of stamped and dried earth, and under that floor the skeletons were found placed in a deliberate line on the base of these stones, so that I think there can be no doubt that there was some ritual connected with it. I do not think there was any sign of burning, but the argument that there was no injury found would be no argument. We have many indications that it was connected with the killing of the first-born. It is certain that they were new-born babes. The bones were undoubtedly those of new-born babes. They used to get rid of their old relatives in the same way, and so combined sacrifice and economy. Dr. SCHOFIELD: May I ask one question? In the Cathedral of Prague there was shown me a chest containing the bones of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Knowing that Mahommedans guarded the Tomb of Machpelah, how could Charles IV have got hold of the bones of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Then one of the pictures had great interest for me: the picture of the wall which had tumbled down. We have recovered the site of Jericho, and we have a very tolerable idea of what they would be like. Dr. MASTERMAN: The remains of Jericho have been examined and the walls were all mud and they stood quite apart from one another. Dr. SCHOFIELD: Although the meeting is closed I may say that I happened to be at Jericho when the walls were uncovered by Dr. Sellin, and when I dined with him I asked him about the walls of Jericho, and he said they had found the top of the wall of Jericho in the bottom of the ditch outside, so that the walls fell into the ditch. They are of dried mud. I found the 'house on the wall,' for there is only one, and I sat on the lintel of the window where probably the scarlet line' was attached by which the two spies descended into the deep ditch outside. With regard to the sudden fall of the wall, it seems to me that in His miraculous interposition God does not use supernatural means when natural means are sufficient to accomplish His purpose. When Joshua marched round Jericho seven times there can be no doubt that the walls were crowded with the inhabitants of Jericho watching the spectacle with intense interest, for they had learnt that Joshua was not marching for a hostile purpose. All was done in silence until there was the shout and the blast, and then these walls, about 3 feet thick at the base, shared the fate of the Hyde Park railings when the mob in Park Lane threw them over on the grass. I think the walls fell down from the tremendous pressure behind, and that the people of Jericho themselves not only laid the city bare, 'but filled up the ditch outside. All fell, except the house which was built on the wall. By the courtesy of Mr. Arthur Sutton we are able to reproduce four of the slides used; and perhaps the following notes on them may be of interest. The first gives Mr. Sutton's party crossing the Jabbok shortly before its junction with the Jordan. This famous boundary between Sihon, King of the Amorites, on the south, and Og, King of Bashan, on the north, is extremely beautiful, fringed with cane and oleander and bordered with oak-forests. In winter it is impassable, receiving so many tributaries from the mountain behind. The meeting of Jacob and Esau here will be remembered by all. Two principal tributaries, that bring down a great volume of water in the winter, from Gerasa and Rabboth-Ammon respectively, join it higher up. Respecting the latter, the royal city (2 Sam. xii. 26, 27) of the Ammonites, Prof. T. K. Cheyne takes great exception to its being called "the city of waters," apparently another instance of the danger of criticising statements when one has never visited the locality in question-for an Eastern traveller has pointed out that if he had, he would have seen the appropriateness of the name at once. Ammân, which represents to-day the old Rabbath-Ammon, is at the junction of the river with the modern Jerka (Jabbok), and lies all along the waters. It is true the old castle (probably Rabbah) is on the hill above, but in Joab's time the city proper would lie as now, in the watered valley and this would nullify another objection of Prof. Cheyne's. He says, "after Joab had taken the royal city, what was then left for David to take ?" Of course it would be this citadel on the hill. A parallel instance is when Joshua took Jerusalem, but only 400 years afterwards did David take the Jebusite citadel (city of Zion) on the hill Ophel. The other stream I have spoken of comes from Jerash. This wonderful city is the subject of the next two illustrations. Gerasa, or Jerash, on the extreme east of Peræa, must not be confounded with Gergesa on the Sea of Galilee (wrongly rendered Gadara) where the miracle of the swine took place which proved so disastrous to Prof. Huxley in his controversy with Mr. Gladstone. It will be remembered that he claimed to have proved this miracle false, and that therefore no other miracle was credible, including the Resurrection. Gerasa or Jerash is thirty or forty miles away from Gergesa, which in Roman times was one of the most famous cities of Palestine. It lies twenty-five miles north of RabbathAmmon. It is not mentioned in Old or New Testament. The magnificent ruins that now exist are those of the days of its greatest splendour (A.D. 138-180). It became later the seat of a Christian bishopric. The ruins are by far the most beautiful and extensive east of the Jordan. The stream on which they are situated falls into the Jabbok about five miles below the city. This is now a little rivulet, thickly fringed with oleander, which winds through the valley, giving life and beauty to the deserted ruins. The city was nearly a mile square, with a wall round, a large portion of which, with its bastions, is still standing. Three gateways are nearly perfect, and 230 columns still remain on their pedestals. (See Plates II and III.) The fourth picture shows Prof. Stewart Macalister's explorations at Gezer. He has shown that this town has actually been occupied by men from the Neolithic Age down to the times of the Maccabees. There are seven distinct periods of occupation. The earliest dwellers were about 5 feet 5 inches and lived in caves and cremated their dead. In the third period they rose to 5 feet 11 inches and buried their dead. The fifth and sixth state are the Israelitish occupation. The city was rebuilt by Solomon. At first the Israelites buried an infant beneath the foundation of a house, probably alive. Later on they abhorred these rites. Then a dead infant's body was placed in a jar, and later still, bowls (with blood or grape-juice), and lambs were placed, and have been found by Prof. Macalister in great numbers. The top stratum is Gezer after the Captivity, and here all idolatry has come to an end, and some of the great religious monoliths have been destroyed, Prof. Macalister thinks by Simon Maccabæus. 613TH ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING, HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM B, THE CENTRAL HALL, THE CHAIR WAS TAKEN BY MISS C. L. MAYNARD. The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read, confirmed, and signed. The SECRETARY announced the Election of Mr. H. Maurice Smith as a Member, and the Rev. J. M. Turner, Miss E. Nowell Salmon, Dr. J. P. Brooks, Miss H. Matthews, Dr. Charles Fox and Mr. Basil Atkinson as Associates. The CHAIRMAN then called upon Dr. Schofield to read his paper. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE FEMALE MIND. By ALFRED T. SCHOFIELD, Esq., M.D. THIS subject presents at the moment a dissolving view of great promise. Some present may remember the old dissolving views shown by the magic-lantern that charmed us so much as children, and will recall the fascinating way in which the old picture melted into the new. It is so to-day. The woman of Early Victorian days has nearly disappeared from our view, though she may still be found in remote country places the gentle, quaint, prim yet graceful lady, with her tippet and poke-bonnets, her samplers and her still-room, all nearly as rare and precious now as flies in amber. But the new is better, and the wonder is it has been so long in developing. The coming picture is on nobler, grander lines; the gentle submission and downcast eye may not be easy to find nowadays, but they are replaced by the candid and clear look of complete emancipation, and the upright figure of the freeborn. The marvel is that with such a rapid advance there have not been more extravagances. Setting aside exceptions, nothing to me is more marvellous and delightful than the quiet, decent, selfrespecting dignity of the modern latch-key young lady, living in her own rooms in London. I am quite aware that very severe strictures not wholly undeserved have been made on her dress these last few years, but we must not confuse the causes. In all times of war, and general upheaval, a similar caprice in woman's dress has been observed, but I do not consider what so many rightly deplore, as in any way the outcome of the emancipation of our womanhood. The remarkable lack of women's interest in their own minds is a very curious point. No doubt this is a survival of the past bad years. After careful search in the largest libraries, I can find no works on psychology written by women, save perhaps tentatively by that remarkable Swede-Ellen Key. What I take as another survival is a decided shrinking from the general and the abstract, and a distinct preference for the particular and the concrete. I do not emphasize these traits, for I am of opinion that in the new picture when complete they will disappear. Meanwhile, we still wait for a true concept of the female mind written by a woman. The subject is of the first importance; for it is not too much to say that the future of England largely depends on the quality of woman's mind to-day. With regard to her body, indications are not wanting in Nature to show that women physically are her most precious asset, contrary to the usual estimate. Since the invention of tools, man's body has greatly shrunk in value; indeed, but for wars it would be still lower. In the siege of Paris, when boys were almost exclusively born, Nature clearly showed she would not make a girl save out of good materials, whereas she made boys almost out of anything.* In this short monograph I include in the word "mind" both intellect and spirit. While, therefore, I emphasize the importance of a good physique to the next generation of women, few will deny that with regard to her national mission the quality of her mind is of still greater importance than her body. No doubt that for the army and field labour and industrial pursuits the body of man may come first; but socially, nationally, and imperially it is the spirit of man and not his body that controls the future. I know that Eugenics and much of the trend of modern thought tends to deny this. In some proposed legislation now being considered with regard to the prevention of a certain * See Traill, Sexual Physiology, p. 166; and Gamble, Evolution of Woman, p. 33. |