The Crucifixion Nails

One of the most curious relies preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford, England, is a crown having a frame work said to have been made of the nails that were driven through the hands and feet of Jesu3 at Calvary. The crown itself is embossed with jewels and gold, exhibiting a close resemblance to the enameUed work of the present day, notwithstanding the fact that its h;story can be traced back to the time of the coronation of Agüufus, K ng of Normandy, in the year 591. As noted in the foregoing, the portion of the crown which is of greatest traditional interest is the frameworkof iron, about % of an inch broad and 1-10 of an inch in thicness, attaohed to tbe inner crcumference of the jeweled superstructure. This iron band was made from the identical nails, according to legendary report, used at the Crucifixion; given by the Empress Helena- who, history says, was the discoverer of the cross- to her son, Constan tine the Great, as a miraculous protection from the daneers of the battle-field. Tfaf piu-M uiio t'.D 6"ts 6ne orown to curious visitors points out, as a permanent miracle. the face that thore is not a single speek of rust upon the iron, although it bas now been exposed to the dampness of the atmosphero for more than fifteen centuriea The crovvn was originally made for Agilulfus, King of the Lombarda, ander the supervisión of Thendcl nde, h:s wifo, who had fallen heir to the saered