302 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



33 per cent. Money in the earliest days took the 

 form of exchange in kind, but soon resolved itself into 

 metal currency in silver and gold. Copper (and later 

 bronze) appears to have had existence, but little 

 mention has been made of it on the tablets. The 

 shekel " stamped " in silver is most frequently referred 

 to, its approximate value being three shillings. 

 Slavery was universal, the value of a healthy slave 

 being about 30 shekels or £^ 10s. ; but slaves could 

 rise to high estate, purchase their freedom, and have 

 it presented. Copper was the common metal, bronze 

 was used later, the tin coming from North Cornwall 

 and Southern India. Iron was not used for a long 

 period, and the time of its introduction is doubtful, 

 possibly about the sixteenth century B.C. The 

 characters by which it was first indicated mean 

 "heaven" and "metal," suggesting that it was 

 found on the great plain and the inhabitants knew its 

 meteoric origin. 



The exact sciences, as we know them, do not 

 appear to have been understood, though some of 

 the knowledge of the Babylonians pointed in the 

 right direction. Astronomy was perhaps the most 

 advanced, as the larger stars were mapped ; there 

 were several royal observatories, and the periods of 

 some lunar eclipses were correctly foretold. There 

 are tablets referring to one at least, in which the 

 astronomer-in-chief tells the king how, following his 

 instructions, he had placed observers over a wide 

 range of Western Asia, and goes on to describe the 

 path of totality. Science was fettered and obscured 

 by the remains of fetish worship, demonology and 

 the occult generally. The thousands of years of 

 civilisation had not wiped out, any more than it has 

 in these days, palmistry and the occult, which are 

 the vogue among some so-called leaders of intel- 

 ligent society. There is yet, after four thousand 

 years of added civilisation, nearly as much of the 

 original animal left in some of us as there was in 

 those old Babylonian days, when the Mrs. Grundy 

 - of the period was quite as exacting as she is now. 

 Some of the tablets referring to law cases show that 

 respectable citizens of that time were not above little 

 indiscretions when her back was turned. It is said 

 to be so even still. 



The importance of the science of sociology, as 



applied to the investigation of man's origin and 



-civilisation, is so evident that it is unnecessary to 



enlarge on the value of the Babylonian tablets as 



historical records. 



We strongly recommend our readers to obtain this 

 delightful book. There are two or three small 

 faults, but they are simply those of production and 

 not of the author. The first is the irritating phonetic 

 spelling of such words as labour and colour, which 

 if pronounced as printed would be wrong. A more 

 full glossary is required, with a table of approximate 

 dates of the reigns of the Babylonian kings (these 

 wouldgreatlyhelp the uninitiated reader) ; and, lastly, 

 in the next edition, an enlarged index is sadly needed, 

 the present one being very incomplete. J. T. C. 



BRITISH FRESHWATER MITES. 

 By Charles D. Soar, F.R.M.S. 



(^Continued from page 261.) 



GENUS PIONACERCUS PIERSIG, 1894. 



' I 'HE next genus to record is Pionacemis. This 

 -^ genus has all the characteristics of Acerciis 

 except in the genital area. Instead of a number of 

 discs on each side of the genital fissure as in Acerctis we 

 here find only three, the same as occur in the species 

 of genus Fiona. This difference will account for the 

 name given by Piersig to this genus. Previous to 

 1894, species we now find placed in this genus were 

 placed in Acercus or Piona. There are not many 

 species known. Piersig only describes two in his work 

 on the Hydrachna of Germany. I shall be able to 

 record at least three for Britain, and I have a fourth 

 which I found in the Upper Lake, Cwm-Glas in 

 North Wales, that I have not yet been able to name, 

 which may be a new species of Pionacercus. 



I. Pionacercus leuckarti Piersig, 1892. 



Male. — Body oval in form, rather broader to- 

 wards the posterior. Length about 0.48 mm. ; 

 breadth about 0.37 mm. Colour a yellowish-brown 



Fig. 1. P. leuckarti. Dorsal surface, male. 



with brown markings, and a yellow patch in centre 

 of dorsal surface. Eyes large and prominent. 



Legs. — First pair about 0.48 mm. ; fourth pair 

 about 0.55 mm. Colour a very pale blue. The first 

 and second pair are very much alike, and are very 

 similar to those we find on Cui-vipes and others. The 

 third pair are rather modified, the tarsi being thick, 

 short, and very hairy, with the claws very small 

 (fig. 2). The fourth pair, as we found in Ace/rus, 

 are very different to the others in having the tarsi 

 curved, and on the inner curie are a number of 

 teeth, like a comb. In the specimens I have 

 examined (fig. 3) there are seven of these teeth in a 

 row. 



