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The subject of the Descent from the Cross appeared in Rubens' work from the start in a mature, accomplished form.1 His first picture devoted to this subject forms the central part of the large triptych of Antwerp cathedral, one of the artist's most famous masterpieces (Fig. 1). The triptych was ordered on September 7, 1611, by the Confraternity of the Arquebusiers. Its central part was delivered to the cathedral before the middle of September of the following year. It was only in February and March of 1614 that the wings were also transported from the studio of Rubens to the church.2

Additional evidence here presented sustains the earlier view, namely, the descent of tetracorals from Auloporidae and of hexacorals from Plerophyllidae, that is, from a tabulate and a tetracoral family, respectively. — V.P. Sokoloff

(1872). V. On the mechanical impossibility of the descent of glaciers by their weight only. in answer to Mr. Mathews. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 43, No. 283, pp. 38-47.

ROGER van der Weyden's Descent from the Cross in the Escorial occupies a unique place in the history of art. It is the only composition by an old Flemish master that is truly monumental, not only in actual size (220 × 262 cm.), but in sentiment and composition. The painter, furthermore, has boldly broken with a firmly established iconographic tradition; he has conceived the Descent from the Cross afresh. His composition—“der glucklichste Griff, der je einem niederlandischen Maler im funfzehnten Jahrhundert gelungen ist”1—created a profound impression. No other painting of its school has been copied or adapted so often;2 and the high price at which, in 1556, the Regent of the Netherlands, Mary of Hungary, secured the picture (which had adorned the main altar of the Church of Our Lady at Louvain until that time) for Philip II of Spain attests to its fame even then.3

The construction of 15, 51, and 85 sided polygons is an interesting exercise when studying ruler and compass constructions. The method is based on the famous Greatest Common Divisor theorem that if p and q are relatively prime, there exist counting numbers r, s such that rp-sq= 1. The proof of this theorem, while elementary, involves descent, and working back through a messy chain of equations. The spirit of the algebraic steps is quite different from that of geometric construction. Hence it is interesting in a geometry class to use a proof less dependent on an algebraic lemma. Indeed, a proof of the lemma falls out as a corollary.