112 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[March 1, 1887. 



devices for minute linear measurement. It is illustrated in 

 fig. 7. 



"Here the screw has 50 threads to the inch, and its 

 milled head is divided, as is seen in the sketch, into 



Fig. 7. 



20 parts, each of such parts quite obviously corresponding to 

 a motion end- ways of the screw of -J^ x -Jg, or xbW*^ °^ ^^ 

 inch. This is a very handy little affair, and is a good deal 

 in use among physicists, and a most portable and convenient 

 instrument for measuring minute lengths rapidly and 

 conveniently. 



MYTHS OF NIGHT AND WINTER. 



By " Stella Occidens." 



E have all he.ird the fairy tale of the " Sleep- 

 ing Beauty." At her birth all the fairies 

 but one were invited. Each gave the 

 princess some good gift. Bat the one who 

 was not invited predicted good fortune only 

 until the day the princess .should prick her 

 finger with a spindle. On this account all 

 spindles were kept out of her sight, locked up in a room, which 

 she was never allowed to enter. One day, as she was wander- 

 ing about the castle, she entered the forbidden room, and, 

 whilst playing with a spindle, pricked her finger. Instantly 

 the castle fell under the spell of enchantment. The princess 

 remained spell-bound at the spindle, and everyone in the 

 castle remained as they were at the moment when the acci- 

 dent befell. 



After several years had passed a dense forest hid the castle 

 from sight, and it seemed as though the Slee])ing Beauty 

 might sleep on for ever. But a prince, who had lost his way 

 whilst hunting in the forest, perceived the castle, and sought 

 to see who lived there. Entering, he found the Sleeping 

 Beauty, and as he kissed her the spell of enchantment was 

 broken. She instantly awoke from her long sleep, and all 

 was restored to life and animation in the castle. 



This story corresponds strangely with a German legend 

 of an ancient town on the Rhine, called Xanten. Here stood 

 the Castle of Nibelungen, and here Siegfried, the dragon- 

 slayer, was born. Tiring of the quiet life at home, he 

 wandered forth in search of adventures. Among other 

 exploits he destroyed a di-agon. He threw the carcass in the 

 fire, and a stream of fat running out, a little bird, sitting on 

 a tree above hitn, sang to him that if he bathed in the 

 dragon's blood he would become invulnerable. He did so, 

 but one spot on his shoulder was untouched by the oil owing 

 to a leaf which bad fiillen from the tree. Siegfried travelled 

 down the Pihine until a storm drove him on a rocky coast. 

 His horse brought him to a castle surrounded with flames, 

 through which the little bird told him to leap. After 

 passing through the flames, the little bird told Siegfried that 

 he would find a spell-bound maiden, under the power of a 

 magician, shut up in a castle. Siegfried entered the castle. 

 The stillness of death was on all the inmates. The servants 

 were in the position in which they had been at the moment 

 of enchantment : the cook before the fire, the butler pour- 

 ing out a glass of wine, the groom b3fore the horses, and the 

 very animals immovable before the mangers. At length 



Siegfried entered the hall, where he found a beautiful 

 maiden sleeping on a couch, and bound with brass bands. 

 Siegfried cut the bands, and, kissing the maiden's rosy lips, 

 instantly released her from the spell of enchantment which 

 had endured for a century. 



One would scarcely think of associating legends such as 

 these with nature myths, yet the wintry sleep of nature and 

 the sun sinking to rest in the caverns of night, have been 

 symholLsed by innumerable stories such as these, of spell- 

 bound maidens rescued b}' princely heroes. In the story of 

 the "Sleeping Beauty" the prince is Spring, who rescues 

 the spell-bound maiden (or the earth) from her deep slumber 

 beneath the icy mantle of winter. Locked in her ice-palace, 

 the Sleeping Beauty is restored only to life and activity 

 when the first bright rays of the Sun-god awaken her. Every 

 nation, indeed, has a myth corresponding with the above 

 legends, though diftering somewhat in the minor details. 



In the " Arabian Nights " we find the well-known story 

 of Codabad and his brothers, over whom his father placed 

 him in authority. Codabad at theii' urgent request allowed 

 them to go out for a day's hunting. When several daj's 

 had passed yet they did not return, the father made Codabad 

 go in search of his brothers, threatening the utmost weight 

 of his resentment if he did not bring them safely home 

 again. He disguised himself as a shepherd, and started on 

 his travels. He arrived at a plain of great extent, in the 

 middle of which he saw a palace of black marble (the 

 mansion of Night). Wlien he drew near, he saw a beautiful 

 lady at one of the windows, who entreated him not to enter. 

 " Alas, young man ! " she said, " escape as fast as possible 

 from this fatal place, or you will fall into the hands of the 

 monster who inhabits it. A cruel black giant (Night) who 

 feeds chiefly on human flesh, resides in this palace ; he 

 seizes on all persons whose ill-fortune conducts them to this 

 plain, and shuts them up in his dark dungeon, whence they 

 are never let out but to be devoured by him." 



Codabad asked the firir i)risoner if he could not save her 

 from such a fate, but whilst he was yet speaking the giant 

 approached them. He was a man of enormous size and 

 dreadful aspect, and wore such a large and mighty scimitar 

 that no one but himself could use it. However, Prince 

 Codabad drew his scimitar, and stood upon the defensive. 

 The giant would have passed liim unnoticed, telling him to 

 move out of his way, but Codabad struck the giant such a 

 blow on the knees, that he fell on the ground, yelling with 

 pain. He struck at Codabad with his great scimitar, but 

 the Prince aimed a blow at his right arm, and cut it off. 

 The giant fell, and the earth quaked beneath him. Codabad 

 completed the victory by chopping ofi' the giant's head, and 

 the fair lady was free. The rest of the prisoners in the 

 castle were released, and among them Codabad found his 

 forty-nine brothers. 



This story somewhat resembles the account of the Panis 

 in the Eig-Veda, who are genii of Night and Winter. They 

 steal the cattle of the Sun, and carry them toward a dark 

 cave in the east. Sarama, the creeping Dawn, is sent by 

 Indra to trj' and recover them. The cattle of the Sun are 

 the clouds or cloud-maidens. In the myth of the Argonauts 

 they appear as the Golden Fleece, carried to the east by 

 Phrixos and Helle, who are themselves Nibelungs, or 

 " Children of the Mist " (Nephle), and are there guarded by 

 a dragon. In all these myths a treasure is stolen by some 

 power of darkness, and recovered by a hero of light who 

 slays the demon. 



Among the Nibelungen lays, we find the famous myth 

 about Fafnir, who steals the Valkyrie Brynhild, and keeps 

 her shut up in a castle on the Glistening Heath, until some 

 champion shall be found powerful enough to rescue her. 

 The hero who saves her is Sigurd, the Northern Achilleus. 



