in the days of the Empire and in the middle ages.

When all these strata had thus been identified it only remained to examine them in their several beds. The recollection of the tradition of one or two lions standing close to the supposed tomb of Romulus led me to proceed to do this towards the Lapis Niger. Excavating horizontally, I came upon the more easterly of the pedestals, with their characteristic Etruscan moulding, upon which the lions may have stood. In exploring beyond this, I was forced to have recourse to vertical sections under the Lapis Niger, which was, meanwhile, shored up with temporary props. This was a long process, but one amply repaid by the great importance of the monuments brought to light-the cippus with its inscription, the cone, and the other pedestal-and the many and various votive offerings, mixed with sacrificial remains, placed around them, after their desecration and destruction had been wrought, possibly, as I

a hundred theories; but it does not on that account refuse the aid of conjectural reconstruction. On the contrary, working hypotheses are constantly of the greatest service, especially in keeping present to the mind various possibilities, some of which may afterwards be verified. Such hypotheses are sometimes suggested by classical texts, sometimes by a knowledge of structures similar to those being investigated, or by a likeness of the materials to those elsewhere used. Tradition is also worthy of very careful consideration: those who accept it blindly are often nearer to the truth than those who hastily reject it. It is like an avalanche lying at the foot of a mountain. Careful search may show whether it started in a little ball of snow gathering more on its fall, or in the breaking off of a bit of rock at the summit; it would be useless to argue that it must have originated where it lies.

In 1886 there was considerable discussion in Venice as to the traditions contained in early chronicles about the foundations of the Campanile of San Marco: 'preclarum opus in his vero paludibus admirandum,' as the Maggior Consiglio called it in 1405. Sagornino was quoted as having been of opinion in the fifteenth century that they ran down beneath the Piazza to a depth equal to the height of the Tower above. Another chronicler believed them to radiate in all directions, and a third that they were so widespread as to reach to the Basilica itself. As discussion availed nothing, I dug beside the Campanile, down to the level of the platform resting upon piles. The foundations were nearly vertical, neither radiating nor greatly extended, and scarcely five metres deep. In this investigation I took count not only of the methods of construction made use of in the foundations, but also of the character of the ground supporting and surrounding them. Thus I was able to note the artificial density of the soil brought about by means of the piles, and also to see that the level of the Piazza had been raised. pavement was another, a medieval floor of opus now no higher than the daily high-water mark. explicable by comparison with the conditions known in other parts of the Lagunes, where the clay beneath the islands is gaining in density and shrinking, sometimes several hundred feet below ground.

II

Under the present spicatum, which is This anomaly was

The exploration of archæological as well as of geological strata can often be made, as in this instance, while examining the foundations of a building, or, in the same way, of such parts of ruins as remain buried. The examination is made by digging small perpendicular shafts close to the walls. When, in making these, we come upon other structures, we must continue horizontally till we reach their edge, and then again descend till we arrive at virgin soil.