POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



429 



distinct peculiarities. Neither is there any 

 room for doubt that these peculiarities are 

 persistent throughout life. This method of 

 testing identity would be valuable in many 

 cases. A writer in the " British North Bor- 

 neo Herald," commenting on a lecture by 

 Mr. Galton on this subject, has spoken of 

 the great difficulty of identifying coolies 

 either by their photographs or measure- 

 ments, and said that the question how this 

 could best be done would probably become 

 important in the early future of British 

 North Borneo. Mr. Galton believes also 

 that the difficulty of identifying pensioners 

 and annuitants ha3 led to the loss of large 

 sums of money annually. A method of tak- 

 ing the impressions which he has used with 

 good success is as follows : A copper plate 

 is smoothly covered with a very thin layer of 

 printer's ink, by means of a printer's roller. 

 When the thumb is pressed upon the inked 

 plate, no ink penetrates into the delicate fur- 

 rows of the skin ; the ridges only are inked, 

 and these leave their impression when the 

 thumb is pressed on paper. Turpentine 

 readily removes the ink from the skin. A 

 simpler process is to slightly smoke a piece 

 of smooth metal or glass, press the thumb 

 upon it, and then make the imprint on a bit 

 of gummed paper that is slightly dampened. 

 The impression is a particularly good one, 

 and is durable enough for the purpose. 



Judicious Charity. — The giving of money 

 to beggars has been condemned on many 

 sides. To bestow food or clothing upon a 

 certain class of mendicants is also mistaken 

 charity. The former is only an incumbrance, 

 to be thrown away at the first opportunity ; 

 and the latter often finds its way to the 

 pawn-shop. To prevent blankets being 

 pawned, a benevolent Scotch lady once sug- 

 gested buying them in two colors, cutting 

 them down the middle, and sewing a half of 

 one color to a half of the other. The pur- 

 pose of the gift or loan would be answered, 

 while the blanket would be unavailable as 

 a pledge. The poor who are most deserving 

 of sympathy and aid require much searching 

 out, and often, when face to face with those 

 who fain woidd relieve, make the most of 

 their miserable surroundings in order to 

 conceal their poverty. Indiscriminate alms- 

 giving should be avoided and organization 



adopted — not the organization which re- 

 quires elaborately furnished offices and a 

 staff of heavily paid officials, but that which 

 consists of benevolent individuals who have 

 time at their disposal, and the heart and 

 means to give, co-operating with each other. 

 In all cases the assistance afforded should be 

 adapted to the circumstances of the case, and, 

 wherever possible, assume the form of a loan 

 in preference to that of a gift. Money should 

 demand an equivalent of labor in some form : 

 an out-building whitewashed, a fence mend- 

 ed, wood cut, coal put in, ashes or snow re- 

 moved, or something else. Organization 

 could provide common material for shirt- 

 making at proper prices by starving seam- 

 stresses, even if the articles were subse- 

 quently sold at a loss or given away. In 

 any case let something, however simple, be 

 required in return, so as not to destroy what 

 self-reliance remains to the recipients of the 

 bounty. 



Arrow-Poison.— A letter from Mr. H. M. 

 Stanley, read recently before the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society of London, contained an 

 extremely interesting reference to the arrow- 

 poison used by the natives on the lower 

 Congo. Mr. Stanley says that several of his 

 party, being hit by the arrows of the natives, 

 died almost immediately in great agony. The 

 poison was found to consist of the bodies of 

 red ants, ground to a fine powder, and then 

 cooked in palm-oil. This mixture was smeared 

 on the arrow-heads ; its poisonous effects are 

 due to the formic acid which is known to ex- 

 ist in the free state in red ants. This acid 

 is also found in the stinging-nettle. 



Expression in Infants. — It is not proba- 

 ble that infants in their earliest days give 

 expressions of pleasure, for such expressions 

 are largely imitative. There is but little dif- 

 ference during the first days of life between 

 the joyful and the sad, the intelligent and 

 the stupid face. The child's feelings have 

 to be called out by his experiences, and his 

 means of expression caught from those 

 around him. He has a few movements of 

 reflex origin, and some that may be intuitive. 

 According to the "Lancet," an agreeable 

 perception or a feeling of satisfaction is ne- 

 cessary to the causation of a smile, while the 

 number of sensations of a pleasurable sort 



