268 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Jah. 27, 1882. 



tlu-y woulil not serve of themselves to make observations 

 easy. The oliserver ha.s to ho set in tlie middle of the 

 gallery (at whatever jjoiiit of its length he may Ije), and 

 he ought to he comfortably seated. 1 think, if 1 were 

 planning for his comfort (which means fitness to make 

 good observations), I should liave seats set across from 

 rauip to ramp. They must be mo\able, of course. And if 

 there were not sometiiing along the ramps' upper Surface 

 to liold them, tlii-y would slide down, carrying the 

 observer most uncomfortably with them. 1 should, therefore, 

 have holes cut out along the tops of the ramps at convenient 

 distances ; the holes on one side being exactly opposite 

 those on the other. A set of cross benches should then be 

 made, with projections corresponding to these holes. Then 

 a l)ench could i)e set wherever it was wanted, or several at 

 a time, so that different observers miglit watch the same 

 transit across different parts of the field of \-iew, as along 

 P\> I'iy <7i) <{%> *"d r,, r.,. For some observations, indeed, 

 such holes would .serve yet another purpose. By means of 

 them, screens could be set up by which to diminish the 

 field of view and make the observations more e.xact. Or 

 on such screens, images of the sun (.showing the sun spots, 

 be it remarked) could be thrown through a small opening 

 on a screen, covering for the time the mouth of the gallery. 

 For such ob.servations the holes would be convenient, for 

 the seats they would be al).solutely essential. 



Now no traces of the seats themselves, with their pro- 

 jections, cushions, etc., itc, have been found or were likely 

 to be found. I!ut holes in the lamps are there still ; 

 twenty-eight of them there were originally in each ramp, 

 though now only twenty-six remain, owing to the destruc- 

 tion of a ramp-stone. They are situated just as they 

 should be to suhserve the purposes I have mentioned — that 

 is, at erjual distances (of about 5.J feet), and each hole on 

 the east side of the gallery is exactly opposite the corre- 

 sponding hole on the left side. 



THE TRUE STORY OF THE MOON.* 



GALILEO oo(i Kepler, Huygheii.s and Hevelius, Ca-ssini, the 

 Uerscliels, ihh! h liost of other .i.stronoincrs haro tried in 

 vain to interjirot ruifjlit the telescopic aspuct of the moon, dming 

 a period of .iliout 270 years. Tired at length of being " uno 

 fomme inconiprise," the moon obtruded herself, Mr. Jones tells us, 

 on his eight, " in so prominent a manner that she seemed to say, 

 ' take a look at mi.;' and the night was so favourable, that" Mr. 

 Jones " felt bound to accept the invitation." " Hound went the 

 tube, down wont the eyo, aiul instantly I tolescopically gazed for 

 the first time upon a scene of indescribable beauty; gazed and 

 wondered, wondered and gazed, and for a time could do 

 no other." Strange to say, the true meaning of the 

 lunar scenery did not at onoe present itself to Mr. 

 Jones's lively imagination. A second evening he observed her, 

 and still he " felt that the lunar rings ami plain walls were 

 monnments of a departed greatness." But on the third occasion 

 when the opportunity of obserWng the moon was embraced, "the 

 moon was young, in crescent phase, and the structtu-nl character of 

 the rings about the terminator came out beautifully. And now, O, 

 volcanic theory, as commonly understood, thou art doomed. . . . 

 Yes, there can be no mistake, the ring mountains of the moon are the 

 atolla (t/ an avricvl ocean mhieh once overspread that luminarij, and 

 the lunar walls, both of the ring mountains and walled plains, are 

 organic Rtnicturos, strictly analogous with the coral reefs of the 

 terrestrial oceans, while the whole aspect of the lunar structures 

 indicates that they an- principally of similar carbonate of lime 

 toxtnre." 



Mr. Jones is no! only ipiick in fonning novel views, but expects 

 his readers to be ecpmlly quick in grasping them. He gives half a 

 page more to a comparison between the lunar features and those 

 described in Darwin's and Dana's books on Coral Reefs and Coral 



• " First Stops to Selenography." 

 & Co., Dundee.) 



By John Jones. (John Leng 



Islands, and, forthwith, " thinks that enough has boon said to 

 cniiblo the reailor to (Ind out for himself that the crnterolog)- of the 

 moon, and the theory which regnnls the lunar walls and reefs ag 

 direct produets of eruption, is a pure myth." 



Probably ifr have said enough to enable the reader to find out 

 for himself that Mr. Jones's theory is pure nonsense. There is not 

 the slightest resemblance between the lunar craters and coral- 

 line structures, whereas there is the closest possible resemblance 

 between the lunar features — craters, mountain ranges, high table- 

 lands, and level plains — and those terrestrial features which rcsuK 

 from subterranean forces, or what Humboldt calls the reaction of 

 the cru.'it against the interior. Mr. Jones says there are »omo 

 astronomers who h.ave ventured to doubt tho volcanic cbaractor of 

 the lunar asperities, citing, as an instance, tho Editor of Ksow- 

 LKDGB. lie is as much mistaken in this as in his coralline theory 

 (ho could hardly bo more). The remarks of tho Kditor, that some 

 of the regions in which small craters are exceedingly nnmerotis 

 look as though they bore the marks of former meteoric showers, or, 

 as Professor Xewcomb puts it, " that the figurrs of these inequali- 

 ties can be closely imitated by throwing pebbles upon the surface 

 of some smooth plastic mass," bears no such interpretation. 

 Neither Mr. Proctor nor Professor Ncwcomb has tho least doubt 

 that the volcanic theory of the lunar surface features is essentially 

 true. 



BABYLONIAN DISCOVERIES. 



IjlOR some time past rumours have been current of great dis- 

 Jj covcrios by an agent of tho French Government in the 

 Mesopotamian valley, and in the latter part of last year they took 

 definite shape ; the antiquities excavated were announced to be on 

 their way to the Louvre, and the successful investigator proved to 

 be M. do Sarzec, French Consul at Bussorah. The cases have 

 recently been unpacked, and their contents so far fulfil the ex- 

 pectations created, that M. Oppert, at the "Academy des Inscrip- 

 tions," has pronounced them to bo the most priceless treasures of 

 ancient art contributed to Europe since the great explorations of 

 Layard and Botta. 



in the Gazette des Beauv Arts, a preliminary account of some of 

 tho statues which form part of the " find " is given by M. Menant, 

 an .\ssyriologist, accompanied by some exceedingly beautiful helio- 

 typcs of the objects themselves. This, and several other short 

 notices in the French press, furnish these intensely interesting 

 facts. The anticjuities, which all come from one magnificent 

 palace, are of all kinds — sculptured slabs, bas-reliefs, statues, frag- 

 ments of torra-cotta, and numerous inscribed bricks, some of them 

 with more than one hundred lines of cuneiform Avriting. Great 

 honour is due to M. de Sarzec for rescuing these valuable remains, 

 for they were buried beneath a part of Mesopotamia, close to the 

 junction of its two great rivers, deep dowi> in alluvial deposits, and 

 their recovery required much greater exertions than that of relics 

 in Assyria. 



Had this collection only contained further additions to the fast- 

 growing remains of Babylonia and Assyria, it would have been 

 received with delight by archaeologists, but it fortunately presents 

 us vestiges of another primitive people of Chaldea, tho riches and 

 importance of whom are probably at present quite unappreciated. 

 Tho inscriptions (any full interpretation of which is as yet nn- 

 attempted) are in very archaic forms of cuneiform characters, and 

 embody a dialect quite distinct from the Semitic Assyrian, but 

 whether closely allied to, or identical with, the so-called Accadian, 

 cannot be pronounced from the fragments published. 



Two statues of diorite, of which admirable facsimiles are given, 

 so far from being inferior precursors of Assyrian sculptures, are, if 

 anything, superior to the work of that people which they certainly 

 ])recedeil, proving a far advanced stage of art for the nation by 

 whom they are executed. One is of a person seated, the other an 

 upright figure, both, unfortunately, decapitated, ,a condition whichj 

 seems to be that of all the statues exhumed. Each figure is clothed 

 in a long robe reaching to the ankles, but the correct outline of the 

 body is distinctly visible below the folds of raiment, as in the beat 

 periods of sculpture, and the dolicato arrangement of the drapery 

 is most pleasing. The feet, which are quite naked, are carefully 

 executed. The whole lower front of the dress of the seated statue 

 is covered with cuneiform writing of very old type, apparently 

 closely allied to tho extremely ancient texts, from wliich tho Bev. 

 W. Houghton proves the hieroglyphical origin of the ctmeiform 

 characters. 



This seated figure appears to be that of an architect, for, on his 

 lap, is a tablet inscribed with a plan of a building, and some 

 instrument connected with architecture. Tho erect figure, if any- 

 thing more correctly carved, has a few lines of writing on tho right 

 front ef tin robe and the right arm. The attitude of the arms is in 



