146 



NATURE 



[June 14, 1900 



which it gives life, and it suffers from all its disabilities ; 

 sickness is supposed to be caused by its absence from the 

 body, and the soul may be abducted from it by unlawful 

 means. The human soul is seven-fold, and it seems, 

 at times, as if each was independent, for in certain cere- 

 njonies an abode is provided for each. The idea that 

 a man possesses several souls is very old, and in Egyptian 

 religious texts it may be traced back to the period of 

 the earliest dynasties, about six thousand years ago. 

 The number seven is, of course, and always has been, a 

 magical number, and in ceremonies which are intended 

 to do good, as well as those in which the object is to do 

 evil, it plays a prominent part. In Babylonian and 

 Assyrian magical texts we find the seven evil spirits of 

 the deep, and the Mesopotamian underworld pos- 

 sessed seven gates ; it must not be forgotten, too, 

 the famous temple of Nebo at Borsippa, which tradi- 

 tion identifies with the Tower of Babel, was built in 

 seven stages. 



When we come to discuss Malay gods, we find the 

 subject to be one of some difficulty. In the old religion, 

 which the Malay professed to throw off when he adopted 

 Muhammadanism,'his ideas had formulated the existence 

 of a large number of nature powers which closely 

 resemble the Hindu gods found in Brahmanism ; and 

 before he adopted these as the objects of his worship, 

 he seems to have peopled heaven and earth with myriads 

 of spirits. To this day, when in trouble, he cries out, not 

 to the Allah preached by Muhammad, nor to the deities 

 which the Brahman religion made known to him, but to 

 the evil spirits which his ancestors worshipped and feared 

 untold centuries ago. It has been the same in all ages and 

 in all countries, and the nations which become "converted" 

 to a new religion in reality only drop the observances 

 connected with their old faiths ; and although they may 

 tear down the shrines of old gods and build others to new 

 ones, they do not succeed in uprooting from their minds 

 the beliefs and ideas of which the overthrown shrines 

 were the outward and visible signs. In spite of the 

 teaching of Muhammad and the Brahman s, the Malay 

 still believes that every department of nature is presided 

 over by a " god " who must be propitiated by man, and 

 to be specially honoured and revered are such gods as 

 Batara Guru, Batara Kala, Batara Indra, and Batara 

 Bismu ; the greatest of this group is the first. It is interest- 

 ing to note that native influence has succeeded in intro- 

 ducing into the Malay pantheon a number of gods of the 

 sea, which from certain aspects are identified with older 

 terrestrial gods. Many of the Jinn, or evil spirits of the 

 Arabs, have been identified with old Hindu spirits, and 

 the view held by the Malay on the importance of such 

 beings may be gathered from the fact that it was believed 

 to be possible to buy them from the Shekh of the Jinh 

 at Mekka, at prices varying from ninety to a hundred 

 dollars each ! 



More than three-quarters of Mr. Skeat's volume are 

 occupied with a description of the magic rites which the 

 Malay connects with the various departments of nature, 

 and with the life of man. This is not to be wondered 

 at, for it is clear at a glance that there is no event in his 

 life, however trivial and apparently unimportant, which, 

 unless properly protected by magic rites and ceremonies, 

 may give hostile devils and fiends an opportunity for 

 NO. 1598, VOL. 62] 



doing undreamed-of mischief to the wretched mortal 

 whom accident or design has left unguarded. We regret 

 that we cannot follow Mr. Skeat through his description 

 of birth-spirits and birth-ceremonies, and through the 

 whole period of a man's life from the cradle to the grave, 

 as sketched by him, for our space is exhausted, and the 

 reader can study for himself the curious Malay customs 

 which concern betrothals, marriages and deaths. Many 

 of them have their counterparts in other countries, but 

 not a few are peculiar to the Malay. As we read of 

 them we cannot help wondering how, if the pious Malay 

 fulfils all his religious obligations, he ever finds time to 

 do anything else. It is improbable in these days that 

 many men are found who are able to carry out all the 

 religious performances enumerated by Mr. Skeat, and it 

 is much to be hoped that the influence of the English 

 will drive many of them out of existence. Meanwhile a 

 good and careful record of Malay sorcery, witchcraft and 

 demonology, which is invaluable for the study of com- 

 parative religion and folklore, has been given us by Mr. 

 Skeat, and there is no doubt that he has laid anthropo- 

 logists and ethnographers and Oriental archaeologists 

 under a heavy debt of gratitude. 



THE NANSEN NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION. 



The Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893-96/ 

 Scientific Results. Edited by FridtjofNansen. Vol.i. 

 The Jurassic Fauna of Cape Flora, Franz Josef Land. 

 By J. F. Pompeckj. With a geological sketch of Cape 

 Flora and its neighbourhood by Fridtjof Nansen. 

 Pp. 147 ; with 3 plates. Fossil Plants frotn Franz 

 Josef Land. By A. G. Nathorst. Pp. 26 ; with 

 2 plates. An Account of the Birds. By R. Collett 

 and F. Nansen. (London : Longmans, Green and 

 Co., 1900.) 



THE second chapter of the first volume of the 

 " Scientific Results " of the Nansen North Polar 

 Expedition opens with a geological sketch of Cape Flora 

 and its neighbourhood by the leader of the expedition. 

 It was a wise determination, on the part of those re- 

 sponsible for the publication of the results, to issue the 

 several articles in English. The policy, too frequently 

 followed, of writing important scientific papers in the 

 language of the country where they are published, tends 

 to place serious obstacles in the way of those who en- 

 deavour to follow the researches of Continental investi- 

 gators. It is narrowness of view, rather than true 

 patriotism, that compels authors to publish their results 

 in languages which cannot be read by the great majority 

 of scientific workers. 



The geological investigation of Cape Flora, Franz Josef 

 Land, was undertaken by Dr. Reginald Koettlitz, the 

 geologist of the Jackson- Harmsworth Expedition, during 

 the years 1894-97. Dr. Nansen's residence at "Elm- 

 wood," as the guest of Mr. Jackson, during a period of 

 rather less than two months, afforded him an opportunity 

 of visiting the most important localities in company with 

 Dr. Koetthtz ; the information he collected bears testi- 

 mony to the good use which was made of this short 

 visit. Nansen has given us a clear account, accom- 

 panied by diagrammatic sketches and photographs, of 

 the geology of Cape Flora. This portion of Franz Josef 



