October 27, 192 1] 



NATURE 



269 



or unaltered peridotite, but from talc-schists in 

 Rhodesia, from a vein in an altered dunite dyke in 

 Mysore, from veins and irre^fular masses in ser- 

 pentine in Baluchistan, from veins in bands of 

 serpentine or alluvial deposits derived therefrom 

 in Xew Caledonia, or from fissure deposits in 

 Cretaceous limestones in Greece. The chromite 

 segregations in dunite (olivine-chromite rock) are 

 too small and low-grade to be worked to any 

 large extent in competition with the ore in the 

 Rhodesian talc-schists. 



(2) Mr. Hall's monograph on the platinum 

 metals gives an account of the recent discoveries 

 of platinum due to the vigorous search stimu- 

 lated by its high price. The metal is found 

 to be very widely distributed, but the author 

 makes the disappointing statement that, in 

 spite of the energy devoted to their inves- 

 tigation, the new localities are not likely to prove 

 important as sources of platinum. The monograph 

 describes the effective substitutes invented by the 

 modern metallurgist that render platinum no 

 longer necessary for many purposes for which it 

 was once indispensable. 



(3) The monograph on lead gives a valuable 

 summary and bibliography of the chief lead de- 

 posits of the Empire and shorter reference to those 

 of other countries. 



Each of the monographs gives an account, for 

 each of the metals dealt with, of its chief ore 

 deposits, of its uses and metallurgy, with biblio- 

 graphies and a few tables of statistics. Some 

 figures as to output are indispensable in economic 

 geolog}- to show the relative importance of the 

 different modes of ore genesis. The figures 

 quoted are used to supplement the descriptions of 

 the mining fields, and do not involve any serious 

 encroachment on the statistical monographs of the 

 Mineral Resources Bureau. The two series are, 

 indeed, complementary. One is devoted to the 

 statistical side, and the other to the geological 

 occurrence and genesis of the ores, and to the 

 uses and extraction of the metals. So long as each 

 uses matter which belongs primarily to the other 

 series only to illustrate its own problems, both 

 series will be useful for the two different purposes 

 they were designed to serve. J. W. G. 



The Phoenicians in Sicily. 

 Motya: A Phoenician Colony in Sicily. By 

 Joseph I. S. Whitaker. Pp. xvi4- 357. (London : 

 G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1921.) 305. net. 



MR. WHITAKER'S investigations on the 

 island of San Pantaleo have for the his- 

 torian and the archaeologist a twofold interest. 

 NO. 27I3_^ VOL. 108] 



It may now be said that he has established with 

 reasonable probability that this island is the site 

 of the ancient city of Motya — a question which 

 was not beyond doubt — and he has added very 

 considerably to our knowledge of Phcenician 

 culture. 



The island of San Pantaleo lies in a shallow 

 lagoon at the western extremity of Sicily, not far 

 from the ancient Lilybaeum. Motya, according 

 to Thucydides, was one of the cities to which the 

 Phoenicians withdrew at the advent of the Greek 

 colonists in the middle of the seventh century B.C. 

 It was involved in the struggle between the 

 Greeks and Carthage, and utterly destroyed by the 

 tyrant Dionysius in 397 B.C. Its position as the 

 centre of Phoenician power and influence in Sicily 

 was taken by Lilybaeum, and it was never re- 

 occupied. Owing to this fact, Mr. Whitaker 's 

 'excavations have been pursued in peculiarly 

 favourable circumstances. Many of the objects 

 brought to light by his spade, even to the ver>' 

 weapons of the combatants, lay where they fell 

 during the siege. No other Phoenician site has 

 remained undisturbed in this way. 



It has now been established by the excavations 

 here described that a defensive wall ran around 

 the whole island, with gates at the north and 

 south, and probably gates of less importance at 

 the east and west. In the course of the examina- 

 tion of the remains of this wall a cemetery was 

 discovered, which probably goes back to the days 

 of the earher settlers. At some time this cemetery 

 was abandoned and a necropolis established on 

 the adjacent mainland. Curiously enough, at the 

 same time the practice of incineration, which had 

 hitherto prevailed, was given up and inhumation 

 introduced. Xear-by another cemetery was dis- 

 covered which contained the remains of domestic 

 animals. The occurrence of the bones of young 

 children among the animal remains suggests that 

 it was a place for the deposit of sacrificial 

 victims. 



Greek influence, of which it is known there was 

 a considerable element in Motya, appears in the 

 form and character of a group of buildings, ex- 

 cavated on the south-east sloj>e of the island, in 

 which was found a mosaic pavement of natural 

 pebbles. The design of the pavement was an 

 animal subject — obviously Phoenician — surrounded 

 by a border of the Greek meander. 



Mr. Whitaker 's investigations practically 

 ceased with the outbreak of war. It is to be 

 hoped that their resumption will bring to light 

 results even more important than those recorded 

 in this book. 



