The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-09-01

Fo~rfarnhtre; In prehistoric Sootosh fosos
near old camps ~ well 90 ON Isolated rocks'
scaips and s,onss. Analogous double
spirais occur st New Orange In Ireland.
at the entrance Of ths great gallery lesdins
10 the domed chamber; In scandinAS's
In Asa Minor; In China and zuiuland; In
Australia. India. America. North and soutn'
and Ia FiU.'
Who made these marks, when and Why
6ir James Simpson says. They are archie
olosioal enigmas which We ha-s NO present
power Of solving He cites some uesses'
Tia marking are archaic nsaUs or plans
OF old circular camps and u- ihey
arv sun disls-but this. Mr.. Lang objeots'
they cannot he. because they occur In DARK
chambers Of sepulchr--. and in underground
houses. Again. they stand for sun or moon
worship. They are Roman. or they are
Phonician. To all these guesses sir James
Simpson opposed the solution hat the
markings are merely decorative. PROM
the very earliest historic period In the
architecture OF Egypt. Assyrta. ureeos
and 80 forth. down to our own day Circles
single or double. or splrals. have Formed
under various notifications. perhaps the
most common tyres Of lapidary deoora-
lions. But. added Sir James. that they
were cmblsms or symbols. connected In
some way with tho religious thoughts and
doctrines Of those that carved them. APP
pcar to me TO be rendered probable. at
least by the position and circumstance.
In which We occasionally And them placod'
a. on the lids Of stone collins and mortuary
urn.. Their date. he recognized. must be
very remote They prsoeded writing
ard tradition IT,. - found In conn
pany With polished nsolthic stone weapons.
a. In Brittany. without any remains OF the
metals. ave. In one case. Of gold. Sir James
a-soertained nv experiment that the mark
ing- could be made, even on Ab-rdeen
granite, with a flint cslt and = ~oodc
mAllet. lie reckoned thom earlier than
the arrival Of the Celtic race. and asked
for evidence OF their existence In Africa,
America OF Polynesia. He did not know
the riisn example. nor the American and
Australian examples.
An examination Of tho Australian eS-
ampl--i IL the specifc purpose OF Mr.. lang's
e@.ay. He undertakes 90 show that In
central Australia the cup and ring MARKS
on rocks aud mail stones are not merely
decorative. hut lave a living significance.
q vital. legendary symbolism. He admits
his inability to prove that hey had tho
same significance In County Meath or
Dumharionshire The Australians, he
thinks. may have begun Will mere dcccrs-
ton, and later added q symbolism suited
to their theory Of Life Ia the British Isles
th. decorations may have quite a dif.rrnt
synhollcal sense. hut Mr. Iei-g deems 1t
probable that they have some sense. Other
wise, Why engrave them. not only on rocks,
but on small ston~ pierced for s'irpensiCn.
Il cannot prove he says. that. as In
Australia. Clyde-dnle boys Of old. hen
initiated Ia tho mysteries. were painted
with tho pattern on their sacred totem rock
and stone or wood ohurtnga.' Here We
should mention that In central Australia
the churinga or 'sscred thiugr.' were
fat, oval piece~ n wood or stone covered
with conoentrio circles. cup and other
decorations. which are reed or d~-ciph~red
a. records 81 the myths and legendary
history Of the native race.
v.
The lite Of Are walking h ranged by Mr..
Lang under ia. head OF magic though
In many cases Il IL sanctioned by religion.
and the immunity OF tho performers Ii
explained by the projection Of gods. To
our authors mind tho immunity 10 the
curious feature. Mr.. J q. Frazer de-
scrbe- the Chinese festival Of fire In spring.
connected a. II IL with the widespread
custom Of renewing the Are at n certain
season. Tho FIRE il made In an enormous
braxier Of charcoal: sometimes twenty
fee, wide The FIRE IL fed with salt and
nee thrown on II by a Taoist priest. Fur
-. s,.. .x,p-i.f. 10 ,,f.rtad and fol-
flowed 10y two peasants. Traverse the fire
again and again. till IL IL somewhat beaten
down A procession Of labor-rs, who
are the chief performers. than walks through
amid much excitement Their immunity
h ascHbcd TO the horny consistency Of the
soles Of their feet. and they suffer II the
Are touches their ankles. Various Indian
examples OF the rite are given 10y MIR Frazer.
In Mr.. Tylor's work. Primitive Culture
there are one or two casual illusions To
the theme 'Thay built the high places
Of BaAl In the , 10y OF the son OF Hinnom.
To cause their nons and daughters to pass
through To Moloch, that IL, TO pass through
the Are. WHISTLER IN ritual or In -ymbolical
sacrifice Mr.. Tylor also notes that the
ancient ceremony OF passing through q
fire. or leapiug over burning brands has
been kent IN vigorously In the British
Isles namely. at the midsummer cere-
monies. when Il is or WAS the custom to
jump over or run through fires. MI. Lang.
for his part. shows that a rte Of passing
deliberately and unscathed through ovens
OF furnace, We, exists In japan. southern
India. the Straits Settlements. the Isls OF
MauritivA, tho Soc4ety Islands. fiJi. THni-
dad ard Bulgaria.
Mr. Lang distinguishes between such
sport.ve playing with h- a. prevailed
Recently In the Britain Isles n the more
serious Are ceremony OF central Australia.
which tests endurance. OF the one hand,
and the apparent, contravention OF q natural
law. on the other. He aso discounts the
popular reply that the a can he Sapidly
pluns~a into molten metal and withdrawn
without injury. for In his examination OF |
~fre-walkins. lac IL not concerned with such
a brief exposure TO heat. He al-o rejects
the theory Of the application OF some I'M
known chemical substance, because there
are certainly cases In which nothing of
the kind In done. II IL. moreover, asserted
on the authority Of Sir William Crookes
that science IL acquainted with no sub
which win produce the result OF pre-
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