Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 36.djvu/440

426 and that consequently the mean density of the condensed mass will decrease from the center toward the circumference. During the process of condensation the condensing mass will first gain by accretion of meteorites; then a balance will be maintained between those which remain on the condensing mass and those which rebound from it; and, finally, more will be lost by rebounding than gained by accretion.

The Sacred Maori Axe.—The thought of a connection between ancient stone weapons and thunder is widely diffused, and has a hold even in European minds. A curious illustration of its character has been communicated to "Nature" by Mr. Edward Tregear, of Wellington, New Zealand., in the shape of a translation from a Maori newspaper of the story of the finding of the sacred axe, Te Anhiorangi, which had been hidden by a remote ancestor, and had not been seen again till December, 1887. A party of Maoris had gone out to gather the edible mushroom. With them was a young woman, a stranger in the district, and ignorant of the sacred places. Wandering away by herself, and looking here and there for funguses, "she saw a tree on which there was a fungus, and laid her hand on it, but suddenly there came the flash of the axe. Following with her eyes the direction of the flash, she saw the axe close against the foot of a pukatea-tree; a cry of terror broke from her, and she fled screaming. At the same time the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and blinding hail burst forth in sudden storm, increasing her terror almost to madness. Her husband heard her cries as she flew along; but an old man, called Te Rangi Whakairione, directly he heard her shrieks, understood the reason of the outcry, so he began to chant an incantation, and the fury of the storm abated. When the party had assembled in the open land, the old priest asked which of them had been to Tieke; whereupon the girl asked, 'Where is Tieke?' The old man answered that it was beyond the turn at Waione. Tomairangi replied: 'I have been there, but I did not know it was a sacred place; I saw something that looked like a spirit, and I am full of great fear.' Then all the party went to ascertain what it was, and then they found that it was indeed the lost sacred axe, Te Anhiorangi. After Te Rangi Whakairione had chanted another incantation over it, they all took hold of the axe, and wailed over it. When the crying had ceased, they brought the axe back to the settlement." The tradition had long existed that the axe was at the spot where it was found, which had therefore been tabooed, and never visited until on this occasion. On the next day the sacred thing was hung up on a tree, that all might see it, with imposing ceremonies of a procession and priests reciting charms and incantations. "All the people carried green branches in their hands as an offering to Te Anhiorangi. When the concourse drew near the place, successive peals of thunder and flashes of lightning rent the air; then came down a dense fog, making it dark as night. The Tohunga (priests) stopped the thunder and dispersed the darkness by their incantations. When the light again appeared, the people offered the green branches, together with a number of Maori mats, etc.; then they made lamentations, and sang the old songs in which the ancient axe was spoken of by their forefathers. The pedigree of the axe, which was a stone weapon of extremely high polish, was traced back to the first Maori chief who came to New Zealand; and to him it had descended, through the great god, Tane, from the primeval pair, Heaven and Earth.

Remedies for Sleeplessness.—Correspondents of the London "Spectator" have been supplying that journal with various remedies for sleeplessness. A curate in London is afflicted in direct proportion to the mental worry and absence of air and exercise he has to endure, and finds that "to walk even one mile in the day is a great thing" in the way of a remedy. At the moment, he says, the best thing one can do is to get up, drink half a glass of water, and walk round the room. The slight alternation of cold and warmth has a soporific effect. For a permanent result: "Live healthily. Avoid too little and too much exercise, food, particularly wine. Dine lightly, eating very little meat; drink only one glass of wine. Bathe an hour before dinner, not before going to bed. . . . Do something in the evening that does not excite you, something like whist that does itself mechanically. Decide how