48 QUESTION STILL DOUBTFUL. 



parts the ancient name of " Balder sbal," or Baldersfire. 

 Leopold von Buch long ago suggested, that this custom 

 could not have originated in a country where at Midsummer 

 the sun is never lost sight of, and where, consequently, the 

 smoke only, not the fire, is visible. A similar custom also 

 prevailed until lately in some parts of our islands. Baal 

 has given his name to many Scandinavian localities, as, for [ 

 instance, the Baltic, the Great and Little Belt, Belteberga, / 

 Baleshaugen, Balestranden, etc. 



The ornamentation characteristic of the Bronze age, is, in 

 the opinion of Professor Nilsson, decidedly Semitic, rather 

 than Indo-European. He lays considerable stress on two 

 curious vase-carriages, one found in Sweden and the other 

 in Mecklenburg, which certainly appear to have been very 

 like the "vases" made for Solomon's temple, and described 

 in the first Book of Kings. Finally, he believes that the 

 use of war chariots, the practice of reaping close to the 

 ear, and a certain method of fishing, are all evidences of 

 Phoenician intercourse. 



Professor Nilsson is so great an authority, as an archaeo- 

 logist his labors have contributed so much to place the 

 science on a sound basis, that his opinions are deserving of 

 the most careful consideration. Nor can they fairly be 

 judged by the very short abstract which has been given 

 above, as many of his arguments must be followed in detail 

 before they can be properly appreciated. That the Phoe- 

 nicians have left their traces in Norway is, however, in my 

 opinion, all that can fairly be deduced from the facts on 

 which he relies, even if we attribute to them all the signi- 

 ficance claimed for them by him. Farther evidence is re- 

 quired, before it would be safe to connect them with the 

 Bronze age. As regards the smallness of the hands, we 

 must remember that Hindoos share this peculiarity with 

 Egyptians ; this character is therefore as reconcileable with 



