152 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSSIP. 



[July 1, 1867. 



distinct differences observed in various families of 

 fish. [Instances were given of various modifica- 

 tions in form, and diagrams illustrative of the 

 anterior, external, and posterior portions were 

 exhibited.] The sacculus consists of one large sac, 

 and the superior ootolite occupies this position. 

 This was its ordinary position ; but in two speci- 

 mens of the Wolf Fish the speaker had found that 

 the superior ootolite occupied different positions, 

 and from this circumstance he judged that they 

 might have the power of moving about from side to 

 side. Amongst the Cyprinidse (or Carp family) the 

 ootolites occupy a different position. Here they 

 are all placed in contact inferiorly, forming a chain 

 of bones. Erom the lower sac two tubes pass 

 through the base of the skull, and open through 

 the anterior portion of the saccula. These saccula 

 are the only true representatives of the ossicula 

 auditus in the Mammalia, according to the opinion 

 of most writers upon the subject; but his own 

 belief was, that no fish at all have any true repre- 

 sentatives of it, but that this is only an excessive 

 development of the ootochrones. The ootolites 

 themselves are found to consist of carbonate and 

 sulphate of lime, with a very small quantity of 

 animal matter; but whether to call it a kind of 

 condensed sarcode, or to consider it the same in 

 composition as the foraminifera, or as that of the 

 oyster-shell, the meeting of the doctors on the 

 subject has not been satisfactory in determining. 

 By comparison and examination of these objects he 

 had in many instances been able to identify species, 

 and in many other instances he could identify 

 genera ; and he thought that this was more than 

 could be said of the fins or any parts of a fish. He 

 might mention that, out of about 4,000 specimens 

 which he had examined, only one instance had been 

 found in which the species could not be identified, 

 and this one was a common form which had from 

 some cause become abnormal in shape and carti- 

 laginous in structure. Specimens are occasionally 

 found in which they are wanting on one side of the 

 fish. He had not examined the true structure of 

 the granulus, but in their original forms they pre- 

 sent the appearance of rhombic crystals. 



Under the Hose. — The first rose ever seen 

 was said to have been given by the god of Love to 

 Harpocrates, the god of Silence, to engage him not 

 to divulge the amours of his mother Venus ; and 

 from hence the ancients made it a symbol of silence, 

 and it became a custom to place a rose above their 

 heads in their banqueting-rooms, in order to banish 

 restraint, as nothing there said would be repeated 

 elsewhere ; and from this practice originated the 

 saying " Under the Rose," when anything was to 

 be kept secret.— Sylva Florifera. 



THE UNITY OE MANKIND. 



IN Science Gossip for May, a writer, under the 

 signature of " E. A. A.," proposes to divide the 

 human race according to colour; and I propose, 

 Avith the Editor's permission, to make a few remarks 

 upon his classification. 



The gentleman in question tells us that the 

 division according to colour is at once the simplest 

 and the best. It gets rid of all the trouble entailed 

 by the study of features, language, mental develop- 

 ment, and religion. It relieves us from the dangers 

 of embroiling our brains over the conflicting views 

 of Prichard and Knox, Pickering and Lawrence. 

 Such writers, to use "E. A. A.'s" own words, 

 " perplex the student instead of aiding him." 



The colours he divides into white, brown, and 

 black ; including under the white the Mongols, who 

 I always thought belonged to the yellow races of 

 men, the Moors and Arabs, some of whom, at any 

 rate, are almost black, and the Laplanders, who are 

 often almost as dark as the inhabitants of very hot 

 climates. Among the brown races are comprised 

 the Red Indians, and, I presume, as a natural 

 sequence, the dirty-olive-coloured Californians, the 

 olive-green hunters of San Francisco, the pale green 

 Chanuas, and the dark sea-green people of the 

 Marian Islands ; the chocolate-hued Sauks, and the 

 Flatheads, whose tint can only be compared to that 

 of a red brick, or Armenian bole. Finally, among 

 the black races, we find the Hindoos, who are stated 

 by Heber, Mill, and others, to present a great 

 variety of tints, many being nearly copper-coloured, 

 and a black being as rare among them as a white 

 pariah; if, indeed, the term black can be justly 

 applied to what is really a very dark brown, like 

 strong coffee. 



The next step to which "F.A.A." calls our 

 attention, is that of proving that brown nations are 

 merely white people turningblack, and this he demon- 

 strates to be simple and easy in the highest degree. 

 " To see the first stage, or the conversion of white 

 into brown, we have only to inspect the hands and 

 face of a countryman, or the complexion of an old 

 Indian resident." Mr. Winwood Reade's assertion 

 that the Gamma tribes inhabiting the interior of the 

 Gaboon country have turned black within the memory 

 of man, conclusively proves the second stage. 



That white people tan, and that even dark people 

 may grow browner in a hot climate, or when exposed 

 to the sun, no person in his senses would deny; but 

 some very able observers, indeed, deny that this 

 change is in any way lasting, or that it deepens with 

 descent in any part of the world. They are even so 

 unreasonable as to assert that climate has nothing 

 to do with complexion, and that there is not a jot of 

 evidence to show that a white race has ever been 

 converted into a dark one. Sir W. Lawrence says, 



