556 



NA TURE 



[October 21, 1922 



Researc 



Gypsy Folklore. — The new series of the Gypsy 

 Lore Society's Journal is being actively conducted 

 by its energetic secretary, Mr. T. W. Thompson. 

 The last issue (Third Series, vol. i., part 3) contains 

 an excellent article by him on the Gypsy Grays as 

 tale-tellers, which describes the methods by which 

 the incidents of their stories are manipulated. This 

 has a much wider interest than is implied by its title, 

 and students of folk tales will find that it throws 

 much needed light on the construction of these 

 narratives. 



Hockey in Ancient Greece. — An ancient Greek 

 sculptured relief recently discovered in Athens, 

 according to the Times, gives evidence that the 

 Greeks played ball games other than with the hand. 

 The relief represents six naked youths taking part in a 

 game bearing every resemblance to modern hockey. 

 The curved stick used may possibly supply an ex- 

 planation of the singular curved object carved in 

 relief on some of the votive offerings found at Sparta. 

 These have been called " sickles.' 7 It is difficult to 

 say why this implement should have been dedicated 

 to Artemis, but the word " sickle " may have been 

 the current slang for a boy's hockey-stick. 



Roman Remains in London. — Recent excavations 

 in the City have led to important discoveries. It 

 seems to be proved that the ancient church of St. 

 Peter's-upon-Cornhill was built inside of what was 

 once a Roman fortress, which future investigation 

 is expected to show was the first fortified camp of 

 the Romans. If so, it is possible that it was built 

 immediately after the re-establishment of order 

 subsequent to the revolt of Boadicea. Mr. W. C. 

 Edwards, the archaeologist in charge of these in- 

 vestigations, believes that during the next ten years 

 more Roman discoveries will probably be made in the 

 City than have been made for " centuries. The 

 excavation recently struck what is probably the 

 most ancient waif yet found in London. At one 

 point it is 5 feet thick, and above the footings were 

 courses of tiles, four abreast, each 13 inches broad. 

 Rooms were added to it with plastered walls which 

 appear to be of imitation alabaster, the wall being 

 overlaid with a layer of white cement, almost as 

 thin as paper, on which designs had been painted by 

 a very skilful artist. It is now clear that Gracechurch 

 Street was not Roman : it probably belongs to Saxon 

 times, and was the work of Alfred the Great. 



Arch.eology in Palestine. — Among the obliga- 

 tions undertaken by Great Britain in connexion with 

 the control of Palestine is that of promoting archaso- 

 logical research. It was a condition of the scheme 

 that in the Advisory Board for Archaeology other 

 nations should be represented. The first work which 

 will now be undertaken is the excavation of the 

 ancient City of David on Mount Ophel, immediately 

 south of the existing walls of Jerusalem. Three 

 different attempts have been made to probe the 

 secrets of the hill, and though attended with some 

 measure of success, practicallv the whole of Jebus, 

 the . iriginal stronghold, the Palace and Millo of David, 

 and in all probability the tombs of the Kings of 

 Judah, await investigation. An area of ten acres 

 has been preserved by the Administration, and this 

 is now available for excavation. East of Jordan an 

 immense field remains practically untouched, and 

 many of these sites are of importance equal to that of 

 Palestine itself. Especially at Jerash, the ancient 

 Gerasa, there are wonderful remains of the Roman 

 ( ity, which show that it was one of the most imposing 

 I the Roman period. The excavation of these 



NO. 2764, VOL. I IO] 



h Items. 



Palestine sites is likely to throw welcome light not 

 only on the history of the Hebrews but on the obscure 

 annals of the nations who preceded them, and it may 

 be hoped that the Palestine Exploration Fund, 

 which counts among the names of its illustrious 

 servants that of Kitchener, will receive adequate 

 support in carrying out the well-arranged programme 

 of investigation which is now laid before the scientific 

 world. 



Upper Cretaceous Gastropods of New Zealand. 

 — Certain Upper Cretaceous gastropods of New 

 Zealand, originally referred to Mr. H. Woods for 

 description, were on his recommendation forwarded 

 to Dr. O. Wilckens, then at Strasbourg, to deal 

 with. The intervention of the war and consequent 

 removal of Dr. Wilckens to Bonn delayed the com- 

 pletion of the task, and the finished monograph as 

 rendered into English by the author himself has 

 recently been issued as Palaeontological Bulletin 

 No. 9 by the Geological Survey Branch of the New 

 Zealand Department of Mines. The major portion 

 of the fossils studied are of Upper Senonian age. 

 While these include a few species peculiar to New 

 Zealand, resemblances can be traced in many ex- 

 amples to species from beds of equivalent age in 

 North Germany, Chili, Patagonia, the Antarctic 

 Regions, and South India. Of the indigenous forms 

 the most striking is the remarkable Conchothyra para- 

 sitica, and Dr. Wilckens gives a very careful account 

 of its strange growth and development. The plates 

 accompanying the monograph are deserving of much 

 praise, and there is a map showing the localities 

 whence the fossils were obtained. 



Marine Fossils in Central India. — The General 

 Report of the Geological Survey of India for 192 1 

 contains a confirmation, and some further particulars, 

 of the discovery of marine fossils in the lower 

 Gondwana series of Central India, which was reported 

 in some of the Indian newspapers about nine months 

 ago. The discovery, which was made by Mr. K. P. 

 Sinor, State Geologist to the Rewah Durbar, at 

 Umaria, situated almost centrally in the broadest 

 part of the Peninsula, consists of a shell band, 

 about 3 inches thick, composed almost entirely of 

 shells of the genus Productus. Below the shell 

 band are quartz grits which pass up, through the band, 

 conformably into sandstones of Lower Barakar age, 

 the bed itself lying not far from the junction of the 

 Gondwana rocks with the underlying gneiss, in beds 

 winch air usually regarded as of Talchir age. The 

 discovery lias been further investigated by Mr. 

 P. X. Mukherji, field collector of the Survey, who 

 added two specimens of Spiriferina to the fauna. 

 The Productus has not yet been identified, but it is 

 new to India ; the Spiriferina is close to, and probably 

 identical with, S. cristata, var. octoplicata. The 

 fossils, therefore, are not of great assistance in deter- 

 mining the precise age of the band, but the discovery 

 of marine conditions 111 the centre of the Peninsula, 

 where no marine rocks of later than probably pre- 

 Cambrian age had previously been found, is of great 

 interest and importance. Dr. L. L. Fermor, the 

 officiating director, by whom the report is made, 

 discusses the question'of whether the sea lay mainly 

 to the north, or the west, of the newly discovered 

 Productus locality. In either case the discovery, 

 though of interest as marking a greater extension 

 of the sea than had been previously suspected, does 

 not materially alter the conclusion that the Indian 

 Peninsula is a region which has been continuously 

 dry land throughout tin- whole period covered by 

 the sequence of fossiliferous rocks. 



