244 



NA TURE 



[January 15, 190^ 



deer, their increase being explained by the total absence 

 of lions from the island. 



The earliest inhabitants of the country migrated, it 

 would seem, from the south-west of Scotland into Ulster. 

 According to the author, the fact that the skulls of these 

 early inhabitants are often rather larger than those of the 

 average of the masses inhabiting the great cities of the 

 present day is explained by the intelligence needed for 

 defence and for the procuring of food. 



"Indeed, on the principle of the survival of the fittest, 

 it could only be the robust who lived through the hard- 

 ships and climatic exposure incidental to a savage life." 



The author, in his summary, admits the theory of 

 evolution, though under the direction of the Great First 

 Cause. 



Even as late as the time of the Spanish Armada, the 

 inhabitants of Ireland were described as follows by 

 Captain Cuella, who escaped from one of the wrecks off 

 the Irish coast : — 



"They live in huts made of straw. The men have 

 big bodies, their features and limbs are well made 

 and they are as agile as deer. They eat but one 

 meal a day, and their ordinary food is oaten bread and 

 butter. They drink sour milk, as they have no other 

 beverage, but no water, although it is the best in the 

 world. They dress in tight breeches and goatskin jackets, 

 cut short, but very big, and wear their hair down to their 

 eyes." 



It is not surprising that such a race should entertain 

 the curious ideas so abundantly described in the author's 

 pages. 



Nowhere in Ireland has discovery as yet been made of 

 any Paktolithic art like the extraordinary and life-like 

 incised sketches of men and animals made by the cave- 

 men of Gaul. No representations of human or animal 

 forms seem to have been made prior to the introduction 

 of Christianity. Even then, they were of an arabesque 

 character and subsidiary to the scroll work in which they 

 were entwined. Nor does iron appear to have been 

 introduced into Ireland until the fourth century, A.D. 



It is difficult to fix the point where real Irish history 

 commences. An interesting map of Ireland according 

 to Ptolemaic geography is reproduced on p. 230. There 

 is said to have been no Roman colonisation, though 

 Roman objects were, of course, imported. An illustration 

 is given (p. 237) of a Roman medicine stamp of smooth 

 grey slate found in the county Tipperary. It was probably 

 used to stamp a "patent medicine" made and sold by 

 the Romano-Hibernian dealer whose name it bears. 



In the chapter which deals with stone worship, there 

 seems to be so little, so far as Megalithic remains are 

 concerned, which can be illustrated from Ireland that the 

 chief example has to be drawn from Carnac, in Brittany. 

 One circle of stones, indeed, is introduced, named the 

 Druids' circle, near Killiney, which consists of seven small 

 stones and two uprights large enough to be called giants. 

 There are no data, however, given from which the age 

 of the work, as in some of the Megalithic circles in 

 Great Britain, could be investigated, and there is only 

 one instance, and that a doubtful one, of anything 

 of the nature of the alignments in Brittany which can 

 also to some extent be interpreted astronomically ; but 

 there are numerous and very curious examples of per- 

 NO. 1733, VOL. 67] 



forated stones which have been employed even in com- 

 paratively recent times for passing children through in 

 hopes of curing them from various disorders. These 

 holes, in some instances, are large enough to allow grown- 

 up people to creep through them, though generally with 

 difficulty. Sometimes the holes were only large enough 

 to admit the arm, or even the thumb and fingers, to 

 be passed through them. Marriage contracts, it is said, 

 are still ratified in this way, country couples signifying 

 betrothal by clasping hands through the hole. Such 

 practices, it is shown, were not confined to Ireland, but 

 the evidences seem to be very greatly multiplied in that 

 country. The history is given of the Stone of Destiny, as 

 it was called, which is now placed under the Coronation 

 Chair in Westminster Abbey. This supposed magic 

 stone, which roared like a lion when a legitimate king 

 stood upon it, was, it is alleged, sent to Scotland in the 

 ninth century in order to secure the then dynasty on the 

 throne. It was preserved with great care at Scone, in 

 Perthshire, until 1296, when it was carried off by 

 Edward I. of England. 



Lovers of folklore will find in this book abundant 

 illustrations of that subject, and among them many 

 examples of prehistoric practices surviving into recent 

 and even modern times. 



MIGRA TOR Y LOCUSTS. 

 Die Wanderheuschrecken und Hire Bekiimpfung in 



unseren afrikanischen Kolonieen. Von Dr. L. Sander. 



Pp. 544. (Berlin : Reimer, 1902.) Price 9 marks. 

 A FRICA has always been exposed to the ravages of 

 i- *■ migratory locusts, the fringe of cultivation on the 

 borders of extensive deserts or wildernesses being pecu- 

 liarly favourable tp their attacks ; and this applies more 

 especially to the north and south of the continent. Dr. 

 Sander's volume is a carefully compiled account of their 

 ravages in the German colonies of Africa during the last 

 ten or twelve years, for though travellers and missionaries 

 have left us accounts of earlier invasions, yet the first 

 disastrous appearance of locusts in East Africa since the 

 German occupation was in the years 1S94 and 1895, 

 when a serious famine was the result. A graphic 

 account is given by a native of Pangani, from which we 

 may extract and condense a few sentences : — 



" In December there came vast swarms, so that the 

 heavens were covered by them, as if with black 

 clouds. The locusts have devoured everything in the 

 country, especially lentils, peas and bananas. We are 

 in a sad state here, for they have devoured the whole 

 harvest, and it will take years to repair the damage. 

 First we must dig over the whole country, for the locusts 

 have devoured everything, root and branch. Second, we 

 must buy fresh seed, and that will cost much money. 

 Third, we must buy our food from the traders for the 

 present, for we have nothing left to live upon. The 

 locusts have been here in vast swarms since November 

 and December, and have not yet retired. We have the 

 black and yellow ones here, and red ones too. Our 

 largest landowners and sugar manufacturers have re- 

 moved to Pangani because their plantations lie wasted. 

 Each of these gentlemen has hundreds of workmen to 

 provide for. For the present, there is no thought of the 

 retreat of the creatures. I tell you that when a swarm 

 comes, we can often scarcely see the sun. The locusts 



