The Progressive Science Series 
 
 Edited by F. E. BEDDARD, M.A., F.R.S. 
 
 (e American Editor — Professor J. Me K. Cattell) 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 By Professor A. C. HADDON, M.A., D.Sc., M.R.I.A. 
 
THE PROGRESSIVE SCIENCE SERIES 
 
 Edited by F. E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S. 
 
 (t American Editor —Professor J. Me K. Cattell) 
 
 A LIST OF THE VOLUMES 
 
 GROUNDWORK OF SCIENCE : A Study of Epistemology. 
 
 By St. George Mivart, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.S. 
 
 EARTH SCULPTURE. Ty Professor Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S. 
 
 VOLCANOES. By Rev. Professor Bonney, D.Sc., F.R.S. 
 
 THE REPRODUCTION OF LIVING BEINGS : A Comparative Study 
 By Professor Marcus Hartog, M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S. 
 
 THE ANIMAL OVUM. By F. E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S. (the Editor) 
 
 MAN AND THE HIGHER APES. By A. Keith, M.D., F.R.C.S. 
 
 HEREDITY. By J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., F.R.S.E. 
 
 SCIENCE AND ETHICS. By M. Berthelot 
 
 VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY. Ty the late Professor Cope 
 
 D^eiv ■volumes mill be announced 
 as they approach to publication 
 
THE 
 
 STUDY OF MAN 
 
 BY 
 
 ALFRED. C. HADDON 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 
 
 NEW YORK 
 G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS 
 
. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 A N author is often justly criticised for the manner 
 in which he has performed a self-imposed task— 
 not unfrequently he is also criticised for what he has 
 not done. I do not expect to be free from the former 
 line of criticism ; but at the outset I would remind the 
 reader, as I have elsewhere mentioned, that this does 
 not profess to be a treatise on Anthropology, or its 
 methods, but merely a collection of samples of the 
 way in which parts of the subject are studied. The 
 book is not intended for scientific students, nor for 
 experts, but for the amateur and for that delightfully 
 vague person, the intelligent reader. 
 
 I must confess, too, that my wish is not merely to 
 interest my readers, but to induce them to become 
 workers. As the learned, wise, and pious John Ray 
 wrote nearly two centuries ago, in The Wisdom of 
 God Manifested in the Works of the Creation : “ Let 
 it not suffice us to be Book-learned, to read what 
 others have written, and to take upon Trust more 
 
VI 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Falsehood than Truth ; but let us ourselves examine 
 things as we have opportunity, and converse with 
 Nature as well as Books. Let us endeavour to pro¬ 
 mote and encrease this Knowledge, and make new 
 Discoveries, not so much distrusting our own Parts, 
 or despairing of our own Abilities, as to think that 
 our Industry can add nothing to the Invention of our 
 Ancestors, or correct any of their Mistakes. Let us 
 not think that the Bounds of Science are fixed like 
 Hercules s Pillars, and inscrib’d with a Ne phis ultra. 
 The Treasures of Nature are inexhaustible. Here is 
 employment enough for the vastest Parts, the most 
 indefatigable Industries, the happiest Opportunities, 
 the most prolix and undisturb’d Vacancies. 
 
 “ Much might be done, would we but endeavour, 
 and nothing is insuperable to Pains and Patience. I 
 know that a new Study at first seems very vast, 
 intricate, and difficult; but after a little resolution and 
 progress, after a Man becomes a little acquainted, as 
 I may so say, with it, his Understanding is wonder¬ 
 fully cleared up and enlarged, the Difficulties vanish, 
 and the thing grows easie and familiar.” 
 
 These words of John Ray have many a time stimu¬ 
 lated me; may they encourage others to study 
 human-kind. Once more I must insist on the sad 
 
PREFACE 
 
 vii 
 
 fact that the old landmarks are being rapidly re¬ 
 moved, and there is a pressing need for immediate 
 investigations in Anthropology in this as well as in 
 all the other parts of the world. 
 
 It is now my pleasing duty to take this opportunity 
 of thanking those who have assisted me in their 
 various ways. 
 
 To my colleagues in different departments of 
 Anthropology I offer the thanks of a comrade. I 
 have everywhere endeavoured to render unto every 
 man his dues. The Proprietor and Committee of 
 Science Progress have kindly permitted me to reprint 
 as Chapter V. an article of mine that appeared in the 
 January number of that valuable record of recent 
 scientific advance. 
 
 The Editor of The Daily Chronicle has courteously 
 given me permission to make use of a series of 
 articles on “Toys and Games: their History and 
 Literature,” I wrote for the Saturday issue of that 
 enterprising journal, and which were published in 
 August and November, 1896, and in January and 
 February, 1897. 
 
 Dr. Paul Topinard, the great French Anthro¬ 
 pologist, generously lent me the blocks of the maps 
 he compiled to illustrate the distribution of hair and 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 viii 
 
 eye colours in France. Amongst other authors to 
 whom I am indebted for permission to reproduce 
 their illustrations, I would mention Dr. R. Collignon, 
 Dr. J. Beddoe, Mr. C. H. Read, of the British 
 Museum, Professor Telesforo de Aranzadi, Mr. G. 
 Thurston, and others. Finally I would like to record 
 my indebtedness to my friend, Mr. Edwin Wilson, 
 of Cambridge, the artist who has prepared many 
 of the illustrations for this book. 
 
 Inisfail, Cambridge. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PREFACE .... 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MEASUREMENTS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VALUE OF HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE NOSE 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT . 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE IRISH JAUNTING-CAR 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TOYS AND GAMES : CAT’S CRADLE AND KITES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 V 
 
 XV 
 
 I 
 
 15 
 
 59 
 
 87 
 
 133 
 
 161 
 
 200 
 
 219 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 TOYS AND GAMES : TOPS AND THE TUG-OF-WAR . . -255 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BULL-ROARER . . • ... 277 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN . ... 328 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 “LONDON BRIDGE”: FOUNDATION SACRIFICE . • 347 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 “draw a pail of water”: water worship . . . 362 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COURTING GAMES . . • ... 393 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FUNERAL GAMES . . • • . . 412 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHICAL 
 
 INVESTIGATIONS IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS . . • 434 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 
 
 Fig. i. Curves of relative Brain capacity of Cambridge University Students; 
 
 after Galton . . . _ . . 12 
 
 Fig. 2. Map showing the Distribution of the Index of Nigrescence in 
 
 England, based on Military Schedules; after Beddoe . . 35 
 
 Fig. 3. Map showing the Distribution of Dark (Brown or Hazel) Eyes in 
 
 England, based upon Military Schedules ; after Beddoe . . 36 
 
 Fig. 4. Map showing the Distribution of the Excess of pure Blond over 
 pure Dark Type in England, based upon Military Schedules; 
 after Beddoe . . . • • • 37 
 
 Fig. 5. Map showing the Distribution of the Colour of the Eyes in France; 
 
 from Topinard . . , ... 54 
 
 Fig. 6. Map showing the Distribution of the Colour of the Hair in France; 
 
 from Topinard . . . • • • 55 
 
 Fig. 7. Map showing the Distribution of the combined Colours of the 
 
 Eyes and Hair in France; from Topinard . . . 56 
 
 Fig. 8. Upper and side views of a Kalmuk’s and of a Negro’s skull; after 
 
 Ranke . . . _ . . 66 
 
 Fig- 9 - Types of Noses in profile; from Topinard . . . . 91 
 
 Fig. 10. Flead of Agrippina, Museo di Napoli; from Flovorka . . 92 
 
 Fig. 11. A, Head of Zeus Otricoli; B, the same, with all the hair re¬ 
 moved, and with a corrected profile; from Hovorka, after 
 Langer . , . . , . . 93 
 
 Fig. 12. Heads of Japanese Men of tho. fine and coarse type; from 
 
 Hovorka, after Balz . . , . . IOO 
 
 Fig. 13. Diagrams of the variations in the height and breadth of the Noses 
 of the poorer classes of Brahmans of Madras City, of Tamil 
 Tariahs, and of Paniyans, two-thirds natural size; after Thurston 111 
 
 Fig. 14. Lower border of Apertura pyriformis of Orang-utan; from Hovorka 130 
 
 I ig. 15. The four types of the lower border of the Apertura pyriformis in 
 
 Man; from Flovorka . . . . . 131 
 
 Fig. 16. Outline Map of the Dordogne District . . . . 134 
 
xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fig. 17. Map of the Dordogne District, illustrating the Distribution of 
 
 Dolichocephalism and Brachycephalism ; after Collignon . 137 
 
 Fig. 18. Map of the Dordogne District, illustrating the combined Distribu¬ 
 tion of Light and Dark Eyes and Hair ; after Collignon . .142 
 
 Fig. 19. Map of Dordogne District, illustrating the Distribution of Stature; 
 
 after Collignon . . • ... 145 
 
 Fig. 20. Map of Dordogne, illustrating the Distribution of Length - Height 
 
 Index; after Collignon . . • . . 151 
 
 Fig. 21. Map of Dordogne, illustrating the Distribution of the Breadth- 
 
 Height Index; after Collignon . • • • I 5 I 
 
 Fig. 22. Slide-car, Inverness (1754); after Burt . • . . 165 
 
 Fig. 23. Diagrams illustrating a probable evolution of wheels from a roller . 170 
 
 Fig. 24. Two block-wheel carts, Inverness (1754); after Burt • • x 75 
 
 Fig. 25. Irish low-back car (1824); after Croker . • • *77 
 
 Fig. 26. Celtic Chariot, from the Gottweiger Situla ; after Szombathy . 180 
 
 Fig. 27. Agricultural Scene on a Vase in the Campana Collection, Louvre ; 
 
 after Duruy . • • • . . 182 
 
 Fig. 28. Ancient Greek Carriage on a Vase ; after Duruy, from Gerhard . 183 
 Fig, 29. Mykenrean War Chariot of the Heroic Age on the Fian^ois Vase ; 
 
 after Duruy . • • • . . 184 
 
 Fig. 30. A Series of early Greek Chariot Wheels from various Sources . 185 
 
 Fig. 31. Various Spanish Wheels ; after Telesforo de Aranzadi . .187 
 
 Fig. 32. Two Carts at Dundonald, Co. Down ; from photographs . . 198 
 
 Fig. 33. Irish low-back car (1769); after Bush . • . . 201 
 
 Fig. 34. Early form of jaunting-car (1841); after Flail . • >207 
 
 Fig. 35. The reverse side of a Korean playing-card ; after Culin . . 223 
 
 Fig. 36. Kites from Korea, China, and Japan (after Culin), and from the 
 
 Solomon Islands . . • ... 239 
 
 Fig. 37. Tops from Torres Straits, Timorlaut, Straits Settlements, and 
 
 Stewart Islands; after C. H. Read . . • .261 
 
 Fig. 38. Bull-roarers from the British Islands . • • • 2 79 
 
 Fig. 39. Yoruba bull-roarer, W. Africa; from Mrs. R. Braithwaite Batty . 291 
 
 Fig. 40. Bull-roarers from South Africa, North and South America, Malaysia, 
 
 New Zealand, British New Guinea, Torres Straits, and Australia, 
 from various sources . . ... 309 
 
LIST OF FULL-PAGE PLATES 
 
 Plate I. Upper, front, and side views of Long and Round Barrow Skulls; 
 
 photographed by the Author from specimens in the Cambridge 
 Anatomical Museum . . To face page 82 
 
 Plate II. Fig. 1. Photograph of a Tamil Pariah; after Thurston. Fig. 2. 
 
 Japanese women of the fine and coarse type; after a picture 
 by Torii Kiyonaga . . . . . 100 
 
 Plate III. Fig. 1. Slide-car, Co. Antrim; from a photograph by Welch. 
 
 Fig. 2. Slide-car, Co. Antrim; from a photograph by the Author 166 
 
 Plate IV. Fig. 1. Block-wheel car, Glenshesk ; from a photograph by Welch. 
 
 Fig. 2. Block-wheel car, Carrickfergus; from a photograph by 
 Welch . . . . . . 176 
 
 Plate V. Fig. 1. Basque Ox-waggon ; after Telesforo de Aranzadi. Fig. 2. 
 
 Irish Outside- or Jaunting-Car; from a photograph by Welch . 210 
 
 Plate VI. “Lords from Spain”; from photographs by Miss Clara M. 
 
 Patterson . . . ... 402 
 
 Plates VII., VIII. “Jenny Jones”; from photographs by Mr. J. A. Wood 412, 414 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 T T seems strange that man should study everything 
 in heaven and earth and largely neglect the study 
 of himself, yet this is what has virtually happened. 
 Anthropology, the Study of Man, is the youngest of 
 the sciences, but who will say that it is the least 
 important ? 
 
 We may, perhaps, find one reason for this neglect 
 in the peculiar complexity of the subject and the 
 difficulty there is in approaching it from a dispas¬ 
 sionate point of view; there are so many preconceived 
 opinions which have to be removed, and this is 
 always a thankless task. Even now the scope and 
 significance of Anthropology have scarcely been 
 recognized. 
 
 Some well-meaning and enthusiastic students have 
 been so impressed with the importance of the parti¬ 
 cular department with which they are more especially 
 interested that they have neglected others. A dis¬ 
 paragement even has sometimes been more implied 
 than actually expressed. Others have been over- 
 
XVI 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 whelmed with the details they have accumulated, and 
 have not seen the wood on account of the trees. The 
 whole subject is so vast that very few have had the 
 requisite training, or have, or rather have made, the 
 time to compare the results of one branch with those 
 of another. We thus have the trained specialist on 
 the one hand, and the more or less serious amateur 
 on the other, too often not only working independently 
 of each other, but even ignorant of the other’s labours, 
 and even of his existence. Fortunately this lack of 
 co-operation and co-ordination is rapidly decreasing, 
 and a living science of Anthropology is emerging 
 which will be acknowledged by the sister sciences as 
 its methods and objects become more definitive. 
 
 At the risk of being tedious I think it is desirable 
 to define our terms at the outset. * On the Continent 
 the term Anthropology is restricted to what we in 
 England term Physical Anthropology or Somatology, 
 to use a term which is now being widely employed 
 by our American colleagues, that is, the study of man 
 as an animal. This comprises not only the com¬ 
 parative study of the structural differences between 
 members of different races of mankind, but also the 
 
 * In the final chapter will be found a classification and international 
 nomenclature of the various departments of Anthropology which has 
 been proposed by Prof. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia. 
 
INTROD UCTION 
 
 xvn 
 
 comparison of man with the higher apes. We prefer 
 to retain the word Anthropology for the study of man 
 in its widest aspect. 
 
 Ethnography is the description of a special people, 
 whether it be a small tribe, the natives of a restricted 
 area, or a large nation; it includes a comparative 
 study of human groups, and has for its aim the 
 elucidation of the inter-relationships of tribes, races, 
 and other bodies of men; thus it deals with the 
 classification of peoples, their origin, and their migra¬ 
 tions. 
 
 Ethnology may also be divided into several 
 branches, the four more important of which are : 
 Sociology, Technology, Religion, and Linguistics. 
 
 Sociology is the study of human communities, both 
 simple and complex, and an attempt is now being 
 made to trace the rise of simple communities and 
 their gradual and diverse evolution to the complex 
 civilizations of ancient and modern times. History, 
 in the ordinary acceptance of the term, deals more 
 especially with the later phases of this metamorphosis, 
 but an endeavour is being made to get behind history, 
 as it were, and to attempt to account for the data 
 upon which historians work. The physical conditions 
 of a country, including the climate, the vegetation, 
 
 a 
 
xviii THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and the indigenous animals, affect the life of the 
 human inhabitants of that country; in other words, 
 the mode of life of a primitive people is conditioned 
 by its environment. The method of living affects the 
 family life, and so we find that certain types of family 
 organization are related to definite habits of life. As 
 civilization advances, the State acquires powers and 
 regulates families as well as individuals, but the 
 characteristics of different forms of government are 
 themselves due to the type of family organization 
 which obtains among those various peoples. Accord¬ 
 ing to this method of investigation, we start with 
 physical geography and find ourselves drawn into 
 statecraft and political economy. 
 
 Other fruitful lines of study are to be found in 
 tracing the evolution of tools, weapons—in fact, of 
 all manufactured objects. As an example of this 
 line of inquiry, or technology, I shall take the 
 common cart, and while tracing its evolution we 
 shall at the same time see that such studies open 
 up wider questions than are at first apparent. 
 
 The origin, evolution, and migration of designs 
 and patterns is a fascinating subject, and one replete 
 with human interest, as being associated with some 
 of the deepest and most subtle ideas of mankind. 
 
INTR OD UCTION 
 
 xix 
 
 I have already published a small book* on this 
 subject. 
 
 The anthropological study of religion is at the 
 same time fascinating and extremely difficult. It is 
 not my intention to tread far along this slippery path 
 in the present volume. Those who would like to see 
 the trend of recent inquiries should read the masterly 
 works of Professor E. B. Tylor, the late Professor 
 Robertson Smith, Dr. J. G. Frazer, and of E. 
 Sydney Hartland. A good deal of what is included 
 in that complex of beliefs, sayings, and practices, 
 which is known as folk-lore, comes under the 
 designation of religion as that term is understood 
 by anthropologists. 
 
 Archaeology tries to reconstruct the ancient history 
 of man from the remains of the past which are 
 brought to light in various ways. Just as a historian 
 studies contemporaneous documents in order to re¬ 
 vivify obscure historical periods, so the archaeologist 
 pores over flint implements, fragments of pottery, 
 and other relics, in order to reconstruct the life of 
 our remote ancestors. Earthen vessels are com¬ 
 paratively easy to make, and though they are brittle, 
 
 * A. C. H ADDON, Evolution in Art , as Illustrated by the Life-histories 
 of Designs. Contemporary Science Series, 1895. 
 
XX 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 their fragments, when properly baked, are well nigh 
 indestructible. The history of man is unconsciously 
 largely written on shards, and the elucidation of 
 these unwritten records is as interesting and im¬ 
 portant as the deciphering of the cuneiform inscriptions 
 on the clay tablets of Assyria. The book of pots has 
 yet to be written. 
 
 It is interesting to know what our forefathers did, 
 to gauge the rank of their culture, and to trace the 
 improvements which gradually took place; but it 
 would be still more interesting if we could recover 
 what they thought and what they believed. It is 
 well to know their tools and their weapons; it is 
 better to know how they treated one another, and 
 what were their ideas of the non-material aspect 
 of their existence. For these, after all, are the 
 most important departments of human life. Now 
 for this we have two methods of inquiry. 
 
 In a general survey of mankind we find that there 
 are peoples in all stages of culture, and we also 
 notice that there is an intense conservatism in all 
 matters of social or religious importance. When a 
 people is isolated, it is believed that changes take 
 place with extreme slowness ; indeed, it is probable 
 that a mingling of peoples, whether by commerce, 
 
INTR OD UCTION 
 
 xxi 
 
 migration, or war, is almost a necessary condition 
 for change and progress. If, then, we examine a 
 people that has for a long time remained isolated 
 from contact with other peoples, we shall find that 
 in most instances it is a backward people, and often 
 what we call a savage one. Although we cannot 
 range all peoples into a sequence, and assert that 
 one tribe is intermediate in culture between two 
 others, or that a more civilized nation has passed 
 through a rigorously defined order of evolution, yet 
 we may hope to be able in general terms to place 
 most of the peoples about whom we have adequate 
 knowledge in certain stages of culture, and we may 
 in this way attempt to gain some idea as to the 
 phases through which our ancestors have passed. 
 The comparative study of customs, modes of thought, 
 and religion, has yielded results of immense im¬ 
 portance and interest. As a method of inquiry it 
 is invaluable; but even it has its dangers, and it 
 must be used with circumspection. 
 
 The second psychical probe into the past is folk¬ 
 lore. One is too apt to dismiss this study with a 
 smile of derision as being concerned with ghosts, 
 fairy-tales, and old wives’ superstitions. What does 
 the name imply? The “lore of the folk.” But the 
 
XXII 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ folk ” bear the same relation to educated people 
 that savages do to civilized communities. They are 
 the backward people among ourselves. The same 
 value applies to the study of their actions and modes 
 of thought as to the investigation of savages. But 
 folk-lore is the investigation of psychical survivals 
 within a more or less civilized society, and thus by 
 its means we are largely enabled to study the 
 practices and beliefs of our forefathers, for in an 
 attenuated form many of these actually persist 
 amongst us. By appealing to comparative custom 
 and religion we can often form a pretty good idea 
 as to what those actions really signified, and so we 
 can recover our ancestral religions. 
 
 The materials for the study of anthropology are 
 as numerous as the bodily, mental, and moral 
 diversities among mankind. What Man is, what he 
 thinks, what he aspires after, what he does — all 
 this is the field of our inquiry. Our object is to 
 record what occurs, and to discover its significance. 
 These two aims should not be disassociated. A 
 considerable amount of information that has been 
 recorded in the past is comparatively barren because 
 the significance of it was not understood at the 
 time. Many travellers appear to be quite unaware 
 
INTR OD UCT10N xxiii 
 
 that customs and beliefs, the form of an object and 
 its decoration, may have a meaning that is by no 
 means obvious. Further, it is only on the spot and 
 from the people themselves that this significance can 
 be discovered; those who read my former book 
 on Evolution in Art will clearly see the importance 
 of acquiring local information. 
 
 Now is the time to record. An infinitude has 
 been irrevocably lost, a very great deal is now 
 rapidly disappearing; thanks to colonization, trade, 
 and missionary enterprise, the change that has come 
 over the uttermost parts of the world during the 
 last fifty years is almost incredible. The same can 
 also be said of Europe and of our own country. 
 Emigration and migration, the railway, the news¬ 
 paper, the Board School—all have contributed to 
 destroy the ancient landmarks of backward culture. 
 The most interesting materials for study are be¬ 
 coming lost to us, not only by their disappearance, 
 but by the apathy of those who should delight in 
 recording them before they have become lost to 
 sight and memory. 
 
 Fruitful study results only from those facts of 
 observation which have been fertilized by the mind 
 that can see behind them. Nothing is easier than 
 
XXIV 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 to burrow among details, to be lost among a multi¬ 
 plicity of facts, and to be overwhelmed by a mass * 
 of material. 
 
 It is my object in this small book to present 
 certain aspects only of the Science of Anthropology. 
 
 I do not pretend to give an abstract of Anthropology, 
 nor even a general idea of the subject as a whole. 
 But we will make several excursions, as it were, 
 into the subject, not with the object of attempting 
 to learn something about Anthropology, but in order 
 to see what Anthropology can teach us about our¬ 
 selves. For, after all, we are of more interest 
 to ourselves than any study can be. We will 
 then use the methods of Anthropology not for the 
 erection of an academic study, but for the simple 
 purpose of explaining ourselves to ourselves. 
 
 Our immediate object, then, is to try and discover 
 what the significance is of certain of our bodily 
 peculiarities, and of a few of the innumerable objects 
 and actions that we see around us. 
 
 The theory of evolution throws a bright and far- 
 reaching light on the problems of Anthropology, and 
 though we may not be able to explain the processes 
 of, or the reasons for evolution, there can be no doubt 
 as to the fact of its occurrence, There is no need to 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXV 
 
 explain what is usually understood by evolution, but 
 I would like to hint at some of the aspects of the 
 evolution of man. 
 
 Speaking in general terms, the structure of man is 
 essentially similar to that of the higher apes. The 
 differences may be superficially striking, but the 
 resemblances are fundamental. The disparity is 
 patent when we see what man can do with his 
 mechanism as opposed to what an ape does with 
 his, but we must not forget that it is these apparently 
 slight differences of structure which make possible the 
 vast differences of functions ; the two are intimately 
 bound up together, and so it is not wise to overlook 
 the differences between man and apes. 
 
 The akinship then of man and living apes is not 
 one of direct relationship, but of common descent. It 
 is constantly reiterated in books that the lower races 
 of man are more simian than the higher, and the 
 anatomical differences between an Australian or a 
 Negro and a European are often described as “low” 
 or “high,” as the case may be, the “low” character 
 being regarded as arrested or atavistic. This gener¬ 
 alization must be accepted with great caution ; it is 
 only partially true, and some of the characters on 
 which reliance is placed may prove to have another 
 signification. 
 
XXVI 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The three great groups of mankind—the white, 
 yellow, and black races—are probably all divergencies 
 from the same unknown ancestral stock. They 
 have severally specialized along different lines of 
 evolution, and what is important to note is that 
 different traits of their organization have become 
 arrested, or have specialized in different degrees and 
 in different directions. In some part of their or¬ 
 ganization each of these groups is less specialized 
 or more specialized than the other two. While the 
 white man may, for example, be nearer the ape in 
 the character of his hair than the Mongol or the 
 Negro, the usual short body and long legs of the 
 latter also remove him farther from the ape, to 
 whom, in this respect, the other groups are more 
 allied. Of course there can be no doubt that on 
 the whole the white race has progressed beyond 
 the black race. 
 
 Stress is laid by evolutionists on the resemblances 
 to one another of the young of different divisions of 
 the same group, and this is an argument for the 
 view that these different classes had a common 
 ancestry. 
 
 The same holds good for man. The infants of 
 white, yellow, brown, red, and black people wonder- 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXVll 
 
 fully resemble one another—both as to form, feature 
 colour—and not only so, but they very much more 
 resemble the young of the higher apes than do their 
 respective adults. 
 
 In fact it could be argued, with some show of 
 plausibility, that the newly-born infant is not purely 
 human, but that it rapidly passes through a pre¬ 
 human stage. 
 
 An English baby is very unlike an English man ; 
 apart from evolution there is no reason why their 
 bodily proportions should not be similar, or why 
 their noses should be so dissimilar. It is a very 
 significant fact that among the pigmy peoples, such 
 as the Andamanese and Bushmen, we find many 
 infantile characters persisting in the adults, and 
 among the taller races, the yellow people retain 
 several juvenile characteristics. Thus we find that 
 a people may retain infantile characteristics in some 
 respects and be specialized in others ; in employing 
 the term characteristics, I do not limit myself merely 
 to physical features, but include mental and moral 
 traits. 
 
 Anthropology also recognizes the vast importance 
 of the study of children. Following the strictly 
 scientific method we thus enter the sacred precincts of 
 
xxviii THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the nursery, and inquire of the suckling - the answer to 
 one of the most momentous questions man can ask, 
 “ Whence are we?” We seek in the youngest man 
 the story of the oldest man, and endeavour to trace in 
 the evanescent characteristics of earliest infancy some 
 of the steps through which man had climbed above 
 the brute. 
 
 From the nursery we pass to the school and the 
 playground, endeavouring to discover in the child 
 some evidence as to the direction of man’s upward 
 progress. As the newly-born babe reveals to us 
 the last traces of an arboreal ancestor and then 
 speedily passes into human-kind, so the child 
 repeats in its growth the savage stage from which 
 civilized man has so recently emerged. 
 
 In subsequent chapters I shall refer to primitive 
 survivals in child-life, d here is not only a parallelism 
 to some extent in physical features between children 
 and certain savages, but there is in children a per¬ 
 sistence of savage psychological habit, and in the 
 singing games of children a persistence of savage 
 and barbaric practice. The courting, marriage, and 
 funeral ceremonies of our savage forefathers are 
 repeated like a faint and degraded echo in village 
 green or school playground. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXIX 
 
 We leave the child and return to the folk whom 
 I have already defined as the backward people among 
 ourselves, and from their unwritten sagas and stories, 
 their customs and beliefs, we can pick up the threads 
 that have been dropped by the child. In certain of 
 their oral traditions, especially in those which are 
 told to the children, we find an unmistakable record 
 of the clash of opposing races, but of a time long 
 antecedent to history. In some of our fairy-tales we 
 can recall the momentous struggle of the men of the 
 stone age with those of the age of metals, and in 
 addition we can catch glimpses of the culture, habits 
 and religion of neolithic man. 
 
 In the customs and beliefs of the folk may still be 
 traced many survivals of the pagan observances and 
 religion of our ancestors. 
 
 In the life of the cultured European from his 
 earliest infancy do we find milestones that mark the 
 rate and extent of his progress, and all along this 
 weary road, which it has taken mankind tens of 
 thousands of years to traverse, do we find the tired 
 ones—the laggards in the race of life—who mutely 
 indicate, if we have but discrimination enough to read 
 it, a record of the painful but glorious ascent from 
 the brute to the human. 
 
XXX 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Wherever man is, there can anthropology be 
 studied. There is no need to travel to the utter¬ 
 most parts of the earth ; we can prosecute researches 
 or find food for reflection in our own nurseries, in 
 the playground, on the village green, even in our 
 cities. 
 
 As Alphonse Karr said to his friend :—“ Make you 
 the tour of the world, I will make the tour of my 
 garden. 
 
 “ What are you going to see abroad ? How proud 
 you will be in your first letter to tell me you have 
 seen women tattooed and painted in diverse colours, 
 with rings in their noses. 
 
 “And I will answer you: ‘Well, my good friend, 
 what occasion was there for going so far ? Why 
 did you go further than two streets from your own 
 house ? There was nothing to prevent your looking 
 at your sister-in-law, who, after the example of a 
 hundred other women you are acquainted with, puts 
 pearl white and rouge upon her brow and cheeks, 
 black upon her eyelids, blue to increase the apparent 
 fulness of her veins, and passes rings through her 
 ears in the same manner that savage women pass 
 them through their noses. Pray, why is it more 
 strange to pierce one cartilage than another? Can 
 
INTR OD UCTION 
 
 xxxi 
 
 the difference be worth going so far to see ? ’ ” So 
 writes Alphonse Karr, and this is the true spirit of 
 the philosopher.* 
 
 * Alphonse Karr, A Tour round my Garden, Edited by Rev. J. G. 
 Wood (1865), p. 9. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MEASUREMENTS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE 
 IN A NT HR OPOL OGY. 
 
 0 science can progress or be definite without 
 
 1 il measurements of one sort or another. What, 
 then, are those made in anthropological inquiries, 
 and for what purposes are they made ? 
 
 Speaking generally we may roughly class anthropo¬ 
 logical measuring into three groups :— 
 
 1. As a means of analysis and classification. 
 
 2. As a test of efficiency. 
 
 3. For identification of individuals. 
 
 (1) The Identification of Criminals .—Let us com¬ 
 mence with the least important from a scientific point 
 of view—that for the recognition of individuals. 
 People whom it is necessary to recognize with such 
 precision, are generally those who are wanted by 
 the police. 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Few of us, probably, have ever so much as given 
 a thought to the subject of the identification of 
 criminals, but a little reflection will lead to the conclu¬ 
 sion that this is really an important problem. In this, 
 as in so many other matters relating to criminology, 
 the British are far behind some foreign nations. 
 
 The methods hitherto adopted by our Government 
 have been inadequate, and, consequently, largely 
 ineffectual, although a very successful system of 
 criminal identification has been in operation in 
 France for a dozen years. In 1895, however, a 
 fresh departure was made, and Dr. Garson, the 
 well-known anthropologist, was appointed by the 
 Government to take charge of a new department in 
 England for the identification of criminals. 
 
 It will be obvious that a precise method of identi¬ 
 fication not only expedites justice and saves expense, 
 but at the same time it is a safeguard to the prisoner, 
 preventing him from being punished for the crimes 
 of others. 
 
 The identification by means of measurements was 
 inaugurated in Paris towards the close of 1882, 
 according to the methods advocated by M. Alphonse 
 Bertillon in 1879. This system has been extended 
 to the whole of France by M. Herbette, Director of 
 the Penitentiary Department. * 
 
 * Cf. English translation of an address given by M. Louis Herbette 
 at the International Penitentiary Congress at Rome, November, 1885, 
 
MEASUREMENTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY 3 
 
 The subject we are about to consider is a method 
 by which habitual criminals may be recognized 
 who give a false name, or who refuse to give one 
 at all. 
 
 An old offender, once more in the hands of the 
 law for some fresh offence that he has committed, 
 has every reason for wishing to conceal his real 
 name or the name under which he has been 
 previously convicted. He sometimes takes the 
 name of a person who has never been accused 
 of any offence. He thus escapes the heavier 
 punishment which usually follows a second con¬ 
 viction. A large number of these professional 
 criminals are wanted for other offences than those 
 for which they are actually in custody, or they have 
 very sufficient reasons for thinking that they are 
 wanted by the police for some previous offence of 
 which they have been guilty. Criminals do not 
 scruple to interchange names amongst themselves, 
 though by preference they assume those of honest 
 men; some even assume the names of those whom 
 they have at a some previous time robbed. It so 
 happens that in France criminals, as a rule, no 
 longer give aliases, but are eager to give their own 
 
 Melun, Administrative Printing, 1887; also A. Bertillon, “Notice sur le 
 Fonctionnement du Service d’Identification de la Prefecture de Police,” 
 Ann. Stat. de la Ville de Paris , 1887 (1889); and F. J. Mouat, “Notes 
 on M. Bertillon’s Discourse on the Anthropometric Measurement of 
 Criminals,” Journ. Anth. Inst., xx., 1890, p. 182. 
 
4 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 names, as they do not wish to appear to have any¬ 
 thing to hide. Further, owing to the certainty of 
 this method of identification, English pickpockets 
 left Paris in large numbers, so that in about three 
 years the convictions were reduced from sixty-five 
 to nineteen. Criminals arrested in foreign countries 
 have still greater facilities for deceiving. 
 
 The usual descriptions which generally accompany 
 the international exchange of judicial records “ chin 
 round, face oval, eyes grey, &c. ”—have never led to 
 the recognition of criminals, save in the realms of 
 romance. 
 
 Photographs are certainly preferable to descriptions 
 of any kind, but photography solves only a part of 
 our problem. The experiment tried in Paris has 
 clearly demonstrated this. In the course of ten 
 years the police made a collection of the photo¬ 
 graphs of 100,000 persons. Is it possible to search 
 through these 100,000 photographs whenever an 
 arrest is made ? Clearly not. But, after all, the 
 assistance rendered by photography is very small. 
 A vast experience in human physiognomy is required 
 to recognize in many of these photographs that they 
 are the portrait of the same person taken at different 
 times and under different conditions. As a matter 
 of fact, photography is hardly of any use, and is now 
 employed in Paris only as a subsidiary means of 
 checking other methods of identification. The photo- 
 
MEASUREMENTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 5 
 
 graphs, which are taken full face and profile, are the 
 last methods employed. 
 
 The Bertillon method consists in measuring the 
 length of various parts, always at the same spot, and 
 taken in a regular order. These are in the order of 
 
 o 
 
 their importance : (i) The length of the head ; (2) the 
 breadth of the head ; (3) the length of the middle 
 finger of the left hand ; (4) the length of the left foot ; 
 
 (5) the left cubit, i.e., the forearm and extended hand; 
 
 (6) the length of the little finger of the left hand; (7) 
 the length of the right ear; (8) the stature. It will 
 be seen that most of the above are practically 
 measurements of parts of the skeleton, and these 
 remain constant when full growth has once been 
 attained. The stature is the least reliable of these 
 measurements. Lastly, the colour of the eyes is 
 noted, and any individual peculiarities, such as moles, 
 scars, tattoo marks, and the like. In England it has 
 been decided upon to utilize finger-prints according 
 to methods introduced by Francis Galton. 
 
 All the measurements are divided into three 
 grades—long, medium, and short. The limits of 
 these grades have been arbitrarily chosen, so that an 
 approximately equal number of persons will be dis¬ 
 tributed among the three classes. For example, the 
 length of the head is divided into those that measure 
 less than 183 mm. (millimetres), those between 184 
 and 189 mm., and those over 193 mm. 
 
6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 A few years ago, when in Paris, I was introduced 
 to M. Bertillon, who explained his system to me. 
 Although the office was officially closed, he very 
 kindly ordered up a thief who had just been 
 captured, and this unfortunate was made the subject 
 of a demonstration. 
 
 First of all the measurements were taken according 
 to the prescribed method, the man submitting with a 
 half smile of amusement. The length of his head 
 was 189 mm., and, therefore, just within the middle 
 grade, but being 148 mm. broad it belonged to the 
 lowest breadth grade; his left middle finger measured 
 92 mm.; the left foot 259 mm.; the left cubit 452 mm.; 
 and so on. 
 
 The cards of the particulars of the men, women, 
 and children are kept in separate presses. The atten¬ 
 dant then went to the press for the male criminals, 
 to see if this was an old offender. The press is 
 divided horizontally into three sections for head- 
 lengths, the uppermost being for the small grades 
 and the lowest for the longest heads. Each of 
 these is similarly divided vertically, according to the 
 breadths of the head. Thus the man was to be 
 found in the middle compartment of the left hand 
 series. This, like the other compartments, is divided 
 horizontally into three series for the length of the 
 left middle finger, and each of these again for that 
 of the foot. Lastly, these last are divided vertically, 
 
MEASUREMENTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 1 
 
 for the three grades of the left cubit. By this simple 
 system the first five measurements can be rapidly 
 classified into 243 divisions, each of which is a 
 drawer. When the drawer corresponding to the 
 thief’s measurements was opened, I saw that it was 
 further subdivided according to other measurements, 
 and in less time than it takes to describe it two or 
 three cards were taken from one division. The 
 actual figures of the thief’s measurements were com¬ 
 pared with those on these cards, and one was picked 
 out on which they exactly corresponded. There was 
 in no case a difference of more than a millimetre. 
 The old card stated that there were certain scars and 
 marks, the positions of each being fixed by measure¬ 
 ment from named parts of the body. On examining 
 the man these were found to correspond accurately. 
 The photographs which were appended to the old 
 card were kept carefully covered up. On looking at 
 them the likeness was recognizable, and the man was 
 told the name he had formerly given as his own, and 
 the details of his previous convictions. The demon¬ 
 stration was perfect, and to do our criminal friend 
 justice, he could not forbear from smiling at the 
 celerity and neatness of the identification. The only 
 source of uncertainty is when the figures lie just on 
 a borderline, in which case the two series have to be 
 examined. 
 
 It takes two minutes to completely measure one 
 
8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 individual; the record of the scars, particular marks, 
 tattooing, &c., three minutes; the writing of the 
 name, age, &c., according to the statement of the 
 subject, two minutes—or a total of seven minutes for 
 the whole operation. A minute or two suffices for 
 actual identification of the criminal supposing he has 
 been measured before. 
 
 The beauty of this system is its absolute certainty, 
 for everybody has some particular marks, such as 
 moles, scars, &'c. Three or four of these, if actually 
 recorded, would be quite enough to enable a man to 
 be identified out of a million. The photograph is 
 superfluous, and it is immaterial what name the man 
 gives. 
 
 This system of identification is one of the practical 
 applications of Anthropology and its methods to 
 ordinary life, and its utility is beyond question. 
 
 2. Anthropological Measurements as a test of 
 Efficiency .—It is often important that the physical 
 fitness of people should be tested in order to see 
 how they stand in relation to other people, and to 
 discover certain physical imperfections. Apart from 
 this occasional examination, it is most desirable to 
 periodically “ take stock ” of our bodily efficiency, in 
 order to see whether our powers are becoming 
 impaired in any way, and, if so, to take precautions; 
 especially important is this in the case of children 
 and young people generally. This is one of the 
 
MEASUREMENTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 9 
 
 reasons which induced Dr. Francis Galton to establish 
 his well-known anthropometric laboratories. 
 
 “ As an example of what can easily be done let 
 us consider the measurement of eyesight. Measure¬ 
 ment would give an indication of the eyesight 
 becoming less good, long before the child would 
 find it out for himself, or before its impairment could 
 attract the observation of others. It is frightful,” 
 writes Dr. Francis Galton,* “to think of the frequent 
 mischief to eyesight that has been caused by the 
 neglect at schools of the most elementary requisites 
 to protect it from unnecessary strain, such as an 
 abundance of light coming from the proper direction, 
 and desks and chairs so shaped as to discourage a 
 lolling or sidelong attitude, by supporting the book 
 and paper squarely before the reader. The stupid 
 want of care in providing these essentials to eye- 
 comfort has gone far towards converting the educated 
 classes of Germany and the cultured girls of England 
 into short-sighted sections of society. When measure¬ 
 ment shows that the sight is beginning to be slightly 
 impaired, there is probably time to hunt out and 
 abolish the cause of the mischief before serious harm 
 is done, and an occasional small fee would be little 
 grudged by most persons to insure so timely a 
 warning of danger.” 
 
 * F. Galton, “ Why do we measure Mankind,” Lippincoit's Magazine , 
 February, 1890. 
 
IO THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The existence of colour - blindness is another 
 possibility well worth being inquired into at an 
 early age, as it materially limits the choice of 
 occupation. “ It is curious,” writes Dr. Galton, “how 
 late it may be in life before this remarkable defect 
 is found out either by the person or his friends ; and, 
 as it affects about one male in twenty-five, the risk of 
 being subject to it is considerable.” 
 
 For the last ten years there has been an anthropo- 
 metrical laboratory in Cambridge, during which time 
 a very large number of students have been physically 
 tested, and as the great bulk of the men belong to 
 the same social grade we have a very valuable series 
 of statistics concerning what may be called the pro¬ 
 fessional and gentle classes, and who represent as 
 good a type physically as any class of Englishmen, 
 under existing social circumstances, can be expected 
 to show. Some years ago Dr. Venn worked up the 
 then available statistics on over 1000 men in an 
 interesting paper on “Cambridge Anthropometry,” # 
 in which he grouped the students into three classes :— 
 
 (A) A first-class man in any tripos examination, or 
 one who is a scholar of his college. 
 
 (B) All the remaining “honour men.” 
 
 (C) Candidates for the ordinary degree, or “ poll-men.” 
 Owing to the system of examinations in Cambridge 
 
 and the knowledge of the men by their tutors, these 
 * Journ. Antli . Inst., xviii., 1889, p. 140. 
 
MEASUREMENTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 ii 
 
 three classes can be determined with great accuracy, 
 even in the case of undergraduates. 
 
 What is the difference in the physical characteristics 
 of our A, B and C classes? We need not trouble 
 ourselves with the statistics themselves, but merely 
 note the main results. 
 
 In respect of height, weight, breathing, and 
 squeezing power, there is little or no difference 
 between any of the classes. 
 
 In respect of eyesight there is a decided inferiority 
 in the A’s, as compared with the B’s and C’s taken 
 together. 
 
 In respect of the “pull” a similar inferiority of 
 A to B and B to C is manifest. 
 
 In respect of head measurement there is a decided 
 superiority of A’s over B’s and B’s over C’s. 
 
 Dr. Galton, # who has gone with more detail into 
 the head growth of these students, says :— 
 
 “We find that a ‘high honour’ man possesses at 
 the age of nineteen a distinctly larger brain than a 
 ‘ poll ’ man (that is, a student who takes an ‘ ordinary ’ 
 degree) in the proportion of 241 to 230*5,+ or one 
 that is almost 5 per cent, larger. By the end of his 
 
 * F. Galton, “ On Head Growth in Students at the University of 
 Cambridge,” Nature , May 3rd, 1888; Journ. Anth. Inst., xviii., 1889, 
 p. 155. 
 
 t These figures are arrived at by multiplying together the maximum 
 length and breadth of the head and its height, the latter being taken 
 from the vertex to a plane at the level of the ear-holes. 
 
12 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 college career the brain of the ‘ high honour ’ man has 
 increased from 241 to 249, that is, by 3 per cent, of 
 its size; while the brain of the ‘ poll ’ man has 
 increased from 230’5 to 244’5, or 6 per cent. 
 
 “ Four conclusions follow from all this 
 “(1) Although it is pretty well ascertained that in 
 the masses of the population the brain ceases to 
 
 230 240 250 
 
 Curves of relative brain capacity of Cambridge University Men; 
 after Galton. 
 
 A, High Honour Men; B, Remaining Honour Men; C, Poll 
 Men. The numerals along the top of the diagram signify the 
 product of the three head measures—length, breadth, and 
 height—in inches. 
 
 grow after the age of nineteen, or even earlier, it is 
 by no means so with University students. 
 
 “ (2) That men who obtain high honours have had 
 considerably larger brains than others at the age of 
 nineteen. 
 
 “ (3) That they have larger brains than others, but 
 not to the same extent, at the age of twenty-five; in 
 
MEASUREMENTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 i3 
 
 fact their predominance is by that time diminished to 
 the half of what it was. 
 
 “ (4) Consequently ‘ high honour ’ men are presum¬ 
 ably, as a class, both more precocious and more gifted 
 throughout than any others. We must, therefore, 
 look upon eminent University success as a fortunate 
 combination of these two helpful conditions.” 
 
 3. Anthropological Measurements as a Means of 
 Analysis and Classification .—It is this last aspect of 
 anthropological measurements that will now claim 
 our attention. These, combined with observations on 
 the colour of the skin, hair and eyes, the form of 
 various organs, such as the nose and ears, and other 
 comparisons of a similar nature, are invaluable in the 
 study of the races of mankind. In this way we 
 analyze the components of a mixed people, and 
 endeavour, as it were, to dissect out its racial 
 elements. At the same time it is always desirable to 
 seek for peoples that have remained approximately 
 pure, so as to fix their ethic type which will serve as 
 a standard when gauging mixtures. For example, in 
 a certain area one may find a very uniform people, 
 whom we know by history, or infer by other means, 
 to have long remained isolated; an ethnographical 
 study of this group reveals a certain combination of 
 characters, which we will call A. Close by is another 
 group which by analysis resolves itself into two com¬ 
 ponents, and contiguous are others somewhat more 
 
14 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 complex. We will assume that the double community 
 is composed of B and C. Whether the more com¬ 
 plex groups are composed of A B D, A C D, or 
 any other combination of four types, it should be 
 possible to determine their composition from the 
 experience gained from the first two cases. The 
 problem is naturally greatly complicated by the 
 occurrence of all intermediate grades and inter¬ 
 mixtures, for it is only exceptionally that individuals 
 in a mixed community exhibit even approximately 
 pure characters. 
 
 In the following three chapters I take respectively 
 the colour of the hair and eyes, the form of the head, 
 and the character of the nose, as examples of the 
 methods employed ; and lastly I present an abstract 
 of the brilliant work done by Dr. Collignon in his 
 studies of the Anthropology of France, whose 
 researches constitute a highly instructive example 
 of the modern methods of Anthropological investi¬ 
 gation. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 W HEN one looks at a crowd of Englishmen 
 one is at once struck with the diversity that 
 is apparent in their general appearance ; especially 
 noticeable are the differences in the colour of their 
 eyes and hair. To a less degree the same holds 
 good for an assembly of Scotsmen or Irishmen. 
 In some parts of the continent of Europe there is 
 a similar variety of colour, but usually a more uniform 
 colouration prevails. 
 
 Outside of Europe, and apart from European 
 influence, there is a remarkable uniformity in the 
 colour of eyes and hair; and whether they be yellow, 
 red, brown, or black men, the eyes are dark and the 
 hair is almost invariably black. 
 
 Our venerable and venerated English anthropolo¬ 
 gist, Dr. John Beddoe, long ago appreciated the fact 
 that by noting the colour of the eyes and hair of 
 large numbers of people it might be possible to learn 
 something about the origins of a people so mixed 
 as the English, and even to trace the streams of 
 
 15 
 
16 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 migration to their sources, assuming, of course, that 
 originally the main peoples of Europe were charac¬ 
 terized by a predominance of hair and eyes of a 
 particular colour. 
 
 It is a vital question in Anthropology whether races 
 or considerable groups of men, who may be regarded 
 as being related to one another, do possess physical 
 characters in common, and whether these characters 
 are constant. 
 
 Apart from the monuments of Egypt and Assyria 
 there are few pictorial representations of ancient 
 peoples which are of sufficient exactitude to serve 
 as conclusive evidence on these points. 
 
 In Egypt there is an immense mass of pictorial 
 and sculptured material for ethnographical study 
 covering a range of many centuries. Over three 
 thousand years ago the artists who decorated the 
 royal tombs distinguished between four races:— 
 (i) the Egyptians, whom they painted red; (2) the 
 Asiatics or Semites were coloured yellow; (3) the 
 Southerns or Negroes were naturally painted black; 
 and (4) the Westerns or Northerners white. 
 
 1. Like every other people under the sun the 
 Egyptians regarded themselves as the race of men. 
 They are distinguishable by their warm complexion, 
 their small beard and moustache, and their abundant 
 crisp black hair. All Egyptologists agree that this 
 ancient type is still represented by the modern 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 i 7 
 
 Fellahin, sometimes with remarkable fidelity. Mas- 
 pero # writes, “The profile copied from a Theban 
 mummy taken at hazard from a necropolis of the 
 XVIIIth Dynasty, and compared with the likeness 
 of a modern Luxor peasant, would almost pass for 
 a family portrait. Wandering Bisharis have in¬ 
 herited the type of face of a great noble, the 
 contemporary of Kheops; and any peasant woman 
 of the Delta may bear upon her shoulders the head 
 of a Xllth Dynasty king. A citizen of Cairo, 
 gazing with wonder at the statues of Khafra or 
 of Seti I. in the Ghizeh Museum, is himself, at a 
 distance of fifty centuries, the reproduction, feature 
 for feature, of those ancient Pharaohs.” 
 
 Dr. R. Stuart Poole t points out that two other 
 nations come under the Egyptian type. 
 
 (a) The old Kushite (that is the East African 
 Hamitic) inhabitants of South Arabia and of the 
 opposite coast of Africa, who traded with the 
 Egyptians, and whose features were less refined 
 than those of the Egyptians. Representations of 
 these people are shown in the reliefs which com¬ 
 memorate the expedition of Queen Hatshepu, about 
 1600 b.c. The voyagers travelled beyond the Red 
 Sea as far as the Somali coast. 
 
 * G. Maspero, The Dawn of Civilization: Egypt and Chaldea. 
 Eng. Trans. (1894), p. 48. 
 
 t Reginald Stuart Poole, “The Egyptian Classification of the 
 Races of Man,” Jonrn. Anth. Inst., xvi., 1887, pp. 152, 370. 
 
 C 
 
18 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 (b) The Phoenicians can only be distinguished 
 from the Egyptians by details of costume. 
 
 2. Some of the Eastern types, which may generally 
 be classed as Semitic, on the Egyptian monuments 
 show a strong likeness to the Assyrians as sculptured 
 by themselves. Jews, Amorites, Arabs, and other 
 tribes, with characteristic features and costume, are 
 also unmistakably portrayed. 
 
 3. The peoples of Africa to the west of Egypt 
 were grouped by the Egyptians with those of the 
 islands and maritime countries. These include, 
 amongst others, the Tahennu, Ha-neb-u, Lebu, 
 Mashuash, Tsekuri, Shardana, Shakalsha, Tuirsha 
 of the sea Dardani and Pulista. 
 
 A very characteristic representation of one of these 
 groups is that of a Tahennu, or Tamehu, a Lybian 
 people. This man has two ostrich feathers as a 
 head-dress; he wears a short beard and moustache, 
 and a curious curled lock of hair which depends 
 in front of each ear. These fair-haired, blue-eyed 
 strangers, with a light complexion, frequently came 
 into contact with the Egyptians. Sometimes they 
 were enslaved, as shown in the tomb of Rekhmara, 
 in the time of Thothmes III. ; or others of the same 
 race actually conquered and temporarily occupied 
 part of Egypt, as evidenced by Flinders Petries 
 “ New Race.” 
 
 The Shardana or Shardina were the Sardinians; 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 19 
 
 the Shakalsha were the Sikeli or Sicilians; the 
 Tuirsha have been identified as the Tyrsenoi or 
 Etruscans; and the Pulista are generally regarded 
 as the Philistines, though some regard them as 
 Pelasgians of Crete, both of which belonged to 
 the same race. 
 
 This northern group of white men coincides to 
 a remarkable degree of accuracy with the latest 
 anthropological investigations of Professor Sergi,* 
 who recognizes a distinct group of the white race, 
 which he appropriately terms the Mediterranean 
 stock. Almost the only point of difference between 
 the ethnological artists of ancient Egypt and the 
 enthusiastic Italian anthropologist, is that the latter 
 includes the ancient Egyptians themselves in that 
 important group of mankind. 
 
 4. The Egyptians also depicted Negroes of various 
 degrees of purity, and which evidently belonged to 
 recognized nationalities. 
 
 Other races and peoples were noted by the Egyp¬ 
 tians. Of these mention need only be made of the 
 Hyksos or so-called Shepherd Kings.f The best 
 representation of this type is in one of the sphinxes, 
 discovered at Zoan or Tanis. They had strongly- 
 marked features, with large brow-ridges, very high 
 
 * G. Sergi, Origine e Diffusione della Stirpe Mediterranean 1895. 
 f It would be preferable to adopt Dr. F. Galton’s suggestion, and use 
 the word “herdsmen” instead of “shepherds” in connection with the 
 Hyksos .—Journ. Anth. List., xix. p. 194. 
 
20 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and broad cheek bones, and a flat mouth. Their 
 face, so full of energy, firmness, and resolution, forms, 
 as Poole remarks, the greatest contrast with the air 
 of calm repose and placid dignity peculiar to the old 
 Egyptian kings. These foreign over-lords conquered 
 Egypt before 2000 b.c., and were expelled 400 years 
 later. Sir William Flower* has noted Mongolian 
 characters in their features, and suggests that the 
 invasion and occupation of Egypt by the so-called 
 “ Shepherds ” was one of the numerous instances in 
 which some of the nomadic Tatar hordes of Central 
 and Northern Asia have poured forth from their 
 native lands, and overrun and occupied for a longer 
 or shorter period the countries lying to the west and 
 south of them. If this view can be maintained, the 
 Hyksos invasion and occupation of Egypt would 
 have been only one of the series, of which the con¬ 
 quests of Attila, Tchinghis Khan, Timur, and the 
 more permanent settlements of the Finns, the 
 Magyar, and the Turks in Europe are well-known 
 examples. 
 
 As Dr. Poole points out in considering the repre¬ 
 sentations from the monuments, we must remember 
 three leading characteristics of Egyptian art:— 
 
 1. That in reliefs and frescoes the eye was repre¬ 
 sented full face, and therefore we have to make 
 allowance for this peculiarity in our attempt to define 
 * Journ. Anth. Inst., xvi. p. 377. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 21 
 
 types. This done, and the comparison made with 
 sculptures in the round, of which we had examples 
 of some leading types, we found— 
 
 2. Remarkable naturalness and force of character, 
 reminding us of early Italian sculpture, leading to— 
 
 3. Love of caricature in its portrayal of hostile 
 nations, for which again allowance must be made. 
 
 But even making full allowance for all these, we 
 need not be afraid of trusting the Egyptian artist. 
 
 The sculptures from Assyria and Babylon can also 
 be brought into evidence to support the general 
 conclusions drawn from those of Egypt. According 
 to Bertin,* they are more realistic in many ways than 
 the Egyptian pictures, though they are also more 
 conventional in some points. As in Egypt, so here, 
 the faces are represented in profile with eyes in full 
 face. This has given the false notion of oblique 
 eyes in the Babylonian race, but the error of this 
 notion is easily shown by the faces of the man-headed 
 bulls and the few Assyrian statues. The artists 
 appear to have given great care to the representations 
 of the facial types. 
 
 In Assyria, Bertin finds two types: (1) The aris¬ 
 tocratic and military caste, with a long head, straight 
 forehead, slightly curved nose hanging a little over 
 the upper lip, and often thin lips; the hair was wavy. 
 
 * G. Bertin, “The Races of the Babylonian Empire,” Journ. Anth. 
 Inst., xviii., 1888, p. 104. 
 
22 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 (2) The lower classes, with a small round head, low 
 retreating forehead, high cheek bones, projecting jaws, 
 but with a receding chin ; the nose is often very large 
 and prominent, generally frizzly hair and beard, and of 
 short stature. 
 
 The higher Babylonian class was not very dis¬ 
 similar from the Assyrian, but the nose was straight, 
 never aquiline, and the general expression of the 
 face was quiet and smiling, well in agreement with 
 the general moral character of the Babylonians ; it 
 has nothing of the stern expression of the Ninevites. 
 
 The Assyrians correctly represented the Arabs 
 with a long oval head, high forehead, and a straight 
 nose of moderate size. 
 
 The reliefs of the two ambassadors who visited 
 Assurbanipal, in Elam, offer all the characteristics 
 noticed in the modern Armenians—long curved nose, 
 fleshy lips, short stature. The general appearance 
 is decidedly Jewish, as in the modern Armenians. 
 This fixity of the pre-Aryan Armenian type is fully 
 acknowledged by anthropologists. 
 
 Two types of Jews have been distinguished: (1) 
 the high type — with the characteristic “Jewish” 
 nose, which is sometimes called the Semitic type, 
 but erroneously, as the purest Semites, the Arabians 
 of the desert, do not exhibit it. The face of this 
 type has an intelligent and dignified appearance; 
 (2) the low typq as illustrated, according to Bertin, 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 n 
 
 by the Jews captured at Lachish by Sennacherib, 
 701 B.c., and by the Phoenician sailors on a bas- 
 relief in the British Museum. The head is round, 
 the forehead low and retreating, but the nose is 
 rarely much developed; in many cases the lips are 
 thick, the hair frizzly, and the stature of the medium. 
 This type, which may be due to a mixture with 
 the same race as that which formed the low type 
 of Mesopotamia, still sometimes recurs among the 
 Ashkenazim (German-Polish) division of the Jewish 
 race. 
 
 The persistency of the Jewish type is admitted on 
 all hands, as Goethe stated this well-recognized fact 
 in the following words: “ Es ist das beharrlichste 
 Volk der Erde. Es ist, es war, es wird sein.” Joseph 
 Jacobs, who has made an elaborate study of Jewish 
 anthropology, states* that the persistency of the 
 Jewish type for the last 2600 years is conclusively 
 proved by the Assyrian bas-relief of the captive Jews 
 of Lachish. 
 
 Without going into further detail or multiplying 
 references, it may be accepted that where a people, 
 like the Jews, has kept itself fairly pure, and not 
 intermarried to any considerable extent with peoples 
 of alien blood, the ethnical characters may persist 
 for some 3000 years. It is true that Renan, 
 
 * Joseph Jacobs, “On the Racial Characteristics of Modern Jews,” 
 Journ. Anth. Inst., xv., 1885, p. 39. 
 
24 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Neubauer,* and others have argued against the 
 purity of the present-day Jews, but Jacobs traverses 
 their arguments and arrives at opposite conclusions. 
 He draws attention to the comparative infertility of 
 mixed marriages, that is, between Jews and Gentiles, 
 and to the superior potency of Jewish blood. Taking 
 these facts into consideration along with the very 
 small number of mixed marriages in the past, 
 especially with non-Semitic peoples, Jacobs sees 
 “no reason from history for denying that the Jews 
 of the present day were the direct descendants of 
 the Jews of the Bible.”t 
 
 There are undoubted wide divergencies from the 
 Jewish type of skull, nose, eyes, hair, &c.; but the 
 Rev. Dr. Hermann Adler, the Chief Rabbi, believes { 
 that the dark and blond type are original, dating 
 from Bible times, and described respectively : 
 “ His locks are curling, and black as a raven ” 
 (Canticles v. n), and “He was ruddy, and withal 
 fair of eyes and goodly to look upon” (i Samuel 
 xvi. 12). That the existence of the blond type 
 was not due to intermarriage since Biblical times, 
 might be proved by the fact that it was to be found 
 among the Jews of North Africa, Syria, Arabia, and 
 Persia, where, owing to the prevalence of fanaticism, 
 mixed marriages had rarely, if ever, taken place. 
 
 * A. Neubauer, “Notes on the Race-Types of the Jews,” Journ . 
 Anth. Inst., xv., 1885, p. 17. 
 
 + Loc. cit ., p. 62. | Journ. Anth. Inst., xv. p. 56. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 25 
 
 Dr. Felix von Luschan,* who has paid considerable 
 attention to the problem of the origin of the Jews, 
 states that the modern Bedouins must be considered 
 as pure descendants of the old Semitic race. They 
 have long, narrow heads, dark complexion, and a 
 short, narrow and straight nose, which is in every 
 respect the direct opposite of what we are accustomed 
 to call a “typical Jewish nose.” The earliest 
 Phoenician skulls seem identical with old and modern 
 Bedouin skulls. Of our modern Jews nearly 50 per 
 cent, are broad-headed (brachycephalic), 11 per cent, 
 have fair complexion, and not more than 5 per cent, 
 correspond to what we now learn to be the real old 
 Semitic type. In northern Syria, the land of the old 
 Aramaeans, nearly all the heads are brachycephalic, 
 with indices near to 90, and these same brachycephalic 
 elements we find everywhere in western Asia. The 
 Armenians are most remarkable for the nearly 
 complete uniformity of their types, for their dark 
 complexion, their extreme brachycephalism, and for 
 their large and hooked “Jewish” nose. 
 
 These and other investigations lead us to the 
 conviction that Syria and Asia Minor were in early 
 times inhabited by a homogeneous and extremely 
 brachycephalic race, of which the modern Armenians 
 are the nearly pure descendants, and which we find 
 
 * Felix von Luschan, “Jews and Hittites," Science, xxiii., 1894, 
 p. 21. 
 
26 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 more or less mixed with strange elements in many 
 of the other races that now inhabit western Asia. 
 This old brachycephalic race, which from its begin¬ 
 ning was utterly distinct from any Semitic tribe, and 
 was in its physical aspect the very opposite of the 
 Semites, can be identified, according to von Luschan, 
 only with the Hittites (the same Hittites mentioned 
 as a Syrian tribe in the Bible), which had been a 
 strong and formidable enemy to Ramses II., and 
 were finally conquered by Assyrian kings in long wars 
 and fights, beginning earlier than the times of Assur- 
 nassirpal and ending probably only in those of 
 Esarhaddon, as we read in the Assyrian annals from 
 the ninth century to the seventh century b.c. Exca¬ 
 vations made a few years ago in Sendjirli, the old 
 Sammal, known in Assyrian texts as a Hittite resi¬ 
 dence in northern Syria, have brought to light a large 
 series of old Hittite sculptures; the Armenian 
 character of the men represented on the walls and 
 in the royal palaces of this old town is most striking, 
 and we cannot err if we regard the inhabitants of 
 Sammal as the direct ancestors of the modern Ar¬ 
 menians, who still inhabit the neighbourhood of the 
 place, ill-treated in our times by Turks and Kurds, 
 and without any knowledge of their glorious history 
 in ancient and mediaeval times. 
 
 The old Hittite inscriptions were in very curious, 
 heavy, and bulky-looking kind of hieroglyphics, but 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 27 
 
 about 1000 b.c. the Semitic writing and language was 
 introduced, which soon replaced the Hittite language 
 and writing. For example, two inscriptions have 
 been found, written by native kings, the one in the 
 ninth, the other in the eighth century b.c., both in 
 good old Semitic alphabetical characters. Thus in 
 the ninth century b.c. Semitic influence was great in 
 northern Syria, and we can easily understand how 
 Semitic writing and language soon became dominant 
 among people of western Asia that were originally 
 without a drop of Semitic blood ; and then we under¬ 
 stand also why most of our modern Jews have the 
 Armenian type and not the Semitic. 
 
 The fair element among the modern Jews is best 
 explained by an old, as opposed to a post-biblical 
 racial mixture. This we may find in the intercourse 
 of the old native Syrians with the Amorites and 
 other Canaanites (Deut. ix. 2), “a people great and 
 tall,” who were fair and had blue eyes, as the old 
 Egyptian painted monuments show us. These are 
 the eastern representatives of the great Mediterranean 
 race. 
 
 Von Luschan thus sums up his conclusions:—“So 
 we see in our modern Jews the descendants of three 
 different races, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the 
 Semitic nomads, who immigrated into Syria only 
 about in the times of Abraham.” 
 
 Much has been written upon the prevalence of 
 
28 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 red hair among the Jews. Jacobs* finds that it occurs 
 among Sephardim (Spanish Jews) to a greater extent 
 than among Ashkenazim (German-Polish Jews), and 
 it has never been contended that the Sephardim have 
 mixed much with any race markedly rufous, though 
 a certain amount of erythrism (or red-hairiness) was 
 introduced into Spain by the Goths. Where it does 
 occur among Ashkenazim of north Europe it is 
 found more among Jews than in the indigenous popu¬ 
 lation. Jacobs points out that red hair seems to 
 be only a natural complement to black, and its 
 presence among Jews is not due to intermixture, but 
 probably to defective nutrition. 
 
 The existence of blue eyes among Jews in rela¬ 
 tively large proportions need not be regarded as 
 overwhelming proofs of intermixture. As is well 
 known, all eyes are blue at birth, and if no brown 
 pigment is deposited in the front of the iris the eyes 
 remain bluish to the end of life. 
 
 d hus blue eyes, as well as red hair, are a kind 
 of minor albinism, and may result from defective 
 nutrition, or other physiological causes. Jacobs finds! 
 confirmation in the view that this is the real cause 
 of its occurrence among Jews from the fact that we 
 find blue eyes among Asiatic as well as European 
 Jews. On the other hand, this would be equally well 
 accounted for by an infusion of Amoritic blood. 
 
 * Loc. cit., p. 46. 
 
 t Loc. cit., p. 47. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 29 
 
 We may then accept the conclusion that the Jews 
 have remained a persistent type for thousands of 
 years, and that though they do now present variations 
 in their features, these are due not so much to 
 subsequent miscegenation as to a primitive com¬ 
 plexity of origin, as is partly evidenced by the 
 Assyrian reliefs. 
 
 As the result of long experience Beddoe # has come 
 to estimate very highly the permanence of the colours 
 of hair and eyes. “It is,” as he justly states, “of 
 course impossible for an evolutionist to regard them 
 as absolutely permanent. But one may readily con¬ 
 ceive, as I do, that whenever a distinct and tolerably 
 homogeneous breed has been established, its colour 
 may remain very much the same so long as the 
 conditions of natural selection remain nearly identical.” 
 The material to be worked upon, as he points out, 
 lies ready to hand in our streets and market places, 
 not hidden in museums and charnel houses. 
 
 An obvious objection to such observations is the 
 different way in which people see colours or are 
 impressed by them. To take an example adduced 
 by Beddoe; almost all French anthropologists say 
 that the majority of persons in the north of France 
 are blond, whereas almost all Englishmen would 
 say they were dark; each group of observers setting 
 up as a standard what they are accustomed to see 
 * John Beddoe, The Races of Britain, 1885, p. 2. 
 
3 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 around them when at home. What is darkish brown 
 to most Englishmen would be chestnut in the nomen¬ 
 clature of most Parisians, and perhaps even blond in 
 that of Auvergne or Provence. Then, again, most 
 people exaggerate the relative prevalence of some 
 striking feature such as red hair. 
 
 It has been attempted to obviate the discrepancies 
 due to national idiosyncrasy or to personal equation 
 as to the discrimination of colours by printing tints 
 for comparison. These colour-scales are very useful 
 for determining the hues of the skin, and also, though 
 to a less extent, for the colours of the iris; but they 
 are of comparatively little use for recording the 
 tints of the hair, as the scales are printed in flat 
 tints, so different from the gloss and translucency 
 of hair. 
 
 French anthropologists have, however, worked very 
 largely with such colour-scales, and a limited number 
 are printed in that valuable little book, Notes and 
 Queries on Anthropology , published by the Anthro¬ 
 pological Institute (3, Hanover Square, London, W.). 
 
 With that practicality which characterizes his 
 methods Dr. Beddoe has devised a very simple 
 method of recording the colours of the hair and 
 eyes of people. The advantages of his system are 
 that it is as accurate as need be, easy and rapid to 
 operate, and it can be employed without attracting 
 any attention. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 31 
 
 Dr. Beddoe # acknowledges three classes of eyes, 
 distinguished as much by shade as by colour—light, 
 intermediate, and dark. 
 
 1. To the first class are assigned all blue, bluish- 
 grey, and light grey eyes. 
 
 2. To the second or medium class belong dark 
 grey, brownish grey, very light hazel or yellow, hazel- 
 grey, formed by streaks of orange radiating into a 
 bluish-grey field, and most shades of green, together 
 with all the eyes whose colour is uncertain after an 
 ordinarily close inspection. 
 
 3. To the third class are allocated the so-called 
 black eyes, and those usually called brown and dark 
 hazel. 
 
 The hair colours are classed according to the same 
 observer into groups, which he distinguishes by the 
 following initials, R. F. B. D. N. 
 
 Class R. (red) includes all shades which approach 
 more nearly to red than to brown, yellow, or flaxen. 
 
 Class F. (fair) includes flaxen, yellow, golden, some 
 of the lightest shades of our brown and some pale 
 auburns, in which the red hue is not very conspicuous. 
 
 Class B. (brown) includes numerous shades of 
 brown. 
 
 Class D. (dark) includes the deeper shades of 
 brown up to black. 
 
 Class N. (niger) includes not only the jet black, 
 
 * Ibid. , p. 3. 
 
3 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 which has retained the same colour from childhood, 
 and is generally very coarse and hard, but also that 
 very intense brown which occurs to people who in 
 childhood have had dark brown (or in some cases 
 deep red) hair, but which in the adult cannot be 
 distinguished from coal black, except in a good light. 
 
 The card adopted by Beddoe will be found to be 
 very practical. It may be made of any size, but 
 it is convenient to have it about 3^ inches long by 
 11 inches broad, so that it may be held in the palm 
 of the hand and carried in the waistcoat pocket. 
 
 R 
 
 F 
 
 B 
 
 D 
 
 N 
 
 R 
 
 F 
 
 B 
 
 D 
 
 N 
 
 R 
 
 F 
 
 B 
 
 D 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The card is ruled into three main divisions 
 corresponding to the groups of eye-colours, light, 
 medium, dark. Each of these is again subdivided 
 into columns for the five classes of hair: red, fair, 
 brown, dark, and black. Lastly, the card is divided 
 horizontally into two equal halves, the upper being 
 reserved for statistics of men, and the lower for those 
 of women. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 33 
 
 A second card should be similarly used for children. 
 Those about the age of eighteen and over may be 
 classed as adults. 
 
 The locality, date, name of observer, and other 
 details such as the particular occasion, may be written 
 on the back, but it is convenient to leave a blank 
 space on the face for the insertion of the name of the 
 locality. Further suggestions for the employment of 
 these cards will be found at the end of the book in 
 the chapter devoted to practical observations in the 
 field. 
 
 A ready means for comparing the colours of 
 different peoples is obtained by the Index of 
 Nigrescence,* which Beddoe has introduced. ‘‘The 
 gross index is gotten by subtracting the number of 
 red- and fair-haired persons from that of the dark¬ 
 haired, together with twice the black-haired. The 
 black is doubled, in order to give its proper value 
 to the greater tendency to melanosity shown thereby ; 
 while brown (chestnut) hair is regarded as neutral, 
 though in truth most of the persons placed in B are 
 fair-skinned, and approach more nearly in aspect to 
 the xanthous [light] than to the melanous [dark] 
 variety.” The formula is :— 
 
 D + 2N — R - F = Index. 
 
 From the gross index the net, or percentage index, 
 is of course readily obtained. 
 
 * Races of Britain , p. 5. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 It is evident that the light colours range below and 
 the dark above zero, and that the fairer the population 
 the greater will be the minus quantity. 
 
 The index for the eyes is obtained by subtracting 
 the light from the dark and neglecting the neutral 
 shades, thus :— 
 
 Dark - Light = Index. 
 
 Dr. Collignon adopts another plan, he reduces all 
 his figures to percentages ; then for any given district 
 he adds the light hair and the light eyes together, 
 and does the same with the dark hair and eyes, 
 dividing each total by two. Lastly, he constructs 
 maps to show the relative excess of one total over 
 the other. 
 
 In that mine of information The Races of 
 Britain * Beddoe has published a series of maps, 
 which he has constructed from statistics based upon 
 about 13,800 entries in the Hue and Cry , relating 
 to deserters from the army, and to a much smaller 
 extent, deserters from the navy and absentees from 
 militia drill. Through the kindness of my friend I 
 am able to reproduce three of these maps, which 
 set forth the broad features of the distribution of 
 the hair and eye-colours of the male population of 
 England. Dr. Beddoe has made, in addition, a 
 vast number of observations of this class, and he 
 finds that his data coincide very fairly well with the 
 
 * p. 143 et seq. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 35 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Map showing the distribution of the Index of Nigrescence in England, 
 based upon Military Schedules; after Beddoe. 
 
3 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Map showing the distribution of Dark (Brown or Hazel) Eyes 
 in England, based upon Military Schedules ; after Beddoe. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 37 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 Map showing the distribution of the excess of pure Blond 
 over pure dark type in England, based upon Military 
 Schedules; after Beddoe. 
 
38 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 military statistics. The personal investigations of 
 Beddoe afford a more accurate and minute means 
 of analysis, and they bring out a number of very 
 suggestive facts that are lost in the synthetic maps 
 based on the military schedules. 
 
 The maps based on the military schedules accord 
 with ethnological history in exhibiting a large pro¬ 
 portion of light-coloured hair in the regions most 
 subject to invasion and colonization, and of dark- 
 coloured hair in the far west. 
 
 Taking the four kingdoms, their order from light 
 to dark is as follows :— 
 
 Index of Nigrescence. 
 
 • 3-i 
 
 5' 6 
 
 HAIR. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 EYES. 
 
 Scotland 
 
 England 
 
 Wales 
 
 Ireland 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Ireland 
 
 England 
 
 Wales 
 
 72-2 
 
 70-2 
 
 6i-6 
 
 56-6 
 
 Connaught (with 70*6 per cent.) ranks second to 
 Ulster (with 73-4 per cent.) as to lightness of eyes, 
 and has more dark hair than any province of Ireland 
 or of Great Britain except Argyle. This is in agree¬ 
 ment with the feature that strikes travellers in the 
 west of Ireland, the preponderance of dark brown 
 hair combined with grey or blue-grey eyes.* 
 
 In England most of the “mixed brown type,” as it 
 is called—that is, brown, hazel, or “black” eyes, with 
 
 * Cf. a paper recently published by Dr. Beddoe “ On Complexional 
 Differences between the Irish with Indigenous and Exotic Surnames,” 
 Journ. Anth. List., xxvii., 1897, p. 164. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 39 
 
 brown (chestnut), dark brown, or black hair—occurs 
 in Dorset, Wilts, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, the Welsh 
 Marches, South Wales, Bucks, and Herts. 
 
 For the sake of clearness I will take a few counties 
 of England only, and give the conclusions to which 
 Dr. Beddoe has arrived from his studies of their 
 ethnography. 
 
 “ Lincolnshire, for example, is supposed to be a particularly 
 Teutonic county. Whether Lindum Colonia was destroyed 
 by the Angles we do not know; perhaps, as it kept its name 
 and situation, it fared better than most Romano-British 
 towns, and retained more of its ancient population; but 
 certainly Lincolnshire received a large colony of Angles, who 
 divided it into a great number of hundreds, and who were 
 subsequently overlaid by a heavy stratum of Danes, as the 
 place-names testify. The inhabitants have the tall and 
 bulky frame which is generally believed to be Anglo-Danish, 
 though the nature of the soil and other conditions may have 
 to do with it. Lincolnshire stands third in all England 
 on the blond scale as tested by the index of nigrescence.”* 
 
 Dr. Beddoe’s personal observations in the county 
 indicate a moderate proportion of dark eyes and a great 
 deal of light, or lightish brown hair, with a low index 
 of nigrescence; these observations are confirmed re¬ 
 spectively by the maps. (Figs. 2 and 3.) The modern 
 population of Lincoln are a fair and handsome people, 
 with regular features; blue - eyed, says Professor 
 Phillips—but Dr. Beddoe calls them blue or light 
 
 * Races of Britain, p. 145. 
 
MILITARY STATISTICS.—From the Hue and Cry (after Beddoe), p. 190. 
 
 40 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 •JU33 J3J 
 
 »n CO vo 
 
 'I E 1°L 
 
 - hh d rt ^ ^ Oh 1 ^ O 
 
 to t>* co VO *-t w 00 Oh 
 
 EYES. 
 
 Hazel, Brown, or Dark. 
 
 PS 
 
 << 
 
 X 
 
 • 3 ^ 0 'Bjg 
 
 d Oh co vo CN •'t co 00 
 
 •UMOjg qj^Q 
 
 jo ‘qJBQ 
 
 Oh O to vo rf Oh to co Oh 
 
 hh d ci co co co Cl 
 
 •UMOjg 
 
 to Oh 00 ~ to O MD CO o 
 
 Cl Cl — ' M to CO CO CO 
 
 •uMOjq iqSi'q 
 JO ‘JIBjJ 
 
 ^ o d t-H | ci »-» co 
 
 •psg 
 
 m CO ■vt' | | N ON; 
 
 •JU 33 J 9 g 
 
 iO CO to Cl to Cl CO 
 
 VO ^ o Cl to to hh CO 
 
 vO vo vo to to to vo to 
 
 'FJ°X 
 
 Oh Oh CO vo ON CO >-< ro O 
 
 Gh d of* 00 Cl CO - to CO 
 
 EYES. 
 
 Blue, Grey, or Light. 
 
 PS 
 
 ffi 
 
 • 3 ( 0 E|g 
 
 N m M | | | | ^ N 
 
 •UMOJfj qJ^Q 
 
 ao ‘qJ^Q 
 
 CO ►h hh CO t*- Oh Oh CJ to 
 
 *- Cl t-t d *-< CO HH 
 
 •UMOJg 
 
 N Is. Cl Oh VO CO CO 00 to 
 
 ^ to d CO totoCO 
 
 •UMOJg jqSiq 
 
 JO ‘JJBjJ 
 
 vo 00 O 00 to rtcor^ 
 
 CO *“• d to CO to M 
 
 „ ’P 3 H 
 
 vo W CO Cl «vo tovo*-* 
 
 •suoq^Ajasqo jo jaquinjq- 
 
 oco o oo ooo 
 
 m O 00 m -3- in O m m 
 
 mm — M M M — 
 
 •gd^x uAiorg 3 .tng 
 
 Oh to co d to vp 
 
 co^j-O *-h to Oh CO Yt* 
 
 - H< Cl HH 
 
 •sditx UMOjg psxiJVI 
 
 to CO to d to O Vp 
 
 O S' d to t"> i-x j^co’^t 
 
 CO vh) CO CO Cl CO co CO -tf- 
 
 •sdAg puojg psxipj 
 
 to co to qo 
 
 VO^OCO to Cl CO ^S-VOSI 
 
 ^ to ^ rt vo ^ ^ Yf ^ 
 
 ipiA\ saAx puojg sjnj 
 
 d co to to vo vo 
 
 M ^ i Cl N ’"3- CTv CO 00 
 
 MMm — M N w M — 
 
 •80U90ssr3ii^ jo xapuj 
 
 w vp vo in vp in oo vo 
 
 W- 1 oo o w W- o o 
 
 | M 1 M M 
 
 3 £ J P4 £ 
 
 x '-S 
 
 <u o 
 
 [A (X 
 
 u 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 4i 
 
 hazel; the latter hue is very common at Boston. The 
 civic population there, though not quite so strikingly 
 fair as in the surrounding peasantry, are much more 
 so than in most parts of the islands ; they have all the 
 characteristics of pure Saxo-Frisians, and are hardly 
 distinguishable from the frequenters of Antwerp 
 market.* Their index of nigrescence is the lowest 
 Dr. Beddoe has met with in any considerable town in 
 Britain. 
 
 From Lincoln to Nottingham, along the Vale of the 
 Trent, the same breed of men prevails. Mr. D. 
 Mackintosh, who has carefully studied the features, 
 makes the leading points of his Danish type a long 
 face, high cheek-bones, with a sudden sinking in 
 above on each side of the forehead, high and long 
 nose, head elevated behind, reddish hair. There is a 
 traditional attribution of red hair to the old Danish 
 invaders in some parts of the country, but Dr. Beddoe 
 does not believe <c the colour is common in Lincoln¬ 
 shire nowadays. The high, finely-formed nose and 
 prominence of the superciliary ridges, yet with fairly 
 arched brows, not the straight penthouse of the 
 Scotch and Irish, are frequently seen in Denmark; 
 and where they are very prevalent among the 
 Anglians a Danish cross may be suspected.”! Mr. 
 Park Harrison lays great stress upon this feature as 
 Danish. It is common to the Borreby race and to the 
 
 * loc. at., p. 252. t loc. cit., p. 253. 
 
42 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 British bronze men, to the Sion type of Switzerland 
 and to many Savoyards. 
 
 Leicestershire was largely colonized by the Danes ; 
 Rutland was not so. The former differs from the 
 other North-Midland counties, apparently, by having 
 retained a good proportion of the dark pre-Anglian 
 stock. 
 
 In the Triads, and elsewhere in old Welsh litera¬ 
 ture the Coranied are referred to ; these have been 
 “identified with the Coritavi, or Coritani, of the 
 Romans, from the similarity of the first syllable in 
 each word, from a statement that the Coranied settled 
 about the Humber, and from the name of Ratis 
 Corion having been applied to Leicester, seemingly 
 the chief town of the Coritavi. The only grounds 
 for making the Coranied and Coritavi (allowing them 
 to be the same) Germans are, their siding with the 
 Saxons, and having a Latin name ending in avi, like 
 the undoubtedly Germanic tribes of the Batavi and 
 Chamavi.”* Dr. Beddoe entirely disagrees with this 
 view for the following reasons :— 
 
 “They are supposed to have occupied the counties of 
 Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Rutland, and part of 
 Northamptonshire; in these counties I can find no Roman 
 station whose name appears to be Teutonic, while the 
 important town of Margidunum, near Southwell in Notting¬ 
 hamshire, bears a name almost certainly Celtic, and Ratis 
 Corion does the same ; and Nottingham would seem to have 
 * loc. cit ., p. 23. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 43 
 
 remained Celtic long enough for its Welsh name not to have 
 been altogether forgotten even in the time of Alfred ; for 
 Asser says it was called in Welsh Tigguocobauc. Again, if 
 the Coritavi were Germans, and were overlaid by successive 
 strata of Angles and Danes, one may reasonably expect 
 to find the Teutonic physical type prevalent over their whole 
 area to a degree not found elsewhere in Britain. Now, in 
 the northern part of the Coritanian area it is really very 
 prevalent, but in the southern (Leicestershire and North¬ 
 amptonshire) there is, if I may judge by the colours of the 
 hair and eyes, a strong non-Teutonic element. The following 
 table (page 44) shows a great difference between Lincoln and 
 Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton, in these respects, 
 there being a much larger proportion of dark hair in the 
 two more southern towns.” * 
 
 “ Professor Phillips, than whom no ethnologist was a 
 keener observer, once visited Leicester with the expectation 
 of finding a strongly marked Scandinavian type predominant 
 there; but he was surprised to find a dark-haired type, which 
 he supposed to be Celtic, equally prevalent.” 
 
 The northern part of Cambridgeshire is also sup¬ 
 posed to retain a large proportion of British blood ; 
 the fens formed the impenetrable retreat, and we all 
 know how the Isle of Ely held out against the 
 Normans. In his memoir on “Stature and Bulk of 
 Man in the British Isles,” Dr. Beddoej- quotes Dr. L. 
 Clapham and Dr. H. Stuckey, as finding rather more 
 hazel and brown than blue or grey eyes ; out of fifty 
 observations twenty-seven eyes were dark and twenty- 
 three light. I remember well, on returning to 
 
 * loc. tit., p. 24. t Mem. Anthrop. Soc., iii., 1869, pp. 458, 459. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 •33U30S3J§I^ 
 
 jo xapuf 
 
 p) 00 »—i >—i 
 
 N O *Tj- *HH 
 
 « « hh ro 
 
 Dark Eyes. 
 
 
 r- p oo 
 
 »-« co N co 
 
 ■n^a 
 
 00 Cn 
 
 *0 ON OO 00 
 
 •UMOag 
 
 p OO co 
 
 OO ON TO 
 
 
 P p Tt lO 
 
 'P 3 >T 
 
 P' C* - C J** 
 
 Neutral Eyes. 
 
 
 p OX p | 
 
 
 p- OO jh yo 
 
 ^ v£) ^ 
 
 •uMOjg 
 
 p vp p yo 
 
 TO \0 VO CO 
 
 ■ J !M 
 
 p vp oo 
 
 'P^H 
 
 p- 00 co 
 
 Light Eyes. 
 
 • J3g !N 
 
 p p co co 
 
 •Ji iE a 
 
 »o pi on co 
 
 OO ON co 
 
 •u.wojg 
 
 p NO VO vp 
 
 LTl VO to 
 
 CO CS OX CO 
 
 •JIBJ 
 
 ON CO q° 
 
 to co lo On 
 
 •P 3 H 
 
 ox co co co 
 
 
 •ji^h 
 jo jno[03 
 
 ! 1 1 1 
 
 •suoiiBAJssqo 
 jo jaquinjq 
 
 o o o o 
 0^00 
 in in i— eo 
 
 Towns. 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 Leicester . 
 
 Nottingham 
 
 Northampton 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 45 
 
 Cambridge after a long residence in Ireland, expecting 
 to find a tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed population pre¬ 
 ponderating in Cambridgeshire, but, on the contrary, 
 I was struck with the proportionately large number of 
 short, dark-haired, dark-eyed persons. According to 
 Dr. Beddoe the southern part of the county is more 
 like Norfolk and Suffolk, anthropologically.* 
 
 “ These two counties,” continues Dr. Beddoe, “ are more 
 Anglian than either Danish or British. Mr. Grant Allen, 
 whose summary of the Brito-Saxon controversy, in his 
 excellent little book on Anglo-Saxon Britain, is about the 
 fairest we have, dwells, perhaps, a little too much on the 
 British element in East Anglia. It is, perhaps, stronger in 
 Suffolk than in Norfolk. In Essex I think that there was 
 a considerable survival of the Romano-Britons, and that 
 though the invading Saxons preponderate near the coast, 
 it is not so in the interior forest country. At Braintree a 
 Huguenot colony have left their surnames and complexions.” t 
 
 Mr. Park Harrison has noted that the people of 
 Brandon are comparatively dark. This is a particularly 
 interesting place, as in Neolithic times pits were sunk 
 in the chalk, and flint was quarried for the manufacture 
 of implements; there is reason to believe that since 
 that date this industry has never ceased, and at the 
 present time the flint knappers of Brandon manufacture 
 gun-flints for the African market. Quite recently Dr. 
 C. S. Myers has published a valuable paper | on the 
 
 * Races of Britain, p. 254. t loc. cit., p. 254. 
 
 J C. S. Myers, “ An Account of some Skulls discovered at Brandon, 
 Suffolk,” Journ. Anth. Inst., xxvi., 1896, p. 113. 
 
4 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 large collection of skulls from this locality that are in 
 the Cambridge Anatomical Museum. In the vicinity 
 are two Roman camps, and near by runs the Icknield 
 Way, the great war and trade route of the Iceni in 
 pre-Roman times. A few skulls resemble the Neolithic 
 or Long Barrow type. The skulls of the brachy- 
 cephalic series do not belong to the Round Barrow 
 type, which is quite unrepresented, but are to be 
 allocated to a fairly widely - spread Romano - British 
 type. Among the elongated skulls Mr. Myers has 
 proved the occurrence of the old Row Grave type of 
 Germany; it is a significant fact that about 372 a.d., 
 the Alemannic Bucinobantes came from Mainz, on 
 the right bank of the Rhine, and appear to have 
 settled within twenty miles of Brandon, at Buckenham, 
 in Norfolk. Allied to these skulls is the long, low- 
 crowned Batavian type, which also occurs at Brandon. 
 Only one definitely Saxon skull was noted. The 
 evidence points to the fact that the burial ground, 
 whence these skulls were obtained, was that of a 
 people of mixed ethnic character, belonging to a time 
 antecedent to the Saxon invasion ; but it is probable 
 that even then Saxon settlers were arriving in small 
 numbers. Mr. R. J. Horton-Smith * also alludes to 
 East Anglian Craniology in his paper on the crani- 
 
 * R. J. Horton-Smith, “The Cranial Characteristics of the South 
 Saxons compared with those of the other races of South Britain,” Journ. 
 Anth. Inst., xxvi., 1896, p. 82. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 47 
 
 ology of the South Saxons. His main points are 
 that the South Saxons were not an absolutely pure 
 race, they had a little British blood in them, though 
 the amount was probably very small. The Wessex 
 Saxons were less pure than the South Saxons, owing 
 to their more frequent intermarriage with the British 
 population. The East Anglians have a form of skull 
 slightly different to that of the South Saxons. It 
 is rather broader, less tapeinocephalic (i.e. less low 
 in the crown), and mesoseme instead of microseme 
 {i.e., the orbits are higher and less oblong), the face 
 is also relatively longer, and the cranial capacity 
 larger. 
 
 We will now pass to the opposite end of England, 
 and again I quote from Dr. Beddoe:— 
 
 “ The people of Devon are for the most part dark-haired, 
 and the Gaelic combination of blue or grey eyes, with dark 
 brown or blackish hair, is very frequent among them. When 
 the eyes are hazel, on the other hand, the hair is not seldom 
 lightish. In the district about Dartmouth, where the Celtic 
 language lingered for centuries, the index of nigrescence is at 
 its maximum, exceeding fifty. But around the estuaries of 
 the Taw, the Torridge, the Tamar, and perhaps the Exe, 
 Frisian or Danish settlements seem to have been effected. 
 In these localities there is a large proportion of blonds, which 
 in the case of Plymouth affects the neighbouring part of 
 Cornwall to some extent. The Devonians are usually 
 rather short and strongly made, with heads of good size and 
 considerable occipital projection. 
 
 “ Cornwall nourishes a stalwart race superior to the 
 
4 8 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Devonians in stature and length of limb ; the miners, again, 
 seem to surpass the agricultural population, though of this 
 I have not statistical proof. In each case there may have been 
 a process of selection, for Cornwall probably gave the last 
 refuge to the free British warriors, who were gradually forced 
 back by the West Saxons into the peninsula, while their serfs, 
 accustomed to the yoke, may have bowed their necks for the 
 most part to that of the strangers. The stature, as deduced 
 by Roberts and Rawson from 305 observations, is 5 ft. 7-9 in. 
 or 1726 mm., and I do not think this is over the mark. The 
 Cornish are generally dark in hair, and often in eye ; they 
 are decidedly the darkest people in England proper; they 
 resemble the Scottish Highlanders in their warmth of 
 colouring. The point which comes out most distinctly is the 
 prominence of the glabella, and (probably also) of the brow 
 ridges. To these may be added, more doubtfully, a receding 
 forehead, a head much arched longitudinally, and broad about 
 the parietal eminences. All these points, it will be observed, 
 are common to the Bronze Race. All the British types, how¬ 
 ever, occur in Cornwall, and the most characteristic is, I 
 think, Iberian, with a dash of the Semitic. Barnard Davis was 
 struck with the heaviness of the mouth and lower part of 
 the nose ; this is a common feature among the earlier races 
 of Britain, but is certainly not universal in Cornwall.” * 
 
 The map of the nigrescence index shows that the 
 majority of dark-haired people occur in our western 
 districts. Cornwall, for example, has the highest 
 index (20'6), but even there there are 18 '6 per cent, of 
 the men of the pure blond type (including red hair), 
 and but 24^6 per cent, of the pure brown type, the 
 
 * loc. cit pp. 258, 259. 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 49 
 
 great bulk of the population belonging to the mixed 
 blond type or the mixed brown type. 
 
 The following conclusions may be drawn from this 
 short sketch of the distribution of hair and eye 
 colours in the Eastern Counties, and in the extreme 
 South-west of England. 
 
 Spread all over England was a dark - haired, 
 brown-eyed people, who, from other evidence, appear 
 to have been slight of build, and distinctly dolicho¬ 
 cephalic. These are usually spoken of as Iberians, 
 or more correctly as the Iberian branch of the 
 Mediterranean race. They are the men of the 
 polished stone (Neolithic) age, and they often buried 
 their dead in long barrows. We may recognize in 
 them the true autocthones of Britain, for we have 
 little precise information about Palaeolithic man, nor 
 can we yet tell how far he persisted into later 
 periods. Mr. Gomme* brings evidence to bear in 
 support of his view that these non-Aryan people 
 were agriculturalists. 
 
 We know that agriculture tends of itself to fix 
 men to the soil, and when agriculturalists are 
 conquered by peoples of other social organization, 
 as practically always occurs, they become still more 
 rooted, and for good reason. The conquerors are 
 usually turbulent, warlike, mobile communities, 
 
 * G. L. Gomme, The Village Community , 1890, ch. iv.; Ethnology in 
 Folk-lore, 1892, p. 70. 
 
 E 
 
5° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 usually either actual nomads or societies which have 
 but recently emerged from a pastoral mode of life, 
 or they may be a sea-faring folk. In any case, while 
 they prey upon the settled population and overlord 
 them, they take care not to exterminate them, for the 
 descendants of herdsmen despise agriculture, and it 
 is only after a long time and due to a powerful con¬ 
 straint that they yield to the force of circumstances 
 and till the soil. 
 
 The horse-breeding, chariot-driving, Celtic-speaking 
 peoples who invaded the British Islands were pro¬ 
 bably no exception to this general rule. It is certain 
 that they tilled the soil, for there are many allusions 
 in Roman authors to this practice among allied tribes 
 on the mainland of Europe; but the same authors 
 are careful to point out how lightly these half-nomad 
 tribes were attached to the soil, and how they were 
 continually on the move. We may, therefore, take 
 it for granted that these men of the Bronze Age 
 overlorded, but did not by any means exterminate 
 the indigenous population of Britain ; the latter by 
 becoming the serfs of the conquerors were still more 
 firmly settled on the land. 
 
 Later came the tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed doli- 
 chocephals. At first pioneers opened up the country 
 and showed the way to the Teutonic hordes, who 
 arrived in various swarms of Frisians, Angles, Saxons, 
 Jutes, Danes, and the kindred Norsemen. The story 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 5i 
 
 of the incoming of the Bronze Age was repeated, but 
 with this difference. While the fair dolichocephals 
 slipped over, as it were, the dark dolichocephalic serfs, 
 they largely exterminated or pushed before them the 
 Celtic, more or less brachycephalic peoples, so that 
 these are at the present day mainly to be found in 
 the western portions of the country. The mixed 
 race probably shared the fate of the more aboriginal 
 population. 
 
 In a recently-published book* on the Formation of 
 the French nation, de Mortillet points out that various 
 classical authors practically all agree in describing the 
 Celts or Gauls and the Germans in the same terms. 
 Tall, fair people, with blue eyes, white skin, very 
 warlike, and readily undertaking great invasions and 
 vast migrations, constructing neither temples nor 
 towns, fighting naked, but very proud of their hair. 
 Below this military aristocracy there were the common 
 people, ignored by the writers, who constituted the 
 patient and laborious democracy fixed to the soil, the 
 true natives of the country, whom anthropology and 
 palethnology have revealed. The Gallo - Germanic 
 race is spread over nearly the whole of Europe, and 
 extends into Africa and Asia, each band transporting 
 its particular name to the different countries that it 
 occupied. It is this turbulent, noisy, mobile aris¬ 
 tocracy which alone has filled the pages of history. 
 
 * G. de Mortillet, Formation de la Nation Frangaise, Paris, 1897. 
 
5 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 In France the short, dark, brachycephal of Southern 
 Central Europe has fused with, or lived alongside 
 of, the dark dolichocephal, and it is this mixture 
 which has formed the mass of the French people, 
 that sedentary population which may be described as 
 the nucleus of the French democracy. 
 
 Although not identically the same, the early history 
 of France and that of the British Islands have much 
 in common, and it is interesting to find that these 
 primitive ethnic movements are still painted, as it 
 were, on the hair and in the eyes of the existing 
 population. 
 
 On turning to France we find that analogous 
 results have there been tabulated. Topinard, the 
 distinguished anthropologist, instituted a very ex¬ 
 tensive inquiry relative to the statistical distribution 
 of the colours of the hair and eyes of the adult 
 population of France. 
 
 In order to obtain unity of method, and to reduce 
 the personal equation to a minimum, Topinard issued 
 precise instructions with colour scales, which were 
 scattered broadcast, but mainly to trained observers, 
 preferably to medical men. More than 200,000 
 observations were returned; these were abstracted 
 one by one, and classified by departments according 
 to place of birth. The first operation was to reduce 
 the totals of each kind of hair and eyes to the 
 percentage of the whole number of the cases 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 53 
 
 observed for each department. The second opera¬ 
 tion was to arrange the most blond to the darkest 
 departments for both hair and eyes, in a long list 
 from one to eighty-eight. The third operation was to 
 combine these lists in various ways, so as to deter¬ 
 mine the relative places occupied by each department 
 with regard to the eyes and hair separately. The 
 fourth operation was to again combine these results, 
 so as to arrive at the main synthetic conclusions. 
 These only remained to establish equal groupings, 
 and to plot out the maps according to these lists. 
 Topinard informs us # that he employed various 
 methods till he finally drew up twenty-one maps 
 presenting all the main facts, from the simplest, 
 giving the distribution of blue eyes, for example, 
 to the most synthetic which combined all the 
 observations. Five of these maps were originally 
 published in his report to the meeting of the 
 French Association for the Advancement of Science, 
 which was held in Paris in 1889. ]- My learned 
 colleague has kindly permitted me to borrow the 
 three that he has also published in his L'Homme 
 dans la Nature. 
 
 The eighty-eight departments, including Alsace- 
 Lorraine and Corsica, are divided into four groups 
 
 * P. Topinard, U Homme dam la Nature , 1891, p. 83. 
 
 t P. Topinard, “ Statistique de la Coleur des Yeux et des Cheveux 
 en France,” Assoc. Frangaise pour VAvance. des Set., Paris, 1889 (1890), 
 2 nde Parte, p. 615. 
 
54 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 of twenty-two departments each. The groups indicate 
 the fair, intermediate fair, intermediate dark, and dark, 
 whether of eyes, of hair, or of both combined. 
 
 Fig. $. 
 
 Distribution of the colour of the eyes in France; from Topinard. 
 
 The eighty-eight Departments (Alsace-Lorraine added and 
 counted as one) are divided into four equal groups. 
 
 The line of separation between the departments 
 where the blonds predominate, and those which have 
 a preponderance of darks, extends irregularly from 
 the Alps to the Breton peninsula. This line also 
 corresponds with a fair degree of accuracy to that 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 55 
 
 which separates the people of high stature from those 
 of low stature, the former being to the north-east, the 
 latter to the south-west. 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 Distribution of the colour of the hair in France; from Topinard. 
 
 The eighty-eight Departments are divided into four equal groups. 
 
 The maximum of frequency of blonds is met with 
 partly along the shores of the English Channel and 
 partly along the north-east frontier. This fact coin¬ 
 cides with history. One knows that the blonds came 
 by sea and by land, but always from the north. It 
 
56 
 
 the study oe man 
 
 is also in agreement with the colour-maps constructed 
 from statistics of the hair and eye colours of over ten 
 million school children in Germany, Austria, Belgium, 
 and Switzerland. The fairest children occur in the 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 Resultant of the two preceding Maps; from Topinard 
 
 north, and, speaking in general terms, they darken 
 as one proceeds south and west; thus the darkest 
 children are to be found on the confines of Italy 
 and France. There are, however, several dark 
 islands in Central Germany, especially in Bohemia! 
 
HAIR AND EYE COLOUR 
 
 57 
 
 and numerous light “islands'’ in the extreme south 
 of this large area. 
 
 The maximum of frequency of the darks is seen 
 along the Mediterranean coast, in Corsica, along the 
 Pyrenees, and also in Auvergne. This conforms 
 perfectly to what is known of the primitive location 
 of a dark population in the basin and islands of the 
 Mediterranean before the Aryan invasion. From 
 other sources we know that there was a mixed dark 
 population in France before the fair barbarians came 
 Irom the north-east to overlord the earlier inhabitants 
 of France; but colour maps alone do not serve to 
 distinguish between these earlier peoples. A further 
 analysis will be made when dealing with head-form. 
 
 d he map of combined hair and eye colours marks 
 the descent of the fair invaders down the valley of 
 the Rhone, in the direction of Upper Italy. Other 
 irregularities of distribution and the various “ islands,” 
 such as the departments of Vendee (75) and Charente- 
 Inferieure (36) in the west, Tarn (54) and Tarn et 
 Garonne (59) in the south, and Jura (8) and Drome 
 (22) in the east, can be explained by local historical 
 events. Topinard asks whether the fair “ island ” of 
 Charente-Inferieure is due to the English, to the 
 Protestants around La Rochelle (the majority of 
 whom should be fair), or to the immigration of the 
 Alans? The Alans, or Alani, were Scythian people, 
 with red hair and grey eyes, who joined themselves 
 
5§ 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 with the Vandals. They occupied the middle course 
 of the Loire in 451 a.d. # Collignon, however, does 
 not find Charente-Inferieure particularly fair, and he 
 cannot satisfy himself that any trace exists of the 
 Alans, about whom we know really very little. 
 
 Topinard fully recognizes that the departments are 
 purely administrative divisions which have no ethno¬ 
 logical significance, but it is very convenient to take 
 the departments as statistical units, as they are of a 
 sufficient size to give the broad features of the 
 distribution of hair and eye colouration. The signi¬ 
 ficance of the distribution has, of course, no relation 
 whatever to the departments themselves. Here also, 
 as in Britain, a more detailed survey in selected 
 districts will give most interesting and suggestive 
 results, the interpretation of which can best be 
 worked out by a careful study of the local history, 
 both prehistoric and documental. For France such 
 detailed anthropological investigations have been 
 carried out by Dr. R. Collignon in a very thorough 
 and suggestive manner. His methods are so valu¬ 
 able that a chapter will be devoted to an abstract 
 of his studies in the Dordogne district. 
 
 * G. DE MORTILLET, Formation de la Nation Fran^aise, 1897, p. 122. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VALUE OF HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 S O much attention has been paid by anthropologists 
 to the shape of the head, and particularly to that 
 of the skull, that the greater part of the literature 
 of physical anthropology is taken up with minutely 
 descriptive and statistical accounts of the contours 
 and measurements of skulls. 
 
 It is obvious enough why the skull has been so 
 minutely studied. Although most parts of the human 
 skeleton exhibit distinctive traits by which they can 
 be readily distinguished from the bones of other 
 animals, the more characteristic human tendencies 
 are, however, so to speak, focussed in the skull. 
 For example, the bones of the legs and the pelvis 
 have become modified owing to the assumption of 
 the erect attitude ; but the position of the large hole 
 (the foramen magnum) in the base of the skull 
 through which the spinal cord passes into the brain 
 and the balancing of the head on the vertebral 
 column attest to the same fact. 
 
 The acquisition of the erect attitude liberated the 
 
 59 
 
6o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 hand from progression, and this gave it the chance to 
 become the delicate and mobile mechanism that we 
 now possess, and which is especially marked in the 
 case of musicians, artists, and skilled workmen. The 
 “ handiness ” of the hand relieved the jaws from 
 much of the work that they were wont to do, and 
 as a consequence the human jaw has a marked 
 tendency to be reduced in size. 
 
 Thus two very characteristic human traits, the erect 
 posture and the hand, have influenced the skull. 
 
 The other essentially human characteristics are 
 mainly to be found in the head itself; of these the 
 most important is the brain. The absolute and 
 relative large size of the brain at once separates the 
 brain of man from that of the higher apes. This 
 character can be determined from an examination 
 of the skull without any special anatomical know¬ 
 ledge. 
 
 It is convenient in considering the skull to dis¬ 
 tinguish between the cranium, or brain case, and the 
 face—the latter is composed of the organs of sight 
 and hearing, with their protective casings, and the 
 jaws. 
 
 The cranium and the face can, to a certain extent, 
 be studied independently of each other, though there 
 is always a distinct relation between them, and the 
 one acts upon the other in various ways. 
 
 Among the lower races of men we find that the 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 61 
 
 jaws are usually of large size, and they often project 
 far beyond the level of the forehead. A skull in this 
 condition is called “prognathous,” “a term which has 
 been rendered,” as Huxley points out, “with more 
 force than elegance, by the Saxon equivalent — 
 ‘snouty.’ An example of this prognathism is seen 
 in the Negro’s skull. (Fig. 8, No. 4.) 
 
 These great jaws are associated with large teeth 
 and powerful muscles. The jaw or masseter muscles 
 arise from the side walls of the skull, and are in¬ 
 serted in the lower jaw. The more powerful the 
 muscles the higher they creep up the sides of the 
 skull, their upward limit being marked by a curved 
 line (the temporal crest), and the more they are 
 likely to compress the skull, especially immediately 
 behind the orbits. This lateral compression of the 
 temporal region of the skull would naturally be most 
 effective in quite young persons when the skull was 
 still pliable. The feeding on coarse food and the 
 absence or imperfection of cooking the food would 
 give more work for the jaws, and consequently the 
 muscles would become more powerful. One effect 
 of civilization is to improve the commissariat and 
 cuisine, and as a result the jaws become smaller, 
 they project less and less beyond the level of the 
 forehead, that is, they become “ orthognathous.” 
 
 * T. H. Huxley, “Man’s Place in Nature: III. On some Fossil 
 Remains of Man,” Collected Essays, vol. vii., p. 191* 
 
62 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The teeth are reduced in size and number, and the 
 masseter muscles having less work to do become 
 smaller and less powerful, and consequently they 
 exert less pressure on the side walls of the cranium, 
 and so the skulls are not so narrow, especially in 
 front. 
 
 That the jaw muscles do affect the skull has been 
 shown by Nehring,* who, from his studies on skulls of 
 both sexes and of various ages of anthropoid apes and 
 of dogs of different breeds, is of the opinion that the 
 occurrence of a constriction between the orbital and 
 cerebral portions of the skull has direct relation to the 
 strength of the facial musculature, and more especially 
 of the jaw muscles. If the skull of a muscular 
 Eskimo dog be compared with that of a pug or a 
 Bolognese lap-dog, it will be found that this con¬ 
 striction is very marked in the Eskimo dog, the 
 zygomatic arches of which are widely outstanding, 
 and all the muscular attachments strongly developed ; 
 but the constriction is scarcely noticeable in the pug, 
 and is entirely wanting in the Bolognese lap-dog; the 
 two latter exhibit feminine rounded forms of the 
 corresponding parts of the skull, with a fully- 
 developed musculature. In domesticated dogs, as 
 in civilized man, the jaw is relatively fully developed, 
 
 * A. Nehring, “ Menschenreste aus einem Sambaqui von Santos in 
 Brasilien, unter Vergleichung der Fossilreste des Pithecanthropus erectus, 
 Dubois,” Verhandl. Berliner anth. Gesellsch , 1895-6. 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 63 
 
 and there is a tendency to reduction of the last molar 
 tooth. 
 
 It must not be overlooked that the decrease of 
 the action of the jaw muscles is concomitant with 
 rise in culture, that is to increased mental activity, 
 which is usually associated with increase in the 
 volume of the brain. We have already seen that 
 the statistics collected in the anthropometric laboratory 
 in the University of Cambridge, as worked out by 
 Venn and by Galton, show that the period of the 
 growth of the brain is prolonged in students as 
 opposed to those of corresponding ages who cease 
 to study. 
 
 It may be accepted as true in the main that the 
 increase in the size of the brain, which is due to 
 culture, is exhibited proportionately more in the 
 breadth and height than in the length. 
 
 Thus culture may act in two ways on the skull, 
 directly by enlarging the volume of the brain, and 
 therefore increasing the size of the skull; and indirectly 
 by causing a reduction of the jaw, which reacts again 
 upon the skull. One is not surprised, then, to find 
 that the higher races have, as a rule, a greater 
 breadth in the anterior temporal region of the skull 
 than the lower races. 
 
 The decrease in the size of the jaws and of the 
 strength of their muscles induces a corresponding 
 modification in the rest of the face. The action of 
 
6 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the lower jaw upon the upper may be likened to 
 the beating of a hammer on an anvil. When the 
 jaw muscles are powerful the lower jaw is brought 
 with a considerable force against the upper jaw, and 
 consequently the arches which connect the upper 
 jaw with the cranium must be proportionately well 
 developed. Conversely the weakening of the jaw 
 muscles permits, for example, the outer rim of the 
 orbit and the zygomatic arch to be of a more delicate 
 construction. 
 
 The increase of the brain causes the forehead to 
 be at the same time broader and higher. This fact 
 was noted by the sculptors of ancient Greece, and 
 they increased the vertical height of the forehead of 
 some of their gods, so that, as in the case of Zeus, 
 this human character was carried by them beyond 
 human limits, when they wished to emphasize the 
 benevolence and mental superiority of the Father of 
 gods and men. 
 
 When at an indoor gathering we see a number of 
 men with their hats off we notice that their heads 
 vary in form. Some are small, others large; some 
 have long heads, others have short ones ; the head 
 may be high or low, and the contours vary in diverse 
 ways. These differences render the study of crani- 
 ology peculiarly difficult, as it is almost impossible to 
 describe most of them at the same time succinctly 
 and intelligibly, and also because innumerable com- 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 65 
 
 binations of variable elements may occur in a 
 collection of skulls from a single district. 
 
 Dr. D. G. Brinton, the well-known American 
 anthropologist, has been so impressed with the 
 latter fact, that he despairs of the study of 
 craniology throwing any certain light on the racial 
 problems of Anthropology. Undoubtedly an immense 
 amount of tedious labour has been expended by 
 enthusiastic students on the study and description 
 of skulls, but often, one must confess, with very 
 meagre results. There certainly is a wonderful 
 fascination in skulls; and craniology, which to the 
 outside observer appears to be about as un¬ 
 interesting a subject as could well be conceived, 
 has lured its votaries to more and more persistent 
 and painstaking effort. The present writer, who once 
 sat in the seat of the scornful, has also yielded to the 
 charming of craniology. 
 
 A very strong argument in favour of craniology 
 is the assistance that it should render to prehistoric 
 archaeology and to the history of peoples. We have 
 documentary and legendary records of the shifting 
 of populations, and our archaeological museums are 
 full of interesting records of the past. It would 
 be a matter of great importance if the skulls that 
 are exhumed could also be brought in as evidence. 
 
 We are again face to face with the question that 
 confronted us when considering the colour of the 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 eyes and hair. Can one particular head-form, or 
 a restricted number of head-forms, be regarded as 
 characteristic of a race or consanguineous group ? 
 t 2 
 
 Upper and side views of a Kalmuk’s and of a Negro’s skull; after Ranke. 
 
 And are these characters sufficiently constant to be 
 of scientific value? 
 
 Before we can attempt to answer these two 
 questions, it will be necessary to give a brief 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 67 
 
 account of the methods and nomenclature of 
 craniometry. Fortunately, a very short description 
 will serve the present purpose, as we are concerned 
 with only one or two aspects of the subject, and 
 not with craniology as a whole. 
 
 On looking at a number of skulls from above, it 
 is seen that they are all longer than broad, though 
 some are less so than others, and that the contour 
 is very varied. Some may have somewhat flat sides, 
 others have gently rounded sides, or the skull may 
 appear narrow in front and swollen behind ; indeed, 
 there may be great variation in this respect even 
 in skulls which have the same relation of breadth 
 to length. Skulls must also be looked at from the 
 
 fiont, side, back, and underneath, and their peculiarities 
 noted. 
 
 The character which is most frequently recorded 
 is the ratio of the breadth of the skull to its length. 
 One speaks loosely of a long or a narrow, or of a 
 short or round skull, but such vague descriptions 
 are of no scientific value. Anthropologists now 
 adopt the plan of calculating indices which accurately 
 express this numerical relation. The extreme length 
 and breadth of a skull are measured, the breadth is 
 multiplied by one hundred, and the total is divided by 
 the length, the result is the cranial index. 
 
 Breadth x 100 , , 
 
68 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 In other words the length is reduced to one 
 hundred, and the ratio of the breadth to that is 
 the index. 
 
 The altitudinal index is the ratio of the height 
 either to the length or to the breadth. 
 
 Height xioo _ T ^ cv Height xioo = Index 
 
 Length Breadth 
 
 Directions for taking these measurements will be 
 found in the chapter dealing with practical instructions. 
 
 There are numerous facial measurements from which 
 various indices are obtained, but these do not concern 
 us at present. 
 
 The cranial index is usually grouped into three 
 series ; a skull is said to be dolichocephalic when its 
 index does not exceed 75, to be mesaticephalic between 
 75 and 80, and to be brachycephalic when over 80. 
 Some investigators who aim at great exactness in¬ 
 crease the range in the following manner :— 
 
 Ultra-dolichocephalic 
 
 . 60-64-9 
 
 Hyper-dolichocephalic 
 
 . 65-69-9 
 
 Dolichocephalic . 
 
 . 7 0 -74-9 
 
 Mesaticephalic . 
 
 • 75-79-9 
 
 Brachycephalic . 
 
 . 80-84-9 
 
 Hyper-brachycephalic 
 
 • 85-89-9 
 
 Ultra-brachycephalic . 
 
 • 90-94-9 
 
 There is a tendency in some quarters to extend 
 dolichocephaly up to 77• 9, so as to reduce mesa- 
 ticephaly to the narrow range of 78 to 80. 
 
HE AD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 69 
 
 If we take a general survey of the races of 
 mankind, we find that they can be arranged in a 
 manner by taking the mean cranial index of each of 
 the following groups. In all cases the numbers vary 
 vary about this mean ; but where a people is known 
 or presumed to be fairly pure the range of variation 
 is much less than where mixture is known to have 
 occurred. 
 
 
 Dolichocephals. 
 
 Mesaticephals. 
 
 Brachycephals. 
 
 
 Sardinians 
 
 
 Scandinavians 76 
 
 Finns . 
 
 80 
 
 a3 
 
 Qh 
 
 Sicilians 
 
 [-73-74 
 
 British 
 
 76-77 
 
 French Basques 80 
 
 0 
 
 Scandinavians 74 
 
 Span. Basques 7 6 
 
 S. Germans 
 
 • 83 
 
 w 
 
 S. Italians 
 
 • 75 
 
 Parisians . 
 
 • 79 
 
 Auvergnats 
 
 . 84 
 
 
 
 
 Prussians . 
 
 • 79 
 
 Lapps . 
 
 • 85 
 
 
 Veddahs 
 
 72 
 
 Chinese 
 
 
 Koreans 
 
 . 81 
 
 
 Ainus 
 
 72-76 
 
 Japanese 
 
 j 77-78 
 
 Negritoes 
 
 80-82 
 
 d 
 
 Dravidians 
 
 • 74 
 
 Parsees . 
 
 . 78 
 
 Mongols 1 
 
 
 in 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kirgis 
 
 85-86 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kalmuks J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Burmese 
 
 . 86 
 
 
 Soudanese 
 
 • 7 i 
 
 Negrilloes 
 
 74-77 
 
 
 
 
 Negroes . 
 
 • 73 
 
 Copts . 
 
 • 76 
 
 
 
 d 
 
 CJ 
 
 Kafirs j 
 
 
 Hausas 
 
 • 77 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 Berbers / 
 
 • 73 
 
 Bedjas \ 
 
 to Q 
 
 
 
 
 Arabs . 
 
 ■ 74 
 
 Boulous ) 
 
 . 75 
 
 
 
 
 Bushmen 
 
 • 75 
 
 Adoumas 
 
 , 80 
 
 
 
7 o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 
 Dolichocephals. 
 
 Mesaticephals. 
 
 Brachycephals. 
 
 
 Fijians, interior 66 
 
 Polynesians 75-80 
 
 Javanese 
 
 80-82 
 
 c 
 
 Australians . 70 
 
 Tasmanians . 76 
 
 Polynesians 82-87 
 
 <V 
 
 CJ 
 
 Admiraltyls. 70-73 
 
 Dyaks . *77 
 
 Tongans . 
 
 . 84 
 
 o 
 
 N. W. Papuans 72 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eskimo . 70-72 
 
 Hurons . 75 
 
 Navajos 
 
 ^-82 86 
 
 d 
 
 CJ 
 
 Fuegans . 72-76 
 
 Californians . 77 
 
 Apaches 
 
 
 i-. 
 
 OJ 
 
 Patagonians . 74 
 
 Caribs . 75-80 
 
 Alaskans 
 
 • 83 
 
 £ 
 
 C 
 
 Botocudes . 74 
 
 
 Araucanians 83-85 
 
 
 
 
 Aleouts 
 
 . 86 
 
 At the first glance it appears as if the cranial 
 indices were too generally distributed over the world 
 to prove of much ethnographical or historical value. 
 This is perfectly true if these indices are considered 
 by themselves. It is only when taken into con¬ 
 sideration with other physical characters that the 
 cranial index is of any value whatever. 
 
 The inhabitants of large areas of Asia are dis¬ 
 tinctly brachycephalic, but among the mixed peoples 
 of China and Japan mesaticephalism is prevalent. In 
 the northern parts of the latter country one finds the 
 remarkable Ainus, or Ainos, who differ in so many 
 respects from their Japanese neighbours and con¬ 
 querors. These very interesting people were formerly 
 much more numerous than they are at present; they 
 probably occupied the whole or the greater part of 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 71 
 
 the Japanese Archipelago, and also considerable tracts 
 of the mainland opposite. They are short—the men 
 range from about 1545 mm. (5 ft. of in.), to 1600 mm. 
 (5 ft. 3 in.); the women are some 75 mm. (3 inches) 
 shorter. The colour of their skin, though of various 
 shades of brown, has a reddish tinge, and more 
 resembles that of a Southern European than an 
 Asiatic; the coarse black hair is long and wavy, and 
 is so profusely developed that the Ainus are the 
 hairiest of mankind. From a careful consideration of 
 all the facts, de Quatrefages* comes to the conclusion 
 that “ the Ainus are fundamentally a white and 
 dolichocephalic f race, more or less altered by other 
 ethnic elements, of which one, at least, is essentially 
 Mongolic.” 
 
 In India there are two main groups of people— 
 the tall, comparatively fair, dolichocephalic Aryan 
 invaders, and the short, dark, also dolichocephalic 
 aboriginal population. The latter are usually spoken 
 of under the general name of Dravidians. (Plate 2, 
 fig. 1.) These dark-skinned people, with abundant 
 black wavy hair, are probably distantly allied to the 
 Melanochroi or dark group of the Southern European 
 (or Mediterranean) stock on the one hand, and to 
 the Australians on the other. 
 
 * Histoire Generate des Races Humaines , 1889, p. 467. 
 
 t The mean cephalic index of ninety-five Ainu men was 77 ’ 3 , and that 
 of seventy-one women was 78'4, 
 
72 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The cousins Sarasin have brought forward evidence 
 to prove that the Veddahs of Ceylon are the least 
 modified descendants of that “ Proto-Dravidian ” race 
 from which the diverse people just mentioned have 
 diverged. 
 
 The typical Asiatic race, the yellow-skinned brachy- 
 cephals, are scarcely represented in India, and there 
 only at the northern and eastern frontiers of Bengal. 
 In fact, one would scarcely be wrong in saying that, 
 ethnologically speaking, India is more “European” 
 and less “Asiatic” than Lapland. 
 
 Amongst the brachycephalic Asiatics are to be 
 found the Negritoes. So far as their cranial index is 
 concerned it is practically identical with that of the 
 average Japanese, who may be regarded as very 
 characteristic Mongoloids; but when one compares 
 their other physical traits it is at once apparent that 
 we are dealing with two entirely different races. The 
 Negritoes comprise the Mincopies, or natives of the 
 Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, certain hill 
 tribes of the Malay Peninsula, such as the Semangs, 
 Sakais,* and Senois, and the Aetas of the Philip¬ 
 pines. We will take the Andamanese, as they have 
 been most fully studied, and compare them with an 
 average J apanese type, t 
 
 * The Sakais were probably of Negrito origin, but they have since 
 become greatly modified. 
 
 t A. de Ouatrefages et E. T. Hamy, Crania Ethnica: Les Cranes 
 des Races Humaines , 1882, p. 430. 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 73 
 
 Andamanese. 
 
 Av. stature, males . 1431 mm., 4 ft. 8'3 in. 
 Colour of skin . Sooty black. 
 
 Hair . . . Black, short, frizzly. 
 
 Cranial capacity . 1281 cc. (male). 
 Cranial index , 81 •!. 
 
 Japanese. 
 1650 mm., 5 ft. 5 in. 
 Yellowish. 
 
 Black, long, straight. 
 1605. 
 
 8o’4- 
 
 The stature, colour of the skin, nature of the hair, 
 and the cranial capacity are all anthropological char¬ 
 acters of the first rank, and therefore it is needless 
 to enter more fully into the details of the other 
 external or cranial characters. It is sufficient to 
 state that the Andamanese has an infantile cast of 
 countenance, and though he is related to the African 
 Negro on the one hand, and to the Melanesian on 
 the other, yet the common features of these people 
 are, as it were, blurred and softened in “our little 
 Andamanese fellow-subjects,” who, in the words of 
 Sir William Flower,* are “probably the least modified 
 descendants of the primitive members of the great 
 branch of the human species characterized by their 
 black skins and frizzly hair.” He, however, is careful 
 to point out that “some characters, as the brachy- 
 cephaly, seem special to the race.” 
 
 The Kalmuk, with his broad face, high cheek 
 bones, prominent brow ridges, narrow eye openings, 
 
 * W. H. Flower, “The Pygmy Races of Men,” Proceedings Royal 
 Inst. Gt. Brit ., 1888; and Jonrn. Anth. Inst., xviii., 1888, p. 73. Cf 
 also W. H. Flower, “ On the Osteology and Affinities of the Natives 
 of the Andaman Islands,” Journ. Anth. Inst., ix., 1879, p. 108; and 
 xiv., 1884, p. 115. 
 
74 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and well-marked falciform fold in the inner angle of 
 the eye, flat sunken nose with circular nostrils, and 
 somewhat prominent jaws, combines the distinctive 
 characters of a typical Mongolian. 
 
 Without going into details which would be out 
 of place here, we find that the representatives of 
 the three main groups of mankind are to be found 
 in Asia. These three groups, whose characters have 
 been so admirably defined by Sir William Flower 
 in his Presidential Address to the Anthropological 
 Institute in 1885,* are :— 
 
 1. The Ethiopian, Negroid, or Melanesian, or 
 “black,” type. 
 
 2. The Mongolian, or Xanthous, or “yellow,” type. 
 
 3. The Caucasian, or “white” type. 
 
 The American, or “ red,” type is regarded by some 
 as a distinct group equivalent to the other three. 
 
 If one classifies mankind by the character of the 
 
 hair, it is found that the Negroid peoples all have 
 
 frizzly hair, that which is often called “ woolly.” 
 
 The Caucasians f have curly or wavy hair ; and the 
 
 Mongolians and Americans have straight hair. 
 
 * W. H. Flower, “The Classification of the Varieties of the Human 
 Species ? Journ. Anth. Inst., xiv., 1885, p. 378. 
 
 t J. S. Stuart-Glennie proposes the name of Hypenetian (“the 
 bearded men ”) for the Caucasian : the latter term is open to several 
 objections, while the new name gives expression to the fact that these 
 people are characterized by possessing full beards, a feature that is well 
 marked in the Ainu, Australian, and Dravidian. It is certainly a mis¬ 
 nomer to call the black Australians and Dravidians members of the 
 “white” race.— Lucy M. J. Garnett and J. S. Stuart-Glennie, 
 Greek Folk Poesy , i., 1896, p. 14a. 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 75 
 
 According to this grouping the main races of man 
 would be classified as follows :— 
 
 ULOTRICHI:—Frizzly black hair, usually a “black” skin, 
 essentially dolichocephalic. 
 
 The Negroes, Bantus, Bushmen, and Negrilloes of 
 Africa.*' The Negritoes of Asia and the Melanesians 
 of the West Pacific. 
 
 CYMOTRICHI:—Wavy hair of all shades, skin colour white 
 to black, dolicho-, mesati-, and brachycephalic. 
 
 The Xanthochroi (or fair “whites”) of North 
 Europe, and the Melanochroi (or dark “ whites ”) of 
 South Europe, with the Semites, Hamites, Dravidians, 
 Australians, Ainus, and possibly the Polynesians. 
 LEIOTRICHI:—Straight black hair, skin colour yellowish to 
 brown, essentially brachycephalic. 
 
 Most of the inhabitants of Asia (excluding India, 
 Persia, etc.) and the American Indians. 
 
 Asia thus possesses several very primitive stocks. 
 The Andamanese, stated by Flower to be the 
 scarcely modified descendants of an extremely ancient 
 race, the ancestors of all the negroid tribes. The 
 Veddahs are claimed by the Sarasins to be one of the 
 primitive types of humanity; during its evolution this 
 primitive type was transformed in one direction in 
 India into the Dravidian type without the assistance 
 of mixture, whilst in the other direction it grave rise 
 to the Australian type. The Mongolian type, which 
 arose and specialized in the heart of the continent, 
 is universally regarded as the characteristic Asiatic 
 * The Bushmen and Negrilloes are yellowish and not black. 
 
76 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 race. As Mongolic tribes have, at various periods, 
 made inroads into Europe, so fair and dark European 
 peoples have, from time to time, invaded and 
 colonized Asia. 
 
 A few remarks must be made on the important 
 question of racial uniformity. Sir William Flower 
 has expressed the opinion that there are few people 
 whose physical characters offer a more interesting 
 subject of investigation to the anthropologist than 
 the native inhabitants of the Andaman Islands. 
 Purity of type, due to freedom from mixture with 
 all other races for an extremely long period owing 
 to their isolated position and their inveterate hostility 
 to all intruders on their shores, and exemplified in 
 their uniformity of physical characteristics, is to be 
 found among them, perhaps in a more complete 
 degree than in any other group of mankind. That 
 a certain admixture from other races, occasioned by 
 intentional visits, or accidental wrecking of vessels 
 on their coasts, and absorption of some portion of 
 foreign element thus derived into the native popu¬ 
 lation may have taken place from time to time, 
 cannot be denied, but it is questionable whether this 
 has been sufficient to affect materially the physical 
 characters of the majority. The most recent and 
 carefully - made observations, especially when sup¬ 
 ported by osteological and photographic evidence, 
 tend to confirm the view that a striking uniformity 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 77 
 
 of type is prevalent among the Andamanese. Some 
 travellers and even residents have, however, re¬ 
 marked on differences of type. Flower speaks of 
 the “wonderful similarity” of a large series of crania 
 that were before him, “the skeleton of the face of 
 the Andamanese is even more characteristic and 
 uniform in appearance than that of the cranium.” 
 
 The same fact has been noticed in other places, 
 and for various peoples where isolation has occurred. 
 We may, therefore, take it for granted that there is a 
 considerable permanence of type under certain con¬ 
 ditions. On the other hand all biologists admit that 
 evolution has and does occur wherever there is life, 
 but the process is extremely variable in its rate, nor 
 can its direction be predicated. There are numerous 
 examples in palaeontology and zoology of a persistence 
 of type that is simply astounding. 
 
 What applies to lower forms of life must hold good 
 for man, but the problem is complicated by the 
 presence of other factors. An isolated group of 
 organisms in a uniform environment is much less 
 liable to modification, that is to evolution, than one 
 which is subjected to varying conditions of existence. 
 
 The purer, that is the more uniform, the group the 
 less will be the tendency to vary. 
 
 A combination of a pure group, or of a homo¬ 
 geneous mixture, and of an isolated area with uniform 
 conditions is certainly conducive to fixity of type. 
 
78 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The converse is conducive to variability of type and 
 therefore to evolution. The Mincopies and the 
 Andaman Islands may be taken as a good example 
 of the former condition, and the British and the 
 British Isles of the latter. 
 
 The cranial indices of a few European peoples have 
 been arranged in the following table :— 
 
 TABLE OF AVERAGE CRANIAL INDICES OF EUROPEANS 
 (compiled from several sources). 
 
 Dolichocephals. 
 
 Neolithic man of S. France 
 
 • 73 
 
 Sardinians and Sicilians . 
 
 • 73-74 
 
 Scandinavians 
 
 . 74-76 
 
 South Italians 
 
 • 75 
 
 Spanish Basques 
 
 . 76 *\ 
 
 Guanches 
 
 • 75-77 
 
 Slavs of the Danube 
 
 • 76 
 
 English and Scots . 
 
 . 76-77 ' 
 
 Roumanians . 
 
 . 78 
 
 Prussians 
 
 • 79 
 
 Modern Parisians . 
 
 • 79 
 
 French Basques 
 
 . 80 
 
 Finns .... 
 
 . 80 
 
 North Italians 
 
 . 81 
 
 Bretons .... 
 
 . 81 
 
 Russians 
 
 00 
 
 to 
 
 South Germans 
 
 . 83 
 
 Savoyards and Auvergnats 
 
 . 84 
 
 Bavarians 
 
 . 85 
 
 Lapps .... 
 
 . 85 J 
 
 Mesaticephals. 
 
 ► Brachycephals. 
 
 Even a slight scrutiny will show that the dis¬ 
 tribution of the cranial indices in modern Europe 
 is not so casual as it appears at first sight. 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 79 
 
 1. In the extreme north the Lapps and the Finns 
 are brachycephalic. 
 
 2. North Europe, including the British Islands, 
 Holland, North Germany, and Scandinavia, is 
 mesaticephalic, but inclining to dolichocephaly. 
 
 3. Central Europe, stretching from Central France 
 through Switzerland and North Italy, Southern 
 Germany, and into the Balkan Peninsula, is brachy¬ 
 cephalic. 
 
 4. Southern Europe, including the Iberian Penin¬ 
 sula, Southern Italy, the Western Mediterranean 
 Islands, and the northern shores of Africa, is 
 dolichocephalic, with a tendency to mesaticephaly. 
 
 We can thus broadly distinguish four zones of 
 cranial indices which may also be correlated with 
 other physical characters. 
 
 1. The Northern Brachycephals are short and 
 dark. 
 
 2. The Northern Dolichocephals and Mesaticephals 
 are tall and fair. 
 
 3. The Central Brachycephals are short and dark. 
 
 4. The Southern Dolichocephals are short and dark. 
 
 We may now take a very brief survey of the main 
 conclusions, which Dr. Beddoe has arrived at after 
 many years of careful study of European craniology, 
 concerning the history of the cranial index in the 
 British Islands. 
 
8 o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 What palaeolithic man was like, who roamed in the 
 ancient river valleys along with the mammoth and 
 other extinct animals, we have no positive informa¬ 
 tion, but a gradually-increasing amount of evidence 
 tends to the conclusion that he belonged to the race 
 of which the well-known crania of Neanderthal, Spy, 
 Galley Hill, &c., are examples. There is no reason 
 to believe that he became extinct. Beddoe believes 
 that the posterity of these makers of rudely chipped 
 flint implements still survive in these islands. 
 
 After considerable changes in the physical geo¬ 
 graphy of our islands, and the disappearance of the 
 mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave bear, and other 
 ancient forms, a new race of men appeared in Britain 
 who made finely-chipped implements, many of which 
 were beautifully polished; they, too, knew how to 
 make pottery and had domestic animals. The men 
 of the Neolithic Age had long skulls, and they buried 
 their dead in long barrows. This race resembled 
 that which is now known under the name of Baumes- 
 Chaudes or /’ Homme- Mort , from the sepulchral 
 caverns in the department of Lozere. The average 
 cranial index of this race is 72 ; the average of the 
 Long Barrow race is also about 72. Traces of these 
 people have been found from the north of Scotland 
 to the south of England, but we are not authorized to 
 state that this race was spread throughout the whole 
 of Great Britain. There are, as a matter of fact, 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 whole counties, such as Northumberland, where there 
 are, so far as Beddoe # is aware, no traces of this race. 
 
 The skulls from the caves of Perth-y-chwaren in 
 North Wales, which were disinterred by Boyd- 
 Dawkins and figured by him, differ considerably 
 from the common British Neolithic type, not merely 
 in breadth, but in physiognomy. The cranial index 
 of this type is 76*5, and it may be related to the 
 French Mesaticephalic race of Furfooz. 
 
 Britain was next invaded by a race which intro¬ 
 duced bronze implements. It was robust and tall, 
 not less than five feet nine inches (175 2 mm.) in 
 stature, bony, large-brained, harsh-featured, high¬ 
 nosed, with prominent brows, and a breadth index 
 of over eighty. The majority probably had light 
 hair. They resembled the Borreby race of Denmark, 
 and the Swiss or Helvetian race of ancient Switzer¬ 
 land, though with somewhat larger breadth. The 
 modern Walloons of Southern Belgium have some 
 affinities to this type. Dr. Beddoe further states 
 that this race may have come from Denmark, or 
 from the north of France, or from Belgium; and 
 it may have brought with it the Celtic language. 
 
 The immigrants who introduced bronze into Britain 
 usually buried their dead chieftains in round barrows, 
 hence they are often termed the Round-Barrow race. 
 
 * J. Beddoe, “Sur l’Histoire de l’Indice cdphalique dans les lies 
 Britanniques,” VAnthropologie, v., 1894, pp. 513, 658. 
 
 G 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 In Plate I., Figs. 4-6, we have a good example of a 
 skull of this race. It is interesting, however, to note 
 that this specimen was actually obtained from a long 
 barrow. It did not occur like the skull of the other 
 race (Figs. 1-3) on the ground in the centre of a 
 barrow, but was excavated from a depth of two feet 
 from the surface; that is, it is what is called a 
 “ secondary interment,” thus proving that the new¬ 
 comers occasionally made use of the barrows of their 
 predecessors. 
 
 Dr. Beddoe does not appear to recognize the 
 possibility of the presence in the British Islands of 
 the Neolithic brachycephals of France. I have 
 recently* expressed myself as follows :— 
 
 “ I am inclined to think that the Neolithic brachycephals 
 of Central Europe did come over to the British Islands, and 
 that traces of them are still to be seen, perhaps more fre¬ 
 quently in Ireland than in Great Britain. If this be so, it is 
 probable they came as a mixed people, that mixture of 
 brachycephals and southern dolichocephals which Broca 
 called “ Celts,” for it must be remembered that he regarded 
 the Celtae of Caesar as a mixed people, but mainly brachy¬ 
 cephals. The Neolithic brachycephalic immigrants into 
 Western Europe almost certainly came from Eastern 
 Europe, and possibly originally from Asia; it is also 
 probable that they were primitively of the same stock as 
 the Lapps and Finns, or rather one constituent of the latter 
 
 * A. C. Haddon, “Studies in Irish Craniology HI.: A Neolithic 
 Cist Burial at Oldbridge, County Meath,” Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (3), 
 iv., 1898, p. 570. 
 
Plate I. 
 
 B A 
 
 Upper, front, and side views of skulls of the Long and Round Barrow 
 Races; photographed by the Author from specimens in the Cambridge 
 Anatomical Museum. 
 
 A Long Barrow, Dinnington, Rotherham. Length, 204 ; breadth, T43 ; cran. index, 
 70'i; ht.-length index, 70U ; ht.-br. index, 100; orb. index, 87 - 2; nas. index, 42; 
 capacity, 1755 ; male. 
 
 B Skull of a man of the Round Barrow Race, from a secondary interment, two feet 
 below the surface, in a long barrow, Winterbourne Stoke. Length, 177 ; breadth, 
 156 ; cran. index, 88‘i; orb. index, 87’5 ; nas. index, 49T. 
 
 [To face page 82 . 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 83 
 
 people. It may be that the short, dark, brachycephalic 
 element in the British Islands was largely due to the 
 northern brachycephals who came direct from Scandinavia 
 in the Neolithic period, or both northern and southern 
 brachycephals may have contributed their respective shares.” 
 
 The period of the Roman domination is considered 
 by Beddoe to have somewhat diminished the numerical 
 proportion of the former dominant caste which was 
 brachycephalic, or at least mesaticephalic; it intro¬ 
 duced a certain amount of foreign blood (Italian and 
 other), and it favoured amalgamation among the 
 different elements of the population. 
 
 “ The racial elements imported must have been extremely 
 mixed, and probably left scarcely any permanent traces, 
 though there may be some in a few ancient towns such as 
 Gloucester or Leicester. Among relics from the Romano- 
 British villages, our knowledge of which has been so much 
 increased by General Pitt-Rivers, there are one or two skulls 
 which, in the opinion of Dr. Garson as well as of myself 
 [Beddoe], show Roman or Italian characteristics.” * 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon invasions were of different tribes 
 which were local varieties of the Germanic type 
 of the row graves or Hohberg type. This type is 
 best represented on the Continent by the ancient 
 skulls of Bremen so well described by Gildemeister. 
 In the earliest days of that city the Batavian or 
 Frisian variety also occurred; this variety is flatter 
 in the crown and somewhat broader than the more 
 
 * J. Beddoe, The Anthropological History of Europe: Being the 
 Rhind Lectures for 1891 (A. Gardner, London), 1893, p. 91. 
 
8 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAJV 
 
 typical form, and it has been recognized in Saxon 
 England by Beddoe and quite recently by Myers .* 
 
 “John Bull,” says Beddoe,t “is of the Batavian type; the 
 Grave-row, that of the barbarian warrior, is perhaps rather 
 more aristocratic ; but the outlines of the former may be 
 connected, as Virchow thinks possible, with the obstinacy 
 and love of freedom and individuality of both Frisian and 
 Englishman. ‘ These men,’ said an old chronicler of the 
 Frisians, ‘ been high of body, stern of virtue, strong and fierce 
 of heart: they be free, and not subject to lordship of any 
 man ; and they put their lives in peril by cause of freedom, 
 and would liever die than embrace the yoke of thraldom.”’ 
 
 The following table is adapted from one in Dr. 
 Beddoe’s Histoire de VIndex Cephalique :— 
 
HEAD-FORM IN ANTHROPOLOG Y 85 
 
 The most ancient race is apparently homogeneous ; 
 it is extremely dolichocephalic, with a mean index of 
 70 or 71, according to the ordinary data, but Dr. Bed- 
 doe is inclined to make it 72. He also points out that it 
 is by no means certain that only one race occupied 
 Britain at this period. 
 
 The second column, that of the round barrows, or, 
 better, the Bronze Age, shows us a brachycephalic 
 population, far from being homogeneous, owing prob¬ 
 ably to a greater or less mixture with their pre¬ 
 decessors in the country. The mean index of the 
 skull appears to be about 80, but we must admit that 
 the cranial index of the pure race, or to speak with 
 more exactitude, of the people using bronze, on its 
 arrival in England and before its fusion with the 
 indigenous population, would be a little over 80 or 81. 
 There are indications which permit the conclusion 
 to be drawn that with the progress of mixture and 
 the arrival of immigrants from Belgic Gaul, the 
 mean fell below 80. 
 
 The Romano-British give a mean of about 75*5. 
 Later came the Saxons. Before their mixture with 
 the conquered British, they possessed the type of 
 skull which is called “Grave-row,” from the manner 
 of sepulture of an important ancient Teutonic tribe; 
 or occasionally the Batavian type of skull; and their 
 cranial index is about 75. 
 
 Nothing positive has been determined concerning 
 
86 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the skull type of the subsequent Danish or Scandi¬ 
 navian invaders. 
 
 In the Middle Ages we find mesaticephals in 
 predominance, and a fresh frequency of brachy- 
 cephaly, the mean of the indices being about 78, 
 according to Dr. Beddoe’s skull measurements. 
 
 The mean cephalic index of modern Englishmen 
 appears to be about 78 '5> which, deducting the usual 
 two units, would give 76-5 for the cranial index. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE NOSE. 
 
 A MONG peoples in whom the more prominent 
 types of nose are of usual occurrence—as 
 among ourselves for example—the snub nose is 
 always regarded as an inferior type, and, although 
 it may give a certain vivacity to a woman’s face, it 
 is usually regarded by her as a trial. Conversely a 
 long, high, narrow, Roman nose is considered an 
 “aristocratic” nose. It is certain that the shape of 
 the nose is generally regarded not only from an 
 aesthetic point of view, but that to many minds it 
 conveys an idea of weakness or strength of character, 
 and also of social status. Certain types of nose are 
 “ better bred ” than others, and, other things being- 
 equal, a man with a “good nose” is more likely to 
 gain immediate respect than one with a “ vulgar 
 nose.” Martial, in one of those epigrams which 
 used to amuse and instruct the emperors of the 
 Flavian family, said : “ It is not everyone to whom 
 it has been given to have a nose.” Popular impres¬ 
 sions may be illogical, and the prejudices of the folk 
 
 87 
 
88 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 may be unreasoning, but they are all materials for 
 anthropological and psychological study, and they may 
 open up lines of thought that are suggestive and 
 fruitful. 
 
 A well-formed nose is a distinctively human feature. 
 If you look at pictures of monkeys, from the low 
 marmosets to the great tailless apes, you will at once 
 notice how flat their nose is at the bridge. The 
 proboscis-monkey (Nasalis larvatus ) is the only 
 member of the group that has a well - projecting 
 nose. 
 
 The nose is a very variable feature in mankind. 
 We all recognize how a nose will make or mar a 
 face, how it gives a countenance distinction or 
 renders it insignificant. Much has been written on 
 noses by physiognomists, and the appearance of the 
 nose is greatly relied on by those who profess to be 
 able to read a person’s character by a scrutiny of the 
 face. 
 
 Not less is a study of the nose of interest to the 
 anthropologist, and it is this point of view solely which 
 concerns us at present. 
 
 First of all it is necessary to distinguish between 
 the external nose as seen on the living face, and the 
 nasal skeleton as it is found on the skull—and we 
 must also fix upon a definite terminology. 
 
 In the living nose we recognize the bridge, the tip, 
 the alee nasi, or wings of the nose, which arise 
 
THE NOSE 89 
 
 from the cheeks in a rounded curve, and the nasal 
 septum which separates the nostrils. 
 
 The height of the nose is the line from the 
 central point of the root to the corresponding point 
 at the angle which the septum makes with the upper 
 lip ; this spot is termed the sub-?tasalpoint. 
 
 The breadth of the nose is the greatest breadth of 
 the wings. 
 
 The depth of the living nose is the line from the 
 sub-nasal point to the tip ; this line is termed the base 
 of the nose. 
 
 The length is the line from the root to the tip. 
 
 On examining the profile of a nose, two factors 
 must be distinguished: (1) the general outline of the 
 back or ridge of the nose ; and (2) the inclination of 
 the base of the nose with regard to the upper lip. 
 
 I. The general contour of the back of the nose 
 is expressed by the following five terms : concave, 
 straight, convex, high-bridged and sinuous. These 
 form five main classes which can be variously sub¬ 
 divided. 
 
 1. The concave nose. The various kinds of concave 
 or depressed nose agree in having a low bridge; this, as 
 we have already seen, is a simian or ape-like character ; 
 it is also an embryonic feature, and it commonly occurs 
 among young children. This type of nose is very 
 frequently met with among the yellow races, and is 
 not infrequent among women of the higher races. 
 
9 o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 This type may be defined in general terms as 
 being short, depressed, broad, with a turned - up 
 point. 
 
 2. The straight nose. The ridge of the nose is quite 
 straight in the most characteristic forms, but it is often 
 slightly sinuous. The nose may be short, low, and 
 broad; but in the most developed type it is long, 
 prominent, and narrow. 
 
 3. The convex nose. The ridge or back of the nose 
 describes a nearly uniform convex curve from the root 
 to the point. As in the last instance this type varies 
 from short, low, and broad, to long, prominent, and 
 narrow. The Jewish nose is the best known variety, 
 and the Papuan nose belongs to the broad variety of 
 this group. 
 
 4. The high-bridged nose. The upper portion of the 
 bony part presents a strong and short convexity, 
 below which the remainder of this bony part becomes 
 nearly straight, and is continuous with the ridge of 
 the gristly portion. The typical example of this type 
 is the Roman nose (Fig. 10). It may be considered 
 as a variety of the convex nose. 
 
 5. The sinuous nose. The upper part is convex, 
 but the profile of the gristly portion, instead of con¬ 
 tinuing this curve as in the convex nose, or of taking 
 a rectilinear direction as in the aquiline nose, is in¬ 
 curved. It thus results that the direction of the line 
 is convex above, concave below the bony portion, and 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 Fig 
 
 Types of Noses in profile; from Topinard’s Elements d’Anthropologie Gcnerale. 
 
 Straight, with a horizontal base; 2, convex or aquiline, with a depressed base ; 3, concave or 
 retroussi, with a reflected base ; 4, high-bridged or busque; 5, sinuous; 6, Melanesian type, 
 broad, with the lower part forming a flattened and depressed hook; 7, short, broad, nearly 
 straight type of the African Negroes ; 8, straight, flat type of the Yellow Races. 
 
92 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 again convex towards the tip. It is thus sinuous or 
 undulating. 
 
 The sinuous nose may be considered as a variety 
 of the concave, straight or convex nose, according as 
 the totality of the line of the ridge presents a hollow, 
 a general rectilinear direction or a protruding curve. 
 
 Fig. io. 
 
 Head of Agrippa, Museo di Napoli: from Hovorka. 
 
 It is advisable that the description should always 
 be so qualified. 
 
 Without going into further detail we may now pass 
 on to the second factor :— 
 
 II. The inclination of the base of the nose may 
 form a right angle with the line of the upper lip or 
 a greater or a less angle with it; thus we have— 
 i. A reflected base. 2. A horizontal base. 3. A 
 depressed base. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 93 
 
 Any of these three conditions may occur with any 
 variety of contour, but certain combinations are of 
 more frequent recurrence than others. For example, 
 the concave nose is usually reflected to form the snub 
 nose, and the convex nose is either horizontal or 
 depressed, the latter being the more typical of the 
 
 A, Head of Zeus Otricoli; B , the same, with all the hair removed, and 
 with a corrected profile : from Hovorka, after Langer. 
 
 Jewish nose. A concave, depressed nose is excep¬ 
 tional. A rectilinear nose with a horizontal base, and 
 one in which the root is slightly marked so that the 
 line of the forehead passes gently into that of the 
 nose, constitutes the classical nose of Greek statues. 
 As a matter of fact this feature was seized upon and 
 exaggerated by certain Greek sculptors, the contours of 
 
94 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the nose and forehead being alike falsified so as to give 
 increased nobility to the expression. The majesty of 
 the brow of Zeus, the wielder of the destinies of men, 
 was due to an overstepping of human contours, as 
 these in their turn, in the dim ages of the past, had 
 passed beyond the low outlines of the brute. 
 
 A reflected base to a straight nose gives it a 
 piquancy that was happily expressed by Tennyson 
 when he wrote # — 
 
 “ A damsel of high lineage, and a brow 
 May-blossom, and a cheek of apple-blossom, 
 
 Hawk eyes ; and lightly was her slender nose 
 Tip-tilted like the petal of a flower.” 
 
 Bertillonf has collected numerous statistics on the 
 contours of noses, and he finds there is a marked 
 transformation of the nose due to the influence of age 
 which results in a kind of effacement and depression 
 of the tip, as is seen in the following table, in which 
 the numbers of subjects examined are reduced to 
 1000:— 
 
 Age. 
 
 Base of Nose. 
 
 Reflected. 
 
 Horizontal. 
 
 Depressed. 
 
 19-25 
 
 418 
 
 538 
 
 44 
 
 25-35 
 
 254 
 
 667 
 
 79 
 
 35-45 
 
 146 
 
 713 
 
 141 
 
 * Gareth and Lynette. 
 
 t A. Bertillon, “ De la Morphologic du Nez,” Rev. d’Anthrop. (3), 
 ii., 1887, p. 158. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 95 
 
 It is seen that the reflected noses sink from 418 
 in young people to 146 in people in middle-life, while 
 the depressed noses correspondingly rise from 44 
 to 141. In both instances the proportion is about one 
 to three. 
 
 In order to obtain results which can be accurately 
 compared with one another, measurements are made 
 of the nose and an index is selected. The nasal 
 index of the living is obtained by multiplying the 
 breadth of the nose by one hundred and dividing the 
 product by the height of the nose. The index, as is 
 usually done in such cases, is divided into three classes, 
 narrow, medium, and broad. In scientific terminology 
 these are called— 
 
 Leptorhine 
 
 Mesorhine 
 
 Platyrhine 
 
 below 70 
 70 to 85 
 above 85 
 
 Speaking in general terms there are, according to 
 Topinard,* two extreme types of human nose—the 
 low, broad, and flat, and the deep, narrow, and pro¬ 
 minent—but between these every intermediate grade 
 is found. As a rule, the more prominent a nose is 
 the narrower it is ; the flatter it is the broader it 
 becomes. The depth increases with the prominence 
 and narrows and diminishes with the flattening and 
 broadening. The only exceptions occur among the 
 
 * P. Topinard, “Documents sur l’indice nasal du vivant,” VAnthro¬ 
 pologies ii., 1891, p. 273. 
 
9 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 American Indians and the Eskimo. The nose among 
 the former is deep and prominent, but broad; among 
 the latter it is flat and broad, but at the same time 
 deep. 
 
 Collignon* has proposed the following quinary 
 classification of the nasal index of the living:— 
 
 Ultra leptorhine 
 
 40 
 
 and 
 
 under 
 
 
 40 
 
 to 
 
 44.9 
 
 Hyper leptorhine 
 
 45 
 
 55 
 
 49.9 
 
 
 5 ° 
 
 55 
 
 54-9 
 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 59-9 
 
 Leptorhine . - 
 
 60 
 
 55 
 
 64.9 
 
 
 L 65 
 
 55 
 
 69.9 
 
 
 70 
 
 55 
 
 74-9 
 
 Mesorhine . . 
 
 75 
 
 55 
 
 79-9 
 
 
 l 80 
 
 55 
 
 84.9 
 
 
 f 85 
 
 55 
 
 89.9 
 
 Platyrhine . . 
 
 90 
 
 55 
 
 94.9 
 
 
 95 
 
 55 
 
 99.9 
 
 
 100 
 
 55 
 
 104.9 
 
 Hyper platyrhine 
 
 io 5 
 
 55 
 
 109.9 
 
 
 i 110 
 
 55 
 
 H 4-9 
 
 Ultra platyrhine 
 
 115 
 
 and 
 
 over 
 
 The subdivisions, ranging in fives, may serve, on 
 account of the great extent of each group, to express 
 certain differences. It is important, for example, to be 
 able to distinguish narrow, medium, or broad meso- 
 rhines; thus we may say the Eskimo are narrow or 
 low f mesorhines, and the Annamites are medium meso- 
 
 * R. Collignon, Rev. dAnthrop. (3), iii., 1887, p. 8. 
 t The term “ low ” refers to the index, and not to the height-measure¬ 
 ment of the nose. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 97 
 
 rhines ; or to avoid mistakes one may add the figure 
 and say the Eskimo are mesorhine at seventy, and the 
 Annamites are mesorhine at seventy-six. 
 
 We have at present an insufficient number of 
 measurements to draw up a scheme for nasal indices, 
 which would have a decisive value in the classifica¬ 
 tion of races. Collignon has, however, collected the 
 following figures, which must serve as a basis for 
 future researches* :— 
 
 NASAL INDEX OF THE LIVING. 
 
 (from collignon.+) 
 
 Leptorhines . . . . . . (- 70) 
 
 100 French (very pure blond dolichocephalic type) . . 62’98 
 
 30 French (pure Mediterranean race Pyrenees Orientales) 65 - o6 
 184 Kabyles ..... ? . 66-5 
 
 19 Finns ....... 66'5 
 
 200 French (Auvergne and centre) , . . . 66 - 66 
 
 168 Finns (Mordwines) . . ... 66-9 
 
 1000 French ....... 6773 
 
 100 French (Savoy and Rhone) . . . . 68‘05 
 
 Tatars of the Crimea . . . . .6815 
 
 68 Parisians . . . . . 69^4 
 
 120 Tunisians (Berber race II.) . . . 6976 
 
 Mesorhines ..... (70 — 84) 
 
 1334 Tunisians . . . . . . 70^23 
 
 10 Eskimo ....... 707 
 
 5 North American Indians . . . . 70^6 
 
 40 Tunisians (Berber race IV., of Ellez.) . . . 72^04 
 
 50 Tunisians (brachycephalic Berber race I.) . 72^5 
 
 8 Fuegians . . . . . 74-8 
 
 26 Kalmuks . . . . . . 74-82 
 
 * See also the Table on p. 108. + Rev. d'Anth. (3), iii., 1887, p. 16. 
 
 H 
 
9 8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 40 Kara-Kirghis of Semiret-chensk . 
 
 • 74‘9 
 
 6 Tziganes (“ Gypsies ”) 
 
 • 75'4 
 
 9 Red-skins .... 
 
 • 75 '6 
 
 7 Sinhalese .... 
 
 • 757 
 
 113 Tunisians (Berber race III. of Djerid) . 
 
 76-62 
 
 52 Annamites .... 
 
 . 76-8 
 
 5 Chinese ..... 
 
 • 77 
 
 4 Araucans .... 
 
 . 8o-6 
 
 3 Northern Mongols 
 
 . 8ri 
 
 5 South Americans 
 
 . 81 - 4 
 
 Platyrhines .... 
 
 . . <8 5 +) 
 
 7 Senegal Negroes .... 
 
 ■ 8 7'9 
 
 4 Solomon Islanders 
 
 . 8 9 - i 
 
 13 Polynesians .... 
 
 . 8 9 8 
 
 24 African Negroes (casts) . 
 
 9 2'2 
 
 11 New Caledonians and New Hebrideans . 
 
 ■ 93'8 
 
 44 Tunisian Negroes 
 
 96-28 
 
 5 Hottentots and Bushmen 
 
 • 97 ' 2 
 
 4 Fijians ..... 
 
 • 977 
 
 4 Bushmen .... 
 
 . 1017 
 
 52 Zambesi Negroes 
 
 • 101-5 
 
 4 Australians .... 
 
 . 101-7 
 
 11 Australians .... 
 
 . 107-6 
 
 7 Tasmanians .... 
 
 . io8 - 9 
 
 A consideration of this table shows that as a whole 
 the means of the white races range from 62 to 76, the 
 yellow races (including the American races) from 69 
 to 81, the African negroes from 87 to 101, and the 
 Melanesians (or Oceanic negroes) from 93 to 109. 
 In other words the white races are mainly leptorhine, 
 the yellow races mainly and American races entirely 
 mesorhine, and the black races of Africa, the Western 
 Pacific, and of Australasia solely platyrhine. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 99 
 
 In a previous chapter I have already drawn 
 attention to the fact that among certain peoples one 
 can distinguish what may be termed a coarse type 
 and a fine type. 
 
 Maspero, in his interesting Dawn of Civilization f 
 thus graphically describes these two types among 
 the ancient Egyptians :— 
 
 “ The highest type of Egyptian was tall and slender, with 
 something that was proud and imperious in the carriage of 
 his head and in his whole bearing. He had wide and full 
 shoulders, muscular arms, a long, fine hand, slightly-developed 
 hips, and sinewy legs. The head is rather short, the face 
 oval, the forehead somewhat retreating. The eyes are wide 
 and fully opened, the cheek-bones not too marked, the nose 
 fairly prominent, and either straight or aquiline. The mouth 
 is long and the lips full, .The hair was inclined to be wavy. 
 
 “ The common type was squat, dumpy, and heavy. The 
 chest and shoulders seem to be enlarged at the expense of 
 the pelvis and hips, to such an extent as to make the want of 
 proportion between the upper and lower parts of the body 
 staitling and ungraceful. The skull is long, somewhat 
 retreating, and slightly flattened on the top; the features 
 aie coarse, and as though carved in flesh by great strokes 
 of the roughing-out chisel. Small frsenated eyes, a short 
 nose, flanked by widely-distended nostrils, round cheeks, 
 a square chin, thick but not curling lips — this unattractive 
 and ludicrous physiognomy, sometimes animated by an ex¬ 
 pression of cunning which recalls the shrewd face of an old 
 French peasant, is often lighted up by gleams of gentleness 
 and of melancholy good nature. 
 
 * G. Maspero, The Daw?i of Civilization : Egyft and Chaldcea En g. 
 Trans., 1894, p. 47. 
 
IOO 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 « The external characteristics of these two principal types, 
 whose endless modifications are to be found on the ancient 
 monuments, may still be seen among the living. 
 
 An analogous difference may be noticed among the 
 Japanese. Not only has this appealed to the scientific 
 mind of Dr. Balz, but it has attracted the attention 
 of native artists; and one may see, as in a picture 
 by Torii Kiyonaga, a mother of the fine type, 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 Heads of Japanese men of the fine and coarse type; from Hovorka, after Balz. 
 
 watching a coarse-featured servant feeding the baby, 
 who is also depicted with a nose of the type of its 
 mother’s. The celebrated school of the Torn, who 
 flourished in the eighteenth century, invented colour¬ 
 printing. In a picture by Outmaro, a Japanese 
 nobleman is paying a ceremonial visit, and on the 
 verandah is seen his low - visaged bearer, whose 
 degraded countenance and squat nose with its broad 
 nostrils offers a marked contrast to the oval face and 
 

THE NOSE 
 
 IOI 
 
 delicate nose of his master. Peeping from behind 
 a screen are the faces of three girls, two of the fine 
 type belong to daughters of the house, and between 
 them is their rounder-faced maid. 
 
 Nowhere has the distinction between the fine and 
 coarse type of nose been more fully studied than in 
 India, and the results of these investigations are so 
 interesting and important that I shall deal with them 
 in considerable detail. 
 
 In 1891 and 1892 Mr. H. H. Risley published four 
 volumes on The Tribes and Castes of Bengal\ 
 which embodied an immense mass of anthropometric 
 data and ethnographic researches. Mr. Risley finds 
 that in India the nasal index “ranks higher as a dis¬ 
 tinctive character than the stature or even than the 
 cephalic index itself.” 
 
 “ If we take a series of castes,” writes Mr. Risley, “ in 
 Bengal, Behar, or the North-Western Provinces, and arrange 
 them in the order of the average nasal index, so that the 
 caste with the finest nose shall be at the top, and that with 
 the coarsest at the bottom of the list, it will be found that 
 this order substantially corresponds with the accepted order 
 of social precedence. The casteless tribes—Kols, Korwas, 
 Mundas, and the like—who have not yet entered the 
 Brahmanical system, occupy the lowest place. Then 
 come the vermin-eating Musahars and the leather-dressing 
 Chamars. The fisher castes of Bauri, Bind and Kewat are 
 a trifle higher in the scale; the pastoral Goala, the cultivat¬ 
 ing Kurmi, and a group of cognate castes from whose hands 
 a Brahman may take water, follow in due order, and from 
 
102 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 them we pass to the trading Khatris, the landholding 
 Babhans, and the upper crust of Hindu society. Thus, it is 
 scarcely a paradox to lay down as a law for the caste 
 organization in Eastern India, that a man s social status 
 varies in inverse ratio to the width of his nose. 
 
 “ Nor is this the only point in which the two sets of 
 observations—the social and the physical—bear out and 
 illustrate each other. The character of the curious matri¬ 
 monial groupings for which the late Mr. J. F. McLennan 
 devised the happy term exogamous, also varies in a definite 
 relation to the gradations of physical type. Within a certain 
 range of nasal proportions, these subdivisions are based 
 almost exclusively on the totem. Along with a somewhat 
 finer form of nose, groups called after villages and larger 
 territorial areas, or bearing the name of certain tribal or 
 communal officials, begin to appear, and above these again 
 we reach the eponymous saints and heroes, who in India, as 
 in Greece and Rome, are associated with a certain stage of 
 Aryan progress.”* 
 
 It is now generally admitted that some four thou¬ 
 sand years ago the Valley of the Indus was invaded 
 via Kabul and Kashmir by a fair Aryan race that had 
 already wandered afar, and which now came in con¬ 
 tact with an aboriginal black race. 
 
 “ The sense of differences of colour, which, for all our talk 
 of common humanity, still plays a great and, politically, 
 often an inconvenient part in the history of the world, finds 
 forcible expression in the Vedic descriptions of the people 
 whom the Aryans found in possession of the plains of India. 
 In a well-known passage the god Indra is praised for having 
 
 * H. H. RlSLEY, The Tribes and Castes of Bengal: Ethnographic 
 Glossary , i., 1892, p. xxxiii. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 103 
 
 protected the Aryan colour, and the word meaning colour 
 [varna) is used down to the present day as the equivalent of 
 caste, more especially with reference to the castes believed to 
 be of Aryan descent.” * 
 
 The word caste is of Portuguese origin. In the 
 179th hymn of the first Mandala of the Rig-Veda, as 
 Dr. Gerson da Cunha points out, t the word varna is 
 used in the dual number, ubhauvarnau , “two colours,” 
 white of the Aryans, and black of the Dasyus, that 
 is of the Dravidian aborigines, who are elsewhere 
 called “black-skinned,” “unholy,” “excommunicated”; 
 other texts dwell on their low stature, coarse features, 
 and their voracious appetite; but what is of more 
 immediate interest, the Rig-Veda employs the word 
 andsa , “noseless,” to the Dasyus and Daityas, which 
 designations mean “thieves” or “demons.” It is 
 hardly an exaggeration to say that from these sources 
 there might be compiled a fairly accurate anthropo¬ 
 logical definition of the Dravidian tribes of to-day. 
 
 The Aryan type, as we find it in India at the 
 present day, is marked by a relatively long (dolicho¬ 
 cephalic) head ; a straight, finely cut (leptorhine) nose ; 
 a long, symmetrically narrow face ; a well-developed 
 forehead, regular features, and a high facial angle. 
 The stature is fairly high, ranging from 1716 mm. 
 
 * Loc. cit., p. xxxviii. 
 
 t “Presidential Address: The Nasal Index in Biological Anthro¬ 
 pology,” Journ. Anth . Soc. of Bombay , 1892, p. 542. 
 
104 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 (5 ft. 7^ in.) in the Sikhs of the Panjab, to 1656 mm. 
 (5ft. 5^ in.) in the Brahmans of Bengal; and the 
 general build of the figure is well proportioned and 
 slender rather than massive. In the castes which 
 exhibit these characteristics the complexion is a very 
 light transparent brown—“ wheat - coloured ” is the 
 common vernacular description—noticeably fairer 
 than that of the mass of the population. Colour, 
 however, is a character which eludes all attempts 
 to record or define its gradations, and even the ex¬ 
 treme varieties can only be described in very general 
 terms. 
 
 Their exogamous groups are eponymous, bearing 
 the names of their Vedic rishis , saints or heroes. 
 
 In the Dravidian type the form of the head usually 
 inclines to be dolichocephalic, but all other characters 
 present a marked contrast to the Aryan. The nose 
 is thick and broad, and the formula expressing its 
 proportionate dimensions is higher than in any known 
 race, except the Negro. The facial angle is com¬ 
 paratively low; the lips are thick; the face wide 
 and fleshy ; the features coarse and irregular. The 
 average stature ranges in a long series of tribes 
 from 1562 mm. (5 ft. ij in,) to 1621 (5 ft. 3J in.); 
 the figure is squat and the limbs sturdy. The colour 
 of the skin varies from very dark brown to a shade 
 closely approaching black. 
 
 Their totemistic groups bear the names of 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 i°5 
 
 animals, plants, and artificial objects, to all of which 
 diverse forms of taboo are applied. 
 
 Notwithstanding the repugnance of the noble 
 Aryan to mix with the savage Dasyu, as is evidenced 
 by the poetical legends of the contests between the 
 gods of the Hindu mythology with the demons, or 
 spirits of mountain and forest, the indigenous elements 
 by their numerical superiority preponderated over the 
 foreign ones. 
 
 To avert this menaced absorption, and to sustain 
 the ethnic necessity of the caste system, a religious 
 communion was introduced, to which there was 
 less antipathy. Sir A. Lyall has proved that the 
 primitive jungle tribe moved imperceptibly into the 
 Hindu system by the gradual blending of the old 
 with the new faith, which preceded their admission 
 into the castal hierarchy and the breaking up of their 
 tribal organization. “ They pass,” he says, “ into 
 Brahmanists by a natural upward transition, which 
 leads them to adopt the religion of the castes 
 immediately above them in the social scale of the 
 composite population among which they settle down ; 
 and we may reasonably guess that this process has 
 been working for centuries.” This religious sanction 
 is expounded in Manu’s code, which, although said 
 to have been written as late as 500 a.d., relates to 
 changes effected as early as 1200 b.c. 
 
 Although absolutely hostile to the strain of aboriginal 
 
io6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 blood, the code divided and subdivided the people, 
 leaving out of the system the pariah, which originally 
 simply meant a “mountaineer.” These pariahs are, 
 probably, the descendants of the “ monkey ” tribes 
 of Ravana, who crossed from India into Ceylon across 
 Adam’s Bridge, as narrated in the great Indian Epic, 
 the Ramayana , in which the events of invasion, 
 war, and migration can be dimly discerned through 
 the mass of tradition and legendary lore with which 
 they are overlaid. 
 
 In the Madras Census Report of 1891, the Census 
 Commissioner, Mr. H. A. Stuart, states that “it has 
 often been asserted, and is now the general belief, 
 that the Brahmans of the south are not pure Aryans, 
 but are a mixed Aryan and Dravidian race. In 
 the earliest times the caste division was much less 
 rigid than now, and a person of another caste could 
 become a Brahman by attaining the Brahmanical 
 standard of knowledge, and assuming the Brahmanical 
 functions. And when we see the Nambudiri 
 Brahmans, even at the present day, contracting 
 alliances, informal though they be, with the women 
 of the country, it is not difficult to believe that, on 
 their first arrival, such unions were even more 
 common, and that the children born of them would 
 be recognized as Brahmans, though, perhaps, regarded 
 as an inferior caste. However, these Brahmans, in 
 whose veins mixed blood is supposed to run, are even 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 107 
 
 to this day regarded as lower in the social scale, 
 and are not allowed to mix freely with the pure 
 Brahman community.” 
 
 According to Mr. Risley # —“The remarkable 
 correspondence between the gradations of type as 
 brought out by certain indices, and the gradations of 
 social precedence, enables us to conclude that com¬ 
 munity of race, and not, as has frequently been 
 argued, community of function , is the real determining 
 principle of the caste system. Everywhere we find 
 high social position associated with a certain physical 
 type, and conversely low social position with a 
 markedly different type.” 
 
 The latest investigations in Indian anthropology 
 are those of Mr. Edgar Thurston, the energetic 
 Superintendent of the Madras Government Museum, f 
 Mr. Thurston has studied the natives of Southern 
 India more, especially the tribes of the Nilgiri Hills. 
 The accompanying table is an abridgement of his 
 Table xi., vol. ii., p. 63. 
 
 * Journ. Anth. Inst., xx., 1891, p. 259. 
 
 f “Anthropology of the Todas and Kotas of the Nilgiri Hills, and 
 of the Brahmans, Pallis, Kammalans, and Pariahs of Madras City,” 
 Madras Government Museum Bulletin, vol. i., No. 4, 1896. “Anthro¬ 
 pology of the Badagas and Irulas of the Nilgiris; Paniyans of Malabar; 
 Chinese-Tamil cross; a Cheruman skull; Kuruba or Kurumba; Summary 
 of results” ( l.c ., vol. ii., No. 1, 1897). 
 
io8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 TABLE OF NASAL INDICES OF CASTES AND TRIBES 
 OF SOUTHERN INDIA; 
 
 AFTER THURSTON. 
 
 LEPTORHINE—70. 
 
 Average. 
 
 Minimum. 
 
 Maximum. 
 
 Range. 
 
 Lambadis . 
 
 69T 
 
 59 ' 2 
 
 ... 837 .. 
 
 24-5 
 
 Sheik Muhammadans 
 
 70 
 
 60 
 
 ... 8 5 -I .. 
 
 • 25 ' 1 
 
 MESORHINE 70—85- 
 
 Kurubas . 
 
 73 ' 2 •• 
 
 62-3 
 
 ... 85-9 .. 
 
 • 23'6 
 
 Todas 
 
 74'9 •• 
 
 6l’2 
 
 89U 
 
 • i 7'9 
 
 Kotas 
 
 75 ’5 •• 
 
 64 
 
 ... 92-9 .. 
 
 i8’9 
 
 Badagas . 
 
 75 ' 6 •• 
 
 627 
 
 ... 88-4 .. 
 
 • i 5'7 
 
 Kanarese Pariahs 
 
 7 5 '9 •• 
 
 61.5 
 
 ... 88-i .. 
 
 . 26 - 6 
 
 Pattar Brahmans 
 
 7 6 5 
 
 647 
 
 ••• 95 '3 •• 
 
 • 3 d ' 1 
 
 Brahmans (Madras City) 767 .. 
 
 60 
 
 ... 95-1 .. 
 
 • 35 ' 1 
 
 Cherumans 
 
 78 T 
 
 69'6 
 
 ... 88-9 .. 
 
 • 2 9'3 
 
 Tamil Pariahs . 
 
 80 
 
 . 66 
 
 ... 105 
 
 • 39 
 
 Muppas 
 
 81 '5 - 
 
 7°’5 
 
 ... 92-3 .. 
 
 21 - 8 
 
 Irulas 
 
 849 .. 
 
 • 7 2 '3 
 
 ... 100 
 
 • 2 77 
 
 PLATYRHINE 85 + 
 
 Pal Kurumbas . 
 
 87 .. 
 
 
 
 
 Urali Kurumbas 
 
 93'4 •• 
 
 
 
 
 Sholigas . 
 
 94'4 •• 
 
 
 
 
 Paniyans „ 
 
 95 ' 1 •• 
 
 • 837 
 
 ... io8‘6 
 
 • 24-9 
 
 Of the twenty-four cases in the original table only 
 two are leptorhine and four are platyrhine, the great 
 majority being mesorhine. 
 
 In the next table we have a comparison of nasal 
 indices of 20-25 members of various classes, arranged 
 in groups of ten units. This very clearly brings out 
 the value of the nasal index in the discrimination 
 of races. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 109 
 
 50-60 
 
 60-70 
 
 70-80 
 
 80-90 90-100 100-110 
 
 Lambadis . . . 2 ... 
 
 13 ... 
 
 6 ... 
 
 4 . 
 
 Sheik Muhammadans . 
 
 13 ... 
 
 11 ... 
 
 1. 
 
 Kurubas 
 
 8 ... 
 
 14 ... 
 
 3 . 
 
 Kanarese Pariahs . 
 
 6 ... 
 
 10 ... 
 
 9 . 
 
 Todas. 
 
 4 ... 
 
 13 ... 
 
 8. 
 
 Kotas . 
 
 4 ... 
 
 11 ... 
 
 8 ... 1 ... 
 
 Brahmans (Madras City) 
 
 4 ... 
 
 12 ... 
 
 8 ... 1 ... 
 
 Pattar Brahmans . 
 
 4 ... 
 
 15 ... 
 
 4 ... 2 ... 
 
 Badagas 
 
 3 ••• 
 
 14 ... 
 
 8. 
 
 Tamil Pariahs 
 
 1 ... 
 
 9 ... 
 
 14 ... 1 ... 
 
 Cherumans . 
 
 1 ... 
 
 16 
 
 8 . 
 
 Muppas 
 
 
 11 ... 
 
 11 ... 2 ... 
 
 Irulas . 
 
 
 7 
 
 11 ... 6 ... 1 
 
 Paniyans 
 
 
 
 5 ... 9 ... 10 
 
 It will be seen that the 
 
 average nasal index of the 
 
 people investigated ranges from 69*1 in the tall, light¬ 
 skinned, and long, narrow-nosed Lambadis, who 
 speak an Aryan language, to 95 t in the short, 
 dark-skinned, and short, broad-nosed Paniyans ; and 
 that the indices recorded range between a minimum 
 of 59’2 in a Lambadi, and a maximum of io8 - 6 in 
 a Paniyan. Mr. Thurston has, however, measured 
 a Paniyan woman who possessed a nose 31 mm. in 
 height and 37 mm. in breadth, the nasal index being 
 ii9‘4. The Sheik Muhammadans of Madras claim 
 
 to be descendants of emigrants from the north, and 
 to be distinct from the converted Dravidians. Their 
 
 claim is no doubt justified ; but well-marked signs 
 of admixture of Dravidian blood are conspicuous in 
 some members of their communities, whose dark skin 
 
no 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and high nasal index betray their non-Aryan descent. 
 This miscegenation is clearly brought out by Thurston 
 in the accompanying figure, in which we have a series 
 of triangles representing in two-thirds natural size the 
 minima, average, and maxima nasal indices of in¬ 
 dividuals belonging to the poorer classes of Brahmans 
 of Madras city, of Tamil Pariahs, and of Paniyans. 
 There is obviously far less connection between the 
 Brahman minimum and the Paniyan maximum than 
 between the Brahman and Pariah maxima and the 
 Paniyan average. The frequent occurrence of high 
 nasal indices, resulting from short, broad noses, in 
 Brahmans has already been accounted for in the 
 quotations I have made from Sir A. Lyall and Mr. 
 H. A. Stuart. 
 
 One is accustomed to regard the problem of Indian 
 ethnography as of only moderate complexity, as is 
 seen in the following abstract of a paper by Mr. Risley.* 
 
 There are three main types in the population of 
 India at the present day 
 
 i. A leptorhine, pro-opic, # dolichocephalic type, of 
 tall stature, light build, long and narrow face, com¬ 
 paratively fair complexion, and high facial angle. 
 
 This type is most marked in the Panjab. 
 
 Their exogamous groups are eponymous, names of 
 Vedic saints or heroes. 
 
 * H. H. Risley, “The study of Ethnology in India,” Journ. Anth. 
 Inst., xx., 1891, p- 235. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 hi 
 
 Diagrams of the variations in the height and breadth of the Noses of 
 the poorer classes of Brahmans of Madras City, of Tamil Pariahs, 
 and of Paniyans, two-thirds natural size; after Thurston, 
 
11 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 2. A platyrhine, mesopic, # or nearly platyopic, 
 dolichocephalic type, of low stature, thick-set, very 
 dark complexion, relatively broad face, usually low 
 facial angle. 
 
 This type is most distinct in Chota Nagpore and 
 the Central Provinces. 
 
 Its sections are totemistic, like those of North 
 American Indians; that is, they are names of 
 animals, plants, or artificial objects, to all of which 
 some form of taboo applies. 
 
 3. A mesorhine, platyopic,* brachycephalic type of 
 a low or medium stature, sturdy build, yellowish 
 complexion, broad face and low facial angle. 
 
 This type is found along the northern and eastern 
 frontiers of Bengal. 
 
 Their exogamous groups are very curious, being 
 mostly nicknames of the supposed founder of the 
 sept, such as “ the fat man who broke the stool,” and 
 others less fit for publication. 
 
 1. Leptorhine , Pro-opic Dolichocephals. 
 
 If it be accepted that Karl Penka has proved the 
 typical Aryan to be dolichocephalic, there would seem 
 to be some grounds for believing that in the dolicho¬ 
 cephalic leptorhine type of the Panjab and north¬ 
 western frontier at the present day, we may recognize 
 
 * The terms pro-opic, mesopic, and platyopic have reference to the 
 height or prominence of the bridge of the nose ; for further details 
 see the chapter on measurements. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 ”3 
 
 the descendants of the invading Aryans of 3000 years 
 ago, changed, no doubt, in hair, eyes, and complexion, 
 but retaining the more enduring characteristics of 
 their race in the shape of their head, their stature, 
 and the finely-cut proportions of their nose. Survivals 
 of fair, or rather reddish hair, grey eyes, and reddish 
 blond complexion are, moreover, still to be found, as 
 Penka has pointed out, and as Risley himself has seen, 
 among the Kafirs from beyond the Panjab frontier. 
 
 Anyway, the striking preponderance of dolicho- 
 cephaly in the Panjab and the N. W. Provinces, and 
 its gradual increase as we travel up the Ganges valley 
 towards the traditional Aryan tract, tend both to 
 strengthen Penka’s hypothesis and to enhance the 
 credibility of early Indian legends. These facts go 
 also to show that Penka is mistaken in supposing 
 that the Indian branch of the Aryans became 
 brachycephalic on their way to India. Had this 
 been so, the dolichocephaly which now distinguishes 
 them could only have been derived from crosses with 
 the black race, and the Aryans could hardly have 
 become dolichocephalic in this way without also be¬ 
 coming platyrhine. 
 
 2. Platyrhine , Mesopic Dolichocephals . 
 
 The measurements show the current distinction 
 between the Dravidians and Kolarians, on which stress 
 
 has been laid by Dalton and others, to be a purely 
 1 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 114 
 
 linguistic character, not corresponding to any ap¬ 
 preciable difference of physical type. 
 
 The hypothesis of the north-eastern origin of the 
 so-called Kolarians urged by Colonel Dalton, and 
 recently advanced by Mr. J. F. Hewitt, must also be 
 abandoned as inconsistent with the dolichocephalic 
 skull of the typical representatives of the group. 
 
 Whatever the Kolhs may be, they certainly are not 
 a Mongoloid race. 
 
 3. Mesorhine , Platyopic Brachycephals. 
 
 All of the groups which come within this category 
 are demonstrably of more or less pronounced Mon¬ 
 golian descent; and we may conveniently call them 
 Mongoloid. 
 
 The type is essentially a frontier type, and its in¬ 
 fluence can in no case be traced far into the interior of 
 India. 
 
 The Kochh or Rajbansi, a large tribe of Bengal, 
 who now pose as an outlying branch of the Rajputs, 
 are, indeed, commonly supposed to have some strain of 
 Mongolian blood among them, but Risley doubts if 
 this opinion is well founded. A slight degree of 
 platyopy is, it is true, met with among them, but 
 this may equally well be accounted for on the sup¬ 
 position of their affinity to the platyrhine type. 
 
 The nasal index of the dolichocephalic tribes that 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 ”5 
 
 are of non-Aryan descent requires a further analysis, 
 and it appears to me that Mr. Thurston’s researches 
 suggest that the problem is more complex than is 
 generally admitted. 
 
 On looking at the table on page 108, we are struck 
 with the fact that three tribes, the Badagas, Todas, 
 and Kotas, have the least variation of any in the 
 range of their nasal indices. They have lived an 
 isolated existence on the plateau of the Nilgiri Hills 
 until the settlement of the English in recent times, 
 and we may with safety regard them as a fairly 
 primitive non-Aryan people. The owners of the 
 greatest variation (exceeding a range of 30 units) 
 constitute a group of Tamil classes made up of 
 Brahmans, Pattar Brahmans descended from east- 
 coast Tamil Brahmans, and other classes that I have 
 not copied out; the greatest range is found among 
 the Pariahs of Madras city. Mr. Thurston measured 
 one very dark-skinned Tamil Pariah cooly, who was 
 5ft. 3Jin. (1608 mm.) in height, and whose nose was 
 40 mm. in height, 42 mm. in breadth, with an index 
 of 105. (Plate II. Fig. 1.) 
 
 The least variable, that is the least mixed, of these 
 groups have low mesorhine indices (average 75-5), 
 the most variable have higher indices. The Paniyans 
 with the highest indices of all have a moderate 
 amount of range. 
 
 In order to compare among themselves the 
 
THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 ii 6 
 
 Badagas, Todas, Kotas, and Paniyans, it will be 
 necessary to take other data into consideration, so 
 I have selected a few from Mr. Thurston’s tables :— 
 
 No. of 
 Men 
 
 Measured. 
 
 Av. 
 
 Ceph. 
 
 Index. 
 
 Length 
 
 of 
 
 Head. 
 
 Av. 
 
 Nasal 
 
 Index. 
 
 Facial 
 
 Angle. 
 
 Stature. 
 
 Span 
 
 Ratio of 
 Span to 
 Stat. = 100 
 
 Badagas. 
 
 40 ... 
 
 717 . 
 
 .. 189 .. 
 
 • 7 S '6 • 
 
 .. 71 0 .. 
 
 1641 
 
 ' 5 ’ 4 i ■' 
 
 • 1717 
 
 ... IO46 
 
 Todas 
 
 25 ... 
 
 73'3 • 
 
 .. 194 •• 
 
 • 74‘9 • 
 
 .. 68° .. 
 
 1696 
 
 • 5 ‘ 6 j " 
 
 ■ 1750 
 
 ... IO32 
 
 Kotas 
 
 25 ... 
 
 74-1 . 
 
 .. 192 .. 
 
 • 75'5 ■ 
 
 .. 70° .. 
 
 1629 
 
 " 5'4 s " 
 
 1683 
 
 ... 103-3 
 
 Paniyans 
 
 25 ... 
 
 74 
 
 ... 184 .. 
 
 • 95 'i 
 
 ... 67° . 
 
 1574 
 5-2 •' 
 
 • 1652 
 
 ... 105 
 
 The Todas possess exactly the same average 
 stature as the 89,000 Germans, whose measurements 
 are given by Gould, and just miss being included 
 with the English among the very tall races of the 
 world. Between the Todas and the next tallest class 
 measured by Thurston, the Sheik Muhammadans 
 (1645 mm.), there is a well-defined gap of 51 mm. 
 (2 inches). The tallest men he came across were a 
 Toda (1850 mm. = 6ft. fin.), and a Badaga (1832 mm. 
 = 6ft. £in.). The Paniyans have the shortest average, 
 and also have the relatively longest arms. 
 
 Measurements which are useful in some otner 
 places have no diagnostic value in Southern India, 
 such for example as the cephalic index and the facial 
 angle. It is, however, worthy of note that the Todas, 
 Kotas, and Badagas have the longest heads recorded 
 by Thurston, and are in this respect separated from 
 the Paniyans. The facial angle, though of great 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 117 
 
 importance in separating prognathous from or- 
 thognathous races, is of little use as an aid to 
 comparison and classification of the different com¬ 
 munities of Southern India, in whom the average 
 of the angle of Cuvier (with its vertex at the edge 
 of the incisor teeth) ranges in the people examined 
 by Thurston between 67° and 71°. Here, again, only 
 the Badagas reach 71 °, only one other group besides 
 the Kotas reach 70°, and only the Sheik Muhammadans 
 and the Paniyans fall as low as 67°. 
 
 Existing materials do not enable us to prosecute 
 the analysis much further, but among the non-Aryan 
 tribes of Southern India it appears as if we could trace 
 two groups : (1) a taller, with moderately long arms, 
 with long heads, and distinctly dolichocephalic, a 
 moderate facial angle, and a mesorhine nose; (2) a 
 very short, long-armed group, dolichocephalic, more 
 prognathous, and a very platyrhine nose. The Nilgiri 
 Hill tribes are typical examples of the former group, 
 and the dark-skinned, curly-haired Paniyans of the 
 latter group. 
 
 It is a common belief among the European planting 
 community that the Paniyans are of African origin, 
 and descended from ancestors who were wrecked on 
 the Malabar coast. This theory, which is based 
 solely on their general appearance, breaks down on 
 investigation. Of their origin nothing definite is 
 known. An interesting account of these people is 
 
n8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 given by Thurston, and it is evident that we are 
 dealing with a very primitive group of mankind, who 
 have left traces of their former greater extension in 
 the broad noses which occur among the lower Hindu 
 castes. 
 
 In his earlier work Dr. Collignon, like other French 
 anthropologists, was inclined to place great value on 
 the nasal index of the living as a distinguishing 
 character of the races of Western Europe. Taking 
 the three main constituents of the French nation, he 
 found # the nasal indices came out in the following 
 order 
 
 Ivymri . . . . 63 ‘39 
 
 Mediterraneans . . 65’48 
 
 Celtst ... . 67.20 
 
 and he naturally thought this was an excellent means 
 of further distinguishing between the tall, dolicho¬ 
 cephalic, fair race that came from the north, the fairly 
 short, dolichocephalic, dark race of the south, and the 
 short, brachycephalic, dark race of the centre. 
 
 In the same paper (p. 508) Collignon formulates 
 the law that “ in a given race leptorhiny is in direct 
 relation to stature ; the more it is raised, the longer 
 the nose, the lower it is, the more the nose tends to 
 mesorhiny.” 
 
 As a result of his later researches Collignon finds 
 
 * R. Collignon, “Etude anthropomdtrique eldmentaire des prin- 
 cipales Races de France,” Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop. de Paris , 1883, p. 502. 
 
 This term is used in Broca’s sense. See p. 152. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 119 
 
 that the nasal index in the living is of little practical 
 value in French anthropology He says :—* 
 
 “ Like the stature, the nasal index has received a serious 
 blow (from being in the front rank for the classification of 
 European races). It is true that this character maintains 
 its incomparable value for the separation of the main trunks 
 of mankind, but, so far as concerns the European races, 
 properly so-called, it is incontestable that its value is dimin¬ 
 ished. The ethnic scale, which is naturally of a narrow 
 range between races so allied to one another, may be 
 neutralised by local variations in height. It thus happens 
 that the importance of the index is only relative, and that it 
 loses the character of precision which we formerly credited 
 it with.” 
 
 We must now pass to a consideration of the nose 
 from a craniological point of view. In the skull we 
 find that the prominent part of the nose is formed of 
 two elements, the nasal bones , and the upper jaw or 
 maxillary bones ; the former constitute the bridge of 
 the nose, the latter bound the lateral and inferior 
 margin of the nasal aperture, and they also flank the 
 nasal bones so as to separate them from the orbits. 
 The nasal bones are bounded above by the frontal 
 or bone of the forehead. The mid point of the 
 fronto-nasal suture is termed by anthropologists the 
 nasion , the corresponding spot in the living nose is 
 the root. The nasal aperture is technically called 
 
 * R. Collignon “Anthropologie de la France; Dordogne," etc., 
 Mem. Soc. dAnth. de Paris (3), I., 1894, p. 43- 
 
I 20 
 
 the study of man 
 
 the apertura pyriformis , the lower border of which 
 has certain characteristics to which reference will 
 be made. In the middle line of this lower border 
 there is usually a bony projection, the nasal spine , 
 which is continuous with the gristly and partly ossified 
 nasal septum. d here is no need to refer to the 
 gristly portions of the external nose, as these are 
 macerated away in dried skulls, and, though a de¬ 
 scription of them is here omitted, it must be 
 remembered that they support and give the form to 
 the nose as seen in the living subject. 
 
 The height of the nose is the line joining the 
 nasion to the corresponding point at the base of the 
 nasal spine. 
 
 The breadth is the greatest diameter of the nasal 
 aperture. 
 
 The cranial nasal index is the ratio of the nasal 
 breadth to its height; this is obtained by multiplying 
 the former by one hundred and dividing the product 
 by the latter. The indices are grouped by Broca 
 in a three-folcl classification into broad, medium, and 
 narrow noses, the figures being :— 
 
 French and English. 
 
 — 48 . Leptorhine 
 
 48-53 . Mesorhine 
 
 53 + • Platyrhine 
 
 The nasal indices to the left are those that were 
 first suggested by Broca, and which have been 
 
 “ Frankfurt agreement.” 
 
 • “ 47 
 
 • 47-Si 
 
 . 51 + 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 I 2 I 
 
 subsequently adopted by French and English anthro¬ 
 pologists ; to the right are those in general use in 
 Germany, as accepted at the “ Frankfurter Ver- 
 standigung.” 
 
 In the following table I have collected from Broca, 
 Topinard, Flower, and other sources a selection 
 of nasal indices. It is evident that we have here 
 the same story that is told by the nasal index of the 
 living. The black races are platyrhine, whether they 
 come from Africa or Oceania. The yellow races, 
 including the Indo-Polynesians and Americans, are 
 mesorhine, and the European races are leptorhine. 
 
 TABLE OF CRANIAL NASAL INDICES. 
 
 Platyrhine Races. 
 
 
 AFRICAN. 
 
 
 Bushmen 
 
 . 6o - 2 
 
 Kordofan 
 
 • 5 5‘4 
 
 Lower Guinea . 
 
 0° 
 
 OO 
 
 LO 
 
 Upper Guinea . 
 
 • 55'2 
 
 Kaffirs 
 
 • 57-8 
 
 Senegal 
 
 • 55 ' 1 
 
 Hottentots 
 
 • 57 '3 
 
 Nubians 
 
 • 55 ' 1 
 
 
 OCEANIC. 
 
 
 Tasmanians 
 
 • 5 7 '4 
 
 New Caledonians 
 
 ■ 5 2 ‘9 
 
 Fijians 
 
 • 57'I 
 
 Papuans, S.E . 
 
 • 5 2 ‘° 
 
 Australians 
 
 • 5 6 '9 
 
 
 
 
 Mesorhine Races. 
 
 
 Javanese 
 
 • 5 r 4 
 
 Chinese 
 
 • 49'° 
 
 Malays (various) 
 
 • 5°'3 
 
 Polynesians 
 
 . 48‘o 
 
 Lapps 
 
 • 5 °' 2 
 
 Japanese 
 
 . 48 
 
 Annamites 
 
 . 5 o-i 
 
 Americans 
 
 . 47-2 
 
122 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Leptorhine Races. 
 
 Berbers of Biskra 
 
 48-9 
 
 English 
 
 . 46^0 
 
 Italians of Lombardy 
 
 48'3 
 
 Syrians 
 
 ■ 45'8 
 
 Egyptians 
 
 47 ' 1 
 
 Arabs 
 
 ■ 45'5 
 
 Russians 
 
 46 8 
 
 Berbers (Kabyles) 
 
 • 44 ‘ 2 
 
 Parisians 
 
 46 7 
 
 Eskimo 
 
 ■ 43'° 
 
 Auvergnats 
 
 46^2 
 
 
 
 On or two points 
 
 call 
 
 for comment. 
 
 It will be 
 
 seen that at the limits of each group there are indices 
 which should numerically be placed in the next group. 
 For example, the New Caledonians and the Papuans 
 of the archipelago at the extreme south-east of 
 British New Guinea have mesorhine instead of 
 platyrhine indices; this is due directly or indirectly 
 to a crossing with Polynesians. Of this we have 
 direct evidence for the New Caledonians, and I 
 have adduced evidence* for a migration from the 
 Melanesian Archipelago into the south-east of New 
 Guinea; but these Melanesians had already been 
 subjected to Polynesian influence. The nasal index 
 of the Polynesians is at the extreme lower end of 
 mesorhiny. The Berbers of Biskra have doubtless 
 had their nose broadened by Nigritic mixture, for 
 the pure Berbers are among the most leptorhine 
 of men. The Lombardians have an exceptionally 
 high index for Europeans. By their exceptionally 
 low index the Eskimo are sharply separated from 
 
 A. C. Haddon, “The Decorative Art of British New Guinea.' 
 Cunningham Memoir X. Roy. Irish A cal., 1894 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 123 
 
 the Mongolic and American races; this fact is in 
 harmony with their very dolichocephalic cranium 
 (index about 72) and long face. The exact relation¬ 
 ships of these interesting people is not yet definitely 
 established. 
 
 The nasal index of the primitive Andaman 
 Islanders (50’9) and that of the nearly equally 
 primitive Veddahs (52’5) are smaller than one might 
 expect, as these races are very unspecialized groups 
 of mankind. The new-born French infant, accord¬ 
 ing to Broca, has an index of 59*2, and is, conse¬ 
 quently, about as platyrhine as the Bushmen of South 
 Africa. 
 
 One word of warning is necessary ; although the 
 nasal indices in the living and in the skull agree very 
 well as a whole, it must be distinctly understood that 
 there is no necessary relation between them. It is 
 impossible to even approximately calculate the one 
 index from the other. 
 
 The learned Broca* has made a comparative study 
 of the nasal index in the skull of Egypt and France, 
 and in both cases he has proved that the nasal index, 
 despite numerous crossings, was perpetuated for 
 centuries without important changes. 
 
 We need not enter into a discussion concerning the 
 ethnical relationships of the earliest population of 
 
 * P. Broca, “ Recherches sur I’indice nasal,” Rev. d’ Anthropologic, i., 
 
 1872, p. 1. 
 
124 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Egypt; it is generally admitted that they were funda¬ 
 mentally a branch of the great Mediterranean race, 
 but there is no doubt that several ethnic elements 
 entered into their composition. The two types to 
 which I have already referred, and which Pruner-Bey # 
 first described as the fine and coarse type, are found 
 in the subterranean galleries of Sakkara, which belong 
 to the IVth Dynasty (about 4000 b.c.), and equally 
 occur in the collections of skulls of the ancient empire. 
 Whatever may be the origin of the fine type, it is 
 only the coarse type that participates in the characters 
 of the Nigritic peoples of Nubia. This prehistoric 
 mixture must have been already ancient at the begin¬ 
 ning of the Pharaonic period, for the characters of 
 the Egyptian race have since been maintained with 
 a remarkable stability; whence we may conclude that 
 the effects of this crossing had at that early period 
 already arrived at this condition of stability, and this 
 could only be realized at the end of a great number 
 of generations. 
 
 The nasal index of the skulls of the IVth Dynasty 
 had a mean of 47'93> an d in this figure one may 
 recognize the influence of the platyrhine races of 
 Nubia. Let us now see what happened to the nasal 
 index in later times. 
 
 It is known that in the Pharaonic times the valley 
 
 * Pruner-Bey, “ Recherches sur l’origin de l’ancienne race 
 egyptienne,” Mem. Soc. d’Anth i., 1861 . 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 125 
 
 of the Nile was invaded in turns from the south, 
 the east, and the west, and thus received influences 
 from the Nubian or Ethiopian race, from the Syro- 
 Arab or Semitic race, and from the Lybian or Berber 
 race. 
 
 The Persian, Macedonian, and Roman conquests 
 further introduced new Asiatic or European elements, 
 and the Semitic element was restored more fully and 
 persistently by the Arab conquest. In spite of all 
 these mixtures, the nasal index of the existing Kopts 
 does not differ perceptibly from that of the ancient 
 graves. 
 
 About the IVth Dynasty # (3998 - 3 7 21 B -C.), 
 before all these invasions, the mean nasal index was, 
 as we have seen, 47-93 ; among the Kopts of the 
 nineteenth century it is 47‘15. Is this because all the 
 people who were successively established in Egypt 
 had the same nasal index ? By no means; for the 
 index of the victorious Ethiopians was greater, whilst 
 that of the Syro-Arab peoples and of the Berber 
 tribes was, on the contrary, very small. MM. Hamy 
 and Broca obtained twenty-two skulls from an ancient 
 interment in the Island of Elephantine, opposite to 
 Assouan, at the foot of the First Cataract, near the 
 border of Upper Egypt and Nubia; the nasal index 
 was 55-17. 
 
 * The dates of the dynasties are those given by Flinders Petrie in his 
 History of Egypt. Second Ed., i., 1895, p. 252. 
 
126 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 It is known that the VIth # Dynasty 3503-3322 
 b.c.) had its origin in Elephantine. So - much 
 for the Ethiopians. As to the Syro-Arabs, there 
 is no doubt they had a very small nasal index, 
 since that of recent Arabs is only 45*57, and 
 that of Syrians 45*87. There remain the Lybian 
 and Berber peoples, who established themselves in 
 the Delta during the XIXth Dynasty, and who later, 
 under Psammetik, gave a dynasty to Egypt. It is 
 admitted that these peoples have a remarkably low 
 nasal index. Broca measured ten Kabyle (Berber) 
 skulls that had an index of 44*28, and some Guanches 
 who belonged to the same race, had an index of 
 44 - 25 - 
 
 At the Xlth Dynasty (2821-2778 b.c.), after the 
 Dynasty of Elephantine, which was the Vlth, and 
 which lasted for over 200 years, the index rose to 
 48*43. Under the XVIIIth Dynasty (1587-1327 b.c.), 
 which followed close the long domination of Syro- 
 Arab pastoral kings, it was maintained at 48*77; 
 under the dynasties that followed, until the Mace¬ 
 donian period, it descended to 47*28. These are in¬ 
 significant oscillations, and quite as insignificant is 
 the change which has followed the Arab conquest of 
 the Seventh Century, as the existing Kopts have an 
 
 * Broca says “Vlth Dynasty,” but according to Flinders Petrie 
 {History of Egypt , i., p. 69), the Vth Dynasty (3721-3503 B.c.) was of 
 Elephantine origin. 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 127 
 
 index of 47'15. One sees then, if the mixtures of 
 races have been able to exercise a slight influence 
 on the nasal index of the Egyptians, this influence 
 has only been temporary. 
 
 MEAN NASAL INDEX OF EGYPTIANS AT 
 VARIOUS PERIODS. 
 
 (From Broca.) 
 
 
 Nasal Index. 
 
 Cranial Index. 
 
 Fourth Dynasty 
 
 • 47'93 
 
 ... 76-40 
 
 Eleventh ,, 
 
 • 43 '43 
 
 ... 75-40 
 
 Eighteenth „ 
 
 • 4877 
 
 76-02 
 
 Later ,, (up to the Ptolemeys) 47‘28 
 
 7338 
 
 Average of Ancient Egypt 
 
 . 47-88 
 
 75'58 
 
 Modern Egypt (Kopts) 
 
 • 47' 1 5 
 
 ... 7679 
 
 The persistence of the nasal index has not been 
 less remarkable among the peoples who, from the 
 most remote periods, have occupied the soil of 
 France. 
 
 For the Mammoth Period, Broca had only two 
 skulls from Eyzies, whose indices were 48'98 and 
 45’09. The mean index of these would be 47, but as 
 Broca points out, the true average index is the index 
 of the means and not the mean of the indices; as the 
 nasal height in these cases were 24 and 22 (mean 
 23), and the breadth 51 and 49 (mean 50), the index of 
 the means is 46. 
 
 The neolithic series is not homogeneous, but we 
 may conclude that the peoples of the polished-stone 
 age, so far as is known, were leptorhine. 
 
128 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 MEAN NASAL INDEX OF ANCIENT AND MODERN 
 POPULATIONS OF FRANCE. 
 
 (From Broca.) 
 
 Nasal Index. Cranial Index. 
 
 Mammoth Period (Eyzies) . . . 
 
 46 
 
 • 74-25 
 
 Neolithic Period . ... 
 
 46-93 • 
 
 • 75 ' or 
 
 Bronze Age (Orrony) . ... 
 
 46T9 
 
 79-26 
 
 Gauls of the Iron Age . ... 
 
 45-68 . 
 
 ■ 76-93 
 
 Gallo-Romans (Third and Fourth Century) 
 
 46-74 • 
 
 • 76-55 
 
 Merovingians (Seventh Century) . . 
 
 48-87 
 
 • 76-36 
 
 Parisians (Twelfth Century) . . . 
 
 48-25 . 
 
 ■ 79 ' J S 
 
 ,, (Sixteenth Century) . . . 
 
 47'97 • 
 
 • 79 ' 5 6 
 
 „ (Nineteenth Century) . . . 
 
 46-81 
 
 • 7944 
 
 The low index remains constant through the Bronze 
 Age. The fifteen Gaulish skulls of the Iron Age 
 measured by Broca belonged to at least a century 
 before the conquest by CEesar. The Roman invasion 
 did not modify the index. 
 
 Most of the Merovingian skulls came from a 
 cemetery at Chelles. The interment belonged to 
 somewhat different dates, but it is probable that most 
 of the skulls belong to the second half of the seventh 
 century. Eleven more ancient skulls, that were 
 found in a lower layer, have a mean index of 51-52, 
 the more recent series of 44 skulls average 48-83 ; 
 the total mean of the Chellian skulls being 49-36. 
 The nasal index of some Merovingian skulls found at 
 Champlieu descend to 47-58. 
 
 Amid all these variations one fact shines clear, 
 that in all the Merovingian graves the nasal index 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 129 
 
 is markedly above that of the earlier populations of 
 France. The Franks then brought to the country, 
 which received its name from them, a new nasal type. 
 In any case it is certain that the Franks had a nasal 
 index of over 48, consequently they were not lepto- 
 rhine like the people of Western Europe, but meso- 
 rhine like the Mongolic peoples. They belonged to 
 the white-skinned, fair-haired, Teutonic race, but 
 must be regarded as a distinct variety of it. There 
 is no reason to believe that we have here traces of 
 those remnants of the mesorhinic hordes of Attila 
 who fled towards Pannonia. 
 
 Wherever they came from, or however they 
 acquired their nose, the arrival of the Franks 
 augmented in a marked manner the mean nasal 
 index of the population of Southern Gaul. 
 
 We will now follow the modifications of the nasal 
 index in later periods. Under the three Frankish 
 kings Paris became the capital of Neustria; the 
 aristocratic class congregated there, and were so 
 numerous as to escape better than elsewhere the 
 effects of mixture. In the Twelfth Century the 
 mean nasal index of the Parisians was still meso¬ 
 rhinic, but it had already descended from 48 '8 7, 
 the mean number of the Merovingians, to 48^25— 
 an index that is nearly leptorhine. In the succeeding 
 centuries it continued to diminish, and at present it 
 has returned to the figure (46 *81) that it had before 
 IC 
 
130 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the Frankish period, and the influence of the foreign 
 race has now disappeared from the mean nasal index. 
 
 Concerning- the nasal bones it may be noted that 
 among the white races they are usually arched and 
 prominent ; among the yellow races, the Malays and 
 the Negroes, they are flat. They are often, in addition, 
 short and very broad among the Negroes, and fre- 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 The lower border of the Apertura pyriformis of Orang-utan ; from Hovorka. 
 
 quently long and narrow among the Chinese. The 
 bridge of the nose is almost always flat in infants, 
 and as we have just seen it usually remains so in 
 the lower races, and it frequently also persists in 
 this condition in women of higher races. 
 
 Lastly, I must draw attention to the variations that 
 occur in the lower margin of the apertura pyriformis. 
 
 In the apes the floor ol the nasal cavity passes 
 insensibly on to the surface of the upper jaw, and 
 there is consequently no definite inferior border to 
 the nasal aperture. 1 his condition may obtain 
 
THE NOSE 
 
 131 
 
 among human skulls, and it is known by the name 
 
 of simian groove. 
 
 Of more frequent occurrence than the last is the 
 condition which is characteristic of the human infant, 
 in which the floor of the nasal chamber passes by 
 a variable but distinct angle on to the surface of the 
 maxilla. This is termed the forma infantilis. 
 
 The characteristic human condition is that in which 
 the lower border of the pyriform aperture is formed 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 The four types of the lower border of the Apertura pyriformis in man ; 
 from Hovorka. 
 
 a. Forma anthropina (Lower Austrian, 30 years old) ; b. Fossae prenasales 
 (Bavarian, 49 years old); c. Forma infantilis (child, 3J years old); 
 d. Simian groove (Javanese, 28 years old). 
 
 by a distinct thin ridge which sharply cuts off the 
 floor of the nasal cavity from the alveolar portion of 
 the maxilla. This is the forma anthropina. 
 
 In some skulls there is a pair of depressions immedi¬ 
 ately external to the lower border of the apertura pyri¬ 
 formis. These are known as the fossce prenasales. 
 
 It frequently happens that a skull with a forma 
 infantilis may be transitional between the simian 
 groove on the one hand or between a forma prenasalis 
 or a forma anthropina on the other. No well-defined 
 limits separate these various conditions. 
 
132 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Hovorka # gives the following statistics concerning 
 the distribution of these varieties among various peoples: 
 
 No. examined. 
 
 Anthrop. 
 
 Prenasal. 
 
 Infant. 
 
 Simian. 
 
 191 
 
 Germans . 
 
 . 131 ... 
 
 IO 
 
 44 ••• 
 
 6 
 
 187 
 
 Cechs 
 
 . 117 ... 
 
 21 
 
 40 ... 
 
 9 
 
 57 
 
 Austrians . 
 
 . 49 ••• 
 
 2 
 
 4 ... 
 
 2 
 
 82 
 
 Russians . 
 
 . 46 ••• 
 
 14 ... 
 
 18 ... 
 
 4 
 
 34 
 
 Magyars . 
 
 . 16 
 
 5 ••• 
 
 9 ... 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 Gypsies . 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 133 
 
 Greeks 
 
 . 83 ... 
 
 4 ... 
 
 42 ... 
 
 4 
 
 7 i 
 
 Italians 
 
 . 54 ... 
 
 2 
 
 I 5 ... 
 
 — 
 
 16 
 
 Mummies. 
 
 9 ... 
 
 — ... 
 
 6 ... 
 
 1 
 
 i 5 
 
 Chinese . 
 
 5 ••• 
 
 3 ••• 
 
 6 ... 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 Malays 
 
 7 ... 
 
 2 
 
 8 ... 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 Peruvians . 
 
 5 ••• 
 
 1 
 
 4 ... 
 
 — 
 
 93 
 
 Negroes . 
 
 24 ... 
 
 9 ... 
 
 25 ... 
 
 35 
 
 927 
 
 
 557 
 
 74 
 
 223 
 
 73 
 
 Speaking in general terms one may say that the 
 simian groove is most frequent in the negroes, 
 Australians, and the black races generally. The 
 infantile condition is common among negroes, the 
 yellow races, and Southern Europeans. The fossae 
 prenasales are also frequent among the yellow races, 
 while the forma anthropina is characteristic of the 
 Northern Europeans.t 
 
 * O. Hovorka (Edl. von Zderas) Die /E us sere Nase, eine anato- 
 misch-anthropologische Studie, Vienna, 1893. (This paper contains an 
 extensive bibliography.) 
 
 t Since the above was in type, Professor A. Mncalister has written a 
 paper on “The Apertura pyriformis” ( Journ. Anat. atid Phys ., xxxii., 
 January, 1898, p. 223), in which he describes these four conditions, to 
 which he gives the following names : Orygmocraspedote (simian groove), 
 Amblycraspedote (forma infantilis), Bothrocraspedote (fossae prenasales), 
 Oxycraspedote (forma anthropina). 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE DORDOGNE 
 DISTRICT 
 
 I HAVE previously alluded to the brilliant ethno¬ 
 graphical work done by Dr. Collignon,* and I have 
 made an abstract of his researches in the Dordogne 
 District of West Central France in order to demon¬ 
 strate the lines upon which such inquiries should be 
 conducted, and to illustrate the results that follow 
 from a blending of anthropological investigations with 
 the records of history. We have here a very happy 
 example of an anthropological analysis which supplies 
 the data for a subsequent historical synthesis. 
 
 The region under consideration consists partly of 
 the calcareous beds, and partly of primitive rocks 
 of the Central Plateau of France; the limiting line 
 between them is shown on map (Fig. 19); to the east 
 it passes into the mountainous mass of Auvergne. 
 The five Departments which constitute this region are 
 traversed from east to west by the gradually decreas- 
 
 * R. Collignon, “ Anthropologie de la France : Dordogne, Charente, 
 Correze, Creuse, Haute-Vienne,” Mem. Soc. d’Anth. de Paris (3), i., 1894. 
 
 133 
 
3 U n 3 \ b 3 J N / 
 
 *34 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 ing elevations of the Limousin Mountains, which 
 serve as barriers between the three basins of the 
 Dordogne, or rather of its right affluents the Dronne, 
 Isle, Vezere, and Correze; of the Charente and of 
 
 Sketch Map of the Dordogne District. 
 
 the left affluents of the Loire, the Vienne, Gartempe, 
 Creuse, and Cher. A line running roughly north and 
 south, starting at the junction of Charente and Haute- 
 Vienne and passing not far to the east of Perigueux, 
 would separate the fertile district to the west from the 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 1 35 
 
 poor lands to the east. At certain points in the latter, 
 as in the Limousin, the valleys are rich, but the 
 uplands are infertile, and produce only chestnuts 
 and scanty cereals. 
 
 The physical features of the population studied by 
 Dr. Collignon are mainly those of the conscripts for 
 the xii e Corps d’armee who are recruited from these 
 five Departments. 
 
 The characters are given in the order of importance 
 that Dr. Collignon allocates to each. 
 
 CEPHALIC INDEX. 
 
 This index is the ratio of the breadth of the head 
 to its greatest length, the latter being taken as ioo. 
 In dealing with skulls, anthropologists usually arrange 
 the indices in three groups: (i) Dolichocephals, with 
 an index of less than 75 ; (2) Mesaticephals, with an 
 index between 75 and 80; (3) Brachycephals, having 
 an index of over 80. It is the practice of some anthro¬ 
 pologists to deduct two units from the corresponding 
 index of the living head so as to reduce the cephalic 
 to the cranial index. 
 
 There is a tendency at present not to lay too much 
 stress upon these purely empirical divisions, and some 
 would raise the upper limit of dolichocephaly two 
 or three units. 
 
 The following table gives the distribution of the 
 cephalic indices in the five Departments ; in the case 
 
i 3 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 of Dordogne a further analysis is made, which proves 
 that the southern part of that Department is much 
 more brachycephalic than the northern. The mean 
 index of this Department, if alone considered, gives 
 extremely little information. 
 
 CEPHALIC INDEX—PROPORTION PER CENT. 
 
 
 Cha¬ 
 
 rente. 
 
 Haute- 
 
 Vienne. 
 
 Creuse. 
 
 Correze. 
 
 Dor¬ 
 
 dogne. 
 
 North 
 
 Dor¬ 
 
 dogne. 
 
 South 
 
 Dor¬ 
 
 dogne. 
 
 67-69 
 
 •17 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 •22 
 
 • 3 ° 
 
 
 70-74 
 
 5-60 
 
 378 
 
 •58 
 
 — 
 
 5-95 
 
 8-24 
 
 — 
 
 75-79 
 
 41-95 
 
 37 - 8 i 
 
 19-24 
 
 6-90 
 
 38-30 
 
 48-53 
 
 n -54 
 
 80-84 
 
 41-82 
 
 42-86 
 
 62-38 
 
 43-27 
 
 39-46 
 
 37-63 
 
 44-22 
 
 85-89 
 
 10-85 
 
 14-71 
 
 16-92 
 
 41-73 
 
 13-83 
 
 5-00 
 
 39-92 
 
 90-94 
 
 ■ 50 
 
 •84 
 
 -88 
 
 7-93 
 
 2-13 
 
 • 3 ° 
 
 6-93 
 
 95-97 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 •17 
 
 •11 
 
 — 
 
 •39 
 
 Mean index 
 
 80-43 
 
 80-93 
 
 82-16 
 
 84-93 
 
 80-70 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 It is evident that this table indicates considerable 
 differences in the ethnic constitution of each Depart¬ 
 ment. Taking the extremes, we have, on the one 
 hand, North Dordogne with its 8'5 per cent, of indices 
 below 75, or Charente with 57 and only -5 of ultra- 
 brachycephals, and Correze on the other, which has 
 no dolichocephal below 75, but has 8’i per cent, of 
 indices over 90. 
 
 Taken as they stand, the great majority of these 
 indices fall into the brachycephalic division, while 
 very few are dolichocephalic. 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 137 
 
 The mean index of the French population being 
 83*57, Dr. Collignon, in order to simplify matters, 
 describes as brachycephals those indices above 83. 
 The cantons which come under this grouping form 
 
 after Collignon. 
 
 Areas with an index of less than So, shaded ; those between 80 and 83, 
 left blank ; those over 83, cross-hatched. 
 
 a compact mass to the south and south-east, as is seen 
 in the accompanying map. To the north there are 
 two islands in which the index does not exceed 83’8. 
 
 Inversely, and as a matter of convenience, he 
 regards as dolichocephalic all the regions in which 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 i3& 
 
 the index is less than 80. Two large groups of 
 dolichocephalic cantons are isolated by this means; 
 the more important covers two-thirds of the Depart¬ 
 ment of Dordogne (the valleys of the Isle and of 
 the Dronne), and about one half of Charente, 
 mainly to the south and south-east. The other 
 has Limoges for a centre and the seven cantons that 
 surround it. 
 
 In the narrow band of country between these two 
 groups the index is 81. 
 
 This clearly-defined distribution is of the greatest 
 importance, for alone it provides a key to the local 
 ethnography. 
 
 Another point not less worthy of attention is the 
 clear manner in which these two head types are 
 separated: (i) between the two Departments of 
 Dordogne and Correze ; (2) between the two portions 
 of Dordogne, which are separated by the rivers 
 Vezere and Dordogne. 
 
 As a matter of fact the boundary between the two 
 Departments of Dordogne and Correze was formerly 
 precisely that between Perigord and Limousin, and 
 in earlier times between the Petrocorii and Lemovices. 
 To the right of this entirely conventional frontier the 
 indices run from 85-4 to 87’3, while to the left they 
 vary from 787 to 81‘4, but there is nothing in history 
 to explain this discrepancy. The explanation appears 
 to be that well before the Conquest the two peoples 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 139 
 
 differed in race, the one being what Caesar called 
 Celts, the other probably belonging to the people 
 whom he named Aquitainians. 
 
 The southern portion of Dordogne is also brachy- 
 cephalic and Celtic, and so Dr. Collignon is inclined 
 to think that it did not form part of the territory of 
 the Petrocorii, but that it should be divided among 
 the Nitiobriges and Cadurci, whose equally brachy- 
 cephalic descendants still people Lot-et-Garonne and 
 Lot. 
 
 Another line of evidence supports this conclusion. 
 It is known that the primitive episcopal dioceses 
 corresponded to the territories of the ancient Roman 
 civitates , since a bishop was established in each city 
 by the emperors. Whilst the northern, eastern, and 
 western frontiers of the diocese of Perigueux 
 correspond very closely with that of the modern 
 Department, the region south of the Vezere belongs 
 to the Bishop of Cahors, which tends to show that 
 the natives of the south of Dordogne are the de¬ 
 scendants not of the Petrocorii, but of the Cadurci. 
 
 The differences between the two parts of Limousin, 
 of which the one forms part of Correze and the other 
 the south of Haute-Vienne, can be explained in an 
 analogous manner. The former is brown and 
 brachycephalic, while the latter is fair and dolicho¬ 
 cephalic. 
 
 One may well believe that the Lemovices, those 
 
140 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 of the neighbourhood of Limoges, were no more 
 Petrocorii than Celtse, but a fair people of Belgic 
 or Germanic origin, established in Celtica, who had 
 overlorded the ancient brachycephalic people who 
 there preceded them. 
 
 Inversely, Briva-Curetia, another old Gaulish town 
 of Limousin, was the centre of gravitation of the 
 first inhabitants, if not their capital. 
 
 In Charente there is only one canton in which the 
 mean index rises over 83. In this canton of 
 Chabanais is the small village of Chassenom on 
 the left bank of the Vienne. It is interesting to see 
 the old Celtic race here, preserved with a relative 
 purity, still grouped around the ruins of its oppidum 
 (Cassinodunum), where, compared with the rest of the 
 Department, it appears as an island surrounded by the 
 combined flood of brown and fair dolichocephals. 
 
 COLOUR OF THE HAIR AND EYES. 
 
 A statistical inquiry concerning the distribution of 
 the colours of the eyes and hair leads to the following 
 results. The browns predominate markedly over the 
 blonds. But for a group of cantons in Creuse all 
 the district should be ranged under the brown or 
 moderately brown categories. 
 
 In the following table the numbers are in relation 
 to 100, the differences between 100 and the fairs and 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 141 
 
 the darks represent the eyes and hair of intermediate 
 tint: — 
 
 
 Eyes. 
 
 Hair. 
 
 Half sum of 
 eyes and hair. 
 
 Excess 
 of dark 
 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Dark. 
 
 Fair. 
 
 Dark 
 
 and 
 
 black. 
 
 Black 
 
 only. 
 
 Light. 
 
 Dark. 
 
 over 
 
 light. 
 
 Haute-Vienne 
 
 36-7 
 
 24-6 
 
 21-8 
 
 49-6 
 
 5-25 
 
 29-2 
 
 37-1 
 
 7-9 
 
 Creuse . 
 
 34-7 
 
 23-3 
 
 2 I>9 
 
 53-9 
 
 6-12 
 
 28-3 
 
 38-6 
 
 io-3 
 
 Charente 
 
 33-8 
 
 23-6 
 
 17-2 
 
 57-6 
 
 5-80 
 
 25-5 
 
 40-6 
 
 I 5 I 
 
 Correze . 
 
 29-5 
 
 23-3 
 
 15-4 
 
 58-4 
 
 3-80 
 
 22-3 
 
 40-9 
 
 18-6 
 
 Dordogne 
 
 34-2 
 
 23-6 
 
 15-0 
 
 66-3 
 
 12-05 
 
 24-6 
 
 45-0 
 
 20-4 
 
 On comparing this table with the map, it will be 
 seen that although Dordogne has an absolute greater 
 number of blonds than Correze it is relatively darker, 
 owing to the fact that the darks are greatly in excess 
 in certain cantons; in other words, Dordogne is 
 more patchy and Correze more uniform in the 
 distribution of their hair and eye colours. It is 
 evident in using the word blond this term is em¬ 
 ployed in only a relative sense. It is with this 
 reserve and for the sake of convenience that the 
 term blond will be employed. In the most blond 
 group, that in the neighbourhood of Aubusson in 
 Creuse, the blonds amount to only 33 ‘6 per cent.—- 
 that is to say, one-third. 
 
 In order to gain a clear conception of the distribu¬ 
 tion of the hair and eye colours, it will be simpler to 
 assume the whole region as originally inhabited by a 
 
142 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 brown population, and then to follow the probable 
 route of the blonds. 
 
 The most important spot where the blond type is 
 best preserved is the east of the Department of 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 The Distribution of combined Hair and Eye Colour in the Dordogne District; 
 after Collignon. 
 
 Excess of Browns from o to io, shaded ; io to 30, blank ; over 30, cross-hatched. 
 
 Creuse, especially the plateau of Gentioux and the 
 upper basin of the river Cher and of its left affluents. 
 
 The second relatively blond region has Limoges 
 for its centre. In certain spots the type is preserved 
 with a remarkable purity, particularly among the 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT i 43 
 
 women. Dr. Collignon was very much struck with 
 the resemblance of these to the women of Cotentin 
 in Normandy. It appears that the blonds radiate 
 om Limoges in four directions; (i) towards the 
 north in the direction of the old Roman road of 
 Argentomagus and Avaricum (Argentan and Bourges), 
 later the route to Paris, that is to say, along the road 
 which united this town with the great blond centres 
 of the North of France; (2) towards the east where 
 it joins with blonds of the Cher region ; (3) to the 
 west in the direction of Angouleme ; and (4) south¬ 
 wards towards Pdricfueux. 
 
 The third route of blond immigration would be the 
 route from Paris to Bordeaux through Angouleme. 
 
 Limoges loimed a centre, and towards the four 
 points of the compass lay four very ancient and 
 important towns, Avaricum (Bourges), Gerg'ovia 
 (Clermont), Vesuna (Pbrigueux), and Ecolisma 
 (Angouleme). 
 
 The latter town was the only one of the four 
 that was not united to Limoges either by a 
 Roman road of the first order, or later by a postal 
 route; and we find in the region between these 
 towns the blonds are deficient. The importance of 
 the communications between Limoges and Bordeaux 
 through Perigueux is affirmed by the long line of 
 blonds which occur along that route. To take a 
 biological simile, Limoges represents a ganglion 
 
I44 the study of man 
 
 protruding its nerve fibres in all directions towards 
 other similar ganglia. 
 
 The distribution of black hair is worthy of note. 
 In Dordogne it is marked in la Double , in the valleys 
 of the rivers Dordogne, Isle, and Dronne. Secondary 
 centres extend towards the north of Charente and 
 of Creuse. There is thus a current inverse to that of 
 the blonds. The great pressure of blonds came from 
 the north-east and from the north ; it traversed the 
 district obliquely in a north-east to south-west line. 
 Inversely the black-haired race appears to be massed 
 in the south-west, and to be distributed, with a 
 gradually decreasing importance, towards the north¬ 
 east and north. 
 
 STATURE. 
 
 The measurements of the stature are not so 
 instructive from a racial point of view as might have 
 been expected. 
 
 All the tall statures are massed at the circumference 
 of the four Departments of which the statistics are 
 available, with the exception of an important centre 
 about Limoges. In the map the distribution of the 
 heights over 1640 mm. (5 ft. 4J in.) is shown by the 
 vertical lines. In mapping the distribution of the 
 statures under 1610 (5 ft. 3J in.) it is seen that 
 besides several scattered areas towards the south 
 of the district under discussion, there is a large central 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 r 45 
 
 area which, following the example of Broca who found 
 a similar area of a dwarfed population in Basse 
 Bretagne, Dr. Collignon calls “ the Limousin black 
 spot (“ la tache noire limousin ”). 
 
 The Distribution of Stature in the Dordogne District (the Department 
 of Creuse is omitted); alter Collignon. 
 
 Stature less than 161 cm. (5ft. 3J ins,), cross-hatched; between 161 and 164 cm., blank ; 
 from 164 (5 ft. 4J ins.) to 166 cm. (5ft. si ins.), shaded. The line A B separates the 
 granites and crystalline rocks on the east from the calcareous beds on the west. 
 
 In other cantons less than io per cent, of the 
 statures have under 1600 (5 ft. 3 in.), those in the 
 black spot have without exception over 30 per cent. ; 
 L 
 
146 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 eight cantons have more than 40 per cent., one has 
 54'7 per cent., while that of Saint Mathieu has 6/6 
 per cent, less than 1600, four below 1540, and 8‘8 per 
 cent, below 1500 (4 ft. 11 in.)! True dwarfs, that is 
 those with a stature below 1500 nim., are exceptional 
 everywhere. 
 
 These figures are not due to an accidental and 
 temporary selection, as the following figures of 
 Bondin prove, which extended over a period of 
 thirty years (1831 — 1860). These tables show that 
 Dordogne, Correze, and Haute-Vienne are among 
 the four Departments in the whole of France which 
 have the greatest number of exemptions from con¬ 
 scription owing to deficiency of stature. The neigh¬ 
 bouring Department of Puy-de-Dome occupies the 
 eighty-fourth rank, with 128 exemptions. 
 
 Exemptions 
 per 1000. 
 
 Rank in 
 France. 
 
 Heights of 
 per 
 
 1732 
 
 1000. 
 
 Rank in 
 France. 
 
 Creuse 
 
 . . 89 
 
 63 
 
 Creuse 
 
 44 
 
 74 
 
 Charente 
 
 . 114 
 
 82 
 
 Correze 
 
 43 
 
 77 
 
 Dordogne 
 
 . . 124 
 
 83 
 
 Charente . 
 
 4 i 
 
 79 
 
 Correze 
 
 . 168 
 
 85 
 
 Dordogne . 
 
 39 
 
 80 
 
 Haute-Vienne . 175 
 
 86 
 
 Haute-Vienne . 
 
 1 
 
 3 1 ' 6 
 
 86 
 
 Inversely the high statures are also at a minimum, 
 Haute-Vienne having the least proportion of tall 
 people and the greatest population of short people 
 of any Department of France. 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 *47 
 
 Bondin and Broca considered that this remarkable 
 shortness was purely a question of race, the normal 
 smallness of the brachycephals. This very simple 
 explanation will no longer suffice, in the presence 
 of the dolichocephaly proved for Dordogne, Charente, 
 and Haute-Vienne. If we compare the maps of the 
 distribution of the cephalic index with those of colour 
 and stature, and mentally superimpose them, we find 
 that there is absolutely not a shadow of a relation 
 between them. The “black spot” extends alike over 
 the brachycephals of Correze, the brown dolicho- 
 cephals of Dordogne, and the fair dolichocephals of 
 Haute-Vienne. There is then no relation between 
 this demonstrated phenomenon and race. 
 
 Some anthropologists seek a cause in the geological 
 character of the soil; but here as in Brittany and 
 Cotentin it explains nothing. It is true that the line 
 of separation between the granites and crystalline 
 rocks on the east and the calcareous beds on the west 
 runs pretty closely along the southern border of the 
 black spot; but we also find the greatest number of 
 high statures on the granites, and the low statures 
 flourish equally well on the Liassic and Cretaceous 
 calcareous beds of Sarladais and Riberacois. 
 
 The only plausible explanation is the social con¬ 
 dition, and in this case it is summed up in the expres¬ 
 sive French term la misere. The steep slopes and 
 barren soil only produce poor cereals, rye, barley, and 
 
148 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 buckwheat. The natives live on these, and on milk 
 and chestnuts. Communication is difficult; no great 
 tillage as in the fertile valleys of the Vienne and 
 Gartempe, none of the larger industries that enrich 
 a people. “In the cantons of Vigeois, Uzerche, and 
 Treignac in Correze,” writes M. Vacher, “the popula¬ 
 tion is settled in confined valleys, in deep gorges 
 receiving little light and air, with an impermeable sub¬ 
 soil and marshy ground.” In a poor country the most 
 elementary hygiene is unknown, the death-rate is 
 raised, and organic defects are more frequent than 
 elsewhere. One of the more direct corollaries of 
 misery is ignorance. In many other parts of France, 
 such as in the Hautes-Alpes and Sologne, poverty 
 is allied with ignorance, and results in the degenera¬ 
 tion of the race. 
 
 THE NASAL INDEX. 
 
 The nasal index is the ratio of the breadth of 
 the wings of the nose to its length, the latter being 
 measured from the root of the nose to where the 
 septum passes into the upper lip. The narrow noses 
 (leptorhines) are those with an index below 70; the 
 mesorhines range from 70 to 85 ; while the broad 
 noses (platyrhines) are those above 85. 
 
 The mean nasal index is 68*8, but the individual 
 range is enormous, 49^9 to 96*4, that is more than 46 
 units. As a whole the mesorhine indices, i.e. y those 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 149 
 
 over 70, are massed in the centre of the five 
 Departments. 
 
 This distribution follows in the main that of the 
 stature. But why ? Simply in accordance with a 
 law previously thus formulated by Collignon : “In a 
 given race, leptorhiny is in direct relation to stature; 
 the higher this is raised the longer the nose, the lower 
 the height the more the nose tends to mesorhiny.” # 
 
 A careful consideration of the data tends to show 
 that, independent of stature, the brachycephals possess 
 a mean nasal index of about 69, that is to say very 
 near mesorhiny, which is in agreement with previous 
 investigations. The dolichocephalic races are more 
 leptorhine. 
 
 One result of this inquiry is that the value of the 
 nasal index has received a serious blow. Certainly 
 this character is very important for the discrimination 
 ol the great trunks of mankind, as has been abund¬ 
 antly proved in anthropological investigations in India, 
 but so far as the European nations are concerned it 
 is incontestable that the nasal index has only a sub¬ 
 sidiary and relative value. 
 
 HEIGHT INDICES OF THE CRANIUM. 
 
 The importance of the vertical height of the 
 cranium as a racial character has been emphasized 
 
 * “ Etude anthropomdtrique dldmentaire des principales Races de 
 France,” Bull. Soc. cTAnlhrop. de Paris , 1883, P- 508. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 15 ° 
 
 by Virchow, but Collignon was the first to study 
 this factor in the living. The two height indices are 
 obtained by comparing the total height of the head 
 measured from the vertex to the centre of the ear- 
 hole with—(i) the length of the head, and (2) its 
 greatest breadth, each of these two diameters being- 
 taken as 100. 
 
 The indices are classified as follows :— 
 
 
 Height-length 
 
 Index. 
 
 Height-breadth 
 
 Index. 
 
 Platycephals .... 
 
 -67 
 
 -83 
 
 Mesocephals .... 
 
 67 - 70 
 
 83-85 
 
 Hypsicephals .... 
 
 70 + 
 
 85 + 
 
 A really high skull, if it is very broad, may appear 
 relatively low, or a low but very narrow head, may 
 appear decidedly hypsicephalic. Hence the necessity 
 to consider first the cephalic index, and thereby to 
 recognize the normal and harmonic fluctuations of the 
 inverse variations of these two vertical indices. 
 
 Dr. Collignon has plotted the distribution of these 
 indices for the Department of Dordogne alone. We 
 have seen that the northern cantons are what^ he 
 termed dolichocephalic, and the southern are brachy- 
 cephalic. The length-height index of the former 
 varies between 65 to 68, and of the latter from 70 
 to 72. Taking the mean at 66 and 70 respectively, 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 IS* 
 
 it follows that the dolichocephals are platycephalic 
 and the brachycephals hypsicephalic ; but this platy- 
 cephaly is a true flattening of the skull, and is not 
 merely due to a lengthening of the cranium, as it is 
 not the most dolichocephalic cantons that are the 
 most platycephalic. 
 
 c 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 Distribution of the Height-length 
 Index in Dordogne ; after Collignon. 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 Distribution of the Height-breadth 
 Index in Dordogne ; after Collignon. 
 
 70 + Hypsicephalic (shaded) 85 + 
 
 67 - 70 Mesocephalic (blank) 83 - 85 
 
 - 67 Platycephalic (cross-hatched) 81-83 
 
 The oblique band enclosed with a thick line corresponds to the division between 
 the dolichocephals and brachycephals. See Fig. 17. 
 
 On the other hand, all the brachycephalic cantons 
 have a height-breadth index of from 81 to 84, that is, 
 they are, or appear to be, platycephalic and meso¬ 
 cephalic, but their mean is mesocephalic. 
 
 The mixed race who inhabit the zone between the 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 152 
 
 brachycephals and dolichocephals (cephalic index 
 80-82) is also intermediate with a height-breadth 
 index of 83-85, but the dolichocephals fall into two 
 groups; the one with indices from 85 to 87 are 
 hypsicephalic, the others, like the brachycephals, are 
 mesocephalic and platycephalic. 
 
 Thus the platycephaly of the valley of the Isle is 
 established. 
 
 The brachycephals are only false platycephals owing 
 to an exaggeration of the transverse diameter. 
 
 Without going into further details, we may now 
 make an attempt to unravel the ethnology of these 
 five Departments. Taking the three characters of 
 cephalic index, colour and stature, we can distinguish : 
 short and dark or tall and fair brachycephals ; fair, tall 
 dolichocephals and dark dolichocephals. 
 
 The brachycephals occupy all the region south of 
 the rivers Dordogne and Vezere, the whole of the 
 Department of Correze and the east of that of Creuse. 
 The brown brachycephalic type extends to the 
 mountainous region of Auvergne, to the east of 
 France and to the south of Germany. This race of 
 short, dark brachycephals is a well-marked type which 
 has received several names. Dr. Collignon, for want 
 of a better term, adopts Broca’s designation of Celts, 
 as the founder of French Anthropology considered 
 that these were essentially the Celtae of Caesar. They 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 153 
 
 are often called Auvergnats. The tall, fair variety 
 is due to a crossing of this type with the fair race. 
 A similar racial mixture occurs in Lorraine. 
 
 The fair dolichocephals inhabit the upper valley 
 of the Cher; the neighbourhood of Limoges, whence 
 they spread to the south, following the plateaux that 
 separate the valleys of the Isle and of the Dordogne ; 
 and also the north of Charente, Angouleme, and in 
 general along the very ancient route between Paris 
 and Bordeaux. These are the modified descendants 
 of the tall, fair, dolichocephalic race of North Europe. 
 Dr. Collignon speaks of it as the Hallstadt race. 
 
 The brown dolichocephals require further analysis. 
 
 (1) A type can be distinguished which is character¬ 
 ized by its relative platycephaly, the extreme broaden¬ 
 ing of the face, a prominent chin, low orbits, and by 
 the dark colour of the skin and hair. As it is usual 
 in Europe to correlate a long, narrow face with a long¬ 
 head, and a short broad face with a rounded head, 
 the association, as in this case, of a long head with a 
 broad face forms what is termed a disharmony. In 
 the fair dolichocephals, on the other hand, the head is 
 high, the face narrow, the chin moderately prominent, 
 the orbits normal, the skin, hair, and eyes fair. It is 
 obvious that these two races are entirely distinct. 
 
 (2) A narrow-faced dolichocephal with a high head 
 can be distinguished, but Dr. Collignon believes that 
 it is a cross between two races, the brown and the fair 
 
154 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 dolichocephals. This is a very favourable combination, 
 and gives rise to a beautiful variety of man. 
 
 (3) A rare but recognizable type, with an extra¬ 
 ordinarily narrow and elongated face, a retreating 
 forehead, projecting jaws, and retreating chin; the 
 concave nose is so broad as to be nearly platyrhine, 
 the hair and skin are dark. 
 
 Putting the second of these two varieties out of 
 count, there only remain the brown dolichocephal with 
 a disharmonic face, and that with a retreating chin. 
 They both live in the basin of the Isle and its 
 affluents, as much in Charente as in Dordogne. 
 
 From numerous other investigations we know that 
 the Neolithic dolichocephals of Western and Southern 
 Europe were a slight people with brown hair. They 
 constitute the Mediterranean race of Sergi, the western 
 branch being generally termed Iberians. The ancient 
 cave-men of France belong to the same race; by 
 comparing certain indices of these with the first group 
 of our brown dolichocephals, we find a remarkable 
 correspondence :— # 
 
 
 Cephalic 
 
 Index. 
 
 Height-length 
 
 Index. 
 
 Height-breadth 
 
 Index. 
 
 Caverne de l’homme mort 
 
 Dolicho. 
 
 Platyceph. 
 
 Mesoceph. 
 
 Old man of Cro-Magnon 
 
 >> 
 
 >> 
 
 Platy. 
 
 Recent Dordogne . 
 
 J5 
 
 
 Platy.&Meso. 
 
 * These indices are taken from a subsequent memoir by Dr. 
 COLLTGNON, {Mtfm. Soc. d’Anth. de Paris), i. (3 e ser.), 1895, pp. 94, 95. 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 155 
 
 Further, the Cro-Magnon man had a disharmonic 
 face; this is also characteristic of the Neolithic doli- 
 chocephal of Laugerie, and it survives in their descen¬ 
 dants in the valley of the Isle. 
 
 The remaining brown dolichocephalic type, with its 
 low-typed, long, narrow, prognathous face, is con¬ 
 sidered by Dr. Collignon to be the far-removed 
 descendants of the Quaternary race of Canstadt and 
 Spy. The same type has been recognized by him 
 in Tunis among the Berbers of Djerid (his race 
 Getule ), as well as in Dordogne and in the south of 
 Charente; that is to say, in places still occupied by 
 the descendants of the race of Cro-Magnon. It 
 might be expected that the very ancient race of Can¬ 
 stadt and the later race of Cro-Magnon were together 
 beaten back by the great prehistoric invasions of 
 Western Europe. 
 
 A few words will suffice to trace the prehistoric 
 settlements and racial movements that have occurred 
 in this district. 
 
 The earliest inhabitants were probably the people 
 with retreating chins. According to the opinion of 
 Dr. Collignon these were kinsmen to Palaeolithic man. 
 At the present day, as is only to be expected, this type 
 is very rarely met with in anything like purity, and it 
 is very difficult to isolate it statistically. 
 
 The whole west of Europe was later occupied by 
 the brown dolichocephals, the Iberian branch of the 
 
±5^ THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 great Mediterranean race, of which the Cro-Magnon 
 man was a variety. They buried their dead in the 
 caves of the valleys of the Vezere, Isle, and Dronne. 
 Judging from their art they were a skilful people, and 
 not devoid of culture :— 
 
 “Later he pictured an aurochs—later'he pictured a bear— 
 
 Pictured the sabre-toothed tiger dragging a man to his lair— 
 Pictured the mountainous mammoth, hairy, abhorrent, alone— 
 Out of the love that he bore them, scribing them clearly on bone.”* 
 
 There, protected in their barren, rocky valleys, 
 weathering the storm of race conflict, unsubmerged 
 by waves of race migration, still survive the children 
 of early Neolithic man. 
 
 Also in Neolithic times a short, dark, brachycephalic 
 folk came into France from the east by two routes 
 flowing north and south of the Alps. The invasion 
 followed the left bank of the Danube, entered the 
 valley of the Rhine, and later spread into France 
 through the pass of Belfort and by the lower Moselle. 
 A second, probably later and less important, invasion 
 crossed the river to reach Upper Italy and Switzer¬ 
 land, and thence gained the valley of the Rhone. Thus 
 their migration has been from east to west. 
 
 When the invasions came of the tall, fair dolicho- 
 cephals,—Kymri, Gauls, Cimbrians, Burgundians, 
 Visigoths, Franks, &c.,—they more particularly 
 
 * Rudyard KIPLING, “The Story of Ung,” The Seven Seas (1896), 
 p. 129. 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 157 
 
 followed a course parallel to the North Sea. From 
 an ill-determined point to the north-east or north they 
 advanced invariably along the plains, probably on 
 account of the chariots which they always brought 
 with them. After having covered the plains of North 
 Germany, where since then their descendants have 
 always lived, and which became a second centre for 
 emigrations, they passed to the north of the Black 
 Forest to scatter upon the Netherlands and Flanders, 
 the valley of the Seine and that of the Rhine. Thence 
 their swarms were divided by the central plateau of 
 France; one stream being diverted into Italy, the 
 other into Spain, and thence to North Africa. 
 
 The Roman conquest scarcely, if at all, affected the 
 population of these five Departments, and it is more 
 than certain that since then no foreign element has 
 produced any result that can be traced, for all the 
 Barbarians, as well as the English, belonged to the 
 fair race. 
 
 In a subsequent memoir on the Anthropology of 
 the South-West of France (Mim. Soc. dAnthroft. de 
 Paris, i., 3° ser., 4 0 fascic., 1895), Dr. Collignon sums 
 up his conclusions as follows :— 
 
 Such is, after an examination of anatomical 
 characters, the distribution of the races in the 
 south-west of our country. Is it possible to draw 
 therefrom reliable indications of what it was formerly? 
 Regarding this we may lay down this rule. When. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 158 
 
 a race is well seated in a region, fixed to the soil 
 by agriculture, acclimatized by natural selection and 
 sufficiently dense, it opposes, for the most precise 
 observations confirm it, an enormous resistance to 
 absorption by the new comers, whoever they may be. 
 
 The most striking example of this stability of 
 seated races, of this force of inertia which renders 
 them victorious, is certainly presented to us by 
 Egypt. The modern Fellah differs in nowise from 
 his ancestors several millenniums ago, who lived at 
 the times of Tothmes and Rhameses, although, 
 according to the calculations of M. Hamy, slavery 
 had introduced upon the borders of the Nile more 
 than twenty millions of negroes. These, in a climate 
 which at first sight would be favourable to their 
 acclimatization, were not able to perpetuate their 
 race, neither directly nor indirectly, that is to say, 
 by crossing. All the more reason, one may say, 
 that the same can be said of the historic conquerors 
 of this unfortunate country, from the Hyksos and the 
 Persians down to the Turks and the latest comers, the 
 English. The waves of foreign blood that have spread 
 over Egypt have disappeared never to return. 
 
 The reasons are many. If the aboriginal race is 
 more numerous than its invaders, and this is nearly 
 always the case, it cannot be entirely destroyed; 
 whatever be the slaughter which accompanies the 
 conquest, the women and the children are preserved, 
 
THE DORDOGNE DISTRICT 
 
 159 
 
 The importance of the subsequent crossings cannot 
 then, at the maximum, attain more than one-third. 
 The stable condition that follows puts then ipso facto 
 the new comer in a minority from the commencement 
 of the conquest, the work of selection by acclima¬ 
 tization does the rest. It is a matter of a few 
 
 generations. 
 
 The only case where the occupation can be 
 
 definitive is that of an invasion by a very superior 
 race emigrating with women and children to a region 
 peopled by nomads or true savages, such as the 
 occupation of the United States or of Australia by 
 the Europeans. In Canada, despite the political 
 occupation and the incessant arrival of emigrants 
 of their own blood, the English are absolutely 
 balanced by the old French element, who were 
 
 masters of the soil before their arrival. 
 
 But the presence of woman at the time of a 
 conquest, if she is indispensable to a real and 
 
 definitive colonization, since alone it ensures the 
 perpetuity of pure descendants, is not, however, 
 sufficient. Except in a savage country, the women 
 of the conquering party would always be in a 
 minority. Even in the case where restrictive laws 
 would assure to their progeny particular privileges, 
 making a kind of aristocracy, it could never happen 
 that there would be only two strata of the popula¬ 
 tion, a victorious aristocracy superimposed upon a 
 
i6o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 conquered democracy. We know the fate of all 
 aristocracies. Their grandeur is their ruin; they 
 survive thanks only to foreign relays, and on an 
 average disappear in three or four centuries. One 
 cannot say “ Vce victis ,” but “ Vce victoribzis ”: 
 everything comes to him who waits. 
 
 The Romans did not systematically depopulate 
 Gaul, her submission satisfied them ; the distribution 
 of races at the time of the Roman peace did not 
 undergo other changes than those which could 
 operate quite locally, the deporting of a too ob¬ 
 streperous people or colonizing by veterans. The 
 Barbarians passed like a torrent; they destroyed 
 much, but they have not made in their campaigns 
 a true colonization, “ ense et aratro ” of Marshall 
 Bugeaud. The sword sufficed to assure their 
 
 domination ; to the vanquished—work. They have 
 disappeared, except perhaps in the towns where they 
 crossed with the Gallo-Roman middle class, after 
 having preserved the forms or the imperial adminis¬ 
 tration, for want of knowing and of being able to 
 do better. The Arabs traversed the country, but 
 
 to immediately disappear. It results, once more let 
 it be repeated, that the present distribution of races 
 should faithfully represent to us their ancient dis¬ 
 tribution, except in places where special economic 
 
 conditions have been slowly modified, but in a 
 
 constant manner, by foreign influences. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 I T is a truism that the commonest objects, those 
 that we see around us every day, usually fail 
 to arouse any interest as to their significance or 
 origin. One of the great benefits of travel is to 
 awaken interest in even the most trivial matters of 
 daily life, and this is usually accomplished through 
 the diversity in their appearance from that to which 
 we are accustomed to see at home. 
 
 We who live in Britain, for example, see carts 
 every day, but do we ever wonder what has been 
 their history ? We accept the finished product and 
 there leave it, little thinking that in the sister isle 
 there still persist strange survivals from the twilight 
 of history which afford suggestive clues of the 
 forgotten stages in the evolution of our common 
 cart. 
 
 In this case no distant travel is necessary, there is 
 no need to go to Asia or Africa, nor even to the 
 remote parts of Europe; at our very door, so to 
 speak, have we the links in the chain of evidence, 
 
 161 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 scarce one is missing. Probably such a sequence 
 cannot be found in any other country in the world. 
 
 The history of the cart is one chapter of a 
 much greater study—that of transport. The civili¬ 
 zation of the world and the spread of culture are 
 bound up with facility of transport, including in this 
 term the means of conveyance and porterage, and the 
 routes traversed. 
 
 Without doubt the most primitive means of trans¬ 
 port was what an American anthropologist has termed 
 “the human beast of burden.” This has always been 
 an important, but it tends to become a diminishing 
 factor, though it can never be entirely replaced by 
 other means. The absence of any other method of 
 porterage is a sure sign of that low stage of culture 
 which is termed savagery. Its extensive employment 
 in higher grades of culture is due to slavery. Slave 
 raiders load their human chattels with objects of 
 merchandise to ultimately sell the whole caravan. 
 The great architectural and engineering works of 
 pagan antiquity were possible only through slave or 
 forced labour. It would appear from this that under 
 certain conditions human labour is more economical 
 than beast labour, but sooner or later man has been 
 in most places largely replaced by the beast, and the 
 beast is being replaced by the freight train and other 
 mechanical modes of transport. 
 
 A professional carrier can carry continuously 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 163 
 
 greater weight than an ordinary man ; and fifty, one 
 hundred, two hundred pounds, and even greater 
 weights are on record as usual weights for a day’s 
 journey. As soon as man learnt to domesticate, 
 animals he found that more could be carried upon 
 their backs than upon his own. So the pack-animal 
 marks the next stage of development. 
 
 In some parts of the west of Ireland there are 
 no good roads, and everything has to be carried by 
 human beings, or on packs by horses and asses. 
 Even where the roads are good, as in the islands of 
 Imshbofin and Inishshark, off the coast of Galway, 
 they may be used for only foot traffic, as there are 
 no wheeled vehicles of any description, and all goods 
 are carried either in hampers slung on a person’s 
 back (the usual method of taking home potatoes and 
 peats), or in two wicker panniers or cleaves, slung 
 across the back of a pony or donkey. 
 
 With the building of good roads the primitive 
 means of transport are being superseded by later 
 methods; but these new means of porterage are 
 examples of the latest mechanical developments, the 
 centuries of slow transition have been skipped, and 
 light railways already, and auto-cars may in the 
 immediate future, follow closely on the heels of the 
 old-time human beast of burden and his dumb 
 companions. 
 
 By-and-by it came to be discovered that an animal 
 
164 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 could draw considerably greater weights than it could 
 carry. A porter who goes short distances and returns 
 unloaded can carry 135 pounds seven miles a day, 
 but the same man can carry in a wheelbarrow 150 
 pounds ten miles a day, that is, half as much again. 
 
 When the red-skins of America shift camp they 
 trail their tent poles behind their horses, pack up all 
 their goods and chattels in the skin tent, and tie 
 the bundle on to the poles. They are then free to 
 move wherever they choose. Even the dogs may be 
 employed to carry smaller loads on trailing stakes. 
 This is a natural device, but one wonders how these 
 nomad hunters managed in the horseless pre- 
 Columbian days. 
 
 Captain Burt in his celebrated “ Letters from a 
 Gentleman in the North of Scotland to his Friend in 
 London ” (1754). gives an lustration of a vehicle 
 consisting of two poles drawn by a small ill-kempt 
 pony. The body of the cart is formed by two pieces 
 of wood bent in a semi-circle, the ends of which are 
 fastened to the shafts, the one close behind the pony 
 and the other a little distance behind ; the arches are 
 steadied at the top by a piece of wood running from 
 the one to the other. Thin pieces of wood, osiers 
 perhaps, pass at intervals across the floor and ends of 
 this very primitive contrivance. 
 
 gjj. Arthur Mitchell found in Strathglass, K intail, 
 and elsewhere, in the years 1863 and 1864, carts 
 
the evolution OE THE CART I6s 
 
 in use without wheels exactly of the kind just 
 described ; these are figured by Dr. Mitchell in his 
 su &g es ti ye book, The Past in the Present. 
 
 If this vehicle has died out in Wales it must have 
 done so very recently, at all events it is still in full use 
 in certain parts of Ireland, notably in the Glens of 
 Antrim. 
 
 On looking at the illustrations it will be seen that 
 the Irish slide-car is primitive enough. Two shafts 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 Slide-car, Inverness (1754); after Burt. 
 
 are harnessed on to a horse, the ends which drag 
 on the ground are shod with short runners or shoes, 
 sometimes the runners lie their whole length on the 
 ground, or more generally they are tilted up so as 
 to have pretty much the same slant as the shafts. 
 (Plate III.) These runners, which do not appear 
 in the figures given by Sir Arthur Mitchell, are a 
 useful addition, as they save the lower ends of the 
 shafts from wear and tear. The shafts are kept apart 
 by cross-bars. In one car in Plate III., 2, three holes 
 
i66 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 are seen in the last cross-bar, in which upright stakes 
 can be inserted, as in the car in the background of 
 Plate IV., Fig. i, to retain the corn or the whins (as 
 furze is called in Ireland) from slipping down behind. 
 The lashing of a wicker basket or creel on to the 
 shafts is an obvious step in advance, and these are 
 used to bring down potatoes from the fields or turfs 
 from the mountain. The straw harness in the upper 
 figure of Plate III. is an interesting survival, and 
 that, combined with the slide-car, carries us back 
 to very primitive times. 
 
 The modern Irish name for this wheelless cart is 
 the same as the old Gaelic name, Carr Sliunain. 
 Dr. Sullivan * states that there is no reason to 
 suppose that the Irish Carr is a loan-word from the 
 Latin Carrus , the stem Car being probably common 
 to the Latin, the Germanic, and the Celtic languages. 
 
 The Irish warrior of ancient times habitually carried 
 a couple of spears, and a native poet, singing of the 
 pursuit of a certain warrior, tells us that— 
 
 “ The track of his two spears through the marsh 
 Was like the ruts of a car over weak grassy stubbles.” 
 
 The phrase “weak grassy stubbles” refers to the 
 rich after-grass of soft meadows.^ This is perhaps 
 the first reference to the slide-car. 
 
 * W. K. Sullivan, Introduction to E. O’Curry, Manners and Customs 
 of the Ancient Irish , 1873, i., p. cccclxxvi. 
 
 t Loc. tit., p. ccccxliii. 
 
Plate III. 
 
 Fig. 2. Slide-car, Co. Antrim; from a photograph by the Author. 
 
 [To face page 166. 
 
 Fig. i. Slide-car, Co. Antrim ; from a photograph by Welch. 
 

THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 167 
 
 - Dr. Mitchell strikes a note of warning that is, 
 perhaps, not unneeded. 
 
 “ When I saw,” he says, “ what these carts were employed 
 in doing, namely, transporting peats, ferns, and hay from high 
 grounds down very steep hills entirely without roads, I saw 
 that the contrivance was admirably adapted for its purpose, 
 and that wheeled carts would have been useless for that 
 work. But I saw more than this; I saw that these carts 
 were used doing the exact analogue of what is done every 
 day in the advanced south. When boulders, for instance, are 
 removed on sledges from the fields in which they have been 
 turned up ; when trees are transported on sledges from the 
 high grounds on which they have been cut; when a heavily- 
 laden lorry puts on the drag as it comes down hill—what is it 
 that we see but carts without wheels—carts without wheels 
 preferred to carts with wheels, whenever the circumstances in 
 which they are to be used makes the want of the wheels an 
 advantage. It is not always an evidence of capacity or skill 
 to use elaborate or fine machinery. A rough, rude tool may 
 for certain purposes be the most efficient, and may show 
 wisdom both in its contriver and employer. It would 
 certainly show a want of wisdom in the Kintail Highlanders, 
 if they used wheeled carts to do the work they require of 
 their wheelless carts. Indeed, they could not so use them, 
 except by putting the drag on hard and fast—being first at 
 the trouble of getting wheels, and then at the trouble of 
 preventing them from turning.” 
 
 The same argument can be applied to Ireland. In 
 a very hilly country half the time one is going up-hill 
 and the other half down-hill; when going up-hill there 
 is no load, and consequently the slide-car, being so 
 
i68 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 very light, is practically of no weight for a horse. 
 Coming down-hill with a load a rigid vehicle has 
 to be employed in any case, and so the slide-car is 
 equally efficient, the chief drawback being that it can 
 carry so little, but this is not of much account in small 
 holdings. The slide-car has, further, the great recom¬ 
 mendation of being made easily and cheaply without 
 requiring the services of a skilled carpenter or wheel¬ 
 wright. It is also as easily repaired, and all the 
 materials are ready to hand. 
 
 It is also interesting to note that these very primi¬ 
 tive carts can be constructed entirely of wood and 
 thongs, or ropes, and there is no necessity for any 
 metal to be employed. 
 
 We now come to a gap in the evidence of the 
 evolutionary history of the cart that is not easy to fill. 
 What was the precursor of the wheel ? There can 
 be little doubt that the wheel was derived by slow 
 modifications of an antecedent object, and there is a 
 strong presumption that this “ missing link ” was a 
 roller, but there does not appear to be any positive 
 evidence to render this view absolutely certain. 
 
 The mechanical principle of the roller was known 
 to remote antiquity, .and it is generally accepted that 
 the great stones of megalithic monuments, such as 
 menhirs, cromlechs, and the like, were transported 
 in this manner, as we know were the great statues 
 of Assyria and Egypt. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 169 
 
 It is not presupposing too much to surmise that 
 a cylindrical tree-trunk might be placed beneath the 
 shafts of a slide-car, or of a sledge, in order to reduce 
 the friction. A constructional problem arises from 
 the difficulty of keeping it in position. This could be 
 overcome in the former by placing a short roller 
 between the shafts and fixing a pin in the centre of 
 each end of the roller, which could then revolve in a 
 notch in the shafts, as in the accompanying diagram, 
 or between two pegs, as in the Portugese cart, Fig. 31. 
 
 We must imagine a further development, which 
 is also missing from Ireland, in the reduction of the 
 central portion. This would become the practice as 
 soon as man discovered that efficiency was increased 
 by reducing the long frictional surface, and that the 
 weight was lessened. 
 
 Herr Stephan, the late enlightened Postmaster- 
 General of the German Empire, to whom we owe the 
 introduction of the post-card, described, according to 
 Poesche,* a very primitive cart that he saw in Portu¬ 
 gal. A log is cut from the trunk of a large tree, the 
 central portion is hacked away so as to leave a solid 
 disc at each end joined by an axle. Poesche also 
 mentions an ancient Egyptian battle scene, in which 
 a large Aryan woman is depicted carrying off a 
 wounded brother, husband, or son, on a waggon with 
 similar wheels drawn by oxen. 
 
 * T. Poesche, Die Arier , 1878 , p. 98 . 
 
17 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAD 
 
 This explanation of the origin of wheels has been 
 adopted by various writers # who have, however, re¬ 
 garded the sledge as the parent of the cart, as it was 
 on sledges that the colossal statues of Egypt and the 
 winged bulls of Assyria were rolled. 
 
 Dr. E. Hahn, however, in his learned and sugges- 
 
 Diagrams illustrating a probable evolution of wheels from a roller. 
 
 tive essay, Demeter und Bazibo, argues against this 
 view. He thinks that in this case wheeled vehicles 
 would have arisen wherever rollers have been em¬ 
 ployed ; but it is not so, the waggon arose only in the 
 district from which agriculture originally spread. He 
 
 * Reuleaux, Theoretische Kinematik , Braunschweig, 1875, p. 204; 
 Kinematics of Machinery. 
 
 E. B. Tylor, “On the Origin of the Plough and Wheel-carriage,'’ 
 Journ. Anth Tnst. } x., 1880, p. 74 - 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 171 
 
 believes that the waggon was primitively a holy 
 implement consecrated to the great goddess of agri¬ 
 culture and fertility, and that it only subsequently 
 became a secular farm implement. 
 
 Dr. Hahn* definitely states as his belief that the 
 waggon has arisen because the wheel existed. The 
 wheel in its most simple form is only a disc pierced 
 through the centre. Such discs of stone, clay, &c., 
 occurred in the same culture district as that in which 
 agriculture arose, and was at the same time an imple¬ 
 ment and a religious object. This is the spinning 
 whorl, and the sacred symbols, such as the svastika, 
 on numerous whorls from Hissarlik, suggest that 
 they were often used as votive offerings. As spin¬ 
 ning was an occupation of the women, these whorls 
 were probably dedicated to a female divinity, presum¬ 
 ably to the goddess of Nature and generation. 
 
 It is only necessary to stick two or four of these 
 whorls on one or two pieces of stick, and to fasten 
 something over the axis, and a waggon would result. 
 That these whorls are not large explains also the 
 small size of many holy waggons. Later, following 
 this model, large waggons were made, and these holy 
 waggons were drawn by the sacred animal of the 
 great goddess, the ox, and conveyed the image of the 
 goddess. 
 
 * E. Hahn, Demeter und Baubo, Versuch einer Theorie der Entste- 
 hung u?isres Ackerbaus , 1896, Liibeck. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 172 
 
 There is no need to follow Dr. Hahn in his dis¬ 
 quisition on the curious wheeled objects of the Bronze 
 Age, which were probably votive offerings, or at all 
 events were religious symbols. His idea is that the 
 small objects were symbols of the large real waggon 
 in which rode the god or goddess, or the image of the 
 deity. 
 
 Most students of ceremonial institutions will 
 probably demur to Hahn’s position. In the first 
 place, there is no reason to believe that agriculture 
 was discovered only in some area of Eurasia, and 
 that the art thence spread over the greater part of 
 the habitable world. Then the evolution of spindle 
 whorls into cart wheels scarcely appears probable. It 
 seems more in consonance with what we know of the 
 history of sacred institutions and implements, that the 
 waggon had an industrial origin, and it may well be 
 that it arose in close connection with agriculture; the 
 operations of agriculture have always been closely 
 connected with religion, and there is no reason to 
 deny that the agricultural cart at its inception may 
 have been associated with the cult of agriculture. 
 The small size of the votive offerings or wheeled 
 symbols is no matter for surprise. On the whole, 
 then, we may accept the older view of the origin of 
 wheels as being the more probable alternative. 
 
 Dr. Hahn points out that he is dealing solely with 
 the four-wheeled ox-waggon which was used for 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 173 
 
 religious purposes. Later two-wheeled horse-chariots 
 were invented, and were used from India to Britain 
 and North Africa. He adduces the authority of old 
 Johann Scheffer, who published a book entitled De re 
 vehiculari, in 1671, for the opinion that, contrary to 
 what one would expect, the four-wheeled ox-waggon 
 was the first vehicle, then the taming of horses led to 
 the two-wheeled chariots or carts, and finally the 
 horses were ridden. 
 
 The earliest history of the cart will perhaps always 
 remain in obscurity; it is indeed probable that it 
 arose independently in more than one area. The 
 ancestral slide-car may have been one source, and it is 
 by no means unlikely that a framework on rollers, 
 which was used for moving large masses of stone, or 
 even the common sledge, may also have given rise to 
 a four-wheeled waggon. 
 
 We must now return from this long digression to 
 a consideration of certain wheeled vehicles that are 
 still in use, or, till recently, were employed in the 
 British Islands. The wheels, however, are of small 
 diameter, and are solid instead of having spokes. 
 
 In Capt. Burt’s famous Letters ,* we find illustrations 
 of two kinds of block-wheel cart that were in use in 
 Inverness about 1730. Both of them are simple 
 modifications of the slide-car, which, as we have 
 
 * Burt, Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland to his 
 Friend in London, 1754. 
 
174 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 already seen, was in contemporary use with them, 
 with the addition of wheels. Concerning the latter 
 we read :—• 
 
 “THE Wheels, when new, are about a Foot and half high, 
 but are soon worn very small: They are made of three pieces 
 of Plank, pinned together at the Edges like the Head of a 
 Butter Firkin, and the Axeltree goes round with the Wheel, 
 which having some Part of the Circumference with the Grain, 
 and other Parts not, it wears unequally, and in a little Time 
 is rather angular than round, which causes a disagreeable 
 Noise, as it moves upon the Stones.” 
 
 One of these carts appears to be nothing more than 
 a wheeled slide-car, if the term be allowed, in which a 
 round wicker basket is jammed between the shafts just 
 behind the pony. 
 
 The other consists of an open framework, the base 
 of which is formed by the two shafts ; and, as a con¬ 
 sequence, the basket-like body of the cart is tilted up 
 at the same angle as the latter. This is “ that species 
 wherein they carry their Peats. 
 
 A very similar cart to the last is engraved on the 
 map illustrating Twiss’s A Tour in Ireland in 
 1775 ; but in this there is no front to the cart, and 
 the side rails decrease in size from behind forwards* 
 and cease by the flanks of the horse, so that when the 
 
 * These are called kellachies ; for another account of these and other 
 primitive carts, see G. L. Gomme, The Village Community (1890), pp. 
 278, 286. Isaac Taylor, The Origin of the Aryans (1890), p. 179, may 
 also be consulted. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 175 
 
 cart is being drawn the tops of the rails are approxi¬ 
 mately horizontal. An illustration (Fig. 25) of the 
 same cart is given by Croker. # 
 
 In an engraving by James Malton, published in 
 1 79 1 » °f the College Green, Dublin,! we find an illus¬ 
 tration of a cart which consists of two shafts which 
 
 B 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 Two block-wheel carts, Inverness (1754) ; after Burt, 
 
 rest on pivots jutting out from the centre of two solid 
 wooden wheels, which are connected together by a 
 thick quadrangular axle-tree. In this cart the wheels 
 and the axle are solidly joined together, and revolve 
 
 * T. Crofton Croker, Researches in the South of Ireland , 1824. 
 t Malton and COWEN, A Picturesque and Descriptive View of the 
 City of Dublin in 1791. 
 
176 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 as one piece. The only difference between the wheels 
 of this cart and those of our second “missing-link,” 
 as it may be termed, is that in the latter they are made 
 out of a single tree-trunk, as in the Portuguese cart, 
 whereas in the former they are built up of several 
 pieces of wood. Owing to the small size of the 
 wheels the shafts are inclined at a great angle, and in 
 order to get it level, the platform of the cart has to be 
 propped up behind by a couple of stakes ; or, to put it 
 in other words, boards are laid across the side-rails of 
 such a cart as that figured in the Tour in Ireland. 
 
 There are contemporary engravings of other carts 
 published towards the end of last century, which 
 represent very similar carts—in counties Dublin and 
 Wicklow for example—but in which the wheels are 
 outside of the shafts; as no linch-pin is drawn we must 
 assume that in these too the axle revolved along with 
 the wheels. 
 
 These carts are described in the following manner 
 by Twiss in his anonymously published book, A 
 Tour in Ireland in 1775 : — 
 
 “ Goods are conveyed about the city on small two-wheeled 
 cars, drawn by a single horse; the wheels are thin round 
 blocks, each about twenty inches in diameter. The wheels of 
 those cars which are used in the country are placed at a 
 greater distance from each other than those of city cars. 
 
 Quite similar cars may still be seen in use in the 
 north of Ireland, from County Donegal to County 
 
Plate IV. 
 
 Fig. 2. Block-wheel car, Carrickfergus; from a photograph by Welch. 
 
 [To face page 176, 
 
 Fig. 1. Block-wheel car, Glenshesk ; from a photograph by Welch. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 177 
 
 Down. The wheels may be within the shafts and 
 with a revolving axle; now, however, the latter is 
 usually quite slender; or the wheels may be outside the 
 shafts and with a linch-pin, showing that the axle 
 is fixed and that the wheels alone revolve. Planks 
 may be movably attached to the edges of the plat- 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Irish low-back car (1824); after Croker. 
 
 form, or the sides may be permanently fastened, and 
 so a cart, as opposed to what is more correctly termed 
 a float or a lorry, is evolved. 
 
 The North Irish peasant-farmer, when he wishes to 
 crush the clods of earth on his dry fields, will lift 
 the cart with its shafts off the wheels, and re¬ 
 place them on a wooden roller, resembling the sketch 
 on page 170, and to increase its effectiveness he puts 
 stones into the cart. The cart, save for its platform, 
 thus reverts to the stage of the first “ missing-link.” 
 
 N 
 
THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 178 
 
 “In Borrowdale it is on record that wheeled vehicles did 
 not make their appearance till about 1770; and when these 
 novelties did reach the lakes, they were clumsy and awkward 
 in character. Clog-wheels were the first type used on farm 
 carts, and there are still old men, of between eighty and 
 ninety years, who can remember them in use. The wheels 
 are clumsy discs of wood, joined by a great beam or axle, 
 which is firmly fastened to them. The wheels are 1 ft. 
 ioj ins. in diameter, and 3 ins. wide in the tyre, where the 
 iron bands or ‘ strakes ’ are formed by three pieces nailed to 
 the wood. The distance between the wheels is 3 ft. 2 ins.”* 
 
 But the cart is, so to speak, only half-fledged, it 
 moves along slowly and heavily on its small, solid 
 wheels. 
 
 The evolution of the spoke-wheel was probably a 
 slow affair, and its stages are missing from Ireland, so 
 we must turn elsewhere for evidence. 
 
 The employment of spoke-wheels is, however, of 
 great antiquity. Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez note 
 that :— 
 
 “Not one of the Assyrian military pictures can be named 
 in which war chariots do not appear, and they are by no means 
 the heavy and clumsy cars now used in some parts both of 
 European and Asiatic Turkey. Their wheels are far from 
 being those solid discs of timber that are alone capable 
 of resisting the inequalities of a roadless country. They 
 have not the lightness of a modern carriage, with its tires 
 of beaten steel, but the felloes of their wheels are light and 
 graceful enough to prove that the roads of those times were 
 
 * H. Swainson Cowper, “ Some Old-fashioned Contrivances in 
 Lakeland,” The Reliquary and Illusti-ated Archceologist , iv., 1898, p. 20. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 179 
 
 better than anything the Mesopotamia of to-day can show. 
 The spokes, which seem to have been fitted with great care 
 and nicety, are, as a rule, eight in number.” * 
 
 The chariot probably came into Egypt with the 
 horse about the time of the oriental Pastoral Kings 
 (2098-1587 b.c.), and it came as a fully-developed 
 vehicle. 
 
 In the early Cyprian tombs clay models of chariots 
 have been found; these are modelled with solid wheels, 
 sometimes spokes are painted on the clay; other 
 models, though decorated with structural details, are 
 almost certainly intended to represent vehicles with 
 block wheels. On the sarcophagi and on some vases 
 the chariots have spokes. Messrs. Perrot and 
 Chipiez,f while admitting that all war chariots had 
 a strong family likeness to each other, deny the 
 artist borrowed from Assyrian sources, and state 
 their belief that he went no farther than his native 
 city; “ even the wheel-spokes are different; they 
 are more solid and heavy in the Cypriot example, 
 the wheelwright who made them has less skill than 
 his Mesopotamian rival.” 
 
 To come nearer home, a beautiful bronze bucket 
 was discovered in 1891 on the banks of the Danube, J 
 
 * G. Perrot and C. Chipiez, A History of Art in Chaldea and 
 Assyria, ii., p. 75. 
 
 t A History of Art in Phoenicia and Cyprus , i., p. 209; ii., pp. 181, 
 310 et seq. 
 
 J J. Szombathy, “ Die Gottweiger Situla,” Correspondenz-Blatt 
 Dcutsch Anth. Gesell., xxiii., 1892, p. 9. 
 
i8o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 about 37 miles to the east of Vienna. It belonged to 
 the period of transition between those of Hallstatt 
 and La Tene, that is to say about the commencement 
 of the fourth century b.c., or at the time when iron was 
 replacing bronze for cutting implements in that part of 
 Europe. Amongst other subjects a chariot race is 
 engraved on this bucket, or situla ; the wheels of the 
 chariots are either block-wheels with four nearly 
 circular perforations, or spoke-wheels with four very 
 
 Celtic Chariot, from the Gottweiger Situla ; after Szombathy. 
 
 broad spokes. This was evidently the character of the 
 wheels of the war chariots of the Celts; we may 
 assume that those of their waggons were of yet ruder 
 construction. 
 
 The Roman evidence has been conveniently sum¬ 
 marized by J. Yates and G. E. Marindin in their 
 article on the “ Plaustrum.” # The body consisted of 
 a platform, with or without sides ; these were upright 
 boards or open-work rails, or a large wicker basket 
 
 * A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities , edited by W. Smith, 
 W. Wayte, and G. E. Marindin, 1891. Th z flaustrum was a heavy 
 two-wheeled cart j the four-wheeled was the flaustrum majus. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 181 
 
 was fastened on the platform. The wheels ordinarily 
 had no spokes,* but were solid of the kind called 
 tympana or “ drums,” nearly a foot in thickness, and 
 made either by sawing them whole from the trunk of 
 a tree or by nailing together boards. These wheels 
 were fastened to the axle, which revolved within 
 wooden rings attached to the underside of the plat¬ 
 form. Although these wheels were excellent for the 
 preservation of the roads, they turned with a long 
 circuit, and advanced slowly and with a creaking 
 sound, f They were usually drawn by oxen, but 
 sometimes by mules. The Greek a/iaga corresponded 
 both to the plaustrum and the plaustrum majus; 
 “ the four-wheeled wain ” is mentioned in Odyssey , ix. 
 241, and Herodotus, i. 188. 
 
 Professor Tylor figures an ox-waggon that is carved 
 on the Antonine Column ; it appears to have solid 
 wheels, and the square end of the axle proves that it and 
 its drum-wheels turned round together in one. He 
 points out that the ancient Roman farm-carts were 
 mostly made with wheels built up of several pieces of 
 wood nailed together, “ as are their successors which 
 are used to this day with wonderfully little change, as 
 in Greece and Portugal.” The bullock-cart of the 
 Azores J is a striking relic from the classic world ; its 
 
 * Non sunt radiates, Prob. ad Verg. Georg., i., 165. 
 
 t Stridentia plaustra, Verg. Georg., iii., 536. 
 
 + Bullar, Wittier in the Azores, i., p. 121; cf. Tylor, loc. cit., fig. 12, 
 
182 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 wheels are studded with huge iron nails by way of 
 tire.” # Although the block-wheel was still in use in 
 the Italy of the Roman Empire, spoke-wheels were also 
 employed even for agricultural vehicles, but I have 
 been unable to gather any Italian evidence of the 
 transition stages. 
 
 My friend Mr. J. L. Myres, of Christ Church, 
 Oxford, has very kindly given me several references 
 to early Greek chariot wheels which have supplied 
 links in the evolution of spokes that I was in search 
 
 IJt 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
 Agricultural Scene on a Vase in the Campana Collection, Louvre; after Duruy. 
 
 of. The block-wheel is shown in A, Fig. 30. This 
 is evidently a built-up wheel, but there is no rim 
 or felloe to it. 
 
 Wheels with three spokes evidently derived from 
 this are figured by Duruy f from various sources. 
 The spirited little agricultural scene (Fig. 27) depicted 
 on a vase in the Campana collection in the Louvre 
 o-ives a clue to the structure of the wheel, which is 
 
 <D> 
 
 seen on a larger scale on another vase (Fig. 28) 
 copied by Duruy from Gerhard. J The wheel (B, 
 
 * E. B. TYLOR, “ On the Origin of the Plough and Wheel-Carriage,” 
 Journ. Anth. Inst., x , 1880, p. 80. 
 
 f V. Duruy, Histoire des Grecs, 1887, i., pp. 251, 373, 732. 
 
 J Auserlesene Vasenbilder , Taf. ccxvii. 
 
The evolution of the cart 183 
 
 Fig. 30) figured by Harrison and Verrall* from an 
 archaic Greek plate in the British Museum of the 
 sixth century b.c., which also consists of three spokes, 
 is another example of the same type of wheel. A 
 variety with two of the spokes slightly curved is 
 admirably rendered on an Etruscan silver coin in the 
 
 Fig. 28. 
 
 Ancient Greek Carriage on a Vase; after Duruy, from Gerhard. 
 
 British Museum t (C, Fig. 30), the date of which may 
 be about the middle of the fifth century, or earlier. 
 A wheel of this description was found by Gastaldif in 
 the turbary of Mercurago, near Arona in North Italy; 
 
 * Jane Harrison and Margaret Mythology and Monu¬ 
 
 ments of Ancient Athens, 1890, p. 289, fig. 30. 
 
 t B. V. H ead, A Guide to the principal Gold and Silver Coins of the 
 Ancients, from circ. B.C. joo to A.D. 1. hntish Museum , 3 1 ^ Ed., 
 1889, pi. 15, fig. 1. 
 
 + B. Gastaldi, Lake Habitations and Prehistoric Remains in the 
 Turbaries and Marl-Beds of Northern and Central Italy , London, 1865. 
 
184 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “it is a wheel of elegant form, in which there is not 
 the slightest trace of any metal.” The figure given 
 by Gastaldi (p. 112) proves that these wheels could 
 be made most skilfully in the Bronze Age. 
 
 The four-spoked wheel is characteristic of Greek 
 vehicles, and may be seen on innumerable coins and 
 vases. It was in use in the Mykenaean Period. A 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
 Mykenaean War Chariot of the Heroic Age on the Francois Vase; after Duruy. 
 
 war chariot of the heroic age is painted upon the 
 Francois vase (Fig. 29)* with this kind of wheel: in 
 order to give greater support to the felloe, the spokes 
 either splay out or are clamped by triangular blocks. 
 An interesting feature in this wheel is the indication 
 of lashing at the junction of the spokes with the hub ; 
 it looks as if these were fastened together by means 
 of leather thongs. It is impossible to say whether in 
 
 * From Duruy, l.c., p. 155, after Monum. dell' Instil, archeol., iv., 
 tav. liv., lv. ; and W. Helbig, Dcls ho menis ch e Epos aus den Denkm . 
 erliiut fig. 18, p. 101. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 i*5 
 
 this instance actual lashing is intended, or whether the 
 wheels were decorated with a pattern which had its 
 origin in an antecedent method of fastening; examples 
 of the latter will be found in my little book Evolution 
 in Art . A method of supporting and strengthening 
 the rim, analogous to the last device, is found on an 
 Euboian coin of the early part of the sixth century 
 b.c., # but in this case (D, Fig. 30) small struts are 
 employed. 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 A Series of Early Greek Chariot Wheels from various sources. 
 
 The shape of the spokes of Greek wheels and the 
 method of their insertion into their respective felloes 
 vary considerably; in E, Fig. 30, will be found four 
 variants; of these, 1 is from a coin of Tarentum ; f 
 2 is from the car of Triptolemus, on a vase, in which 
 again there is a chevron ornament on the spokes at 
 their insertion in the hub which is suggestive of 
 tying. J Nos. 3 and 4 are common forms, especially 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Guide, pi. 5, fig. 21. t Brit. Mus. Guide , pi. 7, fig. 5. 
 
 X Duruy, l.c., i., p. 53 ; see also Harrison and Verrall, l.c., p. cix., 
 fig. 22, p. cxxxix., fig. 36. 
 
186 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the latter. An odd variant * (F, Fig. 30) may repre¬ 
 sent a twinned four-spoked wheel, it occurs on a 
 tetradrachm of Syracuse of about 500 b.c. 
 
 Mr. Myres informs me that Mykensean and Dipylon 
 cars regularly have plain four-spoke wheels; f and this 
 is normal till Roman times. Six spokes occur in the 
 seventh to the sixth centuries, however, j and later, 
 as on a coin of Chalkis§ of the third to the second 
 century b.c.; but most of the apparently six-spoked 
 wheels are perspective views of four-spoked wheels, 
 in which the axle is shown, and also the projecting 
 hub. Eight spokes occur as early as the seventh 
 century (probably), in an oriental car on a Cyprian 
 vase, || and in the sixth century at Klazomenae, on a 
 painted sarcophagus.II But they are not common till 
 much later, as, for example, on an Athenian coin # * 
 of the third to the second century b.c. 
 
 After I had written the foregoing I came across 
 a most interesting paper, by Professor de Aranzadi, 
 on “The groaning and other waggons of Spain,” ft 
 which supplies very valuable evidence as to the real 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Guide , pi. 9, fig. 34. 
 
 t e.g., Brunn, Gr. Kunst-geschichte , i., fig. 97, too. 
 
 % eg., on a Melian vase, Conze, Melische Thongefasse, and Brunn, Gr. 
 Kunst-geschichte, i., p. 109. 
 
 § Brit. Mus. Guide, p. 43, fig. 32. 
 
 || Brunn, Gr. Kunst-geschichte, i., fig. 96. 
 
 IT Brunn, loc. cit., fig. 135. 
 
 ** Brit. Mus. Guide, pi. 65, fig. 14. 
 
 ++ Telesforo de Aranzadi, “ Der achzende Wagen und Andres aus 
 Spanien ? Archiv. fUr Anthropologie, xxiv., 1896, p. 215. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 187 
 
 nature of these early wheels. The built-up solid wheel 
 of Ancient Greece (Fig. 30, A) finds its exact counter¬ 
 part among the Basques of to-day. (Fig. 31.) The 
 planks of which the wheel is made are kept together 
 by a transverse plano-convex bar, on the inner side, 
 and by two annular iron bands, which are fastened at 
 
 Fig. 31- 
 
 Various Spanish Wheels; after Telesforo de Aranzadi. 
 
 1. The outer side of a Basque wheel. 2. The inner side of the same wheel. 3. The 
 Cantabrian-Asturian wheel. 4. Portuguese wheel. 5. Portuguese cart. 
 
 6 . Wheel from Larrasoana. 
 
 the periphery, on the inside and outside of the wheel; 
 but a still simpler kind of wheel (Fig. 31, e) also occurs. 
 The intermediate stage (Fig. 30, C) is still in use in 
 Spain, Aranzadi calls it the Cantabrian-Asturian 
 wheel. In this the felloe is formed of six pieces of 
 wood; two of the primary planks remain and the 
 crossbar is now biconvex in section; the two peri¬ 
 pheral iron bands are also present. In one form 
 
188 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 from Cangas de Tineo, the two planks fill up the 
 angles which the crossbar makes with the felloe, 
 and the crossbar forms the only spoke. 
 
 In Portugal wheels are made out of a single piece 
 of wood (Fig. 31, 4), in which two elliptical holes are 
 cut; the wheel is strengthened by bands of iron. An 
 analogous wheel, built up of three boards; occurs 
 in Galicia. The latter type is found in the ox-carts 
 of the Canary Islands and among the Zuni Indians of 
 New Mexico, to which places it was brought by the 
 Spaniards. I have been informed that in Mexico, 
 where this kind of wheel is also found, it is some¬ 
 times made without any metal parts. A perfectly 
 similar wheel is figured by Gastaldi it was made of 
 three pieces of walnut-wood, these were clamped by 
 two curved pieces of larch-wood, which were let into 
 the wheel; the latter had two semi-circular perfora¬ 
 tions on each side of the axle. The wheel belonged 
 to the Bronze Age of Northern Italy, and was found 
 in a bog at Mercurago, near Arona. 
 
 It is tempting to regard such perforated block- 
 wheels as representing the precursors of spoke-wheels. 
 If in a solid wheel, with four perforations, it was 
 found that the holes could be enlarged without 
 seriously weakening the contrivance, a wheel with 
 four broad spokes would result; and it might be 
 discovered that it was better to make spokes 
 * B. Gastaldi, loc . cit ., p. hi. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 189 
 
 intentionally than to leave them as supports between 
 holes. 
 
 I do not, however, think that this was the actual 
 process of evolution. Most probably the wheel was 
 composed originally of a single piece of wood, later it 
 may have been constructed of boards (Fig. 31,«) which 
 were variously strengthened. Yet later it was dis¬ 
 covered that it was not necessary to make the wheel 
 solid, and various expedients, some of which have 
 been noted above, were devised to lighten the wheel 
 and yet retain its strength. 
 
 Groaning through Spain, as if still in the pangs of 
 their labour, do we find these various forms of cumber¬ 
 some wheels, essentially the same as they creaked 
 three millenniums ago in Ancient Greece.* 
 
 The “ groaning cart,” or as the Spaniards poetically 
 term it, the “singing cart,” “Carro que canta,” may still 
 be heard in the picturesque parts of Cantabrian and 
 Atlantic coasts; but it is probably doomed to dis¬ 
 appear, as carts of the same shape but with an iron 
 hub in the wheels, with felloes, with the axle fastened 
 to the floor of the vehicle, and which do not squeak, 
 are silently but surely replacing them. The friction 
 of the axle against the wedges in the floor of the 
 waggon which keep it in its place, produces the 
 squeaking or jarring sound which from time to time 
 
 * Block-wheels, which may be mere discs of wood, sometimes 
 perforated with holes, occur in China, Korea, and other parts of Asia. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 190 
 
 sounds like a tune or its octave; this is useful as 
 a warning to prevent two carts from meeting in a 
 narrow street, and also serves for the recognition of 
 an approaching waggon. In the towns the creaking 
 of carts is forbidden, so the drivers grease the axles 
 with tallow, soap, or bacon, but as soon as they have 
 passed the last house of the town they remove the 
 tallow and put resin and water on the axle to make 
 it groan again, so great is the pleasure they take in 
 it. In Galicia there is a folk-song, which runs as 
 follows :— 
 
 “ When thou wilt that the waggon sings, 
 
 Moisten the axle in the river, 
 
 For, if thoroughly wetted 
 It sings like a pipe.” 
 
 When these carts are driven on natural roads, 
 which have been made by repeated use, even the 
 steepest hills are not avoided. They are used for 
 all kinds of field work, for carrying manure, or 
 bringing in the harvest, and also they are very 
 important at weddings for carrying the bride’s dowry 
 to the house of the bridegroom. 
 
 Professor de Aranzadi gives various details which 
 are important for those who would go into further 
 details of the construction of primitive carts. Dr. 
 Gadow # devotes a chapter to “ Ox-carts and different 
 modes of yoking” in his book on Spain; he gives 
 
 * Hans Gadow, In Northern Spain , London, 1897, pp. 272-280. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 1 9 l 
 
 five excellent figures of carts, and graphically describes 
 “ the most awful squeaking, squealing, creaking, 
 croaking, howling noise.” He states, the natives 
 “ either say that the oxen like the music, or that the 
 noise drives away the devil.” 
 
 We have already seen that in yet earlier times than 
 those of Rome and Greece the spoke-wheeled war 
 chariots bore the Assyrian warriors on their paths 
 of conquest, so soon did the early and rapidly- 
 perfected wheel of the war-chariot outstrip the back¬ 
 ward wheel of the “slow lumbering wains of the 
 Eleusinian mother.” 
 
 As Professor Tylor truly observes :— 
 
 “ In looking at these clumsy vehicles we certainly seem to 
 have primitive forms before us. There is, however, the 
 counter-argument which ought not to be overlooked, and 
 which in some measure accounts for the lasting-on of these 
 rude carts, namely, that for heavy carting across rough 
 ground they are convenient as well as cheap and easily 
 repaired. Considering that the . railway-carriage builder 
 gives up the coach-wheel principle and returns to the 
 primitive construction of the pair of wheels fixed to the 
 axle turning in bearings, we see that our ordinary carriage- 
 wheels turning independently on their axles are best suited 
 to comparatively narrow wheels and to smooth ground or 
 made roads. Here they give greater lightness and speed, 
 and especially have the advantage of easily changing 
 direction and turning, which in the old block-wheel cart 
 can only be done by gradually slewing round in a wide 
 circuit.” 
 
 * Vergil, Georgies, i., 163. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 192 
 
 We must now return to Ireland. 
 
 It is impossible to say how long ago spoke-wheels 
 were introduced there ; we may, however, feel pretty 
 certain that it was during the Bronze Age, and 
 we may also assume they probably accompanied the 
 war chariot. 
 
 We know that three great branches of the Celtic 
 stock, the Gauls, the British, and the Irish, used war- 
 chariots. 
 
 With regard to the two first, we have (as 
 O’Beirne Crowe* points out) authentic evidence of the 
 fact in contemporary Roman writers, and as to the 
 latter, the ever-faithful and very ancient Irish docu¬ 
 ments are equally clear on this point. 
 
 In the feast of Bricriu, Loegaire Buadach’s horses 
 and chariot are thus described by Find-abair (Bright- 
 beam)f to her mother, Medb, queen of the Con- 
 nachta :— 
 
 “ I see, indeed,” says Find-abair, “ the two horses which 
 are under the chariot — two horses ardent, speckled grey: 
 of like colour, of like form, of like goodness, of like victory. 
 . . . . A wood-band, withe-y chariot. Two black, adjusted 
 wheels: two beautiful entwining reins: steel, sword-straight 
 shafts : a splendid body of strong joinings. A ridgy, strong- 
 bright yoke.” 
 
 * J. O’Beirne Crowe, “ Siabur-Charpat Con Culaind.” Journ. Roy. 
 Hist, and Arch. Assoc. Ireland. ( Kilkenny Arch. Socl), vol. i. (4th Ser.), 
 1870, p. 413. “ The Irish Chariot.” 
 
 t Sullivan translates this name “Fair-browed.” Loc. cit., cccclxxxi. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 193 
 
 The same lady describes Conall Cernach’s chariot 
 thus :— 
 
 “ A wood-band, withe-y chariot. Two bright, brazen 
 wheels : a bright pole of much-silver : a very high, noisy 
 body. A ridgy, strong-proud yoke: two wreath-y, strong- 
 yellow reins.” 
 
 Again, after describing the horses, as before, Find- 
 abair describes the chariot of the hero Cu Chulaind 
 tlius :— 
 
 “A withe-band chariot of witheing. Two very yellow, 
 iron wheels: a pole with a witheing of findruine. A tin 
 body of slope-joinings. A ridgy, strong-golden yoke: two 
 wreath-y, strong-yellow reins.” 
 
 From these and other descriptions it is evident that 
 the body (cret our “crate”) of the chariot was always 
 of wood, that is well-wrought wicker-work on a strong 
 timber frame. In our third quotation the body is said 
 to be made of tin, elsewhere it is described as “a very 
 high, noisy body, and it of tin, of slope-joininglets.” 
 Now, decorating chariots with tin was a favourite 
 practice among the ancient Celts. Thus Pliny [lib. 
 xxxiv. cap. 17) says that the Gauls were in the habit of 
 adorning their vehicles with tin. Behind the chariot 
 were, according to O’Beirne Crowe, two removable 
 shafts, for in the Book of Leinster we read, “ Let the 
 shaft of my carriage be reached me, that I may try the 
 ford before the horses.” In front was the pole, most 
 probably of wood, and overlaid with silver; but still 
 O 
 
194 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 we are told several times it was made of silver, one 
 version being, “a bright pole of bright-silver, with a 
 witheing of find-ruined To this a single yoke for the 
 two horses was attached. It had two wheels only, 
 sometimes all of iron or bronze; when of wood, 
 which we presume to have been the case where 
 the material is not specified, these wheels always 
 had an iron tire. There is reason to believe that 
 the Celtic chariot-wheel was relatively very small. 
 
 In the Sculptured Stones of Scotland , ii. (1867) 
 p. lvi. (Spalding Club), Stuart makes the following 
 statement:— 
 
 “ Occasionally fragments of chariots have been found in 
 British sepulchres. About 1815 a barrow, near Market- 
 Weighton, in Yorkshire, was opened, in which was a cist 
 containing the skeleton of a man. . . . On each side had 
 been placed a chariot-wheel, of which the iron tire and 
 ornaments of the nave have alone remained. The wheels 
 had been about two feet eleven inches in diameter.” In a 
 neighbouring tumulus the wheels were about two feet eight 
 inches in diameter. 
 
 Dr. Sullivan says* the wheels were made of bronze 
 or of iron; the former was the older material, and 
 seems to have been only traditionally remembered 
 when the principal tales took their present form, the 
 material then in general use being iron. The chariot 
 wheel was not a mere disc, but had spokes. He knew 
 
 * W. K. Sum van and E. O’CURRV, On the Manners and Customs 
 of the Ancient Irish, vol. i., Introduction, pp. cccclxxv-cccclxxxiii. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 x 95 
 
 of only one passage from which the number of spokes 
 can be inferred. The passage in question is the 
 description of Cu Chulaind’s chariot in the very 
 ancient Irish manuscript, Siabur Chorpat Conchu- 
 laind: “ The Phantom Chariot of Cuchulaind.” 
 
 “ A stately Brog after that pair [of horses]; 
 two firm black wheels ; 
 two symmetrical five-spoked wheels.” 
 
 The chariots (carpats) in the foregoing account 
 appear to have been the ordinary war-chariots, as 
 well as the vehicles which were used for travellino-. 
 Cu Chulaind and other warriors had, however, as 
 Sullivan points out, a special war-chariot, the Cath 
 Carpat serda , or scythed battle-chariot. O’Beirne 
 Crowe translates it the serrated war-chariot, “ because 
 when fully furnished, every part of it available for 
 attack or defence being closely spiked, presented the 
 edge-appearance of a saw (Irish serr , Latin serrci).” 
 
 These warriors of the heroic age, whether of Erin 
 or Greece it matters not, took a laudable pride in 
 their war accoutrements, and not least in the decora¬ 
 tion of their chariots. These descriptions from Irish 
 sagas recall to mind one from the great Greek 
 saga:— 
 
 “So Hera, the goddess queen, daughter of great Kronos, 
 went her way to harness the gold-frontletted steeds ; and Hebe 
 quickly put to the car the curved wheels of bronze, eight- 
 spoked, upon their axle-tree of iron. Golden is their felloe, 
 
196 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 imperishable, and tires of bronze are fitted thereover, a 
 marvel to look upon ; and the naves are of silver, to turn 
 about on either side. And the car is plaited tight with gold 
 and silver thongs, and two rails run round about it. And 
 the silver pole stood out therefrom ; upon the end bound 
 she the fair golden yoke, and set thereon the fair breaststraps 
 of gold, and Hera led beneath the yoke the horses fleet of 
 foot, and hungered for strife and the battle-cry.” {Iliad, 
 v. 730) 
 
 From gods and demi-gods we must descend to 
 mortals, and from the inspiring times when the world 
 was young we must pass to the fin-de-siecle. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton* states that in 1823, in the Brown 
 Hall estate in Donegal, “carts they had none; most 
 of the carrying was done in creels on ponies’ backs. 
 Some superior farmers had what were called low- 
 backed cars—a sort of platform with shafts, and under 
 it a pair of solid block-wheels. One rich man had 
 spoke - wheels, which were greatly admired. . . . 
 Crowds came to see the first cart that was turned out; 
 but though it was voted ‘ illegant', it was declared 
 useless. ‘For,’ said a sage among the spectators, 
 ‘who ever heard of a cart in this country?’ And his 
 argument seemed to weigh much with his auditors. 
 However, in a few years later the Scotchmen had at 
 one time orders on hand for fifty carts.” 
 
 Spoke-wheel vehicles jostled block-wheel cars a 
 
 * J. Hamilton, Sixty Years' Experience as an Irish Landlord, [1894], 
 p. 47. 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 
 
 i 97 
 
 century ago in Dublin, as they still do in parts of 
 Ulster. The country carts with solid wheels are 
 laggards from the early Bronze Age—possibly from 
 Neolithic times; the spoke-wheel carts are perhaps 
 the modified descendants of the war-chariot which 
 the Gaelic-speaking Celts introduced into the British 
 Islands. We have here, in the evolution of the 
 wheel, another example of the stimulus to invention 
 and improvement that war gives to technology, which 
 improvements may be later introduced into the peace¬ 
 ful avocations of life. 
 
 Further investigations must decide whether the 
 eccentric spokes of the modern Basque and ancient 
 Greek wheels were characteristic of the vehicles of 
 the agricultural Mediterranean Race, and whether the 
 radiating spoke-wheels were invented, or introduced 
 into Europe, by the mobile Aryan peoples. 
 
 A most interesting series of spoke-wheels can be 
 seen, for example, at Dundonald, near Belfast, in Co. 
 Down. The cart itself is of the same type as that 
 associated with block-wheels; but there are two 
 varieties of spoke-wheels. In that both the wheels 
 are small—scarcely larger than the solid wheels; but 
 in the one case they are placed within the shafts, and 
 in the other case outside of them. Thus we get the 
 same two varieties that we find among the block-wheel 
 cars. It is obvious that in the first variety the wheel 
 must be kept small, otherwise there would not be 
 
198 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 room enough for it beneath the floor of the cart; but 
 this necessary limitation does not obtain for the 
 second variety. Here the conditioning factor appears 
 to be a blind adherence to traditional methods, for the 
 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 Two Carts at Dundonald, Co. Down; from photographs. 
 
 people are accustomed to the old style of cart, with 
 its familiar small wheels. 
 
 We have seen that it is more convenient to make 
 block-wheels of small size, and this necessitates a 
 considerable slant in the shafts, which has to be recti- 
 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CART 199 
 
 fied by propping up the hinder part of the floor of the 
 cart. If this particular form of cart is persisted in, 
 the wheels must be kept small, even when they are 
 outside of the shafts, or else they would make the 
 floor of the cart slope downwards in front. 
 
 I have a photograph of another cart which shows 
 two interesting features : first, a slight reduction in 
 the upright back-staves; and second, the shafts 
 proper are added on to the lower framework of the 
 cart, and are placed at such an angle to it that they 
 approximate to the horizontal position of ordinary 
 shafts. 
 
 From this last it is but a small step to so increase 
 the diameter of the wheel that the shafts can lie in a 
 horizontal position, and thus form the foundation of 
 the floor of the cart. This is the present condition of 
 the ordinary cart. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE IRISH JAUNTING-CAR. 
 
 I N the last chapter we studied a series of primitive 
 vehicles which are either in use at the present 
 day in Ireland, or which comparatively recently were 
 employed in various parts of the British Islands. 
 We have now to investigate the origin of a con¬ 
 veyance which is absolutely confined to Ireland, a 
 true insular variety of carriage. 
 
 There is very good evidence that the jaunting car 
 was evolved at the end of the last century, or more 
 probably within the first few years of this century. 
 It is therefore by no means an ancient vehicle, and 
 unlike many other implements it has no long ancestry 
 of progressive improvements from an early type, but, 
 once started, it rapidly passed through its develop¬ 
 mental history. 
 
 We have not far to seek for the parental form ; in 
 fact, we have already made its acquaintance as a cart. 
 In his Hibernia Ctiriosa Mr. Bush* gives the following 
 
 * J. BUSH, “ Hibernia Cnriosa. A Letter from a Gentleman in Dublin 
 to his Friend at Dover in Kent. Giving a general View of the Manners, 
 Customs, Dispositions, etc. of the Inhabitants of Ireland. . . . Collected 
 in a Tour through the Kingdom in the Year 1764.” Dublin, 1769, p. 30. 
 
 200 
 
201 
 
 THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 
 
 graphic account of the various uses to which the cart 
 was put in 1764 :— 
 
 “ But the drollest and most diverting kind of conveyance 
 for your genteel and ungenteel parties of pleasure is what 
 they call here the Chaise-marine , which is nothing less or 
 more than any common car with one horse. A simple kind 
 of carriage, constructed with a pair of wheels, or thin round 
 blocks, of about twenty inches in diameter, an axle, and two 
 
 Fig- 33- 
 
 Irish Low-back Car (1769); after Bush. 
 
 shafts, which, over the axle, are spread out a little wider than 
 by the sides of the horse, and framed together with cross 
 pieces, in such manner as to be nearly in a level position for 
 three or four feet across the axle. These simple construc¬ 
 tions are almost the only kind of carts, in common use, for 
 the carrying or moving of goods, merchandise of every kind, 
 hay, straw, corn, dung, turf, &c., throughout the kingdom. 
 
 “ A sketch of the figure and construction of one of these 
 cars I have here given, and, when used for parties of pleasure, 
 
202 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 on the level part LL is laid a mat, for the commonalty, and 
 for the genteeler sort of people a bed is put on this ; and half 
 a dozen get on, two behind and two on each side, and away 
 they drive, with their feet not above six inches from the 
 ground as they sit, on little pleasurable jaunts of three or 
 four or half a dozen miles out of town ; and are the most 
 sociable carriages in use, for ten or a dozen will take one of 
 these chaise-marines , and ride it by turns, the rate being 
 seldom, in such cases, more than foot pace. I assure you 
 they are the drollest, merriest curricles you ever saw. We 
 were infinitely diverted at meeting many of these feather-bed 
 chaise-marine parties, on the Sunday that we landed, coming 
 out of town, as we went up to it from Dunlary.”* 
 
 Twelve years later the author of A Tour through 
 Ireland\ alludes to the same method of conveyance. 
 After describing the ordinary block - wheel car, he 
 continues; “ They are frequently used as vehicles for 
 the common people on their parties of pleasure; a 
 bed or a mat is at such times placed on the car, 
 and half a dozen people sit on it, with their legs 
 hanging a few inches from the ground; they are 
 generally dragged a foot-pace.” The author (Twiss) 
 was severely criticised after the appearance of this 
 book, and subsequently he printed a metrical reply 
 to his critics, which, though it gives an amusing 
 description of the embryonic jaunting - car, can 
 
 * The accompanying illustration is taken from the Dublin edition; the 
 book was reprinted in London in the same year, but the corresponding 
 illustration was evidently taken from a very poor sketch, and shows an 
 almost impossible sort of vehicle. 
 
 t Twiss, A Tour through Ireland , London, 1776, p. 3. 
 
THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 
 
 203 
 
 scarcely be credited with mollifying them. His 
 “Heroic Answeris as follows:— 
 
 “Well might an artist travel from afar 
 To view the structure of a low-backed car. 
 
 A downy mattress on the car is laid, 
 
 The rev’rend father mounts, and tender maid; 
 
 Some back to back, some side by side are plac’d, 
 
 * * * * 
 
 By dozens thus, full many a Sunday morn, 
 
 With dangling legs the jovial crowd is borne; 
 
 Clontarf they seek, or Howth’s aspiring brow, 
 
 On Lexlip, smiling on the stream below. 
 
 When ease and cheapness would thy Twiss engage, 
 
 Cars be preferr’d to noddies or to stage.” 
 
 Fifty years later the old low-back car was nearly 
 completely superseded throughout Ireland by the 
 ordinary cart. The Halls f thus describe it in its 
 declining days :— 
 
 “The car, or rather cart, used by the peasantry, requires 
 some notice. Flat boards are placed across it, and upon 
 these straw is laid, and often a feather-bed. The one 
 described in the engraving has the old-fashioned wheels 
 cut out of a solid piece of wood. These vehicles are now, 
 however, nearly obsolete; we met but few of them during 
 our latest journey; their unfitness having been understood, 
 they have given way before modern improvement.” 
 
 Hone, in his Every-day Book (1824), ii., p. 239, 
 says that the country car always had the wheels 
 
 * Repository , a Collection of Fugitive Pieces , ed. by J. Reed, 1790. 
 
 t Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall, Ireland: its Scenery , Character , etc., 
 London, 1841, i., p. 65. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 outside the shafts; ropes were intertwisted across 
 the rails (Fig. 25), and on these a ticking stuffed 
 with straw, or a quilt, was laid. 
 
 About the beginning of this century it occurred to 
 someone in Dublin to protect the legs of passengers 
 from getting in the way of the wheels, and from 
 being splashed with the mud, by attaching a foot¬ 
 board to the sides of the flat cart. Two boards were 
 also placed along the cart in such a way as to support 
 the travellers’ backs and to leave a space between 
 them in which the luggage could be placed. As in 
 the case of many other inventors, the name has not 
 been preserved of this benefactor to the riding public 
 of Ireland. This obvious improvement at once 
 “caught on,” and in 1806 Sir John Carr # makes one 
 of the first allusions to the jaunting-car. He says :— 
 
 “ Upon the road we saw several carriages peculiar to the 
 country; that which struck me most was the jaunting-car, an 
 open carriage, mounted upon two small wheels, drawn by one 
 horse, in which the company sit back to back, and hence the 
 Irish, in badinage, call it an Irish vis-a-vis; whilst, on the 
 other hand, considering the position of the parties and of 
 the coachman, who is elevated in front, I have heard it more 
 appropriately, though less delicately, nominated the cul-a-cul. 
 This carriage is very convenient and easy, and will carry six 
 persons besides the coachman.” t 
 
 * John Carr, The Stranger in Ireland: or a Tour in . . . etc., in 
 the year 1805, London, 1806, p. 32. 
 
 t This paragraph was transcribed by E. Dubois in his jeu d’esprit on 
 Sir John’s book : E. Dubois, “My Pocket Book, or Hints for a Ryghte 
 
THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 
 
 205 
 
 Thirty years later Mr. Inglis* informs us that the 
 car had spread all over Ireland :— 
 
 “Although there are carriages of all descriptions in Ireland, 
 and coaches too on many of the public roads, the jaunting- 
 car is the national vehicle, and Ireland would scarcely be 
 Ireland without it. It may be said completely to supersede, 
 as a private vehicle, the whole of the gig tribe — dennet, 
 tilbury, cabriolet, &c. — and to be a formidable rival to the 
 coach as a public conveyance.” 
 
 Two years later Barrow f published his Tour round 
 Ireland; but he does not give a flattering account 
 of the jaunting-car of his date, and this and Maclise’s 
 etching of such a car in rainy weather which illus¬ 
 trated Barrow’s book were severely handled by a 
 patriotic reviewer in the Dublin Penny Journal of 
 May 21 st, 1836. Two woodcuts, which are said to 
 be caricatures, are given on p. 371; but they illustrate 
 the kind of jaunting-car then in vogue. Barrow thus 
 relates his first experience of this vehicle: immediately 
 on his arrival at Kingstown he was asked—- 
 
 “ ‘ Would your honour plase to have an inside or an outside 
 car ? ’ ‘ My good fellow, let me know what the difference is, 
 
 and I will tell you.’ ‘ The difference, sure, is this : the inside 
 
 Merrie and Conceited Tour in 4to, to be called ‘The Stranger in Ireland 
 in 1805, by a Knight Errant/ and dedicated to the paper-makers,” 
 London, 1807. Neither Carr’s nor Dubois’ figures of the jaunting-car 
 are of sufficient interest to be reproduced here. 
 
 * H. D. Inglis, Ireland in 1834. A Jotirney throughout Ireland , 
 London, 1834, i., p. 24. 
 
 t Barrow, A Tour round Ireland ., through the Sea-coast Counties , in 
 the Year 1835, London, 1836. 
 
206 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 car has the wheels outside, and the outside car the wheels 
 inside.’ After this luminous exposition, I thought it best to 
 see them, and made choice of an outside one. ‘ What shall I 
 do,’ said I, ‘ if it rains?’ ‘ Change sides wid me, your honour, 
 and if the rain comes in front, go over to the opposite side 
 and take it in the rear ! ’ ” 
 
 An earlier writer in that famous publication, The 
 Dublin Penny Journal , has displayed his patriotism 
 by singing the praises of the jaunting-car :— 
 
 “ Who that has watched,” writes the anonymous author, 
 “the beautiful daughters of the ‘Green Isle’ borne through 
 the streets of our extending metropolis on this handsome 
 and commodious vehicle” [the author is here referring to 
 a private car, as contrasted with the cars that plied for 
 hire], “that will not feel curious to know from what humble 
 principle it has thus risen to perfection. And in good time 
 have I met with Master Bush’s Hibernia Curiosa; he was 
 a careful and observant traveller.” [The quotation is then 
 printed which we have just given from Bush.] “Such was 
 the jaunting-car of Ireland in 1764, and could the honest 
 gentleman to whom we are indebted for this description 
 ‘revisit the glimpses of the moon,’ and see the vehicle 
 of 1832, how great would be his praises and surprise.” 
 (Vol. i., July 14th, 1832, p. 20, with woodcut.) 
 
 In their charming book on Ireland Mr. and Mrs. 
 S. C. Hall # refer at length to the various vehicles 
 in use in 1841 :— 
 
 “The outside jaunting-car is that to which especial 
 reference is made when speaking of the ‘Irish’ car. It is 
 exceedingly light, presses very little upon the horse, and is 
 
 * Loc . tit ., p. 64. 
 
207 
 
 THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 
 
 safe as well as convenient; so easy is it to get on and off, 
 that both are frequently done while the machine is in motion. 
 It is always driven with a single horse; the driver occupies 
 a small seat in front, and the travellers sit back-to-back,* 
 
 the space between them being occupied by ‘the well’_a 
 
 sort of boot for luggage; but when there is only one 
 passenger the driver usually places himself on the opposite 
 seat to balance the car,’ the motion of which would be 
 awkward if one side was much heavier than the other. The 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 Early form of Jaunting Car (1841); after Hall. 
 
 foot ‘ board ’ is generally of iron, and is made to move on 
 hinges, so that it may be turned up to protect the cushions 
 during rain. This foot-board projects considerably beyond 
 the wheels, and would seem to be dangerous; but in cases 
 of collision with other vehicles, a matter of no very rare 
 occurrence, the feet are raised, and injury is sustained only 
 by the machine. The private cars of this description are, 
 of course, neatly and carefully made, and have a character 
 of much elegance; but those which are hired are, in general, 
 
 * This arrangement has been characterized as unsocial; but con¬ 
 versation is easily carried on by leaning across “the well.” Its 
 disadvantage is that the eye can take in but the half of a landscape. 
 
208 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 badly built, dirty, and uncomfortable; yet in nine places out 
 of ten the traveller has no chance of obtaining a vehicle of 
 any other description, and will often find, even in a populous 
 town, that if ‘the car’ be out, he must wait until its return, 
 cars are seldom more numerous than ‘ head inns,’ that is to 
 say, one generally suffices for a town. 
 
 “Clonmel has been rendered ‘famous’ in modern Irish 
 history by the successful exertions of a single individual, 
 of whom it is not too much to say that he has done more to 
 improve the condition of the peasantry and the country than 
 any other person of our age. We refer to Mr. Charles 
 Bianconi, and the travelling-cars that bear his name. He is 
 a native of Milan, and about the year 1800 voyaged to 
 Ireland, first visiting Dublin, and subsequently settling in 
 Clonmel, where he carried on the trade of a picture dealer 
 and cleaner and frame maker, but upon a very limited scale. 
 ... By habits of industry, prudence, and forethought he 
 contrived to save money-He conceived the design of run¬ 
 
 ning a public car, that, by conveying passengers at a much 
 less expense than the stage coaches, might answer the pur¬ 
 poses of the comparatively humbler classes. He ran his first 
 car —from Clonmel to Cahir—on the 5th of July, 1815. The 
 experiment was very discouraging at the commencement, he 
 was frequently for whole weeks without obtaining a passenger ; 
 but his energy and perseverance ultimately triumphed, and 
 he has succeeded in obtaining a large fortune for himself 
 while conferring immense benefit on the community ; having 
 preserved an irreproachable character and gained the respect 
 of all classes.”* 
 
 The Halls inform us that in 1840 Bianconi’s stud 
 consisted of 1300 horses, “a larger number than her 
 Majesty possesses in Ireland,” his cars travelled daily 
 * Loc. cit ii., p. 7C 
 
THE IRISH /AUNTHVG CAR 
 
 209 
 
 35 °° miles, and visited no fewer than 128 cities and 
 towns. It is difficult at the present time, with our 
 intricate system of traffic, to realize what a boon 
 Bianconi s cars must have been to the residents in 
 the more remote country towns and districts. Though 
 we may well believe that matters had improved since 
 1760, when Derrick wrote that he set out from Cork 
 for Killarney “on horseback, the-city of Corke not 
 affording at this time any sort of carriage for hire.” 
 
 The sympathetic travellers, from whom so much 
 has already been quoted, carefully describe the various 
 vehicles they came across in Ireland. One more 
 extract must be made :— 
 
 “ Machines for travelling in Ireland are, some of them at 
 least, peculiar to the country. The stage - coaches are 
 precisely similar to those in England, and travel at as rapid 
 a rate. They, of course, run upon all the great roads, and 
 are constructed with due regard to safety and convenience. 
 The public cars of M. Bianconi have, however, to a large 
 extent, displaced the regular coaches, and are to be 
 encountered in every district of the south of Ireland. In 
 form they resemble the common outside jaunting-car, but 
 are calculated to hold twelve, fourteen, or sixteen persons; 
 they are well horsed, have cautious and experienced drivers,' 
 are generally driven with three horses, and usually travel at 
 the rate of seven Irish miles an hour; the fares averaging 
 about twopence per mile. They are open cars, but a huge 
 apron of leather affords considerable protection against rain • 
 and they may be described as, in all respects, very comfort¬ 
 able and convenient vehicles. It would be difficult for a 
 stranger to conceive the immense influence which this 
 
210 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 establishment has had upon the character and condition 
 of the country; its introduction, indeed, has been only 
 second to that of steam in promoting the improvement of 
 Ireland, by facilitating intercourse between remote districts, 
 and enabling the farmer to transact his own business at a 
 small expense and with little sacrifice of time. 
 
 All subsequent travellers in the remoter parts of 
 Ireland have profited by the example set by Bianconi, 
 for “long-cars,” as they are usually termed, aie still an 
 important means of conveyance. 
 
 Like Bianconi, the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour was 
 impressed with the fact that a facile and cheap means 
 of conveyance is essential to material progress, and so 
 he instituted the system of light railways in Ireland. 
 Whether this scheme has succeeded or not, or whether 
 a service of auto-cars may not piove to be more 
 efficacious, may be open to question ; but there can 
 be no question as to the desirability, one may safely 
 say the necessity, of cheap and rapid means of 
 conveyance. 
 
 By comparing the illustrations of the outside car of 
 fifty years ago (Fig- 3^) w ^h that of the present day 
 (Plate V., Fig. 2), one can at a glance see that the 
 machine has been greatly improved, the last refinement 
 being the addition of pneumatic tyres to the wheels. 
 
 It is not devoid of interest to consider how far 
 the evolution of the cart and outside car can be 
 * Loc. tit., i., p. 63. 
 
Plate V. 
 
 Fig. i. Basque Ox-waggon ; after Telesforo de Aranzadi. 
 
 Fig. 2. Irish Outside- or Jaunting-Car; from a photograph by Welch. 
 
 [To face page 210. 
 
THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 211 
 
 compared with the evolution of animals, and perhaps 
 the analogy is not so far fetched as it may appear 
 at first sight. 
 
 In both cases the evolution is undirected so far as 
 the subjects of it are concerned; but in the case of 
 the cart the evolution is determined by a reasoning 
 being, instead of by “natural selection.” An ex¬ 
 tended study of the history and evolution of 
 manufactured objects leads one, however, to the 
 conclusion that the human intelligence does not 
 make itself so much felt as one would expect. As 
 a general rule the improvements on previous objects 
 are slight, and often take a long time to be dis¬ 
 covered ; but when once adopted there is a tendency 
 for them to spread with comparative rapidity, and 
 to be subject to a number of progressive modifica¬ 
 tions, until another stationary phase is arrived at. 
 In other words, the process of evolution of manu¬ 
 factured objects is apt to be spasmodic, periods of 
 active metamorphosis are preceded and succeeded by 
 periods of stagnation. 
 
 So far as the palaeontological evidence goes, while 
 one may be convinced that the fossil remains of a 
 given period are genetically related to those of the 
 beds above and below it, one cannot always be sure 
 whether certain fossils are actually related in the 
 direct line to other remains in a superposed stratum. 
 There may be strong presumptive evidence without 
 
212 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 a positive assurance—the record being too imperfect 
 for absolute proof. 
 
 Among- living animals we find forms in any one 
 group which belong to various stages of specialization. 
 In some cases highly-specialized types may live side 
 by side with comparatively undifferentiated forms, 
 the latter often recalling, though in an imperfect 
 degree, some of the stages through which the higher 
 type may have previously passed. It is not always 
 easy to suggest a reason why some low types should 
 persist and others perish. The fact remains that 
 such is the case. In almost all groups of animals 
 we have examples of the persistence of some types 
 for periods which, even speaking in a geological 
 sense, may be termed vast. 
 
 The persistence of the slide-car and various forms 
 of block-wheel car is thus analogous to what we find 
 among animals. 1 he reason for this continuance is 
 another matter, and requires an explanation, though 
 we cannot expect that this will hold good for carts 
 and animals alike. 
 
 We may provisionally assume that the solid wheel, 
 in all countries, preceded the spoke wheel, wherever 
 the latter occurs, except in those cases where the 
 spoke wheel was introduced into a previously wheelless 
 district. The spoke wheel could never have been 
 invented de novo. As primitive types may persist 
 under certain conditions, we may further assume that 
 
THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 213 
 
 existing vehicles with solid wooden wheels are the 
 direct descendants of more ancient types, and where 
 they occur along with spoke wheels they may be 
 regarded as laggards in evolution. 
 
 The argument for the slide-car is not so satis¬ 
 factory. There is no proof whatever that the 
 slide-car was the first stage in the evolution of the 
 cart, either in Ireland or elsewhere. Probably the 
 evidence will never be conclusive on this point. 
 There is a strong presumption in favour of this theory 
 for the British Islands ; but as the vast bulk of our 
 culture was derived from the mainland of Europe, 
 we may have owed our primitive carts to the Celts. 
 Classical authorities agree in ascribing the use of 
 carts or waggons and chariots to the Gauls and 
 other Celtic tribes, and we know that two thousand 
 five hundred years ago these peoples had both solid¬ 
 wheeled and spoke-wheeled vehicles, but there is no 
 mention made of the slide-car. It is a curious fact 
 that block wheels and their variants (i.e. those wheels 
 that are without radiating spokes) are found in many 
 of the least Aryanised parts of Europe, and it is 
 tempting to suppose this may be the characteristic 
 wheel of the pre-Aryan agriculturalists. 
 
 There are numerous striking examples of the 
 persistence of non-specialized animals in the remote 
 parts of the earth. For example, the mud-fishes 
 are found only in Australia, parts of Central Africa, 
 
2 i 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and tropical South America. The great running, 
 flightless birds, such as the ostrich, occur only in 
 New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea and some 
 neighbouring islands, Africa, and South America. 
 The lowest of all the mammals, the egg-laying 
 duck-mole, is found only in Australia and Tasmania, 
 while the spiny ant-eater also extends into New 
 Guinea. These examples could be greatly increased, 
 but they will suffice to illustrate this point. 
 
 The generally-received explanation of these facts 
 is that the ancestors of these forms at one time 
 inhabited the northern continents, and as opportunity 
 offered they gradually extended southwards, and 
 owing to sinking in the earth’s crust, or to other 
 geographical changes, they became isolated in the 
 more remote spots. For some reason or other, which 
 does not concern us now, the great northern con¬ 
 tinents were the seat of the evolution of the higher 
 forms of mammalian life, perhaps even of vertebrates 
 generally, and in the keenness of the struggle for 
 existence the less specialized forms were usually 
 at a disadvantage, and if they could not adapt 
 themselves to new conditions they had to die out. 
 The great southern land areas were only temporarily 
 connected with the northern lands at various periods, 
 and so they received consignments of low-grade 
 animals at various periods, and these lower types 
 were able to continue. For example, New Zealand 
 
THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 215 
 
 Was cut off from the rest of the world before any 
 snakes or terrestrial mammals had wandered so far. 
 Australia received a contingent of only the two lowest 
 groups of mammals. Africa, south of Sahara, for a 
 long time was stocked with other mammals of a low 
 type, for it is only comparatively recently that the 
 higher mammals, such as elephants, antelopes, lions, 
 leopards, and the like, have been able to migrate 
 from their home in Europe and to swarm across 
 or around the Sahara barrier; but being higher 
 types they have supplanted and largely exterminated 
 the lower forms. 
 
 This is pretty much what we find among the carts 
 we have studied. In some of the remote and back¬ 
 ward parts of the mainland of Europe lumbering 
 carts with solid wooden wheels still persist. In the 
 western parts of the British Islands, where compe¬ 
 tition has not been so keen, earlier types have been 
 isolated and continued down to our own day, and 
 it may well be that the slide-car is really an ancestral 
 form which has been preserved in the islands at the 
 fag-end of Europe. 
 
 There are also some points of interest in connec¬ 
 tion with the evolution of the jaunting-car. There 
 is contemporary evidence to show that the means 
 for the conveyance of passengers in Ireland up to 
 the beginning of this century left a great deal to 
 be desired. Hackney coaches had been introduced 
 
216 THE STUD Y OF MAH 
 
 from England, but they were expensive to hire. One- 
 horse vehicles appear to have been employed in 
 Ireland long before the London cab was borrowed 
 from Paris, which was virtually in 1823, although 
 nine cabriolets were licensed for parts of London 
 in 1805. Mr. Hansom did not invent his two¬ 
 wheeled modification till 1834; but the present 
 “hansom cab” was really the invention of Mr. John 
 Chapman, who patented it at the end of 1836. 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century the “ Ringsend 
 Car” plied between Dublin and Irishtown. It 
 consisted, according to the authors^' of a History 
 of the City of Dublin , of a seat suspended on a 
 strap of leather between two shafts, and without 
 springs. The noise made by the creaking of this 
 strap, which supported the whole weight of the 
 company, peculiarly distinguished this mode of con¬ 
 veyance. This was succeeded by the “ Noddy, 
 
 a kind of cramped, covered one-horse shay, and 
 so called from its oscillating motion backwards 
 and forwards; it disappeared about the same time 
 as the century. The low-backed car was then in 
 process of evolution into the jaunting-car, but 
 in 1806 a new vehicle sprung into existence; this 
 was the noisy four-wheeled “Jingle,” which had a 
 period of popularity for thirty years, and finally 
 
 * J. Warburton, J. Whitelaw, and R. Walsh, History of the City 
 of Dublin, London, 1818, ii., p. 1173. 
 
2 17 
 
 THE IRISH JAUNTING CAR 
 
 gave place to the outside jaunting-car. The inside 
 jaunting-car was also in use about this time; it may 
 have had its origin from seats being placed along 
 the sides of an ordinary cart in such a manner 
 that the passengers faced one another, their legs 
 being inside the conveyance. A little later a cover 
 was added to the latter, and so the “ covered car ” 
 was arrived at, the last of which, it is stated, was 
 seen in Dublin some dozen or so years ago. All 
 these one-horse vehicles have been beaten in the 
 struggle for existence by the outside or jaunting- 
 car, which has practically not only vanquished 
 coaches in the past, but has prevented the hansom 
 cab from establishing itself in Dublin. The ordinary 
 cab is too useful in wet weather and for carrying 
 
 luggage to be much affected by the competition o°f 
 the car. 
 
 We have seen how rapidly this vehicle spread 
 over Ireland, being adapted in many ways to the 
 country. It was elongated by Bianconi, and proved 
 in his hands, and in those of his imitators, an im¬ 
 portant factor in the betterment of the condition 
 of the small farmer in country districts. 
 
 There was a need in Dublin during the last century 
 for light one-horse vehicles ; several writers connect 
 this with the fashion at that time for sea-bathing. In 
 response to the demand came a supply, the slow 
 “Ringsend Car” gave place to the objectionable 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 218 
 
 “Noddy,” the rackety “Jingle” supplanted the 
 “ Noddy,” and had a short but brilliant career. 
 When the “Noddy” was in its decline, the pre¬ 
 historic, low-backed car was unostentatiously being 
 transformed into the outside-car, and when it was 
 perfected the noisy, swift “Jingle” yielded to the 
 superior qualities of its rival. A .11 these vehicles 
 were of purely local origin, but, so far as the 
 available evidence shows, the jaunting-car alone 
 belongs to the same sequence as the ordinary 
 Irish cart of the last century. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TOYS ANT GAMES: CATE CRADLE AND KITES. 
 
 T first sight it does not appear that games played 
 
 l V by children would afford a very profitable field 
 for investigation, but if we wish to learn all we can 
 about mankind no branch of inquiry should be 
 neglected. I shall endeavour in this and the follow¬ 
 ing chapters to indicate some of the conclusions which 
 may be drawn therefrom. 
 
 The games played by children have a very varied 
 origin, and a similarly unequal value to the student. 
 Before we consider the games played by our children 
 it is desirable to glance at those played by savages. 
 
 The children of savages play at the occupations of 
 their elders, and the boys will have their toy bows 
 and arrows; where the natives spear fish, boys and 
 girls will have toy fishing spears, with which they 
 attempt to catch fish. They play with toy canoes, 
 and so forth. Even when the adults have discarded 
 a weapon such as the bow and arrow for a more 
 serviceable weapon, the children will continue their 
 t°y—whether it be in New Guinea or in England. 
 
220 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Our English boys still delight in the implements of 
 warfare of their barbaric ancestors, such as the bow 
 and arrow, the sling, the sword and shield. The 
 memory of these has been preserved from generation 
 to generation through the unbroken continuity of 
 boyish practice. 
 
 Games of ball have now with us purely a diver- 
 sional character, but it seems probable that even this 
 harmless amusement has a somewhat sinister history. 
 
 Mr. Newell, the distinguished American folklorist, 
 reminds us that in England country folk speak of the 
 “camp-game” of ball and of the “ camping-ground.” 
 Pollux, writing in Greek in the second century, gave 
 an account of the “ common ball,” or “ ball battle, of 
 his day. Almost exactly the same was the ancient 
 Norse game, except that the resemblance to warfare 
 was closer. Playing the game was called “ kemping” 
 from Kemp , a warrior or champion, and the field was 
 a “kemping-ground.” lhe Persians and "lurks still 
 practise a different sort of game, which is played on 
 horseback. The Byzantine court adopted from the 
 East the playing on horseback and the racket, but 
 introduced these into a game resembling the ancient 
 “ ball battle.” The historian Cinnamus describes the 
 Emperor Manuel, in the twelfth century, as fond of 
 this kind of polo. 
 
 From the Eastern custom we get our tennis, whilst, 
 according to Newell, most of our games with bat 
 
TOYS AND GAMES 
 
 221 
 
 and ball seem to have come down to us from the 
 North. “ The history of the change from actual to 
 imitative warfare, from the latter to a harmless and 
 courtly amusement or to a rustic pastime, from this 
 last again in our days to a scientific sport, may supply 
 material for serious reflection.”* 
 
 These early games of ball were evidently martial 
 exercises, and encouraged for the purpose of keeping 
 the young men in good condition for actual warfare. 
 
 Our children also copy the actions of their parents, 
 but it is noteworthy that they prefer the more primi¬ 
 tive to the more civilized pursuits, and their games 
 retain more of the savage character than is typical 
 of nineteenth century culture. The love of playing 
 with dolls and of dressing and tending them, and of 
 pretending to keep house, of preparing food, and 
 other characteristics of girlhood, fall into the same 
 category as the hunting and martial games of boys. 
 
 There are other games which may be regarded as 
 being more purely diversional in character, as, for 
 example, certain of the games of ball and numerous 
 other simple amusements. Many of these are played 
 equally by adults and children, whether savage or 
 civilized. 
 
 Mr. Stewart Culin, who has made the study of 
 games a speciality, and who has written a valuable 
 
 * W. W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children. New 
 York, 1884, pp, 177, 178. 
 
222 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and beautifully illustrated work on the subject, from 
 which I have made many gleanings, emphasizes the 
 fact that while games occur as amusements or 
 pastimes among civilized men, among savage and 
 barbarous peoples they are largely sacred and divina- 
 tory; and this naturally suggests a sacred and 
 divinatory origin for many modern games. The 
 latter have, however, so nearly lost their original 
 meaning, that even with the light afforded by history 
 it is practically impossible to trace their origin. The 
 only other available method of inquiry is the com¬ 
 parative one, and it will be found that I have largely 
 availed myself of this in the following essays, though 
 I have employed the more strictly historical method 
 wherever possible. 
 
 “Games,”* says Culin, “must be regarded, not as 
 conscious inventions [here he is speaking in general 
 terms], but as survivals from primitive conditions, 
 under which they originated in magical rites and 
 chiefly as a means of divination. Based upon 
 certain fundamental conceptions of the universe, 
 they are characterized by a certain sameness, if not 
 identity, throughout the world. Without the confir¬ 
 mation of linguistic evidence, they are insufficient to 
 establish the connection of races or the transference 
 of culture.” 
 
 * Stewart Culin, Korean Caines: with Notes on the Corresponding 
 Games of China and Japan. Philadelphia, 1895. Introduction, pp. xvii.- 
 jdx., xxxiv, 
 
TOYS AND GAMES 
 
 223 
 
 The most important point elucidated by Culin is 
 the proof of the early use of arrows for divining 
 purposes. For convenience the arrows were flattened, 
 and ultimately were replaced by long narrow strips of 
 cardboard, on one side of which was painted a distinc¬ 
 tive device, while on the other was a queer design, 
 which is evidently the conventional representation of 
 the scar of the leaf which primitively marked the shaft 
 of the arrow when it was actually a reed. (Fig. 35.) 
 I hese elongated cards were shortened and broadened, 
 
 - Fig - 35 - 
 
 Back of a Korean Playing Card; after Culin. 
 
 This figure was kindly lent by the proprietors of the Reliquary and Illustrated Archeologist. 
 
 and from them have been derived our modern playing 
 cards, which even now retain amongst the credulous 
 a divinatory property, and are also still used for 
 gambling as well as for more innocent amusement. 
 Korean playing cards still bear representations of the 
 feathers of the arrows from which they were derived, 
 and their Chinese name varies only in tone from that 
 of the arrow, tsin. 
 
 In the fourth year of Hejira, Mohammed pro¬ 
 hibited wine and Meisir; the latter was a gambling 
 game of the heathen Arabs, in which seven arrows 
 were shaken from a quiver. 
 
 Another remarkable evolution from the employ- 
 
224 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 ment of arrows in divination is that of the Chinese 
 dominoes, and Europe has borrowed this game from 
 China. Culin calculates that of the ninety-seven 
 Korean games described by him twenty-three may 
 be referred to the arrow employed as an implement 
 of magic or divination. 
 
 Lastly, there are games and toys which are the 
 secularized and degenerate survivals of magical 
 practices other than purely divinatory, and even of 
 religious rites, although these two often merge into 
 one another. 
 
 I have taken a few games and toys, and have 
 endeavoured to work out their history as an illus¬ 
 tration of the methods of modern research. The 
 evidence is at present incomplete, but we cannot 
 satisfactorily determine the game of cat’s cradle, 
 with which I commence, or that of the top, in the 
 following chapter, to be other than simple diversions. 
 The tug-of-war was probably a magical rite, and 
 kite-flying had apparently a religious significance. 
 Finally, the bull-roarer at the present day represents 
 the three aspects of amusement, magic, and religion. 
 
 CAT’S CRADLE. 
 
 One child holds a piece of string joined at the ends 
 on his upheld palms, a single turn being taken over 
 each, and by inserting the middle finger of each hand 
 under the opposite turn, crosses the string from finger 
 
CAT’S CRADLE 
 
 225 
 
 to finger in a peculiar form. Another child then 
 takes off the string on his fingers in a rather differ¬ 
 ent way, and it then assumes a second form. A 
 repetition of this manoeuvre produces a third form, 
 and so on. Each of these forms has a particular 
 name, from a fancied resemblance to the object— 
 barn-doors, bowling-green, hour-glass, pound, net, 
 fiddle, fish-pond, diamonds, and others.* 
 
 The following forms are those known to Mrs. 
 Gomme. They are produced seriatim :— 
 
 1. The cradle. 
 
 2. The soldier’s bed. 
 
 3. Candles. 
 
 4. The cradle inversed, or manger. 
 
 5. Soldier’s bed again, or diamonds. 
 
 6. Diamonds, or cat’s eyes. 
 
 7. Fish in dish. 
 
 8. Cradle as at first. 
 
 The different orders or arrangements must be taken 
 from the hands of one player by another without 
 disturbing the arrangement. 
 
 Nares suggests that the proper name is “ Cratch 
 Cradle,” and is derived from the archaic word cratch, f 
 meaning a manger.J He gives several authorities 
 
 * Notes and Queries , vol. xi., p. 421. 
 
 t In the Century Dictionary the term cratch has two meanings, “a 
 grated manger,” “ a rack or open framework.” 
 
 t Murray, in The New E?iglish Dictionary , does not support this 
 etymology. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 for its use. The first-made form is not unlike a 
 manger. Moor [Suffolk Words ) gives the names 
 as cat’s cradle, barn-doors, bowling-green, hour-glass, 
 pound, net, diamonds, fish-pond, fiddle. A supposed 
 resemblance originated them. Britton (. Beauties of 
 Wiltshire , Glossary) says the game in London schools 
 is called “ Scratch-scratch,” or “ Scratch-cradle.” # 
 
 Amongst other Korean games Mr. Culint has in¬ 
 vestigated that known as Ssi-teu-ki , or “Woof-taking.” 
 It is practically identical with our cat’s cradle, as is 
 usually played by girls. The figures, which are the 
 same as in our own children’s play, are named as 
 follows: (i) cover for hearse, (2) chess-board, (3) 
 chop-sticks, (4) cow’s eyeball, (5) rice-mill pestle. 
 
 “In Japan cat’s cradle is called aya ito tori- —‘woof 
 pattern string-taking.’ The figures are identical with 
 those in Korea, but receive different names. (1) [?] ; 
 (2) nekomata , defined as ‘a mountain cat, into which 
 a domestic cat is supposed to transform itself’; (3) 
 koto , a musical instrument, or geta no ha , the two 
 pieces of wood under the soles of clogs ; (4) umano 
 me , horse-eye ; (5) tsuzumi, a musical instrument. 
 
 “In South China cat’s cradle is called kang sok, 
 which means literally ‘well-rope.’ It is spoken of as 
 
 * This account of the English game, with the references, is taken from 
 Mrs. Gomme’S “The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland,” i. (. Dictionary of British Folk-Lore, Part i.), 1894, p. 61. 
 
 t Stewart Culin, Korean Games : with Notes on the Corresponding 
 Games of China and Japan . Philadelphia, 1895, p. 30. 
 
CAT’S CRADLE 
 
 227 
 
 an amusement for girls, but is known to all Cantonese 
 labourers. They make the same figures as those of 
 Korea and Japan, but do not, they tell me, give them 
 names. The order of the figures, after the first, is 
 not necessarily that here given.” 
 
 Miss Fielde* says that the Chinese of Swatow call 
 cat’s cradle “sawing wood” in allusion to the final act 
 in the performance. 
 
 Dr. A. R. Wallace, the famous traveller, who 
 formulated a theory of natural selection synchronously 
 with Darwin, thus describes! his finding this game in 
 Borneo :— 
 
 “ One wet day in a Dyak house, when a number of boys 
 and young men were about me, I thought to amuse them 
 with something new T , and showed them how to make ‘cat’s 
 cradle ’ with a piece of string. Greatly to my surprise, they 
 knew all about it, and more than I did; for, after I and 
 Charles had gone through all the changes we could make, 
 one of the boys took it off my hand, and made several new 
 figures which quite puzzled me. They then showed me a 
 number of other tricks with pieces of string, which seemed 
 a favourite amusement with them.” 
 
 Lieut, de Crespigny J writes of the Dusuns of 
 Borneo:— 
 
 “ Near me were two children playing at ‘cat’s cradle’ exactly 
 as I remembered to have played it in my own childhood.” 
 
 * A Corner of Cathay , New York, 1894, p. 87. 
 
 t A. R. Wallace, The Malay Archipelago , 1869, i., p. 183. 
 
 J Proc . R. Geogr. Soc., ii., 1858, p. 344. Quoted from H. Ling Roth, 
 The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo , i., 1896, p. 366. 
 
228 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The knowledge of this game was probably common 
 to the members of the Polynesian stock before they 
 separated off into different groups, as we find it in the 
 Eastern Pacific in Mangaia, one of the Hervey Group, 
 and again, so far south as New Zealand. 
 
 Dr. W. Wyatt Gill,^ the illustrious missionary of 
 the Hervey Group, informs us that “cat’s cradle (at) 
 was a great delight of old and young. Teeth were 
 called into play to help the fingers. One complication, 
 in which the cord in the centre is twisted into a long 
 slender stem, and therefore called ‘the coco-nut tree,’ 
 
 I have never known a European to unravel.” 
 
 Two early travellers give us the following account 
 of the game as it is played in New Zealand :— 
 
 “He whai or maul —The ‘cat’s cradle’ is a game very similar 
 to our own, but the cord is made to assume many more forms, 
 and these are said to be different scenes in their mythology, 
 such as Hine-nui-te-po, Mother Night bringing forth her 
 progeny, Maru and the gods, and Maui fishing up the land. 
 Men, canoes, houses, etc., are also represented. Some state 
 that Maui invented this game.”t 
 
 «In the game of Maui they are great proficients. This is 
 a game like that called ‘cat’s cradle’ in Europe, and consists 
 of very complicated and perplexing puzzles with a cord tied 
 together at the ends. It seems to be intimately connected 
 with their ancient traditions, and in the different figures 
 
 which the cord is made to assume; whilst held on both 
 
 % 
 
 * W. Wyatt Gill, Life in the Southern Isles, 1876, p. 65. 
 
 t R. Taylor, Te Ika a Maui ; or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants , 
 
 London, 1855, p. i 7 2 * 
 
CAT’S CRADLE 
 
 229 
 
 hands, the outlines of their different varieties of houses, 
 canoes, or figures of men and women are imagined to be 
 represented. Maui, the Adam of New Zealand, left this 
 amusement to them as an inheritance.”* 
 
 Tregeart also mentions the representation of Taw- 
 haki (lightning) ascending to heaven. 
 
 These statements are very interesting, and suggest 
 that we have here to do with some symbolism that 
 has in course of time become obscured. On the other 
 hand, Maui may be merely a pastime, and the string 
 figures or designs may be nothing more than casual 
 illustrations of the mythology of the natives. There 
 do not appear to be sufficient data at present to settle 
 this point. 
 
 Dr. Codrington J says, “ Cats’-cradle, in Lepers’ 
 Island lelegaro , in Florida honggo , with many 
 figures, is common throughout the [Melanesian] 
 Islands.” 
 
 The Motu children of Port Moresby, in the 
 south-eastern peninsula of New Guinea, are as well 
 versed in the intricacies of “cat’s cradle” as are 
 our own. § 
 
 I remember once going into a native hut in an 
 
 * E. Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand. London, 1843, 
 vol. ii., p. 32. 
 
 t E. Tregear, “The Maoris of New Zealand,” Journ. Anth. Inst., 
 xix., 1889, p. 115. 
 
 t The Melanesians , 1891, p. 341. 
 
 § W. Y. Turner, “The Ethnology of the Motu,” Journ. Anth. Inst., 
 vii., 1878, p. 483. 
 
230 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 island in Torres Straits, and seeing a little black boy 
 playing with a piece of string, the two ends of which 
 were tied together, in much the same manner as our 
 children play at cat’s cradle. The first figure that he 
 made with it was precisely the same as our “ cradle,” 
 but the subsequent ones were different. He was 
 greatly surprised when I picked the string off his 
 hands to make “ the soldier s bed,” which I then 
 transformed into “the candles,” back into “the 
 reversed manger,” and from that into “the diamonds,” 
 and so on. I found that a couple of natives did not 
 play together as we do, “taking off” from each other, 
 but that usually each played separately. They can 
 make much more elaborate devices than ours, and the 
 process is correspondingly elaborate, and feet and 
 teeth are at times pressed into service. On the other 
 hand, although many are extremely complicated in 
 manipulation the final result may be simple. The 
 following are some of the forms I saw the natives 
 make:—A mouth; a coco-nut palm; liana, or some 
 forest rope-like climber; a fish; a crow; a dog; a 
 crayfish, certain movements of the hands represented 
 the motions of the living animal; a sea-snake, which, 
 when the hands were drawn apart, had an undulating 
 movement, such as sea-snakes have in swimming 
 through the water; one figure was intended for a 
 canoe, without an outrigger, and another for one 
 with an outrigger; one, by a stretch of the imagination, 
 
CATS CRADLE 
 
 231 
 
 was said to indicate a family of one picaninny (child), 
 and yet another a family of two. # 
 
 Among the Australians Eyref remarks, “string 
 puzzles are another species of amusement with them. 
 In these a European would be surprised to see the 
 ingenuity they display, and the varied and singular 
 figures which they produce. Our juvenile attempts 
 in this way are very meagre and uninteresting com¬ 
 pared to them.” 
 
 Professor E. B. Tylor, \ who has noted some of 
 the references I have just given, says it is evident 
 that the Dyaks and Maoris did not learn it from 
 Europeans, and though cat’s cradle is now known 
 over all Western Europe, we cannot find any record 
 of it at all ancient in our part of the world. It is 
 known in South-East Asia, and he thinks that “the 
 most plausible explanation seems to be that this is its 
 centre of origin, whence it migrated westward into 
 Europe, and eastward and southward through 
 Polynesia and into Australia.” It would be interest¬ 
 ing if it could be established that this game has 
 travelled in the manner suggested by the great Oxford 
 anthropologist. The occurrence of a similar string 
 game among the Eskimo requires explanation. 
 
 * A. C. Haddon, “The Ethnography of the Western Tribe of Torres 
 Straits,” Journ. Anth. Inst ., 1890, xix., p. 361. 
 
 t Central Australia , ii., p. 229. 
 
 t E. B. Tylor, “ Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of Games,” 
 Journ. Anth. Inst., ix., 1879, p. 26. 
 
232 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 We know that all over the world string, cords, and 
 knots enter largely into magic, and there may be some 
 forgotten or unrecorded connection between cat’s 
 cradle and a magical rite. The association of cat’s 
 cradle with mythology in New Zealand is also worth 
 bearing in mind. 
 
 At present we cannot carry the investigation any 
 further until more evidence is to hand. It does 
 not appear to me improbable that some of these 
 varieties of cat’s cradle may have been independently 
 invented. 
 
 KITES. 
 
 Although now fairly widely distributed in Europe 
 and common enough in England, the kite is a com¬ 
 paratively recent plaything in Europe, having been 
 introduced in the course of oriental trade from the far 
 East during the seventeenth century. Strutt, writing 
 in 1801, says he does not find “ any reason to conclude 
 that it existed here much more than a century back,”* 
 and the first record he found was in a French and 
 English Dictionary, published by Miege, a.d. 1690, 
 where among other significations cerf volant denoted 
 a “ kite.” 
 
 Such being the case it is evident there cannot be 
 much to learn from a study of kites in Europe, 
 
 * J. Strutt, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England 
 
 1801, Book iv., p. 292. 
 
KITES 
 
 233 
 
 nor have we a great variety in forms. The old 
 
 type with a crescentic upper margin is giving place 
 to a diamond or lozenge-shaped form. Occasionally 
 one sees other shapes, but these are obviously 
 
 importations, or imitations, of Chinese or Japanese 
 kites. 
 
 From being a mere toy the kite has recently become 
 a scientific instrument. Kites appear to have been 
 first applied in meteorology by Alexander Wilson, 
 of Glasgow, who, in 1 749, raised thermometers 
 attached to kites into the clouds.* Three years later, 
 Franklin performed in Philadelphia his celebrated 
 experiment of collecting the electricity of the thunder¬ 
 cloud by means of a kite, f Although kites have 
 
 served a variety of purposes, their first systematic 
 
 use in meteorology was probably in England, between 
 1883 and 1885, when E. D. Archibald made differential 
 measurements of wind velocity by anemometers, raised 
 by kites fifteen hundred feet ( Nature , vol. xxxi.) In 
 1885 A. McAdie repeated Franklin’s experiment on 
 Blue Hill, using an electrometer. Since then there 
 has been a very notable development in scientific kite¬ 
 flying in the United States; in Europe attention 
 has chiefly been directed to balloons, though the 
 latter have many disadvantages as compared with the 
 former. A kite-balloon is now being tried in the 
 
 * Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh , x., p. 284. 
 
 t Sparks, Works of Benjamin Franklin , v., p. 295. 
 
234 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 German army, but it is inferior to the simple kite 
 for meteorological researches. # 
 
 “In Washington the Weather Bureau has, under the 
 direction of Prof. Willis L. Moore, chief of the Bureau, been 
 carrying on an extended investigation into the best kinds 
 of kites for use in sending up meteorological instruments. 
 Prof. C. F. Marvin has recently minutely described the kind 
 of kite now in use by the Bureau, f This kite is a modifi¬ 
 cation of those used by Hargrave in Australia, and is not at 
 all like the ordinary kite. Instead of being flat, and tapering 
 at the lower end, as in the usual form, these kites are box¬ 
 shaped, with their ends open and their sides partly covered 
 with cloth or silk. This style of kite, which has also been in 
 use at Blue Hill for some months, is found to be admirably 
 adapted to the purpose for which it is intended, and when 
 fine piano wire is used to hold it, instead of twine, is a 
 splendid flyer. 
 
 “ Clayton, of the Blue Hill Observatory, has for some time 
 been using kites to help in determining the altitudes of the 
 base of stratus and nimbus. These clouds, which so often 
 cover the whole sky with a uniform sheet, can only have their 
 heights determined under the most favourable circumstances 
 if the ordinary theodolite is used. 
 
 “The work done at Blue Hill Observatory with kites was 
 outlined by Clayton before the Boston Scientific Society at 
 a recent meeting. I The kites at present in use are the Eddy, 
 or tailless, and the Hargrave, or box kite. Continued experi¬ 
 ments at Blue Hill have resulted in the development of 
 scientific kite-flying on a remarkable scale. Recent ascents 
 
 * Lawrence Rotch, “ On obtaining Meteorological Records in the 
 Upper Air, by means of Kites and Balloons,” Proc. American Acad. 
 Arts and Sci., xxxii., 1897 ; reprinted in Nature , lvi., 1897, p. 602. 
 
 t Monthly Weather Rev., Nov., 1895. 
 
 J Boston Commonwealth, May 9th, t896, 12-13. 
 
KITES 
 
 235 
 
 have reached altitudes but little short of a mile above sea 
 level; and excellent records have been obtained by means of 
 a self-recording instrument which gives automatic readings 
 of temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity. The 
 meteorological results already obtained are of great value, 
 and the full discussion of them is awaited with interest. 
 Among the most important matters that have been noted 
 is the presence of cold waves and warm waves at considerable 
 elevations some hours before the temperature changes are 
 noted at the earth’s surface. The prospect of improving our 
 weather forecasts by such soundings of the free air is very 
 encouraging, and it is more than likely that before long some 
 practical use will be made of these discoveries. 
 
 “ The next few years will undoubtedly witness many 
 improvements in kites used for meteorological purposes, 
 and the United States seems to be distinctly in the lead 
 in this work at the present time.”* 
 
 True to the tradition of thousands of years, the 
 ingenuity of Europe is concerned in an endeavour 
 to increase her machinery for war. It is extremely 
 difficult for an expert marksman to hit even a captive 
 balloon, and it is doubtful whether our newest field- 
 gun would be of much service in this respect, but a 
 kite would be much more difficult to hit. Therefore 
 it really does become of some interest to know whether 
 an enemy can by means of a parcel of kites take 
 photographs of our defences, and by the same method 
 detonate over our cities several dozen pounds of nitro¬ 
 glycerine. 
 
 Captain Baden-Powell, of the Scots Guards, is our 
 * R. De C. Ward, Science (N.S.), iii., 1896, p. 801. 
 
236 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 great authority on kites in England. He makes these 
 toys of our childhood on such a scale that they can, 
 with a good wind, carry up a staff officer. He is 
 understood to laugh at balloons as a means of observ¬ 
 ing a foe, and to claim that, whereas balloons must be 
 a failure when the wind is strong, kites will do nearly 
 all their work in a gale or half a gale. 
 
 The use of kites for scientific purposes is obvious 
 enough. By their aid real bird’s-eye views may be 
 taken with a camera flying aloft, the shutter being 
 actuated by mechanical means or preferably by elec¬ 
 tricity. Mr. Woglom* gives us some specimens of 
 views of New York City taken from the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Washington Square. We do not know that 
 they show us much more than could be had from the 
 roofs of some of the monster buildings which the 
 straitness of New York necessitates, and which are 
 unhappily not unknown now in London. But they at 
 least prove the possibility, which the ordinary man 
 might well have doubted, of manipulating a camera 
 attached to a kite. If that can be done at 200 ft. from 
 the ground while the kite is in the air, it can obviously 
 be done at 2,000 ft. 
 
 “ The form of kite from which the ‘ parakite’ is an evolution 
 is the general form of the Asiatic kite, substantially a square, 
 whereof the two diagonals are respectively horizontal and 
 
 * Gilbert Totten Woglom, Parakites: A Treatise on the Making 
 and Flying of Tailless Kites for Scientific Purposes andfor Recreation. 
 1896. (Putnam and Sons.) 
 
KITES 
 
 237 
 
 vertical with a convex windward side, the convexity pro¬ 
 duced by a third transverse member which is curved upward 
 as well as to the windward face. The Woglom parakite flies 
 without a tail, and will not fly properly with one.”* 
 
 With all our vaunted progress and science we 
 have not so very much to pride ourselves upon 
 even in this latest development of military tactics; 
 for we are, after all, only following in the footsteps 
 of the Chinese and Japanese. 
 
 Kites are said to have been invented by the 
 Chinese General, Han-Sin, about 200 b.c. He flew 
 in the air figures of different forms and colours, and 
 thus signalled from a besieged town to the army that 
 was coming to his succour, f 
 
 In a war with Japan, some 400 years ago, a 
 Korean general encouraged his dispirited soldiers, 
 who were discouraged by the appearance of falling 
 stars, by secretly making a kite, to which he attached 
 a small lantern, and one dark night he sent it up. 
 The soldiers accepted this as an auspicious omen, 
 and renewed the struggle with increased energy. 
 
 Another general flew a kite across an impassable 
 stream ; it lodged in a tree on the other side, and 
 by its means he pulled a strong cord across and 
 ultimately made a bridge. 
 
 Ui Shosetsu, the Japanese who tried to upset 
 
 * l.c., p. 16. 
 
 t F. Dillaye, Les Jeux de la Jeunesse , 1885, p. 34. 
 
238 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the Tokugawa Government in the seventeenth 
 century, made a large kite, to which he fastened 
 himself, and, being carried up into the air, he was 
 enabled to overlook the castle of Yedo. 
 
 A famous Japanese robber, Ishikawa Goemon, in 
 the sixteenth century, attempted by mounting on a 
 kite to steal the two celebrated solid golden fish, 
 which, as finials, adorned two spires of the great 
 castle of Nagoya. The fish were worth the risk, 
 as they were valued at from ,£15,000 to £16,000, 
 but the daring thief failed in his purpose. 
 
 It is to the same end of Asia that we must turn 
 if we wish to study kites from an anthropological 
 point of view, and there we shall find them in 
 profusion, of quaint and varied form, brilliant in 
 colour, and in addition we find them put to diverse 
 uses and imbued with symbolic significance. 
 
 Nor are the timers and seasons for kite-flying 
 unimportant. With us kites may be flown all the 
 year round, provided there is wind enough ; but, as 
 a matter of fact, spring is the more usual season for 
 the sport. In the far East we find that definite times 
 are appointed for this exercise. 
 
 In his learned book on Korean Games , Mr. Stewart 
 Culin informs us that the time for kite-flying in Korea 
 is the first half of the first month ; after this time 
 anyone would be laughed at who flew a kite, nor 
 will anyone touch a lost kite. On the fourteenth day 
 
KITES 
 
 239 
 
 Fig. 36 . 
 
 Oriental Kites. 
 
 1. A Korean kite, with “ crow’s feet ” ; 2. A Chinese kite ; 3. “ Cuttlefish ” kite from 
 a Japanese drawing (1-3 after Culin) ; 4. Kite from the Solomon 
 Islands (from a specimen in the British Museum). 
 
240 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 of the same month it is customary in Korea to write 
 on kites a wish to the effect that the year’s mis¬ 
 fortunes may be carried away with them. A mother 
 does this for a small boy, adding his name and the 
 date of his birth. The inscription is written along 
 the bamboo frame, so that it may not be readily 
 seen by anyone who might be tempted to pick up 
 the kite. The boys tie a piece of sulphur paper on 
 the string of such a kite, which they light before 
 sending up, so that when the kite is in the air the 
 string will be burnt through and the kite itself blown 
 away. 
 
 It is evident that the kite is, in this instance, treated 
 as a “scape-goat,” the goat of the Hebrews being re¬ 
 placed by a bird. In Japan kites are called “ octopus,” 
 “paper-hawk,” “paper-owl,” &c. ; and in Korea the 
 rectangular kites are provided at each of the lower 
 angles with triangular pieces of white paper called 
 the “crow’s foot,” and near the upper border is a 
 disc of coloured paper, which probably is the vestige 
 of an antecedent bird’s face. (Fig. 36, No. 1.) All 
 classes fly kites, from the king downwards. Women 
 sometimes fly kites from their yards, but it is said 
 that anyone can tell when a kite is flown by a woman. 
 
 In Japan the season for kite-flying greatly varies; 
 in general it appears to depend upon the prevailing 
 winds. At Tokyo it begins on the first day of the 
 New Year, and kites are never flown at any other 
 
KITES 
 
 241 
 
 season. On the other hand, at Nagasaki, kites are 
 not flown in the first month, but the festivals for kite¬ 
 flying are the 3rd, 10th, 15th, and 25th of the third 
 month, the 3rd being the occasion of a “religious 
 festival of dolls” (literally of “chickens,” or “young 
 birds ”). 
 
 On the 5th of the fifth month is the boys’ festival. 
 Streamers and small flags are displayed, and a large 
 coloured carp of cloth or paper. This fish is respected, 
 as it resolutely overcomes all the difficulties it en¬ 
 counters in its passage up the streams of the country, 
 even ascending waterfalls ; thus it is emblematic of 
 what it is hoped will be the career of the boys. 
 Models of helmets and warriors are also exhibited as 
 expressions of the hope that boys may become great 
 men. There is a distinct association of ideas between 
 long flags and kites. The same day in other parts 
 of Japan is an especial occasion for kite-flying. In 
 the province of Suruga all the boys who can afford it 
 have a kite on this day. It is considered very un¬ 
 lucky for a boy to lose his kite; should this happen, it 
 is customary for search parties to follow the lost kite 
 even for a distance of twenty miles, and those who 
 bring it back are rewarded with presents of sake. 
 It is recorded that a boy once lost his kite on the 
 day of this feast, and a few months later he died. 
 Girls never have kites. In this case it appears that 
 the kite is regarded as a “ life-token,” or “ external 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 soul,” of the boy. But this symbolism is limited to 
 certain occasions and places. In Nagasaki, when a 
 kite escapes, no special effort is made to recover it. 
 
 The middle and upper classes in China indulge in 
 the pastime in a desultory way ; it is not with them 
 a national sport, as with the Japanese and with the 
 natives of the countries south of China. # The 
 Koreans say that the Chinese do not know how to 
 fly kites, and that when a Chinaman grows tired he 
 will tie the string on to a tree and lie down and 
 watch it. t 
 
 In Hong Kong the kite-flying season is the end of 
 summer ; but in some parts of China the ninth day 
 of the ninth month has been from ancient times the 
 great kite-flying festival, when paper birds and bizarre 
 monsters flit, swoop, and hover in multitudes in the 
 bright sunshine. (Fig. 36, No. 2.) 
 
 In the mountains of the province of Canton kites 
 are flown in gangs. 
 
 “The flier dismisses a leash of three, united by three lines 
 of a few feet in length. At the junction of the three ends 
 he attaches a single line, which is dismissed a few feet farther 
 in the air. Then raising another separate leash of three— 
 similar in arrangement to the first—he ties the joined ends 
 of the second leash to his main single line, and dismisses 
 the second trio, the first trio being in the air beyond and 
 above the second. He repeats the operation as many times 
 
 * G. T. WOGLOM, Parakites, p. 9. 
 t S. Culin, Korean Games p. 13 
 
KITES 
 
 243 
 
 as his stock of kites and his stock of patience will allow. 
 He heedfully chooses kites which have been proven sidewise 
 fliers, so that they may not foul each other; if a fresher 
 wind attacks his exhibits, his painstaking is ineffective; they 
 will swirl into a confusion of entanglement which would 
 exasperate any but a Chinaman.”* 
 
 To a very large extent kite-flying in China and 
 Japan is now a simple amusement; but this is what 
 one constantly finds in the history of ancient cere¬ 
 monial customs. Mr. Woglom informs us that the 
 Japanese have their kite-clubs with quite large 
 membership rolls. One prominent club, the Shiyen 
 Kwai, holds assemblies annually in January for con¬ 
 sultation and to competitively decide upon new 
 designs. Prizes for beauty of design and decoration, 
 and for perfection in build and accuracy in flight, are 
 competed for at the meetings, which are protracted 
 for several days. The club meetings are held in 
 Tokyo, and the flights are held in the suburbs. 
 
 The “ Festival of the Cherry-Bloom” is a season 
 for national sport. Old men, up to eighty years of 
 age, after their tiring efforts in raising their pets into 
 the heavens, and too feeble to stand continuously, are 
 attended by servants with chairs. When travelling 
 through a sparsely inhabited section, the rider will 
 see ancient, mummy-like Japanese sitting by the road¬ 
 side, perhaps upon a bamboo-pole support, con¬ 
 tentedly flying and watching his kite hour after hour. 
 
 * G. T. Woglom, Parakites , p. 9 
 
244 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 Nowadays in Japan, the kite-flying- by both adults and 
 children is practised outside the cities ; the police 
 regulations forbid it in the narrow city streets. 
 
 One exciting form of the sport is known as kite¬ 
 fighting. The strings, for a portion of their length, 
 are covered with powdered glass, or sharp-edged, 
 curved pieces of glass are fastened to the tails of 
 the kites, the object being to cut the string of an 
 opponent’s kite by a sawing motion of the string of 
 your own kite whilst both are flying. It has been 
 stated that kite-cutting did not originate in China, 
 but that it was brought from India. A description 
 of this skilful pastime is given by Woglom in 
 Parakites . # 
 
 In Siam each mandarin has his special form of 
 kite with a distinctive colour. The king, also, is 
 said to have a magnificently decorated kite, which is 
 flown at sunset and kept flying all night by mandarins 
 of the first rank. It is withdrawn at sunrise.! Here 
 again there must be a symbolic or magical significance 
 for this curious custom. 
 
 Not only in Further India, but in India itself, on 
 the one hand, and in the Malay region to the south, 
 is kite-flying practised. It is very prevalent in Java. 
 The several Javanese communities have each their 
 peculiar kinds of kites, and they hold contests to 
 
 * Parakites , pp. 6, 8, 9. 
 
 t F. Dillaye, Les Jeux de la Jeunesse , 1885, p. 39. 
 
KITES 
 
 245 
 
 prove superiority of manufacture or skill in manipu¬ 
 lation. The old form of English kite was a Javanese 
 pattern. Woglom says the Javanese kites are seldom 
 decorated, except with dirt. The Javanese, more 
 generally than the Japanese, gamble on the results 
 of kite competitions and kite battles. They fly them 
 to heights of 700 to 1200 feet for display. 
 
 Dr. Codrington* informs us that in Melanesia 
 kites are used as toys in the Banks Islands, and 
 in the New Hebrides they are made and flown at the 
 season when the gardens are being cleared for plant¬ 
 ing. The kite is steadied by a long reed tail, and a 
 good one will fly and hover very well. 
 
 In Lepers’ Island the kite is called an ‘-'eagle,” and 
 the following song is sung when flying one :— 
 
 “ Wind ! wherever you may abide, 
 
 Wherever you may abide, Wind ! come hither ; 
 
 Pray take my eagle away from me afar. 
 
 E-u ! E-u ! Wind ! blow strong and steady, 
 
 Blow and come forth, 0 Wind ! ” 
 
 But the kite is put to a more utilitarian use in 
 the Solomon Islands and Santa Cruz.f Here it is 
 flown from a canoe, and from it hangs a tangle of 
 spiders’ web or of fibre, which it drags along the 
 surface of the water and in which fish with long 
 
 * R. H. CODRlNGTON, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropo¬ 
 logy and Folk-Lore, 1891, pp. 342, 336. 
 t Loc. cit ., p. 318. 
 
246 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 slender under jaws become entangled. (Fig. 36, 
 No. 4.) 
 
 The Fijians know of the kite by the Polynesian 
 name of Manumanu , “ bird,” but apparently they 
 do not fly it.* 
 
 The use of the kite was widely spread in Polynesia, 
 being recorded from the Society Islands and as far 
 south as New Zealand. Ellis states, “The boys 
 were very fond of the uo , or kite, which they raised 
 to a great height. The Tahitian kite was different in 
 shape from the kites of the English boys. It was 
 made of light native cloth instead of paper, and 
 formed in shape according to the fancy of its 
 owner.”f 
 
 In New Zealand “the name of the kite is the old 
 term for the hawk. Their figure is generally a rough 
 imitation of the bird with its great out-spread wings ; 
 these kites are frequently made of very large dimen¬ 
 sions of raupo leaves, a kind of sedge, neatly sewn 
 together and kept in shape by a slight framework. 
 The string is most expeditiously formed and length¬ 
 ened at pleasure, being merely the split leaves of the 
 flax plant [Phormium tenax]. This is a very favourite 
 amusement.” J Dieffenbach says, “ The kite is of 
 triangular form, and is very neatly made of the light 
 
 * Seemann, Viti, p. 45. 
 
 t W. Ellis, Polynesian Researches , i. (2nd Ed., 1831), p. 228. 
 
 I R. TAYLOR, Te Ika a Maui; or , New Zealand and its Inhabitants, 
 1855, p. 172. 
 
KITES 
 
 247 
 
 leaves oi a sedge; its ascent is accompanied with 
 some saying or song, such as the He karakia pakau. 
 It is a sign of peace when it is seen flying near 
 a village. ” * Dieffenbach gives the words of- this 
 song, but unfortunately it is not translated. Tregear f 
 says the kite kahu (hawk), or pakau (wing), is made 
 from the leaves of the raupo (Typha angustifolia). 
 
 There were three kinds of kites in the remote 
 Hervey Islands, which were either egg-shaped, club- 
 shaped, or bird-shaped. As the latter were more 
 difficult to make, they were scarce and justly admired 
 by the childish old men who delighted to fly them on 
 the hill-tops of Mangaia. Besides a terminal bunch 
 of feathers, the long tail of these kites was decorated 
 respectively with four, six, or three bunches of yellow 
 ti leaves. The four bunches of the egg-like kite 
 represent a constellation called the “Twins and their 
 parents’ 7 (Pinereua ma ), about which an interesting 
 myth is given by the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Gill. J The 
 only children of Potiki were twins, a girl named 
 Piri-ere-ua, or “ Inseparable,” and a boy. Their 
 mother, Tarakorekore, was a great scold and gave 
 them no peace. On one occasion when their mother 
 would not give them some fish they ran away and 
 leaped up into the sky, where they were followed by 
 
 * E. Dieffenbach, Travels in New Zealand, ii., 1843, p. 31. 
 
 t E. Tregear ,Journ. Anth. Inst., xix., p. 115. 
 
 £ Myths a)id Songs, p. 40. 
 
248 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 their parents, who continually chase but can never 
 overtake them :— 
 
 SONG OF THE TWINS. 
 
 Wherefore fled the children of Tarakorekore? 
 
 Anger at the cooked fish of Potiki. 
 
 They stealthily rose, and ran and fled for ever. 
 
 Alas ! that a mother should thus ill-treat her children. 
 
 Such was not my (the father’s) wish; and when I intercede, 
 
 She will not relent. 
 
 She thrashes them—is always at it. 
 
 If one sleeps at Karang or elsewhere, 
 
 Still there is no peace—only threats and blows. 
 
 The six bunches denote the Pleiades; this beau¬ 
 tiful constellation was of extreme importance in 
 heathenism, as its appearance at sunset on the eastern 
 horizon determined the commencement of the new 
 year, which is about the middle of December. Dr. 
 Gill gives # the mythical account of the origin of 
 the group. The three bunches represent “ The 
 Three” ( Tau-toru ), that is, the three bright stars 
 forming Orion’s Belt. The tapa of which the kites 
 were made was decorated with devices appropriate to 
 the tribe of the maker. A tail with six bunches of 
 leaves was about twenty fathoms (120 feet) in length. 
 
 The origin of kite-flying is thus accounted for. 
 The god Tane, the Giver of food, once challenged his 
 eldest brother Rongo, the Resounder, whose home 
 
 * I . C ., p. 43 - 
 
KITES 
 
 249 
 
 is in the shades, to a kite-flying match. But the 
 issue of this trial of skill was the utter discomfiture 
 of Tane by Rongo, who had secretly provided him¬ 
 self with an enormous quantity of string. This 
 contest is the subject of a poem composed by Koroa 
 about 1814 a.d.* 
 
 A KITE SONG. 
 
 Call for the dance to lead off. 
 
 The hill-top Atiu is covered with kites, 
 
 Pets of Raka who rules o’er the winds. 
 
 Solo. 
 
 Dance away ! 
 
 Go on ! 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 See, yon hill-top Atiu covered with kites 
 Pets of Raka, god of the winds. 
 
 Solo. 
 
 Aye. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 I am a bird + of beautiful plumage. 
 
 Solo. 
 
 Cleave, then, the dark clouds. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Take care lest Tautiti gain the day. 
 
 Solo. 
 
 Once Tane and Rongo tried their skill, 
 With divine kites in spirit-land. 
 
 Solo. 
 
 Who was beaten ? 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Tane ; for his string fell short. 
 
 Solo. 
 
 Two thousand fathoms of string ! 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Yes; ’twas Rongo’s, 
 
 Whose kite touched the edge of the sky. 
 
 Thus mortals have acquired this agreeable pastime, 
 the condition of each game being that the first kite 
 that mounts the sky should be sacred to and should 
 bear the name of Rongo, the divine patron of the art. 
 The names of all subsequent kites were indifferent. 
 
 * Myths and Songs, p. 123. 
 
 t i.e. a kite. 
 
^ 5 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Children’s kites were, and still are, extemporized 
 out of the leaves of the gigantic chestnut tree. Some¬ 
 times one sees a boy—but it is no longer as in the 
 olden time the grandfathers—flying a properly made 
 kite. 
 
 Elsewhere # Dr. Gill gives a Mangaian legend 
 about kites which is about 360 years old, and with 
 it “The song of the Twin Kites.” 
 
 Kites are said, as I have previously mentioned, to 
 have been invented by the Chinese general, Han-Sin, 
 about 200 e.c. There is no reason to disbelieve that 
 Han-Sin employed kites for the purpose stated, but 
 the undoubted religious character of kite-flying in so 
 many places suggests rather that this is not at all 
 likely to have been the origin of the custom. 
 
 Probably we shall never know how the kite first 
 originated—it may have been independently invented 
 in several places, but this is not by any means certain. 
 We Europeans certainly learnt the art of kite-flying 
 from South or Eastern Asia.t 
 
 The divine origin of kites in spirit-land, according 
 to the ancient Mangaian myth, points to its having been 
 an ancestral custom, and as kite-flying, accompanied 
 with the singing of mythical chants, appears to be 
 
 * W. Wyatt Gill, From Darkness to Light in Polynesia , with 
 illustrative Clan Songs , London, 1894, p. 39; cf. also Life in the Southern 
 Lsles , by the same author, p. 64. 
 
 t E. B. Tylor, “Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of 
 Games,” Journ. Antk. Inst., ix., 1879, p. 23. 
 
KITES 
 
 25 1 
 
 widely spread in the Pacific, we may safely regard 
 the custom as not having various independent centres 
 of origin in Oceania, but as having been brought by the 
 Oceanic peoples in their wanderings from the Malay 
 Archipelago. Dr. Gill believes that the Polynesians 
 first arrived in the Hervey Islands some two or three 
 hundred years ago, and that their swarming from 
 Savai’i took place some five or six centuries ago. # 
 How and when their ancestors got to the Samoan 
 group is still very problematical. An additional 
 argument in favour of the natives of the Hervey 
 Group bringing their kites with them is found in the 
 Plan of the Winds as handed down by the ancient 
 priests, which, with slight variations, is known from 
 many other of the Oceanic groups. The number of 
 wind-holes in this plan exactly corresponds with the 
 points of the mariner’s compass. In the olden times 
 great stress was laid on this knowledge for the purpose 
 of fishing, and especially for the long sea voyages 
 which these adventurous navigators undertook from 
 group to group. The Chinese are credited with 
 having invented the mariner’s compass long anterior 
 to the Christian era. I should not be surprised if 
 ultimately it was found to be the case that the com¬ 
 pass, with certain other elements of Chinese culture, 
 was brought to that country by a maritime people who 
 were early merged into the general population of that 
 
 * Myths and Songs , p. 167. 
 
252 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 mixed people, and who have subsequently been for¬ 
 gotten. It was known to the Arabs in mediaeval 
 times, and from them, through the crusaders, the 
 knowledge spread over Europe. As Dr. Gill points 
 out/'' the absence of iron throughout Polynesia would 
 easily account for the loss of the magnet, but the plan 
 of the card was perpetuated. 
 
 Thus once more our attention is directed towards 
 Eastern Asia, not only as the head-quarters, but also 
 as the place of origin of the kite. It may yet be 
 shown that it actually originated among the Indonesian 
 stock before the Polynesians had swarmed off from 
 the so-called Malay Archipelago to found new 
 homes in Oceania. There are anthropologists who 
 claim a southern origin for the fine type of the 
 Japanese; possibly these adventurous and skilful sea¬ 
 men, like the Norsemen of Northern Europe, may 
 have formed an aristocracy among the agricultural 
 and settled peoples of Japan and Korea, and brought 
 with them their social organization and a higher 
 culture. If this be so, it is not improbable that kite¬ 
 flying was a religious exercise of these people, and 
 the kite may have been a symbol of the soul or spirit 
 of man. 
 
 If we grant, and there is to my mind very good 
 reason for so doing, that the kite was a religious 
 symbol of the primitive Indonesian race, we may 
 
 * Myths and Songs , p. 319. 
 
KITES 
 
 253 
 
 fairly go one step further and suggest that the kite 
 itself is merely the liberated sail of a canoe. 
 Amongst a seafaring folk this accident must often 
 arise, and the excitement of hauling down a sail that 
 had blown away might very well lead to the process 
 being intentionally repeated on a small scale. 
 
 It is tempting to imagine that as the sails of a 
 canoe are virtually the life of a canoe—that is, the 
 source of its movement, the loss of which leaves 
 behind it an inert log at the mercy of the elements, 
 so the kite by analogy may have come to be regarded 
 as the “external soul” or “life-token” of the owner. 
 For an elucidation of the remarkable belief that the 
 soul can be located in an extraneous object far re¬ 
 moved from the body, the reader is referred to the 
 concluding part of Dr. Frazer’s monumental work, 
 The Golden Bough* Mr. Hartland, in his great 
 study of the Legend of Perseus , deals fully with the 
 life-token; he is of opinion we are “justified in 
 treating the life-token and the external soul as almost 
 always one and the same thing in belief and custom” 
 (p. 30). t Granting the truth of the statement that 
 the King of Siam’s kite is flown at night by a trusted 
 mandarin, the fact would bear the interpretation that 
 during the hours of darkness and danger the royal 
 
 * J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, a Study in Comparative Religion, 
 1890, ii., p. 296. 
 
 f E. Sidney Hartland, l he Legend of Perseus, a Study of Tradition 
 in Story, Custom, and Belief, 1895, ii., pp. 1-54. 
 
254 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 soul was peacefully soaring in the calm heavens, far 
 removed from mundane risks. 
 
 Problems such as these, which are suggested by the 
 comparative study of toys, have in themselves those 
 very dangers which beset the kites themselves. The 
 string which binds them to the solid earth may snap, 
 and they may be lost in the clouds, or they may fall, 
 as it were, lifeless to the ground. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TOYS AND GAMES: TOPS AND THE TUG-OF-WAR. 
 
 TOPS. 
 
 E have seen that the kite has been introduced 
 
 V V into Europe from Eastern Asia, but Schlegel 
 believes the reciprocity has not been all on one side, 
 as, according to him, the West has repaid in the 
 top its debt to the East for the kite. 
 
 There are many kinds of tops, but they can be 
 resolved into a few groups :—the whipping-top ; the 
 top turned by a string wound round the upper end as 
 in the humming-top, in which case there is usually a 
 detachable handle, or by the string enwrapping the 
 lower end as in the usual peg-tops ; and lastly the top, 
 or teetotum, spun by being twisted by the hands or 
 finders. 
 
 o 
 
 Every spring tops appear in our streets with the 
 regularity of the seasonal revivals of Dame Nature 
 
 herself. 
 
 “Tops are in, spin ’em agin; 
 Tops are out, smuggin’ about,” 
 
 cried the ragamuffins in Hone’s time* and so they 
 still do. The last phrase has reference to an unwritten 
 
 * W. Hone, The Every-Day Book , i., 1824 (February 15), p. 253. 
 
256 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 code of boy-life, that confiscation (“smugging”) of 
 toys is allowable when they are “out.” 
 
 Nares # has collected several references which show 
 that tops were at one time owned by the parish or 
 town. In Twelfth Night f we read, “He’s a coward 
 and coystril, that will not drink to my niece, till his 
 brains turn o’ the toe like the parish top.” 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher refer more than once to 
 this strange civic toy :— 
 
 “ 111 hazard 
 
 My life upon it, that a boy of twelve 
 Should scourge him hither like a parish top, 
 
 And make him dance before you.” X 
 
 “And dances like a town-top, and reels and hobbles.” § 
 
 Sir W. Blackstone asserts also, that to “sleep 
 like a town-top,” was proverbial. Stevens, in his 
 Notes on Shakespeare, states that “this is one 
 of the customs now laid aside: a large top was 
 formerly kept in every village, to be whipt in frosty 
 weather, that the peasants might be kept warm by 
 exercise and out of mischief while they could not 
 work.” It is very improbable that this is the real 
 signification of the curious custom of having a village 
 top. Judging from what we know of other instances 
 of village recreations, it is probable that there is 
 
 * R. Nares, Glossary , “Parish Top.” 
 
 t Shakespeare, Twelfth Night , Act i., Scene 3. 
 
 t Beaumont and Fletcher, Thierry and Theod ,Act ii., Scene 4. 
 
 § Ibid ., Night Walker , Act i., Scene 4. 
 
TOPS 
 
 257 
 
 something behind this which has not yet been 
 elucidated. 
 
 Hone* refers to a top being used in the ritual 
 of the burial of Alleluia in one of the churches in 
 Paris. “According to a story (whether true or false) 
 in one of the churches of Paris, a choir boy used to 
 whip a top marked with Alleluia , written in gold 
 letters, from one end of the choir to the other.” This 
 does not seem to be very likely, but strange customs 
 often persist to an unexpected and almost inexplicable 
 extent, and, if it be true, we may find in this and 
 analogous customs some clues which may throw light 
 upon the town tops. 
 
 The whipping-top has an ancient pedigree in 
 Europe. In a work of the thirteenth century, Le 
 Miracle de Sainct-Loys , the whipping-top ( 'sabot ) is 
 mentioned ; f and it is figured in the marginal paint¬ 
 ings of English MSS. of the fourteenth century. | 
 
 Pliny refers to a top identical with the modern one, 
 and specimens of such tops have been recovered from 
 the ruins of Pompeii, and are still exhibited in the 
 museum of Naples. There are, as a matter of fact, 
 several allusions in Latin and Greek authors to the 
 whipping-top. The whipping-top is mentioned in an 
 old MS. dating to about 500 b.c. A stranger of 
 
 * W. Hone, The Every-Day Book , i., 1824 (February 2), p. 199. 
 t F. Dillaye, Les feux de la Jeunesse, Paris, 1885, p. 191. 
 t J. Strutt, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England\ 
 
 1801, Book iv., Chap, iv., p. 288. 
 
 S 
 
258 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Atarne consulted Pittacus of Mitylene, one of the 
 Seven Sages of Greece (651-569 b.c.), concerning a 
 wife. The question was whether he should take a 
 certain girl in his own rank of life who had a fortune 
 equal to his own, or a damsel of higher status and 
 with more money. The sage told him to go to a 
 group of boys who were playing at whipping-tops in 
 the midst of a wide cross-road. As he approached 
 them he heard one of the boys say to his fellow, 
 “Whip the nearest one,” and he accepted this as an 
 oracle. 
 
 The oldest record is the discovery of Dr. Schlie- 
 mann of terra-cotta tops in the so-called Third City 
 of Troy, and at the present day the boys of Asia 
 Minor still spin tops with whips. 
 
 When the traveller, Palgrave, was at Riadh, the 
 capital of Wahabees in Central Arabia, he saw a boy 
 spin a top on his left hand, he then took it on the 
 forefinger of his right hand, which he held at full 
 length above his head, and repeated the following 
 formula :— 
 
 “ Not by my strength, nor cleverness, but by the strength 
 of God and by the cleverness of God.” 
 
 The whipping-top is known in the far East. 
 Stewart Culin # in his beautifully illustrated work 
 on Korean Games gives a plate of a couple of boys 
 
 * Stewart Culin, Korean Games: with Notes on the corresponding 
 Games of China and Japan, Philadelphia, 1895. 
 
TOPS 
 
 *59 
 
 playing on the ice. The top is made of hard wood 
 with an iron point, it is played with in winter and 
 usually spun on the frozen ground. The Koreans 
 also share the humming-top with the Japanese, who 
 call it “thunder top.” 
 
 The learned Chinese scholar, Gustav von Schlegel, 
 of Leiden, many years ago # also distinguished 
 between the various kinds of tops of Eastern Asia : 
 the ordinary small top, driven with the whip 
 ( Tanzknopfle , i.e. “dance-button,” is its name on 
 the Neckar), the humming-top, the whistling - top 
 which is thrown, and the top turned round with the 
 fingers, &c. The first of these, according to Schlegel, 
 spread from Europe through Java to Japan and 
 Korea. Schlegel never saw it in China, nor is it 
 mentioned in the older Chinese works. 
 
 The Japanese, according to Dr. R. Andree in an 
 erudite paper on “The Game of Tops and its 
 Distribution ” in a recent number of Globus , call 
 the different sorts of top tok-lok. This word is not 
 known in China, and in the old Japanese encyclo¬ 
 paedias the name is tolo, which is the Dutch tol which, 
 together with its name, was introduced, says Schlegel, 
 into Japan from Java. The Korean and Japanese 
 humming-top corresponds exactly with that used in 
 Java, and they are all made of bamboo. Culin 
 
 * Chinesiche Brauche und Spiele in Enropa, Dissertation, Jena, 1869. 
 
 t R. Andree, “Das Kreiselspielen und seine Verbreitung,” Globus , 
 lxix., 1896, p. 371. 
 
260 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 figures a large number of Japanese tops of various 
 kinds, many of which are very ingenious. 
 
 From Japan this top passed across to China, where 
 in Amoy it is called kan-lok , which has the same 
 signification as the Japanese tolo. The large 
 humming-top is called in Amoy “ earth-thunder,” 
 and in Canton “noisy goose.” Thus the Bromtol 
 of the Netherlands (the toupie bourdonnante of the 
 French) has also wandered afar. 
 
 According to Bastian # the game of top is known in 
 Burmah and Siam. Different kinds of tops are 
 found in Malasia. The true humming-top and the 
 whipping-top occur in the Malay Peninsula and 
 Archipelago. A humming - top from the Straits 
 Settlements in the British Museum is made of a 
 section of bamboo, with an oblong opening in the 
 side. Mr. C. H. Read also describes a Malay top 
 (gasing) made in a lathe, and furnished with an iron 
 peg at the base. It differs from the European top in 
 having the string wound round the upper part. It 
 was obtained at Selangor, Straits Settlements. (Fig. 
 37, No. 6.) 
 
 Riedelt found tops among the Uliassern, Serang, 
 Kaisar, and Wetar. A simple wooden top driven 
 by a whip was found by Dr. Max Weber]; in the 
 
 * B ASTI AN, Reise in Birina , p. 60 ; Reise in Siam , p. 324. 
 
 f Riedel, Sluiken kroeshaarige Rassen, pp. 84, 131, 428, 433. 
 
 } Max Weber, Ethnographische Notizen iiber Flores und Celebes, 
 
 Leiden, 1890, pi. v., fig. 12. 
 
2 
 
 Fig. 37 . 
 
 Eastern Tops ; after C. H. Read. 
 
 1, 2. Stone teetotum or top from Mer (Murray Island), Torres Straits ; 3. Wooden spinning-top 
 from Timorlaut, Tenimber Islands; 4. Bamboo humming-teetotum or top, Straits Settle¬ 
 ments ; 5. A similar toy from Sakayana, Stewart Islands, West Pacific 6 . Malay peg-top 
 from Selangor, Straits Settlements. The scale is between one-third and one-fourth. 
 
262 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Island of Flores, and a spinning-top was collected by 
 Dr. H. O. Forbes in Timorlaut. C. H. Read,* who 
 has described this (Fig. 37, No. 6) and other tops, 
 points out various Malay influences that are seen in 
 this island. 
 
 Ling Roth,t in his very valuable compilation on 
 Bornean ethnography, records that the Sea-Dyak 
 boys are very fond of playing with tops. He figures 
 one on page 104 which is a double cone; the string 
 is wound round the upper half, and it is evidently 
 spun as a peg-top. The boys play games, but, with 
 the exception of the top, the young men look upon 
 games as beneath them. 
 
 There are very few recorded instances of tops from 
 Oceania. A humming-top (Fig. 37, No. 5) is said to 
 come from the Stewart Islands (Sakayana), which lie 
 a little to the east of the Solomon Islands in the 
 Western Pacific; it is made of bamboo, and is very 
 similar to the one from the Straits Settlements, except 
 that the lateral opening is small and of irregular 
 shape. 
 
 Read confesses to having some doubts about 
 the correctness of this locality, though the specimen 
 came from the Godeffroy Collection, where they have 
 the best means of testing its accuracy. 
 
 * C. H. Read, “ Stone Spinning-tops from Torres Straits, New 
 Guinea,” Journ. Anth. Inst., xvii., p. 85. 
 
 + H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North 
 Borneo , 1896, i., pp. 103, 104, 367. 
 
TOPS 
 
 263 
 
 Among the Polynesians I have come across two 
 records only. 
 
 Hedley # says, “Spinning tops I found to be a 
 popular amusement on Nukulailai (Ellice Group, W. 
 Pacific). Their tops were simply cone shells spun 
 on their apices. A game was to spin two shells in a 
 wooden dish, out of which by rotating and colliding 
 the winner would knock the loser. The shells were 
 spun either like a teetotum between the finger 
 and thumb, or to give greater force one end was 
 steadied by the finger and thumb of the left hand, 
 while the impetus was given by drawing the right 
 forefinger briskly across it.” 
 
 The Rev. R. Taylor f informs us that “the 
 whipping-top is played in every part of New 
 Zealand; the top used is more of a cone, and of 
 less diameter than our English one, but in other 
 respects it is just the same.” Dr. Dieffenbach]; 
 merely says, “ A top, called kaihora , nicely formed, 
 and managed as it is by us, supplies another of their 
 amusements.” E. Tregear§ speaks of a whipping- 
 top with two points. 
 
 Dr. Codrington || informs us that tops are made in 
 
 * C. Hedley, “The Atoll of Funafuti, Ellice Group,” Australian 
 Museum, Sydney Memoir, iii., 1897. 
 
 f loc. cit., p. 172. 
 
 X loc. cit., p. 32. 
 
 § Journ. Anth. hist., xix. 
 
 |j R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians, 1891, p. 342, 
 
264 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the Solomon Islands of the nut of a palm and a pin 
 of wood, the whole visible length of which, between 
 two and three inches long, is below the head. To 
 spin the top a doubled string is wound round the 
 shaft, and the two ends are pulled smartly asunder. 
 A similar top was used in Pitcairn Island by the half- 
 breed Tahitian children of the Bounty mutineers. 
 
 Tops are recorded from Netherlands, New Guinea, 
 by de Clercq and Schmeltz, # and they also occur in 
 Torres Straits at the opposite side of that island. 
 (Fig. 37, Nos. 1, 2.) 
 
 I have had as many as four men at a time spinning 
 tops for me, on the ball of their big toes, on the 
 verandah of my house in Murray Island, Torres 
 Straits. These tops, or rather teetotums, are made of 
 pieces of a fine-grained volcanic ash, of the shape 
 of a split pea, some four to six inches in diameter and 
 pierced with a hole in which a long piece of palm 
 wood is inserted. The top is revolved by rolling the 
 stick between the palms of the hands; it may be spun 
 on a slightly concave fragment of a shell, or on the ball 
 of the big toe, for these Papuans sit like a tailor, but 
 bend their feet so that the soles face directly upwards. 
 
 Quite lately Mr. Etheridge f has described and 
 figured a humming-top, or rather teetotum, from the 
 
 * De Clercq en Schmeltz, Ethnogr. Beschrijving van Ncderl .— 
 Nieuw-Guinea, 1893, p. 241. 
 
 t R. Etheridge, Junr., “The Game of Teetotum practised by certain 
 Queensland Aborigines/’/cwm. Anth. Inst., xxv., 1896, p. 259. 
 
TOPS 
 
 265 
 
 Cairns District, in North Queensland. The toy is 
 made of a small gourd about three inches in diameter; 
 besides the holes for the axial stick the gourd is 
 pierced by four holes. The top is spun between the 
 palms of the hands on a blanket, or on any piece 
 of hard ground, and are often used to amuse children. 
 The tops were used before the occupation of this part 
 of the country by the English. Mr. Etheridge admits 
 there is a bare possibility that they may be a remnant 
 of Malay or Papuan influence. It is a significant 
 fact, he adds, that the further we go north of the 
 Australian continent, the more apparent is the resem¬ 
 blance between the weapons and the implements of 
 the North Australian Aborigines to those of New 
 Guinea. 
 
 In the recently published account of the Horn 
 Expedition to Central Australia, Dr. Stirling says 
 “ I also saw them spinning water-worn, round pebbles 
 on the bottoms of inverted “billy-cans,” but I saw 
 none of the beautifully balanced tops moulded out of 
 clay and provided with a peg, which the natives in 
 the north-east of South Australia proper (Blanche- 
 water) f spin, in competition against one another, on 
 some smooth surface such as a piece of tin. At the 
 locality mentioned I saw one spun by a lubra (woman) 
 
 * E. C. Stirling, Report on the Work of the Horn Scientific Expedi¬ 
 tion to Central Australia , Part iv., “Anthropology,” 1896, p. 86. 
 
 t Lat. 29 0 30' S. ; long. 139 0 6'; about. 
 
266 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 remain “asleep” for four minutes.” It is difficult to 
 believe that any Malay influence could be felt right 
 in the heart of Australia. 
 
 According to Andree there are only two records 
 of tops from the whole of America. I he German 
 traveller Kohl # saw the boys of the Odschibwa 
 (Ojibwa) Indians playing with tops made out of 
 nuts and acorns ; but it is an open question whether 
 this game is, as it were, in the process of evolution 
 among these Indians, or whether it has been intro¬ 
 duced by European settlers. The second record 
 is more extraordinary, as it is a humming-top which 
 was brought one hundred years ago by Vancouver 
 from Nootka Sound, North-West America, and 
 therefore before European influence had penetrated 
 so far. This top, which is exhibited in the British 
 Museum,! has a handle, through which the string 
 passes, just as in those sold in the toy-shops of 
 Europe. 
 
 The complication of a separate perforated handle 
 is certainly a noteworthy feature, and it evidently 
 has some relation to the whirligigs that Murdoch J 
 describes and figures (fig. 374) among the Point 
 Barrow Eskimo. One should not rashly surmise that 
 
 * J. G. Kohl, Kitschi-Gami , i., p. 119. 
 
 f C. H. Read, Journ. Anth. Inst., xxi., 1891, p. 108. 
 
 J J. MURDOCH, “Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expe¬ 
 dition,” Ninth Annual Rep. Bureau Ethnol ., Washington, 1887-88, . 
 1892. 
 
TOPS 
 
 267 
 
 both of these somewhat complicated toys have been 
 introduced from a people of higher culture, as we 
 find these same Eskimo make mechanical toys. 
 There are many other points about these hypo- 
 boreans that are of great interest. Murdoch came 
 across only one teetotum (p. 376, fig. 375) among 
 the Eskimo; it was spun with the fingers. 
 
 Dr. Andree did not recall any top from the negroes 
 of Africa; but I find a “ sacred humming-top of the 
 Massaningas ” is figured in p. 358 of the English 
 translation of Ratzel’s The History of Mankind , 
 vol. ii., 1897. 
 
 The history of the peg-top is much more scanty. 
 Strutt * believed it to be a modern invention, and 
 thought it “ probably originated from the te-totums 
 and whirligigs. . . . The usage of the te-totum may 
 be considered as a kind of petty gambling.” Accord¬ 
 ing to M. Dillaye f it ( la toupie ) is not mentioned 
 in French documents older than the fourteenth 
 century ; and M. L. Becq de Fouquieres argues that 
 there is no evidence that it was known to classical 
 authors. Godwin Austen J saw the children of the 
 
 * J. Strutt, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England ’ 
 1801, chap, iv., sec. vi., p. 288. Strutt says when he was a boy the 
 te-totum had only four sides, marked respectively with T. (take all), 
 H. (half of the stake), N. (nothing), and P. (put down ; that is, a stake 
 equal to that you put down at first). 
 
 t F. Dillaye, Les feux de la feunesse , Paris, 1885, p. 195. 
 
 I Lieut.-Col. H. Godwin Austen, foam. Anth • Inst., ix., 1879, 
 p. 30. 
 
268 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Naga Hills spinning peg-tops with string; the top 
 was made out of a very hard wood, and was pointed 
 below. This top may be allied to some of the tops 
 of the Malay Archipelago, which are certainly a kind 
 of peg-top. 
 
 The story of the wandering of the kite is much 
 more consistent than is that of the migration of the 
 top. So far as the far East is concerned Schlegel has 
 definitely expressed his opinion as to the top being 
 a migrant from Europe. Once established in Java 
 it could easily travel down the Malay Archipelago 
 and be stranded with other flotsam and jetsam on 
 the islands which have been washed with the wave 
 of Malay culture. 
 
 If, for example, the use of tobacco has been taught 
 to Malays by the white man and by them transferred 
 to the Papuans, so that we found it smoked in the 
 Torres Straits before it had been brought directly 
 by European voyagers, it is not too far-fetched to 
 assume that the stone teetotum may have followed 
 the same route. On the other hand, the shape of the 
 Murray Island top is so similar to the heads of the 
 disc-shaped stone clubs, that one is tempted to believe 
 that this may have been its origin, especially when 
 one remembers that in this island alone, for a district 
 extending for some hundreds of miles, is the fine¬ 
 grained, easily-worked stone found of which these 
 tops are made. The labour of making stone clubs 
 
269 
 
 TOPS 
 
 is so very great that there would be no inducement 
 to make playthings out of a refractory rock; but 
 the ash of this volcanic island evidently appealed 
 to some native as being a workable material, and 
 it is also suggestive that the motion of spinning these 
 tops is similar to that employed by these people in 
 making fire by their fire-sticks and in drilling holes. 
 
 The sporadic appearance of the humming-top in 
 North Queensland is very remarkable. It really 
 looks as if this was an independent invention, 
 especially as Dr. Stirling has recorded true tops 
 from Central Australia; but the fact that it is a 
 humming-top is rather against this view, as this is 
 a complication which is unlikely to arise de novo. 
 A teetotum, or a simple top, may have been invented 
 more than once, but it is highly improbable that 
 a humming-top would be invented before a simpler 
 form of type, and we know that this kind of top 
 is found in the neighbouring Archipelago. 
 
 The tops of New Zealand again require an 
 explanation, as there is no indication whatever of 
 any direct Malay influence. The Maoris may have 
 brought it with them when they migrated to New 
 Zealand, but then we should expect to find it more 
 frequently in Polynesia; on the other hand, they 
 may have learnt it from the Melanesians, who 
 probably formed the earlier population. 
 
 I must confess that I am by no means satisfied 
 
270 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 that the top has had a single centre of diffusion 
 from which it has spread to Africa on the one hand, 
 and to N.W. America, to New Zealand, and to 
 Australia on the other. The problem is a very 
 interesting one, but I do not think the means for 
 its solution are yet available. 
 
 THE TUG-OF-WAR. 
 
 Allusion was made, when noticing the mediaeval 
 town tops, to the fact that village recreations often 
 have a significance which is not apparent at first 
 sight. We will see what lies at the back of such 
 an apparently simple sport as the tug-of-war. 
 
 At the present time the tug-of-war is merely one 
 event in school or other “ sports ” ; but we find that 
 it has had a history worth recording. In former days 
 at Ludlow the inhabitants of Broad Street and Corve 
 Street wards had an annual tug-of-war, employing a 
 rope three inches thick and thirty-six yards long, with 
 a large knob at each end. The rope, which was paid 
 for by the Corporation, was given out at the window 
 of the Market Hall by the Mayor at four o’clock on 
 the appointed day, when all business was suspended 
 and the shops shut. One man stood on another’s 
 shoulders, and the chimney-sweep’s wife on his 
 shoulders. These represented the Red Knob; three 
 others, mounted in the same way, representing the 
 Blue Knob. If, during the contest, the rope was 
 
TUG-0F- WAR 
 
 271 
 
 pulled down Mill Street, the Red Knob won, and 
 the knobs were dipped in the River Teme in token 
 of victory; but if the Blue Knobs dragged it through 
 the Bull Ring, the dipping took place in the River 
 Corve. After the rope was won it was taken back 
 to the Market Hall and given out again, and if the 
 same side won, the contest was ended ; but if the 
 opposite side conquered, then the rope was given 
 out a third time, and the victory remained with the 
 side that won twice. 
 
 The rope was then sold, and the money got for 
 it was spent in beer, and then fighting and quarrelling 
 commenced. These disorderly scenes, and the dan¬ 
 gerous accidents resulting, caused this custom to be 
 discontinued in 1851. 
 
 There are many other examples of contests between 
 two wards or two parts of villages or towns, which 
 often take the form of a football contest; nominally 
 it is a football match, but in reality it is a faction 
 fight. Mr. Gomme, from whom I have largely bor¬ 
 rowed, has collected several instances of such feuds 
 in his Village Community , # and points out their signi¬ 
 ficance; for example, the Seneca Indians of North 
 America played a ball game by phratries (or clans) 
 the one against the other; and the Greek phratries 
 developed the same custom. 
 
 * G. L. Gomme, The Village Community: with special reference to 
 the Origin and Form of its Survivals in Britain , 1890, pp. 240-246. 
 
2 7 2 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 In the North-West Provinces of India a very thick 
 grass rope is pulled by the villagers among them¬ 
 selves. The party in whose quarter the rope is 
 broken, or by whom the rope is pulled out of the 
 hands of their antagonists, are the victors, and retain 
 the rope for a year. It is well known that the 
 quarters of an Indian village are clan quarters. Now, 
 there is reason to believe that some at least of the 
 contests in a British village or township are the 
 remnants of a really hostile feeling which existed 
 between the inhabitants of those districts. 
 
 The reason for this hostility is probably the same 
 both in India and in Britain; it is not so much local 
 rivalry as racial or tribal animosity. In two parts 
 of the same manor, as at Eling, in Hampshire, or 
 even in the same town, as at Nottingham, the modes 
 of descent of property may vary ; on one side of a 
 boundary junior right or borough English is the 
 custom, while on the other side of the boundary the 
 rule of primogeniture is followed. The custom of 
 inheritance by the youngest son is a very ancient 
 one, and in this country dates from long before the 
 practice of making the eldest son the heir. In Indian 
 villages we have side by side the Dravidian abori- 
 aines, who are low castes, and the various higher 
 castes, with their increasing purity of Aryan blood; 
 and it may be that in our British villages there is an 
 analogous racial or tribal mixture ; thus these parish 
 
TUG-OF-WAR 
 
 2 73 
 
 contests, which are recognized and sanctioned by the 
 municipal authorities, are the vestigial expression of a 
 very real jealousy which had its origin in the very 
 roots of the history of our country. 
 
 Side- or faction-fights are common all over the 
 world. The city of Seoul, in Korea, is divided into 
 five districts, N., S., E., W., and middle, and every 
 person is officially enrolled under one of these 
 directions. This distribution of space enters into the 
 whole philosophy of existence in this part of the 
 world. 
 
 Immediately after kite-flying time, that is, after 
 the 15th of the first month, these side- or faction- 
 fights take place. They are commenced by little 
 boys, who make ropes of straw and fight with 
 them. Sides are formed which advance and retreat. 
 Bigger boys join, and at last the men are drawn into 
 the fray. Stones are then the principal weapons 
 employed, and many injuries, and even deaths, 
 result. 
 
 In Japan faction-fights, called “Gempei,” occur, 
 which take their name, like the well-known Guelphs 
 and Ghibellines, from the famous rival families, Genji 
 and Heik6, “Gempei” being a “portmanteau” word 
 combined from Gen and Hei. The side that re¬ 
 presents the Genji wear their colour white; and the 
 other, which represents the Heik<£, take red. The 
 rival families were located east and west, and the 
 
 T 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 2 74 
 
 sides in these sports may be regarded as associated 
 with these directions.* 
 
 Dr. F. Boas informs us that among the Eskimo the 
 boys born in summer fight those born in winter! 
 
 In the first month of the year in South China, 
 village fights occur on the open plains ; sometimes 
 they are very serious affairs, f 
 
 Professor Culin, in his valuable Korean Games,\ to 
 which I have had to refer so often, gives a suggestive 
 clue to the origin of the straw rope contest to which 
 allusion has just been made. This is played by any 
 number of boys about the 15th of the first month. 
 In the country the entire population of districts and 
 villages engage against other districts or villages at 
 this season. It is believed that the village that wins 
 will have a good harvest. The rope is of straw, 
 two feet in diameter, with its ends divided into 
 branches. The men take the main stem, and the 
 women the branches. The latter frequently do more 
 than the men, as it is customary for them to load 
 their skirts with stone on these occasions. The 
 Dictionnaire Coreen Frangais defines the rope as a 
 “rope which they pull by the two ends to secure 
 abundance.” 
 
 The tug-of-war is a common amusement among 
 
 * CULIN, Korean Games, p. 63. 
 
 t Gray, China. London, 1878, i., p. 256. 
 
 X Stewart Culin, Korean Games: with Notes on the corresponding 
 Games of China and Japan. Philadelphia, 1895, p. 35. 
 
TUG-OF-WAR 
 
 275 
 
 schoolboys in Japan under the name of “rope- 
 pulling.” According to The Japanese Months, on 
 the 15th day of the eighth month in the old calendar 
 people turned out to admire the full moon, and made 
 offerings to it of dango, a kind of cake made of rice, 
 beans, and sugar. The sport known as “tug-of-war” 
 afforded amusement on the same evening to the boys 
 of rival villages, or to contending parties belonging 
 to the same place, grown-up persons sometimes 
 joining in the fun. Each side has its own rope, 
 which is of large size, and made of rice-straw. There 
 is a loop at each end, and a stick is passed through 
 the loop at one end of each rope, so that both are 
 pulled at the same time. The contest is concluded 
 when one party is pulled over the dividing-line, or 
 till the ropes break. This practice is now a thing 
 of the past. It is significant that the period from 
 the middle of July to the middle of August is an 
 anxious period for the farmers, whose rice-plants are 
 in danger of perishing from lack of water should no 
 rain fall for several consecutive days. 
 
 The tug-of-war thus resolves itself in Korea and 
 Japan into a magic ceremony to ensure a good 
 harvest. Probably the straw rope typifies the harvest, 
 and the pulling it over a boundary would ensure a 
 fruitful harvest for the winning side. This is quite 
 in accordance with the working of the savage mind, 
 as innumerable examples from what is known as 
 
2j6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 sympathetic magic will testify. It is interesting to 
 note that in Korea itself the ceremony has broken 
 down, and is degraded in Seoul into faction-fights; 
 but, true to their origin, they begin with straw ropes ; 
 and, further, it is noteworthy that the small boys 
 retain the older fashion—they are more true to the 
 traditional custom. Further research will show 
 whether the contests in our villages and towns are 
 merely racial or tribal in origin, or whether there 
 may not be some harvest ritual behind them. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BULL-ROARER. 
 
 I N some parts of the British Islands boys occa¬ 
 sionally play with a toy which consists of a thin 
 'slat of wood tied to the end of a long piece of string, 
 the rapid whirling of which results in a noise that 
 is expressed in the various names given to this simple 
 instrument. Prof. E. B. Tylor informs me that the 
 name of “bull-roarer” was first introduced into 
 anthropological literature by the Rev. Lorimer 
 Fison,* who compares the Australian turndun to 
 “the wooden toy which I remember to have made 
 as a boy, called a ‘bull-roarer,’” and this term has 
 since been universally adopted as the technical name 
 for the implement. 
 
 For some years past I have collected all the 
 specimens and information I could about this interest¬ 
 ing object. I have one specimen made by a boy at 
 Balham in Surrey (London, S.W.); it is 7§ inches in 
 
 * FlSON and Howitt, Kamilaroi and Kurncii, 1880, p. 267. Prof. E. 
 B. Tylor in his review of this book in The Academy (April 9th, 1881, 
 p. 265), gives “whizzer” as an alternative name. 
 
 277 
 
278 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 length and 1^ inches in breadth, 187 mm. by 30 mm. # 
 The ends are square, and it is serrated along each 
 side. I have heard of it in Essex, but have not seen a 
 specimen. 
 
 In West Suffolk it is called a “hummer” and 
 is slightly notched; I have been told that in East 
 Suffolk the edges were sometimes plain. I have 
 several specimens from different parts of Norfolk, 
 where it is called “ humming buzzer,” or simply 
 “buzzer” (io£xi£, 'n£xi£, n£xif; 257x38, 
 282x47, 292x35). The ends are usually square, but 
 the string end is rounded in the last one ; the sides 
 may be serrated or simpy notched along both surfaces 
 of each side, the notches being more or less deep. 
 One specimen “buzz” from Mid-Norfolk is rounded 
 at the string end and pointed at the other, and with 
 only five notches along each side (7jx2-£, 184x54). 
 I have been informed that in Cambridgeshire it was 
 called a “bull,” and has plain edges. In Bedford¬ 
 shire its name is “buzzer.” The Lincolnshire 
 variety, “swish,” is quadrangular, like the ordinary 
 Norfolk form, and notched. I have heard of its 
 occurrence in the East Riding of Yorkshire, but have 
 no details. In East Derbyshire it is known as a 
 “bummer” or “buzzer.” My Derbyshire specimen 
 is plano-convex, the string end is square and the 
 
 * Subsequently I give, within brackets, the English measurements, 
 followed by the same converted into the metric system. 
 
Bull-Roarers from the British Islands. 
 
 1. Ballycastle, Co. Down; 2. Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire; 3. Warwickshire; 
 4. Montgomeryshire ; 5. Derbyshire ; 6, 7, 8. Norfolk ; 9. Balham (Surrey). 
 
28 o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 other rounded. In nearly every specimen the string 
 passes through a hole near one end; but in this 
 example the string is tied in a nick in each side near 
 one end, the opposite half and the free end are alone 
 serrated (iof x if, 257 x 4 7 )- A model of a Warwick¬ 
 shire type has the ends practically square, but the 
 sides are slightly concave (6 x if at each end and if 
 in the middle, 152 X44 and 38). Another model, also 
 called “ bummer,” said to be used in Warwickshire, 
 Staffordshire, and Shropshire, has square ends, and 
 the sides are concave near the string end, and 
 there are four pairs of oblique grooves in the middle 
 (7fxif and 1 in the narrow part, 190x38 and 25). 
 
 I must confess that I am not satisfied about these two 
 last implements. I have one or two others that were 
 given me by the same friend which vary considerably 
 in form, and had no localities given with them. I 
 reserve these for the present, as I have my doubts 
 about them. 
 
 The Rev. Elias Owen, of Oswestry, kindly had a 
 
 roarer made for me as they were used sixty years 
 ago in Montgomeryshire in Wales. Here again we 
 have the East Anglian pattern, but with the ends 
 differently finished off. Although there is a large 
 hole at one end, strangely enough the string is tied 
 through a small hole at the other extremity. (i2f x 2 \, 
 311x64). (Fig. 38, No. 4.) 
 
 I have been told that the bull-roarer was known as 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 281 
 
 a “ thunder-spell in some parts of Scotland, and in 
 Aberdeen as a “thunder-bolt.” Professor Tylor also 
 records it from Scotland, f My friend Mrs. Gomme 
 has very kindly allowed me to copy the following from 
 the second volume of her Traditional Games of 
 England , Scotland , and Ireland (1898, p. 291):— 
 
 “ Thun er-Spell. —A thin lath of wood, about six inches 
 long and three or four inches broad, is taken and rounded at 
 one end. A hole is bored in that end, and in the hole is tied 
 a piece of cord between two and three yards long. It is then 
 rapidly swung round, so as to produce a buzzing sound. The 
 more rapidly it is swung the louder is the noise. It was 
 believed that the use of this instrument during a thunder¬ 
 storm saved one from being struck with ‘ the thun’er-bolt.’ 
 I [Dr. Gregor] have used it with this intention (Keith). In 
 other places it is used merely to make a noise. It is com¬ 
 monly deeply notched all round the edges to increase the 
 noise. 
 
 “ Some years ago a herd-boy was observed making one in 
 a farm kitchen (Udny). It was discovered that when he was 
 sent to bring the cows from the fields to the farmyard to be 
 milked, he used it to frighten them, and they ran frantically 
 to their stalls. The noise made the animals dread the bot-fly 
 
 * Since the above was in type, Mr. W. S. Laverock, of the Liverpool 
 Museum, has informed me that “ thunner-spells ” are quite common in 
 Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire; they were made by farm-servants 
 and villagers. They are usually flat laths, twelve to fifteen inches in 
 length and two and a half to three inches wide ; the perforated end was 
 rounded, and the notching varied in amount according to the taste and 
 patience of the maker. They were used with a short string. Mr. Laverock 
 does not know whether the word “spell” means, in this connection, a 
 charm, or the Scottish term for a shaving, the English “ spill.” 
 
 t Journ . A nth. Inst., xix., p. 163. 
 
282 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 or ‘ cleg.’ This torment makes them throw their tails up, and 
 rush with fury through the fields or to the byres to shelter 
 themselves from its attacks. A formula to effect the same 
 purpose, and which I have many and many a time used when 
 herding, was: Cock tail! cock tail! cock tail ! Bizz-zz-zz! 
 Bizz-zz-zz !—Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). 
 
 “ Dr. Gregor secured one of these that was in use in Pitsligo, 
 and sent it to the Pit-Rivers Museum at Oxford, where it 
 now lies. 
 
 “They are still occasionally to be met with in country 
 districts, but are used simply for the purpose of making 
 a noise.” 
 
 In her first volume, under the title of “Bummers,” 
 Mrs. Gomme writes :— 
 
 “A play of children. ‘Bummers’—a thin piece of wood 
 swung round by a cord {Blackwood's Magazine, Aug., 1821, 
 p. 35). Jamieson says the word is evidently denominated 
 from the booming sound produced” (p. 51). 
 
 I have only two notices of the bull-roarer from 
 Ireland—one from the town and county of Cork, the 
 other from Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, where the Rev. 
 J. P. Barnes kindly gave me a specimen, which is 
 a long, narrow lath, with straight, smooth sides; the 
 string end is square, but the opposite end is rudely 
 pointed (i3fxi, 350x25). (Fig. 38, No. 1.) Its 
 use is very local, but I am informed that the 
 schoolboys in Coleraine often make them. Mr. 
 Barnes writes :— 
 
 “ From enquiry made, I come to the conclusion that the 
 ‘ Bull-roarer’ (its local name) is not indigenous, but an im- 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 283 
 
 portation. The boy who gave me this says he got the idea 
 from his father, who is a coastguard ; his father once tied a 
 string to a piece of wood lying near the fireside, and began 
 to twirl it round for the children’s amusement, saying, ‘ That’s 
 what I have seen niggers do in the West Indies.’” 
 
 This last remark is very suggestive. The form 
 is not like that which I have collected in England, 
 and certainly does more resemble the Oro-stiok of 
 West Africa (Fig. 39). It would be a strange 
 circumstance—but not more strange than others 
 that we have already studied — if the dreaded god 
 of vengeance of West Africa should become the 
 plaything of a boy in the north of Ireland.* 
 
 Dr. Schmeltz, the Director of the Ethnographical 
 Museum at Leiden, has written a laborious mono¬ 
 graph on the bull - roarer. He commences by 
 describing a child’s toy well known in Germany 
 as the Wcildteufel. It is a small cardboard cylinder, 
 open at one end and closed at the other; to the 
 middle of the drum is fastened a horsehair, the other 
 end of which is tied to a piece of wood. When the 
 implement is swung round it makes a horrible sound. 
 
 * Since the above was in type I have been informed that “boomers” 
 are in common use among boys in Co. Down. They are notched in 
 various ways, sometimes on one side only; they appear, in fact, to be of 
 very diverse form. Those given to me were made for me, and may not 
 represent the common form of bull-roarer in the north-east corner of 
 Ireland. My informant stated that once when, as a boy, he was playing 
 with a boomer an old country woman said it was a “sacred” thing. It 
 would be worth while to follow up this clue. 
 
284 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 I have a perfectly similar toy that was bought in the 
 streets of Cambridge, except that a piece of fibre 
 replaces the horsehair; this has a loop at the 
 unattached end, which revolves loosely in a notch 
 at the end of a short piece of wood. The wood 
 at this spot is coated with resin, so as to produce 
 a grating sound ; this is conducted along the fibre, 
 and the cylinder acts as a resonator. I have been 
 unable to discover the English name for the “ Devil 
 of the woods.” My friend, Director Schmeltz, 
 suggests a connection between this toy and the 
 bull-roarer. I quite fail to see how the simple slat 
 of wood could develop into the more complicated 
 cylinder. All one can say is that they both make 
 a disagreeable sound. As to the origin and signifi¬ 
 cance of the Waldteufel , nothing whatever is known, 
 and we have no evidence before us to connect this 
 toy with any magical or religious rite.* 
 
 An analogous implement to the bull-roarer is that 
 which is called in America the “buzz.” It usually 
 consists of a small, flat, rectangular piece of wood, 
 in which two holes are pierced, and through these 
 a long, continuous piece of string is passed. The 
 loops of the string are held in the two hands, and 
 the wood is swung round so as to twist the string. 
 The hands are strongly and steadily drawn apart, 
 
 * J. D. E. Schmeltz, “ Das Schwirrholz,” Verh. des Vereins fiir 
 naturw. Unterhaltung zu Hamburg , ix., 1896, p. 92. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 285 
 
 which causes the wood to revolve at a rapid rate, 
 and to produce a buzzing sound ; if properly managed 
 the momentum is so great that the string twists itself 
 up again, and so on indefinitely. 
 
 Culin* informs us there are two kinds in Korea. 
 The first is a simple circular card with two holes 
 through which the cords are passed, the other is 
 a more complicated arrangement. The first form 
 occurs in China and Japan. Murdoch describes and 
 figures one from the Point Barrow Eskimo, f and 
 Culin says the buzz is to be found widely distributed 
 among the Indians of North America. 
 
 It is an occasional plaything in England, but I 
 do not know its history. Mr. Thomas Drew informs 
 me that on a summer’s evening fifty years ago the 
 young weavers of Belfast were fond of playing with 
 the “ bummer.” It was an oblong piece of wood, 
 pierced with two holes, and serrated all round. 
 
 This toy has not yet been connected with any 
 ceremonial usage. 
 
 A German friend has informed me that he has seen 
 the bull-roarer in the Black Forest, where it is known 
 as Schlagel; and I have also heard that it is some¬ 
 times seen in fairs at Basel in Switzerland. Tylor 
 [Academy, April 9th, 188 r, p. 265) says it is called 
 Brttmmer in Germany. In West Prussia, near 
 
 * Korean Games , p. 22. 
 
 t Ninth A?m. Rep. Bureau of Ethnol ., p. 378. 
 
286 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Marienwerder, the true bull-roarer ( Schwirrkolz ) has 
 been noted by Siedel.* A narrow piece of light wood, 
 a span in length, was fastened to a whip, the whirling 
 of the whips was called burren , and not every boy 
 could do this equally well; the success depended also 
 partly on the length and weight of the bull-roarer as 
 well as on the nature of the whip. The little piece of 
 wood had to be cut and smoothed with care before it 
 would work properly. After a lapse of thirty years, 
 Siedel has forgotten how he fastened the wood on to 
 the whip, and also certain other details. The game 
 was known in the neighbourhood generally. About 
 the years 1869 and 1870 a number of the pure 
 Germans of this district emigrated to America, and 
 their place has been partly taken by Poles, and it 
 would be interesting to find out whether the Polish 
 children have adopted this toy, or whether it is 
 restricted to the Germans. 
 
 The distribution of the bull-roarer in Europe is 
 carried a step further by Figura,+ who states it not 
 only occurs in Poland, but in and beyond the Car¬ 
 pathians. He was born on the banks of the San in 
 Galicia, which separates the Ruter and the Poles, and 
 the bull-roarer is used on both sides of the river. He 
 says :— 
 
 “ As a child of agricultural parents, I often returned in the 
 evening to the village on horseback, driving the cattle home. 
 
 * H. Siedel, “Das Schwirrholz in Westpreussen,” Globus , 1896, p. 67. 
 
 t F. Figura, “Das Schwirrholz in Galizien,” Globus , 1896, p. 226. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 287 
 
 Not always, but often, at such times the bull-roarer is used by 
 the young herdsmen when in good humour. The bull-roarer 
 is a longish, thin piece of wood, notched at one end on both 
 sides, and fastened with a simple knot at the end of a whip. 
 At the beginning of the revolutions the bull-roarer produces 
 
 a note corresponding to the letter b-s (greatly protracted). 
 
 By swinging some time and more quickly the high note passes 
 into a low organ note. This tuning effect is called in Galicia, 
 among both Poles and Ruthenians, bzik. The wooden object 
 itself has no name. This buzzing or humming noise excites 
 pasturing cattle. As soon as the bull-roarers are started the 
 calves stretch out their tails into the air, and kick out their 
 hind legs, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, as if 
 they were dancing. After some minutes the old cattle follow 
 the young ones, and there is a general stampede to the 
 village. Therefore one says in Galicia that a man whose 
 brain is not quite right has a 1 bzik! It is supposed that the 
 animals get into an idiotic condition owing to the buzzing of 
 the bull-roarer. 
 
 “ In what a curious way an idea may change may be seen 
 from the following. It is well known that in the year 1831 
 thousands of young Poles emigrated to foreign parts, especially 
 to France, and there a great number enlisted in the Algerian 
 foreign legion. The Poles used to play cards, and their game 
 was called bzik. The Frenchmen got to like the game; they 
 could pronounce the word, but in writing it down according 
 to French orthography it became bezique ! Thus this favourite 
 game of the French gaming clubs owes its name to the bull- 
 roarer.” 
 
 In one of his charming and suggestive essays 
 Andrew Lang # first drew attention to the fact that 
 
 * Andrew Lang, “ The Bull-roarer: A Study of the Mysteries,” 
 Custom and Myth (2nd Edition), 1885, p. 39. 
 
2 8 S 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 the bull-roarer was employed in ancient Greece in 
 connection with the Dionysiac Mysteries :— 
 
 “ Clemens of Alexandria, and Arnobius, an early Christian 
 father who follows Clemens, describe certain toys of the child 
 Dionysus which were used in the mysteries. Among these 
 are turbines , kwvol and p 6 /u./ 3 oi. The ordinary dictionaries 
 interpret all these as whipping-tops, adding that poV/ 3 o? is 
 sometimes ‘a magic wheel.’ The ancient scholiast on 
 Clemens, however, writes: ‘ The kgovos is a little piece of 
 wood to which a string is fastened, and in the mysteries it is 
 whirled round to make a roaring noise.’ 
 
 “ In the part of the Dionysiac mysteries at which the toys 
 of the child Dionysus were exhibited, and during which (as it 
 seems) the bull-roarer was whirred, the performers daubed 
 themselves all over with clay. This we learn from a passage 
 in which Demosthenes describes the youth of his hated 
 adversary, Alschines. The mother of EEschines, he says, was 
 a kind of ‘ wise woman,’ and dabbler in mysteries. Avschines 
 used to aid her by bedaubing the initiate over with clay 
 and bran. The word here used by Demosthenes is explained 
 by Harpocration as the ritual term for daubing the initiated. 
 A story was told, as usual, to explain this rite. It was 
 said that when the Titans attacked Dionysus and tore him 
 to pieces, they painted themselves, first with clay, or gypsum, 
 that they might not be recognised. Nonnus shows, in several 
 places, that down to his time the celebrants of the Bacchic 
 mysteries retained this dirty trick. 
 
 “In Lucian’s Treatise on Dancing we read, ‘I pass over 
 the fact that you cannot find a single ancient mystery in 
 which there is not dancing. . . t To prove this I will not 
 mention the secret acts of worship, on account of the 
 uninitiated. But this much all men know, that most people 
 say of those who reveal the mysteries, that they “dance them 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 289 
 
 out.’” Lucian obviously intends to say that the matter of 
 the mysteries was set forth in ballets Taction. Now this 
 is exactly the case in the surviving mysteries of the Bushmen. 
 Mr. Oipen, the chief magistrate in St. John’s Territory, made 
 the acquaintance of Qing, one of the last of an all but 
 exterminated tribe. He gave a good deal of information 
 about the myths of his people, but refused to answer certain 
 questions* ‘You are now asking the secrets that are not 
 spoken of.’ Mr. Orpen asked, ‘ Do you know the secrets ? ’ 
 Qing replied, ‘ No, only the initiated men of that dance know 
 these things.’ To ‘dance’ this or that means ‘to be 
 acquainted with this or that mystery’; the dances were 
 originally taught by Cagn, the mantis, or grasshopper god. 
 In many mysteries Qing, as a young man, was not initiated. 
 He could not ‘ dance them out.’ ” 
 
 This is the whole of the evidence I have been able 
 to gather respecting the occurrence of the bull-roarer 
 in Europe. 
 
 In Africa it is found in the west and south. Mrs. 
 R. Braithwaite Batty f describes the cult of Oro 
 (“Torment”), a god of terror and vengeance. The 
 Oro represents the active embodiment of the civil 
 power, the local police, the mysterious head or idol of 
 the Civil Government. Under the name of Oro 
 the initiates exercise unrestricted and unquestioned 
 vengeance on offenders. Any woman getting a sight 
 of or finding out the secrets of Oro would be put to 
 death. 
 
 * Cape Monthly Magazine , July, 1874. 
 
 t R. Braithwaite Batty, “Notes on the Yoruba Country,” Journ. 
 Anth . Inst., xix., 1890, p. 160. 
 
 U 
 
290 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “The supposed ‘voice of Oro’ proceeds from a small piece 
 of wood, actually worshipped as a god—narrow and tapering 
 at each end — somewhat thinner at the edges than in the 
 middle, about an inch wide, and measuring from nearly a 
 foot to three feet in length. This Oro stick is attached to 
 a string, which is fastened to the thin end of a bamboo, or 
 pliable rod, of from six to eight feet or more in length, the 
 string being about double the length of the stem or handle, 
 which is used something after the fashion of a long carter s 
 whip. The motion is horizontal, rotary, and continuous. 
 According to the velocity and the size of the stick is the 
 sound produced—sometimes a high, shrill tone, sometimes 
 deep and grave. The largest stick requires a man of gigantic 
 strength to twirl it.” (Fig. 39.) 
 
 The Bushmen of South Africa have a bull-roarer 
 which slightly increases in width towards its free end, 
 and then has a pointed termination ; the button-like 
 attached end has a circular notch round which its 
 string is tied, the other end of the string is fastened 
 to a stick. It is spoken of as a rain-charm, and is 
 said to be also used as a clapper in driving game, 
 and again, “they try to charm their luck in hunting 
 by means of bull-roarers.” # (Fig. 40, No. 1.) 
 
 According to a correspondent of Prof. Tylor’s in 
 South Africa, the bull-roarer is employed to call the 
 men to the celebration of secret functions. A minute 
 description of the instrument and of its magical 
 power to raise a wind is given in Theal’s Kaffir 
 Folklore , p. 209. t 
 
 * Ratzel, The History of Mankind (English Edition), ii., pp. 275, 276; 
 i., frontispiece. + Lang, /.c., p. 38, and Bourke, l.c., p. 479 1 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 291 
 
 He says : “ There is a kind of superstition con¬ 
 nected with the nodiwu that playing with it invites 
 a gale of wind. Men will, on this account, often 
 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 Yoruba bull-roarers, for producing the “voice of Oro.” 
 i natural size. 
 
 prevent boys from using it when they desire calm 
 weather for any purpose.” 
 
 Mrs. Carey-Hobson also records the use of the 
 nodiwu among the Amakosa Kaffirs. ( Journ. Anth. 
 Inst., xiv., p. 325.) Prof. E. B. Tylor [Academy, April 9, 
 1881, p. 265) says it is used among the Kaffirs “ for 
 
292 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 rain-making, and in connection with the rites of 
 initiation to warn women off.” 
 
 The bull-roarer is found sporadically throughout 
 America. The Eskimo on the north-west coast have 
 one which is ellipsoidal in form with notched edges 
 (Fig. 40, No. 2); it “appears to be purely a child’s 
 toy.”* There are several records of its occurrence 
 among the North American Indians. Bourket first 
 met with the bull-roarer at the snake dance of the 
 Tusayan, in the village of Walpi, Arizona, in the 
 month of August. “ The medicine-men twirled it 
 rapidly, and with a uniform motion, about the head, 
 and from front to rear, and succeeded in faithfully 
 imitating the sound of a gust of rain-laden wind. 
 As explained by one of the medicine-men, by making 
 this sound they compelled the wind and rain to come 
 to the aid of the crops.” It is in use among the 
 Apache, and for the same purpose. The prehistoric 
 “cliff-dwellers” of the Verde Valley, in Central 
 Arizona, also employed it. Bourke also found it 
 among the Rio Grande Pueblo tribes and the Zuni. 
 Dr. Washington Matthews has described it as existing 
 among the Navajo, and Major J. W. Powell has 
 observed it in use among the Utes of Nevada and 
 Utah. Captain Bourke describes three forms of bull- 
 
 * J. MURDOCH, “ Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expe¬ 
 dition,” Ninth A?in. Rep. Bureau of Ethnol ., 1887-88 (1892), p. 378. 
 
 f J. G. Bourke, “The Medicine-men of the Apache.” Ninth Ann. 
 Rep. Bureau of Ethnol 1887-88 (1893), p. 477. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 2 93 
 
 roarers, all apparently connected in symbolism with the 
 lightning. The first terminates in a triangular point, 
 and the general shape is either that of a long, narrow 
 parallelogram, capped with an equilateral triangle, or 
 else the whole figure is that of a slender isosceles 
 triangle. When the former shape was used, as at 
 the Tusayan snake dance, # the tracing of a snake 
 or lightning in blue or yellow followed down the 
 length of the rhombus and terminated in the small 
 triangle, which did duty as the snake’s head. The 
 second form was serrated on both edges to simulate 
 the form of the snake or lightning; it is found among 
 the Navajo and in the old cliff dwellings. The third 
 form, in use among the Apache, is an oblong, 7 or 
 8 inches in length, and 1^ inches in breadth. The 
 pierced end is rounded to rudely represent a human 
 head. The Apache explained that the lines on the 
 front side of the rhombus w r ere the entrails, and those 
 on the rear side the hair of their wind o-od. The 
 
 o 
 
 hair is of several colours, and represents the lightning. 
 Bourke was led to believe that the rhombus (as he 
 terms it) of the Apache was made by the medicine¬ 
 men from wood, generally pine or fir, which had been 
 struck by lightning on the mountain tops. Such 
 wood is held in the highest estimation among them, 
 and is used for the manufacture of amulets of 
 
 * Cf. also J. G. Bourke, The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona, 
 London, 1884, p. 158-9, pi. xiii. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 294 
 
 especial efficacy. The Apache name for the rhombus 
 is “sounding wood.” (Fig. 40, No. 3.) 
 
 The sympathetic American anthropologist, Mr. 
 Cushing, also found a bull-roarer among the Zuni. 
 He says:— 
 
 “ I heard one morning a deep, whirring noise. Running 
 out, I saw a procession of three priests of the bow, gorgeous 
 and solemn with sacred embroideries and war paint . . . each 
 distinguished by his badge of degree. The principal priest 
 carried in his arms a wooden idol, ferocious in aspect, yet 
 beautiful with its decorations of shell, turquoise, and brilliant 
 paint. It was nearly hidden by symbolic slats and prayer- 
 sticks most elaborately plumed. He was preceded by a guard¬ 
 ian with drawn bow and arrows, while another followed, 
 twirling the sounding-slat, which had attracted alike my 
 attention and that of hundreds of the Indians. . . . Slowly 
 they wound their way down the hill, across the river, and off 
 toward the mountain of thunder.”* 
 
 Schmeltz f describes and figures two bull-roarers in 
 the Rijks Ethnographisch Museum in Leiden, which 
 were obtained by Dr. H. Ten Kate from the Papago 
 and the Pima tribes. They are long and narrow, 
 being respectively 185 inches and 15^ inches in 
 length ; both are painted with simple devices in red. 
 The only information about them is on a label which 
 
 * F. H. Cushing, “My Adventures in Zuni,” The Century Magazine , 
 xxvi. (N.S. iv.), 1883, p. 29. 
 
 t J. D. E. Schmeltz, “ Das Schwirrholz, Versucheiner Monographic,” 
 
 Verh. des Vereins fiir naturiv. Unterhaltung zu Hamburg, Bd. ix., 
 1896, p. 121. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 2 95 
 
 states they produce a buzzing noise and are used to 
 frighten away evil spirits. (Fig. 40, No. 4.) 
 
 The next American locality is Central Brazil, where 
 Von den Steinen * met with it in his second Xingu 
 Expedition. One, which was straight at one end and 
 pointed at the other and 23I inches in length, was 
 found in a flute-house of the Mehinaku ; it was red in 
 the middle and black at each end. Two others, 
 which were shaped like a fish, were obtained from 
 the Nahuqua; one was decorated with a snake design 
 (Fig. 40, No. 5), and the other had a fish or bat 
 pattern; they were about 14 inches in length. The 
 Nahuqua showed them in public in the middle of 
 the village how they were used ; the women were 
 not driven away. The Bakairi call the bull-roarer 
 “thunder and lightning,” or “thunderstorm.” 
 
 While the Bakairi and other tribes use it only at 
 mask-dances or also as a plaything, on the river 
 St. LourenQO among the Bororo the bull-roarer is em¬ 
 ployed only at funeral festivities.f They swing it first 
 when all the things which belonged to the deceased are 
 burnt, and while in a pantomime they tell the spirits 
 of those previously deceased, and who are there 
 present, that nothing has been kept back from their 
 dead brother, and that they, the spirits, need not 
 look for anything more in the village. The bull- 
 
 * Karl von den Steinen, Unter den Naturvolkern Central 
 Brasiliens, Berlin, 1894, p. 327. t l.c., p. 497. 
 
296 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 roarer is whirled a second time when the bones of 
 the deceased are carried out of the village, and his 
 spirit accompanies them. The underlying idea of 
 all these festivals is the great fear that the dead should 
 return to fetch a living person. The women are not 
 admitted to the ceremonies which have this intention. 
 During these times the women hide themselves in the 
 forest or in their houses ; if any woman was present 
 she would die, even if she only saw the bull-roarer. 
 Wallace tells us that among the Uaupes Indians in 
 the Amazon district the women flee at the sound of 
 the flutes on which are played the Juripari or “devil 
 music.” 
 
 “ From the moment the music was first heard not a female, 
 old or young, was to be seen ; for it is one of the strangest 
 superstitions of the Uaupes Indians that they consider it 
 dangerous for a woman ever to see one of these instruments, 
 that having done so is punished with death, generally by 
 poison. Even should the view be perfectly accidental, or 
 should there be only a suspicion that the proscribed articles 
 have been seen, no mercy is shown.”* 
 
 Among the Bororo they fear for the women; among 
 other tribes (and each tribe must be investigated 
 separately) the women are threatened with death. 
 The Bakairi women are threatened if they should enter 
 the flute-house of the men. Thus the saying, “ The 
 women must die,” may have very different meanings. 
 
 * Alfred R. Wallace, A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon 
 and Rio Negro , 1853, p. 349. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 297 
 
 Von den Steinen found it nearly impossible to get 
 a bull-roarer from the Bororo tribe. The fear of 
 its being misapplied was so great that they prayed 
 him not to show even the drawing of one to the 
 women. When he spoke about buying one they 
 were hidden ; when he spoke casually about a bull- 
 roarer—as one speaks of bows and arrows—the men 
 were frightened and turned away, clearly showing that 
 they did not want to hear it mentioned. The senti¬ 
 ment is connected with the fear of death. The illus¬ 
 trious German traveller gives the following interesting 
 account of how he obtained some specimens :— 
 
 “ We only got the bull-roarers from three young lads in the 
 hobble-de-hoy stage, who valued some small red beads as 
 much as the bull-roarer. They made and painted them in 
 the forest. First one came very secretly on a dark and 
 misty night to our room and asked that the door and 
 window-shutters might be closed. Then came the second, 
 and after him the third. Each had a bull-roarer hidden 
 under a cloth. They whispered that we had to hide them 
 very carefully, because women and children would die if 
 they saw them, and they also wished that the men should 
 not hear anything about it (the naughty boy Tobakiu was 
 greatly afraid of his father), because they would become 
 ‘ brabo' and get a beating. We were careful to let them 
 see us put the dangerous pieces of wood (Fig. 40, No. 6) 
 right at the bottom of our box.” * 
 
 Dr. Paul Ehrenreich mentions]- having twice come 
 
 * Von den Steinen, l.c., p. 498. 
 
 t Paul Ehrenreich, “Beitrager Zur Volkerkunde Brasiliens,” 
 Veroffentl. des Kgl. Mus. fur Volkerkunde , Berlin, 1891, pp. 38, 71. 
 
298 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 across the bull-roarer on his travels in the interior 
 of Brazil. He says it is not used by the Karaya on 
 the Araguaya, at least he could learn nothing about it, 
 and among the Ipurina of the Rio Purus a little bull- 
 roarer of a fish-form was obtained, but nothing could 
 be gathered as to its use. 
 
 The Ethnographical Museum at Leiden has, accord¬ 
 ing to Schmeltz, # a bull-roarer from the small island 
 of Aruba, off Venezuela. It is oval in form, roughly 
 made, and used as a toy. The population of the 
 island is a mixture of Indians and negroes. Schmeltz 
 reminds us that Von den Steinen regards the Caribs as 
 allied to the Nahuquas. 
 
 Of the Peruvians we are informed that “their belief 
 was that there was a man in the sky with a sling 
 and a stick, and that in his power were the rain, the 
 hail, the thunder, and all else that appertains to the 
 regions of the air where clouds are formed.”f 
 
 Mr. W. Skeat, of the Federated Malay States Ser¬ 
 vice, has informed me that he has collected a couple of 
 bull-roarers (lembing buluh , “ bamboo spear ”) from a 
 Patani boatman, of the Kuala-Langat District in Selan¬ 
 gor. Patani is an Independent Malay State on the 
 East Coast of the Malay Peninsula. The bull-roarers 
 
 * Schmeltz, l.c., p. 119. 
 
 t Clements R. Markham, “ Note on Garcilasso de la Vega,” in 
 Hakluyt Soc ., vol. xli., quoting Acosta, lib. v. cap. iv. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 299 
 
 (Fig. 40, No. 7)* are used for scaring elephants away 
 from the plantations. One informant said “ they make 
 a noise like a tiger.” This is the first record of the 
 occurrence of the bull-roarer on the mainland of 
 Asia, and its use to frighten elephants is analogous 
 to the use it is put to by the Bushmen of South 
 Africa, as well as by boys in Galicia and Scotland. 
 
 Schmeltzf knows of only one true example of the 
 bull-roarer from the Malay Archipelago. It occurs 
 among Toba-Batak of Sumatra and is a plano-convex, 
 narrow, oblong piece of wood about 4-g inches in 
 length. (Fig. 40, No. 8). It is only a plaything for 
 small children. Another child’s toy from Java, which 
 is also in the Royal Ethnographical Museum at 
 Leiden, has some resemblances to a bull-roarer, but 
 it is so specialized that we can pass it by, as it may 
 have quite another origin. 
 
 It is also entirely wanting, so far as we know, 
 from Polynesia, with the exception of New Zealand. 
 It is worth bearing in mind that these islands were 
 almost certainly inhabited by Melanesians before the 
 Maori invasion, and the bull-roarer may belong to the 
 older population. A highly decorated specimen occurs 
 in the British Museum, it was first figured and noted 
 by Lang.J We have no information as to its use. 
 
 * There should have been a tang at the upper end of this figure ; the 
 specimen is 11 inches long, 
 f Schmeltz, l.c., p. 103. 
 t Lang, l.c., p. 35. 
 
3 °° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 When we turn to the black races of Oceania we 
 find a very different state of affairs. Alike among 
 the noisy, excitable, frizzly-haired natives of the 
 Melanesian Archipelago, or of the great island of 
 New Guinea, and the taciturn, apathetic, curly-haired 
 black fellows of Australia, do we find it playing a very 
 important part in the social life of the people. 
 
 Dr. Codrington, the erudite missionary of Melanesia, 
 has recorded a bull-roarer in connection with the 
 Matambala mysteries in Florida, one of the Solomon 
 Islands.* In admission to these mysteries there was 
 no limit of age and no time of life more appropriate 
 than another, even sucklings were made Matambala; 
 for the latter the men would go into the villages and 
 beg milk from the women, since the infants could not 
 come out of the sacred precincts and the women could 
 not go in. During the three months of the ceremony 
 the Matambala, under cover of the terror of their 
 pretended association with ghosts, were playing tricks 
 and robbing all the country round. From time to 
 time they sacrificed to Siko. More than once they 
 made their appearance in the villages ; this they did 
 at night-time, taking with them buro (bull-roarers) and 
 seesee (bundles of coco-nut fronds to beat over a 
 stick). When they approached a village they beat 
 the seesee and whirled the buro; all the women in the 
 
 * R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology 
 and Folk-lore, Oxford, 1891, pp. 98, 342. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3 °i 
 
 village shut fast their houses and were much afraid, 
 and gave food to the men through small holes in the 
 walls of their houses. The downfall of this superstition 
 and imposture, says Dr. Codrington, has been com¬ 
 plete. No Matambala celebration has taken place 
 for years; all the young people know how the thing 
 was done, the sacred precincts were explored, bull- 
 roarers became the playthings of the boys, and the 
 old men sat and wept over the profanation and their 
 loss of power and privilege. 
 
 It is only in Florida that any superstitious character 
 belongs to the bull-roarer. There is no mystery 
 about it when it is used in the Banks Islands to 
 drive away a ghost, as in Mota, where it is called 
 nanamatea , “death-maker”; or to make a moaning 
 sound, as in Merlav, where it is called worung-tamb , 
 “ a wailer,” and used the night after death. It is 
 often a common plaything; in Vanua Lava they call 
 it mala , “pig,” from the noise it makes; in Maewo 
 it is tal-viv, “a whirring string”; in Araga it is 
 merely tavire bua, “ a bit of bamboo.” 
 
 The bull-roarer is too well known in the Banks 
 Islands to be used in mysteries, and so another 
 apparatus is employed in the cult of the Great 
 Tamate (Great “ Ghost ”), by which the peculiar, and 
 certainly very impressive, sound is made, which is 
 believed by the outsiders to be the cry or voice of 
 the ghosts. This is a flat, smooth stone, on which 
 
302 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the butt-end of the stalk of a fan of palm is rubbed. 
 The vibration of the fan produces an extraordinary 
 sound, which can be modulated in strength and tone 
 at the will of the performer. # 
 
 In New Guinea the bull-roarer is known at one 
 or two places in Kaiser Wilhelms-Land. Krausef 
 obtained one from Finsch Hafen about sixteen inches 
 in length, and decorated with an insect, J and Dr. O. 
 Schellong§ says they play a great part in the circum¬ 
 cision feast in the same district. They serve to warn 
 off the women, and are not allowed to be seen by 
 them. We thus get an explanation of some objects 
 collected by Finsch|| from Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen. 
 At Bilia they were wrapped up carefully in tapa, 
 and kept in the assembly house ; the natives seemed 
 to regard them with a tabu-like fear, and nobody was 
 allowed to look at them. 
 
 We have more information regarding the bull- 
 roarer in British New Guinea, where it occurs in 
 Torres Straits, and along the northern shore of the 
 Papuan Gulf. So far as our present knowledge goes 
 it is associated with mask-dances, and is employed 
 
 * CODRINGTON, l.C ., p. 80. 
 
 t E. Krause, Zeitschr.fur Ethnol. xx., 1888 ; Verhandl., p. 267. 
 
 % Cf A. C. Haddon, Decorative Art of British New Guinea , p. 103. 
 
 § O. Schellong, “ Das Barlum-Fest der Gegend Finschhafens,” 
 Internat. Arch, fiir Ethnogr ., ii., 1889, p. 145. 
 
 || O. Finsch, Ethnologischer Atlas , Leipzig, 1888, taf. v. figs. 5, 6; 
 “ Ethnologische Erfahrungen,” etc. Annalen des K.K. Nat. Hof museums, 
 Wien, 1891, p. 65 [203]. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3°3 
 
 only by the peoples'* whom Mr. Ray and myself + 
 term “ Papuans,” as in distinction to the Melanesian 
 immigrants of the South-Eastern Peninsula. 
 
 The energetic and enthusiastic pioneer missionary 
 of British New Guinea, the Rev. James Chalmers, 
 or “Tamate,” as he likes to be called by his black 
 and his white friends, has described the initiation cere¬ 
 mony among the Toaripi (Motu-Motu). At about 
 the age of seventeen or eighteen the boys enter the 
 Eramo (sacred house) ; they leave off the sporran 
 worn by the boys, and adopt the string worn by the 
 men ; their head is shaved, and they then remain 
 many months until the hair has grown long again. 
 There is a tabu on certain kinds of food. “Not 
 until after they have left the Eramo is the Roaring 
 Bull [bull-roarer, tiparii\ seen” ; nor until then can 
 an initiate “wear a mask or join in the dances 
 and drum-beatings of the tribe, and only then is 
 he considered a man. Not until he has descended 
 from the Eramo does he know a woman. All sing¬ 
 ing, dancing, and drum-beating are considered sacred 
 and never uselessly done.” J 
 
 Mr. Chalmers has recently given to the museum 
 
 * A. C. Haddon, Decor. Art , p. 254; and Evolution in Art, 1895, 
 p. 62. 
 
 t S. H. Ray and A. C. Haddon, “A Study of the Languages of 
 Torres Straits,” Part i., Proc. Ry. Irish Acad. (3) ii., 1893, p. 463 : Part 
 ii. vol. iv., 1896, p. 119 icf. p. 370). 
 
 X J. Chalmers, Report Austral. Assoc. Advanc. Sci., ii., 1890, 
 p. 3 1 3 ; cf. also Pioneering in New Guinea, 1887, p. 86. 
 
3°4 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 of the London Missionary Society two bull-roarers, 
 with the following description :—“ Tiparu, only seen 
 by a young man after initiation into manhood, and 
 then pigs are killed, and a large feast prepared. All 
 women and young people leave the village lest they 
 should hear it and die. Had great difficulty in getting 
 them.” The larger of these two measures 20 inches 
 by 5J inches, and is carved on both sides with scrolls, 
 which are, as usual, painted red, black, and white. 
 The second one is 11-J inches by if inch; but 
 instead of being ellipsoidal, it is practically an 
 elongated isosceles triangle with a pointed base—one 
 side has a slightly carved tooth-pattern along the 
 margin. (Fig. 40, Nos. 10, 11.) 
 
 In connection with the same ceremonies at which 
 the masks are employed, certain flat, or slightly 
 biconvex, ellipsoidal wooden objects are used, which 
 are generally prolonged at one end into a handle, 
 and are perforated at the other. They are often 
 adorned at the side with vegetable fibre. Their 
 shape bears a close resemblance to that of a bull- 
 roarer, and I have ventured to suggest* that they 
 may have arisen from this implement, which we have 
 seen is used in this district during the initiation 
 ceremonies. An objection to this view might be 
 urged from the circumstance that among those people 
 who employ the bull-roarer during initiation cere- 
 * A C. H addon, Dec. Art New Guinea, p. 102. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3°S 
 
 monies, the implement is so sacred that it may 
 not be exhibited to any woman or uninitiate. But 
 these objects are not actual bull-roarers, and even 
 if they are modelled upon the bull-roarers, their 
 relatively large size and their decoration alter their 
 character, and it is very improbable that any initiate 
 would inform the uninstructed that there was any 
 resemblance between the two objects. These cere¬ 
 monial tablets, as I have termed them, vary from 
 about 20 inches to 60 inches in length, and, so far as 
 I know, without exception they bear delineations of 
 the human form or face. 
 
 Very similar to these ceremonial tablets are some 
 oval wooden slabs that Mr. Chalmers has recently 
 sent to this country from the mouth of the Fly River, 
 on which are carved conventionalized human faces, 
 associated with simple patterns; some he describes 
 as u gope-gope, charms hung in new houses for good 
 luck . . . gope , house charm . . . gope, figure-head 
 of canoe, gives good passage, and is thought a 
 wonderful charm.” I suspect these, too, are in reality 
 bull-roarer derivatives. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers is also our authority for the existence 
 of initiation ceremonies in this district at which the 
 bull-roarer, burumamaramu , is exhibited. He says : 
 “When used all women and children leave the village 
 and go into the bush. The old men swing it and 
 show it to the young men when the yams are ready 
 x 
 
3°6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 for digging (May and June).” The name evidently 
 means “the mother of yams.”* These bull-roarers 
 are decorated with incised or carved designs. At the 
 same occasion a wooden female image ( uvio-moguru , 
 urumuruburu , &c.) is given to the lads to be worn by 
 them, but it must not be seen by women or children. 
 
 I found that in the island of Mabuiag, in Torres 
 Straits, the large carved and painted bull-roarers 
 ( bigu ) (Fig. 40, No. 12) were formerly suspended 
 round certain platforms that were connected with 
 the turtle fishery. A small bull-roarer ( wainis ) was 
 also associated with this cult, but they were kept in 
 the bush. Women were allowed to see it. “It 
 was half-play,” they said. When the men went out 
 to catch the floating turtle they took a bigu from 
 the platform and swung it over the canoe preparatory 
 to starting. On the approach of the successful canoes 
 the man who had stationed himself on a hill would 
 whirl a wainis , and the women knew that the fishers 
 had been lucky. At Moa a man would raise the 
 wind by painting himself black all over and whirling 
 a bull-roarer, t 
 
 In the autumn of 1888 I visited Muralug (Prince of 
 Wales Island), in Torres Straits. The son of the 
 
 * S. H. Ray and A. C. Haddon, “Languages of Torres Straits,” ii., 
 Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (3), iv, 1897, p. 309. (buruma , a variety of yam ; 
 mararnu , mother). 
 
 t A. C. Haddon, “ The Ethnography of the Western Tribe of Torres 
 Straits,” Journ. Anth. Inst., xix., 1890, pp. 406, 427, 432. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3°7 
 
 chief of that island was a friend of mine, and when 
 I went to his father’s village I determined to see 
 whether I could discover if these people, who are 
 Papuans, and not Australians, had a knowledge of 
 the bull-roarer. 
 
 So I took the old man and his son apart, and was 
 careful not only to see that nobody was close by, but 
 to speak in a low tone of voice. As I could not 
 speak their language, our means of communication was 
 the jargon English which is spoken all over the Pacific. 
 
 I said to him, “You make him boy man ?” (That 
 is, “ Do you have initiation ceremonies in which boys 
 are made into men?”) “Yes,” he replied, “we make 
 him boy man.” “You got thing, time you make him 
 boy man ? ” At first the old chief would say nothing, 
 and looked stolidly ignorant, but I persisted, and 
 whirled my arm and made a whirring noise, and said, 
 “ I savvy that thing. You got him?” This was too 
 much for him ; his surprise that any white man knew 
 anything about it was so evident that he was obliged 
 to admit that they had the implement. “ What name 
 you call him ? ” The old boy looked cautiously all 
 around, and after satisfying himself that no one could 
 overhear him, he whispered, “IVaness.” After a con¬ 
 siderable amount of coaxing he promised to make one 
 for me, evidently being satisfied in his own mind that 
 I was an initiate of some kind or other. The next 
 morning he took me and his son into the bush, and 
 
3 o8 THEfSTUDY OF MAN 
 
 took precautions that he was not followed. When 
 some distance off he produced a bull-roarer, and 
 showed me how to swing it. Then in a secret and 
 confidential manner he gave it to me, making me 
 promise not to show it to any woman. I naturally 
 took this to mean any native woman, and I did not. 
 
 I have given this specimen (Fig. 40, No. 13) to the 
 British Museum. Its form, like that in most countries, 
 was a long oval, pointed at both ends, and with 
 bevelled edges. One end had a short bar-like pro¬ 
 jection to prevent the string from slipping off; the 
 latter was about a yard in length, and its other end 
 was attached to a stick. It was whirled round and 
 round over the head. I was informed that the 
 waness was usually ornamented with a central white 
 band, a red band being painted a short distance 
 above and below it. 
 
 A few weeks afterwards I was in Christianized Mer 
 (Murray Island)—a small island about 120 miles from 
 Muralug—and to my great surprise I saw a number 
 of small boys playing with similar bull-roarers. 
 These boys were scholars in the Mission School, and 
 had been brought from Saibai, a low island near the 
 coast of New Guinea, at the other end of the Straits. 
 
 In one island a bull-roarer was too sacred to be 
 shown to a woman ; in another it was a plaything! 
 
 All over Australia the bull-roarer is regarded with 
 religdous awe. and it is first shown to lads at the 
 
1 . Bushman (after Ratzel); 2. Eskimo (after Murdoch), 7^X2; 3 . Apache, North America (after 
 Bourke), 8xi£; 4 . Pima, North America (after Schmeltz), 15JX1; 5 . Nahuqua, Brazil 
 (after V. d. Steinen), 13X2; 6. Bororo, Brazil (after V. d. Steinen), 15X3^; 7 . Patani Malay, 
 E. coast of Malay Peninsula (original, from a description by W. Skeat); 8. Sumatra (after 
 Schmeltz), 4 xf ; 9 . New Zealand (original), i3|X4j ; 10 , 11 . Toaripi, British New Guinea 
 (original), 20Xs£, nJXif; 12 . Mabuiag, Torres Straits, 16X3!; 13 . Muralug, Torres 
 Straus (original), 6£x i£; 14 . Mer, Torres Straits (original), 5 X $; 15 . South Australia (after 
 Etheridge), 14X1J, both sides of the same specimen are shown; 16 . Wiradthuri Tribes, 
 N.S.W. (after Matthews), i3fX2j; 17 . Clarence River Tribe, N S.W. (after Matthews), 
 5X1 ; 18 . S.E. Coast N.S.W. (after Matthews), 13X2J; 19 . Kamilaroi Tribe, Weir River, 
 Queensland (after Matthews), n£xi£. 
 
3 >° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 ceremony during which they are initiated into man¬ 
 hood. With us manhood is merely a question of age, 
 with these people it is a state of grace; unless a lad 
 has been initiated he counts as nobody ; he has no 
 tribal rights, nor can he perform any ceremony. No 
 woman is allowed to see the bull-roarer; if shown by 
 a man to a woman or uninitiate the punishment to 
 both is death. I was informed that the death penalty 
 was similarly inflicted among the eastern tribe of 
 Torres Straits if the names were divulged of the 
 sacred masks which were worn during the initiation 
 ceremonies, and if a woman identified the disguised 
 chief performers of one of the ceremonies, “she died 
 that night.”* 
 
 In some parts of Australia a deluge myth is 
 associated with the bull-roarer, and the lads are told 
 that if ever a woman is allowed to see one the earth 
 will open, and water gush forth and submerge it. 
 The old men point spears at the boys’ eyes, saying, 
 “If you tell this to any woman you will die ; you will 
 see the ground broken up and like the sea ; if you 
 tell this to any woman or to any child you will be 
 killed.” The Rev. Mr. Fison gives the following 
 tradition: “Some children of the Kurnai, in playing 
 about, found a turndun (bull-roarer), which they took 
 home to the camp and showed the women. Im- 
 
 * A. C. Haddon, “Manners and Customs of the Torres Straits 
 Islanders,” Journ. Royal Inst, of Great Britain, 1890. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3 11 
 
 mediately the earth crumbled away, and it was all 
 water, and the Kurnai were drowned.” 
 
 So much has been written of late concerning the 
 initiation ceremonies in Australia, that it is impossible 
 for me to enter into the subject at any length. 
 Mathews,* who has recently published some very 
 interesting observations on the Bora , or initiation 
 ceremonies of the Kamilaroi tribe, records that at the 
 main camp, during the early part of nearly every 
 night, one of the masters of the ceremonies would 
 go alone into the bush a short distance from the 
 camp, and for about two hours would sound a wooden 
 instrument which these blacks called murrawan , which 
 is supposed to represent the voice of Durramoolan, 
 their native name for the evil spirit, who rules in the 
 night. During the time the instrument referred to 
 was being sounded in the adjacent forest, the men 
 of the tribes would dance and yell, and make hideous 
 noises, and all the gins would sing and beat time, 
 those of each tribe singing their own peculiar song. 
 Howittt says:— 
 
 “ TharamulunX was not everywhere thought to be a malevo¬ 
 lent being, but he was dreaded as one who could severely 
 punish the trespasses committed against those tribal ordin¬ 
 ances and customs whose first institution is ascribed to 
 
 * R. H. Mathews, “The Bora, or Initiation Ceremonies of the 
 Kamilaroi Tribe,” Journ. A 7 ith. Inst., xxiv., 1895, p. 419. 
 
 t A. W. Howitt, “On some Australian Beliefs,” Journ. Anth. Inst., 
 xiii., 1883, p. 192. 
 
 X Also called Thrumiilun or Daramiilfin. 
 
312 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 him. He, it is said, taught the Murring all the arts they 
 knew; he instituted the ceremonies of Initiation of Youth; 
 he made the original mudji (the turndun , or bull-roarer, of 
 the Kurnai); ordered the animal names to be assumed by 
 men; and directed what rules should be observed as to 
 the food permitted or forbidden to certain persons. It was 
 taught to the Murring youths at their initiation .... that 
 Tharamulun himself watched the youths from the sky, 
 prompt to punish, by sickness or death, the breach of his 
 ordinances. These prohibitions were only relaxed as the 
 youths proved themselves worthy, and in some cases appear 
 to have been perpetual. 
 
 “ The knowledge of Tharamulun , and his attributes and 
 powers, was only communicated to the youths at their 
 initiation, and was regarded as something eminently secret 
 and not on any account to be divulged to women or children. 
 It is said that the women among the Ngarego and Wolgal 
 knew only that a great being lived beyond the sky, and that 
 
 he was spoken of by them as Papang (Father).The 
 
 old men strenuously maintained that the knowledge of the 
 name of Tharamulun was imparted to themselves only at 
 their initiation by the old men. This name is to them so 
 sacred that even in speaking to me of it, when no one else 
 was present but ourselves, the old men have done so in 
 almost whispers, and have used elliptical expressions to 
 avoid the word itself, such as ‘ He,’ ‘ the man,’ or ‘ the name 
 I told you of.’ I believe that the dread of offending an 
 unseen, powerful, possibly present, spirit, lies much at the 
 root of the disinclination to utter the name of Tharamulun. 
 One old Theddora woman (the last of her tribe) said, when 
 I asked her who was Tharamulun : ‘ He lives up there 
 (pointing to the sky); I only know that; and also that when 
 boys are made young men he comes down to frighten them. 
 
 I once heard him coming with a noise like thunder.’ ” 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3*3 
 
 In describing in detail the initiation ceremonies 
 of the Coast Murring tribe, Howitt says* :— 
 
 “The Mudji is held to have been first made and used by 
 Darami dun, when in the beginning of things he instituted 
 these ceremonies, and constituted the aboriginal society as 
 it exists. The noise made by it is the voice of Daramulun, 
 calling together the initiated ; and, moreover, it represents 
 the muttering of thunder, which is said to be his voice 
 ‘calling to the rain to fall and make the grass grow up 
 green.’ These are the very words used by Umbara, the 
 minstrel and improvisatore of his tribe.” 
 
 In a later paper, Howitt states that “ Showing the 
 Grandfather" is the cryptic phrase used to describe 
 the central mystery of the Jeraeil , f or initiation 
 ceremonies of the Kurnai tribe. In reality it means 
 the exhibition of the Tundun , and the revelation to 
 them of the ancestral beliefs. The Kurnai have two 
 bull-roarers, a larger one called the Tundun or “ the 
 man,” and a smaller one called Rukut Tundun , “the 
 woman” or “wife of Tundun.” The larger one is 
 also called “Grandfather,” Weintwin or Muk-brogan.% 
 In this the Kurnai differ from the Murring, who have 
 only one bull-roarer, but they agree with several other 
 Australian tribes. Where there is only one the 
 women are totally excluded. 
 
 * A. W. Howitt, “On some Australian Ceremonies of Initiation,” 
 Journ. Anth. Inst., xiii., 1884, p. 446. 
 
 t A. W. Howitt, “ The Jeraeil, or Initiation Ceremonies of the Kurnai 
 Trib e,” Journ. Anth. hist., xiv., 1885, pp. 312, 315. 
 
 I Weintwin =father’s father, or father’s father’s brother. All those 
 initiated at the same Jeraeil are Brogan , or “Comrade” to each other. 
 Milk-Brogan is the “ Chief Comrade.” 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 3H 
 
 The women and the children are always told that, 
 at the secret parts of the Jeraeil, Tundun himself 
 comes down to “make the boys into men.” The 
 hideous sounds which the uninitiated may chance to 
 hear from a distance they are told is Tundun’s voice, 
 and they are warned not to leave their camp while 
 he is about, lest he should kill them with his spears. 
 Howitt describes how the newly - initiated youths 
 thoroughly enter into the fun of frightening the 
 women, and, having got over their awe of the bull- 
 roarers, they make an outrageous noise with them. 
 It sometimes happens that, during the nocturnal 
 perambulation, one of the bull - roarers becomes 
 detached from its string, and is thus lost. If, per¬ 
 chance, it is afterwards picked up by a woman or 
 a child, their curiosity is satisfied by the statement 
 that it is a “paddle belonging to Tundun,” which 
 he is supposed to have dropped in returning home. 
 The shape of the bull-roarer is much like that of 
 the little bark paddle, which the Kurnai use when 
 sitting down in their canoes. 
 
 In his second paper on the Bora ceremony,* 
 Mathews refers several times to the bull-roarers :— 
 
 “Towards the close of the rites two men with bull-roarers 
 went out into some clear ground in front of the novices, and 
 commenced loudly sounding these instruments. The boys 
 were now directed to look at the two men, and were told 
 
 * Journ. Anth. Fist., xxv., 1896, p. 336. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3i5 
 
 that all similar noises that they had ever heard were made in 
 this way. Several of the Kooringal then walked in front of 
 the boys, with uplifted tomahawks in their hands, and told 
 them that if they ever divulged this, or any of the other 
 performances which they had seen in the bush to the women 
 or the uninitiated, they would be killed. The murruwans 
 were then given into the hands of the novices, and they 
 were invited to inspect them.’'’ 
 
 The bull-roarer, or yuntha , according to Mr. S. 
 Gason,* is one of the most important secrets of the 
 Dieri Tribe of Central Australia, and the knowledge 
 of it is kept inviolate from the women. The belief 
 is, that if the women were to see a yuntha which had 
 been used at the ceremonies, and know the secrets 
 of it, the Dieri Tribe would ever afterwards be 
 without snakes, lizards, and other such food. When 
 the yuntha if given to the youth, he is instructed 
 that he must twirl it round his head when he is out 
 hunting. The Dieri think that when the yuntha is 
 handed to the young Wilyaru he becomes inspired 
 by Muramura. The yuntha is from 6 to 9 inches 
 long, X V inch thick, and 2 to 2| inches wide; it has 
 notches at each side, near one end. 
 
 Among the Arunta tribe of the McDonnell Ranges, 
 in Central Australia, the natives not only employ the 
 small bull-roarer, irula , in the usual way, but the 
 lad on whom circumcision has been performed “ is 
 
 * A. W. Howitt, “The Dieri and other kindred Tribes of Central 
 
 Australia,” Jonrn Antli. Inst, xx., 1890, p. 83. 
 
3i 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 furnished with a bundle of large irula (not used for 
 making a humming noise), which he carries with 
 him, and which are bestowed in order to promote 
 speedy recovery. These sticks belong to the class 
 of objects known as Churina.” ... “ The sacred 
 
 stones ( churina ) of the tribe are flat stones of various 
 sizes, of soft material, such as micaceous rock, and 
 generally engraved in various ways. These stones 
 are greatly valued by the natives; they are handed 
 down from generation to generation, and the women 
 are never allowed to see them . . . under penalty of 
 death. . . . The humming-stick {irula) also belongs 
 to the churina class. ... The marks on the irula 
 are evidently copied from the marks on the stone 
 churina. ... The churina may be described as 
 symbolic of the totem. 
 
 Other references to bull-roarers and their uses will 
 be found in Dr. Stirling’s account of the Anthropo¬ 
 logical portion of the Horn Expedition ;f in two 
 papers by Hardman,^ who says, “The whirling-sticks, 
 mero-mero , used to drown the shrieks of the victim, 
 
 * F. J. Gillen, “Notes on some Manners and Customs of the 
 Aborigines of the McDonnel Ranges, belonging to the Arunta Tribe,” 
 
 Report on the Work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central 
 Australia, Pt. iv., Anthropology , 1896, pp. 172, 179. 
 
 + l.c., p. 76. 
 
 t E. T. Hardman, “Notes on a Collection of Native Weapons and 
 Implements from tropical Western Australia (Kimberley District), Proc. 
 Roy. Irish Acad. (3), i., 1887, p. 68; “Notes on some Habits and 
 Customs of the Natives of the Kimberley District, Western Australia,” 
 l.c., p. 73. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3 1 7 
 
 as well as the flint or shell-knives used in the 
 operation, are considered sacred, and are not to be 
 looked upon by women under pain of death.” Pro¬ 
 bably Hardman was repeating only hearsay evidence. 
 Some observers who have witnessed the ceremony 
 deny that the lads shriek. A recent paper by Mr. R. 
 Etheridge, # the Curator of the Australian Museum 
 in Sydney, and papers by E. Palmert and R. H. 
 MathewsJ may be consulted with profit; the latter 
 states that the large and small bull-roarers (mudthega 
 and moonibear ) of the Wiradthuri tribe, after they 
 are shown and explained to the novices, are destroyed 
 by splitting them in pieces, and driving them into the 
 ground out of sight, or they are burnt (p. 311). The 
 most recently published paper is one by Mathews, § 
 which gives a useful synopsis of Australian bull-roarers. 
 (Fig. 40, Nos. 16-19.) 
 
 More than one account informs us that a bull- 
 roarer is one of the credentials that a messenger 
 carries with him when he is sent to summon the 
 class or the tribes to an initiation ceremony. 
 
 * R. Etheridge, Junior, “ On Circular and Spiral Incised Ornaments 
 on Australian Aboriginal Implements and Weapons,” Records of the 
 Australian Museum, iii., 1897, p. 1. 
 
 t E. Palmer, “Notes on some Australian Tribes ” Journ. Anth. Inst., 
 xiii.j p. 295. 
 
 J R. H. Mathews, “The Burbung of the Wiradthuri Tribes,” Journ. 
 Anth. Inst., xxv., 1896, pp. 295 et seq. 
 
 § R. H. Mathews, “Bull-roarers used by Australian Aborigines,” 
 Journ. Anth. hist., xxvii., 1897, p. 52. 
 
3i8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Having briefly surveyed most of the recorded 
 accounts of the bull-roarer in various parts of the 
 world, it is now time to see what may be learnt 
 from these facts. 
 
 The distribution of this implement is very wide, 
 by no means continuous, to borrow an expression 
 from the nomenclature of the study of the geo¬ 
 graphical distribution of animals. 
 
 I have drawn up the following table in order that 
 we may see at a glance the various purposes for 
 which the bull-roarer is employed, and the different 
 places where it is so used. I have marked with a 
 x those places where that particular use is an 
 universal practice (or very nearly so); the / means 
 that some tribes only use it for that purpose, and 
 a ? indicates that I believe this to be, or to have 
 been, its use. 
 
 The distribution of the bull-roarer seems to 
 preclude the view that it has had a single origin 
 and been carried by conquest, trade, or migration, 
 in the usual way. It is impossible to say whether 
 it formed part of the religious equipment of man 
 in his first wanderings over the earth. The former 
 view does not appear to be at all probable, it is 
 impossible to prove the latter supposition. 
 
 The implement itself is so simple that there is 
 no reason why it should not have been independently 
 invented in many places and at diverse times. On 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3 I 9 
 
 the other hand, it is usually regarded as very sacred 
 and as being either a god itself, as representing a 
 god, or as having been taught to men by a god. 
 Where this is the case there is every reason to 
 believe that its use is very ancient. So that it is 
 probable that in certain areas it was early discovered 
 and has since been transmitted to the descendants, 
 and perhaps to the neighbours, of the original in¬ 
 ventors. 
 
 For example, in America it may belong to the 
 oldest stock, and have accompanied the peoples in 
 their extension over that continent, and here and 
 there it may have died out. It is conceivable that 
 it was employed in Africa originally by the Bushmen, 
 and possibly other of the African pigmy folk ; its 
 spread among the Zulus from the Bushmen is not 
 an impossibility, for we often find, as I mention in 
 the chapter on well-worship, that a conquering race 
 may have recourse to the magical practices of the 
 indigenous population, especially in the matters of 
 agriculture and for the control of the elements. The 
 bull-roarer may have arisen among the negroes of 
 the West Coast, or have been adopted by them from 
 another race. 
 
 It is, however, very dangerous to generalise from 
 such imperfect data as we possess at present, and 
 doubtless the bull-roarer will be found to be more 
 prevalent than our records show. It is, as Langf 
 
320 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 •vnvHxsny 
 
 X 
 
 X j X 
 
 
 X 
 
 New Guinea. 
 
 S3JJOJ, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vl n O uBndBj 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 •UBUII30 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 Melan¬ 
 
 esia. 
 
 •sj squug 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 •sj uouiojos 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •aNvivaz M.3.M 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •avtvjv -vaivwns 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 America. 
 
 •y qinog 
 
 
 
 
 ~~ 
 
 
 
 •y qu°N 
 
 X 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 •ouiiqsa 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Africa. 
 
 •uBuiqsng; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 Europe. 
 
 •(tuapuy) 
 
 3D33IQ 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘3 IBI1U33 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •uiBjug 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Use of the Bull-roarer. 
 
 Sacred implements used in the 
 mysteries 
 
 in initiation ceremonies . 
 
 as a credential to summon to 
 ceremonies . 
 
 to summon spirits 
 
 to frighten away spirits . 
 
 regarded as a god 
 
3 22 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 remarks, an instrument easily invented by savages, 
 and easily adopted into the ritual of savage mysteries. 
 
 The peculiar, unearthly noise made by the bull- 
 roarer at once marked it out as something mysterious. 
 According to the size and form or the celerity of the 
 whirling, so does the sound vary, d o men who feel 
 the world around them, whose nature is permeated 
 with the kinship of things animate and inanimate, 
 and who perceive no real distinction between life and 
 not-life or between different kinds of beings—to such 
 men the deep whirring sound, the buzzing, or the 
 shriller whizzing of the bull-roarer, awakens strange 
 sensations, which they try to express and formulate. 
 In harmony with the conceptions of all primitive folk, 
 they would argue that as the sounds resemble those 
 of a mighty rushing wind, or of wind-driven rain, 
 there must be some connection—some heavenly cor¬ 
 respondence, as the mystic Swedenborg expressed it 
 —between them. Professor Tylor has termed this 
 savage conception “sympathetic magic.” This, I 
 believe, is the explanation of the widely-spread con¬ 
 nection between the bull-roarer and the wind and the 
 rain, the thunder and the lightning. 
 
 The wind may be raised to enable canoes to go out 
 fishing, and so the bull-roarer insensibly may have 
 come in some instances to be regarded as a fishing 
 charm, and to bring good fortune not to the fishing 
 alone, but good luck generally. 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3 2 3 
 
 rhe same line of thought is applicable to its 
 function of producing the rain, which made the grass 
 green, and the yams to grow. 
 
 A time arrives when men argue thus, What power 
 is it that brings good fortune and abundant crops but 
 that of a divine person ? That the bull-roarer should 
 then be accredited as a god is by no means to be 
 wondered at. Indeed, it would be illogical not to 
 do so, starting from our premises ; and savages are 
 not illogical or irrational beings, though their argu¬ 
 ments may lead them to conclusions that seem strange 
 to us. 
 
 In its deification the bull-roarer reaches it apotheo¬ 
 sis, its highest status. Whilst it was being translated 
 from a magical instrument to a divine person, or the 
 symbol of divinity, we may readily conceive that it 
 was removed from the possibility of contamination 
 by women. From being tabu it became sacrosanct, 
 and it took its place among the mysteries ; and well 
 it might. The idea of contamination or enervation 
 by women has been several times discussed by an¬ 
 thropologists/' and so the holy implements and the 
 holy ceremonies are kept out of possible danger by 
 rendering it profanation lor women to have anything 
 
 A. E. Crawley, “Sexual Taboo : a Study in the Relations of the 
 Sexes, Journ. Anth. Inst., xxiv., 1894-95, pp. n6, 219, 439. T. g 
 Frazer, The Golden Bough , i., 1890, PP . 170, 171. W. Robertson 
 Smith, The Religion of the Semites , 1889, pp. 435, 462. E. Wester- 
 MARCK, The History of Human Marriage, 1891, pp. 151-156, 541. 
 
3 2 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 to do with them. No doubt selfish aims entered into 
 this restriction, but selfish aims are not unknown 
 among higher forms of religion. 
 
 The initiation ceremonies of the lads are immensely 
 important, as they mark the appreciation of the 
 greatest facts of true religion as we understand it the 
 brotherhood of man and the communion of man with 
 his God. I use this term in its highest significance, 
 for the mystical union of the Church with Christ is a 
 conception that is taught by so-called savages in their 
 initiation ceremonies. Brotherhood has reference 
 only to those of the same communion, to those who 
 have passed through the same ceremonies. Even in 
 the nineteenth century many of us find it difficult to 
 extend this conception. I cannot now enter into the 
 deeper significance of these initiation ceremonies, but 
 there is nothing to wonder at in the reverence paid to 
 the symbol of the “ Grandfather. 
 
 “ By symbolism,” writes Count Goblet d’Alviella,* 
 “the simplest, the commonest objects are transformed, 
 idealized, and acquire a new and, so to say, an illimit¬ 
 able value.” In the Eleusinian mysteries, the author 
 of the Philosophoumena relates that, at the initiation 
 to the higher degree, “ there was exhibited as the 
 great, the admirable, the most perfect object of 
 mystic contemplation, an ear of corn that had been 
 reaped in silence ; and two crossed lines suffice to 
 
 * Goblet d’Alviella, The Migration of Symbols , 1894 (Eng. Trans.). 
 
THE BULEROARER 
 
 3 2 5 
 
 recall to millions of Christians the redemption of the 
 world by the voluntary sacrifice of a god.” 
 
 “ It is sentiment, and above all religious sentiment, 
 that resorts largely to symbolism, in order to place 
 itself in more intimate communication with the being, 
 or abstraction, it desires to approach. To that end 
 men are everywhere seen either choosing natural or 
 artificial objects to remind them of the Great Hidden 
 One, or themselves imitating, in a systematic manner, 
 the acts and deeds they attribute to Him—which is 
 a way of participating in His life.” 
 
 It is the fate of religious symbols to lose their 
 pristine significance, and this has in places over¬ 
 taken the bull-roarer, so that it has in various places 
 degenerated into a child’s plaything. Numerous 
 analogous degenerations of symbols will be found 
 in a study of decorative art. 
 
 Dr. Codrington has revealed among the Melane¬ 
 sians not only sacred secret societies, which doubtless 
 had their origin in a clan system similar to that of 
 Australia, but various stages in the disintegration of 
 those societies, which eventually come to be little 
 more than clubs. Some of these secret societies take 
 upon themselves judicial or predatory functions, and 
 for law and order, or for purely selfish aims, they 
 terrorize non-members and especially the women. 
 1 he bull-roarer, as I have already indicated, is used 
 for these baser ends. 
 
3 26 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The weird sound of the whirling bull-roarer is 
 suggestive of unseen forces, and so it naturally 
 becomes associated in men’s minds with spirits or 
 ghosts. It may thus come to be a means of com¬ 
 munication with the spirits, a use to which it is put 
 in West Africa and Melanesia. 
 
 There is one collateral use of the bull-roarer which 
 is of interest. I have quoted Mrs. Gomme’s and 
 Figura’s descriptions of its effects on cattle. The 
 poor animals evidently mistake the noise for the 
 buzzing of the gad-fly or bot-fly, and instinctively 
 they take to flight. I do not know whether the 
 name “bull-roarer” has anything to do with this; 
 but I suspect that this is the explanation of the 
 statements that the Bushmen use it as a clapper for 
 driving game and as a charm in hunting. It certainly 
 would prove a useful instrument if these little hunters 
 could by its means drive their game so crazy that 
 they would not know which way to turn, and it would 
 also prove very serviceable in their raids on the 
 cattle of the Zulus. 
 
 Most likely we shall never know for certain whether 
 the early savages of Northern Europe possessed the 
 bull-roarer; but there is every probability in favour 
 of the view that if such was the case, it had to them 
 a magical and mystical significance, as we have seen 
 it has amongst other primitive folk. 
 
 The evidence that Andrew Lang has brought for- 
 
THE BULL-ROARER 
 
 3 2 7 
 
 ward supports this conclusion. Even in the most cul¬ 
 tured period of Greek civilization there were certain 
 sacred mysteries, during the celebration of which 
 the initiates danced, probably in a nude condition, 
 as we are told their bodies were daubed with clay, 
 while they whirled the bull-roarer. The parallelism 
 with the initiation ceremonies of the Australians is 
 complete. It is obvious these and many other 
 elements in the religious practices and beliefs of 
 the Greeks were survivals of savagery. The religion 
 of the fathers is long conserved as ceremonial practice 
 by the piety of the children. 
 
 This insignificant toy is perhaps the most ancient, 
 widely-spread, and sacred religious symbol in the 
 world. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 
 
 I N country places, or even in our towns, groups 
 of boys and girls, or more frequently of girls 
 only, may be seen dancing in a ring, walking in 
 rows, or performing certain actions and singing all 
 the while. These singing games are now dying out, 
 but in some places they are being replaced by other 
 singing games of a purely artificial character, which 
 are taught in school. The latter have no interest 
 for us, but it will be found that many of the former 
 illustrate curious phases in the history of man. 
 
 In the last chapter, when speaking of the cere¬ 
 monies in which the bull-roarer was employed, I 
 pointed out that dancing is an important element in 
 all the ceremonies of savages. The dancing varies 
 much in character ; in no case does it resemble the 
 modern “round” or “fast” dances, but there is a 
 close similarity between the old-fashioned “square” 
 dances and the dances of savages. One may say 
 without hesitancy that Sir Roger de Coverley and 
 other country dances, as well as the essential figures 
 
 328 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 329 
 
 of the quadrilles and lancers, are survivals of ancient 
 dances, the two latter having been greatly modified 
 by professional dancers. 
 
 In a lecture before the Cambridge Antiquarian 
 Society in March, 1897, Sir E. Clarke pointed out 
 that it has been alleged in various quarters that our 
 English country dance is derived from the French 
 contredanse. John Wilson Croker wrote, “ Our 
 country dances are a corruption in name and a 
 simplification of figure of the French contredanse.'" 
 De Quincey, in his Life and Manners , Dr. Busby, 
 in his Dictionary of Music, and Archbishop Trench, 
 in English: Past and Present , adopted the same view. 
 On the other hand, Weaver wrote in his Histoiy of 
 Dancing (1712), “Country dances are a dancing the 
 peculiar growth of this nation, tho’ now transplanted 
 into almost all the Courts of Europe.” Feuillet, in a 
 little book published in Paris in 1 706, entitled Recueil 
 de Contredanses, says, “ Les Anglais en sont les 
 premiers inventeurs.” Nearly all the dances in the 
 volume are English. For instance, the famous “Green 
 Sleeves ” appears as Les Manches Vertes, and nearly 
 all the versions correspond with those in John Play- 
 ford’s Dancing Master of 1686 (7th edition). Littre, 
 in his classical Dictionnaire de la Langue Frangaise, 
 admits that the contredanse is a kind of old-fashioned 
 English dance imported into France under the 
 Regency between about 1723 and 1745. 
 
330 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Clarke says, “ the contredanse was, in fact, first 
 introduced to Paris in 1745, when it was given in 
 a ballet entitled “ Des Fetes de Polymnie,” by 
 Rameau. Its success was so great that it was after¬ 
 wards employed in all the future divertissements. It 
 is clear, therefore, that the French borrowed the 
 country dance from us. Eventually they turned it 
 into the quadrille, which was imported into England 
 about eighty years ago, and made a great sensation 
 when first danced at “ Almack’s ” by the famous Lady 
 Jersey and her entourage in 1815.”* 
 
 The following extract from Heywood’s “A Woman 
 Kild with Kindness” (1607)+ will illustrate the variety 
 of the dances that were formerly indulged in :— 
 
 '■'■Enter Nicke and Ienkin, Iacke Slime, Roger Brickbat, with 
 Countrey Wenches, and two or three Musitians. 
 
 Slime. Come, what shall it be ? Rogero ? 
 
 Ien. Rogero, no ; we will dance, The Beginning of the World. 
 
 Sisly. I loue no dance so well as John , come kisse mee now. 
 
 Nic. I that haue ere now deseru’d a cushion, call for the Cushion 
 Dance. 
 
 Roger. For my part I like nothing so wel as Tom Tyler. 
 
 Ienk. No, wee ’1 haue the Hunting of the Fox. 
 
 Slime. The Hay , the Hay , there’s nothing like the Hay. 
 
 Nic. I haue saide, I do say, and I will say againe. 
 
 * Cf. also Mrs. Lilly Grove (Mrs. J. G. Frazer), Dancing , in 
 The Badminton Library , 1895, p. 280. 
 
 t Thomas Heywood's Dramatic Works , vol. ii., pp. 96-98. Ed. 
 Pearson, 1874. (I have uniformly put all the names of the dances 
 into italics.) 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 331 
 
 Ienk. Euery man agree to haue it as Nicke says. 
 
 All. Content. 
 
 Nic. It hath bene, it now is, and it shall be. 
 
 Sisly. What, Master Nichlas, what ? 
 
 Nic. Put on your smocke a Monday. 
 
 Ien. So the dance will come cleanly off: come, for God’s sake 
 agree to something; if you like not that, put it to the Musitians, or 
 let me speake for all, and wee ’1 haue Sellenger's Round. 
 
 All. That, that, that.” 
 
 In the fine old song, “ Come, Lassies and Lads,” 
 we find the same love of dancing :— 
 
 “ You lasses and lads take leave of your dads, 
 
 And away to the May-pole hie, 
 
 There every he has got him a she, 
 
 And the minstrel’s standing by : 
 
 For Willy has got his Gill, and Johnny has his Joan, 
 
 To jig it, jig it, jig it, jig it, jig it up and down. 
 
 “ ‘Begin,’ says Hal,—‘Aye, aye,’ says Mall, 
 
 ‘We’ll lead up Packinglon's Pound'; 
 
 ‘ No, no,’ says Noll, and so says Doll, 
 
 ‘ We ’ll first have Sellenger's Round.' 
 
 Then every man began to foot it round about, 
 
 And every girl did jet it, jet it, jet it in and out. 
 
 “Then after an hour they went to a bow’r, 
 
 And played for ale and cakes, 
 
 And kisses too, until they were due— 
 
 The lassies held the stakes. 
 
 The girls did then begin to quarrel with the men, 
 
 And bade them take their kisses back, 
 
 And give them their own again. 
 
332 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ Now there they did stay the whole of the day, 
 
 And tired the fiddler quite 
 With dancing and play, without any pay, 
 
 From morning until night. 
 
 They told the fiddler then, they’d pay him for his play, 
 
 And each a twopence, twopence, twopence, 
 
 Gave him, and went away.” 
 
 One of the most favourite games of young men 
 and maidens in the Middle Ages was that known as 
 “ Barley Break,” or “The Last Couple in Hell.” 
 
 “The spring clade all in gladness 
 Doth laugh at winter’s sadness, 
 
 And to the bagpipes round 
 The maids tread out their ground. 
 
 “ Fy, then, why are we musing, 
 
 Youth’s sweet delight refusing? 
 
 Say, dainty nymph, and speak, 
 
 Shall we play Barley Break?”— Old Song. 
 
 It appears from Sir Philip Sidney’s description in 
 the Arcadia that the game was played by three 
 couples, each of a youth and a maid, one couple stand¬ 
 ing at each end of the area and the third remaining 
 in the centre. The oblong playing-ground was divided 
 transversely into three plots, of which the central 
 one was called “hell.” The mating was determined 
 by lot, and the last pair mated were obliged to take 
 the central plot or “hell,” and saluted each other 
 by a kiss. This pair were required to pursue with 
 joined hands, while the others were at liberty to 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 333 
 
 separate. Any maid caught replaced the maid and 
 any youth, the youth of the central couple. 
 
 “ She went abroad, thereby, 
 
 At Barley-brake her sweet, swift foot to try . . . 
 
 A field they goe, where manie lookers be . . . 
 
 Then couples three be streight allotted there, 
 
 They of both ends the middle two doe flie, 
 
 The two that in mid-place, Hell called were, 
 
 Must striue with waiting foot, and watching eye 
 To catch of them, and them to hell to beare, 
 
 That they, as well as they, Hell may supplye: 
 
 Like some which seek to salue their blotted name 
 With others blot, till all doe taste of shame. 
 
 “ There may you see, soone as the middle two 
 Doe coupled towards either couple make, 
 
 They false and fearfull, doe their hands undoe, 
 
 Brother his brother, friend doth friend forsake, 
 
 Heeding himselfe, cares not how fellow doe, 
 
 But of a stranger mutuall helpe doth take: 
 
 As periur’d cowards in aduersitie 
 
 With sight of feare from friends to fremb’d doe flie.”* 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of this now 
 obsolete game, it was played in the seventeenth cen¬ 
 tury for purely exhilarating amusement for both sexes, 
 in the same way as lawn tennis was until very 
 recently. 
 
 In looking through a large collection of the singing 
 games of children, it will be obvious, as Mr. Newell, 
 
 * Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. (Now 
 the sixt time pvblished.) London: 1623; lib. i., p. 87, “Song of 
 Lamon.” 
 
334 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the well-known American folk-lorist, points out, that 
 many were not composed by children. “ They were 
 formerly played, as in many countries they are still 
 played, by persons of marriageable age, or even by 
 mature men and women. The truth is that in past 
 centuries all the world, judged by our present standard, 
 seems to have been a little childish. The maids of 
 honour of Queen Elizabeth’s day, if we may credit 
 the poets, were devoted to the game of tag, and 
 conceived it a waste of time to pass in idleness hours 
 which might be employed in that pleasure, with which 
 Diana and her nymphs were supposed to amuse 
 themselves.”* 
 
 Court dames and cottage damsels alike played these 
 singing games in the breezy days of Good Queen 
 Bess. How the puritanical glacier of a later time 
 swept away the richness of life and left bare the 
 naked rock-bed of stern reality, we of the present 
 generation know only too well. 
 
 Those unconscious keepers of archaic archives—our 
 village children—have retained some of the romping 
 games of the “grown ups” of “ Merrie England”; 
 but also in some of the singing games, played by the 
 road-side, can we trace degenerate and fragmentary 
 survivals of the social life, ceremonies, and religious 
 practices of our savage ancestors. 
 
 * W. W. Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, New 
 
 York, 1884, p. 5. 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 335 
 
 This is not the place to enter into a disquisition on 
 dancing, much as I should like to, for the subject 
 is one of peculiar interest and of deep significance. 
 Many valuable contributions to the subject have been 
 made by Mrs. J. G. Frazer,* Herbert Spencer,! and 
 others, amongst whom I would specially mention 
 Grosse,]; who has eloquently argued that dancing has 
 been no mere pastime, “ La joie de vivre, ohe, ohe,” 
 not even solely a magical pantomime, but that it has 
 had a civilizing effect by making numbers of people 
 meet in amity and move rhythmically in accord. On 
 this co-ordinating effect of the tribal dance Grosse lays 
 great stress, and believes that it has been one of the 
 chief factors in the elevation of man. With Herbert 
 Spencer, he delves yet deeper and sees in the vigorous 
 rhythmical movements the rationale of dancing. 
 
 I do not intend making an analysis or a classifica¬ 
 tion of the singing games of children, but will content 
 myself with taking a few that have interested me. 
 The first two, “The Farmer’s Den” and “When I 
 was a Naughty Girl,” appear to be simple amuse¬ 
 ments with nothing special at the back of them. 
 
 In a few instances I have given, or merely alluded 
 to, games which in some cases are evidently versions 
 
 * Mrs. Lilly Grove, The Badminton Library : Da 7 icing, 1895. 
 
 t Herbert Spencer, “Professional Institutions: iii., Dancer and 
 Musician,” The Contemporary Review , Ixviii., 1895, p. 114. 
 
 | E. Grosse, Die Anfange der Kunst , 1894. 
 
336 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 of the same game, while in others they are similar 
 games which have apparently had an independent 
 origin. We are here brought face to face with a 
 crucial question in folk-lore. Broadly speaking, 
 students of folk-lore range themselves into two 
 camps : the adherents of one school seek to explain 
 all similarities of custom or tale by borrowing or 
 transmission; the followers of what is sometimes 
 called the anthropological school are impressed with 
 the essential solidarity of mankind, and argue that 
 under similar conditions men of a given plane of 
 culture will do, think, and say very much alike. 
 There is no need to take either extreme. Every 
 instance must be studied independently, and all the 
 available evidence must be collected and weighed 
 impartially from both points of view before a reliable 
 conclusion can be arrived at. The similarity in two 
 or more widely-separated districts of a complex 
 custom or tale, is very good evidence in favour of 
 borrowing, but in a simple case the matter is by no 
 means easy to decide. 
 
 As an example of the distribution of two singing 
 games which are so similar that they must have had a 
 common origin, I will take the following. The first 
 version was collected by my elder daughter at 
 Auchencairn in Kirkcudbrightshire; the second was 
 given to me as coming from Basel. It is a far cry 
 from south-west Scotland to Switzerland, and the 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 337 
 
 explanation appears to be that it is an ancient 
 Teutonic game :— 
 
 THE FARMER’S DEN. 
 
 The players dance in a ring, singing, round one 
 child, who stands in the centre of the circle. 
 
 “ The farmer’s in his den, the farmer’s in his den, 
 
 For it’s oh ! my dearie, the farmer’s in his den. 
 
 For the farmer takes a wife, for the farmer takes a wife, 
 
 For it’s oh ! my dearie, the farmer takes a wife.” 
 
 (The child then chooses a “ wife ” from the circle, who then goes 
 into the ring along with the “ farmer.” The remainder again dance 
 round singing):— 
 
 “ For the wife takes a child, for the wife takes a child, 
 
 For it’s oh ! my dearie, the wife takes a child.” 
 
 (The “wife-” then chooses a “child” from the circle, and so on, 
 as before.) 
 
 “ For the child takes a nurse, for the child takes a nurse, 
 
 For it’s oh ! my dearie, the child takes a nurse.” 
 
 (Selection as before.) 
 
 “ For the nurse takes a dog, for the nurse takes a dog, 
 
 For it’s oh ! my dearie, the nurse takes a dog.” 
 
 (Then they all join in singing):— 
 
 “ For we all clap the dog, for we all clap the dog, 
 
 For it’s oh ! my dearie, we all clap the dog.” 
 
 (And while they are singing they pat the “dog’s” back.) 
 
 z 
 
33 § 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The Swiss game is as follows : 
 
 The children are divided into two parties and 
 stand opposite one another. One party, advancing, 
 sings :— 
 
 “ Once a peasant drove into the forest, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 Once a peasant drove into the forest.” 
 
 (And retreat when singing the last line.) 
 
 (The other side advances singing):— 
 
 “ The peasant took a wife, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The peasant took a wife. 
 
 The woman took a child, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The woman took a child. 
 
 The child took a nurse, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The child took a nurse. 
 
 The nurse took a man-servant, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The nurse took a man-servant. 
 
 The man-servant took a dog, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The man-servant took a dog. 
 
 The dog took a sausage, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The dog took a sausage. 
 
 The peasant separated from his wife, Hurrah Viktoria ! 
 
 The woman separated from the child, 
 
 The child separated from the nurse.” 
 
 And so on; when saying the word “separated” the 
 second party chooses a child for the first one, until only 
 one child is left, who is the “sausage.” They all 
 form a circle round her, dancing and clapping their 
 hands, and singing: 
 
 “ The sausage is left alone, Hurrah Viktoria ! ” 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 
 
 339 
 
 The Scottish version is evidently an abbreviated 
 one. It looks, too, as if the Swiss game should 
 commence with one child (the “peasant”), facing a 
 row, and that at each stanza a child should pass 
 from the latter to the former, until the break comes in 
 the song when the action is reversed; finally the 
 “ sausage ” alone remains. 
 
 What appears to be merely an imitative child’s 
 singing game is the one known as “ When I was 
 a Naughty Girl.” 
 
 The following is a version I have collected near 
 Cambridge, and as the ring of children marched 
 round, following one another in a circle, they imitated 
 the actions suggested by the words. It was a pretty 
 little comedy to see them walking demurely when 
 they were good girls, or shrugging their shoulders 
 and wriggling their bodies when they were naughty, 
 walking arm in arm when they were courting, and 
 later dangling an imaginary baby. 
 
 “ When I was a naughty girl, a naughty girl, a naughty girl, 
 When I was a naughty girl, and this way went I.” 
 
 (Pantomime: shrugging shoulders.) 
 
 “ When I was a good girl, a good girl, a good girl, 
 
 When I was a good girl, and this way went I.” 
 
 (Pantomime: folding arms and walking soberly.) 
 
 “ When I was a teacher, a teacher, a teacher, 
 
 W 7 hen I was a teacher, and this way went I.” 
 
 (Pantomime: beating time or action of whacking.) 
 
340 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ When I went a courting, a courting, a courting, 
 
 When I went a courting, and this way went I.” 
 
 {Pantomime: walking arm in arm in pairs.) 
 
 “ When I had a baby, a baby, a baby, 
 
 When I had a baby, and this way went I.” 
 
 {Pantomime: doubling up apron and dandling it.) 
 
 “ When my baby died, baby died, baby died, 
 
 When my baby died, how I did cry.” 
 
 {Pantomime: crying.) 
 
 “ When my father beat me, father beat me, father beat me, 
 When my father beat me, and this way went he.” 
 
 {Pantomime: hitting one another on backs.) 
 
 “ When my father died, father died, father died, 
 
 When my father died, how I did laugh.” 
 
 ( Pantomime: laughing.) 
 
 Mr. Newell* says that this game is closely 
 parallelled in France and Italy, and even on the 
 extreme limits of European Russia; but wherever 
 there are children, there will they imitate the doings 
 of their elders, and while in some games we may lay 
 stress upon their geographical distribution, in others 
 this probably is of no moment. 
 
 Probably an analogous singing pantomime is the 
 following, which was given to me by a German girl. 
 The children form a ring, and as they sing they make 
 appropriate gestures. 
 
 “ Would you know how the peasant, 
 
 Would you know how the peasant, 
 
 Sows his oats ? 
 
 * l.c ., p. 88. 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 341 
 
 Look ! like this the peasant, 
 
 Look ! like this the peasant, 
 
 Sows his oats in the field.” 
 
 The double rhymes are repeated for— 
 
 Reaping oats, 
 
 Threshing oats, 
 
 And winnowing oats. 
 
 At first sight this game appears to be similar to a 
 common English rhyming game known as “ Oats, 
 Beans, and Barley ”; but a further study of the latter 
 rather leads one to the supposition that it had 
 originally a magical significance. 
 
 I have seen the following game played by the 
 children of Girton, a village near Cambridge, and I 
 would like to take this opportunity of thanking Mrs. 
 Lawrence, of the Rectory, for the help she has given 
 me in collecting the games of that village. 
 
 The girls who played it walked round in a circle, 
 and they made appropriate gestures while singing the 
 second verse in illustration of the words of the song. 
 After all had given one stamp of the feet and a clap 
 of the hands, and had turned round, they formed a 
 ring during the singing of the third verse ; two enter 
 this and kiss one another kneeling, while the encircling 
 chorus sing the last verse. 
 
 “ Oats and beans and barley grow, 
 
 You or I or anyone know, 
 
 You or I or anyone know 
 
 Where oats and beans and barley grow.* 
 
 * This verse evidently means that no one knows how the corn grows. 
 

 342 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ First the farmer sows his seed, 
 
 Stands awhile and takes his heed (or ease),* 
 
 Stamps his foot and claps his hand, 
 
 And turns around to view the land. 
 
 “Waiting for a partner, 
 
 Open the ring, 
 
 And take one in, 
 
 Waiting for a partner. 
 
 “ Now you ’re married you must obey, 
 
 You must be true to all you say, 
 
 You must be kind and very good, 
 
 And help your wife to chop the w r ood.” 
 
 Mr. Newell has collected several examples from the 
 United States. 
 
 “In the early part of the century,” he informs us, “the 
 essential stanza went thus in New Hampshire :— 
 
 “ ‘Thus my father sows his seed, 
 
 Stands erect and takes his ease, 
 
 Stamps his foot, and claps his hands, 
 
 Whirls about, and thus he stands.’ 
 
 “ The Swedish quatrain is nearly the same:— 
 
 “‘I had a father, he sowed this way, 
 
 And when he had done, he stood this way; 
 
 He stamped with his foot, he clapped with his hand, 
 
 He turned about, he was so glad.’ 
 
 * The one rhymes and the other does not, but the children incline 
 to “ ease.’' 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 343 
 
 “The French rhyme, by its exact correspondence, proves 
 the great antiquity of the formula:— 
 
 “ ‘ Qui veut ouir, qui veut savoir, 
 
 Comment on seme l’aveine ? 
 
 Mon pere la semait ainsi, 
 
 Puis il se reposait a demi; 
 
 Frappe du pied, puis de la main, 
 
 U11 petit tour pour ton voisin ; 
 
 Aveine, aveine, aveine, 
 
 Que le Bon Dieu t’amene ! ’ ” 
 
 Fauriel, in his history of Provencal literature, 
 alludes to this song, and considers it to be derived 
 from, and to represent, choral dances of the Greek 
 rustics of Massil (Marseilles). He says (I again quote 
 from Newell, p. 83) 
 
 “ The words of the song described an action, a succession 
 of different situations, which the dancers reproduced by their 
 gestures. The song was divided into many stanzas, and 
 terminated by a refrain alike for all. The dancers acted or 
 gesticulated only to imitate the action or situation described 
 in each stanza; at the refrain they took each other by the 
 hand and danced a round, with a movement more or less 
 lively. There are everywhere popular dances derived from 
 these, which more or less resemble them. ... I remember to 
 have seen in Provence some of these dances, of which the 
 theme seems to be very ancient—one, among the rest, imitat¬ 
 ing successively the habitual actions of a poor labourer, 
 working in his field, sowing his wheat or oats, mowing, and 
 so on to the end. Each of the numerous couplets of the song 
 was sung with a slow and dragging motion, as if to imitate 
 the fatigue and the sullen air of the poor labourer; and the 
 refrain was of a very lively movement, the dancers then 
 giving way to all their gaiety.” 
 
344 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The French, Italian, and Spanish versions of this 
 game also represent a series of actions, sowing, reaping, 
 &c., of which our rhyme has retained only one stanza. 
 
 We must always keep apart in our minds games which 
 have filtered down from adults to children, and those 
 which the latter may be supposed to have invented 
 themselves. At first sight one would have imagined 
 that “ Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows,” as played 
 on English village greens or by children in the United 
 States, was merely an imitative game, analogous to 
 “keeping house,” playing with dolls, playing at soldiers, 
 and the like; but we find “ it is properly a dance rather 
 of young people than of children.” We know it was 
 an ancient dance, as “it was played by Froissart (born 
 1 33 7 ) an d by Rabelais (born 1483); while the general 
 resemblance of the song in the countries of Sweden, 
 Germany, British Islands, France, Spain, Italy, and 
 Sicily proves that in the five centuries through which 
 we thus trace it, even the words have undergone little 
 change.” 
 
 It is not impossible that it was merely a game of 
 playing at work indulged in by young people, but 
 another explanation has been suggested by Newell* 
 which has much to recommend it. He says :— 
 
 “ d he lines of the French refrain, 
 
 ‘ Oats, oats, oats, 
 
 May the good God prosper you ! ’ 
 
 * l.c., p. 81. 
 
THE SINGING GAMES OF CHILDREN 345 
 
 and the general form of the dance suggest that the song may 
 probably have had a religious symbolic meaning, and formed 
 part of rustic festivities designed to promote the fertility of 
 the fields, an object which undoubtedly formed the original 
 purpose of the May festival. . . . That such a song, danced 
 in sowing time, and representing the progress and abundance 
 of the crop, should be supposed to bring a blessing on the 
 labours of the year, is quite in conformity with what we know 
 of popular belief, ancient and modern.” 
 
 Another game, called “Threading the Needle,” 
 affords us, according to Newell, a further illustration 
 of this belief. 
 
 It is played in America and England by a chain 
 of children passing under the arch formed by the 
 uplifted joined hands of two other children, till one 
 of the chain is caught by the dropping of the arms. 
 
 I he child then makes a choice of some alternative, 
 which decides to which of the two children who 
 make the arch she is to attach herself. When all 
 are caught there is a “ tug-of-war.” 
 
 Mr. Newell informs us that the name “ Threading 
 the Needle” is still applied, in a district of Central 
 France, to a dance in which many hundred persons 
 take part, in which from time to time the pair who 
 form the head of the row raise their arms to allow 
 the line to pass through, coiling and winding like 
 a great serpent. When a French savant asked the 
 peasants of Fa Chatre why they performed this 
 dance, the answer was, “To make the hemp grow.” 
 
346 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 This apparently inconsequent reply of the French 
 peasant, who, judging from the locality, may very 
 well have belonged to the non-Aryan, dark, round- 
 headed race of Central France, is very significant, 
 and takes us back to an attitude of mind that is 
 difficult for us to realize, but which is still exemplified 
 by many living savage peoples. 
 
 I have myself seen, # at the beginning of the rainy 
 season in Torres Straits, a dance performed by natives 
 whose heads were enveloped in large masks, which 
 consisted of imitations of a human face resting on 
 a crocodile’s head and surmounted by a large figure 
 of a saw-fish. It was called the “ Saw-fish Dance,” 
 and was designed to bring good luck in the approach¬ 
 ing - fishing - season. I have also seen these natives in 
 their dances represent the actions of ordinary life, 
 but sometimes in a slightly conventionalized manner, 
 such as planting yams, picking up pearl-shell from 
 the bottom of the sea, stamping out a fire, &c. 
 
 It is now recognized by anthropologists that cere¬ 
 monies which are performed in connection with 
 agriculture, fishing, hunting, and the like, are mainly 
 magical rites, or rather magical pantomimes. The 
 conventional realism (if the phrase may be permitted) 
 of these performances ensures the success of the 
 undertaking, mainly by the supposed sympathy 
 between the mimetic action and the real operation. 
 
 * A. C. Haddon, “The Secular and Ceremonial Dances of Torres 
 Straits,” Iiiternat. Arch, fur Ethnogr ., vi., 1893, p. 131. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 “LONDON BRIDGE”: FOUNDATION SACRIFICE. 
 
 L ONDON BRIDGE is broken down, 
 
 London Bridge is broken down, 
 
 London Bridge is broken down, 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Build it up with bricks and mortar, 
 
 Build it up with bricks and mortar, 
 
 Build it up with bricks and mortar, 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Bricks and mortar will mould away, (repeat three times) 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Build it up with penny loaves, (repeat three times) 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Penny loaves will be stolen away, (repeat three times) 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Build it up with gold and silver, (repeat three times) 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Gold and silver will be stolen away, (repeat three times) 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Send a man to watch all night, (repeat three times) 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Suppose the man should fall asleep, (repeat three times) 
 My fair lady. 
 
 347 
 
34-8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ Set a dog to bark all night, (repeat three times) 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Give him nuts to crack all night, (repeat three times) 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Suppose the nuts should all be bad, (repeat three times) 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “Set a horse to gallop all night, (repeat three times) 
 
 My fair lady.” 
 
 These are the words of a singing game, which I 
 saw played by a group of girls at the village of 
 Barrington, near Cambridge. Variants of this game 
 occur all over the country; and in Ireland it is 
 recorded from Belfast and Cork. 
 
 A few of these variants only can be noted, and 
 these very shortly. In Belfast the rhyme begins :— 
 
 “ London Bridge is broken down, 
 
 Grant said little bee; * 
 
 London Bridge is broken down 
 Where I’d be.” 
 
 A common London version runs thus :— 
 
 “ London Bridge is broken down, 
 
 Dance o’er my lady lee; 
 
 London Bridge is broken down 
 With a gay lady. 
 
 “ How shall we build it up again ? 
 
 Dance o’er my lady lee ; 
 
 How shall we build it up again ? 
 
 With a gay lady. 
 
 * Another informant gives the refrain, “ Grand says the little Dee.” 
 
“LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 349 
 
 “ Silver and gold will be stole away, 
 
 Etc., etc., etc., 
 
 “ Build it up with iron and steel, 
 
 Etc., etc., etc. 
 
 “ Iron and steel will bend and bow, 
 
 Etc., etc., etc. 
 
 “ Build it up with wood and clay, 
 
 Etc., etc., etc. 
 
 “Wood and clay will wash away, 
 
 Etc., etc., etc. 
 
 “ Build it up with stone so strong, 
 
 Dance o’er my lady lee. 
 
 Huzza ! ’t will last for ages long, 
 
 With a gay lady.” 
 
 In some versions the watchman is replaced by a 
 prisoner ; after the “ penny loaves ” verse we find in 
 Hampshire— 
 
 “ What have this poor prisoner done, 
 
 Prisoner done, prisoner done, 
 
 What have this poor prisoner done ? 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Stole my watch, and lost my key, 
 
 Lost my key, lost my key, 
 
 Stole my watch, and lost my key, 
 
 My fair lady. 
 
 “ Off to prison you must go, 
 
 You must go, you must go, 
 
 Off to prison you must go, 
 
 My fair lady.” 
 
35 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 In one Kent variant we find :— 
 
 “ What has this poor prisoner done ? 
 
 Stole my watch and broke my chain. 
 
 How many pounds will set him free ? 
 
 Three hundred pounds will set him free. 
 
 The half of that I have not got. 
 
 Then off to prison he must go.” 
 
 The game is variously played. It is now generally 
 played like “ Oranges and Lemons,” only there is now 
 no “tug-of-war” at the end. Often two children join 
 hands to form an arch, the remainder form a long line 
 by holding to each other’s dresses or waists, and run 
 under. Those who are running under sing the first 
 verse ; the two who form the arch sing the second and 
 alternate verses. At the words, “ What has this poor 
 prisoner done ? ” the girls who form the arch catch one 
 of the line (generally the last one). When the last 
 verse is sung the prisoner is taken a little distance 
 away, and the game begins again. 
 
 At Barrington the children formed two parallel 
 advancing and retreating lines, and finished by all 
 dancing round in a circle. The same occurs in 
 Berkshire. 
 
 Mrs. Gomme in her Traditional Games of England, 
 Scotland, and Ireland analyses this game in a masterly 
 manner, and shows that “the special feature of the 
 rhymes is that considerable difficulty occurs in the 
 building of the bridge by ordinary means, but without 
 
LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 exactly suggesting that extraordinary means are to 
 be adopted.” The London version alone faithfully 
 reflects an actual building episode. The game then 
 diverges into two groups, that with a watchman and 
 that with a prisoner. 
 
 The watchman incident approaches nearer to 
 modern facts, and is therefore probably a compara¬ 
 tively recent modification, since the prisoner, as we 
 shall see, is an unexplained factor. A watchman 
 children can understand, and then the game is 
 occasionally prolonged in the endeavour to keep 
 him awake and alive to his duties ; this comes out 
 clearly in a Berkshire version :— 
 
 “ We ’ll set a man to watch at night. 
 
 Suppose the man should fall asleep ? 
 
 Give him a pipe of tobacco to smoke. 
 
 Suppose the pipe should fall and break ? 
 
 We ’ll give him a bag of nuts to crack. 
 
 Suppose the nuts were rotten and bad ? 
 
 We ’ll give him a horse to gallop around.” 
 
 And the children dance round in a ring in imitation 
 of the horse. 
 
 The prisoner incident is, according to Mrs. Gomme, 
 more common than the watchman. In only one case 
 (Shropshire) is the prisoner ransomed, in the others 
 he is sent to prison. 
 
 What does this sudden appearance of a prisoner 
 indicate ? 
 
35 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The two following modern Greek songs very 
 vividly supply the answer :— 
 
 “THE STOICHEION OF THE BRIDGE. 
 
 (Peloponnesos.) 
 
 “ A bridge across the Tricha broad, with sixty-two wide arches. 
 
 All day long do they build the bridge: by night it falls to pieces. 
 And sadly weep the ’prentices, and sorely grieve the masons. 
 
 A little birdie went and perched upon the arch i’ th’ middle; 
 
 She sang not as a birdie sings, nor was her note the swallow’s : 
 
 ‘ Without a human Stoicheion the bridge can ne’er be founded. 
 
 It neither must an idiot be, a madman, nor a pauper, 
 
 But Ghidrghi’s wife it needs must be, Ghibrghi’s, the master 
 mason.’ 
 
 Then hasten all the ’prentices, and off they set to fetch her. 
 
 ‘ Thine hour be happy, Ghibrghiana ! ’ ‘ My boys, I’m glad to 
 
 see you! ’ 
 
 ‘ Unbind and swaddle fresh thy babe, and of thy milk now give 
 him ; 
 
 Thy husband, Ghidrghi, he is sick, and thou with us must hasten.’ 
 As they were going on the road, and on the road did journey, 
 
 ‘Three sisters once were we [she cried] and Stoicheia we’ll all 
 be! 
 
 Of Kdrphos one’s a Stoicheion ; the other of Zitouni; 
 
 And I, the third and fairest one, o’ th’ bridge across the Tricha. 
 
 And as my eyes are streaming now, may wayfarers stream over! ’ ” 
 
 H ere the human sacrifice must be provided by the 
 master mason ; in the following song the victim is 
 selected by a method of casting lots. In Legrand’s 
 Ndw Greek Dictionary , stoicheion is defined, amongst 
 other meanings, as the genius or spirit of a place. In 
 this instance the idea appears to be that to enable the 
 
LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 353 
 
 bridge to last it must be endowed with a living- 
 spirit. 
 
 “THE BRIDGE OF ADANA. * 
 
 (Kappadocia.) 
 
 “ All day long did they build the piers ; by night they fell in ruins. 
 
 ‘Come now and let us branches cut! come now will we chop faggots; 
 
 Let us give up one soul of us that firm the bridge be builded.’ 
 
 They sat them down, and chopped away, the two-and-forty masons, 
 
 Then fell from Yianni’s hand his axe, unfortunate Yiannaki! 
 
 ‘ Yiannaki, go, thy goodwife fetch, if thou thy head wouldst keep 
 thee ! ’ 
 
 ‘ If I should now my goodwife give, I yet can find another; 
 
 But if I my own head give up, I while I’m young shall leave her!’” 
 
 So they fetch the poor wife, who is “vigilant and 
 quick at bath and washing.” The husband drops his 
 ring down the excavations and induces his wife to 
 fetch it up. 
 
 “ Then down goes she, and down goes she, steps forty-two descends 
 she, 
 
 And fall upon her as she goes of stones a thousand litras, 
 
 And throw they down upon her, too, of earth a thousand spadefuls.” 
 
 In her dying lament she exclaims :— 
 
 “ ‘ Hear thou my words, Yiannaki mine, let not the world rejoice 
 thee; 
 
 Three only sisters once were we, we were three sisters only; 
 
 The one did build the Danube’s bridge, the second the Euphrates’, 
 
 And I, I too, the murdered one, the bridge build of Adana.’ ” 
 
 Miss Lucy M. J. Garnett, in her Greek Folk Poesy , 
 from which book these two songs are taken, points 
 out that numerous stories of foundation-sacrifices are 
 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 told in Celtic countries. In Adamnan’s Life of 
 Columba # we read :— 
 
 “ Columkille said, then, to his people, ‘ It would be well for 
 us that our roots should pass into the earth here.’ And he 
 said to them, “ It is permitted to you that some of you go 
 under the earth of this island to consecrate it.’ Odhran arose 
 quickly, and thus spake: ‘ If you accept me,’ said he, ‘ I am 
 ready for that.’ ‘ O Odhran,’ said Columkille, ‘ you shall 
 receive the reward of this: no request shall be granted to 
 any one at my tomb unless he first ask of thee.’ Odhran 
 then went to heaven. He (Columkille) founded the church 
 of Hy then.” 
 
 What strange methods the missionaries had in 
 those days! 
 
 There are many traditions still current in the High¬ 
 lands regarding such sacrifices. One of these relates 
 that when the workmen had assembled to lay the 
 foundations of Tigh-an-Torr, in western Ross-shire, 
 they caught the first person who chanced to pass and 
 buried him under the foundation-stone. On laying 
 the foundations of Redcastle, a red-haired girl was 
 buried alive under the stone. 
 
 As there is so much evidence of this ghastly custom 
 in the British Islands, there is no need for us to seek 
 for further confirmation in European practice. One 
 instance will suffice. So late as 1843, in Germany, 
 when a new bridge was built at Halle, a notion was 
 
 * The Life of St. Columba, Founder of Hyy written by Adamnan, 
 ninth Abbot of that Monastery. Ed. by W. Reeves, Dublin, 1857, p. 203. 
 
LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 355 
 
 abroad among the people that a child was wanted to be 
 built into the foundation. In Africa and the far East 
 we find precisely the same custom; but somehow 
 we rather expect that sort of thing to be done by 
 barbarians and savages, forgetting all the while that 
 it was not so very long ago when our own ancestors 
 did the very same. 
 
 So recently as 1872 there was a scare in Calcutta when 
 Hooghly Bridge was being constructed. The natives then 
 got hold of the idea that the Mother Ganges, indignant at 
 being bridged, had at last consented to submit to the insult 
 on condition that each pier of the structure was founded on a 
 layer of children s heads. Formerly, in Siam, when a new 
 city gate was being erected, it was customary for a number of 
 officers to lie in wait and seize the first four or eight persons 
 who happened to pass by, and who were then buried alive 
 undei the gate-posts to serve as guardian angels j and there 
 is a tradition about London Bridge itself, that the stones were 
 bespattered with the blood of little children. Fitzstephen, in 
 his well-known account of London of the twelfth century, 
 mentions that when the Tower was built the mortar was 
 tempered with the blood of beasts.”* 
 
 The substitution of animal for human sacrifice is 
 too well recognized in comparative religion to need 
 substantiating; for example, a chicken sometimes re¬ 
 places a girl as a foundation sacrifice in Borneo. 
 
 It seems that Professor Leon Pineau read a paper 
 
 * A - B - Gomme, Traditional Games , pp. 346-7 ; further illustrations 
 of this custom will be found in G. L. Gomme, Early Village Life , p. 29, 
 and E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture , i., pp. 104-108. 
 
35 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 before a Congress in Paris in the spring of 1897 on one 
 of the most popular of French “ rondes” which com¬ 
 mences thus in some localities :— 
 
 “ Sur le pont de Nantes, 
 
 Sur le pont de Nantes, 
 
 Un bal est affiche . . . . ” 
 
 elsewhere it runs :— 
 
 “ Sur le pont du Nord, 
 
 Sur le pont du Nord, 
 
 Un bal y est donne.” 
 
 Of this there are many variants, but the theme is the 
 same in all. M. Pineau argued that this was related 
 to “a ritual dance on the occasion of a human sacrifice 
 to the divinities of the water,” and attributed this 
 traditional song to a Celtic origin. A critic # suggests 
 that this was more probably a Gothic rather than a 
 Celtic song. 
 
 Newellt has also studied this game, and he has 
 collected some foreign contemporary and mediaeval 
 games which he thinks are variants. He describes 
 the American version of the game as follows :— 
 
 “Two players, by their uplifted hands, form an arch, 
 representing the bridge, under which passes the train of 
 children, each clinging to the garments of the predecessor, 
 and hurrying to get safely by. The last of the train is 
 caught by the lowered arms of the guardians of the bridge, 
 and asked, ‘Will you have a diamond necklace, or a gold 
 
 * S. B., “A propos d’une Ronde enfantine,” La Science Sociale , xxiii., 
 1897, p. 109. + l-C; P- 204. 
 
“LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 357 
 
 pin ? ’ ‘ a rose, or a cabbage ? ’ or some equivalent question. 
 The keepers have already privately agreed which of the 
 two each of these objects shall represent, and according to 
 the prisoner’s choice he is placed behind one or the other. 
 When all are caught, the game ends with a ‘Tug-of-war,’ 
 the two sides pulling against each other, and the child who 
 lets go and breaks the line is pointed at and divided.” 
 
 In Suabia, the two keepers of the “Golden Bridge” 
 are called respectively the “ Devil” and the “Angel,” 
 and the object is to decide who shall be devils and 
 who angels. 
 
 In France the game is known as “ Heaven and 
 Hell.” The children who have made a good choice 
 after the selection is finished pursue the devils, 
 
 making the signs of horns with fingers extended 
 from the forehead. 
 
 In Italy the name of the sport is “Open the 
 
 Gates.” The gates are those of the Inferno and 
 of Paradise; St. Peter is the keeper of one, St. 
 Paul of the other. The children choose between 
 wine and water; but when the destiny of the last 
 
 child is decided, the two girls who represent the 
 
 keepers of the bridge break their arch of lifted hands, 
 and move in different directions, followed by their 
 subjects, “while the cries and shrieks of the players 
 condemned to the Inferno contrast with the pathetic 
 songs and sweet cadences of those destined to the 
 happiness of Paradise.” 
 
353 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The game is mentioned by Rabelais (about a.d. 
 1 533 )> under the name of the “ Fallen Bridge.” 
 
 In German versions the keepers are called “ Devil 
 and Angel,” “ King and Emperor,” or “Sun and 
 Moon.” 
 
 In this latter form the game has been one of the 
 few kept up by the Germans of Pennsylvania, who 
 call it the “Bridge of Holland” (Die Hollandisch 
 Briick ”). 
 
 As to the origin of this remarkable game, our 
 citations have already made it clear that one of its 
 features consists in a representation of the antagonism 
 of celestial and infernal powers, and the final decision 
 by which each soul is assigned a place on the one 
 side or the other. 
 
 It was universally believed in the Middle Ages that 
 the soul, separated from the body, had to cross a 
 dangerous bridge, and subsequently undergo a literal 
 weighing in the balance, according to the result of 
 which its destiny was decided. It is in the nature 
 of things that children conversant with these ideas 
 should have dramatised them in their sports. We 
 see no reason with the German writers to go back 
 to ancient northern mythology; nor do we find any 
 ground for believing that our game is more likely 
 to be of Teutonic than Romance descent. 
 
 An Irish domestic from Waterford gives the 
 following account of the game. 
 
“LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 359 
 
 An actual bridge was built up with sticks and 
 boards, and surrounded by the ring of players, 
 dressed in costume ; without stood the devil. Little 
 girls in variously coloured dresses represented the 
 angels. 
 
 The repeated fall and rebuilding of the bridge was 
 acted out, as described in the verses of the song. 
 This fall was ascribed to the malice of the devil, 
 who ruined it during the night (watching it, said 
 the narrator, from the top of an ash-tree during the 
 day). 
 
 The imprisonment of the child enclosed by the 
 arms of the leaders was acted in a noteworthy 
 fashion. A chain was taken and wrapped round the 
 child in the form of a serpent (for the devil is a 
 serpent, said the reciter); the captive was taken to 
 a hut (representing apparently the entrance to the 
 Inferno) built by the sea. Meantime, the rest of the 
 train called on their leader for help ; but he answered, 
 “The devil has five feet, and thirteen eyes, and is 
 stronger than I ! ” The performance lasted five 
 hours, and the name of the edifice was the Devil’s 
 Bridge. 
 
 In this Irish game tests were employed to deter¬ 
 mine whether the captive should belong to the devil 
 or not. One of these was the ability to walk on a 
 straight line drawn on the ground. 
 
 Newell sums up his conclusions as follows :— 
 
3 6 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “We suspect, however, that that part of the sport which 
 relates to the warfare of good and evil powers does not be¬ 
 long to the original idea, but that a still more primitive game 
 has taken on an ending which was common to many amuse¬ 
 ments in the Middle Ages. The central point of the whole 
 is the repeated downfall of the structure. Now there is a 
 distinct mythological reason for such a representation. In 
 early times no edifice was so important as a bridge, which 
 renders intercourse possible between districts heretofore 
 separated. Hence the sanctity attributed in mediaeval times 
 to the architects of bridges. The devil, or (in more ancient 
 guise) the elemental spirit of the land, who detests any inter¬ 
 ference with the solitude he loves, has an especial antipathy 
 to bridges. His repeated and successful attempts to interfere 
 with such a structure, until he is bought off with an offering 
 like that of Iphigenia, are recorded in legends which attach 
 to numerous bridges in Europe. It is on such supernatural 
 opposition that the English form of the game appears to 
 turn. The structure, which is erected in the daytime, is 
 ruined at night; every form of material—wood, stone, and 
 gold, is tried in vain ; the vigilance of the watchman, or of 
 the cock and the dog—guardian animals of the darkness— 
 is insufficient to protect the edifice from the attack of the 
 offended spirits. 
 
 “ The child arrested seems to be originally regarded as the 
 price paid for allowing the structure to stand. In times 
 when all men’s thoughts were concerned about the final 
 judgment, a different turn was given to the sport—namely, 
 whether the prisoner should belong to the devils or to the 
 angels, who wage perpetual warfare, and dispute with each 
 other the possession of departed souls. Finally, in quite 
 recent days, religious allusions were excluded, and the cap¬ 
 tive, now accused of mere theft, was sentenced to be locked 
 up, not in the Inferno, but in a commonplace jail.” (p. 211.) 
 
“ LONDON BRIDGE 
 
 361 
 
 This mystical explanation of Mr. Newell’s is ex¬ 
 tremely ingenious, but there does not appear to be 
 any good evidence to connect the foreign games, 
 which look rather like degraded “miracle plays,” with 
 the English London Bridge game ; further, as Mrs. 
 Gomme acutely points out, the tug-of-war incident 
 does not come into the English game. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 “DRAW A PAIL OF WATER": WATER WORSHIP 
 
 T HIS game is usually played by eight girls, two 
 of whom face one another and stretch out their 
 arms towards each other and join hands. Two others 
 do the same, the four girls thus make a cross with 
 their arms. They see-saw backwards and forwards, 
 and sing a song, the following version of which is 
 taken from Halliwell’s Nursery Rhymes , Games , 
 cclxxxvii. :— 
 
 “ Draw a pail of water 
 For my lady’s daughter: 
 
 My father’s a king and my mother’s a queen ; 
 
 My two little sisters are dressed in green, 
 
 Stamping grass and parsley, 
 
 Marigold leaves and daisies. 
 
 One rush, two rush, 
 
 Pray thee, fine lady, come under my bush.” 
 
 One girl gets inside the enclosing arms, and they 
 repeat the song until all four have “popped under,” 
 when they “jog” up and down till they fall on the 
 ground. 
 
 Sometimes only two girls join hands, or the four 
 
 362 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 363 
 
 may form a square with their extended arms, which 
 they sway backwards and forwards singing the lines. 
 Two arms are then raised, and one girl comes under; 
 this is repeated till all four girls have entered the 
 square, then their arms encircle each other’s waists, 
 and they dance round. 
 
 Halliwell* describes a different action to any of 
 these. A string of children, hand in hand, stand in 
 a row. A child stands in front of them as leader ; 
 two other children form an arch, holding both of the 
 hands of the other. The string of children pass 
 under the arch, the last of whom is taken captive by 
 the two holding hands. The verses are repeated 
 until all are taken. 
 
 A Belfast version of the song, collected by Mr. W. 
 H. Patterson, t is as follows :— 
 
 “ Sift the lady’s oaten meal, sift it into flour, 
 
 Put it in a chest of drawers and let it lie an hour. 
 
 One of my rush, 
 
 Two of my rush, 
 
 Please, young lady, come under my bush. 
 
 My bush is too high, my bush is too low; 
 
 Please, young lady, come under my bough. 
 
 Stir up the dumpling, stir up the dumpling.” 
 
 It would be tedious to enumerate the many variants 
 of the song, but the following is a plausible restoration 
 
 * Nursery Rhymes , p. 63. 
 t A. B. Gomme, Tradit. Games , i., p. 103. 
 
3 6 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 compounded out of fifteen versions by Mrs. Gomme 
 in her Traditional Gaines :— 
 
 “Draw a pail of water 
 For a lady’s daughter ; 
 
 Her father’s a king, her mother’s a queen, 
 
 Her two little sisters are dressed in green ; 
 
 Stamping grass and parsley, 
 
 Marigold leaves and daisies : 
 
 Sift the lady’s oatmeal, sift it into flour, 
 
 Put it in a chestnut tree, let it lie an hour : 
 
 Give a silver pin and a gold ring. 
 
 One and a hush ! two and a rush ! 
 
 Pray, young lady, pop under a bush : 
 
 My bush is too high, my bush is too low ; 
 
 Please, young lady, come under my bough. 
 
 A see-sawing movement in the game probably 
 represents the raising of water from a well. The 
 incidents may be grouped as follows :— 
 
 (1) Drawing water from a well. 
 
 (2) For a devotee at the well. 
 
 (3) Collecting flowers for dressing the well. 
 
 (4) Making a cake for presentation. 
 
 (5) Gifts to the well (according to some versions, a 
 silver pin, gold ring, and probably a garter). 
 
 (6) Command of silence. 
 
 (7) The presence of the devotee at the sacred 
 bush. 
 
 It can be by no mere chance that all of these are 
 incidents of primitive well-worship. 
 
DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 3 6 5 
 
 The “dressing” or adorning of wells by means of 
 garlands occurred at Bonchurch, in the Isle of Wight, 
 where on St. Boniface’s Day the well was decorated 
 with chaplets of flowers. # It is, however, rare in 
 England, except in the Western Counties, North 
 Lancashire, and Westmoreland, and especially on the 
 borders.! Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, 
 and Shropshire comprise the main region of garland¬ 
 dressing, and the practice has frequently been 
 described. Mr. Gomme points out that in Wor¬ 
 cestershire and Staffordshire the custom is simple; 
 in Derbyshire and Shropshire other practices occur 
 in connection with the well - dressing. Garland¬ 
 dressing, though found in the eastern part of the 
 latter county, is almost entirely absent from the 
 western, where wishing and healing wells are found.| 
 On the hillside at Rorrington Green, in the parish of 
 Chirbury, is a Halliwell, or Holy Well, at which a 
 wake was celebrated on Ascension Day. The well 
 was adorned with a bower of green boughs, rushes, 
 and flowers, and a Maypole was set up. The people 
 “used to walk round the hill with fife and drum and 
 fiddle, dancing and frolicking as they went.” They 
 threw pins into the well to bring good luck and to 
 preserve them from being bewitched, and they also 
 
 * Tomkins, History of the Isle of Wight, ii., p. 121. 
 
 t Henderson, Folklore of the Northern Counties , p. 2. 
 
 J Miss C. S. Burne, Shropshire Folk-lore, p. 414. 
 
366 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 drank some of the water. Cakes were also eaten; 
 they were round, flat buns, from three to four inches 
 across, sweetened, spiced, and marked with a cross, 
 and they were supposed to bring good luck if kept. 
 The wake is said to have been discontinued about the 
 year 1832 or 1834.* 
 
 At the village of Girton, near Cambridge, a game 
 which is evidently the same is called “ A Lump of 
 Sugar.” 
 
 “ Grind your mother’s flour, 
 
 Three sacks an hour, 
 
 One in a rush, 
 
 Two in a crush, 
 
 Pray, old lady, creep under the bush.” 
 
 Mrs. Lawrence describes the game as follows :— 
 The girls form into sets of four, those facing one 
 another join hands and sway backwards and forwards 
 while singing. At “ Pray old lady,” &c., the right 
 and left arms of one couple are raised over the head 
 of one of the opposite couple and dropped behind 
 her back, thus enclosing her in a ring. This is 
 repeated till all are, so to speak, inside the ring. 
 They then jump round shouting, “ A lump of sugar,” 
 till they are tired. 
 
 The association of sugar with this game puzzled 
 me very much, till I came across the following four 
 examples of drinking sugar-water at holy wells. The 
 use of oatmeal in the first custom coincides with the 
 
 * l.c., p. 434. 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER ” 
 
 3 6 7 
 
 versions, “ Sift the lady’s oaten meal, sift it into flour” 
 (Belfast), and “ Sieve my lady’s oatmeal, grind my 
 lady’s flour” (Halliwell, No. cclxxxviii.) 
 
 Country folk still resort to “ Our Lady’s Well,” at 
 Belper in Derbyshire, bringing not only vessels from 
 which to drink the water, but “noggins” in which to 
 carry back a supply for home drinking. Afflicted 
 persons have been seen bathing their limbs in the 
 cold running water, and heard to say they were bene¬ 
 fited by repeated applications. Belper children used 
 to carry—at any time when they thought fit, and could 
 get permission from their mothers—a mug or porringer, 
 and a paper containing oatmeal and sugar, to the Lady 
 Well, and there drink the mixture of meal, sugar, and 
 water. This was the chief item of the afternoon’s 
 outing. # 
 
 “ Sugar-cupping is another custom which survives here. 
 On Easter Day young people and children go to the Drop¬ 
 ping Well, near Tideswell [also in Derbyshire], with a cup 
 in one pocket and a quarter of a pound of sugar (? honey) in 
 the other, and having caught in their cups as much water as 
 they wished from the droppings of the Tor-spring, they dis¬ 
 solved the sugar in it.” t 
 
 The Eas Well at Baschurch, in Shropshire, was 
 frequented till a quarter of a century ago by young 
 
 * R. C. Hope, The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England , 
 1893, P- 53 - 
 
 t Glover, History of Derbyshire, i., p. 307, quoted from Hope, l.c., 
 p. 60, 
 
 / 
 
3 68 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 people, who went there on Palm Sunday to drink 
 sugar and water and eat cakes. A clergyman who 
 was present in 1830, speaks of seeing little boys 
 scrambling for the lumps of sugar which escaped from 
 the o-lasses and floated down the brook which flows 
 from the spring into the river. # 
 
 It is customary for the younger folk to assemble on 
 Sunday evenings and drink the water of St. Helens 
 Well (at Eshton, in Yorkshire) mixed with sugar. 
 The ceremony appears now to have died out. It was 
 in vogue late in the last century, t 
 
 Great concourses of people from all parts used to 
 assemble at “Our Lady’s Wells” or the “Holy 
 Wells,” near Long Witton, in Northumberland, on 
 Midsummer Sunday and the Sunday following, and 
 amuse themselves with leaping, eating gingerbread, 
 brought for sale to the spot, and drinking the waters 
 of the well. These wells had a high reputation for 
 their very virtuous qualities; that furthest to the east 
 is called the “ Eye Well.”| 
 
 It is possible that drinking sugar-water is a degra¬ 
 dation from drinking a mixture of oatmeal, sugar, and 
 water, and this again may be an abbreviated form of 
 making a cake. Sugar was not a primitive comestible, 
 its place was taken by honey; now honey mixed with 
 
 * Miss C. S. Burne, Shropshire Folk-lore , p. 432. 
 t R. C. Hope, Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England. , p. 204. 
 X Hope, l.c., p. 108. 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER ” 369 
 
 meal, if flavoured, makes a kind of gingerbread, a 
 confection that we find in the last example. Ginger¬ 
 bread is certainly a popular cake with the folk, and it 
 is probably a very ancient one. Honey cakes were a 
 favourite food with the ancients; Aristophanes, for 
 example, in his Birds pokes fun at Herakles for being 
 so fond of them. 
 
 There are any number of wells in the British 
 Islands at which offerings are made; the following 
 will serve as examples. At Sefton, in Lancashire, it 
 was customary for passers-by to drop into St. Helen’s 
 Well a new pin “for good luck,” or to secure the 
 favourable issue of an expressed wish. # Pin-wells, as 
 they are often popularly termed, are found in several 
 places in Northumberland, Yorkshire, &c. 
 
 Henderson informs us that the country girls 
 imagine that the well is in charge of a fairy or 
 spirit who must be propitiated by some offering, and 
 the pin presents itself as the most ready or con¬ 
 venient, besides having a special suitableness as being 
 made of metal, t 
 
 In many places in the North of England pieces of 
 rag, cloth, or ribbon take the place of the pins, and 
 are tied to bushes adjoining the wells. 
 
 The following custom pertained to the “ Chapel 
 
 * Baines, Lancashire and Cheshire, Past and Present , iii. , 497. Notes 
 and Queries , 5th series, x., p. 158. 
 
 t Henderson, Folk-lore of the Northern Counties , p. 230. 
 
 ? B 
 
37° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Well” or “Rag Well,” near Great Ayton, in York¬ 
 shire :— 
 
 “ If a shirt or shift taken off a sick person be thrown into 
 this well, it will show whether the person so sick will recover 
 or not. If the article float, it denotes the recovery of the 
 person to whom it belongs; but if it sink there is no hope for 
 the life of the sufferer. To reward the patron saint of the 
 well for his intelligence, a rag was torn off from the garment 
 and left hanging upon the briars there about, ‘where,’ says 
 the writer of a MS. in the Cottonian Library, ‘ I have seen 
 such numbers as might have made a fayre rheme in a paper 
 myll.’”* 
 
 Mr. G. L. Gomme also records f that pin-wells are 
 common in Wales. Near the well of St. TElian, not 
 far from Bettws Abergeley in Denbighshire, resided a 
 woman who officiated as a kind of priestess. Anyone 
 who wished to inflict a curse upon an enemy resorted 
 to this priestess, and for a trifling sum she registered 
 in a book kept for the purpose the name of the person 
 on whom the curse was wished to fall. A pin was 
 then dropped into the well in the name of the victim, 
 and the curse was complete. 
 
 There are holy wells innumerable in Ireland, most 
 of which are still resorted to by peasantry, who firmly 
 
 * Gentleman's Magazine , 1823; and Gentleman's Magazine Library, 
 Superstitions , pp. 143, 147. Parkinson, in his Yorkshire Legends and 
 Traditions , ii., 1889, p. 103, says that this did not happen at St. Oswald’s 
 Well, near the foot of Roseberry Topping, as the original writer states, 
 but at the Rag Well. 
 
 f Ethnology in Folk-lore, pp. 86, 87. 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 37 1 
 
 believe in their efficacy. On the northern side of a 
 stream that separates counties Dublin and Wicklow 
 is St. Kevin’s Well, which was festooned with ra°fs 
 when I visited it. Many of these rags bore un¬ 
 mistakable evidence of having been removed from 
 sores. I noticed one rag which was torn off from the 
 spot where the garment was marked with its owner’s 
 name, so that in this case the spirit of the well could 
 be in no doubt as to the identity of the patient. 
 
 In Aranmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, in 
 Galway Bay, are numerous “blessed places.” St. 
 Eany’s Well, which is overhung by a bramble 
 adorned with rags, is resorted to by women who 
 desire to have children. It is beside a small level 
 sward (a rare occurrence in the Aran Islands) known 
 as the “Angel’s Walk.” “ An’ it’s here the Guardian 
 Angels of Aran come, of a summer’s night, to take 
 their diversion.” # A mile or two away is the holy 
 well attached to the Church of the Four Comely 
 Saints. It is here the men come when they want 
 children. To the sprays of blackberry and ivy which 
 overshadow it are attached pieces of calico, velvet, 
 whipcord, &c., and in the well itself are numerous 
 buttons, fish-hooks, nails, and pieces of crockery, 
 glass, &c. ... In the parish of Kilmurvy is that 
 well known as Tuber Carna, at which prayers for the 
 recovery of a sick person are answered, but the 
 * Mary Banim, Here and There through Ireland , 1892, p. 133. 
 
372 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 water has the further properties of not being boilable 
 and of restoring dead fish to life. # 
 
 The processions round the well sunwise are an im¬ 
 portant and nearly universal part of the ceremony 
 in Ireland, and, as Gommet points out, the appar¬ 
 ently unimportant detail occurring in a Shropshire 
 example, \ of pouring water over a particular stone, 
 receives significant light from the examples in Ireland. 
 Thus at Dungiven (in co. Derry), after hanging their 
 offerings of rags on the bush adjoining the well, the 
 devotees proceed to a large stone in the River Roe 
 immediately below the old church, and, having per¬ 
 formed an ablution, they walk round the stone, bowing 
 to it and repeating prayers, and then, after performing 
 a similar ceremony in the church, they finish the rite 
 by a procession and prayer round the upright stone. § 
 Out of a large possible selection of Irish holy wells, 
 I will conclude with one or two examples from the 
 north. There is a lyn, or pool, in the stream just 
 a little below Kilgort Bridge, near Claudy, co. 
 
 * A. C. HADDON and C. R. Browne, “The Ethnography of the Aran 
 Islands, County Galway,” Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (3), ii., 1893, p. 818. 
 
 t Ethnology in Folk-lore , p. 93. 
 
 t St. Oswald’s Well, at Oswestry, is used for wishing and divination. 
 One rite, says Miss Burne, is to go to the well at midnight, take some 
 water up in the hand and drink part of it, at the same time forming a 
 wish in the mind, throw the rest of the water upon a particular stone at 
 the back of the well, and if the votary can succeed in throwing all the 
 water left in his hand upon this stone without touching any other spot 
 his wish will be fulfilled. (. Ethnology in Folk-lore , p. 85.) 
 
 § Mason, Statistical Accoimt of Ireland, i., p. 328. 
 
373 
 
 “DRAW A PAIL OF WATER ” 
 
 Derry, called “Turish Hole,” or “Turish Lyn.” 
 Some people still believe that by bathing in this 
 pool cures can be obtained for any description of 
 disease, and there are traditions that cripples have 
 been cured at this place and left their crutches 
 behind them there. “ Back-going ” children when 
 washed in this pool became healthy. In fact, tradi¬ 
 tion says that immersion in the pool was a cure for all 
 manner of diseases, sick-headache included. The 
 date of the ceremonies is May Eve (last day in April), 
 when the persons wanting a cure bathe or wash 
 themselves or the diseased part in the water and 
 repeat some prayers. The offerings, which are of 
 different kinds, are left in a bush beside the lyn. 
 Often a piece of cloth is tied to the bush, sometimes a 
 lock of hair, and sometimes three white stones picked 
 up from the pool. It is not known when or by whom 
 the lyn was blessed, but the custom of offering 
 prayers there indicates that the people regard the 
 place as holy. Tradition says that a very large trout 
 was in Turish-o-Lyn, and that all who had the good 
 fortune to see it on May Eve were sure to get cured. 
 It is said that this trout was caught by some man, and 
 when he had it on the coals cooking it for his dinner 
 it leaped out of the door and went back to its lyn, but 
 it never let itself be seen afterwards.* The tree over 
 
 * W. Gray, “Our Holy Wells: A Folk-lore Chapter,” Proc. Belfast 
 Nat. Field Club (2), iv., 1893-94, p. 94. 
 
374 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Cranfield Well, on the north shore of Lough Neagh, 
 as in many other cases, is decorated with old rags, 
 and crystals of carbonate of lime are found in the well, 
 which are said to be very lucky. # 
 
 Gommef gives numerous examples of Scottish 
 holy wells. He says :— 
 
 “ About fifty years after the Reformation it was noted that 
 the wells of Scotland ‘ were all tapestried about with old 
 rags.’1 Only one or two instances need be noted. At 
 Toubermore Well, in Gigha Isle, devotees were accustomed 
 to leave a piece of money, a needle, pin, or one of the 
 prettiest variegated stones they could find.§ In Banffshire, 
 at Montblairie, ‘ many still alive remember to have seen the 
 impending boughs adorned with rags of linen and woollen 
 garments, and the well enriched with farthings and bodies, 
 the offerings of those who came from afar to the Fountain.’ || 
 At Wick they leave a piece of bread and cheese and a silver 
 coin, which they alleged disappeared in some mysterious 
 way. 11... It is scarcely necessary to pursue these details 
 with greater minuteness, and it may be stated as a general 
 rule that ‘at all these fountains the invalid used the same 
 ceremonies, approaching them sunwise,’** or ‘deisil,’ as it was 
 called.” 
 
 Particularly prominent in Scotland, as well as in 
 Ireland, was this obligation to approach the well sun¬ 
 wise—that is, in the same direction as that taken by 
 the hands of a clock. 
 
 * l.c., p. 95. t Ethnology i)i Folk-lore , p. 95. 
 
 X The Book of Bon Accord , p. 268. § Martin’s Tour , p. 230. 
 
 || Robertson, Antiquities of Aberdee?i and Banff, ii., p. 310. 
 
 H Sinclair, New Statistical Account of Scotland, xv., p. 161. 
 
 ** Forbes Leslie, Early Races of Scotland, i., p. 156. 
 
“ DR A IV A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 375 
 
 The votaries often bathed in holy wells or sacred 
 pools, and this could in some cases only be done 
 after sunset and before the next sunrise ; but, on the 
 other hand, at certain wells it was an infallible cure 
 for almost any disease to bathe as the sun rose on 
 the first Sunday in May. These bathing customs 
 are not indicated in any of the recorded versions of 
 games. The water that was drawn in the bucket may 
 have been for drinking, or for washing an affected 
 part, but actual bathing is not implied. 
 
 The injunction of silence must now be referred to. 
 “At Penpont, in Dumfriesshire, the emissary of the 
 patient has to go through a most careful ceremonial. 
 When he reached the well he ‘had to draw water 
 in a vessel, which was on no account to touch the 
 ground, to turn himself round with the sun, to throw 
 his offering to the spirit over his left shoulder, and 
 to carry the water, without ever looking back, to the 
 sick person. All this was to be done in absolute 
 silence, and he was to salute no one by the way. * 
 The elements of magic ritual preserved here are very 
 obvious, and it is to be remarked that silence is 
 a condition imposed upon the devotees at many 
 wells in Ireland, and also in England.”! One more 
 example must suffice. The Ffynnon Cefn Lleithfan, 
 or Well of the Lleithfan Ridge, on the eastern slope 
 
 * Martin, Western Islands , p. 7. 
 
 t Gomme, Ethnology in Folklore , p. 99. 
 
376 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 of Mynydd y Rhiw, in the west of Caernarvonshire, 
 is a resort for the cure of warts. The sacred 
 character of the well may be inferred from the silence 
 in which it is necessary to go and come, and from 
 the prohibition to turn or look back. The wart is 
 to be bathed in the well with a rag or clout which 
 has grease on it. The clout must then be carefully 
 concealed beneath the stone at the mouth of the 
 well. # 
 
 The association of a bush or tree with a holy well 
 is so common as to be practically universal, and there 
 is no need to dwell upon it. 
 
 Mr. Gomme, in his very suggestive little book 
 Ethnology in Folk-lore , traces the distribution of holy 
 wells in the British Islands. Speaking in general 
 terms, the tiaces of well-worship become more pro¬ 
 nounced and more primitive in character as we pass 
 from east to west in the British Islands. 
 
 In the East of England no distinct ritual remains, 
 and only a tradition of the healing qualities of a 
 particular well or spring, or even its bare name, 
 lemain ; many are now quite nameless. 
 
 In the West and North of England it is very 
 different, and here we find examples of garland¬ 
 dressing and pin-offerings. In Cornwall and Wales, 
 and towards the northern border, the sacred bush by 
 
 * E. Sydney Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, ii., 1895, p. 176 
 (quoting from Prof. Rhys). 
 
DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 377 
 
 the well is decked with rags. These rag-bushes were 
 formerly abundant in Scotland, and they still occur 
 in great profusion in Ireland. 
 
 To speak in terms of races : this well-cult is least 
 observed in Teutonic England, but it is retained in 
 Celtic England and in Celtic Scotland, Wales, and 
 Ireland. It is less modified among the Goidelic 
 Celts of Scotland and Ireland than among the Bry- 
 thonic Celts of Wales and South-west England ; the 
 latter are regarded by Professor Rhys as belonging 
 to a later wave of Celtic migration than the Irish 
 and Scots. 
 
 It is, however, very probable that well-worship is 
 older than the Celtic migration. The associated 
 custom of the offerings of rags or parts of clothing 
 upon bushes sacred to the well, has been investigated 
 with regard to its geographical distribution by Mr. 
 Walhouse,* and it is certain that it occupies a much 
 wider area than that inhabited by Aryan peoples. 
 Thus, to quote a summary given by General Pitt- 
 Riversf :— 
 
 “Burton says it extends throughout Northern Africa from 
 
 west to east.Burton found the same custom in Arabia 
 
 during his pilgrimage to Mecca; in Persia Sir William 
 Ouseley saw a tree close to a large monolith covered with 
 
 * M. J. Walhouse, “ Rag-bushes and Kindred Observances ^ Journ. 
 Anth. Inst., ix., 1879, PP- 97-106. 
 
 t Colonel A. Lane Fox, “The Distribution of Megalithic Struc¬ 
 tures ,^” Journ. Ethnol. Soc. (N.S.), i., 1869, p. 64. 
 
37$ 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 these rags, and he describes it as a practice appertaining to a 
 religion long since proscribed in that country ; in the Deccan 
 and Ceylon Colonel Leslie says that the trees in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of wells may be seen covered with similar scraps of 
 cotton ; Dr. A. Campbell speaks of it as being practised by 
 the Limboos near Darjeeling, in the Himalaya, where it is 
 associated, as in Ireland, with large heaps of stones ; and 
 Hue in his travels mentions it among the Tartars.” 
 
 “ Here,” as Gomme points out, “ not only do we get 
 evidence of the cult in an Aryan country like Persia being 
 proscribed, but, as General Pitt-Rivers observes, ‘ it is im¬ 
 possible to believe that so singular a custom as this, in¬ 
 variably associated with cairns, megalithic monuments, holy • 
 wells, or some such early pagan institutions, could have 
 arisen independently in all these countries.’ That the area 
 over which it is found is conterminous with the area of the 
 megalithic monuments, that these monuments take us back 
 to pre-Aryan people and suggest the spread of this people 
 over the area covered by their remains, are arguments in 
 favour of a megalithic date for well-worship and rag 
 offerings.” * 
 
 The persistence of this cult in the more Celtic 
 portions of the British Islands is then probably not 
 due to this being a religious practice of the Aryans— 
 who were more addicted to fire-worship—but to the 
 fact that in this part of the empire we have distinct 
 traces of that pre-Aryan race to which I have so 
 often referred in the earlier portion of this book. 
 The Celtic Aryans who invaded the British Islands 
 could not uproot the old religion ; indeed the converse 
 
 * l.c., p. 106. 
 
379 
 
 “ DR A W A PAIL OF WATER ” 
 
 has usually been the case. It is known that in various 
 parts of the world the conquerors of a country have 
 been psychically conquered by the people they have 
 beaten—thus does the spirit revenge itself on matter. I 
 have an example of this in my mind from New Guinea, 
 where the immigrant Motu pay tribute to the sorcerers 
 of the Koitapu, whose territory they have invaded, in 
 order that they may obtain propitious winds. # For, 
 after all, only the people of a country can be expected 
 to know the local spirits; and new-comers, whether 
 as traders or conquerors, are utterly ignorant of the 
 correct way to entreat or appease the local divinities. 
 We may regard it as pretty certain that the Celt (to 
 use this somewhat vague term) absorbed many of the 
 features of the religion of his Neolithic neighbours. 
 In Ireland and Scotland the Goidels have long been 
 in possession of the soil, but, as has previously been 
 su ggested, the Saxon invasion appears to have pushed 
 the Brythons more and more to the west. We, how¬ 
 ever, find unmistakable relics of water-worship all 
 
 * “The Koitapu are much feared by the Motu because of their 
 supposed wonderful power over sun, rain, heaven, and earth, north-west 
 
 and south-east monsoons ; specially do the winds belong to them. 
 
 They are no doubt the real owners of the soil.By no conquest do 
 
 the Motuans live here, but simply because the Koitapuans allow them, 
 saying, ‘ Yours is the sea, the canoes, and the nets ; ours is the land and 
 the wallaby. Give us fish for our flesh, and pottery for our yams and 
 bananas.’” (J. Chalmers, Pioneering in New Guinea , 1887, p. 13 ; cf 
 also A. C. Haddon, “The Decorative Art of British New Guinea: a 
 Study in Papuan Ethnography,” Cunningham Memoir , x., Roy. Irish 
 Acad., 1894, pp. 156-164, 258-269.) 
 
380 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 over the British Isles; even in the East of England, 
 which has, so to speak, been glaciated by the cold 
 common sense of the Teutonic invasion. 
 
 Apart from religious disposition or psychological 
 idiosyncrasy, there are other reasons why well-worship 
 should persist in the “ Celtic ” parts of the British 
 Islands. The early “missionaries were obliged,” as 
 Mr. Gray points out, “as a matter of policy to adopt 
 a compromise, retaining such popular rites and 
 customs as were considered innocent amusements, 
 and engrafting upon them the introduced formalities 
 of the Christian ritual.” # The teachers of the new 
 doctrine were not of a very different stage of culture 
 from those they sought to convert, they had not those 
 material benefits and luxuries of a high civilization 
 which gave to the missionaries of last century such 
 a tremendous advantage over the savages they 
 evangelized. In the one case Christianity had to be 
 engrafted craftily and circumspectly, on to paganism, 
 as its visible benefits were not sufficiently apparent to 
 appeal to the more materially-minded mass of the 
 people. In the other case there was no point of 
 contact between the two conditions, and, as a rule, 
 savages do not realize a distinction between secular 
 and sacred, between social duties and religious 
 functions : so when these primitive folk came into 
 contact with the missionaries they were ready to 
 * Proc. Belfast Nat. Field Club (2), iv., p. 92. 
 
“DRA W A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 33i 
 
 embrace the religious tenets and the higher culture 
 of the white man—and the Protestant evangelists 
 insisted only too well that the past should be com¬ 
 pletely erased. Thus the old culture (for they had 
 culture), the old morality (for they had morality, 
 though it may not have been the morality of the 
 white man), and the old religion were slipped off like 
 old garments, and life had virtually to begin afresh 
 clothed in the new garb of an alien civilization and 
 inspired by an exotic religion. 
 
 How different was the policy enforced by Pope 
 Gregory, as embodied in a letter written about the 
 year 601 a.d., and addressed “To his most beloved 
 son, the Abbot Mellitus,” who was sent by the Pope 
 to Augustine, first Bishop of Canterbury. Under 
 the policy thus recommended the feasting and amuse¬ 
 ments that followed the old pagan rites were tolerated, 
 “ to the end that whilst some gratifications are out¬ 
 wardly permitted them, they may the more easily 
 consent to the inward consolations of the orace of 
 
 o 
 
 God.”* “Unfortunately the ‘gratifications’ thus 
 ‘ permitted ’ the early converts became afterwards the 
 chief attraction on the day of dedication, and the 
 religious observances on the patron’s day degenerated 
 into the ‘ pattern ’ or ‘ fair ’ that subsequently became 
 the fruitful source of riot and disorder down to our 
 own day. This pattern or fair originated with the 
 
 * Bede’s Ecclesiastical History , book i., chap. xxx. 
 
382 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 trade carried on in former times by those who provided 
 refreshments for the people who assembled at the 
 wells or places dedicated to some saint who became 
 the patron of the place, and this annual gathering on 
 the patron’s day was called a ‘pattern’ [in Ireland], 
 The original intention was for worship and religious 
 festivities, but the festive soon absorbed the relisrious 
 
 o 
 
 element, and all forms of abuses followed, and hence 
 the gatherings were condemned by the Church. The 
 early Christians strongly condemned the old pagan 
 rites and ceremonies connected with wells, rivers, 
 and fountains, mainly because of the riotous excesses 
 in which the votaries indulged. Making offerings to 
 wells, trees, and earthfast rocks is denounced in a 
 Saxon homily preserved at Cambridge University 
 Library. 
 
 As Mr. Gray points out, in the early annals of 
 Ireland there are many references to wells, and their 
 use in the baptism of early converts. In Dr. Reeves’s 
 Vita St. Columbce Auctore Adamnano we find St. 
 Columba strove against the Magii (Druids) at a well 
 in the country of the Piets. He exorcised the 
 heathen demon of the well, which thereafter, as a 
 holy fountain, cured many diseases.! In the Life of 
 St. Columbkille , preserved in the Leabhar Breac in the 
 
 * W. Gray, l.c., p. 92. 
 
 t The Life of St. Columba , Founder of Hy; written by Adamnan. 
 Ed. by W. Reeves, Dublin, 1857, p. 119. 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER ” 383 
 
 library of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, it is 
 said— 
 
 “ He blessed three hundred miraculous crosses : 
 
 He blessed three hundred wells that were constant.” 
 
 We have, therefore, abundant evidence that well or 
 fountain-worship was extremely rife in the British 
 Islands before Christianity was introduced, and that 
 the early missionaries were instructed not to root up 
 the old religion before replacing it with the new. We 
 know that these good men took up their abode by the 
 side of a sacred well, appreciating the fact that as the 
 sacred waters would be continually visited, so they 
 would always have devotees to instruct. Thus it 
 came about that the wells mostly retained their old 
 virtue, but the sanctity was annexed by the mission¬ 
 aries, and in later times the waters almost invariably 
 bore their names. One point is clear, the holiness 
 and efficacy of the wells were in the vast majority, 
 if not in all cases, pre-Christian and probably also 
 pre-Celtic. 
 
 The question next arises, Why were springs or 
 streams considered holy ? 
 
 Savages are not fools; their ways may not be as 
 our ways, or their thoughts as our thoughts, but there 
 is something at the back of their beliefs and customs, 
 if we could only get at it. The persistent forms of 
 water-cult in the British Islands open up many and 
 interesting problems which cannot now be considered. 
 
3 8 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 By far the majority of the customs are related with 
 the reputed healing powers of the well or spring, but 
 there are traces of other virtues, such as a connection 
 between well-worship and the worship of a rain-god, 
 as Mr. Gomme has suggested. # 
 
 There is common sense in the association of cura¬ 
 tive powers with water. It is well known that the 
 wounds of primitive peoples heal with amazing 
 rapidity; wounds that would be of a most serious 
 character amongst ourselves heal almost of them¬ 
 selves when the body is in rude health and when the 
 air and clothes are practically free from putrefactive 
 microbes. All that is necessary is to wash impurities 
 out of the wounds. It is most probable that the un¬ 
 cultured mind would attribute the healing- of the 
 wound to the water, and not to the removal of dirt. 
 
 Many of these sacred springs have distinct me¬ 
 dicinal qualities; their water is impregnated with 
 salts of various kinds; there are sulphur and iron 
 waters, chalybeate springs, and so forth. Experience 
 has shown that these have definite curative proper¬ 
 ties, and there is no doubt that these were early 
 recognized. 
 
 A perennial supply of pure water has ever been 
 appreciated by man, and it would always be remarked 
 if a spring continued to flow when others ran dry. 
 
 It would naturally be argued there must be some 
 
 * Ethnology in Folk-lore , p. 94. 
 
DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 385 
 
 reason for it, and, as always happens, some explana¬ 
 tion would be forthcoming. Such a spring was 
 pointed out to me in the island of Mabuiag, in Torres 
 Straits, and it arose in this way : One day, Kwoiam, 
 the legendary hero of the island, was thirsty, and he 
 thrust his javelin into the rock, and water has gushed 
 forth ever since. Before running away as a stream 
 the water fills two small rock pools. Any one may 
 drink from the lower basin, but only old men or 
 “big” men may drink from the upper, the penalty 
 being premature greyness. I asked whether I might 
 be permitted to drink from the upper pool, and I was 
 told that I might, but evidently I was not worthy of 
 the honour, as I have paid the penalty! 
 
 There is no need to say more. The advantages 
 of a perennial spring, the undoubted healing properties 
 of many wells, and the cleansing functions of all, are 
 benefits to be devoutly thankful for. An expectant 
 attitude of mind, the “ suggestion ” of modern 
 psychology, and those obscure mental conditions 
 which all recognize who have impartially considered 
 the “miracles” worked at shrines even in our own 
 day—these have always been operative in addition 
 to the more material benefits of the water, and so 
 has inevitably grown up a recognition of virtue in 
 the water. 
 
 Primitive folk do not draw a sharp distinction 
 
 between things animate and inanimate; this is an 
 
 2 c 
 
386 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 essential fact to remember when we consider their 
 religious beliefs and practices. The bubbling spring, 
 the running brook, the waving boughs, the rushing 
 wind, the burning sun, the sparkling stars, are all as 
 much alive as far as they can tell as are men or animals. 
 Man, too, feels himself weak before the forces of 
 nature ; he by no means has subjugated nature ; he 
 does not yet possess the earth. As his forceful fellow- 
 men have to be appeased, so must the activities 
 outside man be appeased or interested in his favour. 
 The appreciation of the vast unknown all around him 
 gives origin to the feeling that it is essential for his 
 welfare that he should be put into friendly or 
 harmonious relation with those powers which can 
 benefit him and may do him harm, and so Religion 
 is born into the world. 
 
 Morality may be regarded as the acknowledgment 
 of the claims others have on our conduct. According 
 to this view it is the quintessence of etiquette, the 
 habit which any particular society has found to work 
 well in practical experience. In other words, it is the 
 working basis of society. 
 
 Religion, on the other hand, has originally nothing 
 to do with morality—of this there is abundant proof 
 —but it has for its aim the putting of man into 
 harmonious relations with the forces outside him. It 
 is how this can be accomplished, and the various con¬ 
 ceptions that have arisen concerning these outside 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 387 
 
 forces that constitute the science of Comparative 
 Religion. 
 
 We are now beginning to realize that this is the 
 true “inwardness” of many so-called “savage” con¬ 
 ceptions and rituals. At first there is a vague feeling- 
 after if haply something may be found, and it is from 
 this nebulous state that systems have been evolved. 
 
 The application of this principle to the subject of 
 sacred wells and the offerings made at them has been 
 so ably stated by my friend Mr. Hartland in the 
 chapter “On Sacred Wells and Trees” in his great 
 work on The Legend of Perseus* that I do not hesitate 
 to transcribe his general conclusions :— 
 
 “ To sum up :—We find widely spread in Europe the 
 practice of throwing pins into sacred wells, or sticking pins 
 or nails into sacred images or trees, or into the wall of a 
 temple, or floor of a church, and —sometimes accompanying 
 this, more usually alone—a practice of tying rags or leaving 
 portions of clothing upon a sacred tree or bush, or a tree 
 or bush overhanging, or adjacent to, a sacred well, or of 
 depositing them in or about the well. 
 
 “ The object of this rite is generally the attainment of some 
 wish, or the granting of some prayer, as for a husband or for 
 recovery from sickness. 
 
 “ In Asia we have the corresponding customs of writing 
 the name on the walls of a temple, suspending some appar¬ 
 ently trivial article upon the boughs of a sacred tree, flinging 
 pellets of chewed paper or stones at sacred images, and 
 attaching rags, writings, and other things to the temples, 
 
 * Vol. ii., pp. 175-231. 
 
o 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 and to trees. Trees are adorned in the same way, with rags 
 and other useless things, in Africa—a practice not unknown, 
 though rare, in America. On the Congo a nail is driven 
 into an idol in the Breton manner. It cannot be doubted 
 that the purpose and origin of all these customs are identical, 
 and that an explanation of one will explain all. 
 
 “The most usual explanations are :—First, that the articles 
 left are offerings to the god or presiding spirit; and, secondly, 
 that they contain the disease of which one desires to be rid, 
 and transfer it to anyone who touches and removes them. 
 Professor Rhys suggests that a distinction is to be drawn 
 between the pins and the rags. The pins, he thinks, may 
 be offerings; and it is noteworthy that in some cases they 
 are replaced by buttons or small coins. The rags, on the 
 other hand, may be, in his view, the vehicles of the disease. 
 If this opinion were correct, one would expect to find both 
 ceremonies performed by the same patient at the same well : 
 he would throw in the pin, and also place the rag on the bush, 
 or wherever its proper place might be. The performance 
 of both ceremonies is, however, I think, exceptional. Where 
 the pin or button is dropped into the well, the patient does 
 not trouble about the rag, and vice-versa. 
 
 « Nor can we stop here. From all we know of the process 
 of ceremonial decay, we may be tolerably sure that the rags 
 represent entire articles of clothing, which at an earlier 
 period were deposited. There is no need to discuss here 
 the principle of substitution and representation, so familiar 
 to all students of folk-lore. It is sufficient to point out that, 
 since the rite is almost everywhere in a state of decay, the 
 presumption is in favour of entire garments having been 
 originally deposited; and that, in fact, we do find this 
 original form of the rite in ancient and several modern 
 examples. Such was a chalybeate spring in the parish of 
 Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire. As its virtue was invoked 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER 
 
 389 
 
 not only for human beings, but for cattle, the tribute con¬ 
 sisted of £ part of the clothes of the sick and diseased, and 
 harness of the cattle.’ 
 
 “ M. Monseur* suggests that in those instances in which 
 pins or nails were stuck into the cross, or tree, or figure of 
 the saint, the aim was, by causing pain or inconvenience to 
 the object of worship, to keep in his memory the worshipper’s 
 prayer. M. Gaidozt has another theory. He says:—‘The 
 idol is a god, who always appears somewhat stupid; it 
 moves not, it speaks not, and, peradventure, it does not hear 
 very well. It must be made to understand by a sign, and 
 a sign which will be at the same time a memento. In 
 touching the idol, especially in touching the member corre¬ 
 sponding to that which suffers, its attention is directed to the 
 prayer. And more than that is done in leaving a nail or a 
 pin in its body, for this is a material memento for the idol.’ 
 In putting it in this way, the learned professor does not 
 desire to exclude the ideas of an offering and a transfer of 
 disease, for he expressly adds that both these ideas are 
 mingled with that of a memento. 
 
 Mr. Hartland continues, “ I believe that a profounder 
 thought forms the common ground in which all the customs 
 under consideration—or, as I should prefer to say, all the 
 variations of a single custom—are rooted. They are simply 
 another application of the reasoning that underlies the prac¬ 
 tices of witchcraft and folk-medicine discussed in previous 
 chapters [of The Legend of Perseus\. If an article of my 
 clothing in a witch’s hands may cause me to suffer, the same 
 article in contact with a beneficent power may relieve my 
 pain, restore me to health, or promote my general prosperity. 
 A pin that has pricked my wart, even if not covered with 
 
 * Bulletin de Folklore, Organe de la Societe da Folklore Wallon., i., 
 1892, p. 250. 
 
 t Melusine , vi., 1893, 155. 
 
39° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 my blood, has, by its contact, by the wound it has inflicted, 
 acquired a peculiar bond with the wart; the rag that has 
 rubbed the wart has by that friction acquired a similar bond ; 
 so that whatever is done to the pin or the rag, whatever 
 influences the pin or the rag may undergo, the same in¬ 
 fluences are by that very act brought to bear upon the wart. 
 If, instead of using a rag, I rub my warts with raw meat and 
 then bury the meat, the warts will decay and disappear with 
 the decay and dissolution of the meat. In like manner my 
 shirt or stocking, or a rag to represent it, placed upon a 
 sacred bush, or thrust into a sacred well—my name written 
 upon the walls of a temple—a stone or pellet from my hand 
 cast upon a sacred image or a sacred cairn—a remnant of 
 my food cast into a sacred waterfall or bound upon a sacred 
 tree, or a nail from my hand driven into the trunk of the 
 tree—is thenceforth in continual contact with divinity; and 
 the effluence of divinity, reaching and involving it, will reach 
 and involve me. In this way I may become permanently 
 united with the god. 
 
 “ This is an explanation which I think will cover every 
 case. Of course, it cannot be denied that there are instances 
 where the real object of the rite having been forgotten, the 
 practice has become to a slight extent deflected from its 
 earlier form. But it is not difficult to trace the steps whereby 
 the idea and practice of divination became substituted for 
 that of union with the object of devotion. Still less can it 
 be denied that, where the practice has not been deflected, 
 the real intention has in most places been obscured. These 
 phenomena are familiar to us everywhere, and will mislead 
 no one who understands that the real meaning is not what 
 the people who practise a rite say about it, but that which 
 emerges from a comparison of analogous observances.”* 
 
 * J. Sidney Hartland, The Lege 7 id of Perseus: A Study of 
 Traditioti in Story , Custom and Belief 3 vols., 1894-96: D. Nutt, London. 
 
“DRAW A PAIL OF WATER ” 391 
 
 Mr. Hartland, doubtless in order not to complicate 
 his argument, refers to the “god” of the fountain, 
 but he would be the first to recognize that this is by 
 no means the earliest conception. So far as I 
 understand the ideas of primitive folk, I should 
 imagine the sequence to be somewhat as follows. 
 
 The spring or the stream were entities in the same 
 way as human beings, animals, or plants. When the 
 conception arose of a dual (or multiple) nature in 
 man, when, to put it concisely, man was recognized 
 as a body and an indwelling spirit, then the same 
 conception would probably be transferred to the other 
 entities, and hence would arise the belief in a spirit 
 of a fountain or of a tree, which doubtless was as 
 much its own innate spirit as is the spirit of man. 
 As the spirit of man can, according to savage belief, 
 take upon itself various outward and bodily forms,* so 
 there is no reason why the equivalent spirit of well 
 may not do the same. It was a matter of common 
 experience some aquatic animal inhabited a particular 
 piece of water : one or more fish, a frog, or whatever 
 it may have been. The natural conclusion was that 
 the divine life of the waters, as Robertson Smitht 
 
 * There is no need to take up my readers’ time with illustrations of 
 this proposition, as they will be found garnered in such works as 
 J. G. Frazer’s Golden Bough , ii., “The External Soul in Folk-tales,” 
 p. 296, and E. S. Hartland’s The Legend of Perseus, ii., “ The Life- 
 token in Tale and Custom,” p. 1. 
 
 t W. Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites, 
 1889, p. 161. 
 
392 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 says, resided in the sacred fish that inhabits them ; of 
 this he gives numerous examples analogous to the 
 Irish and Scottish. Gomme # quotes from Sinclairt 
 a most remarkable example of this, which occurs at 
 a well near the church of Kirkmichael in Banffshire. 
 The guardian of the well assumed the semblance of a 
 fly, who was always present, and whose every move¬ 
 ment was regarded by the votaries at the shrine with 
 silent awe, and as he appeared cheerful or dejected the 
 anxious votaries drew their presages. This guardian 
 of the well of St. Michael was believed to be exempt 
 from the laws of mortality. “To the eye of the ignorant,” 
 says the local account, “he might sometimes appear 
 dead, but it was only a transmigration into a similar 
 form, which made little alteration to the real identity.” 
 
 Later beliefs anthropomorphised these spirits, and 
 we have water-fairies, nymphs, and the like. Finally 
 some missionary or hermit became associated with 
 the well, and its therapeutic properties were attributed 
 to the blessing of the water by the saint. 
 
 We may trace, then, in this simple game, the attenu¬ 
 ated survival of a religious rite, which was observed 
 by our savage forefathers of the polished-stone period. 
 In children’s games, or as faithfully performed practices 
 by the folk, this cult has survived the waves of migra¬ 
 tion and the floods of race-conflict; even Christianity 
 itself has scarcely prevailed against it. 
 
 * Ethnology in Folk-lore, p. 102. 
 
 t Statistical Accou?it of Scotland , xii., p. 465. 
 
CHAPTER XiV. 
 
 CO UR TING GAMES. 
 
 M ARRIAGE and its preliminaries form such an 
 epoch in life that it would be strange if we 
 did not find them mimicked in the games of children. 
 As a matter of fact courtship and marriage do con¬ 
 stitute a very important element in these hitherto 
 unwritten dramas; and it is most interesting to find 
 that customs belonging to various strata of culture are 
 enshrined in song and game. In other words, our 
 children still commemorate methods of courtship 
 which presumably belonged to different races and 
 which certainly were in vogue during diverse ages. 
 
 One of the singing games most frequently played 
 by children is that known as “Nuts in May.” This 
 seems at first sight a nonsensical title to a not very 
 exciting game, but we shall find that there is plenty 
 of interest in the game to adults as well as to children. 
 
 “ Here we come gathering nuts in May, 
 
 Nuts in May, nuts in May, 
 
 Here we come gathering nuts in May, 
 
 May, May, May. 
 
 39 3 
 
394 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ Who will you have for nuts in May, 
 
 Nuts in May, nuts in May ? 
 
 Who will you have for nuts in May, 
 
 May, May, May ? 
 
 “ -for nuts in May, 
 
 Nuts in May, nuts in May, 
 
 -for nuts in May, 
 
 May, May, May. 
 
 “Very well, very well, so you may, 
 
 So you may, so you may, 
 
 Very well, very well, so you may, 
 
 May, may, may. 
 
 “ Whom will you have to take her away, 
 
 Take her away, take her away ? 
 
 Whom will you have to take her away, 
 
 Way, way, way? 
 
 “ -to take her away, 
 
 Take her away, take her away, 
 
 -to take her away, 
 
 Way, way, way.” 
 
 The children form in two lines of equal length, 
 facing one another, with sufficient space between the 
 lines to admit of their walking in line backwards and 
 forwards, towards and away from each other, as each 
 line sings the verses allotted to it. The first line 
 sings the first, third, and sixth verses, and the opposite 
 line the second, fourth, and fifth. At the end of the 
 sixth verse a handkerchief or other mark is laid on 
 the ground, and the two children (whose names have 
 been mentioned, and who are as evenly matched as 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 395 
 
 possible) take each other’s right hand and endeavour 
 to pull each other over the handkerchief to their own 
 side. The child who is pulled over the handkerchief 
 becomes the “ captured nut,” and joins the side of her 
 capturers. Then the game begins again by the 
 second line singing the first, third, and sixth verses, 
 while advancing to gather or capture the “nuts,” the 
 first line responding with the other verses, and with 
 the same finish as before. Then the first line begins 
 the game, and so on until all the children are in this 
 way matched one against the other. 
 
 Almost the only variants in the song are in the 
 last line of each verse, which may run—“ On a cold 
 and frosty morning” (which I have heard in Cam¬ 
 bridgeshire), “ On a fine summer’s morning,” “ So 
 early in the morning,” &c. 
 
 The game is always played in lines, and the princi¬ 
 pal incidents running through all the versions are 
 the same, i.e., one player is selected by one line of 
 players from her opponents’ party. The “selected” 
 one is refused by her party, unless someone from the 
 opposite side can effect her capture by a contest of 
 strength. In all versions but two or three this contest 
 takes place between the two ; in one or two all the 
 players join in the trial of strength. Sometimes the 
 side which is victorious has the right to begin the 
 next game first. In one version when one child is 
 drawn over the boundary line by one from the 
 
396 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 opposite side she has to be “crowned” immediately. 
 This is done by the conqueror putting her hand on 
 the captured one’s head. If this is not done at once 
 the latter can return to her own side. In some 
 versions the player who is selected for “Nuts” is 
 always captured by the one sent to fetch her. When 
 boys and girls play, the boys are always sent to “ fetch 
 away” the girls. 
 
 Mrs. Gomme, from whose monograph * I have 
 abstracted the foregoing account, points out that there 
 is some analogy in the game to marriage by capture 
 and to the marriage customs practised at May Day 
 festivals. She attributes the term “ Nuts in May” to 
 the gathering by parties of young men of bunches of 
 may at the May festivals and dances, to decorate not 
 only the May-pole, or the May “ kissing-bush,” but 
 the doors of houses. Nuts is a misapprehension of 
 knots. In Buckinghamshire the children speak of 
 “ knots of may,” meaning each little bunch of haw¬ 
 thorn blossom. Mrs. Gomme has heard the “May 
 girls ” sing in London on May Day— 
 
 “ Knots of may we’ve brought you, 
 
 Before your door it stands; 
 
 It is but a sprout, but it’s well budded out 
 By the work of the Lord’s hands.” 
 
 The gathering of bunches of may by parties of 
 young men and maidens to make the May-bush round 
 * A. B. Gomme, Traditional Games , i., p. 431. 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 397 
 
 which May Day games were held, and dancing and 
 courting, is mentioned by Sir William Wilde. # 
 
 Mrs. Gomme continues :—“ The association of May 
 —whether the month, or the flower, or both—with 
 the game is very strong, the refrain, ‘ Cold and frosty 
 morning,’ ‘All on a summer’s morning,’ ‘Bright 
 summer’s morning,’ ‘ So early in the morning,’ also 
 being characteristic of the early days of May and 
 spring, and suggests that the whole day, from early 
 hours, is given up to holiday.” f 
 
 For the evidence for marriage by capture in the 
 game there is no element of love or courtship, though 
 there is the obtaining possession of a member of an 
 opposing party. It differs from ordinary contest- 
 games in the fact that one party does not wage war 
 against another party for possession of a particular 
 piece of ground, but individual against individual for 
 the possession of an individual. That the player 
 sent to fetch the selected girl is expected to conquer 
 seems to be implied—first, by a choice of a certain 
 player being made to effect the capture; secondly, 
 by the one sent to “ fetch ” being always successful; 
 and, thirdly, the “ crowning ” in one version. 
 
 Marriage by capture is still practised in Australia 
 and a few other places. In many savage and barbaric 
 countries the bride makes a show of resistance, resort¬ 
 ing in some cases to physical force, though all the 
 
 * Irish Popular Superstitions, p. 52. t l.c., p. 432. 
 
39§ 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 time willing to be married, and there is frequently a 
 sham fight between the relatives of the bride and 
 bridegroom, and there are actual survivals in English, 
 Scottish, Welsh, and Irish customs of marriage by 
 capture. 
 
 Marriage by capture is now in the main a thing of 
 the past, but there are records and survivals which 
 prove it at one time to have been very widely spread. 
 “ All the Carib tribes used to capture women from 
 different peoples and tribes, so that the men and 
 women nowhere spake the same tongue, and von 
 Martius states that in Brazil ‘some tribes habitually 
 steal their neighbours' daughters.’ Among the tribes 
 of Eastern Central Africa, described by Macdonald, 
 marriage by capture occurs not as a symbol only.” 
 
 According to a common belief, the Australian 
 method of obtaining wives is capture in its most 
 brutal form. But contrary to Mr. Howitt, Mr. Curr 
 informs us that only on rare occasions is a wife 
 captured from another tribe and carried off. The 
 possession of a stolen woman would lead to constant 
 attacks, hence the tribes set themselves very generally 
 against the practice. 
 
 Westermarck, # from whom I have so largely 
 quoted, gives a list of a good many peoples in 
 various parts of the world. In Europe it occurred 
 
 * E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage, 189T, p. 
 384 et seq. 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 399 
 
 in former days among the Lapps, Finns, and Esto¬ 
 nians. The same practice prevailed among the 
 peoples of the Aryan race. “ The forcible abduction 
 of a maiden from her home, while she cries out and 
 weeps, after her kinsmen have been slain or wounded, 
 and their houses broken open,” was, according to the 
 laws of Manu, # one of the eight legal forms of 
 marriage. 
 
 According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, marriage 
 by capture was at the time customary throughout 
 ancient Greece. The ancient Teutons frequently 
 captured women for wives. The Slavs, in early 
 times, according to Nestor, practised marriage by 
 capture; and in the marriage ceremonies of the 
 Russians and other Slavonian nations, reminiscences 
 of this custom still survive. Indeed, among the 
 South Slavonians, capture de facto was in full force 
 no longer ago than the beginning of the present 
 century. Among the Welsh, on the morning of the 
 wedding day, the bridegroom, accompanied by his 
 friends on horseback, carried off the bride. 
 
 It will probably be new to many people that there 
 are traces of marriage by capture yet remaining in 
 country districts in England. It was only in the 
 spring of 1896 that at a wedding in the University 
 Church at Cambridge, none of the bride’s people 
 entered the church, and as the wedding party left the 
 
 * The Laws of Mann , book iii., vv. 33, 26. 
 
400 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 building they were met by the bride’s friends, who 
 banged inflated paper bags. The absence of the 
 bride’s relations from the church is the remnant of 
 a fiction of enmity which is also emphasized by the 
 popping of paper bags. These replaced the firing of 
 guns of an older period, and these, again, replaced 
 the weapons of war which in the dim past of pre¬ 
 historic times were called into active requisition. 
 
 We read in the Folk-lore Journal “At Bocking, 
 in Essex, the parents of the bride keep studiously out 
 of the way at the time of the marriage ceremony. I 
 remember the surprise, not to say horror, of an old 
 gardener who was asked why he did not attend his 
 daughter’s wedding. ‘ Such a thing was never heered 
 of in this here parish,’ said he.” 
 
 The next stage in wife-getting is the giving of com¬ 
 pensation to the father, or the group, for the loss of 
 the woman’s services. This is very widely distributed 
 even at the present day. The earlier phase which 
 we have just considered may, however, persist to a 
 greater or less extent. I found this transition phase 
 amongst my friends of the Torres Straits. In all of 
 the islands a wife could be obtained by an exchange of 
 girls ; a lad would give his sister in exchange for a 
 wife, or an uncle might oblige a nephew and give 
 him a cousin to exchange. In all other cases a 
 wife had to be paid for according to arrangement, 
 * Vol. ii., p. 246. 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 401 
 
 but there was usually a recognized rate of exchange. 
 In some islands there was also a fight, which I was 
 assured was “half-play.” In some islands also the 
 young man lived part of the year with his wife’s 
 people. 
 
 Westermarck has collected numerous analogous 
 cases among the uncivilized races of America, Africa, 
 and Asia, and the Indian Archipelago. The custom 
 of obtaining a wife by services rendered to her father 
 has been familiarized to us by Hebrew tradition. 
 
 The most common compensation for a wife is pro¬ 
 perty paid to her owner. Her price varies indefinitely. 
 My friend Maino, the chief of Tud (Warrior Island), 
 told me he paid for his wife a camphor-wood chest 
 from Singapore, a dozen jerseys, some fathoms of 
 calico, a dozen fish-hooks, a pound of tobacco, and he 
 finished off the enumeration with the exclamation of, 
 “ By golly, she too dear! ” 
 
 There is no need to traverse the globe for examples; 
 a few cases from nearer home will suffice. Wester¬ 
 marck says in all branches of the Semitic race men 
 had to buy or serve for their wives, the “ Mohar ” or 
 “Mahr” being originally the same as a purchase sum. # 
 In the Books of Rutht and Hosea,|. the bridegroom 
 actually says he has bought his bride; and modern 
 Jews, according to Michaelis, have a sham purchase 
 
 * W. Robertson Smith, Marriage and Kinship in Early Arabia , 
 1885, p. 78 et seq. + Ruth iv. 10. % Hosea iii. 2. 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 among their marriage ceremonies, which is called 
 “ Marrying by the penny.”* 
 
 Among the Finns marriage by purchase exists now, 
 or did so till quite lately. Among the Aryan nations, 
 too, marriage was based on the purchase of the wife. 
 Westermarck gives numerous examples, amongst 
 which we may note that the ancient Scandinavians 
 believed that even the gods had bought their wives. 
 In Germany the expression, “to purchase a wife,” 
 was in use till the end of the Middle Ages. As late 
 as the middle of the sixteenth century the English 
 preserved in their marriage ritual traces of this ancient 
 legal procedure, f 
 
 This phase also is illustrated in the common singing 
 game usually called “ Knights,” or “ Lords from 
 Spain.” A version \ from the village of Bocking, in 
 Essex, runs as follows :— 
 
 “ ‘I am a gentleman come from Spain. 
 
 I Ve come to court your daughter Jane.’ 
 
 “ ‘My daughter Jane is yet too young 
 
 To understand your flattering tongue.’ 
 
 “ ‘Let her be young, or let her be old, 
 
 She must be sold for Spanish gold. 
 
 So fare thee well, my lady gay; 
 
 I ’ll call upon you another day.’ 
 
 * J. D. Michaelis, Commentaries on the Laws of Moses (Trans.) 
 
 1814, i., p. 451. 
 
 f E. Friedberg, Das Recht der Eheschliessnng in seiner geschicht- 
 lichen Entwicklung , Leipzig, 1865, pp. 33, 38. 
 
 + Folk-lore Record, iii., p. 171. 
 

COURTING GAMES 
 
 403 
 
 “ ‘Turn back, turn back, you saucy boy, 
 
 And choose the fairest you can spy.’ 
 
 “ ‘The fairest one that I can see 
 
 Is pretty Miss-. Come to me ! ’ ” 
 
 This game is also played by two alternately advanc¬ 
 ing and receding lines. At first one line consists of 
 only a single lord, who sings the first, second, and 
 third stanzas. After a pretended reluctance to come 
 to terms, the girl is eventually sold to him. These 
 then sing, “We are two lords from out of Spain,” 
 according to the local version, and so it goes on till 
 the lords have purchased the last girl. 
 
 The following are the words of this game as played 
 at Ballymiscaw, co. Down. # (Plate VI.) 
 
 “ There was one lord that came from Spain, 
 
 He came to court my daughter Jane. 
 
 My daughter Jane she is too young 
 
 To be controlled by a flattering tongue. 
 
 “ ‘ Will you ? ’ 
 
 “‘No.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Will you ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘Yes.’” 
 
 The one who answers “ Yes ” then joins hands with 
 the “one lord,” and they dance round, singing :— 
 
 “ You dirty wee scut you wouldn’t come out 
 
 To help us with our dancing. 
 
 There were two lords that came from Spain,” &c., &c. 
 
 * Clara M. Patterson, “A few Children’s Games,” Proc. Belfast 
 Nat. Field Club (2), iv., 1893-94, p. 49. 
 
4°4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 One or two points call for notice in this version as 
 they occur elsewhere, (i) the use of the word “con¬ 
 trolled” for “cajoled”; (2) the abbreviation of the 
 dialogue and, in this instance, the omission of the 
 mercenary spirit, and finally the inelegant couplet at 
 the finish. In a version from Auchencairn, Kirkcud¬ 
 brightshire, collected by my elder daughter, the 
 “lord” has become a “gypsy,” and when the mother 
 tells the gypsy to “choose the fairest one you see,” 
 the latter chooses a girl and asks her to come. She 
 replies “No,” and turns right round away from the 
 wooer; as she is turning the gypsy says :— 
 
 “ The naughty girl she would not come out, 
 
 She would not come out, to help me in my dancing.” 
 
 The second time she is asked she must say “Yes.” 
 Then the successful wooer sings :— 
 
 “ Now we have got the flower of May, 
 
 The flower of May, to help us in our dancing.” 
 
 The two girls take hold of each other’s hands and 
 sing:— 
 
 “ Here come two gypsies come from Spain,” &c., &c. 
 
 Though often dropped out, the buying element is 
 an essential one; I have an Irish variant which em¬ 
 phasizes this incident:— 
 
 “ Let her be young or let her be old, 
 
 It’s for her beauty she must be sold.” 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 405 
 
 A French version, that was presented before the 
 Liverpool Teachers’ Guild by Mrs. J. G. Frazer, 
 marks a transition to a higher stage of culture. 
 
 LE CHEVALIER DU GUET. 
 
 “ Qu’est-c’qui passe ici si tard, 
 Compagnons de la Marjolaine ? 
 Qu’est-c’qui passe ici si tard, 
 
 Gai! gai! dessus le quai ? 
 
 “ Le Chevalier. C’est le chevalier du guet, 
 
 Compagnons de la Marjolaine, 
 C’est le chevalier du guet, 
 
 Gai! gai! dessus le quai! 
 
 “ Tons. Que demand, le chevalier, 
 
 Compagnons de la Marjolaine, 
 Que demand, le chevalier, 
 
 Gai! gai! dessus le quai ? 
 
 “ Le Chevalier. Une fille a marier, 
 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 “ Tons. N’y a pas de fille a marier, 
 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 “ Le Chevalier. On m’a dit qu’ vous en aviez, 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 “ Tous. Ceux qu, l’on dit s’sont trompes, 
 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 “ Le Chevalier. Je veux que vous m’en donniez, 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 “ Tous. Sur les minuits revenez, 
 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Le Chevalier. Les minuits sont bien sonnes. 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
406 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Tous. 
 
 Mais nos filles sont couchees, 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Le Chevalier. 
 
 En est-il un’ d’eveillee, 
 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Qu’est-ce que vous lui donnerez, 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Le Chevalier. 
 
 De Tor, des bijoux assez, 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Tous. 
 
 Elle n’est pas interessee 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Le Chevalier. 
 
 Mon cceur je lui donnerait, 
 Compagnons, &c. 
 
 Tous. 
 
 En ce cas—la, choisissez, 
 Compagnons de la Marjolaine,” &c. 
 
 We have similar games in our own country, in 
 which the damsel will no longer permit herself to be 
 sold, and only yields to her wooer when he offers her 
 his heart. 
 
 The union of husband and wife is indicated in 
 various ways by many peoples. In some parts of 
 India the contracting parties tie themselves or are 
 tied together. Among that very primitive people, 
 the Veddahs of Ceylon, who, according to the 
 Sarasins, never tell a lie and never steal, the bride 
 ties a thin cord of her own twisting round the bride¬ 
 groom’s waist, and they are then husband and wife. 
 The man always wears this string, and nothing would 
 induce him to part with it, for it is emblematic of the 
 marriage tie, and, “as he never parts with it, so he 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 407 
 
 clings to his wife through life.” # In many parts of 
 India bride and bridegroom are for the same reason 
 marked with one another’s blood, and Colonel Dalton 
 believes this to be the origin of the custom now so 
 common of marking with red-lead. The former of 
 these customs survives in our wedding-ring, but 
 unfortunately we have not in the British Islands 
 the pretty Continental custom of the exchange of 
 rings, and the wearing of his ring by the husband. 
 
 I do not recall a reminiscence of the blood custom in 
 folk-practice or folk-song in our own country. 
 
 Among the Australian Narrinyeri a woman is 
 supposed to signify her consent to the marriage by 
 carrying fire to her husband’s hut and making his 
 fire for him. 
 
 In Croatia the bridegroom boxes the bride’s ears, 
 in order to indicate that henceforth he is her master. 
 And in ancient Russia, as a part of the marriage 
 ceremony, the father took a new whip, and, after 
 striking his daughter gently with it, told her that 
 he did so for the last time, and then presented 
 the whip to the bridegroom. 
 
 Marriage ceremonies arose by degrees and in 
 various ways. When the mode of contracting a 
 marriage altered, the earlier mode, from having been 
 a reality, survived as a ceremony. Thus, as we have 
 
 * J. Bailey, “ An account of the Wild Tribes of the Veddahs of 
 Ceylon,” Trans. Ethnol. Soc. (N.S.), ii., 1863, p. 293. 
 
4 o8 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 seen, the custom of capture was transformed into 
 a mere symbol after purchase was introduced as the 
 legal form of contracting a marriage. In other 
 instances the custom of purchase has survived as 
 a ceremony after it has ceased to be a reality. 
 
 According as marriage was recognized as a matter 
 of some importance, the entering into it came, like 
 many other significant events in human life, to be 
 celebrated with certain ceremonies. Very commonly 
 it is accompanied by a wedding feast. 
 
 The marriage ceremony often indicates in some 
 way the new relation into which the man and woman 
 enter to each other, most frequently the living to¬ 
 gether, or the wife’s subjection to her husband. 
 Among the Navajos the ceremony merely consisted 
 in eating maize-pudding from the same platter; and 
 among the Santals of India, says Colonel Dalton, 
 “ the social meal that the boy and girl eat together is 
 the most important part of the ceremony, as by the 
 act the girl ceases to belong to her father’s tribe, and 
 becomes a member of her husband’s family.”* Eating- 
 together is, in the Malay Archipelago, the chief and 
 most wide-spread marriage ceremony. The same 
 custom occurs among the Hovas of Madagascar, 
 the Hindus, Esthonians, and in Ermland in Prussia, f 
 
 * E. T. Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal , Calcutta, 1872, 
 p. 216. 
 
 t The foregoing remarks are abbreviated from Westermarck’s 
 History of Human Marriage , p. 148. 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 409 
 
 In many parts of the British Islands children 
 dance in a ring, and sing to a rhyme, in which the 
 following very frequently occurs :— 
 
 “He courted [Aggie Wilson] before he was a man; 
 
 He hugged her, he juggled her, he took her on his knee, 
 Saying, ‘ My dear [Aggie], won’t you marry me ? ’ 
 
 “[Aggie] made pudding so nice and so sweet, 
 
 And [Willie] got his knife and cut it round so neat, 
 
 Saying, ‘ Taste, love, taste, love, don’t say nay, 
 
 For next Monday morning is our wedding day.’ ”* 
 
 Another Irish version runs :— 
 
 “[Annie] made a pudding, 
 
 She made it very sweet; 
 
 She daren’t put a knife in it 
 
 Till [George] came home at neet. 
 
 ‘ Taste, [George], taste, and don’t say nay ! 
 
 Perhaps to-morrow morning’ll be our wedding day.’” 
 
 Our bought wedding - cake is an unsentimental 
 survival of this pretty custom. 
 
 In this particular group of singing games love- 
 making forms an important element; we have thus 
 reached a higher level of culture than is exhibited in 
 the previous games. 
 
 In these courting games we often find love-lorn 
 damsels, who, like poor Mary, sit weeping. 
 
 “ Poor Mary sits a-weeping, a-weeping, a-weeping. 
 
 What is Mary weeping for, weeping for, weeping for ? 
 
 She’s weeping for a husband, a husband, a husband.” 
 
 * Proc. Belfast Nat. Field Club (2), iv., p. 52. 
 
4io 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Or there is the very practical young lady on the 
 mountain:— 
 
 “ There stands a lady on a mountain, 
 
 Who she is I do not know; 
 
 All she wants is gold and silver, 
 
 All she wants is a nice young man. 
 
 “ Now she’s married I wish her joy, 
 
 First a girl and then a boy; 
 
 Seven years after son and daughter : 
 
 Pray, young couple, kiss together. 
 
 “ Kiss her once, kiss her twice, 
 
 Kiss her three times three.” 
 
 The marriage formula of the second verse is a 
 very common one, subject, of course, to numerous 
 variations. That this enshrines some ancient and 
 widely-spread sentiment there can be little doubt. 
 
 Finally, we find a large number of games which 
 are merely excuses for kissing, such as Kiss in the 
 ring, the Cushion dance, and others, and incidentally 
 kissing comes, not unnaturally, into a number of 
 courting and marriage games, As it happens England 
 has an ancient reputation for kissing, as the celebrated 
 scholar Erasmus testified to his friend, Faustus 
 Anderlin, at Paris :— 
 
 “Your friend Erasmus gets on well in England. ... If 
 you are a wise man you will cross the Channel yourself. . . . 
 To mention but a single attraction, the English girls are 
 divinely pretty. Soft, pleasant, gentle, and charming as the 
 Muses. They have one custom which cannot be too much 
 
COURTING GAMES 
 
 411 
 
 admired (Est prceterea mos nunquam satis laudatus ). When 
 you go anywhere on a visit the girls all kiss you. They kiss 
 you when you arrive. They kiss you when you go away ; 
 and they kiss you again when you return. Go where you 
 will, it is all kisses ( basiatur affatim denique, quocunque te 
 moveas). My dear Faustus, if you had once tasted how 
 soft and fragrant these lips were, you would wish to spend 
 your life here.”* 
 
 * “Ex Anglia, anno 1499,” Epist. Ixv. (quoted from the Programme 
 of Sir Ernest Clarke’s lecture on “ May Day in Merrie England,” 
 delivered to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, March 8th, 1897). 
 
t 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FUNERAL GAMES. 
 
 I N the summer of 1896 I saw the following game 
 played in the village of Barrington, near Cam¬ 
 bridge. 
 
 A row of girls stand opposite to the “mother,” 
 behind whom hides the crouching “Jenny.” (Plate 
 VII., Fig. 1.) The row advances and retreats, 
 singing the first couplet:— 
 
 “ I’ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, 
 
 How does she do ? ” 
 
 The “ mother ” replies :— 
 
 “ She is washing, washing, washing, 
 
 You can’t see her now.” 
 
 The row again advance and retreat (this they 
 do all through the game) :— 
 
 “ ‘ I’ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, 
 
 How does she do ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ She is scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing, 
 
 You can’t see her now.’ 
 
 “ ‘ I’ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, 
 
 How does she do ? ’ 
 
 ‘“She is ill.’ 
 
 412 
 
Plate Vil. 
 
 Fig. i. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 “Jenny Jones”; from photographs. 
 
 [To face page 412. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 4 i 3 
 
 “ ‘ I We come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, 
 
 How does she do ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ She’s very ill.’ 
 
 “ £ I’ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, 
 
 How does she do ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ She’s dead.’ ” 
 
 The “ mother ” says this in a mournful voice, and 
 at the same time ‘‘Jenny” lies on the ground. 
 (Plate VII., Fig. 2.) 
 
 The row again advance as before :— 
 
 “ Come in blue, blue, blue, 
 
 Will that suit ? ” 
 
 The “mother” replies :—■ 
 
 “ ‘ Blue is for sailors, sailors, sailors, 
 
 That won’t suit.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Come in red, red, red, 
 
 Will that suit?’ 
 
 “ ‘ Red is for soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, 
 
 That won’t suit.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Come in white, white, white, 
 
 Will that suit ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ White is for weddings, weddings, weddings, 
 That won’t suit.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Come in black, black, black, 
 
 Will that suit ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ Black is for mourning, mourning, mourning, 
 That will suit.’ ” 
 
4 T 4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Two of the girls come forward, take up “Jenny” 
 and convey her a short distance off (Plate VIII., 
 Fig. i), the “mother” and other children following 
 crying, with handkerchiefs up to their eyes. “Jenny” 
 is then placed at full length on the ground as if in 
 a grave; all the children stand round crying; the 
 girl who stands over the grave picks up a handful of 
 earth and sprinkles it over the dead “Jenny” (Plate 
 VIII., Fig. 2), saying— 
 
 “ Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, 
 
 If God won’t have you the Devil must.” 
 
 “ Jenny Jones ” then jumps up and runs after the other 
 children, who flee before her. The one she catches 
 is the Jenny Jones of the next game. 
 
 At Auchencairn in Kirkcudbrightshire, I collected 
 the following version :— 
 
 GEORGINA. 
 
 First side. “ ‘ I’ve come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina, 
 
 I’ve come to see Georgina, how’s she to-day?’ 
 
 Second side. ‘ She’s up-stairs washing, washing, washing, 
 
 She’s up-stairs washing and can’t get away.’ 
 
 First side. ‘ Oh ! very well ladies, ladies, ladies, 
 
 We’ll come another day.’ 
 
 First side. “ ‘We've come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina, 
 We’ve come to see Georgina, how’s she to-day?’ 
 Second side. ‘ She’s up-stairs ironing, ironing, ironing, 
 
 She’s up-stairs ironing and can’t get away.’ 
 
 First side. ‘ Oh ! very well ladies, ladies, ladies, 
 
 We ’ll come another day.’ 
 
Plate VIII, 
 
 Fig. i. 
 
 Fig, 2. 
 
 “Jenny Jones”; from photographs. 
 
 [To face page 414. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 4 i 5 
 
 First side. “ ‘ We’ve come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina, 
 We’ve come to see Georgina, how’s she to-day?’ 
 Second side. ‘ She was coming down-stairs with a basin of water 
 
 And she fell down and broke her toe, and she’s 
 dead.’ 
 
 First side. “ ‘And what shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in ? 
 
 And what shall we dress her in, dress her in—red? ’ 
 Second side. ‘ Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, 
 
 Red for the soldiers, and that shan’t do.’ 
 
 First side. “ ‘ What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in ? 
 
 What shall we dress her in, dress her in—blue ?’ 
 Second side. ‘ Blue for the sailors, sailors, sailors, 
 
 Blue for the sailors, and that shan’t do.’ 
 
 First side. “ ‘ What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in ? 
 
 What shall we dress her in, dress her in—black ? ’ 
 Second side. 1 Black for the mourners, mourners, mourners,’ 
 
 Black for the mourners, and that shan’t do.’ 
 
 First side. “ ‘ What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in ? 
 
 What shall we dress her in, dress her in—white ? ’ 
 Second side. ‘ White for the dead people, dead people, dead 
 
 people, 
 
 White for the dead people, and that will do.’ ” 
 
 My friend Miss Patterson collected the following- 
 version at Holy wood, co. Down. # Here “Jenny ” sits 
 up on her “ mother’s ” knee, and is not hidden as in 
 most of the versions. 
 
 “ ‘ I came to see Jeannie jo, Jeannie jo, Jeannie jo, 
 
 I came to see Jeannie jo, is she within?’ 
 
 ‘“Jeannie jo’s washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes, 
 Jeannie jo’s washing clothes, and ye can’t see her to-day.’ 
 
 * Clara M. Patterson, “ A Few Children’s Games,” Proc. Belfast 
 Nat. Field Club (2), iv., 1893-94, p. 50. 
 
416 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ ‘ Oh, but I’m sorry, I’m sorry, 
 
 Oh, but I ’m sorry I can’t see her to-day.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Farewell ladies, 0 ladies, 0 ladies, 
 
 Farewell ladies, and gentlemen, too.’ ” 
 
 Then the same verses are repeated for— 
 
 Starching clothes, 
 smoothing clothes, 
 dead, 
 
 including the two final couplets. The verses then 
 proceed with— 
 
 “ ‘What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? 
 
 What shall we dress her in ? Shall it be black? ’ 
 
 “ ‘Black for the sweeps, the sweeps, the sweeps, 
 
 Black for the sweeps, and that shall not do.’ 
 
 “ ‘ What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? 
 
 What shall we dress her in? Shall it be blue?’ 
 
 “ ‘ Blue for the sailors, sailors, sailors, 
 
 Blue for the sailors, and that shall not do.’ 
 
 “ ‘ What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? 
 
 What shall we dress her in? Shall it be red? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ Red for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, 
 
 Red for the soldiers, and that shall not do.’ 
 
 “ ‘What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? 
 
 What shall we dress her in? Shall it be orange? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ Orange for the Orange-men, Orange-men, Orange-men, 
 Orange for the Orange-men, and that shall not do.’ 
 
 “ ‘ What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? 
 
 What shall we dress her in? Shall it be white? ’ 
 
 “ ‘ White for the corpse, the corpse, the corpse, 
 
 White for the corpse, and that will just do.’ ” 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 417 
 
 They then make a funeral procession, the two 
 biggest making a seat with their hands for ‘‘Jenny” 
 and carrying her, followed by the rest in pairs, 
 singing: 
 
 “ We have lost a soldier, soldier, soldier, 
 
 We have lost a soldier, and the Queen has lost a man. 
 
 We will bury him in the bed of glory, glory, glory, 
 
 We will bury him in the bed of glory, and we’ll never see him 
 any more.” 
 
 These three examples from England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland must suffice; it would have been easy to print 
 a large number of versions. There are two chief 
 ways in which the game is played, but most of them 
 follow the procedure narrated above, usually with 
 minor variations. The “mother” usually holds out 
 her skirts with both hands so as to hide “Jenny” 
 more completely. When “Jenny” is dead she is 
 sometimes covered up. The resuscitation of “Jenny ” 
 is widely spread. At Liphook, in Hampshire, she is 
 “swung to life again” by two of the players. In the 
 Southampton version she is called “ The Ghost ” ; the 
 children run away in affected terror, calling out “ The 
 Ghost! ” 
 
 The second form of playing the game occurs in 
 Shropshire. The players are divided into two sides 
 of about equal numbers, each side advancing and 
 retiring in line when singing their parts. “Jenny” in 
 some cases walks with the girls in her line until 
 
 2 E 
 
418 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 the funeral, when she is carried to the grave, and 
 in others she stands alone behind the line. 
 
 The differences in the words of the various versions 
 are comparatively slight. The domestic occupations 
 of washing, drying, folding, starching and ironing 
 occur more or less in all the variants, except in the 
 most degraded forms; brewing and baking are re¬ 
 corded only in one case. The sequence of “ill,” 
 “very ill,” “dying” and “dead” may also be abbre¬ 
 viated. 
 
 The choosing of colours is an important element 
 alike for the living and the dead. In some versions 
 the mourners ask what colour they are to wear when 
 they attend the funeral; red, blue, white, and black 
 are nearly always mentioned, but interesting additions 
 may be made. One version asks “ Pink ? ” with the 
 reply— 
 
 “ Pink is for the babies, babies, babies, 
 
 Pink is for the babies, and that won’t do.” 
 
 In Irish versions we have local colour added. 
 In the North, in reply to the question, “Shall it be 
 orange ? ” the mourners are told— 
 
 “ Orange for the Orange-men,” &c. 
 
 One version adds :— 
 
 “ Shall we come in green ? ” 
 
 “ Green is for the good people, good people, good people, 
 Green is for the good people. You can’t come in that.” 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 419 
 
 Calling the fairies “good people,” or “wee-folk,” 
 or similar names, is a common practice in Ireland, 
 since these little people individually or collectively 
 do not like to be called by their own name. Of this 
 there are many instances in fairy-lore, but this is 
 by no means confined to fairy-folk. On my first 
 landing on Inishmaan, the central of the three Aran 
 Islands in Galway Bay, I saw a group of two men 
 and two women sitting on the beach. They allowed 
 me to take their photographs, # but when I asked 
 the women to tell me their names so that I might 
 post prints to them, they refused. The women never 
 received their photographs, for to this day I do not 
 know who they were. About an hour afterwards 
 I was measuring some of the men of the island, and 
 I asked a young man who was standing by to let 
 me measure him, and I asked him his name. He 
 would not tell it, but a bystander told it to me. 
 
 This circumstance reminded me that four years 
 before that I had asked a precisely similar question 
 of a Papuan in one of the islands of Torres Straits, 
 who had exhibited the same disinclination to tell his 
 name; further illustrations of this superstition could 
 be multiplied indefinitely. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the folk credit the 
 same repugnance to being called by their own names 
 to other living things ; for example, a fisherman told 
 * Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. ( 3 ), ii., pi. xxiii. fig. 7 . 
 
420 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 me that in Aberdeen the salmon is called “ the 
 red fish,” and in Sunderland the pig is known by 
 fisherfolk as “the queer fellow,” it bringing bad luck 
 for them to be called by their proper designations, 
 since in the case of the salmon the fish would not 
 allow themselves to be caught. 
 
 The meaning of it is simple. It is a very wide¬ 
 spread belief among primitive peoples—indeed it is 
 universal—that one can gain power over a person by 
 possessing some of his hair, nail-parings, spittle, or 
 whatever it may be. The same property extends 
 to his belongings, and especially to a knowledge of 
 his name ; how unlikely would such a person be to 
 voluntarily give his name to a stranger. 
 
 To come back to “Jenny jo,” the final answer to 
 the mourners is that they must come in black, but 
 when the question is asked as to what the dead 
 maiden must be dressed in, the reply is invariably 
 white, in consonance with the custom of very ancient 
 days. The dressing of the dead body of a maiden 
 in white by her girl companions, and the carrying 
 of the body by them to the grave, are common village 
 customs, the whole village being invited to the funeral. 
 
 As Newell says # :— 
 
 “ Such imitations of burial ceremonies are not merely 
 imaginative. It was once the custom for the girls of a 
 village to take an active part in the interment of one of their 
 
 * Games and Songs of American Children , 1884, p. 65. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 421 
 
 number. In a Flemish town, a generation since, when a 
 young girl died, her body was carried to the church, thence 
 to the cemetery, by her former companions. The religious 
 ceremony over, and the coffin deposited in the earth, all the 
 young girls, holding in one hand the mortuary cloth, returned 
 to the church, chanting the Maiden's Dance with a spirit and 
 rhythm scarcely conceivable by one who has not heard it. 
 The pall which they carried to the church was of sky-blue 
 silk, having in the middle a great cross of white silk, on 
 which were set three crowns of silver.” 
 
 The following is a rendering of the Maidens 
 Dance :— 
 
 “ In heaven is a dance; 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 There dance all the maids ; 
 
 Benedicamus Domino— 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 “It is for Amelia; 
 
 Alleluia ! 
 
 We dance like the maids ; 
 
 Benedicamus Domino— 
 
 Alleluia! ” * 
 
 The common English name of the game is “Jenny 
 Jones,” but it is sometimes called “Jenny jo,” as it 
 is also in Scotland and North-east Ireland ; the latter 
 may safely be regarded as the original form. Mrs. 
 Gomme says: “The corruption of this into ‘Jenny 
 Jones’ is exactly what might be expected from modern 
 English ignorance of the pretty meaning of the word 
 jo, ‘dear,’ and to what length this corruption may 
 * Bernoni, Cant. Pop. Venez ., xi. 2, “ Rosetina.” 
 
422 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 proceed under such influences may be seen by such 
 forms as ‘Jingy Jog,’ ‘Jilly Jog,’ and ‘Georgina.’” 
 
 Mrs. Gomme is inclined to believe that the game that 
 is played by two lines of children is the older version, 
 and suggests that this represents “ the wooing by 
 a band of suitors of girls surrounded by their fellow- 
 villagers ”—a custom which became obsolete in favour 
 of ordinary marriage custom. The dropping out of 
 this custom would cause the game to change from 
 a representation of both wooing and burial to one 
 of burial only. As burials only, the mother and one 
 line of children action is sufficient, but the presence 
 of a wooing incident in the earlier form of the game 
 is plainly revealed by the verse which sings, “ Fare 
 ye well, ladies,” or, as it has become in the English 
 variant, “Very well, ladies.” 
 
 The English versions are usually suggestive of a 
 troop of village maidens who call on a companion, but 
 they are refused admittance, as the daily tasks have to 
 be performed. On the death of their little friend 
 they return to discuss the important question of how 
 they and the corpse are to be dressed, and finally 
 they perform their allotted duty as pall-bearers and 
 mourners. 
 
 In some of the Scottish versions the opening inci¬ 
 dent is that of a lover coming to court his sweetheart. 
 He is repeatedly prevented from seeing her, owing to 
 the fact that her mother keeps her close to her every- 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 423 
 
 day domestic duties; later the constant swain is 
 denied for a more serious reason, and finally, instead 
 of his blushing love, he finds a cold corpse. This 
 popular game is in reality a pathetic drama. 
 
 There are other funeral games among our children, 
 as, for example, the widely-spread “ Green Gravel.” 
 
 Round Cambridge the village children join hands, 
 form a ring, and walk round, singing— 
 
 “ Green gravel, green gravel, your grass is so green, 
 
 The fairest young damsel that ever was seen. 
 
 - - Your true love is dead, 
 
 He sends you a letter to turn round your head.” 
 
 On mentioning one of the players by her Christian 
 and surname, the girl turns right round, so that she 
 now faces outwards. On the repetition of the verse 
 the girl next to her is mentioned, and so on, in 
 regular order, until all the girls face outwards, when 
 the game is finished. 
 
 An Irish version runs* :— 
 
 “ Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green, 
 
 The prettiest damsel that ever was seen; 
 
 I washed her with new milk and dressed her in silk, 
 
 And I wrote down her name with a brass pen and ink. 
 Dear —, dear —, your true love is dead, 
 
 And I send you a letter to turn round your head.” 
 
 A Belfast version has for the middle lines— 
 
 “We washed her, we dried her, we rolled her in silk, 
 
 And we wrote down her name with a glass pen and ink.” 
 
 * Clara M. Patterson, Proc. Belfast Nat. Field Club , 1893-94, p. 51. 
 
424 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 As in all the rhymes of these singing games there 
 are variations to the words, but in this case the 
 variants are usually of but very minor importance. The 
 writing of the name with a pen and ink is doubtless 
 quite a modern addition ; it is usually “a gold pen.” 
 
 In some cases the rhyme is mixed up with frag¬ 
 ments of courting games. Mrs. Gomme says : “The 
 additional ceremony of marriage in four of the games 
 is clearly an interpolation, which may have arisen 
 from the custom of playing love and marriage games 
 at funerals and during the watching of the.corpse, or 
 may be a mere transition to the more pleasant task 
 of love-making as the basis of a game. . . The decay 
 that has set in is apparent by the evident attempt to 
 alter from “green gravel” to “green grover” and 
 “yellow gravel,” and to introduce pen and black ink. 
 The addition of incongruous elements from other 
 games is a frequent occurrence in modern games, and 
 is the natural result of decadence in the oriQ'inal form 
 of the game. Altogether this game-rhyme affords 
 a very good example of the condition of traditional 
 games among the present generation of children.” 
 
 I hose who would like to make acquaintance with 
 the airs to which the words are sung, or who are 
 interested in the various modifications, or who wish 
 to study Mrs. Gomme’s analysis of the game, are 
 referred to the original monograph, from which I 
 have so freely borrowed. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 425 
 
 Mrs. Gomme points out that green gravel and 
 green grass indicate the locality of the scene. 
 “Green,” as applied to gravel, probably means 
 freshly-disturbed soil, just as a green grave means 
 a freshly-made grave. The tenant of the new grave 
 is the well-loved lady of a disconsolate lover. 
 
 The washing and dressing of the corpse, and 
 putting an inscription on the place where it is laid, 
 are indicated by the third and fourth lines. The 
 widely-spread incidents of washing a corpse in milk 
 and dressing it in silk occur in the ballad of “ Burd 
 Ellen”*:— 
 
 “ Tak up, tak up my bonny young son, 
 
 Gar wash him wi’ the milk ; 
 
 Tak up, tak up my fair lady, 
 
 Gar row her in the silk.” 
 
 The final couplet of “Green Gravel” is a funeral 
 dirge, a singing to the dead. In some versions a 
 touching wail is added :— 
 
 “ Oh, mother ! oh, mother ! do you think it is true ? ” 
 
 “ Oh, yes, child ! oh, yes, child ! ” 
 
 “ Then what shall I do ? ” 
 
 The possibility of communion with the dead, which 
 is indicated by the line, “He sent you a letter to turn 
 round your head,” is not inconsistent with primitive 
 thought. To these simple souls the spirits of the 
 dead are very real beings, and as Gomme has 
 
 * Jamieson, Ballads , p. 125. 
 
426 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 demonstrated in his Ethnology in Folk-lore , we have 
 two strata of belief in this country ; the lower, pre- 
 Aryan, belief, which is similar in its general characters 
 to that which is of almost universal occurrence, is 
 based on the idea that the spirits of the dead are 
 inimical to the living. Associated with this are 
 numerous customs, such as the curious practice in 
 Scotland of turning upside down all the chairs in the 
 room from which the corpse has just been taken;* 
 or in England of unhinging the gate and placing it 
 across the entrance, and of carrying the corpse to 
 the grave by a roundabout way.t There is also the 
 practice in Scotland of keeping up a dance all night 
 after a funeral, J which by the analogous practice 
 among the Nagas, a non-Aryan tribe of Southern 
 India, must be attributed to the desire to get rid of 
 the spirit of the deceased.§ In the west of Kerry, 
 in Ireland, a broad line is whitewashed round the 
 windows and door of a house in which there has 
 been a death, so that the spirit may not return. 
 
 The later stratum is the Aryan worship of deceased 
 ancestors, and this cult of the dead based on the 
 love of dead kindred, is found generally prevalent 
 over the country, whereas the above mentioned cult, 
 
 * Folk-lore Record , ii., p. 214. 
 
 + Frazer, in Journ. Anth. Inst., xv., p. 72. 
 
 + Napier, Folk-lore of West of Scotland , p. 66 ; Folk-lore Journal, 
 iii., p. 281. Pococke’s Tour through Scotland , 1760, p. 88. 
 
 § Owen’s Notes on the Naga Tribes , p. 23. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 427 
 
 which is based on the fear of dead kindred, is found 
 only in isolated patches of the country.* In the 
 present instance the relations between the dead and 
 the living are of a friendly nature, but in the last 
 game we noticed that in several versions the “ghost” 
 of the deceased Jenny chased the frightened mourners. 
 
 In confirmation of this being a representation of 
 an old funeral ceremony, it may be pointed out that 
 the action of turning backwards during the singing 
 of the dirge is also represented in the curious funeral 
 ceremony called “ Dish-a-loof,” which is thus de¬ 
 scribed by Henderson: “ All the attendants going 
 out of the room, return into it backwards, repeating 
 this rhyme of ‘saining.’”* 
 
 I cannot now enter into a discussion of this 
 ceremony and the chant in question; suffice it to 
 say that “Dish-a-loof” is also found in children’s 
 games. 
 
 In several versions of these funeral games, love- 
 making is added, and it is difficult to determine 
 whether this is a degenerate feature which has 
 crept into the game, for we often find a mixture 
 taking place in these games, or whether it was an 
 original element that has been sporadically retained. 
 
 Festivity at a funeral may seem out of place to 
 us, but one must remember that different men have 
 
 * G. L. Gomme, Ethnology in Folk-lore , 1892, p. 125. 
 
 + Folk-lore of the Northern Comities, p. 53. 
 
428 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 different manners, and what may appear incongruous 
 to some people passes unnoticed among others. 
 
 The mixture that appears in some of the singing 
 games of children of mourning and courting, of death 
 and marriage, of solemnity and frivolity, is not due to 
 lack of sensibility on the part of the children ; it is no 
 sign of a natural depravity, but it is probably in many 
 cases merely a survival. Children must play the old 
 games and repeat the old rhymes, and they do so as 
 faithfully as they can. Conscious departure from 
 custom is often regarded as a kind of moral delin¬ 
 quency, it is, in fact, a species of sacrilege. This 
 conservatism of children and of the folk is the sheet- 
 anchor of folk-lore. 
 
 We have only to cross the Irish Sea to find that the 
 English children are not singular in this association of 
 comedy with tragedy. 
 
 Croker # says:— 
 
 “The wake of a corpse is a scene of merriment rather 
 than of mourning. ... In the evening a general assembly of 
 the neighbours takes place, when they are entertained with 
 whiskey, tobacco, and snuff. On these occasions songs are 
 sung and stories related, while the younger part of the 
 company beguile the time with various games and sports, 
 such as blind man’s buff or hunt the slipper. Dancing, or 
 rather running in a ring round an individual, who performs 
 various evolutions, is also a common amusement; and four 
 
 * T. Crofton Croker, Researches in the South of Ireland , 1824, 
 p. 170. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 429 
 
 or five young men will sometimes, for the diversion of the 
 party, blacken their faces and go through a regular series of 
 gestures with sticks, not unlike those of the English morris 
 dancers. Amongst the games played at wakes are two which 
 I have never observed out of Ireland, and from their being so 
 universal with the peasantry, they are probably of consider¬ 
 able antiquity. One of these is called ‘The Walls of Troy, 
 and the other ‘ Short Castle.’ ” 
 
 The former game is a very old English game, 
 which is generally known as “Nine Men’s Morris.”' ,< ' 
 
 Lady Wilde \ gives a somewhat similar account of 
 “Wake Games.” She refers to “Shuffle the Brogue” 
 (“ Hunt the Slipper”), “The Horse Fair,” and “The 
 Mock Marriage.” Lady Wilde says that nothing 
 irreverent is meant, for it is considered that whatever 
 keeps up the spirits at a wake is allowable, and harm¬ 
 less in the sight of God. In towns the fun often de¬ 
 generates into licence and drinking, and many games 
 have been therefore forbidden by the priesthood, 
 particularly the one called “ 1 he Mock Marriage,’ 
 which often gave occasion for much scandal, and 
 tumult and fighting amongst the young men ; whereas, 
 in the country wake, it would be deemed a disgrace 
 for a man to create a disturbance or even to lose his 
 temper, and the women and young girls were treated 
 with the utmost respect. 
 
 * A. B. Gomme, Traditional Games , p. 414; the diagram on p. 418 is 
 the same as that given by Croker on p. 171. 
 
 t Ancient Cures , Charms , and Usages of Ireland, 1890, p. 129. 
 
43 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “Wake ceremonies are still held in the Irish cabins, where 
 the men drink and smoke, and tell ancient stories, though 
 the highly dramatic games of former times have almost 
 entirely died out, ‘ for,’ as the peasant narrator added, when 
 concluding his account of the scenes he had witnessed in his 
 early youth, ‘there is no mirth or laughter to be heard any 
 more in the country, the spirit has gone from our people, and 
 all the old fun is frozen, and the music is dumb in poor 
 Ireland now.’” 
 
 We know that in the prehistoric times in Ireland 
 famous inter-tribal games were held near some of 
 the great tumuli of departed heroes or kings, similar 
 to the funeral games of Patroclus that Homer has im¬ 
 mortalised. 
 
 It is a question for future research whether some of 
 our games may not have had this origin and have 
 subsequently been divorced from the funeral festival. 
 If this can be shown to have been the case, then it is 
 probable that certain of these games will be found to 
 have had a magical or a symbolic significance which 
 is at present entirely unsuspected. 
 
 One version of “Jinny Jo ” ends with— 
 
 “ Poor Jinny Jo is dead and gone, dead and gone, dead and gone, 
 
 Poor Jinny Jo is dead and gone, all the day long. 
 
 We’ve come to wake Jinny Jo, Jinny Jo, Jinny Jo ; 
 
 We’ve come to wake Jinny Jo, all the day long. 
 
 Jinny Jo has candles round her head,” &c. * 
 
 * “The Wares of Autolycus,” Pall Mall Gazette , Jan. 18th, 1897, 
 p. 10. 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 43i 
 
 The wake and candles are probably an Irish 
 innovation ; at all events, an old Irish nurse remem¬ 
 bered only the following fragment of “ Jenny Jo ” : — 
 
 “Jenny jo’s dead and gone, dead and gone, dead and gone, 
 Jenny jo’s dead and gone, all the day long. 
 
 Pipes and tobacco for Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, 
 
 Pipes and tobacco for Jenny jo, all the day long. 
 
 Miss M. Hayden, who gave me this and several 
 other Irish games, writes: “The ‘pipes and tobacco’ 
 seem rather odd.” 
 
 There are two explanations : the obvious one is 
 that the tobacco is for the wake. We have seen that 
 Croker refers to this custom, and Lady Wilde says : 
 “There is always a plateful of tobacco and another 
 of snuff placed on a table by the side of the corpse, 
 and each man as he enters is expected to fill his pipe 
 and pray in silence for a few moments.” # 
 
 The rhyme says that the pipes and tobacco are for 
 Jenny jo, that is, for the deceased person. Last year 
 my friend Mr. R. Welch, the well-known landscape 
 photographer of Belfast, took some photographs of 
 an old graveyard at Salruck, Little Killary, West 
 Galway, on some graves of which were deposited 
 a large number of pipes, some quite new and still 
 with the shavings with which they were packed in 
 the bowl, others filled with tobacco. Were these 
 offerings to the spirits of the deceased ? An Irish 
 
 * l.c., p. 134- 
 
43 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 journal indignantly denied that this occurred, and 
 accused Mr. Welch of himself putting the pipes 
 there in order to produce a photograph that would 
 appeal to the English tourist. Mr. Welch, however, 
 was vindicated, and we may charitably assume that 
 the writer was ignorant that this custom was fairly 
 common in Mayo and North Galway. I mention 
 this circumstance, as facts which appear to tell 
 against the intelligence of a sensitive people may be 
 publicly denied, though they occur all the same. 
 
 The distribution of tobacco and pipes is stated to 
 be an act of hospitality to those who attend the 
 funeral on the part of the deceased’s relatives, who 
 could not entertain such a large number in an 
 ordinary way at home. The idea current among the 
 people who smoke the pipes in the graveyard at 
 the funeral is, that it is unlucky to take them away. 
 Why unlucky, if not the survival of a custom older 
 than pipes in Ireland? 
 
 The custom of leaving some of the belongings of 
 the deceased person, or of placing offerings, sometimes 
 of food only, at the grave, is so widely spread among 
 backward peoples that it is superfluous to multiply 
 examples ; I will give merely a single instance that 
 came under my own observation at Cape York in 
 North Queensland. On the grave of a native was 
 the stretcher that had carried him to his last resting 
 place, at the head and foot of the grave were two 
 
FUNERAL GAMES 
 
 433 
 
 posts, on to the top of the latter was tied a hand¬ 
 kerchief, and on to the top of the former a second 
 handkerchief and the pipe of the deceased, and close 
 by was his tin “billy.” It was very pathetic to see 
 the belongings of the poor man put by his side ready 
 for the use of his spirit, or perhaps it was the spirits 
 of the objects which were for the use of the spirit of 
 the man. 
 
 And now I must close—not because I have ex¬ 
 hausted the subject—indeed, I have touched on only 
 a few of the problems that the toys and games of 
 children suggest—but because I have come to an end 
 of my space. We are now discovering the fact that 
 if only we have the understanding, we can learn much 
 of the past history of man from a study of our 
 children. Two thousand years ago, as in our own 
 days, might be seen “children sitting in the market 
 places, which call unto their fellows, and say—‘ We 
 piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, 
 and ye did not mourn.’ ” This lament might well 
 have been made to their elders—but at last we are 
 beginning to heed their piping and their wailing. 
 
 2 F 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING 
 E THNO GRAPHICAL LNVESTIGA TIONS 
 LN THE BRITLSH LSLANDS. 
 
 A N influential committee was appointed by the 
 British Association in 1892 to conduct an Eth¬ 
 nographical Survey of the United Kingdom:— 
 
 “COPY OF FIRST CIRCULAR. 
 
 “ Sir,—T he above-named Committee, in pursuance of the 
 object for which they have been delegated by the Society of 
 Antiquaries of London, the Folk-lore Society, the Dialect 
 Society, and the Anthropological Institute, and appointed 
 by the British Association, propose to record for certain 
 typical villages and the neighbouring districts :— 
 
 “(1) Physical types of the inhabitants. 
 
 (2) Current traditions and beliefs. 
 
 (3) Peculiarities of dialect. 
 
 (4) Monuments and other remains of ancient culture ; 
 and 
 
 (5) Historical evidence as to the continuity of race. 
 
 “ As a first step the Committee desire to form a list 
 of such villages in the United Kingdom as appear especially 
 to deserve ethnographic study, out of which a selection 
 
 434 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 
 
 435 
 
 might afterwards be made for the survey. The villages 
 or districts suitable for entry on the list are such as contain 
 not less than a hundred adults, the large majority of whose 
 forefathers have lived there so far back as can be traced, and 
 of whom the desired physical measurements, with photo¬ 
 graphs, might be obtained. 
 
 “ It is believed by the Committee that such villages may 
 exist in the districts with which you are acquainted, and 
 as you are eminently capable of affording help in this 
 preliminary search, we have to request that you will do so by 
 kindly furnishing the names of any that may occur to you, 
 with a brief account of their several characteristics, mention¬ 
 ing at the same time the addresses of such of their residents 
 as would be likely to support the Committee in pursuing 
 their inquiry. 
 
 “ They would also be glad to be favoured with the names 
 of any persons known to you in other districts to whom this 
 circular letter might with propriety be addressed.” 
 
 In January, 1894, another circular was issued from 
 which the following is extracted 
 
 “ They are sure you will excuse their urging what may at 
 first sight appear to be trivial details, but which are in reality 
 of great practical importance to those who have to arrange 
 and consult a large collection of communications from 
 different persons. These are, that the communications 
 should all be written on foolscap paper, and that the 
 writing should be on one side only of the page, and should 
 never run so near the margin as to be an obstacle to future 
 binding. 
 
 “ The Committee are satisfied that the value of the returns 
 will be much reduced if they do not give information under 
 all the several heads. If it should happen, therefore, that 
 
43 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 your own pursuits or means of information do not enable 
 you to fill up the whole of the forms desired, they would 
 take it as a particular favour if you could induce friends 
 to supply the missing details, and thus to render the 
 information complete. 
 
 “ The Committee, in addressing you individually, wish 
 to disclaim any idea of interfering with the action of local 
 societies, from many of which, on the contrary, they have 
 reason to expect very valuable assistance. If it should suit 
 your convenience to present to your local society an even 
 fuller account of your observations than may be necessary 
 to comply with the requirements of this Committee, such a 
 course would be highly desirable, and it is hoped that the 
 local societies will, on the other hand, give to the observers 
 in their several districts all the encouragement and moral 
 assistance that may be found practicable. 
 
 “ All communications should be addressed to ‘ The 
 Secretary of the Ethnographic Survey, British 
 Association, Burlington House, London, W.’” 
 
 The work done by this Committee will be found 
 in the Reports of the Association, but as yet no 
 systematic survey of the British Islands has been 
 attempted. The Ethnographical Survey of Ireland 
 has been undertaken by a Dublin committee, which 
 is supported by the Royal Irish Academy, and four 
 comprehensive reports* have been published by that 
 
 * “The Ethnography of the Aran Islands, County Galway,” by Prof. 
 A. C. Haddon and Dr. C. R, Browne, Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. (3rd 
 ser.), ii., 1893, pp. 768-830, pis. xxii.-xxiv. ; “ The Ethnography of Inish- 
 bofin and Inishshark, County Galway,” by Dr. C. R. Browne, l.c., iii., 
 1894, pp. 317-370, pis, viii., ix.; “The Ethnography of the Mullet, Inishkea 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 437 
 
 body. These reports are drawn up on the following 
 lines :— 
 
 I. Physiography of the district investigated. II. An¬ 
 thropography. — i. Methods; 2. Physical characters 
 with lists of measurements ; 3. Vital Statistics (gene¬ 
 ral and economic), (a) Population, (b) Acreage and 
 Rental, (c) Language and Education, (d) Health ; 
 4. Psychology; 5. Folk names. III. Sociology. — 
 1. Occupations; 2. Family Life and Customs; 3. 
 Food; 4. Clothing; 5. Dwellings; 6. Transport. 
 IV. Folk-lore. —1. Customs and Beliefs; 2. Legends 
 and Traditions; 3. Leechcraft. V. Archaeology. — 
 1. Survivals. 2. Antiquities. VI. History. VII. 
 Ethnology. VIII. Bibliography. 
 
 It will be evident that this is a somewhat ambitious 
 programme, and although in many instances the in¬ 
 formation given on a particular subject is meagre, 
 owing to the very limited time available for work in 
 the field, it was considered best to keep to the general 
 scheme in order to emphasize the fact that in all in¬ 
 vestigations of this kind the widest possible outlook 
 must be maintained. 
 
 Islands and Portacloy, County Mayo,” by Dr. C. R. BROWNE, l.c., iii., 
 1895, pp. 587-649, pis. xv.-xvii. ; “The Ethnography of Ballycroy, 
 County Mayo,” by Dr. C. R. BROWNE, l.c., iv., 1897, pp. 7 \-m, pis. 
 iii., iv.; “The Ethnography of Clare Island and Inishturk, County 
 Mayo,” by Dr. C. R. Browne, l.c., iv., 1898. 
 
43 8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 I.—INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING CERTAIN 
 SOMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 i. Hair and Eye Colours. 
 
 I have already (pp. 30-34) given an account of Dr. 
 Beddoe’s methods of recording the colours of the hair 
 and eyes ; it only remains to add a few practical hints 
 which I also cull from The Races of Britain , p. 4 :— 
 
 “ When unable to decide in which of two columns (e.g. 
 B or D) an individual ought to be inscribed, I divide him 
 between the two, by a Solomonian judgment, and set down 
 I, or ‘5, in each of them. 
 
 “ When engaged in this work, I set down in his proper place 
 on my card of observation every person (with the exceptions 
 to be mentioned presently) whom I meet, or who passes me 
 within a short distance, say from one to three yards. As a 
 rule I take no note of persons who apparently belong to the 
 upper classes, as these are more migratory and more often 
 mixed in blood. I neglect those whom I suppose to be 
 under age—fixing the point roughly at 18 or 20 for men, 
 17 or 18 for women—as well as all those whose hair has 
 begun to grizzle. Thus I get a fairly uniform material to 
 work upon, though doubtless the hair of most people does 
 darken considerably between 20 and 40 or 50. In order to 
 preserve perfect fairness, I always examine first, out of any 
 group of persons, the one who is nearest, rather than the 
 one to whom my attention is most drawn. Certain colours 
 of the hair, such as red, certain shades of the eye, such as 
 light grey, can be discerned at a very considerable distance; 
 but I take no note of anyone who does not approach me so 
 nearly that I can recognize the more obscure colours. Much 
 allowance needs to be made for the varyi/ng effects of light. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 439 
 
 Direct sunlight is better avoided when possible; I always 
 choose the shady side of a street on a sunny day. Consider¬ 
 able difficulties are created by the freaks of fashion. I once 
 visited Friesland, in order to study the physical type of that 
 region. Conceive my disappointment when I found myself 
 surrounded by comely damsels and buxom matrons, not one 
 of whom suffered a single yellow hair to stray beyond her lace 
 cap or silver-gilt head-plate. When I began to work in 
 England dark hair was in fashion among women ; and light 
 and reddish hues were dulled with greasy unguents. In later 
 years fair hair has been more in vogue; and golden shades, 
 sometimes unknown to nature, are produced by art. Among 
 men, on the other hand, the close cropping of the head, 
 borrowed from the F rench, makes comparisons difficult. 
 Fortunately, most vagaries of this'kind are little prevalent in 
 the classes among whom I seek my material. 
 
 “ It may be objected that there is no security that many of 
 the persons observed may not be aliens to the place or neigh¬ 
 bourhood wherein they are encountered. Certainly , there is 
 no such security. But if a sufficient number of observations 
 be secured, and the upper and other notoriously migratory 
 classes (who are mostly easy of recognition) be excluded, 
 the probability is immense that the great majority of the 
 remainder have been born within a moderate radius of the 
 centre of observation; and the majority will determine 
 the position of the community in my chromatic scale.” 
 
 Personally I am rather inclined to think it would 
 be a good plan, when marking the “ niger” column, 
 to make a slightly different mark for those cases in 
 which the hair is known to be absolutely black, i.e. f 
 when it shows black under all conditions of light and 
 when quite dry. 
 
440 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Many opportunities present themselves for collect¬ 
 ing- these statistics, such as market-days, village flower 
 shows, local festivals and sports, the “hinds’ hirings” 
 of Northumberland, i.e>, those days when the farm 
 labourers of both sexes come into the towns to hire out 
 themselves for the following year. When groups are 
 being photographed, or individuals measured, a small 
 crowd generally collects, and one of the party can be 
 told off to unobtrusively make notes of the colours of 
 the eyes and hair of onlookers. 
 
 The markings on the cards should always consist of 
 short, firm strokes (dots are less satisfactory); it is 
 best never to put numbers. Each group of cards 
 should be kept in labelled envelopes. A little method 
 and system is a great saving of time in the end, and 
 the results are more likely to be trustworthy if system 
 is made into habit. 
 
 The following table is an example of one way in 
 which the results can be tabulated ; a similar table 
 should be made for Females, Boys and Girls. These 
 can be combined in various ways afterwards. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 441 
 
 ADULTS.—MALES* 
 
 Hair. 
 
 Eyes. 
 
 Totals. 
 
 Percentage 
 
 of 
 
 Light. 
 
 Medium. 
 
 Dark. 
 
 
 Hair Colours. 
 
 Red . 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 _ 
 
 5 
 
 3‘73 
 
 Fair 
 
 8 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 8 
 
 5 T 7 
 
 Brown . 
 
 80 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 85 
 
 63-43 
 
 Dark 
 
 2 7 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 34 
 
 25-37 
 
 Black . 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 i’ 5 ° 
 
 Totals . 
 
 ir 9 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 134 
 
 ioo-oo 
 
 Percentage of Eye 
 Colours 
 
 88-8o 
 
 8-21 
 
 2.99 
 
 100-00 
 
 
 Index of Nigrescence, 18-57. 
 
 It is occasionally a matter of local belief—or it may 
 come out in the observations—that the inhabitants of 
 one village, or of an island, are lighter or darker, as 
 the case may be, or vary in some other way from 
 the neighbouring locality. All such supposed or real 
 variations should be worked out on special tables. It 
 is well not to use the recording cards for more than 
 one occasion or for more than one village. 
 
 2. Anthropometry for British Ethnography. 
 
 I have kept the instructions for collecting the hair 
 and eye colours distinct from the other ethnographical 
 
 * A. C. Haddon and C. R. Browne, “The Ethnography of the Aran 
 Islands, County Galway” (Proceedings Royal Irish Academy [3], h., 1893, 
 P* 783 )- 
 
442 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 data, as these can so readily be made anywhere by 
 anybody, whereas the following data, for the most 
 part, require the employment of instruments and a 
 little preparatory training. 
 
 The schedule on pp. 444, 445 is that drawn up by 
 the Ethnographical Survey Committee of the British 
 Association. Copies of this, for field observation, can 
 be obtained from the Secretary of the Committee, 
 E. S. Hartland, Esq., Highgarth, Gloucester. 
 
 “ Directions for Measurement. 
 
 “ Instrument required for these measurements: — The 
 ‘Traveller’s Anthropometer,’ manufactured by Aston & 
 Mander, 61, Old Compton Street, London, W.C.; price, 
 £3 3 s • complete; without 2-metre steel measuring tape and 
 box footpiece, £2 icxr. With this instrument all the measure¬ 
 ments can be taken. In a permanent laboratory it will be found 
 convenient to have a fixed graduated standard for measuring 
 the height, or a scale affixed to a wall. For field work a 
 tape measure may be temporarily suspended to a rigid 
 vertical support, with the zero just touching the ground 
 or floor. A 2-metre tape, a pair of folding callipers, a 
 folding square, all of which are graduated in millimetres, 
 and a small set-square can be obtained from Aston & 
 Mander tor £1 6 s.; with this small equipment all the 
 necessary measurements can be taken. 
 
 “Height Standing .—The subject should stand perfectly 
 upright, with his back to the standand or fixed tape, and 
 his eyes directed horizontally forwards. Care should be 
 taken that the standard or support for the tape is vertical. 
 The stature may be measured by placing the person with 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 443 
 
 his back against a wall to which a metre scale has been 
 affixed. The height is determined by placing a carpenter’s 
 square or a large set-square against the support in such 
 a manner that the lower edge is at right angles to the scale; 
 the square should be placed well above the head, and then 
 brought down till its lower edge feels the resistance of 
 the top of the head. The observer should be careful that 
 the height is taken in the middle line of the head. If the 
 subject should object to take off his boots, measure the 
 thickness of the boot-heel, and deduct it from stature 
 indicated in boots. 
 
 “Height Sitting. —For this the subject should be seated on 
 a low stool or bench, having behind it a graduated rod 
 or tape with its zero level with the seat; he should sit 
 perfectly erect, with his back well in against the scale. Then 
 proceed as in measuring the height standing. The square 
 should be employed here also if the tape against a wall 
 is used. 
 
 '‘'‘Length of Cranium. —Measured with callipers from the 
 most prominent part of the projection between the eyebrows 
 (glabella) to the most distant point at the back of the head 
 in the middle line. Care should be taken to keep the end 
 of the callipers steady on the glabella by holding it there 
 with the fingers, while the other extremity is searching for 
 the maximum projection of the head behind. 
 
 “Breadth of Cranium. —The maximum breadth of head, 
 which is usually about the level of the top of the ears, is 
 measured at right angles to the length. Care must be taken 
 to hold the instrument so that both its points are exactly 
 on the same horizontal level. 
 
 “Face Length. —'This is measured from the slight furrow 
 which marks the root of the nose, and which is about the 
 level of a line drawn from the centre of the pupil of one 
 
Eyes : (i) blue ; (2) light grey; (3) dark grey; (4) green ; (5) light brown ; (6) dark brown. 
 
 Shape of Face : (1) long and narrow ; (2) medium ; (3) short and broad. 
 
 (a) cheek-bones inconspicuous ; ( 6 ) cheek-bones prominent. 
 
 Profile of Nose: Compare with outline figures at foot,* and give the number with which the nose under 
 examination most closely corresponds. 
 
 ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 
 
 445 
 
 .5 -S 
 
 ’3 r a 
 
 O rS 
 
 .sp a 
 
 ppm 
 
 
 ,5 
 
 Mu 
 
 In the original schedule the figures of the noses are inserted here—these are Nos. 1-5 of Fig. 9, p. 91. 
 
446 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 eye to that of the other, to the under part of the chin. 
 Should there be two furrows, as is often the case, measure 
 from between them.* 
 
 “ Upper Face Length. —From root of nose to the interval 
 between the two central front teeth at their roots. 
 
 “ Face Breadth. —Maximum breadth of face between the 
 bony projections in front of the ears. 
 
 “ Inter-ocular Breadth. —Width between the internal angles 
 of the eyes. While this is being measured the subject should 
 shut his eyes. 
 
 “Bigomal Breadth. —Breadth of face at the outer surface of 
 the angles of the lower jaw below the ears. 
 
 “Nose Length. —From the furrow at root of nose to the 
 angle between the nose and the upper lip in the middle 
 line.* 
 
 “Breadth of Nose .—Measured horizontally across the 
 nostrils at the widest part, but without compressing the 
 nostrils. 
 
 “Height of Head. —The head should be so held that the 
 eyes look straight forward to a point at the same level as 
 themselves, i.e., the plane of vision should be exactly 
 horizontal. The rod of the Anthropometer should be 
 held vertically in front of the face of the subject, and 
 the upper straight arm should be extended as far as possible 
 and placed along the middle line of the head ; the shorter 
 lower arm should be pushed up to the lower surface of 
 the chin. When measured with the square the depending 
 bar must be held vertically in front of the face (with the 
 assistance of the spirit-level or plumb-line), and the small 
 set-square passed up this arm from below in such a manner 
 that its horizontal upper edge will come into contact with the 
 
 * See special instructions for taking nasal measurements, pp. 457, 458. 
 
E THNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGA TIONS 44 7 
 
 lower contour of the chin. The distance between the lower 
 edge of the horizontal bar of the square and the upper edge 
 of the set-square can be read off, and this will be the 
 maximum height of the head. 
 
 “Height of Cranium .—The head being held in precisely the 
 same manner as in measuring the height of the head, the 
 instrument is rotated to the left side of the head, its upper 
 bar still resting on the crown and the recording arm (or 
 the set-square) is pointed to the centre of the line of attach¬ 
 ment of the small projecting cartilage in front of the 
 ear-hole.” 
 
 Note.—I t is essential that these rules should be strictly 
 followed in order to secure accuracy. All measurements 
 must be made in millimetres. If possible, the subject’s 
 weight should be obtained, and recorded in the place set 
 apart for remarks. The observer is recommended to procure 
 ‘ Notes and Queries on Anthropology,’ 2nd edition, from the 
 Anthropological Institute, 3, Hanover Square, London, W. 
 Net price, $s. 6d. 
 
 I have printed the schedule verbatim, with the 
 exception of the addition of the line relating to the 
 length of time the subject’s mother’s people have 
 resided in that particular district. 
 
 The vagueness of the question, “What district 
 do your father’s (or mother’s) people come from ? ” 
 is better for our purpose than any more precise 
 question would be, as it gives us just the information 
 we require. For example, if with specious exactitude 
 we asked a subject where he was born, and he replied 
 “ Cambridge,” then where his parents were born, it 
 
448 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 might be “Cambridge” for both; whereas his grand¬ 
 parents, on both sides, might have been North-country 
 folk, and their forbears for many generations back. 
 Now mere residence in Cambridge for two generations 
 would not alter a Northumberland and Durham 
 ancestry, provided, as we assume in this case, that 
 no local intermixture had taken place. People usually 
 know, in a general sort of way, where their “people” 
 lived some generations ago, and our apparently vague 
 question gets directly at this information. 
 
 The “ surname of your father ” is generally a 
 superfluous question, but owing to some local pecu¬ 
 liarities of naming people it is as well to retain it. 
 
 The schedule is printed on paper of foolscap size, 
 with the observations on one side and the directions 
 on the other. These are cumbersome in the field, 
 and as field-work should be undertaken only by those 
 who have already had some experience, or, at all 
 events, by those who have mastered the technique, 
 there is no need to issue the instructions on each 
 sheet. I would therefore suggest that cards be em¬ 
 ployed about 6 inches in length and 4 inches in 
 breadth, which might be printed as follows :— 
 
E THNO GRAPHICAL HYPES RIGA TIO NS 
 
 449 
 
 No. 
 
 Date, 
 
 Locality, .. 
 
 
 County, .. j 
 
 Name, 
 
 
 Occupation, 
 
 
 Age, .. .. | 
 
 Birthplace, 
 
 
 What district do your Father’s 
 people come from ? 
 
 
 What district do your Mother’s 
 people come from ? 
 
 
 Skin—Pale, Ruddy, Dark; Freckled, .. 
 
 
 tt • f Red, Fair, Brown, Dark, Jet Black, 
 
 ( Straight, Wavy, Curly, 
 
 
 p ( Blue,Grey; Green,Hazel; Brown 
 
 1 Light; Medium; Dark 
 
 
 Face I Lon S' Harrow; Medium; Short, Broad 
 
 ( Cheek-bones—(i) inconspicuous, (2) prominent, 
 
 -p J A, flat; B, outstanding, .. 
 
 ( Lobes—( t) absent, (2) present, .. 
 
 Nose—Length, 
 
 
 Breadth,.. 
 
 
 Profile, .. 
 
 
 Head—Length, 
 
 
 Breadth,.. 
 
 
 Height, .. 
 
 
 Face, 
 
 Length. 
 
 Upper Face 
 Length. 
 
 Breadth. 
 
 Inter-ocular 
 
 Breadth. 
 
 Auricular 
 
 radii, 
 
 Altitudinal, 
 
 Nasal, 
 
 Alveolar, 
 
 Height, 
 standing, .. 
 
 Height 
 sitting, .. 
 
 Weight, 
 
 Hand, 
 
 Forearm, .. 
 
 Span, 
 
 Bigonial 
 
 Breadth. 
 
 Cephalic Index, .. 
 
 
 Total Facial Index, 
 
 
 Length—Height Index,.. 
 
 
 Upper Facial Index, 
 
 
 Breadth—Height Index, 
 
 
 Nasal Index, 
 
 
 2 G 
 
45 ° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Similar schedules to these, but with the addition 
 of some physical tests and with some minor altera¬ 
 tions, are in use in the Anthropological Laboratory 
 of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and in that 
 of Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
 In Cambridge the head height from the level of 
 the ear-hole is alone taken; for field-work it is 
 advisable, if possible, to take the total height of the 
 head as detailed in the schedule. 
 
 Head Measurements .—The height of the cranium 
 is the same as the altitudinal auricular radius of the 
 card used in Ireland. The schedule explains how this 
 may be obtained by projection, as it is termed : but 
 in Ireland we use a modification of Busk’s craniometer 
 that was introduced by Professor Cunningham,* by 
 means of which we take the radii from the level 
 of the ear-holes to the greatest vertical height of 
 the head, to the nasion, and to the insertion of the 
 upper front teeth in the gums (alveolus). This in¬ 
 strument is very convenient to use, and gives accurate 
 measurements; it is made so as to take to pieces, and 
 is therefore quite portable. A further advantage is 
 that analogous measurements can be made* on skulls 
 .—the disadvantage is the dislike some people have 
 to anything being inserted in their ears. An extended 
 experience in Ireland shows that very few refuse 
 
 * C. R. Browne, “ Some new Anthropometrical Instruments,” Proc. 
 Roy. Irish Acad. (3), ii., 1892, p. 397. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 451 
 
 point blank to the instrument being used, and most 
 make no objection whatever. 
 
 There is no need for me to say more about the 
 cephalic index or the method of obtaining it; but 
 it is desirable that the question should be determined 
 of the ratio of the cephalic index (that is the 
 index of the living head) to the cranial index (or 
 the index of the skull). This matter has received 
 the attention of many anthropologists, and has 
 recently been discussed by Dr. W. Z. Ripley.* 
 Most anthropologists follow Broca, and add two 
 units to the cranial index to obtain the cephalic index; 
 thus a skull having a length-breadth index of 78 
 would correspond to a cephalic index of 80 in the 
 living subject. Tappeiner, in the Tyrol, finds differ¬ 
 ences from 1 to 5 units; Mantegazza allows 3 units; 
 Zampa allows 2*5 units ; Boas allows 1*4 for American 
 Indians; Livi allows 1*3 for Italians; Mies allows 
 fir for men, and ‘85 for women, with a tendency 
 to increase among brachycephals ; Topinard allows J 
 of a unit; Weisbach and Zuckerhandl allow only 
 tV of a unit; whereas Virchow says no correction 
 is needed as the two are practically equal. Ripley 
 believes that the difference is nearer 1 *5 than 2 units, t 
 The German system of craniometry, taken as it 
 
 * William Z. Ripley, “Notes et Documents pour la Construction 
 d’une Carte de l’Indice Cephalique en Europe,” LAnthropologie, vii., 
 1896, p. 513. 
 t l.c., p. 519. 
 
45 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 is from an artificial base, does not correspond to the 
 maximum length as taken directly by French, 
 English, and American anthropologists, and so tends 
 to increase the length-breadth index (by diminishing 
 the length) as compared with the French. 
 
 To reduce the German ratio to that of the French 
 one unit must be added to the German cranial indices 
 (as, for example, in the measurements of Frisian 
 crania made by Virchow and by Broca). If two 
 units be added to the French cranial index to obtain 
 the cephalic index, only one unit must be added to 
 the German cranial index to make it correspond with 
 the French cephalic index; but owing to his special 
 methods Welcker’s indices average, as Ripley* points 
 out, two units below other German indices. 
 
 About the same time that Ripley had come to the 
 foregoing conclusion Dr. Ammont published a paper 
 on the same subject, as the result of a very careful 
 inquiry. As this is an important matter, I give 
 Ammon’s conclusions for the convenience of those 
 who may wish to correlate the cranial measurements 
 made by the two chief Continental schools. 
 
 “ Length .—To obtain the French length from German 
 measurements add i mm. to the brachycephals (80-84-9) an d 
 hyperbrachycephals (85-89-9); ri mm. to the mesaticephals 
 (75-79-9) and ultra-brachycephals (90-94-9); i"5 mm. to 
 
 * l.c., p. 520. 
 
 t Otto Ammon, “La Correlation entre l’indice cephalometrique de 
 Broca et celui d’lhering,” DAnthropologies vii., 1896, p. 676. 
 
E THNO GRAPHICAL INVESTIGA TIONS 
 
 453 
 
 the dolichocephals (yo~y4'9)> an d v 4 mm - to die extreme 
 brachycephals (95-100). 
 
 “ Breadth .—Identical in both methods. 
 
 “ Index .—The French index is obtained by deducting half 
 a unit from the German index; or to be more exact, deduct 
 •6 from the dolichocephals and -y from the extreme brachy¬ 
 cephals instead of -5. 
 
 “ Inversely to transform the numbers obtained according to 
 the French method into those of the German method, one must 
 deduct 1 mm. from the length, &c, and add -5 to the index.” 
 
 Collignon points out* that one is too apt to attach 
 to the terms dolichocephaly and brachycephaly a 
 concrete sense which they should not have. 
 
 Thus a human variety may by the proportions of 
 the body and its members and by the characters of 
 the face and the length of the skull, manifestly 
 resemble a dolichocephalic race and yet have a 
 cephalic index of 81 or 82. Or another variety may 
 have a long and broad body, short legs, a low flat 
 face and short head, and other characters of a brachy- 
 cephalic people and yet have a narrow head, giving 
 an index of 78 or 79. Collignon would respectively 
 allocate these aberrant varieties to the dolichocephals 
 and to the brachycephals respectively. 
 
 One knows that in a race as pure as possible there 
 may be a range in the cephalic index of 13 units, that 
 is to say a pure race having a mean index of 84 may 
 normally vary between 78 and 90, and inversely a race 
 
 * Mem. Soc. dAnth. de Paris (3), i., 1895, p. 23. 
 
454 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 having a mean index of 77 may oscillate between 
 71 and 83. 
 
 There are thus normally, and without any foreign 
 influences, some individuals of a brachycephalic race 
 who may be relatively dolichocephals, and conversely 
 there may be brachycephalic individuals in a dolicho¬ 
 cephalic race. 
 
 When the mean antero-posterior diameter of the 
 cranium exceeds 190 millim. in the living, the head 
 should be considered as long, and the race to which it 
 belongs is ranged as a whole in the great dolicho¬ 
 cephalic group, rather than in the group of brachy¬ 
 cephalic races. It will be noted that Collignon, for the 
 sake of brevity of description, ignores a mesaticephalic 
 group. 
 
 Collignon gives # the following examples :— 
 
 Dolichocephalic Populations. 
 
 
 Head 
 
 Cephalic 
 
 
 length. 
 
 index. 
 
 80 Tunisians (Race of Djerid) . 
 
 • I 94‘4 
 
 ... 73-8 
 
 41 Negroes of the Soudan 
 
 • ^s's 
 
 74'5 
 
 100 Coast Tunisians . 
 
 • 1949 
 
 76 - i 
 
 20 Pure Arabs .... 
 
 • t 93 - 3 
 
 ... 77-2 
 
 30 Mediterraneans . 
 
 • I95’ 8 
 
 ... 78-3 
 
 100 Kymri (of France) 
 
 • I 93 ' 1 
 
 ... 797 
 
 Brachycephalic Populatio?is. 
 
 
 50 Tunisians of Djerbah . 
 
 • i8 77 
 
 7" 
 
 b 
 
 CO 
 
 045 Manche (N. France) 
 
 • iSS- 3 
 
 ... 83-0 
 
 960 Cotes-du-Nord („) 
 
 i8y2 
 
 ... 83-6 
 
 100 Celts (of France) . 
 
 vp 
 
 CO 
 
 HH 
 
 ... 84-9 
 
 * l.c ., p. 24. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 455 
 
 On page 77 of the same Memoir he suggests the 
 index of 82 for the limit of dolichocephaly and 
 brachycephaly in the living subject. 
 
 As these practical instructions are intended for 
 ethnographical survey work in the field and not for 
 craniological purposes, I will not give instructions 
 for skull measurements, but will refer the reader to 
 such works as Flower’s Osteological Catalogue 
 (Part I., ‘‘Man”) of the Royal College of Surgeons 
 (1879); Garson, in Notes and Queries on Anthro¬ 
 pology (1892); Topinard’s Elements d'Anthropologie 
 gdndrale (1885) ; Broca’s Instructions crdniometriques 
 (1876); De Quatrefages et Hamy’s Crania Ethnica 
 (1882); Garson, “The Frankfort Craniometric Agree¬ 
 ment, with Critical Remarks thereon,” fourn. Anth. 
 hist., xiv., 1884, p. 64; Schmidt’s Anthropologische 
 Methoden (Leipzig, 1888), and Macalister’s Anatomy; 
 Quain’s Anatomy , &c. Professor Macalister is writing 
 a book which will thoroughly cover this ground. 
 
 The only skull measurements I have referred to are 
 the length, breadth, and height, and the two measure¬ 
 ments required for the nasal index; the latter have 
 been sufficiently described on p. 120. The length of 
 the skull is taken by the French, English, and 
 American anthropologists from the glabella (the 
 middle-line between the brow-ridges), to the greatest 
 diameter obtainable behind in the middle line ; this 
 gives the greatest obtainable mesial length. All 
 
45 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 anthropologists take the greatest breadth wherever 
 found above the levels of the ear-holes; care must be 
 taken that the callipers are held at right angles to 
 the median longitudinal (sagittal) line, and that the 
 two ends of the callipers are at the same level. The 
 height of the skull is the diameter between the basion 
 (the middle point of the anterior edge of the foramen 
 magnum) and the bregma (the point on the vertex 
 where the frontal and interparietal sutures meet). 
 
 Nasal Measurements. —Dr. R. Collignon, who has 
 paid more attention than any other anthropologist 
 to the nasal index in the living, draws attention # to 
 the great care that is required in taking the measure¬ 
 ments, as, owing- to the low units of the dimensions, 
 even small differences in the method employed will 
 lead to considerable differences in the results. The 
 nasal index is an extremely delicate measurement, and 
 it is only on account of its exceptional ethnological 
 importance that it claims so much attention and 
 trouble. 
 
 We have already seen that the index is the ratio 
 of the maximum breadth of the base of the nose, 
 that is of the wings of the nose, to its height, the 
 latter being taken from the root to the point of 
 insertion of the septum. 
 
 There is no difficulty about the first measurement, 
 
 * “La Nomenclature quinaire de l’indice nasal du vivant .”—Revue 
 dAnthropologie (3), ii., 1887, p. 8, 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 457 
 
 except that care must be taken not to squeeze the 
 wings and to guard against laughter, which often 
 happens, and which gives a false platyrhiny by the 
 distension of the nostrils. Distension is also caused 
 by breathing through the nostrils; this can be stopped 
 by the subject keeping his mouth open. 
 
 The second measurement is less easy, and in certain 
 cases is of extreme difficulty owing to an uncertainty 
 in selecting the upper point of measurement. 
 
 Among the great majority of Europeans the con¬ 
 dition does not exist; the origin of the root of the 
 nose is generally seen at a glance with the greatest 
 ease. It suffices to look at the face in profile, and 
 to place one arm of the compass at the deepest point 
 seen. But among the yellow or black races and 
 among some Europeans it is by no means the same ; 
 the line of the forehead very often passes on to the 
 nose in a regular curve, which does not present any 
 change of direction. In this case, Topinard recom¬ 
 mends that the subject should be looked at full face; 
 usually one can distinguish a slight horizontal fold 
 which is the desired spot; or by stroking vertically 
 from above downwards upon the skin of the lower 
 part of the forehead the fold is indicated in the great 
 majority of cases with great clearness. This should 
 be lightly marked with a pencil. 
 
 To recapitulate. In order to determine the height 
 of the nose, stand to the right of the subject and look 
 
45 8 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 at his profile; if the exact spot where the root begins 
 is clear, place the lower arm of the sliding compass 
 against the angle which the septum makes with the 
 upper lip, without pressing it too much, and gently 
 bring down the upper arm to the upper spot. If there 
 is any doubt about the latter, press down the skin of 
 the forehead with the left hand, always looking at 
 the profile, so as to appreciate the change of direction 
 which is produced, mark it, and proceed as above. 
 
 Instead of the ordinary sliding compass which may 
 have sharp points, and which is usually difficult to use 
 with precision for these measurements, Collignon for 
 many years has employed a small, light, boxwood 
 sliding compass, which can be obtained from any 
 French shoemaker, and which costs only ifr. 25 c. 
 
 It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that the 
 subject must be measured in profile, as a measurement 
 taken in full face is nearly always erroneous. 
 
 One further detail must be added : It is necessary 
 to hold the compass in the right hand, to apply first 
 the lower arm against the septum and to hold it there, 
 and to gently make the other arm descend to the 
 upper point of measurement. If one proceeds in the 
 inverse manner, starting from above and drawing the 
 sliding arm towards the septum, one draws down the 
 skin, and so a lower figure is obtained for the nasal 
 height. 
 
 When possible, and always in those cases where 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 459 
 
 there is no doubt, the measurement should be read to 
 half a millimetre. 
 
 The naso-malar index, which was introduced by 
 Oldfield Thomas,* is a very important addition to 
 facial measurements, as it indicates the amount of the 
 projection of the bridge of the nose. The basal line 
 (bi-malar line) is measured from the outer edge of 
 each orbit, at a point on each side about 2 or 4 mm. 
 below the fronto-malar suture in the skull, or from a 
 corresponding point in the living. From these points 
 another measurement is taken, this time with the 
 tape, across the bridge of the nose—this is the naso- 
 malar line. The difference in length between these 
 two lines is due to the prominence of the bridge of 
 the nose, the formula being :— 
 
 Naso-malar line x 100 T . 
 
 Bi-maiar toi!-= IndeX ' 
 
 The actual position of the two malar points is not 
 very important, but great care must be taken that the 
 two measurements are from exactly the same points, 
 so it is well to mark them in the first instance. 
 
 This index is proving one of great importance, and 
 it has the great advantage of being fairly comparable 
 in the living and on skulls. Sir William Flower 
 suggested to Mr. Risley that he should employ it in 
 
 * Oldfield Thomas, “Account of a Collection of Human Skulls 
 from Torres Straits,” Journ. Anth. Inst., xiv., 1885, p. 332. 
 
460 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 India, and the former’s prognostications as to its 
 usefulness have been abundantly verified. 
 
 Risley # has proposed a modification of the classifi¬ 
 cation adopted provisionally by Oldfield Thomas. I 
 subjoin both of these :— 
 
 Oldfield Thomas. Risley. 
 
 — xo7’5 .... Platyopic .... - 109 9 
 
 io7'5-iio - o .... Mesopic .... no- 112*9 
 no + .... Pro-opic.113 + 
 
 The size of the schedules issued by the Ethno¬ 
 graphical Committee of the British Association and 
 the numerous observations required have, it is feared, 
 deterred many from undertaking this branch of the 
 inquiry who might otherwise have been so disposed. 
 The Committee, while urging that the full comple¬ 
 ment of observations should be taken whenever 
 possible, would be pleased if the short list on the 
 opposite page was filled up by observers all over 
 the British Islands. 
 
 The circumference of the head is taken with a steel 
 or linen tape graduated in millimetres (the latter can 
 be obtained for 6 d. each). The measurement is 
 taken immediately above the eyebrows, beneath the 
 ears, and round the greatest protuberance behind; the 
 tape should be drawn as tightly as possible, care 
 being taken to include as little hair as possible. This 
 
 * H. H. Risley, “The Study of Ethnology in India,” Journ. Anth. 
 Ins/., xx., 1891, p. 255. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 461 
 
 * 
 
 t 
 
 t 
 
 t 
 
 t 
 
 Age. 
 
 
 
 
 
 District from which Father’s 
 people come 
 
 
 
 
 
 District from which Mother’s 
 people come 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hair. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eyes... 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shape of Nose 
 
 
 
 
 
 f Length ... 
 
 Head \ Breadth ... 
 
 v. Index 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 f Height ... 
 
 Nose ~{ Breadth ... 
 
 1 Index 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Circumference of Head 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stature 
 
 
 
 
 
 Weight 
 
 
 
 
 
 * This space can be utilized for the name of the locality where the observations 
 are made. 
 
 t These spaces are for the names of the subjects. 
 
 Any additional information can be added underneath the “weight.” The 
 observer’s name and address and the date should be written on the back or 
 elsewhere. 
 
462 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 is a difficult measurement to take on women’s heads, 
 but with care it can usually be done. 
 
 Most people have an idea of their weight, and it is 
 generally possible for people to get themselves 
 weighed without much difficulty. The weight should 
 be reduced to pounds, and if not accurately made 
 should be qualified by “ about.” 
 
 The following few hints for field-work may, 
 perhaps, prove useful. Dr. Beddoe # writes :— 
 
 “ I have spoken of the necessity and frequent difficulty of 
 obtaining the consent of the owner of the head to be 
 examined. His reluctance may sometimes be overcome by 
 means of money, without going to the extent of the new hat 
 always jocularly demanded in such cases. Sometimes other 
 means have proved successful. I cannot resist detailing 
 those by which I succeeded in obtaining a valuable series of 
 head-measurements in Kerry. Our travelling party con¬ 
 sisted of Dr. Barnard Davis, Dr. T. Wise, Mr. Windele, 
 and myself. Whenever a likely little squad of natives was 
 encountered the two archaeologists got up a dispute about 
 the relative size and shape of their own heads, which I 
 was called in to settle with the callipers. The unsuspecting 
 Irishmen usually entered keenly into the debate, and before 
 the little drama had been finished were eagerly betting on 
 the sizes of their own heads, and begging to have their 
 wagers determined in the same manner.” 
 
 Following the suggestion of Dr. Beddoe, when also 
 in the West of Ireland, I told the natives that we had 
 measured a number of people in Dublin, and we 
 * The Races of Britain, p. 8. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 463 
 
 wanted to see who were the taller and who had the 
 larger heads. Generally it is best to commence with 
 the stature, as if it were wanted merely to find out 
 who were the tallest men. Most people take a pride 
 in having large heads, and so vanity paves the way 
 for the cephalic measurements. The subject then 
 becomes interested and amused, and the onlookers 
 indulge in mild chaff, so that by one means or another 
 not only can the above-mentioned measurements be 
 taken, but others may be added. When the eye and 
 hair colours and other physical features are noted, 
 a very fair documental description of the individual 
 has been secured. The subject is generally ready 
 enough to be photographed, both full-face and side 
 view, and a promise of a copy of his photograph 
 will usually induce a recalcitrant person to submit 
 to the entire operation. 
 
 Sometimes it will be found advantageous to explain 
 why the measurements are wanted, on other occasions 
 this would be useless. One old man who had never 
 been photographed, and who had refused the earnest 
 entreaties of his family to have his portrait taken, sat 
 in a chair to be measured, and I took a front and 
 side view of his face before he realized what had 
 happened, and when he found out he was very pleased. 
 Many are the devices that have to be adopted and 
 varied the arguments employed to induce country 
 folk to allow themselves to be measured. 
 
464 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 The following- are the instructions issued by the 
 Ethnographical Survey Committee with regard to 
 photographing the typical inhabitants of a district:— 
 
 “ Facial characteristics are conveniently recorded by means 
 of photographs, taken in the three ways explained below. 
 Amateurs in photography are now so numerous that it is 
 hoped the desired materials may be abundantly supplied. 
 At least twelve more or less beardless male adults and 
 twelve female adults should be photographed. It will add 
 much to the value of the portrait if these same persons have 
 also been measured. The photographs should be mounted 
 on cards, each card bearing the name of the district, and a 
 letter or number to distinguish the individual portraits ; the 
 cards to be secured together by a thread passing loosely 
 through a hole in each of their upper left-hand corners. 
 Three sorts of portrait are wanted, as follows:— 
 
 “ (A) A few portraits of such persons as may, in the opinion 
 of the person who sends them, best convey the peculiar 
 characteristics of the race. These may be taken in what¬ 
 ever aspect shall best display those characteristics, and should 
 be accompanied by a note directing attention to them. 
 
 “ (P) At least twelve portraits of the left side of the face of 
 as many different adults of the same sex. These must show 
 in each case the exact profile, and the hair should be so 
 arranged so as to show the ear. All the persons should 
 occupy in turn the same chair (with movable blocks on the 
 seat, to raise the sitters’ heads to a uniform height), the 
 camera being fixed throughout in the same place. The 
 portraits to be on such a scale that the distance between the 
 top of the head and the bottom of the chin shall in no case 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 465 
 
 be less than i| inch. Smaller portraits can hardly be utilized 
 in any way. If the incidence of the light be not the same 
 in all cases they cannot be used to make composite portraits. 
 By attending to the following hints the successive sitters may 
 be made to occupy so nearly the same position that the 
 camera need hardly be refocussed. In regulating the height 
 of the head it is tedious and clumsy to arrange the proper 
 blocks on the seat by trial. The simpler plan is to 
 make the sitter first take his place on a separate seat with 
 its back to the wall, having previously marked on the wall, 
 at heights corresponding to those of the various heights of 
 head, the numbers of the blocks that should be used in each 
 case. The appropriate number of the sitter is noted, and 
 the proper blocks are placed on the chair with the assurance 
 that what was wanted has been correctly done. The distance 
 of the sitter from the camera can be adjusted with much 
 precision by fixing a looking-glass in the wall (say five feet 
 from his chair), so that he can see the reflection of his face in 
 it. The backward or forward position of the sitter is easily 
 controlled by the operator, if he looks at the sitter’s head 
 over the middle of the camera, against a mark on the wall 
 beyond. It would be a considerable aid in making measure¬ 
 ments of the features of the portrait, and preventing the 
 possibility of mistaking the district of which the sitter is 
 a representative, if a board be fixed above his head in the 
 place of his profile , on which a scale of inches is very legibly 
 marked, and the name of the district written. This board 
 should be so placed as just to fall within the photographic 
 plate. The background should be of a medium tint (say a 
 sheet of light brown paper pinned against the wall beyond), 
 very dark and very light tints being both unsuitable for 
 composite photography. 
 
 “ (c) The same persons who were taken in side face should 
 be subsequently photographed in strictly full face. They 
 2 II 
 
466 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 should occupy a different chair, the place of the camera 
 being changed in accordance. Time will be greatly saved if 
 all the side faces are taken first, and then all the full faces ; 
 unless, indeed, there happen to be two operators, each with 
 his own camera, ready to take the same persons in turn. 
 The remarks just made in respect to ( b ) are, in principle, more 
 or less applicable to the present case; but the previous 
 method of insuring a uniform distance between the sitter 
 and the camera ceases to be appropriate. 
 
 “ It is proposed that composites of some of these groups 
 shall be taken by Mr. Galton, so far as his time allows.” 
 
 Although it is advisable to adopt Dr. Francis 
 Galton’s suggestions, useful photographs can be 
 obtained by having the lens of the camera on a 
 line with the centre of the head, and by taking 
 care that the sitter sits squarely in front or presents 
 a true profile. It is important to provide oneself 
 with a soft, neutral-coloured background which can 
 be rolled up for transport. 
 
 In order to get reliable data it is necessary to 
 have a large number of workers in every part of the 
 country. This is work which might well be under¬ 
 taken by field clubs and other local societies ; and I 
 would also like to suggest that the local photographic 
 societies should encourage the photographic record 
 by their members of all local objects and customs 
 that have any anthropological or ethnographical 
 interest, not omitting field portraits of typical 
 inhabitants. There is so much to do, and so much 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 467 
 
 is fast disappearing, that we require the assistance 
 of as many societies and isolated workers as 
 possible. 
 
 In order that the work done may be known to 
 the Committee and a record of it filed for the use 
 of students, all the completed schedules, or the 
 published papers based thereon, and a copy of the 
 photographs should be sent to the secretary, who will 
 eventually deposit them in an institution where they 
 will be accessible to all students. 
 
 II.—INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COLLECTION OF 
 FOLK-LORE. 
 
 Folk-lore is now a well-defined study, but there 
 is still considerable ignorance in many minds con¬ 
 cerning the subjects which are investigated, the 
 methods of study, and the objects of these researches. 
 
 Everywhere, and at all times, man has “ attempted 
 to explain the natural phenomena surrounding and 
 affecting him. When such explanations are univer¬ 
 sally or generally accepted by any tribe or people 
 they constitute the mythology and to some extent 
 the religious beliefs of such tribe or people. 
 
 Man is naturally profoundly affected and even 
 modified by his environment; the physical conditions 
 of his country and climate, the nature of the vegeta¬ 
 tion and of the animal life around him all leave 
 * G. L. Gomme, The Handbook of Folk-lore , 1890, p. 1. 
 
468 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 an impress on his character. The friendly as well 
 as the inimical relations between man and man have 
 given rise to rules to govern conduct and intercourse, 
 and these have crystallized into custom. 
 
 When man changes from one condition to another 
 he still clings to his old beliefs and customs, and 
 should these in process of time cease to be as binding 
 to him or as sacred as they were in the olden time, 
 the memories of them will be preserved and related 
 to the rising generation, to be again narrated to 
 future generations. But in all civilized races there 
 are less cultured people who have lagged behind in 
 the march of civilization and who still retain a greater 
 or less amount of belief in the ancient traditions, and 
 who practise old customs though it be but in an 
 attenuated manner; these are the “folk,” and it is 
 their “lore” which is the subject of inquiry. In 
 other words, it is a study of “survivals” or “relics 
 of an unrecorded past.” “Folk-lore contains the 
 survivals of the oldest and rudest culture of man.” # 
 
 The method of the study is the careful collection, 
 “ comparison and identification of the survivals of 
 archaic beliefs, customs, and traditions in modern 
 ages.” 
 
 The object of the study of folk-lore is to increase 
 our knowledge about ourselves. The vast bulk of the 
 materials of folk-lore date from the prehistoric period 
 
 * G. L. Gomme, “ Presidential Address,” Folk-lore , ii., 1891, p. 9. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 469 
 
 before knowledge was committed to writing, and 
 when it could only be perpetuated orally. As Mr. 
 Hartland has said,* “To this mode of preservation 
 and communication, as well as to the things thus pre¬ 
 served and communicated, the name of tradition is 
 given, and folk-lore is the science of tradition.” 
 
 The study of folk-lore is not unlike that of verte¬ 
 brate palaeontology. The palaeontologist comes 
 across remains which are usually very imperfect; by 
 careful comparison with other fossils and with recent 
 animals he can approximately, and sometimes almost 
 perfectly, recover the form of the extinct animal. In 
 some cases it will be found to exactly resemble a 
 living animal; in others it will be different. This 
 also is the method of the folk-lorist; he checks his 
 survivals by comparisons with the living beliefs and 
 customs of savages, and the resemblances far out¬ 
 number the discrepancies. One might almost define 
 folk-lore as “psychical palaeontology.” 
 
 The range of subjects comprised under folk-lore 
 is very considerable; superstitions connected with 
 natural objects, goblindom, witchcraft, leechcraft, 
 magic and divination, beliefs relating to a future life, 
 and superstitions generally, may be classed under 
 Superstitious belief and practice. Festival customs, 
 ceremonial customs, games, and local customs are 
 
 * Report of a lecture in the Gloucestershire Chronicle , March 27th, 
 
 1897. 
 
470 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 grouped as Traditional customs. Traditional narra¬ 
 tives include hero-tales or sagas, which sometimes 
 degrade into nursery tales or Marchen ; drolls, 
 fables, and the like; myths of creation, deluge, fire, 
 and doom; ballads and songs; place legends and 
 traditions. Lastly, Folk - sayings comprise jingles, 
 nursery rhymes, riddles, proverbs, nicknames, and 
 place-names. 
 
 A general idea of the scope of folk-lore will be 
 found in an excellent little book by Miss Marian 
 Roalfe Cox, entitled An Introduction to Folk-lore. 
 
 The following is the schedule that is issued by the 
 Ethnographical Survey Committee :— 
 
 “Place . Name of Observer . 
 
 “CURRENT TRADITIONS AND BELIEFS. 
 il Folk-lore. 
 
 “ Every item of Folk-lore should be collected, consisting of 
 customs, traditions, superstitions, sayings of the people, games, 
 and any superstitions connected with special days, marriages, 
 births, deaths, cultivation of the land, election of local officers, 
 or other events. Each item should be written legibly on a 
 separate piece of paper, and the name, occupation, and age 
 of the person from whom the information is obtained should 
 in all cases be carefully recorded. If a custom or tradition 
 relates to a particular place or object, especially if it relates 
 to a curious natural feature of the district, or to an ancient 
 monument or camp, some information should be given about 
 such place or monument. Sometimes a custom, tradition, or 
 
E THNO GRAPHIC A L INVESTIGA TIONS 
 
 471 
 
 superstition may relate to a particular family or group of 
 persons, and not generally to the whole population ; and, in 
 this case, care should be exercised in giving necessary par¬ 
 ticulars. Any objects which are used for local ceremonies, 
 such as masks, ribbons, coloured dresses, &c., should be 
 described accurately, and, if possible, photographed; or might 
 be forwarded to London, either for permanent location, or 
 to be drawn or photographed. Any superstitions that are 
 believed at one place and professedly disbelieved at another, 
 or the exact opposite believed, should be most carefully noted. 
 
 “ The following questions are examples of the kind and 
 direction of the inquiries to be made, and are not intended 
 to confine the inquirer to the special subjects referred to in 
 them, nor to limit the replies to categorical answers. The 
 numbers within brackets refer to the corresponding articles 
 in the Handbook of Folk-lore (published by Nutt, 270, Strand, 
 London). 
 
 (4) Relate any tradition as to the origin of mountains or 
 as to giants being entombed therein. 
 
 Are there any traditions about giants or dwarfs in the 
 district? Relate them. 
 
 Is there a story about a Blinded Giant like that of 
 Polyphemus ? 
 
 (13) Describe any ceremonies performed at certain times 
 in connection with mountains. 
 
 (16) Relate any traditions or beliefs about caves. 
 
 (19) Are any customs performed on islands not usually 
 inhabited ? Are they used as burial places ? 
 
 (25) Describe any practices of leaving small objects, articles 
 of dress, &c., at wells. 
 
 (29) Are there spirits of rivers or streams ? Give their names. 
 
 (32) Describe any practices of casting small objects, articles 
 of dress, &c., in the rivers. 
 
472 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 (33) Are running waters supposed not to allow criminals or 
 evil spirits to cross them ? 
 
 (39) Describe any customs at the choosing of a site for 
 building, and relate any traditions as to the site or 
 erection of any building. 
 
 (42) Is there a practice of sprinkling foundations with the 
 
 blood of animals, a bull, or a cock ? 
 
 (43) Does the building of a house cause the death of the 
 
 builder ? 
 
 (48, 49, 50) Relate any traditions of the sun, moon, stars. 
 
 (62) Describe the customs of fishermen at launching their 
 
 boats. 
 
 (63) Give any omens believed in by fishermen. 
 
 (66) Is it unlucky to assist a drowning person ? 
 
 (84) What ceremonies are performed when trees are felled ? 
 
 (85) Describe any custom of placing rags and other small 
 
 objects upon bushes or trees. 
 
 (86) Describe any maypole customs and dances. 
 
 (87) Describe any customs of wassailing of fruit trees. 
 
 (90) Are split trees used in divination or for the cure of 
 disease ? 
 
 (98) Describe any ceremonies used for love divination with 
 plants or trees. 
 
 (105) Describe the garlands made and used at ceremonies, 
 (no) What animals are considered lucky and what unlucky 
 to meet, come in contact with, or kill ? 
 
 (132) Describe any customs in which animals are sacrificed, 
 
 or driven away from house or village. 
 
 (133) Describe customs in which men dress up as animals. 
 (137) Give the names of the local demons, fairies, pixies, 
 
 ghosts, &c. Have any of them personal proper 
 names ? 
 
 (139) Their habits, whether gregarious or solitary. Do they 
 use special implements ? 
 
E THNO GRAPHICAL INVESTIGA TIONS 
 
 473 
 
 (440) Form and appearance, if beautiful or hideous, small in 
 stature, different at different times. 
 
 (144) Character, if merry, mischievous, sulky, spiteful, in¬ 
 
 dustrious, stupid, easily outwitted. 
 
 (145) Occupations, music, dancing, helping mankind, carrying 
 
 on mining, agricultural work. 
 
 (146) Haunts or habitations, if human dwellings, mounds, 
 
 burrows, mines, forests, boggy moorlands, waters, the 
 underworld, dolmens, stone circles. 
 
 (190) Give the details of any practices connected with the 
 
 worship of the local saint. 
 
 (191) Are sacrifices or offerings made to the local saint, on 
 
 what days, and when ? 
 
 (192) What is the shrine of the local saint? 
 
 (210) Witchcraft. Describe minutely the ceremonies per¬ 
 formed by the witch. What preliminary ceremony 
 took place to protect the witch ? 
 
 (294) Are charms used to find evil spirits and prevent their 
 
 moving away? 
 
 (295) Are amulets, talismans, written bits of paper, gestures, 
 
 &c., used to avert evil or to ensure good ? If so, how, 
 when, where ? 
 
 (297) Are skulls of animals, or horses, or other objects hung 
 
 up in trees, to avert the evil eye and other malign 
 influences ? 
 
 (298) What methods are employed for divining future events ? 
 
 What omens are believed in ? 
 
 ( 353 ) What superstitions are attached to women’s work assuch? 
 (356) Are women ever excluded from any occupations, cere¬ 
 monies, or places ? 
 
 (358) What superstitions are attached to the status of widow¬ 
 hood ? 
 
 (366) Are particular parts of any town or village, or particular 
 sections of any community, entirely occupied in one 
 trade or occupation ? 
 
474 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 (368) Have they customs and superstitions peculiar to their 
 
 occupation ? 
 
 (369) Do they intermarry among themselves, and keep aloof 
 
 from other people ? 
 
 ( 373 ) Have they any processions or festivals? 
 
 (422) What parts of the body are superstitiously regarded ? 
 (432) Are bones, nails, hair, the subject of particular customs 
 or superstitions; and is anything done with bones 
 when accidentally discovered ? 
 
 (436) Is dressing ever considered as a special ceremonial; are 
 omens drawn from accidents in dressing? 
 
 (452) Are any parts of the house considered sacred ? 
 
 (453) Is the threshold the object of any ceremony; is it 
 
 adorned with garlands; is it guarded by a horseshoe 
 or other object ? 
 
 (454) Are any ceremonies performed at the hearth; are the 
 
 ashes used for divination; is the fire ever kept burning 
 for any continuous period ? 
 
 (456) Is it unlucky to give fire from the hearth to strangers 
 always, or when ? 
 
 (467) Is there any ceremony on leaving a house, or on first 
 occupying a house ? 
 
 (509) What are the chief festivals, and what the lesser festivals 
 observed ? 
 
 (515) Explain the popular belief in the object of each festival. 
 
 (516) Describe the customs and observances appertaining to 
 
 each festival. 
 
 (540) When does the new year popularly begin ? 
 
 “ State the superstitions or legends known to attach to— 
 {a) Halloween (both old and new styles). 
 
 (b) May Eve. 
 
 (c) Midsummer Day, and St. John’s Eve. 
 
 (d) Lammas, or August 1. 
 
 ( e ) New Year’s Day. 
 
 (f) Christmas. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 
 
 475 
 
 “ Is there any superstition as to the first person who enters 
 a house in the New Year? Is stress laid upon the colour of 
 complexion and hair? 
 
 (567) What are the customs observed at the birth of children? 
 (588) Describe the ceremonies practised at courtship and 
 marriage. 
 
 (623) Describe the ceremonies at death and burial. 
 
 (669) Describe any games of ball or any games with string, 
 or other games. 
 
 (674) Describe all nursery games of children. 
 
 (686) Is there any special rule of succession to property? 
 (703) Is any stone or group of stones, or any ancient monu¬ 
 ment or ancient tree connected with local customs ? 
 (706) Are any special parts of the village or town the subject 
 of particular rights, privileges, or disabilities; do these 
 parts bear any particular names? 
 
 (711) Describe special local modes of punishment or of lynch 
 law. 
 
 (719) Describe special customs observed at ploughing, harrow¬ 
 ing, sowing, manuring, haymaking, apple gathering, 
 corn harvest, hemp harvest, flax harvest, potato 
 gathering, threshing, flax picking, and hemp picking. 
 
 “The collections under this head will be digested by 
 Professor Rhys and the representatives of the Folk-lore 
 Society.” 
 
 Miss Burne # has such an honourable reputation as 
 a collector of folk-lore that I cannot do better than 
 reprint some of her valuable advice :— 
 
 “To begin with, we need a careful geographical examina¬ 
 tion of the habitats and boundaries of the various items of 
 English folk-lore, such as the English Dialect Society has 
 
 * Charlotte S. Burne, “The Collection of English Folk-lore,” 
 Folk-lore , i., 1890, p. 313. 
 
47 6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 made and is making of dialectal boundaries. The results 
 which may be expected from the comparison of such a 
 record of English folk-lore, with evidence obtained from 
 other lines of study, seem to open a vista of possible dis¬ 
 covery. There is nothing like speaking from experience, so 
 I will illustrate my meaning from personal knowledge. 
 
 “ It is generally customary in England to hire farm servants 
 by the year, but the hiring-time varies in different places. 
 In North-east Shropshire the hiring-time is Christmas; in 
 South-west Shropshire it is May. I took great pains to pick 
 out the boundary line between these two customs, market- 
 town by market-town, and almost village by village, and I 
 found it coincide almost exactly with the boundary line of 
 the change of dialect between North-east and South-west, 
 which is very marked ; and very fairly also with the boundary 
 between the diocese of Lichfield (the ancient Bishopric of 
 the Mercians) on the North-east, and the Welsh diocese of 
 St. Asaph and the diocese of Hereford (the old kingdom 
 of the Hecanas or Magessetas) on the South-west.* More¬ 
 over, the South-western custom of hiring prevails over a 
 considerable part of North Wales, while hiring at Christmas 
 prevails in Cheshire and North Staffordshire. 
 
 “ Again, ‘ souling,’ or begging for apples, on the eve of All 
 Souls’ Day (November ist), is a common custom in that part 
 of Shropshire where Christmas hirings occur, and in North 
 Staffordshire; but in South Staffordshire I believe the same 
 custom is, or was, observed not on All Souls’ but on St. 
 Clement’s Eve (November 21st). Once more: in South 
 Staffordshire and in South Shropshire, as far north as 
 Shrewsbury, Mothering Sunday is known, if not observed ; 
 but I have never met with anyone in the north of either 
 county who had heard of it. If such boundaries were 
 
 * For a similar case of diocesan boundaries coinciding with tribal 
 frontiers, see p. 139 ante. 
 
E THNO GRAPHICAL INVESTIGA TIONS 4 7 7 
 
 mapped out over the whole of England, and compared with 
 other evidence, they would almost certainly yield valuable 
 historical and ethnological results. 
 
 “ It is comparatively easy to pick out the boundaries of a 
 custom, but very difficult to discover those of a superstitious 
 opinion. Curious bits of superstition and ‘ luck’ may be 
 carried about the country in so many ways, to so many 
 unexpected places, in a manner that would be impossible to 
 a popular custom. You perhaps come across some old 
 woman who strongly objects to your bringing, it may be, 
 snowdrops, or catkins, or perhaps hawthorn, into her house, 
 while her neighbours are not in the least offended by it. 
 Now she may be the sole surviving depositary of a genuine 
 piece of local folk-lore, or she may be following the instruc¬ 
 tions of a grandmother who came from the other end of 
 England, and she may be quite unable to tell you how she 
 acquired her views on the subject. In many cases, I think, 
 the collector can do no more than set down the name of the 
 place where, or the informant from whom, he obtained the 
 several items, without committing himself to any statement 
 as to how far they are universal or not. 
 
 “ Negative evidence, again, is most difficult to obtain, 
 but valuable in proportion to the difficulty of proving the 
 negative. In fact, it can only be proved (as it has been 
 remarked to me) if a collector gets hold of a thorough 
 believer in the superstitions of his locality, and can find out 
 if there are any other superstitions of other localities which 
 he decidedly does not believe in, any that he laughs at, any 
 that he looks upon as stupid or ‘ superstitious,’ while his own 
 belief, of course, is not ‘ superstitious ’ ! 
 
 “ For myself,” continues Miss Burne, “ I have not found 
 the English poor laugh at superstitions they are not ac¬ 
 quainted with, unless they are, as many are, superior to 
 superstition in general. They do not get farther than a slow, 
 
478 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 grave remark, ‘No, I niver heered that. I shouldna think 
 as there can be anything in that. Now, as to (so and so), 
 that's true, that is. For my gronfayther knowed a mon 
 • • • • ’ et cetera! But it is beyond question that to ascer¬ 
 tain what a superstitious man does not , is quite as valuable 
 for our purpose as to learn what he does know. Even then 
 the collectors should not be too hasty in drawing conclu¬ 
 sions. The information he fails again and again to obtain 
 may some day crop up quite unexpectedly at his very 
 doors. 
 
 “ The ideal of geographical collection would be reached 
 if a number of collectors would undertake definite areas 
 adjoining each other—say, for instance, the several hundreds 
 of a county—would set down what is known, and what, 
 after every possible inquiry, is not known there, and would 
 then compare results.” 
 
 Miss Burne next discusses the question of the 
 relations between folk-lore and history. “ The early 
 history of every nation is dependent on oral tradition, 
 not on written records, and so is open to doubt. But 
 the questions, How much dependence may be placed 
 upon tradition ? and How long the remembrance of an 
 event may be preserved among unlettered people? 
 are by no means unimportant.” She gives several 
 examples, and comes to the conclusion that the folk, 
 even in England, do preserve some memory of 
 historical events for three or even four centuries. 
 
 The consideration of the influence of folk-lore on 
 history naturally leads to the subject of the influence 
 of history on folk-lore. Miss Burne instances the 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 479 
 
 common Mummers’ Play, which “ comes to us like 
 a traveller from a journey, laden with curiosities 
 collected by the way.” 
 
 A custom may die out in one parish and take a 
 new lease of life in another owing to purely local and 
 temporary causes. 
 
 Miss Burne gives very valuable advice in the 
 personal collecting of English folk-lore. 
 
 “If you wish to understand folk-lore you must learn to 
 understand the folk. You must know what the folk think, 
 and how they act on subjects such as folk-lore touches, and 
 observe how their minds form the natural background to the 
 superstitions they act on, the customs they practise, the tales 
 they tell.” 
 
 She gives numerous interesting examples of the 
 mental attitude of the folk. 
 
 Lastly, Miss Burne gives some very useful hints 
 about the actual work of collecting. 
 
 “ The best collecting is that which is done by accident, by 
 living among the people and garnering up the sayings and 
 stories they let fall from time to time. But one can hardly 
 make a complete collection, even within a limited area, in 
 this way, and deliberate search is therefore necessary. One 
 needs first to know where to look, and the educated people 
 of the neighbourhood cannot always help one. Too often 
 the collector is met with the dignified repulse, ‘ Our people 
 are not superstitious, I am glad to say ’; and it is not given 
 to everyone to be able to confute the assertion, as the 
 Rev. Elias Owen, in a paper on ‘ Montgomeryshire Super- 
 
480 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 stitions,’* relates that he once did. His errand in the parish 
 where it was made was to inspect the schools, and at the 
 close of his examination he asked the first class, ‘Now, 
 children, can you tell me of any place where there is a 
 buggan ’ (a ghost or bogey) ‘ to be seen, or of anyone who 
 has ever seen one?’ Instantly every hand in the class was 
 stretched out, and every child had a story to tell. He then 
 asked, ‘ Which of you can tell me of a cure for warts ? ’ with 
 like results, greatly to the discomfiture of his friend the 
 clergyman, who had fondly imagined there was no super¬ 
 stition in his parish ! The clergy are very liable to this 
 illusion, because the people are apt to keep superstition out 
 of their way, which in itself is a not uninstructive folk-loric 
 item. Lawyers, doctors, and especially land agents and 
 gentlemen-farmers are often much better able to help than 
 are the clergy. 
 
 “ When visiting a strange place with the set purpose of 
 personal collecting, the best way of beginning is, perhaps, 
 to get the parish clerk or sexton to show the church, and 
 then to draw him out on bell-ringing and burying customs, 
 and to obtain from him the names of the ‘ oldest inhabitants ’ 
 for further inquiry. Failing the sexton, the village inn¬ 
 keeper might be a good starting-point. Then a visit may 
 be paid to the school in the mid-day ‘ recess,’ and the 
 children may be bribed to play all the games they know. 
 Possibly some bits of local legend may be gleaned from 
 them as a foundation for future inquiries. 
 
 “ Old household or family customs are best preserved in 
 solitary farmhouses, especially if tenanted by the same 
 family for several generations. But it is a mistake to think 
 that a very remote and thinly populated parish will neces¬ 
 sarily yield more folk-lore of all kinds than another. A 
 scanty stay-at-home population does not preserve legends 
 * Montgomeryshire Collections , xv., part i., p. 135. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 481 
 
 well, and has not esprit de corps sufficient for the celebration 
 of public customs. A large village, or a market-town quite 
 in the country, is generally the best place to find these; and 
 the ‘ lowest of the people ’—the chimney-sweepers, brick- 
 makers, besom-makers, hawkers, tinkers, and other trades in 
 which work is irregular—are those who keep up old games, 
 songs, dances, and dramatic performances. Most villages 
 have their doctress, generally an intelligent old woman, who, 
 nevertheless, mixes something of superstition with her 
 remedies. 
 
 “Superstitious opinions, though they flourish most, of 
 course, among the lower classes, cannot well be collected 
 direct from them, because they really do not understand 
 what superstition is, and cannot, as they say, ‘ make out what 
 the gentleman is driving at.’ They must be inquired for 
 among the class of small employers, who have a little more 
 cultivation than their workpeople, but yet live on terms of 
 sufficient familiarity with them to know their ideas thoroughly 
 and to share a good many of them ! A little patient effort 
 will in all probability enable the collector to make the 
 acquaintance of some old grandfather or grandmother of 
 this class, who, sitting in the chimney-corner of some old- 
 fashioned kitchen, loves nothing better than to pour out tales 
 of ‘ old times.’ Here is the collector’s opportunity! . . . 
 They are excellent company, these old people! if one can 
 but get them to talk of their past lives, and not of their 
 present ailments; and they are dying around us every day, 
 and their traditions are dying with them, for they have left off 
 transmitting them to their children. If the folk-lore of 
 England is not recorded soon it will never be recorded at 
 all, for these ‘ foot-prints in the sands of time ’ are fast being 
 trampled out by the hurrying feet of the busy multitudes of 
 the Present.”* 
 
 * I . c ., p. 330. 
 
482 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 The need for recording all local folk-lore is very 
 pressing. In some districts, as in the Lincolnshire 
 Cars, much still remains, as has been sympathetically 
 recorded by Mrs. M. C. Balfour.* 
 
 “With the barren Cars of the older times is connected 
 a peasantry that is changing as the soil itself has changed, 
 only more gradually, for the sluggish current of their life and 
 habit is but slowly beaten back by the impetus of modern 
 innovations. ... It seems as if it were off the high-road, so 
 to speak, of busy modern English life; in these days of de¬ 
 pression amongst farmers, and of absentee landlords, it is 
 visited by few strangers; and the only resident upper class is 
 represented by the clergy and a very mixed set of tenant- 
 farmers, who, in trouble themselves, generally care little for 
 the people under them, except as regards their work and pay. 
 
 “ This is, I dare say, unavoidable ; but it throws the people 
 back on themselves, and accounts, no doubt, for the survival 
 of much amongst them which has decayed elsewhere. Even 
 their speech sounds strange to a modern English ear, for it is 
 almost pure Saxon, and keeps many of the original inflexions 
 which we have lost. 
 
 “ The people themselves are not easy to make friends with, 
 for they are strongly suspicious of strangers ; but once won 
 over, are said to be staunch and faithful . . . and intensely 
 averse to change or innovation of any sort; many of them 
 live and die within the limits of a narrow parish, outside of 
 which they never set foot. The younger generations are 
 changing; but they show less disbelief in the old legends 
 than indifference to them ; they seem growing, not so much 
 less superstitious, as less impressionable. But in some of the 
 old people there is still a simple serious faith that is delight- 
 
 * “Legends of the Cars,” Folk-lore, ii., 1891, p. 147. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 483 
 
 ful, and I do not think that elsewhere in England one could 
 nowadays find such a childlike certainty of unseen things or 
 such an unquestioning belief in supernatural powers. . . . 
 It is not easy, in so short a notice, to present vividly the 
 curious mixture of rusticity and savagery, of superstition and 
 indifference, of ignorance and shrewdness, which is found in 
 these peasants. . . . The old and simple heathendom still lay 
 untouched, though hidden, below successive varnishes of 
 superstition, religion, and civilization.”* 
 
 Dr. Douglas Hyde,+ the poet who has the love of 
 the old Ireland within him, writes :— 
 
 “ Such myth stories as these ought to be preserved, since 
 they are about the last visible link connecting civilized with 
 prehistoric man, for, of all the traces that man in his earliest 
 period has left behind him, there is nothing except a few 
 drilled stones or flint arrow-heads that approaches the 
 antiquity of these tales, as told to-day by a half-starving 
 peasant in a smoky Connacht cabin. 
 
 “ It is time to say a word about the narrators of these 
 stories. The people who can recite them are, as far as 
 my researches have gone, to be found only among the oldest, 
 mos.t neglected, and poorest of the Irish-speaking population. 
 English-speaking people either do not know them at all, 
 or else tell them in so bald and condensed a form as to 
 be useless. Almost all the men from whom I used to hear 
 stories, in the county Roscommon, are dead. Ten or fifteen 
 years ago I used to hear a great many stories, but I did not 
 understand their value. Now, when I go back for them, I 
 cannot find them. They have died out, and will never again 
 
 * Ibid., p. 257. 
 
 t Douglas Hyde, Beside the Fire , a collection of Irish Gaelic Folk 
 Stories, 1890, p. xli. 
 
484 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 be heard on the hillsides, where they probably existed for 
 a couple of thousand years; they will never be repeated 
 there again, to use the Irish phrase, ‘while grass grows or 
 water runs.’ One old man £ had at one time,’ as he expressed 
 it, ‘the full of a sack of stories,’ but he had forgotten them. 
 His grandchildren stood by his knee while he told me one 
 or two, but it was evident they did not understand a word 
 (as he was telling the stories in Irish). His son and daughter 
 laughed at them as nonsense. Even in A chill, where, if 
 anywhere, one ought to find folk-stories in their purity, a 
 fine-looking dark man of about forty-five, who told me a 
 number of them, and could repeat Ossian’s poems, assured 
 me that now-a-days when he went into a house in the 
 evening, and the old people got him to recite, the boys 
 would go out; ‘ they wouldn’t understand me,’ said he, 
 
 ‘ and when they wouldn’t, they’d sooner be listening to the 
 lowing of the cows.’ This, too, is an island where many 
 people cannot speak English.” 
 
 Hyde reminds us that at the time of the famine 
 in ’47, this pure Aryan language (Irish) was spoken 
 by at least .four million souls (more than the whole 
 population of Switzerland), and it promises in a few 
 years to become as extinct as Cornish. 
 
 Hyde # gives the following valuable advice as to 
 collecting folk-tales in Ireland :— 
 
 “ I may mention here that it is not as easy a thing as 
 might be imagined to collect Irish stories. One hears that 
 tales are to be had from such and such a man, generally, 
 alas ! a very old one. With difficulty one manages to find 
 him out, only to discover, probably, that he has some work 
 
 * l.c., p. xlv. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL IN FES LIGATIONS 485 
 
 on hand. If it happens to be harvest time it is nearly useless 
 going to him at all, unless one is prepared to sit up with 
 him all night, for his mind is sure to be so distraught with 
 harvest operations that he can tell you nothing. If it is 
 winter time, however, and you fortunately find him un¬ 
 occupied, nevertheless, it requires some management to 
 get him to tell his stories. Half a glass of ishka-baha , 
 a pipe of tobacco, and a story of one’s own are the best 
 things to begin with. If, however, you start to take down 
 the story verbatim , with pencil and paper, as an unwary 
 collector might do, you destroy all, or your shanachie 
 becomes irritable. He will not wait for you to write down 
 your sentence, and if you call out, ‘ stop, stop, wait till I 
 get this down,’ he will forget what he was going to tell 
 you, and you will not get a third of his story, though you 
 may think you have it all. What you must generally do 
 is to sit quietly smoking your pipe, without the slightest 
 interruption, not even when he comes to words and phrases 
 which you do not understand. He must be allowed his 
 own way to the end, and then, after judiciously praising him 
 and discussing the story, you remark, as if the thought 
 had suddenly struck you, ‘ I’d like to have that on paper.’ 
 Then you can get it from him easily enough, and when 
 he leaves out whole incidents, as he is sure to do, you, 
 who have just heard the story, can put him right, and so 
 get it from him nearly in its entirety. Still it is not always 
 easy to write down these stories, for they are full of old or 
 corrupted words, which neither you nor your narrator under¬ 
 stand, and if you press him too much over the meaning of 
 these he gets confused and irritable.” 
 
4 86 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 This and the two following schedules complete the 
 set issued by the Ethnographical Survey Committee. 
 
 “ Place . Name of Observer . 
 
 “PECULIARITIES OF DIALECT. 
 
 “ Directions to Collectors of Dialect Tests. 
 
 “ i. Do not, if it can be helped, let your informant know 
 the nature of your observations. The true dialect speaker 
 will not speak his dialect freely or truly unless he is unaware 
 that his utterance is watched. In some cases persons 
 of the middle class can afford correct information, and there 
 is less risk in allowing them to know your purpose. 
 
 “2. Observe the use of consonants. Note, for example, if 
 v and z are used where the standard pronunciation has f and 
 j. This is common in the south. 
 
 “ 3. Observe very carefully the nature of the vowels. This 
 requires practice in uttering and appreciating vowel sounds, 
 some knowledge of phonetics, and a good ear. 
 
 “ 4. Record all observations in the same standard phonetic 
 alphabet, viz., that given in Sweet’s Primer of Phonetics. A 
 few modifications in this may be made, viz., ng for Sweet’s 
 symbol for the sound of ng in thing; sh for his symbol for 
 the sh in she; ch for his symbol for the ch in choose; th for 
 the th in thin; dh for the th in then. If these modifications 
 are used, say so. But the symbol j must only be used for 
 the y in you , viz., as in German. If the sound of j in just is 
 meant, Sweet’s symbol should be used. On the whole it is 
 far better to use no modifications at all. Sweet’s symbols 
 are no more difficult to use than any others after a very brief 
 practice, such as every observer of phonetics must necessarily 
 go through. 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 487 
 
 “5. If you find that you are unable to record sounds 
 according to the above scheme it is better to make no return 
 at all. Incorrect returns are misleading in the highest 
 degree, most of all such as are recorded in the ordinary 
 spelling of literary English. 
 
 “6. The chief vowel-sounds to be tested are those which 
 occur in the following words of English origin, viz., man, 
 hard, name, help, meat (spelt with ea), green (spelt with ee), 
 hill , wine , fire, soft, hole, oak (spelt with oa), cool, sun, house, 
 day, law, or words involving similar sounds. Also words of 
 French origin, such as just, master (a before s), grant {a before 
 n), try, value, measure, bacon, pay, chair, journey, pity, beef, 
 clear, profit, boil, roast, pork, false, butcher, fruit, blue, pure, 
 poor , or words involving similar sounds. 
 
 “The best account of these sounds, as tested for a York¬ 
 shire dialect, is to be found in Wright’s Dialect of Windhill 
 (English Dialect Society, 1892), published by Kegan Paul at 
 1 2s. 6d. Sweet’s symbols are here employed throughout. 
 
 “ Sweet’s Primer of Phonetics is published by the Oxford 
 Press at 3s. 6d. 
 
 “ A list of text-words (of English origin) is given at p. 42 
 of Skeat’s Primer of English Etymology, published by the 
 Oxford Press at is. 6d. 
 
 “ 7. The task of collecting words which seem to be pecu¬ 
 liarly dialectal (as to form or meaning, or both) has been 
 performed so thoroughly that it is useless to record what has 
 been often already recorded. See, for example, Halliwell’s 
 (or Wright’s) Provincial Glossary, and the publications of the 
 English Dialect Society. In many cases, however, the pro¬ 
 nunciation of such words has not been noted, and may be 
 carefully set down with great advantage. 
 
 “The Rev. Professor Skeat has been kind enough to draw 
 up the foregoing directions, and the collections under this 
 head will be submitted to him.” 
 
4 88 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ Place . Name of Observer . 
 
 “MONUMENTS AND OTHER REMAINS OF ANCIENT 
 CULTURE. 
 
 “ Plot on a map, describe, furnish photographs or sketches, 
 and state the measurements and names (if any) of these, 
 according to the following classification :— 
 
 Drift implements. Caves and their contents. 
 
 Stone circles. Monoliths. Lake dwellings 
 Camps. Enclosures. Collections of hut circles. 
 Cromlechs. Cairns. Sepulchral chambers. 
 
 Barrows, describing the form, and distinguishing those 
 which have not been opened. 
 
 Inscribed stones. 
 
 Figured stones. Stone crosses. 
 
 Castra (walled). Earthen camps. 
 
 Foundations of Roman buildings. 
 
 Cemeteries (what modes of sepulture). 
 
 Burials, inhumation or cremation. 
 
 Detailed contents of graves. 
 
 Types of fibulae and other ornaments. 
 
 Coins. Implements and weapons, stone, bronze, or iron. 
 Other antiquities. 
 
 A list of place-names within the area. No modern 
 names required. 
 
 “Special note should be made of British, Roman, and 
 Saxon interments occurring in the same field, and other signs 
 of successive occupation. 
 
 “ Reference should be made to the article ‘ Archaeology ’ in 
 Notes and Queries on Anthropology , p. 176. 
 
 “ These relate to England only. The sub-committees for 
 other parts of the United Kingdom will prepare modified lists. 
 
 “The collections under this head will be digested by Mr. 
 Payne.” 
 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS 489 
 
 “Place . Name of Observer . 
 
 “HISTORICAL EVIDENCE AS TO THE CONTINUITY 
 OF RACE. 
 
 “ Mention any historical events connected with the place, 
 especially such as relate to early settlements in it, or more 
 recent incursions of alien immigrants. 
 
 “ State the nature of the pursuits and occupations of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 “ State if any precautions have been taken by the people 
 to keep themselves to themselves; if the old village tenures 
 of land have been preserved. 
 
 “ Has any particular form of religious belief been main¬ 
 tained ? 
 
 “ Are the people constitutionally averse to change ? 
 
 “ What are the dates of the churches and monastic or 
 other ancient buildings or existing remains of former 
 buildings ? 
 
 “ Do existing buildings stand on the sites of older ones ? 
 
 “ How far back can particular families or family names be 
 traced ? 
 
 “ Can any evidence of this be obtained from the manor 
 rolls; from the parish registers; from the tythingmen’s 
 returns ; from guild or corporation records ? 
 
 “ Are particular family names common ? 
 
 “ In what county or local history is the best description of 
 the place to be found ? 
 
 “ Evidences of historical continuity of customs, dress, 
 dwellings, implements, &c., should be noted. 
 
 “ The collections under this head will be digested by 
 Mr. Brabrook.” 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 T HE following is the classification of anthro¬ 
 pology which has been proposed by Dr. 
 Brinton :— 
 
 “THE ANTHROPOLOGIC SCIENCES. 
 
 “ Proposed Classification and International Nomenclature. 
 
 “ Anthropology. 
 
 “ I. SOMATOLOGY.—Physical and Experimental Anthro¬ 
 pology. 
 
 “ II. ETHNOLOGY. —Historic and Analytic Anthropology. 
 
 “III. Ethnography. —Geographic and Descriptive An¬ 
 thropology. 
 
 “ IV. ARCHEOLOGY.—Prehistoric and Reconstructive An¬ 
 thropology. 
 
 “ I. Somatology. 
 
 “ i. Internal Somatology. —Osteology, craniology, prosopo- 
 logy, myology, splanchnology. 
 
 “ 2. External Somatology. —Anthropometry, colour, hair, 
 canons of proportion, physical beauty. 
 
 “3. Psychology. — Experimental and practical, sensation, 
 rates of nervous impulse, brain and nerve action. 
 491 
 
49 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “4. Developmental and Comparative Somatology. —Em¬ 
 bryology, heredity, teratology, human biology, 
 evolution, anatomy of anthropoids, ethnic anatomy 
 and physiology, comparative nosology and medical 
 geography, fertility and sterility, racial pathology, 
 criminal anthropology, vital statistics, anatomical 
 classification of races. 
 
 “II. Ethnology. 
 
 “ 1. Sociology .—Systems of government and the social 
 contract, laws and ethical standards, the marriage 
 relation and rules of consanguinity and descent, 
 social classes and institutions, international rela¬ 
 tions (war, commerce, colonization). 
 
 “2. Technology. —The utilitarian arts, as tool making, 
 ceramics, architecture, agriculture, means of trans¬ 
 portation, clothing, weights and measures, media 
 of exchange; the esthetic arts—music, drawing, 
 painting, sculpture, decoration, games, cookery, 
 perfumery. 
 
 “3. Religion. —Psychological origin and development; per¬ 
 sonal, family, tribal, and world religions ; animism, 
 fetichism, polytheism, monotheism, atheism ; myth¬ 
 ology and mythogeny; symbolism and religious 
 art; sacred places and objects ; rites, ceremonies, 
 and mortuary customs ; religious teachers, classes, 
 and doctrines; theocracies ; analyses of special 
 religions ; philosophy and natural history of 
 religions. 
 
 “ 4. Lmguistics. —Gesture and sign language ; spoken 
 language, parts of speech, logic of grammar, origin, 
 growth, and classification of languages, relation 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 493 
 
 to ethnography; written language, pictographic, 
 symbolic, ideographic, and phonetic writing, evolu¬ 
 tion of alphabets, phonetic systems; forms of 
 expression, poetic (metrical, rhythmical), dramatic, 
 prosaic. 
 
 “ 5. Folk-lore. —Traditional customs and narratives, folk- 
 sayings, superstitious beliefs and practices. 
 
 “III. Ethnography. 
 
 “ 1. General Ethnography . — Origin, characteristics, and 
 subdivisions of races and peoples. The ‘ geogra¬ 
 phical provinces ’ or ‘ areas of characterization.’ 
 Anthropo - geography. Lines of migrations and 
 national intercourse. 
 
 “ 2. Special Ethnography. —The Eurafrican or white race 
 (North Mediterranean and South Mediterranean 
 branches); the Austafrican or black race; the Asian 
 race (Sinitic and Sibiric branches); the American 
 race; Insular and Littoral peoples (Nigritic, Malayic, 
 and Australic stocks). 
 
 “ IV. Archaeology. 
 
 “ 1. General Archaeology. —Geology of the epoch of man. 
 Glacial phenomena. Diluvial and alluvial deposits. 
 Physical geography of the quaternary. Prehistoric 
 botany and zoology. Prehistoric Ages—the Age 
 of Stone (palaeolithic period, neolithic period); 
 the Age of Bronze; the Age of Iron ; prehistoric 
 commerce ; palethnology ; proto-historic epoch. 
 
 “2. Special Archceology. —Egyptian, Assyrian, Phenician, 
 classical, medieval, and American archaeology. 
 
494 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 “ The urgent need of a uniform classification and nomen¬ 
 clature for the various sciences connected with the study 
 of man must be apparent to all who are familiar with 
 the current literature of anthropology. 
 
 “ The plan proposed above is based upon the works and 
 suggestions of well-known English, French, German, Italian, 
 and American writers. The proposer claims no other credit 
 than that of selection. He offers no neologisms. The 
 leading terms, those printed in italics and capitals, are 
 substantially the same in all the languages named ; they are 
 already domesticated in the anthropological writings of every 
 country, and all that is needed is a general agreement as 
 to their connotation. 
 
 “ In order that this may be brought about, the writer 
 respectfully submits the above to those interested in the 
 study of this science. 
 
 “ D. G. BRINTON, M.D., LL.D., 
 
 Professor of Ethnology at the Academy of Natural Sciences , 
 Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A.” 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 METRICAL MEASUREMENTS 
 
 AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN INCHES AND HALF-INCHES. 
 
 mm. 
 
 
 inch 
 
 mm. 
 
 
 inch 
 
 6 
 
 = 
 
 i 
 
 495 
 
 = 
 
 194 
 
 13 
 
 = 
 
 4 
 
 508 
 
 = 
 
 20 
 
 19 
 
 = 
 
 a 
 
 4 
 
 521 
 
 = 
 
 204 
 
 25 
 
 = 
 
 1 
 
 534 
 
 = 
 
 21 
 
 38 
 
 = 
 
 i4 
 
 546 
 
 = 
 
 214 
 
 Si 
 
 = 
 
 2 
 
 559 
 
 = 
 
 22 
 
 64 
 
 = 
 
 24 
 
 571 
 
 = 
 
 224 
 
 76 
 
 = 
 
 3 
 
 584 
 
 = 
 
 23 
 
 89 
 
 = 
 
 34 
 
 597 
 
 = 
 
 234 
 
 101 
 
 = 
 
 4 
 
 610 
 
 = 
 
 24 
 
 114 
 
 - 
 
 44 
 
 622 
 
 = 
 
 244 
 
 127 
 
 = 
 
 5 
 
 635 
 
 = 
 
 25 
 
 140 
 
 = 
 
 54 
 
 648 
 
 = 
 
 254 
 
 152 
 
 = 
 
 6 
 
 661 
 
 = 
 
 26 
 
 165 
 
 = 
 
 64 
 
 673 
 
 - 
 
 264 
 
 178 
 
 -- 
 
 7 
 
 686 
 
 = 
 
 27 
 
 190 
 
 
 74 
 
 699 
 
 = 
 
 274 
 
 203 
 
 - 
 
 8 
 
 711 
 
 = 
 
 28 
 
 216 
 
 = 
 
 84 
 
 724 
 
 = 
 
 CO 
 
 W 
 
 228 
 
 = 
 
 9 
 
 737 
 
 = 
 
 29 
 
 241 
 
 = 
 
 94 
 
 750 
 
 = 
 
 294 
 
 254 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 762 
 
 = 
 
 30 
 
 267 
 
 
 104 
 
 775 
 
 = 
 
 3°4 
 
 279 
 
 - 
 
 11 
 
 788 
 
 = 
 
 3i 
 
 292 
 
 
 n4 
 
 800 
 
 = 
 
 3i4 
 
 305 
 
 = 
 
 12 
 
 813 
 
 = 
 
 32 
 
 318 
 
 = 
 
 124 
 
 826 
 
 = 
 
 324 
 
 330 
 
 = 
 
 13 
 
 838 
 
 = 
 
 33 
 
 343 
 
 = 
 
 134 
 
 851 
 
 = 
 
 334 
 
 356 
 
 = 
 
 14 
 
 864 
 
 = 
 
 34 
 
 368 
 
 = 
 
 m 4 
 
 877 
 
 = 
 
 344 
 
 381 
 
 = 
 
 15 
 
 889 
 
 
 35 
 
 394 
 
 = 
 
 154 
 
 902 
 
 - 
 
 354 
 
 406 
 
 - 
 
 16 
 
 9i5 
 
 = 
 
 36 
 
 419 
 
 = 
 
 164 
 
 927 
 
 = 
 
 364 
 
 432 
 
 = 
 
 17 
 
 940 
 
 = 
 
 37 
 
 444 
 
 = 
 
 174 
 
 953 
 
 = 
 
 374 
 
 457 
 
 = 
 
 18 
 
 966 
 
 = 
 
 38 
 
 470 
 
 - 
 
 184 
 
 978 
 
 = 
 
 384 
 
 482 
 
 = 
 
 19 
 
 991 
 
 = 
 
 39 
 
 mm. 
 
 
 inch 
 
 mm. 
 
 
 inch 
 
 1004 
 
 = 
 
 394 
 
 i5 12 
 
 = 
 
 594 
 
 IOl6 
 
 = 
 
 40 
 
 1524 
 
 = 
 
 60 
 
 IO29 
 
 = 
 
 404 
 
 1537 
 
 = 
 
 604 
 
 IO42 
 
 = 
 
 4i 
 
 i55o 
 
 = 
 
 61 
 
 1055 
 
 - 
 
 4i4 
 
 1562 
 
 = 
 
 614 
 
 1067 
 
 = 
 
 42 
 
 1575 
 
 = 
 
 62 
 
 1080 
 
 = 
 
 424 
 
 1588 
 
 = 
 
 624 
 
 IO93 
 
 = 
 
 43 
 
 1601 
 
 = 
 
 63 
 
 II05 
 
 = 
 
 434 
 
 1613 
 
 = 
 
 634 
 
 1118 
 
 = 
 
 44 
 
 1626 
 
 = 
 
 64 
 
 II31 
 
 = 
 
 444 
 
 1639 
 
 = 
 
 644 
 
 II44 
 
 - 
 
 45 
 
 1651 
 
 = 
 
 65 
 
 1156 
 
 = 
 
 454 
 
 1664 
 
 = 
 
 654 
 
 1169 
 
 = 
 
 46 
 
 1677 
 
 - 
 
 66 
 
 Il8l 
 
 = 
 
 464 
 
 1690 
 
 = 
 
 664 
 
 II94 
 
 = 
 
 47 
 
 1702 
 
 = 
 
 67 
 
 1207 
 
 = 
 
 474 
 
 1715 
 
 = 
 
 674 
 
 1220 
 
 = 
 
 48 
 
 1728 
 
 = 
 
 68 
 
 1232 
 
 = 
 
 484 
 
 1740 
 
 = 
 
 684 
 
 1245 
 
 = 
 
 49 
 
 1753 
 
 = 
 
 69 
 
 1258 
 
 = 
 
 494 
 
 1766 
 
 = 
 
 694 
 
 1270 
 
 = 
 
 50 
 
 1778 
 
 = 
 
 70 
 
 1283 
 
 = 
 
 5°4 
 
 1791 
 
 = 
 
 7o4 
 
 1296 
 
 = 
 
 5i 
 
 1804 
 
 = 
 
 7i 
 
 I3°9 
 
 = 
 
 5i4 
 
 1817 
 
 = 
 
 7i4 
 
 1321 
 
 
 52 
 
 1829 
 
 
 72 
 
 1334 
 
 -- 
 
 524 
 
 1842 
 
 - 
 
 724 
 
 1347 
 
 = 
 
 53 
 
 1855 
 
 = 
 
 73 
 
 1359 
 
 = 
 
 534 
 
 1867 
 
 = 
 
 734 
 
 1372 
 
 = 
 
 54 
 
 1880 
 
 = 
 
 74 
 
 1385 
 
 = 
 
 544 
 
 1893 
 
 = 
 
 744 
 
 1397 
 
 = 
 
 55 
 
 1905 
 
 = 
 
 75 
 
 I4IO 
 
 = 
 
 554 
 
 1918 
 
 = 
 
 754 
 
 1423 
 
 = 
 
 56 
 
 1931 
 
 = 
 
 76 
 
 1436 
 
 = 
 
 564 
 
 1943 
 
 = 
 
 764 
 
 I448 
 
 = 
 
 57 
 
 1956 
 
 = 
 
 77 
 
 1461 
 
 = 
 
 574 
 
 1969 
 
 = 
 
 774 
 
 1474 
 
 = 
 
 58 
 
 1981 
 
 = 
 
 78 
 
 i486 
 
 = 
 
 584 
 
 1994 
 
 = 
 
 784 
 
 1499 
 
 = 
 
 59 
 
 2000 
 
 = 
 
 OO 
 
 ♦Hw 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aberdeen, 281, 420. 
 
 Aberdeenshire, 281, 388. 
 
 Adamnan, 354. 
 
 Adler, Dr. Hermann, 24. 
 
 Africa, 267, 289, 319, 320, 388, 401. 
 
 — Central, 398. 
 
 — cranial index of various peoples, 
 
 69. 
 
 — West, 283. 
 
 Ainus, 70, 71, 75. 
 
 Alans or Alani, 57, 58. 
 
 Alleluia, 257. 
 
 Allen, Mr. Grant, 45. 
 
 Altitudinal index, 68. 
 
 Amazon, 296. 
 
 America, 266, 292, 319, 320, 401. 
 
 — cranial index of various peoples, 
 
 70. 
 
 — North, 271, 285, 292. 
 
 — North-West, 266. 
 
 American Indians, 75. 
 
 — Indian race, 96. 
 
 — races, 98. 
 
 Americans, 121. 
 
 Ammon, Dr. Otto, 452. 
 
 Amorites, 18, 27, 28. 
 
 Analysis — anthropological 
 
 measurements as a means of, 
 13 - 
 
 Ancient Egyptians—coarse type, 
 124. 
 
 — fine type, 124. 
 
 — nasal index of, 124. 
 
 2 K 
 
 Andamanese, 73, 75, 76, 77, 123. 
 Andree, Dr. R., 259, 266, 267. 
 Angle of Cuvier, 117. 
 
 Angles, 43. 
 
 Anglians, 41, 45, 50. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon invasion, 83. 
 Anthropology, 491. 
 
 Anthropometry, 441-448. 
 Anthropometrical Laboratory in 
 Cambridge, 10. 
 
 Antrim, Co., 282. 
 
 Apache, 292-294. 
 
 Apertura pyriformis, 120, 130-132. 
 Apes, 130. 
 
 Aquitainians, 139. 
 
 Arab conquest, 125. 
 
 Arabia, 258. 
 
 Arabs,. 18, 22, 160, 223. 
 
 Aramaeans, 25. 
 
 Aran, 419. 
 
 Aranzadi, Prof. Telesforo de, 186, 
 187, 190. 
 
 Archaeology, 491, 493, 494. 
 Archibald, E. D., 233. 
 
 Argyle, 38. 
 
 Arizona, 292, 293. 
 
 Armenians, 22, 25, 26, 27. 
 
 Arrows, 219, 220, 223. 
 
 Aryan race, 102, 103, 105, 106. 
 Aryans, 112, 113, 197, 272, 399. 
 
 — in India, 71. 
 
 Asia, 387, 401. 
 
 497 
 
THE STUDY OF MAH 
 
 498 
 
 Asia, cranial index of various peo¬ 
 ples, 69. 
 
 — Minor, 258. 
 
 Assyria, 170. 
 
 Assyrians, 26. 
 
 — high type, 21 ; low type, 22. 
 
 — pictures, 178. 
 
 Auchencairn, 336, 414. 
 
 Austen, H. Godwin, 267. 
 
 Australia, 300, 308, 320, 397, 398, 
 
 407. 
 
 — Central, 265, 269, 315. 
 Australians, 71, 75 , I 3 2 > 2 3 T - 
 Austria—hair and eye colour of 
 
 children in, 56. 
 
 Auvergnats, 153. 
 
 Auvergne, 30, 57. 
 
 Azores, 181. 
 
 Babylonian type, 22. 
 
 Badagas, 108, 109, 116. 
 Baden-Powell, Captain, 235. 
 
 Bailey, J., 4 07. 
 
 Bakairi, 295, 296. 
 
 Balfour, Mrs. M. C., 482. 
 
 — Right Hon. A. J., 210. 
 
 Balham, 277. 
 
 Ball games, 220, 221. 
 
 Balz, Dr., 100. 
 
 Banffshire, 392. 
 
 Banim, Miss Mary, 371. 
 
 Banks Islands, 245, 301, 320. 
 Barley Break, 332. 
 
 Barnes, Rev. J. P., 282. 
 
 Barrington, 348, 412. 
 
 Barrow, Mr., 205. 
 
 Basel, 285, 336. 
 
 Basque, 197. 
 
 — wheel, 187. 
 
 Bastian, Dr. A.. 260. 
 
 Batavi, 42. 
 
 Batavians, 83-85. 
 
 Batty, Mrs. R. Braithwaite, 289. 
 Baumes-Chaudes, 80. 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, 256. 
 
 Becq de Fouqui&res, M. L., 267. 
 Beddoe, Dr. John, 15, 38, 79, 81-86, 
 438, 462. 
 
 Bede, 381. 
 
 Bedfordshire, 278. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Bedouins, 25. 
 
 Belfast, 285, 348, 363, 3 6 7 , 4 2 3 - 
 Belgium—hair and eye colour of 
 children in, 56. 
 
 Belper, 367. 
 
 Bengal, 101, 112, 114. 
 
 Berbers, 122, 125, 126, 155. 
 Berkshire, 350, 351. 
 
 Bernoni, Sig., 421. 
 
 Bertillon, M. A., 2, 3, 6, 94. 
 
 Bertin, G., 21, 22. 
 
 Bianconi, Mr. Charles, 208-210, 
 217. 
 
 Bilia, 302. 
 
 Black races, 74, 98, 102, 121, 132. 
 Black spot, the Limousin, 145, 147 
 Blackstone, Sir W., 256. 
 Block-wheel car, 212. 
 
 Blue eyes, 28. 
 
 Blue Hill Observatory, 234. 
 
 Boas, Dr. F., 274, 451. 
 
 Bocking, 400, 402. 
 
 Bondin, M., 146, 147. 
 
 Boomers, 283. 
 
 Bora, 311, 314. 
 
 Borneo, 227, 262, 355. 
 
 Bororo, 295-297. 
 
 Borreby, 81. 
 
 Borreby race, 41. 
 
 Borrowdale, 178. 
 
INDEX 
 
 499 
 
 Boston—hair and eye colour, 41. 
 Bourke, J. G., 290, 292, 293. 
 Box-kite, 234. 
 
 Boyd-Dawkins, Prof., 81. 
 
 Brabrook, E., 489. 
 
 Brachycephalic skull, 68. 
 Brachycephals, 25, 26. 
 
 — neolithic, 82. 
 
 Brahmans, 101, 104, in. 
 Braintree, 45. 
 
 Brandon, 45, 46. 
 
 Brazil, 295, 298, 398. 
 
 Bremen, 83. 
 
 Bridge of Adana, 353. 
 
 Bridge, Stoicheion of the, 352. 
 Brinton, Dr. D. G., 65, 494. 
 
 British, 48. 
 
 — Islands, 277. 
 
 — types, 48. 
 
 Britton, Mr., 226. 
 
 Broca, Prof. P., 118, 121, 123, 125, 
 126, 127, 128, 145, 147, 452. 
 Bronze Age, 50, 85, 184, 192, 197. 
 
 — cranial index, 84. 
 
 — men, 42. 
 
 — nasal and cranial index of, 128. 
 Browne, Dr. C. R., 372, 436, 437, 
 
 441. 
 
 Brunn, Dr., 186. 
 
 Buckinghamshire, 39, 396. 
 Bugeaud, Marshall, 160. 
 
 Bullar, Mr., 181. 
 
 Bull-Roarer, 277-327. 
 
 Bummer, 278, 280, 282, 285. 
 Burmah, 260. 
 
 Burne, Miss C. S., 365, 368, 475- 
 481. 
 
 Burt, Capt., 173, 175. 
 
 Bush, J., 200, 201, 206. 
 
 Bushmen, 123, 289, 29cy 319, 320, 
 326. 
 
 Buzz, 284. 
 
 Buzzer, 278. 
 
 Bzik, 287. 
 
 Cab, 216, 217. 
 
 Cadurci, 139. 
 
 Caernarvonshire, 376. 
 
 Caesar, 139. 
 
 Calcutta, 355. 
 
 Cambridge, 63, 284, 339, 341, 348, 
 366, 399, 412, 423. 
 
 — Anthropometry, 10. 
 Cambridgeshire, 43, 278, 395. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Camping ground, 220. 
 
 Canstadt, 155. 
 
 Cantabrian-Asturian wheel, 187. 
 Car, 163. 
 
 — block-wheel, 212. 
 
 — low-back, 177, 201. 
 
 — Ringsend, 216, 217. 
 
 — slide, 167. 
 
 Card, for hair and eye statistics, 
 32- 
 
 Cards, playing, 223. 
 
 Caribs, 298, 398. 
 
 Carr, Sir John, 204. 
 
 Cart, evolution of, 161. 
 
 — Portuguese, 169. 
 
 Caste, 103, 107. 
 
 — significance of, 107. 
 
 Cat’s cradle, 224-232. 
 
 Celtae, 140. 
 
 — of Caesar, 152. 
 
 Celtic chariot, 180, 194. 
 
 — language, 47. 
 
 Celts, 42, 43> 5°) 5 b i39> H°» *52, 
 180, 192, 193, 197, 213, 377- 
 379. 454- 
 
 — nasal index, 118. 
 
 Central Provinces, 112. 
 
5 °° 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Cephalic index in Dordogne dis¬ 
 trict, 13 5-140. 
 
 Ceremonial tablets, 305. 
 
 Chalmers, Rev. J., 303, 305, 379. 
 Charente, 133, 134, 136. 
 Charente-Inferieure, 57, 58. 
 
 Chariot wheels, Greek, 185. 
 Chariots, two-wheeled, 173. 
 Children, 219. 
 
 China, 70, 223, 224, 226, 227, 237, 
 242-244, 259, 260, 274, 285. 
 Chinese, 251. 
 
 Chipiez, M., 178, 179. 
 
 Clapham, Dr. L., 43. 
 
 Clarke, Sir E., 329, 330, 411. 
 Classification—Anthropological 
 measurements as a means of, 
 13- 
 
 Classification of anthropology, 491. 
 Clayton, Mr., 234. 
 
 Clercq, F. S. A. de, 264. 
 Clog-wheels, 178. 
 
 Clonmell, 208. 
 
 Codrington, Dr. R. H., 229, 245, 
 263, 300-302. 
 
 Collignon, Dr. R., 58, 96, 97, 118, 
 119, 133-160, 453, 454, 456. 
 
 — colour-index, 34. 
 
 Colour blindness, 10. 
 
 Colour of hair and eyes in Dor¬ 
 dogne district, 140-144. 
 Colour-scales, 30. 
 
 Columkille, 354, 382. 
 
 Concave nose, 89. 
 
 Connaught, 38. 
 
 Continuity of race, 489. 
 Contredanse, 329, 330. 
 
 Convex nose, 90. 
 
 Conze, Prof., 186. 
 
 Coranied, 42. 
 
 Coritavi or Coritani, 42, 43. 
 
 Cork, 209, 282. 
 
 Cornwall, 39. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40, 47, 48. 
 Corr^ze, 133-160. 
 
 Courting games, 393-411. 
 
 Cowen, Mr., 175. 
 
 Cowper, H. S., 178. 
 
 Cox, Miss Marian R., 470. 
 
 Cranial index, 67, 68. 
 
 — indices, 84. 
 
 — indices of Europeans, 78. 
 
 — nasal index, 120. 
 
 -table of, 121. 
 
 Cranium, 60-64. 
 
 Cratch cradle, 225. 
 
 Crawley, A. E., 323. 
 
 Crespigny, Lieut, de, 227. 
 
 Creuse, 133-160. 
 
 Criminals, identification of, 1. 
 Croatia, 407. 
 
 Croker, T. Crofton, 175-177, 428. 
 Cro-Magnon, 155, 156. 
 
 Crowe, J. O’Beirne, 192, 193, 195. 
 Cu Chulaind, 193—195. 
 
 Culin, Mr. Stewart, 221-224, 226, 
 238, 239, 242, 258, 274, 285. 
 Curr, Mr., 398. 
 
 Curves of relative brain capacity 
 of Cambridge University, 12. 
 Cushing, F. H., 294. 
 
 Cuvier, angle of, 117. 
 
 Cymotrichi, 75. 
 
 Cyprian wheels, 179. 
 
 Dalton, Colonel E. T., 113, 114, 
 407, 408. 
 
 D’Alviella, Count Goblet, 324. 
 Dancing, 328. 
 
 Danes, 43, 50. 
 
 Danish invaders, 86. 
 
 — type, 41. 
 
 — settlements, 47. 
 
INDEX 
 
 5 QI 
 
 Dartmouth, 47. 
 
 Dasyus, 103, 105. 
 
 Davis, Barnard, 48. 
 
 Denbighshire, 370. 
 
 Derby, 42. 
 
 Derbyshire, 278, 279, 365, 367. 
 Derrick, Mr., 209. 
 
 Derry, Co., 372, 373. 
 
 Devonshire, 47. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 
 Dialect, 486. 
 
 Dieffenbach, Dr. E., 229, 246, 247, 
 263. 
 
 Dillaye, F., 237, 244, 257, 267. 
 Dionysiac mysteries, 288. 
 
 “ Dish-a-loof,” 427. 
 
 Dolichocephalic skull, 68. 
 Dominoes, 224. 
 
 Donegal, Co., 176, 196. 
 
 Dordogne, 133-160. 
 
 Dorset, 39. 
 
 Down, Co., 176, 197, 198, 279, 283, 
 415. 
 
 Dravidians, 103, 104, 106, 109, 113, 
 272. 
 
 “ Draw a pail of water,” 362-392. 
 Drew, Thos., 285. 
 
 Dublin, 176, 197, 202, 204, 371. 
 Dubois, E., 204. 
 
 Dumfriesshire, 375. 
 
 Dundonald, 197, 198. 
 
 Duruy, Prof., 184. 
 
 Dyak, 227, 262. 
 
 East Anglia, 45. 
 
 East Anglians, 47, 280. 
 
 — craniology, 46. 
 
 Effect of jawmuscles on skull,61,62. 
 Efficiency, anthropological mea¬ 
 surements as a test of, 8. 
 
 Egypt, 158,170. 
 
 Egypt, representations of, 16. 
 Egyptian, 169. 
 
 — art, leading characteristics of, 20. 
 
 — complexion, 16. 
 
 — hair, 16. 
 
 — high type, 99 ; low type, 99. 
 
 — type, 17. 
 
 Egyptians, ancient, 99. 
 
 — nasal and cranial index of, 127. 
 Ehrenreich, Dr. Paul, 298. 
 Eleusinian mysteries, 324. 
 
 Ellice Group, 263. 
 
 Ellis, Rev. W., 246. 
 
 England, 220, 399. 
 
 — hair colour, 38 ; eye colour, 38. 
 English, 116, 157, 402. 
 
 Englishmen, mean cephalic index 
 
 of, 86. 
 
 Eramo, 303. 
 
 Erasmus, 410. 
 
 Erect attitude, 59. 
 
 Erythrism, 28. 
 
 Eskimo, 122, 231, 266, 267, 274, 
 285, 292, 320. 
 
 — nose, 96, 97. 
 
 Essex, 45, 278, 400, 402. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Etheridge, R., 264, 265, 317. 
 Ethnography, 491, 493. 
 
 — of Dordogne District, 133-160. 
 Ethnology, 491. 
 
 Europe, 320, 387. 
 
 — cranial index of various peoples, 
 
 69. 
 
 Europeans, 132. 
 
 External soul, 242, 253, 391. 
 
 Eye colours, 15, 31, 438-441. 
 
 Eyre, E. J., 231. 
 
 Face, 60. 
 
 Faction fights, 273. 
 
5° 2 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Fairies, 419. 
 
 Falciform fold, 74. 
 
 “Farmer’s Den,” 335, 337 — 339 - 
 Fauriel, M., 343. 
 
 Fellah, 158. 
 
 Fellahin, 17. 
 
 Fielde, Miss, 227. 
 
 Figura, F., 286, 326. 
 
 Fiji, 246. 
 
 Find-abair, 192, 193. 
 
 Finns, 20, 399, 402. 
 
 Finsch, Dr. 0 ., 302. 
 
 Fison, Rev. Lorimer, 277, 310. 
 Fitzstephen, 355. 
 
 Flinders Petrie—new race, 18. 
 Flores, 262. 
 
 Florida, 229, 300, 301. 
 
 Flower, Sir William, 20, 73-77, 121, 
 455 ) 459 - 
 Fly River, 305. 
 
 Folk-Lore, 467-485, 493. 
 
 Forbes, Dr. H. O., 262. 
 
 Forma anthropina, 131, 132. 
 
 — infantilis, 131. 
 
 Fossae prenasales, 131, 132. 
 Foundation sacrifice, 347-361. 
 
 Four races, representation of, in 
 ancient Egypt, 16. 
 
 France, 287, 357. 
 
 — Central, 346. 
 
 — nasal and cranial index of ancient 
 
 and modern, 128. 
 
 Franklin, 233. 
 
 Franks, 156. 
 
 Frazer, Dr. J. G., 253, 323, 391, 426. 
 
 — Mrs. J. G., 330, 335. 
 
 French, 51. 
 
 — nasal indices, 118. 
 
 Friedberg, E., 402. 
 
 Friesland, 439. 
 
 Frisian, 83, 84. 
 
 Frisian settlements, 47. 
 
 Frisians, 41, 50. 
 
 Funeral games, 412. 
 
 Furfooz, 81. 
 
 Gadow, Dr. Hans, 190. 
 
 Gaelic, 47. 
 
 Gaidoz, M., 389. 
 
 Galicia, 190, 286, 287. 
 
 Galley Hill, 80. 
 
 Galton, Dr. Francis, 5, 9-12, 63, 
 466. 
 
 Galway, north, 432. 
 
 — west, 431. 
 
 Games, 219. 
 
 — courting, 393-411. 
 
 — kissing, 410, 411. 
 
 — wake, 428. 
 
 Garland-dressing, 365, 376. 
 Garnett, Miss Lucy M. J., 74, 353. 
 Garson, Dr., 2, 83, 455. 
 
 Gason, S., 315. 
 
 Gastaldi, B., 183, 184. 
 
 Gauls, 51, 156, 160, 213. 
 
 — nasal and cranial index of, 128. 
 Gempei, 273. 
 
 Georgina, 414, 415. 
 
 Gerhard, Dr., 182. 
 
 Germans, 42, 51, 116. 
 
 Germany, 283, 354, 402. 
 
 — hair and eye colour of children 
 
 in, 56. 
 
 Gerson da Cunha, Dr., 103. 
 Gildemeister, 83. 
 
 Gill, Rev. Dr. W. Wyatt, 228, 247, 
 250-252. 
 
 Girton, 341, 366. 
 
 Gloucester, 83. 
 
 Gloucestershire, 39. 
 
 Glover, Mr., 367. 
 
 Goethe, 23. 
 
INDEX 
 
 5°3 
 
 Gomme, Mrs. A. B., 225, 226, 281, 
 282, 326, 350, 355, 361, 363, 
 59 6 > 397 ) 42 i, 422, 424 ) 425 ) 
 429. 
 
 — G. L., 49, 174, 271, 355, 365, 370, 
 
 372 , 374 - 376 , 378 , 384, 392 , 
 425-427, 467, 468. 
 
 Gope, 305. 
 
 Goths, 28. 
 
 Gottweiger Situla, 180. 
 
 Grave-row, 84, 85. 
 
 Gray, W., 373, 380, 382. 
 
 Greece, 288. 
 
 — ancient, 320, 399. 
 
 Greek mysteries, 327. 
 
 — songs, 352. 
 
 — or classical nose, 93. 
 
 Greeks, 197, 327. 
 
 “ Green Gravel,” 423-426. 
 
 Gregor, Rev. Dr. W., 281, 282. 
 Gregory, Pope, 381. 
 
 Grosse, 335. 
 
 Grove, Mrs. Lily, 330, 335. 
 Guanches, 126. 
 
 Haddon, A. C., 122, 231, 302-304, 
 '306, 310, 372, 379, 436, 437) 
 441. 
 
 Hahn, Dr. E., 170-172. 
 
 Hair, 74. 
 
 Hair colour, 15, 31, 438, 441. 
 
 Hair and eye colours of children 
 in Austria, 56. 
 
 — Belgium, 56. 
 
 — Germany, 56. 
 
 — Switzerland, 56. 
 
 Hair of Americans, 74. 
 
 — Caucasians, 74. 
 
 — Mongolians, 74. 
 
 — Negroid peoples, 74. 
 
 Plall, Mr. and Mrs. S. C., 203, 206- 
 208. 
 
 Halliwell, 362, 363, 367. 
 
 Hallstadt race, 153. 
 
 Hallstatt, 180. 
 
 Hamilton, J., 196. 
 
 Hampshire, 272, 349, 417. 
 
 Hamy, E. T., 125, 158, 455. 
 Hardman, E. T., 316, 317. 
 Hargrave, 234. 
 
 Harrison, Miss Jane, 183. 
 
 — Mr. Park, 41, 45. 
 
 Hartland, E. Sydney, 253, 376, 
 387 , 389 ) 39 °) 39 1) 442, 469- 
 Hatshepu, Queen, 17. 
 Haute-Vienne, 133-160. 
 
 Hayden, Miss M., 431. 
 
 Head form in anthropology, 59. 
 Head measurements, 450-456. 
 Head, B. V., 183. 
 
 Head of Zeus, 93. 
 
 “ Heaven and Hell,” 357. 
 
 Hedley, C, 263. 
 
 Height indices of the cranium in 
 Dordogne district, 149-152. 
 
 “ Hell,” 332, 333. 
 
 Henderson, W., 365, 369, 427. 
 Hera, 196. 
 
 Herbette, M., 2. 
 
 Hereford, 476. 
 
 Herts, 39. 
 
 Hervey islands, 228, 247, 251. 
 Hewitt, J. F., 114. 
 
 Heywood, Thos., 330. 
 High-bridged nose, 90. 
 
 Highlands, 354. 
 
 Hissarlik, 171. 
 
 Historical evidence, 489. 
 
 Hittites, 26, 27. 
 
 Hobson, Mrs. Carey-, 291. 
 Hohberg, 83. 
 
 Holy well, 365. 
 
 I Holywood, 415. 
 
5°4 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 l’Homme-mort, 80. 
 
 Hone, W., 203, 255, 257. 
 
 Hope, R. C., 367, 368. 
 Horton-Smith, R. J., 46. 
 
 Hovorka, Dr., 92, 93, 130-132. 
 Howitt, A. W., 311, 313, 314, 398. 
 Human beast of burden, 162. 
 Hummer, 278. 
 
 Humming-top, 255, 259, 262, 266, 
 267, 269. 
 
 Huntingdonshire—hair and eye 
 colour, 40. 
 
 Huxley, Prof. T. H., 61. 
 
 Hyde, Dr. Douglas, 483, 484. 
 Hyksos, 19, 20, 158. 
 
 Hypenetian, 74. 
 
 Iberian, 48, 49, 155. 
 
 Iceni, 46. 
 
 Index of Nigrescence, 33. 
 
 India, 71, 72, 244, 407, 408. 
 
 — nasal index, 101. 
 
 — Southern, 116, 426. 
 Indo-Polynesians, 121. 
 
 Inglis, H. D., 205. 
 
 Inishbofin, 163. 
 
 Inishshark, 163. 
 
 Initiation ceremonies in Australia, 
 3II-3I7- 
 
 Inverness, 173, 175. 
 
 Ireland, 163, 166, 167, 169, 192, 200, 
 203, 204, 283, 370,426,428,430, 
 432 , 483- 
 
 — eye colour, 38. 
 
 — hair colour, 38. 
 
 Irish, 41, 409. 
 
 Isle of Wight, 365. 
 
 Jacobs, Joseph, 23, 24, 28. 
 
 Jamieson, 282, 425. 
 
 Japan, 70, 226, 227, 237, 243, 252, 
 259, 260, 275, 285. 
 
 Japanese, 72, 73, 100. 
 
 — coarse type, 100. 
 
 — fine type, 100. 
 
 Jaunting-car, 200-218. 
 
 Java, 244, 245, 259, 268, 299. 
 
 Jaw, human, 60, 61. 
 
 — muscles, 63, 64. 
 
 “Jenny Jones,” 412-423. 
 
 Jewish nose, 25, 90, 93. 
 
 — type, persistency of, 23. 
 
 Jews, 18, 22, 27, 401. 
 
 — Ashkenazim, 23, 28. 
 
 — blond type, 24. 
 
 — comparative infertility of mixed 
 
 marriages, 24. 
 
 — dark type, 24. 
 
 — German-Polish, 23, 28. 
 
 — high type, 22. 
 
 — low type, 22, .23. 
 
 — red hair, 28. 
 
 — Sephardim, 28. 
 
 — Spanish, 28. 
 
 Jingle, 216, 218. 
 
 Jutes, 50. 
 
 Kaffir, 290, 291, 320. 
 
 Kafirs, 113. 
 
 Kalmuk, 73. 
 
 Kalmuk’s skull, after Ranke, 66. 
 Kemping, 220. 
 
 Kent, 350. 
 
 Kerry, 426. 
 
 Kevin’s, St., Well, 371. 
 Kincardineshire, 281. 
 
 Kintail, 167. 
 
 Kipling, Rudyard, 156. 
 Kirkcudbrightshire, 336, 414. 
 Kirkmichael, 392. 
 
INDEX 
 
 5°5 
 
 Kissing games, 410, 411. 
 
 Kites, 232-254. 
 
 — Chinese, 239. 
 
 — fighting, 244. 
 
 — in meteorology, 233. 
 
 — Japan, 240. 
 
 — Korean, 239, 240. 
 
 — Solomon Islands, 239. 
 
 “ Knights from Spain,” 402-406. 
 Kohl, J. G., 266. 
 
 Koitapu, 379. 
 
 Kolarians, 113, 114. 
 
 Kolhs, 114. 
 
 Konos, 288. 
 
 Kopts, 126. 
 
 Korea, 223, 224, 226, 227, 238, 239, 
 252, 259, 273-276. 
 
 Kotas, 108, 109, 115, 116. 
 
 Krause, E., 302. 
 
 Kurnai, 313. 
 
 Kymri, 156, 454. 
 
 — nasal index, 118. 
 
 “Lady on a Mountain,” 410. 
 Lancashire, 365, 369. 
 
 Lang, Andrew, 287, 290, 299, 319, 
 326. 
 
 Lapland, 72. 
 
 Lapps, 399. 
 
 Late Celtic, cranial index, 84. 
 
 La Tene, 180. 
 
 Laverock, W. S., 281. 
 
 Lawrence, Mrs., 341, 366. 
 
 Leicester, 42, 43, 83. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 44. 
 Leicestershire—hair and eye colour, 
 
 40. 
 
 Leiotrichi, 75. 
 
 Lemovices, 138, 139. 
 
 Lepers’ Island, 229, 245. 
 Leptorhine, 95, 96, 120. 
 
 Life-token, 241, 253, 391. 
 
 Lincoln, 41, 42. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 44. 
 Lincolnshire, 39, 41, 278, 482. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Linguistics, 492. 
 
 Livi, Dr., 451. 
 
 London, 396. 
 
 “London Bridge,’’ 347-361. 
 
 Long Barrow type, 46. 
 Long-barrows, 80. 
 
 “ Lords from Spain,” 402-408. 
 Low-back car, 201, 203. 
 
 Lucian, 288, 289. 
 
 Ludlow, 270. 
 
 “ Lump of sugar,” 366. 
 
 Luschan, Dr. Felix von, 25, 27. 
 Lyall, Sir A., 105, no. 
 
 Macalister, Prof. A., 132, 455. 
 Macdonald, Rev., 398. 
 
 Mackintosh, Mr. D., 41. 
 
 Madras, 107, 115. 
 
 Mahr, 401. 
 
 “ Maiden’s dance,” 421. 
 
 Malasia, 260. 
 
 Malay, 260-262, 269, 320. 
 
 — Archipelago, 268, 299, 408. 
 
 — States, 298. 
 
 Malays, 130, 244. 
 
 Malton, J., 175. 
 
 Mangaia, 247, 250. 
 
 Mantegazza, Prof. P., 451. 
 
 Maories, 269, 299. 
 
 Map, distribution of colour of eyes 
 in France (Topinard), 54. 
 
 — distribution of colour of hair in 
 
 France (Topinard), 55. 
 
 — distribution of dark eyes in 
 England (Beddoe), 36. 
 
5°6 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Map, distribution of excess of pure 
 blond over pure dark type in 
 England (Beddoe), 37. 
 
 — distribution of hair and eye 
 
 colours in England, 34-37. 
 
 — index of nigrescence in England 
 
 (Beddoe), 35, 38, 39. 
 
 Marindin, G. E., 180. 
 
 Mariner’s compass, 251. 
 
 Markham, C. R., 298. 
 
 Marriage by capture, 397, 398. 
 
 — by purchase, 400-404. 
 
 Martial, 87. 
 
 Martin, Mr., 375. 
 
 Martius, Dr. von, 398. 
 
 Marvin, Prof. C. F., 234. 
 
 Maspero, G., 17, 99. 
 
 Masseter muscles, 61, 62. 
 
 Mathews, R. H., 311, 314, 317. 
 Matthews, Dr. Washington, 292. 
 May-day, 396, 397. 
 
 Mayo, 432. 
 
 McAdie, A., 233. 
 
 McLennan, J. F., 102. 
 
 Mean cephalic index of English¬ 
 men, 86. 
 
 Measurement of eyesight, 9. 
 Measurements, metrical, 495. 
 
 — nasal, 456-460. 
 
 Mediterranean, 71. 
 
 — nasal index, 118. 
 
 — race, 19, 27, 49 . * 54 , 156, 197 , 
 
 454 - 
 
 Melanesians, 98, 269, 299, 300. 
 Melanochroi, 71, 75. 
 
 Mer, Murray Island, 261, 264. 
 Merovingian skulls, 129. 
 Mesaticephalic skull, 68. 
 
 Mesopic, 112. 
 
 Mesorhine, 95, 96, 120. 
 Meteorology, kites in, 233. 
 
 Metrical measurements, 495. 
 Michaelis, J. D., 401, 402. 
 
 Middle Ages, 86. 
 
 — cranial index, 84. 
 
 Mies, Dr., 451. 
 
 Mincopies, 72. 
 
 Mitchell, Sir A., 165, 167. 
 
 Mohar, 401. 
 
 Mongolian, 74. 
 
 — type, 74 , 75 - 
 Mongoloid race, 114. 
 
 Monkeys, noses of, 88. 
 
 Monseur, M., 389. 
 Montgomeryshire, 279, 280, 479, 
 
 480. 
 
 Monuments, 488. 
 
 Moor, 226. 
 
 Moore, Prof. Willis L., 234. 
 Morality, 386. 
 
 Mortillet, Prof. G. de, 51. 
 
 Mota, 301. 
 
 Mothering Sunday, 476. 
 
 Motu, 229, 379. 
 
 Motu-Motu, 303. 
 
 Muhammadans, 108, 109, 116, 117. 
 Murdoch, J., 266, 267, 285. 
 
 Murray Island, 261, 264, 268. 
 Mykenaean cars, 186. 
 
 — period, 184. 
 
 Myers, Dr. C. S., 45, 84. 
 
 Myres, J. L., 182. 
 
 Mysteries, 324. 
 
 — Dionysiac, 288. 
 
 — Greek, 327. 
 
 Mystery, 288, 289. 
 
 Naga Hills, 268. 
 
 Nagas, 426. 
 
 Nahuquas, 298. 
 
 Napier, 426. 
 
INDEX 
 
 5°7 
 
 Nares, R., 225, 256. 
 
 Nasal bones, 119, 130. 
 
 — and cranial index of ancient and 
 
 modern France, 128. 
 
 — and cranial index of Egyptians, 
 
 127. 
 
 — and cranial index of Parisians, 
 
 128. 
 
 — index of ancient Egyptians, 124. 
 
 — index in Dordogne district, 148, 
 
 149. 
 
 — index of the living, 95, 97. 
 
 — index, India, 101. 
 
 — indices, French, 118. 
 
 — indices of Southern India, 108. 
 
 — measurements, 456-460. 
 
 Nasalis larvatus, 88. 
 
 Naso-malar index, 459. 
 
 Nature, goddess of, 171. 
 Neanderthal, 80. 
 
 Negritoes, 72, 75. 
 
 Negrilloes, 75. 
 
 Negroes, 16, 19,61, 75,98, 130,132, 
 454 - 
 
 Nehring, Dr. A., 62. 
 
 Neolithic, 45, 46, 49, 155, 156. 
 
 — brachycephals, 82. 
 
 — cranial index, 84. 
 
 — nasal index, 127, 128. 
 
 — type, 81. 
 
 Neolithic Age, 80. 
 
 Neubauer, Dr. A., 24. 
 
 New Guinea, 122, 219, 229, 300, 
 302, 303, 320, 379. 
 
 New Hebrides, 245. 
 
 New Race—Flinders Petrie, 18. 
 New Zealand, 228, 229, 232, 246, 
 263, 269, 299, 320. 
 
 Newell, W. W., 220, 333, 334, 
 340 - 345 , 356 , 359 - 36 i, 420. 
 Nilgiri Hills, 107, 115, 117. 
 
 Noddy, 216, 218. 
 
 Norfolk, 45, 278, 279. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Norseman, 50. 
 
 North Wales, 81. 
 
 North Western Provinces, 101,113, 
 272. 
 
 Northampton—hair and eye colour, 
 44 - 
 
 Northamptonshire, 42, 43. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Northumberland, 81, 368, 369. 
 Nose, 87-132. 
 
 — concave, 89. 
 
 — convex, 90. 
 
 — high-bridged, 90. 
 
 — Jewish, 90. 
 
 — Papuan, 90. 
 
 — Roman, 87. 
 
 — sinuous, 90. 
 
 — snub, 87. 
 
 — straight, 90. 
 
 Noses of monkeys, 88. 
 
 Nottingham, 41-43, 272. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 44. 
 Nottinghamshire — hair and eye 
 
 colour, 40. 
 
 Nubia, 124, 125. 
 
 “ Nuts in May,” 393-397. 
 
 “Oats, beans, and barley,” 341- 
 344 - 
 
 Oceania, 251, 252, 262, 300. 
 
 — cranial index of various peoples, 
 
 70. 
 
 O’Curry, E., 166, 194. 
 
 Orang-utan, 130. 
 
 Orion’s Belt, 248. 
 
 Oro-stick, 283, 290. 
 
 Orpen, Mr., 289. 
 
 Orthognathous, 61. 
 
 Owen, Rev. Elias, 280, 426, 479. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 S °8 
 
 Ox-carts, 190. 
 
 Ox-waggon, 172, 173. 
 
 Pack-animal, 163. 
 
 Palaeolithic man, 49, 80, 155. 
 
 — nasal index, 127, 128. 
 
 Palgrave, 258. 
 
 Palmer, E., 317. 
 
 Paniyans, 108, 109-111, 115, 116. 
 Panjab, no, 112, 113. 
 
 Papuan nose, 90. 
 
 Papuans, 122, 264, 268. 
 
 Parakite, 236. 
 
 Pariahs, 106, 108, 109-111, 115. 
 Paris, 257. 
 
 Parisians, 30. 
 
 — nasal and cranial index of, 128. 
 Parish-top, 256. 
 
 Pastoral Kings, 179. 
 
 Pattern, 382. 
 
 Patterson, Miss Clara M., 403, 415, 
 423 - 
 
 — W. H., 363. 
 
 Payne, 488. 
 
 Peg-top, 255, 262, 267, 268. 
 
 Penka, Karl, 112, 113. 
 
 Penpont, 375. 
 
 Perrot, M., 178, 179. 
 
 Persistence of type, 77. 
 
 Peruvians, 298. 
 
 Petrie, Flinders, 125, 126. 
 Petrocorii, 138, 139, 140. 
 
 Phillips, Prof., 39, 43. 
 
 Phoenicians, 18, 23, 25. 
 Photography, 464-467. 
 
 Physical characters, 16. 
 
 Pima, 294. 
 
 Pineau, Prof. L., 355, 356. 
 Pin-offerings, 365, 376. 
 
 Pin-wells, 369. 
 
 Pipes, 432. 
 
 Pitcairn Island, 264. 
 
 Pitt-Rivers, General, 83, 377. 
 Platyopic, 112. 
 
 Platyrhine, 95, 96, 120. 
 
 Plaustrum, 180. 
 
 Playing cards, 223. 
 
 Pleiades, 248. 
 
 Pliny, 25 7. 
 
 Pneumatic tyres, 210. 
 
 Pococke, 426. 
 
 Poesche, T., 169. 
 
 Poland, 286. 
 
 Poles, 287. 
 
 Polo, 220. 
 
 Polynesia, 246, 251, 252, 269, 
 
 299. 
 
 Polynesians, 75, 122, 263. 
 
 Poole, Dr. R. Stuart, 17, 20. 
 
 “ Poor Mary sits a-weeping,” 409- 
 
 411. 
 
 Portugal, 181. 
 
 Portuguese cart, 169, 176, 187. 
 Powell, Major J. W., 292. 
 Proboscis-monkey, 88. 
 
 Prognathous, 61. 
 
 Pro-opic, 112. 
 
 Proto-Dravidian, 72. 
 
 Prussia, 285, 408. 
 
 Psychology, 491. 
 
 Purity of type, 76. 
 
 Quatrefages, Prof. A. de, 71, 455. 
 Queensland, 265, 269. 
 
 — North, 269, 432. 
 
 Rag-well, 370. 
 
 Rain-charm, 290. 
 
 Ratzel, Prof. F., 267, 290. 
 
 Rawson, Sir R., 48. 
 
INDEX 
 
 5°9 
 
 Ray, S. H., 303, 306. 
 
 Read, C. H., 260, 261, 262. 
 
 Red races, 74. 
 
 Reeves, W., 354, 382. 
 
 Religion, 386, 492. 
 
 Renan, 23. 
 
 Reuleaux, Dr., 170. 
 
 Rhombus, 288, 294. 
 
 Rhys, Prof., 376, 377, 388. 
 
 Riedel, Dr., 260. 
 
 Ringsend Car, 216, 217. 
 
 Ripley, Dr. W. Z., 451, 452. 
 
 Risley, H. H., 102, 107, no, 113, 
 114, 459, 460. 
 
 Roberts, ,C., 48. 
 
 Roller, 168-170, 177. 
 
 Roman conquest, 157. 
 
 — domination, 83. 
 
 — nose, 87. 
 
 Romano-Britons, 45, 46. 
 
 — British, 85. 
 
 — cranial index, 84. 
 
 Rongo, 248, 249. 
 
 Rorrington Green, 365. 
 
 Rotch, Lawrence, 234. 
 
 Roth, H. Ling, 227, 262. 
 Round-Barrow, 46. 
 
 — cranial index, 84. 
 
 — race, 81. 
 
 Row-grave type, 46. 
 
 Row graves, 83. 
 
 Russia, 407. 
 
 Ruthenians, 287. 
 
 Rutland—hair and eye colour, 40. 
 Rutland, 42. 
 
 Sacred trees, 387. 
 
 — wells, 387. 
 
 Sacrifices, foundation, 347-356. 
 Salruck, 431. 
 
 Santa Cruz, 245. 
 
 Sarasin, 72, 75, 406. 
 
 Savoyards, 42. 
 
 Saxons, 50. 
 
 Saxon, cranial index, 84. 
 
 — skull, 46. 
 
 “ Saw-fish dance,” 346. 
 Scandinavian invaders, 86. 
 
 — type, 43- 
 Scandinavians, 402. 
 
 Scape-goat, 240. 
 
 Scheffer, Johann, 173. 
 
 Schellong, O., 302. 
 
 Schlegel, Gustav von, 255, 259, 
 268. 
 
 Schliemann, Dr., 258. 
 
 Schmeltz, Dr., 264, 283, 284, 294, 
 298. 
 
 Schmidt, 455. 
 
 Schwirrholz, 286. 
 
 Scotch, 41. 
 
 Scotland, 281, 336, 374, 426. 
 
 — eye colour, 38 ; hair colour, 38. 
 Scottish Highlanders, 48. 
 
 Sculptors of ancient Greece, 64. 
 Secret societies, Melanesian, 325. 
 Seemann, 246. 
 
 Selangor, 260, 261, 298. 
 
 Sellenger’s Round, 331. 
 
 Semites, 16, 18, 22, 25, 26, 48. 
 Semitic race, 125. 
 
 — writing, 27. 
 
 Sephardim, 28. 
 
 Sergi, Prof., 19, 154. 
 
 Shakespeare, 256. 
 
 Shepherd kings, 19, 20. 
 
 Shropshire, 279, 280, 351, 367, 417, 
 
 476. 
 
 Siam, 244, 253, 260, 355. 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, 332, 333. 
 
 Siedel, H., 286. 
 
 Simian groove, 131, 132. 
 
THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 5i° 
 
 Sinclair, 392. 
 
 Sinuous nose, 90. 
 
 Sion type of Switzerland, 42. 
 Skeat, Rev. Prof., 487. 
 
 Skeat, W., 298. 
 
 Skull of Bolognese lap-dog, 62. 
 
 — Eskimo dog, 62. 
 
 Slavs, 399. 
 
 Slide car, 165-168. 
 
 Smith, W. Robertson, 323, 391, 401. 
 Snub nose, 87. 
 
 Society Islands, 246. 
 
 Sociology, 492. 
 
 Solomon Islands, 264, 300, 320. 
 Somatology, 491. 
 
 Soul, external, 242, 253, 391. 
 Souling, 476. 
 
 South Saxons, 47. 
 
 Southampton, 417. 
 
 Southern India, 116. 
 
 Spain, 28, 190. 
 
 Spanish waggons, 186. 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, 335. 
 Spinning-wheels, 171. 
 
 Spoke-wheel, 178. 
 
 Spy, 80, 155. 
 
 Staffordshire, 279, 280, 365, 476. 
 Stature in Dordogne district, 144- 
 148. 
 
 Steinen, Karl von den, 295, 297, 
 298. 
 
 Stephan, Herr, 169. 
 
 Stevens, 256. 
 
 Stewart Islands, 261, 262. 
 
 Stirling, Dr. E. C., 265, 269, 316. 
 Straight nose, 90. 
 
 Straits Settlements, 260-262. 
 
 Straw harness, 166. 
 
 Strutt, J., 232, 257, 267. 
 
 Stuart, Mr. H. A., 106, no, 194. 
 
 Stuart-Glennie, J. S., 74. 
 
 Stuckey, Dr. H., 43. 
 
 Suabia, 357. 
 
 Suffolk, 45, 278. 
 
 — hair and eye colour, 40. 
 
 Sullivan, W. K., 166, 192, 194. 
 Sumatra, 299. 
 
 Sunderland, 420. 
 
 Surrey, 277, 279. 
 
 Sweet, 486, 487. 
 
 Switzerland, 81, 336. 
 
 — hair and eye colour of children 
 
 in, 56. 
 
 Symbolism, 324, 325. 
 
 Syrians, 126. 
 
 Syro-Arabs, 125, 126. 
 
 Szombathy, J., 179, 180. 
 
 Table of cranial nasal indices, 121. 
 Table of races—nasal index of the 
 living, 97. 
 
 Tahennu or Tamehu, 18. 
 
 Tahiti, 246. 
 
 Tamate, 301, 303. 
 
 Tane, 248, 249. 
 
 Tappeiner, 451. 
 
 Tatars, 20. 
 
 Taylor, Canon Isaac, 174. 
 
 Taylor, Rev. R., 228, 246, 263. 
 Technology, 492. 
 
 Teetotum, 255, 263, 264, 267-269. 
 Temporal crest, 61. 
 
 Ten Kate, Dr. H., 294. 
 
 Tennis, 220. 
 
 Tennyson, 94. 
 
 Teutonic names, 42. 
 
 — hordes, 50. 
 
 Teutons, 399. 
 
 Theal, G. M’Call, 290. 
 
 “Threading the Needle,” 345. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Thomas, Oldfield, 459, 460. 
 Thunder spell, 281. 
 
 Thurston, Mr. Edgar, 107-m, 115, 
 116, 118. 
 
 Timorlaut, 262. 
 
 Tiparu, 303. 
 
 Toaripi, 303. 
 
 Tobacco, 431, 432. 
 
 Todas, 108, 109, 115, 116. 
 
 Tol, 259. 
 
 Tomkins, 365. 
 
 Topinard, Dr. P., 54, 55, 57, 58, 95, 
 121, 451, 455, 457. 
 
 Tops, 255-270. 
 
 — humming, 255, 259, 262, 266, 
 
 267, 269. 
 
 — peg, 255, 262, 267, 268. 
 
 — parish, 256. 
 
 — town, 256. 
 
 — whipping, 255, 257, 258, 263. 
 Torres Straits, 230, 261, 264, 268, 
 
 302, 306, 310, 320, 346, 385, 
 400, 419. 
 
 Trees, sacred, 387. 
 
 Tregear, E., 229, 247, 263. 
 
 Troy, 258. 
 
 Tug of war, 270-276. 
 
 Tunisians, 454. 
 
 Turish-o-Lyn, 373. 
 
 Turks, 20, 158. 
 
 Turndun, 277. 
 
 Turner, W. Y., 229. 
 
 Twiss, J., 174, 176. 
 
 Tylor, Professor E. B., 181, 182, 
 191, 231, 250, 277, 281, 285, 
 290, 291, 322, 355. 
 
 Ulotrichi, 75. 
 
 Ulster, 38. 
 
 Uniformity of physical character¬ 
 istics, 76. 
 
 5 11 
 
 Vacher, M., 148. 
 
 Vancouver, 266. 
 
 Veddahs, 72, 75, 123, 406. 
 
 Venn, Dr., 10, 63. 
 
 Verrall, Margaret, 183. 
 
 Virchow, Prof. R., 84, 150, 451, 452. 
 
 Waggons, of Spain, 186. 
 
 Wake games, 429. 
 
 Waldteufel, 283, 284. 
 
 Wales, 39, 280. 
 
 — eye colour, 38. 
 
 — hair colour, 38. 
 
 — North, 81. 
 
 Wallace, Dr. A. R., 227, 296. 
 Walloons, 81. 
 
 War chariot, 184, 191, 192. 
 
 Ward, R. De C., 235. 
 Warwickshire, 279, 280. 
 
 Waterford, 358. 
 
 Water worship, 362-392. 
 
 Weber, Dr. Max, 260. 
 
 Weisbach, 451. 
 
 Welch, R., 431, 432. 
 
 Welcker, 452. 
 
 Well-dressing, 365. 
 
 Well, rag, 370. 
 
 Wells, pin, 369. 
 
 Wells, sacred, 387. 
 
 Welsh literature, 42. 
 
 Wessex Saxons, 47. 
 
 West Coast, 319, 320. 
 
 West Saxons, 48. 
 
 Westermarck, E., 323, 398,401,402. 
 Westmoreland, 365. 
 
 Wheel, Basque, 187. 
 
 — solid, Ancient Greece, 187. 
 
 — solid, Basque, 187. 
 
 Wheels, 168, 174. 
 
 — clog, 178. 
 
5^ 
 
 THE STUDY OF MAN 
 
 Wheels on coins, 185, 186. 
 
 — spoke, 178. 
 
 “When I was a naughty girl,” 335, 
 
 339 - 
 
 Whipping-top, 255, 257, 258, 263. 
 White races, 74, 98, 130. 
 
 Wicklow, 176, 371. 
 
 Wilde, Lady, 429, 431. 
 
 — Sir W., 397. 
 
 Wilson, Alexander, 233. 
 
 Wilts, 39. 
 
 Woglom, G. T., 236, 242, 243, 245. 
 Worcestershire, 365. 
 
 Xanthochroi, 75. 
 
 Yates, J., 180. 
 
 Yellow races, 72, 74, 89, 98, 121, 
 130, 132. 
 
 York, Cape, 432. 
 
 Yorkshire, 194, 278, 368, 369, 370. 
 Yoruba, 289, 291. 
 
 Zampa, 451. 
 
 Zeus, 64, 94. 
 
 Zuckerhandl, 451. 
 
 Zulus, 319. 
 
 Zunl, 292, 294. 
 
 PLYMOUTH: 
 
 WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, PRINTERS.