May i8, 191 i] 



NATURE 



;87 



of that method have been made bj' some of the author- 

 rities whose own criteria are criticised by our author. 

 Behold, now, the day of retribution ! 



The author gives a useful general account of 

 the important find made by Dr. Pernier, of the 

 Italian Archaeological iMission, at Phaestos, Crete, in 

 1908. It was a clay disk inscribed on both sides 

 with lines and pictographs. Judged by such 

 standards as the author himself questions, the in- 

 scription is supposed to belong to the eighteenth 

 century b.c. The authorities cited are very much 

 divided as to what the inscription is and the affinities 

 of the strange characters with known forms. Not 

 one of those cited seems to have gone so far as Prof. 

 Hempl, in Harper's Magazine for January, and Miss 

 Stawell, in the Burlington Magazine for April, as to 

 attempt a more or le^jj complete interpretation. 



In neither of the interpretations referred to is the 

 possible calendric character of the document taken 

 into consideration, and as I think it is a calendar, 

 the opportunity for reproducing our author's illustra- 

 tions of the document is my excuse for appending 

 a brief outline of my findings. 



In form the calendar is a rough copy of the use 

 made of concentric circles. The pictographs on face 

 A number 123, and not 122, as stated by our author; 

 those on face B number 119. Each pictograph repre- 

 sents one degree of angular distance, and it is to be 

 multiplied by three to make up the number of days 

 in a year. Year A was 123x3 = 369 days, which on 

 evidence given by Mommsen was once the length of 

 a Roman \'ear. Year B was 119x3 = 357 days. 

 Assuming such a rotation as A B A, the sun would 

 have travelled 365 pictographs or degrees in three 

 years of the average length of 365 days. If the exact 

 locale of the calendar were certainly known, its date 

 might be made out by means of established formulje. 

 Its physical basis was a latitude where the apparent 

 distance between the solstices was about 60° 50'. Of 

 that figure I am fairly sure, and it would have roughly 

 suited Crete in 1800 B.C. The latitude of Phaestos on 

 an Admiralty chart is 35° 25' N. It is much doubted, 

 however, that the disk originally belonged to Phaestos, 

 so that any calculation on the basis I have suggested 

 would not materially help in fixing a date. 



The calendar is quite complete, and a marvellous 

 compendium of calendric contrivances. It is all based 

 on the intersolstitial distance, expressed in integers, 

 and divided by 3, 7, 17, and other numbers, an artificial 

 system, it is true, but a very convenient one. The 

 calendric significance of many of the pictographs 

 stands clearly revealed when the numbers are noted. 

 Some of them are very curious rebuses, a proof of 

 considerable antiquity. For instance, the pagoda- 

 like structure I felt sure stood for the number 20 in 

 degrees and 60 in days, but for many a day I could 

 not see either number in it. It is a four-storey build- 

 ing, the beams of each section numbering 5 ; hence 

 5x4 = 20, and 15x4 = 60. It indicates a legislative 

 assembly, corresponding in significance and dates to 

 the Tiocobrextio of the Coligny Calendar, and the 

 entries under March 24 and May 24 in the Roman 

 Calendar. 



In all I have said so far there is hardly an element 

 of speculation, and none of the ingenuity shown in 

 such interpretations as those referred to. There 

 is a precedent and an established formula to 

 aid the inquiry at every step. A complete astro- 

 nomical interpretation of the calendar will strike all 

 students of our monuments, astronomically con- 

 sidered, as something quite familiar, while a sufficient 

 scope will be left for authorities on ancient scripts 

 to do all they can to determine the linguistic values 

 of the pictographs, a subject I can hardiv touch. 



Jonv r.KTIIIUf. 



NO. 2168, VOL. 86] 



MILITARY AVIATION AT HEN DON. 



T^HE demonstration of flying organised by the Par- 

 •*• liamentary Aerial Committee, which took place 

 on Friday last at Hendon, cannot be described as 

 other than an unqualified success. If experts learnt 

 no new lesson, if aviators acquired no new experi- 

 ence, the onlookers, including almost all those whose 

 opinions would be sought and /whose dicta may 

 become law, must have had their eyes opened to the 

 great possibilities as to the utility of the aeroplane 

 in war. 



A number of different types of machine, Farmans, 

 Bleriots, Cody, Roe, and A'alkyrie were to be seen, 

 and their respective merits compared. Besides ex- 

 hibitions of rising quickly from the ground, de- 

 scending near a given spot, turning and planing in 

 the air, all of which were carried out in a superb 

 manner, there were many tests having reference to 

 warlike operations. A number of small dummy bombs 

 were dropped from different machines on to' ground 

 marked out to represent the deck of a battleship. 

 The idea was to test the possibility of attack by such 

 means, but, although many good shots were" made 

 by dropping the missiles while travelling at a speed 

 of perhaps 40 miles an hour, yet most of them were 

 made from a height of only a few hundred feet, 

 whereas to be of use iri war they should be discharged 

 from machines at least 2000 or 3000 feet above the 

 ship. However, it is evident that if good shooting 

 can be made in this way, it is only a matter of judg- 

 ment and practice to be able to achieve good results 

 at a much greater range. Another purpose to which 

 such a method of attack is applicable is that of 

 destroying dirigible balloons, and in such case the 

 aeroplane might well be within a hundred feet of 

 the target below it. 



A more important experiment was 'that of dis- 

 charging heavy weights, said to be 100 lb., from a 

 flying biplane. It seemed probable that this might 

 affect the balance of the machine, and cause it to 

 pitch or jump, but careful observation showed that 

 the aeroplane maintained a perfectly steadv course, 

 and was unaffected by the sudden loss of this load. 



But the finest display, and perhaps the most 

 practical experiment, so far as the immediate use 

 of aeroplanes is concerned, was that of sending off 

 a dispatch to a distance. Mr. Hamel went off on a 

 Bl^»riot monoplane to Aldershot, a distance of 32 

 miles "as the crow flies," though, as a matter of 

 fact, the aviator went in a not perfectly straight 

 line, in order to pick up familiar landniarks, and 

 so make sure of his way. 



Having handed in the dispatches at .Aldershot, 

 he returned with the reply, and it was a very im- 

 pressive sight for those at Hendon to descry, high 

 up in the sky, to the south-west, a small speck, 

 estimated at 4,000 feet, which gradually approached 

 and became recognisable as the monoplane, which, 

 sweeping round a large circle, glided downwards 

 and landed within a few feet of the starting-point. 

 The message had been delivered and returned within 

 two hours, the actual times being : — 



Left Hendon 



.Arrived .\ldershot 



Left 



Arrived Hendor 



4.20 



Other events were the asccms ot iwo staff officers 

 on biplanes piloted by experienced aviators, who, 

 without any previous experience, were to report on 

 the position of certain troops which had been posted 

 in the neighbourhood. This was most successfully 

 accomplished. Short trips made bv Mr. Balfour and 

 In- Mr. M(-Kriiii.i. Fir-ii T ord rif (lie Admiralty, tend 



