purpose, it is supposed that it was used for supervising the prisoners. In a jamb of the recess immediately over the northern portcullis several inscriptions were brought to light, but of these only the letters R. D. were legible, which, seeing the acquaintance that both Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, or Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, had with the Tower, has not unnaturally led to the conclusion that the initials belong to one or other of these royal favourites. The Bloody Tower is of the Norman Transitional period, but the groining as well as the gates on the south side—those on the north side have been removed—are Tudor. The massive bottom rails of these gates were destroyed to allow of an injudicious raising of the road surface many years ago. It is said that the road was raised from two to three feet, probably to overcome some difficulty of draining, but whatever the reason, the fine gates suffered both in effect and materially. On the west front of the Tower there is an early English doorway which has been “Tudorised,” its outer arch being modern Norman Transitional. The original freestone used in the building of the Bloody Tower was procured from the neighbourhood of Red Hill, and in the old records is called “Rygate” stone. It is known at the present time as Gatton, but the quarries are no longer worked. The fine old arches over the main entrance are still in this “Rygate” stone, an interesting survival, since the whole of the external stone dressings in this material on the Tower were superseded by Caen stone from Normandy in the reign of Henry VIII. This was a deplorable error of judgment, for notwithstanding the enormous amount of Caen stone used throughout the Tower in this reign, scarcely a trace of it now remains. The modern restorations to the interior have been carried out in the “pinny bed of Chilmark,” a stone closely resembling the Rygate or Gatton stone, but much more durable, whilst Kelton stone from the neighbourhood of Rutland has been employed for the battlements and other external dressings. All the main walling was carried out in Kentish Rag stone, which was procured from the contractor who built the new guard buildings for the War Department. In the records of Henry VIII.’s time, this Kentish Rag is called the “hard stone of Kent.” The stone used in those days was undoubtedly superior to that used by Salvin over fifty years ago, as is shown by the comparison between the restored Beauchamp Tower and the White Tower. Soft stones, such as Caen or Bath, absorb a great deal of moisture, and their injudicious use consequently hastens the decay of any building in which they are used. Much of the mischief in the Bloody Tower was doubtless caused by the decay of the Caen stone, and also the neglect in pointing the joints. It is generally thought amongst those most concerned, that the restoration of the Bloody Tower is the most careful and complete of any of the works of preservation carried out in the old