Dec. 28, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



393 



the series a very fine specimen of this class of tablets relat- 

 ing to the appearance of a comet, of which we can probaVjly 

 tix the date, and giving the omens which the astronomers 

 deduced from it. This tablet is the copy of an ancient 

 Babylonian document, and was preserved in the library of 

 Assurbanipal (b.c. 668), at Nineveh (W. A. I., Vol. III., 

 pi. 52, No. 1 ). The translation I propose is as follows : — 



SI) The star rises, its rays are bright like the clay. 

 2) With its rays like a creeping thing, a scorpion, a tail it forms. 



(3) The observation to the sight was favourable, pleasing the 



lord of this house, who in ail the land was established. 



(4) At that time (when as yet) a lord there was not in all the land. 



(5) Rebellion, defection, sin, there was. A strong one exalts 



himself 



(6) who comes forth and spreads ont. The 



(7) Lord of this house, and this king in his right is established — 



and peace and obedience in the land is. 



(8) These things which from the star (are seen) — 



(9) The great star from the Northern* orbit (line) 



(10) To the Southern orbit 



(11) In its extent, like a creeping thing a scorpion a tail makes, 



(12) Tiirning upward. In its position at night 



(13) the house of Bel it fills. 



(14) These are according to the words of the tablet, 



(15) When Nebuchadnezzar the king to the land of Elam went. 



As this tablet was found in the library of Assurbanipal, 

 it stands to reason that this Nebuchadnezzar cannot be the 

 great Babylonian king, who did not rule until half a 

 century later. We have, however, in the canonical lists of 

 Babylonian kings and in the early historical records two 

 kings of this name mentioned. One of these monarchs, 

 called " Nebuchadnezzar the son of Bazi," ruled at a very 

 remote period. There was, however, a second king of this 

 name, who was the contemporary of Assur-ris-ilim and 

 Tiglath Palieser I. in the twelfth century before the 

 Christian era. This latter is the monarch to whom 

 the omen-tablet refers, and from an inscription recently 

 discovered by Mr. Rassam at Aboo Hubba we may cer- 

 tainly identify the king and possibly fi.x the date of the 

 comet. From the tablet of Synchronous History (W. A. I. 

 II., pi. 65, col. 1) we learn that in the last years of Assur- 

 ris-ilim this monarch invaded Assyria, but, owing to the 

 burning of his camp, he had to retreat. Soon after this 

 the Assyrian king invaded Babylonia and defeated Nebu- 

 chadnezzar, capturing his tent furniture and the banner of 

 his army. We may, therefore, place this even in about 

 B.C. 1120. Among the tablets in the British Museum is 

 the As.syrian copy of an inscription of this king's, recording 

 his invasion of the land of Elam, which begins : " When 

 Nebuchadnezzar, the glorious Prince, the beloved offspring 

 of Babylon, exercised royalty " ; and relates in an unfortu- 

 nately fragmentary way the details of this king's invasion 

 of Elam. In the great treasure-room or record-chamber 

 at Abbo Hublsa — the ancient Sepharvaim — Mr. Rassam 

 found the Babylonian original of this inscription graven on 

 a fine white marble slab, and accompanied by a series of 

 curious mythological sculptures. The king's reign ended in 

 B.C. 1 120, or a few years later, and was, according to a small 

 fragment, at least thirty-two years in length. The Elaniite. 

 campaign took place in all probability in li.c. 1128, and 

 was preceded by the omen of the comet. Upon this stone 

 we have the king represented seated on his throne, 

 and before him marches a curious liguro of a Scor- 

 pio-Sagittarius. The body in the upper part is that 

 of a man wearing the royal head-dress and drawing a 

 bow to its fullest extent. The lower part is the body of 

 a scorpion with elevated tail, and the legs are those of an 

 eagle-gryphon. In the text the king assumes titles such 

 as enable us to identify him with the monarch referred 



* The Akkadian Nortli was N.W., South, and S.E. 



to in the omen-tablet. "The legal King, establisher 

 of ju.stice," "the heroic warrior," "the bearer of the 

 strong bow," " the benefactor of men," " the protector 

 of landmarks." Moreover, as he makes no mention 

 of his father, we may assume he was a usurper, and, there- 

 fore, "the strong one who exalted himself." From the 

 tablet we learn that the expedition took place in the 

 middle of the month Tammuz (June and July). It will, 

 therefore, be interesting to see if we can identify any 

 comet which appeared at that time in the south-west part 

 of the hea,vens during the early part of July or the end 

 of June. Among the inscriptions which have arrived at 

 the Museum are a number of astronomical and meteoro- 

 logical omen-fragments, some of which are of the greatest 

 interest, about which I hope to send you notes on some 

 future occasion. W. St. Chad-Boscawek. 



THE POSSIBLE SUSPENSION OF OLD 

 AGE.* 



By W. 0. Dawson. 



IN bygone times those profound mystics and metaphysi- 

 cians, the Rosicrucians, and still earlier, the Alche- 

 mists, claimed to have discovered the Elixir of Life. 



They asserted that old age might be retarded, and life 

 considerably prolonged by means of an elixir, preventing, 

 or rather suspending, physical decay. The celebrated 

 English Rosicrucian, Dr. Flood, whose writings became 

 famous, is said himself to have attained the century. 

 Modern science has recently made more startling dis- 

 coveries than even those of which the Alchemists dreamed. 

 The possibility of prolonging life has throughout all ages 

 been deemed worthy of notice by great thinkers, amongst 

 whose numbers the illustrious Bacon and Hufeland 

 are enrolled. In the following article we shall endeavour 

 to furnish our readers with the latest scientific 

 knowledge relative to the possible suspension of old 

 age. Imprimis — old age is of two varieties — premature, 

 and that caused by the lapse of time. Premature age, as 

 engendered by various mental and physical excesses, comes 

 not within our present notice. The principal characteristics 

 of old age, as demonstrated by anatomical research, are a 

 deposition of fibrinous, gelatinous, and earthy deposits in the 

 system. Every organ in the body during old age is espe- 

 cially prone to these ossific depositions. These earthy 

 deposits have been found to consist principally of phosphate 

 and carbonate of lime, combined with other calcareous salts, 

 according to the researches of Dr. C. T. B. Williams, F.R.S. 

 "That man begins in a gelatinous and terminates in an 

 osseous (or bony) condition " has been truly observed by a 

 French physician. From the cradle to the grave a gradual 

 process of ossification is undoubtedly present ; but after 

 passing middle life, the ossific tendency becomes more 

 markedly developed, until it finally ushers in senile decrepi- 

 tude. These earthy deposits in the various organs during 

 old age materially interfere with the due performance of 

 their respective functions. 



Hence we find imperfect circulation in the aged, owing 

 to the heart becoming partially ossified, and the arteries 



* Wo give this article, by the author of " How to Prolong Life" 

 (Simpkin & Marshall), because .'of the interesting physiological 

 facts on which tho theory is based, and withont expressing any 

 0|)inion upon tho theory itself. We should be rather glad to hear 

 what Jlr. Dawson recommends as the best way of counteracting 

 tho effects which he attributes to the oxygen of the air. These 

 effects would disappear altogether if we were to cease breathing, 

 but that seems an inconvenient way of prolonging lite. 



