414 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



Mines are mentioned by Agartharchidas, a Greek writer of the age of Ptolemy 

 Philometer, and he gives a curious picture of the mode of working these mines, 

 which were probably near the coast now called Jebeel AUaka. For additional 

 evidence we learn from Mak rizi, an Arab writer, that this region produced silver 

 and copper ; and tradition names both Egyptian Pharaohs and Greek Ptolemies 

 as workers of the mines. But, as we have already shown, they traded with India, 

 and at this time, as well as from Spain, tin could be procured there. 



The Phoenicians, to whom the art of navigation is so much indebted, and 

 who carried the spirit of adventure beyond all the ancient nations, obtained tin 

 from both India and Spain long before they visited the more distant shores of Brit- 

 ian, and discovered how rich were the mines of that metal there. It was worth 

 their while to undertake a long and risky journey at sea, with possibly no other 

 method of ascertaining their course than the stars, from the high price they were 

 able to obtain for this commodity in Egypt and other countries where, as at 

 Sidon, the different branches of metallurgy were carried on to great perfection. 

 Strabo, Diodorus, Pliny, and other writers, mention certain islands discovered by 

 the Phoenicians, which, from the quantity of tin they produced, they called Cas- 

 soterides, though the locality is not given, for Strabo says, " The secret of the 

 discovery was carefully concealed ; " and it is said that a Phoenician trader ran 

 his vessel on a shoal and was shipwrecked, when pursued, rather than disclose 

 his country's secret ; for which he was rewarded from the public treasury. Strabo 

 and Pliny both mention that tin was found in Gallicia and Lusitania, and further 

 say that in consequence these countries became a rich mine of wealth to the 

 Phoenicians. 



Herodotus describes the doors of the Temple of Belus, at Babylon, as made 

 of metal, probably bronze. The people would be more induced to attempt such 

 work as bronze doors of their temples and public buildings in consequence of the 

 scarcity of good timber suitable for the purpose in the land. 



\To be Continued ] 



THE AMERICAN HORSE. 



BY E. L. BERTHOUD, GOLDEN, COLORADO, 



It is generally understood, and the fact (if it is a fact) has been almost uni- 

 versally accepted that the Horse was unknown in the New World previous to the 

 advent of Spaniards in North and South America. Late discoveries and investi- 

 gations extending from Behring's Straits to Patagonia, have revealed the fact (see 

 Prof. Marsh in Encyclopaedia), that in North and South America we have twelve 

 fossil species of the genus equus, and thirty more species allied to them. 



Prof. Marsh has proved conclusively the filiation of equine ancestry from 

 the Quatenary lo the Eocene, and the progressive evolution of the Horse from 

 a many-toed ancestry. His deductions have been accepted as conclusive and 



