TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11244, 9 April 1902, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The New Guinea naitives N«w Guinea who murdered Dr. ChaiCannibals. mors and the Rev. Mr

Tampkins because tiiey "waasted to kill "wihite men," are typical of the savage tribes wbieh still run wild in thai part of the (Pacific. The natives along the coast-line of New Guinea, under t&e influemce of the missionaries' teaching and example, are giving up tlheJr tribal wars acd beginning to torn their attention to the •tilling of the land, bat the interior of the island is sbrE an unknown territory, and there are many tribes who 'have not yet beta reached. Only recently a French scientific mission settt out <to explore the sanalt islands in the vicinity of New Guinea met witih a Qsoraibie fete. The story, as told (by the chief survivor, M. Rouyer, is a gruesome one. The expedition touched off *he New Guinea coast, near the AngloDubeh boundary, on January Ist, and thai? night, after «■ shew of friendliness, the natives rushed 'the sleeping camp. M. Rouyer was clubbed, and when he came to him-. soi next morning She found that lie was bound and surrounded by savages. When he looked round for his companions a terrible sight met his eye. "Baron Yillars," be relates, "was not far away from. mc, tied to a tree. He had been stripped, his skull! was smashed in, 'his eyes pierced through, & n d his aibdiomen was covered wifh blood. Couijit Sai©t-Remy had his head cut off, and it had been, stack on a lance and was being carried about as a trophy. M. 'Hageribeoh was being roasted, and the savages were .preparing to cat up •his 'body. M. de Viies I could not see." How M. Rouyer escaped a similar fate is difficult to understand. He aititributes ■his good fortune to the simple stratagem of jolosing has ieyes and feigning death, and appareniti'y the trick deceived this captors. (Li was not long before -tihose meanibers of the expedition who had managed to avoid capture reburned and opened fire on the savages, and rtihe latter were soon put to flrgflst. M. Rouyer was released, bat the rescuers ted come too larte to save the other members of <tihe mission. Twentyfive coiipses were picked up, including those of Baron yitlaxs, Count Saint-Remy, and M. Hagenbech, twelve of the escort, eight bearers, amd a sadlor. Of M. de Vries mo -trace except his clothes .was to be found. He had evidently been killed and eaten by ihis oaiptora.

A London paper publishes A Map an account of a remarkof able series of experiments The Brain, conducted -with the object of "mapping out" the brain, and ascertaining definitely what portions of that organ control the various motions of the body. Thanks to the assistance rendered—involuntarily—by several chimpanzees, the medical men who carried out the tests are stated to have met with great success, and. the knowledge gained has already, it. is said, been applied with beneficial results in the treatment 'of two human patients suffering' from injury to the brain. The apes were placed under chloroform, and tiny openings were made in their skulk, so as to expose the brain. From scientific, as well as humane motives, the greatest care was taken to cause no shock or suffering of any kind by this operation, for the success of the experiment depended upon the .conditions being as nearly normal as possible. After the wound had completely healed, the chimpanzee was placed upon a chair and connected- -with, an electric, battery.- One electrode was fastened to the animal's wrist, and the other, in the! form of a fine platinum point on a spring, was, applied very gently to the surface of the brain. It was found p that if a'certain portion of the frontal lobe was touched the "ape thrust out its fingers; other portions corresponded •to the movements of tihe tongue, arms, legs and bo forth. "All thes© things," we read, " happened apparently much to the victims' astonishment and often dismay,-/for' they certainly had no intention of performing such acts. It -was highly comical to see the amazed' and alarmed expression on the face of a chimpanzee when his le?t\hand suddenly clenched itself without his desire, and then as suddenly shot forward. He looked as if he thought he had been bewitched." By operating in this way upon a number of chimpanzees, the surgeons were able to make a very complete map of the frontal lobe, which controls almost all the physical functions of the body.

The crown which is to be Some Famous placed on King Edward's Crowns. head,' in Westminster Ablbey on June.26tih, wiM be worth anyifchxng between £300,000 and £400,000. This is said to be considerably less than the nominal value of some ' other 'Efuropean crowns, natajbf.y that of Portugal; iwihieb. is stated to be worth, more Chan a million' and a. half. But the British crown is genuinely worth whatever figure is placed against it, Whereas tbere seems to .be a suspicion that some of the others would be more valuable if aill the jewels" in tfhem were real. It- is biwted, however, that paste gems masquerade as the real "bhang, rthe latter having, at some time when money was pressingfy required, been extracted and sent to some obliging jsweMer willing to act the part of "unc'e" to a monarch. The plainest crown in Europe is >tiba± cl Roumania, a circlet made of gun Ssnetal taken from a gun captured at Plevna. The ,iftast historic is the famous Iran Crown of fch-a Kings of Lombardy, now in *he possession of the King of Italy. It, is asSerfted t'halt the thin iron band, set in an outer circlet of gold and precious stones, which gives flhe crown its name, was made from nails used in the crucifixion. Its use can certainty be traced back for nearly fifteen hundred years, and its historica , . value was recognised <by Napcfetm when he crowned himself with-it ait Milan in 1805, repeating, as was the custom of t*he ancient kings to whom it onoe belonged, the mcftito k bears, "God has given it mc. Woe to him who touches it." One English crown—that c<f Khisj John —was lost with the rest of the King's baggage in the Wasli, and Henry 111. had to be content -with a plain circlet of gold. On the other hand, George IV. was not satisfied , until he had had a "new crown made for his use, at ia cost of something like a quarter of a mELion, and it is reconcted that, duriaig the coronation ceremony the peer who was carrying it y the Marquis of Anglesey, less ussd" to jewels than the present ihoider ofthe title, let it fail out of his hands, but luckiiy managed to catch it before it reoohed the ground. The SuLtan of Turkey has no crown, but is girt Trith ifclie Sword of Ottoman, with the words, "Take it. iwita.faith, for you ieceive it from God." If the King of the Belgians ihas a crown at is not used in the inaugural ceremony, which in its simplicity rest-mbles that of a new President of the United States. On tie other 'hand, the

King of Norway and Sweden is crowned witih one crown at Copewhagen and with the old Norse Crown at Drontheim, anc , the Czar of Russia has crowos to -lend.