tion of confidence to tell its name so far away. We struck through a narrow lane, a green lane, dim with its height of hedges; it led us to a superb old farmhouse, now jostled by the multiplied lanes and roads which have curtailed its ancient appanage. It stands in stubborn picturesqueness, at the receipt of sad-eyed contemplation and the sufferance of sketches.' I doubt whether out of Nuremberg- --or Pompeii! you may find so forcible an image of the domiciliary genius of the past. It is cruelly complete; its bended beams and joists, beneath the burden of its gables, seem to ache and groan with memories and regrets. The short, low windows, where lead and glass combine in equal proportions and hint to the wondering stranger of the mediaeval gloom within, still prefer their darksome office to the grace of modern day. Such an old house fills an American with an indefinable feeling of disrespect. ... Passing out upon the high-road, we come to the common browsing-patch, the village green' of the tales of our youth. Nothing was wanting. We greeted these things as children greet the loved pictures in a story-book, lost and mourned and found again."

"Eugene Pickering" is a clever study of character, the character being that of a somewhat battered flirt who is fond of breaking young men's hearts, or trying to. The young man in question is a youth who would have tempted even the veiled nun. "A Romance of Certain Old Clothes" is possibly the best of them all; it is very good, very simple and effective. None of the book is dull, it is all clever and very readable.

THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY.

THE LEYDEN TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL.

THIS remarkable festival was celebrated with great splendour, on Sunday the 7th inst., and the following days. The ancient and renowned university of Leyden had formally invited representatives from all her sisters in Europe to be present, and some seventy learned men, hailing from thirtythree different seats of learning, assembled to witness the celebration. Among them were numbered Madvig, Ernest Renan, Nöldeke, Kuno Fischer, Milne Edwards, Donders, Jehring, Nippold, G. Perrot, and many others perhaps as able, if not so famous. Mr. Mayor came from Cambridge; Messrs. Mahaffy and Atkinson from Dublin; Mr. Heywood from Loudon; in fact, from all the great seats of learning, however remote, even from Clausenburg and Coimbra, deputies were present, with one striking exception. Oxford had sent no representative. Still worse, Oxford had not even answered the formal and stately invitation of the Senate of Leyden.

The Leyden Professors, who "live sumptuously every day," opened their houses, and all the foreigners were entertained with princely hospitality. Evening receptions were given by the Burgomaster, by the curators of the University, and (in the form of operas and concerts) by the citizens. The King and Queen of Holland received the deputies at an afternoon entertainment. Prince Frederick gave them a splendid banquet at his palace, the "Huis de Paauw," near the town. But perhaps most characteristic of all were the entertainments given by the students, which began when everything else was over for the day, and which almost kept up the continuity of pleasure into the next morning. At these most interesting conversaziones there seemed to be a contest whether the variety of wines offered by the host should exceed the variety of languages in which the guests responded. There were speeches made in five languages, viz., Latin, Dutch, French, English, and German, both by the students and to the students; and it may safely be said that there is no other university in Europe where such a thing could have been done. As Professor de Vries cleverly put it, it was a "diversitas linguarum non Babylonica, sed vere Academica."

Apart from social gatherings there were three solemn meetings for strictly academical purposes: two in the Church of St. Peter, to hear the ora

The

tion of the outgoing rector, Professor Heynsius; and the oration of the new rector, Professor Buis, with the solemn conferring of degrees, honoris causa; and the third meeting in the senate house, when the foreign universities presented addresses of congratulation to the home University. This latter scene was indeed very striking; for, while all around the walls of this celebrated room were panelled by portraits of the former great men of Leyden, the room itself was crowded with the present learning and genius of all Europe. The state costumes, too, of all the various universities were then worn, and afforded much amusement to the good people of Leyden, who thronged the upper windows when the procession swept out of the senate house to pass into the audience chamber of the king. All the houses were hung with flags and banners; all the lower windows filled with exotic shrubs and flowers, so that but for the icy cold of the weather, no gayer or more splendid scene could well be imagined. mornings which were not spent in bed, by compulsion of exhausted nature, were occupied in visiting the great men and hearing them talk. For at the public entertainments, so great was the number of speeches made, so perpetual was their flow, that it was difficult to get in a word without being called to order by the reproachful glance of a listening neighbour. Every possible health or toast was proposed; every conceivable object of public interest was made the excuse for a cheer. Even the Leyden jar was made the cause of a solemn speech by a German professor, who in his praises of "die Leidene Flasche," did not perceive that a forest of bottles on the table gave a new point to his eloquence. But notwithstanding all these attractions and distractions, any thoughtful observer must have found the highest interest in the hosts, in the great professors of Leyden itself, in its museums and collections, and in the life and character of its students. It was of course impossible to make acquaintance with even a fraction of the great men, and yet the specimens one did meet made one long for a quieter time and a greater intimacy with them. Above all, every visitor was fascinated with the brilliant and vigorous Cobet, the glory of the classical school of Leyden, the real successor of Porson and Bentley, the greatest Hellenist, and if not the greatest Latinist, certainly the best Latin speaker in Europe. As his eminent colleague, Professor Dozy, humorously said to the students, in apologising for speaking in French, "Il ne reste que deux hommes en Europe qui parlent le Latin, ce sont le Pape et M. Cobet." Professor Dozy also, who has turned his knowledge of Arabic so well to account in writing his great history of the Moors in Spain, was a great favourite. Then there was the physiologist Heynsius, whose vigorous attack on theology in his Festrede, somewhat reminded one of Tyndall; the jurist Buis, whose address was full of subtle irony and delicate humour, the theologians Scholten and Kuenen, celebrated for their bold and critical treatment of our religious documents-all these men were to be seen and talked with daily, and even sacrificing themselves to showing the visitors through libraries and museums and laboratories. One word in conclusion about the students. The first glance at them was sufficient to separate them totally from the German students, in style and manner, and to show their likeness to the young men at the British Universities. They seemed to be young men of private means, and their lodgings through the town were furnished and kept with an elegance quite equal to that of the lodgings of Cambridge students. There were good prints and pictures on the walls, comfortable arm-chairs and study-tables in the rooms; excellent wine (generally port) on the sideboards. Their conduct as stewards in arranging all the large receptions exceeded all praise. They are now nearly 800 in number, and most of them study law, but rather as a gentlemanly profession than as a means of

subsistence. Their culture in modern languages was vastly beyond that of our Universities; their learning was certainly not inferior to ours. The whole feast was thus one which it will be almost impossible to rival, at least in our time.

SELECTED BOOKS.
General Literature and Art.
BLONDEL, M. S. Histoire des éventails chez tous les peuples et
à toutes les époques. Paris: Renouard. 10 fr.
LA MARMORA, A. Un episodio del risorgimento italiano.
Torino: Loescher.

LEECH, John. Portraits of Children of the Mobility, drawn
from Nature. New edition. Bentley.
LEGOUVÉ, E. M. Samson et ses élèves. Paris: Hetzel. 2 fr.
POULET-MALASSIS, A. Les Ex-libris français. Nouvelle édition.
Paris Rouquette. 15 fr.

SCHMIDT, E. Richardson, Rousseau u. Goethe. Ein Beitrag
zur Geschichte d. Romans im 18. Jahrh. Jena: Frommann.
6 M.
SEIFF, J. Reisen in der asiatischen Türkei. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
7 M. 50 I'f.

History.

CLARETIE, J. Camille Desmoulins et Lucille Desmoulins, d'après des documents nouveaux et inédits. Paris Plon. 8 fr. LAUDIEN, C. F. Ueber die Quellen zur Geschichte Alexanders d. Grossen in Diodor, Curtius, u. Plutarch. Königsberg: akadem. Buchhandlung. 2 M. SMETS, M. Wien im Zeitalter der Reformation. Pressburg: Heckenast. 4 Thl.

Physical Science and Philosophy. AVERROES, Philosophie u. Theologie. Aus dem Arab. übers. v. M. J. Müller. München: Franz. 4 M. 70 Pf. COOKE, M. C. Fungi: Their Nature, Influence, and Uses. Ed. Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A. (Vol. XIV. of "The International Scientific Series.) King. 58.

REMUSAT, C. de. Histoire de la Philosophie en Angleterre, depuis Bacon jusqu'à Locke, Paris: Didier. 14 fr. SCAMMON, C. M. The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Const of North America, described and illustrated. New York: Putnams.

Philology.

BIDASARI, poëme ma'ais. Précédé des traditions poétiques de l'orient et de l'occident. Par L. de Backer. Paris: Plon. 5 fr. KLAGE, diu, m. den Lesarten sämmtlicher Handschriften hrsg. v. Karl Bartsch. Leipzig: Brockhaus. MIDRASCH Tanchuma cum commentariis Ez Joseph [lignum Josephi] et anaf Josef [Ramus Josefi] nec non indicibus utilibus. Berlin: Cohn. 8 M.

NEWTON, C. T. The Collection of Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum. Part I. Attika. Edited by the Rev. E. L. Hicks, M.A. Printed by order of the Trustees at the Clarendon Press. 20s. RECORDS of the Past. Vol. III. Assyrian Texts. Bagster. 3s. 6d.

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE LATE DR. ROWLAND WILLIAMS.

Liverpool: February 8, 1875.

Much has been written lately on the subject of reviewing. There is one point which I do not remember having seen touched upon; it has been forcibly brought before me, and I desire to call the attention of others to it. I refer to reviews of biographies, and the injury which may be done to the memory of the dead by the imputation to them of motives for their actions which, however false, they cannot repudiate.

Certainly, in writing of those who can no longer answer for themselves, great care should be used with regard to this, and it would seem that only upon two grounds would a reviewer be justified in assigning motives. Either he should have enjoyed a very close and intimate acquaintance with the inner mind of the person of whom he writes, or he should have satisfied himself, and be able to afford proof to others, that these motives may be clearly traced in the man's writings.

In the review of Dr. Rowland Williams' Life and Letters in the ACADEMY of February 6, I notice, that motives are assigned as having influenced him in writing his Bunsen Essay, which would have been utterly repugnant to his feelings, and which are in complete opposition to the principles by which he was actuated.

Now, I submit, that Mr. Essington, the writer of the review, though a schoolfellow and friend of College days, hardly possesses the first of the qualifications mentioned above-that of intimate acquaintance-which would justify him in making these assertions; for while no doubt he and Dr.

Williams entertained much kindly regard for each other, in connexion with the memories of Eton and King's, they had, after a visit of Mr. Essington to Lampeter in the early days of the Lampeter life, but little intercourse of late years. An accidental meeting leading to an afternoon call, one summer's day at Barmouth, and a day spent with Mr. Essington at his vicarage, after the first Birmingham League meeting in the autumn of 1869, would, I believe, sum it up.

That Mr. Essington has not availed himself of Dr. Williams' own words in order to acquire an insight into his motives (for I cannot suppose, had he done so, that he would thus ignore them), will, I think, be clear to any one who will take the trouble of reading Rowland Williams' Life and Letters, more especially that part which refers to the Essays and Reviews prosecution in vol. ii.

In passing, I would remark that Mr. Essington is not very particular about dates, when he refers to intercourse with the Wiltshire clergy (who will doubtless feel much complimented by his manner of describing them), as having influenced Rowland Williams in writing his essay. In the first place, however saddened he may have been by the line of action adopted by his clerical brethren, no feeling of impatience was manifested by him in respect to the Wiltshire clergy. But this is hardly to the purpose; his acquaintance with them had simply nothing to do with the matter, as his Essay was written before he was instituted to the living of Broadchalke.

It is true enough that mere inane acquiescence did try his patience; but even then, a characteristic story of undergraduate days hardly affords a fair illustration of the deep mental struggle involved in the controversies of some twenty years later. Neither does it seem much to the point, as at this time it was not with inane acquiescers, but with violent objectors, that he had to deal. His object also was, not to involve all in ruin by landing them in the ditch, but rather-to change the simile -by lending a hand in steering the vessel of which he was an appointed officer, he hoped to keep her from foundering on the rocks. See an account of the design of his Essay, Life and Letters, vol. ii. p. 25.

Mr. Essington seems to take no account of the real issues at stake in connexion with the Essays and Reviews when he describes the appeal to the Privy Council as a pleading for a "petty vicarage." But both appella

remonstrated against

a hearing which would have restricted them to pleading against penalty, and in the importance of the questions argued the "petty vicarage" was well nigh forgotten. (Vol. ii. pp. 141, 142, 166, 167.)

That in his defence Rowland Williams adopted

me equal pain-if I were, either from any of the accidents to which human affairs are liable to fail of obtaining the redress which I confidently expect from your Lordships' equity, or if I were even in appearance to win such redress by any unworthy subterfuge."

If a man's motives are not to be gathered from his own account of them, would it not-I venture to suggest-be fairer not to assign any motives at all?

I think the niche in the Temple of Fame which Mr. Essington (with doubtless the best intentions) has prepared, is unworthy of one whose ruling principle in life was love of truth. It is certainly a place which Rowland Williams, as an honest man, and in the consciousness of his own integrity, would have protested against having assigned him. ELLEN WILLIAMS.

THE ORIGINAL OF SHAKSPERE'S "OTHELLO."
Stoke Newington.

While feeling much indebted, in common, I am sure, with all the readers of the ACADEMY, to Mr. Rawdon Brown for his very interesting letter on the "Original of Shakspere's Othello," I cannot see that that gentleman has established the Moor's historical identity quite so satisfactorily as he sup

poses.

Let us take what we may call the "historical setting" of Cinthio's novel, as well as that of Shakspere's play, and compare them with the historical facts which Mr. Brown has collected.

First, then, for the novel. A valiant Moor, tried in the service of the Republic of Venice, and married to a Venetian lady of extraordinary beauty, is commander of the forces stationed at Cyprus, having been appointed to that office by the Senate in the ordinary course, to relieve his predecessor. The Moor murders his wife; whereupon the Senate, being apprised of the fact, orders him to be arrested, and sent home to Venice; upon his arrival, after public trial and torture, he is banished, and is eventually assassinated at the instigation of the relations of his murdered wife.

Now, let us turn to the play. Here we find the Moor appointed to his command in Cyprus under pressure of a particular crisis which is minutely described. A Turkish fleet, variously estimated at 107, 140, and 200 galleys, is sailing towards Cyprus. Such is the intelligence which startles Venice. Then a messenger arrives with tidings that the fleet has changed its course, and is making for Rhodes. Another brief interval, and the Senate is informed that, after having been joined at Rhodes by an additional force of thirty ships, the Turkish fleet is again in full sail for Cyprus. In this imminent danger, the eyes of all men are bent upon Othello as the destined saviour of the Re

very able and interesting comparison of Cinthio's novel and Shakspere's play.

It may be well to state clearly what I conceive Mr. Brown's theory to be. It seems to involve two distinct propositions :

:

1. That the Moor of Cinthio's novel is the historical Christofal Moro, who was lord-lieutenant of Cyprus in 1505, disguised.

2. That Shakspere became aware of this identity, and having ascertained the true story of the historical Moro, drew upon that, as well as upon the novel, in the construction of his play.

Although I am not aware that there is any good reason for supposing that Cinthio's novel was founded upon fact, yet, assuming that it was so, the first of these two propositions is at any rate a very plausible and ingenious conjecture. The name "Moro" might very naturally suggest to Cinthio the desire of disguising his hero as a Moor-a device which would save the author from unpleasant consequences, while the disguise would be too flimsy to prevent the identification of the man by those acquainted with the facts. It does not, however, fall within my purpose to discuss the former of the two propositions; and, therefore, assuming it to be true, I pass on to the second, which certainly stands upon a very dif

ferent footing.

I

Every one who has hitherto noticed Shakspere's divergences from the novel, except Mr. Brown, has referred them to the exigences of dramatic composition, or to the creative genius of the Dramatist. Certainly, for my own part, cannot discover a single particular wherein the play differs from the novel, which seems to suggest must say they are very meagre unearthed by Mr. an acquaintance with the historical facts-and I Brown. Let me take seriatim the points of resemblance which he adduces.

First: He thinks that he has discovered in the "strawberries" upon Desdemona's handkerchief, the "three mulberries sable," which with "three bends azure on a field argent" constituted (so we are told) the insignia of another Christofal Moro, who was Doge of Venice in 1469. Did it never occur to Mr. Brown that by making the assumpwere Othello's intion that the "strawberries signia at all, we should be involving Shakspere in a gross inconsistency? for, of course, in that case, Cassio, when he found the handkerchief dropped in his bed-chamber, could not have been in doubt respecting its ownership: he would have recog nised it at once as the property of Desdemona. In the novel, Cassio actually does recognise the handkerchief as Desdemona's, but he recognises it not by any insignia upon it, but by the curious After this inge inwrought "Moresco work." nious discovery, I am almost surprised that Mr.

In

"loopholes and backdoors," is simply untrue. his "Hints to my Counsel in the Court of Arches,"

he wrote:

"No legal subterfuge must here prejudice the truth," &c. (Life and Letters, vol. ii. pp. 53, 54.)

His determination to conduct his own Appeal to the Privy Council arose from his desire of saying exactly what he did mean, and disclaiming what he did not mean:

My opening instruction to my counsel in the Court of Arches was, to employ no technical subterfuge; but to prove that my teaching was duly mindful of my obligation as a clergyman. My disinclination to let the case be won upon principles at variance with those obligations, and with my own antecedents and convictions, was my reason for taking the case into my own hands," &c. (Vol. ii. pp. 138, 331.)

In his concluding address before the Privy Council he said:

"Nor would I leave without protest the insinuation of the other side that I have asked your Lordships to receive from me any explanation of my essay which is not established and confirmed, when attention is once called to it, by the strictest construction of the language of the essay itself. Two things, my Lords, would cause

natural feeling of resentment against the Moor who

has just presumed clandestinely to wed a noble daughter of Venice, confirms the popular choice. The Turkish fleet is shattered by a tempest, and so Cyprus is saved. The Moor murders his wife, is superseded by his lieutenant, and dies by his

own hand.

So much for the novel and the play: now let us see what are the historical facts which Mr. Brown has discovered. It appears that in the year 1505 a certain Christofal Moro was elected lord-lieutenant of Cyprus; that he remained in the island after his term of office had expired, and was elected by the then lord-lieutenant and his counsellors commander of the forces against a rumoured attack from some quarter or other; and that in October, 1508, he arrived in Venice, in mourning for his wife, who had died on her way from Cyprus.

At the outset, I must remark that Mr. Brown is altogether mistaken when he asserts that "it has not been noticed that there are circumstances in the play which are not to be found in the novel." If Mr. Brown will refer to a couple of small volumes entitled "Shakespear Illustrated, by the Author of the Female Quixote," published more than a century ago (1753), he will find a

66

as luscious as locusts," there is a most unmistake able allusion, by way of local colouring, to the noxious insects respecting which we hear so much

in Mr. Brown's letter.

66

Secondly: We are told that it is a "curious coincidence" that the tenor of the official advices from Cyprus, in which the then lord-lieutenant announces the election of Moro as captain of the ships, corresponds precisely" with the causes assigned in act i. sc. 3 of Shakspere's play for the despatch of Othello from Venice to defend the island. As the "official advices" are not before us, it is impossible to institute a comparison be tween them and act i. sc. 3 of Othello.

I will only remark that the correspondence which Mr. Brown styles "precise," might appear to another mind very far indeed from "precise," and, further, that, inasmuch as the only specific causes assigned for the despatch of Othello are such as are most obviously applicable to such an occasion, viz., his knowledge of the place, and his great reputation, the coincidence would not be particu larly striking, if the Lord Lieutenant of Cyprus alleged similar reasons for the election of Mero upon a similar occasion.

Thirdly: We are told that "Moro's military

8 p.m.

8.30 p.m.

1 p.m.

exploits in the Romagna against Caesar Borgia, THURSDAY, Feb. 25, 7 p.m. London Institution : Dr. Richardand subsequently during the League of Cambrai, would warrant his saying of himself, 'I have done Νο the State some service, and they know it.'" doubt; but if Shakspere was acquainted with these services of the historical Moro, why does he❘ FRIDAY, Feb. 26, prefer to mention Rhodes, Cyprus, and Aleppo as the scenes of the exploits of his Othello? He, at least, could not have been influenced by a fear of ofending Moro's kinsmen, if he had given the real facts.

But the most conclusive argument against Mr. Brown's theory appears to be the following. Mr. Brown does not seem to be aware that Shakspere has laid the events of Othello at a period more than sixty years subsequent to Christofal Moro being lord-lieutenant of Cyprus. Reed pointed this out years and years ago. The only attempt, historically recorded, which the Turks ever made upon Cyprus, after that island came into the posSession of Venice, was in 1570. This would in itself be sufficient to fix the time; but Shakspere has in many particulars followed the actual facts. Tust the Turkish fleet first came sailing towards Cyprus, then went to Rhodes, there met another squadron, and then resumed its way to Cyprus,

are matters of history; and Shakspere is accurate even in the number of the fleet, which (Knolles tells us) consisted of 200 galleys. In the event, indeed, Shakspere has departed from historical accuracy; for the Turks, far from being overwhelmed by a tempest, succeeded in wresting Cyprus from the Venetians. In this particular divergence from history, however, we see that Shakspere was guided by the exigences of his plot. If, then, Mr. Brown asserts that the attempt of 1570 was not the only attempt made upon Cyprus by the Turks, after the island became a Venetian dependency, the onus of proof lies upon him; and even if he should succeed in establishing this fact, his labours will then only have commenced; for then it will be incumbent upon him to show that the attempt to which he refers was in its details almost identical with that of 1570. Until this has been satisfactorily proved, I for one shall continue to maintain Reed's confident-but, as I think, justly confident-opinion respecting the time of the play. EDWARD H. PICKERSGILL.

7.30 p.m. 8 p.m. 8.30 p.m. 9 p.m.

SCIENCE.

THE HORSE AND ITS RIBS.

Mémoire sur les Chevaux à trente-quatre côtes des Aryas de l'Epoque Védique. Par C. A. Piétrement, Vétérinaire en 1er au 5e Régiment d'Artillerie. (Paris: E. Donnaud.) SYLVIUS said that man had formerly an intermaxillary bone. If he has it no longer, he ought to have it. In this he was right. The same Sylvius, in his answer to Vesalius, said that Galen was not wrong when he described man as having seven bones in his sternum, for, said he, "in ancient times the robust chests of heroes might very well have had more bones than our degenerate day can boast." In this he was wrong.

It was

I take these statements from Mr. Lewes' Life of Goethe (p. 343), and I have to confess that I have not verified them. They interested me, however, as bearing on a controversy that has been carried on for some time between scholars and anatomists, viz., whether another animal, the horse, instead of losing, has developed in course of time some bones which it did not originally possess. Horses have now thirty-six ribs, sometimes, it is said, thirty-eight. But there is a passage in the Rig Veda which speaks apparently of only thirty-four ribs in horses. M. Piétrement who in his work Les Origines du Cheval domestique d'après la Paléontologie, la Zoologie, l'Histoire et la Philologie (Paris, 1870), first called attention to this curious statement, and drew from it the conclusion, supported by some very ingenious arguments, that at the time of the Vedic poets, say about 1500 B.C., there existed a race of horses with J. T. only thirty-four ribs. Other zoologists, and Other zoologists, and more particularly M. Sanson, raised some strong objections, but M. Piétrement replied to them in his Mémoire sur les Chevaux à trente-quatre côtes des Aryas de l' Epoque Védique (Paris, 1871), and the question is still sub judice.

The EDITOR will be glad if the Secretaries of Institutions, and other persons concerned, will lend their aid in making this Calendar as complete as possible.

APPOINTMENTS FOR NEXT WEEK. SATURDAY, Feb. 20, 3 p.m. Royal Institution: Mr.

MONDAY, Feb. 22,

TUESDAY, Feb. 23,

Wood, III. Crystal Palace

Concert (Mdlle. Popular Concert, St. James's Hall (Hallé, Joachim).

5 p.m. London Institution: Dr. Carpen

ter on Animal Life of the

Deep Sea."

7 p.m. Actuaries.

8 p.m. Social Science Association. Me

8.30 p.m. 3 p.m.

dical.

St.

Monday Popular Concert, James's Hall (Joachim, Dann

reuther).

Geographical.

Royal Institution: Mr. A. H. Garrod on "Animal Locomotion."

8 p.m. Anthropological Institute; Lieutenant C. C. de Crespigny on "The Milanows of Borneo:" "History of the Heung-Noo," Part II.

"Je ferai d'abord remarquer que la présence de trente-quatre côtes seulement, sur une race ce équestre, soit ancienne soit actuelle, ne serait nullement un fait anormal, en dehors des lois de la nature; car il est parfaitement reconnu aujourd'hui que le nombre de ces pièces osseuses est loin d'être constant sur nos chevaux actuels. M. Chauveau s'exprime en effet ainsi à propos du nombre de côtes des chevaux : 'On compte pour chacun des moitiés latérales du thorax, dix-huit côtes. Il n'est pas rare d'en rencontrer dix-neuf, avec un nombre égal de vertèbres dorsales, chez les chevaux bien constitués, mais alors il n'existe, le plus souvent, que cinq vertèbres lombaires.'

"D'autre part, on rencontre quelquefois, chez des

3 p.m. Royal Institution: Professor Tyn- sujets d'un certain type, 'cinq vertèbres lombaires

Lorsque ce dernier fait fut annoncé en France par M. Sanson, il rencontra beaucoup d'incrédules; mais il est aujourd'hui complétement acquis à la science; et il est à juste titre considéré comme l'indice de l'ancienne existence d'une race de chevaux à cinq vertèbres lombaires; chevaux dont le croisement avec ceux à six vertèbres lombaires rend d'ailleurs parfaitement compte des fréquentes anomalies de conformation que l'on rencontre dans cette région du rachis."

Having by these considerations established the possibility of an ancient race of horses with only thirty-four ribs, M. Piétrement appealed for its reality to a passage in the most ancient literary document of the whole Aryan world, the Rig-Veda.

The passage in which the thirty-four ribs of the horse are mentioned occurs in the 162nd hymn of the first book of the RigVeda Samhita. I translated the whole of krit Literature, 1860, p. 553. The hymn is that hymn in my History of Ancient Sansascribed to Dirghatamas, and describes the sacrifice of the horse in very full detail. In the eighteenth verse we read :

:

"The axe approaches the thirty-four ribs of the quick horse, beloved of the gods. Do you wisely keep the limbs whole, find out each joint and strike.'

This passage is curious in many respects. It refutes the statement of Strabo (xv. 54), that the Indians did not slaughter their victims, οὐδὲ σφάττουσι τὸ ἱερεῖον, ἀλλὰ πνίγουσι, ἵνα μὴ λελωβημένον ἀλλ ̓ ὁλόκληρον δέλωται τῷ Θεῷ. It also seems to imply that

the horses then offered at the sacrifices had only thirty-four ribs. This statement, however, startled even the orthodox commentators in India, and Sayana remarks in his commentary on this passage, that other animals, such as goats, &c., have only twenty-six ribs, as might be proved by what he considers as far more convincing than ocular evidence, viz., a passage from the Brahmanas, in which it is said, "Its ribs are twenty-six." In another passage, in his commentary on the Satapatha brahmana, xiii. 5, 1, 18, Sayana returns to the same subject, but unfortunately that passage, as edited by Professor Weber, is so corrupt, that I at least cannot make sense of it, though it is clear that Sayana says there that their ribs are thirtysix. Another commentator, Mahidhara, explaining the Horse-sacrifice, as prescribed in the Yagurveda, seems to have no anatomical misgivings, but states that the horse has thirty-four, goats and other animals twentysix ribs.

I confess that I was myself very much puzzled by the passage in the Rig Veda. It was quite clear that the reading katustrimsat, thirty-four, cannot be called in question; it was equally clear that that number would not have been mentioned except for some special purpose. That it was the habit of the ancient Hindus to count the various bones of the human or animal skeleton, may be seen in the Law-book of Yagnavalkya iii., 85 seq. There we read ::

"The neck consists of fifteen bones, a collarbone on each side, and the chin; two at its root, and the same on the forehead, the eyes, and the cheeks, and the nose of firm bone. The ribs with their supports and the Arbudas (Zippenknorpel) are seventy-two. Two front-bones, four

"My dear Sir, I have been much interested in M. Pietrement's Mémoire. His work Les Origines des Chevaux Domestiques is well known to me, but I had paid no particular attention to his incidental mention of the 34-ribbed Aryan horse.

"M. Piétrement's essay raises three questions. The first, Does the passage of Drighatamas' hymn cited, necessarily imply that the horse known to him had only thirty-four ribs? The second, Does the passage from Sayana imply, that he asserted of his own knowledge that the horses of his time in 1400 A.D. had only thirty-four ribs? The third, Are there any zoological arguments in favour of or against the existence of a breed of 34-ribbed horses ?

"3. As to the zoological aspect of the question. Horses may undoubtedly vary not only in the number of their ribs, but in the number of their dorso-lumbar vertebrae. The latter may be twenty-four (as usual), or twenty-three, as in the cases cited by Sanson, and also by Legh in his Handbuch der Anatomie der Hausthiere; and the former may be eighteen (as usual) or nineteen on each side. Unfortunately, I know of no case on record (and M. Piétrement seems to have been unable to find one) in which either horse, ass, or other equine animal had fewer than thirty-eight ribs. If a 34-ribbed race of horses ever existed, I think it ought to turn up as a variety now and then. But it does not; and what is still more to the purpose, we do not find that any of the immediate allies of the horse have fewer than thirty-six ribs; though they may, as in the case of the ass, have only five lumbar vetebrae.

"Without wishing, in the least, to dogmatise then, I must say that the zoological probabilities appear to me to be dead against M. Piétrement's hypothesis; and unless you tell me that the Sanskrit text must mean that Dirghatamas' horses had thirty-four ribs and no more, I shall take leave to doubt the existence of these 34-ribbed steeds.

"I am afraid I have troubled you with a very long letter, which does not come to much in the

"I remain,

"I speak ignorantly, but suppose I am right in assuming that there is no more the' in the Sanskrit than in the Latin. Nevertheless it is upon the presence of this definite article that the question turns. For, without it, the passage may simply mean that the axe cuts through thirty-four ribs out of the thirty-six with which the horse is provided. What makes me think that this may be the proper signification of the passage is the inquiry I put to myself, For what purpose did the sacrificing priest want to cut through the horse's ribs? Surely, in order to disembowel him. But in order to do this no one would go through the great trouble and labour of chopping through the bony parts of the ribs of a horse. Moreover, such a

proceeding would be incompatible with the objec

tion to mangling the horse's bones, which is strongly displayed elsewhere in the Vedic hymn. "But every bony rib ends below in a gristly substance, and it is quite easy to cut these costal cartilages, and then turning them back, along with the breast-bone, the cavity of the chest is laid widely open, and the priest readily reaches the heart cr the like.

"But if every rib ends in a cartilage there must be thirty-six cartilages and not thirty-four? "True, but the last pair of ribs is much shorter than the others. It is not needful that all the thirty-six pairs of costal cartilages should be cut through in order to lay the chest thoroughly open; and for sacrificial purposes it may have been inconvenient to cut through more than the thirty

four ribs which lie in front of it.

"If you are laying open a man's chest for a post mortem examination, you go to work exactly as I am supposing the Aryan priest to do. You cut through the rib cartilages on each side and take them away, along with the breast-bone to which they are attached. But, in doing this, you leave at least the last two ribs on each side untouched, because they are free, so that it is not needful to cut them.

"If I were a poet, and made a hymn about a post-mortem examination, I might speak of the operator's scalpel cutting through the twenty ribs,' without meaning to imply that ta man of the period is devoid of his full complement.

"2. Does Sâyana say that the horses of his time had only thirty-four ribs? The passage quoted

"Yours very truly,

"T. H. HUXLEY."

I have little doubt that Professor Huxley has solved the riddle. It is open to translate either the thirty-four, or thirty-four ribs; but whether we adopt the one or the other rendering, it seems clear that the poet must have had some reason for mentioning that number. If thirty-four was the usual number of a horse's ribs at his time, then there seems little reason for giving the number. "Cut the ribs" would have conveyed the same meaning as cut the thirty-four ribs." If, on the contrary, the number thirty-four was mentioned because it was exceptional, then the poet and his commentators too would have said more about the anomaly. Everything becomes intelligible if we admit that in cutting open the horse, two ribs were not to be cut, so that they might remain and keep the carcase together. In that case to mention the number of ribs that were to be cut had a purpose, though it is strange that tradition, which in India possesses such extraordinary tenacity in unimportant matters, should not have preserved the original purport of the words of Dirghatamas. I have looked in vain for a passage where the cutting of the thirty-four ribs in the Horsesacrifice is more fully described; but I

ought to add that in the oldest descriptions of the sacrifice of other animals, preserved in the Aitareya-Brahmana and the SrautaSutras of Alvarayana, nothing is said of leaving two ribs undivided. "Twenty-six are his ribs," we read: "let him take them out in order; let him not spoil any limb." MAX MÜLLER.

SCIENCE NOTES.

ASTRONOMY.

Transit of Venus.-The members of the Egyptian Expedition have returned to this country, bringing with them the photographs of the transit taken at Thebes, which, as was to have been expected from Captain Abney's reputation as a

scientific photographer, leave nothing to be desired as records of the relative positions of the sun and Venus. The scale, twenty feet in length, formerly used by Mr. De La Rue, at Kew, has been erected at Greenwich Observatory, and photographs of it will be taken with the various photoheliographs, to determine the optical distortion for each instrument. This being duly allowed for, a comparison of the diameters of the sun and Venus on each photograph, with their respective angular values, will give the scale for each plate in terms of which the distance between the centres is to be expressed, the diameter of the sun being increased by photographic irradiation, while that of Venus is diminished, so that the sum of the two is sensibly free from this disturbing cause. By this process the necessity for a temperature correction is entirely obviated, and the photographic measures can be included in the same scheme of reduction as the eye observations (similarly corrected for irradiation where necessary), on the plan proposed by Sir George Airy. This work will be at once commenced, but until the whole mass of observations has been discussed, nothing but harm will be done by incomplete investigations, a point which has been clearly brought out by recent discussions in the French Academy, where M. Le Verrier protested strongly against the publication of the details of observations as they arrived, and their partial discussion by the use of the Method of Least Squares as a mere mill to grind out the solution required. Professor Tacchini writes from Muddapûr, Bengal, that the Italian party under his charge were successful both with the spectroscopic and ordinary observations. The chief points of interest are (1) that last external contact occurred apthan with the ordinary eye observation, indicating parently two minutes earlier with the spectroscope that the apparent diameter of the sun with the spectroscope is less than with the ordinary method, which would tend to show (unless the difference be accidental) that there is a shallow layer of luminous gases below the photosphere. (2.) That the spectrum of the atmosphere of Venus shows two dark bands in the red corresponding to two in that of our own atmosphere (near B and C), and indicating the presence of aqueous

vapour.

Coggia's Comet.-In the Memorie della Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, P. Secchi gives an account of his observations of this comet, the points to which he directed special attention be ing four:-(1.) Is the spectrum of the comet the same at its greatest brilliancy as at its first appearance? (2.) Do the bright bands preserve the same position and intensity? (3.) What influence has the sun's light on it? and (4.) Is it polarized?

bonic oxide and dioxide, and of olefiant gas, The spectrum was compared with that of carand P. Secchi concludes, from the relative brightness of the bands, that the proper light of this comet was probably due, not to a hydrocarbon, but to a compound of carbon with oxygen No change at the temperature of the Voltaic arc.

in the position of the bright bands during the whole period of observation was detected, though they, as well as the continuous spectrum of the nucleus, increased enormously in brightness; the latter spectrum was found to be polarised, and therefore due to reflected sunlight. A similar result was obtained by direct observation without the spectroscope, the head being, as in the comet of 1862, strongly polarized; the proportion half that of light reflected from oil-cloth at an angle of 45°. Although with a power of 200 there seemed to be a planetary nucleus more than 8" in diameter, this was reduced to less than 0"6 with a power of 600, and P. Secchi concludes

that there was no solid nucleus.

was about

The phases of the nucleus and jets of light ap pear not to have been very well seen at Rome, the rough sketches given not showing anything of the curious appearances observed in this country,

though the strong twilight of northern latitudes interfered much with observations here. Though not much attention was paid to the tail, curious changes in its appearance are recorded, the axis having at first been the brightest part, but afterwards becoming comparatively dark as the tail increased in size, till it attained its greatest length of 60 on July 18, shortly after perihelion passage which occurred on July 9, and before the nearest approach to the earth on July 22. Secchi's obserrations support those of Heis, according to whom the tail was not directly opposite to the sun, but inclined 23° to the prolongation of the radius vector. In the same Memoirs are given the outlines of solar prominences assiduously observed in the last six months by P. Secchi and Professor Tacchini,

mitted that there is so far no evidence of deflection from a straight line. The change in angular velocity, however, is the best indication of orbital movement, and this does not seem to have been discussed by M. Flammarion. Meanwhile the fact remains that both these stars are annually carried in the same direction over a space nearly equal to

the distance of Uranus from the sun.

suited.

Comets. Both Encke's and Winnecke's comets

have been found close to their predicted places; the latter, an exceedingly faint object, having been

Been only at Marseilles. Neither of these comets isely to be visible to the naked eye, or, indeed, to any but fairly powerful telescopes, and the chief interest attaching to them lies in the circumstance that they are regular visitors; Encke's comet returning at intervals of about 34 years, and Winnecke's at intervals of rather over 5 years.

Cape Observations.-The results of the observations made at the Cape of Good Hope in 1859 and 1-60, under Sir Thomas Maclear, and reduced by his successor, Mr. Stone, have just been published in the form adopted for previous years, and will prove a welcome addition to the rather scanty

observations of southern stars hitherto accessible.

Catalogue of 500 Nebulae.-Dr. Schultz has communicated to the Monthly Notices for January a preliminary catalogue of the 500 Nebulae observed by him with the Upsala refractor of thirteen feet focus, the places being determined by micrometrical measures of distances from comparison stars. The positions of these latter are not in all cases known with all the accuracy desirable, and Dr. Schultz considers that the places of some of the nebulae given in this preliminary catalogue may have to be slightly modified on this account, though even in its present state the catalogue is of great value, fairly accurate positions of nebulae having been hitherto very limited in number.

Orbital Movement of 61 Cygni.-In the Comptes Rendus M. Flammarion discusses the observations of this double star since 1753, with the view of showing that the two components are not revolving about each other, though from the fact of both stars having a large proper motion of nearly the

same amount and direction, he concludes that they are physically connected in some mysterious way. A special interest attaches to this double star, from the circumstance that it was the first of which the distance from the earth was determined, the annual parallax, or apparent radius of the earth's orbit at the distance of the star being about 04, from which it results that the actual interval between the two components (supposing them square to the line of sight) is about thirty-seven times the interval between the earth and sun, the apparent interval being 15". Now, if the apparent path of one star about the other could be found, it would be easy to find the actual dimensions of the

orbit, and from that the combined mass of the two stars. Bessel attempted this, and found the mass to be about three times that of our sun; but his data were insufficient, and M. Flammarion now points out that a motion of one star in a straight ine relatively to the other would satisfy all the observations. This would be equivalent to a slight difference of proper motion between the two stars; but as we have reason to suppose that no instance of rectilinear motion occurs in nature, M. Flam

marion's conclusion that the movement is not orbital, though the two stars are physically connected, will not readily be accepted, considering the errors to which measures of the distance be

tween two stars are liable, though it must be ad

DR. A. M. Ross has published a Flora of Canada, which we hasten to explain is simply a badly compiled and badly printed catalogue of the names, Latin and English, of the plants found in the Dominion. Introduced and indigenous species are not discriminated, but this is a mere detail. We should have, however, expected that the comlist before printing it off and sending it out into portion (perhaps half) of the names accurately the world; but, judging from the small prospelt, we should have expected too much. Botanists may, no doubt, easily guess what is intended by Caperidaceae, Grassulaceae, Orobandaceae, Plantinaceae, &c., yet it is quite inexcusable to print such rubbish even in Canada. The same Doctor prints a list of the Forest-trees of Canada, and refers the ash-tree to the natural order Oleraceae (Oleaceae)! an amusing blunder, if it had stood alone.

FROM a circular received from the Board of Managers, we learn that a botanical establishment is about to be founded at Chicago. It is to comprise a botanic garden proper, provided with suitable houses for the reception of plants requiring protection, an arboretum, a garden for general floriculture, a botanical museum, an herbarium and a botanic library. Contributions of specimens, &c., are solicited, with the expectation of suitable returns being made at an early date. Mr. H. H. Babcock has been appointed director.

Rela

ternodes of a species of Clerodendron; Polygonaceae, stems and branches of several species of Triplaris; Artocarpeae, hollow trunk of Cecropia peltata; and finally, the pseudo-bulbs of Schomburgkia tibicina, an orchid. With the exception of the Rubiaceous genera Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum, from the islands of the Indian Archipelago and tropical Australia, all the plants affected, hitherto observed, belong to the New World. Doubtless further research in Africa will lead to the discovery of analagous cases in that country, as several species of Acacia with large hollow spines are known to inhabit the tropical regions of both sides of the continent.

THE attention of scholars interested in postEmendationes Frontonianae (Berlin: Calvary, Augustan literature is called to R. Klussmann's 1874). Since the appearance of Naber's excellent edition of Fronto's letters in 1867, little has been

done for the explanation or correction of the text; a circumstance which calls for remark, owing to the goodness and carefulness of that edition, and the rare value of the palimpsest. Besides my own paper in the Journal of Philology i. 15-20, to which M. Klussmann several times refers in terms most flattering to myself, a short paper by Eussner in the Rheinisches Museum, another by M. Klussmann's own father and by Lentsch in the Philologus, and a brief note by Bishop Wordsworth, Journal of Philology i. 160, to which I may be allowed to add some corrections by the Master of Trinity in his edition of the Phaedrus, little has been done to elucidate this most interesting col

lection. In Emendationes Frontonianae M. Kluss

mann has made a most valuable addition to these

treasures as

materials. The book is indeed indispensable to every student of Fronto, not only on its own merits, though these are very considerable, containing as it does careful lists of Frontonian usages, rare words and forms, &c., as well as many clever corrections; but even more as including a most accurate re-examination of the palimpsest by Studemund, who is well known to spare no labour in the minutest scrutiny of such priceless these unfortunately fragmentary leaves. How difficult to decipher these sometimes are, was known long ago; M. Rieu's collation, which forms the basis of Naber's edition, settled much; but many passages still remained where the reading was doubtful, in spite of all pains; and where Studemund's scrutiny will be found to differ materially from both him and Mai. Studemund does not, of course, profess to read many passages-indeed, thinks they cannot be read certainly without the help of new chemical applications; but all that can be made out is here given minutely, as well as various often felicitous emendations of his own. They form a worthy pendant to the Analecta Liviana. R. ELLIS.

THE Popular Science Review for January contains an interesting article on Ant-supporting Plants, by Mr. J. Britten. The writer has had no opportunities for original investigation, but as a recapitulation of the facts already known in a succinct and collected form, the present article will be very welcome to many readers. tively, little is actually known of the mutual economy of the plants and insects thus strangely associated, and their life-history can only be traced out in the countries where they are at home. Mr. Trail, a naturalist in South America at the present time, is giving the subject some attention, and may be expected to add to our knowledge; but it is not a pleasant task, for the ants, though small creatures, sting most atrociously. Although the fact that certain parts of some plants (always?) provide a habitation for certain insects was known and published so long ago as 1750 (Herbarium Amboinense, Rumphius), very little importance was attached to it, and it is only within the last MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. few years that naturalists have taken up the sub- PHYSICAL SOCIETY (Saturday, January 30). ject in a philosophical spirit. Weddell, Ann. Sc. PROFESSOR G. CAREY FOSTER, F.R.S., Vice-PreNat., sér. 3, t. xiii., 262-67), Schomburghk (Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. i. 264), and Belt (Natu-sident, in the Chair. Mr. J. Mostyn Salter was ralist in Nicaragua) have done most to create an interest in these natural phenomena. One plate, and that not a very satisfactory one, illustrates Mr. Britten's paper. It is a pity that the subject is not more fully illustrated, as good figures would have told far more than descriptions. An attractive little book might be made with more complete materials. The parts of plants tenanted by ants vary in different species. The following list includes most of those at present known:Leguminosae, hollow thorns of various species of Acacia; Melastomaceae, inflated leaf-stalks of numerous species of the genera Tococa, Calophysa, Microphysa, Myrmidone, and Maieta; Rubiaceae, tuberous root-stocks of the epiphytical genera Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum, and the leafstalks of Remijia sp.; Gentianaceae, hollow stems of Tachia guianensis; Boraginaceae, base of leafstalks of Cordia nodosa; Verbenaceae, hollow in

Mr. Becker elected a Member of the Society. described and exhibited an optical bench, constructed by him in accordance with the plans of various phenomena of the interference and difProfessor Clifton, for the purpose of showing the fraction of light. Mr. A. Schuster afterwards spoke at some length on "Electrical Theories," criticising the received views with regard to several of the origin of thermo-electricity and its conpoints, especially the explanations commonly given nexion with contact-electricity and the so-called

Peltier effect. It was announced that the annual council for the ensuing twelve months, and other general meeting, for the election of officers and business, would be held on Saturday, Feb. 13.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (February 9). COLONEL A. LANE Fox, President, in the Chair. A paper by the Rev. Wentworth Webster, M.A.,