October 21, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



233 



The Origin of Punishment. 



The youDg science of ethnologic jurisprudence is one of the 

 branches of anthropology destined to throw unexpected light on 

 the origin and significance of many of our daily customs and be- 

 liefs. A most important contribution to it has recently appeared 

 from the pen of Dr. S. R. Steinmetz, on the early development 

 of punishment (" Ethnologische Studien zur ersten Entwickelung 

 der Strafe." Leiden, 1892). It is the second volume of the work, 

 which, for various reasons, has been published first. His aim has 

 been, first, to offer to students an extensive collection of facts 

 drawn from the customs of primilive peoples regarding the ques- 

 tion of punishments; and, second, to analyze their sociologic and 

 psychologic significance. 



The present volume begins with a chapter on blood revenge, 

 tracing its development into the ordeal and the trial by battle up 

 to the modern duel. The effects of blood revenge on social con- 

 dition are pointed out, some being highly advantageous, others 

 evidently injurious. The administration of punishment by the 

 state is treated with much clearness and from a wide range of 

 reading. It is shown to have developed from the systems of cor- 

 rection adopted in the primitive family, and was often in the 

 nature of a compromise or blood money. Several chapters of 

 special interest relate to the position of woman with reference to 

 family feuds and revenge, and the authority over the males which 

 she exerted in various communities, some of matriarchal, others 

 of patriarchal constitutions. The intense bitterness of her feel- 

 ings, and her ferocity, far ahead of that of men, are referred to 

 and illustrated. The punishment of slaves and that of military 

 discipline are also discussed. A curious closing chapter is added 

 on the punishment by the gods, in this world and the next, and 

 its influence on human punishments. It will be seen from this 

 brief reference how extremely interesting the book is. 



greater if we reflect that nothing similar has been observed among 

 the canidsB which have a much more acute sense of smell than 

 the cats. I suspect, though I cannot furnish distinct proof, that 

 the plants in question act upon the felidse as aphrodisiacs. What 

 may be the reason vphy cats so persistently browse away Nemo- 

 hila pulchella ? Its cultivation in London suburban gardens 

 may be pronounced impracticable except under the protection of 

 wire-screens. 



SCENTS AND THEIR RECOGNITION. 



BY J. W. SLATER, LONDON. 



There are some points connected with both the production and 

 the recognition of odors by animals which seem to need further 

 study. It is agreed that all species possessing the sense of smell 

 at all, like and are attracted by the scent of their usual food, or of 

 substances of a similar character. We have also evidence that 

 animals are agreeably impressed with the specific odor of their 

 own species, or of their own race or strain. On the other hand, 

 they are disgusted and repelled by the emanations of hostile 

 species. 



These are results which we might expect on evolutionist princi- 

 ples, and which we actually detect whether we ascribe them to 

 Professor JSger's "soul-particles" or not. It is sometimes for- 

 gotten that peculiar odors not mex-ely aid in the diagnosis of dif- 

 ferent human races but contribute no little to keep such races 

 asunder. That the odor of the Negro or of the Australian 

 " black-fellow " is repulsive to the white man is a familiar fact. 

 But the aborigines of South America distinguish in the dark 

 the smell both of the Negro and of the white man from that of 

 their own race, and dislike the two former about equally. Even 

 the two great branches of the white race, the Aryan and the 

 Semitic, have a different and in many cases a mutually repulsive 

 odor. During the recent anti-Semitic agitation in Germany and 

 Austria the Foetor Judaiciis did not escape comment. 



At the same time we observe a few cases which we cannot .well 

 account for on the principles above laid down. Instance the 

 feline group; the natural food of all such beasts is the flesh and 

 blood of animals recently killed, and even in case of need, car- 

 rion. We might expect that beings habituated to such a diet 

 would prefer odors not merely unlike but opposite to those which 

 mankind select. Yet the fact remains that not merely the do- 

 mestic cat but the leopard is passionately fond of the very same 

 perfumes which we enjoy. Lavender, thyme, — in short, most 

 plants rich in essential oils have a well-known fascination for 

 the cat. Leopards have been charmed into docility and submis- 

 sion by means of lavender water. The difficulty becomes the 



THE PERCOPSID.^ ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 



BY CARL H. BIGENMANN, INDIANA UNIVERSITY. 



The Percopsidas have hitherto been known from a single species 

 having a very wide distribution. This species was discovered by 

 Agassiz and described in his "Lake Superior."' He considered 

 it a generalized type and relic of an older fauna. Professor 

 Agassiz says (385) : " Now the genus Percopsis is as important to 

 the understanding of modem types as Lepidosteus and Cestracion 

 are to the understanding of the ancient ones, as it combines 

 characters which in our day are never found together in the same 

 family of fishes, but which in more recent geological ages con- 

 stitute a striking peculiarity of the whole class. My Percopsis is 

 really such an old-fashioned fish, as it shows peculiarities which 

 occur simultaneously in the fossil fishes of the chalk epoch, which, 

 however, soon diverge into distinct families in the tertiary period, 

 never to be combined again. . . . Now my new genus, Percopsis, 

 is just intermediate between Ctenoids and Cycloids; it is, what an 

 ichthyologist at present would scarcely think possible, a true in- 

 termediate type between Percoids and Salmonidse." 



During the past summer I made a series of collections of fishes 

 through south-western Canada and the north-western United 

 States. I collected in the streams emptying into Hudson's Bay 

 and the Gulf of Mexico on the Atlantic side, and into Puget Sound 

 and the Columbia River on the Pacific side of the continent. 

 Percopsis guttatus Agassiz was found to be abundant in almost 

 all the streams tributary to Hudson's Bay, from the Red River of 

 the north to the Saskatchewan at Medicine Hat. In the Bow at 

 Banff, at an elevation of 4,500 feet, it was no longer seen. The 

 species seems to belong to the plains. It extends south to the 

 Delaware River and Kansas, but is only rare south of the Great 

 Lakes. It was not found in the Columbia at Revelstoke or at 

 Golden, where collections were made, and which are nearly di- 

 rectly west of the localities where it was found to be so abundant, 

 nor was it expected in these localities. When on my return trip 

 I came to Umatilla, where the Union Pacific leaves the Columbia, 

 and I noticed the favorable conditions for collecting, I concluded 

 to stop, although the place was not on my itinerary and I would 

 have but a short time for collecting. The Umatilla is a small 

 stream which expands over a sand strip to form a shallow lagoon 

 before emptying into the Columbia. I reached the station Sept. 

 6, at 5.20 P.M., and began work at once, as it was necessary to 

 leave again at 4 the next morning. I was more than surprised 

 to find that one of the most abundant fishes was a species of 

 Percopsidce, and that by this find the known habitat of this family 

 was extended to the Pacific slope. Fishing was confined to the 

 lagoon at the mouth of the Umatilla and to the Columbia imme- 

 diately above this place. During the short time at my disposal 

 over one hundred specimens of this family were obtained. No 

 specimens were found in the Snake and its tributaries. It is 

 really surprising that a species so abundant should have escaped 

 detection till now unless its distribution is quite limited, as its 

 absence at Golden and Revelstoke seems to indicate.^ 



The specimens prove to belong to an undescribed genus. The 

 genus is more specialized than Percopsis, but still bears out Agas- 

 siz's idea of the family. It approaches much nearer the PercidcB 

 than Percopsis, in that its dorsal and its anal fins are armed with 

 strong spines, and its scales are much more ctenoid. In other 

 words, its percoid affinities are much mote pronounced than are 



> Lake Superior: Its Phyaical Character, Vegetation, and Animals, Com- 

 pared with Those of Other Heglons. Boston, 1850. 



2 The elevation of tJmatUla Is given to be 300 feet by the Union Paolflc Ballr 

 way estimates. 



