October io, 1895] 



NATURE 



58r 



ihe Congo. Cannibalism is in his experience in this region 

 almost universal, on the increase, and peculiarly inveterate. An 

 extensive traffic in human flesh prevails, and slaves as well as 

 ])risoners are kept and sold for food. lOvon corpses are disin- 

 terred in spite of charms on the graves : the flesh is always cooked 

 or smoked, but is not here eaten from any religious or super- 

 stitious motive. The practice of filing the front teeth is not 

 found to he coextensive with that of cannibalism. 



Mr. Darnell Davis derived the name "cannibal" from the 

 ("ariljs of the West Intlies, w'ho, however, are not man-eaters : 

 Mr. Klvvorthy discussed the thcor)' of cannibalism as a means to 

 acquire the properties of the thing eaten ; and Mr. Hartland the 

 survivals, in Europe, of ceremonial and sepulchral cannibalism. 



Captain Hinde also described the pigmies of Central Africa, 

 nomadic hunters, of less than four feet stature. 



.Mr. .\. Montefiore gave an account of the .Samoyads of the 

 .■\rctic Tundras. 



Reports were presented by the Committees on physical devia- 

 tions of children from the normal, and on anthropometric 

 measurements in schools. 



The antlirojiometric laboratory, which is usually organised 

 during meetings of the .Assticiation, was not this year available. 



On -Monday, Mr. Khvorthy read a paper on horns of honour, 

 dishonour, and safely. The head is the object of honour, and 

 is adorned with .symbolic attributes. Horns are symbolic of the 

 crescent-goddess ; so of divine power, protection and favour in 

 general. Conversely, to "scorn" (trench t'coriier) is to de- 

 prive of such horns and prestige. The paper gave rise to some 

 comment. Not all horns are cre.scent-.symbols ; most were 

 originally worn attached to skins : ornaments are decorative 

 first, symbolic afterwards. 



Mrs. Grove discussed the religious origin of dances, as forms 

 <if magic or worship. Weapon-dances arise from worship of 

 weapons, or of an armed deity ; ritual dances from the love of 

 dancing attributed to the deity, and as the expression of e.xalted 

 enthusia.sm ; funeral dances propitiate either death, or the de- 

 parted soul. .\s civilisation advances, the expressions of emotion 

 are restraine<l, and dances lose their meaning and popularitj'. 



The report of the I'Uhnographic Survey of the United King- 

 dom was read by Mr. Hartland, who was followed by Mr. J. 

 dray with (observations specially relating to East .Aberdeen- 

 shire, and by Dr. (larson with similar results from Suft'olk. 

 Work has also been begun in llertft)rdshire and East .\nglia (by 

 the Cambridge Sub-Committee), and is projected in Calloway, 

 and in Caithness, Elgin, and Nairn, by Dr. Walter (iregor. 



.Mr. C. C. de Hetham read a fully illustrated paper on the 

 peculiarities of the Suffolk dialect, which retains an unusual 

 number of Anglo-Saxon idioms ; and on the proverbs, traditions, 

 and folk-medicine of the district. .Mr. I.ingwood exhibited two 

 young ash-trees from Needham .Market, which had been split in 

 order to pass .sick children through the stem. 



Mr. Clodd read a paper on the objects and method of the 

 study of folk-lore, which was followed by a lantern lecture by 

 I'rof. A. C. Haddon, on the same subject, exhibiting a series of 

 persons, trees, wells, and other natural objects and prehistoric 

 monuments to which traditions are attached, and illustrating a 

 nundjer of games and ceremonies, in which ]")rimitive beliefs and 

 practices are perpetuated. 



On Tuesday a formal discussion took place an the results of 

 interference with the civilisation of native races. The .subject 

 was briefly introduced !>)■ the I'resitlent, and ]ia]>ers were con- 

 tributed by Lord Stanmore. I'rof. .\. C. Haddon (New Cuinea), j 

 Dr. Cust (India), Dr. H. (). Eorbes (Dutch East Indies), 

 Messrs. E. ImThurniand Darnell Davis (British (luiana). Ling 

 Koth (Tasmania and ,\ustralia), and Raynbird (Central India). 

 The course of the debate was summed uj) by the President as 

 follows. The ]>rinciple of government should be to protect the 

 natives M»ainst their own weakness, the evil influences of debt, 

 and the loss of their land. Rigorous impartiality may be tlic 

 greatest injustice to the natives, and it is only by dealing with 

 them from their <own sense of justice that inflttence can be 

 obtained. Native customs should not be unnece.s.sarily interfered 

 with, and then only with carefvd attention to the native point of 

 view. Laws of morality difi'er in various countries, and what is 

 "right" here is " wrong" there. Changes of detail should be 

 left to the change of native opiniim, rather than be enforced by 

 law. It is, lor instance, as cruel and disastrous to dress a native 

 of a jungle in our light, ill-ventilated clothes, ;is to expose an 

 European naked in a tropical climate. With regard to educa- 

 tion, opinions seem to (lifter ; the completely savage brain can- 



NO. 1354, VOL. 52] 



not acquire our ways of thought suddenly without excessive 

 strain and enfeeblement ; but native races differ very widely in 

 receptivity and imilativeness. What is aijove all things necessary 

 is that sympathy of fellow-feeling which at imce places one man 

 on an easy and equal footing with another, and which .savage 

 races are very quick to perceive and reciprocate. 



Rev. Ilartwell Jones followed with a phihjlogical contribu- 

 tion to the history of primitive warfare in Creece and Italy. 



Dr. (lar.son described a skull found in Thames Valley gravel, 

 which contains pakvolithic implements, and claimed it as 

 palivolithic on morphological grounds ; supported by Mr. 

 Stopes. Sir John Evans, Prof. Boyd Dawkins, and .Mr. Myres 

 disputed the attribution. 



.\ large collection was exhibited of phot(5graphs illustrative of 

 the .Andamanese and their civilisation, sent by Mr. Maurice 

 I'ortman. 



On Wednesday, Dr. Munro gave a fully illustrated 

 lantern lecture on the newly discovered Neolithic settlement at 

 Butmir in Bosnia. Flint and jasper weapons were manufactured 

 in great variety on the spot, while polished hammers and axes 

 were brought from a distance ; and black pottery, with elaborate 

 incised angular ornaments, was extensively made. A principal 

 feature in the site is the occurrence of irregular depressions in 

 the basal clay below the debris. Continental observers con- 

 sidered these to be the floors of huts ; but Signor I'igorini and 

 Dr. Munro found traces of piles, and argued that the houses 

 were pile-dwellings, and that the hollows were made to obtain 

 clay for wattle-work and pottery. .Sir John I-'vans svqjported the 

 pile-dwelling theory, and suggested that dredging might explain 

 the irregularity of the hollows. 



Mr. A. J. Evans described a series of primitive European 

 idols, with diagrams and exhibits. Beginning with the marble 

 images of the Creek archipelago, he sketched the area over 

 which kindred figures occur, in Italy, Sicily, .Spain, Liguria : 

 and thence into Central Europe and the shores of the Baltic, and 

 even as far as Orkney. The Oriental origin of these figures, 

 formerly maintained, is now strongly contested ; they probably 

 testify to an indigenous practice of burying at first actual, and 

 subsequently substituted attendants with deceased persons. Prof. 

 I'etrie compared the Maltese seated figures with those of the 

 "New Race" in Egypt. 



Dr. Munro presented a further report on the Lake \'illage of 

 Glastonbury. .Amongst the relics found were examples of 

 pottery which were, undoubtedly, highly ornamented specimens 

 of late Celtic art. Other articles unearthed must have been 

 imjiorted two or three centuries l)efore the Roman occupation. 

 Prof. IJoyd Dawkins regarfled the evidence as conclusive that the 

 Lake X'illage of Glastonbury might be dated from 200 H.c. to the 

 time (">f the Roman occupation. 



Mr. Theodore Bent contributed a jjaper on the natives ot 

 Southern .\rabia. 



The Section was closed w ith a hearty vote of thanks to the 

 President. 



MECHANICS AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



CECTU^N G, which is devoted to mechanical science, had an 

 *^ unusually heavy programme at the late Ipswich meeting ; 

 indeed it was rather too heavy for the majority of members, for 

 often the proceedings were carried on before a very scanty 

 audience. It is a question whether, in this Section at any rate, 

 a good (leal of judicious w-eeding could not l>e done. Of course 

 it is understood that " mechanical science " shall be translated 

 as engineering in general — and that is a very good thing, as 

 otherw ise many good papers on what is generally known as "civil 

 engineering " would be shut out from the Association altogether — ■ 

 but with a most benevolent desire to give all branches of a]>plie(l 

 science a hearing, one cannot helji thinking it would be an 

 advantage to every one cimcerned — especially the .authors — if 

 some proffered contributions were returned with thanks. The 

 fact is, an exercise of the selective faculty, and perhaps a little 

 more callousness to the demands made l)y the sensitiveness of 

 authors, would do much towards rendering the jiroceedings in 

 Section G more bearable than they have been for some time 

 past . 



There was, however, a good deal that was interesting -and 

 distinctly valuable in the proceedings of the Section at this year's 

 meeting. The pity w:is that it should have been often wasted 



