Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/577

Rh in work of the goldsmith's art, A brief chapter on minor excavations includes accounts of the researches at Orchomenos and Ithaca. In a Historical Survey of the Heroic Age of Greece, the relations of Mycenæan civilization to that of Greece and Caria are discussed. Among the general conclusions to be drawn from Dr. Schliemann's Excavations are that they invariably confirm the former power and splendor of every city which is mentioned by Homer as conspicuous for its wealth or sovereignty; that the strongly fortified citadels, which do not appear after this (the Mycenæan period) either in Greece or Asia Minor, correspond exactly with those described by Homer; and that the wealth of metals in this "period of youthful display" is distinctly reflected in Homer. "But for the golden treasures of the shaft-graves, Homer's tales of chased goblets like the cup of Nestor, of bossed shoulder-belts, and the golden dogs that kept watch before Alklnoos's door, would still be treated as bold flights of fancy, as was, in fact, the case before the excavations." But the most striking a«d important correspondence between the Mycenaean discoveries and Homer is that shown in the inlaid work on certain dagger-blades found at Mycenæ. "Nowhere else in Greece has work of this sort, complete pictures in inlaid metals, been discovered. Yet Homer had a very clear conception of this kind of workmanship, for he describes in detail how, on Achilles's shield, vineyards were represented with purple grapes on golden stems, surrounded by a hedge of tin, and later on speaks of youths wearing golden swords hung from silver baldries. It is enough to enumerate these leading points of agreement. They are sufficient proof that for certain parts of his descriptions Homer can have had no other models before him but those of Mycenaean art and civilization" The controversy still rages on the question whether there was a single personal Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, or whether the two books are collections of different sagas, sung by different minstrels, and composed in different ages. The author assumes the latter view, and speaks throughout the book as if it was a settled fact. He is sustained in this by Mr. Walter Leaf, an eminent English Homeric scholar, who furnishes a valuable critical introduction, in which the bearing of Dr. Schliemann's discoveries on this and other questions of Homeric interpretation are referred to rather than discussed, but who differs from the author on one or two points. In the appendices are given a report on the excavations at Troy in 1890, with the welcome announcement that Mrs. Schliemann will continue the work of her husband there; and an illustrated description of the two beautiful golden cups discovered in the tumulus at Vapheio—one of the most remarkable and interesting "finds" recorded as yet in the whole history of Greek archæological research.

compilation well illustrates the use of the accumulation of small things. For nearly fifty years the Scientific American has been publishing original contributions of facts, experiences, experiments, and practical observations in nearly every branch of the useful arts. The items have been printed in all departments of the journal, but especially in the columns of "Notes, Queries, and Correspondence," where their modest appearance furnished the careless reader no clew to their real worth, but whence the student seldom turned without having gained some prized acquisition to his knowledge. A considerable proportion of them embodied the fruits of special knowledge, which were made public nowhere else. In the files of the periodical they were as good as lost. Mr. Hopkins has made the vast compendium they afford the basis of his work. He has collected these, carefully digested and condensed them; has added to them the results of laborious researches among the difficult mysteries of Trade Secrets, and has incorporated with them, for the rounding off of his fabric, information from other cyclopædias of similar character. The arrangement of articles is alphabetical, according to their titles, with no other classification, the titles being given in full-faced type, with cross references when they are needed. Illustrations are given, but not frequently. A few cautions are sounded in the preface to those