April 20, 191 1] 



NATURE 



245 



(from the production of overtones of high pitch), and how 

 it brings out the pure tones of the string instruments. The 

 various instruments in an orchestra sound better. Every- 

 thing is reduced in proportion, and, to use an illustration 

 from art, it is like passing from one of Etty's huge 

 pictures to a delicate and beautiful Messonier, in which one 

 sues and apprecifltes every detail in an area of small 

 dimensions. John G. McKendrick. 



A New Variety of Zebra. 



Will you kindly allow me a little space to direct atten- 

 tion to a new and very interesting variety of Grant's 

 zebra, shown in the accompanying photograph sent me by 

 my friend Mr. C. W. Hobley, C.M.G., commissioner at 

 Nairobi, East Africa? The specimen, writes Mr. 

 llobley, "was obtained by Mr. G. H. Goldfinch, assistant 

 ^.'ime ranger of the East African Protectorate, a few 

 months ago in the neighbourhood of the Rift Valley. The 



limal has a " big whitcy patch in the middle of the 



tck, and it came out of a herd which were all the same. 



J suppose it is a Mendelian 'sport,' which has become 



dominant in that particular herd, like the white waterbuck 



on the Euaso Nyiro, north of Kenia." 



I propose to call this variety in Mr. Pocock's termino- 

 logy. ■£• g"«^^a, var. Goldfinch'i, or in the old terminology, 

 E. Burchelli, var. Goldfinchi. Mr. Hobley adds that the 

 print is a little dark, as " the stripeless saddle on the body 

 very markedly white in the skin itself." 

 April II. William Ridgeway. 



Implements of Moustierian Type from the Rock of 

 Gibraltar. 



In a paper read before the Royal Anthropological 



istitute on March 7 (Nature, March 16, pp. loo-ioi) I 



ive an account of recent cave-exploration at Gibraltar. 



In one of the caves thus described, the discovery of various 



mammalian remains was recorded, together with that of 



human bones, pottery, and stone implements. 



In regard to the latter, a close comparison was made 

 with cave implements, and the similarity of certain 

 examples to implements of the Moustierian type was re- 

 marked. But a guarded opinion was given, and this 

 ution, I am now glad to state, seems to have been 

 ' essive. 



On March 31 Dr. Allen .Sturge very kindly examined 

 • specimens with me, and he allows me to record his 

 linion on four implements submitted to him. The con- 



NO. 2164, VOL. 86] 



elusions were fully borne out by comparisons with speci- 

 mens in Dr. Sturge 's magnificent collection. Of the four 

 implements, three (Nos. 2, 7, 13) are judged to be 

 definitely of Moustierian type ; the remaining one (No. 15) 

 is either "Moustierian" or "-early Aurignacian " (the 

 next and following stage). 



Thus out of eleven stone objects (from the cave in ques- 

 tion), that are undoubtedly implements and not mere 

 splinters, four are distinctly Palaeolithic, and of an early 

 period. So far as I know, Palaeolithic implements have 

 not been previously recognised or recorded in connection 

 with the caves of Gibraltar. Moreover, those now men- 

 tioned were not accompanied by any polished implements 

 or by any metal objects. 



The recognition of Palaeoliths of the Moustierian type 

 gives some ground for hope that eventually the whole 

 series of cultural epochs may be established for the caves 

 at Gibraltar, as has been done elsewhere. Further, the 

 discovery of a human skeleton of that period might throw 

 a flood of light on the significance of the Forbes Quarry 

 skull. In any case, exploration will be resumed with 

 increased zest in view of these possibilities. 



In conclusion, I would point out that Obermaier seems 

 to hold the opinion that the associations of culture with 

 fauna will be found to difi'er in the Mediterranean area 

 and in western or central Europe {L'Anthropologie, 

 1909, Tome XX., p. 520). My investigations have already 

 suggested a marked similarity between the Gibraltar caves 

 and some of those at Mentone. Probably the northern 

 limit will be found to include Les Eyzies. Lastly, the 

 preceding remarks are written with full appreciation of 

 the weight of Commont's remarks (1910) as to the signifi- 

 cance of isolated examples of implements referable to a 

 particular age. W. L. H. Duckworth. 



Anthropological Laboratory, New Museums, 

 Cambridge, April 5. 



Damage done to Skulls and Bones by Termites, 



The extensive damage done to skulls and bones generally 

 in many of the graves of Egypt and Nubia has been 

 attributed to beetles, the bodies of these animals having 

 been fcmnd in the earth which is invariably associated with 

 the damaged area, the latter being, in fact, always covered 

 with earth unless it has been knocked off during removal 

 of the skull from the grave. 



There is good reason, however, for believing that the 

 damage is the work, not of bettles, but of termites, which 

 still exist in these countries. 



These animals, as is well known, never work without 

 covering all their operations with a tunnel or ramification 

 of tunnels composed of earth or grains of sand firmlv stuck 

 together by some secretion from the ants themselves. 

 Under cover of these earthworks, they devour whatever 

 substance they have built over, and the destruction is some- 

 times so complete that nothing but a shell of earth re- 

 mains, the substructure having been entirely eaten away. 

 In such cases the original form of the destroyed article 

 may be distinctly seen, as the mud covers it in a fairly 

 thin uniform layer, following all its lines and contours. 

 A goo<l example of this was seen at Koshtamna in Nubia, 

 about seventy miles south of Aswan. Here a small wooden 

 statue of a king was still standing in its original position 

 in a tomb chamber, but the crown and more prominent 

 features of the face, completely covered thour^h thev were 

 with mud, still preserved the outlines of the form beneath. 

 When, however, the mud was removed, it was found that 

 the statue upon which it had been built was almost com- 

 pletely destroyed, only fragments of the wood being left 

 here and there. 



In the case of skulls and bones precisely the same thing 

 happens. A skull is found covered with inud firmly stuck 

 on, and with the traces of the white ants' tunnels running 

 through. If the mud is removed, large areas of the cranial 

 walls may be found to have disappeared altogether. In 

 less exaggerated cases, holes will be seen with white, 

 gnawed edges, or perhaps only the surface of the bone has 

 been attacked. The cranial sutures are a favourite site for 

 the commencement of the termites' operations. 



The presence in some cases of the dead bodies of small 

 reddish beetles embedded in the mud on such skulls led to 

 the not unnatural conclusion that thev were the authors of 



