FRIDAY, AUGUST 21. The following Papers were read :— 1. On the Ancient Language of the Natives of Tenerife. The author read a portion of a long paper, written by him, On the Ancient Language of the Natives of Tenerife,' a language which must have become extinct not earlier than 1650. The paper was based upon the materials collected in the second volume of the Estudios Históricos, Climatológicos y Patológicos de las Islas Canarias,' by Dr. Gregory Chil y Naranjo, of Las Palmas, in Grand Canary, published in 1889, with the addition of farther matter communicated by the Rev. Claudio Marrero and Don Manuel de Ossuna, from their own researches, or collected in the Canary Islands and elsewhere by Mr. De Gray Birch, of the British Museum. The author mentioned the disputed point as to whether the Tenerifan language was or was not cognate to those of the other islands of the Archipelago, and also whether the inhabitants were of one or of several races. He confined himself exclusively to the Tenerifan language, and explained the difficulties besetting the study owing to the imperfect manner in which the existing remains have been transmitted to us in a variety of forms of phonetic spelling by different more or less illiterate Spanish writers. Three separate opinions have been maintained as to the nature of the Tenerifan language, some holding it to be of an American family, some a Berber or African dialect, and some Teutonic. The author discussed at length a set of about seventy words which have known meanings, comparing them with words of similar meaning in other languages, but mentioned that a vast number of other words are known which are either proper names of places or the names of plants or other things generally peculiar to the islands. He then analysed and discussed the nine complete sentences which are known to exist and proceeded to give a summary of the results at which he had arrived as to grammar. He considered it certain that there was a definite article in t, to which, however, there was often given a modified sound like that of t in the English termination -tion, and that among the nouns a regular feminine was formed by the termination -ha. He considered it as in the highest degree probable that a plural or dual of nouns was formed in -en, and that there existed a pre-formative of greatness or holiness in hu-, and a post-formative of greatness in -to. case endings nothing appeared clear, but the author considered it possible that a possessive was formed for nouns, and personal terminations for verbs, by the addition of pronominal suffixes, that of the first person being -ec, of the second -t, and of the third -th, and perhaps of the second person plural -era. He also thought that the past tense may have been formed by prefixing ta- or tan-, and that there may have been a conjunction ua. Of Entering upon the question of a Berber or African origin, the author made a comparison from Basset's 'Manuel de Langue Kabyle,' and, with regard to the American theory, from Breton's 'Grammaire Caraibe' and from Massi's Manual del Idioma General del Perú.' The author concluded by expressing the hope that more matter may be yet obtained, and greater results follow, from a deeper study of that which is known to exist. He disclaimed the intention of propounding any dogmatic theory of his own, but the general tendency of the paper was in favour of ascribing the Tenerifan language to the Aryan family. This paper has since been published in extenso by Messrs. J. Masters & Co., 78 New Bond Street, London. 2. On the Limits of Savage Religion. In defining the religious systems of the lower races, so as to place them correctly in the history of culture, careful examination is necessary to separate the genuine developments of native theology from the effects of intercourse with civilised foreigners. Especially through missionary influence since 1500, ideas of dualistic and monotheistic deities, and of moral government of the world, have been implanted on native polytheism in various parts of the globe. For instance, as has lately become clear by the inquiries of anthropologists, the world-famous Great Spirit of the North American Indians arose from the teachings of the Jesuit missionaries in Canada early in the seventeenth century. This and analogous names for a Supreme Deity unknown previously to native belief, have since spread over North America, amalgamating with native doctrines and ceremonial rites into highly interesting but perplexing combinations. The mistaken attribution to barbaric races of theological beliefs really belonging to the cultured world, as well as the development among these races of new religious formations under cultured influence, are due to several causes, which it is the object of this paper to examine. (1) Direct adoption from foreign teachers; (2) the exaggeration of genuine native deities of a lower order into a God or Devil; (3) the conversion of native words, denoting a whole class of minor spiritual beings, such as ghosts or demons, into individual names, alleged to be those of a Supreme Good Deity or a rival Evil Deity. Detailed criticism of the names and descriptions of such beings in accounts of the religions of native tribes of America and Australasia was adduced, giving in many cases direct proof of the beliefs in question being borrowed or developed under foreign influence, and thus strengthening the writer's view that they, and ideas related to them, form no original part of the religion of the lower races. The problems involved are, however, of great difficulty, the only hope of their full solution in many cases lying in the researches of anthropologists and philologists minutely acquainted with the culture and languages of the districts; while such researches will require to be carried out without delay, before important evidence, still available, has disappeared. 3. Couvade.' By H. LING ROTH. Couvade is the name of the curious custom which orders that when a child is born the father takes to his sleeping corner and behaves as though he had brought forth. The origin of the word is French, from couver to hatch. To Europeans the custom appears barbarous in its treatment of the wife, who has to get up and go about her usual duties and perhaps now attend to the husband. Savage women do not suffer in labour to the same extent as the more civilised women do; the reasons for this are explained on physiological grounds. In this inquiry the sufferings of the women may therefore be neglected. The geographical distribution of the custom: it is met with in Europe, Asia, and mostly in America. Its existence in Africa is doubtful. In the West Indies and South America at the present day travellers frequently come across it as a living custom. In Australia it is unknown. It is mostly found to exist amongst people who live in isolated districts and who appear to have been driven from more fruitful lands. It is not found amongst the lowest class of savages nor amongst the highly civilised. Comparisons between the state of the large continents do not explain the causes of its distribution, but an ethnological examination will probably explain it. The reasons for practising the custom given by the people themselves and the explanations given by anthropologists and travellers are all equally at variance. Bachofen's original theory that the custom indicates the turning point in society from the maternal to the paternal finds new support at the present day. The apparent correctness of this theory is most convincing. But if this theory be correct why is the custom not found in Australia, where the great society change is going on at the present day? Mr. im Thurn suggests that we should compare the custom with those apparently allied to it, and so get at its origin. The custom as practised by savages briefly summarised in a table shows that the savage believes that there is some hidden link which binds the new-born child to its father. Many curious beliefs are met with among the uncivilised showing similar belief in occult links or bonds or lines of force. These forms of belief are usually described under the general heading of witchcraft. Similarly in the custom of couvade the action of the father is to avoid bewitching his child, so that the custom, if not wholly an explanation of the change of mother right to father right, may be in effect an example of an aberrant form of reasoning. 4. On the Morong' and other Customs of the Natives of Assam. By S. E. PEAL. The author shows that the institution of the 'Morong,' or club-house for the unmarried of both sexes, is very widely distributed over the whole of the IndoPacific region; and he argues that it is in fact a relic of pre-marriage communism. But this custom being so often found associated with others of a distinctly nonAryan character, such as juming, tattooing, blackening the teeth, building on piles, head-hunting, &c., has led the author to suspect former racial affinity, even among such widely distinct types as Papuan and Mongol, Dravidian and Sawaiori. 1. The artificial blackening of the teeth is a fashion common amongst the IndoMongoloids and Bengalese; and there can be little doubt that the custom in some way preserves the teeth from decay. 2. The dislike of milk among the races bordering Assam is very general, possibly almost universal. 3. The extension of the ear-lobes, by large plugs of various sorts, is a wellknown custom of all these races. The Miribelles have the largest ear-plugs of any tribes in or about Assam; they are made of silver, and not unlike napkin rings, 2 or 2 inches in diameter by 1 inch in depth, the outside being closed by a large chased disc. The extended lobe passes round the ring in a wide shallow groove, like a band of vulcanised rubber. 4. Numeral affixes are found in Assam, as among the Malays. 5. Head hunting seems to be slowly dying out amongst the most eastern Nogas, and to the west of Dikhu River; but in most Noga tribes the young men cannot be tattooed until they have got or actively assisted in getting a head, hands, or feet of some Noga, not of their own or of a friendly tribe. 6. Tattooing in some tribes is on the face, in others on the body, and it is in some way a record of the numbers killed. 7. Platform burial is general amongst the Nogas of East Assam for men and adult women; it also prevails in Formosa, New Guinea, Borneo, Solomon Islands, New Britain, and amongst Lushais. 8. Communal houses of great length, 100 and 200 feet, are common in and around Assam; similar houses are found among the Dyaks of Borneo over 500 feet in length. 9. Barracks for the unmarried young men, and occasionally also for girls, are common in and around Assam, among non-Aryan races. The institution is here seen in various stages of decline or transition. In the case of 'head hunters' the young men's barracks are invariably guardhouses at the entrances to the village, and those on guard day and night keep tally of the men who leave or return. They are also guest and council houses; they contain skull trophies and the large war drums. In all cases there seem to be old and peculiar laws attaching to them, and in many instances they issue orders to the village. All these houses are strictly tabu to married women. 10. Pile dwellings are a leading feature among most of the hill races about Assam, and the custom extends all down the peninsula, and throughout the archipelago, to the Solomon Islands in the south and Formosa in the north. The pattern of these pile dwellings no doubt varies greatly, but there is a unity in the general plan which cannot be accidental. 11. The peculiar double-cylinder bellows, common in Burmah, Sumatra, Java, Madagascar, and the Philippines, is also used in and around Eastern Assam. 3 F 1891. 12. Bamboos pegged to a tall tree stem as a ladder are used in Assam and by the Dyaks of Borneo. 13. The jew's-harp' of New Britain, seen also in the Philippines, is very common in the hills of Assam. 14. The perineal bandage of New Guinea is also common amongst the Eastern Nogas. 15. Nose-plugs, as in New Guinea, are seen among the Noga women. 16. Flat wooden discs on the posts of houses, to keep out rats and mice, absolutely identical with those seen in New Britain, are also frequently met with in Assam. 17. The hide cuirasses seen in the island of Nias, west of Sumatra, and cut from a single skin, are an almost exact counterpart of those occasionally seen among Nogas, and are both spear and arrow proof. 18. Panjis or bamboo spikes, planted for defence in pathways, are as common in Assam as among the inhabitants of New Guinea, and form another link in the long chain of evidence which tends to prove that the Papuan and Mongoloid are descended from a common stock. 19. Hot stone cooking again is common in Assam as among the Papuans and other races. 20. The custom of obtaining fire by means of a long piece of cane passed under a dry log and pulled alternately by the right and left hand, so as to ignite some tinder placed in a hollow underneath, is absolutely identical amongst Nogas, Papuans, and the Dyaks of Borneo. 21. The huge canoe war drums appear to be the same as the 'Lali' or canoe drums of the Fiji Islands, and both are placed in semi-sacred houses, the Noga drums being in the Morongs.' The notable feature in these last being that they are veritable canoes, 20 to 30 feet long by 2 or 3 feet beam, hollowed out of a tree stem, and in use by races who never enter, and in most cases have not seen a canoe for ages. 22. Cane bridges identical with those seen in New Guinea are found everywhere round Assam. 23. The system of Jum cultivation is pursued in and round Assam by most of the non-Aryan races in much the same way as amongst the wilder races of the Indo-Pacific region. 24. The way in which Nogas and other hillmen notch footholds to ascend a tall tree is absolutely identical with the custom of certain tribes in Australia, who use stone axes. 5. Burial Customs of New Britain. By the Rev. B. DANKS. The grave is usually dug in the house the deceased inhabited while alive, or a light structure is erected over the grave to protect it from the rain. It is generally not more than eighteen inches or two feet deep, and it is the custom for the women of the family, and sometimes the men, to sleep upon it for a considerable time after the burial. A fire is also very often lighted upon or by the side of it, which is kept burning day and night for some time. Sometimes the grave is dug out in the open and fenced round with bamboos, the enclosure being kept in good order by the friends, who plant beautiful shrubs about it. They have also a method of calling to mind the circumstances and mode of death suffered by the departed by means of rude images cut out of the banana stem. Some have a piece of wood suspended from the neck; others have pieces of bamboo thrust into various parts of the body; another may have a rudely fashioned tomahawk driven deeply into it. The first shows that the individual represented has been clubbed, the second speared, the third tomahawked. The old men then instruct the young people in these matters, and this does much to promote blood-feuds. Death is always the result of witchcraft, and details are given in the paper of the manner in which the person who has caused the death is discovered. Sometimes a body is buried in a canoe set on poles, and the author gives a full description of a burial of this kind which took place on Duke of York Island, and was witnessed by the narrator. Large quantities of food and property of various kinds are destroyed by the mourners, excessive grief being proved by excessive destruction; and all who come to a funeral are rewarded by a present of shell-money and food. Female mourners are always present, and are well paid for weeping. In some parts of New Ireland the dead are buried in the sea. SATURDAY, AUGUST 22. This Section did not meet. MONDAY, AUGUST 24. The following Papers and Reports were read: 1. Barbaric Elements in Ancient Greece and Italy. By Prof. G. HARTWELL-JONES, M.A. The civilisation of Greece and Italy, which saved Europe from stagnation on both sides, is valuable for the study of the growth of institutions; it was evolved slowly from an original barbarism. But, as the classics are now read, their scientific value is obscured. Their history occupies a peculiar position: (a) geographically, they were influenced by two streams of culture converging, the Aryan and Eastern; (b) their growth was parallel; (c) both were similarly, but independently, affected by immediate neighbours. (i.) Whatever may be the truth about the seat of the Aryans, first they came south by land; secondly they brought with them a high capacity for development, but were certainly not as advanced as Gobineau assumed. (ii.) They were both affected by Asia Minor, Assyria, and Egypt, the North Semitic races being their intermediaries. The materials for reconstructing prehistoric society must be sought in archæology, and nomology, as much as the science of language, this was seen by Hehn. The purpose of this paper is to show by means of a few specimens the anthropological value of the classics, aided by the excavations of Schliemann, Helbig, Chierici, &c., and Sanskrit literature, in the (i.) material and social, (ii.) mythological and religious aspects of Greek and Italian life. (I.) They passed through three stages:-(a) hunting, (b) pastoral, (c) agricultural; but the transition was gradual. The animals hunted were the stag, bison, and probably the horse; they used the fire-drill; fishing was a recent invention; religion was marked by ferocity. The change to agriculture humanised them; they fed on milk, meat, salt, spice, mead, and roamed in search of fresh fields. The ox left a deep impression upon language, custom, and myth; it was the unit of wealth and the medium of exchange; the horse was first used for the war chariot; the supervention of horse-breeding later is reflected in language. The word for harvest was not known in the holoethnic period. Some tribes remained at the agricultural stage throughout; others, e.g. the Dorians, retained their old passion. The piledwellings of the terra mare reveal cattle-rearing giving way to husbandry and vineculture; no doubt Epeiros would exhibit the same progress. The Pelasgoi were essentially agricultural; the transition in Italy is reflected in legend. The first plough was the branch of a tree. Tillage was practised before horticulture. Agriculture left a deep impression upon language and life. The family was highly important in Greek and Italian life. Marriage clearly passed through the (a) capture, (b) purchase stage, and once polygamy prevailed; so, too, levirate, the vendetta, the suttee, but not polyandria, as Bachofen main |