April 14, 1887] 



NATURE 



559 



The ground-plan of some well-known Hindu temples in India is 

 that of llie Greek cross. The lightning, another of the attributes 

 of Thor, the thunderer, from its zigzag course, may not unnatu- 

 rally have been likened to a serpent. A Hermes, or torso, in 

 the Museum at Aries, and labelled " A Statue of Mithra," 

 shows that the serpent had its place in the celestial mythology 

 of the ancients. This figure is entwined in the folds of a huge 

 serpent, and between these are sculptured the signs of the zodiac. 



During the Bronze -Vge, which, as regards Scandinavia, Dr. 

 Worsaac fixes at from about 500 B.C. to 100 .\. D. , the lorm of 

 the svastika received several modifications : amongst others, it 



became what he styled the single ^^, or the double 

 thus, and also the three-armed figure 



V^. or the double f^^) 

 ^•^O, or triskele. In 



another place he says {ibid.): "Curiously enough, in the new 

 Runic alphabet which was adopted at this time (later Iron Age 

 or Viking period), the letter S> which recalls one of the old sun 

 symbols, was called Sol or Sun." 



The connection of the triskele with the serpent may possibly 

 seem to some far-fetched, but a tolerably certain proof that it 

 is not so is shown in a bronze brooch found, a few years ago, 

 when excavating the Roman camp on the Saalberg, near 

 Frankfort-on-the-Maine. This ornament is now in the local 

 Museum of Homburg-v.-d.-Hohe. Inclosed in a ring of 

 bronze is a triskele ; each arm has a distinct serpent's head ; 

 they all turn the same way, as, it may be observed, do the arms 

 of the svastika (or Crux Gammala). The connection of this 

 symbol with the serpent survived even down to the so called 

 "cinque-cento" period. It survived in Christian times — under 

 the name of the fylfot — even down to the fourteenth or fifteenth 

 centuries, and is alluded to by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson (" Dal- 

 matia and Montenegro," vol. i. p. 23). lie speaks of finding 



this emblem, in the form of two snakes 



"as a device upon some tombs in those provinces"; and 

 adds: — "This symbjl was used in early Christian times in 

 England and other countries, amon^ ornamental devices, in 

 manuscripts, on tombs, and on church ornaments and vest- 

 ments, from about ion to 1400 A.D., after which it is not met 

 with in England. It is very common on monumental crosses 

 of the fourteenth century, and was a favourite ornament of the 

 Greek Church, whence it probably came into England and 

 Western Europe : it is known in heraldry as the fylfot." 



In the treasury of the Cathedral at Valencia, in Spain, there 

 are two richly embroidered altar frontals, which (as stated by 

 the officials in charge) formerly belonged to the church of old. 

 St. Paul's, in London, having been sold into Spain by our King 

 Henry VIII. The needlework is a triumph of art. On each 

 of these frontals is represented a portion of the old church. On 

 one of them — which depicts our Blessed Lord going to cruci- 

 fixion — a soldier of the Roman army, or of one of their allies, 

 is represented holding a pennant on which is a svastika of the 

 fylfot type. 



In this brief sketch I have endeavoured to show the relations 

 between sun- and fire-worship, both of which may have existed 

 contemporaneously amongst primitive peoples, since light and 

 warmth were naturally highly prized by them. 



The Greek cross, or cross of Savoy 



+ 



(the centre of 



the ring-cross of the later Stone Age), appears to be the earliest 

 known form of that symbol. A form of svastika of the Bronze 

 Age — the triskele — may still be traced in the trinacria of the 

 arms of Sicily and the Manx-man of our isles. 



Did space permit, much more could be said regarding the 

 svastika as a pre-Christian and a Christian cross. 



Great Brampton, Hereford 



Harriet G. M. Murray-Avnsiey 



Important Points in the History of Eart'iquake 

 Investigation in Japan 



As the various instruments for recording earthquakes which 

 have been invented in Japan appear destined to play an im- 

 portant part in future seismometrical investigations, and as the 

 authorship of many of these instruments has recently formed the 

 subject of a discussion, in which, although my name has been 

 freely used, my ilistance from Europe practically prevents me 

 from taking part, and which, so far as I can see, can only result 

 in confusing those who are unacquainted with the work done in 

 Japan, I venture to g v.> the following notes as an outline of 

 the more important points in the history of seismomctry in this 

 country. 



In 1872, Dr. Verbeck, of Tokio, obtained approximate 

 measurements of the range and direction of earthquake motion 

 by means of an instrument consisting of a heavy slab resting on 

 balls, the slab being the steady-point (Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. i. 

 p. 23). The resemblance of this instrument to the lighthouse 

 tables the invention of the late Mr. Stevenson is apparent. 



In 1S79, results which wjre probably more accurate than 

 those of Dr. Verbeck were published in the Transactions of the 

 Seismological Society (vol. i. p. 91), and the residents in Japan 

 were astonished to learn that the amplitude of what were 

 apparently severe earthquakes were to be measured in milli- 

 metres and fractions of millimetres rather than in inches. The 

 results were obtained partly by Dr. Wagener and partly by 

 myself. I worked with pendulums writing their records by 

 what I still find to be the most delicate kind of pointers upon 

 the surface of smoked glass. Dr. Wagener used a pendulum 

 which was practically "dead-beat," and a pointer which gave a 

 multiplied representation of the earth's movement. This was the 

 first time that the necessity of multiplying-levers was recognised. 



Shortly after this I published examples of diagrams of earth- 

 quake motion obtained by allowing smoked glass plates, at the 

 time of a disturbance, to move for a period of three or four 

 seconds beneath the pointers of a pendulum. The diagrams 

 were short, but the results obtained respecting period, amplitude, 

 and quantities calculable from these data, have not been shown 

 by subsequent investigations to have been unsatisfactory (Trans. 

 Seis. Soc. vol. i. p. 91, Sec). 



About this time Prof. Chaplin and Mr. T. Gray independently 

 constructed bracket seismographs (Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. i. p. 25). 

 Mr. Gray's bracket seismographs were never specially described, 

 but they still exist in the Imperial College of Engineering. Mr. 

 Gray's next invention was a torsion pendulum seismograph, 

 which, being suspended from horizontal levers which in turn 

 were held up by horizontally placed springs, also recorded 

 vertical motion. A cui'ious feature in this instalment was that 

 the horizontal levers were so supported that for slight displace- 

 ments they had a constant leverage. In the same paper 

 describing this instrument, Mr. Gray emphasises the import- 

 ance of having seismographs so constructed that the steady-point 

 should be in neutral equilibrium (Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. i. p. 48). 



The next advance was made by Prof. Ewing, who, by using a 

 bracket seismograph with a pivoted weight and a multiplying- 

 lever writing on a continuously moving plate, obtained diagrams 

 which inasmuch as they extended over a considerable portion of 

 time were superior to all that had preceded them. 



This instrument was described in Europe and Japan without 

 the briefest mention of the fact that bracket seismographs, 

 multiplying-levers, smoked glass plates, continuous records, 

 tS:c., had a previous existence. Two of such publications are 

 before me (Trans. Asiatic Soc. of Japan, vol. ix. p. 40, and 

 Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. ii. p. 45). 



At the time this excited no public comment, and it was not 

 until Prof. Ewing distinctly claimed at least a joint authorship, 

 not only of all bracket seismographs, but of all instruments 

 which might involve the same principle, like the various forms 

 of rolling spheres, rolling cylinders, conical pendulums, double 

 brackets, &c. , the inventions of Mr. Gray, that discussions arose. 

 For one of these discussions see Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. iii. p. 9.) 



Although Mr. Gray distinctly stated that he had experimented 

 with bracket seismographs prior to the one introduced by Prof. 

 Ewing (Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. iii. p. 5), and although I person- 

 ally acquainted Prof. Ewing with this fact, so far as I am aware 

 Prof. Ewing has never in any manner whatever referred to this. 

 Mr. Gray's seismograph for registering vertical motion, which in 

 its principle was a new dep.irture in seismometric methods, was 

 constnictcd and described in April 1881 (Trans. Seis. Soc. vol. 

 iii. p. 137). 



