136 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 26. 



tion of the moving body depends ' not at all on the 

 direction of its motion.' But I may remark, that 

 Roiith (see Rigid dynamics, p., 192) has also given 

 the subject a rigorous investigation by means of the 

 equations of motion, and finds for the deviation to 

 the right, in north latitude, two terms, — the one 

 agreeing with the above, as found from the compo- 

 nent about the vertical; and the other, a function of 

 the cosine of tlie angle contained between the merid- 

 ian and the line of projection of the moving body. 



J. E. Hendricks. 



Des Moines, lo., July 16, 1883. 



ALNWICK CASTLE ANTIQUITIES. 



A descriptive catalogue of antiquities, chiefly British, 

 at Alnwick Castle. Printed for private distribu- 

 tion. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1880. ll-f-210 p., 

 43 pi. 4°. 



Bt the generosity of the Duke of Northum- 

 berland, the Boston public libraiy has recentlj'^ 

 been made the recipient of a copj' of this truly 

 magnificent work, and of the companion vol- 

 ume descriptive of the important collection of 

 Egj'ptian antiquities, also p)reserved at Aln- 

 wick. In no more satisfactorj- manner could 

 the liberalitj- and public spirit of the noble 

 proprietor have been manifested than in thus 

 sharing his treasures with the antiquaries and 

 art-lovers of other countries. Such sumptuous 

 volumes as these constitute a monument aere 

 perennius, like those which illustrate the lit- 

 eraiy and artistic treasures of Earl Spencer 

 at Althorp, or the magnificent publications in 

 which the Archduke Ludwig of Austria has 

 recorded his travels. 



In its artistic and mechanical execution, this 

 catalogue is beyond praise : never have we seen 

 more beautiful or more faithful delineations of 

 the various kinds of antiquities. If we cannot 

 speak in quite such high terms of commenda- 

 tion of the accompanying letterpress, the fault 

 should not be laid to the charge of Dr. C'olling- 

 wood Bruce, upon whom devolved the task of 

 preparing the work for the press. His com- 

 petencj- as an antiquaiy has been sufficientl}^ 

 manifested by liis able and thorough stud}' of 

 'The Roman wall,' whose 'stations' have 

 yielded to the explorer many of the objeets de- 

 scribed in the volume. It is to the untimely 

 death of Mr. Albert Way, by whose assistance 

 and advice much of the collection was gathered, 

 who knew its contents thoroughly, and to 

 whom the preparation of the catalogue had 

 been originally intrusted, that any shortcom- 

 ing mast be attributed. Although several dis- 

 tinguished EngHsh antiquaries have lent their 

 aid to the editor in their respective departments 

 of knowledge, we miss the influence of one 

 guiding mind, famihar with the results of re- 



cent archcological research in all its various 

 branches, and capable of ' speaking the latest 

 word ' upon the many interesting and impor- 

 tant topics suggested. Still the reader cannot 

 fail to receive instruction from the accounts 

 given of numerous relics of various periods in 

 the ages long since past, while the beauty of 

 manjr of the objeets delineated goes far to jus- 

 tify the claim that, — 



" Not rough nor barren are the winding ways 

 Of hoar antiquity, but strewn with flowers." 



The expression ' chiefly British ' in the title 

 must be understood to mean that the greater 

 part of the antiquities described have been 

 found in Great Britain. Those first represented 

 belong to the prehistoric periods of stone, of 

 bronze, and of iron, and consist mainly of 

 weapons and implements, such as axes and 

 celts of stone, and swords and celts of bronze, 

 or of a great variety of those rude, hand-made, 

 sepulchral A'ases found in grave-mounds, in 

 which was stored a supply of food for the dead. 

 To the same remote ages are to be ascribed 

 those singular markings found upon stones, 

 known to archeologists by the name of ' cup- 

 cuttings,' of which two remarkable examples 

 oecu)-ring in Northumberland are represented. 

 Thej' are found in countries widely separated, 

 and everywhere thej' closelj- resemble one 

 another, and the}^ have greatlj- exercised the 

 minds of antiquaries as to their origin and sig- 

 nificance. They consist of a series of shallow 

 pits or cups, incised upon ledges, or, more fre- 

 quently, upon bowlders. Of these, a central one 

 is often found surrounded by one or more con- 

 centric circles ; and a characteristic feature of 

 such groups is a longitudinal groove extending 

 from the central cup to bej'ond the outermost 

 of the circles that surround it. That the}' are 

 religious emblems is generally conceded, as 

 the same kind of markings is found upon the 

 slabs of stone of which ancient graves have 

 been constructed. It is highl\- probable that 

 thej' are a conventional representation of a 

 primitive system of nature-worship that pre- 

 vailed among our Aryan ancestors, symbolizing 

 the mysterious origin of life. The whole sub- 

 ject has recentl}' been treated in the most able 

 and exhaustive manner by the learned arche- 

 ologist of the Smithsonian institution, Mr. 

 Charles Ran, in the fifth volume of Major Pow- 

 ell's ' Contributious to American ethnology.' 

 We cannot help feeling surprised that the 

 editor, while quoting largely from Sir James 

 Simpson's ' Archaic sculptures,' makes no ref- 

 ei'ence whatever to the late Professor Edouard 

 Desor of Nenchatel, whose various writings 



