5'6 



NATURE 



[September 24, 1908 



famous as the food of the bees of Hyniettus ; associated 

 with it are Poteriiim spinosiiiii, Gciiisia acantlwclada, and 

 riilotnis fruticosa. 



Is the September issue of Man Prof. J. G. Frazer dis- 

 cusses three remarkable statues of kings of Dahome now 

 deposited in the Trocadero Museum. The figures are 

 symbolical, each king being represented in the guise of an 

 animal. Thus, Guezo, who reigned from 1818-58, and was 

 known as " the cock," is represented by a man covered 

 with feathers; Guelele (1858-89), "the lion," as a lion 

 rampant ; Behanzin, his successor, who w'as finally deposed 

 by the French, known as " the shark," appears as a dog- 

 fish graced with the arms and supported by human legs. 

 The " feathers " which once covered the statue of Guezo 

 are nothing but metal plates, nails, gimlets, and scraps 

 of old iron. Prof. Frazer observes that the existence of 

 these statues seems to prove that certain kings of Dahome 

 habitually posed as certain fierce animals or as birds. 

 They possibly intended by this means to serve some magical 

 purpose. At any rate, they cannot be totems hereditary 

 in the male line, since they differed in three successive 

 generations traced from father to son. 



Mr. a. L. Kroeber, in the second Bulletin of the eighth 

 volume of the reports on American archaeology and ethno- 

 logy issued by the University of California, publishes an 

 elaborate memoir on the Cahuilla Indian tribe which 

 occupies the southern part of the province. The primitive 

 culture of this people has in a great measure disappeared, 

 but Mr. Kroeber has been able to collect a number of 

 interesting exhibits which throw light upon their social 

 and religious culture. This is not of a uniform type, being 

 largely conditioned by the varied environment to which 

 they are exposed. Baslcetry in the form of domestic 

 appliances, mortars, caps, granaries, water jugs, and the 

 like, is, as is usual among the neighbouring tribes, 

 ingenious and artistic. The few examples of pottery dis- 

 covered, though of an inferior class, are interesting as 

 specimens of an art which has now practically disappeared ; 

 in fact, so little has been found that it was at one time 

 supposed that the art of manufacture was unknown to 

 these Indian tribes. Bows and arrows, flutes, and digging- 

 sticks are some of their manufactures in wood. Most of 

 the ceremonial objects connected with their pagan rites 

 have disappeared since their adoption of Christianity, and 

 the same is the case with their ceremonies, the most 

 important of which were an annual tribal mourning for 

 the dead, a puberty rite for girls, and an initiation ritual 

 for youths, at which the jimson-weed was infused and 

 drunk as a mode of producing religious ecstasy. The 

 numerous illustrations appended to the report clearly illus- 

 trate the culture of this rapidly disappearing people. 



The Mitchelstown caves, described by Dr. C. A. Hill in 

 a paper before the Geographical Section of the recent 

 British ."Vssociation meeting, have since been completely 

 explored and surveyed. These caves are of great interest, 

 not only from the fact that they are the largest in the 

 British Isles, but also on account of their historical associa- 

 tions. The earliest plan is that of Dr. Apjohn, in 1833, 

 and a later one was published by M. Martel in 1893. 

 Many new passages have now been discovered, and it is 

 hoped that the new plan, together with a description, will 

 be published shortly. The work of survey and explora- 

 tion was carried out by Mr. H. Brodrick, Drs. C. A. 

 Hill and A. Rule, of Liverpool, and Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger, 

 of Dublin. 



NO. 2030, VOL. 78] 



The current issue of the Transactions of the Geological 

 Society of -South Africa, covering the period from January 

 to June, affords evidence of the admirable work that is 

 being done in the scientific investigation of South African 

 mineral deposits. Mr. H. Merensky describes the rocks 

 belonging to the area of the Bushveld granite complex, in 

 which tin may be expected. The descriptions of the 

 deposits actually found show that the local conditions 

 correspond in all essential points with those in other parts 

 of the world. Mr. E. P. Mennel! describes the occurrence 

 of diamonds at Somabula and Bembezi, in Rhodesia. Mr. 

 R. B. Young records the occurrence of yellow and red 

 ochre in the Potchefstroom district, Transvaal. The 

 occurrence is of interest commercially, and also on account 

 of the clear indications that it is the result of the extreme 

 decomposition of an igneous rock. Mr. A. L. Hall and 

 Mr. W. A. Humphrey describe the occurrence of chromite 

 deposits along the southern and eastern margins of the 

 Bushveld plutonic complex. The ore occurs in veins in 

 norites, hypersthenites, enstatite rocks, and olivine-bearing 

 serpentines. The occurrence of platinum in some of the 

 chromite deposits is of great interest in view of the close 

 general resemblance to the conditions under which 

 platinum is found in situ in the Ural, and suggests the 

 possibility of finding alluvial platinum in South Africa. 

 This number of the Transactions also contains important 

 papers on contact metamorphism in the Pretoria series 

 of the Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg district by Mr. A. L. 

 Hall, on contemporaneous igneous rocks in the Pretoria 

 series by Mr. A. L. Hall, and on the stratigraphy of 

 Zwartkop by Mr. G. S. Corstorphine and Mr. E. Jorissen. 



From the Department of the Interior, Manila, we have 

 received an attractive pamphlet of thirty-nine quarto pages, 

 with six plates and two maps, issued by Mr. Warren D. 

 Smith, chief of the division of geology and mines. It 

 deals with the mineral resources of the Philippine Islands, 

 and contains the first annual statement of mineral pro- 

 duction. The production in 1907 consisted of 4540 ounces 

 of gold, 83 ounces of silver, 436 tons of iron, and 4545 tons 

 of coal. Although the figures are insignificant, the record 

 is a valuable one as indicating the progress that has been 

 made in placing the mining industry on a satisfactory 

 basis. Many difficulties are encountered. Natural features 

 of the country are sometimes insurmountable, and the 

 labour question is a serious one. The history of the dis- 

 trict of Benguet shows, however, that a sure and profit- 

 able mining industry can be built up in the islands. 

 Appended to the report are memoirs on the geology of 

 north-western Mindanao, on mining prospects on the 

 Zamboanga peninsula, on the characteristics of Philippine 

 ores, and on the characteristics of Philippine coals. Most 

 of the coals are useful for steaming purposes, and for the 

 production of power the utilisation of the outcrop coal for 

 producer-gas seems extremely promising. 



In view of the centenary of James Nasmyth's birth, 

 the date of which was August 19, 1808, a review of his 

 engineering work is published in the Engineer of Sep- 

 tember 18. Nasmyth invented the steam hammer in 1S39, 

 and applied the steam hammer to pile-driving in 1845. 

 The details given of numerous other new ideas he pre- 

 sented to the world clearly show to what a large extent 

 engineers are indebted to him. 



The new edition of the French pharmacopoeia (the 

 " Codex Medicamentarius "), which has been recently 

 issued, differs materially from the edition immediately pre- 

 ceding it, which appeared in 18S4. The alterations are 



