TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 907 



an expression of nature-worship and ancestor-worship in combination. The 

 ancestral character of the totem accoimts for the association with it of the idea of 

 protection, whicli is based on the existence of a fraternal relationship between the 

 totem and all the individuals belonging to a particular group of kin. The totem as 

 a badge, device, or symbol thus represents the group of individuals, dead or alive,, 

 towards whom a man stands in a fraternal relation, and the protection of whom he 

 is therefore entitled to, so long as he performs all the obligations on his part which 

 flow from the existence of that relationship. 



4. Observations on Mr. Fetrie's Ethnological Casts from Egypt. 

 By Dr. Isaac Taylor. 



5. Certain Degenerations of Design in Papuan Art. 

 By S. J. HiCKSON. 



I. On a prau figure-head is a design which, although considerably modified,. 

 can readily be recognised as a design of the human figure: the long crimpled 

 hair of the Papuan, two tufts of which are coloured red, in imitation of the red 

 mud with which the Papuans complete their coifl'ure ; the eyes, nose, and mouth of 

 the face are clearly indicated, but the rest of the body is degenerated into a mere 

 conventional sign. 



On the prau side-boards and figure-heads from Merkhuis Island are similar 

 designs, but the modification by degeneration has proceeded further, the features 

 of the face by the appearance of an ornament in the middle of the forehead being- 

 considerably obscured. The two central tufts of hair, still coloured red, are drawn 

 out considerably, as also are the lateral black tufts. 



II. Upon the same prau figure-bead, as in I., there is a figure of an animaL 

 (probably a gecko), fairly good and complete as a work of art, but upon the same 

 is a design, evidently degenerated, of this in which all that remains unconven- 

 tionalised is the anterior pair of legs. 



Upon a house fetish in the author's possession this pair of legs appears, but th& 

 head and body of the animal is not represented even in conventional design. 



Comparing this design with several in the Leyden museum still further de- 

 generations may be noticed. 



In two cases one of the legs has completely disappeared, in another one digit 

 has disappeared, in another two, and in others the two legs become so blended that 

 one would hardly recognise them as legs at all. 



The designs are wrought by the old men or priests of the villages, and are made 

 for the pui-pose of keeping off spuits of storm, thunder, sickness, &c. 



Modifications are produced by the artist through want of time, ability, or inclina- 

 tion, and these modifications become permanent by being copied by subsequent artists, 

 and thus in some cases mere conventional signs take the place of figures of men,, 

 birds, and other animals. 



6. On the Occurrence of Stove Mortars in the Ancient (Pliocene ?) River- 

 gravels of Butte Co., California. By Sydney B. J. Skeetchly, F.0.8. 



Numerous stone objects, apparently ancient mortars, have been found during- 

 the working of auriferous gravels in California. It has been assumed that these- 

 gravels are of Pliocene age. The author recently visited the Spring Valley Gold: 

 Mine at Cherokee, Butte Co., California, where he obtained one of the mortars,, 

 which was exhibited. He concludes that the gravels may be of Glacial rather than 

 Pliocene age. Their high antiquity is proved by the fact that they are overlain 

 by a capping of lava, which has been cut through by the present rivers, and the 

 gravels themselves worn down to a depth in some cases of 2,000 feet. They were,, 

 therefore, formed before the present drainage-system of the region was established.. 



