126 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[June 1, 1900. 



the perforated bottom, and the thousands of fry which 

 can be seen feeding form a pretty sight. The large 

 pieces left in the feeder are given to the adults. 



The fish are sent all over the country in specially 

 designed cans, externally not unlike milk cans. In the 

 packing room the fish are placed temporarily in tanks, 

 sorted as to size and age, and then put into the travel- 

 ling cans which are three parts filled with water. The 

 cans have false tops, which form receptacles for ice. 

 The jolting of the train or vehicle keeps the water 

 splashing against the perforated bottom of the false lid 

 filled with ice, which effectually cools and oxygenates 

 it. The fish are not fed for some time before starting 

 on a journey, so as to prevent them fouling the water, 

 and they evidently do not mind shaking, as " in some 

 cases fish have been carried miles over rough and track- 

 less mountains in carriers specially made, which are 

 fitted with wooden handles, by means of which two 

 men can carry each over the roughest ground, hauling 

 them up the face of the steep rocks and floating them 

 across streams. Where mountain ponies can be used we 

 can send carriers that can be slung jsannier fashion 

 across their backs. "^ 



Large fish on arriving at their destination are dipped 

 in salt water before turning out into their new abode 

 This immersion in salt water seems to be the great cure 

 for the dreaded fungus (Saprolcgnia ferax) and the 

 various parasites fish are so subject to. The yearling 

 stage seems to be the most satisfactory for stocking 

 waters, though fry have turned, out extremely well, 

 too, and, of course, are very much cheaper. 



I must not bring this article to a close without men- 

 tioning the ponds of various beautiful aquatic plants. 

 Some plants and fish seem to have formed a kind of 

 mutual benefit society, the former " consuming carbon 

 and returning oxygen,' and the latter " consuming 

 oxygen and returning carbon." Of course certain 

 species of plants are more beneficial than others; for 

 instance, some, besides producing oxygen, form perfect 

 strongholds, or colonies of the much-to-be desired mem- 

 bers of the crastacca and niollusca that suit, and indeed 

 are so necessary ti. the fish. 



Interesting experiments in acclimatization are carried 

 out on aquatic plants from all parts of the world; 

 Japan and India supplying their quota. Besides those 

 plants that are grown from a strictly utilitarian point 

 of view are others that, if not of much use as food 

 producers, are at all events harmless to fish and culti- 

 vated for their magnificent foliage and beautiful 

 flowers. 



THE EVOLUTION OF SIMPLE SOCIETIES. 



By Professor Alfued C. Haddon, m.a., sc.d., f.r.s. 

 III.— THE PASTORAL SOCIETIES. 



In my last ai'ticle I dealt with the Kalkas, as illustrating 

 a simple and homogeneous human society. I now pro- 

 pose to take a general survey of three main types of the 

 pastoral mode of existence. In doing so I follow in the 

 steps of M. E. Demolins (" La Science Sociale," XV., 

 p. 173, etc.). The selected types arc the following: — 



1. The type of the Steppes. 



2. The type of the Tundra,s. 

 ■3. The type of the Deserts. 



These three groups agree in the intense development 

 of the family community, and the absence of 



IT The Company's Catalogue. 



higher social organisations, but they differ in the or- 

 ganisation and extent of the community of the family. 



In the Steppes the family community attains its 

 highest degree of purity and intensity. We have al- 

 ready seen how the steppes produce abundant grass on 

 which large flocks can be supported, and how the family 

 communities find in the pastoral life sufficiently complete 

 resources. They are not obliged to have recourse to 

 accsssory industries, being so self-contained the com- 

 munitary influences of the pastoral art are scarcely 

 influenced from the outside. Nowhere do communities 

 attain a higher degree of independence, nowhere is 

 paternal authority so powerful or uncontested. The 

 father is in very deed magistrate, priest, and king. 



Ill the Tundrna a marked weakening of the family 

 community is observable. Here grass is scaixe and of 

 poor quality, and its place in the far north is taken by 

 the lichen known as " reindeer moss." The herders of 

 reindeer in this inhospitable circumpolar region, the 

 Lapps of Norway, the Samoyads of Siberia, and the 

 Eskimo of North America ai-c well known, and of these 

 the Samoyad is the least changed. Life cannot be main- 

 tained, as fuither south, by the pastoral art alone, and 

 so recourse must be had to fishing and hunting. The 

 reindeer are well broken in and trained, and have 

 reached a high excellence as draught beasts. The sledge, 

 too, is perfectly adapted to the physical difficulties pre- 

 sented by the tundra. The reindeer is a veritable " staff 

 of life " ; its skin makes the tent, and constitutes the 

 chief material for clothing. Its body is the main food 

 for the Samoyad, and its hide and sinews are made 

 into harness, cordage, and thread. It is the only 

 animal which is fitted to draw burdens across the tundra, 

 a cjuaking bog in summer, a howling frozen plain in 

 winter. J n the latter season the Samoyad hunts, attacks 

 and snares the white bear, brown bear, sable, fox, lynx 

 and other fur-bearing animals ; in summer he catches 

 enormous numbers of birds, geese, swans, duck, etc. 

 Parties of Samoyads bring furs to the markets across the 

 tundra, before the melting of the snow makes it impos- 

 sible for liim to take heavy loads across the tundra; 

 those who remain behind complete the season's harvest; 

 these are rejoined by the trading pai-ties before the 

 rivers burst free from ice, and the whole country bo- 

 comes an impassable swamp. But the two occupations 

 of fishing and hunting, which require agility and 

 strength, tend to augment the importance of the young 

 to the decrease of the influence of the old, that is to say, 

 of the natural chiefs of the community. 



In the tropical dexerts of North Africa and Western 

 Asia the pastoral art is insufficient to support the 

 populatioa. The insufficiency in this case is due to 

 extreme heat and drought, which only admit of sparse 

 and poor grass. Hence the camel is the dominant 

 animal in that zone where this social tvpe is most 

 characteristic. 



It is necessary tio have recourse to supplementary re- 

 sources. These resources are indicated by each particular 

 locality; but the main features are similar, since these 

 deserts lie between the tropics with their rich pro- 

 ductions, and the southern temperate region, with a 

 population enriched by cultivation. The pastor of the 

 desert will go to one or other confine to procure the 

 necessai-y supplement to his means of subsistence, which 

 he exchanges for various fabrics for which his flock 

 furnishes the raw material, and wliich are manufactured 

 by his family. This mode of life was early developed 

 into an organised system of trade, thus the pati'iarch of 

 the desert naturally becomes the leader of a caravan, 



