December i6, 1920] 



NATURE 



517 



the n«ter-pole and the ded-column, both of which 

 were originally coniferous tree-trunks, must have been 

 of Syrian origin. The traditional home of Isis and 

 Osiris was between Byblos and Damascus, and there 

 the vine and wheat and barley grew wild. The 

 Egyptian house was obviously derived from a wood- 

 built dwelling, and both Kgypt and Babylon are known 

 to have drawn their timber from the Lebanon area. 



Mr. R. Campbell Thompson, in a paper on " Pre- 

 historic Dwellers in Mesopotamia," maintained that 

 a proto-Hamitic section of the Mediterranean race 

 which migrated at an early time into Arabia was 

 the forerunner of the Semitic peoples. 



-Mr. S. Casson described the recent excavations at 

 Mycenae of the British School of .\rchaeolog)' at Athens, 

 which had been carried out in the light of a reconsidera- 

 tion of Schliemann's discoveries. The Grave Circle, 

 as well as a stratified platform of earth outside the 

 .Acropolis, ■ the site of a part of Mycenie in the period 

 2000-1500 B.C., showe<l traces of a Bronze-age civilisa- 

 tion, and even of Neolithic remains. It seemed 

 certain that there was a continuous mainland civilisa- 

 tion stretching back at least to the fx'ginning of the 

 second millennium B.C. In the replanning of Mycenae 

 by the later kings, such as .Atreus, by whom the Lion 

 Gate and the .\cropolis wall were built, the burial- 

 ground of their forerunners was enclosed by the 

 Grave Circle. This was used as an ossuary, outlying 

 graves being cleared and their contents placed within 

 the circle. 



Mr. Joseph S. S. Whitaker's paper on " Recent 

 .Anthropological Research at Motya " described the 

 remains brought to light on the Island of San Pan- 

 taleo, on the north-west coast of Sicily, which is un- 

 doubtedly the site of the ancient Phoenician colony 

 of Motya, and, owing to its complete and sudden 

 overthrow in 397 B.C., probably shows more remains 

 of an old Phoenician town than any other known site. 

 Excavation has revealed that the island was originallv 

 fortified by a wall all round, and the north and south 

 gatcwavs have been discovered. The north gate con- 

 «ists oi an outer gatew.ny formed of two apertures, 

 recalling the Athenian Dipylon Gate, and a second, 

 twenty-two metres behind it, of six apertures in pairs. 

 In a cemetery — the first to be discovered — the prevail- 

 in" method of disposal of the dead was incineration, 

 although in the later cemetery on the adjacent main- 

 land inhumation was chiefly practised. One burial- 

 place belonging to the last period contained only the 

 remains of animals, mostly ruminants, in single urns. 

 An interesting mosaic pavement showed a combina- 

 tion of Phoenician picture-panels and Greek decorative 

 , borders. 



.Signor G. Bagnani dealt with the results of recent 

 archaeological investigations in Rome, some of which 

 had not hitherto been described, including the Roman 

 basilica at Porta Mnggiore, the tomb on the Via 

 Ostiense, and the tombs found under the Church of 

 San Sebastiano. 



Dr. T. .Ashby, in a joint communication by himself 

 and Mr. Robert Gardner, described further observa- 

 tions of the Roman roads of Central and Southern 

 Italy, in particular of the Via Valeria, through the 

 .Abruzzi, the Via I..atina, and th<! Via Cassia, through 

 Etruria. An attempt to trace the Via Herculia 

 between Vcnusia and Potentia was unsuccessful. 

 -Mr. G. H. Garfitt's paper on a recent discovery of 

 ; rock sculptures near a stone circle in Derbyshire 

 \ described cup- and ring-mnrkings and two sculptured 

 f stones found near the circle on Eyam Moor. On the 

 ! latter are represented a drvr-horn pick and a plough. 

 I \ comparison with dolmenic sculptures in Brittnnv 

 <:iiL'£!ests nn association with the /Egean goddess of 

 ilify, whose cult may thus have extended to Derby. 

 re. Mr. MarRitchie brought forward evidence to 

 NO. 2668, VOL. 106] 



show that early references to Greenland must be 

 taken to denote some European country, probably the 

 area between West Sweden and the Urals, and indi- 

 cated the bearing of this conclusion on European 

 ethnology. Mr. Kidner described certain round 

 barrows in the New Forest which do not conform to 

 the three standard types ; and Mr. Willoughby Gardner 

 described his recent excavations in the Dinorben hill- 

 fort near Abergele, which had fully confirmed previous 

 conclusions as to the character and construction of 

 the fort. 



.■\n afternoon session was devoted to an expedition 

 to the site of the Roman city of Venta Silurum at 

 Caerwent under the guiU.ince of Dr. T. .Ashbv, who 

 was in charge of the excavations carried out with the 

 assistance of the .Association on that site some years 

 ago. .As a preliminary to the excursion Dr. .Ashby 

 also gave the Section an account of the results of 

 these ext;avations. E. N. F. 



A 



Smoke Abatement and Housing: Schemes. 



SUPPLE.VIENT to the Lancet of November 20 

 contains the annual report of the Advisory 

 Council on .Atmospheric Pollution for the year 

 .April, igitj-.April, 1920. The number of stations 

 Sending in full returns is nineteen, of which fifteen 

 are divided between London and Glasgow, the 

 other four being Malvern, Rothamsted, Southport, 

 and St. Helens. 



It will be seen that the number for the whole 

 country is very limited, and some of the dirtiest 

 industrial centres, where a comparison of the condi- 

 tions of the atmosphere from year to year might be 

 of .some advantage to the local authorities, are 

 entirely unrepresented. This arises, no doubt, partly 

 from^ ^ the complete indifference shown in many 

 localities to the smoke nuisance, and partlv from the 

 troublesome and tedious analytical method of esti- 

 mating atmospheric impurities. Something in the 

 way of an automatic recorder or an apparatus not 

 requiring much supervision would probably induce 

 many places which at present send in no returns to 

 adopt the system. 



It should be pointed out that the Council fully 

 recognises this desideratum, and the report shows 

 that a considerable amount of research has already 

 been carried out with no little success in simplifying 

 the apparatus for recording both solid and acid im- 

 purities. That the prevalence of the latter impurity 

 is the main factor in the disintegration of the stone- 

 work of many of our ancient monuments has been 

 proved beyond question, and some check on the 

 quantity is a matter of great importance. 



It is to be presumed that it is no part of the 

 Council's business to advance the cause of smoke 

 abatement apart from the registration of statistics, 

 yet it seems to us that a systematic propaganda 

 against smoke pollution might form a useful adjunct 

 to Its other activities. 



Under the new housing schemes emanating from 

 the Ministry of Health an opportunity is offered for 

 the erection of houses in such a way as to diminish 

 considerably the output of smoke, and, in fact, under 

 the auspices of the Ministry a Committee was sum- 

 mone<l to inquire into and report on the subject. 

 The report of this Committee was issued some months 

 ago, but it appears from a statement made in the 

 House of Lords by I^rd Newton, chairman of the 

 Committee, that neither the Department for which it 

 was prepared, nor the local authorities for the benefit 

 of which it was issued, appear to have paid any 

 attention to its practical application. 



We would suggest, therefore, that the variout 



