December 21, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



307 



Dr. Thomas Taylor's New Improved Freezing-Microtome, 

 adapted to Three Methods of Section-Cutting. 



Dr. Thomas Taylor of the Agricultural Department, who 

 several years ago invented a microtome, which was described and 

 illustrated in Science, gave the first public exhibition of a new 

 microtome at the last meeting of the Microscopical Society of 

 Washington. The following diagram and description will show 

 the advantages claimed for it. It may also be added that it is sim- 

 pler, and can be manufactured at much less cost, than the micro- 

 tomes now generally in use ; and, as those persons employed by 

 the government are not allowed to patent inventions made in the 

 line of the work they are engaged in, any microscopist in the coun- 

 try may make and use the instrument here described. 



urved knife, adjustable at an 

 revolves on stand (d) by me; 

 upon which the instrument i 



angle ; b, binding-si 

 s of a finely cut scr 



;w ; c, graduated disk, which 

 "thread ; e, mahogany stand 



A cork with a central opening is fitted into a descending tube 

 (one inch deep, by one and a half inches in diameter) in the centre 

 of disk (<:). Cork and tube revolve with the disk. In the central 

 opening is fitted an ordinary stopper or cork, on top of which the 

 object to be shaved may be secured by paraffine or wax. 



In order to freeze objects, remove the central cork, and insert the 

 hollow metal box (.r), a prolongation of which fits into the Hollow 

 cork in disk (c). Two tubes of metal project from the freezing- 

 box, — one to admit water, the other to allow it to flow out. The 

 water is supplied and carried off by means of rubber tubing at- 

 tached to the metal tubes, the terminal end of the rubber tube 

 which carries off the water being contracted to control the flow. 



In the use of ether as a means of freezing objects for the cutter, 

 remove the plug in front of the freezing-box, and detach the rubber 

 tubing. Apply ether in the usual manner. 



ETHNOLOGY. 

 Tales from Venezuela. 



Dr. a. Ernst, who has done so much to increase our knowledge 

 of \'enezuelan ethnology, has collected a few popular tales, which 

 are very interesting on account of their Tupi and Spanish affinities. 

 The tales are entitled ' Tio Tigre and Tio Conejo ' ( ' Uncle Tiger 

 and Uncle Rabbit ' ), and all of them have for their subject the 

 superiority of cunning and craft over sheer force. We give here 

 translations of a few of these tales. 



•• Uncle Tiger had a field of splendid watermelons. He ob- 

 served that somebody visited his field at night, and stole the mel- 

 ons : therefore he made a figure of a man of black wax. and 

 placed it in the field. At night Uncle Rabbit came, and saw the 

 figure. ' What are you doing there, you black man ? Get away ! ' 

 The figure did not reply. Then Uncle Rabbit went up to the black 

 man and boxed his ears ; but his right hand stuck to the wax. 

 ' Let go my hand, or 111 box your other ear ! ' cried he. When he 

 did so. his left hand also stuck to the wax. Then he knocked his 

 head against the forehead of the figure : his head stuck to it. Then he 

 worked with his hind-legs to get away : they also stuck to the wax, 

 and Uncle Rabbit was caught. Early in the morning Uncle Tiger 



came, and when he saw Uncle Rabbit, he cried, 'Oho ! have we 

 got the thief ? Now I'll eat you ! ' — ' Wait a moment,' said Uncle 

 Rabbit ; ' set me free, and I will show you a pit in which two large 

 deer have been caught. You had better eat those.' Uncle Tiger 

 thought, ' Two large deer are better than Uncle Rabbit,' and he 

 set him free. Uncle Rabbit led him to a deep pit, and said, ' Stoop 

 down, and you will see the deer.' When Uncle Tiger did so. Uncle 

 Rabbit pu.shed him from behind, and Uncle Tiger fell into the pit. 

 Uncle Rabbit, however, ran away as fast as his legs would carry 

 him." 



Here is another story : " Uncle Rabbit was very sad because he 

 was so small. He went to God, and wanted to be made taller. 

 God said, ' I will do so, but first bring me a coral snake, a wasp 

 swarm, and a calabash filled with women's tears.' Uncle Rabbit 

 started on his journey, and arrived in a forest where there were 

 many snakes. Walking along there, he said, ' I bet there is room 

 for him, I bet there is room for him ! ' A coral snake heard him, 

 and asked what his speech meant. He replied, ' The wasps say 

 that there is not room enough for you in this calabash, and I bet 

 that you can get in there.' — ' We will see at once who is right,' 

 said the snake, and crawled into the calabash. When he was in it. 

 Uncle Rabbit at once put the stopper into the opening, and thus 

 the snake was caught. Then he went on, and said, ' I bet there 

 is room for them, I bet there is room for them.' The wasps 

 heard him, and asked what his speech meant. ' Oh ! ' said Uncle 

 Rabbit, ' the snake says there is not room enough for your swarm 

 in this calabash, and I bet that all of you can get in there.' — ' We 

 will see at once who is right," said the wasps, and crawled into the 

 calabash. When the whole swarm was in, Uncle Rabbit put the 

 stopper into the openmg, and thus the wasps were caught. He 

 next went to a village, and when near the huts he began to cry and 

 lament. Then all the women gathered, and asked the cause of his 

 grief. ' Oh ! ' said Uncle Rabbit, ' why should I not cry and la- 

 ment .' The world is going to be destroyed to-day, and all of us 

 will perish.' When the women heard this, they began to cry wo- 

 fuUy, and Uncle Rabbit filled a calabash with their tears. Then he 

 returned to God. When the latter saw the three calabashes with 

 the snake, the wasps, and the tears, he said, ' Uncle Rabbit, you 

 are more cunning than any one else. Why do you want to be 

 taller ? But as you wish it, I will at least make your ears larger.' 

 Saying so, he pulled Uncle Rabbit's ears, and since that day they 

 have remained long." 



The Races of the Babylonian Empire. 



In a recent number of the Journal of the Anthropological Insti- 

 tute, Mr. G. Bertin publishes an interesting study of the types of 

 man found on Babylonian monuments. One of the most remark- 

 able results of his researches is the proof that the Armenian race 

 of these early times exhibits the same characteristics to be noticed 

 in the modern Armenians (Fig. 3). This is the more remarkable 

 from the fact that at this period the language spoken in Armenia, 

 and illustrated by the inscriptions of Van, is totally different from 

 Armenian, and linguistically connected with Akkadian and Medic. 

 Evidently the Armenian population has, in course of time, acquired 

 a new language, while its physical characteristics survive. Dr. von 

 Luschan has shown that the Turks and Greeks of Asia Minor are 

 of the same Armenian type, and thus the great antiquity of the 

 native population of this region is proved. 



Conclusions derived from types represented on ancient monu- 

 ments cannot be of the same value as craniological researches ; 

 the individuality of the artist, the conventionalism of art, and the 

 object of the monument having a ruling influence upon the charac- 

 ter of the representations. Captive enemies will not be represented 

 in the same way as a victorious king and his allies. Nevertheless 

 a variety of types may readily be recognized, as the artists undoubt- 

 edly represent typical individuals. A few figures from the plate 

 accompanying Mr. Bertin's paper have been reproduced here. It will 

 be noted that the faces are represented in profile, with eyes in full 

 face. Figs. 2, 4, 5, and 6 are of peculiar interest. The persons 

 represented resemble the types of figures on Assyrian monuments 

 showing people of inferior condition. Fig. 2 is taken from an As- 

 syrian monument. The head is small and round, the forehead 

 low and slanting, the cheek-bones high, the lips thin, and the chin 



