2 58 



NAJURE 



\yan. 17, 1884 



" 2. It will afford early indication of any departure from 

 health, and will thus draw attention to conditions which, 

 if neglected, may lead to permanent disorder. Without 

 such a record, the early signs of disease, which are com- 

 monly slight and gradual, are very likely to pass unrecog- 

 nised, and thus the opportunity will be lost of seeking 

 advice at the time when preventive or curative measures 

 can be most successfully taken. 



"3. A trustworthy record of past illnesses will enable 

 your medical attendants to treat you more intelligently 

 and successfully than they otherwise could, for it will give 

 them a more complete knowledge of your 'constitution ' 

 than could be obtained in any other way. This know- 

 ledge is so important that life itself may in many illnesses 

 depend upon it. 



" 4. The record will further be of great value to your 

 family and descendants ; for mental and physical charac- 

 teristics, as well as liabilities to disease, are all transmitted 

 more or less by parents to their children, and are shared 

 by members of the same family. ' The world is beginning 

 to percei\-e that the life of each individual is in some real 

 sense a prolongation of those of his ancestry. His cha- 

 racter, his vigour, and his disease, are principally theirs. 

 . . . The life-histories of our relatives are, therefore, 

 more instructive to us than those of strangers ; they are 

 especially able to forewarn and to encourage us, for they 

 are prophetic of our own futures.' — (Fortnightly Revieiu, 

 January, 1S82, p. 31)." 



We have now said enough to show the general character 

 of these original publications. We ought to add, however, 

 that they may be purchased separately, and therefore, 

 notwithstanding the prizes offered for the best Records 

 of Family Faculties, we think it probable that the " Life- 

 History Albums" will have the better sale. They are 

 ine.vpensive to buy, and, apart from the trouble of writing 

 iliem up at intervals, require for their keeping no other 

 kind of expenditure. George J. Romanes 



SI AM 

 Temples and Elephants : The Narrative of a yourney 

 through Upper Stain and Lao. By Carl Bock. 

 (London : Sampson Low, Marston, and Co., 1884.) 



THE expedition undertaken by Mr. Bock in 1881-82 

 to the Indo-Chinese mainland was practically a 

 continuation of his previous rambUngs in the Eastern 

 .Archipelago, a graphic account of which he has given us 

 in his " Head-Hunters of Borneo." Of both the main 

 object appears to have been rather archaeological and 

 ethnographical than strictly scientific, and of both the 

 incidents and results have also been somewhat analogous. 

 In each case some hitherto unvisited tracts were explored, 

 or at least traversed, each was marked by a striking 

 absence of any stirring adventures " by flood or field," 

 both yielded, besides some additions to our geographical 

 and ethnological knowledge of the regions in question, a 

 considerable amount of " curios and treasure-trove " ; but 

 the cjuest of the "tailed people" proved as bootless in 

 Further India as it had in Borneo. 



In other respects "Temples and Elephants," although 

 far less profusely illustrated, compares not unfavourably 

 with "The Head-Hunters." It is uniformly written in 

 surprisingly good English, and it gives us for the first 

 time a tolerably clear account of the region of the water- 

 p.irting between the head waters of the Menam'and the 

 Middle Mekong basins, and indeed of the whole course 

 of the Menam almost from its source to the Gulf of Siam. 



The source itself was not actually reached, but it was 

 ascertained with some certainty to lie altogether within 

 Lao territory, or about 20' N., 99° E., and not further 

 north in the Shan States, as shown on all recent maps, 

 even that accompanying vol. viii. of Reclus' " G^ographie 

 Universelle." By taking boat at the now ruined city of 

 Fang, and sailing down the Me-Fang and Me-Kok, the 

 Mekong was reached just below Kiang-sen, where, a 

 thousand miles from its mouth, it was found to be still a 

 magnificent stream " twice as wide as the Menam at 

 Bangkok." This was the furthest point reached, and on 

 the return route the narrow but rugged water-parting was 

 crossed by a pass 2000 feet high leading down to the 

 Meping, as the Upper Menam is here called Hence- 

 forth the rest of the journey was made entirely by water, 

 proving that for small craft the Menam is navigable 

 almost from its source to its mouth. Even the dangerous 

 rapids near Mutka, above the Lao and Siamese frontier, 

 were successfully run by the ingeniously constructed 

 boats specially adapted for navigating this section of the 

 great Siamese artery. 



All the chief towns in this basin were visited, and 

 a very full account is given of such important but 

 almost unknown places, as Raiieng (Rahein), Lakhon, 

 Lampoon (Labong), Cheng-raai (Kiang-mai), Muang-Pau 

 (Prau), and Kiang-hai), all except Raheng lying within 

 the western Lao domain. Raheng, the northernmost 

 town in Siam proper, appears to be the centre of a very 

 considerable trade with the surrounding lands, and some 

 strong arguments are urged in favour of the projected 

 railway between that place and the capital. Such a line 

 would present no engineering difficulties, running as it 

 would through an almost perfectly level country ; it might 

 be cheaply constructed by Chinese coolie labour, avail- 

 able on the spot ; it would run through the most densely 

 peopled districts in Siam, and would at once open up 

 a vastly productive region, whose almost boundless re- 

 sources are now lying waste. 



" The agricultural resources of the district of which it 

 [Raheng] is the centre and natural outlet are extremely 

 rich. Its timber alone is sufScient to insure prosperity : 

 but it has further sources of wealth in the varied indi- 

 genous products of the country, and still more in the 

 entirely undeveloped resources of its fertile soil. All that 

 it wants is a railway to carry the products of the country 

 at all seasons and without delay to the markets of the 

 world, and to enable it to receive the large imports which 

 an increasing population would at once necessitate " 



(P- 137)- 



But most readers will probably turn most eagerly to 

 the chapters devoted to the habits and customs of the 

 Karians (Karens), Mussus (Mossos), Ngiou (Shans), and 

 especially of the Laosians (Laotians, Laos), whose politi- 

 cal and social institutions, domestic life, religion, arts, and 

 daily pursuits are here very fully described. The remarks 

 on all these subjects will be found both interesting and 

 valuable to the ethnologist, because mainly the result of 

 personal studies made on the spot by a shrewd and expe- 

 rienced observer. Mr. Bock speaks of the Laos as of a 

 finer type, fairer, and better-looking not only than the 

 Malays but even than the kindred and more civilised 

 Siamese. They are described as of superior physique, 

 lighter complexion, with good, high foreheads, more 



