[123] In the Christy collection, in London, I saw a stone of this kind from the Schiffer Islands, employed in a contrivance for the purpose of protection against rats and mice.  A string being drawn through the stone, one end of it is suspended from the ceiling of the room, and the objects to be preserved hang from the other.  A knot in the middle of the string prevents its sliding below that point, and, every touch drawing it from its equilibrium, it is impossible for rats to climb upon it.  A similar contrivance used in the Viti Islands, but of wood, is figured in the Atlas to Dumont D’Urville’s “Voyage to the South Pole,” (i. 95).

[124] “Carletti’s Voyages,” ii. 11.

[125] “Life in the Forests of the Far East,” i. 300.

[126] According to Father Camel ("Philisoph.  Trans.  London,” vol. xxvi, p. 246), hantu means black ants the size of a wasp; amtig, smaller black; and hantic, red ants.

[127] According to Dr. Gerstaecker, probably Phrynus Grayi Walck Gerv., bringing forth alive.  “S.  Sitzungsb.  Ges.  Naturf.  Freunde, Berl.”  March 18, 1862, and portrayed and described in G. H. Bronn, “Ord.  Class.,” vol. v. 184.

[128] Calapnit, Tagal and Bicol, the bat; calapnitan, consequently, lord of the bats.

[129] In only one out of several experiments made in the Berlin Mining College did gold-sand contain 0.014 gold; and, in one experiment on the heavy sand remaining on a mud-board, no gold was found.

[130] The Gogo is a climbing Mimosa (Entada purseta) with large pods, very abundant in the Philippines; the pounded stem of which is employed in washing, like the soap-bark of Chili (Quillaja saponaria); and for many purposes, such as baths and washing the hair of the head, is preferred to soap.

[131] A small gold nugget obtained in this manner, tested at the Berlin Mining College, consisted of—­

Gold 77.4
Silver 19.0
Iron 0.5
Flint earth 3. 
Loss 0.1

                              100.

[132] The nest and bird are figured in Gray’s “Genera of Birds”; but the nest does not correspond with those found here.  These are hemispherical in form, and consist for the most part of coir (coco fibers); and, as if prepared by the hand of man, the whole interior is covered with an irregular net-work of fine threads of the glutinous edible substance, as well as the upper edge, which swells gently outwards from the center towards the sides, and expands into two wing-shaped prolongations, resting on one another, by which the nest is fixed to the wall.  Dr. v.  Martens conjectures that the designation salangane comes from langayah, bird, and the Malay prefix sa, and signifies especially the nest as something coming from the bird.—­("Journal of Ornith.,” Jan., 1866.)

[133] Spanish Catalogue of the Paris Exhibition, 1867.

[134] “Informe sobre las Minas de Cobre,” Manila, 1862.