274 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 



They chiefly deal with the Antiquity of Man and his Place in Nature, 

 together with a brief history of the scientific study of Anthropology, 

 a field wide enough to have tilled the whole volume, and one which 

 we would gladly have seen treated in a more complete and less 

 condensed manner by Dr Munro. So far as the allotted space admits 

 the subject is skilfully handled, and the points are clearly brought 

 out; the style, too, is simple, so that it does not require a trained 

 scientific mind to grasp either the general conclusions or the details. 

 The first part of the book is, in fact, well suited to the general reader, 

 as well as of value to the scientist. 1 >r Muuro is hopeful in regard to 

 the possibility of bridging over the gap between the Palaeolithic and 

 Neolithic civilisations in Western Europe, and advances the important 

 finds of M. Piette in the Mas-d'Azil cavern, and the curiously similar 

 finds in a cave at Oban described by Dr J. Anderson, as helping 

 possibly to link the two periods. The evidence of a continuity 

 between the two periods is not as yet sufficiently complete, but a step 

 has been made in the right direction, and Mr A. Evans' researches in 

 the Balsi Rossi caves are much to the point in this connection. 



One of the most interesting essays in the book is that dealing with 

 the importance of the assumption of the Erect Posture as a factor in 

 the physical and intellectual development of Man. Dr Munro is a 

 strong advocate of the enormous advantage which Man derived from 

 the attainment of the erect posture, and the consequent differentiation 

 of the limbs into hands and feet ; in other words, the releasing of the 

 fore-limbs from locomotive duties, so that they might become the 

 servants of the brain in other directions, and thus assist the develop- 

 ment of mental qualities. The position of Pithecanthropus crcctus in 

 the human phylogeny is reviewed in a judicial manner, and it is 

 pointed out how the calvaria and femur of this seemingly inter- 

 mediate type bear out the theory of the erect posture having preceded 

 the higher development of the brain in Man. 



A slight rearrangement of the material in Chapters II. and IV. 

 would have obviated a certain amount of repetition in connection 

 with this point. 



The second part of the volume, headed " Archaeological," comprises 

 four essays on quite distinct and unconnected subjects. These will 

 probably appeal less to the general public than those contained in 

 Part I., as dealing with more special points of archaeological interest. 

 The chapter on " Prehistoric Trepanning " is well worth reading, and 

 the subject is rather to the fore just at present, it having been dis- 

 covered that, in addition to the interest attaching to the primitive 

 surgical methods adopted in conducting so important an operation, 

 and the fact of the patient having so frequently recovered, there is 

 also a good deal of folk-lore connected with the practice, well worthy 

 of study. Dr Munro has brought together, in Chapter VI., all the 

 available data regarding the curious wooden objects which he on 

 fairly good grounds calls "otter and beaver traps." He handles tho 

 subject with skill, and, in the absence of direct evidence, the probable 

 use of these objects can only be arrived at by comparative study of the 

 examples. Space does not allow more than the mere mention of the 

 essay on "Bone Skates," whose claims to be in some instances con- 

 sidered as prehistoric are called in question, and that on " Prehistoric 



