408 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 14. 



of parts of speech and accidence, so far as this has 

 talven place. [853 



Nomenclature of stature. — Dr. R. FliStcher read 

 a note on Zoja's sclieme for nomenclature, relati-^e to 

 human stature, of which the following- table presents 

 the main features : — 



The observation was made, that the figures given 

 are for Italians,, and would have to be modified for 

 each race of men. —{Anthroi}. soc. Wash.; meeting 

 April 17. ) J. ^Y. p. [854 



Through Siberia. — This is the title of a worlv by 

 Henry Lansdell, first appearing in 1881, and issuing 

 in a third edition, in 1SS2, by Houghton, J\lifl3in, & 

 Co., Boston. The author's journey was overland 

 through Tobolsk, Tomsk, and the southern part of 

 Siberia, across the head waters of the great north- 

 flowing river-systems of Asiatic Russia, to the mouth 

 of the Araoor River. The chief motive of the trip 

 was a study of prison-life in the countries visited; 

 but worlis of this kind frequently reveal delicate flow- 

 ers of aboriginal life and facts that are as welcome 

 to the reader as their great value is unappreciated by 

 the writer. The author gives a list of the stocks 

 mentioned in the Russian map of this territory, as 

 follows: Slavs, Zeryani, Voguls, Votyaks, Tatars, 

 Kirghees, Karakalpaks, Sarto, Usbeks, Turks, Kal- 

 muks, Teleuti, Ostjaks, Samoyedes, Yurakis, Yakuts, 

 Tunguses, Goldi, Gilyaks, Yukagirs, Chukchis, Ko- 

 riaks, Kamchadales, Ainos, Buriats, Manchus, and 

 Chinese. The manner in which the ethnological in- 

 formation is scattered through the work renders it 

 difficult to refer to that concerning any one tribe. 

 Especial interest will be taken in the mention, on p. 26, 

 ■ of the Tatars, descendants of the followers of Genghis 

 Khan. The ethnography of the Ob-Irtish valley, 

 including Tatars, Russians, Voguls, Ostjaks, and 

 Samoyedes, will be found on pp. 98-106, 124-126; that 

 of the Yenisei, on pp. 205-210; that of the Yakutsk 

 province, on pp. 206-308, with a short vocabulary on 

 p. 30.5. In chapter xxviii. will be found an account 

 of personal adventures with the Mongolian frontier 

 races; and in chapter x.xx., a description of the Bur- , 

 jats. Coming to the Amoor River, the Oronchons, or 

 reindeer Tunguses, and the Manyargs, or horse Tun- 

 guses, meet the traveller (see pp. 507-.511). Chapter 

 xllii. introduces us to Manchuria and its inhabitants; 

 and chapter xlvi., to the Gilyaks and Goldi at the 

 mouth of the Amoor; and the closing portion, to east- 

 ern Siberia, the Kamchatkals, and'Sauhalins. The 

 volume closes with a bibliography and a copious in- 

 dex. — J. w. p. [855 

 EGYPTOLOGY. 

 Art in Egypt. — The influence of the earlier art 

 of Chaldea and Assyria on art in Egypt, is the subject 

 of a work by L. von Sybel, Kritik des aegyptischen 



ornaments (Marburg, 1883), in which he takes the posi- 

 tion, that, after tlie eighteenth and nineteenth dynas- 

 ties, the art of Egypt was largely modified by the 

 influence of Chaldean and Assyrian art. This, he 

 asserts, is shown not only in decoration, but also in 

 statuary of the human form. Perrot, though differing 

 in some respects from the author, bears witness to 

 his extended researches and his excellent taste. — 

 {Rev. archeoL. Dec, 1882.) ii. o. [856 



Color in Egypt. — " Egyptian color must be seen 

 in Egyptian sunlight, which almost blots it out, or in 

 the dim interior of an Egyptian temple, and then the 

 strong contrasts of bright lines are very much sweeter 

 and more musical than they seem to us. There 

 is a gentle harmony in them. ... It is impossible, 

 without seeing a very fine Epyptian monument under 

 the conditions of light in which the builders meant it 

 to be seen, for us to apprehend their coloring, which 

 certainly, when represented in pictures, or seen in 

 our own generally diffused light, has an aspect of 

 harshness, though the harmony of color is maintained 

 in the use the Egyptians make of it. Take ivory and 

 ebony, gold, lapis lazuli, green and red jasper, and 

 let a great master make a mosaic in Egyptian style, 

 and you would see how really grand it is, and how it 

 has in it that large simplicity which connects it with 

 the expression of durability. I think if you will 

 study Egyptian decoration you will find this to be 

 true." — "(R. S. Poole, in ' Led. on art,' 1883. ) ii. o. 



[857 



EARLY INSTITUTIOM-S. 

 Institutions of early Rome. — M. Alfred Maury 

 sums up the conclusions of Gen. F.avd in his Ancienne 

 Rom (Paris, 1880, 8°). The city presents itself at 

 first as an aristocracy of free men (incienui) governed 

 by tlie heads of families (paij-e.s). It was an aris- 

 tocracy of landlords and warriors. Below this aris- 

 tocracy were the plebeians, who were clients of the 

 patricians; at any rate, subject to them, and governed 

 by them. Most of the land was in the hands of the 

 patricians. The plebeians appear to have had only 

 movable property, and not much of that. As in the 

 feudal time, during tlie middle ages, war was regarded 

 as the school of virtue; but it was a school for every 

 class of free men (whicli was not the case in feudal 

 times). The freemen went to war at their own cost, 

 each man spending his own money in it. The burden 

 of military service was very heavy for the poorer 

 classes of freemen, and it was a principal cause of 

 the pauperism and indebtedness of the plebeians, of 

 which we read so much. The people were continually 

 called out to war, and had no time left them in which 

 to provide themselves with the necessary means of 

 support. The writer describes the institution of paid 

 forces and standing armies. This gave to Rome a 

 great advantage over the other states of Italy, where 

 the people were still called to war at their individual 

 cost. The result was, that not only Latium, but 

 almost all Italy, was soon subject to Rome. Colonies 

 of Roman citizens were then planted in various jjarts 

 of Italy, and, what was unprecedented, garrisons of 

 soldiers were established to protect them. The other 

 states of Italy did not protect the colonies which went 

 out from tliein. The colonies were frequently quite 

 severed from the mother-state. This was not the 

 case with the colonies of Rome. They were the out- 

 posts of a military system. The arts of war and de- 

 fence were constantly cultivated by the Romans. 

 This was not the case in the other states of Italy, and 

 they were easily conquered. Gen. Favd considers 

 the early history of Rome from the military jjoint of 

 view. — (Journ. des sav., Jan., 1883.) D. w. Ii. [858 



