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by the state. Once more however we admit that the scope and limits of his work have imposed upon him a most insuperable difficulties.

troductory Lessons in Quantitative Analysis. By John Mills and Barker North. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1889.)

Ts book of eighty-five pages is the first part of a larger work by the same authors, which will shortly be published. It is designed mainly for the use of "students in evening asses who have but little time to spare in acquiring uch knowledge," and also to be of service for the Science nd Art Departinent examination, as well as those of London University. The descriptions contained in the three chapters constituting the book, and which treat of reliminary operations, gravimetric analysis, and volumenc analysis, respectively, are meagre in the extreme, Lick many details essential to a primer. Slips and Dose statements are numerous. For example, the student 'ed to fer that the ash of any of Schleicher and Schüll's er papers is negligible. Lead is estimated by means of "bichromate of potash," which is formulated as K,CrO4. Ip 62 the authors assert that "Normal solutions of veillent substances like iodine, silver nitrate, sodium forde, &c., contain their molecular weight in grams in te litre" Whatever be the meaning attached to this, it is in no way confirmed by what follows on p. 63amely, that "The atomic weight of iodine being 126'5, a ormal solution would contain this number of grams in e litre."

The general scheme of work set out in the lessons is tisfactory, and it carefully elaborated might be useful. rats present condition, however, the effect of the book on the beginner cannot be other than confusing.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE, No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Note on a Probable Nervous Affection Observed in an Insect.

WHUST walking in the garden one bright September morning, tay attention was called to a moth fluttering in a peculiar manner n the ground; it kept going round and round in a circle, ting with its feet on the stones, its wings meanwhile being in pod morien.

I captured the insect, which proved to be a quite fresh specimen of a male Orgyia antiqua (vapourer moth), of which there f many in the garden.

I replaced the insect without injury on the path, and watched it more closely.

The movements of the wings were irregular, convulsive, and ery rapid in character; the feet and body were also in rapid Govement, resulting in a circular motion of the whole insect Iru right to left-that is, in the same direction as the movements of the hands of a watch.

I again captured the insect, thinking that perhaps one of its theone might have been injured; but on careful examination with a hand lens, I could detect no lesion nor the presence of any rasite which might account for the condition.

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i again placed the insect on the path, when it immediately gan to rotate as before. It seemed unable to keep still, ugh evidently trying to do so.

Occasionally it would wedge itself in between two or more all stones, with its head downwards, and the under surface of bely upwards, its wings resting on the stones below; in this bon it appeared to obtain some relief, as the movements were less continuous, though every breath of wind caused a

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convulsive twitching of the wings and body. On one occasion a leaf fell upon the insect whilst wedged in, causing a very violent convulsion of the whole insect, by which it was jerked quite out of its retreat, when the gyrating movements at once began again.

I tried stroking the antenna with the point of a pencil, but this had no effect, nor could I obtain cessation of movement by stroking the body or the wings; on the contrary, when the insect was wedged in each touch caused a convulsion, varying with the intensity of the stimulus applied.

These movements continued without interruption for fully forty minutes, the insect gyrating in a space about a foot square. At the end of that time I placed it upon a piece of smooth paper, when the movements became more rapid and the gyrations less ample, it completing a turn in much less time than on the stones, owing, no doubt, to there being no projections on the paper to cause the insect to deviate. light, but protected from the wind. I then placed it in a shallow cardboard box in the full sunIn this way the convulsive movements were less intense and less frequent; the insect, however, was often jerked over on to its back, then, after a struggle or two, would right itself, and begin to go round. When, however, it managed to press the top of its head against the side of the box, so that its antennæ were pressed between the head and the side of the box, all movement ceased till some external stimulus again set it in motion.

At the end of one hour the insect seemed quite exhausted, a strong stimulation being required to develop one convulsion.

On examination I found that it had worn away, in its movements, all its legs with the exception of the left hind leg, which was apparently pretty intact, and had broken both its wings on the right side, so that the greater part of them hung useless over its body.

After a few more violent convulsions, the upper wing of the right side was broken off, and the insect now began to revolve from left to right, owing, I suppose, to the movements of the left leg; the others being reduced to mere stumps would have little power of propelling the insect.

About twenty minutes later, during a convulsion, the right hind wing was broken off.

Shortly afterwards I noticed that the convulsive movements of the antennæ, which had been slight up to that time, were much increased; indeed, they were moving so rapidly as to have the appearance of two small black wings.

all convulsions had ceased; no stimulus could excite any; the One hour and fifty-five minutes after I first noticed the insect

moth was dead.

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Does the Bulk of Ocean Water increase? THE idea was, I think, suggested by myself, and has been referred to with approval by Mr. Jukes-Browne, that much of the water on the surface of the globe was originally occluded in the molten interior, and has been emitted by volcanic action in the course of ages. Mr. Mellard Reade argues against this, that the moon is covered with volcanic craters, and yet has no water on its surface, and that if the accumulation of surface water has followed volcanic action on the earth, it ought likewise to have done so on the moon. He concludes :- "At all events, it seems a reasonable question to ask why oceans should be supplied with water from the perspiring pores of mother earth, while her offspring, the moon, is so dry as to have absorbed into herself all evidence of any aqueous envelope that may have formerly existed."

It is a singular coincidence that one possible answer to this objection is suggested by a notice in the "Astronomical Column

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of the same number of NATURE which contains Mr. Reade's letter. Therein Prof. Thury attributes apparent changes in the aspect of a lunar crater to the melting of snow or ice around it. Neither is he the only selenologist who thinks that those craterrings consist more or less of frozen water. If they do so, then there is water on the moon, although in a solid state. On the other hand, Proctor, in his work on the moon, says that her

surface is more nearly black than white, which seems to render the existence of snow fields upon it less probable, unless they are covered with volcanic dust, as the end of a glacier usually is with rock débris.

But even if we take Mr. Reade's view, it is still conceivable that steam may have been the explosive agent in the moon's volcanoes, while her internal temperature was very high, and that the resulting water may have been subsequently absorbed after the body became cool, because the water would occupy less space within the interstices, which this theory of imbibition postulates, than the equivalent vapour did, when the temperature was high. The case of the earth would not be a parallel one, because it has not yet cooled.

Although not myself a selenologist, I have a suspicion that very little is known about the constitution of the moon; and that it is not even certain that its enormous craters are all of them really volcanic. It has been admitted by Prof. Darwin, in discussing the subject with Mr. Nolan, that on his view of the genesis of the moon it must have originally existed as a “flock of meteorites." These falling in during the later stages of the building up of its mass would have produced pits on a viscous surface, much like some of the craters.

At any rate it seems unsafe to rely upon arguments respecting the condition of the earth's interior, of which we know little, drawn from that of the moon's body, of which we know less. Harlton, Cambridge. O. FISHER.

Exact Thermometry.

THE interesting experiments of Dr. Sydney Young, recorded in NATURE of December 19 (p. 152), seem to leave no doubt that the main part of the permanent ascent of the zero-point of a mecurial thermometer, after prolonged heating to a high temperature, is not due to compression of the bulb-rendered more plastic by the high temperature-by the external atmospheric pressure. Researches on the effects of stress on the physical properties of matter have convinced me that the molecules, not only of glass, but of all solids which have been heated to a temperature at all near their melting-point, are, immediately after cooling, in a state of constraint, and that this state can be more or less abolished by repeatedly heating the solid to a temperature not exceeding a certain limit, and then allowing it to cool again (it is not only the heating but the cooling also that is efficacious). It appears that the shifting backwards and forwards of the molecules, produced by this treatment, enables them to settle more readily into positions in which the elasticity is greatest and the potential energy is least.

This "accommodation" of the molecules, as Prof. G. | Wiedemann and others have called it, is, as one might suppose, attended with alterations of the dimensions and other physical properties of solids, and is not confined to the release of molecular strain set up by thermal stress, but is extended to the strain set up by any stress whatever. As years roll on, the time of vibration of a metal pendulum gradually alters (and so, no doubt, do the lengths of our standard measures), the bulb of a thermometer diminishes in volume, a steel magnet parts with more or less of its magnetism, a coil of German-silver wire gains in electrical conductivity, &c. The changes in all these cases would probably be far less than they actually are if the temperature throughout the whole time could be maintained constant ; but this last is not the case-heating and cooling goes on more or less every day. We may assist the effect of time by artificially increasing the range of temperature, but it would appear that we must not exceed a certain limit of temperature, which limit depends partly upon the nature of the substance and partly upon the stresses that are acting upon it at the time. Thus, the internal friction of a torsionally oscillating iron wire which has been previously well annealed may be enormously diminished by repeatedly raising the temperature to 100 C., keeping it there for several hours, and then allowing it to fall again. The amount of diminution of internal friction depends upon the nature of the wire, and on the load which there is at the end of it (if the load exceeds a certain amount, the friction is increased instead of diminished). In attempting to "accommodate "the molecules in this manner the heating must, at any rate in some cases, be prolonged for several hours, and the substance should then be allowed to remain cold for a still longer period.

I have not had much experience with glass, but I think it prob

able that the settling down of the zero-point of an ordinary ther mometer into its ultimate position could be very materialy facilitated by the heating and cooling process mentioned above. HERBERT TOMLINSOTM

36 Burghley Road, Highgate Road, December 23, 1889.

Self-luminous Clouds.

WITHOUT venturing to call in question the occasional oce rence of self-luminous clouds, I may be permitted to relate n observation which seems to reveal a possible source of error in the records of such phenomena.

On June 14, 1887, about 10.45 p.m., I witnessed an pearance over the north-north-west horizon which struck n as very remarkable. Amidst the strong glow of twilight a fes fragments of cirrus cloud shone with a pure white light having much the character of phosphorescence that it was difficult to believe the objects were not self-luminous. Looking out a an hour later, I found no trace of bright clouds, but in their place were small bands of cirrus showing dark and grey aga the feeble twilight that remained. I could not but conclude t the clouds in both instances were the same or similar, lit up the direct rays of the sun at the time of the first observation, asi having lost his rays at the time of the second observation. Hai they been self-luminous they should have become bright instead of darker as the twilight faded.

It has been suggested to me that the bright clouds seen a 10.45 p.m. may have owed their brightness, not to the sun's ray falling on them at the time, but to a temporary phosphorescenc the result of exposure to the sun's rays in the day-time, and t ́a' this temporary quality had died out in the interval between In two observations.

I think this explanation is unnecessary for the followin reasons. In the first place, it is certain that if a cirrus cla were present in the atmosphere at a sufficient height to catch the sun's rays at 10.45 p.m. of a midsummer day, it would appear as a bright object amidst the surrounding gloom. And, secondly, there can be nothing incredible in the presence of a cirrus clond i that height, when the persistence of twilight proves the presenc of atmospheric particles of some kind at a greater elevatio still. GEORGE F. BURDLA

Clifton, December 19, 1889.

Duchayla's Proof.

I HAVE read with much interest the new proof given by M: W. E. Johnson of "the parallelogram of forces," in NATURE December 19 (p. 153), and regard it as deserving a place ameg the best proofs that have been given.

I think, however, that, in his criticism of Duchayla's proof, Mr Johnson runs to excess, when he says, "To base the fand. mental principle of the equilibrium of a particie upon the transmissibility of force, and thus to introduce the conception of a rigid body, is certainly the reverse of logical procedure." Duchayla's proof only requires us to suppose the transmissie of force by strings. A particle is unthinkable. In presentin to a learner the conception of three equilibrating forces acting on a particle, we cannot do better than represent the forces by pulls in strings, and the particle itself by the knot where the three strings are tied together. All the steps of Duchavla demonstration that the resultant force is directed along the diagonal of the parallelogram can be presented in tangible form with the aid of strings. I do not think this is an illogical unnatural procedure. J. D. EVERETT.

Belfast, December 23, 1889.

The Satellite of Algol,

THE results of Vogel's photographs as to the satellite of Algy are of great interest to your astronomical readers. The alservations made at Greenwich tended to the same result, but wer unfortunately intermitted before anything approaching certainty was arrived at.

Regarding it as certain that the variations of Algol are due to the interposition of a satellite, the question of the slight change

in its period and the much larger change observed in the period of another variable of the same class in Cygnus becomes important Besides the possibility of a third disturbing body it may be remarked that the existence of the solar corona and perhaps other appendages of the sun suggests that a resisting medium may exist in the entire space traversed by Algol and its satellite at each revolution. Also if the influence of gravitation is propagated in time (with whatever degree of velocity) the very rapad angular motion of a satellite which performs a complete revolution in less than three days (and in another variable of this class in twenty hours) could hardly fail to exhibit traces of this time-propagation. The attractive force, in fact, would never act in the line joining the centres of the principal star and satellite, and the deviation would probably be perreptible. I hope some mathematical astronomer will take up The problem, and show what the effects of each of these supposed causes would be. W. H. S. MONCK.

16 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, December 21, 1889.

Maltese Butterflies.

IN reading Mr. Wallace's "Darwinism" I am reminded by his observations on Island fauna (p. 106) of the impressions made upon me by the natural productions of Malta. My time was so fully occupied that I had little opportunity of exploring the country districts. I paid one visit to the extraordinary ruins of a Phoenician temple at Hagiar Kim, and one to the curious iet in St. Paul's Bay. On the latter I noticed several strange thistles and a beautiful flower-something like a large pink or purplish Tutsan. On the barren wastes round Hagiar Kim many familiar wild flowers grew, but all seemed shrunk and nivelled as compared with those of Britain. The only untamilar one was called by the natives "the English flower." It was a tall trefoil with a drooping yellow trumpet-flower (not at all papilionaceous in form), and grew plentifully by the edges of the dustiest roads-unlike anything I know in England.

I lived for some time at the Imperial Hotel, at Sliema, which ha a somewhat extensive garden, in which I used to spend about alf an hour every morning. During April and May it was very lovely. The oleanders were then in their richest bloom; a -hrub like a gigantic heliotrope, both in flower and leaf, was frequented by myriads of humming-bird moths; there were a few strawberry-plants, the fruit of which was delicious, although even smaller than that of our own wild kind; but most attractive to me were the clumps of valerian and scabious which were baunted, just as at home, by crowds of butterflies. These inluded blues, coppers, wood-ladies, painted-ladies, red-admirals, ortoise-shells, and swallow-tails. All of these were smaller *an their English relatives are, and much less brilliant in colour. The swallow tails were especially dwarfed in their proportions. I am puzzled to account for their presence in Malta, as there is ning like a marsh or a fen in the whole island, whilst in Ingland they are only to be found in the district of the meres. 40 any of your readers throw light on this mystery? I saw everal of the larger hawk-moths. They did not seem to suffer ne, but even they were dimmer in their colours.

Hoping to get a general idea of Maltese entomology, I visited e University Museum-only to find a few cases of insects in which every specimen had been devoured by mites!

GEORGE FRASER. Leighade, Tunbridge Wells, December 22, 1889.

A Preservative.

I HAVE been very much troubled in conducting classes in mammalian anatomy by the want of a preservative medium which would retain the natural colour and texture of tissues, would impart to them no offensive smell, would be inexpensive, and easily handled. Various experiments with freezing, alcoholic, glycerine, and other media have all proven failures, and tars fall I turned to experimentation upon the simplest and cheapest of all chemical reagents-water and table-salt. My entre success with these was so satisfactory that I shall, at the n, of telling an old story, state the experiments here.

I tried preserving squirrels in three strengths of salt solution, one of 5 part, by weight of salt to 95 of water, a second of jo per cent. salt, and a third of 15 per cent. All gave satisfac

, but the 10 per cent. seems best, because the weakest lution in which putrefaction could not take place. Specimens

placed in five times their bulk of this solution retain the natural flexibility of all the tissues; the peculiar look of nerve-tendon and blood-vessel against muscle is retained; the tint of muscle is faded somewhat by the solution of hæmoglobin from the blood, but it is still distinctly reddish; there is no putrefactive odour; all of this after four weeks standing in the laboratory.

This is so simple a preservative that I wonder that it is not in common use. H. LESLIE OSBORN.

Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota,
December 7, 1889.

The Evolution of Sex.

IT is a fact well known to pigeon fanciers that the two eggs laid by pigeons almost invariably produce male and female. But no attempt appears to have been made to ascertain which of the two eggs produces the male, and which the female. The second egg is laid about twenty-four hours after the first. I have kept pigeons for seven or eight years, and have only met with one or two instances of the young birds, produced from the two eggs, being of the same sex. Recently I have made several experiwhich the eggs are laid and the sexes of the young birds ments to ascertain if any relation exists between the order in produced. The results show that the egg first laid produces the female, the second egg the male. It may, perhaps, be well to give the experiments.

(i) Egg I of pair A produced a female; egg 2 was bad. (ii) Egg I of pair B produced a female; egg 2 a male. (iii) Egg I of pair B produced a female; egg 2 a male. (iv) Egg 2 of pair B produced a male; egg I was bad. (v) Egg I of pair C produced a female; egg 2 was bad. (vi) Egg 2 of pair D produced a male; egg I was broken. These experiments were made on white fantail shakers. large number of experiments must be made to prove if this relation does exist; should it be found correct, an examination of the eggs and of the ovary of the parent might throw some light upon the "evolution of sex." M. S. PEMBREY. Oxford, December 14, 1889.

Fighting for the Belt.

A

A FIGHT has been going on in my verandah for the last halfhour between two young birds-minas-with four birds of last season looking on.

Now the fight is just over. I have watched it throughout, and am positive that one of the on-lookers walked often round the combatants without interfering; and that another on-looker came, when he (or she?) could, and attacked one of the fighters. I say "came when he could," because the other on-looker prevented him if possible-even fighting to that end. It seemed to me very much as if two youngsters from different nests were fighting for the belt, and the parents looking on-the one complacently at her offspring's success, the other angry and breaking the rules of the ring to help the weaker. F. C. CONSTABLE.

Karachi, December 1, 1889.

The British Museum Reading-Room.

THE proper ventilation of this spacious room is a problem, surely not insoluble, but still awaiting solution. Is it not a serious grievance that to make use of one of the finest libraries in existence, means, for many, injury to health? Bad headaches and other ills, due to the stuffy and impure atmosphere which collects about the desks, are a common experience; and I know men who have given up going to the place on that account. For readers who live by work which can only be done there (some of whom are women), the matter is especially grave. Officials, again, will tell you that they often feel thoroughly done out after their day's work, which in itself is not generally severe. It seems to me the atmosphere improves after the lamps are lit ; possibly owing to the upward current of heated air. If this were verified, it might offer a clue to improvement. The whole matter calls for thorough scientific investigation; and I would suggest, as a preliminary step, that analysis be made of the air (say) on a Saturday afternoon, with regard not only to its gaseous constituents, but also to micro-organisms, which are no doubt plentiful. A. B. M.

IN

"AMONG CANNIBALS."1

IN the year 1880, Mr. Carl Lumholtz-as he explains in the preface to the work the title of which is given below-undertook an expedition to Australia, partly at the expense of the University of Christiania, with the object of making collections for the zoological and zootomical museums of the University, and of instituting researches into the customs and anthropology of the Australian aborigines. His travels occupied four years, and the first part of that time he spent in the south-eastern colonies, South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. From November 1880 to August 1881 he was in Central Queensland, and at the latter date he began his first journey of discovery, in the course of which he penetrated about 800 miles in Western Queensland-the results, he says, in no wise corresponding to the hardships he had to endure. He then went to Northern Queensland, where he spent fourteen months in constant travel and study, his headquarters from August 1882 to July 1883 being in the valley of what he describes as "the short but comparatively broad and deep Herbert River," which flows into the Pacific at about 18° S. lat. From his base on this river he made expeditions in various directions, extending in some instances to nearly 100 miles, and he repeatedly came in contact with savages who had never before been visited by a white man.

It is to the period spent by him in the camps of the northern aborigines that Mr. Lumholtz chiefly devotes attention in the present volume, and it would hardly be possible to praise too highly the manner in which he has recorded his experiences. In every part of his narrative he displays a remarkable power of keen and accurate observation, and he presents his facts in a style at once so fresh and so simple that from beginning to end the reader's interest is maintained. Hitherto students of anthropology in Australia have derived their materials mainly from the southern part of the continent. Mr. Lumholtz may almost be said, therefore, to have broken new ground, and it is ground which it was well worth while to break, for the northern aborigines-from an anthropological point of view-are even more interesting than the southern tribes. They are decidedly at an earlier stage of development, and many of them have been only slightly and indirectly influenced by the ideas of European settlers.

If there are any survivors of the school of Rousseau, who attributed so many fine qualities to "the noble savage," it would be wholesome for them to study what Mr. Lumholtz has to tell about the savages of Norther Queensland. A more unlovely picture than his description of these poor people it would hardly be possible to imagine. He went to Australia full of sympathy with the natives; when he left it, he found that his interest in

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them was as deep as ever, but that his sympathy had nearly vanished. That they are cannibals is beyond doubt. Luckily, they do not take to white flesh; it has too salt a flavour for their taste. But native flesh, when they can get it, provides them with the meal they like best, and they are quite willing to talk freely about the parts which they consider the most delicious morsels. They are not only treacherous, but seem to have not the faintest idea that treachery is anything to be ashamed of. If anyone is kind to them, they at once mistake his motive: they fancy that his generosity springs from fear, and if this notion gets into their minds, it is time for their benefactor to look about him, for they will not scruple to kill him in order to obtain possession of his goods. Mr. Lumholtz found that, when accompanied by a party of natives, it was unsafe for him to walk in front; he had always to bring up the rear, and to keep every one well in view. At night, before going to sleep in his tent, he had to fire his gun as a reminder that he had the means of defending himself. For this weapon they had the most profound respect; also for his revolver, "the baby of the gun.' The supreme ambition of the native is to have as many wives as possible, their number being regarded as a test of his wealth and importance. And he

"Among Cannibals: an Account of Four Years' Travel in Australia, and of Camp Life with the Aborigines of Queensland." By Carl Lumholtz, M.A. With Maps, Coloured Plates, and 122 Illustrations. (London: John Murray, 1889.) We are indebted to the kindness of the publisher for the use of the cuts reproduced in this article.

takes good care that they shall not earn his approval too easily. All the hard, disagreeable work has to be done by women, and when they excite the displeasure of their lords they may think themselves well off if they are not severely beaten.

In every way these savages are creatures of impulse. It is difficult for them to fix their attention on anything, and they can look ahead only a very short way. Fortunately for themselves, they have no intoxicating stimulants, but tobacco gives them intense delight, and it was chiefly by promising to reward them with small quantities of it that Mr. Lumholtz was able to secure their services. When they have a chance, they gorge themselves with food: and on a hot day they plunge like dogs into water they may happen to pass. At the approach of night they be come timid, trembling at every sound they hear in the bush; but with sunrise all their fears are dispelled, and after they have become thoroughly awake-a rather slow process they are ready for any pleasure that may come in their way. It is a happy moment for them when they discover a tree in which there is honey. This they eat with rapture; and Mr. Lumholtz says he has known cases in which they have lived upon it for three days in succession. If a savage finds such a tree, and is not able at once to take possession of its treasure, he marks the tree. and the mark will be respected by members of his own family or clan. There is, however, no conception corresponding to the idea of property, so far as anything claimed by strangers is concerned.

As the people live in small groups, they have, of course, scarcely be said to possess. But they have aptitudes the germs of social life; but more than this they can which have been naturally developed in the circumstances

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in which they spend their lives. They display extraordinary cleverness in climbing trees, and their sense of

they have considerable skill. Fig. 1 represents a browband of native workmanship ( size). This specimen however, comes from Central Queensland. The Australians are generally supposed to throw the spear well, but Mr. Lumholtz never discovered any remarkable ability of this sort among the blacks of Herbert River. Fig. 2, represents a wallaby hunt, which he had an opportunity of seeing. He says:

"Soon those who had remained behind spread themselves out, set fire to the grass simultaneously at different points, and then quickly joined the rest. The dry grass rapidly blazed up, tongues of fire licked the air, dense

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Carralinga

FIG. 3.-Peculiar position of natives resting. smell is so keen that it is invaluable to them when they are tracking wild animals. In various kinds of handiwork

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clouds of smoke rose, and the whole landscape was soon enveloped as in a fog. I fastened up my horse and went into this semi-darkness, watching the blacks, who ran about like shadows, casting their spears after the animals that fled from the flames. But though many spears whizzed through the air, and though a large field was burned, not a single wallaby was slain."

Mr. Lumholtz often noticed natives resting in a most peculiar position, represented in Fig. 3. "They stood on one foot, and placed the sole of the other on the inside of the thigh, a little above the knee. The whole person was easily supported by a spear." This custom is said to

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