ollections of houses, exist in Ireland, Wales,
Cornwall, Switzerland, and perhaps in other kingdoms; but apparently
they have everywhere been long ago deserted as human habitations, except
in isolated and outlying spots among the Western Islands of Scotland.
The study of human habits in these Hebridean houses, at the present day,
enables us to guess what the analogous human habits probably were,
when, for example, the old Irish city of Fahan--consisting of similar
structures only--was the busy scene of human life and activity in times
long past. These, and other similar facts, besides teaching us the true
road to some forms of archaeological discovery, teach us also one other
important lesson,--namely, that there are in reality two kinds of
antiquity, both of which claim and challenge our attention. One of these
kinds of antiquity consists in the study of the habits and works of our
distant predecessors and forefathers, who lived on this earth, and
perhaps in this segment of it, many ages ago. The other kind of
antiquity consists of the study of those archaic human habits and works
which may, in some corners of the world, be found still prevailing among
our fellow-men--or even among our own fellow-countrymen--down to the
present hour, in despite of all the blessings of human advancement, and
the progress of human knowledge. By one kind of antiquity we trace the
slow march and revolutions of centuries; by the other we trace the still
slower march and revolutions of civilisation, in countries and kingdoms
where the glittering theories of the politician might have led us to
expect a different and a happier state of matters.

Besides the antiquarian relics of a visible and tangible form to which I
have adverted, as demanding investigation and collection on our part,
there are various antiquarian relics of a non-material type in Scottish
Archaeology which this Society might perhaps do much to collect and
preserve, through the agency of active committees, and the assistance of
many of our countrymen, who, I doubt not, could be easily incited to
assist us in the required work. One of these matters is a fuller
collection and digest than we yet possess of the old superstitious
beliefs and practices of our forefathers. And certainly some strange
superstitions do remain, or at least lately did remain, among us. The
sacrifice, for example, of the cock and other animals for recovery from
epilepsy and convulsions, is by no means extin