572 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



zation, an Aryo-Turanian race, from Scythia. 

 The author describes the probable steps of 

 these immigrations, and assigns the part the 

 Aryans took in the construction of the an- 

 cient civilization of the country, in plausi- 

 ble conjectures, which, however ingeniously 

 drawn and stated, lack the essential quality 

 of being known facts. He might, however, 

 have had some substantial foundations on 

 which to rest his hypotheses, had not the 

 Spanish conquerors taken the pains to de- 

 stroy all the monuments and records they 

 could place their hands upon. 



The Mask -Dances of New Ireland. — 



Herr Weisser, who has recently been cruis- 

 ing in the South Sea Islands, has commu- 

 nicated to Dr. Bastian some interesting facts 

 respecting the use of masks by the savages 

 of New Ireland and some of the neighbor- 

 ing islands. A kind of feast of masks takes 

 place once a year, in the early days of May, 

 and is made an occasion when hostile tribes 

 meet each other in peace for that day only 

 — and, possibly, for finding pretexts for 

 another year's hostilities. Tribes that are 

 neighbors are constantly at war with each 

 other, and hardly a week passes but some 

 person of one of the tribes is killed and 

 eaten by members of another. Such is the 

 course of life through the year, till the fes- 

 tival of peace and masks. During this time 

 the brave carves out, adorns, and paints 

 his mask according to his own notion, and 

 generally with considerable artistic skill. 

 Hence the masks in J large tribe will ex- 

 hibit a great variety of patterns. Great care 

 is taken that no one shall see the mask, for 

 it is very important that the identity of the 

 owner shall be concealed. When the work 

 is finished, the owner puts his mark on it, 

 and takes it to the mask-house. When the 

 time comes for the parade of the masks, the 

 champions put them on, having arrayed 

 themselves for the occasion in red shirts 

 of bark, and skirts reaching to their knees. 

 They then go out armed to the neighboring 

 tribes, giving notice of their approach by 

 the blowing of conchs and the beating of 

 their wooden drums. When the hostile tribe 

 is reached, the mask-dance is executed with 

 a set of extraordinary movements, and then 

 they all fall to eating together, not without 

 some restraint, for instances of treachery 



have been known in which poison was con- 

 cealed in tempting looking sago -cakes. 

 Peace lasts till night, when the masks are 

 inspected, compared, criticised, and jeered 

 at with every manifestation of contempt. 

 The last part of the proceedings excites 

 mutual anger, and furnishes the occasion 

 for the next year's hostilities. 



Why we walk in Circles, — The reason 

 that, when lost or not able to see, we walk 

 in a circle, is still undetermined. Mr. 

 George H. Darwin believes that it is be- 

 cause we are right or left legged, our " leg- 

 gedness" being generally the converse of 

 our "handedness," and that therefore right- 

 handed men, being left -legged, are most apt 

 to deviate to the right, and left-handed men 

 to the left. Himself and Mr. Galton and 

 others, making personal experiments in 

 walking blindfolded, found themselves de- 

 scribing circles not more than fifty yards 

 in diameter, to the right. Of eight school- 

 boys, six, who were totally right-handed, 

 strode longer from left to right than from 

 right to left, hopped on the left leg, and 

 rose in jumping from that leg ; one boy 

 pursued the opposite course; and the last 

 walked irregularly, with no average differ- 

 ence between his strides. Walking on a 

 match for straightness, the left-legged boys 

 all diverged to the right, the seventh boy to 

 the left, and the eighth won the prize. 

 Measurements of Mr. Darwin's own stride, 

 and of the strides of his friends, showed 

 the same connection between divergence 

 and comparative length of stride. Mr. 

 Thomas Hawksley believes that the reason 

 for the divergence is to be found in differ- 

 ences in the length of the legs, not enough 

 to affect the visible step, but sufficient to 

 reveal itself in a considerable walk. 



Siberian Snperstitions. — A Russian of- 

 ficer, who has spent several months in that 

 region, has given a curious picture of the 

 Yarchans, or the people of Yarkino, in 

 Northern Siberia, who, while in the organi- 

 zation of their communal life they conform 

 quite closely to the Russian system, have so 

 little communication with the world that 

 they still remain almost in a primitive con- 

 dition, and the grossest superstitions prevail 



