72 General Notes. [ January, 
of chapters at first handed down by tradition, but afterwards com- 
mitted to writing. They were supposed to be recited by the de- 
ceased person himself in the nether world, but were really 
said by those present at the funeral, These chapters are in 
papyrus rolls, on coffins, mummies, wrappings, statues and 
walls. The longest is the papyrus of Turin containing one hun- 
dred and sixty-five chapters. The chief subject of each chapter is 
the beatification of the dead, including renewed existence on 
earth, transformation into every desired shape, the range of the 
universe, and identification with Osiris and other gods. The use 
of amulets was carried to great excess: the scarabzi so fre- 
quently mentioned among ancient relics belong to this class. The 
lecture closes with a tribute to the moral doctrines of the Egyp- 
tians, in which the author repudiates the connection of the symbol 
of life with phallic worship. The religious systems are discussed — 
in the last lecture under the title of hymns, Henotheism, Panthe- 
ism and Materialism. 
The author while exhibiting the most excessive modesty is 
among the foremost Egyptologists, and does not fear to call Mr. 
Spencer, Mr. McLennan, and the champions of Dr, Thomas 
Young to order. One misses throughout the work formal classi- 
fications of myths and deities which would be exceedingly helpful 
to the student. A few outline drawings of the chief divinities 
would also contribute greatly to a comprehension of the text. 
ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AT MADISONVILLE, Ou1o.—The 
most thorough piece of archeological work with which we are 
acquainted at the present time, is the exploration of an ancient 
cemetery under the direction of the Literary and Scientific So- 
ciety of Madisonville. The reports are prepared chiefly by Mr. 
. F. Low, to whom we are indebted for copies. The explora- 
tions, begun in 1878, were first undertaken. by Dr. Metz and 
others in order to save from loss and destruction the mound 
relics of the vicinity. While exploring a mound, a laborer, pros- 
pecting in the neighborhood, came upon a skeleton at a depth o 
two feet. Subsequent investigation revealed the fact that the 
entire plateau is the site of an ancient cemetery, from which have 
been exhumed upward of four hundred skeletons, accompanied 
by stone implements, pipes, pottery, charred matting and corn, 
tools and ornaments of bone, shell and copper. The reports are 
numbered 1, 11, 11, and each succeeding one is a more careful 
report than the others of just what we desire to know. A de- 
tailed account of the whole exploration is in progress, and we 
shall not, therefore, speak querulously of the shortcomings of the 
present numbers. From the data before us we gather that there 
were two horizons of sepulture, the deep, averaging nearly four 
feet, and the shallow, averaging eighteen inches. Four-fifths of 
the bodies were interred in a horizontal position, not one- 
tenth in a sitting posture; and all the children were buried 
