Archæologic Items From Rome.

imperial baths , in form of low brickwork vaults , extending in a direct line westward from the entrance to the monastic church , have been gradually laid open , ancl we may suppose these to be bathing chambers for private use , of Avhose masonry only remain inner Avails and hemicycles

thus preserved . Nearer to the church front have been found other objects—the remnant of a semicircular structure in lateritial brick , tivo wells of some depth , tAvo marble baths , the imperfect shaft of an enormous granite column , and various other fragments in marble . One detail worth noticing

is the opus reticulatum in these smaller structures , ii series of semicircles , like the inner extremities of many ancient Roman interiors , being in this style of tufa masonry , said to have fallen into disuse soon after the time of Antoninus Caracalla , but in this instance shoivn to have been continued by Roman builders till the beginning of the fourth

-century . The absence of statuary from these thermae is accounted for by Avhat several -writers of past ages—Albertini , Flaminio Vacca , Ficoronitell us respecting the successive discoveries ancl removal of buried sculptures from this site , betAveen the earlier years of the sixteenth and the

end of the seventeenth century ; on one occasion ¦ ei ghteen busts of philosophers , immured together in a , recess like an oven , as described by Vacca . The same line of IIOAV road is UOAV being carried on through a hitherto solitary and picturesque region —the narroAV valley , occupied by gardens , betAveen

the Quirinal and Viminal Hills . Opposite the isolated old church of St . Vitale , on the slopes of the Viminal , has been laid open a long substruction , partly of the same reticulated tufa , jnartly of brickwork , opening in several niches , or small ¦ chambers , along the front , AA'ith vaults retaining coloured stucco on their surfaces ; in one of these

Avas a mosaic , not without beauty , representing a female in the act of leaAnng the bath , Avhilst a sei-A'ant-maid presents to her a mirror , Avhich valuable art-relic , through the clumsy proceeding of those AVIIO endeavoured to detach it from the

Avail , Avas totally destroyed . On the story supported by this substructure are traceable the plans of several rooms , AA'ith some portions of Avail , on the stuccoed surface of Avhich are painted ornaments of graceful character ; elseivhere , on the areas of tAvo chambers , remains some tesselatecl

pavement ; and , under the accliA'ity of the hill , open several galleries , or tunnels , Avhose Avails are covered Avith inlaid work knoAvn as opus sirjninu ' m . As yet Ave are left quite in the dark respecting -the' future fate of these lately disinterred ruins ; but antecedents must lead us to conclude that they

will share the destiny of various other antiquities in Rome , swept aAvay for utilitarian purposes . Thus Avere doomed to disappear the structures found , in 1862 , near the raihvay station , consisting of a cupola-roofed hall , ancl several bathingchambers , enriched by mosaic pavements and fresco pictures representing females in the act of

dressing or undressing before and after the enjoyment of the bath . Another interesting discovery , among results of the Avorks for levelling on this spot , Avas that of the Agger , and a remnant in massiA'e stone courses of the walls called after Servius Tullius ; andthough the oriinals of those

, g frescoes have been destroyed , we may console ourselves by the knoAvledge that , in copies at least , they will be handed down to posterity , as engraved in the annals of the Archa _ ologic Institute .

TAVO sites , where the Papal Government is UOAV carrying on excavations , are Ostia , and an estate on the Avestern slopes of the Palatine Hill . At that ancient part of Rome has lately been opened a sepulchre , Avhose OAvners were the Sacilian family , profusely adorned with stucco , reliefs , andpaintings ;

among the subjects of the latter , figures of a priest and a genius ; Saturn in the act of seizing one of his children Avhile a stone is presented to him by Rhea ; also the " Rape of Prosperine . " In a sepulchre near this had been previously discovered several other mythologic paintings— " Orpheus and

Eurydice , " "Pluto and Prosperine , " and one of the numerous mosaics , in temples or therma ? , found at Ostia , within recent years , is IIOAV being laid down in a hall ( not yet public , but eventually to be so ) , in the Vatican .

The excavations ordered by the Emperor of France , on the Palatine , are being prosecuted Avith . with regular acti-vity ; and the public are admitted every Thursday to see discoveries important in respect to light thrown on topography ancl general plans in the very complex structures on that

Imperial Mount . The Pope has approved a project for enlarging the Lateran basilica , by the addition of arcades and pilasters , betAveen the transepts and the tribune , AA'hich Avould involve the necessity of takingdown ( to be reconstructed ) the most interesting ,

the only venerable ancl hitherto unspoilt antique portion of this church ; its apse , namely , Avith the fine mosaics of the thirteenth century , and the ( for Rome ) unique example of the semicircular pillared aisle , Avith groined vaulting , behind the . same ancient sanctuary , part of the buildings raised in

the tenth century . That such procedure should be projected hy artists , and approved by highest authority here , is a deplorable fact quite beyond comment .

The English Archaeologic Association has held four meetings since its birth in the last month , — t'vo for the examining and explaining of ancient churches in situ ; one at the Christian Museum , in the Lateran Palace , for the study of the monuments in that collection ; and one at the

English Consulate , for a lecture on " Ancient Roman Mosaics in Great Britain , " delivered Avith much ability and knoAvledge of the subject by Dr . Wollaston , AA'ho illustrated his exposition by various coloured draAvings and engraA-ings as he proceeded . As this society is HOAV definitively