334 



NATURAL SCIENCE. Nov. 



found occasion at one of the sectional meetings to pass some severe 

 comments upon them ; but the general tone of the meeting showed 

 unmistakably that the philosophy of the distinguished Geheimrath 

 from Freiburg has made a profound impression upon the zoologists 

 of all nations, and is followed by most of them with interest and 

 respect. 



The address delivered by Professor Milne Edwards on the 

 resemblances between the fauna of the Mascarene Islands and that 

 of certain islands in the Pacific Ocean, and Mr. John Murray's lecture 

 on the results of deep-sea exploration, were both delivered at general 

 meetings of the Congress, and were listened to with marked interest 

 by large audiences. 



In nearly all the sections, interesting and important papers were 

 read by zoologists whose names are familiar to men of science 

 throughout the world, and it was often very difficult to determine 

 to which of four or five celebrated men who were due to speak at the 

 same hour in different rooms it would be most profitable to listen. 



The most distinguished audience of the sectional meetings was, 

 however, reserved for the last day, when Dr. Dubois exhibited his 

 fragments of the new " missing link," or Pithecanthropus evectus, as it 

 is called. It is not surprising that the young doctor from Java showed 

 some signs of nervousness in reading his paper in the presence of 

 such eminent anthropologists as Virchow, Flower, Rosenberg, Marsh, 

 and others, but he came through the ordeal well, and was highly 

 complimented on his success. The fragments consist of a femur, the 

 vault of a skull, and two molar teeth. The general impression 

 gained from the discussion was that the femur, which showed marked 

 signs of pathological change, might possibly be human, but that the 

 fragment of skull was more ape-like than any human skull hitherto 

 known to science, and consequently belonged to an animal as nearly 

 corresponding with the long looked-for missing link as we may expect 

 to find. One very interesting point which was brought out very clearly 

 by the remarks of Virchow, was that the characters of the skull 

 approached more nearly those of the Gibbons than of any of the 

 other anthropomorphic apes. 



But, in addition to the purely scientific work of the Congress, 

 some important conferences took place upon what may be called the 

 organisation of zoological literature. 



It has been well known to zoologists for some time past that an 

 important project is in progress for supplying men of science with 

 complete lists of books and papers that are published from a central 

 " bureau " or office. The general plan and the details of the project 

 have been carefully worked out by Dr. H. Haviland Field, a well- 

 known writer on embryological subjects. The proposals have already 

 met with a hearty approval from the editors of the Zoologischer 

 Anzeiger and Zoologischer Jahresbericht, and from most naturalists on 

 the Continent and in America. In England alone has the scheme 



