August 5, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



165 



Cold season. 



+ 24° to 25° C. during day. 

 + 6° to 10° C. during night. 



May, June, July.' 



In the hot season the thermometer in the sun 

 reaches 60° C, and the author comments upon 

 the necessity of tailing the thermometer under 

 shelter to prevent its bursting. 



The country generally is considered very un- 

 healthy, as even the natives suffer with the fever. 



In the first appendix notes are given upon the 

 fragmentary history of the people of this region, 

 which is about equal in area to that of France. 

 The habits and customs of the people are briefly 

 discussed. The earlier type of punishments for 

 disobedience or neglect are of the most cruel 

 character for even the slightest ofifenses, as, for 

 example, when one of King Lewanika's rowers 

 became tired he was deliberately thrown over- 

 board to keep company with the crocodiles. 



The religious ideas of this section of the coun- 

 try are more advanced than in any other portion 

 of Africa. They have a modified form of an- 

 cestral worship, v/ithout idols or fetiches. They 

 have both male and female supreme beings, the 

 former symbolized by the suu and known as 

 Nyambe, while the latter is represented by the 

 moon. She was the mother of the animals, 

 and finally of man. Eventually Nyambe and 

 the men of the world came into disagreement, 

 and while he showed his power by resuscitating 

 the animals which men killed, man, however, 

 became so very intelligent that Xyambe was 

 forced to escape to the heavens by means of a spi- 

 der's web and has been invisible since that time. 



They believe in metempsychosis and during 

 their life choose the animal form in which they 

 prefer to return to the earth. They initiate 

 themselves by eating worms from the decayed 

 bodies of their chosen animal. They will then, 

 upon any festal occasion, act the part of these 

 animals by imitating their motions and their 

 cries. 



They are very superstitious, believing in 

 charms of all sorts, and they attribute the bet- 

 ter shooting-powers of the white man to be due 

 to the possession of an amulet of which they 

 are ignorant. 



These natives are an industrious peojjle and 

 work metals very well, and although their 



methods are of the most primitive sort they 

 produce good spears, axes and knives. Under 

 proper guidance they could easily develop 

 along mechanical lines, and missionaries who 

 have lived with them many years wish very 

 much to start an industrial school with this in 

 view. 



The resources of the country are little known. 

 Iron is known to exist, but the main value of the 

 region, so far as seen, is in its woods, many of 

 which would be valuable even for transporta- 

 tion. Animals are still found in great numbers 

 and variety, although the most valuable of them 

 all, the elephant, is said to be disappearing 

 rapidly. The insects are likewise numerous 

 and are said to be a terrible pest. 



The words of the missionary Coillard con- 

 cerning this part of the world, where the waves 

 of immigration are dashing their foam well in 

 towards the center of the continent, are sig- 

 nificant : 



" Listen to the native songs in a minor key ; 

 they are in reality but groans. Hear them tell 

 you that their heart is black, i. e., that it is full 

 of sadness, yes, black as their skin, and you 

 will realize that from the cradle to the grave 

 they carry through life the symbol and the 

 livery of sorrow. If these races are to have 

 a future, as seems certain, what will it be? It 

 seems that it will undoubtedly be dependent 

 upon the character which the mental, moral 

 and physical powers of the white race will 

 choose to give it." 



The second appendix gives a summary of the 

 report made by Captain A. Saint-Hill Gibbons, 

 Percy C. Eeid and the author to the Koyal 

 Geographical Society on January 4, 1897 ( see 

 Geographical Journal, Vol. IX., No. 2). 



William Libbey. 



The Art of Taxidermy. By John Kowley, Chief 

 of the Department of Taxidermy in the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History, New York 

 City. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1898. 

 Pp. xii -f 244. 20 plates and 59 text figures. 

 This book is a good exemplification of the 

 adage that there is alwa5'S room at the top, for 

 while scores of books have been written on the 

 art of taxidermy, and the best of them within 

 the last decade, this is none the less indispen- 



