February 22, 19 12] 



NATURE 



:>:>:> 



little about the Solomon Islands. This lack of a 

 general survey has been supplied by Miss Florence 

 Coombe, who has written a most admirable and in- 

 teresting account of her voyaging among these fas- 

 cinating islands on board the Southern Cross, the 

 steam-yacht which does the business of the Melanesian 

 Mission in great waters. And it is not as tourists 

 and strangers that her passengers go to and fro 

 among the groups, but rather as " friends of the 

 family," knowing somewhat of each island's story, 

 and having familiar acquaintances among the brown 

 folk everywhere, so that they are received and made 

 welcome in the homes of the people. 



It is obvious that Miss Coombe could not have 

 collected first hand all the information contained in 

 her book; indeed, on the. title-page she describes her 



obtruded, and where brought in merely serves to 

 illustrate the ameliorating influences of the '* ' new 

 teaching,' or ' the way of peace,' as Christianity is 

 called by the Melanesians." The popular treatment 

 should give the book a large sale ; on the other hand^ 

 it is a book which the ethnologist must read, as it is 

 crowded with facts and observations, some of which 

 are new. The very numerous and beautiful photo- 

 graphs, by J. W." Seattle, not only embellish the 

 book, but aff^ord to the student a mine of ethno- 

 graphical details. Various folk-tales are interspersed 

 throughout the book; some inevitably record the 

 prowess of Oat, the hero of the Banks Group, one or 

 two of which are variants of those narrated by 

 Codrington. An interesting account is given of a 

 visit to the little-known island of Tikopia, and the 



1 iG. i.—Gaviat and dancing-grounds. From "Islands of Enchantment.' 



iccount as ••seen through many eyes, and recorded" 

 by herself. Her indebtedness to Codrington 's classical 

 work is manifest; her acknowledgments to certain 

 other helpers are also mentioned; but, like all 

 travellers, she must have j.,^'iined a considerable 

 amount of casual information from missionaries. All 

 this, combined with that gained by her own keen 

 powers of observation, she has weaved into a bright 

 narrativ*' that carries the reader alon^ without a hitch. 

 The personal element is unobtrusive but sulTicicnt to 

 J.MVC continuity and unitv to the narrative, and when 

 the reader has finished the book, which he assuredly 

 will do when he once be^jins it, he will find himself 

 in possession of a f^^eneral impression of Melanesia 

 ind of a large amount of detailed knowledge which 

 ! annot be gained from any single source. 



Though dealing with the sphere of influence of the 

 Melanesian Mission, the missionary element is not 



^O. 2208, VOL. 88] 



auilidi miphasises the coiur.isi ,,f the natives- a Poly- 

 iK sian outlier in .Melan<sia uiili those of nei'.:rhbonr. 

 ill!' islands. 



A 



TEE ETIOLOGY Ot KALA-AZAR. 

 TELEGRAM from Surgeon-General Hannernian 

 to Sir Ronald Ross, published in The Times 

 and other dailv papers of February 15, announces that 

 Captain W. S. Patton, I. M.S., "has discovered the 

 complete development of the parasite of Kala-azar in 

 Indian and European bed-bugs." The news, as it 

 stands, is not quite intelligible, since Captain Patton 

 proved in iqo" that the parasite Leishmaiiia dotny- 

 vdiii \\> lit through the same development in the 

 Indian Kxl-bug. Ciwex rotundattis, that it had been dis- 

 covered by Major Leonard Rogers to underi^o in 

 artificial cultures. On epideinioloijical grounds the 



