May 1, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



687 



tarshish in Ezek. x. 9, means cinnabar. 

 Pliny calls cinnabar minium, while we ap- 

 ply this term to the yellowish-red oxide 

 of lead which is called by Pliny usta 

 cerussa. Pliny says the best chrysolites 

 are those which, when brought in contact 

 with gold, make the gold look like silver; 

 this is, of course, due to the 86 per cent, of 

 mercury in the crystals of cinnabar (Pliny, 

 xxxvii. 126 : optimw sunt quce in conlatione 

 aurum albicare quadam argenti facie co- 

 gunt). Pliny states that the Romans re- 

 ceived cinnabar almost exclusively from 

 Spain, and the best cinnabar came from 

 Sisapo, the present quicksilver mines of 

 Almaden, north of Cordova in southern 

 Spain. 



Just as Pliny applies the name minium 

 to cinnabar, so the ancients used the name 

 'sapphire' for lapis lazuli. The ancients 

 received lapis lazuli almost exclusively 

 from the famous mines in Badakhshan, the 

 mountainous region in northeastern Af- 

 ghanistan, on the northeastern flank of the 

 Hindukush, the Paropannisus of the an- 

 cients. The Assyrian king Esarhaddon 

 (680-668 B. C.) calls this lapis lazuli 

 mountain Bikn, adding that it was situated 

 in the remotest part of Media. Esarhad- 

 don must have advanced to the Paropan- 

 nisus, as far east as did, three hundred 

 years later, Alexander the Great, and the 

 Macedonian conqueror would probably not 

 have extended his victorious march so far 

 east if he had not obtained in Babylonia 

 some information regarding those eastern 

 regions. 



After we have established the fact that 

 the sapphire of the ancients denotes lapis 

 lazuli, while the stones of Tarshish repre- 

 sent crystals of cinnabar, we can explain 

 the stanza in the Biblical love-ditties (Song 

 of Solomon, v. 14) where the maiden de- 

 scribing the beauty of her lover says: 



His arms are poles that are golden, 

 bedecked with rubies of Tarshish; 



His body is one piece of ivory 



adorned with azure blue sapphires. 



That is, his bronzed arms are covered with 

 ornamental designs tattooed in vermilion 

 (the brilliant red pigment formerly made 

 by grinding select pieces of cinnabar), 

 while his white body is tattooed in ultra- 

 marine (the beautiful blue pigment for- 

 merly obtained from lapis lazuli). Tattoo- 

 ing has been common among the Semites 

 from the earliest times. The mark which 

 the Lord appointed to Cain was a tattooed 

 tribal mark. 



I maintain, therefore : the stones of Tar- 

 shish are ruby-like crystals of cinnabar 

 from the quicksilver mines of Almaden, 

 and Tarshish is a Phcenician word mean- 

 ing 'dressing of ores,' especially 'spaUing.' 

 King Solomon's mines were located in 

 southern Spain and in southeastern Africa ; 

 the silver came from Spain and the Ophir 

 gold from the Eldorado north of the for- 

 mer South African Republic, opposite.' 

 Madagascar. 



The Activity of Mont Pelee: Professor 

 Angelo Heilpein, of Philadelphia. Il- 

 lustrated with lantern slides. 

 Reaction as an Agent in Securing Navi- 

 gahle Depths in River and Harbor Im- 

 provements: Professor Lewis M. Haupt, 

 of Philadelphia. 



This paper dealt with the necessity which 

 exists for deeper channels to meet the re- 

 quirements of modern vessels ; the inability 

 of contending with the ceaseless activities 

 of nature by mechanical means; the enor- 

 mous tonnage which requires ample facili- 

 ties for its rapid and economical distribu- 

 tion by the cheapest medium; the existing 

 resources of the engineer as at present ap- 

 plied and the resiilts secured therefrom; 

 the rapid increase in the annual appropria- 

 tion for the construction and maintenance 



