April 27, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



199 



tain way, pecilliar to each mythical figure, which may be suggestive 

 of the origin of the use of niasl<s on the coast. We notice a much 

 decayed ring in Emmon's collection, carefully woven by folding nar- 

 row strips of cedar-bark. The Tlingit were unable to give any in- 

 formation as to the use of this ring. It is in use among a certain 

 gens of the Kwakiutl (Qanikila) near the north point of Vancouver 

 Island. The ring is set with haliotis-shells, and adorned with 

 ermine-skins, the ends being rolled up in heli.x-like figures. A 

 head-ring made in a similar way belongs to the dress of the dancer. 

 It is exclusively worn by the daughter of the chief of the gens 

 Qanikila. and is highly valued. An enormous quantity of bark is 

 required for its manufacture. Its occurrence in a Tlingit grave 

 shows the extent of the trade all along the coast, even before the 

 advent of the whites. 



In the same case a great number of crowns used by dancers is 

 exhibited. They are madeof mountain-goat horns, of wood carved 

 so as to imitate the shape of the horns, or of copper. They are 

 also used by the neighboring tribes. Among the head-ornaments 

 we observe a great number of strips made of bear-skin with two 

 ears. The same kind of ornament is found in the Powell collection, 

 collected among the Tsimpshian, who trim it with human hair dyed 

 red and white. Of course, there are painted leather aprons, and 

 beautiful blankets woven of mountain-goat wool, in great variety. 



The most important part of the collection are the masks, of which 

 a great number are exliibited. They are especially valuable, as 

 Lieutenant Emmon took great pains to ascertain the meaning of 

 the masks, which thus become a rich source of information for the 

 student of ethnology. A comparison of these masks with others 

 collected on Vancouver Island and in Dean Inlet shows that the 

 style of North-west American art, although uniform in general 

 outlines, has its specific character in various localities. The imita- 

 tion of animal forms is much closer here than in the southern re- 

 gions, where the forms are more conventional, certain attributes of 

 the animal alone being added to human figures. Another and a 

 very interesting peculiarity of these masks are the figures of ani- 

 mals attached to the faces. The Eskimo tribes of southern Alaska 

 carve their masks in the same fashion, numerous attachments be- 

 longing to each. This is another proof of the influence of Indian 

 art upon that of the Eskimo. The figures attached to the faces 

 refer, as a rule, to certain myths ; and the same is true of the Eski- 

 mo masks and their characteristic wings and figures. 



A few of the masks in the Emmon collection, although used by 

 the Tlingit, are evidently of foreign origin. There is, for instance, 

 a mask of the human-headed crane, one of the principal masks of 

 the Tsimpshian; and another one with two faces, the outer being 

 cut in the middle and opening on hinges. Such masks are also 

 peculiar to southern tribes. 



A considerable number of masks show deep hollow eyes and 

 sunken cheeks. They represent the heads of dead men. Among 

 the other a certain class with thick lips and beards, and eyebrows 

 made of otter-skin, are of interest. They represent the fabulous 

 Kushtaka, the otter people, of which many tales and traditions are 

 told. Another remarkable mask is that of the mosquito. This is 

 of special interest, as the mosquito is among the southern tribes the 

 genius of the cannibal, and as cannibalistic ceremonies are not 

 known to be practised by the Tlingit. It may therefore be assumed 

 that the myth referring to the mosquito is found in a somewhat 

 altered form among the Tlingit. 



A great number of small idols, the Yek, or genii of the shamans, 

 forms another group of the collection. They are used in incanta- 

 tions. There is also a very remarkable pillow, — a curved piece of 

 wood, nicely carved, which is placed under the shaman's neck 

 while he lies in a trance, and helps him to confer with the spirits. 



We will only mention the numerous charms, bone and stone or- 

 naments, beautiful jades, slate, and other stone implements, many 

 of which are beautifully finished. This remarkable collection is 

 one of the most complete, systematic, and consequently valuable 

 brought from the North-west coast to the museums of our country. 

 It is to be hoped, that, after the new wing of the museum shall have 

 been completed, the Powell collection, which is at present stowed 

 away, will be exhibited for comparison. Both collections may serve 

 as a foundation for studies on the ethnology of southern Alaska and 

 northern British C jlumb a. F. B. 



MENTAL SCIENCE. 



The Mental Powers of Insects. 



Along with the introduction of scientific methods into psychol- 

 ogy there was ushered in the comparativestudy of psychic phenom- 

 ena. The interest was no longer exclusively concentrated upon 

 human intellect, but the study of the minds of aniTnals was shown 

 able to contribute results of great value for many of the most im- 

 portant generalizations of a scientific psychology. Moreover, it 

 has become recognized that we must not read into the actions of 

 animals motives and conceptions suggested by our own conduct 

 under analogous conditions, but must interpret the results objec- 

 tively, and decide from the results whether our notions of the 

 plan of animal behavior is valid or not, and to what extent. 

 Among the problems included in such a scheme, the power of the 

 senses is of fundamental importance; for these are the avenues 

 of connection between the organism and the environment. The 

 difficulty here is to devise tests that will yield a definite result. 

 In ourselves we can always have recourse to the analysis of con- 

 sciousness. Some recent attempts to shed further light on the 

 senses of insects will indicate the scope and difficulties of the 

 problem. 



Forel, a Swiss naturalist and worthy follower of Huber, has 

 added to his studies of ants by testing their sensory powers {Re- 

 ciu'ii zoo^qg-. Suisse, iv. No. 2, 1887; also Centralhlatt fur Physio- 

 logie. No. 23). Among his observations are some tests of the 

 sensibility to ultra-violet rays. Do ants see these rays, or do they 

 feel them (presumably as heat-sensations) through the skin .' He 

 blinded some ants by coating their eyes with a varnish, and found 

 the behavior of such ants to be hardly distinguishable from that 

 of normal ones. They probably retained some light-sensibility, for 

 they preferred to remain in the bright parts of the nest. These 

 ants are now put into a box with a glass top. On this top is placed 

 a piece of ' cobalt-glass,' that transmits the ultra-violet rays of the 

 spectrum, and i»ext to it a frame with a glass bottom containing a 

 solution of esculine that absorbs the ultra-violet rays, fn addition, 

 there is a dish of water over one portion of the top to weaken the 

 heat-rays, and over another portion a sheet of cardboard to give 

 shade. The position of these objects is varied, and from the con- 

 gregation of ants under one or other of them he draws the follow- 

 ing conclusions ; (i) the ants see light, and especially ultra-violet, 

 as Lubbock had shown ; (2) they perceive it chiefly with their eves, 

 for when the eyes are varnished they are indifferent to the ultra- 

 violet, and re-act only to a bright sunlight ; (3) the dermal sensa- 

 tions are not as important as had been believed. 



Another interesting point concerns the power of ants to recog- 

 nize one another after long separation. In one species {Canipono- 

 tus ligniperdus) the return of a number of its fellows to a nest 

 after forty-one days' absence was followed by a fierce struggle, in 

 which several of the new arrivals perished. ■A.fter a few days, 

 however, there was peace between them. It is to be noted that 

 the blinded ants also took part in the attack. A second party was 

 returned after eight days, and at once recognized and received as 

 friends. But this is variable in the different species ; cases being 

 on record in which recognition took place after a year's absence, 

 and again where the ants in the pupa stage, removed for only four 

 days, were attacked. 



The use of the antennse Forel believes to be mainly as organs of 

 smell. If the antennae be cut off or coated with paraffine, the ants 

 are incapable of pursuing then- ordinary routine of life ; while 

 wasps, whose heads, including the eyes and pharynx, were re- 

 moved, but with the antenna; intact, sought and found honey, and 

 even tried, though in vain, to eat it. In insects using their eyes in 

 the main, the antennae are rudimentary, and such insects are inac- 

 tive at night. Ants, too, have a sense of taste, preferring some 

 substances to others, but are not able to distinguish poisonous sub- 

 stances. The effect of poisons varies in different insects. Arsenic 

 kills gnats, while hundreds of Myriiiica scabrmodis eat it without 

 ill results. Strychnine does not produce cramps in ants, and they 

 die of it slowly, while slight doses of morphine bring on severe 

 convulsions. The sense of hearing, excluding the sense of jar, is 

 very rudimentary, if it exists at all; while touch is highly developed, 

 ants re-acting to the slightest contact. The same is true of their 



