The Intellectual observer
None
“D> > ead Dy Dy Te 2 ep! 202 > Dp ae rae HARVARD UNIVERSITY. WHITNEY LIBRARY, MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. / 2, 607 ; Dp 2» » —wp yp» »~ 2 >  Sy S Sa > S> SSR Sosa 2 »» > yD 2D ») >> Dp ; i ae eee ee Se > Sh SSS SSR SSeS $ > D> > 2» > D3 22 3S 2 PD I> eae me 5 ie 2? 3 > >>> Sa | 22) > 2a >» ae SS Py 3 Pp». DD ———— SS : — Sy S33 an: y > 35 3°33 2 es "3 — Se ged Sp =~ ™~ $5 > oe SS —— SS 3S Sp > DD —<—," “7% THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVER REVIEW OF NATURAL HISTORY MICROSCOPIC RESHARCH AND RECREATIVE SCIENCE VOLUME VIII, ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES IN COLOURS AND TINTS, AND NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD LONDON GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS PATERNOSTER ROW Ate MDCCCLXVI MARRILD, P CONTENTS, —_+— PAGE THE Mexican Zoprac. By Witi1AmM BoraERt, F.R.G.S., Correspond- ing Member of the University of Chile, etc. Wath a Tinted Plate...... Al GEOLOGICAL WORK OF FROST AND FIRE................cccee cscs eccececeseeeees 9 PHOTOGRAPHY aT GREENWICH OpsERVATORY. By Tuomas W. Burr, GEC BAB SpE CaS ore Ns cihtays ese eee chee Suncare Os -s Nace e as a gehts vise mummants saree 12 Lunar Drratts.—Conovrs or Stars. By the Rev. T. W. Wess, A.M., TE Gl AIS Vig obit as Hoe ean Tea be eM RAPS nina SR ana an ae SHRI ce tae Reamer aiag Ear 28 Aw Excursion To THE Crae@ District. By Henry Woopwanrp, F.G:S., E.Z.S8., of the British Museum. With a Coloured Map. .................. 33 RESvLTS OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS MADE AT THE KEW OBSER- VALOR Yee sya rat WE VVPEED ETE Atle Gan aaa ns ceblcne ios saeuacinae veenaeete cease 42 Atps to Microscoric Inqurirny.— No. VI.— THE ILLUMINATION OF BRECON csi) osjeracbinatebparetawainatelatel dioitietas siesta saiaesawaatve salon a crneee eae 48 TRE EVAN SAUER 205 eee «ecu eke sletiNsreweicee Spartan ceisaetals Seneeranes 54 Is LigHt IMPONDERABLE ? ........cecceenaes Nec LOS “Snait LEECHES,” WITH A Moxograpi oF THE British SPECIES. By the Rev. W. Hoventon, M.A., F.L.S. With Two Plates......... ah sl Tar Exursirion of Miniatures av Sourn Krnsineron. By W. M. RossErvt.. LAccslcswetifene a tuciea saan nomaee cova nace Tue WEATHER. “By ‘ALS. “HERscHEt, CAA avg rt tt Na Uieton Aes ie 100 Arps To Microscopic Inquiry.—No. VIJ.—Hatrs oF PLANTS ......... 111 SUBMARINE TELFGRAPHY. By RicnaRD Birnert, B.SC., PH.D. With HABE PIRDUSTT QIAO TN di jas. aatebonen elias chain sek Weeis eM oR Shade Mem oeua ee hes saheeeeee 115 Comzts: AN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE COMETS WHOSE ORBITS HAVE NOT BEEN CALCULATED. By G. F. CHAMBERS ............ oonboneesoe: npcbdo oes (125 THE CATTLE PLAGUE AND SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION ............s.cceeeeeuee 127 CELESTIAL PHoToGRAPHY.—ENGEIMANN ON DOUBLE STARS.—CRIMSON Stars: By, the Rey 0. W.: WEBB, AVM, HRGAGS. i 133 REMARES ON SaTURN. By Ricuarp A. Brocron, sgn ae ees 143 Roman Potrery.— THE Upcuurch Wane. By THOMAS WRIGHT, E.S.A. With a Coloured Plate and Two Illustrations ........c0ccccceceens 161 CHACORNAC ON THE VOLCANOES OF THE SUN ............cccceceeceecceceeeuceves 166 THE EXxurpition oF MINIATURES AT THE SOUTH KeENsInetrox MusEuM. By We MU, ROSS TM ian (Concludeds\museecuaaeaceenlenecckescuetenoc ee eeecuen 169 REMARKS ON THE STRUCTURE AND ACTIONS OF THE IRIS OF THE HYE IN SOME Sprcizs OF Fisurs. By Jonatuan Covcs, F.LS., etc....... 180 Notes on Funer.—No. IV. By the Rev. M. J. BERKELEY, M.A, FE.L.S. Rosr-SporED MusHRooms. With a Coloured Plate ...........0c0.c0000 183 On THE CHANGE oF PLUMAGE IN THE ComMoN CRossBItT (Loxta CURVIROSTRA), WITH A FEW REMARKS ON THEIR BREEDING AND OTHER Hasits, .By “AinvOnp BUSHMTANG, ey... kcdeec ees san eee 188 A New Anete Measvrer. By the Rev. N. T. Hermnexen. With an TVS OEO BY 5 icieverdegenedanes Y .0, 08 SAMS PAU AINE Na Cala Uae Th da bani SIA LCO)7/ PROFESSOR HOUGHTON’S GEOLOGY...........scceececceeceses Mee a ccieopaciencoes 199 DAV AMEPON VANEGAR AGL Wea cee tN ee ee ee Ne eee 206 iv Contents. OLUSTERS AND NeBpuL#.—Dovuste Srars.—Occurrations. By the Rev. ASW: WEBB: OASIS TB RAGS. dnc snsteer. tebe ssn ceceanenn nec acecrio acer Eeereee TERNS) SIMONI) 544000 cad abbacasodoe soca ssnecdns coancnocca noo nonasnsonesd aso obooRs0CIA0e" Commts: aN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE COMETS WHOSE ORBITS HAVE NOT BEEN CaLCULATED. By G. F. CHAMBERS ...........0.-00200- ceeeeeceeeee WisuEs OBSERVED aT Nice, 1865.—lHe CHIMmRA AND THE ALEPOCE- PHALUS. By RicnarD DrEaxin, M.D. With a Coloured Plate ...... ae WINDS: By A.'S. HERSCHEL, BLA.) 0...2.0--cc0s4-e ee eee eee A Brier History or A Marine Tanx. By SHIRLEY HIBBERD............ Prrasant Ways IN ScieNcE.—No. I1.—CuriostTies OF MOTION ......... Cuain SUSPENSION Roors. By Sir Joun HeRscueL, Bart., K.H., ete, ete. With a Facsimile of the Original Sketch ......1.....cscecnceecessec ene On THE SIZE oF TELESCOPIC STaR Disks. By the Rev. W. R. Dawéss... Resu.ts OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS MADE AT THE Kew OBSERVA- TORY. By GM. WHIPPEB oi. voc dacewuekers ces sea seen OPINIONS ON EPIDEMICS AND EPIZOOTICS .........ccccccccecer eee ces eve ceseenens THe Lounak Mare SERENITATIS.\—DvLUBLE STaRs.—Occuntations. By the Rev. T. W...WEBBOA. MCR. AGS. ee THE SPECTROSCOPE AND THE Microscope. With an Illustration ......... CoMETS: AN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE COMETS WHOSE ORBITS HAVE NOT BEEN CaLcuLaTED. By G. BF. CHAMBERS ...................c0ceeeeeeeeees SHIELD-BEARING CRUSTACEA (RECENT AND Fossin). By Henry Woop- WARD, F.G.8., 2.2.8. With a Coloured Plate @yvcuonus. | By) A. S-HersemEn,| BVA Ane egies eee ae eee eee PrEasant Ways In Scrence.—No. IJ.—IEQuitipRium saND REPOSE. Wath Diag rane vias iis eae Seas Rea ee EE eee ON THE SPECTRA OF PremMENTS. By Henry J. Stacn, F.GS. ............ THE Frurnt Toots of Norta Devon. By Townsnenp M. Hatt, F.G:S. Witle Teco Plates... cacc cassewsent)x cies nasgselese onkoe se Sat eo eee eee New EXreRiMEnts with Soap Busses. By Joun Broveuron, B.SC. With Phree Illustrations «oc 2deacescecnedeeeedeeees eee eee Mr. Hientry’s ConpENsEeR. With Two Illustrations .........ceceeceeseenseeeee M. Cuacornac on tue Moon.—Occurtations. By the Rev. T. W. WeEsB; A.M, BUR eALSy yg os es 2 Ot a Aips To Microscopic Inquiry.—No. VIII.—HONEY..................c0ceeesee Hart Movements GRaPuICALLY DispLayED. By M. Marey ............ CoMETS: AN ACCOUNT OF ALL THE COMETS WHOSE ORBITS HAVE NOT BEEN CancuLareD,, By GiB. CHAMBMRS..05 2002.00. 2..--- sc) escent eee eee eee GotpEN NETTED-LEAVED Oxcuips. By Suirpey Hisperp. With a Coloured, Plate, ive ns tensors. .nt OMaBR Cua: Mulenobics Laas ate hake eee OEE eee On Mup Votcanogs anp Satr Laxrs INTHE Crimea. By Proressor D. TM. ANSTED, MsA., WARS. Gedssigaenk lease duiebecken a corde ne A Curpsypra For Driving TeLzscores. By FREDERICK BRD ............ On THE Wetwitscuia Mirapiiis, Hoox., Fin. By Joun R. Jackson. Wath a@ Tinted Plate... ccs cviueedschushahsdsthers auton: 21 ne ee A New Specirs oF Cicapa FRoM THE CascaDE Mountains. By J. K. LORD, E.Zi8. ......,..usccnngeedtecaon oe aah See eae aee soon Ovr Furvre Coat Fiutps. By JOHN JONES, V.G.S.... 0. cee eceeen ences Hor Springs anD orHek Naturat Features oF THE Pyreness. By A. S: HERSOMED, BiA. ic. cccnsnccais son ssceegeeuneneees<< cee er A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE Position MicromErer. By CHartEs GROVER. MOLAR PHYSICS a. .sscsvencie?« soani ddusalch sien asd RSE Ds ed. Hea oF Cerrs—Occuttation. By the Rev. T. W. Wess, A.M., -R.A.S. Pieasant Ways 1n Scrence.—No. II1.—Ipenriry anp CuaNnGE OvaQUE ILLUMINATORS FOR HiGH POWERS.............ccsseccaseecaueeceuvcoores Lirrrary Novices.— Browne’s “Ice Caves of France and Switzerland,” 58; Tyndall ‘On Radiation,” 59; Brande’s “ Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art, 59, 148, 389; Ritter’s “ Comparative Geography,” 60; “ Anthropological Keview,” 60 ; ‘* Enterprise and Adventure,” 61 ; Mona Bellair’s ‘“ Hurdy Ferns,” 61; Noteutt’s “Handbook of British Se Sno i ae i acc PAGE Contents. Vv PAGE Plants,” 61; ‘ Beale’s “ Archives of Medicine,” 62 ; Pratt’s “ Astrono- mical Investigations,” 62; Bacon’s “ Historical and Archeological Map of England and Wales,’ 62 ; Malcolm’s ‘“ Genealogical Tree of the Royal Family of Great Britain,” 63; Norman’s “ List of Diatomacesx,” 63; Blackwood’s “Journal of Scottish Meteorolovical Society, 63 ; Young’s ““Sea-Fishing as a Sport,” 146 ; Newman’s ‘‘ History of British Ferns,” 148; Richardson ‘‘ For and Against Tobacco,” 148; Chapman “On Diarrhcea and Cholera,” 390; Arnott’s ‘“‘ Elements of Physical, and Natural Philosophy, 390; Purton’s “ Philocalia,” 391 ; Gunther’s “ Re- cord of Zoological Literature, 391; Descriptive Catalogue of all the Genera and Species of Crustacea, 391; British Association Charts, 391 ; Howard’s “Seven Lectures on Scripture and Science,” 393; “ Astro- nomical Register,” 394; Woodward’s “ Geological Magazine,” 394; B:nnett’s “ Winter in South of France” vo. ..........ccececes eee eec eee een ees 394. IPROGRESS! OF INVENTION (.00..censsrcsesesussesestesseses 63, 152, 227, 308, 381, 469 PAU. CHUAN OTO G-EACH yeep otcaty auth dies RON Han esac), eel a1. 71. 150, 238, 315, 385, 4:73 PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SocrEeTIES.— Anthropological, 76; British Asso- ciation, 286, 316 ; Chemical, 395 ; Entomological, 319, 396; Geovra- phical, 76, 397, 476 ; Geological, 157, 396, 476 ; Liverpool Philosophical, 395; Microscopical, 397; Zvological, 157, 478. NOTES AND MEMORANDA ..........0..cceseceeeseceseceees 78, 158, 238, 319, 399, 478 ILLUSTRATIONS. ee ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOURS. Map of the Crag District............ DOP HUM Is cccaueeen ve ole sae ccaemneeae ees 184 DAI ECCHES sey citenecadeaten ctiecease 81 | Chimera Mediterranea............... 241 Pottery from Upchurch, Kent...... 161 | Shield-bearing Crustacea............. 321 Ancectochilus xanthophyllus......... 401 TINTED PLATES. Mexican Zodiac............... pnoeeee 5c Flint Implements from North Snail Leeches.. Bacall: Devon nese enGaianonsee 352, 354 Facsimile of Sketch, sby Sir J. F. W. | Welwitschia mirabilis ............... 424, Herschel, of Suspension Roof... 274] — ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. Drawing of Head on Ancient Tomb Dumb-bell Nebula .........c00..e008 210 in Bolivia ....... Constellation Delphinus ............ 298 Diagrams of Greenwich Photo- SOTCHURONCONS p05 acasooecenacasacsecesace 304: graphic Apparatus ............... 20, 22 | Diagram illustrating Gravity ...... 345 Facsimile of Photographic Trace of Apparatus for Soap Bubbles, 4th September, 1859............... 25 360, 365, 366 Diagram of Ocean Bed............... 117 | Hig&ley’s Condenser.................. 368 Chart of Atlantic across which the Clepsydra for Driving aha 42 Cable laid .. seseseaeeees L21 | Cicada Occidentalis .................. 429 Diagrams of Atlantic Cable......... 122 | Nest and Egg of Cicada ........... . 432 Map of the Upchurch and Marshes 162 | Diagrams of micrometer ............ 44.7 Examples of Roman Pottery from Map ofi Sbarsircas.iecsivsec-dsscsecn nen: 453 Uipelrarchyy cue mecenatacesentcntecs os 163 | Diagrams of Smith’s Illumi- New Angle Measurer ............0.. 197 MALOR sosneccede oe tia ceneeep a Ol Zodiac. od Mexican THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVER. AUGUST, 1865. THE MEXICAN ZODIAC. BY WILLIAM BOLLAERT, F.R.G.S., Corresponding Member of the University of Chile, etc. (With a Tinted Plate.) In the year 1790 a large stone Zodiac was discovered in the great square of Mexico, buried underground, amongst other ruins occasioned by the devastations of the Spanish con- querors. Gama, the Mexican astronomer, who has written on the subject, Humboldt, and several others, have published drawings of this remarkable relic, but none of them sufficiently complete in their details to serve the purposes of a critical and philosophical inquirer. A mere inspection of our plate will show that an artist would find the delineation of such an object an extremely laborious and difficult task, and without the aid of photography, a reliable copy would, in all proba- bility, not have been obtamed. The plate engraved to illus- trate this paper is a reduced fac simile of a photograph about twelve inches in diameter, and it will be found to exhibit with distinctness the various symbolical objects which the original sculpture contains. This Zodiac was carved at Tenantitlan out of a mass of. finely porous basalt—a rock very common in the country—and was taken to the city of Mexico. On reaching the quarter of Xoloc, it broke from its bearmgs, and was precipitated into the lake, when the High Priest and many others were drowned. Being rescued from the water, it was transported to the temple of Huitzilopochtli, and its inauguration celebrated by awful sacrifices of prisoners captured in war. ‘These san- guinary scenes took place in 1512, a few years before the arrival of Cortez and his companions. The outer circle of the Zodiac is eleven feet eight inches in VOL. VIII.—NO, I. B 2 The Mexican Zodiac. diameter. Our engraving represents a full-face view, and con- sequently cannot display a slightly ornamented rim seven inches deep. ‘This rim is, however, indicated by the shadow at the bottom, which the reader will observe. In order to understand the symbolical representations, it is necessary to remember that the Mexican year was divided into eighteen months of twenty days each, each month bemg named after some incident, or natural object, as will be presently explained. The months were divided into weeks, not of seven, but of Jjwe days each, and the days of the month were designated by words signifymg a sea animal, the wind, a house, a small lizard, a serpent, death, a deer, a rabbit, water, a dog, an ape, twisted grass, a reed, a jaguar, an eagle, a bird, the motion of the sun, silex or flmt, ram, and a flower. The cardinal points were designated in the same singular method. Their first pomt was in the east, and represented by a cane, west was named a house, north a flint, and south a rabbit. Having made these preliminary remarks, we shall proceed to describe the circles of the Zodiac. _ The several rings are nearly circularly drawn, but the bottom so-called “‘ray” is not equi-distant to the rays on either side of it. The face in the centre is supposed to represent the sun. In the forehead are two circular bodies (all circles, dots, or ovals are intended for digits) havmg between them a figure with three curves, the sign of II Acatl (reed). This means the Reed, or thirteenth day of some month in the second year of the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years. From two circles, probably meant for ears, drop two ovals, contaimimg nine circles and ovals in three lines, and one underneath, = 20, which is the number of days in the month. Underneath the chin, and on each side of the elongated tongue (symbol of speaking), there are six dots and ovals. Within the next or second large circle are, first, four parallelograms, supposed to be im allusion to the belief that the sun had died four times. The first to the right represents IV Ocetotl (jaguar), answering in this place to our 22nd of May, in the first year of the cycle; the second, IV Atl (water); the third, IV* Quiahuitl (rain), 26th July ; the fourth, Ehecatl (wind). These four symbols are also said to represent the four weeks of a month. The two lateral figures denote claws, said to be symbolical of two ancient astrologers, man and wife, who were represented as eagles or owls. _ ™ The exact meaning of the numeral IV, as applied in these cases, is not quite understood. i The Mexican Zodiac. 3 The inverted V, called by Gama a triangle, at the top of the head, indicates the first and last day of the month. On the right is an oval symbol, which may be Hchatl (wind) ; the one on the left probably represents Tepactli (silex). Underneath the tongue are two squares, each containing five indications = 10, which may belong to Ollin, or motion of the sun; to its right are circles and a head, or I Ozomaitli (ape), 22nd of June, in the 26th year of the cycle; to the left is a figure called I Quiahuatl (rain), 22nd of March in same year of the cycle. The third circle contains twenty divisions, representing, by Zodiacal signs, the twenty days of the month of the priests, which differed from the common month. ‘These are read from the left, beginning under the left point of the upper ray. The sions of Sea Animal, Wind, House, Small Lizard, Serpent, Death, Deer, Rabbit, Water, Dog, Ape, Twisted Grass, Reeds, Jaguar, Hagle, Bird, Motion of the Sun, Silex, Rain and Flower. House, Rabbit, Reeds, Silex, stood in the middle of each small period of five days forming the weeks. A repe- tition of thirteen times of the above four would be equal to fifty-two, or the cycle of years. Hach of the eighteen months (not represented in this Zodiac) had its name, already alluded to, from some natural objects characteristic of the particular season, or from some festival or employment, as To glean. Trees bud. Victims flayed alive. Vigils of the priests. Grand Peni- tence. Garlands of Maize tied round the necks of the Idols. Food of Maize. Festival of Young Warriors. Tes- tival of Old Warriors. Little Festival of the Dead. Great Festival of the Dead. A Broom-cleansing of Canals. A Para- sitic Plant. Festival of Rural Divimities. Sacred Flamingo. Standard of one of the Principal Gods. Descent of Water and Snow. In the fourth circle are a number of squares, each con- taining five idications — 190. It has heretofore been pre- sumed that the four angular objects called rays covered twelve squares (but there is too much room for the said twelve squares); if so, the fifty-two squares, each contaiming five indications, would give 260, or the period of twenty-one series of thirteen days ; however, I only make 190. I may observe that outside the 190 indications there are 70 of a doorway appearance; adding these two numbers, we get 260, which fact may be worth noticing. The large angular objects, said to be sun’s rays, may, I think, rather represent the four cardinal poits. There are also four smaller angular sub-divisions, and four of a square form (somewhat like the sign for Tepactl or silex), making in 4, The Mexican Zodiac. all sixteen divisions, which may have to do with the Mexican division of the day into sixteen parts. Speaking of the outer circles, Gama says, “ The external zone consists, except at the extremities, of a symbol twenty times repeated, which may represent the Milky Way. The waving lines are probably meant for clouds.” Others suppose them to be symbols of mountains, in which clouds and storms originate ; whilst Gallatin thought them to be altogether orna- - mental. T will now examine this portion of the Zodiac. Between the large and small rays there are six sets of ten indications, and two of five (something like Acatl, or reeds) = 70, which number has been already referred to. Out of the centres of the six sets rise figures, called by Gama ‘“rafagas 6 luces,’” which may mean plumes of feathers. These figures have squares with five indications each = 30, twelve of these would be — to 360. Then there are door-way indications, each of three, = 18, which may have to do with the eighteen months of the Aztec ear. : Then follow the twelve series of the waved symbol (supposed by Gama to represent clouds and mountains), and underneath twelve open spaces of fours, = 48. The whole fioure looks to me like the symbol Atl, or water. Did the Aztecs suppose that the world, as they knew it, was surrounded by water? One of their expressions was, “ All the round world is but a sepulchre.” Solis observes that one of their principal idols was seated in a chair, which was on a blue globe, which they called heaven. Out of this circle sprmgs the symbol of the year XIII Acatl, or reeds (the twenty-sixth of the cycle). We now come to the symbol on the outer edge, ten times repeated on each side, = 20. In the upper portions are band.-. like figures (which may be reeds), and probably have reference to the tying up, or completion of the cycle every fifty-two years. Further on are two more of these symbols, and in the lower portions two more partially covered, = 24. The twenty symbols have ten indications each, = 200. There were great feasts at every 200 and 300 days; but the symbols at the top have forty mdications, and if the lower ones contained the same number, we should have 260 indications, or the number of days in the year of the priests, which had 100 days less than the solar year. Gama supposed this to be the symbol of the Milky Way ; but it strikes me rather to represent plants or flowers. The first Spaniards called them tufts of flowers. I find the symboi to bear a great resemblance to that of the 20th, or last day of the month Xochtl, or Flower. May we suppose the Aztecs conceived that this was to represent the outside of The Mexican Zodiac. 5 the circular plane of the world, and that it was an Elysium of green pastures and forests, the “happy hunting grounds” of the Indians of the north? Pointing to XIII Acatl, the square symbolat the top of the plate, are two angular figures, which Gama says are merely indications of XIII Acatl. At their bases are objects like pillars, each supporting six rings or circles, = 12. Can this arrangement indicate the twelve solar months of the year? In all this region, indeed, all round what I call the flower symbol, there are a series of diagonal lines, which may repre- sent the sun’s rays. At the bottom are two lizard-looking figures ; they have in Gama’s drawing 86 dots and 104 lines, = 190. Gama calls the two profiles of heads at the bottom Tohnalteuhth, which is the first name on the list of nine Lords of Night. In a narrow circle near the edge are some sixty-five dots on each side, or 130, twice this = 260, the days of the year of the priests. In reference to the number 130, it may be stated here that Gama supposed the stone Zodiac was for six months of the year only, and that there was another for the other six months. He also thought one faced the north and the other the south. In this opinion I do not coincide. Outside the above-mentioned circle, and running partially down the edge, are a series of oval indications, apparently 31 and 5 on one side, 32 and 5 on the other, = 73. Now there were 73 cycles of 260 days to form the cycle of fifty-two years, so that these ovals may have to do with this large cycle. : Hight holes, believed to be for gnomons, are found just outside the rim of ovals, and vertical to the surface of the stone. As this is so, I should conclude that the stone, when in position, was laid flat, and not upright, as Gama supposed. Over the two heads (in Gallatin’s drawing) are series of 24 and 21 indications, = 45 (twice 45 = 90 x 4 = 360). I make out 180 indications; this doubled, would give 360 for the days of the year, not including the five interculary days. Gama observes that ‘‘ we have delineated on this stone the dates of the five principal positions of the sun, from the vernal to the autumnal equinox. Three of these, the two transits of the sun by the Zenith (22nd May and 26th July), and the autumnal equinox (22nd September), are the Mexican days on which these phenomena occurred in the first year of the cycle (I Tochtli) ; and the two others, the vernal equinox (22nd March), and the summer solstice (22nd June), are the 6 The Mexican Zodiac. Mexican days on which these two occurred m the XIII Acatl.” He also informs us that this Zodiac is a true meridional clock, by means of which the Mexicans knew the eight intervals of the artificial day; four for the morning, and four for the evening, from the rising to the settmg of the sun, as shown, most probably, by the shadows of the eight gnomons fixed in the holes in the circumference. In the second lot of presents sent by Montezuma to Cortez, were two circular plates, one of gold, the other of silver, as large as carriage wheels. One, representing the sun, was richly carved, or in relief, “with tufts of plants and animals.” It was valued at nearly £60,000. The silver wheel weighed some fifty lbs. At Tlascala, with other presents from Monte- zuma, were “‘ embossed gold plates” (Zodiacs). In a pond in Guatemozin’s garden, the soldiers of Cortez found “a sun, as it was called ;” this was one of the Zodiacs, or Aztec calendar wheels. Benvenuto Cellmi saw some of these things, and was filled with admiration. They all went into the melting-pot centuries ago; but if they had been preserved, they might have assisted us in deciphering with accuracy the stone Zodiac ‘which we have endeavoured to describe. No pains have been taken to preserve the stone Zodiac ‘frominjury. It is now stuck in the wall of the tower of the -cathedral, and has been exposed to the action of the weather and other causes of imjury ever since its discovery. Thus ‘some of the details we have described: can with difficulty be made out at the present time; but by referrmg to the engraving illustrating Gama’s rare work, published in Mexico sat the beginning of this century, much aid is given. This drawing, though, as before remarked, not complete, was made ‘when the Zodiac was in better condition than it has been for “many years. As very few Europeans have studied the curious subject of the astronomy of the Red Man, whose peculiar form of civili- zation reached its highest development, under diversified conditions, in the countries of Mexico and Peru, it may seem surprising that so much scientific knowledge should be im- puted to them, as is involved in the descriptions of the stone Zodiac. There can, however, be no doubt that the Red race arrived at a very considerable acquaintance with celestial phenomena. In Grave Creek Mound, Western Virginia, stone tubes have been found, supposed tc have been imtended for viewing the stars, after the manner practised by early oriental na- tions. In ancient Mexico, where science was more advanced, the causes of eclipses were known. The learned men gave an The Mesxican Zodiac. 7 account of the great comets, especially the one of 1489. They also had asystem of constellations, and were acquainted with four of the planets, ncludmg Venus. Gama describes an arrangement of three masses of stone at Chapultepuc, so arranged as to indicate east and west, and to show by shadows the exact time of the rismg and setting of the sun at the period of the equinoxes and solstices, and the true mid-day during the year. In a late examination of the Pyramid of Xochichalco, or Hill of Flowers, an apartment was discovered, having a hole in its roof leading up to the summit of the pyramid, and so placed that it permitted the sun’s rays to enter, and to fall, as tradition says, upon an altar at the exact date of the sun’s crossing the tropics. In Central America, the Red race constructed calendars bearmg considerable resemblance to those of the Mexican, and in New Granada the Muisca natives engraved calendars on polished stone, usually in a pentagonal form, and their priests made lunar observations to regulate the division of time, their year consisting of twenty lunar months. Many details concerning them and kindred subjects will be found in my work on South American antiquities.* In Quito the Caranes conquered the ancient Quitus about 1000 a.p., and their chiefs, known as the Scyris, erected stone columns, which were used to observe the solstices, and regulate the solar year. They are said to have had twelve pilasters placed round their chief temple, serving as so many gnomons, to show the first day of each of their twelve months. 'These were most probably their own invention, and existed before their conquest by the later Incas of Peru. In Chile, the Araucanos distinguished planets from stars, took note of solstices and equinoxes, and grouped the stars into con- stellations. Their year was solar, consisting of 365 days. They also had a lunar year of twelve moons of thirty days each. The Peruvians do not seem to have made as much progress in astronomy as the Mexicans; but their mechanical arrange- ments were highly curious. Hight cylindrical towers were erected to the east, and eight to the west of Cuzco. Hach series of eight consisted of six large towers, in a straight line, with two smaller ones in the centre. The limes of towers were north and south, so that an observer stationed, say in the west group, could, by looking through the spaces, observe the sun rise between the opposite spaces between the towers of the east group. Some writers say there were twelve towers * Antiquarian, Ethnological, and other?Researches in New Granada, ete., by Wm. Bollaert. Triibner and Co. 8 The Mexican Zodiac. on each side; but in a gold calendar described by me in the work alluded to, the number of towers in a row is eight. These contrivances are believed to have indicated the solstices and other celestial phenomena. ‘''o discover the days of the equinox, they erected a stone column in an open area in front of their temple. This column was in the centre of a circle, and a line was drawn from east to west, and when the noon-day shadow of the pillar crossed this line at particular points, the equinoxes had arrived. In January, 1864, Mr. D. Forbes presented me with a drawing of a small human figure in silver he had discovered in an ancient tomb in Bolivia. The annexed woodcut represents the upper portion of this figure, and it will be seen that it is that of a man observing some celestial object through a hollow tube applied to the left eye. This is the first undoubted indication of a telescope tube being used in the new world, and gives pro- bability to the supposition that those found in Grave Creek Mound were designed for a similar purpose. Geological Work of Frost and Fre. 9 GHOLOGICAL WORK OF FROST AND FIRE.* THE craft of reviewing has got into deplorable discredit in this country through the very shallow, or very untrustworthy opi- nions of books, or other productions, that too often occupy the pages of publications pretending to intelligence and im- partiality. Some works are indeed difficult to describe fairly, and Mr. J. T. Campbell comes before us with two very beau- tiful and valuable volumes, in which merits and defects are alike conspicuous, so that it is far from easy to speak of them as they deserve. Sir Roderick Murchison, an excellent judge of such matters, speaks highly of Frost and Fire, and some critics have overwhelmed both the book and its author with preposterous praise. ‘The truth, as we apprehend it, is that Mr. Campbell isa shrewd observer, and an admirable draughts- man of certain physical appearances which our globe presents, but his stock of scientific knowledge, though greater than he takes credit for, is by no means extensive, and he lacks the art of sustaming a pleasing, or methodical style. We should, therefore, describe his book as a collection of a hundred and seventeen beautifully executed and remarkably interesting sketches, chiefly illustrating the geological work performed by ice, and water set in motion by heat, accompanied by ram- bling, often crotchetty, and frequently clever descriptions of what he has seen, and how he interprets it. Most persons will, we think, find it tiresome to read his volumes through ; but no one of scientific taste can fail to gain both pleasure and information from their pages. To the beginner they offer many shrewd hints and valuable suggestions, and the expe- rienced geologist will welcome so large a collection of data of ee highest importance in interpreting the history of our globe. The fundamental idea of Mr. Campbell, and it is a good one, is that work, whether human or geological, is done with tools, and that tools leave their marks behind them wherever they have been employed. In the natural world two very important tools are, in his phraseology, “Frost and Fire,” the glacier being the grandest exemplification of the one, and the volcano of the other. He does not take sufficient notice of the enormous amount of work performed by less striking agency, such as the quiet flow of rivers, the fall of rai, and the action of the air, hence his philosophy is incomplete, and his account of the modifications which terrestrial strata have experienced, wants the charm of due proportion in its several * Frost and Fire, Natural Engines, Toolmarks and Chips. With Sketches taken at Home and Abroad, by a ‘[rayeller. 2 vols. Edmonston and Douglas. 10 Geological Work of Frost and Fire. parts. Such remarks, however, indicate his omissions, and we always deem it an ungracious thing when any one renders a decided service to science, to descant upon what he has left undone, instead of recognizing with becoming thankfulness what he has performed. In an early part of Mr. Campbell’s work some clever experiments are recommended as exhibiting to the eye the nature of the air and water currents which affect our globe. He recommends that a common aquarium, or oblong fish tank, shall be half filled with clear water, and placed in the sun. At one end afew lumps of rough ice are to be floated, and a black stone sunk at the other. When the water has settled, milk is to be poured gently on the ice at the rate of an ounce to each gallon of water inthe tank. The sun’s heat is absorbed by the black stone, and communicated to the adjacent water, pro- ducing an ascending current, while at the other end of the tank a descending current results from the cooling action of the ice. The milk, which if carefully poured im, mixes very slowly with the water, forms clouds whose movements indicate the currents and the amount of force by which they are im- pelled. “Cloud forms,” says Mr. Campbell, “ are copied with marvellous fidelity in this water toy, and, because the move- ment is very slow, they are easily seen and copied. But the tank gives a section of air as well as water. The miniature sea has an atmosphere, and the same forces work both engines. Let a bit of smouldering paper, tinder, rope, touchwood, or any such light combustible fall on the ice-raft, and cover the tank. with a sheet of glass to keep in the smoke.” By this means imitations of all sorts of natural clouds may be produced. The same tank may be made to illustrate the movements of water about to freeze, when the apparatus is placed in a cold atmosphere. At one corner Mr. Campbell hangs a small ther- mometer, just dipping into the water; at the opposite corner he places another thermometer, with its bulb reaching the bottom, and capable of being elevated or depressed without making much disturbance. On some ice, floating near the centre of the water surface, he paints some lamp-black, sinks a globular block-tin bottle, filled with boiling water and corked, near the thermometer which touches the bottom, and covers one side of the tank with a screen of thin paper. When the ice begins to melt, the lamp-black begins to move. “If it is warmed by the sun, a dark revolving column sinks slowly down. But beneath the ice are layers which contain intricate patterns of curved lines of black, which bend and move slowly, but keep near the ice.” “When a water-bottle, filled with hot water, coloured with lamp-black, is sunk through an ice dome without the stopper, Geological Work of Frost and Fire. 11 a warm dark column rises up like the spirit whom the Arabian fisherman let out of the copper vase. . . . When the water is hot, a thing lke a round-headed mushroom eTOWs rapidly out of the neck, and takes all manner of strange shapes.” Experiments of this kind admit of indefinite variation. They can be performed with trifling expense, and are excel- lently adapted to explain the nature ‘of actions by which climate is affected, and the superficial strata of the earth exposed to influences that modify their form. Mr. Campbell’s illustrations of “river marks” are very instructive, but he chiefly notices the violent action of tumbling streams. He does not omit quieter operations, as his clever sketch of Thames meandermgs shows; but his favourite river theme is the mountain torrent, with its mark L in the rock which it cuts through. After mentioning many instances of this sort of action, he observes that ‘‘at the Devil’s Bridge, near Aberystwith, a stream has sawed a groove in the blue slate. It is ninety feet deep, and about six wide. - . . . The rivulet has ploughed a groove at the bottom of a curve; it has turned V into Y.” After studying the river marks, the next step is to learn those of large floating ice masses and glaciers; and for students who cannot travel as extensively as Mr. Campbell has done, his sketches will prove an invaluable substitute. The glacier leaves its characteristic tool marks. ‘ Wherever it goes the ice tool grinds; it works broken stones into polished boulders, boulders into mud, fractured rocks into réches mouton- nées, and mountain glens into rounded, polished, striated rock grooves, whose ground section is a curve \~. When the ice melts, floating chips are left in the groove in their order.” Mr. Campbell gives a good description of the various tool marks left by moving masses of ice. ‘The ice may polish rock surfaces ; 11 may mark them with striz, or scratch them with sand lines, or score them, or groove them, or make deep grooves, or hollows, or glens, or in passing over rocks that wear unequally, it may give them a bossy or mammillated form, and thus make réches moutonnées. Very characteristic sketches of these several effects are eves in the two volumes of Frost and Fire. No geologist doubts that great masses of floating ice, such as can now be studied in Polar regions, and huge glaciers, of which Switzerland, Norway, and other localities afford good specimens, were the kind of tools which in former ages did very extensive and important work in fashioning the surface of the globe. In many cases the “tool marks’? are distinct enough to point clearly to thei origin; but when certain # 12 Photography at Greenwich Observatory. observers and writers go beyond the definite information con- veyed by such markings, and ascribe to glaciers the function of digging all the gigantic hollows in which the great lakes of Hurope and America now repose, we may prefer exercising due caution, and not be too ready to accept explanations which have rather the aspect of overriding.a favourite hobby than that of calmly considering all the circumstances that have to be explained. There is a tendency in philosophers to follow a practice common amongst physicians, and to have their pet causes, just as the latter indulge in their favourite remedies. At one time it may happen that patients seeking medical aid are all mercurized, bismuthized, or iodized, according to the fashion of the hour, and in like manner geologists indulge in fiery or watery speculations, sometimes neglecting and some- times exaggerating the action of any particular agency capable of forming or changing terrestrial rocks. Mr. Campbell is a decided worshipper of the spirits of ice. Within the limits we -have indicated we highly esteem his labours, and in taking leave of his Fire and Frost, we wish him health and oppor- tunity for further travel, and that he may bring home and publish as valuable a series of sketches as those which will give permanent importance to the work he has just produced. PHOTOGRAPHY AT GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. BY THOMAS W. BURR, F.R.A.S., F.C.S., ETC. THH scientific operations carried on at the Royal Observatory are essentially of a practical and utilitarian character. Ori- ginally founded for the especial purpose of the improvement of navigation by the construction of accurate catalogues of stars and tables of the moon, it is highly to the credit of its succes- sive directors that they have never been tempted to a diversion of its resources to objects more immediately attractive and likely to brmg them fame and renown as discoverers of fresh heavenly bodies, or other additions to the wonders of astronomy. It is to this steady devotion to the original purpose of the establishment that we are indebted for the great work of Flamsteed, his Historia Cclestis; for the indefatigable ob- servations of Bradley, and his great discoveries of aberration and nutation; the well-conceived plans and constant labours of Maskelyne, who started the Nautical Almanack on its useful career; the instrumental improvements and exact observations of Pond; and last, but not least, the laborious Photography at Greenwich Observatory. 13 reductions of all the Greenwich observations for nearly 100 years by the present Astronomer Royal, Mr. Airy, who has himself compiled some excellent star catalogues, who has planned instruments combining engineering and optical science in a way previously unknown, who has introduced the gal- vanic system for registering observations, and devised an instrument especially devoted to making trustworthy observa- tions of the moon in parts of her orbit inaccessible by meridian instruments—an addition which has resulted in bringing up the tables of the moon to a pitch of excellence apparently leaving nothing to be desired. In carrying out the determination to adhere to the im- provement of the fundamental data of astronomy in preference to all other objects, the directors of our national observatory have evinced the greatest self-denial, and have been compelled to leave to other observatories or to private amateurs the brilliant pursuit of new planets and comets, the attractive subjects of double and variable stars, the glorious revelations of spectrum analysis applied to the heavenly bodies, and even the valuable aid of photography in delineating the features of the sun and moon. There is, however, one application of photography so thoroughly practical in its character that it has been gladly taken advantage of at the Greenwich Observa- tory, and it is of this interesting process that we now propose to offer some particulars, assisted as we have been by the materials kindly furnished by the Astronomer Royal. 