426 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Oct. 26, 1888. 



knows not the meaning of a pawnbroker, nor ever 

 dreams of receiving charity visits from Lady Bountiful, 

 or winter blankets or any other pauperising patronage 

 — would scorn the suggestion of any such degradation. 

 There are no workhouses in poor Norway, nor no demand 

 for them, nor no claimants for out-of-door relief. 



The Norwegian peasant is a Jack of all trades and a 

 master of every one. He builds his own house, which 

 for solidity and usefulness puts our jerry villas to shame. 

 He is wheelwright, cartwright, blacksmith, farrier, 

 cooper, cabinet-maker, carpenter and joiner, not only 

 building his own house, but making all its fittings and 

 solid furniture with his own hands. Some are shoe- 

 makers also, and many are wood-carvers of considerable 

 artistic ability, some carving the hard ivory of the 

 walrus tooth besides. The domestic cooperage is 

 admirable. Those whose land comes to the shores of 

 the fjords or lakes or rivers are also boat and ship 

 builders, and knitters of fishing nets. Most of the agri- 

 cultural implements are home made. 



The watchmaking industry of Switzerland originated 

 in an intelligent effort to provide a supplementary winter 

 occupation for the peasant proprietors of the Cantons of 

 Neufchatel and Vaud. In other parts wood-carving and 

 similar domestic industries have been similarly adopted, 

 and even the factory hands adjourn for harvesting. 



Referring to the correspondence on the fecundity of 

 sparrows that has lately appeared in these columns, I 

 may mention a fact. I occupy a very old house, with a 

 pair of old-fashioned wooden sun-blinds (jalousies) to 

 each window. These were painted during the last spring, 

 the work proceeding very slowly. The first step was to 

 pull out the old sparrows' nests that were built in most 

 of them. Considerable delay occurred — fresh nests were 

 built and eggs laid — further delay — more nests and more 

 eggs — and so on until I counted no less than five suc- 

 cessive nests in each of the two places that I specially 

 observed. In each of the fifth I destroyed four young 

 birds. These vermin not only ravage our crops, but also 

 drive away the useful insectivorous birds and the in- 

 teresting song birds. 



Some doleful paragraphs have lately " gone the 

 round " of the newspapers. They relate to the colliers' 

 strike for an advance of 10 per cent, on their wages, and 

 the effect this will have on the price of coals in the course 

 of the severe winter which is approaching. (Every 

 coming winter is predicted to be severe in October, and 

 as we have one or two severe winters in a decade, the 

 prophets are sometimes triumphant.) Londoners have 

 curious notions concerning the cost of coal, and many 

 will be surprised to learn that an addition of 10 per cent, 

 on colliers' wages will add about 3d. per ton to the price 

 of coal. Colliers are paid by the ton of coal brought to 

 the surface and screened into the waggons, usually by 

 long weight, 22 cwt. to the ton. The price varies with 

 the difficulty of working, but 2s. 6d. per ton is a full 

 average. This should be understood, as we are 

 threatened with a conspiracy to rig the market, and the 

 advance of colliers' wages will be made a pretext for 

 extortion by the conspirators. 



-i — »-3%»<«5<?-* — 



The Unseasonable Cold. — In the night of Tuesday, 

 October 2nd, a temperature of 22* ¥.,i.e., ten degrees 

 of frost, was registered at Finchley. 



T I 



THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF THE 

 CANARY ISLANDS. 



A Paper read by Mr. J. Harris Stone, M.A., before 

 -the Anthropological Section of the British 

 Association. 



(Continued from page 406. J 



HERE is one undoubted fact about the women, which 

 stands out with greater prominence than any other — 

 they were beautiful, very beautiful. When we remember 

 that this description of them is frequently given by 

 Spaniards who were accustomed at home to beautiful 

 women of their own nation, we can confidently say that the 

 women of this extinct race must have been exceptionally 

 lovely. The priestly scribes of Bethencourt's expedition 

 say, " The inhabitants of Canada are tall, and look upon 

 themselves as noble. They are handsome and well- 

 formed people. Their women are very beautiful." Of 

 Lanzarote, "The inhabitants are a fine race. The women 

 are beautiful and modest." The women of Gomera were 

 also noticeable for their beauty. We are told how 

 Peraza, one of the Spanish leaders, became enamoured 

 of a handsome Gomera girl, but who eventually be- 

 trayed him to her countrymen on account of his immor- 

 alities. At the present day, when travelling in Gomera, 

 we were struck with the unusual beauty of the peasant 

 women, especially in the centre of the island, where I 

 strongly suspect much of the blood of the ancient race 

 still lingers, though mixed with Spanish. In Valle 

 Hermosa, for instance, the girls have perfect oval faces, 

 generally dark eyes and a wealth of dark hair, fresh and 

 delicate complexions, small well-poised heads, and 

 shapely necks. Their figures are tall and well moulded, 

 and carried with stately yet easy natural grace. 



The marriage customs seem to have been different in 

 the various islands. The Herrenos were monogamous, 

 and appear to have had no distinctions of rank, with the 

 exception of the king, so intermarried freely. Every 

 man wedded the woman he liked best, provided he could 

 get her consent, and it. was customary for the man when 

 he chose a wife to make a present of cattle to her father, 

 according to his ability, as an acknowledgment for his 

 goodwill in letting him have his daughter. In this island 

 the women worshipped a female deity, and the men a 

 male. The ancient Gomeros, according to Azurara, re- 

 garded their women almost as common property, but 

 this remarkable statement is not confirmed by the other 

 narratives, and is contrary to what is elsewhere said ot 

 the homely, domestic, and general moral character of the 

 people. We must remember, too, that Azurara's account 

 of this island was written before it had been conquered, 

 and therefore it is unlikely that his informants knew 

 much about the social habits of the natives. 



According to Cadamosto, in Tenerife each man might 

 have as many wives as he liked, and the same custom 

 apparently existed which in England is said to have 

 given rise to the curious tenure Borough-English. In 

 Lanzarote, and perhaps in Fuerteventura, polyandry 

 existed, a woman having as many as three husbands. In 

 the other islands monogamy was maintained by law. 

 None of the ancient Canarios had more than one wife, 

 or the wife more than one husband, and the curious 

 eastern custom existed of fattening the bride, here set apart 

 for thirty days, with large quantities of milk and gofio. 



Origin of the Race. 

 Whence came this singular race, the ancient inhabi- 



