January 12, 191 1] 



NATURE 



341 



moment of writing, uncertain whether or not this 

 comparison has been made before. 



The restoration of the text of the hymn and the 

 translation by Prof. Murray is very interesting. I 

 speak under correction, but is nayKparis ydvovs really 

 to be rendered by *• Lord of all that is wet and gleam- 

 ing " ? Why should Zeus Kouros be lord of all that 

 is "'wet and gleaming"? Why not "bright and 

 Gleaming"? Though no doubt ydvos gives, strictly, 

 the idea of "wet and gleaming," yet surely the refer- 

 ence is to the gleaming ripple of the cornfields, not 

 to the sea? 



Of the admirable character of the translation a 

 specimen has been given above. 



The myth of the Kouretes in its anthropological 

 aspect is dealt with by Miss Jane Harrison, who 

 treats it with her usual learning and wealth of illus- 

 tration. Her conclusions are important, as bringing 

 the dance of the Kouretes into connection with the 

 initiatory rites at adolescence which are common 

 among savage tribes ; she aptly compares them with 

 the initiation ceremonies in use among the Wirad- 

 thuri tribes of New South Wales. The scent on the 

 Agia Triada vase derives a new significance from this 

 comparison. 



The director contributes a scheme for the trans- 

 literatia of modern Greek, which is to be used in 

 future by contributors to the •" Annual," with the ex- 

 ception that T] is to be transliterated by e and not bv i. 

 This seems rather too great a concession to the weaker 

 brethren ; it gives an entirely wrong impression of the 

 pronunciation to those who are accustomed to the 

 values of e and i in foreign words. 



The volume is one of the most interesting that the 

 schcol_ has produced, although for the first time we 

 miss in it any description of Minoan or Mvcenaean 

 discoveries. But the resumed excavations at Phvla- 

 kopi, in Melos, which are now to be taken in hand, 

 will no doubt enable the School to contribute again 

 very shortly important material for the studv of pre- 

 historic Greece. H. R.' Hall. 



KOREAN METEOROLOGY— OLD AND NEW.^ 

 "P OR the last six years a meteorological observatory, 

 ■*■ equipped with modern instruments, has existed 

 at Chemulpo, and has been working energetically to 

 estabrish a network of stations, from which the 

 climatic elements of the country might be derived. 

 Many difficulties have been encountered, but that these 

 have been successfully overcome is shown by the issue 

 of the first volume of scientific memoirs from the 

 observatory, in which the director, Dr. Y. W^ada, de- 

 scribes the progress that has been made and sketches 

 the programme it is proposed to follow. He is to be 

 congratulated upon the success of his vigorous direc- 

 tion, for a map shows that forty-five stations have 

 been furnished with instruments, from which reports 

 are received regularly. Most of these stations are 

 scattered round the coast, at lighthouses, but there is 

 also a chain of observatories running through the 

 interior, and these no doubt will be increased as the 

 country progresses. 



A paper by Dr. T. Hirata shows that discussion 

 proceeds simultaneously with the collection of observa- 

 tions. He investigates the amount of evaporation in 

 Korea and South Manchuria, and its relation to pre- 

 cipitation. Although the data at present are 

 slender, and the conclusions somewhat precarious, the 

 inquiry is one of great economical importance, because 

 the quantity of rain is barely sufficient to ensure the 

 safety of the rice harvest on which the welfare of the 



i "Scientific Memoirs of the Korean Meteorological Obsen-atory." Vol. i. 

 Chemulpo, Korea, 1910.) 



NO. 2150, VOL. 8$] 



country largely depends, and all information connected 

 with moisture is of deep significance. 



But as such inquiries have only a local interest and 

 would fail to attract attention, Dr. Wada has done 



,^#i» 



Fig. I.— Old Raingauge in Taiko. 



well to quicken curiosity by reference to the science 

 that flourished in the Korea of the past. He shows 

 that the raingauge, supposed to have been invented by 

 Castelli, about 1639, was in use in the East long 

 before its value 

 was appreciated 

 in Europe. Dr. 

 Wada, quoting 

 from the second 

 volume of the 

 historical annals, 

 explains that in 

 the sixth year of 

 the reign of King 

 Sejo (correspond- 

 ing to 1442 in the 

 Gregorian Calen- 

 dar), the King 

 had a bronze in- 

 strument con- 

 structed to meas- 

 ure the rainfall. 

 It was a vase of 

 a depth of 30 cm, 

 and a diameter 

 of 14 cm. Every 

 time rain fell, 

 'observatory offi- 

 c i a 1 s measured 

 the height and 

 informed the 

 King. But the 

 important point 

 in this account 

 is, that this was not a toy set up from 

 curiosity, but that similar instruments were distributed 

 throughout the provinces, and the results of all 

 observations were reported to the court. Naturally 



Fig. 2. — A Chinese Clepsydra of about 820 

 years ago. 



