LITERARY NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2261, 6 January 1887, Page 3

LITERARY NOTES.

(FROM OUR OWN COHUESI'ONDKNT.) Paris, November (i. The colour of the skin, tho eyes and hair is, in a general souse, the distinctive characteristics which first fixed the attention of anthropologists. Aristotle knew lm others. Linnojus employed them in tii.s secondary classification (if man. But it was Blumenbuch who pave the colour traints, the rank of a science. Dr iupuiard Bayn there, is no pure race of nwn, that the idea of race is wnly the perpetuation of resemblances, cross-mixed and changing shades. But science can note tho predominating colour in u race, and the frequency of its repetition or its tints. The skin is coloured by subcutaneous pigment granulations more or loss abundant, varying from a fawn vellow t<> a dark l>r<.wn. 'IV real skiii is not of much importance in this matter. In the case of the hair there is n>. colour—base, the pigmentary matter beinu distributed hero and there in lumps or continuous in the capillary canal, but which is effected by the air. ' It is the eye where the mechanism of the production of colour exists in its maximum of complexity. Negroes afflicted with albinism have no pigment in the membrane of the visual organ. So the rays of light traverse it without any alteration, the eye resembling the unmutfed globe on a lighted lamp. Where the quantity of pigment is uncomplete in a negro, blue, green or chestnut, coloured eyes result. As a general rule for all ages blue is an indication of tho scarcity of pigment, and dark brown of its abundance. Between these poles come all the shades out of the three fundamental colours—red, yellow, and bin*—the combination* for shades can be endless. In a solar .spectrum, the eye can distinguish m> less than one thousand distinct lints. Chevrenl in hi> gamut of colours, demonstrated 1,440 types of shades. Dr. Topinard maintains thai the kind of lifo led, has more influence, on the colour of the skin in races, than th<races themselves. • . • , The doctor adds, that when an artificial eye is well made, and perfectly fitted in the socket, no difference can be discerned between it and its fellow—unless it be examined very n«ar. The making, of an artificial eye is the work of a veritable artist; The fabricant commencos l»y taking a sketch of the good eye, in its inosl minute details of colour ; it is from this design, the artificial member is mode ; clients are very exacting as'to securing resemblance—and naturally so. The artificial eye is liable to break, or become tarnished by exposure to light; hence, the fal.neant makes the eye indiiplicate, so as to have :« a second ready to send his customers. A new eye once a year, is a necessity, when the artificer receives back—and preserves — the old eyes as models, to aid in the preparation of future new ones. .. • , Paris is the head quarters of the artificial eye trade ; clients send coloured descriptions and sizes, daily from every point of the globe, for eyes. And the order i< faithfully executed. Some manufacturers have collections of the eyes most in demand, in such and sued a c>nntry. American eyes, Japanese eyes, and negro eyes. Dr. B'roca studied with much effect these collections of artificial eves, for his lectures on the classifications of the human race. Some persons—not many—hive each eye of a diisrent c>lour. Dr. Topinard says. there are no black eyes, and what pass for such, are merely dark brown. In Michelet's Notre France, his widow has added some new extracts from her husband's journal. Paris, said Miche'et, is the common centre of Franco, and that centre is marked by circumstances more political than nitural, more human than material. The national activity of the centre is derived and sustained by tho North, which is in the vicinity of England, Belgium, and Germany. The S"ine, he maintained, is the most navigable river in France. It has not the capricious and perfidious indolence of the Loire, nor the rough rudeness of the Garonne, still less the ter rible impetuosity of the Rhone, which rolllike a bull escaped from the Alps, piercing a lake for nearly sixtv miles, and then rnshing seawards, biting its banks all the way. The Seine alone possesses the facility t<>. centralise, blend, and harmonise all thecomas to it from the various points «\ France. Miohelet adds ' they were tlr Gerinanic. Virrawi, and English sions that h 'Iped to make Paris the capit;i of France ; that France, which is to-day i>:

individuality, while Germany is a race, ana England an Empire—occupied by th Anglo-Saxon, the most expansive of races. M. Bardoux, ex-Minister, studies th "French Bourgeoisie." or Middle Classe.froml7B9to 184S, and contrasts its one omnipotence with its present decadence. Hβ relates and a a'yse.s the life, tastes, beliefs and sontime it* of that layer <> r society at the close of the last and the ear! part of the present century, and which made France before, the advent of democracy, that is, of universal suffrage, in 1848. The bourgeoisie had two ambitions: tin constitution of a ci\il and of apolitical •society. It has succeeded in the first, the second has apparently slipped from its grasp. Yet it was admirably trained ti> accomplish both, due to centuries o: patience, study and struggles. In 1789 the ».'dr!Je classes of Francknew what wastoba annihilated for ever It attacked, >J'«M..yed the. past, and recoti stituted c» il society. And it succeeded.l>. cause its aims had roofs in the very hear:, of the nation itself. The bourgeoisie wa la<s happy in the constitution of a poJiticH society. At two periods it was in thi respect omnipotent—in 17811, and unde, i Louis Philippe, when its chief-were masterof the destinies of France. The women ni the middle classes, by their manners and influence, nobly did their duty. They lived virtuously and ratireo , ; t.ieir salon* were the rendezvous for the pleasures of tlv? mind, and the temples wherein wen. guarded the ideas of liberty and humauitv. The excesses of the Revolution chamrt'o the feelings of the boiirgeosie from enthusiasm into animadversion. Maduns Helvetius is the type of this change. Then iwne the years of tht; Empire, when the middlclasses were all silence, and when their apostles were satirised by Napoleon aideologues. With the arrival of Guizot in Pans, in 1809, the bourgeoisie plucked up heart of grace, after tho downfall of Napoleon. But what changes between 180!) and 1848, two invasions; the restoration of the Bourbons; the renaissance of the liberty ; the. triumph of the bourgaoise, and its collapse with the fall of government it set, up—Louis Philippe. Since the advent of universal suffrage in 1848, the middle classes are being submerged, by the uprise of the couche below them—the democratic. They now realize the famous phrase of Guizot, "the bourgeoisie can only practise a policy of resistance, but not that of political action." M. Bardoux asks with pardonable anxiety, what will be the new world coming into full life and power in France., and who can restore to her middle classes the virility and unity of action of the past. Dr Montano was entrusted by the French

Government, with a Scientific Mission to the Philippine Islands. He is now completing his report; The "Negritos," like all Malays, live in the slenderest of cabins, their furnituro consists only of baskets and va.ses. The men wear a stuff belt round the loins, and the women, only one petticoat. They bury their dead nine feet deep under under tho floor of thn hut. They rear pigs and fowls, and gather honey and rasins. The "Bicols" have lost their traditions, and system of writinpr, since the spread of Christianity and Mahometism. They have a decided musical taste, and are models of patience. Many of the children have spinal deformity, due to the manner of placing them to sleep. This deformity ia exactly the same as with children in the region of the Landes, iu France, and arise* from the same cause. Tue "Indonesians" are ever at war for motives'of "dpry." To avoid attacks, they build thflir houses on piles, or live "up a tree." The Vendetta with them is held in as iriuch honour as in Corsica. They rile their teeth rl.it, or to a point; they chew tobacco—and so resemble westerns—rather than betel. What is rare, there are many very old men. Mothers imprnt a special tatoo on their babies, to recognise they have reared', -them Each family has its own "strawberry mark." -4s a ml?, the natives oHhe Philippine groups of islands indulge in an excess of salt spiced preparations, to excite the want of appetite, peculiar to warm latitudes. Con-nniption there is very, com >non, and al ways '' galloping." M. Wilfred, de Touvielle, the distinguished litterateur and savnnj. has, in addition to hie other popular publications, coinfteneed a new series—" The Dramas of Soiwce." The story of the measuring of the baeeline for the unity metre reads like a novel. The struggles of Meohain, Delambre, f B«ot, Bertnenie and Arago. agam4 theFateaand the fanatical population^; tj&&i» hardships during international Avars; tjieii , ; captivities and ultimate success ore niQsS interobting. Centra ry to general belief* it was not the French Rnvint-s and philoaophers who first imagined tho bases 5l v^t.^«^^^f!Ti|a!i«t^H3.ttjre,

and connecting therewith a decimal division. That honour, says tho author, of a national system of weights and measures ieverts to China—as usual—whose Emperor, Hobanti, ascended tho throne in the year 2658 before our era; so that 500,000,000 of people employ to-day a system of weights and measures discovered forty six centuries Ago. "The apparel oft proclaims the man. It is on this text that M. IJablau depicts the middle classes of Fi α-uo «f the seventeenth and eighteenth ceuturie*. Ho excludes the artizans, and also th.it portion of Hie boutsiioiMß such as i-icli linunciers, which fringed the nobility, and sooner or later became ab.+ .ibt'd into it, either by purchasing a patent or by marrying a heiress-duughter to " manure a title" as the phmse went when a noble scamp was reduced to beggary by extravagance and gambling. The question of dress holds ever an important p<ace in the history of manmrs. We can never know exactly either a people or an epoch li we are ignorant of their costumes This is inoro especially the case with respect to Fiance and the last two centuries, when dre.-s—abovo all its colour— marked so sharply social divisions. - Then professional men, artists, and clergy wore sombre costumes, but merchants and traders rather approached the rich in the matter of brighter tones. At the meeting of the States General at Versailles, these hocuU distinctions marked by dress, were as plain as the road to a palish church. However, with political equality came equality in dress. In the time of I* mis XIII and Louis XIV the nobility alone wore velvet, -ilk, satin, and lace, with gold and silver trimmings. Grey and maroon cloth, coffeecoloured or grey serge, revealed tno trader. The latter it humble, had only two suits, me for winter and the other for summer. He had in addition a costume for times of mourning. When the clothes were shabby they were returned, and when threadbaie they were cut up for the children. Punctually at Master the summer costume was taken down. At All Saints it was re-placed by the winter suit. The trader felt hi.msell quite a somebody when he carried a sword, i'ue sword indicated only the pretenlion that the wearer was not to be confounded with the clodpolls. It was above all an ornament. It was essential to have two, one with a silver and the other with a carved brass scabbard. When in mourning the sword handle was to be Hack. A more distinguishing mark lay in wearing a powdered wig, which no artisan would dream of patr-arising. Every morning the uair dressers ran through the streets of Paris with a bag of flour in one hand and a comb in the other to make up the headdress of clients. In the case of women the coiffure was very plain, flat, almost imperceptible. Brown and grey were the habitual colours for their toilettes. It was only after the Revolution they wore ribbons. Previously they dared not do so, and above all white ribbon. At 45 years of age women renounced loud colours; they wore mantles with hoods, and were classed devoters. Today ladies do not renounce so early bright colours or lapse, devotion. Two centres aero the costumes of merchants and traders were more costly than those of their wives. This was owing co men going more into the world than women. Hence the dress displayed by a man became the expression of his fortune. Nou avous change tout cela. At present it is quite the opposite, the toilette of mudaiws is all.