ORIENTAL SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 683 



HITTITES. 



William Hayes Ward restored aud described some imperfectly pub- 

 lished Hittite monuments from Carcemisb (Jerablus), which appeared 

 in the London Graphic December 11, 1880. These monuments had been 

 rephotograpiied by the Wolfe exi)edition to Babylonia. 



JAPAN. 



S. Beale described Japanese pictures at the British Museum. Japan 

 possesses works of ai't which from its own i)articular point of view equal 

 any school of European paiutin<,^ ; this art is the outcome of that of 

 China. It dates back to the lifth century A. d. All pictures are essen- 

 tially decorative; light and shade are unknown quantities, and linear 

 perspective comi^letely ignored. He also gave an account of Japanese 

 ivory carvings; showed the potent influence of tobacco in the decora- 

 tive art of that couutrj'. Every domestic occurrence is represented iu 

 ivory, and many of their classic romances are illustrated iu the bronze, 

 porcelain, and lacquer work. 



W^illiam Elliot Griffis described Japanese artists and artisans; with 

 illustrations from drawings by a Japanese artist. Among things un- 

 expected iu Japan, none strikes the visitor or resident more than the 

 enviroment of art and its maker ; the critic and historian, who is yet to 

 write the story of art in Japan, will discriminate between what is bor- 

 rowed and what is original. The folding fan, the arts of lacquering, 

 sword-making, cloissonne on porcelain, and some of the methods of dec- 

 orating are of native origin. Other works of art are mostly imported. 



E. H. House gives a history of the tarift in Japan. The tirst effective 

 commercial treaty with Japan was negotiated in 1858 by Townsend 

 and Harris, upon terms which in general were not disadvantageous to 

 the unsophisticated people with whom they were dealing. If they had 

 taken the precaution to insure the absolute termination of the treaty 

 at a proper date, all would have resulted as they desired, but under the 

 circumstances it has ])roved disastrous to Japan and proportionately 

 favorable to the western powers. He also discussed foreign Jurisdiction 

 in Japan. The authors of the early treaties never intended to sui)er- 

 sede the laws of Japan by those of their own nations. The inflation of 

 arrogant pretense, the multitude of entanglingand bewildering compli- 

 cations, the aggregation of gross abuses, and the offensive domination 

 over the national rule which have been exercised iu later years have 

 no other basis than the narrow foundations of mutual assistance, stipu- 

 lated in the treaties of Harris and Townsend. The " diplomatic co-oper- 

 ative policy" of European nations has put Japan in ties which hold her 

 in political and moral enslavenuMit. 



S. E. Ives describes a Japanese magic mirror. It is a circular, metal- 

 lic hand-mirror, having figures in relief upon its back; the reflecting 

 surface is highly polished, and reflects the fa(;e as well apparently as do 

 mirrors of silvered glass, but when it is used to reflect the direct rays 



