Nov. 8, 1888] 



NA TURE 



37 



The nose is also quite perfect, and inclined to be rather 

 broad and fiat than thin and protruding. The malar bones 

 are very prominent. The lips are thin and stiff, and the 

 tongue is dried and solid. Two central incisoresand one 

 canine of the superior maxillary are gone, and several 

 other teeth are badly caried. 



Here, again, the hair and dried integument prevent 

 absolutely accurate cranial measurements. The skull 

 measures : circumference, 503 millimetres ; length, 

 occipito-frontal, 166 mm. ; breadth, bi-bregmatic, 128 

 mm.; breadth of frontal, 103 mm.; height, 132 mm.; 

 facial angle, 69'. 



This skull presents a large forehead and well-developed 

 reasoning powers. It is very rare to find so good a head 

 among Indian women of to-day. 



The little boy seems to have been about seven years 

 old. The little fellow had been enveloped in his burial 

 shrouds the same as the larger bodies — hands crossed on 

 the chest, knees doubled on the breast, and the head in- 

 clined forward. All the bodies were probably tied in this 

 position when placed in the cave. The body is about 

 three feet tall, and weighs now only three pounds. The 

 same general characteristics as to skin, tissues, bones, 

 &c., that were observed in the precedmg bodies, may 

 also be seen here. The head is well developed for a boy 

 of his age. The hair has been broken off near the scalp. 

 Only the cartilaginous parts of the ears remain. There 

 is the same contour of face — flat nose, high cheek-bones, 

 outward obliquity of the eyes, &c. The upper and lower 

 incisores and canine of the temporary or milk teeth are 

 gone, and the permanent set coming at their roots in the 

 alveolar processes. 



The two anterior molars of the superior maxillary are 

 just appearing through the alveolar processes, estab- 

 lishing the age with tolerable accuracy at about seven 

 years. 



In circumference the skull measures 440 millimetres ; 

 length, occipito-frontal, 146 mm. ; breadth, bi-bregmatic, 

 120 mm. ; breadth of frontal, 60 mm. ; height, 1 14 mm. ; 

 facial angle, 71". 



.\ considerable part of the burial shroud remains about 

 the body yet. The major portion of it is cotton fabric, 

 firmly secured around the body by a stronger cord, made 

 of braided hair. 



The little girl may have been about fourteen to eighteen 

 months of age. -She weighs only a pound and a half. She 

 has been enveloped in an animal's skin, the better to pro- 

 tect the tender frame. Both feet are gone, and the tibiae 

 and fibulae protrude through the skin. The four upper 

 and four lower incisores, with the corresponding canine 

 teeth, have made their appearance, showing the child to 

 be about fourteen to eighteen months old. Otherwise the 

 same features are noticeable in this as in the preceding 

 figures. 



It would appear that the group of four belong to one 

 family, and that they were buried by friends, and her- 

 metically sealed in this cave for fear of some real or 

 imaginary foe. It may have been at the time of the 

 Spanish invasion, or it may have been during the warlike 

 times anterior to this date, when the Aztec confederation 

 was warring with the Toltec people. 



From their physical and mental developments the race 

 seems to have been a superior one. 



The facial features observed in these bodies are not 

 those found in that locality now. The cranial configura- 

 tions and physical appearances would rather favour Aztec 

 lineaments than those of the Indian of to-day. The fine 

 dark brown hair is certainly not Indian, nor do the small 

 hands and feet bear much resemblance to the huge hands 

 and feet we see on the Indians now living. 



The fabrics found on the bodies, forming the burial 

 shrouds, are chiefly composed of cotton, hair, hide, 

 grasses, and the bark of willows. The cotton is twisted 

 and coarsely woven, each thread being from a half to one 



millimetre in diameter. The hair is treated in like 

 manner occasionally, although usually it is braided with 

 three or four divisions in each cord. Frequently we find 

 strong strands madfe of strips of hide covered with willow 

 bark. 



Although the weaving of this interesting people is that 

 known as the "plain" process— that is, where the weft 

 passes alternately under and over the threads of the 

 warp, producing more or less open mesh cloth — yet con- 

 siderable skill and ingenuity were observed in the manu- 

 facturing of their blankets, mats, and ornamental cloths, 

 which were frequently interwoven with beads and coloured 

 threads, presenting various designs. Grasses and straws 

 were also woven into mats and cloths, which were of great 

 durability. The skins of animals were also used for 

 clothing purposes. 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



IV/TR. WALLACE, in his great work "The Geo- 

 -'■*-*- graphical Distribution of Animals," divides the 

 Oriental or Indian region of Mr. Sclater into four sub- 

 regions, of which Java, Sumatra, Malacca, Borneo, and 

 the Philippine Islands form one, which he calls the Indo- 

 Malayan. In his discussion of the Indo-Malayan sub- 

 region Mr. Wallace recognizes several subdivisions of it, 

 and treats of the Philippine Islands as one of the most 

 important of these. Though acknowledging the existence 

 of divisions of his sub-regions, he failed to give them 

 technical names, as being at that time uncalled for. 



The purpose of this paper is to show that the Philip- 

 pines themselves are separated into several distinct 

 zoological divisions, and it seems therefore necessary for 

 their study to give technical names to the primary and 

 secondary divisions of the already recognized sub-regions. 

 The terms province and sub-province seem least 

 objectionable, and will be made use of, the Philippine 

 Islands thus forming one of the provinces of the Indo- 

 Malayan sub-region, and the divisions of the group itself 

 sub-provinces. 



The zoological province of the Philippines is co-exten- 

 sive with the political division of the same name, with 

 perhaps the exception of the islands of Sulu and Tawi 

 Tawi, which lie between the PhiUppines and Borneo, but 

 are claimed by the Spanish. 



The sub-provinces proposed are — first, the Northern 

 Philippines, consisting of Luzon and Marinduque, and a 

 number of other small islands about Luzon ; second, Min- 

 doro ; third, the Central Philippines, made up of the 

 islands of Panay, Negros, Guimaras, Zebu, Bohol, and 

 Masbate ; fourth, the Eastern Philippines, comprising the 

 islands of Samar and Leyte ; fifth, the Southern Philip- 

 pines, embracing the great island of Mindanao, with 

 Basilau, and perhaps Sulu ; and sixth, the Western 

 Philippines, consisting of the islands of Paragua or 

 Palawan, and Balabac. 



The geographical positions of these sub-provinces are 

 so far fortunate, that these names show their relations 

 to each other very closely, as may be seen by consulting 

 a map of the archipelago. 



Of the sub-provinces, the Western Philippines, made up 

 of Paragua and Balabac, and perhaps the Calamines, is 

 of most importance, its animal life being much more 

 closely allied to that of Borneo than that of any other 

 sub-province of the group. This is especially noticeable 

 in its mammals, of which it possesses, in common with 

 Borneo, the genera Tragulus, Tupaia, and Munis, which 

 are apparently absent from the rest of the archipelago. 

 Of Bornean genera of birds, not found elsewhere in the 

 group, lora, Criniger, Polyplcctron, Tiga, and Batracho- 

 stomus, are examples. This sub-province has evidently 

 received a large part of its fauna from North Borneo, 

 through Balabac, at a comparatively recent date, and 



