426 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and that consequently the mean density of 

 the condensed mass will decrease from the 

 center toward the circumference. During 

 the process of condensation the condensing 

 mass will first gain by accretion of meteor- 

 ites; then a balance will be maintained be- 

 tween those which remain on the condensing 

 mass and those which rebound from it; and, 

 finally, more will be lost by rebounding than 

 gained by accretion. 



The Sacred Maori Axe t The thought 

 of a connection between ancient stone 

 weapons and thunder is widely diffused, 

 and has a hold even in European minds. A 

 curious illustration of its character has been 

 communicated to " Nature " by Mr. Edward 

 Tregear, of Wellington, New Zealand., in the 

 shape of a translation from a Maori news- 

 paper of the story of the finding of the sacred 

 axe, Te Anhiorangi, which had been hidden 

 by a remote ancestor, and had not been seen 

 again till December, 188V. A party of Maoris 

 had gone out to gather the edible mushroom. 

 With them was a young woman, a stranger 

 in the district, and ignorant of the sacred 

 places. Wandering away by herself, and 

 looking here and there for funguses, " she 

 saw a tree on which there was a fungus, and 

 laid her hand on it, but suddenly there came 

 the flash of the axe. Following with her 

 eyes the direction of the flash, she saw the 

 axe close against the foot of a pukatea-tree ; 

 a cry of terror broke from her, and she fled 

 screaming. At the same time the thunder 

 roared, the lightning flashed, and blinding 

 hail burst forth in sudden storm, increasing 

 her terror almost to madness. Her husband 

 heard her cries as she flew along ; but an old 

 man, called Te Rangi Whakairione, directly 

 he heard her shrieks, understood the reason 

 of the outcry, so he began to chant an incan- 

 tation, and the fury of the storm abated. 

 When the party had assembled in the open 

 land, the old priest asked which of them had 

 been to Tieke ; whereupon the girl asked, 

 ' Where is Tieke ? ' The old man answered 

 that it was beyond the turn at Waione. To- 

 mairangi replied : ' I have been there, but I 

 did not know it was a sacred place ; I saw 

 something that looked like a spirit, and I am 

 full of great fear.' Then all the party went 

 to ascertain what it was, and then they found 

 that it was indeed the lost sacred axe, Te 



Anhiorangi. After Te Rangi Whakairione 

 had chanted another incantation over it, they 

 all took hold of the axe, and wailed over it. 

 When the crying had ceased, they brought 

 the axe back to the settlement." The tra- 

 dition had long existed that the axe was at 

 the spot where it was found, which had there- 

 fore been tabooed, and never visited until on 

 this occasion. On the next day the sacred 

 thing was hung up on a tree, that all might 

 see it, with imposing ceremonies of a proces- 

 sion and priests reciting charms and incanta- 

 tions. " All the people carried green branches 

 in their hands as an offering to Te Anhiorangi. 

 When the concourse drew near the place, 

 successive peals of thunder and flashes of 

 lightning rent the air; then came down a 

 dense fog, making it dark as night. The 

 Tohunga (priests) stopped the thunder and 

 dispersed the darkness by their incantations. 

 When the light again appeared, the people 

 offered the green branches, together with a 

 number of Maori mats, etc. ; then they made 

 lamentations, and sang the old songs in 

 which the ancient axe was spoken of by 

 their forefathers. The pedigree of the axe, 

 which was a stone weapon of extremely high 

 polish, was traced back to the first Maori 

 chief who came to New Zealand ; and to him 

 it had descended, through the great god, 

 Taue, from the primeval pair, Heaven and 

 Earth. 



Remedies for Sleeplessness. Correspond- 

 ents of the London " Spectator " have been 

 supplying that journal with various remedies 

 for sleeplessness. A curate in London is 

 afflicted in direct proportion to the mental 

 worry and absence of air and exercise he has 

 to endure, and finds that " to walk even one 

 mile in the day is a great thing" in the way 

 of a remedy. At the moment, he says, the 

 best thing one can do is to get up, drink 

 half a glass of water, and walk round the 

 room. The slight alternation of cold and 

 warmth has a soporific effect. For a per- 

 manent result : " Live healthily. Avoid too 

 little and too much exercise, food, particu- 

 larly wine. Dine lightly, eating very little 

 meat ; drink only one glass of wine. Bathe 

 an hour before dinner, not before going to 

 bed. ... Do something in the evening that 

 does not excite you, something like whist 

 that does itself mechanically. Decide how 



