particulars of this ware do not figure in that work. [Illustration: Horn Drinking-cup.] [Illustration: Wooden Mether or Drinking-cup.] The art of carving designs on bone and wood was largely practised by the ancient Irish, as many examples on the former material, less perishable than the latter, found in crannogs and elsewhere, show. They possessed plenty of timber, and were adepts in manufacturing _Methers_ or _Madders_ (so called from being used in drinking mead or metheglen), and other household vessels, principally out of alder, oak, yew, willow, beech, and elm. * * * * * [Illustration: ‘Dug Outs,’ or Canoes.] _Canoes._--Single piece Canoes or ‘dug-outs’ may be divided into the three following classes: The first are trough-shaped, rounded at the bottom, and are from 8 to 12 feet in length. Some of these are furnished at their extremities with handle-like projections by which they were probably lifted and carried overland from lake to lake, or from river to river. Some few, instead of having handles, are furnished at their ends with slits sufficiently large to admit the fingers of a man’s hand. These indentations or incisions no doubt served the purpose of the projections referred to. The second are flat-bottomed, with rounded prow and square stern; they average 20 feet in length and about 2 feet in breadth. This class varies in depth according to their state of preservation, while the bottoms of some are rounded and have both ends square. The third class have a greater length of beam; one from Lough Owel, in the National Museum, measures 42 feet in length by from 4 to 5 feet in width. This canoe is shallow, and apparently had 12 holes cut through each side, and about 20 holes through the bottom at regular intervals; it has unfortunately been sawn across into pieces. The prow curves upwards, and the bottom is slightly rounded. Many of the canoes have been found in bogs, apart from known crannog sites, and in the beds of lakes and rivers. Some fine specimens of these may be seen in the National Museum. The largest ever discovered in Ireland has recently been added to the collection. It is hollowed out of a single trunk, is about 52 feet long, and of great weight. This remarkable canoe was found at Miltown, near Tuam, and purchased in the spring of 1902.