248 



NA TURE 



[January ii, 1894 



in drawing the two lenses apart. We may, I think, prophesy 

 that these two functions will secure the organ against disappear- 

 ance. W. E. H. 



Allow me, as a wearer of the m odern style double eye-glass, 

 to point out to Prof. Marcus Hartog that the knob on the distal 

 frame owes its survival to its utility. Though no longer of 

 service as a lock on a folder, it yet serves to lay hold of when 

 drawing the frames asunder to put on the nose. It is one of the 

 drawbacks of the modern eye-glass that it takes both hands to 

 fix or remove. C. MosTYN. 



National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, S.W., January 4. 



FRESH LIGHT ON THE AINU> 



MR, A. H. SAVAGE LANDOR, grandson of the 

 poet; and himself a talented artist, recently made a 

 remarkable journey round the island of Yezo, and up 



many of its large rivers, repeating Captain Blakiston's 

 route in 1869 so far as regards the north-east and west 

 coasts, but supplementing that traveller's journey along 

 the whole east coast and in the interior. He travelled 

 alone, with practically no equipment except for 

 painting ; and during five months he lived almost 

 exclusively with the Ainu, even sharing their food. 

 He visited in this way nearly every native village 

 in Yezo, and estimates the total number of pure- 

 bred Ainu now on the island at about 8000, while 



' "Alone with the Hairy Ainu ; or, 3800 Miles on a Pack Saddle in Yezo, 

 and a Cruise to the Kurile Islands." By A. H. Savage Landor. (London ; 

 John Murray, 1893.) 



NO. I 263, VOL. 49] 



the Japanese estimate of the whole Ainu population, in- 

 cluding half-breeds, is from 15,000 to 17,000. Mr. 

 Landor gives a lively and straightforward account of his 

 journey, illustrated by numerous portraits, pieces of 

 landscape, and drawings of houses and implements, 

 which is replete with incidental information as to the 

 ways of the primitive people and the minor adventures 

 of the road. No European has previously covered so 

 much ground in Yezo, and we are surprised at the 

 modest size of the volume in which so many fresh observ- 

 ations are recorded for the first time. The geographical 

 results of the journey were communicated, shortly after 

 his return, to the Royal Geographical Society, and pub- 

 lished, with a map of the island (reproduced, with some 

 additions, in this volume), in the last part of the Society's 

 " Supplementary Papers." We are not aware that the 

 anthropological data have yet been submitted to 

 specialists, but we feel confident that they will assist 

 notably in forwarding our knowledge of the difficult 

 problems of Ainu ethnology. The 

 author as an artist has a keen and dis- 

 criminating eye for form and colour, so 

 that his observations carry much more 

 weight than the chance remarks of 

 most non-scientific travellers. It seems 

 a pity that some of the portraits are not 

 reproduced in colour, and we trust that 

 an effort will be made to secure for 

 anthropological collections some of the 

 original pictures, which we understand 

 are still in Mr. Landor's possession. 



In the course of the narrative a 

 chapter is inserted on the Koro-pok- 

 kuru, or early pit-dwellers, the sup- 

 posed aborigines of Yezo ; ten chapters 

 at the end are devoted to Ainu archi- 

 tecture, art, and graves, Ainu heads 

 and their physiognomy, movements and 

 attitudes, clothes, ornaments and tattoo- 

 ing, music, poetry and dancing, 

 heredity, crosses, psychological observ- 

 ations, physiological observations, 

 pulse-beat and respiration, odour of 

 the Ainu, the five senses, superstitions,, 

 morals, laws and punishments, marital 

 relations and the causes that limit 

 population. 



These and an appendix giving mea- 

 surements of the Ainu body constitute 

 a definite addition to science, which 

 loses but little of its value through being 

 expressed in popular language. Indeed,, 

 it is a matter of some importance that 

 such facts should be disseminated by 

 a book which, altogether apart from 

 its intrinsic value, will be widely read 

 on account of its fascinating human 

 interest. 



The illustrations which we reproduce 



are extremely characteristic portraits, 



showing admirably the hairy character 



of the men, and the well-known fashion of tattooing 



a moustache on the women. 



The average measurements of ten pure Ainu (five men 

 and five women) of Frishikobets, on the upper Tokachi 

 river, were as follows : — Height, 62^ inches for men, 

 58f- inches for women ; length from tip to tip of fingers 

 with arms outstretched, 65 ^^ inches for men, 61] inches 

 for women; chest measurement, 37 jV for men, 34-5- for 

 women. The pure Ainu physiognomy is described as 

 follows :— " When seen full-face the forehead is narrow 

 and sharply sloped backward, the cheek-bones are pro- 

 minent, and the nose is hooked, slightly flattened, and 

 broad, with wide, strong nostrils. The mouth is generally 



