Arrow-heads of copper or bronze are rare; the metals were too valuable to be used in any general sense in such weapons. Javelin-heads, generally differing from the spears in size only, have been found in our principal crannogs; but no trace of a bow, so far as we are aware, has been recognized amongst the numerous relics formed of wood which usually accompany the metallic remains. Many of the smaller heads in the National Museum were probably used as bolts for cross-bow purposes. * * * * * [Illustration: Bronze Shield from Lough Gur.] _Shields._--There can be little doubt that the lake-dwellers in Ireland--such of them at least as were able to bear arms--were in the possession of shields, some of which were formed of bronze. Not far from Lough Gur--a sheet of water with crannogs--in the County Limerick, a very fine shield composed of bronze was accidentally brought to light. This occurred during drainage operations some fifty years ago, when a large number of bronze arms and implements were discovered. This is known as the ‘Lenihan’ shield; it is circular in plan, the diameter being 28 inches, and slightly convex; the centre rises about 1¼ inches above the rim; and the _umbo_, which is 6 inches wide at the base, rises in conical form 1¾ inches above the shield. ‘The hollow of the _umbo_ internally is crossed by a stout handle, firmly riveted to the shield, of sheet bronze bent into a round. The metal of the shield is formed at the edge into a round hollow rim by being most skilfully turned inwards into a roll ¼ inch wide; between it and the _umbo_ are six beaten-up circular ribs, and six rows of small studs. In the circle next the rim there are seventy-three studs, and in that next the _umbo_ twenty-two. The bronze, which is of a fine golden colour, is about the thickness of a worn shilling next the rim, and of a sixpence near the centre.’ The metal is much too thin to have been of any service by itself, so that it probably was the outer and ornamental covering of a ‘tough bull-hide.’ Plates of this kind, examples of which have been found in Great Britain, seem to belong to the close of the Bronze Age. Sculptured upon one of the crosses at Kells, Co. Meath, are armoured figures with round shields, showing that these defences were used in the early Christian period at least. Many pieces of hammered sheet-iron, which appear to have belonged to shields, have from time to time been found in crannogs. It is probable, however, that shields were, as a general rule, formed of wicker-work, or wood, covered with a piece of animal hide. It was not until man, as Sir John Evans points out, had made considerable advance in the use of bronze that he could have prepared plates, like that of the Lough Gur type, wherewith to cover a shield. * * * * *