498 



SGIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 171. 



Plate one illustrates the venation of the 

 tegmina of species of Phoetaliotes and of Mela- 

 noplus ; the other plates, 2-26, show the ab- 

 dominal appendages of the males of all but five 

 of the species described. 



In an appendix are given (1) a list of the 

 heretofore described North American species 

 with original and present nomenclature, (2) 

 brief notes on undetermined forms, and (3) a 

 list of South American Melanopli. 



Mr. Scudder's contention (p. 187) for credit- 

 ing Melanophts spretus to Uhler can hardly be 

 accepted ; it is directly against the well-estab- 

 lished canon that a name must take its author- 

 ity from the author first defining it, and if ad- 

 mitted and generally applied would cause much 

 instability in nomenclature. 



Typographically both text and plates are 

 ■well done ; a few inaccuracies and omissions 

 may be noted : page 76, Ann. rep. chief 

 eng., the date 1877 should be 1876; page 

 267, Can. nat., and Bost. journ. nat. hist., 

 the date 1868 should be 1862 ; page 270, the 

 date of Fieber, Lotos, is given 1853 and on page 

 403 as 1854 ; page 360, the date of Serville, 

 Orth., is given 1839 and on page 404 as 1838 ; 

 page 403, Pezotettix altitiidinum and P. chenopodii 

 are omitted from the list, 1868 for Pezotettix 

 horeg,lis should be 1862, Acridium differentiale 

 Uhler should be Uhler Ms. Thomas ; page 404, 

 1879 for Pezotettix marshallii Scudder should 

 be 1876. 



Samuel Henshaw. 



Ethnological Studies among the Northwest Cen- 

 tral Queensland Aborigines. By Walter E. 

 Roth. Brisbane, Government Office. 1897. 

 With 438 Illustrations. Pp. 199. 

 Mr. Roth was for several years surgeon to 

 various hospitals in the districts south of the 

 Gulf of Carpentaria, and had excellent oppor- 

 tunities for studying the languages and customs 

 of the native blacks. The results he has con- 

 densed in the present volume. They rank 

 among the most valuable contributions ever 

 made to the ethnography of Australia, partly 

 because the writer is a trained observer and 

 careful narrator, partly because he made himself 

 acquainted with the dialects of the tribes, with- 

 out which knowledge it is vain to attempt an 



understanding of the ethnography of any people 

 whatsoever. 



One of his discoveries was that of the existence 

 of a well-defined, manual-sign language extend- 

 ing throughout the entire district of his study, 

 and indications of its presence elsewhere. Of 

 these manual signs he presents 213 with their 

 significations, some conveying simple, others 

 complex ideas. 



An excellent conspectus of the languages, 

 grammatical, lexicographic and comparative, 

 shows their structure and relationship. The 

 intricate subject of personal nomenclature, 

 consanguinity and class systems is clearly set 

 forth and shown to be not the prevention of 

 incest, as most writers have taught, but a 

 scheme to regulate the proper distribution of 

 the food supply. In this connection it may be 

 added that he also corrects the common notion 

 that the operation of introcision, practiced on 

 the males, is for the purpose of limiting procre- 

 ation. It has, in fact, no such effect. 



The aboriginal food-supply is exhaustively 

 considered. Cannibalism continues till this day 

 in the outlying districts, and death from the 

 most repulsive diseases does not prevent the 

 corpse being eaten. Much information is added 

 on implements, utensils, personal ornaments 

 and trade or barter. Among these the various 

 forms of the boomerang are described and 

 figured. Of the message sticks Dr. Roth says 

 positively that the designs upon them convey no 

 significance and are intended merely to distin- 

 guish them from the sticks belonging to others. 



The lines of barter are widely extended 

 through Australia ; their course is marked by 

 certain signs and signal posts, easily caught by 

 the native eye, and in spite of the constant wars 

 a comparatively active commerce exists. One 

 of the most interesting articles of barter is that 

 of songs and dances (corrobborees). These are 

 taught for pay (blankets, food, etc.) by one 

 tribe to another. A tribe often sends picked 

 men long distances to learn them, and, what is 

 singular, the songs are frequently in a language 

 wholly remote and unintelligible to the tribe 

 buying them, but they are learned by rote and 

 repeated with surprising accuracy (as the ig- 

 norant priest does his Latin liturgy). 



The last chapter is entitled ' Ethno-pornog- 



