August 1, 1899.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



m 



bear comparison with the Cavemen and Eskimo. The 

 Bush race had probably at one time a much wider distribu- 

 tion throughout Africa and overflowed into Madagascar, 

 where evidence of a dwarf population has been recorded by 

 le Clerc, though whether or no they are the same stock as 

 the other Negrillos found further north is stUl an open 

 question. 



Necessarily giving way before the more powerfiJ Bantu 

 races on the north, and harassed by the English and 

 Dutch colonists from the south, they are fast going the 

 way of all the weaker races in the struggle for existence. 

 Their near neighbours, the Hottentots, though differing 

 from the Bushmen in respect of height, are generally 

 supposed to be a mixture of the Bush and Bantu races. 



The recent exploration of Africa has done much to lift 

 the veU of mystery surrounding the legendary dwarfs who 

 dwell near the head waters of the Nile. Sohweinfurth 

 obtained one of these Akkas, as they are called, from the 

 King of the Monbuttu, but lost him by death on his way 

 to Berber, The Italian traveller, Miani, succeeded in 

 bringing home to Italy two Akka boys, whom he obtained 

 by barter. These little fellows were made much of, and 

 finally became pages in the service of the Count Miniscalchi 

 Erizzo. Similarly, Wissman, Stanley, and Emin Pasha, 

 all refer to the same or allied races, and the latter ex^ 

 plorer sent to the British Museum the skeletons of a male 

 and female, which have been carefully described by Sir 

 W. H. Flower. The result of the measurements of one 

 of these skeletons was that the height of the female was 

 determined at a little over 4 feet (1 metre 21 centimetres). 

 The other skeleton, the male, was not sufficiently com- 

 plete from which to form an accurate estimate. On the 

 whole, however, we may assume the average height of the 

 males as 1 metre 40 centimetres (4 feet 7 inches), that of 

 the females as 1 metre 30 centimetres (4 feet 3 inches). 

 They are therefore a smaller race than the Andamanese. 

 In respect of hair they are frizzy, and not tufted as the 

 Bushman, and Emin describes them as covered all over 

 the body by " a thick stiff hair, almost like felt." Their 

 colour is lighter than most negroes, and their features 

 display the negroid characters in marked degree — viz., pro- 

 nounced prognathism, or projection of the jaws, together 

 with full everted lips, in this respect contrasting with the 

 Andamanese. In one point only do they differ in marked 

 degree from the negro, that is in the form of the head, 

 which is rounder and more spherical. 



From what has been said regarding these dwarf races it 

 will be apparent that though at present they survive only 

 in the most inaccessible parts of the continents throughout 

 which they are scattered, and are slowly succumbing to 

 the influence of their more sturdy neighbours, none the 

 less they are interesting as displaying a permanency of 

 type, which is independent of climatic conditions, for we 

 find the tall and short races dwelling side by side or in 

 immediate proximity to each other, and it is for this 

 reason that whilst an average may express the mean of 

 the sum of the heights of the population of a country, 

 it often conceals the fact that that population is made up 

 of many individuals of tall stature intermingled with 

 a certain proportion of people of smaller proportions. 

 Apropos of this. Dr. Brinton remarks that " Since the 

 intermingUng of two races does not produce a third race, 

 it is not likely that any of the existing races arose from a 

 fusion of two others. The result of observation shows 

 that after two or three generations the tendency in mixed 

 breeds is to recur to one or other of the original stock, not 

 to establish a different variety." It is for this reason then 

 that we would lay special stress on a more detailed study 

 of the heights of different populations, for just as we have 



seen that colour, hair, and bodily proportion are all oi 

 service in enabling us to trace the strain, so it would 

 appear that height also is of service in assisting us to 

 trace the influence of a parent stock. As yet we have not 

 referred to the question of cranial form, the consideration 

 of which must be discussed in future articles. 



THE KARKINOKOSM, OR WORLD OF 

 CRUSTACEA.-X. 



By the Rev. Thomas R. E. Stebbing, m.a., f.r.s., f.l.s., 

 F.Z.S., Author of " A History of Crustacea," " The 

 Naturalist of Cumbrae," " Report on the Amphipoda 

 collected by H.M.S. 'Challenger,'" etc. 



WEAPONS AND WILES. 



AMONG the pictures of the year is one entitled 

 " Wonders of the Shore." A delightful young 

 lady, who has apparently been skirt-dancing, 

 barefoot and alone, on the cool wet sands, is 

 struck with astonishment at the sight of a 

 Common Shore Crab {Carcinm maenas). Had she 

 ventured to touch it with her naked toes, it might 

 have added a new and truly impromptu figure to her 

 dance. It is valiant exceedingly — far more vahant than 

 polite. But it is not so much a wonder of the sea-shore 

 as one of its commonest objects. At the beginning of this 

 century vast numbers of this species were sold in London 

 to the poor, who in those simple days esteemed them a 

 great delicacy. At present, in England, for gastronomic 

 purposes, there can scarcely be said to be more than one 

 crab. Other crabs may be eaten, one alone is the 

 " Eatable Crab." Thousands of persons consume it, in a 

 heartless sort of way, without caring to know that its 

 proper name is Caneer pacfurus. Occasionally they dis- 

 cover, without being carcinologists, that when alive it can 

 inflict a painful pinch with the nipper of its mighty claw. 

 There is, indeed, an old opinion that in proportion to its 

 size this familiar crustacean is the strongest of all animals. 

 Such a superiority might be difficult to estabhsh if any 

 obstinate person asked for the guarantee of calculation 

 and experiment, tabulating the energy of mice and midges, 

 crabs and crocodiles, in the common terms of horse- 

 power or foot-pounds. Herbst genially endeavours to 

 make the thing probable, not by these tedious methods, 

 but by adducing the testimony of two reputable eye- 

 witnesses, Minasi and Randazzo. The former had the 

 good luck to see one of these crabs fight a stubborn battle 

 with a black snake, without ever letting itself be caught 

 in the coils or engulphed in the maw of the reptile. On 

 the contrary, it so pinched and tore it that the snake, all 

 flecked with gore and grievously abashed, now alarmed for 

 its own safety, made way for its adversary to retire. 

 Whereupon the crab, though still in fighting attitude, as 

 much as to say " Come on if you dare," moved sideways to 

 the water's edge, not folding its warrior arms till it sank 

 into the sea. Randazzo, on his own estate, saw a like 

 combat between a crab and a viper. Here, too, the 

 venomous animal got the worst of it, finding its fangs of 

 no avail upon its antagonist's carapace. In this instance, 

 however, the cunning crustacean from time to time 

 strengthened itself by eating marjoram, which grew on 

 the field of battle, and then with heightened courage 

 returned to the encounter with its proud (but less wily) 

 opponent. In days of old sweet marjoram was a recognised 

 remedy for drooping spirits and various other ailments. A 

 modem crab no doubt takes other tonics, though it is 

 surprising that its indisputable bravery should need 

 them. 



