40 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 23. 



leaded trees. It seems not unlikelj' that it 

 was crowded out on the higher ground, and 

 forced to hniit itself to this station which the 

 swamps afford. In these permanent though 

 shallow waters it clearlj' has an advantage over 

 the broad-leaved forms of trees. 



I am not aware that auj- structures resem- 

 bling these knees are found among other plants. 

 If it be the fact that thej' are peculiar to the 

 Taxodium distichum, we have in this species 

 a very remarkable case of a peculiar organ 

 developed for a special purpose. 



There is another interesting jDroblem con- 

 cerning this species. The seeds seem to gei'- 

 minate beneath the water. I have seen many 

 j-oung trees growing in what must be perma- 

 nent swamp, where the soil was buried to the 

 depth of a foot or more. I have long desired 

 to try some experiments on this point, but 

 have not been able to do so. I hope that some 

 observer will undertake the inquiry. 



This tree is certain to have a great economic 

 value. Its great size, its favorable position 

 in relation to our great water-courses, its very 

 rapid growth and excellent timber qualities, 

 are all calculated to commend it for use as a 

 constructive wood. There are man}' million 

 acres of land in the southern states where it 

 could be cultivated to advantage. If kept 

 from competition with the deciduous trees, it 

 will do as well on any moist lowlands as in the 

 actual swamps. Its growth is more rapid than 

 that of any other of our timber-trees ; the 

 wood is said to be much stronger than that of 

 an}' pine ; it endures well in the open air with- 

 out paint, as is shown by the fact that the 

 trunks of trees killed in 1811 still stand unde- 

 eayed in the swamps near the Mississippi 

 Eiver. N. S. Shalee. 



RECENT BABYLONIAN RESEARCH. 



In the Proceedings of the Society of biblical arclie- 

 ology for November, 1882, Mr. T. G. Pinches, the 

 Assyrian scliolar of the Britisli museum, reports a 

 discovery of more than ordinary interest. Tliis is 

 an historical notice on an inscribed cylinder, coming 

 from the ancient city of Sippar, and belonging to 

 Nabonidus, the last of the native Babylonian Icings. 

 The cylinder was written before Cyrus had captuied 

 Babylon, but after his conquest of the Medes. The 

 inscription of Nabonidus, after the usual introduc- 

 tory formulas, relates the reconstruction of several 

 famous temples. The first of these, the temple of 

 the Moon-god at Haran, had been destroyed by the 

 Medes. Being instructed by the gods Marduk and 

 Sin to rebuild it, Nabonidus recalls for this purpose 

 his armies from Gaza, on the borders of Egypt. He 

 informs us that the temple had once before been re- 



stored by the Assyrian king Assurbanipal (Sarda- 

 napalus), and that he found, while engaged in the 

 work, the inscribed cylinders of Assurbanipal and of 

 Shiilmaneser II. 



The great historic event referred to in this part of 

 the inscription is the fall of the Median empire be- 

 fore Cyrus the Great. When commanded to restore 

 the temple by the god Marduk, Nabonidus rei)lies 

 that the Medes have destroyed it, and receives from 

 Marduk the pi'omise that they in their tiu-n shall also 

 be destroyed. Nabonidus then relates: "At the be- 

 ginning of the third year, they (the gods) caused 

 them (literally 'him,' the Median nation) to go out 

 to war; and Cyrus, king of the laud Anzan, their (lit. 

 'his,' i.e., the Median nation's) young servant, over- 

 threw with his small army the Median hosts, cap- 

 tured Astyages, king of the Medes, and carried him 

 bound to his own (Cyrus's) land." 



The undouljted value of this passage for the solu- 

 tion of the riddle left us by the conflicting testimony 

 of the Greek writers, as to the relations of Cyrus and 

 the Persians to Astyages and the Medes, is in part, 

 impaired by the ambiguous use of the pronouns. It 

 is partly owing to this ambiguity that the translation 

 just given differs from that of Mr. Pinches, who ren- 

 ders: " In the third year, he [the god Marduk] caused 

 Cyrus, king of Anzan, his young servant, to go with 

 his little army ; he overthrew the wide-spreading Sab- 

 manda [Medes], he captured Istumegu (Astyages), 

 king of Sabmanda, and took his treasures to his (own)- 

 land." It is difficult to say whether the words 'his 

 servant' mean servant of Marduk, as Mr. Pinches 

 supposes, or servant (= tributary) of the Median 

 people; but the latter seems, for certain grammatical- 

 reasons, more probable. It is also improbable that 

 Nabonidus, a special votary of Marduk. should speak 

 of Cyrus, a foreigner, as a servant of the same deity ,- 

 although we know that later, perhaps for state rea- 

 sons, Cyrus was friendly to the worship of Marduk (V. 

 Eawl. 35). It is more probable, that, when Naboni- 

 dus mentions Cyrus as 'his small servant,' he means 

 to say that Cyrus was a vassal prince to the Medes. 

 The translation ' him bound ' {kamutsu, lit. ' his bond- 

 age'), instead of 'his treasures,' is well established 

 (I. Eawl. 13, 24 fE.), and adds not a little to the in- 

 terest of the passage. 



In the cuneiform annals of Cyrus, written after he 

 had captured Babylon, we have this monarch's brief 

 account of the war with Media {Trans, soc. bibl. 

 arcft., vii. 155 1). After a renewed careful collation 

 of this important passage, Mr. Pinches has published 

 the original a second time {Proc. soc. bibl. arch., 

 Nov., 18S2). It is unfortunate that the ends of the 

 lines are lost by mutilation of the clay tablet con- 

 taining the inscription. Following is a translation 

 of this passage : " [Astyages relied upon his troops] 

 and marched against Cyrus, king of AnJan to [cap- 

 ture him ?] . . . The troops of Astyages revolted 

 against him, made him prisoner [and delivered himj 

 to Cyrus . . . Cyrus (marched) to Ecbatana, the 

 royal city. [He captured] the silver, gold, treasures 

 (?), (and) possessions (?), which Ecbatana had gotten 

 by plunder and he carried to Ansan the treasures 



