498 



NATURE 



[June i6, 192 i 



dence of all the others, and is regarded as the 

 legal wife, anasi, who is priestess of the house- 

 hold gods. Belief in the survival of the soul pre- 

 vails, and adequate burial of the dead is a matter 

 of great concern. A first, necessarily hurried 

 burial takes place soon after death, but a second 

 more elaborate and very costly "burial" by proxy 

 is performed later, with the view of keeping the 

 spirit of the deceased in contentment. Failing this 

 propitiation, the spirit may become restless and 

 malignant. Reincarnation is believed in. Chil- 

 dren are well treated and thrive, and although 

 their treatment is often very drastic and appears 

 cruel, the parents evince great fondness for them. 

 Twins, however, are held in abhorrence. In this 

 respect the Ibos differ from the neighbouring Ekoi, 

 who welcome twins. Boys are initiated into the 

 mysteries of the Ayakka secret society at the age 

 of ten. 



The secret societies are dealt with bv the 



author in detail, and the religion and superstitions 

 are well, if briefly, described. The chief deity is 

 Abwala, and at her shrine oracles are sought and 

 " trials " are conducted. The priests, in conse- 

 quence, exercise a great controlling influence, as 

 is so often the case in Africa. The arts and crafts 

 and the trading methods are interestingly dealt 

 with, and one feels that the author has command 

 of more information than could be published in 

 a single volume. The illustrations are excellent 

 and fairly numerous. One wonders why the 

 household god called in the text Ikenga (p. 219) 

 is designated Skenga on the plate (p. 120), and 

 why the illustrations are sometimes inserted far 

 from the text to which they refer. It would have 

 been advantageous if all native names had been 

 printed in italics. Such minor blemishes, how- 

 ever, do not materially lessen our appreciation of 

 this very useful and instructive volume. Both 

 the author and his readers may be congratulated. 



Obituary. 



Peter Donald Malloch. 



ARDENT naturalists in humble ranks of life 

 during last century, such as Edwards, of 

 Banff, and Robert Walker, of St. Andrews, 

 in zoology, and Sergeant Sim, of Perth, in 

 botany, have not been rare in Scotland, but 

 few showed more acute penetration, com- 

 bined with artistic skill and fitness for 

 administration, than Peter Donald Malloch, 

 the premier angler and skilful taxidermist, as 

 well as the originator and able administrator of 

 the Tay Salmon Fisheries Co. 



A native of the neighbourhood, Malloch spent 

 most of his life in the Fair City, taking the fore- 

 most place, after the death of Mr. Lamb, as a 

 taxidermist (many examples of his skill being 

 now in the Perth Museum), then well known 

 for his remarkable success as a practical angler, 

 and, lastly, as manager of the salmon syndicate 

 just mentioned. It was in Perthshire that the 

 artificial hatching of the salmon at Stormontfield 

 ponds first attracted the attention of men of 

 science in the fifties and early sixties of last 

 century, and the work of Robert Buist, Wm. 

 Brown, and John Dickson made it widely known. 

 Malloch, however, following these, and in the 

 unique position he held on the finest salmon-river 

 In the country, one which carries the largest 

 body of fresh water to the sea, was able to clear 

 up certain ambiguities, and though he had no 

 training in science he grasped the information 

 derived from an investigation of the scales of the 

 salmon, sea-trout, and other fishes, and worked 

 out their life-history with great accuracy and 

 acuteness. In 1910, indeed, he collected all his in- 

 formation in an interesting work entitled "Life- 

 history and Habits of the Salmon, Sea-trout, and 

 other Fresh-water Fish," a work illustrated by 

 as many as 239 exquisite life-like photographs 

 - — mainly by himself. 



Malloch 's observations on the various classes of 



NO. 2694, VOL. 107] 



salmon ascending the rivers, and a comparison of 

 their movements with those of the sea-trout (the 

 latter feeding in fresh water, whilst the salmon 

 does not), are of great interest and value in this 

 complex subject. He believed that almost all 

 salmon in the sea make for the rivers where they 

 were born. He had some hesitation in accepting 

 the view Ihat some of the parr become smolts at 

 the end of their first year, but old "Peter of the 

 Pools " at Stormontfield would have strengthened 

 the case by demonstrating that many of the year- 

 old parr reared there grew apace, assumed the 

 silvery coat, passed down the rivulet to the pen 

 near the river, and would even leap over its edge 

 in their eagerness to migrate seaward. 



Malloch 's eflficient marking of the smolts with 

 silver wire gave him much Information as to the 

 rate of growth of the salmon, Irregularity in 

 spawning, and other points. His wide experience 

 of the Tay and other rivers and of numerous lochs 

 enabled him to corroborate Dr. Gunther's opinion 

 as to bull-trout, and so with his remarks about 

 yellow fins and whitling, the young of the sea- 

 trout. Further, the acuteness of his observations 

 is shown by his finding a new char [Savelinus 

 Mallochi, Tate Regan) in a lake In Sutherland. 

 That he was able to accomplish so much in the 

 midst of strenuous commercial fisheries work, 

 comprehending the Tay from Stanley to the sea, 

 the surveying of rivers and lochs, and the letting 

 and sale of highland estates, shows that his 

 capacity was of no ordinary kind. Perth has 

 always been the centre from which has emanated 

 much of the life-history of the salmon, and 

 Malloch enhanced and extended that reputation. 

 He died toward the end of May at the age of 

 sixty-eight years. W. C. M. 



We much regret to see the a^nnouncement of 

 the death, from heart failure, on June 5, of Dr. 

 A. M. Kellas, of the Mount Everest Expedition. 



