l62 



NATURE 



\jfune 12, 1879 



could not possibly be identical — is now exploded and can never be 

 revived again. Both Professor Virchow and Mr. Burnouf have 

 accepted Cr.Schliemann's theorythat the immense bed of the small 

 and insignificant rivulet Kalifatli-Asmak, which has no running 

 water except during the inundations in winter — that this river- 

 bed, which has in many places a breadth of from 660 ft. to 825 ft. 

 — is identical with the ancient bed of the Scamander. 



Dr. Schliemann then describes the results of his excavations 

 on the gigantic tumuli called Udjek-Tepe and Besika-Tepe. He 

 now inclines more and more to the conviction that these and 

 other Immense Trojan tumuli were no real tombs, but mere me- 

 morials erected in commemoration of some great event. ' ' They 

 certainly existed at the time of Homer, who mentions four of 

 them (those of Batieia, ^syetes, IIus, and Achilles) as real 

 tombs, no doubt because, in his time, similar conical tumuli 

 were erected at Sardis and elsewhere on the Asiatic coast over 

 the ashes of great men." 



In continuing his excavations at Troy, Dr. Schliemann found 

 two other treasures of Trojan gold jewellery, and Ilium, he states, 

 appears now exhausted. Dr. Virchow and M. Burnouf are 

 astonished at the monstrous quantity of bricks, which solely 

 occur in the burnt city. The three explorers are convinced that 

 these bricks must have been slightly burnt in an oven before 

 being used for building. 



Mr. Sayce, in a letter in yesterday's Times, states that the 

 markings on a fragment of pottery, a facsimile of which was 

 sent him by Dr. Schliemann, are rude attempts to imitate cunei- 

 form characters on the part of a potter who was unacquainted 

 with the meaning of the latter. " As is well known, the specimens 

 of Phoenician art found in the Mediterranean frequently bear 

 rude representations of Egyptian hieroglyphics figured for the 

 sake of ornament, and grouped in such a way as to show that 

 the artist had not the faintest idea of their signification. If my 

 view of the markings on the piece of pottery discovered by Dr. 

 Schliemann is correct, it becomes certain that some kind of 

 prehistoric intercourse was carried on between the Troad and 

 the populations who employed the cuneiform system of writing, 

 and since the remains found at Hissarlik show little or no trace 

 of Assyrian or Phoenician influence, the intercourse must be 

 assigned to the older Babylonian period. Five years ago I 

 suggested that some of the designs on the terracotta disks from 

 Hissarlik might be rude imitations of designs on archaic Baby- 

 lonian cylinders. I may add that Mr. Newton, to whom I 

 showed \iie facsimile sent me by Dr. Schliemann, thought my 

 view of it very possibly right." 



In connection with the above the Times states that a recent 

 number of the Norddeuische Ztitung stated that the Chinese 

 Ambassador at Berlin, Li Fangpao, well known in his own 

 coimtry as a great scholar, has lately read as Chinese the 

 inscription on a vase found by Dr. Schliemann in the lowest 

 stratum of his excavations at Hissarlik, and figured on p. 50 of 

 the introduction to his " Troy and Its Remains." Li Fangpao 

 is quite confident that the unknown characters, which recur again 

 and again on the Trojan antiquities, especially on the terra-cotta 

 whorls, are those of his native tongue, and gives as the purport 

 of the inscription, that about B.C. 1200, three pieces of linen 

 gauze were packed in the vase for inspection. 



With reference to this Mr. Sayce states that the authority of the 

 Chinese ambassador, high as it is, -will never persuade any one 

 acquainted with the characters of the Cypriote syllabary that the 

 characters found on some of the objects from Hissarlik are Chinese. 

 As was stated in a Times leader, they belong, Mr. Sayce repeats, 

 to the curious syllabary which seems to have been used on the 

 coasts of Asia Minor and in the islands of the ^gean before the 

 introduction of the simpler Phoenician alphabet, and which con- 

 tinued to be employed in conservative Cyprus down to a late date. 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR 

 PROTUBERANCES 



■^ITE take the following from a communication made by Herr 

 ' ' Sporer to the Berlin Academy on November 7 : — 



" Simultaneously with the minimum of sun-spots the protuber- 

 ances have been also insignificant hitherto, but since the middle of 

 this year (1878), while the spot minimum continues to last even far 

 beyond expectation, important protuberances have yet appeared, 

 and among them some from which important deductions may be 

 drawn with tolerable certainty. 



" According to my observations of the year 1871 I had distin- 

 guished two classes of protuberances, viz., the ordinary hydrogen 



protuberances, and the flame-like protuberances which are re- 

 markable on account of their intensity and pointed forms. In 

 the latter ones, apart from the H lines and D3, the magnesium 

 lines may be easily recognised even with the smaller 5-inch tele- 

 scope, which was then and is now at my disposal ; other lines 

 are less easily recognised. When Secchi agreed with me in this 

 division of protuberances he chose the name of ' metallic ' ones 

 for the second kind, because the lines of metallic elements 

 principally appear in them, apart from the H lines and D3. 



" No doubt we may suppose that many of the ordinary hydrogen 

 protuberances originate through storms forcing up the hydrogen 

 sea in gigantic -whirls and waves, and I have also succeeded in 

 finding eiamples confirming this, as the changes observed took 

 place entirely after the manner corresponding to our water- 

 spouts ; this, however, does not exclude that many of the 

 hydrogen protuberances originate through eruptions from the 

 interior of the sun's body. We are still more inclined to look 

 upon the flame-like protuberances as eruption products. I had 

 considered also whether for the explanation of these, electricity 

 might not be take.i into account, particularly since then the 

 quick shooting up and the quick change of the formations would 

 not have to be explained merely by the motion of masses, and 

 the over-great velocity would not be so surprising. Indeed, 

 observed zigzag lines of communication . between neighbouring 

 flame-like protuberances had suggested the thought of electric 

 discharges, 



' ' The thought that bright protuberances do not start from the 

 surface, nor yet from the hydrogen envelope, but rather that 

 they are formed only at a certain height, therefore that perhaps 

 at the low temperature existing at greater heights, chemical 

 combinations take place, and that only by these the intense 

 flaring up is produced — this thought may doubtless not be 

 designated as a new one, but no forms of protuberances have 

 been published yet which would decidedly favour this view." 



Herr Sporer then quotes from numerous Italian publica- 

 tions a considerable number of protuberances which appeared 

 perfectly detached from the surface, and says he could consider- 

 ably augment these examples from his own observations. But 

 the objection may be made to these cases that the formations 

 described are only tlie remains of larger ones which previously 

 had their origin at the sun's surface. This objection is perfectly 

 justified since observations have proved often enough that 

 brightly luminous protuberances became partly obscured, and 

 particularly that the foot of a protuberance disappeared while 

 the upper part remained visible. 



It is necessary therefore to adduce such examples where the 

 proof may be furnished with certainty that a luminous formation 

 which is observed detached from the surface, did not originate 

 at the sun's surface. Now Herr Sporer together with Herr 

 Kempf has observed protuljerances of this nature in July and 

 August last year ; he deferred their publication in the hope 

 of being able to obtain more examples ; this hope was annihi- 

 lated for the present through the beginning of the unfavourable 

 season, and hence the observations which had been made were 

 made known. There were altogether three observations of this 

 kind, which Herr Sporer describes and represents by illustrations ; 

 here we must confine ourselves to reproduce the one case which 

 was the most favourable one to his theory, and which was 

 observed on July 22 from 5h. 30m. until 6h. 50m. 



The protuberance appeared in lat. 35° - 40° south, and attained 

 a height of 46", or 34,000 kilometres. First of all it was seen 

 in one point in the shape of an eruption, which, by the action 

 of storms, was partly deviated to the left. In this direction an 

 arc appeared, which expanded further to the left (possilily always 

 in consequence of storms), until later on it touched the sun's 

 surface, and thus spanned a dark segment. Intensely bright 

 rays were remarkable about 5h. 47m. when they first appeared, 

 and which proceeded from the highest part of the arc segment 

 in a vertical direction, and quite detached from the solar surface. 

 The direction of the rays did not permit the idea that they might 

 have been torn off" from the protuberance on the right by tlie 

 action of storms perhaps, or otherwise. Then a larger mass 

 was formed by these rays, whereupon extremely quick and 

 varied changes took place, the exact observation of which was 

 impossible, since the slit of the spectroscope could not be w idened 

 and therefore only a part of the protuberances could be ob- 

 served at a time. At 6h. 12m. the complete arc was seen, 

 the denser part over the middle had become a little looser, but 

 glistening points were again present, standing perpendicular upon 

 the arc ; the formation had assumed larger dimensions at 6h. 



