1898] NOTES AND COMMENTS 1 1 



Anthropology in Madras and i\ t London 

 Mi; Edgar Thurston contributes to Nature of May 26 a remarkably 

 interesting account of the anthropological survey which he is carry- 

 ing out in the Madras Presidency. European influence is bringing 

 abouta rapid change among the natives of Southern India, and there 

 is no time to lose in taking note of their characteristics. As it is 

 always interesting to see ourselves as others see us, we quote Mr 

 Thurston's final paragraph. ..." 1 gathered from observation when 

 in London (1) that man as a social and intellectual being is illus- 

 trated with the unavoidable want of proportion, when no systematic 

 scheme for the regular expansion of the collections is at work at the 

 British Museum, Bloomsbury; (2) that it is under contemplation to 

 illustrate man and the varieties of the human family from a purely 

 animal point of view at the British Museum (Natural History), 

 South Kensington ; (3) that skulls must be sought for at the Royal 

 College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields; (4) that lectures and 

 anthropological literature are available to members at the Anthro- 

 pological Institute, Hanover Square. To this must be added (5) Mr 

 Galton's laboratory. Surely a great want of centralisation, such as 

 might well be remedied, is indicated here. And as I wandered, both 

 in and out of the London season, through the deserted s;alleries of 

 the Imperial Institute, I could not refrain from speculating whether, 

 with a radical change of policy for good, this much-discussed build- 

 ins could not be converted into our cjreat National Museum of 

 Ethnology, where man shall be represented fully and in every 

 aspect, and where those interested in ethnological research could 

 find under one roof a skilled staff to appeal to in their amateur 

 difficulties, collections, literature, lectures, and anthropological 

 laboratory." 



Recent Anthropology 

 To L' Anthropologic for January and February 1898, Dr I. H. F. 

 Kohlbrugge contributes a paper upon the " Anthropology of the 

 Tenggerois of Java," in which a detailed description of the physical 

 characteristics of that people is given. They are referred to the 

 ' Indonesian ' race, with a slight admixture of Malayan blood. The 

 average cranial index of 130 measured natives was found to be 

 79*71, mesaticephalic. There are several interesting tables in 

 which comparative measurements are given for a number of races 

 in the Malayan region. 



Dr Salomon Reinach gives a detailed description of an interest- 

 ing carving in steatite, representing a nude female figure, discovered 

 in 1884 in one of the caverns at Mentone (Barma Grande) by 

 Mr Julien. Two plates from photographs of this specimen are 

 given, and show it to be of very rude workmanship. A gross 

 exaggeration of the general form and an absence of detail 



