December 28, 1905] 



NA TURE 



grams above the English mean; while " P's brain- 

 weight is essentially mediocre." By the use of these 

 formula; the brain-weight can be predicted in the 

 living with a probable error of 50 grams. " Nothing 

 better can probably be achieved by introducing further 

 external characters, or by considering regression as 

 curved instead of plane." 



Looking widely at the labours of the biometricians 

 on human brain-weights, they appear to the writer, 

 who views them as an anatomist rather than a mathe- 

 matician, to have accomplished three things : — They 

 have fixed accurately the mean brain-weights for five 

 subraces of Europeans, and shown that mean brain- 

 weight is a racial character ; they have estimated by 

 a definite standard the degree to which the brain 

 varies in size and weight according to the individual, 

 the sex, and the race; they have worked out the 

 extent to which various features of the head .mil 

 body are correlated with the weight of brain, and 

 expressed them in definite and permanent terms. 

 Thev have laid a sound foundation for future 

 statistical work on this subject, and yet, even at the 

 risk of appearing ungracious, it is the writer's opinion 

 that the full explanation of the relationship which 

 >\Mn between intelligence, brain-weight, and other 

 characters is more likely to be discovered by those 

 who investigate the individual than by those who 

 studv the mass. 



THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF BORNEO.' 



y\ T lTHOUT making any pretence to being scien- 



"* tific, this plain and unvarnished, but emin- 



entlv readable, narrative of a lady's experiences 



among the natives of some of the more remote 



yday Life among the 



districts of the interior of Borneo contains a large 

 amount of interesting information with regard to the 

 customs and mode of life of both Dyaks and the less 



1 "' Everyday Life among the Head-hunters ; and other Experiences from 

 East to West." By Dorothy Cator. Pp. xiv + 212 ; illustrated. (London: 

 Longmans, Green and Co., 1905.) Price 5 j. net. 



well known Muruts. Mrs. Cator, it appears, accom- 

 panied her husband on his official trips into the interior 

 of that wonderful island, and during these underwent 

 experiences and faced difficulties such as few ladies 



Fig. 2.— Head-hur 



; Chief and his wife with the bamboo w 

 om "Everyday Life among the Head- 



NO. 1887, VOL. 73] 



would care to repeat, and which afford incontestable 

 testimony as to her pluck and resolution. Among 

 these experiences it will suffice to refer to the account 

 of her sleeping with her husband in a large shed in 

 company with a long row of savage head-hunters who 

 had never before beheld a white woman, or, for that 

 matter, a white man. 



It is, indeed, the portion dealing with the Muruts, 

 or head-hunters, of the interior that forms by far the 

 most interesting section of Mrs. Cator's volume, and 

 the one which will appeal most strongly to ethno- 

 logists. The Muruts, according to the author, are a 

 dark race compared to other races of the interior, 

 and have certain customs peculiar to themselves, the 

 preparation of a specially deadly form of the celebrated 

 upas poison being one of their attributes. Although 

 the Dyaks, except where under strict European con- 

 trol, are enthusiastic head-hunters, they preserve only 

 the scalp and hair of their victims, scalp after scalp 

 being added to their krisses with great pride. The 

 Muruts, on the other hand, carry off and preserve the 

 whole head as a proof of their prowess, their houses 

 being frequently decorated with these ghastly trophies, 

 which the author saw on more than one occasion 

 suspended above her sleeping-place. " But there is 

 nothing revolting in their head-hunting," writes Mrs. 

 Cator; "they fight fairly. It is their chance of 

 winning renown and showing what they are made of. 

 The only low part of it is that a woman's head, owing 

 to her longer hair, is prized even higher than that 

 of a man; but the whole thing is a thrilling game to 

 them, full of excitement and danger. There is 

 nothing unfair in their warfare ; both sides are doing 

 the same, and man after man wins his spurs in feats 

 of pluck and daring." 



Despite the truculent character of their head-hunting 



