the

air is somewhat greater. A comprehensive paper on the thermal conductivity and diathermancy of air and hydrogen, dry and moist, at various pressures from atmospheric pressure down to a vacuum, has just been published by Prof. Buff, of Giessen (Phil. Mag., December, 1877). Buff used apparatus similar to that of Magnus, but modified and improved so as to exclude errors which were unavoidable in the latter. The following are some of the conclusions he has arrived at:-The thermal conductivity of hydrogen and of other gases is far too small to admit of its being proved by the method Magnus adopted. The assumption that the conductivity of hydrogen is similar to that of the metals, if by this statement anything more is meant than that hydrogen, like solid and liquid bodies, is capable of transmitting heat from molecule to molecule, is therefore not justified. On the other hand, hydrogen possesses a diathermancy closely approaching that of a vacuum. Dry air absorbs from 50 to 60 per cent. of the rays of heat, which it receives from a source heated to the boiling-point of water. The absorptive power of moist air surpasses that of dry air by a trifling percentage, but by no means to such a degree as hitherto had been assumed by several physicists. Rock-salt is not absolutely diathermanous for the so-called dark rays of heat. Less than 60 per cent. of the rays from a hot-water vessel pass through a plate of clear rock-salt only three millimètres in thickness.

Relation between the Electric and Capillary Properties of the Surface of Mercury in Contact with different Liquids. In the October number of the Annales de Chim. et de Phys., M. Lippmann gives an account of his latest experiments on this subject. When mercury is in contact with an aqueous solution, the addition of a small quantity of certain substances suffices to change the electric potential and the capillary constant, and they always change in the same proportion, whatever be the chemical composition of the liquid. In other words, if two different combinations present the same difference of electric potential, they present also the same capillary constant. One of M. Lippmann's arrangements was the following:Two capillary tubes of the same diameter, containing mercury, were connected with a common reservoir of mercury. The level was the same in the two. On the mercurial surface in each tube

was a little dilute sulphuric acid. When a drop of hydrochloric acid or a fragment of an alkaline chloride was added to one, there was at once a depression in this tube. The two being now connected together electrically, the surfaces were at once reduced to the same level. This is due to the fact that they were brought to the same potential, and is in accordance with the law above enunciated-viz., that when there is no difference of potential, there can be no difference of capillary

constant.

A Theory of Gravity and of the Solar Process. -We have received a pamphlet on the above subject (Basil Montagu Pickering) by Mr. Alfred Dawson, F.R.A.S. Mr. Dawson postulates that matter exists and occupies space, and that its particles are impenetrable. This is reasonable. He also postulates the existence of a universal magnetic fluid, though why it should be called magnetic does not appear, for it is not credited with any magnetic properties. The author also calls it the galvanic fluid, either through forgetfulness or because he supposes galvanic and magnetic mean the same thing. The question of the cause of gravitation is a very important one, and any speculations connected with it, which come before us, we read with interest; it must be confessed, however, that Mr. Dawson's essay throws no light on the subject. It tends rather to obscurity. His language, too, is vague and slipshod, as may be gathered from the following sentence :

"The particle"-the author is speaking of a particle of matter which is supposed to be surrounded by the galvanic fluid-"presents a given angular area of

negative affinity at a given distance, and this affinity while causing the pressure of the galvanic fluid, yet necessarily being nothing more than a name for the apparent surface or square of the apparent angle, must diminish or increase by the square ratio as the distance increases or diminishes by the unit." This can hardly be called lucid.

Nature of the Physical Forces. By Edward Vogel. (San Francisco: Roman and Co.) This is a pamphlet similar in many respects to that we have just noticed, but more wide in its scope, and on the whole more intelligible. The author regards the hypothesis of the existence of an imponderable ethereal medium, pervading all space, as untenable; and attributes the phenomena, hitherto referred to this imaginary agency, to matter in a state of extreme attenuation, and to the motion imparted to its ultimate constituents. He quotes Grove, Faraday, and Croll in support of his views. The universal cosmic material medium exercises pressure, and

66

"This pressure is an omnipresent force, and is the only source and sum of all the forces of nature; for whatever forces there are at work they must affect and be represented by the general medium; and this is then the common-stock of forces, the existence of which is involved in the fact of the conservation of energy. With the acknowledgment of this cause the fundamental and obscure problem of the nature of force is placed on solid ground."

Gravitation, chemical force, &c., are explained on this hypothesis. The author's arguments, however, are often difficult to follow, frequently from the circumstance that he uses termswhich, as ordinarily employed by scientific meaning-in a men, have a well-known and sharply-limited sense entirely his own, which he does not define or explain. For instance, he speaks (p. 11) of one medium being "heavier and less dense" than another-which sounds odd. With regard to the prime hypothesis, nothing is expressly stated as to the nature of the all-pervading matter, but we are led to infer that it is highlyattenuated atmospheric air. The objections to this theory are obvious. Indeed, any hypothesis ing medium must be antagonistic to the doctrine which insists on the materiality of the all-pervadof the limited divisibility of matter, a doctrine generally accepted by scientific men. Mr. Vogel states that experiments have been made, demonstrating that bodies on the surface of the earth are heavier at midnight than at any other time of day, and that when new moon occurs at midnight this increase of weight is still greater. It would be of extreme importance to obtain some confirmatory experimental evidence of this statement.

The Telephone.-The interest which Mr. Graham Bell's telephone has aroused among scientific men is extraordinary. We hear in all quarters of experiments being made in connexion with it, with a view to throw light upon its mode of action. Mr. Bell and others are striving to measure the strength of the electrical currents induced by the vibration of the iron diaphragm. These currents are of extreme feebleness, and are incompetent to affect the most delicate galvanometer or electrometer, since they rapidly succeed each other in opposite directions. Other physicists are investigating the mode of vibration of the iron membrane, and the part played by the steel magnetic core. The subject is full of interest. On the 21st inst. Mr. W. H. Preece gave a lecture, at the United Service Institution, on (6 The Application of the Telephone to Naval and Military Purposes; and on Feb. 1, the same eminent telegraphist is announced to give the Royal Institution Friday evening lecture on the telephone. At the next meeting of the Physical Society, Jan. 15, Mr. Preece will read a paper "On some Physical Points connected with the Telephone."

MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY.-(Tuesday,
December 4.)

DR. S. BIRCH, President, in the Chair. The following papers were read:-" On some early Babylonian or Akkadian Antiquities," by W. St. Chad Boscawen. This paper dealt chiefly with a series of early Babylonian monuments found on the mounds of Zergul in Southern Babylonia. Chicf among these were an inscribed brick and a cone, presented to the Society of Biblical Archaeology by Lieutenant-Colonel Prideaux. Mr. Boscawen examined the name of the bricks, and pointed out that the city derived its name ancient city of Zergul, which was recorded on these of "the city of the great light" from a temple situated within its walls, one of the cones being dedicated to the "Lord of the wood of life," a temple to whom was erected in Zergul by a monarch named Gudea. The author showed from this and other evidence deduced from inscriptions that the primitive Akkadians used the fire-stick to kindle their temple and other fires. He then examined some of the Babylonian fire hymns and prayers, and pointed out their similarity to the Aryan ones. Various other monuments of the Chaldean king Gudea were next described, chief among which were two curious bronze statues, now in the British Museum. These statues were early Chaldean divinities, or priests, who were represented as wearing the horned cap so commonly figured on the gems. They were clothed in long robes, which had been richly ornamented with chasing. Kneeling on one knee, they held in their hands large cones of bronze, with the apex downwards, on which were inscribed similar dedications to those on the terracotta cones. The author pointed out that, from the marked non-Semitic character of these faces, it was very possible that we had here representations of the primitive Akkadian population of Zergul. Lastly, Mr. Boscawen noticed a statue of black marble, bearing an inscription of King Gudea, now in the British Museum; and touched on many points relating to the civilisation of the period when these monuments were erected.-"Notes upon the Assyrian Despatch and Report Tablets," by T. G. Pinches. The author commenced his paper by stating that these tablets, on account of there being numerous other texts of greater interest, have been much neglected by Assyriologists. In spite of the difficult nature of the inscriptions, they give many very interesting facts concerning the ancient inhabitants of Assyria. It is a fact of special interest that they are not the productions of the Court scribes of Nineveh, many of them seeming to have been written from dictation; they thus give us very good examples of the language of the common people. They abound in unusual words, and there are also peculiarities of pronunciation and accentuation. Most of them are

very

carefully written, and from this circumstance it is very improbable that we have here the original documents at least in the case of the Despatch Tablets. It must often have been impossible, when campaigning, to make use of the apparatus for baking the clay, and when baked they were also liable to be broken in transit; it is therefore probable that papyrus was used instead of clay. This supposition is also strengthened by the appearance on the basreliefs of two scribes writing, the one upon a clay tablet, and the other upon some flexible material, probably papyrus. The document, having been written and sent to the king, was copied by the Court scribes and placed in the royal library at Nineveh. Most of the peculiarities of these inscriptions consist in doubling letters to indicate accent, and the assimilation of sounds to a greater extent than is found in other inscriptions. One phrase, found on a letter-tablet, may be noted as being very peculiar-viz. sepa, ana sepā, lit., "feet to feet," the signification of which, as shown by the context, is "keeping step together"i.c."with one consent." The remainder of the paper was occupied by specimens of translations of these tablets, with comments. One, written in the reign of Esarhaddon, contains summaries of despatches received by an Assyrian officer, evidently the governor of a large province, from certain governors under him. The greater part of these summaries refers to the movements of the king of Akkad, who was at war with Assyria at that time. Two tablets referring to the revolt, overthrow, and death of Bel-Basa, king of a small State, situated in the marshes of Babylonia, named Gambulu, and the capture and trial of his son

for being in league with other princes to raise a rebellion, show how these tablets may sometimes fill out the details of the historical inscriptions very considerably. The paper closed with a translation of a tablet relating to the removal of some statues of gods to a new shrine, a ceremony which seems to have been performed with great rejoicing. The writer of the inscription then goes on to inform the king that certain men, whose names are not given, had refused to give the customary offerings of wine, &c., to the temple, evidently, of the forementioned gods. The paper was accompanied with interlineated copies of all the text described. "On the Mythology of Pasht and the Cat in Egypt and in Prehistoric Times," by Hyde Clarke.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.-(Tuesday,
December 11.)

JOHN EVANS, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. Mr. Worthington Smith exhibited some objects from Maiden Bower, and a series of camera lucida drawings of several stone monuments in Wales. -Mr. A. Jukes Brown exhibited a series of flint flakes, scrapers, and arrow-points from Egypt, and read an interesting paper on the subject. He described the geological formation of the country round Helwan, about sixteen miles south of Cairo, whence the flints were obtained, and explained the denuding action of the Nile in this locality. He thought that the finding of separate implements in each site pointed to there having been flint manufactories on those spots, which, moreover, were near the hot springs. No adzes or celts were found, but fragments of horses' teeth split into long pieces were among the flints. The flints used in the manufacture of these implements were pebbles found on the lower plateau which had been washed down from the hills of Eocene limestone above, the upper beds of which abound in silicious concretions of

various sizes.-Mr. Jukes Brown also exhibited some flint implements from a site on the borders of the Fens in Lincolnshire, which appeared to have been a station or manufactory similar to those at Helwan. The President and Mr. Moggridge made some remarks on the above. Mr. J. Park Harrison communicated a further report on the "Cave-Pit" at Cissbury. He said that the galleries belonging to it, and the pits adjoining, appeared to have been used as places of shelter and concealment for some considerable time after they were excavated. No evidence existed at present that they were habitations. One shaft was found to have been left unfinished, with the horn tools lying where the work had been interrupted. Several small oval pits, the largest only 5 ft. long and 4 ft. 6 in. deep, were met with this autumn for the first time in the neighbourhood of the shafts. Among the contents were sling stones, and small pieces of flint and fractured rubbing-stone bearing marks of fire; fragments of pottery of various dates; a few flint implements and many flakes; also three weights formed of chalk (similar to some found in Mr. Tindale's pit); a carding comb; a small iron hook, and three pieces of burnt clay with the impress of sticks or wattles. A few bones of calf, roebuck, pig, and goat, with two or three shells, were the only animal remains. They would appear to have been preserved by the charcoal and charred matter in contact with them. If the little pits were graves, they must have been used for secondary interments. The absence of human bones might be due to atmospheric influence, as in many other cases of burial by inhumation. There was black mould at the bottom of all the little pits. Coarse potsherds, flint implements, and burnt pebbles were also found in the neighbourhood of the small pits, near the surface, and may possibly mark the spots where flint-workers of an earlier period were interred. A discussion followed, in which several members took part.

ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.-(Friday,
December 14.)

DR. HUGGINS, F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The following papers were partly read :-Note by Mr. Wilson on a special case of "the most probable result" of a number of observations.-A further Report, dated November 11, by Mr. Gill on the progress of his expedition to Ascension. On October 16 he had returned from the mountain, and had since been engaged in the triangulation of the stars of comparison for Mars. The mornings during October had been generally cloudy, so that if the opposition of Mars

3.

had occurred in October the parallax observations would have been a failure. He had also compared Mars and Saturn on five evenings symmetrically disposed with respect to their conjunction on November The observations of Melpomene were about to begin when the Report was sent.-A note by General Addison upon the determination of the longitude of Kurrachee and Madras. Galvanic signals had been exchanged between the German observers of the transit of Venus at Ispahan and General Addison at Kurrachee, and between the latter and Mr. Pogson at Madras. The resulting longitude of Madras is 5h. 20m. 59-65s. east of Greenwich, and that of Kurrachee 4h. 27m. 53 43s.-It was announced that a paper by Mr. Maxwell Hall on his observations of the parallax of Mars would be printed in the Memoirs. The observations had been made at Jamaica with a 4-in. equatorial, and the result for the mean solar parallax was 8"-789.-Mr. Ranyard called special attention to an important memoir (just printed in the Memoirs of the society) by Prof. Wolff of Zürich, on the period of the frequency of the solar spots and of the variations of the magnetic needle. Wolff has taken great trouble in collecting all the available records of observations of spots from 1610 to 1875, and has graphically represented the results of his investigations. The periods of successive maxima oscillate between 80 and 161 years round their mean value of 111 years.-Mr. Boys exhibited a drawing of a new astronomical clock, and explained some of its peculiarities.-A large photogram of the sun, 12 inches in diameter, was shown as a specimen of the photograms which are now regularly obtained by M. Janssen at the observatory at Meudon. Mr. De la Rue declared it to be the most beautiful photogram of the sun which he had ever seen, and expressed his special gratification that it was obtained by an instrument constructed on the lines of the Kew Heliograph devised by himself. The image of the sun in the primary focus was enlarged by a second magniBoth object-glass and second magnifier had been corrected for the actinic rays, without regard to the visual rays. The whole disc appeared covered with markings, but he was chiefly impressed by certain appearances smudgings, as he might call them. which were new to him, and which seemed to represent vortex movements.-Mr. Lynn read an extract from a letter of Mr. Howlett, referring to a careful drawing of the fine solar spot visible on October 31 and November 1.-The meeting closed with a discussion on Lord Lindsay's new arrangement of the spectroscope for the observation of objects of considerable angular diameter. There seemed to be some misunderstanding about the position of the slit in the new arrangement.

fier.

PHYSICAL SOCIETY.—(Saturday, December 15.) PROF. G. C. FOSTER, President, in the Chair. Mr. C. W. Cooke read for the author, Prof. S. P. Thompson, a paper on "Permanent Plateau Films," and exhibited the process of their formation. After a brief enumeration of the various attempts made by Plateau himself, Schwartz, Mach, Rottier, and others, most of which are described in the work of Plateau, the author described his own experiments on the subject. As the result of these he concludes that the best films

are obtained by using a mixture of 46 per cent. of pure amber-coloured resin and 54 of Canada balsam,

which should be heated to from 93° to 95° C. The

frames for forming the films are made of brass wire

0.3 mm. in diameter; and when thicker wire is employed they are found to be irregular, in consequence of the retention of heat by the metal. The films are obtained by simply introducing these frames into the heated mixture, and they harden almost immediately on exposure to the air; but better results are obtained by slow drying in an air-bath heated up to 80 C., and allowed to cool. In proof of the toughness of the films it was mentioned that a flat circular film 4 cm. in diameter had sup. ported a 50-gramme brass weight at its centre.Mr. Sedley Taylor then exhibited some experiments in illustration of a paper on the colours exhibited by vibrating liquid films which he has recently communicated to the Royal Society.-Dr. Guthrie exhibited a simple lecture-illustration of the action of the telephone. Two similar coils of wire are placed, one on the end of a bar magnet and the other on a soft iron core. A tin disc about three inches in diameter is suspended by two threads, almost in contact with one end of this latter; and when a similar disc is brought

at regular intervals against the end of the magnet which is provided with the coil, a distinct movement of the first-named disc is observed which can be easily increased by properly timing the movement of the inducing disc.

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ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.-(Monday, December 17.) JAMES FERGUSSON, Esq,, F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. A paper was read contributed by D. C. Boulger, Esq., On China viâ Tibet," in which the writer pointed out the great value to this country of the convention recently signed by Sir Thomas Wade, which, for the first time, secures free intercourse between India and Tibet, and thereby opens out to India direct mercantile communication with China through the Himalayan passes of Sikkim and Bhutan. Such an overland communication will, the writer argued, prove of the utmost importance, as obviating the uncertainties of ocean traffic, where, too, we have already many rivals.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE.-(Wednesday,
December 19.)

CLAUDE LONG, Esq., in the Chair. Mr. Walter de Gray Birch read a paper "On a very rare Saxon Document," an original charter of Uhtred, the SubRegulus of the Wiccii, or people of Worcestershire, to Ethelmund, the Minister of Offa, which has been recently discovered in the Library of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. Its date is probably in the reign of Offa, A.D. 791-6, and, apart from its antiquity, it is of great interest as very closely resembling in its handwriting a grant of Off himself, published by the British Archaeological Association in their Journal for 1876, p. 190. The grant is that of a piece of land in the " vicus" of Easton, and was to be held by the ordinary Saxon holding of three lives, to revert, ultimately, to the Cathedral Church of Worcester. This text has eluded the vigilance of Kemble.

ROYAL SOCIETY.—(Thursday, December 20.) DR. ALLEN THOMSON, Vice-President, in the Chair. The following papers were read:-"Notes on Supersaturated Saline Solutions," by C. Tomlinson; "Notes on Physical Geology, No. III.: On a New Method of Finding Limits to the Duration of certain Geological Periods," by the Rev. Prof. Haughton; "On certain Movements of Radiometers," by Prof. Stokes.

FINE ART.

Majolica and Fayence: Italian, Sicilian, Majorcan, Hispano - Moresque, and Persian.. By Arthur Beckwith. (New York: Appletons, 1877.)

THIS little volume is an extremely well-compiled digest of what has been written on these subjects, now of such general interest, with the addition of some concentrated sketches of the history of the various countries and sites where ornamental pottery has been produced. We also find remarks by the author on his general views upon art, and some concise instructions on the process of painting upon pottery. Without pausing to consider the epitomised history of Persia and other countries, derived from various sources, we will devote our remarks to pottery, the main subject of the work. The greater part of the volume is occupied by condensed accounts of the potteries of Persia, Damascus, Rhodes, &c., and of the maiolica and painted stanniferous wares of the various Italian provinces, derived for the most part from Mr. Fortnum's exhaustive catalogue of the maiolica in the South Kensington collection, with occasional dippings into Jacquemart and others. With these Mr. Beckwith combines notes on the period and manners of the painters and architects of the time, some of which are more or less apposite. The volume is, moreover, abund

antly illustrated by rough but effectivelyexecuted reduced reproductions by photoengraving of sketches made by Mr. Beckwith from the specimens which form so important a section of Signor Castellani's collection, which is still being exhibited in America. It is hardly likely that so concentrated an essence should have been produced without occasional misconception or error. Of the former we may remark that, at page 122, Mr. Beckwith is wrong in stating that Mr. Fortnum the Persian, Damascus, groups Rhodian, and other kindred wares under the family name of Damascus or Damas-he classes them all under the division of "Siliceous, or glass-glazed wares," the first and leading section of which is Persian, the second Damascus, of which Rhodian is but a local

variety, then Anatolian, Siculo - Persian, &c., a classification which their respective characteristics fully warrant, and which would include the modern wares of Upper India and the glass-glazed wares of ancient Egypt. A propos of this class, we suspect that the bowl, fig. 49, is of Hispano-Moresque rather than of Siculo-Moresque origin. At page 134, Calata Gerone is wrongly spelt Catala Girone.

Although, perhaps, Luca della Robbia may not be exclusively credited with the introduction of the stanniferous glaze into Italy, there can be no doubt that he materially improved it for the purposes to which he applied it, and probably also for the production of the finer wares. The rilievo over the door of S. Egidio by Bicci di Lorenzo, referred to by Milanesi, if ever fire-glazed, was not covered with a stanniferous enamel;

its failure is complete, much has already scaled off, and what remains has, indeed, rather the appearance of a painted and highlyvarnished surface.

Mr. Beckwith rightly agrees with Mr. Fergusson's admiration for the unrivalled beauty of interior and exterior decoration of the mosques and other buildings in Persia by means of the perfect adaptation of pattern to form, and harmonious colouring of the siliceous glazed tiles with which they are covered, a mode of ornamenting surface which our architects and decorators ought more thoroughly to develop, avoiding, however, the mistake of Europeanised Oriental design, as fatal an error as endeavouring to inculcate the style and sentiment of European art upon Orientals.

The author adopts as settled the still-disputed point as to whether hard porcelain was formerly produced in Persia, the soft, as is well known, being merely the partial vitrification by stronger forms of a finer mixture of the usual siliceous grit, as is stated by Colonel Scheill.

Among the marks, a complete list of which Mr. Beckwith does not pretend to offer, we may notice the following, which need correction:-No. 33, from Graesse, taken from Chaffers, by whom it is assigned to Guido Fontana. No. 29, I. P. The error in reading these letters as "in Pesaro " has long since been proved by Mr. Fortnum. No. 53 is wrongly attributed by Jacquemart to Niccolò da Fano, instead of Niccolò da Urbino. Why not have taken the marks direct from Mr. Fortuum's catalogue, the text-book on the subject?

We can hardly agree in the opinion that Italian faïence frequently surpasses Oriental porcelain in "harmony of tones." porcelain in "harmony of tones." Neither do we think that sufficient importance is allowed to the so-called Gothic art. Ghiberti can hardly be said to have adopted the more rigid principles of Niccolò Pisano; Luca della Robbia was, indeed, a closer follower. Nor can we regard Michelangelo's power as that of a "rugged genius.' Among Italian painters on pottery the first places are not given to the best. The translations of some of the inscriptions on the backs of pieces, frequently of the most erratic Latinity, are occasionally open to erratic Latinity, are occasionally open to question, as "Ardet Eternum,' ," "eternal

fire," and others.

The pavement of tiles at S. Sebastiano, Venice, was more probably a production of Faenza than of Venice. The plate figured at page 50 seems to represent the Magdalen rather than the Virgin, and the Medici basin (p. 53) belonging to Castellani could not have been painted by Giulio Romano, who died thirty-four years before the production of that porcelain.

The hints for painting on pottery seem to be concise and good, and indeed the volume may be safely recommended as a handy manual, and one which will be of much value, particularly in the country of its production, as directing attention to the subject of which it treats, and to larger and more complete works upon it.

Seibertz.

F. BURY PALLISER.

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS.

lated in the Original Metres by T. J. Arnold. Faust. A Tragedy by Goethe. Part 1. TransWith Fifty Illustrations after Original Designs by Alexander Liezen Mayer, and with Vignettes by Rudolf Seitz. (Hachette.) It is natural to compare this magnificent folio, which the German press has not hesitated to style "the most splendid hitherto published in Germany," with the Faust published in 1854, and illustrated by Engelbert The comparison proves the advance of German art, for the latter was acknowledged at the time of its appearance to be unrivalled. It had this advantage over the present volume, that it included copious illustrations of the mysterious and fascinating Second Part. Herr Mayer has considerable originality of fancy-what is nowadays called "vision"-and he exemplifies well the qualities of the modern Bavarian school, with their startling contrasts, their vigour of outline, and their close approach in treatment of detail to our own past pre-Raphaelites. As a rule German woodcuts are far superior to their line-engravings-the work of Seibertz was an example of this; the finished engravings being odious, while some of the small prints were by no means ill-executed. But the large engravings in the present work are extremely creditable. One or two-for instance, "Margaret at the SpinningWheel" and "Before the Town-Gate "

with a book on her knee, tossing up a curtain with both hands, is spirited and surprising, but lends itself a little to laughter. In some of the vignettes the spirit of grotesque is not very happily applied to fancies that are scarcely distinct enough in the mind of the artist himself. For instance, the footless baby, with torn butterfly wings, at the end of scene xxii., may be boldly said to mean nothing at all, and to be in itself a thing gruesome and ill-designed. But as a whole the volume may be recommended as an artistic commentary on Faust which is never vulgar and often very interesting, and which is clothed in the most splendid form conceivable.

St. John and the Seven Churches. Illustrated

with Eight Steel Engravings. By the Rev. Robert Vaughan. (Virtue.) The frontispiece of this volume is an engraving from the well-known picture of Ary Scheffer, in an antiquated taste, representing St. John on the bosom of Christ. It is a matter of surprise to us, and no little amusement, that this smooth and sentimental work should be described in the List of Plates as by Zurbaran, the painter least addicted to sentiment or smoothness. The other seven engravings are views of the Seven Churches in Asia, or rather of the cities in which those Churches were founded. These plates have the appearance of those published in the Art Journal; it is therefore needless to say that they do not suit the most modern taste, although there is a large section of the public to whom they will be very acceptable, and to whom their minute metallic appearance will represent the highest possible delicacy of execution. We wonder whether it is in accordance with geographical fact, or intended to point a theological moral, that Sardis and Laodicea, the cities most witheringly denounced in the Apocalypse, are the only two which are represented as entirely ruinous.

Venice; from Lord Byron's "Childe Harold." by Linley Sambourne. (Bradbury, Agnew and With Thirty Original Drawings made in Venice Co.) Mr. Linley Sambourne has become very widely and very favourably known by his vignettes in Punch. These have greatly increased in merit as the artist gained confidence in his pencil, and at present they show almost a plethora of inventive talent. Mr. Sambourne has shown

so much promise in this particular field that we are bound to say the collection of drawings here presented to us proves a little disappointing. It is not that these designs are not very exact and meritorious; it is rather that they give too much and yet too little. They are not merely the vivid impressions of a master, and yet they are not finished drawings that reflect the colour and atmosphere of Venice. Almost everything that Mr. Ruskin said long ago of Canaletto's faults might be justly said of Mr. Sambourne's. If the waves of the old painter are carraway-seeds, what are those of the young designer in S. Giorgio? Mr. Sambourne sees Venice without enthusiasm, without fire, without any memory of the ancient history of her buildings. His palaces are not merely not built of marble, but we can hardly tell that they are not of wood. But much is given with precision, and is topographically valuable, though far less so than the patient and delicate As -are abso- paintings of Guardi and Canaletto. whole the volume is disenchanting; it will vex the memories of those who know Venice well enough to have recovered from the first feeling of disappointment, and it will be a disagreeable surprise to those who know the city only from the enamoured pictures of Turner and Shelley. There are instances of careful work, rapidly done in the spirit of an artist-such as "Desdemona's House on the Grand Canal "-and some of the sunset

lutely charming: The woodcuts by Mayer have a certain air of Richter which is missing in the fullpage illustrations: they are not wanting in invention; and yet it would be difficult to point to any one which shows original study, or which throws any new light on the mind of Goethe. Herr Rudolf Seitz has taken great pains to be unique in his vignettes and ornamental borderingswhich is a brilliant piece of resuscitated heraldry, sometimes with great success, as in his title-page, and his initial letter of the Dedication, which might have been done by Hans Sebald Beham himself. The "Prelude to the Theatre," which seems to be his, representing the Dramatic Muse,

a

and moonlight scenes are good; but the sea is invariably badly drawn, and to attempt a series of views of Venice with insufficient training in this particular matter seems ill-advised. We feel, in making all these critical objections, that our

productions of all these artists; but must, so far as description or criticism is concerned, confine ourselves to the few who have done something of more than ordinary account.

We have already referred to the picture by Mr. Andrews, The Wreck of the Victory, October 5, 1744, as the most striking in the whole collection. "This ship," says the Catalogue,

"on board of which Sir John Balchin had hoisted his flag, was considered as the largest and most beautiful first-rate in the world. She was separated from the

rest of the fleet on the 4th, after which she was never seen or heard of; and this brave commander, with all his officers, volunteers, and crew, amounting to eleven hundred choice seamen, perished. It is generally supposed that she struck upon a ridge of rocks called the Caskets, near Alderney."

as

Boyce, and Mrs. Allingham, as conspicuously good.

Mr. North's Land of Argyll is a work of fascinating sentiment, deliciously sweet, with a tender mournfulness and evanescent brightness: the late autumn glows, lingers, and fades-a scene of lonely seclusion and unenjoyed delight. The faint rainbow comes and goes again; the yellow trees wane into feathery lightness of foliage. Mr. Hunt sends three works, amid which it is not easy to choose. The Whitby, however, a panoramic view in pale but steady light, is less interesting in luminous effect than its companion, Whitby Harbour, with its vaporous gleams, through which the objects come out less and less undefined as one continues to look. Pont-yGarth, Capel Curig, Moonlight, offers a noble This terrible disaster is treated by Mr. Andrews suggestion of embrowned greys, and glimmerwith a very bold and dexterous hand: he im- ing tarn, and all-combining dusk. Mr. Palmer presses upon us at once the grand scale and build has a particularly interesting subject in his of the ship, her helpless insignificance when monochrome In Memoriam, a Recollection of matched against the forces of nature in the great the Burial-place of Keats near the Pyramid deep-a single wave, within whose trough the of Caius Cestius, Rome. If memory serves us, vessel lies, curves round as large her this is not an exact view of the spot as obwhole stern-and the human swarming and tainable from any stand-point, but a free recast of agony, as the crew roll, mass, cling, shriek, its general features and belongings: neither do we clash, scatter, drop, and die, to the roaring and perceive in the painting anything which fairly hissing of the waters, the griding of the treacherous represents the actual tombstone of Keats. The rock-shelf, and the splitting of masts and timbers. sentiment, however, is all that we could wish for: No sky is to be seen; it is either beyond the water- the sky hints of the rising moon, a shepherd in the line, or is indistinguishably confused into the left-hand foreground might be an Endymion of the boiling and diluvial surf. Without overstating Campagna. In Crossing the Brook, by the same the merely executive merits of this work-con-high-toned and masterly painter, a little item of siderable as they no doubt are, though not exactly naturalism has been most genuinely caught-the of the finest standard-we can certainly say that vapour-like cloud, near at hand and of whiteya more arresting and moving tableau of sea ad- brown hue, which flits across other more distant venture and peril has rarely been produced. It and less attenuated cloud-forms. Mr. Boyce dishas something which reminds us of the hurtling tinguishes the year of his election to full membershock and various unity of Japanese art in similar ship in the society by sending a pièce de résistance catastrophic subjects, quite diverse though it is of no ordinary calibre-Edward the Confessor's from that in technical manner. Another sea-piece Chapel, Westminster Abbey, 1852; a work which really noticeable, although not conspicuous in the shows how much proficiency this artist had attained same sort of way, is that by Mr. Hopkins, The even long before he became an Associate-although Lee-shore. Here we look shorewards from over probably the drawing does not now remain exactly the main. A big smooth-backed gathering wave as it stood a quarter of a century ago. This is an is just about to leap and burst before it reaches admirable record, with the truth-telling quality of the land; beyond this, nearer in-shore, comes the a photograph and the discrimination of an foam of other exhausted billows; and yet beyond observant artist. There are no less than this the surf plunges, as it were with ferocious twelve other contributions by Mr. Boyce: we much as desperation, up the orange-green cliffs, attacking cannot so name all of them, but and shattering. Two seamews skim and scream must specify at least the Sketch at Cleeve over the waters. The title of April Showers, Abbey, West Somerset; the Church, and Back of an appended to a picture by Mr. Henry Moore, Old House, at Ludlow, Study for larger Drawing; hardly at first suggests the idea of a marine view: such, however, the picture is, and a most highly enjoyable one-blue sea and gleaming sky-drift. There are various other excellent specimens of this master: Broughton Tower, Clouds lifting, and Thunder-shower passing off, Scarcroft, Evening, are specially fine, and might be taken as texts whereon to found a long exposition of the natural effects here respectively treated. Mr. Albert Goodwin gives admirable expression to his theme, A Wild Night at Sea: the inky-grey clouds with an interstice of stormy red; the human figures dispersed up and down along the jetty; the birds fluttering like busybodies who know that their opportunity is coming; last object of all to the left hand, the steadfast, constant light of the lighthouse. Fully worthy to accompany this distinguished work are the Old Maidstone of the same artist, and his Westward, and The Earth taking Refreshment, equally true and graceful in its effect of saturating moisture. Mr. George Fripp is in full force in his Sketch on the Cornish Coast, and Study in Glen Sligichan, Isle of Skye; Miss Clara Montalba brilliant and decisive in her Regatta, Venice, 1877, and A Trabarcolo, Venice. Starting as we did with Mr. Andrews's seapicture, we have specified hitherto, for the most part, paintings which have a certain marine quality. We now pass on to others, not kept together by any such link of connexion; and, among the general landscape exhibitors, we fix upon Messrs. North, Alfred Hunt, Palmer, and

Sketch on the Reach near Southwold; and Stoke

say Castle, Study for larger Drawing. Mrs. Allingham is just on the same level of number, thirteen examples, as Mr. Boyce; and, for nicety of perception, charm of feeling, and exquisiteness of handling, she would be a formidable rival to Mr. Boyce, or to any painter whatsoever of modest yet rightly-selected subject-matter. See, by way of proof, In Chelsea Hospital Gardens; A Coppice in Spring, Titsey, Surrey; Puss and the Sparrows; The Back Steps, St. Andrew's.

It is bare justice to some other artists to mention their contributions-or rather less than justice, for there is really good work to be found among the following. Danby, The Saavine, Canton of Freiburg; E. Goodall, The Bridge of Ronda; Naftel, Llyn-cum-Ffynin, North Wales; Dodgson, Skirts of a Forest; Marks, At Walberswick, Suffolk; An Old Anchor; Haag, The Adlerstein, Tyrol; The Watzmann, Bavarian Highlands; Jackson, Hurley Lock, on the Thames; Brierly, Wave-study in the Adriatic; Edward Duncan, Chatham from the Medway; Clarence Whaite, Aber Waterfall; Rhuddlan Castle; Jenkins, An Old Mill near Rennes; Collingwood, Before Sunset, Chagford, Devon; Richardson, Ben Doran, from the Road near Corrie Baw, Blackmount, Argyllshire; Hale, Winter Twilight (with delicate jewel-like colour, and tender or even poetical feeling, a truly covetable little work); Sun and Wind; Study for a Drawing-a monochrome, recalling the look of Turner's. Liber Studiorum;

Weber, Il Monte Adro, Lago Treo; Thorne Waite,
Parkgate, Cheshire; Rigby, The Road up to the
Moor; Collingwood Smith, The Col du Géant,
Cormayeur, Study, 1868; Brewtnall, The Moor-
land Tower; Powell, Morning.
W. M. ROSSETTI.

ART SALES.

THE remainder of the Sensier sale took place on the 15th inst. It produced nearly 255,000 fr. (10,000l.). Barye, Royal Tiger, water-colour, 960 fr.; Eugène Delacroix, A Tiger watching its Prey, pastel, 650 fr.; Millet, Jean Baptiste, Girl drawing Water from a River, water-colour, 900 fr.; A Farm on the Downs of Greville, water-colour, 1,050 fr.; Girl Buying Geese, water-colour, 1,080 fr.; Sheepshearers, watercolour, 5,410 fr.; Shepherd Watching his Flock, pastel, 3,000 fr.; Lesson in Sewing, pastel, Monument, 1,200 fr.; Prudhon, The Empress 3,500 fr. Drawings: Claude Lorraine, Roman Josephine, 1,100 fr.

AT a sale on the 19th, of furniture from the Château of St. Jean, the following prices were realised carved bed of the seventeenth century, 1,250 fr.; large armoire in plaques of rosewood, seventeenth century, 690 fr.; two ebony doors for library, incrusted in copper Boule, period of Louis XIV., 1,020 fr.; large sofa, eight large and eight small chairs, tapestry of Beauvais, 4,550 fr,; oriental carpet with arms and corners of fine gold, sixteeenth century, 4,120 fr.; four tapestries of the sixteenth century, 3,700 fr.; large gothic lustre, with armorial bearings and devices, 1,140 fr.; astronomical clock with four dials, German work of the sixteenth century, 955 fr.; fine secretary in black and gold Japan lacquer, 2,700 fr.; a garniture of five pieces, two large beakers, and three large jars and covers (potiches), brown celadon, with medallions painted in relief, Japan, 1,681 fr.

ON Thursday week, the 20th inst., Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge sold a very fine collection of Greek, Roman, and English Medals, the property of the late Mr. J. J. Jessop. Among specimens of Greek cities and kings were two of Alexander Aegus, which went for 33s. and 368. respectively; Demetrius I., 24s.; Philistis, Queen of Syracuse, 32s.; two of Alexander Magnus, 37. 17s. 6d.; two staters of Alexander Magnus and Philip Aridaeus, 3. 78. 6d.; Lysimachus of Thrace, 30s.; Arsinoe Philadelphi, octodrachm, with K. behind the queen's veiled bust, rev. ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗΣ. ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ., double cornucopia with pendent grapes and taeniae, very fine and rare, 97. Among the Roman gold coins were:Nero and Agrippina, 31. 10s.; Nero, 38s.; two of Galba, 31. 8s.; two of A. Pius, 27. 19s., and another set of two, 31.; two of M. Aurelius, 31. 10s. English silver coins included Aelfred, 44s., and 36s.; Mary Queen of Scots, pattern for a testoon, 51. 78. 6d.; Mary, three testoons, 47. 6s. ; Elizabeth, crown, 31. 68.; Cromwell, crown, 27. 128.; Cromwell, crown and shilling, 1658, 41. 2s. 6d.; Victoria, pattern Gothic crown, 1846, 51. 158. The English gold coins included Henry VIII., sovereign, 67. 10s.; Mary, sovereign, 5l. 5s.; Mary, angel, 37. 58. ; Elizabeth, sovereign, 57. 15s.; Charles I., Oxford three-pound pieces, 61., 51. 10s., 41. 12s., and 67. Os.; Briot's sovereign, 21. 15s.; Commonwealth, twenty-shilling piece, 21. 6s.; Charles II., pattern for a crown, 1662, 117. 5s. ; Anne, Croker's Blenheim medal, 31. 15s.; George III., pattern crown, 1817, by Wyon, 181. 58. proof of the twopence, 1797, 107. 10s.; George IV.,

The

.;

Whiteaves" pattern crown, 1820, 101.; William IV., pattern crown, 1831, 14. 58.; Victoria, a brillant proof of the florin, 1848, 81. 88.; James V. of Scotland, bonnet piece, 1540, 41. 15s.; Mary of Scotland, ryal, 81. 17s. 6d.; William III., pistole and half pistole, 4. 12s.; Anne, pattern farthing, 11. 78. Among the silver medals were: four Royalist badges of Charles, 51.; Charles I., Lord Kin bolton, and Lord Fairfax, three medals, 37. 10s.; medals of Lenthall, Thurloe, and Monk, 37. 178.