502 Meeting of the British Association. [ Oct., 
milk, estimate distances traversed by the mouthfuls of pawn chewed 
en route, and amongst whom the marriage tie is so loose that the 
son commonly forgets his father, while the sister’s son inherits 
property and rank. Dr. Thomson and I dwelt for some months 
amongst the Khasia people, now eighteen years ago, and found 
Col. Yule’s account to be correct in all particulars. The undulatory 
eminences of the country, some 4—6,000 feet above the level of the 
sea, are dotted with groups of huge unpolished squared pillars, and 
tabular slabs supported on three or four rude piers. 
“Tn one spot, buried in a sacred grove, we found a nearly com- 
plete circle of menhirs, the tallest of which was 30 feet out of the 
ground, 6 feet broad, and 2 feet 8 inches thick ; and in front of each 
was a dolmen or cromlech of proportionately gigantic pieces of rock. 
“The largest slab hitherto measured is 32 feet high, 15 feet 
broad, and 2 feet thick. Several that we saw had been very 
recently erected, and we were informed that every year some are 
put up, but not in the rainy season, which we spent in the country. 
The method of separating the blocks is by cutting grooves, along 
which fires are lighted, and into which, when heated, cold water is 
run, which causes the rock to split along the groove; the lever 
and rope are the only mechanical aids used in transporting and 
erecting the blocks. The objects of their erection are various— 
sepulture, marking spots where public events had occurred, &c. 
It is a curious fact that the Khasian word for a stone, ‘ Mau,’ as 
commonly occurs in the names of their villages and places, as that 
of Man, Maen, and Men, does in those of Brittany, Wales, Cornwall, 
&c.; thus Mausmia signifies in Khasai the Stone of Oath—Mamloo, 
the Stone of Salt—Mauflong, the Grassy Stone, just as in Wales, 
Penmaenmawr signifies the Hill of the Big Stone ; and in Brittany 
a Menhir is a Standing Stone, and a Dolmen a Table Stone, &c.” 
Dr. Hooker then passed on to the question of the site and 
management of the British Museum, which also had been under 
the consideration of the Council, in consequence of a resolution 
passed by Section D. A deputation had been sent by the Association, 
consisting of distinguished naturalists who had drawn the attention 
of Mr. Disraeli’s Government to the matter. A similar deputation 
had waited on Mr. Disraeli ten years since, but no action had 
resulted. Dr. Hooker considered there was a graver objection to 
the present system than those which Mr. Andrew Murray had last 
year dwelt on, namely, that out of the forty-five trustees there are 
only three who have any special knowledge of Natural History, 
although the national collections in their care are the most valuable 
in Europe. 
With regard to provincial museums, Dr. Hooker considered 
that there should be in such a place a detailed instructional series 
of dissected animals and plants, clearly laid out and named; and, 
