was not met with. A writing-tablet was found in the ditch of the early fort (Plate LXXX., Fig. 6). It measures 57⁄16 inches long by 25⁄16 inches broad, and consists of a frame and a tablet, both made of what appears to be finely grained pine-wood. The frame is an 1⁄8 of an inch thick, and has been formed by cutting for a depth of about 3⁄16 of an inch into a solid piece of wood, a little over 5⁄16 of an inch in thickness, and leaving three margins. These vary in size, like the margins of a modern book. The widest (3⁄8 of an inch) probably marks the bottom. Into the space thus hollowed out is inserted the tablet, which is also 1⁄8 of an inch in thickness, and upon which the wax was spread. Probably the making of the whole in two pieces was a precaution against warping. Writing-tablets were usually employed in pairs; and in the specimen just described, the mark of the cord by which it was fastened to its fellow is still noticeable. A second example, also of pine-wood, came from Pit LXXVIII. It is made of a single piece, and measures 5½ inches by 43⁄8 inches. No trace of wax remains here either. On one of the margins, 13⁄8 inches from the bottom, there is a small hole. No doubt this tablet, too, was one of a pair, and a cord would pass through the hole, fastening the two together. There was also doubtless an upper hole, but it has been broken away.
Seal-boxes
Many of the smaller things which were turned up in the course of the digging are hard to classify. In not a few places, notably the courtyards of the Principia and the Barrack quarters, small articles of bronze were common. Many of these are obviously mountings—decorations for leather or wood, fragments of buckles, studs and hanging ornaments. Plate LXXXI., Figs. 2, 3 and 4—all of bronze, and all from the Courtyard of the Principia—are small hanging ornaments. Fig. 1 is the decorative ending of a strap, recalling the terminals frequently added to the fringes of military girdles. Small leaf-shaped bronze ornaments like Fig. 4 are to be seen decorating the sheaths of the dolabrae at Mainz and Bonn. Fig. 5 is a hinge. Figs. 6, 10 and 11 are portions of seal boxes. These are small boxes of bronze, either circular or pear-shaped, with a hinged lid. Each had a small slot cut on either side, and holes pierced in the bottom. The seal-box was probably fastened by studs—passing through the perforations in the bottom—to the lid of the chest it was intended to make fast. A string would be tied round the chest, or possibly to a staple, and the knotted ends would be brought together in the box, which would then be closed, covered with wax, and sealed. So secured, the chest could not be opened without
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