DISCOVERY 



179 



inquire into his mysterious origin, and as the Oracle 

 intimated that he was of divine birth, he left, after 

 offering gifts of tremendous value to the temple. 



The Oracle was made in human figure, with a ram's 

 head, and communicated its decisions to the priests by 

 means of tremulous shocks, and movements of the 

 head and body. 



In the sixth century .\.D. the place began to lose 

 its position, but some twenty years ago a considerable 

 number of ruins still remained. These were blown up 

 by an officer sent out by the Khedive of Egj'pt in 

 order to provide stone to build his headquarters, and 

 all that now remains is part of a gateway and a few 

 huge blocks of sandstone, covered with Egyptian 

 hierogl^'phics. 



Immense treasures are believed by the inhabitants 

 to be concealed somewhere in the oasis, and there is 

 no doubt that gifts of tremendous value were brought 

 to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and probably con- 

 cealed somewhere b}- the priests. The sword and seal 

 of Jlohammed are also supposed to be concealed some- 

 where in the oasis. 



Rock Tombs 



Rock tombs abound in the oasis and in the hills in 

 the vicinity. Comparati\ely few of these have been 

 opened, and there is every possibility that interesting 

 finds might be made if excavations were carried out ; 

 but great difficulties in the shape of transport would 

 be encoimtered before work could be attempted. 

 Emerald-mines also exist in the neighbourhood, though 

 their position has long since been lost. From time to 

 time, however, Siwans discover stones in the ordinary 

 course of their agricultural labours. 



The " Desert Touring Club " returned from Siwa in 

 much the same way as it had set out. Throughout 

 the journey the cars ran splendidl}', the only breakdown 

 of any nature being the fracture of a low-tension wire, 

 which was repaired in about ten minutes. 



It is not a journey to be attempted lightly or by 

 those who value their own comfort, for by the time we 

 returned to Alexandria we were sore with sand and 

 sun, our faces were skinned, and hands, arms, and legs 

 blistered by the heat. Food, too, was necessarily of 

 the roughest nature, but nevertheless the journey was 

 one of the most interesting I have ever undertaken, 

 and was worth all the discomforts of the trip. 



REFERENXES FOR FURTHER READING 



G. Steindorff, Diirck die Libysche U'iisle zur A monsoase. (Biele- 

 feld und Leipzig, 1904.) 



A. Silva White. From Sphinx to Oracle. (London, 1907.) 



T. B. Hohler, Report on the Oasis of Siva. (Cairo, 1900.) 



Murray's Handbook for Egypt. 



Da!r>'mple Belgrave, Siwa, the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. 

 (London, 1923.) 



Suspended Animation — II 



By Sir Arthur E. Shipley, G.B.E., F.R.S. 



Mailer uj ChriiVs Ciilkgc, Cambridue 



Fish 



A \ERY considerable number of \-ertebrates (animals 

 with backbones), for instance the Carp, burj^ them- 

 selves in mud during the winter and live with life 

 in abeyance. This maj' possibly account for the great 

 age to which carp live, namely from fifty to one 

 hundred years or even longer. The\' are very prolific, 

 and like all long-lived fish they grow slowly, but 

 attain a considerable size, running up to 50 lb. The 

 carp is really a native of Persia and China, and was 

 introduced into Europe in the middle of the thirteenth 

 century. It was known in England towards the close 

 of the fifteenth century. 



At the very top of the fishes are animals which have 

 almost turned into Amphibia, for they have lungs as 

 well as giUs. One of these, Protopterus, lives in the 

 western half of Africa and spreads through the whole 

 of the tropical regions of that country. During the 

 dry season, which in this part of the world is in the 

 summer, these animals, living in shallow water which 

 periodically dries up, retire into the mud and make a 

 kind of clay ball which is lined and held together by a 

 secretion of slime. These clay balls, if dug up unbroken, 

 can be transported about the world, and if placed in 

 tepid water, the capsule gradually dissolves and the 

 fish emerges. Another two-lunged fish of the same 

 family, Lepidosiren, occurs in tropical America, and it 

 also is stated to make mud capsules. As these fish 

 mostly go into retreat during the summer, they are 

 said to testivate and not to hibernate. 



The Carp family, as has been already mentioned, 

 hibernates, but not completely, and the same is true 

 of certain eels. None of these fish fall into a complete 

 state of coma, as reptiles and mammals are apt to do, 

 but all their living functions are reduced and lowered. 

 They cease to feed, they cease to look for food, and 

 retire into holes and crannies where they are sheltered 

 from their enemies. In India certain fishes can 

 survive embedded in the mud for several years, and 

 ponds which have been dried up for some time become 

 rapidly crowded with fish when water again enters 

 them. 



Amphibia 



When we leave fishes and come to the Amphibia, 

 the frogs and the newts — animals which Vwe part of 

 their life in the water and part on land — we find that 

 they are creatures which can live for many months 

 without food. In the cooler parts of the world many 

 of these hibernate in the mud ; in hot climates they 



