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THE EVOLUTION OF ENGRAVING IN THE design groups (Fig. 3). In the upper layers signs are STONE AGE.

WE have at various times directed the attention of

our readers to this interesting subject, but new discoveries are continually being made. M. Ed. Piette, whose name is so well known in connection with his investigation of the famous cave of Masd'Azil, has given in l'Anthropologie (xv., 1904, P. 129) a classification of the deposits formed in caves during the age of the reindeer; starting as a geologist, he was firmly impressed with the fact that stratigraphy is at the root of fruitful advance in prehistory, and this end he has kept steadily in view. He gives the following table of relative chronology of the epochs which form part of the age of the reindeer :—

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The sculptors in the round used their flint tools for many purposes, including carving, chiselling, scraping, engraving, and burnishing; they certainly sketched their statuettes before modelling them, and they polished them. The sculptors in low relief scraped and burnished. Their works were not child's play, but the product of a real artistic sense. They studied and drew heads, limbs, and feet (Fig. 1). The sculptors in the round figured the flayed animal and even the skeleton. When mammoth ivory became rare reindeer antlers were employed for carving, and this appears to have led the way to the next artistic developments.

Many of the figures in this copiously illustrated paper are from the layer of sculptures in low relief; it was in this layer that several pieces were found decorated with circles and bold spirals (Fig. 2). At first these designs were carved deeply, they gradually became less deep, until in the Gourdanienne epoch they were merely lines. M. Piette believes the spirals were symbolic, and suggests that they had reference to snakes. Plant forms were rarely drawn, and of the very numerous animals engraved by far the most frequent were those upon the flesh of which the men fed.

As the relief in the designs became less and less, the artist had to employ the graver. At the end of the Papalienne epoch the artists undertook to execute very low reliefs on plates of bone not more than two millimetres in thickness. They made silhouettes, modelling the contours on both sides; but the great difficulty of carving such thin objects soon led to its abandonment. They replaced this style by cutting out contours and engraving the surface. This technique was common in the region of the Pyrenees, but rare to the north of the Garonne; being a transitional form it did not last long, whereas sculptures in low relief persisted into later layers.

At first, following the traditions of the sculptor, the engraver represented isolated animals, but the artists of Laugerie-basse appear to have been the earliest to

engraved which M. Piette considers to be of the nature of inscriptions.

Thanks to the rigid stratigraphical method employed by M. Piette, he has been enabled to upset the

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l'Age glyptique (tome xvi., 1905, p. 1), M. Piette claims to have discovered" inscriptions composed of characters forming a primitive writing," all of which are from the layer of sculptures in low relief, and consequently from the earlier glyptic epoch. The first specimen figured by the author is that reproduced here as Fig. 2. First of all one must point out that only one side of this rod of bone is figured, but before the design can be understood it will be necessary to know what the whole design looks like. The author says, "The circle with central prominence appears to be a simplification of the circle with radiating centre which evidently signifies the sun or solar god. The rays have been suppressed in order to write the sign more quickly "; he then briefly gives the distribution of

circles are figured by the author in juxtaposition, and
the evidence seems to point to the conclusion that
here, as in so many other instances from various
parts of the world, the concentric circle or oval is a
simplification of the spiral; if this be so, the theory
that the concentric circles are degenerate rayed circles,
i.e. suns, falls to the ground. The bold decoration
on these bone objects in all probability had a meaning.
Some of the designs may have been symbols; but,
surely, it is somewhat far-fetched to describe them as
hieroglyphs, and we cannot follow the author when
he states (as he does in a letter to the editor), " Accord-
ing to me this inscription (Fig. 2) is the glorification
of light."
M. Piette also directs attention to certain linear

markings on bones from various
sites of the reindeer age. These
he boldly claims to be true linear
scripts, and suggests that the
writings of la Madeleine and
Rochebertier were continued into
the linear script of Abydos with-
out undergoing much change.

Archæologists are deeply indebted to M. Piette for the thoroughness with which he has carried out his investigations, and we must not unfairly criticise him if that enthusiasm which has carried him through his labours sometimes runs away with his more dispassionate judgment. He is probably quite correct in believing that the decoration on the bone objects he has discovered has a meaning, but judging from our experience of the decorative art of existing primitive peoples it is extremely improbable that we shall ever be able to decipher its meaning or unravel its symbolism. More evidence is needed before we can pass judgment upon the supposed linear script. A. C. H.

THE NEW DIPLODOCUS

ΟΝ

SKELETON.

N Friday, May 12, in the presence of a large and representative company, Lord Avebury, on behalf of his fellow trustees, received from Mr. Andrew Carnegie the gift of the full-sized model of the skeleton of the gigantic American dinosaur known as Diplodocus carnegii, which has been mounted in the reptile gallery of the Natural History Branch of the British Museum under the superintendence of Dr. Holland, of Pittsburg, who has charge of the original specimens on which the complete restoration is based. Although the gigantic four-footed dinosaurs constituting the group Sauropoda were first made known to the world on the evidence of detached bones and teeth described by Mantell (Pelorosaurus) and Owen (Cardiodon and Ceteosaurus), it has been reserved for American palæontologists, working in the rich Upper Jurassic beds of Wyoming and Colorado, to give to the world an adequate conception of the huge proportions and extraordinary form of these strange reptiles. Strangest of all is perhaps Diplodocus (so named on account of

FIG. 3. Engraving on bone (Lorthet). Layer of engravings without harpoons. similar markings in prehistoric Europe and in Egypt. The lozenge is stated to be "certainly a symbol," and other signs are similarly believed to be symbols or hieroglyphs. "The spiral," for example, "has held a large place in primitive symbolism." This is possibly true, but spirals may mean many things in the art of existing backward peoples, and may be conventional symbols or more or less realistic representations; but it is extremely hazardous to make guesses as to what any given spiral may be intended to represent; the probability is that all such guesses will be incorrect, and the same remark applies to other elementary designs. Several spirals and concentric

the double chevron-bones, which were at first thought to be peculiar to this form, although now known to be common to the entire group), which appears to be distinguished from all its relatives by the weakness of its dentition, the teeth being reduced to a small number, of the size and form of lead pencils, confined to the front of the jaws. Another remarkable feature, which may, however, have been common to other members of the group, is the position of the nasal aperture at the top of the skull, this being not improbably indicative of partially aquatic habits, an inference confirmed by the nature of the dentition of Diplodocus, which can scarcely have been adapted for anything else than a diet of soft and luscious water-plants.

Diplodocus was apparently one of the largest representatives of the group, the length of the skeleton, as mounted, being about 75 feet, while if the vertebral column were placed in a straight line the length would be some 10 feet more. The height at the shoulder is about 14 feet. The only rival to such bulk at the present day is presented by the skeleton of Sibbald's rorqual That such a monster should have a skull considerably smaller than that of a large crocodile is one of the most remarkable facts made apparent by this restoration; while scarcely less noteworthy are the ex

markable oneness in language of the Bantu tribes in the southern half of Africa from the Equator to Natal and Cape Colony, and he was therefore puzzled to find in the Masai a race intruding into Bantu East Africa which spoke a language absolutely different from the Bantu type.

At this period-let us say about 1850-the Masai had forced themselves on the attention of the Arab rulers of East Africa by their raids on the cattle of the Bantu tribes, raids which brought them occasionally to within sight of the island-town of Mombasa. In the 'fifties of the last century, nevertheless, the Masai had not established that reign of terror which during the 'sixties, 'seventies, and 'eighties did so much to obstruct the exploration of eastern equatorial Africa, and so long prevented the white man from travelling direct from the Mombasa coast to the eastern shores of the

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FIG. 1.-Restored Model of the Skeleton of Diplodocus carnegii as origin. ally set up in the Museum at Pittsburg. From a photograph presented by Dr. Holland to the British Museum.

treme elongation of the neck and tail (the latter for several feet of its length being comparable to a huge whip-lash), and the shortness of the trunk. With the exception of the bones regarded as the clavicles, of which only one original specimen was found, and the position of which in the skeleton may be doubtful, there is full authority for every bone in the model; so that we are now practically as well acquainted with the osteology of these monsters as we are with that of crocodiles.

Mr. Carnegie's gift, which is due to the initiation of the King, is not only of immense value and interest to the man of science, but will likewise prove a great attraction to the ordinary visitor to the Museum. It is almost an appalling thought that the skeleton of a creature which lived at least several million years ago should have come down in such marvellous preservation to our own day.

THE MASAI OF EAST AFRICA.1

THE Masai (the word should be pronounced with a stress on the first syllable-Másai) were first distinguished and described as an East African people by the missionary Krapf, who, with Rebmann, was the discoverer of Mounts Kenia and Kilimanjaro. Krapf, who commenced the exploration of equatorial East Africa in 1848, had begun dimly to perceive the re

"The Masai, their language and Folklore." By A C. Hollis. With an introduction by Sir Charles Elliot. Pp. xxviii+356. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) Price 148. net.

FIG. 1.-Masai girls, showing ornaments. From Hollis's "The Masai

Victoria Nyanza. Therefore, in the 'fifties of the nineteenth century, Swahili, Arab or Baluch traders managed to reach the east and north-east coasts of the Victoria Nyanza from Mombasa or Lamu. The stories they told to Krapf and other missionaries gave to Europeans the first hint of the existence beyond the istics and habits. Masai of tribes allied in speech and physical characterDuring the 'seventies the Masai pushed their raids further and further south, until they were almost heard of-so to speak-in the regions immediately to the north of Lake Nyasa. In this direction they were ultimately checked by the sturdy resistance of the Bantu Hehe people, a vigorous race that long resisted German dominion in the same territory, a race made more warlike and coherent by a slight infusion of Zulu immigrants from the south. To the south-west the Masai were checked by the warlike Wagogo, to the west by the distantly allied tribes of Lumbwa and Ja-luo, and to the north by the Galas and Somalis. It is possible, however, that but for the eventual interposition of the European they might have

subdued the Bantu coast people and the Arab halfbreeds to the shores of the Indian Ocean.

All observers of the Masai have noted their superiority in physical appearance to the pure-blooded negro. There has evidently been a good deal of intermixture, especially during the last three decades, with women of Bantu race, and the original Masai stock itself is only one of the many hybrids between the Caucasian and the negro; but still the average man or woman of Masai race is a negroid rather than a negro, with a skin of coppery-brown, not black, with a more defined bridge to the nose and a better developed chin than the ordinary negro possesses. They are, however, far more negro in appearance than, for example, the Hamitic (Hima) aristocracy of the lands lying to the north, west and south of the Victoria Nyanza; yet they retain a larger infusion of Caucasian blood (due, of course, to Hamitic intermixture) than the pure type of Nilotic negro, to which in other respects they are nearest allied in origin, language, and, above all, in habits and

customs.

ages

may be grouped with the Lotuka, Elgumi or Wamia, Bari (on the White Nile), Karamojo, and Turkana, is, together with the nearly allied group of the NandiDorobo, distinctly, though distantly, related to the well marked Nilotic family of negro languages which in cludes the Dinka, Shiluk, Dyur, Acholi, &c., and links on to the negro languages stretching away to Wadai and Lake Chad. In the Masai language, as in the kindred tongues of the Masai group, there is distinct evidence of Somali or Gala influence. This may be due to the ancient intermixture of blood between the Gala and the Nilotic negro which formed the Masai, and also to the contiguity of the Masai in some of their wanderings with outlying groups of Hamitic people.

For the first time the civilised world has been presented with an authoritative work on the Masai language, customs, and folklore, by Mr. A. C. Hollis, of the British East Africa Protectorate. Nothing of the kind worth serious notice has appeared since the works of Krapf and Erhardt. Though a Masai dictionary

remains to be composed which shall give a full vocabulary of this interesting language, the book under review can scarcely be bettered in fulness or correctness as a grammatical study. Equally admirable is the collection of Masai legends. These are not given in the form of generalised "stories " with a Hans Andersen flavour; but the original is first of all presented in the Masai with an interlinear translation, and then follows a correct but more readable version in colloquial English. Of necessity, a work like this is more interesting to students than to the general public (though it is admirably illustrated with appropriate photographs). But for the students of African ethnology and languages it is a work of permanent value; it is the authoritative study of the Masai people; and it is satisfactory to record that the author confines himself mainly to facts and not to theories, and that Sir Charles Eliot in his introduction does not trace the origin of the Masai to the ten lost tribes of Israel. recrudescence of this irritating mania having recently appeared amongst German writers on Africa who ought to have known better, it is a relief to find that English authorities on African questions can still retain their sanity on the subject of the proper place in history and ethnology of that mixed Armenian, Dravidian, and Semitic people which we call by the racial name of Jew. H. H. JOHNSTON.

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FIG. 2.-Masai warriors of various " " and "districts," each with the shield of his "age" and "district." From Hollis's "The Masai."

Now that our knowledge of eastern equatorial Africa is so extensive, we realise that the Masai are no isolated phenomenon in racial distribution, but are simply a southward extension of the Nilotic peoples. They probably originated several hundred years ago in the northern part of the present Uganda Protectorate, in the mountainous country between the present abode of the Lotuka tribe (the nearest allies of the Masai in language) and the Turkana peoples to the east. In this region they were simply one of the many blends between the Hamitic (Gala) invaders of equatorial Africa and the Nile negroes. The writer of this review, in his work on the Uganda Protectorate (p. 841), has computed that the proportion of Caucasian intermixture in the case of the Masai is from one-quarter to one-eighth. Their language, which for classification

1 Owing to their habit of smearing their bodies with a red clay, they strike the casual observer as being a red-skinned rather than a brown race.

NOTES.

A

THE anniversary dinner of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday was really a complimentary banquet to Sir Clements Markham, the popular and active president of the society, who has just retired from office after twelve years of zealous service. During this period Sir Clements Markham has watched over the affairs of the society, and has guarded the interests of geography, with a devotion

and untiring energy which it is easier to admire than to emulate. But his influence has not only been exerted while directing the affairs of the society as president, for he was honorary secretary of the society from 1863 to 1888, and the Founder's medal awarded to him upon his retirement was a mark of appreciation of his work for the promotion of geography, both in connection with the society and otherwise. It is, indeed, difficult to think of the Reyal Geographical Society apart from the personality of Sir Clements Markham, for in all the affairs of the society he has long been ubiquitous. Wherever and whenever geographical interests could be advanced, he has championed them with a strength of view and courage of conviction which have commanded the admiration even of those who have differed from him. He has always been jealous of the honour of his charge; and only those who have been closely associated with him can appreciate adequately how carefully he has cherished the society's welfare. At the banquet on Monday, the chairman, Sir George D. T. Goldie, who has succeeded Sir Clements Markham in the presidential chair, referred in eloquent terms to Sir Clements' work as explorer and author, and his great achievement in the introduction of the cultivation of the Cinchona plant from South America into India. Messages of regret upon the retirement of Sir Clements Markham were read from the King and the Prince of Wales. After Sir Clements had replied to the toast of his health, a testimonial was presented to him from the relatives of the officers and members of the scientific staff of the Discovery in recognition of his courtesy in keeping up communication with them. This souvenir consisted of a reproduction of the Cashel cup, and bore a suitable inscription. There was also a gold pin studded with jewels for Lady Markham.

MM. METSCHNIKOFF and ROUX, who have recently shown that syphilis is inoculable on the higher apes, at a meeting of the French Academy of Medicine on May 16 announced that they have at last detected the microorganism of this disease. The microbe appears to be a long, delicate, spirillar form, difficult to observe, and readily destroyed by any manipulations. It seems to have been seen first by MM. Bordet and Gengou, of the Pasteur Institute, three years ago, and subsequently by Herren Schaudinn and Hoffmann, by whom it was named Spirochaete pallida. It measures 4-14 in length by 1 in breadth, and though resembling similar organisms in mucus, &c., is readily distinguished from these. The spirochate has been found in four out of six human cases of the disease, and also in the incculated monkeys, and Dr. Levaditi also exhibited preparations of it obtained from a child suffering from hereditary syphilis.

THE Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society celebrated the centenary of its foundation by a dinner on May 22, which was attended by the Prince of Wales and a large and distinguished company, the president, Sir Douglas Powell, Bart., presiding. In responding to the loyal toasts, the Prince of Wales (who is an honorary Fellow of the Society) expressed his pleasure at being present. He regarded his position as president of King Edward's Hospital Fund as a precious trust, and he watched with keen interest and satisfaction the gradual but steady development of medical science. He congratulated the Society on celebrating the tooth anniversary of its foundation, a period which had been prolific in advances in medicine and surgery. Fhysiology had become established as a precise branch of learning; barteriology had laid bare the foundations of disease; antiseptics and the clinical thermometer had been invented;

our hospitals had become institutions in which the most beneficent treatment is carried out with scientific thoroughness; and in the sphere of public hygiene nothing short of a revolution had been effected. Among the guests were the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Strathcona, Lord Alverstone, Sir W. Huggins, P.R.S., Mr. John Tweedy, P.R.C.S., Surgeon-General Keogh, Prof. Ray Lankester, Sir W. Ramsay, Sir F. Treves, Sir P. Manson, Prof. Christian Bohr, Prof. Pierre Marie, and many others. Last night the Fellows and their friends and other guests were enter tained at a soirée at the Natural History Museum. As a fitting supplement to the centenary festivities, it may be mentioned that the society recently invited delegates from the other medical societies to confer on the practicability of an amalgamation between the various societies and the foundation of an "Academy of Medicine," such as exists in Paris and other cities.

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In connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the Société des Sciences naturelles de Lucerne, which takes place this year, the Société helvétique des Sciences naturelles will Lucerne hold its eighty-eighth annual meeting at September 10 to 13 inclusive. The business of the meeting will be carried on in seven sections, dealing respectively with mineralogy and geology, botany, zoology, chemistry, physics and mathematics, medicine, and civil engineering. Lectures to the general assemblies have been promised by Profs. F. Zschokke, A. Heim, and H. Bachmann. Five scientific societies will hold their annual meetings at Lucerne on the same occasion, namely, the Swiss societies of geology, botany, zoology, and chemistry, and the Zurich Physical Society. Full particulars can be obtained by writing to the president of the meeting, Dr. Schumacher-Kopp, Adligenschwylerstr., 24, Lucerne.

E.

IN commemoration of the first admission of women to the full fellowship of the Linnean Society, a dinner was given to the lady fellows of the society on May 18, at the invitation of the treasurer, Mr. F. Crisp.

MR. A. HOWARD has been appointed by the Secretary of State for India economic botanist to the Imperial Department of Agriculture of India. He will be stationed at the experiment station at Pusa, Behar, Bengal.

A COURSE of instruction in oceanic research will be held at Bergen, during the university vacation, from August 8 consist of lectures, practical instruction and assistance in to October 14. The course, as in previous years, will laboratory work; excursions will also be made, during which the use of various appliances and instruments will be practically demonstrated. The work will be in charge of Dr. A. Appellöf, Dr. D. Damas, Dr. H. H. Gran, Mr. B. Helland-Hansen, Dr. Johan Hjort, and Mr. C. F. Kolderup. Further particulars can be obtained from the Oceanographical Institute of Bergen Museum, Bergen, Norway.

THE association which maintains an American woman's table in Dr. Dohrn's marine laboratory at Naples also offers at stated times a cash prize of 200l. for the best thesis presented by a woman of any nationality embodying original laboratory research. This prize was awarded at the annual meeting in Boston, on April 29, to Miss N. M. Stevens for a paper on the germ cells of Aphis rosea and 1phis oenothera. The theses offered in competition for the next prize should be presented to the executive committee of the association, and must be in the hands of the chairman of the committee on the prize, Mrs. Eilen H. Richards, Massachusetts Institute of

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