528 



Crossing 



Dangerous Rivers 

 Goatskin Floats 



Popular Science Monthly 



with 



The inflated goat skins are used by the na- 

 tives either as Hfe-buoys or as river-horses 



THIS is not, as might be sup- 

 posed, a photograph of a 

 ■man with his performing 

 seal climbing over hi 

 shoulder, but onl\- a 

 picture of a Kashmiri 

 with his goatski ii 

 swimming-skin. 



The skin to he 

 used for this pur- 

 pose is taken off 

 with as little (lil- 

 ting as [Kjssible, al- 

 ter which the hair 

 is removed and the 

 hide softly tanned 

 by hoursof patient 

 scraping. Then the 

 feet and neck open- 

 ings arc coated 

 with pitch — tree 

 balsam is iisi'd in 

 the Himalayas and 



asphaltum in Mesopotamia — and sewn 

 up so closely as to be impervious to the 

 water. A small hole — usually at the 

 nose — is left for inflation, and this is 

 afterwards closed by folding over and 

 tying with a thong. 



The inflated skins are used in se\eral 

 ways, the simplest and most common 

 one being as a support for the body while 

 the vigorously kicked legs propel it 

 across a river. In fairly smooth slow- 

 flowing streams a paddle like the one 

 shown in the photograph is often em- 

 ployed, the paddlcr in such instances 

 riding his buoy like a horse. In fording 

 the swift mountain torrents that flow 

 into the upper Indus, a much smaller 

 skin than that shown in the illustration 

 is employed. The swimmer sprawls over 

 this and uses both arms and legs as com- 

 bination propellers, steering gear and 

 buffers against the ever imminent rocks. 



Where Beautiful Hair Is Not a 

 Crowning Glory 



THE man in the accompanying pho- 

 tograph, who is shown in his per- 

 petual furs of human hair, is a striking 

 illustration of what medical science calls 

 a case of hypertrichosis, or excessive 

 growth of hair on the human body. 

 This man not onl}' has locks which are 

 the envy of chorus girls, but he has a 

 beard and below it a hairy mat 

 which makes him look like a pre- 

 historic ca\e-d\\ellir. 



\\'ar1s and too much hair 



seem to go hand in hand. 



•On the other hand, there 



s no truth in the 



t heory prevalen t that 



abundance of hair 



The h;iir of llic hcud und beard is soft 

 and beautiful. The rest is short and furry 



\ sajis one's strength, 

 \ or that it signifies 



a great reserve of 

 strength. People 

 wiio are exccssive- 

 ]>■ hairy, such as 

 the man shown, 

 are perfectly nor- 

 mal except for 

 their uncomfort- 

 able hairiness. 

 They are not nec- 

 essarily weaker or 

 stronger than the 

 rest of us. 



