June io. 1909] 



NA TURE 



437 



Mr. a. E. p. Weigall, chief inspector of antiquities 

 in Upper Egypt, contributes to the Century Magazine for 

 June a well-illustrated article giving an account of the 

 recent discovery of the tomb of Horemheb, who started 

 as a commander in the army of Amenhotep III., married 

 the heiress to the throne to which he succeeded in B.C. 

 1350, and died in B.C. 1315, after a reign of thirty-five 

 years. His tomb was constructed close to that of 

 .\menhotep II. in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings 

 at Thebes. The tomb had already been rifled by ancient 

 thieves, the great pink granite sarcophagus had been 

 pillaged, and of the four skulls found it is now impossible 

 to say which wore the crown of the Pharaoh, and this in 

 spite of the fact that the sarcophagus bears figures of Isis 

 and Nephthys, with their wings spread out, as though 

 protecting the royal mummy. 



In the May number of Man Mr. T. A. Joyce describes 

 a collection of steatite figures, known as Nomori, from 

 Sierra Leone, a class of objects to which attention was 

 first directed by Prof. Riitimeyer, of Basel. These figures, 

 represented in a sitting or standing posture, are of a 

 grotesque character. Mr. Greensmith, who is well 

 acquainted with them, calls them " farm-devils," by which 

 he apparently means images of tutelary spirits intended 

 to protect the crops. Associated with them is a class of 

 curious metallic rings, and when thus found they are called 

 Mahai-yafei, "king spirit or king devil," which Mr. 

 Greensmith interprets to mean that " they are employed 

 in the courts of the chiefs for the witnesses to be sworn 

 upon." It is possible that the tatu marks found on 

 some of these figures may throw some light on their age 

 and suggest the people by whom they were made. In this 

 region tribal society is so disorganised as a result of long 

 periods of war and social disorganisation that local tradi- 

 tion is vague, and does little to suggest their origin ; but 

 there seems no reason to believe that they are of any 

 considerable age, and in artistic style they are much 

 inferior to the remarkable basalt sculptures discovered in 

 southern Nigeria, with which they have nothing in 

 common except the mystery which at present surrounds 

 the origin of both. 



The most important contribution to the fourth number 

 of the first volume of Annals of Archjeology and Anthro- 

 pology, issued by the Liverpool Institute of Archseology 

 under the editorship of Prof. Myres, is the report by 

 Messrs. Wace, Droop, and Thomson on early civilisation 

 in northern Greece. The excavation conducted by this 

 party of a mound at Zerelia shows that the identification 

 of the site with Itonos and the temple of Athene Itonia, 

 patron goddess of Thessaly, can be no longer admitted ; 

 but the mound disclosed no fewer than eight successive 

 layers of prehistoric deposits, the earliest of which cannot 

 be dated later than 2500 B.C. The importance of this and 

 the excavations conducted by Prof. Tsountas rests on the 

 fact that it is in northern Greece and in the possible link- 

 ing of it with the culture of the Balkans and of Central 

 Europe that light may be expected on the ethnological 

 problems of the JEgean. The mound-builders in northern 

 Greece seem to have been in occupation of this region 

 from 2500 B.C. to 2000-1800 B.C., when many of these 

 structures were abandoned. About 1200-1100 B.C. 

 Mycensean influence reached the Gulf of Pegasse, and 

 thus for the first time the Neolithic folk of northern 

 Greece came into contact with the bronze-users of the 

 south. In the north, then, the Neolithic culture seems 

 to have survived until late Mycensean times. The rela- 

 tions of this culture, at least as regards pottery, with 

 NO. 2067, VOL. 80I 



that of Servia, Thrace, Galicia, Bessarabia, and Central 

 Europe are still obscure, and much further exploration 

 is needed before this tangled archfeological problem can 

 be definitely settled. At present the choice lies between 

 two alternatives. We may accept the views of Dr. 

 VVosinsky, that the primitive culture of Central Europe is 

 derived from the ./Egean, or we may hold with Dr. 

 Hubert Schmidt that early Greek civilisation came from 

 Central Europe. Meanwhile, thfs band of explorers is 

 again at work, and further details of their investigations 

 will be awaited with much interest. 



Mr. R. Langton Cole has sent us a prospectus of small' 

 artificial dew- and rain-ponds made by Messrs. F. G. Lowe 

 and Son, Ltd., Sittingbourne, for coverts and other rear- 

 ing places where a good supply of clean water is required' 

 without the necessity for frequent renewal. The troughs 

 appear to consist essentially of one shallow metal tray 

 inverted within another. It is claimed that, once having- 

 been filled with water, the troughs are always full, 

 sufficient rain and dew being collected to keep up a- 

 constant supply in the driest of summers. Messrs. Lowe- 

 state that their troughs act by collecting whatever dew- 

 there is and retaining it by means of the cover ; and an 

 experiment made by Mr. Cole, extending over six weeks,, 

 indicates that moisture is condensed freely upon the under 

 side of such a cover and prevented from evaporation. The 

 collection and preservation of atmospheric moisture by 

 these " Never-empty " troughs is of decided interest im 

 connection with the study of dew-ponds. 



The seventeenth annual report of the Sonnblick Society 

 for 1908 includes results for several of the more important 

 mountain stations. At the Sonnblick (3105 metres) the 

 mean yearly temperature was 19-2° F., absolute maximum 

 44-1°, in May, minimum —195°, in January. Snow or 

 rain fell on 220 days, and fog occurred on 245 days. 

 April, igoS, was one of the coldest since the commence- 

 ment of observations in 1887, being nearly 5° F. below 

 the average. Edler v. Obermayer gives an interesting 

 historical account of the several stations on the Obir, in- 

 cluding the summit station (2143 metres), established in 

 1891, and named the Hannwarte in honour of Dr. J. 

 Hann, the great advocate of mountain observatories. Dr. 

 Hann contributes a summary of the meteorological results 

 at the Hochobir station (2044 metres), with monthly and' 

 yearly results for each year, 1851-1908. The summer 

 maxima reach 77° F., and the minima often fall below 

 — 13° during winter; the lowest was —17-1°, in January, 

 1907. 



The administration report of the Prussian Meteorological 

 Institute for the year 1908 shows that arrangements are 

 being made for greater activity in all branches of the 

 useful work carried on. With this view, the scientific 

 staff, both at the central office in Berlin and at the- 

 Potsdam Observatory, has been re-organised ; the form 

 and contents of several of the regular publications have 

 been modified, and eff'orts are being made to bring the»e 

 up to date, so that more time may be available for fresh- 

 scientific investigations. Weekly meetings are held, both 

 at Berlin and Potsdam, for the discussion of important 

 recent publications, from which the junior staff and' 

 students naturally derive considerable benefit. Much time 

 is devoted to constantly-increasing inquiries for weather 

 information for scientific, industrial, and legal purposes ; 

 during the year in question, 475 such inquiries were 

 received by letter, in addition to personal applications, and' 

 specimens of such letters and replies, which frequentlv 



