1024 General Notes. [December; 



the working and interlacing of the two systems among the 

 Australian tribe, with which the authors are so familiar. 



Mr. Macfarlane, following up the investigations of inquirers 

 into the law and biography of consanguinity and affinity in all 

 times and tribes, seeks to develop a "systematic notation capable 

 of denoting any relationship whatever." There are but two fun- 

 damental ideas in consanguinity, the first may be represented by 



denoted by the letters m and / Mr. Macfarlane shows how 

 the remotest relationship may be indicated by such formula; as 

 J P P p p p "i — a man's great, great, great grandmother. 



Mr. Man's communication, pages < q-i 16 is a series of chapters 

 in answer to the British Instructions to Observers, treating of the 

 form and size, anatomy, color, odor, hair, development and 

 decay, crosses, reproduction, abnormalities, pathology, physiog- 

 nomy, motions, powers, senses, psychology, morals, magic, witch- 

 craft, distribution, topography, communities, arithmetic, habita- 

 tions, government, &c, of this interesting race. 



Asia.— The volume of Stanford's Compendium of Geography 

 and Travel relating to Asia has just appeared. No ethnologist can 

 afford to exclude these volumes from his library. The series are 

 based on Hellwald's " Die Erde und ihre V61ker," but so much 

 original matter has been added that we may well call the series a 

 new work. Already the following are completed : " Australasia," 

 by A. R. Wallace and A. H. Keane ; " Africa," by Keith John- 

 son and A. H. Keane; " Central America, the West Indies and 

 South America,'' by II. W. Bates and A. H. Keane; and "Asia," 

 by A. H. Keane and Sir Richard Temple, Bart. 



Mr. Stanford will soon publish " Europe," by Sir A. C. Ram- 

 say and A. H. Keane, and " North America," by F. V. Hayden, 

 A. R. C. Selwyn and A. H. Keane. It will be perceived that the 

 name of Mr. Augustus H. Keane is attached to each volume; in 

 addition to assuming the main responsibility for the work on 

 Asia, he is the ethnological editor of the series. After the usual 

 amount of preface and introduction (pp. 1-28) the body of the 

 book is divided as follows : 



From chapter to chapter, in its appropriate place, the ethnogra- 

 iy of each region is worked out. The term is to be taken m 



widest sense, since administration, statistics and commerce are 

 it neglected. In the appendix of this volume, just as in others 



the series, especial attention is given to the races and lan- 

 lages of the areas covered by the work. The Asiatic contiocot 

 i the birthplace of two of the five great fan " 



kind, the Caucasic and the Mongolic. These 

 differentiates as follows : 





