AND OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



27 



but when we ascend to the top of a lofty mountain, the azure tint of the heavens 

 deepens into a black, and a greater number of stars become visible to the eye. The 

 cause of these different hues must be sought in that unknown constitution of bodies, 

 by which the one set of coloured rays are absorbed in passing through the trans- 

 parent medium, while the remainder of them are reflected to the eye. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



SiKGULAH. Structure of a Hek's Egg. — The Egg, of which a representation 

 is given in the annexed wood-cut, was accidentally discovered, during breakfast, by 

 a young lady, residing at Irvine, Ayrshire, who has kindly transmitted it to us for 

 examination. 



- On breaking open the outward shell, a, a second egg, 6, was found covered with shell, 

 and, within this second body a third substance, c, consisting of a spherical membrane, 

 one side of which was partially encrusted with shell, was also discovered. The first 

 and second shells contained the usual albuminous matter or white of egg, and it is 

 presumed that the substance in the third cavity was similar, although our informant 

 does not state precisely whether a red yolk was present or not. On the inner side 

 of both the first and second shells the usual membrane of the egg is distinctly visible; 

 the matter of the shell differs in no respect from that of the common egg, except in 

 being rather more porous and brittle. The inner membrane has all the appearance of 

 being destined for the yolk, but, as we have remarked, there is reason to suspect that 

 the contents vrithin the membrane were of a white albuminous nature. 



The most obvious explanation of this curious Lusus NaturcE is, that the three 

 membraneous coats common to the egg have become ossified, or rather encrusted with 

 carbonate of lime; that this has taken place in the second membrane from an imusual 

 action of its secreting vessels; and that the same process had commenced, and was 

 rapidly extending to the membrane of the yolk. 



It would be a curious circumstance to ascertain whether the ossification began first 

 on the yolk membrane, c, and being checked here by the production of the middle 

 membrane, 6, was subsequently covered by the membrane and shell, a, — or whether the 

 ossification of the inner membranes proceeded subsequently to their development by 

 the outer shell, a. If the latter were the case, it would show that the internal mem- 

 branes of the egg have the power of secreting and depositing carbonate of lime, that 

 is, of exercising a vital action when excluded from any of the vessels of the parent 

 hen, and previous to, or independent of, the action which developes the chick. Such 

 a circumstance would still farther tend to embarrass the curious question not yet solved, 

 as to where the chick obtains the phosphate and carbonate of lime of its bones, for 

 it has been ascertained that the albumen contains none, and it is probable that little 

 or none is obtained by absorption from the shell. 



PrcuLiAEiTiES OF THE Datak. — The mos^ numerous class of the inhabitants of 

 Borneo, and probably the Aborigines, are the Dayak. Their manners are charac- 

 terized by some strange pecuUarities and uncommon features of barbarism ; but the 

 spirit of these traits has never been elucidated, nor the system of religious or super- 

 stitious opinion with which they are connected examined. 



In appearance, the Dayak are fairer and handsomer than the Malays ; they are 

 of a more slender make, with higher foreheads and noses ; their hair is long, straight, 

 and coarse, generally cut short round their heads. The females are fair and hand- 

 some. JIany of the Dayak have a rough, scaly scurf on their skin, like the Jakong 

 of the Malay peninsula. This they consider as an ornament, and are said to acquire it 

 by rubbing the juice of some plant on their skin. The female slaves of this race which 

 are foimd among the Malays have no appearance of it. 



"With regard to their funeral ceremonies, the corpse is placed in a coffin, and 

 remains in the house till the son, the father, or the nearest of blood, can procure or 

 purchase a slave, who is beheaded at the time that the corpse is burnt, in order that 

 he may become the slave of the deceased in the nest world. The ashes of the 

 deceased are then placed in an earthen urn, on which various figures are exhibited, 

 and the head of the slave is dried, and prepared in a peculiar manner with camphor 

 and drugs, and deposited near it. It is said that this practice often induces them to 

 purchase a slave guilty of some capital crime, at five-fold his value, in order that they 

 may be able to put him to death on such occasions. 



With respect to marriage, the most brutal part of their customs is, that nobody can 

 be permitted to marry till he can present a human head of some other tribe to his pro- 

 posed bride, in which case she is not permitted to refuse him. It is not, however, 

 necessary that this should be obtained entirely by his own personal prowess. When 

 a person is determinod to go a head hunting, as it is very often a very dangerous 

 service, he consults with his friends and acquaintances, who frequently accompany him, 

 or send their slaves along with him. The head hunter then proceeds with his party 

 in the most cautious manner to the vicinity of the villages of another tribe, and hes 

 in ambush till they surprise some heedless, unsuspecting wretch, who is instantly 

 decapitated. Sometimes, too, they surprise a solitary fisherman in a river, or on the 



shore, who undergoes the same fate. "When the hunter returns, the whole village is 

 filled with joy, and old and young, men and women, hurry out to meet him, and con- 

 duct him, with the sound of brazen cymbals, dancing in long lines to the house of the 

 female he admires, whose family likewise comes out to greet him with dances, and 

 provide him a seat, and give him meat and drink. He still holds the bloody head in 

 his hand, and puts part of the food into his mouth, after which, the females of the- 

 family receive the head from him, which they hang up to the ceiling over the door. 



If a man's wife die, he is not permitted to make proposals of marriage to another, 

 till he has provided another head of a different tribe, as if to revenge the death of his 

 deceased wife. The heads procured in this manner they preserve with great care, 

 and sometimes consult in divination. The reUgious opinions connected with this prac- 

 tice are by no means correctly understood: some assert, that they believe that every 

 person whom a man kills in this world becomes his slave in the nest. The Idaan, 

 it is said, think that the entrance into Pai-adise is over a long tree, which serves for a 

 bridge, over which it is impossible to pass without the assistance of a slave slain in 

 this world. 



The practice of stealing heads causes frequent wars among the different tribes of 

 the Idaan. Many persons never can obtain a head, in which case they are generally 

 despised by the warriors and the women. To such a height it is carried, however, 

 that a person who had obtained eleven heads has been seen, and at the same time; 

 he pointed out his son, a young lad, who had procured three. 



Walking on the Water. — A great inventor (in his own estimation) published 

 to the world that he had solved the important problem of walking safely upon the 

 water, and he invited a crowd to witness his first essay. He stepped boldly upon 

 the wave, equipped in bulky cork boots, which he had previously tried in a butt of 

 water at home ; but it soon appeared that he had not pondered sufficiently on the 

 centres of gravity and of flotation, for, in the next instant, all that was to be seen of 

 him was a pair of legs sticking out of the water, the movements of which showed he 

 was by no moans at his ease. He was picked up by help at hand, and with his 

 genius cooled, and schooled by the event, was conducted home. 



Thk Tides. — The English Government has requested the co-operation of the Dutch 

 Government in making simultaneous observations on the tides on their respective 

 coasts. The King of Holland appointed Professor Moll, with the assistance of a cer- 

 tain number of naval officers, to make the necessary observations, from the 9th to the 

 30th July 1835. 



Effects of Mercury. — There is a curious case mentioned in the Lancet, in 

 which the secretary of a public institution was twice attacked with a very violent fit 

 of saUvation, so as to render medical aid indispensable, from his wafering 500 circu- 

 lars with red wafers, which ho had wetted in his mouth. Red wafers are coloured 

 with vcrmihon, which is a preparation of mercury. 



The Tattt.— The tatty is a trelUse frame, very neatly made of split bamboo,, 

 thickly interwoven with a species of long grass, called kuss-kuss. During the hot winds 

 in India, this is fixed at the door-way, and constantly wetted by a servant outside, 

 who tlirows the water on it with a small jug from an earthen jar. The air passing 

 through it is rendered deli;;htfully cool and fragrant in the hottest weather. This is 

 a luxury which is allowed even to the common European soldiers ; their barracks being 

 numerously attended by beestieSy or water-carriers. 



REVIEWS. 



Wanderings in New South Wahs^ Butavia, Pedir Coast, Singapore, and China;- 

 being the Journal of a Naturalist, during 1832, 1833, and 1834. By George 

 Bennett, Esq., F.L.S, ^-c. Sfc. London. 1834. 

 This is a work of unusual merit and interest. The excursions into the interior of 

 New South Wales were made during the intervals of disengagement from professional 

 duties, and at periods of the year best calculated for observations in Natural Historv. 

 Though written from notes taken down at the instant of observation, and without any 

 regard to studied composition, it is not deficient in many eloquent and vivid descrip- 

 tions. VTbere the whole work is filled with interesting and popular matter, it be- 

 comes difficult to select a passage as a specimen of its style. We quote the following 

 description of that splendid phenomenon, usually called 



THE PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE OCEAN:. — ■ 



'* Occasionally our attention was excited during the voyage by -the remarkable lu- 

 minosity assumed by the ocean in every direction, like roUing masses of liquid fire, as 

 the waves broke and exhibited an appearance inconceivably grand and beautiful. The 

 phosphoric light given out by the ocean, exists to a more extensive and brilliant de- 

 gree in tropical regions, although in high latitudes it is occasionally visible, more 

 especially during the warm months of the year. The cause of it has excited much 

 speculation among naturalists ; and although many of the marine Molluscous and Crus- 

 taceous animals, such as Salpa, Pyrosoma, Cancer, and several Medusa, have been 

 found to occasion it ; yet no doubt debris, from dead animal matter, with which sea 

 water is usually loaded, is also one of the exciting causes. 



" As the ship sails with a strong breeze through a luminous sea on a dark night, 

 the effect produced is then seen to the greatest advantage. The wake of the vessel 

 is one broad sheet of phosphorio matter, so brilliant as to cast a dull, pale li-'ht over 

 the after-part of the ship ; the foaming surges, as they gracefully curl on each side of 

 the vessel's prow, are similar to rolling masses of hquid phosphorus ; whilst in the dis- 

 tance, even to the horizon, it seems an ocean of fire, and the distant waves breaking, 

 give out a hght of an inconceivable beauty and briUiancy. In the combination the 

 effect produces sensations of wonder and awe, and causes a reflection to arise on the 

 reason of its appearance, as to which, as yet, no correct judgment has been foi-med, 

 the whole being overwhelmed with mere hypothesis. 



" Sometimes the luminosity is very visible without any disturbance of the water, 

 its surface remaining smooth, unruffled even by a passing zephyr ; whilst on other oc- 

 casions no light is emitted unless the water is agitated by the winds, or by the passage 

 of some heavy body through it. Perhaps the beauty of this luminous effect is seen to 

 the greatest advantage when the ship, lying in a bay or harbour in tropical chmates, 

 the water around it has the resemblance of a sea of milk. An opportunity was af- 



