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 filled 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. Dr Munro 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 erectus 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 IT. and IY. 
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 IL, 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 the 
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 
