The Temple of Bel at Niffer.

If the audience which listened to Dr. Peters in the Jefferson Laboratory last evening did not carry away a very lasting impression of all details of the Temple of Bel at Niffer, they certainly brought away a vivid impression of the courage, persistence and tact needed by the leader of such an expedition as that which Dr. Peters has just undertaken.

When the central authorities at Constantinople have to be urged for months to give their consent to the expedition, when the journey inland has to be picked with care to avoid hostile Arab tribes, and when the Arabs in and about the excavation camp are eager for the hordes of gold which the expedition is supposed to possess, the man who has such an expedition on his shoulders has to possess a good deal of resolution. Dr. Peters modestly gave an example of his tact by telling how he worked upon the superstitions of the natives by an abundant display of fireworks.

The talk on the temple of Bel consisted mainly in an explanation of a series of photographs illustrating the excavations at Niffer, and an interesting account of the conditions and difficulties under which the work of excavation was carried on.