March 1, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



69 



muscle, and the arms and legs are as much like black 

 sticks as human limbs. No such ceremony a.s marriage 

 exists among these people, who live together like the 

 brute creation." AYith the opening-up of the Wynad 

 as a coffee-growing district, the condition of the Nilgiri 

 Kurumbas, who arc employed as labourers, has consider- 

 ably improved, and therefore the above picture is of all 

 the more value. But, with their dark skins and broad 

 noses, they are still a low-grade people; and as such 

 to be distinguished from the light-skinned, aquiline- 

 nosed Ura Kurubas of Mysore. 



Of an equally low grade with the Nilgiri Kurumbas 

 are the Ka<lii-s of tlie Anamalai Hills, and the range 

 extending thence into Travancore. They are especially 

 characterized by their comparatively short bodily 

 stature, the very dark colour of the skin, the breadth 

 and flatness of the nose, and the somewhat thickened 

 and protruding lips. In spite, however, of these dis- 

 tinctly Negro-like features, the Kadirs display their 

 affinity with the Caucasian stock in their curly, as 

 opposed to woolly, hair, as well as by the absence of 

 decidedly projecting jaws. A Kadir may also be re- 

 cognized at the first glance by reason of the curious 

 custom of chipping the front teeth, which is universally 

 practised by the members of both sexes. 



Nearly allied to the Kurumbas are the Kulas of the 

 Nilgiris; indeed, so closely do the members of these 

 two tribes resemble each other that the managers of 

 coffee estates are unable to state definitely how they 

 distinguish between them. Leaving then the Kiilas 

 with this bare mention, we pass on to the distinctly 

 higher Badagas (Northerners) of the Nilgiris, of whom 

 there were twenty-nine thousand odd in the last census, 

 against a little over twenty-four thousand in the 

 previous enumeration. As the Todas are the pastoral, 

 and the Kotas the artizan population of the Nilgiris, 

 so the Badagas are the agriculturists of the region. 

 They live in large villages, generally situated on some 

 low hillock, and comprising rows of well-built and well- 

 roofed houses, surrounded by fields of millet and other 

 grain. They are also well dressed, and as their religion 

 and other customs are of the Hindu type, they scarcely 

 come under the designation of wild tribes, and may 

 accordingly be dismissed without further mention. 



Passing into Ceylon we find, however, a tribe of 

 thoroughly wild people in the Veddas, who are de- 

 cidedly lower in their physical characters than any of 

 the Indian Dravidians, and whose customs certainly do 

 not give them claim to any higher position. In stature 

 the Veddas' are unusually small, the height of the men 

 averaging only five feet two inches, and of the women 

 not more than four feet ten inches. Although the 

 exact shade varies somewhat on different parts of the 

 person of the men, the general colour of the skin is 

 dark brown. In person the Veddas are strongly built, 

 but they show distinct evidence of a low grade in the 

 exce.ssive relative length of the limbs, long arms being 

 a distinctly ape-like character. The foot, too, is remark- 

 able for its flatness, having scarcely any well defined 

 instep. The hair, which is unkempt, and uncombed, 

 varies considerably in length in different individuals, 

 reaching, in some instances, to below the shoulder, but 

 in others being considerably shorter; it may be either 

 nearly straight or waved, but is never of the woolly 

 or frizzly type characteristic of Negroes. Still it must 

 be remembered that this feature is not absolutely 

 decisive of non-relationship with Negroes, as it occurs 

 in the Australians. And the broad " squab " noses, 

 and large pouting lips of the Veddas show, as in our 



illustrations, a tendency towards the Negro type. Very 

 char.act.eristic of the men is the development of the 

 beard into a stubbly chin tuft-, the mouslache being also 

 short .and bristly. 



Armed with bows and arrows and adzes, the Veddas 

 wander in their native forests in a st.ate of almost or 

 complete nudity. They are rapidly diminishing in 

 numbers, and before long are only too likely to disap- 

 pear for ever. For their customs, the reader must 

 refer to the exhaustive work by Drs. P. and F. Sar.i.sin, 

 to whom I am indebted for the photographs of these 

 extremely primitive and interesting people. 



iitifvosropw. 



By JiiiiN H. CoiiKi:, r.i,.s., F.ri.s. 



f'ollections of material kept in damp places, or in a moist 

 atmosphere, are very liable to mould, and under snch conditions 

 it is ditJicult to avoid this evil. (!arl)olic acid is reconiinended, 

 but J\[r. .\slimead, who has kejit a larye collection in the moist 

 climate of Florida, has found the use of napthaline much more 

 satisfactory. Mr. II. H. Smith, who has had more extensive 

 experience in the tropics, prefers the carbolic acid. Mouldy 

 specimens may be cleaned by washing,' with carbolic acid applied 

 with a fine camel's hair brush. 



Asphalt, dissolved in spirits of turpentine, is one of the best 

 mediums for sealing cells, and, provided that no tr.aces of the 

 mounting medium are left on the edges of the cells before 

 applying the solution, the cement will keep unchanged for years. 



The projiagation and growth of diatoms are influenced to a 

 marked extent by meteorological conditions. They increase 

 most rapidly during those seasons of the year when the water is 

 in circulation thioughout the vertical currents. The vertical 

 currents keep the diatoms near the surface, where the light 

 stimulates their growth, and where there is an abundance of air 

 and food. 



The forms of microscopic crystals may bo accurately repro- 

 duced on glass by etching with fluoric acid. Interesting and 

 beautiful effects may be obtained by crystallizing various salts 

 in a thin layer on a glass slip which has been well warmed to 

 prevent tl e cryst.als from dissolving, and then exposing the 

 glass to the action of the vapour of fluoric acid for three to five 

 minutes. 



Many Aphides and Coccids are covered with a waxy secretion 

 which interferes very materially with their easy examination. 

 To remove this waxy secretion jilace the insect on a piece of 

 ])latinum foil and pass it once over the flame of the alcohol 

 lani]). The wax melts at a surprisingly low temperature, and 

 leaves the insect perfectly clean for study. 'J'liis method is 

 particularly useful in the removal of the waxy cocoon of the 

 pupiB of male Coi-i-iJir, and is quicker and more thorough than 

 the use of any of the chemical wax solvents which have been 

 suggested. 



Oil-immeri'ion objectives require much care in use. A small 

 quantity only of the fluid should be employed, and then wiped 

 oft as soon as |)03Pible when finished with. The removal of the 

 pre])aied cedar oil, which is generally u.sed, should bo effected 

 with blotting paper, and the lens cleaned by first breathing on 

 it and afterwards wiping lightly with a piece of clean, soft linen. 

 To keep the immersion fluid unchanged it ought not to be 

 ex])0sed to the air for any length of time, as free access of air 

 results in thickening and consequent alteration of the refractive 

 index. 



A kind of combin,ation telescope and microscope has been 

 worked out by a French microscojjist for studying live insects 

 and their habits. The new apparatus is called the " tolemicro- 

 scope,'' and is really a small telescope having an objective 

 formed of two achromatic lenses, which can bo moved nearer 

 together or separated by sliding the tubes. For the purpo.se 

 intended, the magnifying power necessary is only llj to 15 

 diameters. Besides serving for watching insects moving on the 

 ground, the instrument, it is stated, is admirably adapted for 

 use as a field glass. 



