TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS, 153 



Germans, Norwegians, and Swiss (as Las been remarked by Mr. H. F. Chorley, the 

 eminent musical critic) were in a minor key. " Joyousness," continued the author, 

 " is a plant that does not flourish in the bleak north. It flowers and blossoms 

 perennially in the south, because there the air is balmy and soft. There the sides 

 are always bright, and beneath man's feet the earth is fruitful though untilled. 

 There Nature uses her children kindly, and even ' prepares for them a table in the 

 wilderness.' " The author remarked incidentally that not music only, but the other 

 arts of expression (architecture, sculpture, and the mythologiesof the north of Europe) 

 were imbued by the same melancholy spirit. He concluded by a few observa- 

 tions on the character of ancient Roman, modern Anglican, and dissenting Church 

 music. 



The Manx of the Isle of Man. Bij Richard King, M.B., F.E.S. 



The habitat of the Manx is the Isle of Man, and is situated in St. George's 

 Chaimel, at nearly an equal distance from the shores of England, Ireland, and 

 Scotland. It is remarkable that so near home we should know so little of the 

 Manx. 



The manufactures of the island, with which the Manx have little or nothing to 

 do, are inconsiderable ; but the principal source of its wealth, due to the Manx, is the 

 Herring-fishery, which brings in a return of upwards of £60,000 per annum. 

 More than 600 Manx boats are engaged in the Herring-, Cod-, and Ling-fisheries, 

 einploying 3800 men and boys, and 3600 square yards of netting. 



The Manx are robust, frank, hospitable, and enterprising, and, in common with 

 all the Celtic races, excessively superstitious. The language of the Manx is one of 

 the six Celtic dialects which philologists have shown to belong to the class of 

 Indo-European languages, and which are divided into high and low, the high being 

 the Welsh, Cornish, and Ai-morican, the low being the Erse division, or the Gaelic, 

 Irish, and Manx. As a spoken language the Manx is not unlikely to die out in 

 another generation, being rarely used in conversation except amongst the pea- 

 santry. In most of the parish churches tweny-tive years ago it was used three 

 Sundays out of four, but it is now entirely discontinued. 



The insular banks issue one pound and five poimd notes. These notes are se- 

 cured by guarantees on land deposited in the Roll's Office. The currency of the 

 Isle of Man is now assimilated to that of England. The copper coinage has im- 

 pressed on the reverse the arms of the island — three armed legs and the motto 

 " Quocunque jeceris stabit." This device, which was the ancient symbol of Tri- 

 nacria or Sicily, according to some authors, was introduced into the' island by the 

 Normans, according to others by Alexander the Third, King of Scotland ; still it 

 is a question whether the Manx did not originate the ancient symbol of three legs. 



The zoology of the Isle of Man hardly if at all diflers from that of the sur- 

 rounding countries. The animal which attracts the attention of zoologists is the 

 Manx Cat, the Stubbin or Ruinpy, a tailless variety of the common Cat, Felis 

 catus. Traditiou asserts that the species was introduced at the time of the de- 

 struction of the Spanish Armada. According to Train, the Manx Rimipy resem- 

 bles somewhat in appearance the cats said by Sir Stamford Raffles to be peculiar to 

 the Malayan archipelago. They are best seen in a wild state, when the caudal 

 vertebraB are entirely wanting ; but by admixture with the common cat they are 

 found with tails of all lengths. Tailless poultry are also common on the isle. The 

 probability is, therefore, that the tailless cat and tailless poultiy are peculiar to 

 the Isle of Man. 



On the Builders of the Megalithic Monuments in Britain. 

 By Dr. A. S. Lewis. 

 The aul:hor di\dded the inhabitants of Britain into three groups — the Kyniric, 

 long-headed, dark-haired, and light-eyed ; the Iberian, dark-eyed and dark-haired; 

 and the Teutonic, round-headed, light-haired, and light-eyed. He controverted 

 the idea that the Iberians were the original race, and that they were exclusively 

 the builders of the megalithic monuments which were found all over Britain ; while 

 the Iberians were found in much smaller numbers in the north than in the south of 



