~~ - > 
RCH 17, 1923] 
















po is fitting that some reference should be made 
n these columns to the fact that it was just fifty 
ars ago that Mr. Edward Clodd, the veteran 
jientific thinker, happily still with us, published 
his first book, ‘‘ The Childhood of the World.” In 
0, at the advanced age of eighty, he published 
“Magic in Names.’’ In the period which elapsed 
yveen the appearance of these two books, Mr. 
Clodd devoted the leisure of a busy life of affairs 
9 scientific research in branches of study connected 
the physical and mental evolution of man. The 
ts were embodied in a number of volumes dealing 
with various aspects of this central problem, of 
hich the principal are: ‘‘ The Childhood of Religion,” 
(875; ‘Myths and Dreams,” 1885; ‘“ The Story of 
Sreation,’’ 1888; ‘‘ The Story of Primitive Man,” 
i895; “‘A Primer of Evolution,’’ 1895; ‘‘ Tom 
it Tot,’’ 1898, perhaps his best known and most 
mduring work ; ‘‘ The Story of the Alphabet,” 1900 ; 
md ‘‘ Animism,” in 1906. In addition he produced 
nonographs on his friends and associates—Bates, 
f Amazon fame, Grant Allen (1900), Huxley (1902), 
nd a volume of ‘‘ Memories’ published in 1916. 
fr. Clodd was one of a band of workers, of whom 
Huxley and Tylor were the best known, and who 
how, unfortunately, have nearly all passed away. 
‘o their untiring efforts to promote and popularise 
nthropology, its present position as a serious branch 
scientific study is almost entirely due. Those of 
younger generation who were first introduced to 
the evolutionary point of view in the study of man 
ad of his religion and mental concepts through the 
ucid exposition and power of logical demonstration 
which Mr. Clodd is a master, owe to him a debt 
f gratitude which is not likely to be forgotten. 
FurTHER details of the progress of excavations at 
the Temple of the Moon God at Ur of the Chaldees, 
to which reference was made in these columns last 
eek (see p. 336), are now to hand. Information 
piven in a telegram published in the Times of March 
7 indicates the relation of the present discoveries 
o those made by Dr. Hall in the course of his in- 
estigations—a point which previously was not clear. 
It would appear that the portion of the Temple 
discovered by Dr. Hall was the terrace of the main 
building which lay underneath. In the course of 
he present excavations, which have been made 
mainly in the south-east corner of the mound, one 
hamber has been found, which it is conjectured 
may be the innermost shrine, containing a valuable 
hoard of jewelry including many bracelets and 
necklaces, mostly of gold, and a tiled courtyard in 
which a gutter, such as was habitually used for 
collecting and carrying off the blood of a victim, 
suggests that it was the place of sacrifice. The 
ult of the Moon God was evidently re-established 
by Nebuchadnezzar, who made his daughters priest- 
esses of the Temple, which he restored in the sixth 
century B.c., as is shown by an inscription. The 
upper bricks of the ruins were of this period, but 
NO. 2785, VOL. 111] 


















NATURE 
369 
Current Topics and Events. 
those underneath were much earlier, and it is clear 
that in the restoration of the Temple the original 
foundations were, so far as possible, left untouched. 
Dr. CHARLES HoseE’s lecture on Sarawak at the 
Royal Colonial Institute on February 27 was opportune 
in affording material for a comparison in methods of 
administration and development with British North 
Borneo, an area which has attracted some little 
attention recently. Sarawak, a territory of some 
sixty thousand square miles, is perhaps best known in 
connexion with the romantic history of the Brooke 
family and as an independent native state under 
British protection, which has been ruled for nearly 
a century by a family of white men. It is, as Dr. 
Hose said, “ perhaps the greatest achievement in 
state-making of the nineteenth century.’’ It was 
founded by Sir James Brooke in 1840, and came under 
British protection in 1888 when its population 
numbered 600,c00. The inhabitants include Malays, 
Dayaks, Kenyahs, Kayans, and a number of primitive 
tribes, still pagan, whose customs and beliefs have 
furnished, as readers of that valuable book ‘‘ Pagan 
Tribes of Borneo,” by Dr. Hose and Prof. McDougall, 
will remember, much material for the comparative 
study of religion, especially in connexion with their 
methods of divination and their belief in a spirit 
helper in animal form. The policy of the Brooke 
family has been to preserve, under an autocracy, as 
much of native custom as possible, retaining the great 
offices of state held by Malay nobles at the time of 
Sir James Brooke’s accession to power, and associating 
the natives with the administration. As Dr. Hose 
pointed out in his lecture, several chiefs in bygone 
days endeavoured to establish peace through wide 
areas, but failed. To achieve enduring success the 
unifying influence of a central authority was needed. 
This has been furnished by the Rajahs, who, without 
breaking up old forms of society, have supplied 
elements lacking in the old system. 
INFORMATION has been received that an All Russian 
Agricultural Exhibition will be held in Moscow on 
August 15—October 1. In a circular issued by the 
Russian Trade Delegation it is stated that foreign 
firms, institutions, and private persons are invited to 
participate in the exhibition, and that all privileges 
granted to Russian exhibitors will apply equally to 
foreign exhibitors. Special arrangements will be 
made to facilitate the delivery of exhibits, all such 
goods being given preferential treatment on the rail- 
ways and waterways of the Republic, and for con- 
venience of transit all foreign exhibits will be exempt 
from Customs examination at the frontier, provided 
that the goods bear regulation labels. Provision will 
be made for the insurance and safeguarding of ex- 
hibits, both during transit and at the exhibition 
itself. A fixed tariff of charges for space in the 
foreign section has been drawn up, all charges being 
payable in advance and not to be refunded if ex- 
hibitors renounce their allotted space or finally 
_abstain from exhibiting. 
