410 
WAT ORE 
4a a 
LSept. 3, 1885 
Following the section on the ethnology of the Anda- 
manese we have an excellent description of their form 
and size, forty-eight males and forty-one females having 
been most carefully weighed and measured, with the 
result that the average height of the men is 4 feet 103 
inches and of the women 4 feet 7} inches, and the re- 
spective average weights 98} lbs. and 93} lbs. To give 
an idea of the thoroughness with which the author has 
dealt with his subject, under the heading “ Anatomy and 
Physiology,” we have a series of five sets of observations 
on the temperature and rate per minute of respiration 
and of the pulse on five subjects ranging in age from 
seventeen to twenty-two years. Descriptions of the 
pathology, medicine, physiognomy, physical powers and 
senses, psychology and morals, magic and witchcraft, of 
the tribal distribution, topography, arithmetical faculties, 
and of their habitations, government, laws, crimes, &c., 
complete the first part. 
With respect to diseases it appears that palmonary 
consumption and other pectoral complaints are or were 
the chief causes of mortality among these people; to 
these have unfortunately now to be added that “terrible 
scourge ” which has spread over the greater part of Great 
Andaman, and which, as in Australia, unless successfully 
dealt with, threatens, as Mr. Man informs us, “the early 
extermination of the race.” 
The morals of the Andamanese in their primitive state 
appear to be of a distinctly high standard, as will appear 
from the following extracts :— 
“Much mutual affection is displayed in their social 
relations, and, in their dealings with strangers, the same 
characteristic is observable when once a good under- 
standing has been established . . . every care and con- 
sideration are paid by all classes to the very young, the 
weak, the aged, and the helpless, and these, being made 
special objects of interest and attention, invariably fare 
better in regard to the comforts and necessaries of daily 
life than any of the otherwise more fortunate members of 
the community. Andatanese children are reproved for 
being impudent and forward . . . they are early taught 
to be generous and self-denying . . . the duties of show- 
ing respect and hospitality to friends and visitors being 
impressed upon them from their early years,” &c. With 
regard to their modesty Mr. Man states that the esteem 
in which this virtue is held, “and the self-respect which 
characterises their intercourse with each other may even 
be said to compare favourably with that existing in 
certain ranks among civilised races.” It is much to be 
regretted that the so-called “civilisation” with which 
these people have been brought into contact should have 
led to the moral deterioration which the author with 
scientific candour does not scruple to disclose. It is 
perhaps hardly necessary to add that the stories concern- 
ing the prevalence of cannibalism among these tribes have 
been completely disproved both with respect to the 
present time and to former periods of their history. 
In the second part of his interesting monograph the 
author treats of the language, relationships, names, in- 
itiatory ceremonies, marriage, death and burial, super- 
stitions, religious beliefs, demonology and mythology. In 
the third part we have an account of the social relations 
of the Andamanese, their mode of life, games and amuse- 
ments, and a description of their weapons, manufactures, 
&c. Want of space forbids anything more than a mere 
mention of the ground covered by these sections, but it 
will suffice to say that they are characterised by the 
thoroughness which is such a valuable feature of Mr. 
Man’s work. The few slight defects which we have 
noticed are on matters of quite minor importance, such, 
for instance, as the statement in the introduction, that 
“the water in the harbour of Port Blair has been found 
to be remarkable for its high density, as is evidenced by 
the rapid oxidation of iron immersed in it;” in its present 
form this reads rather like a case of om sequitur. 
It remains only to add that in the fourteen appendices 
we have a mass of most valuable information on various 
subjects connected with these islands and their inhabit- 
ants: most of these appendices are philological ; one is 
devoted to a list of the native trees, and another to a list 
of the shells. 
The Report on the language of the South Andaman 
Islanders is reprinted from the 7vazsactions of the Philo- 
logical Society, before which body it was delivered by its 
author, Mr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S.,as his retiring presidential 
address in 1882. The volume is illustrated by a good 
series of typical photographs of the natives and five plates 
of weapons, ornaments, &c., and a map of the islands 
forming a frontispiece. 
In concluding this notice we must not omit to mention 
that Mr. Man’s mode of treatment is based upon the 
instructions drawn up by Col. Lane-Fox (now General 
Pitt-Rivers) on behalf of a Committee of the British 
Association, and published among the Reports for 1873. 
This Report was afterwards issued in an expanded form 
as a Manual of Anthropological Notes and Queries, and 
the work now under consideration may be regarded as 
one of the most important practical results of the labours 
of the Committee referred to. We believe that Mr. Man 
is at present engaged in a similar study of the inhabitants 
of the neighbouring Nicobar Islands, one of which— 
Camorta—was selected as a station by the Eclipse Expe- 
dition of 1875. We shall look forward with much interest 
to the continuation of the author’s labours in this new 
field. R. M. 
COMMERCIAL ORGANIC ANALYSIS 
Vol. I. By Alfred H. 
(London: J. and A. Churchill, 
Commercial Organic Analysis. 
Allens ii, 176. ib: Gis: 
1885.) 
OTWITHSTANDING the fact that enormous 
numbers of text-books on chemical subjects have 
been appearing during recent years, a few comprehensive 
works on the subject of commercial analysis have been 
long and greatly needed. When it is considered how 
every day commerce has been availing itself more and 
more of the powers of scrutiny and control afforded by 
chemical analysis, this delay may appear remarkable. 
But the truth is that to produce such a work very excep- 
tional qualifications and a very unusual degree of experi- 
ence are necessary. A work on commercial analysis 
must be thoroughly practical if it is to be useful, and 
prescribe methods of analysis only which experience has 
proved to be accurate and serviceable. Analysts as a 
rule have their specialities—these specialities often being 
determined by local industries—and long experience fre- 
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