7H 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



copper, and cobalt. Sometimes a piece of 

 paste was treated by the gem-engraver just 

 as if it were a natural stone, and sculptured 

 by the aid of the same tools ; but inore gener- 

 ally the glass was melted and pressed into a 

 mold. Such a mold had been taken from 

 an engraved gem by a pellet of clay which 

 was afterward hardened by fire. Paste gems 

 arc often beautiful in color and design, 

 though the material lacks something of the 

 optical properties which distinguish many 

 of the true natural stones. The tools and 

 processes employed in ancient times in en- 

 graving gems were virtually the same as those 

 in use to day— drills, wire saws, and files, 

 re-enforced with emery, and gravers of dia- 

 mond, sapphire, or rock-crystal. 



Courtship in Torres Strait.— The people 

 living on the islands of Torres Strait are 

 divided by Prof. Arthur C. Haddon into the 

 eastern and western tribes, and customs 

 differ considerably among them. While the 

 usual course in marriage is followed by the 

 eastern tribe, in the western tribe the girls 

 propose — or did, till " civilization " overtook 

 them — marriage to the men. " It might be 

 some time before a man had an offer ; but 

 should he be a fine dancer, with goodly calves, 

 and dance with sprightliness and energy at 

 the festive dances, he would not lack ad- 

 mirers. Should there still be a reticence on 

 the part of his female acquaintances, the 

 young man might win the heart of a girl by 

 robbing a man of his head. Our adventur- 

 ous youth could join in some foray ; it mat- 

 tered not to him what was the equity of the 

 quarrel, or whether there was any enmity at 

 all between his people and the attacked. So 

 long as he killed some one — man, woman, or 

 child — and brought the head back, it was 

 not of much consequence to him whose head 

 it was. . . . The girl's heart being won by 

 prowess, dancing skill, or fine appearance, 

 she would plait a strong armlet, tiajmruru ; 

 this she intrusted to a mutual friend, pref- 

 erably the chosen one's sister. On the first 

 suitable opportunity the sister said to her 

 brother, ' Brother, I have some good news 

 for you. A woman likes you.' On hearing 

 her name, and after some conversation, if he 

 was willing to go on with the affair, he told 

 his sister to ask the girl to keep some ap- 

 pointment with him in the bush. When 



the message was delivered, the enamored 

 damsel informed her parent that she was 

 going into the woods to get some wood or 

 food, or made some such excuse. In due 

 course the couple met, sat down and talked, 

 the proposal being made with perfect deco- 

 rum. The following conversation is given 

 in the actual words used by my informant, 

 Maine, the chief of Tud. Opening the con- 

 versation, the man said, ' You like me prop- 

 er ? ' ' Yes,' she replied, ' I like you proper 

 with my heart inside. Eye along my heart 

 see you — ^you my man.' Unwilling to give 

 himself away rashly, he asked, ' IIow you 

 like me ? ' 'I like your fine legs, you got 

 fine body — your skin good — I like you alto- 

 gether,' replied the girl. After matters had 

 proceeded satisfactorily, the girl, anxious to 

 clinch the matter, asked when they were to 

 be married. The man said, ' To-morrow, if 

 you like.' They both went home and told 

 their respective relatives. Then the girl's 

 people fought the man's folk, ' for girl 

 more big' (i. e., of more consequence) ' than 

 boy ' ; but the fighting was not of a serious 

 character, it being part of the programme of 

 a marriage. 'Swapping' sisters in matri- 

 mony was a convenient way of saving ex- 

 pense in the way of wedding gifts, for one 

 girl operated as a set-off to the other." 



V.alne of Photography. — The name of 

 impressionists has been given to a school of 

 painters who, abandoning all consideration 

 of the arrangements and mechanism of pre- 

 vious workers, have consulted only their im. 

 pressions of natural scenes, and have painted 

 to those impressions. " With one point of 

 sight and one subject of supreme interest they 

 have aimed to seize above all the action and 

 first impression of that subject." The natu- 

 ralistic school trust rather to a study of Na- 

 ture, and make its truthful representation and 

 perfect expression the criterion of their art. 

 Mr. George Davison sees no reason why pho- 

 tography should not be used to express our 

 impressions of natural scenes as well as any 

 other black-and-white method. Worked 

 under the same conditions as the eye, or 

 under conditions as nearly approximate as 

 possible, nothing, he says, gives so truthful 

 a record in drawing as photography, and 

 nothing, when the proper means are used and 

 the requisite knowledge is possessed by the 



