- 
May 16, 1884.] 
antiquity is supported by a letter from the celebrated 
Tischendorf. It appears that the late Mr. Shapira, 
so noted for his dealings in antiquities, palmed off on 
some too credulous purchaser the Philadelphia roll, 
aiding himself in the fraud by a letter which Tisch- 
endorf had intended to apply to two other rolls. 
Professor Hall gave, also, some notes on Cypriote in- 
scriptions in the New-York metropolitan museum. 
A paper was read from President W. A. P. Martin 
of Peking, on the northern barbarians in ancient 
China. Dr. Carl Lehmann of Hamburg read a paper 
on the relation of n to sh in proto-Babylonian (Sum- 
ero-Akkadian). The fact that nin one of the dialects 
corresponds to sh in the other, the reader accounted 
for by the aid of the transitional sounds / and r, and 
he adduced support for his view both from Indo- 
European and from Semitic grammar. Prof. D. G. 
Lyon of Cambridge made remarks on some recent 
Assyrian publications, mentioning his own ‘ Keil- 
schrifitexte Sargon’s,’ Delitzsch’s ‘The Hebrew lan- 
guage viewed in the light of Assyrian research,’ 
Haupt’s ‘ Das babylonische Nimrodepos,’ Strassmaier’s 
* Alphabetisches verzeichniss,’ and Bezold and Hom- 
mel’s ‘ Zeitschrift fiir keilschriftforschung und ver- 
wandte gebiete.’ 
— Quintino Sella, the Italian statesman and savant, 
who died at Biella, March 14, and was buried at 
Oropa, was born at Mosso, near Biella (Piemont), 
July 7, 1827, and was named ‘ the fifth,’ as holding that 
number in a family of sixteen children. His father 
was a wealthy woollen manufacturer, and he was 
educated as a mining-engineer at the School of mines 
in Paris. His scientific works, although few, are all 
remarkable for their accuracy and acuteness of 
observation, showing the true spirit of original re- 
search. From 1857 to 1861 he published several 
memoirs on crystallography, — ‘ Sulle forme cristalline 
di alcuni sali di platino e del boro adamantino,’ and 
* Sulle forme cristalline di alcuni sali derivati dall’ am- 
moniaca ;’ later, two important geological and tech- 
nical descriptions of the valley of Biella and the 
mining industry of the Island of Sardinia, and also 
his ‘ Lezioni di cristallografia.’ 
Sella was one of the three founders of the ‘ Club 
alpino Italiano,’ October, 1863, and its president at 
the time of his death. On the 17th of July, 1865, in 
company with his lifelong friend, Felice Giordano, 
director of the geological survey of Italy, Sella under- 
took the climbing of the Matterhorn (Sylvio or Cervin) 
from the Italian side, starting from Breuil in the Val 
Tourmanche. After an unsuccessful attempt, they 
reached the summit only three days after the cele- 
brated ascension of Whymper and his unfortunate 
companions. As president of the Reale accademia 
dei lincei of Rome, he remodelled entirely this old 
scientific institution, which was removed in January 
last to the celebrated palace Corsini. He was also 
president of the International geological congress at 
Bologna, 1881; corresponding member of the Institut 
of France; and foreign member of the Geological 
society of London. 
As a statesman, Sella ranked among the first. He 
was thrice secretary of the treasury, and chief of the 
SCIENCE. 
609 
constitutional party of the right. On his first appoint- 
ment to the treasury, in March, 1863, he found Italy 
on the verge of the. greatest financial difficulties, if 
not of a catastrophe; but, by his good management, 
in less than ten years he restored the Italian ex- 
chequer to a normal condition, balanced the expenses 
with the receipts, and has been justly called, by the 
president or speaker of the house of representatives, 
the ‘ Salvator del Vonore @ Italia.’ The ‘ Camera dei 
deputati’ has appropriated ‘ 100,000 lire, per un monu- 
mento alla memoria di Quintino Sella,’ to be erected 
in front of the treasury (Ministerio delle finanze) at 
Rome. 
— Protap Chundra Roy is a wealthy gentleman of 
Bengal, who has retired from business, and is devot- 
ing his leisure to the work of the Bharat Karyalya. 
This is an organization somewhat similar to the 
American tract society, but with a strangely different 
purpose. It is an institution for the printing and 
gratuitous distribution of the classics of India; the 
Maha-bharata, the Ramayana, and the Harivansa 
being the works first chosen. Already 13,783,500 
printed forms have been gratuitously distributed, or 
are in course of distribution. Such a surprising 
result of well-directed and truly patriotic zeal de- 
serves to be mentioned and recognized by all who 
are interested in the elevation and enlightenment of 
India, and especially by Sanskrit students in America. 
For Chundra Roy is now undertaking the publication 
of an English prose translation of the Maha-bharata 
- in an edition of twelve hundred and fifty copies, two 
hundred and fifty of which, according to the generous 
and wide-reaching plans of Mr. Roy, are intended 
for the scholars of Europe and America. Sanskrit 
scholars, therefore, who desire to have their names 
placed on the free list, may forward their addresses 
to the publisher, No. 367 Upper Chitpore road, 
Calcutta, British India. 
— Dr. Hopfner and a young scientific companion 
will shortly start for Ovamboland and the interior 
of Africa to explore for the Bremen geographical 
society. They have been supplied with instruments 
for astronomical observations by a member of the 
society: in return, they will send home periodical 
reports of their progress, and charts of the district 
explored. The same society is sending an expedi- 
tion to Bonin Island, South Japan, to investigate 
its geography and natural history. 
— At Ekhmeem, a large provincial town of Upper 
Egypt, situate about halfway between Assiout and 
Thebes, Professor Maspero, returning from his an- 
nual trip of inspection up the Nile, has just found, 
according to Nature, a hitherto undiscovered and 
unplundered necropolis of immense extent. As far 
as has been yet ascertained, the necropolis dates 
from the Ptolemaic period ; but, as the work of ex- 
ploration proceeds, it will probably be found that it 
contains more ancient quarters. The riches of this 
new burial-field would meanwhile seem to be almost 
inexhaustible. Five great tombs or catacombs, al- 
ready opened, have yielded a hundred and twenty 
mummies; and, within the short space of three hours, 
