which was awarded annually in the early days of the Society, having been bestowed, among others, upon Arthur Young, the agricultural writer, Captain Parry, the Arctic explorer, and Chantry, the sculptor. This prize was instituted as a memorial of Francis, Duke of Bedford, a great benefactor to Agriculture, who was President of the Society. In course of time the necessity was felt of adapting its methods and procedure to meet the wants of the times, and a re-construction of the Society was determined upon, with a view to rendering it more comprehensive. Mr. (now the Right Hon. Sir T. D.) Acland was the moving spirit in this, and he propounded a scheme, which was warmly taken up, involving, among other changes, the holding of exhibitions of Stock, Implements, etc., throughout the West, instead of merely in Bath. During this period of reconstruction, the Earl of Iddesleigh, who was then Sir Stafford Northcote, acted as hon. secretary in conjunction with Mr. Acland. Under the new regime the Society rapidly progressed, and in 1866 still further extended itself by amalgamating with a similar Society in the Southern Counties, which gave it its second title, "The Southern Counties' Association," and an addition to its area of operations, embracing the counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hants, Berks, and Oxon.

Within the last few years other departures have been made, and the Society's field of work has been considerably extended. A series of practical experiments upon corn and grass land is now annually carried out in various parts of the kingdom, and opportunities are provided by means of a working Dairy, etc., for bringing all recent improvements in Agriculture generally, and Dairying especially, under the notice of those most interested. A consulting Chemist and Botanist have been added to the official staff, from whom members can obtain analyses of manures, soils, etc., and the results of examinations of plants and seeds. The Society's Journal, which is published annually, has for its aim the dissemination, especially, of agricultural knowledge in a popular form, whilst it affords a

medium for recording and discussing the chief topics of interest in this direction, which have been ventilated during the year, original papers being contributed by leading experts.

At the annual exhibitions, prizes to a large amount are given for Agricultural Stock, Cheese, Butter, Poultry, etc., and provision is also made for the exhibition of Machinery, Seeds, and all articles of an agricultural character as well as of general utility. The development of the purposes of the annual exhibition by including Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, Local Manufactures, Horticulture, and Music, has given to the Society a comprehensive and attractive character, while it materially adds to the social benefits conferred. The Society holds an annual exhibition of Pictures (in connection with which it has an Art Union), and also organizes the exhibition of such art treasures as there may be in private collections, to which the public ordinarily have not access.

During the last few years meetings have been held at Worcester, Tunbridge Wells, Cardiff, Bridgwater, Maidstone, Brighton, Bristol, Dorchester, and Newport (Mon.) At the present time the Society numbers 1,100 members, and expends about £10,000 annually in furthering its objects; and is now fully recognized, both at home and abroad, as one of the most important and influential of such organizations in existence. The Society's headquarters are at 4 Terrace Walk, Bath, but the Society's library and collections are at the Royal Literary and Philosophical Institution, immediately opposite to the offices. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales is patron of the Society.'

WANSDIKE, VIA JULIA, AND THE FOSS.

Of this class of remarkable objects round Bath, Wansdike stands first upon the list; it being not only the most ancient 'The general management of the Society is vested in a President, Vice-Presidents, and Council; the Secretary being Mr. Thos. F. Plowman, of Bath, and the Editor of the Journal, Mr. Josiah Goodwin, of Bath.

remain of art in this neighbourhood, but probably also in the whole kingdom. The aborigines, or earliest inhabitants of Britain are supposed to have been Celts, who migrated from Gaul several centuries previously to the Christian era. For a considerable time they seemed to have continued in peaceable possession of their acquisitions, till a fresh body of adventurers from Gallia Belgia (thence called Belgo) pushed across the Channel, and made a landing on the south-western parts of England. But the prior possessors of the coast were not to be driven from it with ease or expedition; the numerous earthworks and barrows in Cornwall, Devonshire, Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire, and Wiltshire, prove that the success of the invaders was very gradual, and that many a bloody battle was fought and many a gallant fellow laid low ere they gained a permanent settlement in this island. At length, fatigued and perhaps exhausted with this contest, the two states agreed to a compromise, by which a certain allotment of territory was to be made to the Belga, who should continue within the same, and cease in future to disturb the possessions of the old inhabitants of the country. To mark the limits of this district, the immense and extended ditch and mound, called Wansdike, were constructed; a term which sufficiently explains its nature and design, being derived from the Celtic word Gwahan, or separation. This work (which left all the western counties in possession of the Belga) commences at Andover in Hampshire (where it is flanked by the river Tees, the lateral termination to its southern end), and passes from thence nearly in a straight direction to Great-Bedwin. From thence it crosses the Forest of Savernake and the Downs of Marlborough, which having always continued sacred from the plough,

"Non rastris hominum, non ulli obnoxia curæ," it is still seen in its pristine grandeur, nobly conspicuous

"like the elliptic on one of the hemispheres of a globe," and catching the eye of the traveller from a considerable distance. It then visits Tan Hill, Sheppard-Shord, Heddington, passes through Spye Park, appears on the lawn at Lacock Abbey, and may be traced on Whitley Common, near Monks House. At Bathford (from which point we shall accompany the reader for some miles) we again meet with a bank, which tradition asserts to be Wansdike. This may be pursued for a considerable distance, making an intermediate line between the great house and Hampton Church; but at the row of elms, below the canal, half a mile from Hampton, it disappears. From this point, till it enters Smallcomb Wood, its course seems to be through the bottom, which having been repeatedly ploughed up, built upon, and converted into gardens, the dorsum (or ridge) is of course obliterated, and not to be traced till we come to the uncultivated steep of Smallcomb Wood, up which it runs, sufficiently conspicuous not to be mistaken; crossing the Claverton road at the one-mile stone, it proceeds through the firs to the enclosure at Prior Park, and crosses the lawn above the house in a diagonal line and southwestern direction; when reaching the wall that separates the park from the road, it forms a basis for the fence for 200 yards. Issuing from the park at the upper lodge gate, and crossing the road to Bath, it follows the course of an halter-path or bridle-road, and becomes the right-hand bank of the same, appearing very lofty, and bearing on its summit several fine beach and oak trees. The nicest investigation cannot now detect it till we reach the Warminster road, just at the point opposite the intersection of the South-Stoke Lane, and that leading from Newton to Warminster. These two public ways it crosses, and then forms, for half a mile, the bold basis of a stone wall of separation between arable fields, which is reared so high, by availing itself of this dorsum, as to be seen at a considerable distance. At Burnt-House Gate it crosses the Wells Road, and pursuing a lane for a short distance,

takes the brow of the hill which curves through the middle of an arable field. For a short distance its progress is again unintelligible; but we soon perceive the dorsum once more, in the foundation of a hedge, which drops down a descent towards Inglishcomb Wood, having a coppice on the left hand. The next meadow discovers it in great perfection. Having crossed and ascended the western side of it, Wansdike penetrates into Inglishcomb Wood, and follows the crop or brow of the rock entirely through its shades. Thence it intersects a farmer's barton, a few yards to the south of the church; and pushing on to the westward through an orchard, enters a meadow, where it appears in its original grandeur, exhibiting a lofty mound twelve feet high and a deep trench on the south side. A quarter of a mile to the westward of the church (where we leave it), it makes a diverticulum to the southward, and is lost for some time, but presents itself again at Stanton-Prior, Publow, Norton, and Long-Ashton, and at length loses itself in the Severn sea near Portishead, after having pursued a course of nearly 90 miles in length.

I

At Inglishcomb, the point where we desist from our investigation, the attention is attracted by another remain, probably, of British antiquity, and connected with the stupendous boundary we have been describing; the tumulus called Barrow-Hill, Inglishcomb-Batch, and Round-Barrow, situated upon the brow of a high ridge of hills, and commanding, from its summit, a wide-stretching and beautiful view. On what occasion an aggestion of earth should be raised, which measures at its base nearly 1,000 yards in circumference, and upwards of 100 at its head, cannot well be imagined, unless conjecture attribute it to the united effects of those powerful principles in the savage character-superstition and military glory, which have led men to deposit in

Later and more minute examination proves that this hill is not a tumulus at all, but a natural formation.