SOME two years ago, when examining relics from Wookey Hole, kept in the Wells Museum, I noticed a vessel containing a small amount of a ruby-coloured powder, closely resembling realgar or ruby sulphur. Mr. H. E. Balch, the curator and well-known authority on Wookey Hole, informed me that the powder was found in the Roman stratum of the cave floor. He courteously gave me a small sample which I later submitted to chemical tests and confirmed my first impression.