New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-22

tos. in Its Relation 10 Primy,'rr, ons " a.
+ S. A., Keeper OF the Ashmosa 10 M MSstTs
With cSorTd Pats Tapei iis a'G LONDON nd Der
n nipi q ouaritch. New-York: G. p. Putnam's
Sons
THE BEGINNINGS OF WRITING. BY Walter Walter
James Hoffman. NJ. D.. OF the Bureau OF Amsi-
can Ethnology. Smithsonian institution: s Mrn
Introdact0n by Professor 90 cTbe Anihr6
biological series)
A PRIMER OF MAYAN HIER0GLYPHlCS. by
Daniel Brnion NJ NJ D., III, - PC me e. rn
vi, l52. CHM Co. uubhcauons vi '"o ~"
Versl'y of Pennsylvania
II the conclusions Of Mr. Evans are accepted
the result will be an important revision OF the
carly history Of the alphabet and of the relations
between prehistoric Greek civilization ana 'ha'
OF the Orient Mr. Evans dwells upon passage
in Diodorus which has rarely been emphasized De-
fore This author preserved TRADITION 'ha'
Phoenicans ala not give the Greeks an alphaoe'
but only modified already in existence IL
Diodorus in good standing with modern CRIT
les this remark would have received more a''en-
ton He will be in better repute II Mr.. Evans
investigations in Crete have their que erect ro'
these Indicate an independent movement among
the peoples Of the Aegean coast ana lSiahus Ilol"
IN. rndest forms of picture writing onward 70
something like syllabary. The most noteworthy
feature OF this movement from a philosophical
influence in it, The earliest steps in the evolu-
tlon of writing in Egypt and in the Euphrates
Valley were taken by priests for the convenience
NJ their own order They reduced 10 a system
what had been irregular and accidental Ordi-
nary persons in those do ys. in these, required
only a device that would meet the exigencies or
daily life Like the Innuit. whose ingenious
picture message is reproduced and explained by
DR. Hoffman in THE Beginnings OF writing
they needed TO leave for inquiring friends a no
tice that they had gone hunting how many Gays
they would be gone. what game they were IN
search Of. and the certainty OF their return. To
convey this information 1t was only necessary 70
draw rudely the figures OF men, animals ana
weapons in a certain order
Rut a growing religious hierarchy soon needs
moro than this. 1t must express ideas that nave
nothing TO do with actual life. and consequently
II must create a varied array Of symbols. IL must
express these ideas in permanent form, and so
must have signs that represent and recall every
word in its proper place. This was what happened
In Egypt and Dr. Brinton shows that the process
nv which q syllabary was derived from picto-
pranhs in America was the same. In Mexico the
mere picture-wrting attained its highest stand
ard But the Magyar tribes went further con-
verted pictures into arbitrary marks OF SOUND
and thea conventionazed the pictures until the
original character Of these was almost lost. Ihls
was done by the priests. They had no grand
theory of a life beyond the grave to preserve, as
was the case in Egypt, nor any great COLLECTION OF
history and legend to transmit to posterlty. But
they had a wonderfully confused chronometry 10
reduce 10 order; a complication or PERIODS anu
cycles groups of days, Of months of years, to ex-
plain in terms that would harmonic old TRADITION
and later knowledge. 1t is this and this only, Dr.
from
goddess IL they are ever fully deciphered. To
know for certain that an American nation, with
no help from more civilized peoples gradually at
tanned an almost exact computation OF the year,
Including the awkward fraction OF a day which
nuzzled the mathematicans Of Asia and Europe
down to a comparatively recent age. would be OF
the greatest interest. But aside from the minute
study Of Mayan writing in DR.. Brintons pages
tine results of which are also found In part IN Dr.
Hoffman's book the noteworthy point is that all
this mathematical and astronomical knowledge
and the means Of expressing 1t were the work OF
priests.
There was nothing Of this kind in Crete. On the
contrary, the increasing compleXity OF the actuai
life OF ordinary men was the accompanying cause
and effect of the growth Of civilization IN the
Aegean Basin. 1t is needless TO say thal MI
Evans reyerts to a period much anterior to the
novel. but is now almost as fully accepted as
though 1t were described by Thucydides. Inc
only defect in that culture compared with that OF
Asia and Egypt at the same date was the lack OF
writing Mr. Evans desires to show that the lack
was really not on the side Of the Mycenaeans but
in the acuteness of modern Investigators. Mere
" as matter of suppositon, he thinks that the ex
tstence Of pcture-writing must be assumed all
over primitive Europe. What is practically uni
versal with existing savases cannot nave peeh
unknown to the more intelligent and capable saw
ages whose descendants are the civilized Euro
peans of to-day. If no traces had been LETT or
such an art in the Europe of the stone age, 1t
would still have to be accepted as fact
But traces are still to be found They may be
aeon Mr. Evans says. in 1.-THE rude engravngs Of
come megalithic monuments like mat OF EaVr IN
mis- on the rock carvings Of Denmark. or the
mysterious figures known as the Maravighe
wrought on a limestone cliff in the heart Of the
Maritime Aims 10 which may be added others
unite recently discovered in the same region
The traditional symbols may still be found on the
snoons Of reindeer horn preserved by the lap
landers and the author names from his own OBJ
servation one actual rock painting analogous TO
those OF the Cherokees-he uses a tribal name
here almost at random-or Zulus, consisting OF
animals and swastka-like figures painted prop
ably by early Slavonic hands on the face OF a
rock overhanging a sacred grotto In ford OF the
Bocche di Cattaro." He thinks that II modern
archaeologists had specimens OF the bark, hide
and wood used by early man or could still see the
tattoo marks on his skin, they would have a
Gerry different idea Of the part played by picture
writing on European SOIL
But even IL primitive Europe In general had
been as far from any form Of writing as can be
lack Of pictOPraphS centres
y. Nvcenaean civilization would not be conclu-
Give For Asia Minor in those days was part OF
Europe rather than Of Asia; and the so-caiied
Hittite hieroglyphs show the state OF civilization
In As,a Minor at the dawn Of history. their spe-
=, .I~.iaoanco heinc that they betraY elatiOn.