94 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[April 1, 1896. 



we give an illustration in Fig. 4. The scene represented 

 is a combat between Monelaos and Hector over the body 

 of Enphorbos, and the ligures are identified by the fact 

 that their names are inscribed over them in early Greek 

 letters. ]?y this means we are enabled to give the 

 approximate date of the vase as GOO ii.c. ; the lettering of 

 the inscription is that of the alphabet in use at Argos 

 at that time, but the style of the vase is undoubtedly 

 Rhodian, and we may suppose that it was painted in 

 Ehodes by an Argivo artist. The subject is derived from 

 an epic source, though it is not actually to be found in 

 Homer. 



Closely linked in many respects with the vases of Rhodian 

 origin is a very interesting class which was first made 

 known by the labours of the Egypt Exploration Fund at 

 Naucratis, in the Egyptian Delta, in 1883-6. Pottery, 

 mostly fragmentary, was found in layers of different dates, 

 reaching from about G50 or GOO li.c. down to about 400, 

 and including specimens of most classes of Greek vases 

 during those periods. Thi.s variety is no doubt due to the 

 cosmopolitan character of a town like Naucratis, where 

 devotees from all parts would make their votive offerings 



Fig. 4. — Plate (Pinax), with contest of Menelaos and Hector over 

 the body of Euphorbos. From Cameiros, Rhodes. 



to Apollo or Aphrodite. Most of the fragments that have 

 been found bear dedications, incised after the firing, to 

 either of those deities. 



Among all these classes of pottery one is marked off as 

 clearly a local fabric, and apparently dating from the 

 earliest days of the city (650-550 b.c.) ; it may therefore 

 be appropriately discussed here as belonging to the tran- 

 sition from period A to B. One fragment bears an inscrip- 

 tion " to Aphrodite in Naucratis," which was evidently 

 incised on the vase before, instead of after, the firing, 

 which is a proof of its manufacture on the spot. The 

 technique of this ware shows a great advance on that of 

 Ehodes ; the vases are covered with an opaque white 

 engobe or slip, on which the designs are painted in colours. 

 The same combination of outline and sUhouette drawing 

 which has been mentioned in connection with the Rhodian 



pottery obtains here also. New colours, however, are intro- 

 duced — no doubt under the influence of the Egyptian wall- 

 paintings, especially a light sienna and an umber red. 



It has been advanced by some authorities that the 

 practice of using a white ground for the decoration of 

 vases, in the form of a thick creamy engobe or slip, may 

 be traced to Naucratis for its origin ; but seeing how 

 universally this method of decoration has been employed 

 in all fabrics, not only of later date but in those contem- 

 poraneous with the Naucratis ware, the question cannot 

 as yet claim to be definitely decided. 



In the next article we shall hope to trace the history of 

 vase-painting during the sixth century b.c. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR APRIL 



By Hekbert Sadler, F.E.A.S. 



SUNSPOTS and faculse show a marked decrease in 

 number and size. Conveniently observable minima 

 of Algol occur at lib. 38m. p.m. on the 9th and 

 8h. 28m. P.M. on the 12th. 



Mercury is in superior conjunction with the Sun 

 on the 18th, and will not be visible till the last week in 

 April. On the 25th he sets at Hh. Gm. p.m., or 55m. after 

 the Sun, with a northern declination of 16° 48' and an 

 apparent diameter of 5\". On the 30th he sets at 8h. 47m. 

 after the Sun, with a northern declination of 20° 22', and 

 an apparent diameter of 5\". While visible he passes 

 from Aries into Taurus. 



Venus is too close to the Sun to be observed, and Mars 

 is, for the purposes of the amateur, invisible. 



Jupiter is an evening star, and is still a very fine object. 

 On the 1st he sets at 3h. 27m. a.m., with a northern 

 declination of 21° 2', and an apparent equatorial diameter 

 of 40*5". On the 10th he sets at 2h. 58m. a.m., with a 

 northern declination of 20° 57', and an apparent equatorial 

 diameter of 39'5". On the 20th he sets at 2h. 16m. a.m., 

 with a northern declination of 20° 48', and an apparent 

 equatorial diameter of 88-8". On the 30th he sets at 

 Ih. 39m. A.M., with a northern declination of 20° 35', and 

 an apparent equatorial diameter of 37^''. While visible 

 he describes a short direct path in Cancer. The following 

 phenomena of the satellites occur before midnight on the 

 days named, while the planet is more than 8° above and 

 the Sun 8° below the horizon ;— On the 1st a transit egress 

 of the shadow of the second satellite at 9h. 36m. p.m. ; a 

 transit ingress of the first satellite at lOh. 31m. p.m., and 

 of its shadow at lib. 45m. p.m. On the 2nd an occulta- 

 tion disappearance of the first satellite at 7h. 41m. p.m., 

 an occultation disappearance of the third satellite at 

 llh. 6m. P.M., an eclipse reappearance of the first satellite 

 at llh. 13m. 14s. p.m. On the 3rd a transit egress of the 

 shadow of the first satellite at 8h. 34m. p.m. On the 4th 

 a transit ingress of the fom'th satellite at lOh. 17m. p.m. 

 On the 6th a transit egress of the shadow of the third 

 satellite at 9h. 62m. p.m. On the 8th a transit ingress of 

 the shadow of the second satellite at 9h. 17m. p.m., and a 

 transit egress of the satellite itself at 9h. 48m. p.m. On 

 the 9th an occultation disappearance of the first satellite 

 at 9h. 85m. p.m. On the 10th a transit ingress of the 

 shadow of the first satelUte at 8h. 8m. p.m., a transit egress 

 of the satellite itself at 9h. 12m. p.m., and of its shadow at 

 lOh. 28m. p.m. On the 13th an ecUpse disappearance of 

 the fourth satelhte at 7h. 56m. 58s. p.m., a transit egress of 

 the third satellite at 8h. 39m. p.m., a transit ingress of the 

 shadow of the third satelUte at lOh. 10m. p.m. On the 15th 

 a transit ingress of the second satellite at 9h. 28m. p.m., 



