In this way, the peribolus, or courtyard wall of the Temple, was soon reached, and, not long after, as before stated, the drums of several of the columns were exhumed, lying in a confused mass as they had fallen, sixteen or seventeen centuries ago. The largest and best preserved of these drums, of which a sketch is given as the frontispiece for this volume, was found on February 3rd, 1871; it is somewhat more than 6 feet high and 18½ feet in circumference, and weighs 11¼ tons. From the figures carved on it, one of which represents Mercury, it may be fairly presumed that it was one of the thirty-six “columnæ cælatæ” recorded by Pliny. Mr. Wood states that though this splendid building was not only destroyed by earthquakes and the malice of man, all the stones, moreover, having been carried away that could be used for building purposes, enough still remained to enable him to draw out on paper an accurate plan of its original shape and _contour_. He adds that, in the course of his excavations, he “discovered the remains of three distinct temples, the last but two, the last but one, and the last. The former must have been that built 500 B.C., for which the solid foundations described by Pliny and Vitruvius were laid.... Between 5 and 6 feet below the pavement and under the foundations of the walls of the cella, I found the layer of charcoal, 4 inches thick, described by Pliny. This was laid between two layers of a composition about 3 inches thick, similar to, and of the consistency of, glazier’s putty.” In conclusion, we may add that Mr. Wood found abundant instances of the use of colour, chiefly vermilion and blue, and one specimen of gold inserted, as a fillet; together with several pieces of friezes much shattered, but, evidently, of the same size and artistic character as the reliefs on the drum. The reliefs themselves do not exhibit any great artistic merit, though they fairly represent the characteristic style of the Macedonian period: their general effect must, however, have been very rich and gorgeous, and quite in character with what we know of rich and luxurious Ephesus. We have not, at present, any evidence that the columns, as well as the drums, were covered with sculpture. Mr. Wood, we believe, thinks they were, but a medallion in the Bibliothèque at Paris, which gives the front of the Temple, rather suggests the contrary.