January 26, 1899] 



NA TURE 



293 



sometimes evoked to drown their enemies. In these 

 legends there are ogres and ogresses, who meet with 

 summary justice — some being destroyed by their own 

 means of destruction ; human folk climb into the sky as 

 a place of refuge, others are carried there and become 

 stars, some are turned to stone, others see through their 

 noses ; their dream spirits get stolen, and one gentle- 

 man, to prevent its leaving him, sleeps on his stomach, 

 so that it should not escape from his mouth ; there are 

 even underground passages and a moral story, a frag- 

 ment, of the flies and the bees, which reminds us of the 

 ant and the grasshopper. Poetical justice, too, is not 

 wanting, and in the plan by which Deereeree frightened 

 the widow into marrying him there is a touch of humour. 

 Full of feeling are many of the stories. When the 

 wicked magpie stole the children, " their crying reached 

 the ears of the women as they were returning to their 

 camp. Quickly they came at a sound which is not good 

 in a mother's ears." The legend of Sturt's Desert Pea, 

 the Flower of Blood of the old tribes {Clianthus 

 Dainpiai), which, when once seen in its rich clusters is 

 never forgotten, is worth reproducing. 



Wimbakobolo, a warrior, falls in love with Purleemil, 

 who is otherwise betrothed to the hated Tirlta, and the two 

 take refuge with a friendly tribe. Before the winter had 

 gone a son was born to them, and such a fine little fellow 

 was he that " the tribe laughingly called him ' the little 

 chief,' and brought him offerings of toy boomerangs, 

 tbrowing-sticks, and such things until the eyes of his 

 mother shone with pride, and the father already began 

 to make him weapons, to be used one day against the 

 enemies of the tribe who had sheltered them. And 

 Purleemil sang new songs, which she said the spirits 

 taught her, about her little son, whom she said was to 

 live for ever, the most beautiful on the plains of the back 

 country. Purleemil would sing her songs, and her baby 

 would crow and laugh, and the father would say little, 

 but bear so proud a look on his face as he glanced, 

 from his carving of weapons with an opossum's tooth, 

 from time to time at his wife and child, that all would 

 smile to see his happy pride, and their hearts were glad 

 that the elders had not given up Purleemil to be the 

 bride of Tirlta." Then the mother, fearing trouble to 

 themselves and ' little chief,' says : " Dark would our lives 

 be without him ; he is the sun that brightens our days ; 

 without him dark as a grave would they be for ever." 

 But the trouble does come. .\ night attack is followed 

 by a general massacre. Little chief and his parents are 

 slain, and from their blood arise masses of brilliant red 

 flowers spreading over all. Tirlta revisits the spot to 

 gloat over the slain, and is dazed by the sight before 

 him. Suddenly from the sky a spear transfi.\es him, and 

 a voice says : " Cowardly murderer of women and 

 children ; how dare you set foot on the spot made sacred 

 for ever by the blood that you spilt, the blood of the 

 little chief, his mother and father, which flowed in one 

 stream and blossomed as you see it now, for no man can 

 kill blood, for more than the life of the flesh is in blood. 

 Their blood shall live for ever, making beautiful with its 

 blazing brightness the bare plains, where are the salt 

 lakes, the dried tears of the spirits whose songs Purleemil 

 sang so sweetly, the salt tears which they shed when 

 you, and such as you, poured out the life blood of their 

 NO. 1526, VOL. 59] 



loved tribe." So Tirlta was transfixed and turned to 

 stone, but the beautiful red flower lives for ever. 



When once it is known that such pretty legends are 

 to be gathered from amongst the Australian natives, 

 there is little doubt but that other friendly squatters and 

 otificials will attempt to follow in Mrs. Parker's footsteps. 

 In the meanwhile her two little volumes will certainly 

 run into further editions ; and such being the case, we 

 would point out that there are several printer's errors, 

 and that the glossary, excellent as it is, requires further 

 additions. It is doubtful whether an average English 

 reader will know what is meant by a "paddymelon" or 

 a "humpy" — regarding the former word in the story of 

 Mayamah, the printer has placed a comma between paddy 

 and melon 1 The book is illustrated by some curious 

 sketches made by an untaught local aborigine, supplied 

 by Dr. W. H. Lang of Corowa, about three hundred 

 and sixty miles distant from the Narran. May we ask, 

 did this native ever see any European illustrations before 

 he took to book illustration ? Mr. Andrew Lang sup- 

 plies a preface to each of the two books, in his usual 

 happy strain. H. LiNG RoTH. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Five Windows of the Soul ; or. Thoughts on 



Perceiving. By E. H. Aitken. Pp. viii -1- 257. 



(London : John Murray, 1898.) 

 Readers of former books by "EH.A." will turn with 

 a sense of pleased anticipation to a new work from his 

 pen. They know that they may expect to find a fresh 

 and unconventional setting-forth of various matters of 

 scientific interest, expressed in terse and vigorous English, 

 illuminated by flashes of genuine humour, and accom- 

 panied by such comments on the relation of natural 

 phenomena to the ordinary facts of life as suggest them- 

 selves to the shrewd intellect of a well-read philosopher 

 and cultivated man of the world. Nor will the present 

 work belie expectation. It is a popular treatise on the 

 five senses — popular in the best acceptation of the word 

 — for it is at once amusing without flippancy, instructive 

 without dulness, and accurate without pedantry. The 

 author has taken evident pains to gather the best 

 and latest information on the subject of the organs of 

 sense ; and although it might be possible in a spirit of 

 hypercriticism to point out certain errors and deficiencies, 

 he has in the main succeeded so well that his work 

 ought to mark a distinct epoch in the history of general 

 comprehension and appreciation of the subject. In 

 dealing with the various trains of thought sug- 

 gested to him by the scientific facts in question, and 

 involving problems of the greatest interest in a;sthetics 

 and ethics, he reaches and maintains a high level of 

 literary and philosophical excellence. We should like to 

 commend the whole book, and especially the fourth 

 chapter, to the attention of certain puritan fanatics. 



One piece of criticism we must allow ourselves. Mr. 

 Aitken, it is true, could hardly be expected to have made 

 himself acquainted, in time for the production of his book, 

 with the recent striking interpretation of the gradual 

 paling of colour on the under parts of animals. But in 

 some other respects his treatment of the subject of 

 colour is not thoroughly satisfactory, and on p. 219 he 

 seems to steer dangerously close to the "photographic" 

 heresy. Slight blemishes such as these do not, how- 

 ever, detract seriously from the value of a work which 

 represents the honest and successful endeavour of one 

 who is not a professed scientific worker to " see life 

 steadily and see it whole " in its relation to the entire 

 domain of natural knowledge. F. A. D. 



