NA TURE 



[January 2, 1902 



spark gap in a loop of wire, he showed the sparks induced by 

 the electric waves at a distance of ten metres from the trans- 

 mitter, he said: "It appears impossible, nearly nonsensical, 

 that these sparks should be visible, but in a perfectly dark room 

 they are visible " 



Since the death of Hertz it can hardly be said that another 

 link in the chain of development has been forged. Our know- 

 ledge and study of electric waves have spread and expanded 

 enormously, and the practical uiilisatiun of the same is seen in 

 the modern wireless telegraphy. The possibility, as Marconi 

 has shown, of already sending messages without the use of 

 wires for a distance of 300 kilometres is the direct result 

 of the labours of Herlz. From a theoretical standpoint 

 the work of the many investigators of the last fe.v years 

 has simply increased the burden of proof that the 

 fundamental ideas of the electrodynamical theory are correct. 

 Many points, however, yet remain to be cleared' up. In the 

 domain of the ether itself very few difficulties have been 

 encountered. Very difl'erent has been the case when the ether 

 pure and simple has been left and the theory and ideas extended 

 to ordinary bodies and materials. Chief among the.se difficulties 

 must be mentioned the phenomena of anomalous absorption and 

 dispersion, and the relative interaction of mass and ether is 

 to-day one of the most perple.xing and yet enticing fields of 

 scientific work. Perhaps here we are, though it is not men- 

 tioned in the pamphlet, just commencing the forging of yet an 

 entirely new link, which will be seen in the full development of 

 the corpuscle and electron theories, and the explanation of the 

 many at present very strange phenomena included under these 

 names. Besides being a very interesting address, this booklet 

 would be very useful in serving as an index to the many investi- 

 gations which have been made and published in this branch of 

 science. C. C. G. 



THE CIVILISATIONS OF HALLSTATT AND 

 LA TENE.' 

 'T'HE publications of the Prehistoric Commission of the 

 Imperial Academy of Science in Vienna, in their present 

 form, date from the year 1SS7, when it was resolved to discon- 

 tinue the practice of publishing their reports as integral parts of 

 the Transactions of the Academy. The primary object of this 

 commission was to prosecute paI;vo-ethnographical investigations 

 throughout the Austrian dominions, taking special care that the 

 necessary excavations would be conducted in a thoroughly 

 scientific manner. Since 18S7 five parts, in all 363 pages, in 

 quarto, with plates and numerous illustrations in the text, have 

 been issued, giving on an average only twenty-eight pages per 

 annum — a rate of progress which, prinui fade, does not suggest 

 that such researches are advancing with rapid strides in that part 

 of Europe. Looking, however, at the contents of the various 

 papers and reports, which range over the whole field of pre- 

 historic archaiology, I am constrained to say that, in forming a 

 fair estimate of the archieological value of the labours of the 

 commissioners, we must be guided by quality and not by 

 quantity. 



The part now before me (No. 5) contains two papers, one by 

 Dr. Moritz Hoernes and the other by Mr. Josef Szombaihy, both 

 officials in the prchi.stoiic department of the K.K. Naturhist. 

 Hofsmuseum in Vienna. Dr. Hoernes describes five difl'erent 

 groups of antiquities Irom the vicinity of Vukovar, on the south 

 side of the Danube and not far from the great bend which the 

 river makes in changing its course from south to east. One 

 group consists of the debris of a settlement of the Stone Age, 

 two — one being a hoard — are of the Bronze Age, while the remain- 

 ing two are respectively interments of the Hallslatt period and of 

 Slavish times (eleventh or twelfth century). The first station, 

 which bears the name Vudedol, is considered of some importance 

 inasmuch as its relics, especially the pottery, illustrate the 

 evolution of ornament ; and so the author discusses at some 

 length the points of resemblance and difference between them 

 and those of a number of other analogous stations, such as 

 Butmir (Bosnia), Tordos (Transylvania), Sarvas, near Essegg 

 (Slavonia), the lake-dwellings of l.aibach Moor, &c. But as 

 Dr. Hoernes' opinions on these matters are already known, or at 

 any rate accessible, to archaeologists through his great work on 

 the history of prehistoric art in Europe (" Urgeschichte der 



^ " Mittlieiluneen der Prallistorisctlen Commission der K. Akadcmic dcr 

 Wissen>chaficn in Wicn." (IS.-iiid i., No. 5, 1901.) 



iNO. 1679, VOL. 65 J 



bildenden Kunst in Europa," Wien, 1898). I shall pass on to 

 the next paper, which, having an important bearing on the 

 development of the early Iron Age in Europe, is of some conse- 

 quence to British arch.-vologists who may be desirous to trace the 

 late Celtic remains of their own country to their proper .source. 



Mr. Szombathy's valuable monograph, "Das Grabfeld zu 

 Idria bei Baca," takes the foim of a report on excavations made, 

 in 1886 and 1887, in forty-seven graves discovered in the valley 

 of the Idria in the Julian .-Mps. The little cemetery, occupying 

 an area of 5 to 10 metres in breadth and 30 metres in length, is 

 situated'on the right bank of the river some 20 metres above the 

 river-bed and about an hour's walk to the south east of the 

 great necropolis of S.inta Lucia— one of the most famous land- 

 marks of the Hallslatt period in Europe. These graves had, 

 on the average, a depth of one metre and a breadth and length 

 of 50 to So centimetres ; and all of them, with the excep- 

 tion of two, contained interments after cremation. They arc 

 numbered in the order in which they were excavated, but in the 

 report they are described in chronological sequence beginning 

 with the oldest, i e. the middle 1 lallstatt period (about 600 B.C. ). 

 As this sequence comes down to late Koman times we have in 

 the contents of the cemetery of Idria a remarkable evolutionary 

 series of remains, extending over a period of nearly 1000 years. 

 The successive stages of civilisation disclosed by the investigation, 

 together with the number of graves assigned to each, are as 

 follows : — Middle Hallslatt represented by i grave, late 

 Hallstatt by 13, early La Tene by 2, middle La Tene by 13, 

 late La Tene by 7, early Roman by 8, and late Konian by 2. 



Mr. Szombathy's description of the relics, with 212 illustra- 

 tions in the text, is a model of precision and brevity, without 

 any lack of essential details, and therefore admits of no cur- 

 tailment. The following remarks will, however, give readers 

 some idea of their salient features. 



Ornamenls. — Among this class the fibulaf are the most inter- 

 esting. One or two, of the boat-shaped type, having a long, 

 straight foot, belong to the middle Hallstatt period. The 

 Certosa fibula and its contemporary the cross-bow fibula are 

 respectively represented by fourteen and three specimens. The 

 La Tene fibula; — early, middle and late forms — are numerous, 

 and well worth careful study by those who have not acquired 

 precise notions of the progressive stages thus designated. P'ive 

 liinge fibula;, peculiar to Roman remains, complete the list. 

 Among the early La Tene group there are two very remarkable, 

 if not unique, specimens. These are ornamented with amber 

 beads placed in pairs on five pins projecting from the upper 

 surface o-f the bow and attached to a bronze wire which, in a 

 succession of small, craceful coils, follows the curve of the bow 

 from head to foot. The middle La Tene specimens have the 

 recurved foot ending in a circular expansion, which appears tohave 

 contained a setting of some kind of enamel. Iron fibuUe are scarce. 

 The other objects of personal ornament consist of earrings, studs, 

 finger-rings (one with three twists), bracelets with one or more 

 coils, glass beads and toiques. 



Vessels. — Bronze caldrons and situke with movable handles, 

 round or flat bottoins, and bulging, slanting or upright sides, are 

 well represented. T«o bronze dishes, one of the milk-plate 

 type (5i inches wide and 3J inches deep) and the other a small 

 bowl with a ring-hanlle, have ,^'ra/^//' inscriptions on the outside 

 of their rims, said to be in Venetic or old North Etruscan alphabet. 

 A small bronze colander is perforated in sucha manner as to form a 

 geometrical p.ittern consisting of a central rosette surrounded by 

 a fret border. Pottery is not abundant, and only a shallow 

 dish, one or two jars with handles, and a conical vase with 

 expanded base and slightly contracted mouth are figured. 



Alililary Aicoi(lrenieiils.—\ bronze helmet, with a projecting 

 rim and central ridge, has an inscription in Roman characters 

 scratched on it which reads J'rofeiniis. — There are also 

 two iron helmets said to be of Roman workmanship. 

 Among the weapons are a characteristic La Tene sword 

 and sheath, both made of iron. Two other iron blades, 

 also with their sheaths, are supposed to be like the 

 Roman gladius. The iron blade in both specimens is separated 

 from the grip (only the long tang of which now remains) by a 

 circular guard of bron/e. The sheaths were imperfect, but they 

 appear to have been made of an iron frame, with panels of 

 bronze and some non-durable material probably wood. There 

 are also several spearheads, a knife-dagger still in its iron 

 .sheath and some fragments of shields showing conical bosses — 

 all made of iron. 



Iiitliislrial remains. — In this category are to be placed a 



