Vergil, celebrated this as the birthplace of Zeus, the national god, the scene of his union with Europa, and the sanctuary within which Minos, in communion with his father, received the revelation of the law.

Mr. D. Hogarth has established beyond reasonable doubt the identity of the cavern of Psychro, high up in the Lasithi hills, with the Diktaean cave. The proof consists in the multitude of religious objects and votive offerings brought by prehistoric pilgrims from generation to generation, and now found as left by them. Many of these objects are marked with, some are miniature representations of, the labrys or double-headed battleaxe, the war-like symbol of the god.

(b) The Labyrinth and the Minotaur.-At Knossos, Mr. Arthur Evans has explored about half of a colossal palace with an adjacent town, "a veritable Pompeii." This palace is far different from, and far earlier than, those of Tiryns and Mycenae. It has, apparently, endless courts, galleries, maga

2800-2500). Some of the objects found here, as in the cave of Psychro, are of high artistic value. But of incomparably the greatest importance is the discovery of written documents many centuries older than the scanty Mycenaean finds hitherto known. They consist of a series of clay tablets inscribed with two distinct characters of praePhoenician writing, (1) pictographic, (2) linear, corroborating previous discoveries of the same description of gems and seals. The pictographic character somewhat resembles the "Hititte;" the linear consists of elegant upright letters. The tablets were originally placed in coffers of clay, wood and gypsum, secured by seals impressed with finely-engraved signets. These documents, like those of Assyria, to which the tablets present some resemblance, were, doubtless, the palace archives, the secrets of which await the decipherment of the writing.

1982

This vast palace, with its maze of chambers and passages, was doubtless the Labyrinth, the house

of the Labrys, the home of the Minotaur, the building which the legendary architect, Daedalus, is said to have imitated from the great Egyptian structure on the shores of Lake Moeris.

Many of the questions suggested by the above discoveries await solution, some probably will remain insoluble. The interpretation of the writ

ing will reveal many secrets, including that of the language spoken. Meanwhile, some of the ascertained results may be summed up. Before the Hellenic incursions there existed a pre-historic race (or races) in the Aegean islands, on the eastern mainland of Greece, and to a much more limited extent and sporadically on the western seaboard of Asia Minor, which developed a very high degree of culture, as testified by its buildings, its metal work, its vases, its paintings and its commercial intercourse. In religion this race, like the Semites, worshipped many other objects, the sacred tree (the Ashéra) and the consecrated stone (the maççeba, baetylos or beth-el); in later times the religion was probably more eclectic. The government was monarchical; there were chiefs, people, and, judging from the vastness of buildings and roads, there must have been slaves. Writing was made use of for state purposes. Intercourse was carried on, to the east with Libya, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia; in the Fayûm province of Egypt, and perhaps on the middle Nile, there were Mycenaean" settlements; to the west with Sicily, Italy, Sardinia and Spain; to the north with Central and, probably, Northern Europe. Whence the race originally came we know not yet, but we can partly say what became of it, for it amalgamated to a considerable extent with the invading Hellenes, and more with Aeolians and Ionians than with the sterner Dorians. While adopting the language of the conquerors, it handed on to them its traditions and methods of art and commerce. Doubtless it passed on, in more or less altered form, its deities and its rituals. Thus, after the dark ages which followed on invasion, there came in the seventh and sixth centuries that hitherto inexplicably rapid outburst of Hellenic life, a renascence in a nobler form of the older civilisation. It is, in fact, to this "Aegean " or "Mycenaean" race that the nations of Europe must look back with gratitude as the mother of their civilisation.

66

The next paper will endeavour to show what light archaeology has shed on the Homeric Epic and Hellenic Greece.

(To be continued.)

TYPICAL SCHOOL TIME-TABLES.

V. CARDIFF INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL FOR BOYS.

Ο

UR Typical School Time-table for this month shows in great detail the work of a large Welsh Intermediate School. A very prominent place is given to the out-of-school occupations of the boys, and the way in which Mr. Findlay, the Headmaster, has solved the difficulty of providing suitable leisure-hour pursuits for boys whose health makes the ordinary games undesirable is suitably indicated. We are glad to take this opportunity of recording our indebtedness to Mr. Findlay for the trouble he has taken to arrange the Time Table

in a form which has made its publication easily possible.

The following notes will explain the various items in the Time Table as well as provide the reader with all the explanation necessary to understand thoroughly the course of work throughout the school.

REFERENCES.

(a) School Prayers (hymn, short lesson, collect and Lord's Prayer) before 9.10 a.m. Prayers on Saturday at 11.40 a.m. followed by school songs, recitations, &c., till 12 noon.

(b) A choice between Latin, or Science, or Shorthand and Bookkeeping.

(c) The whole of the Form do not take the London Matriculation, but the Time Table here given is the one followed by those who take this Examination, which is parallel in standard to that of the Senior Certificate of the Central Welsh Board. Other members of the Form have special time-tables to meet the requirements of advanced Mathematics, or Senior Commercial Certificate of the C. W. Board, or of Civil Service Examinations. (It should be understood that the C.W. Board inspects and examines, orally or in writing, the whole school, but permits a large freedom in the choice of studies. Among other require. ments, a Time Table such as this is sent in annually to the Board's Inspector.)

=

(d) G. C. S. Greek, or Spanish, or Science, or Advanced Drawing, or Commercial Subjects, or other special studies. (e) Two consecutive periods for Chemistry and Physics are arranged to meet the needs for practical work.

(f) D. or S. Drill (for boys whose voices are broken) or Class Singing (either in choral class or tonic-sol-fa class). Physical Drill (not shown in the Time Table) is taken, as occasion requires, at the beginning of a lesson in most Forms.

(g) The Home Lesson (voluntary) in Scripture set, and the rest of the period devoted to the second branch here mentioned. (h) "Special."-This single period provides

(1) For a few extra pursuits (Carpentry, Advanced Drawing, Theory of Music), followed by a few boys out of various Forms. (2) For boys who are temporarily backward in some branche.g., Oral French for most boys in their first two terms. the Forms are broken up into special sets for this one period.

Thus

(i) Humanities what are often called " English Subjects." Each Form has a correlated scheme of study in History, Literature, Geography: and in the periods assigned to Humanities, the form-master covers also the needs of English Grammar, Spelling, Handwriting, Composition, &c. (special attention being paid to these branches in the earlier years). Humanities in the Upper V. comprises the English Language and History prescribed for the London Matriculation. Physical Geography also finds a place in the scheme of Science teaching (see THE SCHOOL WORLD, January, 1901. p. 12).

(j) Mathematics includes Arithmetic only in the Junior Division. Algebra commenced in the Third Forms. Theoretical Geometry in the Fourth Forms. More Advanced Mathematics in the Fifth Forms.

(k) A few minutes at least to French each day. The whole time equally distributed between French and Drawing. (4) This includes Gardening.

(m) Separate Time Tables are provided for a few boys in these Forms who are prepared for Banking and other similar Examinations and who work partly in the " Special Examinations" Department.

(n) Home Lessons (varying in amount from hour to 13 hours according to age, are set for every evening except Friday.

SEASONAL NATURAL HISTORY.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR PRACTICAL WORK IN SCHOOLS.

By J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A.

Regius Professor of Natural History, University of Aberdeen.

A

SEASONAL course of natural history, continued throughout the year, has the particular advantage of being always relevant to what the pupils are seeing and feeling. Moreover, by keeping to the seasons, appropriate specimens are most likely to be got, and the help of the pupils in collecting these can be profitably enlisted. It is scarcely necessary to suggest that the course should be linked to other studies, e.g., in physical geography (showing how "the seasons about), and in poetry (showing how the seasons affect our moods), and in history (showing the seasonal origin of many old customs and myths).'

I.-Spring.

29

come

The distinctive note is that spring is the season of young things, of re-awakenings, of new beginnings.

(a) LIFE HISTORY OF A FROG (Rana temporaria).The eggs are laid in ponds, ditches, &c., usually from beginning of March to beginning of April, and float in clumps on the water, generally 1,000 to 2,000 from each female. They are fertilised as they are laid, and will develop readily in a glass globe. The water may be sufficiently aërated by means of a few aquatic plants (Anacharis, Callitriche, &c.), but decaying matter should be at once removed. After two to three weeks the embryo is hatched, and wriggles out of the gelatinous envelope of the egg.

A study should be made of the spawn. The heavier (yolk laden) part of the egg, with a whitish spot, is downwards if the eggs are floating freely. The experiment of fixing the egg upside down should be tried. There are many uses in the jelly -it prevents crowding, leaves between its spheres minute interspaces in which minute algæ often lie (of advantage in aëration), acts like an elastic buffer, is unpalatable to some animals, is too slippery to be swallowed by others, and is probably also of service in connection with light and heat.

Many small animals-crustaceans, insect larvæ, &c.-live along with the frog spawn, some helping to loosen the jelly, some devouring the liberated embryos.

Under the microscope (low power), or even with a hand lens, the first stages of the cleavage of the egg may be readily observed, but these occur very soon after fertilisation. The naked-eye appearance of the 2-cell, 4-cell, and 8-cell stages

1 See Gilbert White, "Natural History of Selbourne "; Howitt, "Book of the Seasons"; Miall, "Round the Year"; Thomson, "Natural History of the Year"; Roberts, "Naturalists' Year Book," and another by J. G. and Th. Wood; Brightwen, "Rambles with Nature Students"; Mrs J. M. Wright, "The Story of Plant Life" (following the year); Cornell University, "Nature-Study Bulletins"; Mrs. Lucy Wilson, "Nature Studies.'

should be carefully noticed. The eggs of Rana temporaria may be compared with those of (the larger) R. esculenta, which are smaller. In this species the white part extends, over more than the lower hemisphere. Toads' spawn should be contrasted; the eggs are entirely black, they lie in files of 2 to 4, forming long gelatinous strings. Newts' eggs should also be compared.

ment.

By isolating from day to day one of the embryos on the margin of the clump, and examining with a hand lens, a glimpse may be got of the developThe newly hatched embryo has no limbs nor gills; the eyes are still growing out from the brain; the mouth is not yet formed. In a few days three pairs of external gills are formed, the position of the eye is visible, the food canal is open hitherto depended on its legacy of yolk. By means at both ends, and the larva begins to feed, having of a paired cement-gland, it clings to the waterweeds.

The true tadpole stage begins with the covering over of the external gills and their replacement by (4) internal gills, with the development of horny teeth on the lips, and horny sheaths on the mandibles. A dissection at this stage shows an extremely long intestine, coiled up like a watchspring.

A third period is marked by the appearance of the limbs, the hind ones first, with the degeneration of gills and the gradual absorption of the tail, with the increased importance of the lungs, with a casting of the horny armature of the mouth and lips, with a disclosure of the eyes, and many other changes which result in the miniature frog. This must be allowed to leave the water, as it normally does about the end of May or beginning of June.

The whole process from the beginning of the individual life to the end of the period of metamorphosis takes about three months, but there is considerable variability as to dates according to the diverse physical conditions. Belated tadpoles may be found in Scotland as late as August, and may even hibernate without metamorphosis.

Tadpoles have a mixed diet, partly vegetarian, partly carnivorous. They should have water weeds to nibble at, and supplies of grated flesh in small quantities at a time. In spite of precautions securing cleanliness and aëration, they are often fatally attacked in the aquarium by an inflammatory disease (marked, for instance, by great redness about the gill region) which spreads like an epidemic. A fasting period is associated with the absorption of the tail. Cannibalistic tendencies are strong, and the struggle for existence may be vividly illustrated. The experiment of giving them a partially prepared skeleton of a small mouse to clean up should be made in a separate bowl.

Extension. The study of tadpoles forms a most convenient basis for wider observations, e.g., on niners or young lampreys, often found in large numbers in river-pools, or where a mill-lade has left the river with but little flow. A spring phenomenon of striking interest, seen in many of our rivers, is the upward journey of the young eels

or elvers (the eel-fare), but care must be taken neither to repeat old fables about the eel's lifehistory, nor to accept as quite indisputable the modern suggestion, that the eggs are always laid in the depths of the sea, that the larvæ spend a year or two in the open sea, that they pass thence up the rivers, and that they return to the sea for breeding purposes when fully adult. The pupils should watch the persistence of the eel-fare up the river and how the march stops when the sun goes down. They should also study the movements of the elvers in a glass vessel, and see through the body-wall the beating of the heart. [See Prof. Lloyd Morgan's "Animal Sketches" (1891)].

(2) AQUATIC LARVE.-In April or later search should be made in stagnant pools for the eggs of gnats (Culex pipiens, &c.); about 300 are laid together and form a boat-shaped mass, which floats-moored by glutinous stuff to some waterweed. These may be transferred to the aquariumbowl and the hatching observed. The larvæ, about half an inch long, almost black in colour, intensely active, with bristle-bearing mandibles causing a food-wafting eddy around the mouth, with a breathing-tube opening or spiracle near the end of the tail protected by leaf-like valve-plates. The larva rises to surface, hangs head downwards from the surface film, which the valve-plates pierce. Air enters the trachea, enough often to allow of prolonged submergence afterwards. Important in connection with mosquitoes, which are gnats in the wide sense, is the experiment of pouring a film of paraffin on the surface of the water the larvæ are suffocated. Larval life lasts about three weeks, and shows three moults interesting to observe. The fourth moult leads to the pupa stage. This is smaller and lighter in colour than the larva; its external air-tubes rise from the sides of the thorax and project beyond the head; no nourishment is taken, indeed the mouth is closed. After a few days the pupa comes to the surface, the husk splits, a winged gnat creeps out, and in propitious conditions flies away. In the mud at the bottom of a slow stream crimson "blood-worms' are common, the larvæ of the harlequin fly (Chironomus): this life-history may be profitably contrasted with that of the gnat. (See Miall and Hammond, "The Harlequin Fly," Oxford, 1900.) The study should be extended to other aquatic larvæ, e.g., of may-flies, dragon-flies, caddis-flies, water-beetles. (See Miall's "Natural History of Aquatic Insects," 1895, and G. H. Carpenter's" Insects," 1899.)

(3) LIFE HISTORIES OF INSECTS. From young animals in water the studies may extend to young animals on land, and observations of caterpillars are perhaps at once easiest and most instructive. Along with twigs of the plant on which they were found feeding, the caterpillars should be placed in well-ventilated boxes with glass fronts. The changes of growth and moulting may be thus observed from day to day until the formation of the chrysalis and the emergence of the butterfly or moth. From entomological dealers (who advertise in Nature and other periodicals) chrysalids

of particular forms are often procurable. With caterpillars, the grubs of beetles, the maggots of flies, and other larval forms may be usefully compared. Some interesting experiments may be made, such as one of Professor Poulton's-placing the caterpillars (e.g. of the small tortoise-shell) in different boxes with walls of white, green, gold, or dark brown, and observing the colour-change which sometimes results in caterpillars and pupæ.

Starting from the first appearance of the reawakened queen humble-bee as she flies to the willow catkins, or from the spring-cleaning of the bee-hive, the teacher may begin a study of the life-histories of ants, bees and wasps, to be completed in the summer months.

(4) OBSERVATION OF CHICKS.-A very profitable study, which will delight as well as instruct a class, is afforded by the behaviour of young chicks during the first two or three days of their life while they are learning their first lessons. The value of the study will be increased if, along with chicks taken for a short time from the mother, others can be procured which have been reared in an incubator and are still untouched by maternal education. The two sets may then be compared. Valuable suggestions and interpretations will be found in Professor Lloyd Morgan's "Habit and Instinct." A contrast should be made between the precocious chicks, able to run about and feed when hatched, and the helpless callow brood of blackbird or thrush. After reading Groos's" Play of Animals," the teacher will see how to utilise the facts of play as observed in lambs, kids, puppies, kittens-another fascinating line of study.

(5) BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS.-For schools in the country the seasonal life of birds is a most appropriate and fascinating study. Every pupil should have a clear picture of the successive chapters in a year's life of a migratory bird. The study may most naturally begin in spring, when the birds are returning from their winter-quarters further south. The arrivals of swallow and cuckoo and their retinue should be chronicled, after the immortal example of Gilbert White. Without pretending that the problem of migration is easy or solved, the teacher may get many important data clear; see, for instance, the article "Migration" in Newton's "Dictionary of Birds."

Extension.-Recognition of the songs of some of the birds (helped in many cases by unusual, hitherto unsuspected, powers on the part of two or three pupils); observation of habits of nestbuilding and a comparison of birds' nests with other nests, e.g. of wasps, sticklebacks, squirrels (see J. G. Wood's "Homes without Hands"); a study of deserted nests of different types, cleaned and stored the previous autumn; an identification of the different kinds of materials (vegetable and animal) used in construction; and so on. The teacher should know Alfred Russel Wallace's essay on Birds' Nests ("Contributions to Natural Selection").

Robbing birds' nests is, of course, forbidden, but the eggs from deserted nests may be secured, and a collection of typical shapes and colours may