and redetermination of some forms involving very high indices on crystals examined by the late M. Hessenberg. The measurements were made with one of the goniometers devised by Prof. Groth, which gives definite results when the faces are good. The collimator and telescope are fixed, however, at right angles to one another, so that the determination of striated faces, such as many of those examined were, is difficult and uncertain. Much more reliable measurements would be obtained were the angle between collimator and telescope small, and it would be very easy to arrange the collimator so that the angle of incidence and reflection might be varied at will. Prof. Miller used to arrange his goniometer so that the angle between the incident and reflected ray was less than 20°, and was thus able to get rid of a good deal of the difficulty arising from striation.

Mr. Irby has guarded himself from error by the comparison of several independent observations of the angles made by a new face with those adjoining it, with the angles obtained by calculation, and has avoided employ ing the angles made with faces on more distant parts of the crystal, though the latter would be often better adapted for purposes of calculation. He criticises Prof. vom Rath's method of observation by taking the reflection of a window-bar as signal. The error which would thus arise would not exceed 1' in the case of good faces, and I believe Prof. vom Rath only employs this method of observation with very good faces. Another source of error would be due to the proximity of the signal which would give a considerable error if the edge were not wellcentred. Moreover, a goniometer with vertical plane of reflection is very difficult to get into or keep in good adjustment, and errors might arise in this way. None of these errors will, however, account for the impossibility of getting simpler indices for the form {35, 17, 32}, considering how definite were the angles obtained from the several faces of the scalenohedron. A careful criticism of this form at the time it was published, and of all the different ways in which errors might be piled up in the course of the analysis, failed to lead to any result but that of admitting the possibility of forms with these high indices. In the Cambridge collection is a crystal of quartz with an extremely well-developed face, which Prof. Miller has determined to be {50, 19, 19). It is very slightly rounded on the edge of the prism face. Of course, when the faces are rounded or otherwise distorted, indices calculated from the observations are mere approximations. Seeing the great variations which occur in the angles of wellcrystallised minerals, good work might be done in testing the constancy of the angle of the cleavage rhomb in the specimens from different localities. Breithaupt's determinations of this angle are unfortunately not sufficiently reliable.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com munications containing interesting and novel facts.]

The Molecular Velocity of Gases

YOUR correspondent, M. Hajniš, asserts in a foot-note appended to his letter published in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 176, that "the formula for the molecular velocity (of gases) was first given by Krönig," and not by Joule. I am at a loss to understand how this statement can be justified.

Krönig's paper appeared in 1856, while Joule's calculation, which is that now generally received, is of date 1848. In his discourse on molecules (Phil. Mag., December, 1873), Prof. Max. well says: "The further development of the theory is generally

Weaver Birds and Fire-Flies

UNDER the heading "Natural History Notes from Burmah," in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 362 of the present series, Mr. R. Romanis asked if any of your readers have ever seen or heard of weaver birds sticking fire-flies to lumps of mud on the sides of their nest for the purpose of illumination.

The tradition that certain birds of the weaver family (Ploceida) and their allies do this, is prevalent over a large portion of the globe inhabited by these birds. I have traced it personally from China, all parts of India, Burmah, Ceylon, the Malayan Peninsula, Indian Archipelago, Southern, Eastern, and Western Africa, and South America. I have examined " weaver birds' nests from all these countries, and have found lumps of mud sticking inside them, and "therefore it must be true, you know!!" But for what use are these lumps of mud stuck there? Magazine on this very subject, entitled "Strange Stories and Some years ago I wrote an article in the Cape Monthly is smoke there must be fire," quoting the old proverb. their probable Origin," and I started by saying "Where there

My belief is that these lumps of mud are used as scrapers on which to clean the birds' bills, as I have frequently found the wing cases, and other débris of Coleoptera, &c., fixed to them. Hence the superstition that they stick fireflies thereon. I should remind your readers that all the "weavers "are grain feeders, and perhaps only occasionally partaking of insect-food, they are bothered by the bits sticking to their bills. I see my tamed birds are most careful in cleaning their beaks.

At the time I wrote my article above alluded to, I was not so conversant with the African "hang-nests" as I afterwards became, but I can affirm that in all the places I have named the superstiE. L. LAYARD tion, and the mud, is to be found. British Consulate, Noumea, October 22, 1879

The Papau

PERMIT me to add to my friend the Rev. S. J. Whitmee's testimony of the papau being eaten by birds in the Samoan Islands, that it is here (New Caledonia) a favourite food of the "white eye" (Zosterops), and in the Loyalty Islands was used as the only bait to attract these birds, of which dozens were brought me-of the three known species of that genus which inhabit that group (see my letters to Field newspaper) all caught by the boys through its means. If my memory serves me rightly, I have seen the papau in Mauritius eaten by a species of Zosterops.

British Consulate, Noumea, New Caledonia,
October 22, 1879

Scale of Colours

E. L. LAYARD

IN NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 172, it is stated that at a meeting of the Zoological Society, December 2, 1879, "A letter was read from Mr. F. L. Layard, F.L.S., advocating the desirability of a fixed scale of colour for use among naturalists in describing the plumage and pelages of birds and other animals." Perhaps Mr. Layard is not aware that such a scale, in form of thin 8vo, was published by Patrick Syme in Edinburgh, in 1821, the tints being illustrated by carefully coloured examples. The exact title of the work, a copy of which is in my own library, is as follows:-"Werner's Nomenclature of Colours, with Additions, arranged so as to render it highly useful to the Arts and Sciences, particularly Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, and Morbid Anatomy. Annexed to which are Examples selected from well-known Objects in the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Kingdoms." The date given above is that of the second edition, which was "Printed for William Blackwood, Edinburgh, and T. Cadells, Strand, London." L. BLOMEFIELD (late JENYNS)

Bath, December 22, 1879

On the "Habitat" of Lophiomys

ON reading the review of "Cassell's Natural History," vol. iii., given in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 136, I find that both the author and the reviewer do not appear to have been aware that the "habitat" of that most interesting rodent, Lophiomys imhausi, is

well known. The rich and interesting Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, of Genoa, amongst its many rarities, contains a magnificent specimen of the Lophiomys, mounted skin and skeleton, which specimen was caught at Keren in the Bogos land, in June, 1870, and forms part of the fine collections made at that place by Dr. Beccari and Marquis Antinori. The native name of the Lophiomys, according to Antinori, is Tzechiza.

The reviewer cites M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards's impression of the resemblance of Lophiomys to certain opossums, a point in which I cannot completely agree; my impression is that this very remarkable rodent offers one of the best cases of "defensive mimicry," being strangely like a Viverrine carnivore in outward appearance. The granulation of the upper portion of the skull, which extends to the upper surface of the first cervical vertebra, is very peculiar; but it is not strictly correct to assert that nothing of the kind is met with in other mammals; in the very same order, Rodentia, we find a very similar structure in the cranium of the Paca (Calogenys), and I believe some allied forms. HENRY HILlyer GiglioLI

Reale Istituto, Florence, December 17, 1879

On Haloporphyrus lepidion (Risso)

But

I HAVE recently had occasion to examine two specimens of this rare and remarkable gadoid fish of the Mediterranean, originally described as Gadus lepidion by Risso ("Ichthyologie de Nice," p. 118). The first was captured in my presence in the Gulf of Genoa, in July last, from a depth of about 900 metres, the second I received from Nice, where it was captured in deep waters on September 1 last, and I know of a third specimen taken at the latter place. All agree perfectly with Risso's description except in the general colour, a light brown, and not "un beau rouge incarnat," while Risso appears to have over. looked the presence of a small patch of vomerine teeth. our Mediterranean specimens present notable differences from that described by Dr. Günther ("Catalogue of Fishes," iv. p. 358), and referred by him to this species; besides being considerably larger, the British Museum specimen, which is from Madeira, has a much smaller eye and much longer snout and barbel. Such differences might depend on age, but I am strongly inclined to consider then specific, and therefore beg to draw the attention of ichthyologists to the case; should my opinion prove correct, the Madeiran fish might go by the name of Haloporphyrus güntheri.

While rapidly completing the rich series of fishes belonging to the central collection of Italian vertebrata, formed by me in the Florence Zoological Museum, I have recently been able to add thereto a second very rare gadoid, the Physiculus dalwigki, Kaup, a new acquisition to the Mediterranean fauna. My specimen was captured at Nice on August 4 last, and strange to say was sent to me as Uraleptus maraldi. Reale Istituto, Florence HENRY HILLYER GIGLIOLI

Edison's New Lamp

I OBSERVE in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 187, a statement to the effect that Mr. Edison has adopted the use of carbon in his new electric lamp, and that the carbon he uses is charred paper or card of the shape of a horse-shoe.

Fifteen years ago I used charred paper and card in the construction of an electric lamp on the incandescent principle. I used it, too, of the shape of a horse-shoe, precisely as, you say, Mr. Edison is now using it. I did not then succeed in obtaining the durability which I was in search of, but I have since made many experiments on the subject, and within the last six months I have, I believe, completely conquered the difficulty which led to previous failure, and I am now able to produce a perfectly durable electric lamp by means of incandescent carbon. JOSEPH W. SWAN Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead, December 29, 1879

Flow of Viscous Materials

MR. BOTTOMLEY, in his paper on this subject in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 159, refers to experiments made four years ago, but if he refers to the Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxvi. 206, 1845, he will find a notice of an experiment made twenty-four years ago. It occurred thus :-A barrel of pitch, with one end partly knocked out, had been lying in the sun for some months, and a part of it had run out on the ground.

My late partner, Prof. L. Gordon, visited the wire-rope works one day in August, 1844, and I called his attention to the appearance of the pitch as being a good illustration of Prof. Forbes's theory of glaciers; thereupon he wrote the letter referred to; which is also quoted in Forbes's "Theory of Glaciers,' p. 269.

Any sort of pitch, such as that obtained from gas tar, will answer the purpose. If the surface is rubbed over with some white material, the formation of crevasses will be well shown; and if a row of pins are stuck into the pitch about an inch and allowed to project they will soon lose their perpendicularity and thus indicate the movements in the model glacier. The rapidity of flow of course varies with the temperature.

I had a curious illustration of the power of plants in forcing their way through resisting materials. I had covered the ground with about two inches of asphalt, and a dandelion pushed its flower and leaves through this viscous mass. Ferndene, December 28, 1879 R. S. NEWALL

Hungarian Earthquakes and the Kolumbács Flies A NOTE in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 89, speaking of the recent Hungarian earthquakes, contains, amongst others, the following passage:-"Near Weisskirchen, the old ruins of the Castle of Golu bacz have fallen in completely, and in the vicinity several caves were rendered inaccessible. These caves were the breeding places of the dreaded Kolumbács mosquitos, and if this insect is thus exterminated the earthquake may, with all the damage it did, have yet been of some use."

This report is based on obvious error, for it is a well-known act that the small (3-4 millim. long) Kolumbács flies (Simulia golumbacensis, Fabr.), which, in the southern part of Hungary, especially in the old Banat and the county of Hunyad, cause considerable damage among the pasturing cattle (especially among horned cattle, horses, swine, and sheep), breed by no means in those caves which are to be found around the ancient Galambócz (known nowadays under the name of Golubácz or Kolumbács, on the Servian territory), but in the shallower parts of the waters extending in great quantities in that country. The course of life of the Kolumbács fly is, for the most part, in conformity with that of many families of the Nemocera, or Tipularia group, as are the Culicidae, many species of flies (Brachycera), the Phryganidæ, &c. The mature and fecundated mother-fly lays her eggs upon the plants vegetating on the water-borders, whence they get on the stones under the water, and other objects, there living through their larva and nymph states until they arrive at their full development.

But, in the first years after 1850, under the rule of the Austrian military system of that time, there did occur the curious fact that -upon the advice of a military officer of the frontier-districts, who, as it was supposed, had made out that the breeding-nests of these flies are in the caves around Galambócz, Old Moldavia, and their environs-the Government of Vienna officially decreed the walling up of the openings of the caves. And actually they were walled up. But in the next mild spring, the conditions of development being favourable again, the Kolumbács fly appeared and ravaged once more. The Viennese Government, on learning this unpleasant and disappointing news, hastened to amend the blunder, and sent to the place a Hungarian savant, Vincent Kollár, and a German entomologist, Joseph Mann, to take the question under examination.

These,

in a brief space of time, succeeded in clearing up the true state of things, and in gathering such a series, as contained all the stages of the development of the Kolumbács fly in numerous specimens. Th.s collection is to be seen now in the entomological section of the Naturalien Cabinet of Vienna, grouped in the best order.

The imputation, therefore, as if it were the Hungarians who had walled up the orifices of the caves in the vicinity of Galambócz, in order to exterminate the Kolumbács flies by that means—an opinion which, as I, this year, happened to hear at the lecture of an eminent German savant, is propagated even in Germany-is entirely erroneous and without any foundation. Budapest, December 2 JULIUS LETHÖ

Unconscious Thought

RESUMING this subject, I again call attention to the circumstance that unconscious thought in children is more developed than conscious thought, though conscious thought or sensation

lays the foundation of what becomes habitual or instinctive. In man, unconscious thought becoming habitual, it is the nursery again of conscious thought, the two conditions in the adult coexisting.

Turning to comparative psychology, a branch which has always appeared to me of particular importance, we find in intelligent animals, as the dog, either in community (commonly called wild) or in the domesticated state, the same nature of mind as in man and the like manifestations. In the young animal, however, there must have been the same precedent stage, though the conscious stage is of course produced earlier than in

man.

This raises the question, on which we can speculate, but which we cannot as yet solve, whether some animals are not mostly in the state of unconscious thought, never attaining to that of conscious thought. Looking to the cases of degradation in man, it appears to me that in softening of the brain the man falls back to the unconscious stage, and in some instances remains for some time in it, so that here we get an example of prolongation, it may be called continuance, of the unconscious stage.

Such a state as that of habitual unconscious thought may be regarded as possible and probable, and we are justified in apply. ing it to many animals of inferior nervous organisation. The condition of consciousness being absent, the degree of pain is less, as must be the case in infants. So far from the saying of the master painter of mankind being true that the worm feels as great a pang as when the giant dies, the worm must be less sensitive and less sensible. It is quite possible that the antivivisectionists may be in the wrong as to lower animals, whatever reason they may have as to those like the dog.

There will be at least the like gradations of mind as of form in the animal world, and the difference between an animalcule and a dog will be enormous, and still greater that between the animalcule and man. In the higher stages the differences will be vastly augmented by the agencies at work. Thus it must be that the conscious stage producing precision of action influences the habitual condition of the unconscious stage. Having applied this to man, we may better conceive it, and form some notion of its prodigious relative development by considering how man so constituted has his power of thought enhanced by the great instrument of speech.

These causes contribute to the great differences which I long since pointed out between the rapidity of thought of one man and another, or of the same man at different times of life or under various conditions. My paper "On the Geographical Distribution of Intellectual Faculties in England," following one at the British Association, being published in the Journal of the Statistical Society (June, 1871, p. 357), has escaped the notice of psychologists and physiologists, being esteemed statistical, whereas it is also psychological. At p. 357 I gave an account of an experiment, showing a fluctuation in conscious thought in one adult of from 1 to 4, or 100 to 400, denoting an enormous difference, and illustrative of the variations in mental power which exist in society. If, however, we were to estimate a child of 14 at 50, then the ratio would be as I to 8. If we take a child of 7 at the quarter of an adult, then we should have I to 16. These are not extreme measures, for in the babe we may find I to 100, I to 200, I to 4co.

This is given as an illustration of what must exist in the animal world as to conscious thought, and that without reference to unconscious thought, which must be the condition of many classes. Physiologically the subject has been treated by many physiologists, and notably most admirably by Dr. Carpenter; but here the psychological aspect in the special forms indicated is alone brought into prominence.

The phenomena of unconscious thought, indeed, require much greater attention. Not only do they underlie the distinctions between animals and between animals and man, but they must be taken into consideration as explanatory of dreams and of many forms of mental disease. This has been partly dealt with by Dr. Carpenter.

While the later steps of dreams, the visible and pictorial stages, are greatly under the influence of conscious thought, the early stages are under the influence of unconscious thought. It appears to me quite possible that unconscious thought is not altogether latent in sleep. It is worthy of consideration what is the condition of a wakeful animal, say a dog-whether it is one succession of dreams or a form like delirium.

The recurrence of an error once implanted in the mind, notwithstanding our efforts to eliminate or counteract it, is probably

due to the tenacious resistance of unconscious thought, storing up and reproducing the error.

Heredity of thought, whether as dealt with by Mr. Francis Galton or by myself in the paper quoted at p. 359, &c., may be assigned chiefly to the transmission of the habits of unconscious thought, if we consider more especially the condition of the lower animals.

As my last communication was mentioned in the Daily Telegraph of November 29, and with the assertion that Dr. Carpenter, Mr. C. T. Munro, and myself have provided in unconscious thought a new plea for unaccountability for criminal actions, it is well to remark that the phenomena discussed have no such bearing. HYDE CLARKE

December 20, 1879

Stags' Horns

THE disappearance of the antlers of stags, in the Highlands and elsewhere, is to be accounted for by the fact that they are saleable articles; but although they do not assist as entremets at the animal's meal it may happen that they assist-in the form of knife-handles-in the distribution of his venison at our dinners. When a lad I obtained many antlers of the Fallow Deer from a neighbouring park, the tines of which were sometimes broken but never gnawed or polished by licking.

It would scarcely be surprising that deer should crave for calcareous matter during the rapid development of their antlers, but neither are their tongues adapted for rasping nor their teeth for comminuting hard bones. PAUL HENRY STOKOE Beddington Park

I should be obliged if you would accord me space in one of your columns in order that I may answer a great number of letters and applications which have pursued me during the past few days on a subject of some little public interest, that subject being the asserted formation of diamonds by a gentleman at Glasgow.

Some ten days ago I had heard nothing whatever of the claim of Mr. Mactear, of the St. Rollox Works, Glasgow, to the artificial production of the diamond.

My name, however, was already in several newspapers as that of a person in whose hands the asserted diamonds had been placed for a decision as to their true nature. Ultimately a small watch-glass with a few microscopic crystalline particles came into my hands for this purpose from Mr. Warington Smyth, and subsequently a supply came to me direct from Mr. Mactear. I shall proceed to state the results I have obtained from the examination of these.

Out of the first supply I selected by far the largest particle, one about the 6th of an inch in length, and it may be that I wasted some time in experimenting on this particle, as it might not have been an authentic example

of the "manufactured diamond," since it differed in some respects from the specimens I have since received direct from Mr. Mactear.

a ray

The diamond excels all substances in hardness. Its crystals belong to the cubic system, and should not, therefore, present the property of doubly refracting light. Frequently, however, from the influence of strains within the crystal due to inclosed gas bubbles, or other causes, diamonds are not entirely without action on of polarised light sent through them. Finally, the diamond is pure carbon, and, as such, burns entirely away when heated to a sufficiently high temperature in the air, and more vividly so burns, or rather glows away, when heated in oxygen gas.

The specimens I had to experiment upon were too light to possess appreciable weight, too small even to see unless by very good eyesight or with a lens, yet were, nevertheless, sufficiently large to answer the three questions suggested by the above properties.

A few grains of the dust, for such the substance must be termed, were placed between a plate of topaz-a cleavage-face with its fine natural polish-and a polished surface of sapphire, and the two surfaces were carefully "worked" over each other with a view to the production of lines of abrasion from the particles between them. There was no abrasion. Ultimately the particles became bruised into a powder but without scratching even the topaz. They are not diamond.

Secondly, some particles more crystalline in appearance than the rest were mounted on a glass microscope slide and examined in the microscope with polarised light. They acted each and all powerfully in the manner of a birefringent crystal. It seemed even in one or two of them that when they lay on their broadest surface (it can scarcely be called a crystal-face") a principal section of the crystal was just 'slightly inclined to a flattish side of it in a manner that suggested its not being a crystal of any of the orthosymmetrical systems. Be that as it may, it is not a diamond.

Finally, I took two of these microscopic particles and exposed them to the intense heat of a table blow-pipe on a bit of platinum foil. They resisted this attempt to burn them. Then, for comparison, they were placed in contact with two little particles of diamond dust exceeding them in size, and the experiment was repeated. The result was that the diamond particles glowed and disappeared, while the little particle from Glasgow was as obstinate and as unacted on as before. I had previously treated the specimen I have alluded to as the first on which I experimented by making a similar attempt in a hard glass tube in a stream of oxygen, and the result was the same. Hence I conclude that the substance supposed to be artificially formed diamond is not diamond and is not carbon, and I feel as confident in the results thus obtained from a few infinitesimal particles that can barely be measured and could only be weighed by an assay balance of the most refined delicacy, as if the experiments had been performed on crystals of appreciable size.

Not content with merely proving what these crystalline particles are not, I made an experiment to determine something about what they are.

Heated on platinum foil several times with ammonium fluoride, they became visibly more minute, and a slight reddish white incrustation was seen on the foil. At the suggestion of Dr. Flight, assistant in this department, a master in the craft of the chemical analyst, these little particles were left for the night in hydrofluoric acid in a platinum capsule. This morning they have disappeared, having become dissolved in the acid.

I have, therefore, no hesitation in declaring Mr. Mactear's "diamonds" not only not to be diamonds at all, but to consist of some crystallised silicate, possibly one resembling an augite, though it would be very rash to assert anything beyond the fact that they consist of a

compound of silica, and possibly of more than one such compound.

The problem of the permutation of carbon from its ordinary opaque black condition into that in which it occurs in nature, as the limpid crystal of diamond is still unsolved. That it will be solved no scientific mind can doubt, though the conditions necessary may prove to be very difficult to fulfil. It is possible that carbon, like metallic arsenic, passes directly into the condition of vapour from that of a solid, and that the condition for its sublimation in the form of crystals, or its cooling into crystal diamond from the liquid state, is one involving a combination of high temperature and high pressure present in the depths of the earth's crust, but very difficult to establish in a laboratory experiment. NEVIL STORY-MASKELYNE

FURTHER NOTES UPON THE PAPUANS OF MACLAY COAST, NEW GUINEA

HA

I.

AVING recently received from my friend M. von ther notes upon the ethnology of the Papuans of Maclay Miklucho Maclay, by way of Singapore, some furCoast, in New Guinea, I herewith contribute the following abstract of them to the pages of NATURE, as the periodical in which they were published is not readily accessible to English readers.1

The Daily Life of the Papuans.-With regard to the application of pigment to the face and body, the Papuans paint the face with red and black colours, the red being such usually used by the young (those from fifteen to thirty years "malassi "), and the black by those of riper years. The young further use the colouring agents in the form of various devices. On ordinary days they are unpainted, or confine themselves to a ring round the eyes or a line along the nose, which goes to join another running from the temple to the vertex, over the shaved eyebrows. On formal occasions, however, the whole face is smeared with a pigment over which white and black are drawn. Sometimes half of the face is painted black, while the other half is red, which gives a very remarkable almost never employ the real colour, but substitute black appearance. The Tamo, or men over thirty years old, covered with the pigment; in fact, in certain districts, instead. On important occasions the whole head is dant, the inhabitants smear the whole body with it, and e.g, "Kar Kar," Dampier Island, where this is abunwith such care that it would be readily taken for their natural colour.

The women of Maclay coast are seldom to be seen painted, and, when they are, in not so elaborate a mode as are the men. A description has been already given of the coiffure. Before the arrival of Maclay bamboo knives and fragments of flint were used for the removal of the hair; but during his stay sherds of glass collected in the neighbourhood of his hut were substituted. Another method was also employed for the removal of single hairs by means of a noose made with a stalk of grass, in which the hair was twisted out of its follicle. Although this operation would seem to be a painful one, a Papuan occupation, without a shade of an expression of pain has been seen engaged for three or four hours on this being seen to pass over his features. Although the tattooing, they are accustomed to burn rows of scars in Papuans of this region are not conversant with the art of The patient having been placed either upon his back lines upon the skin. The operation is thus performed:or belly, a red-hot fragment of dry bark is laid

"Ethnologische Bemerkungen über die Papuas der Maclay-Küste in Neu Guinea-Alltägiges Leben der Papuas" (Fortsetzung). Reprinted from the Natuurkundig “Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie, Zevende Serie, Deel vi. p. 294. (Batavia, 1876.) This abstract may be regarded as a continuation of two articles by me upon the same subject, which were published in NATURE, vol. ix. p. 328, vol. xiv. pp. 107, 136.-J. C. G.

upon the skin until it is entirely consumed to ashes, and so on with each mark. This procedure, too, must demand great patience and self-control. The women, curiously enough, ornament their bodies much less than do the men, their costume being not infrequently reduced to a minimum. In Billi-Billi, Maclay saw a marriageable maiden in the most singular costume that could possibly be conceived, consisting, as it did, of a single large shell (a white Cypræa) upon the lower part

of the mons Veneris.

The men employ four or five hours in the combing of their hair and in smearing it with a decoction of the fruit of the Subari (Caiophyllum inophyllum), also in adorning it with feathers and flowers, and in painting their faces and backs. The only decorations, on the other hand, in which the females indulge on festal occasions is in a little dye with which they smear their hair, cheeks, and forehead, and a number of necklaces composed of shells of various sizes and gaily-coloured fruit kernels.

With regard to the social position of the women. Although it can hardly be said that the Maclay Coast Papuans ill-treat their wives, or that these latter have no influence upon the men, it is nevertheless the case that the women in almost every particular play an inferior rôle; for even when they are not overworked they have always enough employment throughout the year, while the men, with the exception of a few weeks spent in heavy work-the laying-out of plantations and cultivation of the ground-can for three-fourths of the time enjoy a dolce far niente. The women, moreover, have a worse diet, and dare not take their meals in company with the men, and in comparison with the latter wear scarcely any ornaments, nor do they take any part in their feasts.

Neither the marriage nor the birth of children are celebrated with any particular festal observance. Circumcision, on the other hand, is a somewhat important rite. This is performed at the age of twelve years, in the forest, at a distance from the village, and, as Zipporah did it, with a sharp flint, and after the ceremony the neophyte is escorted with songs back to the village. He is now no longer regarded as a boy, but as having come to man's estate, and enjoys, accordingly, many privileges which are not accorded to mere children.

66

31 66

The mode of salutation is somewhat laconic. When a neighbour comes into a village he says to the children, "E-Wau!" 65 Hey, children! " while the men and women are greeted respectively with a “E-Nangeli!" and "E-Mem! Hey, you women ! and 66 Hey, fathers!" The greeting of the Tamo among themselves is " "E-Aba!" Hey, brothers!" Relations, however, and friends are not accustomed to greet one another. The Papuans reach out their hands one to another, with a kind of movement, but without any mutual pressure. On departure the guest says "Adi-angarmem," "I am going," to which the host and any others who may be present reply "E-Aba," or "E-Mem," and the guest answers in corresponding terms. Upon this the host says, "Glembe" -"Depart, then "-and escorts his guest as far as the entrance of the village, carrying with him the presents and the remnants of the feast. Hereupon the guest fre. quently remarks, "Stay you here, but I must be off." the parting be of a particularly feeling character, one presses the other on the left side of the breast, embracing him at the same time with one arm, while with the other hand he pats him gently on the back. In the village Bogat, and in the Archipelago of Contentment, Maclay remarked that the people greeted a particularly honourable guest by squatting in a particular position on the ground.1

If

The custom of mutual exchange of names is pretty widely spread throughout the coast, and Maclay was

"Niederhocken." This position has been already described in the first paper on the Papuans of Maclay coast. NATURE, vol. ix. p. 329.

frequently begged to change his name with that of one of the natives whom he might have distinguished in some way or other. In order, however, to avoid any misunderstanding, he always refused this request, and only as a particular favour allowed his name, Maclay," to be borne by the newly-born boys, whose fathers regarded themselves as his special friends. He was, moreover, frequently requested to choose a name for newly-born boys and girls.

As regards the treatment of the dead, the news of the death of a man is announced to the surrounding villages by a fixed succession of strokes on the barum. On the same or the next day the whole male population assembles in complete war equipment in the neighbourhood of the village. To the sound of the barum the guests stream into the village, and are awaited in the neighbourhood of the hut of the deceased by a crowd, likewise in warlike accoutrements. After a short palaver those present divide into two opposite camps, after which the performance of a sham fight takes place. They go to work, however, somewhat carefully in that they make no use of their spears; dozens of arrows, however, are shot off, so that not a few are somewhat seriously wounded in this makebelieve encounter. The relations and friends of the deceased seem in particular to get excited and behave like madmen. After all are tired out, and all arrows have been shot away, the quasi enemies sit down in a circle and comport themselves merely as lookers-on. The nearest relations of the deceased then bring a pair of mats and the sheaths of the petioles of the fronds of the sago-palm, and lay them in the midst of the open space. Next they bring the corpse out of its hut, maintained in the stooping posture, with the chin resting upon the knees, and the arms embracing the legs, by means of strips of rattan. Close to the corpse are placed its property, gifts of its neighbours, and a couple of bowls (tabir) full of freshlycooked food, while the men sit in a circle round the open space, the women, but only those nearest related to the deceased, merely look on at a distance. The corpse is then, with great neatness and art, wrapped in the mats and palm leaves, and tied up fast with a quantity of rattan and lianas, so that the whole finally resembles a well-made parcel. This, after being fastened to a strong stake, is brought into the hut and the stake is fastened under the roof; finally, after arranging all the property, presents, and food in the neighbourhood of the corpse, the guests leave the hut and return to to their respective villages.

Some days later, when the corpse has become very decomposed, it is buried in the hut itself, a proceeding which in no wise hinders the relations from continuing to use it as a dwelling-place. About a year afterwards the skull is dug up and separated from the body of the corpse; but it is not the whole skull, but only the lower jaw which is preserved, and that by the nearest relation of the deceased, being carried, not infrequently, in the gun, or worn as a kind of armlet. This bone is most carefully preserved as a souvenir of the deceased, and it was only by the help of much persuasion, backed by numerous presents, that Dr. M. Maclay prevailed upon its possessor to part, under the seal of secresy, with this treasured memento. The burial of a child or of a woman is attended with much less ceremony, being heralded by the sound of no barum, and accompanied by no assembly of neighbours, nor martial pomp and circumstance.

This is not the only instance of the bones of the dead being worn by their surviving relatives. For instance, the Tasmanians (vide NATURE, vol. xiv. p. 211), according to Dr. Barnard Davis, carry as necklaces fragments of the bones of their relatives; and it is moreover stated by Prof. Allen Thomson, that the widows among the Andaman Islanders-the Mincopies according to Dr. B. Davis-actually wear the skulls of their late husbands upon their shoulders (NATURE, vol. xiv. p. 489). Prof. Flower, in a recent lecture on ethnology at the Royal College of Surgeons, showed the skull of an Andamanese man, to which was attached a very elegant webbed sling by which it had been suspended from the neck of the widow.-J. C. G.