226 
NATORE 
| JuLy 6, 1899 
‘classified according to their provenance, and full de- 
‘scriptions and illustrations are given of a large number 
-of typical examples. 
Two other papers in the volume deserve special men- | 
tion, as they illustrate another side of the Museum’s 
-activities. In addition to their purely scientific work, 
Bic. 2.—Colossal Statue of the God Hadad, Gertchin, Northern Syria, 
‘special attention is now being given by its officers to 
the function of the Museum as an educational institution, 
-and to the popularisation of the collections. At the 
International Exposition held at Atalanta in 1895, 
special collections were organised and arranged for the 
ullustration of distinct subjects of study, and the de- 
.from ancient as well as modern times throw valuable 
light on the text of the Old Testament narratives; one 
of the plates, for instance, which is here reproduced, is 
intended to illustrate some of the wind instruments 
mentioned in the Bible (Fig. 1). Moreover, by means of 
a fine series of casts, reproduced by photography, the 
antiquities of Western Asia during the principal periods 
of Old Testament history are fully represented. Two 
_ good specimens of these are here given—a colossal statue 
of the god Hadad from Northern Syria (Fig. 2), and a 
bas-relief of a lion chase in the so-called “ Hittite” style 
(Fig. 3), which exhibits many interesting points of re- 
semblance to its Assyrian prototypes. The other paper 
deals with “ Chess and Playing Cards,” and consists of 
a catalogue of games and implements of divination, 
which were also exhibited at Atalanta. This collection 
was formed by the Museum in collaboration with the 
University of Pennsylvania, and it is here described by 
Mr. Stewart Culin, the director of the Museum of 
Archeology and Paleontology in that University. We 
have not done more than indicate the varied nature of 
the contents of this report, but sufficient has been said 
to show that the study of science and archeology in the 
United States is receiving valuable encouragement from 
the Government, and that the system and methods there 
adopted compare very favourably with those in many 
European museums. 
| AN IMPROVED LIQUID INTERRUPTER FOR 
INDUCTION COILS. 4 
aye following is a description of an improved form of 
Wehnelt-Caldwell interrupter for induction coils, 
| devised by the writer in conjunction with Mr. J. C. M. 
Stanton and Mr. H. Tyson Wolff. : 
The two electrodes of sheet lead c and D dip into 
dilute sulphuric acid, contained in the glass vessel A. 
The electrodes are separated by a hollow glass or porce- 
lain cylinder B, which surrounds the electrode c. This 
cylinder is closed at the bottom with the exception of a 
circular aperture E, about three or four millimetres in 
diameter. Through this aperture projects the small end 
of the conical glass or porcelain valve Fr, which by means 
of the screwed carrier tube H and the milled nut G, can 
be raised or lowered so as to open or close the aperture 
to any desired extent. As when the apparatus is at work 
scriptions that were published at the time are here re- | 
printed as a record of the collections that were shown. 
Of these papers, that on “Biblical Antiquities” is 
written by Dr. Cyrus Adler and Dr. Cassanowitz, who 
describe a number of exhibits illustrating the geology, 
flora and fauna of Palestine, while other exhibits dating 
NO. 1549, VOL. 60] 
the liquid is found to rise in the cylinder B, the latter is 
provided with an overflow at J. 
The interruptions take place in the valve aperture, and 
appear to be due to the formation of gas or steam 
therein. The extent to which the valve is open or shut 
determines the amount of current passed, and the 
