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SCIENCE. 



[Vol.. XV. No. 365 



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Vol. XV. 



NEW YOEK, Januakt 31, 1890. No. 365. 



The Knees of the Bald Cypress 



Robert H. Lamhorn 65 

 The G-esner Rust-Proof Pro- 

 cess 67 



Electric Locomotive for Metal 



Mines 68 



Electric Rotary Diamond Drill 69 

 The Latest Theories on the 

 Origin of the English 



Edward A. Freeman 69 



Notes and News 72 



M. Du Chaillu on the Viking Age 74 

 Electrical News. 

 Edinburgh International Electri- 



CONTENTS: 



Frankfort Electro-Technical Ex- 

 hibition 7S 



Book-Reviews. 



Practical Marine Surveying 78 



Practical Hints for the Teachers 



of Public Schools 78 



Among the Publishers 80 



Letters to the Editor. 

 An Insect Destructive to Wheat 



Q. C. SmiiH 80 

 The Piske Range Finder 



Thos. L. Casey 80 

 Industrial Notes. 

 The Anglo-American Storage- 



oal Exhibition 78 



Battery . 



M. DU CHAILLU ON THE VIKING AGE. 



The following from Mi-. Du Chaillu, written to the editor of 

 The London Times, appeared in that journal for Jan. 7: — 



"As some misunderstanding has arisen in regard to the 

 historical chapters of my book on "The Viijing Age," will 

 you allow me to give some fuller explanation of my views in 

 regard to tlie earlier inhabitants and invaders of Britain ? 



"In studying tlie history and antiquities of any country 

 which at some previous period has been overrun and occupied 

 by a foreign power, we naturally expect to find some material 

 traces of the invader, in the shape of monuments, inscriptions, 

 graves, weapons, ornaments, etc. Thxis Roman remains are 

 plentiful in Germania, Gallia, and Britain, and in generations 

 to come Britisli remains will doubtless be found in India to 

 tell the tale of England's dominion there. In like manner I 

 argue that the archasological remains found in England form 

 the strongest evidence as to who were the peoi)le who invaded 

 Britain. The so-called Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Roman 

 objects found in the British Isles correspond, down to the 

 minutest detail, with objects found in Scandinavia and in 

 the islands of the Baltic, and in no other place where Norsemen 

 have not been. 



"The majority of the criticisms which have come under my 

 notice deal in sweeping statements concerning language, the 

 views of historians, and so forth ; a few have here and there 

 ventured on the discussion of a point of detail ; but none, so far 

 as I am aware, have attempted to deal with one of my chief 

 arguments, which is based upon the existence of the material 

 remains to which I have referred above. The first of the 

 maritime tribes of the north mentioned by Roman writers 

 was the Suiones, the Sviar of the Sagas. Tacitus describes 

 their ships, and his description exactly coincides with the 

 vessel found at Nydam, of which an illustration is given at 



p. 220 of my first volume. My hypothesis that the Veneti of 

 Ceesar were probably the advanced guard of the north is based 

 upon the evidence that their ships, as described by Caesar, cor- 

 respond in a remarkable manner with the ships of the Norsemen. 



"It is reasonable to suppose, as Tacitus makes no mention of 

 these Suiones having come into conflict with the Romans, and as 

 he informs us that they 'honored wealth, ' that those he saw came 

 for the purpose of trading ; and this is confirmed by the quantities 

 of Roman objects, and especially of Roman coins, distributed in 

 finds and hoards throughout Scandinavia. To take one example 

 only : the hoards at Hagestaborg and Singdarfe include upward 

 of 34,000 Roman coins, forming an almost unbroken series from 

 the time of Nero (54 A.D.) to that of Septimus Severus (211 

 A.D.), and none of later date. Other finds throughout the 

 country exhibit a succession of Roman and Byzantine coins, in- 

 cluding many of gold and silver, from the time of Augustus 

 down to the later days of the Eastern Empire. 



"Now, the general distribution of the coins and manufactured 

 articles, and the large number of them, show, I maintain, that 

 not the Suiones, or any one tribe alone, but all these tribes, 

 carried on an extensive warfare and continuous commercial 

 intercourse with the Roman Empire. The Romans, on the other 

 hand, never penetrated into their country, their knowledge of 

 them was very vague, and Roman writers selected a tribe here 

 and there (as, for example, these very Suiones) , and attributed 

 to them certain characteristics and customs which in fact pre- 

 vailed throughout Scandinavia. This vagueness of nomenclature 

 is exhibited in the fact that the name Suiones disappears from 

 history for seven centuries, until we find it again in 'the pages 

 of Eginhard, who writes, 'The Danes and Suiones, whom we 

 call Northmen.' Meanwhile, other names, as Franks and 

 Saxons, are given to hordes of invaders and warriors whose 

 origin and home are wrapped in mystery. 



"Another point of great importance in this discussion is the 

 enormous number of graves scattered all over the country of the 

 Norsemen, indicating a very dense population. 



"Now, it is reasonable to draw three conclusions from this 

 evidence, which I have merely sketched in outline: (1) that we 

 find from the days of the earliest Roman historians continuous 

 traces of a maritime people in the north whose country the 

 Romans and their successors never were able to invade; (2) 

 that the Roman and early mediaeval nomenclature, as bearing 

 on this people, is so vague as to be worthless for historical 

 purposes ; (3) that the country, when we gain access to it, is 

 found to be full of material remains indicative of a dense and 

 warlike population, of advanced civilization, and of continuous 

 intercourse with the outer world. 



' 'Turning to England, we find copious remains from a very 

 early date which are not British nor Celtic nor Roman, which 

 have been variously labelled as Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo- 

 Roman, and so forth, but which correspond minutely with the 

 remains which I have described in the north. Of every such 

 object found in England I claim that I can produce the coun- 

 terpart in Scandinavia, and I challenge the historians and 

 arohseologists to show me any jjlace in the basins of the Elbe, 

 the Weser, and the Rhine where corresponding objects have 

 been discovered. 



"I ask again, is it or is it not reasonable to infer that these 

 remains found in England indicate that England was invaded 

 from the north? Is if!*or is it not reasonable to hold that these 

 invaders came, not from any one special spot in the north, but 

 that their expeditions were made jointly by many tribes com- 

 bining for the purpose, as we learn from the Sagas was their 

 customary practice? 



"I have taken pains to make no statement which cannot be 

 supported by a quotation of some recognized authority, or by 

 reference to some established fact, and these materially corrob- 

 orate each other, yet I am accused of bringing forward crude and 

 ignorant theories. 



' 'In conclusion, I would ask my opponents to prove to me that 

 their account of the origin of the English people is any thing 

 more than a theory ; and, if so, I challenge them to produce 

 the facts on which it is based." . 



