338 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOTERT. 



RECENT SURVEYS IN THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. 



Captain R. C. INIayno, R.N., at the meeting of the British 

 Association, gave an interesting account of the recent govern- 

 ment survey in the Straits of Magellan. He glanced at the his- 

 tory of the discovery of the straits by the first circumnavigator, 

 JNlageHan, and to the geographical position of the straits. The 

 straits are 300 miles in length, and the width varied from two 

 miles at the narrowest to 15 or 20 miles at the wider parts. In 

 that distance a complete change of scenery and climate took 

 phice. At the entrance they come upon low prairie land, bare of 

 trees, with a bright sky and fresh wind ; but further on they come 

 upon mountains,"rising ahuostperpemlicular from the sea, covered 

 with antarctic, evergreen leaves ; torrents of rain, varied with 

 snow and hail, in their seasons. In some parts the rain never 

 ceased for 24 hours together, and he and his crew had gone for 

 three months without being able to dry their clothes, except at 

 the engine lires. He referred to the great use that was now made 

 of the straits to avoid the troublesome passage around the Horn. 

 He gave the results of the recent survey in which he was en- 

 gaged, from December, 18GG, to the end of May last. He gave a 

 description of the Patagonians, and Fuegans, their manners and 

 customs. The Patagonians w^ere not such giants as represented ; 

 he had measured one who was 6 ft. lOi in. high ; but the average 

 height of the men was 6 ft. 10 in. to 5 ft. 11 in., and the women 

 were nearly as large. The Fuegans were small, badly shai)ed, 

 and ugly. The Patagonians drank very hard, but the Fuegans 

 would not touch wine or spirit of any kind ; on the other hand, 

 the Patagonians would not smoke, but the Fuegans w^ould smoke 

 until they were insensible. The information obtained by Fitzroy, 

 as to the Patagonians killing their old })e()i>le, was true ; he never 

 saw anyl)ody above a working age. lie thought the inhabitants 

 of the region might be very easily educated. 



HUMAN REMAINS. 



A recent discovery in the Department de la Dordogne, France, 

 of human skeletons coeval with the mammoths, and undeniably 

 appertaining to the earliest quaternary period, presents features 

 of such unusual interest that the French goverimn'ut has sent M. 

 Larter, the paheontologist, to make a rei)ort on the sulrject. He 

 reports that the bones of five skeletons have been discovered, and 

 that they belong to some gigantic race whose liml)S, both in size 

 and form, must have resembled those of the gorilla. But the 

 similar origin of man must not be inferred from these analogies, 

 as the skulls, of which only three are perfect, aftbrd testimony 

 fatal to this theory, having evidently contained very voluminous 

 brains. Tiie skulls are now in the hands of a committee of sa- 

 vants, who are preparing an exhaustive eraniological report. 



