London road, are numerous deep ruts, tolerably regular, apparently converging on the ford of the Blackwater, situated close to the bridge, at the village of that name. The stream, though narrow, has a very soft muddy bottom with low rotten banks, and a depth of water varying from 3 to 6 feet, and hence it is possible that even in early times communication between the sides of the river was effected at the fords which exist at several points along its course, and that, as Professor Rupert Jones has suggested, these tracks or ruts may be the traces of the old roads. The same considerations which lead to the selection of certain lines as arteries of traffic apply with equal force at all periods of history. Thus aboriginal races would choose the easiest or most direct route between points occupied as settlements, and as these became more fully inhabited and took the character of towns or cities the old routes would still probably be utilised, even if more numerous roads were constructed. It is perfectly allowable, therefore, to make such an assumption. The ford doubtless existed at very early periods, and would form a natural point of passage; and even as in the present day the principal highway traverses the stream at Blackwater, so in all probability the nomad tribes of early days chose this point for the same purpose, and their tracks through the forest-land may be indicated by the ruts in question. If such be the case, the "Flint Station" we have examined might well be one of the halting-places of an aboriginal race. Not far from the line of inter-communication, concealed both by forests and by the undulations of the ground, in the immediate neighbourhood of that great desideratum-a constant supply of fresh water-travellers would have been safe from observation in their camp and at the same time be near the road. But in this case the question naturally arises, Why was not the slope of a hill or even a more secluded valley, of which there are many within a short distance, chosen for a village or a camp? The low-lying ground of the valley must have been at least more damp and marshy than it is now, and even for the slight security from observation afforded by its sheltered position, it is scarcely likely that such a spot would be selected as a resting-place. Human nature probably varies little from time to time, and even the flint-knappers of olden days were doubtless not inattentive to personal comfort. The One point of interest may well be mentioned here with regard to the flint from which the implements were made. material does not seem to be of local production. The gravel pits near rarely produce flints of such close texture and size as those which yielded the fragments discovered; and it is further a great question whether the flints from the gravels are susceptible of being readily worked. Had they been collected from the neighbourhood there would have been more untouched specimens lying about, for the short distance from which they might be obtained would admit of the transport of a large number of stones that appeared externally suited for working; and of these the best only would be used, leaving untouched those that, on closer examination, were useless. Hence it may be reasonably advanced that either carefully selected flints were habitually carried by the workers to be converted into implements at the camps, or that implements blunted or broken by use were re-converted at these places. The writer has in vain endeavoured to produce flakes from the local flints; and has failed because of their irregular texture: freshly dry flints from the Chalk are, however, very susceptible of knapping. Let us turn again to the consideration of the valley and examine the nature of the terrain. A constantly flowing stream, the presence of gravel round the lip, so to speak, of the hollow, the singular position and shape of the small hill, must all have a meaning if we could read it. From the presence of the flakes on or near the clay, it follows that this substance was uncovered, or nearly so, when the flakes, etc., were deposited. The isolation of the groups, and their distance apart, should also be considered; for if the valley had been in its present condition when occupied by the flint-knappers, one would have expected to find the remains more generally distributed over its surface. Viewing these conditions, a rather startling theory, but one at the same time which seems to satisfy the requirements of the case, has been advanced. May not this have been a small lakearea at the period of its occupation by an aboriginal race, and hence may not the small groups of flints be the sole remnants of very small lake-dwellings? It may be justly remarked, in opposition to this theory, that there are no traces of piles, stones, or even fascines, but these may have been removed or destroyed as the small hill wore away. A similar result would have occurred had the substructure been either a floating raft or a mere pile of bundles of brushwood; and in this case, moreover, the materials would have been washed away or have dropped into decay. Protection from a sudden assault, and concealment from passers by, would both be gained by establishing the temporary settlement within the lake-area, and communication could have been effected with the shore by raft, pier, or coracle. Far-fetched as such an assumption appears, it is difficult to account in any other way for the presence of flint implements in a marshy valley of such a peculiar character as that referred to. The area has not been yet thoroughly examined, for the group of flakes nearest the hill is the only one that has been apparently worked out; but even with the scanty information that has been gathered with reference to it, sufficient has been discovered to render the "Flint Station near Sandhurst of considerable interest, and one that may at a future time tend to throw further light on the habits and customs of those primeval races of whose history so little is known, and the traces of whose existence are often so obscure. DISCUSSION. Professor RUPERT JONES had much pleasure in corroborating Lieutenant King's account of the topographical features of the findingplace of the flint implements, and the condition of the valley bottom where they were embedded. Though now drained and partially cultivated, this portion of Wishmoor Bottom must at no distant period have been a marsh and probably a lake. In some cases, perhaps, a local sand flat may have existed through which the stone implements may have sunk after having been left on its surface. Professor Jones intimated that the locality was well worthy of a visit, and the scientific visitors would be welcomed by Lieutenant King and himself. The Director read a letter from the secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, inviting the members of the Institute to hear a paper by the Rev. W. C. Lukis, of that Society, on the 9th. The thanks of the members present were voted to the Council of that Society, and the meeting separated. DECEMBER 17TH, 1872. DR. R. S. CHARNOCK, Vice-President, in the Chair. THE Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed. The Rev. THOMAS FELTON FALKNER, B.A., was elected a Mem ber and a Local Secretary for Colombo, Ceylon. The following presents were announced, and the thanks of the meeting voted to the respective donors : FOR THE LIBRARY. From the EDITOR.-The Spiritualist, Nos. 1, 2, 3, New Series. From the SOCIETY.-Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xvi, No. 3. President's Address, ditto, 1872. From the EDITOR. Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 1872. From the SOCIETY.-Jahrbuch der K. K. Geologischen Reichsanstalt, vol. xxii, No. 3, 1872; Verhandlungen ditto, 1872. From the EDITOR.-Nature (to date). From the EDITOR.-La Revue Scientifique, Nos. 22-26. The following paper was read by the author: The ORIGIN of SERPENT-WORSHIP. By C. STANILAND WAKE, M.A.I. THE subject proposed to be discussed in the present paper is one of the most fascinating that can engage the attention of anthropologists. It is remarkable, however, that although so much has been written in relation to it, we are still almost in the dark as to the origin of the superstition in question. The student of mythology knows that certain ideas were associated by the peoples of antiquity with the serpent, and that it was the favourite symbol of particular deities; but why that animal rather than any other was chosen for the purpose is yet uncertain. The facts being well known, however, I shall dwell on them only so far as may be necessary to support the conclusions based upon them. We are indebted to Mr. Fergusson for bringing together a large array of facts, showing the extraordinary range which serpent worship had among ancient nations. It is true that he supposes it not to have been adopted by any nation belonging to the Semitic or Aryan stock; the serpent-worship of India and Greece originating, as he believes, with older peoples. However this may be, the superstition was certainly not unknown to either Aryans or Semites. The brazen serpent of the Hebrew exodus was destroyed in the reign of Hezekiah, owing to the idolatry to which it gave rise. In the mythology of the Chaldeans, from whom the Assyrians seem to have sprung, the serpent occupied a most important position. Among the allied Phoenicians and Egyptians it was one of the most divine symbols. In Greece, Hercules was said "to have been the progenitor of the whole race of serpent-worshipping Scythians, through his intercourse with the serpent Echidna "; and when Minerva planted the sacred olive on the Acropolis of Athens, she placed it under the care of the serpent-deity Erechthonios. As to the Latins, Mr. Fergusson remarks that "Ovid's Metamorphoses' are full of passages referring to the important part which the serpent performed in all the traditions of classic mythology." The superstitions connected with that animal are supposed not to have existed among the ancient Gauls and Germans; but this is extremely improbable, considering that it appears to have been known to the British Celts and to the Gothic inhabitants of Scandinavia. In eastern Europe there is no doubt that the serpent superstition was anciently prevalent, and Mr. Fergusson refers to evidence proving that "both trees and serpents were worshipped by the peasantry in Esthonia and Finland within the limits of the present century, and even with all the characteristics possessed by the old faith when we first become acquainted with it." The serpent entered largely into the mythology of the ancient Persians, as it does into that of the Hindus. In India it is associated with both Sivaism and Vishnuism, although its actual worship perhaps belonged rather to the aboriginal tribes among whom Buddhism is thought by recent writers to have originated. The modern home of the superstition, however, is western Africa, where the serpent is not merely considered sacred, but is actually worshipped as divine. On the other side of the Indian Ocean traces of the same superstition are met with among the peoples of the Indian islands and of Polynesia, and also in China. The evidences of serpent-worship on the American continent have long engaged the attention of archæologists, who have found it to be almost universal, under one form or another, among the aboriginal tribes. That animal was sculptured on the temples of Mexico and Peru, and its form is said by Mr. Squier to be of frequent occurrence among the mounds of Wisconsin. The most remarkable of the symbolic earthworks of North America is the great serpent mound of Adam's county, Ohio, the convolutions of which extend to a length of 1000 feet. At the Edinburgh meeting of the British Association, in 1871, Mr. Phené gave an account of his discovery in Argyllshire of a similar mound several hundred feet long, and about fifteen feet high by thirty feet broad, tapering gradually to the tail, the head being surmounted by a circular cairn, which he supposes to answer to the solar disc above the head of the Egyptian uræus, the position of which, with head erect, answers to the form of the Oban serpent-mound. This discovery is of great interest, and its author is probably justified in assuming that the mound was connected with serpent-worship. I may remark, in evidence of the existence of such structures in other parts of the old world, that the hero of one of the Yaçnas of the Zend Avesta is made to rest on what he thinks is a bank, but which he finds to be a great green snake, doubtless a serpent mound. Another ancient reference to these structures is made by Iphicrates, who, according to Bryant, "related that |