July 1, 1866.] 



SCIENCE. GOSSIP. 



15E 



holes they dig in the sides of the cliffs, where they 

 meet veius of sandstone or of some other soft stone ; 

 from this custom they are called, by ancient and 

 modern, troglodytes ; during the winter they live 

 upon meat and dried fish, of which they have made 

 provision." 



The pygmies of Thracia, as well as those of 

 Ethiopia, were attacked by cranes, says the legend ; 

 are not these cranes the Epiornis of New Zealand 

 or the Dinornis of Madagascar ? It is curious to 

 state that the present Maoris of New Zealand say 

 yet that their ancestors had to struggle with the 

 great birds. 



Leaving Thracia, we find many holes, which, 

 according to Cantu, have been human dwellings, 

 in Greece and in the Italian peninsula ; in Dalmatia 

 bones and flints were found ; in Hungary the belief 

 in imps was yet existing in the time of Kircherus 

 (v. Mundus Subterraneus. Amsterdam. 16S2). 

 Speaking of Hungary, I remark that farther on our 

 way we find the Laplanders, people related, as is 

 known, to the Hungarians by language (Wiseman, 

 Led., &c). The primitive Magyars belong to the 

 Ougriau race of northern Siberia, says L. E. Maury 

 (La Terre et V Homme, Paris, 1861). He adds, 

 "probably the Indo-European tribes penetrating 

 into Europe found there tribes of the Ougro-Einish 

 family, with whom they mixed. The skulls found 

 in old bogs or peat holes, and associated with the 

 bones of extinct animals, remind by their form those 

 of the Einlanders." 



But let us leave Hungary and go to Central 

 Germany; there we find the legend of the Kobold, 

 the genii who transformed the tin ore in the 

 mines into another metal, yet called cobalt ; the 

 legend of the Wichtelmanner, the most officious 

 genii, &c. 



Near several lakes of Switzerland, imps were said 

 to inhabit (Kircherus, Munch Sab.) ; passing the 

 Swiss lacustrine dwellings we arrive in Erance, 

 there the human remains, the flints and other 

 implements, abound from the south to the north ; 

 in several places the human bones are said to 

 denote a small stature. The numerous Belgian 

 holes, with their interesting fossils, have their 

 legends of the " Nuttons," and in the Flemish 

 provinces many stories are yet told of the imps 

 called " Kabouter mannekens." Passing aside 

 Kent and Ireland, we arrive in Frisia and Han- 

 over, immense numbers of flints of Erisia are to 

 be seen in the Museum at Leyde ; in Hanover, the 

 legend says the imps used to repair iron kettles, &c, 

 for a small reward; the remains found in Dane- 

 marck are sufficiently known by the works of Dr. 

 Worsaae, &c. ; the "Duergars" or dwarfs of Nor- 

 way, lead us to the actual Laplanders and the- 

 Samoyedes. 



Olaus Magnus and many other writers quoted 

 dwarfs in the north, Schott and P. Tovius believe 



these were the Greeulanders ; the present Eskimoos 

 or Esquimaux have yet their stone weapons, several 

 of which we can see in the British Museum. 

 (Ethnographical Room, C. 14-22.) The jawbone 

 of Abbeville, says Figuicr, presented traits of resem- 

 blance with that of an Eskimoo, and also particu- 

 larities which have been recognised in an Egyptian 

 mummy, in a Neo-caledonian, and in a Malay. The 

 Eskimoos are bound by an uninterrupted chain to 

 the populations of Siberia, of which they are but the 

 most eastern expansion (Maury). Another people 

 of pygmies, and very singular, the Ainos, yet live in 

 the north of Japan. 



Near the Eskimoos we find the earth-diggers of 

 California, and on the borders of the Merrimac 

 bones are found of men of 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, with large 

 heads. The obsidian weapons' of Mexico bring us 

 to the Aztecs and the Mayas, or to their ancestors ; 

 dwarfs or pygmies were found in the Cordilleras, by 

 Maldonata (G. Schott) ; actually yet in Peru the 

 Indians regarded as descending from, the primitive 

 inhabitants, are of very small stature. 



I left Ethiopia going to the North. In the 

 South also I find a track for my dwarf. Several 

 authors quote them at Madagascar. Madagascar 

 is united by the language to Malaysia, N. Guinea, 

 &c. This has been positively stated (Wiseman, 

 Lect.)* 



The pygmies of Bali arc described by Bumphius 

 and those of Sumatra by Bienzi. Becent geo- 

 graphical reports mention wild dwarfs on the Anda- 

 man Islands ; Philostrates quoted them yet on the 

 Ganges. 



The stone implements are known in many parts 

 of Oceania, New Caledonia, Australia, &c. 



I would be happy if these rough sketches should 

 throw any light on the track of primitive men; 

 and am curious to know if others have made ana- 

 logous observations. — B. Melle. 



[We have made no attempt at altering our 

 Belgian correspondent's idiomatic English, lest we 

 should sacrifice any of his intentions in so doing. 



—Ed.] 



Ax Exemplar. — "He alwaies protested never 

 to have written any thing either for malice, feare, or 

 favour, nor to seek his owne particular gaine or 

 vaine glory ; and that his only paines and care was 

 to write truth" — Edmund Howes on John Stow, 

 1525—1605. 



* May it not be supposed there was once a continent uniting: 

 Madagascar with Australia and New Zealand, and that by a 

 cataclysm part of the men and animals fled to Madagascar, 

 to New Zealand, &c. ? This would account for the great num- 

 ber of species of animals found in those islands : in the present 

 time, the number of the Neo-Zelandic species is as great as 

 that of the species of the rest of the globe altogether. 



