NOVEMBKR 10, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



651 



■ever-recurring problem ; and it cannot but be of ser- 

 vice to learn bow tbe Greeks, masters of tbe art, 

 solved it in tlicir own case. 



Besides Ibe walls, tbe buildings, anil tbe tombs, 

 tbere bave been found, as Mr. Clarke has explained, 

 a considerable amount of smaller objects, — vases, 

 glass, pottery, urns, etc. ; and of these a considerable 

 portion has been seciu-ed as property of the institute. 

 Thejimian by which the excavations were authorized 

 gives us oiie-thinl of the objects found, — the most 

 interesting third, perhaps; but it is difficult to speak 

 justly in regard to it. If anybody should maintain 

 that tlie objects which are to come here are of sur- 

 passing interest, and that they will immediately lift 

 our museum to the front rank of such institutions, 

 a decided negative would liave to be given to such 

 aspirations. If anybody should assert that the 

 things were not worth the cost of transportation ; that 

 they have no general or popidar interest; that they 

 belong to a poor period; that they are hardly fit to 

 be seen beside the more beautiful works, which, in 

 the original and in copies, are in our possession, — 

 that, again, could not be for a moment admitted; 

 for the fact remains that the small portion which 

 is secured to us is of surpassing interest to those 

 who take an intelligent interest in such things at 

 all. 



The lower drum of a column, the capital, a com- 

 plete section of the entablature, including the unique 

 sculptured architrave, the frieze, and the cornice, 

 all have been secured, and may soon be placed iu 

 position. In addition to that, the best of the sculp- 

 tures which were discovered are to be brought over; 

 -almost all the coins; among tlie glasses and vases 

 those which, on the whole, were best worth preserv- 

 ing ; and most of tlie inscriptions. But even if the 

 objects secured to us from the discovery were less 

 than they are, it would make little difference iu our 

 estimate of the suceess of the expedition. The real 

 result was intellectual. And the new points wliieh 

 have been proved, the new discoveries which have 

 teen made, are such, that, if not a single object were 

 ■brought here from Asia Minor, we should still have 

 abundant reason to be satisfied with the results 

 achieved. It is impossible that we should obtain 

 any ade<iuate idea of these from the few drawings 

 that have been publicly shown. They are but a frag- 

 ment of the whole. 



How it was possible for these two or three young 

 men, while occupied with the practical direction of 

 from twenty to forty men, to make the surveys and 

 supervise the excavations, and also to prepare the 

 immense mass of drawings which have been exe- 

 cuted, it is difficult to understand; and it furnishes 

 abundant proof of the ability and devotion with 

 ■which the work has been prosecuted. The nature of 

 the results will be .seen wlien the next annual report 

 comes from the printer; but their whole value and 

 importance cannot be estimated until the appearance 

 of that final and monumental work which will, we 

 may hope at no distant day, take rank among the 

 authoritative publications of its kind. 

 I may add, that the increasing interest in archeo- 



logical work, and the scientific and precise manner 

 iu which it is now conducted, give new encourage- 

 ment to the prosecution of literary classical study. 

 The competition between the literary and scientific 

 method seems about to end iu a reconciliation, in 

 the prosecution of literature on scientific principles, 

 and in allying archeological science as closely as 

 possible with the literature of classical antiquity. 

 Archeology is a common ground on ■svhicli science, 

 literature, and art meet and join hands, each helping 

 the other. Such a school as that now established at 

 Athens, which you are asked to favor with your ap- 

 proval, is their common home. 



On motion of the Rev. Pliillips Brooks, the meet- 

 ing declared, by an enthusiastic vote, that the work 

 of the institute should be generously supported. 



THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY. 



The autumn meeting of this society was held in 

 New Haven, Oct. 24 and 25. Letters were read 

 from various members abroad, reporting progress in 

 their work; among others, from Mr. Mills of Han- 

 nover, respecting his edition of the Old Persian Gathas 

 (ancient Zoroastrian songs or odes), of which the first 

 volume is printed, though not published. 



A paper on the temple to Zeus Labranios in Cyprus 

 was read by Mr. Isaac H. Hall of Philadelphia, one 

 of the pioneers in Cypriote studies, and the chief 

 authority on the Cypriote language in this country. 

 A temple to this deity exists at Mylasa in Caria (de- 

 scribed iu Fellowes's 'Lycia'). He was, under the 

 name of Zeus Stratios, a local deity of tlie Mylasians, 

 certainly from the time of Darius to that of Lactan- 

 tius. The only other temple to him is this one in 

 Cyprus, at Fasuli (or P.asula), near Amathus. The 

 notoriously Lycian-looking architectural and other 

 art remains found in the neighborhood show th.at this 

 part of Cyprus was settled by Carians from Mylasa or 

 its vicinity. Mr. Hall derived the epithet ' labranios' 

 from a Lydian, Carian, or Lycian word, ' labru ' (pre- 

 served by Plutarch iu the form 'labrus'), meaning 

 ' axe,' the axe being the peculiar symbol of Zeus 

 Stratios of the Jlylasians. From this word came the 

 Mylasiau name ' Labranda ' ( ' place of the axe ' ) ; but 

 the Carian settlers in Cyprus dropped the d (which is 

 a sort of locative termination), and called their deity 

 Zeus Labranios; that is, the Zeus Stratios of tlie My- 

 lasi.ans, and not ZeusLabrandios, which would be the 

 Zeus of the village Labranda. Lycian influence in 

 Cyprus seems confined to this little part of the island. 



Mr. Hall also read (supplementing it from his own 

 knowledge of the facts) a short history, trom Dr. Van 

 Dyck of Beirut, of his Arabic translation of the Bible, 

 — aversion admirable in literary style and in typo- 

 graphical execution (printed at the American press in 

 Beirut). The difficulties in the way of the i)roduction 

 of this translation were very great, and the result is 

 higlily creditable to American scholarship and energy. 



Professor Avery of Bowdoin college gave an analy- 

 sis of the Khasi language, spoken by a people dwelling 

 in the Nepaul Hills, a representative of the _uon- 



