404 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 90. 



wire netting ; the lower having a strong and 

 coarse mesh, and designed to give strength to 

 the upper netting which determines the size 

 of material which can be washed through. 

 The end pieces are of wood. A rectangular 

 box fitting into the top of this sieve, and hav- 

 ing a coarse wire bottom, is sometimes emplo}-ed 

 for the purpose described below in the next 

 pattern. The table sieve was the joint inven- 

 tion of Professor Verrill and Capt. Chester in 

 1877, and was originally intended to receive 

 the contents of the trawl which had been pre- 

 viously dumped upon the deck. It consists of 

 a large rectangular wooden frame, supported 

 upon legs of a convenient height, and with a 

 bottom of heavy galvanized wire-netting which 

 serves to support the real bottom of the sieve. 

 This is of fine wire-netting fitted to a remov- 

 able frame. Above this is a second, hopper- 

 shaped frame- work, covered underneath with 



arranged to lead into the side of a cask placed 

 close to the sieve, and from which the water 

 escapes at a slightly higher level on the oppo- 

 site side. The heavier particles carried through 

 the tube by the great force of the current are 

 thereby given a chance to settle in the cask ; 

 the lighter sediment, composed mostly of fine 

 mud, passing off through the outlet. After 

 the washing has been accomplished, the water 

 remaining in the barrel is decanted or drawn 

 off through a siphon. The washing, in both 

 the cradle and table sieves, is accomplished by 

 means of a stream of water supplied through 

 a hose. The large sieve figured on the deck of 

 the French steamer Talisman in a recent num- 

 ber of La nature (see Science, vol. iii. p. 453) 

 appears to partake of the character of the table 

 sieve above described, although its details are 

 not shown. 



Richard Rathbun. 



KAFIRISTAN. 



Fig*. 5. — Verrill's cradle sieve. 



coarse netting, and provided at about the 

 middle of the side with cleats which rest 

 upon the upper edges of the main frame when 

 the three frames are nested together for use. 

 The trawls are emptied into the hopper frame, 

 which retains the coarser objects, allowing the 

 smaller and generally more delicate specimens 

 to be washed out on to the finer netting below. 

 This arrangement of sieves has been found 

 to give greater satisfaction than an}' other 

 for washing large quantities of material, and 

 keeps the specimens in better condition. The 

 under part of the main frame is covered with 

 heav} r canvas, which serves to direct the water 

 to the canvas tube in the centre, and thence 

 over the side of the vessel. 



Mr. James E. Benedict, naturalist on the 

 steamer Albatross, has recently added an inter- 

 esting feature to this sieve, for collecting and 

 cleaning the foraminifera taken in the trawls, 

 and of which many quarts were frequently 

 washed away and lost by the old method 

 at every haul. The canvas tube is simply 



The adventurous journey of Macnair, disguised 

 as a native physician, into Kafiristan has given us 

 the first testimony of a European eye-witness to the 

 characteristics of that country and its inhabitants. 

 Without recounting the itinerary, or specially detail- 

 ing the perils of the traveller, which were not few, 

 it may be mentioned that a part of his route lying 

 between Mirga and Lowerai Kotal was at an altitude 

 of 10,450 feet above the sea-level, winding through 

 the snow between heaps of stones, which cover the 

 remains of Mohammedans assassinated by the Kafirs. 

 Elphinstone relates, in his ' History of Kabul,' that, 

 on the occasion of a sacrifice, the prayer offered was, 

 " Defend us from fever, increase our wealth, kill the 

 Mussulmans, and after our death admit us to Para- 

 dise." It appears that none of their religious duties 

 are better attended to by the Kafirs than that of 

 killing the Mussulmans. Much the same importance 

 is attached to it as belonged to head-hunting among 

 the Dyaks, and no young Kafir is allowed to marry 

 until he has killed at least one. A very similar feel- 

 ing would seem to exist towards Europeans. 



Kafiristan embraces an area of some five thousand 

 square miles, limited to the north by the stupendous 

 crest of the Hindu Kush, of which at least one peak 

 rises above twenty-five thousand feet; on the south 

 by the Kunar range ; and on the east and west chiefly 

 by the Alishang and Kunar rivers. Three distinct 

 tribes — the Ramgals, Yaigals, and Bashgals — corre- 

 spond to and occupy the three principal valleys of 

 the country, the last being subdivided into five 

 clans. The Vaigals are reputed to be the most 

 numerous, and occupy the largest valley. Each tribe 

 has a distinct dialect, but all have many words in 

 common. In general, the three tribes have few 

 relations with each other. Altogether, they are sup- 

 posed to number about two hundred thousand people. 



