Januabt 28, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



159 



work on long-period variables begun at the ob- 

 servatory in 1889, when the list numbered seven- 

 teen stars, to the present time, when the list con- 

 tains over three hundred; showing the progress 

 that has been made in the methods of observing 

 them. 



The following members of Section A were elected 

 as fellows: R. P. Baker, S. G. Barton, W. E. 

 Brooke, Thos. Buck, Arthur Crathorne, R.. T. 

 Crawford, I. M. DeLong, C. E. Dimick, F. J. 

 Dohmen, J. V. Downey, L. P. Eisenhart, J. C. 

 Fields, B. F. Finkel, F. L. Griffin, A. G. Hall, 



C. N. Haskins, T. M. Holgate, J. I. Hutchinson, 



D. N. Lehmer, 0. M. Leland, Wm. D. MacMillan, 

 W. R. Marriott, C. N. Noble, J. A. Parkhurst, 

 F. W. Reed, F. G. Reynolds, Charlotte A. Scott, 

 A. W. Smith, R. M. Stewart, Joseph Swain. The 

 section elected G. B. Halsted member of the 

 council, E. R. Smith member of the sectional 

 committee and H. W. Tyler member of the gen- 

 eral committee. On recommendation of the sec- 

 tional committee Professor E. H. Moore, Chicago 

 University, was elected chairman of the section. 



G. A. MlLLEB, 

 Secretary of Section A 

 University of Illinois 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ANTHEOPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 438th regular meeting of the society, held 

 December 21, 1909, was devoted to a paper by 

 Dr. I. M. Casanowicz on " The Alexander Legends 

 in the Talmud and Midrash, with reference to 

 Parallels in Greek and Assyrian Literature." 



The passages in the rabbinical literature bear- 

 ing on Alexander the Great may be divided into 

 two sections : ( 1 ) those which refer to his rela- 

 tion to the Jews; (2) those which contain epi- 

 sodes of his expeditions and adventures. 



The first part includes : ( 1 ) Alexander's meet- 

 ing with the Jewish high priest. At the instiga- 

 tion of the Samaritans Alexander ordered the 

 temple of Jerusalem to be destroyed; but being 

 met by a procession of Jerusalem nobles, headed 

 by the high priest, in whom he recognized the 

 apparition which had walked before him in his 

 victorious campaigns, he revoked the order and 

 delivered the Samaritans into the power of the 

 Jews. (2) The suits brought by several nations 

 against the Jews before Alexander. The Canaan- 

 ites brought action for the possession of the land 

 of Canaan, as it admittedly was originally their 

 fathers'. They were answered that as Canaan 



was the servant of Shem he and his possessions 

 were the property of his master. The Egyptians 

 claimed back the gold and silver of which the 

 Israelites despoiled them at the exodus. They 

 were met by the counter claim of the wages for 

 the service of the Israelites for four hundred and 

 thirty years. 



The second part embraces the following epi- 

 sodes: (1) Alexander's dialogue with the sages 

 of the South. He addressed to them ten questions 

 on cosmogonie and moral subjects, as: What was 

 created first? Who is to be called wise? Who 

 strong? Who rich? etc. (2) Alexander's pene- 

 trating into the land of the Amazons. They ward 

 oft' his attack by suggesting to him that there 

 will be little glory for him if he killed them, 

 being women, but that he will make himself 

 eternally ridiculous should he be killed by them. 

 (3) Alexander's visit to Qacia. There he wit- 

 nesses a suit before the king in which both liti- 

 gants disclaim the ownership of a treasure. The 

 king advises them to marry their children and 

 give them the find. Alexander said he would have 

 put the litigants to death and confiscated the 

 treasure. The king of Qagia declared that if rain 

 falls and the sun shines in Alexander's country 

 it must be on account of the animals, for the men 

 did not deserve these boons. (4) Alexander's 

 experience at the gates of Paradise. He was there 

 refused admission but given as a token a ball. 

 He weighed against it all his gold and silver, but 

 could not counterbalance it. The rabbis put a 

 little dust upon the ball and the scale in which it 

 was immediately went up. They explained to 

 him that it was the eyeball of a man who was 

 never satisfied. (5) Alexander's ascent into the 

 air. He rose up in the air until the world ap- 

 peared to him like a bowl and the sea like a 

 chalice. (6) Alexander's descent into the depth 

 of the sea. He caused some of his men to dive 

 into the ocean in glass chests. When returned to 

 the surface they reported to have heard the ocean 

 sing : " The Lord is mighty on high." 



Most of these narratives are also found in the 

 Greek compilation of the Alexander legends known 

 by the name of Pseudo-Callisthenes, where they 

 are embellished with many accessory details and 

 otherwise much modified. The episodes of Alex- 

 ander's adventure at the gates of Paradise or, as 

 in the Greek account, the fountain of life, and his 

 ascent into the air also suggest parallels in the 

 Assyro-Babylonian literature; the first in the 

 Nimrod Epic, the second in the Etana legends. 

 There is a great resemblance between the rab- 



