THE VIENNA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 421 



chase, has been greatly increased. As the result of an archeological 

 journey to Permesos in Pisidia nine graves, differing in type from any 

 yet opened, were carefully examined. Vol. I. of this report has now 

 been published. 



The Academy is trying to obtain for its 'Phonographic Archives': 

 (1) Exact representations of the sounds of European languages and 

 dialects at the beginning of the twentieth century, (2) representations 

 of the best musical accomplishments of the present time and of the 

 musical productions of peoples of different degrees of culture as a basis 

 for comparison, (3) rejjresentations of the tones of the voices of dis- 

 tinguished men. These tones the phonograph will preserve. The 

 results of the expedition to southern Arabia and Socotra will soon 

 appear in a large number of volumes, giving an account of reptiles, 

 fishes, insects, lepidoptera, diptera, coleoptera, neuroptera, etc. The 

 gains for linguistics and epigraphy are said to be very great. 



The study of the results of the commission to India to gather infor- 

 mation in regard to the cause of the bubonic plague has discovered its 

 bacillus and made it possible to prevent the spread of the plague in 

 the future. An essay on 'Die Porcia von Socotra,' published by the 

 academy, has pointed out the possible relation of this Porcia to the 

 Portia of Shakespeare. Several tales current among the people of 

 Socotra and on the coast were carefully written down and will not only 

 show how stories of this character travel from country to country, but 

 will add to our knowledge of folk-lore. Work which promises to be of 

 importance has been done in the study of the syntax and philology of 

 the Slavic languages, and several publications have appeared on the 

 political history and philosophy of the Slavic peoples. The Academy 

 is attempting to investigate and study accurately the history, archeology, 

 philology and ethnology of the entire Balkan peninsula. 



The archeological work of the academy proved to be of such impor- 

 tance and extent that a special society was formed to carry it forward. 

 Explorations in Ephesus were made in 1897, preliminary reports of 

 which have appeared, and also of work done in Cilicia. In the spring 

 of 1898 measurements were made in Luxor, Egypt, to determine the 

 influence of winter climate on atmospheric electricity, in Siberia to 

 discover the influence of extreme cold, and in a balloon at the height 

 of 4,000 meters. The Academy has taken part with the German 

 academies in preparing an Encyclopedia of Mohammedanism and it 

 shares with the academies of Berlin and Munich the income of the 

 Savigny bequest for the study of Law, German and Eoman, and the 

 law of all nations. The subventions, which cover almost every depart- 

 ment of scientific research, and those made for historical and philo- 

 sophical purposes, over fifty in number, now exceed in amount 75,000 

 florins annually. They indicate an activity in research equaled by no 



