the subject I can recommend the following works : A plain and easy account of British Fungi, by Mr. M. C. Cooke, with coloured plates of 34 species. (6s.) A Selection of the Eatable Funguses of Great Britain, edited by Dr. Hogg and G. W. Johnson, with coloured plates of 24 species. (About 7s.) The Esculent Funguses of Great Britain, by Dr. Outlines of British Fungology, by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley; the most complete and scientific work on the subject, with many coloured plates. (About 30s.) Also Mrs. Hussey's magnificent Work on the British 46 NOTES ANTIQUARIAN. Time consecrates, And what is grey with age becomes religion.-COLERIDGE. What is antiquity?—The youth, smiling at the quaint ways and old-fashioned dress of his greatgrandmother, still a member of the living family, calls her an "antiquated old lady." The collector of books thinks "small beer" of a volume whose date is later than the 17th century. The numismatist looks out for coins of the Edwards and the Henries. The antiquity of Art goes back to Greece; of History, to Egypt and Babylon; while to the geologist History itself is but a modern manuscript, of which even the first pages are barely dry. All age is comparative. Time is but that sphere of eternity which our eyes can compass. One side of that sphere we call the Past and the other the Future, but they are perpetually changing like day and night upon the world. And the Past, like night, is solemn and sweet, spangled with a thousand starry memories, while the Future shines before us in the undying light of Hope. Poetically speaking, we call that antiquity which has been long enough removed to gather round it the solemnity of age. This is, of course, the vaguest possible definition, varying with the kind of object and the temperament of the contemplator, but it will be understood, and will include all that we desire. The remains of the fortifications on Beacon Hill form one of the most remarkable relics of the past which the district contains. To Mr. T. R. POTTER, of Wymeswold, the credit of their discovery is due. Once pointed out they are easily traced, and their purpose cannot be doubted. On the summit of that magnificent hill was a camp of British warriors when the Roman legions overran the plain below. But in those days skill and discipline were stronger even than patriotism, and this fortress also, like so many of its neighbours, passed into the hands of the conquerors. The chief traces still remaining of those defensive works which on some bloody day were lost and won, are, a ditch and double mound on the southern side, so buried in tall fern the summer through that it is no wonder they lay for centuries unnoticed; the ruins of a wall now level with the ground, and marked only by a line of stones, which runs from cliff to cliff round the remainder of the hill; and a few additional earthworks and |