Prof. Lanciani's Lecture.

A large audience greeted Prof. Lanciani yesterday evening and listened to his learned and instructive words on pre-historic Rome. The chief charm in all that he says lies in the feeling that he is so directly and so intimately connected with the subject he is treating. His subject and his personality each gain by their close association.

The theory that Rome was founded by the Etruscans which was brought forward in recent years is entirely untenable, as is shown by the discovery in 1817 of a cemetery, or what must have been the site of Alva Longa. Great jars containing incinerated remains and every description of utensils were unearthed here. The influence of etrusion pottery can be clearly traced. Nowhere was any iron found, so that we may infer that these remains date from the bronze age.

Scientific investigation has shown that the traditions of early Rome deserve much more credance than the hypocritical modern school now allow them. Rome was founded by a tribe of shephards who left Albahuyn to seek new pastures for their flocks.

The great treasure house of Roman remains is the bed of the Tiber in whose soft mud countless treasures still lie hidden. From leaders of shepherds the Romans became leaders of men. Professor Lanciani then spoke of the discovery of 14000 pieces of prehistoric remains, all of which are being collected and placed in a museum. In a few slides he then presented the remains of the regal period still to be traced on the Palentine.