NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18494, 3 September 1923, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

/■■ INFLUENZA." Very probably sotae of the great epiAdoiics ."the Middle Ages - were in reality what 1 wo now call Influenza, its very ; : name ; being only ; ' the Italian for influence, ?'a' ; something inscrutable but omnipresent, , mysterious in ■ the last degree, writes Professor D. ;F. Harris in Discovery. The usual 'expressions were in ' vogue—it was a corruption ; in the air, a miasma, an exhalation, and so on; until in 1892 tho: bacteriologist Pfeiffer isolated the organism of influenza, and named it the Bacillus influenza). Not the; air then, but the microscopic fungi •it may hold for evil influence, constitute the.true cause of influenza. The influence is now materialised, nay, indeed, is isolated < and sealed down ; under {{lass for the inspection of trained eyes. Thus by the microscope are these deadly powers of the air one by one distinguished from each other and identified each "by its particular malignancy 4 '. ; ;L\.v..; . ■■~.,:i} ■/'-''■

v THE HUMAN VOICE. / In an article in the Guardian in connection with the tercentenary of William Byrd, the Rev. A.. S. Duncan-Jones declares that Byrd's musio shows unequalled skill and richness in its treat'ineab ;of the most wonderful musical instrument—the human voice. ~, He reproduces an interesting passage from the composer's writings:—"Reasons briefly set down by th* auctor,, to perswade every one to leaiue to si)3g. , First, it is a knowledge easely taught, and quickly learned where there is a good Master, and an apt Scoller. 2. The exercise of singing is delightfull to Nature and good to preserve the health of Man. 3. It doth strengthen till the parts of the brest,, and doth open the pipes. 4. It is a singular good remedia for a slutting and stammering in the speech. 5. It is the best meanes to procure a perfect pronunciation and to make a good Orator. 6. It is the onely way :to know where Nature hath bestowed the benefit of a good voyoe: which guift is,' So rare, as there is not one among a thousand that bath it: and in many, that excellent gift is lort, because they want Art to e:cpresse Nature. 7. There is; not any Musicke of Instruments whatsoever,, comparable to that which is made of the voyces of Men, where the voyces are good, and the same well sorted and ordered. 8. The bolter the voyce is, tho meeter it is to honour and serve God there-with: and the voyce of tho man is chiefly to be imployed to that ende." • ■ . .

HISTORIC ■ HOUSES. Britain is by far more rich than any other country in great and historic houses containing collections ' built up by generations of art-lovers. But the conditions in which they wore built up, and the houses maintained as ' was fitting, . have passed away wiCh England's old abundance of wealth, her agricultural prosperity, and her easily liupportable taxation, eaya the Daily Telegraph. Too many of such houses ittand in the midst of brokeyup estates, .are never lived in b3 flieir owners, and are only with difficulty kept up at all. Lord Lascelles proposes that Che owner who throws open his house in the cause of popular enjoyment of art should be relieved of some part oil the expense of maintaining it on that semi-public footing. If, as is very possible, there are a number of cases in which such relief as Lord Lascelles proposes would make the necessary difference to the owner, and enable him to open his collection to the public without a sacrifice which could not- fairly be asked oS any man, we see no reason or principle why that relief should-not be extended to him by Act? of. Parliament, upon grounds of national interest, such as have already ■ justiaed the exemption of important works of art from death duties. ;.: On Che "contrary, we consider that there is everything to be said for such a measure; and assuming that the conditions of accessibility laid down for granting of relief were satisfactory from the public's point of view, we should . noff anticipate any serious opposition.

A. FAMOUS ORACLE.■■■ - "On Ford Cars to. the Siwa Oasis" is the title of an interesting article in discovery by Major W. T. Blake. The principle building of inferest in the oasis is the ruined temple of Jupiter Amnion. This was founded by the priests from Thebes in IJ'>Bs 8.C., :or 200 years before the oasis was colonised by Rameses lIL Siwa-waa then known as Ammonia, and after the temple wan buili? it began to gain fame as the home of an oracle. So famous did the Oracle become that the Athenians kept special galleys' Co convey questions to it for solution, their expeditions going toy sea to Mersa Matruh, and Whence over the desert by camel. In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great visited Ammonia to inquire into his mysterious origin, and as the Oracle intimated that? he was of divine birth, he left, after offering': gifta of tremendous value to Che temple. The Oracle was made in human figure, with a ram'a head, . and communicated ita decisions to the priests by means of tremulous shocks, and movements of Che head and body. In the afcjjb century a.©, the place began to lose its position, but some twenty years ago a considerable - number of ruins remained. There were blown op by. an officer sent out by the Khedive of . ligypt to provide . stone to build his headquarters,, and all thai? now remains is part of a gateway- and a few hugeblocks of sandstone, covered with Egpytian hieroglyphics. , Immense treasures are believed by the inhabitants Co be concealed somewhere in the there is no' doubt that gifCs of tremendous value were brought to the temple of Jupiter Amnion, and probably concealed somewhere by the priests. The sword and seal of Mohammed are also supposed to be concealed somewhere ■in the oasis. '

VANISHED,, EMPIRES. The first volume, written by experts, but in general written 'so that non experts can, read it, is a singularly revealing book, says Dr. T. R. Glover in the Daily News, referring to "The Cambridge Ancient ; History." To ;■ begin it comes no further down the ages than 1580 b.a, and deals in general with peoples and periods that i make • Tutankhamuai look almost modern— thai! they can compete with him in fascination or 'mastery of the beautiful. Whole dynasties ; and empires rise from the. dead in this amazing book ito haunt you like Banquo at .Che feast What, they lived onco thus in ; Akkad?— and the place thereof knoweth them no more. ■■■' They : carried : their ; victorious arms East and West; they, built temples and palaces that i make our ■ factories , and railway ; stations look■:. beggarly s they developed theTr arts •to ■ heights incredible with impossible tools; ' they held sway for centuries to ( match : Rome—and they, are gone. : The' excavator traces ; the foundations of their palace walls, and finds their broken 'pottery, iind by-and-by their books, here on papyruii and 'there on - clay. Ptahhotep rises from the dead after wennigh forty-eight centuries of, the grave and tells ; us how to ; treat our wives: "Give her food in abundance and raiment for : her back, anoint her with unguents. Be not harsh in thy house, for she will be more, easily moved by persuasion than by violence"; ■ arid how to■■ behave when we are guests, not to scrutinise our fare too closely, nor talk too: much, but to try to be modest if our wealth is still a little new. Or a. modest' :• assistant in the British Museum readii a paper to the Society of ; Biblical /;;. Archaeology, and begins with the quietest, the baldest sentence ■ surely that over took. an \ audience's breath away*: "A short time back I discovered among the Assyrian tablets in the British Museum an account of the Flood." And Layard and Rawlinson, and that? wonderful host -onward to Flinders— Peter and ; ..Koldewey and ; Lord 'Carnarvon, stagger 'us !-■:. with tuecoverieai ; .*".."."