POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



857 



of the Amardian group, a group which also 

 includes the Akkadian and its dialect, the 

 Susian and Kossian languages. The vocab- 

 ulary of the ancient language, as may be 

 shown by citations of hundreds of words, 

 connects it with the Akkadian and Susian 

 dialects ; but it has certain " very marked 

 grammatical affinities" with the Ugro-Fin- 

 nish tongues. The resemblances of the an- 

 cient Chaldean and Chinese hieroglyphics are 

 very strong ; and one point to be noticed is 

 that, in both systems, the images are drawn 

 full-face instead of in profile, as in Egyptian 

 hieroglyphics. Further evidence of the con- 

 nection thus suggested is given in the facts 

 that certain parts of the Yh King are only 

 lists of meanings that pointedly recall the 

 Akkadian cuneiform syllabaries ; that IIo- 

 ang-ti, the first of the five Chinese emperors 

 who reigned at the dawn of history, was in 

 the ancient language Nak-kon-ti, suggesting 

 a correspondence w T ith the Susian god Nak- 

 hunta and King Kudur Nakhuta ; and in 

 numerous cases of at least apparent corre- 

 spondence in the most ancient titles, cus- 

 toms, and allusions of the Chinese and the 

 Susians. Resemblances have also been point- 

 ed out between many Western features and 

 those of the Chinese. A part of these, M. 

 Terrien admits, is owing to the progress of 

 the Chinese, to communication, and later 

 changes ; but another part, he maintains, 

 " perhaps the earliest and most important, 

 traces its origin to the first establishment 

 in ancient China of a part of that Akkado- 

 Chaldean culture, to which our modern civ- 

 ilizations are indirectly so referable." 



Curious Discovery of a Murder. A 



story of a remarkable discovery of a murder 

 comes from Bermuda. A handsome and de- 

 cent mulatto woman suddenly disappeared 

 in October, 1878, and her husband was sus- 

 pected of having murdered her, but no trace 

 of her could be found, and it seemed prob- 

 able that the crime would not be detected. 

 A week afterward, while anxiety on the sub- 

 ject was still at its height, some boatmen, 

 looking out toward the sea, were struck by 

 observing in the. .Long Bay Channel, the 

 surface of which was ruffled by a slight 

 breeze, a long streak of calm, such as a 

 cask of oil usually diffuses around it when 

 in the water. A connection with the disap- 



pearance of the woman was at once sug' 

 cd ; a search was shortly afterward made 

 at the place for the body ; the skeleton was 

 found held down by weights, and the frag- 

 ments of flesh remaining upon it were in 

 such a condition as to show that it had not 

 lain long in the water. Identification was 

 established by means of portions of clothing. 

 The man, who was a fisherman, had calcu- 

 lated that the fish, which were numerous in 

 the channel, would soon destroy all means 

 of identification of the body, but it never 

 occurred to him that their ravages as they 

 did so would set free the matter which was 

 to write the traces of his crime upon the sur- 

 face water. The peculiar feature of the calm 

 seems to be a novel one, not mentioned in 

 works on medical jurisprudence and outside 

 the experience of doctors. 



The Climate and Meteorology of Zanzi- 

 bar. Considerable interest is attached to 

 the climate and meteorology of Zanzibar, 

 since that island is the starting-point of 

 most of the expeditions which proceed into 

 the interior of East Africa. Observations 

 taken by Dr. John Robb, of the Indian 

 army, during the five years from 187-i to 

 1S78, show that the average rainfall, which 

 they give at not more than sixty-one inches, 

 or double that of England, has very mate- 

 rially decreased since the -time when Dr. 

 Christie and Captain Burton made their 

 observations ; and it is suggested that the 

 decrease may be d/ie to the destruction of the 

 trees over the whole island by a cyclone 

 which swept it in 1872. The average 

 number of rainy days is one hundred 

 and twenty in the year. The double sea- 

 sons, which are of unequal duration, are 

 marked out by the prevailing winds, and 

 are less exactly determined by the so-called 

 greater and lesser rains. The rainy seasons 

 begin when the sun crosses the zenith 

 of Zanzibar in passing to its northern 

 and southern declinations, March 4th and 

 October 9th. The greater rains fall in March, 

 April, and May, the lesser rains from the 

 middle of October to the end of the year. 

 The driest month is September. The mean 

 temperature of the five years was 80 - 6, the 

 hottest months being February and March, 

 with a mean temperature of 83-1 and 80'4 

 respectively, the cooler are July and August, 



