August 27, 1903] 



NATURE 



391 



The exhibition of objects of interest in connection j 

 with meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, and allied i 

 sciences has already been referred to in the columns 

 of Nature. Arrangements have been made with the 

 view of exhibiting the formation and physical pro- 

 perties of the remarkable vortex ring of smoke 

 produced by the discharge of a mortar of the same 

 lype as those which are extensively used in southern 

 Europe with the object of mitigating hailstorms. 



By way of illustration of the method adopted by the 

 Meteorological Council for dealing with telegraphic 

 weather reports, a weather chart for north-western 

 Europe, with remarks and forecasts for the British 

 Isles, will be prepared each morning during the meet- 

 ing on the receipt of telegraphic information at South- 

 port, and a limited number of lithographed copies will 

 be available in the reception room. 



THE OLDER CIVILISATION OF GREECE^ 



STUDENTS of the older civilisation of Greece, 

 which wq usually know as " Mycenagan," will 

 welcome the appearance of the eighth volume of the 

 British School at Athens Annual, which, we are glad 

 to say, this year is printed on much better paper 

 than formerly, and shows a great improvement both 



in editing and ar 

 rangement. The 

 volume contains 

 the chief results 

 of the excava- 

 tions which were 

 undertaken i n 

 Crete in 1902, 

 both by the 

 oflficers of the 

 British School it- 

 self and by the 

 Cretan Explora- 

 tion Fund, o f 

 which Mr. A. J. 

 Evans is the 

 prime mover. 

 More than a third 

 of the book is 

 occupied by an 

 elaborate paper 

 by Mr. Evans, 

 who continues his 

 annual descrip- 

 tion of the results 

 of his excavations 

 at Knossos ; this 

 is profusely illus- 

 trated by no less 



/6 



indefinitely on researches which would, in any other 

 country but England, be undertaken either by the 

 Government or by some wealthy academy. 



The most important objects described by Mr. Evans 

 are: — (i) A series of tablets of porcelain mosaic re- 

 presenting houses and towers, which are curiously 

 like children's dolls' houses, with a door in the middle 

 and the windows divided by mullions. (2) A series of 

 similar porcelain tablets with representations of 

 warriors and animals. (3) A set of terra-cotta models 

 of pillar-altars, with figures of doves perched upon 

 the top of them. (4) Fragments of ivory figures of 

 leaping youths, with the hair represented by bronze 

 spirals let into the ivory. (5) A small shrine discovered 

 in situ in the southern part of the palace. The shrine 

 and its contents have been carefully kept in their 

 original position, and a small house has been built 

 over them to protect them from the weather. The 

 contents consist of rude iconic figures of deities, and 

 a horned altar, which is somewhat Canaanitish in 

 type. These horned altars are familiar objects in 

 Cretan diggings, and they are usually described by 

 Mr. Evans as "horns of consecration." (6) Objects 

 inscribed in ink with Cretan hieroglyphics. These 

 are of great importance, for they show that the Cretans 

 employed the Egyptian means of writing as well as 

 the Mesopotamian ; they used both pen and ink as well 



tMklURlMEMTi tli MILL!t1tTH£l. 



I>ARK GREY GMUMD . U/ITH 



CRIMSON STRIPES S W/HDOW fRAM£6 



UPPER. WIHD0W3 OPEN RIGHT THROUCH 



LOWER MtlDOWS, SUNK, (V/TH <i CARLE T FILLING 



Fig. 1. — Porcelain Tablets in Form of Houses (slightly enlarged). 



SECT/ON 



ALL GRSy a WHITE. 



WINDOWS , SIJNf^, WITH iZARl£T FILLING 



than seventy-four reproductions 

 from photographs and line drawings, a map showing 

 tlie state of the excavations at the present time, 

 and two plates. Mr. Evans's paper is exceedingly 

 interesting reading, and his discoveries appear 

 to have been, as is usually the case, of first-class 

 importance; we earnestly hope that good fortune 

 may attend his labours in the future at Knossos 

 as it has done in the past ! It is, however, 

 obvious that, for extensive excavations of this kind, 

 which involve heavy and prolonged expenditure, in- 

 creased funds are necessary. It is well known that 

 Mr. Evans has contributed to the expenses of the work 

 from his own private means far more than was right, 

 but it is clear that no archaeologist, however enthusi- 

 astic he may be, can continue to spend his own money 



1 "Th« Annual of the British School at Athens" No. viii. Session 

 1901-1901. Pp. 348, 20 plates, and many illustrations. (London : Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd.) 



NO. 1765, VOL. 68] 



as clay tablet and stylus. (7) The sanitary arrange- 

 ments of the palace, which appear to have been extra- 

 ordinarily modern in character. The latrines were 

 water-closets, which were provided with carefully con- 

 structed drains made of terra-cotta pipes, the sections 

 of which remind one (see Fig. 7, p. 13) of a sanitary 

 engineer's catalogue of the present day. The 

 exigencies of space will not allow us to enumerate the 

 minor discoveries, and we refer the reader to the 

 Annual itself for a full account of them. 



Mr. Evans ends his paper with some speculations 

 as to the possible connection of Crete with Egypt as 

 early as the time of the fourth and fifth dynasties, 

 i.e. about B.C. 3700-B.c. 3200, and it is of interest to 

 note that Mr. H. R. Hall, of the British Museum, 

 publishes in this volume of the Annual a paper deal- 

 ing more or less with this very subject. Mr. Hall 

 traces the history of the connection between Egypt 

 and the peoples of the .<^gean, and the southern coast 



