FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



859 



but may the Fates be propitious on the 9th 

 and enable us to place a wreath on its tomb ! " 

 " The Fates," the London Times observes, 

 " were indeed propitious in furnishing a 

 funeral wreath, which, however, it would 

 seem, must be placed upon the tomb of Prof. 

 Lockyer's own theory." 



At the Top of the Andes. An attempt 

 was made in December and January last by 

 Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, a native of New York, 

 and the Swiss guide Zurbriggen, to ascend 

 Mount Aconcagua, supposed to be the high- 

 est peak of the Andes. They started on the 

 25th of December, and at the height of 

 21,000 feet found the card of Gussfeldt, the 

 German explorer, in a tin box. The climb- 

 ers were obliged to descend into the valley, 

 but beginning a second attempt, December 

 30th, reached a height of 22,500 feet Janu- 

 ary 2d. On a third attempt the two reached 

 the arete, 23,000 feet, January 14th. Mr. 

 Fitzgerald had to turn back, but Zurbriggen 

 continued on and reached the summit, the 

 height of which has been variously esti- 

 mated at from 22,422 to 23,910 feet. This 

 competes with the height of Sir Martin Con- 

 way's ascent of Pioneer Peak in the Hima- 

 layas, which is also about 28,000 feet, in 

 being the loftiest mountain ascent yet made. 

 The previous highest ascent in recent years 

 was that of Mr. Mummery and Mr. Hastings 

 of 21,000 feet, on Nanga-Parbat, Himalayas. 

 Mr. Fitzgerald has recently made an explora- 

 tion of what are called the New Zealand 

 Alps, and has published a book on the sub- 

 ject. 



The Ideal of a Frieze. Discussing Gre- 

 cian architecture, Mr. H. 0. Taylor observes, 

 in his Ancient Ideals, that a frieze, on ac- 

 count of its shape, is adapted to represent 

 a continuous matter. It can not well have a 

 center toward which the rest tends, or even 

 a center of supreme interest to which all the 

 rest is accessory. It must rather, to vary 

 the threatening monotony of its long line, 

 show rising and falling waves of interest 

 quiet here to rest the spectator, vivid action 

 there to excite his interest, and through all a 

 rhythm of movement and a harmony of com- 

 position excluding everything which by dis- 

 proportionate interest or size might detract 

 from what precedes and follows. The Par- 



thenon frieze effects this rise and fall of in- 

 terest by the succession of groups taking 

 part in the Panathenfca procession which 

 forms its subject. We see stately maidens 

 moving quietly, eager horses and their riders, 

 magistrates and onlookers, till our eye finally 

 rests with the seated gods. No one could 

 see the whole frieze at once, but successive 

 portions of it, as he walked beneath it. 

 Hence it was fitting that the whole frieze 

 should not present the same moment of 

 time, but give the idea of a procession 

 making ready, starting, and in motion a 

 plan which readily affords a rise and fall of 

 interest. Some of the youths are not yet 

 mounted ; ahead of them are others on 

 horses starting at slow pace, preceded by yet 

 others in rapid gallop. Waves of rhythm 

 appear in the rise and fall of the horses' 

 limbs and bodies, while their heads, and still 

 more the heads of the riders, remain more 

 nearly on a line. This last conformity to 

 the shape of a frieze gives a general tone of 

 control and order to the squadron, and ex- 

 cludes all fear of the eager horses mastering 

 their riders. 



A Slavic Deity and St. Ellas. Peron, 

 the thunder god, was an important divinity in 

 the calendar of the Slavs of a thousand years 

 ago and is a conspicuous figure in their folk- 

 lore. An idol erected in his honor at Kiev 

 about A. D. 980 had a silver head, a golden 

 beard, and a wooden body. He was also 

 commemorated in a famous idol at Novgo- 

 rod. His name has been incorporated into 

 a great many names of places, as is shown 

 in a list compiled by M. N. Barsov. He was 

 worshiped with human sacrifices. In 988 

 the Czar Vladimir, having been converted to 

 Christianity, ordered all the figures of Peron 

 to be pulled down, scourged, dragged at the 

 tails of wild horses, mutilated, and thrown 

 into the rivers or burned ; yet his name 

 abode among the people in many widespread 

 legends, in which he figures as master of the 

 thunder and the storms. As Christian and 

 Hebrew saints were introduced to take the 

 place of the heathen heroes, he became con- 

 founded with Elias, who is described in the 

 Bible as having also a sort of command of 

 the air and its phenomena. Elias was the 

 first saint accepted by the Russian Christians, 

 and was invoked to heal wounds caused by 



