436 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 92. 



one of the other routes shown to be practica- 

 ble." 



Admiral Ammen of the U.S. navy, in his 

 speech on the Nicaragua route before the 

 American association for the advancement of 

 science at Philadelphia, said that there were 

 2,000,000 tons of grain produced on the Pacific 

 coast by English-speaking people, which find a 

 market around Cape Horn, mostly in English 

 ports ; and that there were vast quantities of 

 timber-lands, extending from Puget Sound to 

 Bering Strait, with the best quality of lumber, 

 which can be shipped through this canal most 

 advantageously. From time to time, a good 

 many estimates of the tonnage that would use 

 the canal have been made, nine of which, 

 obtained by the U.S. commission, range from 

 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 tons of freight, and 

 give an average of 3,804,000 tons per year. 

 The estimated toll is three dollars per ton, in 

 addition to the port charges and other dues ; 

 but the actual expense to the vessel will de- 

 pend upon the rule adopted for ascertaining 

 the charge, and whether the tonnage is 

 charged upon the actual amount of cargo 

 carried, or on the gross tonnage of the vessel. 

 The latter, which is the method proposed by 

 Mr. de Lesseps, would make the actual cost 

 about six dollars for each ton of merchandise 

 carried. 



"The tonnage of the world in 1870 amount- 

 ed to 17,963,293 tons, and, in 1879, to 20,- 

 395,815 tons. These amounts were made up 

 of steam and sail tonnage, as follows : — 



Years. 



Steam. 



Sail. 



1870 



1879 



2,466,498 

 4,366,221 



15,496,795 tons. 

 16,029,594 " 



Gain in 9 years 



1,899,723 



532,799 tons. 



"From this it will be seen, that, while the 

 sailing- tonnage has actually increased, it has not 

 done so at a rate to compare with the increase 

 of the steam-tonnage, which has been facili- 

 tated by man} T causes, prominent among which 

 was the opening of the Suez Canal. Sailing- 

 vessels cannot use this canal to advantage : 

 hence the increased commerce resulting from 

 its construction has called into existence much 

 , of the increased steam-tonnage. It is very 

 probable, that, in the event of the opening of a 

 canal by wa} T of Nicaragua, the sailing-tonnage 

 would increase at a remarkably rapid rate, as 

 this route lies in a region which is highly favor- 

 able to sailing-vessels." 



Gardiner G. Hubbard. 



CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF PRIMITIVE 

 LAW. 



A definition of the term 'law,' that will 

 hold good under all circumstances, must be 

 divested of the mam T theories of its origin, the 

 source of its authoritj^, and its ethical charac- 

 teristics, which are expressed or implied in 

 customary definitions, and laws must be con- 

 sidered as . objective facts. The following 

 definition will perhaps do under all circum- 

 stances : A law is a rule of conduct which or- 

 ganized society endeavors to enforce. * 



In civilization, law is theoretically founded 

 on justice ; but in savageiy, principles of 

 justice have little consideration. There are 

 two fundamental principles at the basis of 

 primitive law: viz., first, controversy should 

 be prevented ; second, controversy should be 

 terminated. A third is derivative from them ; 

 namely, infraction of law should be punished. 

 These principles enter into primitive law in 

 man} 7 curious waj's. 



It was customary among the tribes of North 

 America for individuals to mark their arrows 

 in order that the stricken game might fall 

 to the man by whose arrow it had been de- 

 spatched. 



A war-party of Sioux surprised a squad of 

 sleeping soldiers, who were all killed at the 

 first volley from the Indians. Their arms, 

 blankets, and other property were untouched, 

 because, the attacking party being large, it 

 could not be decided by whose bullets the 

 soldiers were killed. 



It has been widely believed that the practice 

 of placing the property of deceased persons 

 in their graves when the}' are buried has its 

 origin in religion, and testifies to the universal 

 belief that the dead live again, and will need 

 such articles in their new life. But many 

 tribes of North America who have not }'et 

 been long in contact with white men avow, that, 

 there being no owner for the propert}', its dis- 

 position might lead to controversy, and hence 

 it is destroyed. Many examples of this fact 

 have been collected. Ownership to the greater 

 part of property in savagery is communal, 

 some classes of property being owned by the 

 clan, others b} r the tribe ; and for such there 

 is no proper inheritance, as the clan and tribe 

 do not die ; but purely personal property is 

 inherited by the grave. It seems probable 

 that such is the origin of the custom of bury- 

 ing various articles with the dead. Subse- 

 quently it has religious sanctions thrown about 

 it, as have many social customs. 



There is a law, among the tribes of North 



