190 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 



ried: tatlooing being, with the female sex, one of the 

 privileges of matrimony. 



No communal practices appear to have attracted 

 the author's attention; but the statement made, that 

 among the Sandjoeng Dyaks there are only " a coxiple 

 of houses in each village, but so large as to contain 

 between them the whole population of 400 or 500," 

 is of interest, since it carries with it the implication 

 of some form of communal life. In another place 

 these communal dwellings are described as from eighty 

 to a hundred and sixty feet in length, twenty to 

 thirty feet in width, and with walls about ten feet 

 high, the ridge of the roof rising another five or six 

 feet. 



The house proper has but one floor, raised on 

 posts of ironwood about fifteen or twenty feet from 

 the ground, which forms the actual residence, under 

 which is a second floor, from four to six feet from 

 the ground, which serves for many domestic pur- 

 poses, to hold councils in, and as a playground for 

 the children. 



The fact, that, " whenever a deer is killed, every in- 

 habitant of the village receives a share," the one 

 actually shooting the animal having the right to the 

 horns, also clearly points to the existence of well- 

 defined hunting-laws rooted in communal principles. 



Judging from the description given, the Dyaks 

 would seem to possess many savage virtues. They 

 were.found by the author to be singularly temperate 

 both in eating and drinking. The only native intoxi- 

 cant is 'toewak,' — a drink made from wild honey. 

 When offered brandy, they refused it, exhibiting a 

 strong distaste even to its odor; nor could they be 

 induced to more than taste it. They indulge to excess, 

 however, in betel-chewing, — a habit for which they 

 are indebted to the Malays. 



In mental capacity the Dyaks are stated to be on 

 an equality with the Malays ; but Ihey are more ener- 

 getic, and more willing to work. The author attests 

 their truthfulness, and states that thefts and rob- 

 beries are entirely unknown among them. On the 

 other hand, they were found to be most importunate 

 beggars. 



The chief industrial occupation of the Dyaks is 

 stated to be agriculture, both sexes taking part in the 

 labors of the field. As usual, the heavier portion falls 

 to the lot of the women, who are said to be ' the 

 only beasts of burden.' Rice is the main crop; but 

 bananas, sugar-cane, and a few cocoanuts are also 

 raised. The production, however, only suffices for 

 immediate wants, and in times of drought great dis- 

 tress always ensues. 



The cutting of rattan to supply the Malay trade is 

 the next most important occupation. Considerable 

 quantities of gutta-percha are also collected, but in 

 so wasteful a manner, as, in the author's opinion, to 

 threaten the future supply. 



The gathering of wax from the nests of the indi- 

 genous bees is also an important industry; and twice 

 a year the edible nests of the swallow (Hirundo 

 esculenta) are collected for sale to the Chinese. 



The medical practices of the Dyaks appear to be 

 strictly analogous to those of other savages. Certain 

 plants are employed as remedies ; the task of concoct- 

 ing the medicine, and administering it, devolving 

 mainly, as appeared to the author, upon tlie women, 

 who also do what nursing is required. The main re- 

 liance, however, for the cure of disease, is in charms 

 and sorcery. 



Curiously enough, symptoms of the prevalent Dar- 

 winian theory seem to have peneti'ated these far-off 

 regions; and, while visiting a village of Dyak in the 

 interior, the author found a strong belief in the ex- 



istence of people with tails "in a country but a few 

 days distant. To use his own words, " such definite 

 statements were made to me on the subject, that I 

 could hardly resist the temptation to penetrate myself 

 into the stronghold of my ancestral representatives." 

 He contented himself, however, with hiring one of the 

 natives to go in his stead, with, needless to say, quite 

 unsatisfactory results. 



In appendices are given lists of land and fresh- 

 water shells collected by the author in Borneo and 

 Sumatra, with descriptions of new species; a list of 

 birds collected on the west coast of Sumatra; a list 

 of Sumatra butterflies ; and a short vocabulary of the 

 Long Wai (Dyak) dialect. 



The volume is copiously illustrated with lithographic 

 plates from the author's original drawings. These, if 

 not remarkable for artistic excellence, yet serve well 

 the purpose for which intended. 



GEOLOGICAL MAP OF BELGIUM. 



The appearance of the first sheet of the new Carte 

 geologique de la Belgique, dressee 2>o-r ordre du gou- 

 vernement introduces to us a new system of geological 

 cartography, which in many respects is more perfect 

 than any thing yet attempted by a geological survey. 

 The system adopted shows truly the real geology of 

 the country, hut gives an imperfect idea of the gen- 

 eral distribution of the strata. This, however, can be 

 readily shown on maps of a much smaller scale. The 

 sheet which has just appeared is that of Cinney : it is 

 on the scale of 1 : 20,000, the topography being indi- 

 cated by 10-metre contour lines. The outcrops are 

 drawn as they are found, and colored with even tints. 

 The theoretical limits of the strata are defined by 

 degraded tints of the same color as that used to desig- 

 nate the outcrops of the same formation. If two out- 

 crops are visible (as with the carboniferous limestone, 

 which is locally covered with sands), the diagram- 

 matical extension of these is represented by fine dots 

 of the color of the sands. The light colors in even 

 tints are, on the contrary, reserved to represent the 

 general disposition of the superficial quaternary and 

 modern deposits. These have been studied carefully, 

 especially with the help of borings ; and the lettering 

 on the map indicates the exact spot of each sounding. 

 A short, straight, black line is used to represent the 

 strike of the beds; and a small point, like an arrow- 

 head, projecting from it, indicates the direction of the 

 dip, while a number engraved on the other side of 

 the line shows its angle. Forests where no outcrops 

 are visible are left uncolored. Where the superficial 

 deposits consist of the detritus of a known formation, 

 the fact is indicated by equidistant broken lines of 

 the same color as that used to designate the outcrop 

 of which they are the waste. 



Owing to the largeness of the scale, and the accu- 

 rate topography of the maps of the war department, 

 the geologists of Belgium have been enabled to make 

 a true representation of the geology of Belgium, as 

 shown by the outcrops of rocks that are visible, and 

 the superficial and surface deposits; placing on the 

 map merely what is known and can be seen, without 

 leaving any room for theoretical views of extension 

 of formations to creep in and create errors, as they 

 nearly always do. When the map is completed, it 

 will consist of 430 sheets; besides which, there will 

 be published a number of atlas-sheets of sections on 

 a scale of 1:5,000. Accompanying each sheet of the 

 map, an explanatory text will be published, contain- 

 ing a plate on which will he drawn three diagram- 



