Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 36.djvu/149

Rh or grazings, on payment of a small rent, or on condition that they served under their chief in case of war. That this was the ancient custom is not questioned. The disregard of it now shown by the landlords, with the connivance of the authorities, is excused by saying that a security of tenure, founded in the old usage of the country, can not now be seriously entertained, as the clan system no longer exists, and the property has in many cases changed hands. At the same time, the Royal Commissioners appointed to inquire into the matter admit that the present crofters are the descendants and heirs of the holders who acquired these rights, and have done nothing to forfeit them. The landlords, however, have disregarded this tenure, have evicted the tenants, and have converted their farms into sheep-walks and immense deer ranges—enforcing their pretensions with many instances of cruelty and fiendish hardship; and Parliament has done nothing effectually to remedy the evil which has been allowed to grow up.

Italian Witch-Stories.—A practice, hybrid of the legitimate healing art and of the old witchcraft, is still current in parts of Italy. Its professors are fairly trustworthy respecting what comes under their own eyes, and prescribe judiciously for the ordinary ailments of animals, but can also tell some marvelous fables about minerals, plants, and beasts; and it sometimes requires discrimination to distinguish whether they are talking from knowledge or are repeating some old fancy. According to one of their stories, if one takes the eggs from a raven's nest, boils them, and puts them back, the parent bird will bring a stone of the same shape and size which will have the power of restoring life to them. The stone, remaining in the nest after the birds have flown, becomes half transparent and like an egg in everything except weight and hardness. When placed near poisoned food, the yolk will give warning of the fact by becoming violently disturbed. If a stone the size of a pea, which the lapwing is said always to deposit in its nest, is put under the pillow of a sleeping person, the sleeper will answer truthfully any reasonable question in the language in which it is asked. A particular serpent, reputed venomous at all times, is said to be especially so in May; and the first person it bites in that month will die himself, and also cause the death of any one who may stand beside him or come to his help. The fondness of snakes for milk gives the basis for the story of a coachman into whose open mouth a snake crawled while he was sleeping by the roadside. The doctors having failed to help him, he consulted the professors of the University of Naples; they hung him up by his feet and set a bowl of milk under his head. The snake was attracted by the smell of the milk, and crept partly out to get it, when it was pulled the rest of the way out. Of course, the coachman recovered.

Outdoor Tastes of the Australians.—The climate of Australia disposes to outdoor life; hence the most is made of holidays and of excuses for appointing them, and outdoor sports flourish as in no other country. Thought is quick, and speech nimble and marked by a reckless energy of diction—as when a young woman of great skill at lawn tennis is complimented by being described as "a terror." Mr. Ernest Moon finds a more serious result of the outdoor habit in the fact that there is little time or inclination left for reading. In very few homes, indeed, are there any indications of literary tastes. "Books or periodicals are conspicuous by their absence from most drawing-room tables. The periodicals at the club may remain for days uncut. Nor are the books at the club libraries numerous or in much request. . . . There are scientific institutions, and musical and art societies, but I have been assured on very good authority that there is no literary club or society of any kind. There are, of course, other reasons for the absence of literary life besides the allurements of the harbor, the garden, or the veranda. One of them is that there is not a class of literary people."

Classes of Men.—Recognizing the inequality among men, M. de Lapouge maintains that a man is what his birth made him, and that education can do no more for him than develop the pre-existing germs derived from his progenitors in accordance with the laws of heredity. This reasoning