43Q 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Oct. 26, 1888. 



employed Christian captives as butchers when they 

 could get them." And again, " Instead of killing their 

 captives they thought it sufficient punishment to make 

 them butcher their goats and skin them, and cut them 

 up, an occupation which they looked upon as the most 

 degrading that a man could be put to." Galindo states 

 that it was made unlawful for the butchers even to keep 

 company with any but those of their own profession ; 

 they were, in fact, treated just as lepers were by the Jews. 



The ancient Canarians " showed remarkable faithful- 

 ness and honesty, for if one of them receives anything 

 good to eat, before tasting it he divided it into portions, 

 which he shared with the rest." This is a custom which 

 we noticed in the other islands as well as in theCanaria. 



Caves were regularly used by the ancient people, and 

 to this day there are several inhabited troglodyte villages 

 and separate cave dwellings, though now, as formerly, 

 the natives excel in the art of dry-stone building. 



The lancia, or leaping pole, was the usual means of 

 rapid locomotion, and it is still used — particularly in 

 Palma — by the natives with great expertness, the rapidity 

 with which a Palmero will bound down a wild moun- 

 tain side being most surprising. The natives used to 

 catch fish in the night time by making a blaze on the 

 water with torches of pine wood, and I have been out 

 fishing with a man at night who employed identically 

 the same process, doubtless in much the same manner as 

 did his Guanche forefathers. 



The modern rough pottery made in the islands closely 

 resembles the old, so far as markings and shapes are 

 concerned, but differs in not being so good in quality. 



The general use of " gofio " is a most prevalent and 

 noticeable survival from the days of the ancient inhabi- 

 tants. Even the name of the food, the method of eating 

 it, and kneading it in a gofio-bag made from a kid-skin 

 drawn off whole, being the same. As in the old days, 

 so now, it is the staple article of food. 



A peculiarity in Canaria deserves record, =as through 

 the ancient Canarians it may have come down from the 

 ancient Egyptians. I allude to a curious and emphatic 

 way of saying " no " without speaking, by looking at the 

 interrogator and rapidly moving the forefinger in front 

 of and across the face. 



A method of laying out the dead by placing one hand 

 across the breast and the other along the side with the 

 fingers turned out, is exactly the same arrangement as is 

 seen in some of the mummies. 



A Hint for Future Travellers. 



Since we visited these island a tide of visitors has 

 set in that direction, and future travellers may reasonably 

 be asked to pay particular attention to, and to record, 

 any other traits and habits of the peasants which strike 

 them as being inherited from the old race ; to explore 

 caves, and to look out for their presence even in what are 

 now inaccessible places, and if any mummies are found, 

 to see that they are not treated as was that which was 

 presented to the College of Surgeons. 



Much remains to be done by original research in the 

 islands; and important additions to our knowledge 

 about this extinct people may be expected from the 

 practical observations of travellers. 



The Guanches have gone the way of the Dodo and 

 the Mammoth — too gentle, unresisting, and antiquated to 

 combat modern civilisation ; and like them are now only 

 visibly represented by specimens in museums. If I have 

 imbued some of these dry remains with the elements of 



life, my purpose is served — to awaken interest means 

 eventually to advance knowledge. I hope future 

 travellers will be able to tell you much more about the 

 Guanches than it has been possible for me to do. 



Note. — The title to fig. 5 (p. 405) should read, " Two 

 Pieces of Guanche Pottery, and Two Gofio-mills." 



SOME PHOTO-MICROGRAPHIC 

 APPARATUS. 



{Continued from p. 403 .) 



IN fig. 6 is shown a form of photo-micrographic camera, 

 designed by Mr. E. M. Nelson in conjunction with 

 Mr. C. L. Curteis, and made by Mr. C. Baker, of High 

 Holborn. 



The camera has been specially designed for use with 

 Professor Abbe's new three-power projection e3"e-piece, 

 specially corrected for use with Zeiss' apochromatic ob- 

 jectives, and the camera is so arranged that when closed 

 the magnification given by the three-power projection 

 eye-piece is equal to nearly five times the initial magni- 

 fying power of the objective used, or an equivalent to 

 the power obtained with an " A " eye-piece, whilst, when 

 fully extended, it gives ten times the initial magnifying 

 power of the object-glass, or the equivalent magnifica- 

 tion produced by the use of a " C " eye-piece, a degree 

 of magnification which it is not advisable to exceed. 



The accompanying woodcut shows very clearly the 

 whole arrangement. The camera is constructed to take 

 a plate 45 by 35, and consists of two cardboard tubes, 

 the one sliding into the other, like the tubes of a tele- 

 scope, the joint between the tubes being made light-tight 

 by means ot a velvet flap, fastened down by an india- 

 rubber band. The light excluding cap is made of card- 

 board covered with leather, this being found to be quite 

 as efficient as, and not so heavy as, a brass fitting. The 

 outer cardboard tube is fixed to a vertical standard which 

 can be secured to the base-board, at any point within its 

 range, by means of clamp screws working through slots. 

 The focussing screen slides into the back of this standard, 

 which is provided with suitable grooves to receive it. 



The focussing arrangements are essentially similar to 

 those previously described. 



- — -f-^»i2v^*iS-» 



Archaeological Discovery. — An archa;ological dis- 

 covery of great interest has been made in the tidal river 

 Hamble, near Botley, Hants. A boathouse is being built 

 at the point of the juncdon of the Curdridge Creek 

 with the river, some little distance above the spot 

 where there is a still existing wreck of a Danish man- 

 of-war. In removing the mud and alluvial soil to 

 make sufficient waterway, something hard was en- 

 countered, which on being carefully uncovered proved 

 to be a portion of a possibly pre-historic canoe — cer- 

 tainly pre-Roman. It is a few feet higher up the river 

 than the old Roman hardway or landing place, and was 

 evidently sunk close to the shore. It is about 12 feet 

 long by 25 feet wide, beautifully carved, and in a fairly 

 good state of preservation. Some question of. owner- 

 ship is likely to arise, as it was discovered below high- 

 water mark. The adjacent land teems with fragmentary 

 specimens of Roman pottery, bricks, etc., and it is anti- 

 cipated that the explorations will lead to further dis- 

 coveries. 



