Oct. 24, 1878] 



NATURE 



665 



lake, had been fixed by a mortise and tenon airangement 

 into split trunks, lying horizontally on the bottom of the 

 lake, evidently when the mud was more than usually soft. 



Another form of these ancient habitations has been 

 designated fascine dwellings. Instead of a platform 

 supported on a series of piles, Dr. Keller tells us these 

 erections consisted of layers of sticks, or small stems of 

 trees built up from the bottom of the lake, till the struc- 

 ture reached above the water-mark, and on this series of 

 layers the main platform for the huts were placed. In 

 these dwellings upright posts were used as stays or 

 guides for the great mass of sticks reaching down to the 

 bottom of the lake. Fascine dwellings occur chiefly in 

 the smaller lakes, and belong to the stone age. 



Another form of lake-dwelling which has been long 

 kno\vn, are the Crannoges or "wooden islands," found in 

 Ireland and Scotland ; one has also been found in North 

 Wales. "The crannoges, at least in Ireland, were fre- 

 quently but not exclusively placed' on natural islands, or 

 on shallows which approached to this character ; some- 

 times they were built up from the bottom of the lake on 

 the soft mud, exactly in the manner of the fascine dwell- 

 ings of Switzerland. They are surrounded by a stockade 

 of piles driven into the bed of the lake, so as to inclose 

 either a circle or an oval ; the diameter varies from 60 to 

 130 feet. These piles are usually in a single row, out 

 sometimes the rows are double and even treble. Occa- 

 sionally the piles are boards, not round stems. The 

 lowest bed within this inclosure is commonly a mass of 

 ferns, branches, and other vegetable matter, generally 

 covered over with a layer of round logs, cut into lengths 

 of from four to six feet, over which is usually found a 

 quantity of clay, gravel, and stones." Although it is 

 probable that both these crannoges and the Swiss lake- 

 dwellings, which it will be seen had much in common 

 with regard to structure, were erected in lakes greatly 

 for the sake of security, still the lake- dwellings were 

 evidently places of permanent habitation, while the 

 Scotch crannoges, at least, are believed by good autho- 

 rities to have been chieftains' forts and fastnesses for 

 occasional retreat. The crannoges were actually used 

 far into the age of iron, while the Swiss lake-dwellings 

 belong almost exclusively to the age of stone, and dis. 

 appeared, Dr. Keller tells us, as far as we at present 

 know, about the first century. 



With regard to the superstructure of these pile- 

 dwellings, it appears that on the platform was laid and 

 beaten down firmly a bed of mud, loam, and gravel. The 

 framework of the huts consisted of small piles or stakes, 

 and sometimes of the upper or projecting parts of piles, 

 longer than those on which the platform was built. Round 

 the bottom, at least, of the hut a board or skirting was 

 fitted, and the walls or sides were in a great measure made 

 of a wattle or hurdle-work of small branches, woven in 

 between the upright piles, and covered with a considerable 

 thickness of loam or clay. The huts seem in nearly all 

 cases to have been rectangular, though in at least one 

 instance, referred to above, the circular form has been 

 found. As to whether there were internal divisions in 

 the huts no evidence has yet been found, though it seems 

 certain they were thatched with straw or reeds. " Every 

 hut had its hearth, consisting of three or four large slabs 

 of stone ; and it is probable from the almost universal 



prevalence of clay weights for weaving, that most, if not 

 all, of them were furnished with a loom." 



Such was, as far as can be gathered from the mine of 

 information contained in Dr. Keller's volumes, the nature 

 of these curious structures belonging to a remote age and 

 a primitive people. But that the builders of these 

 dwellings were considerably advanced beyond the lowest 

 stage of civilisation is evident, not only from the struc- 

 tures themselves, but from the many articles found in 

 connection with them, and which are so copiously figured 

 in Dr. Keller's second volume. Implements, weapons, 

 and ornaments, mostly in stone, but not infrequently in 

 bronze and even in iron, have been found, of elaborate 

 and finished structure. Beautifully wrought and on.a- 

 mented textures, showing considerable skill not only in 

 weaving, but in embroidery. Fishing-nets, fish-hooks, 

 and boats, these lake-dwellers had, domestic animals and 

 agricultural implements, all showing that, whoever they 

 were, they were well on the Avay to a fairly high civilisa- 

 tion ; they were fishers, hunters, shepherds and agri- 

 culturists, and to no small extent manufacturers. " The 

 endeavours of the settlers to live together in per- 

 manent abodes and in a sociable manner, is a positive 

 proof that they had long known the advantages of a 

 settled mode of life, such as applies to the lake-dwell- 

 ings, and that we have to look upon them not as wander- 

 ing pastoral tribes, still less as a mere hunting and fishmg 

 people. A settled union of a great number of men in 

 the same place, and of hundreds of families in the 

 neighbouring bays, would never have taken place if 

 there had not been a regular supply of provisions at all 

 times of the year, and some beginning of social order." 



To all interested in the progress of our race, the twcK 

 fine volumes of Dr. Keller and Mr. Lee are well worthy 

 careful study ; they enable the student to put together 

 with wonderful fulness a picture of a form of society 

 that must have had an early beginning, and the dwellings, 

 and implements, and manners and customs of which are 

 full of interest. Considerable light is thrown on the 

 subject of Dr. Keller's work by what we know of existing 

 pile-dwellings in various parts of the world, not the least 

 interesting of which are those found in Lake Mohyra, in. 

 Central Africa, by Commander Cameron. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Annual Record of Science and Industry for 1877. Edited 

 by Spencer F. Baird. (New York : Harper Brothers. 

 London : Triibner. 1878.) 



The high opinion which we have previously expressed 

 concerning this excellent annual is sustained by the pre- 

 sent volume, which, however, is smaller than its pre- 

 decessors, owing to a change that has been made in its 

 character. Hitherto the "Annual Record" has consisted, 

 of two distinct parts, a summary of scientific progress 

 made during the year, and a series of abstracts of the 

 more important papers and articles in the scientific 

 journals. This dual character it has been found impos- 

 sible to sustain, owing to the rapid increase in the number 

 of scientific papers, and also probably to the larger range 

 taken in by the contributors : hence the abstracts have 

 been abolished and the summary alone retained. The 

 change is a useful one, placing more space at the dis- 

 posal of the editor and embarrassing the reader less. 

 At the same time we regret the absence of references to 



