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270 SCIENCE. ‘Vor, TL, 
The second part, of a hundred and twenty-three 
pages, is devoted to meteorological observations, and 
contains indices arranged according to stations, 
countries, and observers. The third part is histori- 
cal, and contains an outline of the history of meteor- 
ological observations in Germany to the present time, 
followed by chronological and statistical tables. 
It need not be said that the work of Dr. Hellmann 
is of great value, and will be a useful work of refer- 
ence for students. It is somewhat of a disappoint- 
ment, however, to find that the work is strictly con- 
fined to Germany and German authors, instead of 
including all meteorological writers who make use 
of the German language. On account of this limita- 
tion, Austria is not represented, though the part 
borne by that country in meteorological work of a 
high order is to-day so prominent. A similar cata- 
logue for the latter country is needed to supplement 
the work of Hellmann. 
— The New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros, and 
explored by Bougainville and by Cook, remained 
neglected until the failure of sandal-wood in China; 
and the need of laborers in the cotton plantations of 
Australia and Fiji, brought them again into notice. 
Mr. Roberjot relates, in the Bulletin of the French 
geographical society, the story of a visit to these 
islands in the French vessel le Segond. Of the natives. 
of Tanna the writer says, ‘ As were the natives of this 
island in the days of Forster and Cook, such are they 
to-day.’ Their dress is a cincture only, arranged in 
clumsy fashion. On the island of Sandwich is a 
novel fashion of exhibiting wealth. The houses in 
a palisade face the centre of the space, which is orna- 
mented with posts, whereon hang dried hogs’ jaws. 
Now, as wealth there consists in the abundance of 
swine, there is some vanity in showing how many 
one has eaten. The houses on this island are much 
better than those on the neighboring islands. More- 
over, a certain number of constructions appear to 
serve the purpose of meetings or of storing provisions. 
A little distance from the houses were many trunks 
of trees planted in the earth. Each one of them has 
at its upper extremity two holes communicating, and 
their surfaces are ornamented with carved devices. 
Each of these trunks is a veritable instrument, and 
their union forms an orchestra. The report of Mr. 
‘Roberjot is full of interesting information, and several 
- short vocabularies are given. 
— Dr. Daniel G. Brinton has published, in the Folk- 
lore journal for August last, a paper on the folk-lore 
of Yucatan, founded on unpublished material which 
has fallen into his hands. A very interesting fact 
brought out by the author is the curious mixture of the 
old paganism with christianity. In the language of 
Garcia, with reference to the conversion of the na- 
tives, ‘the only difference was, that the natives were 
changed from pagan idolaters to christian idolaters.’ 
The ancient imposing rituals have passed away; but 
the belief in sorcerers, witchcraft, and magic is as 
strong as it ever was. These wise men divine with a 
rock-crystal, and have great influence over growing 
crops. The four cardinal points are named after the 
sacred four (pah-ah-tun) of the ancient religion, and 
also after four saints of the catholic calendar. These 
points of the compass are also the seats of the winds, 
and are denoted by separate colors. There still con- — 
tinue to be relics of an ancient form of fire-worship. 
Another of the modern ceremonies which is imbued 
with the notions common to primitive peoples is the 
‘feast of the food of the soul.’ Along with these 
there are many minor superstitions connected with 
the growth of crops and fruits. Men and women are 
alike possessed of this magical power, which fact is 
confirmed by a witch-story recited by Berendt. 
To the Maya, the woods, the air, and the darkness 
are filled with mysterious beings, who are ever ready 
to do him injury or service. Among these beings, 
the most familiar friendly spirits are the Balams. 
They are great smokers, and the shooting-stars are 
supposed to be huge cigar-stumps thrown by them 
down the sky. Another spirit is Che Vinic, ‘the man 
of the woods,’ a huge fellow without bones. Another 
ugly customer is Culcalkin, ‘the priest without a 
neck.’ There are also dwarfs and imps to worry the 
poor Maya, the most common among whom are the 
7’ lox, ‘ the strong clay images ;’ the Chan Pal, ‘little 
boy;’ the X’bolon thoroch, ‘the feminine imp who 
magnifies the sound of the spindle;’ X tabai, ‘the 
(female) deceiver;’ and X Thoh Chaliun, ‘Miss Pound- 
the-stones.’ Many superstitions cling around the ani- 
mal world also, and the sorcerers often claim the power 
of changing themselves into some animal. 
— The project of cutting the Perekop Isthmus, 
which unites the Krimea to the mainland, has been 
approved, and the chief question now under discus- 
sion is the best manner of obtaining the necessary 
funds for carrying on the work. 
— The extensive collection of mammals obtained 
by Mr. J. C. Zeledon in Costa Rica has been for- 
warded to Messrs. Godman and Salvin in London, to 
be used in their work upon the Biologia Centrali- 
Americani. 
— The treaty for settling the Russo-Persian fron- 
tier has been decided upon, and the work of settling 
certain doubtful points in regard to the boundary 
has been going on during the past season. The 
treaty recognizes Merv as Russian, and Kelati and 
Udiré as Persian territory, but remains subject to 
modification in minor details consequent upon the 
surveys now in progress. 
—The nematods, trematods, and acanthocephali col- 
lected by Fedtschenko in Turkestan have been worked 
up by von Linstow. There were a hundred and nine- 
teen alcoholic and forty-five microscopic preparations, _ 
representing ninety-seven species, of which thirty- 
six were new. ‘There was one new genus, Aprocta. 
Forty-seven species are known from other parts of the 
world, five being cosmopolitan, and fourteen known 
in America, Europe, and Asia. Of these last, eleven — 
infest man or domestic animals: hence their distri- 
bution is probably artificial. With our present im- 
perfect knowledge, it is impossible to study the geo- 
graphical distribution of helminths. 
