264 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
Only one cherry-stone has been as yet found in 
any prehistoric settlement of Italy or Switzerland, 
nor is the antiquity of the stratum quite certain. 
One of the most curious and suggestive disco- 
veries in this field is that of the poppy. Were, 
the)i, these rude fishers and hunters troubled with 
carking cares, low spirits, and melancholia, as well 
as the worn-out brain- workers and anxious bread- 
winners of the nineteenth century 1 ? Was there 
perhaps a Boleride or a De Quincey among the 
Swiss lake-dwellers of the age of Stone, some 
dreamer hopelessly wedded to opium? The capsule 
of the poppy has been found in these primitive 
abodes; whilst its numerous names in the language 
of antiquity prOye its ancient origin. Besides 
Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic names, several exist 
in the Slav languages. 
Tobacco-smoking in America was very common 
in ancient days, and pipes of wonderful work- 
manship have been discovered in the tombs of the 
Aztecs. The use of tobacco in Western nations, 
however, dates from the discovery of America, so 
that it is not to be taken into account here. When 
we come to vegetables, and what is generally sum- 
med up under the head of farinaceous food, we 
find that our lake-dwellers fared not so badly after 
all. In the age of Bronze, the ancient inhabitants 
of Switzerland and Italy had beans most probably 
served up with bacon ; lentils also figured in the 
domestic bill of fare; very likely, the housewife 
concocted better lentil broth than many a mistress 
of genteel households nowadays. Nor were nursery 
puddings and invalid dishes wanting in those early 
days. The prehistoric cook had several varieties 
of wheat, millet — of which they made great use — 
oats, two varieties of six-rowed barley, besides 
other cereals. It is needless to insist on the inte- 
rest and value of such facts and conclusions as 
these, arrived at with patient cai'e and after unre- 
mitting investigations. Doubtless, archaeology and 
paleontology have many more revelations of a 
similar kind in store for us. 
Before leaving a fascinating subject, let us men- 
tion one curious fact more. The great antiquity 
of the cultivation of flax is well known. The pre- 
historic inhabitants of the peat-mosses of Lagozza 
in Lombardy employed flax, the L inum ani/usti- 
folium, though ignorant of the use of hemp and of 
metals. On the other side of the Alps, among the 
lake dwellers of Switzerland, the same species of 
flax has been discovered, this perennial Linurn on- 
r/ustifoliiim, now wild in southern alpine regions. 
Thus, before the arrival of the Aryans in Europe, 
before metals, even bronze, were known, before 
hemp and the domestic fowl were known also, 
civilisation had reached a certain development on 
both sides of the Alps. Folks wore linen : satis- 
fied their hunger on beans and 1 >acon : and cracked 
their nuts on high-days v l holidays, much -i< they 
do nowadays. Chambers Journal. 
NOTES AND NEWS. 
The “Mining and Engineering News" of the 
27th ult. contains an illustrated article ou the 
Malta phosphates from the pen of Mr. John H. 
Cooke. F.G.S. 
Etna has been in active eruption daring the 
whole of last month, and a considerable are a of 
land planted with the vine and chestnut has been 
devastated. 
At the Botanical Congress which met in Genoa 
on the 5tb ult. the most eminent botanists of Paris, 
Berlin, Jena, and St. Petersburgh were present. 
Dr. Caruana Gatto represented Malta. 
At the annual meeting of the British Association 
for the Advancement of Science, Dr. G. K. Knott 
gave a report on earthquake phenomena in Japan. 
Among the effects of the recent severe earthquake 
were mentioned the depression of a valley by about 
19 feet for a distance of 30 miles, — thus forming a 
great geological fault. — together with the destruc- 
tion of mills, bridges and towns, and the curving 
of a railway line running along an embankment 
and bridge in the path of the earthquake. It was 
stated incidentally that in many earthquakes — 
though not in this one — oil is overturned and by 
catching fire causes more damage than the earth- 
quake itself. 
Lack of irrigation is regarded by Mr. A. Podolsky 
as the principal cause of last year's famine in 
southern Russia. In this region ordinary irriga- 
tion works are impracticable, and snow irrigation, 
as, practised in parts of Siberia, is advised. In 
winter the inhabitants pile up snow on suitable hill 
tops, covering it with pine branches, straw, dung, 
