mensions of the whole, or particular parts of the skeleton, may be measured from the scale annexed. aa, &c. are the ammonitæ or snake-stones.

This skeleton lay about 6 yards from the foot of the cliff, which is about 60. yards in perpendicular height, and must have been covered by it probably not much more than a century ago. The cliff there is composed of various strata, beginning from the top, of earth, clay, marle, stones both hard and soft, of various thicknesses, and intermixed with each other, till it comes down to the black slate or alum rock, and about 10 or 12 feet deep in this rock, this skeleton laid horizontally, and exactly as designed. The probability that this cliff has formerly covered this animal, and extended much more into the sea, is not in the least doubted of by those that know it. The various strata, of which it is composed, are daily mouldering and falling down; and the bottom, being the slaty alum rock, is also daily beaten, washed, and worn away, and the upper parts undermined, whence many thousand tuns often tumble down together. Many ancient persons now living, whose testimony can be no way doubted of, remember this very cliff extending in some places 20 yards farther out than it does at present. In short there is sufficient evidence, that at the beginning it must have extended near a mile farther down to the sea than it does at present; and so much the sea has there gained of the land.

These are the principal facts and circumstances attending the situation and discovery of this skeleton; which from the condition it is in, and from the particular disposition of the strata above the place where it is found, seem clearly to establish the opinion, and almost to a demonstration, that the animal itself must have been antediluvian, and that it could not have been buried or brought there any otherwise than by the force of the waters of the universal deluge. The different strata above this skeleton never could have been broken through at any time, in order to bury it, to so great a depth as upwards of 180 feet; and consequently it must have been lodged there, if not before, at least at the time when those strata were formed, which will not admit of a later date than that above mentioned.

P.S. In the 49th vol. p. 639, of the original Philosophical Transactions, or vol. 10, p. 712 of these Abridgments, an animal is described by Mr. Edwards, which was brought from the Ganges, and resembles this in every respect. He calls it lacerta (crocodilus) ventre marsupio donato, faucibus merganseris rostrum æmulantibus.

CIX. On the Phoenician Numeral Characters anciently used at Sidon. By the Rev. J. Swinton, M. A. of Christ Church, Oxon., F. R. S. p. 791. REVEREND SIR,

Having, by the assistance of the Palmyrene numeral characters, lately made a

discovery, which may perhaps hereafter be of considerable service to chronology; I could not longer defer, though now deeply engaged in other matters, communicating it to the Royal Society. Nor will the memoir containing this, I flatter myself, be deemed altogether unworthy the attention of that learned and illustrious body. For, unless he be greatly deceived, it will bid fair, Mr. S. thinks, that the Phoenician dates of several ancient Sidonian coins evince the notation of the Phoenicians, at least those of Sidon, when they first appeared, were extremely similar to, if not nearly the same with, that of the Palmyrenes. To prove this, he describes below several such coins in his possession.

Fig. 1, pl. 10, is a small brass coin of Sidon; exhibits on the reverse 3 Phœnician letters, that form the word SIDON, over the prow of a ship, the usual symbol of the city where it was struck. The first 2 characters in the exergue, though somewhat imperfect, appear manifestly enough to be schin and tzade; as the former occurs on the Palmyrene marbles, and the latter on several very valuable Phoenician coins. The others so nearly resemble the numeral characters of the Palmyrenes, that they may undoubtedly be considered as pointing out to us a date. Which if we admit, the schin and tzade will seem to be the initial letters of the words 17, THE YEAR OF SIDON, Or IN THE YEAR of sidon. That the first of the numeral characters here stands for 20, we may infer from the correspondent one of the Palmyrenes, to the form of which it is by no means unlike. This will likewise be confirmed by the dates preserved on other Phonician coins, which will be immediately produced. The next, denoting a less number, and not representing 5, which we find always expressed by minute right lines on the Sidonian medals, must indubitably occupy the place of 10. The 6 following strokes, after what has been just observed, will be acknowledged to add 6 to the foregoing numbers; so that the inscription in the exergue will no longer remain a mystery, the whole only importing, IN THE YEAR OF

SIDON XXXVI.

Fig. 2 represents one of three other coins of Sidon, of almost entirely the same type; only one of them exhibits a date in Greek numerals, and 2 bear Phoenician dates. The Greek numerals are EOT, 375; and the Phoenician correspond with the numbers 120, 127, to both of which are prefixed the above-mentioned initial letters. We meet with draughts of 2 similar medals in Arigoni, adorned with characters, expressing the number 128, 130. All these coins present to our view a turrated head and a branch of palm, pointing out to us the country to which they belong; and on the reverse the usual symbol of Sidon. The year denoted by the Greek date EOT, is the 375th of the æra of Seleucus; and those denoted by the Phoenician numerals answer to the 120th, 127th, 128th, and 130th, of the proper æra of Sidon, as will be hereafter more fully evinced. Hence we may certainly collect, that these pieces were struck at Sidon in the years of Christ 11, 18, 19, 21, and 64.

Three coins of Sidon, (fig. 3) different from the former, occur in Sig. Haym, and 7 more in Mr. S.'s little cabinet, whose type is altogether the same, with Phoenician dates, preceded by the 2 aforesaid initial letters upon them. To which may be added 5 preserved in the noble cabinet bequeathed to ChristChurch, Oxon, by archbishop Wake, and another in the valuable collection of the Rev. Dr. Barton, canon of the said collegiate church, and a worthy member of this Society. One side of these medals all exhibit the head of Jupiter, and on the reverse the prow of a ship, the common symbol of Sidon. Most of them had various Phoenician letters at first impressed on the upper part of the reverse, and one of them (which is pretty remarkable) nearly the same characters there that appear in the exergue. The first of the coins mentioned here was struck in the year of Sidon 5. This has been perfectly well preserved, and is more curious than any of the rest; which were emitted from the mint at Sidon in various years of the proper æra of that city, viz. the 107th, 108th, 110th, 111th, 112th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, and 119th. The most ancient of the Phoenician coins now considered, preceded the commencement of the Christian æra 104 years, and is consequently 153 years older than the earliest Palmyrene inscription that has hitherto come to our hands.

Some years before Mr. S. published a small brass medal of Sidon, with the heads of Jupiter and Juno on one side, and the prow of a ship on the reverse (fig. 4); two more coins of the same type he has since acquired, and another may be seen in Sig. Haym. These 4 pieces only exhibit the years of Sidon 125 and 132.

Mr. S.'s collection also affords two (fig. 5) other Phoenician medals of Sidon, and archbishop Wake's noble cabinet one, of the same type, with different Phonician dates in the exergue. To these may be added 5, with the publication of which the learned world has been obliged by Sig. Arigoni. The anterior faces of these coins are adorned with a veiled head, representing the genius of the city where they were struck; and the reverses with a human figure leaning on a pillar, and holding a branch of palm in its right hand. Several Phoenician letters also appear, which may perhaps at first sight seem to render it somewhat doubtful, whether the medals belong to Sidon or not. But every suspicion arising hence must immediately vanish, when we cast our eyes on the two initial elements, and the numeral characters in the exergue; which clearly enough indicate the pieces to have been struck at Sidon, in the 83d, 87th, 95th, 105th, 106th, 108th, 114th, and 116th years of the æra peculiar to that city. A Phoenician coin of Sidon likewise occurs in one of Sig. Arigoni's plates, and another (fig 6) in Mr. S.'s collection, with the turrited head and branch of palm visible on 3 of the medals above described, which indisputably appertain to that city, together

with the very Phoenician letters and symbol impressed on the Sidonian coins now

Le ore me.

VI.-Fig. 7 is another brass Phoenician medal of Sidon, not a little resembling those above-mentioned, both in workmanship and size, presenting on one side the head of Jupiter, and on the other a human figure with a lance in its right hand. This coin, which has never yet been published, is adorned with a Phonician legend on the reverse, different from those of all the others that have hitherto appeared. The date impressed in the exergue answers to the 26th year of Sidon.

The

VII.-Fig. 8 is a Phoenician medal of Sidon, being a small brass one, with a veiled head on the anterior face, and the prow of a ship on the reverse. year of Sidon, preserved in the exergue is 74.

The last Phoenician medals, Mr. S. at present produces, to settle the point in view, are (fig. 9) two entirely agreeing both in type and form, as remarkable as any of the others. They exhibit on one side the head of Jupiter laureated, with a beard; and on the reverse a double cornucopia, with 3 or 4 Phoenician ele ments, one or two of which are in a great measure defaced. A brass medal of Sidon occurs in Archbishop Wake's collection, as well as one in Mr. S.'s with the head of Jupiter done exactly after the same manner as the present pieces, and Europa carried by a bull on the reverse; which, exclusive of the inscriptions in the exergue, demonstrate the latter to belong to Sidon. The first of Mr. S.'s was struck in the 143d year of the proper æra of that city, and the 2d 5 years after.

For the further illustration of what has been here advanced, it will be requisite to observe, that two æras were anciently followed at Sidon; the æra of Seleucus, and another peculiar to the inhabitants of that city. On the Greek brass coins of Sidon, according to F. Frolich, both these epochs seem to have been used. However, the supputation pointed out to us by the date on the Greek medal above-mentioned was undoubtedly made according to the æra of Seleucus; since otherwise the year exhibited by that date must have been nearly coincident with the 266th of Christ, which by those versed in this kind of literature will never be allowed. For had the piece presented to our view so recent a date as Sidon first became a Roman colony in the reign of Elagabalus, above 40 years before; the reverse ought to have been adorned with some other letters intimating this, as were those of the Sidonian coins posterior to that event. As certain is it that all the Phoenician medals of Sidon, whose numeral characters have been interpreted here, acknowledge no other epoch than the proper one of that city, which commenced in the year of Rome 643.

The powers of the Phoenician numeral characters anciently used at Sidon, now discovered, having been for many ages unknown; they are now deduced

from the coins above described. Mr. S. has constructed a table (vol. x. pl. 13) of the numeral characters themselves, from unity to a thousand; which will demonstrate, in the clearest manner possible, the great affinity between them and those of the Palmyrenes. From this table it plainly appears, that the peo, le of Sidon had no particular character to denote 5, while the Phoenician numerals here explained were in vogue among them; that they expressed 20 by a character, during that period, not very different from the correspondent one used at Tadmor; and that in all other respects the Phoenician notation then prevailing at Sidon was, in a manner, the same with that of the Palmyrenes. See pl. 13, vol. x. It may not be improper to observe, that 2 of the Sidonian coins above considered, exhibit the Phoenician word, equivalent to the Hebrew, and Syriac , a hundred, instead of the centenary numeral character. This, in conjunction with the appearance of that character, occupying the very place of the term, on others of those coins, first induced him to believe that the inscription preserved by every one of them in the exergue could be nothing else but a date.

The Palmyrene and Phoenician numerals, deduced from coins and inscriptions, may perhaps be thought not unworthy a place among the arithmetical characters of various nations, formerly collected by Bishop Beveridge; and consequently may be allowed to render somewhat more complete the chronological institutions, or rather the chronological arithmetic, of that learned and judicious author. CX. Of the Irregularities in the Motion of a Satellite arising from the Spheroidical Figure of its Primary Planet: in a Letter to the Rev. J. Bradley, D. D., F. R. S. By Mr. Charles Walmssley, F. R. S. Dated from Bath, Oct. 21, 1758. p. 809. From the Latin.

Since the time that astronomers have been enabled, by the perfection of their instruments, to determine with great accuracy the motions of the celestial bodies, they have been solicitous to separate and distinguish the several inequalities discovered in these motions, and to know their cause, quantity, and the laws according to which they are generated. This seems to furnish a sufficient motive to mathematicians, wherever there appears a cause capable of producing an alteration in those motions, to examine by theory what the result may amount to, though it comes out never so small: for as one can seldom depend securely upon mere guess for the quantity of any effect, it must be a blameable neglect entirely to overlook it without being previously certain of its not being worth our notice.

Finding therefore it had not been considered what effect the figure of a planet differing from that of a sphere might produce in the motion of a satellite revolving about it, and as it is the case of the bodies of the earth and Jupiter