Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 38.djvu/439

Rh in a cocoanut shell, gourd, or other vessel. The sugar is cane sugar, and is often prepared for itself. The richness of the juice is affected by the peculiarities of the species and of the tree, and its fermentability by the place of growth. The species used for wine are the oil-palm on the West Coast of Africa, the date-palm in northern Africa and India, the fan-palm and toddy-palm in India, the cocoa-palm in Ceylon and the islands of the Pacific, and the gommutti-palm in the Indian archipelago, the Moluccas, and the Philippines.

The Indians of Northwest Canada.—Dr. Boas, in the British Association Report on the Northwestern Tribes of the Dominion of Canada, describes the Indians of the Pacific coast as being able-bodied and muscular, with the upper limbs, owing to the strengthening of the arms and chest by the constant use of the paddle, generally better developed than the lower ones. They have a keen sight, but in old age frequently become blear-eyed. Their mental capacity is high, as is proved by the state of their culture. Whiteness of skin and slenderness of limbs are considered among the principal beauties of men and women, and long, black hair of women. In some of the tales red hair is described as a peculiar beauty of women Red paint on the face, tight-fitting bracelets and anklets of copper, nose and ear ornaments of variegated haliotis shells, and hair strewed with eagle-down, add to the natural charms. The fact that in honor of the arrival of friends the house is swept and strewed with sand, and that the people bathe at such occasions, shows that cleanliness is appreciated. The current expression is, that the house is so cleaned that no bad smell remains to offend the guest. For the same reason the Indian takes repeated baths before praying, "that he may be of agreeable smell to the deity." The Indian is grave and self-composed in all his actions; and playing is considered undignified and even bad. In the Tsimshian language the term for play means to talk to no purpose; and doing anything to no purpose is contemptible to the Indian. He is rash in anger, but does not easily lose control over his actions. He sits down or lies down sullenly for days without partaking of food, and when he rises his first thought is, not how to take revenge, but to show that he is superior to his adversary. Great pride and vanity, combined with the most susceptible jealousy characterize all actions of the Indian. He watches that he may receive his proper share of honor at festivals; he can not endure to be ridiculed for even. the slightest mistake; he carefully guards all his actions, and looks for due honor to be paid to him by friends, strangers, and subordinates. To be strong and able to sustain the pangs of hunger are evidently considered worthy of praise by the Indians; but foremost of all is wealth. It is considered the duty of every man to have pity upon the poor and hungry. Women are honored for their chastity and for being true to their husbands; children, for taking care of their parents; men, for skill and daring in hunting and for bravery in war.

Manual Training and the Brain.—In the discussion of Dr. Edward C. Kirk's paper on the Manual-training Idea as a Factor in Dental Education, in Philadelphia, Dr. J. L. Eisenbrey said that "the benefit to be derived from physical training means more than hand skill; it means the training of the brain man, the mental man; while you may show the effect of manual training in physical work, the result upon the brain does not come up until later on, lying back until the time calls for it; and you find that the men who occupy a conspicuous place, the young men in our profession, are the men who have had that training. To lay the foundation of a broad and complete education you need physical training, whether you get it in the city or country. I think that the country training is the best, from the simple fact that all over the whole land we find the places of trust in our banking institutions, the head places of our mechanical departments, and even in our schools of learning, filled by men who have been imported from the country, from the farm; who have handled the axe and the plow and the grubbing-hoe, who laid open the ditches and made of the swamps fruitful pastures. Physical training develops a good condition of physical health, and that means a healthful condition of the brain man; and, while it is a little slower, there comes a time when this healthful physical condition is shown in mental strength."