ago 



NATURE 



[Aug. 13, 1874 



fications of the forces which act upon it. The desired 

 unity, then, was far from being reaUsed before the appear- 

 ance of that repulsive force acting at a distance which 

 the cometary phenomena definitely inscribe in the me- 

 chanism of the heavens by the side of attraction, and 

 which 1 find around us in the phenomena of heit. 



At all events, we have got a great way from that judicial 

 astrology which I felt bound to remind you of at the out- 

 set, in order to show to you the condition in which wc 

 found that branch of celestial science. While, in planetary 

 astronomy, scarcely anything has been done for two 

 hundred years but to develop indefinitely the mathe- 

 matical formuL-E of a force established and defined, we 

 have tried here to put ourselves on the track of a force 

 which rules more especially the cometary world, and have 

 endeavoured to give it a name. 



THE AMERICAN OYSTER-TRADE 



SOME notion of the extent of the trade in oysters at 

 Baltimore may be gathered from a recent report of 

 the British Consul. Baltimore, it is said, is recognised 

 all the world over as the great centre for raw oysters — 

 New York as well as the Southern and Western States 

 depending on it for their supplies. The packing-houses 

 in Baltimore have agencies in all the large cities and 

 towns, and these agencies have sub-agencies covering the 

 country districts. About twenty firms are engaged in the 

 packing and distribution throughout the States of raw 

 oysters, 5,000,000 bushels of which are annually con- 

 sumed to meet the demands of the trade, which is one 

 not only incurring great risks, but also requiring some 

 tact for its successful management. Such is the perish- 

 able nature of the oyster that the risk in handling them 

 has much to do in determining their price. Delays in the 

 arrival of a vessel will often cause a whole cargo to 

 become putrid, so that it has at once to be thrown over- 

 board. To cover these risks the margin of profit is 

 necessarily large. Large numbers of men, women, and 

 children are employed in opening the oysters and remov- 

 ing them from their shells : for this work they receive 

 20 cents per gallon, and the average earnings of each 

 person are about two dollars per day of ten hours. 



In packing the raw oysters they are, after being opened, 

 washed carefully, then placed in fiat cans with a little 

 fresh water, as the liquor or natural juice of the oyster 

 decomposes in twenty-four hours after exposure. These 

 cans are then packed in rows with cakes of ice between 

 them, and shipped by express to their destination. At 

 certain points it is arranged that these cases destined for 

 the far west shall be opened, fresh ice placed between the 

 cans, and then re-shipped to their ultimate destination. 

 Oysters packed in this way and re-iced at certain places 

 on the route can be sent from Baltimore to San Francisco 

 in good condition. Besides this trade in raw oysters as 

 many as 3,000,000 bushels are annually steamed and her- 

 metically scaled in tins for shipment to all parts of North 

 America and to Europe. The season lasts from Oct. I 

 to April I. By the steaming process the oysters are so 

 preserved that after being sealed down they will keep 

 good for an indefinite period of time. 



RUDE STONE MONUMENTS OR 

 CHAMBERED BARROWS 

 I. 

 'T'HE object of the present and succeeding articles is 

 ^ to discuss some of the opinions which are held 

 by some of the leading antitiuaries of the present day 

 with respect to the construction, destination, and also 

 antiquity of these monuments, and to show that, notwith- 

 standing all the advantages presented by the establish- 

 ment everywhere of Archieological Societies, the publica- 



tion of their journals, and the increased facihties for 

 travelling, many professed students of this branch of 

 science are still found to be blindly adhering to the views 

 of antiquaries of the past century. There is a very re- 

 markable contrast between the progress made in the 

 study of unchambered, and in that of chambered, barrows. 

 We have now a much sounder knowledge of the former 

 than of the latter, not simply because the latter are more 

 difficult to understand, but because their study requires 

 qualifications not possessed by every investigator. He 

 must have long acquaintance w'ith the monuments, suffi- 

 cient dexterity in drawing and surveying to make accurate 

 plans, sections, and elevations, be a close and unbiassed 

 observer, and then have leisure to devote his intelligence 

 to the scrutiny. Cursory examination will be always fatal 

 to the acquisition of sound knowledge, and serve to mis- 

 lead others ; and it is greatly to be feared that this has 

 been too common a habit and result. 



The first erroneous opinion to which attention is now 

 directed is that very many of the cromlechs or dolmens 

 (to employ terms which are in general use), i.e. rude stone 

 structures which in the British Islands and on the Con- 

 tinent are partially or wholly exposed to view, were never 

 in any other condition ; that is to say, that although they 

 may be in some measure dilapidated now, yet that they 

 were originally intended to be exposed buildings. They 

 are aware that many other structures of analogous forms 

 are imbedded or enveloped in mounds so as to be invisible 

 externally, but they will not allow that the exposed ones 

 ever were so. As long as these authors confine them- 

 selves to the bare declaration of their belief their position 

 is not so assailable ; but when they point to the monu- 

 ments which they say illustrate their arguments the case 

 is altered. The examples are open to the inspection and 

 consideration of everybody, and the accuracy of their 

 descriptions can be tested. This has been done, and the 

 result has been that numberless inaccuracies have been 

 detected in the published accounts and in the plans ; and 

 the conclusions which have been deduced from them are 

 consequently pronounced to be erroneous. 



It will be sufficient to point out this in a few of the 

 well-known monuments to which they have directed our 

 attention ; and as no author has treated the subject so 

 comprehensively as Mr. Fergusson, or been so methodical 

 in the arrangement and classification of the monuments, 

 his recent work* will be particularly referred to in the 

 following pages. He has admitted that he is indebted 

 for much of his information to the published accounts of 

 others. It must be premised that we do not assert there 

 is positive /;■<)('/■ of the former existence of the mounds, 

 nor do we say that there is any tradition of them, but we 

 say that when the exposed monuments are compared 

 with those which are wholly enveloped, and with those 

 numberless instances in which the traces, in many e.x- 

 amples very extensive traces, of the mounds still exist, 

 the fair and legitimate inference is that these so-called 

 " free-standing " structures t were once monuments of the 

 same class as the others, and that they are only in a more 

 advanced stage of decay at the present time. 



We go a step further, and say that there are so 

 •.eiy fcii' instances in which no trace whatever of a 

 mound remains that the argument from inference is 

 greatly strengthened. Have the advocates of the theory 

 ever attempted to sum up CiD'cJully all the examples of 

 /<?/<;/ denudation ? It has been remarked by the author 

 of " Rude Stone Monuments in all Countries," p. 44,that 

 " probably at least one hundred dolmens in these islands 

 could be enumerated which have not now a trace of any 

 such envelope.'' There is a confidence in this statement 

 which invites scrutiny, and we venture to say at the out- 

 set that it is far from being accurate, for we know that 



' Rude Slons MoQumcnts 

 , .'hese are detined to ' 

 \ any earthen covering, 



ivuae Dtone .MoQumcnts 

 t These are detined to be dolmens wliich were never intendei 

 — »i :„g^ ^^^ about which no trace of a mound 



.11 all Countries, their Ages and Uses." 



'hich were never intended to be hidden 



