5i8 



NATURE 



[January g, 1913 



During- the wintering of the land party in 191 1 

 the From made two complete oceanographical 

 sections in the South Atlantic about 700 miles 

 apart and comprising sixty stations between South 

 America and Africa, furnishing material of the 

 utmost value concerning the circulation of the 

 ocean. This will certainly prove to be by far the 

 most valuable result of the expedition, and will 

 be of special importance in comparison with Dr. 

 Bruce 's fine work in the Scotia. 



There is little reference to biological observa- 

 tions, the most interesting point noticed being the 

 discovery of lichens on Scott's Nunatak on King 

 Edward Land. Hi'gh Robert Mill. 



the catholicity of whose anthropological knowledge 

 appears to full advantage. He is responsible for 

 the sections on daily life, decoration of the 

 person, personal ornaments and clothing, 

 domestic utensils and tools, food and its pre- 

 paration, horticulture, hunting and fishing, 

 weapons, transport and canoes, sound-produc- 

 ing instruments, songs, dances and dance-para- 

 phernalia, games and toys, and the important 

 chapter on art. He has also edited and com- 

 pleted the section on houses, which the untimely 

 death of its author, the late Anthony Wilkin, had 

 left unfinished. A very valuable chapter on textiles 

 (baskets and mats) is contributed by Mrs 



Fig. I.— Box-mask 

 From " Repoi 



with a bonito, made in Moa, obtained in Nagir. British Museum. The fish 

 ts of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits." \'cl. iv.. 



.Arts and Craft 



(28 in.) long. 



ARTS AXD CRAFTS IN THE TORRES 

 STRAITS.^ 



^r'HE fourth volume of the Reports of the 

 -•- Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to 

 Torres Straits deals with the arts and crafts of 

 the islanders, and the labour involved in its pro- 

 duction is probably greater than that which went 

 lo the making of any other volume of this almost 

 classical series. The writing up of technological 

 data is laborious in the extreme, and, moreover, 

 requires a special knowledge in many departments 

 of human activity. Yet in spite of this the greater 

 portion of the volume is the work of Dr. Haddon, 



J ** Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres 

 Str.iits." Vol. iv., Arts and Crafts. Pp. xxiv + 393 + xl plates. (Cam- 

 bridge : University Press, igrz.) Pric 



2254, VOL. go] 



Hingston Ouiggin ; Dr. Rivers deals with 

 astronomy, Dr. Myers with music, and Mr. Ray 

 with greetings and salutations and the calendar. 

 Mr. J. Bruce contributes to the section on various 

 social customs. 



The book gives a practically complete picture 

 of the economic and artistic life of a people who 

 were hampered by several important restrictions ; 

 on the one side lack of water, ignorance of pottery 

 and the carvhng of wooden vessels, on the other 

 the want of etiicient tools and the entire absence 

 of metal. To deal with it at length is beyond the 

 scope of a short notice, and it is possible only 

 to direct attention to a few of the most interesting 

 features. 



Torres Straits has not been untouched by ex- 



