The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-02-02

n
- - l----- ais and the native
tribes Of mankind from all parts OF the
world. Not only are the facts new or
Just discovered, but they present shad-
owlngs OF the dim, yet fascinating
borderland Of partial knowledge;
truths suspected, but not yet demon
strated; the guesBes OF today, which
may become the established facts OF
tomorrow. No one can peruse the ar,
ticles which this National museum vol
ume contains without wishing TO know
more about the strange things WITH
wiich. they deal. Il
The mammals collected by DR.. W. Z
Abbott in Borneo and the neighboring
islands are described by pr, Marcus
W Lyons, Jr.. who writes as well Of
the country, inhabitants, llfe, ete, Dr.
Abbott is one OF those wonderful
Americans who spend their lives n
the tropical wIlds Of the old world and
know more about the jungle than the
natives themselves. 4
The article contains an Interesting
account OF how the sun bears Of the
Tanjong Pamukang country destroy
the palm trees by climbing to'the top
and eating out the heart" OF the
palm. At one place, in a grove OF
about ninety trees, 1t was discovered
that more than half had been de-
stroyed in this manner There is no
way for tire natives to put a stop to
this destruction, however, as the
Dutch authorities took away all their
guns some time ago, and so the hears
have everything their own way.
A fight between hawk and flying
lemur resulting in the capture of both
particIpaptSais recorded tn an, Inter
estins maHnefi .3s III,
The DSaksi.of southwestern ;Bcfneo
hunt nearly all the game in the vlcintI
Ity Of their settlements with spears,
except in the, case OF the orang.outang,
which is hunted with guns, 1t seems
these wild people are very fond Of the
meat Of the orang and consequently
those animals are very scarce In the
neighborhood OF Dyak camps.
Mr.. HOLSTER, assistant curator Of
the division Of mammals, United States
National museum. also has mammal
paperon the long-tailed shrews Of the
eastern United States, with descrtp-
tons OF new species. For the benefit
Of the unenlightened, 1t might bee re-
marked that the shrew is one of the
smaller nsectivores, resembling close
ly in appearance Its first cousin, the
mole.
When Hoffman Phillips was minis
ter to Abyssinia and lived at the capt.
tol OF King Menelek at Adds Abeba,
he got together a remarkable collec-
ton Of writings, utensils, ornaments,
art objects, costumes, etc, OF the
Abyssnians, which later came into the
possession Of the National museum.
As this is probably the first collection
of this kind brought to America, the
illustrated description Of 1t by DIR.
Walter Hough is decidedly worth
resdIng especially as he points out
the, singular suryiyals Of the ancient
culture Of RortheyRsAtFica,, the adjoini
Ing mart of Asia and eastern Europe,
which lIpger on in, Abyssiula and are
discernible III the various objects Of
this collection, aIt,r Dra alGmolq u
Several articles Of interest come un-
der entomology. the scientific study OF
insects. One on the collection OF bees
OF the National museum, by T. D. A.
Cockerell Of the University Of Colora'
do, deals chiefly with the study Of the
Asiatlc bees collected by DR.. Abbott,
and forms the second paper in series
being prepared by DR.. Cockerell.
There are papers on millpeds, mem
bers OF the same class OF many.footed
INSECTS as the cenGpedes, also wasps,
moths and lchneumon flies.
DR.. George P. Merrill, head curator
OF geology. Of the museum, discusses
the supposed origin OF some extraordi'
nary masses OF natural glass, called
moldavtes. These strange CLASSY peb
bles are about the size and shape Of
walnuts and the color Of dark green
bottle glass, but resemble pieces OF
larva, strangely marked and etched
Whether they came from volcanoes or
fell from the sky Is question no
one can'answer at present.
The volume also contains other ar
ticles on fishes, birds, insects. crlnoids,
crustaceans, etc. These are chiefly
technical anG describe new forms in
the collections Of the National MT
scum. The publication has $40 pages
622 plates and 40 text figures.