Wood's Discoveries at EphesusSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Sep., 1950), pp. 208-209Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20261 .

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The tract of country yielding the cinchona is not so unlimited as some writers would lead us to be- lieve, nor is the supply inexhaustible; it is a fact recognized by natives and dealers, who are well informed about the extent and resources of the cinchona-bearing districts, that if the present ruin- ous system of destroying the trees is continued, and no effort made to propagate new growths, they will, before many years, be practically exterminated from their native soil.

With the abundance of seeds yielded by the cinchonas, one would naturally expect young plants to spring up in great numbers, but such is not the case; the light-winged seeds mostly fall upon and adhere to the ever-moist foliage, where they quickly germinate and decay; or, if perchance they fall to the ground, it is exceedingly difficult to gain a rooting, as the soil is covered to a depth of ten to twenty inches with loose, decaying leaves. Beyond all doubt, the cinchonas might be success- fully cultivated in their native country, especially in the exhausted forests; but the natives show no enterprise, and foreigners receive no encourage-

ment from the governments to attempt it.... The almost continuous revolutions and wars in

those Soutn American countries so unsettle every- thing as to render investments hazardous; the roads and ports are sometimes blockaded for months, pre- venting the importation of goods or shipment of barks, often entailing heavy losses upon the dealers.

In case of war or revolution, every Indian peon is subject to military duty, and, if required, is forced to enter the army; sometimes it is impossible to obtain sufficient cascarilleros to make it pay to enter the forests; hence it is that political troubles in those countries so greatly influence the price of bark and quinine.

The efforts of the Dutch and British govern- ments in taking energetic and extensive measures, by establishing vast plantations of cinchona trees in their eastern colonies, to insure against the pos- sibility of the world's bark supply becoming ex- hausted, are therefore of paramount importance; and it is a matter of general concern and gratifica- tion that their experiments are proving from year to year more successful, . . .

WOOD'S DISCOVERIES AT EPHESUS*

E PHESUS, one of the twelve Jonian cities of Asia Minor, was famous in antiquity as con- taining one of the seven wonders of the

world, the great Temple of Artemis, or Diana. From very early times Ephesus was a sacred city; the fable ascribed its foundation to the Amazons, and the Amazonian legend is connected with Artemis. The first Jonian colonists in Lydia found the worship of the goddess already estab- lished here in a primitive temple, which was soon superseded by a magnificent structure. This Gre- cian temple was seven times restored, at the ex- pense of all the Greek communities in Asia Minor. In the year 365 B.C. it was burned to the ground, but again rebuilt in a style of far greater splendor than before, the work extending over two hundred years. This later temple was 425 feet long and 220 feet wide. "The foundations were sunk deep in marshy ground, as a precaution against earth- quake," says Pliny. There were two rows of col- umns at the sides, but the front and back por- ticoes consisted of eight rows of columns, placed

* Abridged from The Popular Science Monthly, 1875,

four deep. Outside, at the entrance to the tem- ple, stood a basin of porphyry, 15 feet in diame- ter, for the worshippers to lave and purify themselves in. The internal decoration was of the most sumptuous kind. The cedar roof was sup- ported on pillars of jasper; the doors were of cypress. The altar was the work of Praxiteles, and it was surrounded by many statues, one of them of gold. The image of the goddess herself was roughly hewed out of wood, black with age, and greasy with the oil with which it was customary to anoint it. When the apostle Paul visited Ephesus in the middle of the first century, the worship of Diana still flourished there, and the temple retained all its original splendor. . . The Goths sacked the city and burned the temple, about two hundred years later, and in the reign of Theodosius I, toward the end of the fourth century, the furious zeal of the Iconoclasts, or Image-breakers, completed the work of destruction. The ancient city almost en- tirely disappeared before the modern era, the very site of the temple being lost.

In 1863 an Englishman, Mr. J. T. Wood, while engaged as a civil engineer in constructing a rail-

208 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

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way from Smyrna to Aidin, discovered at Ayasalouk the ruins of the Odeum, or Lyric Theatre of Ephesus, and this circumstance led him to com- mence excavations in that locality in search of the Temple of Diana. He began his excavations on the west side of the ancient city, at a point where a long rise of ground above the level of the plain seemed to cover the portico of the temple. Here he found nothing but the remains of a Roman monument; so he wen-t on digging trail holes in every direction on the west side, and explored the great Gymnasium, which proved to be a Roman building, erected on the site of a former Grecian structure of similar character. On the surface of the ground, in the vicinity of this Gymnasium, were the remains of some columns of Egyptian silex....

But there was yet no sign of the temple, and the literary remains of antiquity gave no indica- tion as to its site. His private funds being now ex- hausted, the trustees of the British Museum were ap- plied to by Mr. Wood for the means necessary to carry on the work of exploring the Odeum, or Lyric Theatre, in the hope of finding there some bas-relief, or other monument, or at least some idle scratching of a rough artist of the time, which might give some indication of the site of the great temple. In this. hope he was encouraged by what he had years before seen in Venice and other places, viz., the plans of cities cut in bas-relief upon the pinnacles of the churches. The trustees of the British Museum having made the required grant of funds, Mr. Wood began the exploration.... of the great theatre in February 1866. This was one of the largest structures of its kincl in Asia Minor, being 495 feet in diarrmeter, and capable of seating 24,500 persons. Here were found many interesting Greek, and a few Latin inscriptions-chiefly de- crees of the senate and people of Rome....

In January 1868, he put a gang of seventy men to work at the great theatre, and at the same time began to follow up the road leading from the Magnesian Gate. This consisted of three openings -two for foot passengers, and one for wagons and chariots. The pavement was intact, with four dis- tinct chariot ruts cut into it. Having followed up this road for about 700 feet, Mr. Wood came upon the stone piers of a portico 12 feet wide. This was undoubtedly the grand portico built by Damianus, a rich Roman noble. Many tomnbs were found, some of which were vaulted chambers finished in stucco or cement, and painted, . . . Next he hit upon a corner of the Peribolus Wall, on which were in- scriptions showing that this wall was built in the time of Augustus.

This was in May 1869. The discovery of the Peribolus Wall proved sufficient to induce the trustees of the British Museum to make further ad- vances of money, and accordingly work was re- sumed in the October following. In the area within this wall, i.e., in the sacred precinct of the temple, Mr. Wood sank a great number of trial holes. Nothing of interest was discovered until the ex- plorer had proceeded about half a mile from the angle first discovered, and then remains of Roman buildings began to be found. Soon he came to a long line of Roman buildings which must have been the dwellings of the priests and priestesses of Diana. . . .Finally in the very last day of the year 1869 he hit upon the pavement of the temple itself, more than twenty feet underground.... The pavement was all beautiful marble. It was in two layers: the upper course in white marble, the lower one in cement, making altogether a thickness of two feet.

The discoveries on the site of the temple in the season of 1872-73 comprised two large fragments of the frieze with human figures, life-size, in high relief, and the figure of a stag; the base of one of the inner columns of the peristyle; two sculptured drums of columns; some lions' heads, from the tym- panum at the west end of the temple; a large frag- ment of a cedar beam from the roof, and a number of fragments from the last three temples....

Work was suspended in May 1873 and resumed in October. During the season of 1873-74, Mr. Wood made discoveries which enabled him to complete his plan of the temple. More than 100 feet of the lowest steps of the platform were found in position in different parts; also a sculptured drum, with draped figures alternately seated and erect. At the beginning of 1874, Mr. Wood, hav- ing only a small balance on hand, applied to the trustees of the British Museum. He was allowed only a small sum, with instructions to close the work when it was expended. He therefore began to remove the cella walls, and found distinct re- mains of the last three temples. Part of the pave- ment of the temple destroyed by Erostratus was found in position, and also the altar at the east end of the cella, or shrine, which must have served for the three temples; also about 200 fragments of sculpture and architectural enrichment, of which the piers had been composed....

On extending the excavation 30 feet beyond the lowest step of the platform, a wide portico was found, which must have surrounded the temple on three sides, and also the remains of a Grecian Doric building, which could not be explored for want of funds....

(J. T. Wood was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.)

September 1950 209

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