TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 163 



wild, cold, uninhabited mountains, constant!)' covered by clouds, there has been no 

 system in cutting, nor any study made to ascertain how long a spot should be left at 

 rest before undertaking new cuttings. It is known that the roots produce a great 

 many shoots after a tree is cut down, and that these require about fifty years to be- 

 come of a middling size. Young trees are also found growing from seeds. The 

 nature of the soil seems to determine the qualities of the alkalies contained in the 

 bark, quinine being most abundant in Pitayo, and cinchonine in Almaguer. But 

 rocky mountains and ravines are the spots where nature has placed this vegetable 

 species. The author is not aware that any bark trees have been found on the western 

 Cordillera, which separates the valley of Cauca from the Pacific coast, which ridge 

 never attains the elevation of perpetual snow in those latitudes. It only remains to 

 state, that the price of good sound Pitayo bark, which had gone down in London to 

 Is. 8d. per pound, is now as high as 2s. 6d., and some very inferior lots have been 

 sold at 3s. The Almaguer sort, which was entirely neglected two years ago, is now 

 accepted by manufacturers at from Is. to Is. \d. per pound. No mention is made 

 of the Bolivian bark, the most esteemed in commerce, as the author is not personally 

 acquainted with that trade. 



On Alphabets, and especially the English ; and on a Neiv Method of Mark- 

 ing the Sound of English Words, without change of Orthography. By the 

 Rev. Professor Jarrett, MA. 



On the Origin of the Arts, and the Influence of Race in their Development. 



By It. Knox. 



A brief Account of the Progress of the Works of the Isthmus of Suez Canal. 



By D. A. Lange. 



On the Jaczioings, a Population of the Thirteenth Century, on the Frontiers 

 of Prussia and Lithuania. By R. G. Latham, M.D., F.R.S. 



In the middle of the thirteenth century, the Jaczwings were a powerful nation, 

 between the Vistula, the Niemen, and the Upper Dnieper. At the present moment, 

 a small population, called by the neighbouring Lithuanians Jodwezhai, and distin- 

 guished by a dark complexion and certain peculiarities of dress and manners, is the 

 chief representative of the name. A few localities— (1) Jatvis Pol=Jaczving Land, 

 (2) Jatvis Stara=Old Jatvis, (3) Jatvis Nova= New Jatvis, (4) MogiM-Jadzhvin- 

 gowski=Jaczving Graves, and (5, 6, 7) three villages named Jatvesk, complete the 

 fragments. The name, having come to us through Latin, Polish, German, Bohemian, 

 and Russian mediums, is hardly twice spelt alike, e. g. we have Jazuingi, Jasaingi, 

 Jacuingi, Jacwingi, Jaczwingi, Jatwingi in the German and Polish ; Jatvyagi, Jatviazhi, 

 Jatviezie, &c, in the Russian. To these add Getwezeu, Getuinzette, and even Getce. 

 In speculating upon the ethnological affinities and the former extension of these 

 tribes, in the direction of both the Gothini and the Gothones of the classical writers, 

 this multiplicity of variations must be borne in mind. In respect to the immediate 

 affinities of the nation at the particular time under notice, the evidence is very decided 

 to their being members of the same family, and to their speaking the same language 

 with the Prussians (i. e. the occupants of East Prussia before the German Conquest), 

 the Lithuanians, the Samogitians, and the Letts. Their locality supports these 

 statements, as do the few words which have come to us from their language. Whe- 

 ther they were equally Lithuanic in blood, is another question. The few, but im- 

 portant details of their history derive their interest (as do those of the Lithuanic 

 family altogether) from the peculiar character of the great religious contest which 

 they represent. With the Greek Christianity of Russia on the east, and the Papal 

 influences on the west, Lithuania and Finland were not only the last strongholds of 

 Paganism, but were acted upon as such in two directions. The resistance, however, 

 of the Lithuanians was most obstinate ; and the most obstinate of the Lithuanians 

 were the Jaczwings. Their annihilation, too, was most complete. In 1264, a 

 great battle broke their power. In the fifteenth century not even the name of the 



11* 



