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2 THE SOUTHERN WORLD, JUNE 1,1882. litfo In Central Africa. Central Africa, for centnrlea almost un known to the civilized world, has been for the last ten or fifteen years the choeen field of the most intrepid travelers and ex plorers. The names of Livingstone and Stanley have become household words throughout Christendom, and the geography of the "dark continent" has ceased to be the absolute and forbidding mystery which made a wide and dismal blank in the atlases of the last generation. With these famous travelers we may fitly associate their Ger man cotemporary, Dr. Gustav Nachtlgal,who has given to the worlk some exceedingly interesting and graphic sketches of the life and customs of the natives of the kingdom of Bagbirni. These children of nature appear, as far as can be learned, to have been wholly un spoiled by any touch of modern civilization, and are innocent of the slightest symptoms of artificial culture. Their dress is a model of simplicity, the whole outfit consisting of a shirt reaching to the loins, leaving the other parts of the body uncovered; and ging rifle-pits or erecting earthworks, the tribe simply mount the gigantic cotton trees, among whose protecting branches tbe lances of tbe attacking party cannot resell them. This tree is admirably adapted for the pur pose of a refuge and fortification, being very high, and having usually no branches lower than fifteen feet from the ground. The branches, moreover, are very thick and grow almost horizontally; so that by laying sticks across them and adding a covering of straw, a foundation is obtained for a hut in which a whole family, including tbe dogs and goats, can live comfortably and socially. A single treo ordinarily contains two or three families. At night, when no attack is apprehended, the dwellers in this si ngular habitation come down and lay in a fresh stock of water and provisions, always hiding the latter as securely as possible. Theso nat ural forts are found, whenever assailed, to be almost impregnable, so long as only tbe native resources of warfare are used against them. Having no fire-arms, the enemy can not reach them except by storming each tree, andany attempt to set fire to it is met by the besieged party, who extinguish the household gods from destruction, and repel the wanton and cruel invader, we fervently hope may be crowned with triumphant suc cess. As a matter of fact, however, they seem to be getting much the wont of tbe encounter. Sewerage of Large Villages. Mr. James T. Gardiner, Director of the New York Slate Survey, has made a valua ble report to the New York State Board of Health on the method of sewerage for cities and large villages. He finds, after inquiry, that where in general, intelligent efforts have been made to produce proper sanitary conditions of towns, cess-pools and vaults have been abolished, and the sewago is re moved from the neighborhood of dwel ling-houses by dry removal, or by wnter-car- riage or sewerage. The efficiency of the system of removal by means of dry earth- closets depends upon constant proper atten tion. In practice, it is found that the pro vision of fine, dry earth, and the constant in telligent surveillance necessary, can not be secured from any but exceptional families. The system can not therefore, be safely rec- commended for towns in which a large propor-tion of the people are always ignorant and careless. The tub, cask, or pail system, which is used even on a large scale in England, France and Ger many, "is undoubtedly tlio best method of removal, where towns have neither water-supply or sew erage.” In this system, the refuse matter is allowed to fall into a tub or cask, which is removed, emptied, cleaned, and disinfected by the town authorities at least once a week. At Manchester, England, sifted ashes are added during use to the contents of the tub, as a deodorizer. This system is successfully employed at Man chester and Rochdale, England, at an expense of $95 per thousand persons, or ten cents per person per annum; and is recommended for villages which can have no general water-supply. The weak ness of it is, that the removal, cleansing and disinfecting of the tubs require constant care and expense, and may be neglected by careless, ignorant, or parsi monious village authorities— a weakness rather attributable to village authorities than to the system—but un der no circumstances could the evils of such neglect be comparable with those of privy- vaults. Tbe system is, however, unavoida bly inferior to that of sewerage, in that it does not provide for the removal of waste- water and slops. Mr. Gardiner expresses a decided preference for the “separate” sys tem of sewerage, which is adapted to carry off slops alone, to the "combined” system, in which the attempt is made to carry off both slops and storm-water by means of one set of conduits. He regards the separate system as vastly cheaper than the combined, and as very much more wholesome, in that it does not supply the territory for the cultivation af the bacteria that find rich and extensive propagation grounds on the moist, unglazed walls of the large combined sewers. A con spicuous example of the successful applica tion of the separate system is found at Mem phis, Tenn. ^ Origin of the Nun’s Light unit Heat. Dr. H. U. Rogers, of Dunkirk, New York, has come forward with a criticism of the ex isting theories of the origin of the light and heat of the sun from combustion, mechani cal action, or shrinkage of the sun’s moss, os insufficient and not adequately supported by the analogies of any fact with which we are acquainted, and has advanced a theory that they are the result of electrical action. The sun, he believes, is a cold body, like the , earth, but so constituted and so situated rel atively to the earth that a stream of electric currents is constantly passing between the sun and the earth. These currents reach their points of greatest intensity within our atmosphere, where all the manifestations of force which we assign to the sun’s surface really take place. Dr. Rogers also believes that the phenomena of gravitation may be traced to the same origin. A wealthy land owner in the Tyrol has made an application of the microphone to the detection of subterranean springs. He fixed the microphones at the spots where he supposed water might exist, each being connected with its telephone and battery. Then, at night, be puts his ear to each of the instruments and listened for the murmur ing of the waters—and in several cases heard it. The truth had to be created, but lies are self-made. Hence the scarcity of the one and the quantity of the other. BATTLE OF THE TREE DWELLERS. many of them regard even this brief gar ment as too aristocratic, and content them selves with a handkerchief around the head or even a few feathers in the hair. The Kingdom of Baghirm is not of large extent, and its sovereign is ambitious, not unlike his more civilized brethren, to in crease his dominion by the annexation of adjoining territory. Meeting with, resist ance in the prosecution of these designs, he resorts,—again after the manner of the most enlightened potentates—to the enjoy ment of force.' Repeating riflesand artillery of the European pattern being wholly un known in that region, he substitutes lances and clubs, the only weapons known to the War Department of Baghrim. The methods of defense adopted by the invaded commu nity are rude but effective. Instead of dig flame by pouring water upon it or beating it down with sticks. Both in attack and defense, but especially in the latter, these people display the most stubborn courage. The members of the tribe of which a conquest is sought will fight for their liberty to tbe bitter end,know ing that the sure result of defeat is a horri ble death or hopeless slavery. As a last re sort, rather than submit to capture, they will climb to the top of the tree and throw themselves down to meet inevitable death. Our illustrations present in an extremely vivid manner one of those crises in the in ternal affairs of the Baghirm nationality; and we venture to say that the reader’s sympathies, like our own, will be altogether on the side of the assaulted party, whose efforts to protect their borne, rescue their