532 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



than two days at a time, unless fish is plentiful, or certain 

 vegetables are in season. In some cases caves or rock-shelters 

 are used as temporary dwelling-places. 



Though accustomed to wander in a state of nakedness, 

 except for a hip girdle, in which the men carry their weapons, 

 and to which the unmarried girls attach a narrow little apron or 

 fringe made of strips of fur, yet in camp or on cold nights they 

 put on warm clothes. These are made from the skins of the 

 kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, native "bear" and native "cat"; 

 30^ or 40 opossum skins are required to make a cloak for 

 an adult. After the skin is removed from the animal it is 

 pegged out fairly tight on a hard patch of ground, and, when dry, 

 trimmed into a rectangular shape with a stone knife ; the inside 

 is then carefully gone over with a stone scraper, to remove 

 all traces of fat and flesh ; and finally a mixture of grease and 

 red ochre is well rubbed in. Holes are pricked with a bone 

 awl, and through these fine sinews taken from the animal which 

 has supplied the fell can be threaded ; in this primitive fashion 

 the skins are " sewn " together. 



Besides the cloak, which serves for use, they wear many 

 adornments : necklaces of various kinds, among which may be 

 specially mentioned those made of univalve shells or kangaroo 

 teeth. The shells are perforated by a stone point and threaded 

 together by passing a string through the mouth of the shell 

 and the perforation ; as a consequence, they do not hang in 

 regular arrangement, but point in all directions. 



Though the Australians have not developed a system ol 

 writing, yet they make use of signs marked on their " message 

 sticks." These sticks are carried by messengers to identify 

 them in their office, and the signs upon them serve as a 

 rude kind of memoria technica to recall the message. 



A complicated system of religious rites governs the Aus- 

 tralians in all their conduct in life. A belief in magic is deeply 

 rooted ; in this connection the account given by Spencer and 

 Baldwin of their magic stones or " churinga " is especially 

 interesting. 



It would thus appear from the foregoing account that the 

 Australian natives, though still remaining in the palaeolithic 

 stage, have made a considerable advance on the culture of 

 Neandertal man. This they may easily have accomplished by 

 their own efforts, though it is possible, at the same time, that they 



